Burnt ends, brisket, chicken, ribs, pulled pork, beans w/pork, mac & cheese
And there was great rejoicing in the Nikon lands, as the D300s replacement finally arrived, in the form of the rather sublime D500. People had been hoping for a new pro DX body for years, but nothing appeared, with the D90 simply evolving through the D7x00 line. (It's rumored the Thai floods disrupted these plans) It'll be a while before I can consider migrating, but when I'm able to, I'll do so with enthusiasm - the new body's 10fps maximum continuous shooting speed will be very nice to have on those occasions where there's a frenetic chase or a tall leap, not to mention a very generous buffer. (The D7100 can manage 6fps, with a bizarrely bijou buffer of only about 4 RAWs; the D500 offers 10fps, and whilst the buffer itself is "only" 14-16 RAWs deep, the speed of the cards permits around 79 RAWs in uncompressed 14-bit mode, or 200 in lossless compressed 12-bit) For anyone interested, Nikon has a technology digest available, which goes into more detail on aspects like the AF specifics. The catch is that it's priced commensurately, similar to the FX wunderkind, the D810. But, its 36MP would do me little good, given I'm much more interested in pixel density, let alone its rather modest continuous framerate, or the various other nifty goodies the D500 offers, like easy AF fine adjustment for any lens, or flicker compensation, which times exposures to take place at the peak of fluorescent or similar lighting's AC cycle - something even the new D5 flagship doesn't offer!
As for what it brings to the party: UHD video (including uncompressed video out over HDMI), 10fps, XQD support (one XQD slot, one SDXC slot), new AF module with 153 points, ISO up to 51,200 natively, expandable to 1,640,000, 2.3MP touch LCD with tilt articulation, WiFi working alongside Bluetooth, and more. It's essentially a DX version of the D5. =:D You can even read an in-depth review, from someone who was sent one in November 2015. There are also a few extra clarifications in this internal document, and in the comments, where it's noted that the D500 buffer is actually more around 14-16 RAWs deep, with the balance made up by the far faster card writing possible with XQD and UHS-II SDXC. Interestingly, it seems the XQD version of the D5 can write faster than the CF version (the D5 comes in two versions, one with twin XQD, the other with twin CompactFlash) - finally, CF's days appear to be numbered.
This SatW comic delves into film title translations - worth a look, and do go down into the comments for many more manglings, some quite poetic. ^_^
If you have questions to ask of Ebbe Linden, he's now accepting questions, to be submitted before Friday, Jan 15 2016, for a meeting on Thursday, Jan 21, 1030 SLT (1830 GMT). (Yes, I'm a bit late in posting this.. ^_^;;)
jeriendhal's daughter is participating in a half-marathon in May 2016, should you feel inclined to sponsoring her, via the charity Love Without Boundaries, which "provides life-changing surgeries and medical care, runs well monitored foster care programs, operates in-orphanage schools and offers student support, and gives quality formula and nutrition to orphaned and impoverished children."
Rather cool to see.. say you're an airline, and need to get a spare engine out to another craft in a hurry. How would you transport it? In this case, Qantas mounted it on the wing of another 747. Not operational, of course - the blades were removed, and fairings added to reduce drag, but there it is: a 747 with five engines on its wings. =:D
Dirk Gently lives again! BBC America & AMC have ordered eight episodes. I am, however, a touch nervous, as the writer is the guy responsible for 2012's "Chronicle", which wasn't exactly a masterpiece of subtlety. Still, we'll see.
