I was very happy to hear, this morning, that Larry Summers has withdrawn his name from consideration for Fed Chairman. I was shocked; I figured, with Obama liking him, that he was a shoo-in.
I did hear about the three Dems on the Senate Banking committee expressing serious reservations about him, but I didn't think it'd be enough to derail him. Certainly not so quickly.
Anyway, this is fantastic news. Now we might not get a Wall Street insider in charge. That would be a huge change for the better. It seems that the current Vice Chair, whose name escapes me now, is the most likely candidate.
I don't know a lot about her, but I did see a comparison of their records on various issues, and she was much better. So maybe there's hope.
Oh, and I can't find it now, but Bernie Sanders (one of those three, from Vermont) had a fantastic remark about how bad a choice Summers was. I was amazed to hear such a direct rebuke. Good times.
20130913
New phones?
[note: I wrote this a couple of days ago, but am just getting around to posting it.]
I've been thinking about the iPhone 5S since it was released yesterday. I'm contemplating buying one, as my iPhone 4 is getting a bit long in the tooth.
But a lot of what's improved won't do much for me. Finally getting Siri would be nice. The extra CPU power (20-40x as much, judging by the graphs) never hurts, but I wonder if it'll really matter. Maybe some games would run without getting as hot, since the processor won't be taxed as much? If so, that'd give a bit of battery life improvement, which is always welcome.
But in terms of meaningful improvements for me? The camera is really the only thing. I like the larger sensor (I shoot full-frame, so I'm of the opinion that it'll only be too large when they can't get a lens in the housing anymore) and larger max aperture. Those will both help in low light. There's some potential for the larger aperture to allow for creative depth-of-field effects, but my suspicion is that the sensor is still too small for that to be noticeable.
I also really like the 720p slomo output. 120p is freakin' awesome. I can certainly think of some things for which I'd love to have that (although a longer lens would be very useful for many of those).
The burst mode and in-focus picking both have the potential to be big difference-makers as well, although it will require some real testing to figure that out.
The dual-color flash will help in low light, too, and probably in a more dramatic way, most of the time. This is really what I wanted to talk about, though. It'd be great to have something like that as an add-on flash for my Nikon. Of course, the coordination between the two would be difficult to mediate. Probably every company would choose its own solution, so flashes become as interoperable as lenses (which is to say, almost not at all). Plus, there's definitely some issue with the detection; auto-white balance on my SLR is pretty good, but sometimes fails pretty hard (this is why I shoot in RAW. I can losslessly correct in post). In fact, that parenthetical leads to the only major change I'd like to see in the iPhone; RAW output.
I don't know what to make of the M7 motion coprocessor. It's certainly got potential. I'd been contemplating a fitbit, so this might completely obviate the need for one. It might also help me to get up from my desk more often during the workday, which would have significant health benefits.
The TouchID sensor... I'm having a hard time getting excited about it, after finding out that the NSA is grabbing data directly off smartphones. So a fingerprint sensor just says to me, "How about I just give you a fingerprint to put into the records". Hard to get excited about that.
[One good thing I read today is that the part mentioned in the keynote, that it read sub-epidermal layers, means that it's much harder to fake. Gelatin copy won't work, nor will a dead finger. Kudos, there. And maybe that's why they bought the company that makes the sensor, for that differentiator.]
Anyway, not sure yet, but I'm certainly leaning towards upgrading. If I can keep my current data plan, that would make it a slam dunk. If not, then it gets a bit more complicated. We'll see.
I've been thinking about the iPhone 5S since it was released yesterday. I'm contemplating buying one, as my iPhone 4 is getting a bit long in the tooth.
But a lot of what's improved won't do much for me. Finally getting Siri would be nice. The extra CPU power (20-40x as much, judging by the graphs) never hurts, but I wonder if it'll really matter. Maybe some games would run without getting as hot, since the processor won't be taxed as much? If so, that'd give a bit of battery life improvement, which is always welcome.
But in terms of meaningful improvements for me? The camera is really the only thing. I like the larger sensor (I shoot full-frame, so I'm of the opinion that it'll only be too large when they can't get a lens in the housing anymore) and larger max aperture. Those will both help in low light. There's some potential for the larger aperture to allow for creative depth-of-field effects, but my suspicion is that the sensor is still too small for that to be noticeable.
I also really like the 720p slomo output. 120p is freakin' awesome. I can certainly think of some things for which I'd love to have that (although a longer lens would be very useful for many of those).
The burst mode and in-focus picking both have the potential to be big difference-makers as well, although it will require some real testing to figure that out.
