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Archive for May, 2007

When The Tripods Came

May 29th, 2007 by peterb

30 second exposure at f/5, ISO400 equivalent. The sky was nearly completely dark, so most of the illumination came from the sodium vapor lights at the nearby dock.

My favorite thing about the picture is how the long exposure smoothed out the waves on the water, making it look like a sheet of textured glass.

Click the image to see a full-size version (warning: large).

Here’s a 16 second exposure at f/8, taken a bit earlier. I like the invisible boat effect, and I like how the dock looks like it’s on fire.

In summary: a good tripod is worth its weight in gold.

Posted in Photo | No Comments »

While I remain hidebound here in Pittsburgh, co-author psu is taking a few weeks in Paris. But I’m not jealous: I have Travelogue 360 Paris, just released for Windows and Mac. And my Paris has a rhinoceros wandering around the base of the Eiffel Tower. (more…)

Posted in Games | No Comments »

Halo 3 Beta Minireview

May 21st, 2007 by peterb

I’m basing this minireview on three game sessions.

Step 1: Insert Crackdown disc.
Step 2: Choose “Play Halo 3 Beta”
Step 3: Watch pretty opening screen. Enter multiplayer lobby.
Step 4: Start matchmaking process.
Step 5: Wait 15 minutes while the game tries, and fails, to find a match.
Step 6: Give up and go do something interesting.

Color me unimpressed.

Posted in Games | 4 Comments »

Fishy Fishy

May 18th, 2007 by psu

Fish is not hard to cook. We are just trained to think it is. Early on in my cooking “career” (graduate school) we picked up a large cookbook about fish that meticulously broke down multiple techniques with several examples of each and hints about which kind of fish which technique was suited for. I remember bringing the odd piece of fish home, thumbing through the book to try and figure out what to do and then throwing up my hands when I couldn’t find the right set of instructions out of the right list. Then I’d make the fish and it would come out overcooked and tasteless.
(more…)

Posted in Food and Drink | 4 Comments »

A Season with Sam & Max

May 17th, 2007 by peterb

And so with the release of Episode 6: Bright Side of the Moon, Season 1 of Sam and Max has come to an end.

So, how did they do? Pretty damn good. Let’s talk about what this means for the future of adventure games. (more…)

Posted in Games | 4 Comments »

The Ludlum Demonstrative

May 15th, 2007 by peterb

I was at the library the other day and realized that I still hadn’t seen The Bourne Identity. So I said to myself “Hey, I’ll just pick up the book instead.” Perusing the shelf of Robert Ludlum titles, I realized they all had these very stilted, cold war, nouny sort of names. The Osterman Weekend. The Holcroft Covenant, The Chancellor Manuscript.

So I wrote a little script to autogenerate Ludlum titles for me, just in case I should ever need to ghost write a book for his kid.

Here is your randomly generated Robert Ludlum title. To get another one, just reload the page. If you enjoy it a lot, consider clicking on one of our convenient ads to help sponsor the site.

Your next Ludlum book is:

Posted in Culture | 8 Comments »

The Camera Bag Problem

May 14th, 2007 by psu

When I bought my first SLR film camera, I didn’t give much thought to bags. I needed a small bag to fit the body and two lenses that I had bought, so I went to the store and picked out the smallest Domke (the F-5) which seemed to be big enough. It could fit the camera ready to shoot and the extra lens, and it wasn’t that big. I could get the camera in and out without putting the bag down. When I got a few more lenses, I bought a slightly bigger Domke bag (the F-6) that had extra room for the lenses. That was the last time I was happy with a camera bag.
(more…)

Posted in Photo | 8 Comments »

Margarita's New Toy

May 11th, 2007 by peterb

Early this week, Tea Leaves’ industrious panel of dedicated tasters converged on Mad Mex in Oakland to try a variety of wonderful tequilas. I’ll be writing about that in detail, in the next few weeks. (more…)

Posted in Food and Drink | 6 Comments »

NBA Street

May 9th, 2007 by psu

I have a weakness for the NBA Street games. I like them because they do not try to simulate basketball, rather, they let you play a type of basketball that is completely ludicrous and unhealthy. I think the series peaked with NBA Street 2, which is still fun to play even today. Hoping to recapture some of that magic, I picked up a used copy of NBA Street: Homecourt at the Exchange the other day to see if it would make it through the Ebay Review System.
(more…)

Posted in Games | No Comments »

Put a Cork In It

May 8th, 2007 by peterb

Wine is a funny business. There are plenty of tangible resources that go into producing the bottle of wine that lands on your kitchen table: land, grapes, yeast, glass, and so on. And there are plenty of intangibles that go into making a good wine: knowledge, patience, and most importantly, process. But many people (or at least, many Americans) who buy wine are really trying to buy something else: romance. (more…)

Posted in Food and Drink | 11 Comments »