Ah, that's a (minor) pain.. we enjoyed a power cut from around 10am-3pm on Monday, which I didn't actually notice for a good hour, given my primary system is a MacBook Pro, backed up by an iPad Air. I did notice the iPlayer downloads seemed to be running a bit slowly, but thought it must be just one of those things, especially as the entire BBC site had been down a few hours previous. Eventually, I noticed I wasn't actually connected to my usual WiFi node - it'd helpfully fallen over seamlessly to another access point. Unfortunately, not the iPad, which is on a 10GB/mo plan, but the iPhone, on a nominal 500MB/mo (plus 250 mins, unlimited texts).. so, yep, those iPlayer downloads slammed that data allowance into the ground, leaving me data-less until I buy another bundle, which I'd just done on Saturday. =:P (I can still use the voice time and texts, and data on the phone's fairly unimportant - the iPad's the mobile workhorse. Still, frustrating, for want of accidentally leaving the phone's "personal hotspot" pref enabled)
I finally got to see the "original" buns again. ^_^ That was the first time since July, which turned out to be a touch less rewarding than I'd hoped, as the field was all but overrun with wildflowers and other tall vegetation - for which the buns may well have been very grateful, but, I'm not currently equipped to shoot in infrared. =:) There weren't really any gasp-worthy moments, I'm afraid, but it was nonetheless a delight to see them all out and about, across the length of the space - and being relatively accustomed to people walking and cycling by on the path, they tend to be a good notch less skittish than most. (I did, unfortunately, forget to provide a tribute of raisins. If I get another opportunity in the coming weeks, I must try to remember. And the new Doc Martens came in beautifully handy, as there'd been some rain recently, making for a substantial puddle of a couple inches' water across the entire width of the path, through which I could merrily stride, casting my hair back with a laugh. Or something like that =:)
It's a bit of a messy composition, with so much bramble around, but still - I had to try capturing that moment, with the two of them quite deliberately nestled up to each other, side by side. ^_^
Do you go out to see many films on theatrical release, or do you tend to leave them for video nights, when you can invite friends over? For my part, it varies a lot where I am at the time - back in Bath, I loved going along to films at The Little, set in (of course) a Georgian building, with so much atmosphere, and the pleasant ability to buy lovely choc'lit and cider. Here, rather less so, with the local place being a generic multiplex. I am, however, tempted to try catching The Danish Girl - I'm a little surprised it even reached here, TBH, let alone four times daily. There's also Star Wars, of course, but I'd prefer to keep that for some monumental screen - I understand the South Bank's IMAX is quite good. ^_^ And I might see what The Good Dinosaur's like - that's also apparently still showing.
So, I finally got to see "Crusaders of the Lost Mark". Of course, I cried. ^_^ Not just for the CMCs, but for Diamond Tiara as well, finally breaking free of her mother's selfishness, becoming the pony she wants to be. There've been some very good episodes in season 5, but that's one of the best of all. Just beautiful. ^_^
Huh. Is "mutual friends" screwed up for anyone else's profile? (And then there's LJ's adoption of that wretched web design fad for hiding as much as possible, on profiles) If I show "friends", it lists everyone correctly - but if I ask for "mutual friends", it only actually offers up the names of about half the actual people, the rest sucked into some bit bucket along the way.
We watched "Alejandro Jodorowsky's Dune". I'd heard about the project, and a couple of the notable figures involved, but to see that extraordinary assembly of talent.. ye gods and little fishes, it would have been truly glorious. Ah, the film? It's about the making of, or rather, the non-making of - tragically, even once all the talent had been assembled, and a weighty tome produced with the entire project storyboarded out, and all the effects work considered, Hollywood simply wouldn't bite, leaving the production without the full money required to make it happen. So, you've got him as director, of course - and then, on visual design work, there's Mobius, Chris Foss, and Giger. As one of the main protagonists, Mick Jagger. As another, the director's son, who was trained for the role in all manner of martial arts, for six hours a day, for two years. As the totalitarian leader of the Universe, Dalí. As Baron Harkonnen, Orson Welles. Music by Pink Floyd, who were just putting the finishing touches to Dark Side of the Moon. Intriguingly, toward the end, AJ actually specifically notes that today, this could be perfectly feasible as an animation project, not necessarily with him involved. FSM, if there were any way I could play a part in bringing that into reality.. !
As for what it brings to the party: UHD video (including uncompressed video out over HDMI), 10fps, XQD support (one XQD slot, one SDXC slot), new AF module with 153 points, ISO up to 51,200 natively, expandable to 1,640,000, 2.3MP touch LCD with tilt articulation, WiFi working alongside Bluetooth, and more. It's essentially a DX version of the D5. =:D You can even read an in-depth review, from someone who was sent one in November 2015. There are also a few extra clarifications in this internal document, and in the comments, where it's noted that the D500 buffer is actually more around 14-16 RAWs deep, with the balance made up by the far faster card writing possible with XQD and UHS-II SDXC. Interestingly, it seems the XQD version of the D5 can write faster than the CF version (the D5 comes in two versions, one with twin XQD, the other with twin CompactFlash) - finally, CF's days appear to be numbered.
This SatW comic delves into film title translations - worth a look, and do go down into the comments for many more manglings, some quite poetic. ^_^
If you have questions to ask of Ebbe Linden, he's now accepting questions, to be submitted before Friday, Jan 15 2016, for a meeting on Thursday, Jan 21, 1030 SLT (1830 GMT). (Yes, I'm a bit late in posting this.. ^_^;;)
jeriendhal's daughter is participating in a half-marathon in May 2016, should you feel inclined to sponsoring her, via the charity Love Without Boundaries, which "provides life-changing surgeries and medical care, runs well monitored foster care programs, operates in-orphanage schools and offers student support, and gives quality formula and nutrition to orphaned and impoverished children."
