My local photo dealer is selling a Nikon D40 with standard zoom for £220 ($330). Sure, it's not the newest model and the lens does not have stabilization, but that's insanely cheap by anybody's standard. Many people blow more on booze on a single Friday night. Like one of my oldest Net friends say, what does it all mean?
ttl said...
I think it means that the Nikon D40, and digital cameras in general, are not very valuable.
eolake said...
Aren't you happy with your D80?
ttl said...
I am very happy with my Nikon D80. I haven't regretted that purchase for one moment.
Note that I didn't say the D40, or digital cameras in general, are not desirable. Just that they are (apparently) not very valuable. This was in answer to your question on "what does it all mean?"
Conversely, and as you say, alcohol is surprisingly valuable considering it is a consumable with a relatively short effect. In fact, during times of a financial collapse when paper money stops working (due to hyperinflation) bottles of alcohol are often the most popular form of money. This is why preparedness guides often recommend stocking up on alcohol even if you don't drink the stuff yourself.
eolake said...
Maybe I'm just not sure which definition of "valuable" we are using here.
One would be "how much it helps humanity". One would be: "how much people are willing to pay for it". One would be "how people desire it right now". One would be "how much *I* desire it right now".
ttl said...
The original post talks about prices (in sterling), meaning valuation in the market place.
Even if something is very valuable to us, we generally only pay the market price. The "right now" part makes no difference as the market is open right now and there is no scarcity of the item.
Of course, when there is scarcity, valuation changes. I've seen cheap electric music gadgets go up hundreds of percents in price because some old analog chip it depends on is no longer being manufactured (and then come down again when someone discovers a large stash of the chip!) Theoretically, something like this could happen to digital cameras at some point in the future. But it is unlikely.
How much something "helps humanity" can not be measured in any meaningful way.
eolake said...
It can be evaluated, but it will usually be controversial.
Maybe I just felt protest because when you say "valuable", I tend to think of what it means to me, and not market price. To me, digital cameras have become super-bargains, and much cheaper than I ever expected them to become. (And I'm not alone, only five years ago an expert said that even if sensors became free, there was no way digital cameras would ever become as cheap as film cameras.)
ttl said...
I understand. It is a great position to be in -- to find a lot of subjective value in something the market doesn't value very high. That's one way to become rich, I suppose.
Good bicycles are still relatively expensive, but cameras are cheap. Levi's jeans still cost a lot, but computers are cheap.
Of course, many of the greatest things have absolutely no value in the market place. The technological invention I most depend on in life, the Unix system, is nowadays completely free.
And, peculiarly, it looks like all digital content is about to become free. And just when I was about to enter the content business ...
I hope it doesn't! I'd like to keep my business.
Also, who would pay for the production of movies?
Wednesday, April 08, 2009
UK launches massive, one-year program to archive every email
UK launches massive, one-year program to archive every email, article.
It's like they're testing what we'll stand for.
The headline is not accurate, but it's still durn Big Brother.
Pascal ranted:
And it doesn't even remotely sound like an April Fool's imposture. Bloody great.
As if hardened pro terrorists life former CIA operative Osama BinLaden were in any way embarrassed circumventing all that orwellian nonsense.
"Even in 2009, that kind of storage doesn't come cheap"
Three guesses as to who will be paying the final bill in these times of financial crisis...
Reminds me of the very recently abandoned Chinese State tradition, of billing the family of the condemned for the price of the bullet they would put through their head.
I'm sincerely hoping that the insanity of that tracking ambition will be its own demise, because it's probably impossible to achieve. The Internet is already about to implode as it is.
But a directive from the EU?!? I knew the UK were going over the deep end, but this... D'OH!
Again, I'm hoping that the citizens, already very edgy with all the going-ons, will not stand for it. In France, I'm POSITIVE the CNIL (Commission Nationale Informatique & Libertés) will very vocally veto this vile violation of the vox populi's vanished virtue, voluntarily viewing us all vexatingly as if voyeured vagrants on a veranda, or vivacious vipers in their vivarium. How vitally vicious, I'm more vivivdly livid than a vindicated vampire vowing vigorous vegetarianism!
Or what was that tirade again in V for Vendetta?
One Fawkin' awesome film, that was.
It's like they're testing what we'll stand for.
The headline is not accurate, but it's still durn Big Brother.
Pascal ranted:
And it doesn't even remotely sound like an April Fool's imposture. Bloody great.
As if hardened pro terrorists life former CIA operative Osama BinLaden were in any way embarrassed circumventing all that orwellian nonsense.
"Even in 2009, that kind of storage doesn't come cheap"
Three guesses as to who will be paying the final bill in these times of financial crisis...