The dual-color flash will help in low light, too, and probably in a more dramatic way, most of the time. This is really what I wanted to talk about, though. It'd be great to have something like that as an add-on flash for my Nikon. Of course, the coordination between the two would be difficult to mediate. Probably every company would choose its own solution, so flashes become as interoperable as lenses (which is to say, almost not at all). Plus, there's definitely some issue with the detection; auto-white balance on my SLR is pretty good, but sometimes fails pretty hard (this is why I shoot in RAW. I can losslessly correct in post). In fact, that parenthetical leads to the only major change I'd like to see in the iPhone; RAW output.
I don't know what to make of the M7 motion coprocessor. It's certainly got potential. I'd been contemplating a fitbit, so this might completely obviate the need for one. It might also help me to get up from my desk more often during the workday, which would have significant health benefits.
The TouchID sensor... I'm having a hard time getting excited about it, after finding out that the NSA is grabbing data directly off smartphones. So a fingerprint sensor just says to me, "How about I just give you a fingerprint to put into the records". Hard to get excited about that.
[One good thing I read today is that the part mentioned in the keynote, that it read sub-epidermal layers, means that it's much harder to fake. Gelatin copy won't work, nor will a dead finger. Kudos, there. And maybe that's why they bought the company that makes the sensor, for that differentiator.]
Anyway, not sure yet, but I'm certainly leaning towards upgrading. If I can keep my current data plan, that would make it a slam dunk. If not, then it gets a bit more complicated. We'll see.
20130910
Reasons for war?
I still haven't listened to Obama's speech (though I'll certainly read summaries, if not a transcript), and it's sure that the US media isn't talking about this, but it's kind of important.
So far, we haven't heard any evidence that doesn't amount to "trust us", and that's a bit of a problem.
Especially when we find out that our allies aren't quite as convinced as we are. The lede is pretty straightforward:
Kind of destroys any rationale for attacking, doesn't it?
So far, we haven't heard any evidence that doesn't amount to "trust us", and that's a bit of a problem.
Especially when we find out that our allies aren't quite as convinced as we are. The lede is pretty straightforward:
Syrian government forces may have carried out a chemical weapons attack close to Damascus without the personal permission of President Bashar al-Assad, Germany's Bild am Sonntag paper reported on Sunday, citing German intelligence.
Kind of destroys any rationale for attacking, doesn't it?
Duck!
I was recently introduced to the photography-centric webcomic, What the Duck. I'm currently working my way backwards through the strip archives, and can't believe I didn't know about it before. Despite being a weekly (well, now it is; it was a daily at one point), it has over 1400 strips, so it's been going for a while.
I must admit, it has me even more pessimistic about being able to make money from photography, but it is pretty funny. But this strip I found especially funny. Not because I've ever shown my kids a phone that old before, but because they (my son, especially, who's two) will pick up basically anything camera-ish-sized, hold it in front of their face, and say, "Say 'Cheese'".
(My one complaint about the strip, btw, is that there are no forward- or backward-navigation buttons through the archive. Very annoying. And the calendar widget for selection allows clicking on any day, not just a day with a strip.)
I must admit, it has me even more pessimistic about being able to make money from photography, but it is pretty funny. But this strip I found especially funny. Not because I've ever shown my kids a phone that old before, but because they (my son, especially, who's two) will pick up basically anything camera-ish-sized, hold it in front of their face, and say, "Say 'Cheese'".
(My one complaint about the strip, btw, is that there are no forward- or backward-navigation buttons through the archive. Very annoying. And the calendar widget for selection allows clicking on any day, not just a day with a strip.)
Expeed-ing along
I don't pay a lot of attention to the chips inside of cameras, but I found this primer on EXPEED4 by Thom Hogan quite interesting. Misleading classifications (pointed out himself, a bit, in the footnote) aside, this does give a lot of interesting information.
It's mostly about what's in the next generation of the family of chips that feeds the EXPEED models. The thing I found most interesting about it, is that it indicates that the EXPEED is actually the limiting factor in why the D4 isn't capable of higher speeds. There's also a hint that Canon's 1DIV can go faster because it can use multiple processors together for greater speed. Very neat stuff.
It's also implied that the reason the D800 can't shoot faster wasn't a matter of Nikon trying to force sports shooters to the higher-price D4, but merely that the chip can't handle a faster speed with that many pixels.
Anyway, there's some other stuff with some specific call-outs for features in upcoming cameras, although I wasn't as interested in that. But if you are, check out the full article.
It's mostly about what's in the next generation of the family of chips that feeds the EXPEED models. The thing I found most interesting about it, is that it indicates that the EXPEED is actually the limiting factor in why the D4 isn't capable of higher speeds. There's also a hint that Canon's 1DIV can go faster because it can use multiple processors together for greater speed. Very neat stuff.
