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Does everyone really just know that SOHO = "Single Owner Home Office" (took a bit of Google fanciness to get around the neighborhoods in London & NYC).

To answer the OP's question, I've had great luck with my Canon Pixma MP495. Canon *did write* Linux firmware/software, it's just not available through their US site for whatever reason (it's also kludgy as hell, but it gets the job done).

You've nailed this one.

When I can purchase something from overseas for quite literally half the retail price here in Australia, then add a bit of shipping and it's still significantly cheaper, I'd actually be happy to pay another 10% on top as it's STILL cheaper than purchasing the item here in Oz.

This leads to the situation of some large brand names - Canon and Nikon spring to mind, that take advantage of their market position to do everything they can to kill the grey market. If you buy, for example, a Canon DSLR here in Australia, if it's a grey market import (ie, not imported directly by Canon Australia) then Canon will not only refuse to service it under warranty (fair enough I suppose as the product doesn't have an international warranty) but they will actively refuse to perform any work on it whatsoever, even if you want to pay to have it serviced. If it's not an Oz serial number they simply will not touch it.

Now, this is a big deal as I can get a Canon EOS 5D MkII camera body in the USA for $2499 (I'm assuming for the purpose of this exercise that $1AUD = $1USD)
Were I to purchase that very same camera here in Australia, from Canon, for $3599. If I were to turn to eBay instead and get one from Hong Kong, I can get this very same camera for $2300 with free shipping.

Well-respected USA online store: http://www.adorama.com/ICA5DM2.html
Canon Australia: http://www.canon.com.au/en-AU/For-You/Digital-Cameras/EOS-Digital-SLR-Cameras/5D

There have even been times where if you wanted a mid-range or high-end MacBook Pro, it'd be cheaper to fly to the USA, walk into an Apple store, buy the computer and fly home than it would have been to purchase the same machine here in Australia.

The pattern to really high local prices seems to be when the parent company controls the importation and distribution, we all get reamed.

Parent is right - I've got the converse situation. My Canon IXUS 50 is a great little camera with a rugged metal body and a decent control set. I can even do some manual tricks with it. However, it's got the tiny lens and tiny CCD, and consequently there's only so much you can achieve with it.

Still, the sheer ability to drop my camera in my pocket without bothering to think about its weight or inconvenience has meant that I have had my camera on hand to take some very memorable and artistic shots, with just a little patience. I intend to buy a DSLR (Nikon's new offerings are attractive - D80?) but purchasing a point-and-shoot digicam first is a Very Good Idea.

It comes down to what you want, or need, to achieve. My opinion? Take whatever camera you have wherever you go, and keep taking photos. I don't care if it's a mobile phone camera or a Hasselblad, just be creative and get used to setting up your shots. Photography isn't so much about the tool as it is about the photographer.

When the article contains remarks like this:

Most digicams are plastic, plastic, and more plastic. They feel flimsy and they're not all that hard to break. DSLRs are built to much higher standards

then you can tell that it is not particularly helpful at all. A great many 'digicams' are very nicely constructed. For example, the rather lovely Lumix range from Panasonic/Leica, one of which I am lucky enough to own, are extremely well constructed and are largely made from metals and special composites which do not feel 'plastic' in the least. They also have excellent ergonomics and performance. Many smaller cameras are also very nicely constructed, often from metal - the Canon Ixus range comes to mind.

I agree that DSLRs are nice, and I plan to acquire one myself. But it is not helpful to publish a list of 'reasons' which are little more than vague assertions that A is better than B, without taking into account either reality, or the very valid reasons why B might be preferable for many people.

... a better example would be a doorbell. Especially if you're a mac user.

Huh? My Canon Multipass works FINE on Windows XP SP2 with the UPDATED DRIVERS Canon provided!

http://www.canon.com.au/support/customer/default.a sp?DXI=KnowledgeBase/Customer/KBArticleForm&File=K B01347&productID=mpc190

Did you really check with Canon whether they were going to fix this?

Then why is it alway represented by a two dimensional pallet?

Always? 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14

It is often represented two dimensionally because it is difficult to display it three dimensionally. Two dimensional displays most often display Hue and Saturation and completely discard Value.

Color can be coded as RGB (Red/Rreen/Blue) or HSV (Hue/Saturation/Value) or HSL (Hue/SaturationLightness) or YCbCr aka YUV aka YIQ (used in TV) or CMY (Cyan/Magenta/Yellow) or L*a*b* or XYZ. It always requires exactly three components. Note CMYK uses 4, but K is redundant, it improves the quality of ink printing.

it isn't "exact" either, since many humans are missing at least one of the dimensions.

That is precisely why I included the word "normal" in "normal human vision".

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