20 June 2005

Stupid Error Messages

Altitude Error?

This error message comes from the software that I use to edit the raw data files from my digital camera. It is pretty clunky software, but if I have patience it generally gives me better results than I can achieve with other software (with a few exceptions).

Yesterday, while I was editing photos from the bike trip I talked about in yesterday's blog entry, a practice dragon boat race started outside my window. I grabbed my camera and shot some photos of it, in preparation for the real deal at next week's Neckarfest. After the excitement had died down, I plugged in my camera and copied the photos over to my computer like I always do. Thing is, one of the photos was completely garbled. It was strange - I have never seen this before on this software or with this camera. Other software could read the file correctly, but I can't save the file as a RAW file, which is what I want and need for my archival purposes.

So I did some exploring and found that just a few days ago a new version of the software was released. So I downloaded it, and today I got around to upgrading and trying to open the picture again. When I open the picture with the upgraded software, I get the above error message.

What the heck is an altitude error? I can make some guesses if we are talking about planes or GPS or something. But in reference to a digital photo? Why can't software manufacturers give us error messages that actually give us a clue as to how to solve the problem. If the message was "Sorry, but this image is corrupted and there is no way to read it properly.", I would live with it. But 'Altitude Error'? I'm an engineer, so I think my natural tendnecy is to try to fix errors when I know they exist - and it really irks me that there is no clue in this error message as to where to start. Of course, the program's help, the manufacturer's web site and google have no relevant topics.

3 Comments:

At Tuesday, 21 June, 2005 , Anonymous Anonymous said...

Well, that it's a 'client error' indicates that it's a problem with you, rather than with the computer, camera or software. I think it's saying that you were too short to get the right angle for the shot. It's all part of the conspiracy to eliminate bad photography from the web: the software automatically corrupts any data files when it judges the content to have sub-par quality or an excessive cat quotient.

 
At Saturday, 25 June, 2005 , Blogger Unknown said...

Allan, I think that Steve is right. As I remember it, the missing picture was taken from below the river, looking up at a boot of paddling felines.

You will have to work on your angle this weekend, and hope that nobody on my team (or those currently racing against us) brings their cat, because I promised that you would provide pictures of the event for the company magazine.

 
At Saturday, 25 June, 2005 , Blogger Allanimal said...

You spelled boat wrong again.

Or did you really mean cats in footwear floating down the river?

The sub-par quailty filter must be out of whack, because there were a lot of crappy ones from last night...

 

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