Reminds me of the very recently abandoned Chinese State tradition, of billing the family of the condemned for the price of the bullet they would put through their head.
I'm sincerely hoping that the insanity of that tracking ambition will be its own demise, because it's probably impossible to achieve. The Internet is already about to implode as it is.
But a directive from the EU?!? I knew the UK were going over the deep end, but this... D'OH!
Again, I'm hoping that the citizens, already very edgy with all the going-ons, will not stand for it. In France, I'm POSITIVE the CNIL (Commission Nationale Informatique & Libertés) will very vocally veto this vile violation of the vox populi's vanished virtue, voluntarily viewing us all vexatingly as if voyeured vagrants on a veranda, or vivacious vipers in their vivarium. How vitally vicious, I'm more vivivdly livid than a vindicated vampire vowing vigorous vegetarianism!
Or what was that tirade again in V for Vendetta?
One Fawkin' awesome film, that was.
Today's qoutes
[Comments on today's quotes from my quotes service.]
Laughter is by definition healthy.
-- Doris Lessing
Yep.
Think like a man of action, act like a man of thought.
-- Henri Bergson
Meaning think very little and act very little?? Huh?
Keeping score of old scores and scars, getting even and one-upping, always make you less than you are.
-- Malcolm Forbes
Yeah.
No matter how old you are, there's always something good to look forward to.
-- Lynn Johnston, For Better or For Worse, 01-04-04
Death, if nothing else.
Art is making something out of nothing and selling it.
-- Frank Zappa
Indeed.
History is the version of past events that people have decided to agree upon.
-- Napoleon Bonaparte
Or not decided.
Anything too stupid to be said is sung.
-- Voltaire
Pretty much.
It was a book to kill time for those who like it better dead.
-- Dame Rose Macaulay
Kill that dang thing.
Laughter is by definition healthy.
-- Doris Lessing
Yep.
Think like a man of action, act like a man of thought.
-- Henri Bergson
Meaning think very little and act very little?? Huh?
Keeping score of old scores and scars, getting even and one-upping, always make you less than you are.
-- Malcolm Forbes
Yeah.
No matter how old you are, there's always something good to look forward to.
-- Lynn Johnston, For Better or For Worse, 01-04-04
Death, if nothing else.
Art is making something out of nothing and selling it.
-- Frank Zappa
Indeed.
History is the version of past events that people have decided to agree upon.
-- Napoleon Bonaparte
Or not decided.
Anything too stupid to be said is sung.
-- Voltaire
Pretty much.
It was a book to kill time for those who like it better dead.
-- Dame Rose Macaulay
Kill that dang thing.
Everything is amazing, nobody is happy
Louis CK on Conans show.
Jason said:
In 1940 the concept of world-wide communication through a small portable device was fantastic.
In 2009 I hate my cellphone.
That's quite interesting.
Jason said:
In 1940 the concept of world-wide communication through a small portable device was fantastic.
In 2009 I hate my cellphone.
That's quite interesting.
Tuesday, April 07, 2009
Jade, rock princess
Jade, now 8, and her mom just visited. I gave Jade one of my older iPods, she was very excited, couldn't stop bouncing and chattering. :-)
Monday, April 06, 2009
Abominable
"Abominable" web comic.
The humor is quite gentle at times, but I don't think I've seen a more beautifully drawn web comic.
The humor is quite gentle at times, but I don't think I've seen a more beautifully drawn web comic.
Sex Guide
Sex Guide for everybody.
I think it's meant in all seriousness, and can surely be helpful, but still it's sometimes pretty funny.
"The penis can be very frightening to some, but it really is very fun to play with."
"There are many toys out there for men to get some thrusting action from."
"When engaging in spanking or whipping, you don't always have to restrain your partner."
"After she reached orgasm, my g/f decided that she wanted to try f***ing me…Holy Awesome!!!!"
-
I think it's meant in all seriousness, and can surely be helpful, but still it's sometimes pretty funny.
"The penis can be very frightening to some, but it really is very fun to play with."
"There are many toys out there for men to get some thrusting action from."
"When engaging in spanking or whipping, you don't always have to restrain your partner."
"After she reached orgasm, my g/f decided that she wanted to try f***ing me…Holy Awesome!!!!"
-
Sunday, April 05, 2009
IS testing
So here arrives the first attempt at objective testing of Image Stabilization (reduction of hand-shake in pictures) in cameras and lenses.
"We expected to find a range of performance among IS systems, but were a little surprised at just how wide that range is. We measured IS performance ranging from zero stops (no detectable improvement at all) to about 3.5 stops. The conclusion: Just seeing the label "IS" (or VR, OS, VC, etc.) on a lens or camera body says little about how much it will improve your percentage of sharp shots."
