Scientists create ultraviolet-transparent aluminum, article.
Listen to this:
"...but this is the first time pure aluminum has been rendered transparent. But you won't really be able to see through it — it's only invisible to extreme ultraviolet radiation." and: "There's a catch, though: The aluminum sample turned transparent was tiny — less than a 20th of the width of a human hair in diameter. And the amount of power required to create this minuscule window was equal to that of a power plant providing electricity to an entire city. Oh, and the see-through aluminum reverts quickly back to its natural state"
Ah. So I guess it'll be at least several months before we can buy shatter-free glass replacement aluminum commercially.
Thursday, July 30, 2009
Wednesday, July 29, 2009
Catcerto and speed drawing
[Thanks to Tommy.]
Catcerto, video. Nora the cat backed up by full orchestra. Pretty good actually.Art or cat workout?
Meanwhile TC Girl found another I'll enter in the "art or sport" category, speed drawing with both hands.
Tuesday, July 28, 2009
Panasonic Lumix G1 pictures and review (updated)
For the hundreds of fans (or at least one) who have been clamoring for pictures taken with the Panasonic Lumix G1, here they are.
All with the standard, very compact zoom (about 28mm-90mm). (I haven't tested the long zoom yet, I think I'll wait for a bit more light than today, it's a dull day.)
Everything on auto.
Minor play with Photoshop has been done.
The sharpness is certainly good.
The white balance was too blue, I just now found out I'd accidentally changed it from "AWB" (which they call it instead of just "auto") onto something else. Some of the pictures it fit, others I had to change.
I am still finding out how wonderful a hinged screen is, once you get used to the fact that the camera does not have to be at the level of your head, a whole new freedom appears. (The top picture (window) could not have been composed with a normal viewfinder, the camera was held high above my head.)
(I could pull more some detail from the enterior, but I like the dark frame-like effect it has.)
(Full file from camera, unedited, here.)
I really like the two lowest pictures, if you click and view in full size (preferably on a big screen). Lots of tones and details.
The chair I have given lots more contrast than it had, and I think it gained a lot from that. Almost makes me want to do more BW.
My early impression with this camera is that both in handling and image quality, it is in the same league as the typical DSLR. It is not an amateur camera, it is an enthusiast camera, and would surely be good enough for a backup camera for a pro.
High-ISO is good too. Look at this 1600-ISO sample, and 3200 here. That's better than my Canon 5D (Mark 1)! (The 5D, full-frame, was king in this area for a couple of years.) [Update: See this page (the "Melinda's" bottle 4/5 down the page) for how excellent an image quality you can get from 1600 ISO if you use RAW and careful post-processing. Outstanding. And this method can even make quite a difference at lower ISO settings as seen below that.]
One should not expect the viewfinder to be as clear and detailed as a DSLR viewfinder, but it is leaps and bounds beyond earlier generations of Electronic Viewfinders (you are looking at a little LCD screen instead of out through the lens). I find it good enough for almost all use, except the most demanding professional use.
Update:
A hinged screen is also great for candid pictures. These were taken a couple years ago in a cafe with my Nikon 2400 (outdated now, no stabilization and grain at 200 ISO) down near my table, like I was just reviewing images. See the man look directly at the camera! If he'd found out I was photographing the girl, I'd probably have had the police on me. (It's sickening that you have to be afraid of such things in a supposed civilized country, UK.)
Note: don't think you can buy one of the new DSLRs with hinged screens, like the Olympus 620 or the Nikon D5000, and get the same results, the autofocus is so slow it's basically unusable when those cameras are used in Live View. Why it is like that is complicated. But right now the G1 and GH1 are the only cameras with exchangeable lenses and hinged screens which have usable autofocus when using the screen.
(Stephen points out the Sonys, they use a special system: review, review.)
All with the standard, very compact zoom (about 28mm-90mm). (I haven't tested the long zoom yet, I think I'll wait for a bit more light than today, it's a dull day.)
Everything on auto.
Minor play with Photoshop has been done.
The sharpness is certainly good.
The white balance was too blue, I just now found out I'd accidentally changed it from "AWB" (which they call it instead of just "auto") onto something else. Some of the pictures it fit, others I had to change.
I am still finding out how wonderful a hinged screen is, once you get used to the fact that the camera does not have to be at the level of your head, a whole new freedom appears. (The top picture (window) could not have been composed with a normal viewfinder, the camera was held high above my head.)
(I could pull more some detail from the enterior, but I like the dark frame-like effect it has.)
(Full file from camera, unedited, here.)I really like the two lowest pictures, if you click and view in full size (preferably on a big screen). Lots of tones and details.
The chair I have given lots more contrast than it had, and I think it gained a lot from that. Almost makes me want to do more BW.
My early impression with this camera is that both in handling and image quality, it is in the same league as the typical DSLR. It is not an amateur camera, it is an enthusiast camera, and would surely be good enough for a backup camera for a pro.
High-ISO is good too. Look at this 1600-ISO sample, and 3200 here. That's better than my Canon 5D (Mark 1)! (The 5D, full-frame, was king in this area for a couple of years.) [Update: See this page (the "Melinda's" bottle 4/5 down the page) for how excellent an image quality you can get from 1600 ISO if you use RAW and careful post-processing. Outstanding. And this method can even make quite a difference at lower ISO settings as seen below that.]
