Displaying comments 1 to 50 of 177
MeFi post:
Ebay Art
Not a bad idea, but this struck me as one blog post that really really needs a bunch of photo examples. Without that it's basically just "You know, you can buy paintings on Ebay!"
posted to MetaFilter by echo target
at 3:27 PM on October 1, 2008
MeFi post:
Termite Mounds
My god, I think I hate that man.
No disrespect to either the termites or the Burj Dubai.
posted to MetaFilter by echo target
at 12:11 PM on September 30, 2008
MeFi post:
sample videos for Nikon D90 and Canon 5D MkII
Wow, I wish the D90 movie showed more of the movie-mode. The Canon movie was obviously made to showcase that feature. It's hard to compare the two. I will say that they look absolutely kickass, especially at that price. You could buy two or three of them (for the cooldown periods) for a lot less than a comparable fullsize HD camera. And that DOF!
posted to MetaFilter by echo target
at 3:02 PM on September 23, 2008
I thought the whole thing was with the 5D II...where'd you see something about a standard camera?
posted to MetaFilter by echo target
at 3:11 PM on September 23, 2008
MeFi post:
“A big warm kiss, like a shot from a revolver, and like the psychoanalyst’s couch.”
I should certainly hope the lenses are good. Take a look at this here 50mm f/0.95. For $11,000, that bastard had better be out taking award-winning photos while I sleep.
I joined photography after digital had become the standard, so Leica is mostly a prestige brand to me. There's a saying I've heard: "A Leica is a camera that you buy to have in your hand during the publicity shoot after you win an award for a photo you took with your Canon." Swap in Nikon... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by echo target
at 7:22 PM on September 22, 2008
MeFi post:
Photographs of Abandoned Places
See, this is HDR done right. That? Love the subject matter, but they all just look so flat. Half of those have huge screaming halos around everything.
posted to MetaFilter by echo target
at 2:54 PM on September 22, 2008
Eekacat: okay, I'll bite. What's wrong with that one? There's no accounting for taste and all, but it avoids all the pitfalls of HDR (lack of contract, garish color, glowing halos, overall 'flat' image) while using the strengths (revealing shadow detail). In that particular shot, the details in the shadows are made visible, but the balance between shadows and highlights is retained. You can see what's in that dark corner, but it still looks like a really dark corner.... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by echo target
at 3:43 PM on September 22, 2008
MeFi post:
Typographunnies
Wow, these are bad. But what's the orange x green one? Do I not get it, or is it not funny?
Yes, I'm aware that both might be the case.
posted to MetaFilter by echo target
at 8:33 AM on September 18, 2008
MeFi post:
Crush, Texas - Town for a Day
Wow, that is a great photo. And what a story.
I must nitpick, though: two trains (of equivalent weight) hitting each other head on at 45 mph is not equivalent to hitting a stationary object at 90, despite what the first link claims. It's the same as hitting a stationary object at 45.
posted to MetaFilter by echo target
at 5:37 PM on September 17, 2008
Okay, consider this: you're driving at 45 and hit an oncoming car of the same size going at the same speed in the opposite direction. You both come to a complete stop. The other car has just exerted a certain amount of force on yours: the amount needed to bring you to a full stop from 45mph.
Now consider driving into a stationary, immovable object: the same thing happens. The same amount of energy has been exerted upon you and your car: the amount needed to bring you... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by echo target
at 5:52 PM on September 17, 2008
We do have monster truck rallies now, to be fair.
posted to MetaFilter by echo target
at 6:07 PM on September 17, 2008
Hmm. This is a derail (ha!), but I'm curious about the 50 & 25 rear-end collision. At first I thought they would split the difference and both end up going 37.5 mph, but I think what would actually happen (not counting friction, brakes, crumple zones, differing masses, etc) is that the front car, originally travelling 25mph, would be accelerated to 50, while the other car would slow to 25. They trade velocities.
This sounds weird, but it's what pool balls would do... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by echo target
at 7:01 PM on September 17, 2008
MeFi post:
F1 + F2
Not bad. I finished in 195 commands total, which is probably a lot worse than what a real programmer can do.
posted to MetaFilter by echo target
at 10:20 AM on September 17, 2008
MeFi post:
"Va fan culo!"
It's actually better without the translation, I suspect.
I like his contented little smile throughout.
posted to MetaFilter by echo target
at 10:58 AM on September 16, 2008
MeFi post:
Hacking the Hadron
I'm not surprised that the data would be online - I mean, this is a gigantic international undertaking, and folks across the world are going to want in on the data. But is the control system really online? The article didn't seem clear to me.
