Pentax 10-17mm fisheye lens
Posted on April 24, 2008 - Filed Under General, News, Personal, Technology
lets see if i can remember how to do this blog thing 🙂 its been a while just updating you on my camera stuff i went out and bought a Pentax 10-17mm fisheye lens (or is it fish eye ?) the other weekend i had been tossing up between that and the Sigma 10-20mm wide angle lens it was a hard decision and took me a while so far i have only played around with it, learining what works and what doesnt and there is a lot that can go wrong first off it is a fisheye and so has inherent distortion, bending any horizontal or vertical lines that dont run through the centre also the field of view is so great you have to be careful what gets included in the photo, your feet for example or tripod legs, camera bag, fingers on the focusing ring the wide view can also easily introduce the sun into the photo which can affect the exposure and also cause increased contrast with shaded areas coming out really black, with totally white skies the minimum focus distance is about 25mm from the front glass, and things look a lot further away when looking through the viewfinfer, so i often touched flowers i was trying to photograph with the front glass. the closeness also means you can easily include your shadow or the lenses shadow but once you have all that figured out it is a great, fun lens 🙂 and i am really enjoying it so far i havent taken it off my camera, I am really happy with my purchase, i just need more practise with it, weekends are to short lol i have some photos on my web site, in the "experimental" section lol, I may move them once i am no longer experimenting 🙂 . you can take a look here :- http://www.johndolphin.net/photos/categories.php?cat_id=61 i would of posted pics but i cant remember how i am such a bad blogger 😉Peter Frampton
Posted on March 8, 2008 - Filed Under General
It really kinda grates on my nerves to see one of my favorite singing stars when growing up using his musical talents for a Geico commercial... Then....and now.Green PC
Posted on February 26, 2008 - Filed Under Environmentalism, Technology
Lenovo’s ThinkCentre A61e combines full-size PC performance with earth-friendly features. Powered by AMD processors, the smallest, quietest ThinkCentre comes fully loaded. Only the world’s best engineers could fit this much performance in such a small package.
The smallest, most energy-efficient ThinkCentre includes: • AMD Athlon or Sempron processors • ThinkVantage® Rescue and Recovery™ • ThinkVantage Client Security Solution pre-loaded • Integrated fingerprint reader • Integrated gigabit Ethernet • Leading graphics performance provided by ATI Radeon® Xpress 200
Happy Hearts Day
Posted on February 13, 2008 - Filed Under Personal
Hi Oz!
Happy Valentines Day!
xoxoxo
~Boz
First Zero Carbon City
Posted on January 22, 2008 - Filed Under Environmentalism
Hi Oz When you live in the desert, why not take advantage of all that sun! That is precisely what Abu Dhabi plans to do with a new city, the Masdar project. Solar roofs, light railway, and automated transport pods will be some of the features. But zero? Seems hard to do. Even baking bread emits some gasses! Automated transport pods sound like fun. Article HEREÂ BozGlacier Melting
Posted on January 20, 2008 - Filed Under Environmentalism
 Hi Oz As I look at your weather as it reads on our blog and I look at my own, the temperatures make it seem as if I am LIVING on a glacier! Brrrrrr! I read however, that Antarctic volcanoes identified as a possible culprit in glacier melting. Tonight as the popular 60 Minutes was pulled from the regular television line up to have a documentary about Global Warming, they sure didn't mention this latest find. I would say that if there is indeed volcanic activity, it would make sense that heat would be present.Volcanically, Antarctica is a fairly quiet place. But sometime around 325 B.C., the researchers said, a hidden and still active volcano erupted, puncturing several hundred yards of ice above it. Ash and shards from the volcano carried through the air and settled onto the surrounding landscape. That layer is now out of sight, hidden beneath the snows that fell during the next 2,300 years. Still, the layer showed up clearly in airborne radar surveys conducted over the region in 2004 and 2005 by American and British scientists. The reflected radio waves over an elliptical area about 110 miles, or 176 kilometers, wide were so strong that earlier radar surveys had mistakenly identified it as bedrock. Better radar techniques now can detect a second echo from the actual bedrock farther down. The thickness of ice above the ash layer provided an estimate of the date of the eruption: 207 B.C., give or take 240 years.
Super Mario on Guitar!
Posted on January 13, 2008 - Filed Under General
Hey Oz! I can't imagine how this fellow does this on two guitars!Global Warming?