One should not expect the viewfinder to be as clear and detailed as a DSLR viewfinder, but it is leaps and bounds beyond earlier generations of Electronic Viewfinders (you are looking at a little LCD screen instead of out through the lens). I find it good enough for almost all use, except the most demanding professional use.
Update:
A hinged screen is also great for candid pictures. These were taken a couple years ago in a cafe with my Nikon 2400 (outdated now, no stabilization and grain at 200 ISO) down near my table, like I was just reviewing images. See the man look directly at the camera! If he'd found out I was photographing the girl, I'd probably have had the police on me. (It's sickening that you have to be afraid of such things in a supposed civilized country, UK.)
Note: don't think you can buy one of the new DSLRs with hinged screens, like the Olympus 620 or the Nikon D5000, and get the same results, the autofocus is so slow it's basically unusable when those cameras are used in Live View. Why it is like that is complicated. But right now the G1 and GH1 are the only cameras with exchangeable lenses and hinged screens which have usable autofocus when using the screen.
(Stephen points out the Sonys, they use a special system: review, review.)
TV/man evolution
[thanks to Ian.]
Fits for me. I'm not exactly obese now, but twenty years ago I was thin as a rail. Then I got jobs sitting down and had more time for snacking, and then I started working from home...
Difference is I didn't have a TV then. Later I had one for some years, but it is just a Black Hole for time. Technically I have a TV, but I only use it for disk'ed material, which is ad-free, and which you have to choose deliberately instead of just plunking down and zapping the remote.
I used to eat pizza and fried chicken quite often. But recently both just feel too greasy for me suddenly. I don't know what caused this change, but I welcome it. I'd look so great if I was fit.
Sunday, July 26, 2009
Saturday, July 25, 2009
Hardest Working Mayor in North America
[Thanks to Uncle Ron.]
Hardest Working Mayor in North America, video."Hazel McCallion is a wonderful example of leadership for many reasons: she has been the mayor of Mississauga, Ontario for 30+ years, re-elected 10 times, and is responsible for a debt-free district while creating a vibrant downtown. She's done all this with great energy and enthusiasm while approaching 90 years old!"
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Uploads
I have bought a "Pro" account with YouSendIt.com, which I like. Simple and useful. I'm especially impressed with the download speeds. I have two different broadband connections for redundancy, and on the fastest one (cable), I get between 2 and 3 MB/sec downloads!
I tested a 100MB file. When I uploaded it, it took exactly 20 minutes. When I downloaded the same file, it took exactly 45 seconds!
That is a huge lopsidedness. I forget, is there a solid technical reason for this, or is it just ISP politics to keep you from using too much bandwidth hosting video from home or whatever?
I tested a 100MB file. When I uploaded it, it took exactly 20 minutes. When I downloaded the same file, it took exactly 45 seconds!
That is a huge lopsidedness. I forget, is there a solid technical reason for this, or is it just ISP politics to keep you from using too much bandwidth hosting video from home or whatever?
Tropic Thunder (updated)
Tropic Thunder: good movie, funny movie. Unusual movie.
The big surprise was Tom Cruise as an ugly, unappealing, unethical, balding movie executive. So much make-up it took minutes to recognize him. Like they said in the commentary, "it's hard to make that m***erf***er look ugly", but they managed it.
You can think what you will of his personal beliefs (and god knows, everybody thinks something about them), but he's still got the big nuts as a actor. Here he could be doing MI:4, and he goes and does this bit part playing a disgusting human being. And not only that, it's possibly the funniest part in the movie. It's hysterical. Kudos.
Update: Don't miss the extras, including the hysterically funny mockumentary "Rain of Madness".
The big surprise was Tom Cruise as an ugly, unappealing, unethical, balding movie executive. So much make-up it took minutes to recognize him. Like they said in the commentary, "it's hard to make that m***erf***er look ugly", but they managed it.
You can think what you will of his personal beliefs (and god knows, everybody thinks something about them), but he's still got the big nuts as a actor. Here he could be doing MI:4, and he goes and does this bit part playing a disgusting human being. And not only that, it's possibly the funniest part in the movie. It's hysterical. Kudos.
Update: Don't miss the extras, including the hysterically funny mockumentary "Rain of Madness".
Thursday, July 23, 2009
The Irksome Cellphone Industry
The Irksome Cellphone Industry, article by David Pogue.
I didn't know that in the US, the recipient of a cell phone call pays for it too! Geez.
And twenty cents per text message? Raised to that price about concurrently by all four major carriers?! I can send an email per minute, 16 hours a day, and it doesn't cost me a cent more than my basic subscription price.
Basically the world runs on "what can I get away with".
I didn't know that in the US, the recipient of a cell phone call pays for it too! Geez.
And twenty cents per text message? Raised to that price about concurrently by all four major carriers?! I can send an email per minute, 16 hours a day, and it doesn't cost me a cent more than my basic subscription price.
Basically the world runs on "what can I get away with".
Wednesday, July 22, 2009
Johnston reviews the Pen
Ken Tanaka on The Online Photographer reviews the Olympus Pen. Is this finally the "Decisive Moment Digital"* that many of us have been waiting for, for most of this decade?
Short cheat-note: if it'd had a better screen and much faster autofocus, it could really have been something.
*A DMD is a term Mike Johnston coined for the theoretical digital camera Henri Cartier-Bresson might have liked: compact, but high quality mechanically and optically, and fast to operate. Good for "street photography".
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