I'm not sure why you think this'll be deleted. The third post on LHC this month, maybe, but it's certainly new news.
posted to MetaFilter by echo target
at 5:16 PM on September 13, 2008
MeFi post:
Wisconsin Attorney General sues Elections Agency
Does anyone have examples of actual vote fraud done with false names or addresses? Recently, I mean. Maybe at some point in the past it made sense to fill up the rolls with names from the local cemetery, but if you really wanted to defraud a vote in the modern era, wouldn't you go for the vote-counting machines or some other technological weakness?
posted to MetaFilter by echo target
at 1:48 PM on September 11, 2008
MeFi post:
McCain and the OODA loop
You know, being faster than your opponent may not matter much if he holds a stronger position. This is perhaps something that sets air combat apart from ground combat: there are no fortified positions, so movement is the greatest strength. Conversely, an army can hold a strong point and be safe there, even if their opponent circles endlessly.
To extend the metaphor, as we're doing, being able to politically outmaneuver your opponent may not matter if his positions are... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by echo target
at 7:47 AM on September 11, 2008
Yeah, I guess the political field is less like solid ground with sure high points than a floating raft on the high seas, where the surface pitches and rolls and shifts and the high points change. Political combat is probably more like a cross between land and aerial combat. If you stick to one place forever, you're likely to be undermined, but a series of clever-in-the-short-term moves can put you in a bad position in the long run.
McCain's VP selection gains him an... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by echo target
at 8:20 AM on September 11, 2008
MeFi post:
Spore in the wild
The wise men at Penny Arcade, certainly no promoters of software piracy, have pointed out that DRM only affects you if you legitimately paid for the the product. Making your DRM scheme especially strict and/or complicated just increases the relative value of the pirated version.
posted to MetaFilter by echo target
at 12:12 PM on September 8, 2008
MeFi post:
Southwestern Style
I think the real news here is that Architectural Digest is just as enamored of shitty, overcooked HDR as the Flickr pools are.
posted to MetaFilter by echo target
at 1:11 PM on August 22, 2008
MeFi post:
Where's my image?
Excellent idea, burnmp3s. I just tried to find a printably larger version of this excellent Solidarity poster. No luck, but I note that it finds other images that include the text that's partially obscured in the original. I'm impressed.
posted to MetaFilter by echo target
at 9:22 AM on August 21, 2008
Wow, I really think a lot of things are excellent today. Have I mentioned excelling?
posted to MetaFilter by echo target
at 9:23 AM on August 21, 2008
MeFi post:
Olympic logos from 1896 to present
Mexico City '68 is a reassurance that bad graphic design is not peculiar to London. It transcends time and place.
posted to MetaFilter by echo target
at 6:03 AM on August 21, 2008
Okay, 'of its time', 'key point in the development of signage,' sure. I'm not prepared to argue with that. But it gives me a headache. I suppose in 30 years you'll be saying that London's logo was actually a work of staggering genius.
posted to MetaFilter by echo target
at 6:28 AM on August 21, 2008
Chicago's is quite nice. Modern without looking like it'll be obviously dated in 15 years. Several layers of interpretation in the graphics used. Nice clean, distinctive color palette. I want Chicago to get the nod just so we can see some more.
posted to MetaFilter by echo target
at 8:35 AM on August 21, 2008
MeFi post:
Morgues for an era that well knows what to do with them
Kunstler had some decent points about Stata there, so I thought I'd see what he's saying about eyesores now. Oy.
If I may quote: "Tattooing has traditionally been a marginal activity among civilized people, the calling card of cannibals, sailors, and whores."
posted to MetaFilter by echo target
at 6:23 AM on August 21, 2008
MeFi post:
Beloit the belt
I wonder what this year's incoming freshman class thinks of the extravagant bow tie of Mr. Ron Nief, Director of Public Affairs.
posted to MetaFilter by echo target
at 1:34 PM on August 19, 2008
MeFi post:
No Echo from Echo
That's pretty well excellent, Mutant. I'm not a business guy, but I can tell you from the technical side that it's dead on. A laptop, audio interface, and a couple of decent directional microphones would be all you'd need. $2000, tops.
I've seen a couple of bands doing this kind of thing around, but it's always been the band itself that organizes the recording. Lots of bands haven't the technical inclination to do it themselves, but would love to have someone do it for them.
posted to MetaFilter by echo target
at 7:54 AM on August 19, 2008
Videos might not be practical. There's a lot more encoding that has to happen to the data before you can burn it, and I doubt you could make it happen fast enough to have DVDs to sell at the show. With audio, you can burn a CD from a WAV file in a minute or two.
posted to MetaFilter by echo target
at 9:53 AM on August 19, 2008
MeFi post:
Jon and his TiVo
The space-web-time continuum looks to be okay over here. Cool insider's view, though.
I bet lots of professional solutions are much lower tech than we think they are. I'm in the audiovideo business, and one thing the big installers are worried about is the proliferation of 'consumer' gear in professional environments. Instead of paying for a highly customized solution, TDS bought some gear off the shelf at some big-box retailer. Installers don't like this.
posted to MetaFilter by echo target
at 6:58 AM on August 19, 2008
Ha, yeah, but compared to entirely custom high-end solution, it's the difference between a Kia and an F1.
posted to MetaFilter by echo target
at 7:11 AM on August 19, 2008
