Archive for October, 2009

Jumped the Shark

October 28th, 2009 by psu

I like bookstores. Actually, it’s more general than that. I like libraries too. I like sitting next to bookshelves and just peering at them, memorizing everything that’s there. I like spending hours just browsing the stacks, running my finger down the spines of the books, pausing every once in a while to pick one out and leaf through its pages. In high school and college, I used to have entire sections of the school or university library memorized. I could find any book that I had found once before just by going to the right set of shelves and walking to the right spot. I can still visualize some of those shelves in my head, although the contents are by now long gone. I like to do the same thing in my favorite bookstores.

I like hanging around books. It’s not a good time to be me.
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Posted in Culture | 7 Comments »

What Computers Do

October 22nd, 2009 by psu

Every once in a while someone who I don’t know will find out that I work with computers. Often when this happens they get a look on their face like they have just found a great free source of technical support. I try to quickly end any such misconceptions. I just program the things, after all, I don’t really know how to use them. At times though I do find myself daydreaming about the true nature of the computer as a device. We know that at the surface the computer is a tool that helps us get things done that we didn’t used to be able to do as easily or as efficiently. Things like get directions, or process our photographs, or compose long pieces of text for total strangers around the world to read. That’s not the level of inquiry that I’m interested in here.

I’m more interested in the following question: if you had to describe in a single sentence what computers do or how they work, what would you say?
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Posted in Computers | 1 Comment »

Look Sharp!

October 14th, 2009 by psu

If camera bodies and bags are the number 1 and 2 dork shopping obsessions related to photography, sharpness is probably a close third. It is probably the most popular purely technical aspect of actual pictures that makes it to the camera dork shopping list. People buy bigger cameras, more expensive lenses, sturdier enlargers (well, maybe not), and spill a lot of sweat and tears over sharpness and “picture quality.” Even my resolutely un-camera-dorky partner peterb got into the act when he described the Nikon D300 autofocus system as being one that could lead to “tack sharp” images. Unfortunately, it’s a hard concept to pin down. Most people will tell you when they think a picture is sharp, or not. But sharpness is more of a mixture of multiple technical characteristics than a single measurable quantity.
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Posted in Photo | 1 Comment »

What Comes Around

October 13th, 2009 by peterb

I used to play a lot of board games.

This was back when I actually lived near my friends, and hung out with a critical mass of people who enjoyed the hobby as well. I have a small collection of games from back then that I don’t play much any more. (more…)

Posted in Games | 10 Comments »

At Arm's Length

October 6th, 2009 by psu

Some reviews of Panasonic’s answer to the Olympus EP-1 are starting to trickle out into the intertubes. I just noticed that the Luminous Landscape people are talking about their experience with the camera. The review is about what you would expect. The camera is quicker to focus and generally more usable but it does not have the sensor-based anti-shake. You can’t have everything.

But here is a line from the review that confuses me: “Doing serious photography with a camera at arms length just isn’t my thing.”

You hear this complaint over and over again from the people in the world who just can’t live without an eye-level viewfinder. I understand the shortcomings of the LCD screen, but this complaint still baffles me. The implication is that the only way to use the LCD on the back of the camera to compose pictures is to lock yer arms straight out in front of your face like a mentally crippled robot and then point the camera in the right direction. So here is my question: do serious photographers not have elbows? Can any of you out in the Intertube-land enlighten me? Do you have elbows?

Posted in Photo | 3 Comments »