Saturday, February 15, 2014

Goldfish driver

A woman may need a man like a fish needs a bicycle. But that's just 'cuz fish are lazy, they want a car!


Friday, February 14, 2014

Alison Krauss






I just listened to the middle one, Down to the River to Pray, on a good system, and it just has a fantastic sound.

Free box art

Box art.
"Imgur user gabroll works for a t-shirt company, and sometimes the customers ask him to draw things on the box."

That's one giving artist.

"Draw a kangaroo fighting a vampire on the box?"


"Draw a firefighter t-rex on the box"


"I wondered if you could draw something librarian / library related? I'm a librarian."


"I bought shirts for my closest friends. Any way to get them wrapped individually?"

Thursday, February 13, 2014

Fujifilm X-A1 - amazing value (updated)

Fujifilm X-A1 - Is this the best low light camera for under $1500? (even though it only costs $499?), article and photos. And preview.

Seriously, friends, this may be the best value I've ever heard of, for a brand-new camera. This is a quality enthusiast camera, with record low-light performance, selling for $600 with kit lens (almost certainly a really good one). Almost too good to be true.


I even like how it looks. The earlier, more high-end models left me kind of cold (and was bulky), which was disappointing given that I loved the retro looks of Fuji's X100 and X20 models.
The first and still top model, X-Pro1
I don't think the look is harmonic,
no matter how Leica-inspired it is.



But really, I have settled on Micro Four Thirds... I must resist, I must resist...

----

I'm not too surprised that Fuji has come out with a great low-light camera for "only $499" because my Fuji SL-1000 (50x zoom) was around $400, with card and spare battery, and it has really good low-light characteristics. 

I've taken night scenes from over in the next block, of a street light with the wires of the line it's on, and the trees nearby, and the images came out clear and sharp and a lot brighter than I expected. I think you may be onto a winner there.... I'm quite happy with the SL-1000, and it was a hundred bucks cheaper than a comparable Canon. And the Canon didn't get the same performance reviews this did.....

One thing I like about it is that it isn't a really light-weight camera - it has just enough heft to it so that it can be used freehand in the upper zoom ranges without a lot of the usual problems. I've taken shots of aircraft with it, at 50x, freehand, and had them come out quite nicely. You could do worse than
buy a Fuji.

Best regards,

Ray

Yes, Ray. While "Canikon" has a solid hold on the DSLR market, people would do very well taking a solid look at the smaller players if they want the more compact cameras of various kinds. Olympus, Fuji, Pentax, Sony, all have made spectacular cameras which Canon and Nikon don't even seem close to matching.

Jessica Ambats - Aerial Photography

(Recommended to click the YouTube logo and use the full screen selector at bottom right of the frame.)

Wednesday, February 12, 2014

Sigma dp2 Quattro Review



Sigma dp2 Quattro Review, article.

Before the Sony RX100 and other cameras started seriously putting some effort into high image quality in a tiny camera body, for years there was the Sigma DP line.
They use a special sensor where the three colors are under each other in layers, instead of spread out in separate little boxes. This has given a special image quality which some people swear by, but it was limited by smallish resolution and the cameras tendency to be very slow to operate.

Well, they now brought out a new line, the DP Quattro cameras with large APS-C sensors, and remarkable design clearly signifies that some new is going on.

The cameras have a new sensor, a bit different. It's a bit complex, so I refer you to the article.
It may look like a changeable-lens camera (looks a bit like the Son NEX line), but "it s'not". The DP2 has a fixed 45mm-equivalent F:2.8 lens, which immediately seems a bit Blah to me. I prefer a bit wider lens, if possible together with a lens or camera with a longer lens for portraits and whatnot. And I think in this day and age, 2.8 is not at all fast. Heck, I think it's Sigma themselves who just came out with a remarkable standard zoom lens which not only is dang sharp, but also a F:1.8 lens! That is almost unheard of, especially since I believe the aperture does not vary over the zoom range.

... But then there are the DP1 camera with a 28mm-e wideangle, and the DP3 camera with a 75mm-e lens. Funny, I've asked before why nobody had made such a pair of matching cameras, and here they are! It may be hard to explain, now that zooms have become so good and so common, why not just use a zoom instead, but many enthusiasts, especially veterans from the film days, really prefer a good prime lens.

Sunday, February 09, 2014

"Jet ereader", more Net Dadaist poetry

You know how I love the "Dadaist Poetry" (poetic nonsense) that the Internet somehow produces in mysterious ways. Sometimes some of it pops up in the otherwise excellent tablet article-scouring app Zite. Which is where I got this pearl. 
The original page is gone. (I miss Google's cache service, I sometimes saved important articles and interviews with that.) 
"According to Volokh, the banking institutions have taken control over your hair and make payments." LOL. 
The illustrations make about as much sense as anything in it. 
-Eolake



Nook Ereader Business Jets

You don’t have to do this is only advertising. The plan of sue is, if he is presented with facts to the internet. You will still get an email from a database of past customers, business jets it can bring. 6m in annual fees for the further steps that can truly say whatever they want. You as the privacy business jets of Internet Explorer may have resented yourself as a virus attacks your computer, you? Cultural factors are to so much competition, after stopping just before 1900 GMT on Tuesday. Dropping DVR services that are available to make it sell. There are many means of a bank of deep cycle batteries to produce power in the browser.



An Internet T1 line can offer to build business jets an Internet presence in the tapes. It is important that pÅ‚ytki cersanit it will be taken if things go! When you connect [a mobile phone] to the consumers nationwide get Web access. As a rule it’s best if a thing sounds too good to be known as a method. Gained skills can have more than one option business jets when seeking loans. If you are not typical results for people. You don’t need to know these people are just sales business jets talk. According to Volokh, the banking institutions have taken control over your hair and make payments.

A few of them for smaller and work properly. They theorized that Internet Explorer 8 and click on the planet came very close to individuals customers. The most common excuse is” safe”, where the apparent internet friend turned out to a velvety red hybrid tea called ”Royalty. Do you need to buy your business jets product and the solutions. Book The incident highlights how cheaply and easily mail.

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Feel wiser now? I knew you would.