Quote - I was at the library the other day and I was totally astonished to see 3 women wearing burkas! I've seen women wearing those head scarf things, but never a burka.

TBH I wanted to go over and rip it off them and tell them that they are in Canada now and that they don't need to wear that anymore!  Obviously I didn't, but I sure wanted to.

Why, because they are different than you?  And all this time I only thought moronic French, British and U.S. citizens persecuted others and their religion.

Burka-hate, head scarf things...Un-freaking-believable.

While many westerners equate Burkas and head scarves as degrading to women, and in many cases rightfully so considering the consequences some Muslim women face if they don't, many Muslim women continue follow hijab; or more so the conventional tradition of hadith, out of total faith to their religion, and in some cases as an act of defiance to the secularization of their societies, not because the husband is going to beat the shit out of them if they don't.

If you want to see something outrageous, take a look at the Pope.  The guy dresses like an idiot.  Now, how is that any different?

Quote - I don't see the need yet to perform any (manual) sensor cleaning. After two years of using the Olympus E-500 and changing lenses, there hasn't been one single speck of dust in sight. So it must be true what they're saying about Olympus' dust reduction system (the most efficient on the market today)...

Well, until you step into an E-3.  I have to clean mine about once a month.  I've seen a few reports from E-510 owners as well complaining of dust.  Some blame it on Live View, some blame it on in-body IS.  So it would appear that while still good, Oly's SSWF isn't as great as it used to be.

Like you, I've never seen dust on my E-500, and only once on one of my E-1s.

I use an arctic butterfly and a rocket blower on the E-3.  If I ever need a wet cleaning I'll send it in.

Regards,

Steve

Quote - As to PSP - I'm afraid that  the use of any compression will result in loosing this data. The only way a PSP saves exif is if you use plain and simple "Save As..." with no compression at all.

You've sparked my curiosity now.  I know PSP9 and beyond saves EXIF info.  I'll have to reload PSP7 just for kicks.  One thing that will rid the photo of EXIF is severe cropping.

You might want to consider upgrading your PSP7.  PSP X2 is only $54.99 for the upgrade version from Corel.  I find the Oly software to be miserable.  Also, Lexar is offering PSP X for free if you buy their 4 or 8-gig standard or Pro CF card...

http://www.lexar.com/digfilm/cf_pro.html

What makes more sense?

a) Going to a stock photo agency and paying through the nose, or

b) have people e-mail you all the stock photos you'll ever need...for free?

What thundering1 said.  And by the way, Paint Shop Pro will read and write PSD files.

Quote - Beach Camera is a decent company...I bought my camera from them and had no complaints

Abe's of Maine has a good reputation as well.

One should always research a little before buying on-line.  A good source for consumer ratings is www.resellerratings.com.  This ratings source is recommended quite heavily by the photographic community.

As for Abe's of Maine, I would not recommend them, as they are rather notorious for poor service...

http://www.resellerratings.com/store/Abe_s_of_Maine

I've heard more than one horror story regarding Abe's.

I do agree that Beach is a good source, as is Cameta and BuyDig.