Imaging-Resource/SLR-Gear does excellent testing, so I'm quite hopeful of the usefulness of this new resource.
"We expected to find a range of performance among IS systems, but were a little surprised at just how wide that range is. We measured IS performance ranging from zero stops (no detectable improvement at all) to about 3.5 stops. The conclusion: Just seeing the label "IS" (or VR, OS, VC, etc.) on a lens or camera body says little about how much it will improve your percentage of sharp shots."
Imaging-Resource/SLR-Gear does excellent testing, so I'm quite hopeful of the usefulness of this new resource.
Slow recovery
We would all like a speedy recovery to the economy, but I'm afraid it just ain't realistic. It'll take years, folks, perhaps many years.
Why? Because the cause of the problems was debt, and every time it started acting up, the goverments and banks (surely with the backing of the emotional response of the public) tried to fix it with, what? More debt. And now the whole thing is collapsing.
It's like you built a big house without adequate support structure, merely cheap board all through the walls. And the walls rotted, and what did you do? You slapped more cheap boards over them. And the same next time, and next. And now the point is reached where the house is collapsing under each own weight, and we're trying to control the collapse.
We may or may not be able to, but the fact remains that what looked like a big impressive house was made of cards, and if we want a similarly sized house, and one which will last, we will need a sound structure from the ground up. A structure of production, not debt. And that takes time. You can create "a billion dollars" out of thin air, but you can't create "ten new factories and educated workers" out of thin air.
Why? Because the cause of the problems was debt, and every time it started acting up, the goverments and banks (surely with the backing of the emotional response of the public) tried to fix it with, what? More debt. And now the whole thing is collapsing.
It's like you built a big house without adequate support structure, merely cheap board all through the walls. And the walls rotted, and what did you do? You slapped more cheap boards over them. And the same next time, and next. And now the point is reached where the house is collapsing under each own weight, and we're trying to control the collapse.
We may or may not be able to, but the fact remains that what looked like a big impressive house was made of cards, and if we want a similarly sized house, and one which will last, we will need a sound structure from the ground up. A structure of production, not debt. And that takes time. You can create "a billion dollars" out of thin air, but you can't create "ten new factories and educated workers" out of thin air.
Chastity, thoughts on
Pascal commented on the sexy woman-pirate statue:
"Methinks the good inquisitor is just feeling frustrated at his foolish chastity commitment this day, aye?"
I suspect there may be more truth to this than we normally realize. If all porn and nudity were banned, that would be a lot of his temptation gone right there, wouldn't it? (Actually I don't think it would be, but that would be the feeling for anybody in that situation.)
I heard the chastity demand for priests was only invented by a pope in the seventh century. How does the cath church get any takers at all under those conditions?
The ability to rise above the sex drive is so rare. I thought about it recently, watching an old Saturday Night Live episode (I'm still not overly impressed by that show) were Led Zeppelin was playing. They had this gorgeous co-singer. And I found myself wondering who of all the male members she was sleeping with. If you think about it, can you imagine a pretty young female (heck, even a plain one) touring with several young males, and not sleeping with anybody? No friggin way, it just doesn't happen. Should tell us something.
But even though the sex drive is perhaps never non-existent in anybody, it will be either weaker or overruled in a minority. For example, while geeks and nerds are often sexually frustrated, they are not so to a degree which will make them go out of their way to "get some". This is completely incomprehensible to normal people, especially jock-types, and so they assume that when nerds are not getting laid, it's not only a failure, it's the failure in life. Because for them, life is all about getting laid.
"Methinks the good inquisitor is just feeling frustrated at his foolish chastity commitment this day, aye?"
I suspect there may be more truth to this than we normally realize. If all porn and nudity were banned, that would be a lot of his temptation gone right there, wouldn't it? (Actually I don't think it would be, but that would be the feeling for anybody in that situation.)
I heard the chastity demand for priests was only invented by a pope in the seventh century. How does the cath church get any takers at all under those conditions?
The ability to rise above the sex drive is so rare. I thought about it recently, watching an old Saturday Night Live episode (I'm still not overly impressed by that show) were Led Zeppelin was playing. They had this gorgeous co-singer. And I found myself wondering who of all the male members she was sleeping with. If you think about it, can you imagine a pretty young female (heck, even a plain one) touring with several young males, and not sleeping with anybody? No friggin way, it just doesn't happen. Should tell us something.
But even though the sex drive is perhaps never non-existent in anybody, it will be either weaker or overruled in a minority. For example, while geeks and nerds are often sexually frustrated, they are not so to a degree which will make them go out of their way to "get some". This is completely incomprehensible to normal people, especially jock-types, and so they assume that when nerds are not getting laid, it's not only a failure, it's the failure in life. Because for them, life is all about getting laid.
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