It's also implied that the reason the D800 can't shoot faster wasn't a matter of Nikon trying to force sports shooters to the higher-price D4, but merely that the chip can't handle a faster speed with that many pixels.
Anyway, there's some other stuff with some specific call-outs for features in upcoming cameras, although I wasn't as interested in that. But if you are, check out the full article.
Beating the Drums
*Thump* *Thump* *THUMP*
Hear that? Those are the drums of war, beating again. Once again, Obama's Nobel Prize is looking like an ever-more-foolish selection by the Nobel committee.
Once again, we're hearing the same familiar refrains about how, this time, things will be different. Somehow, many more people will not be killed (except, you know, THOSE bad guys). Somehow, this will not be expensive (even though cruise missiles cost over $1M apiece, and the smallest of the plans being contemplated (that I've heard) involves launching several hundred of those). And somehow, this will increase our standing in the world.
Never mind the man behind the curtain, who would reveal that killing more people in the Middle East would only feed terrorist organizations (no, I'm not echoing what Assad is saying, I'm saying that it would provide more propoganda material for them). And that we would be violating the UN Charter. And that it's likely that we're giving up more money (in some form or another) to placate would-be allies to give us cover to violate that charter. And that we've been allowing a great many people over there to die for a long time (and far more to be violently displaced from their homes).
And that violence never begets peace (unless you completely destroy the violent; at which point you need to rebuild their countries. Yeah, past experience shows that that's a cheap operation. And again, that it gives you a lot more terrorists to fight).
Once again, a not-terribly-close look reveals that there is no endgame planned.
Our military has gone off half-cocked entirely too many times in the last forty to fifty years. Let's not repeat the experiment.
As a weird thought, why don't we instead plow that $0.5B (again, I haven't heard an idea that would possibly cost less than that) into helping refugees and providing medical help to Syrians. That would be the long play towards winning hearts and minds in the region. Just think about al Qaeda's reaction to that. Or Saudi Arabia's. Or Iran's.
Hear that? Those are the drums of war, beating again. Once again, Obama's Nobel Prize is looking like an ever-more-foolish selection by the Nobel committee.
Once again, we're hearing the same familiar refrains about how, this time, things will be different. Somehow, many more people will not be killed (except, you know, THOSE bad guys). Somehow, this will not be expensive (even though cruise missiles cost over $1M apiece, and the smallest of the plans being contemplated (that I've heard) involves launching several hundred of those). And somehow, this will increase our standing in the world.
Never mind the man behind the curtain, who would reveal that killing more people in the Middle East would only feed terrorist organizations (no, I'm not echoing what Assad is saying, I'm saying that it would provide more propoganda material for them). And that we would be violating the UN Charter. And that it's likely that we're giving up more money (in some form or another) to placate would-be allies to give us cover to violate that charter. And that we've been allowing a great many people over there to die for a long time (and far more to be violently displaced from their homes).
And that violence never begets peace (unless you completely destroy the violent; at which point you need to rebuild their countries. Yeah, past experience shows that that's a cheap operation. And again, that it gives you a lot more terrorists to fight).
Once again, a not-terribly-close look reveals that there is no endgame planned.
Our military has gone off half-cocked entirely too many times in the last forty to fifty years. Let's not repeat the experiment.
As a weird thought, why don't we instead plow that $0.5B (again, I haven't heard an idea that would possibly cost less than that) into helping refugees and providing medical help to Syrians. That would be the long play towards winning hearts and minds in the region. Just think about al Qaeda's reaction to that. Or Saudi Arabia's. Or Iran's.
Typography typos?
I've been largely ignoring Yahoo! (not difficult to do, I'm sorry to say to those who work there) for a long time, but I was recently pointed to a critique of the new logo they've seen fit to inflict upon the world.
And I agree with all of the points of that critique. Plus, I'd add that the chiseling is its own disaster as well, because the shadowing it engenders is completely inconsistent. Especially focus on which parts of the Y are lit vs not. Then notice that the ! and the O before it have their shadows on opposite sides. In fact, the A might be the only letter completely consistent with itself (if the light is shining straight down from above); all the other letters show a left-right bias as well.
In summary, OUCH!
And I agree with all of the points of that critique. Plus, I'd add that the chiseling is its own disaster as well, because the shadowing it engenders is completely inconsistent. Especially focus on which parts of the Y are lit vs not. Then notice that the ! and the O before it have their shadows on opposite sides. In fact, the A might be the only letter completely consistent with itself (if the light is shining straight down from above); all the other letters show a left-right bias as well.
In summary, OUCH!
Lineup (for now) Complete
Well, I read in the paper yesterday that MarJo has finally been signed by the Caps. Yay.