Rather cool to see.. say you're an airline, and need to get a spare engine out to another craft in a hurry. How would you transport it? In this case, Qantas mounted it on the wing of another 747. Not operational, of course - the blades were removed, and fairings added to reduce drag, but there it is: a 747 with five engines on its wings. =:D
Dirk Gently lives again! BBC America & AMC have ordered eight episodes. I am, however, a touch nervous, as the writer is the guy responsible for 2012's "Chronicle", which wasn't exactly a masterpiece of subtlety. Still, we'll see.
Ah, that's a (minor) pain.. we enjoyed a power cut from around 10am-3pm on Monday, which I didn't actually notice for a good hour, given my primary system is a MacBook Pro, backed up by an iPad Air. I did notice the iPlayer downloads seemed to be running a bit slowly, but thought it must be just one of those things, especially as the entire BBC site had been down a few hours previous. Eventually, I noticed I wasn't actually connected to my usual WiFi node - it'd helpfully fallen over seamlessly to another access point. Unfortunately, not the iPad, which is on a 10GB/mo plan, but the iPhone, on a nominal 500MB/mo (plus 250 mins, unlimited texts).. so, yep, those iPlayer downloads slammed that data allowance into the ground, leaving me data-less until I buy another bundle, which I'd just done on Saturday. =:P (I can still use the voice time and texts, and data on the phone's fairly unimportant - the iPad's the mobile workhorse. Still, frustrating, for want of accidentally leaving the phone's "personal hotspot" pref enabled)
I finally got to see the "original" buns again. ^_^ That was the first time since July, which turned out to be a touch less rewarding than I'd hoped, as the field was all but overrun with wildflowers and other tall vegetation - for which the buns may well have been very grateful, but, I'm not currently equipped to shoot in infrared. =:) There weren't really any gasp-worthy moments, I'm afraid, but it was nonetheless a delight to see them all out and about, across the length of the space - and being relatively accustomed to people walking and cycling by on the path, they tend to be a good notch less skittish than most. (I did, unfortunately, forget to provide a tribute of raisins. If I get another opportunity in the coming weeks, I must try to remember. And the new Doc Martens came in beautifully handy, as there'd been some rain recently, making for a substantial puddle of a couple inches' water across the entire width of the path, through which I could merrily stride, casting my hair back with a laugh. Or something like that =:)
It's a bit of a messy composition, with so much bramble around, but still - I had to try capturing that moment, with the two of them quite deliberately nestled up to each other, side by side. ^_^
Do you go out to see many films on theatrical release, or do you tend to leave them for video nights, when you can invite friends over? For my part, it varies a lot where I am at the time - back in Bath, I loved going along to films at The Little, set in (of course) a Georgian building, with so much atmosphere, and the pleasant ability to buy lovely choc'lit and cider. Here, rather less so, with the local place being a generic multiplex. I am, however, tempted to try catching The Danish Girl - I'm a little surprised it even reached here, TBH, let alone four times daily. There's also Star Wars, of course, but I'd prefer to keep that for some monumental screen - I understand the South Bank's IMAX is quite good. ^_^ And I might see what The Good Dinosaur's like - that's also apparently still showing.
So, I finally got to see "Crusaders of the Lost Mark". Of course, I cried. ^_^ Not just for the CMCs, but for Diamond Tiara as well, finally breaking free of her mother's selfishness, becoming the pony she wants to be. There've been some very good episodes in season 5, but that's one of the best of all. Just beautiful. ^_^
Huh. Is "mutual friends" screwed up for anyone else's profile? (And then there's LJ's adoption of that wretched web design fad for hiding as much as possible, on profiles) If I show "friends", it lists everyone correctly - but if I ask for "mutual friends", it only actually offers up the names of about half the actual people, the rest sucked into some bit bucket along the way.
We watched "Alejandro Jodorowsky's Dune". I'd heard about the project, and a couple of the notable figures involved, but to see that extraordinary assembly of talent.. ye gods and little fishes, it would have been truly glorious. Ah, the film? It's about the making of, or rather, the non-making of - tragically, even once all the talent had been assembled, and a weighty tome produced with the entire project storyboarded out, and all the effects work considered, Hollywood simply wouldn't bite, leaving the production without the full money required to make it happen. So, you've got him as director, of course - and then, on visual design work, there's Mobius, Chris Foss, and Giger. As one of the main protagonists, Mick Jagger. As another, the director's son, who was trained for the role in all manner of martial arts, for six hours a day, for two years. As the totalitarian leader of the Universe, Dalí. As Baron Harkonnen, Orson Welles. Music by Pink Floyd, who were just putting the finishing touches to Dark Side of the Moon. Intriguingly, toward the end, AJ actually specifically notes that today, this could be perfectly feasible as an animation project, not necessarily with him involved. FSM, if there were any way I could play a part in bringing that into reality.. !