And the cap hit isn't bad, at $2M/yr. That's about where I was expecting things to go (give or take a couple hundred thousand); he just didn't have any leverage, even though that's probably slightly below what he deserves, based on his play.
I'm glad to see it, although with only $700k cap space left, I'm not sure what the Caps will be able to do for the rest of the season.
That is, they're in pretty decent shape, but could really use another defenseman to push Erskine down to the third pairing, and don't have the money.
There's also the possibility of Kuznetsov coming over after the Olympics. I don't think there's any money for that, either.
But, in the grand scheme of things, these aren't terrible problems to have. Maybe McPhee can convince the Toronto brass that they need another heavy-weight knuckle-chucker. Honestly, with his contract, I'd be happy to see him traded for a bag of pucks (sorry, John. I don't think you're a bad player, but you're heavily overpaid for what you bring to the table).
And there's also the thought of Wilson. Not sure how things work if he comes up after the OHL season ends, but they definitely can't afford the cap hit to bring him up to start the season. Again, not a terrible problem to have.
I think the Caps are in great shape if Dima can work his way back up to the Show, although last season is certainly worrisome in that regard. But his showing two seasons ago certainly leaves room to hope. But if he can't, they're going to be pretty exposed defensively. We'll keep our fingers crossed.
Oh, and it was definitely weird to find out about a roster move in the paper. Definitely wouldn't have happened on a weekday.
Update: Heard yesterday that Kuznetsov has another shoulder injury, though should be back soon enough to still compete in Olympics (assuming it doesn't keep him from making the team, of course).
And the cap hit isn't bad, at $2M/yr. That's about where I was expecting things to go (give or take a couple hundred thousand); he just didn't have any leverage, even though that's probably slightly below what he deserves, based on his play.
I'm glad to see it, although with only $700k cap space left, I'm not sure what the Caps will be able to do for the rest of the season.
That is, they're in pretty decent shape, but could really use another defenseman to push Erskine down to the third pairing, and don't have the money.
There's also the possibility of Kuznetsov coming over after the Olympics. I don't think there's any money for that, either.
But, in the grand scheme of things, these aren't terrible problems to have. Maybe McPhee can convince the Toronto brass that they need another heavy-weight knuckle-chucker. Honestly, with his contract, I'd be happy to see him traded for a bag of pucks (sorry, John. I don't think you're a bad player, but you're heavily overpaid for what you bring to the table).
And there's also the thought of Wilson. Not sure how things work if he comes up after the OHL season ends, but they definitely can't afford the cap hit to bring him up to start the season. Again, not a terrible problem to have.
I think the Caps are in great shape if Dima can work his way back up to the Show, although last season is certainly worrisome in that regard. But his showing two seasons ago certainly leaves room to hope. But if he can't, they're going to be pretty exposed defensively. We'll keep our fingers crossed.
Oh, and it was definitely weird to find out about a roster move in the paper. Definitely wouldn't have happened on a weekday.
Update: Heard yesterday that Kuznetsov has another shoulder injury, though should be back soon enough to still compete in Olympics (assuming it doesn't keep him from making the team, of course).
20130901
Where'd that word come from?
I recently discovered a fascinating book called the Etymologicon. I can't remember where I ran across it, but the title got me curious enough to buy it.
Since taking Latin in High School (let's hear it for Catholic education), I've been very interested in etymologies. I even bought the Compact OED some years ago (I'd love to get the full one, but that's prohibitively expensive, plus would take a ridiculous amount of shelf space), just to explore that.
Well, building on that, and on his own readings, Mark Forsyth has organized an exploration through etymologies via short (2-3 page) stories that combine related words into a tapestry of morphology.
I'm actually still only twenty or thirty pages in, but it's fantastic reading. Not really meant to be read in one sitting, but it makes for a number of very enjoyable sittings. I'm looking forward to having read all of it.
Plus, I really need to start exploring his blog, The Inky Fool. If the book's any indication, the blog will be fantastic (and heck, some of the stories are reprints from the blog).
Very funny, and very educational.
Since taking Latin in High School (let's hear it for Catholic education), I've been very interested in etymologies. I even bought the Compact OED some years ago (I'd love to get the full one, but that's prohibitively expensive, plus would take a ridiculous amount of shelf space), just to explore that.
Well, building on that, and on his own readings, Mark Forsyth has organized an exploration through etymologies via short (2-3 page) stories that combine related words into a tapestry of morphology.
I'm actually still only twenty or thirty pages in, but it's fantastic reading. Not really meant to be read in one sitting, but it makes for a number of very enjoyable sittings. I'm looking forward to having read all of it.
Plus, I really need to start exploring his blog, The Inky Fool. If the book's any indication, the blog will be fantastic (and heck, some of the stories are reprints from the blog).
Very funny, and very educational.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)