Posted on January 12, 2008 - Filed Under Environmentalism, Humor
Oz Read recently in an email regarding what they considered to be the Global Warming Scam. Whether you agree or not, this point made was interesting: "Hurricanes are not getting worse – our tendency to build houses in their path is getting greater." 🙂 BozMaternity Leave
Posted on January 8, 2008 - Filed Under News
Oz, Maternity leave makes sense. It's time for a working mom to spend with their newborns, heal, bond with the babies, and enjoy. However, when a need for maternity leave comes from a high school in the Denver area, well, then it's sad."Denver has one of the highest teen-pregnancy rates in the state. Of every 1,000 girls ages 15 to 17, 54.5 will become pregnant in the city, compared with 24.3 throughout Colorado, according to state health statistics."It's a shame that schools have to wrestle with such decisions and decide what new programs are needed for their students who become pregnant. More on the story here Boz
cricket and monkeys
Posted on January 7, 2008 - Filed Under Humor, News
Hi Boz I am going to guess you know little about cricket i guess i dont either how ever i do recall a saying "its not cricket" whick basically means it is unfair based on the premise that cricket was played fairly and the batters would admit to being out without having to have the umpire give them out, and walk or fielders if they really didnt take the catch would say so fielders in the outfield would signal if a ball was a six, even though it gave the opposition more runs and at the end of the game it would be handshakes all round now i am not saying both teams didnt want to win but it was a win won fairly just the otherday have been a few instances in the game that simply are not cricket batters holding there ground even though they knew they were out fielders claiming catches which were not and the batter being given out and name calling now this isnt new, and in their has been some words spoken that would of been beeped out on tv however the last bit of name calling really sinks to the lowest of the low the player was called a monkey thats right MONKEY thats like really really bad and earned the offender a 3 match suspension (and this is top level international cricket, playing for your country) odd in a country where bastard is a term of endearment i guess now the lawyers get involved and money over something that is rather childish (on both parts) it gives a new slant to being valled a cheeky monkey as a child, maybe i can sue? i have never really followed cricket, and this is the most interesting thing to happen in ages lolDrunkeness: An Epidemic?
Posted on January 5, 2008 - Filed Under News
Hi Oz Recent headlines having to do with drunk driving and binge drinking, really make me wonder why does everyone need to drown themselves with the bottle to have fun or even in their everyday life?That is a lot of senseless lost lives, and I won't even get started on how many in this country are illegals compromising our roads. While many of the articles refer to young people, we as adults are the example. Too many feel in order to have a "succesful" party or event, drinking is required, and what a legacy we have passed on. We need to wake up. Families are ruined. Lives are lost. The only winners are the DUI lawyers. Soberly, Boz
- Scary 911 Audio: Boy’s Calls Lead to Mom’s DUI Arrest
- 13,470 deaths in 2006 involving drivers and motorcycle operators with blood alcohol levels of .08 or higher
- Britain's binge-drinking crackdown as 24-hr boozing looms
- Ambulance service receives emergency call every 8 seconds as Binge Britain welcomes in 2008
John Lennon’s Hair
Posted on December 12, 2007 - Filed Under News
Hi Oz I know you're a Beatles Fan, so I thought to pass this on to you. Apparently a lock of John Lennon's hair was auctioned off for $48,000. It wasn't expected to bring in that much said Gorringes Auction House."It is astonishing that there is still so much interest in the Beatles and the sale goes to prove that John Lennon is still an icon," said Francesca Collin, a spokeswoman for Gorringes.The hair came from Beatles' Hairdresser, Betty Glasow. More on the story HERE
Snow Likely
Posted on December 4, 2007 - Filed Under Environmentalism
I can't get over the sense of humor of the Drudge Report. Top on their headlines at noon today was:Senate's 'historic vote on global warming' set for Wednesday... Snow likely...I wasn't even going to read the article, but then I thought, I might as well see what it is about. It took me to a local newspaper, The Baltimore Sun, and while it gives a mention of the vote in D.C., it seemed mostly about a Maryland initiative. While it all sounds "rosey", one paragraph glared at me...
"Europe tried a pollution credit trading system to curb carbon dioxide emissions after it passed the Kyoto Protocol in 1997, and power companies worked the system to make billions in profits. Electricity customers paid higher bills, thinking they were contributing to a cooler planet. But their money just went into the pockets of the electric companies, which didn't end up actually cutting down on their carbon dioxide emissions."I am afraid this is what we ALL have to look forward to... Global warming = money for someone.
Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed
Posted on November 27, 2007 - Filed Under General
Oz Here is a new movie about intelligent design soon to be out in February.The more I thought about this situation, the more I wondered why we tolerate free speech in every other area of this society, but not here. What makes this situation so different? In my experience, people who are confident in their ideas are not afraid of criticism. So that tells me that Darwinists are afraid. Ben Stein
Annapolis Mideast Peace Talks?
Posted on November 27, 2007 - Filed Under News
Hi Oz! Perhaps you've heard in my own backyard of Annapolis, we are hosting Mideast Peace Talks!
It's easy to be skeptical, but even easier, as while the talks will be going on, Iran just announced it has produced a new missile that has a range of 1,200 miles, an easy reach to Israel and U.S. Military bases.
Posted on November 26, 2007 - Filed Under News
Hi Oz! Congratulations on your national elections now at a close. Yay! No more ads, circulars in your letterbox, propadanda even phoning your home. Hope your guy won! Here though, we have a year to go for our National Elections, specifically for president. We are technically just getting started! I know I have made a few jokes on some of the candidates for the democrats. I already know what they stand for, and the typical tax|spend|control nanny state platform they have had for years. What I am not very famliar with, is some of the new repiblican candidates. Today I read a news story about Mike Huckabee, who was formerly unknown to me. He once was the Arkansas governor, so perhaps after Clinton, I have turned off all things Arkansas. My mistake, as he has a few strong things to say worth noting in today's MyWay:"The United States has been far too involved in sort of looking the other way, not only at the atrocities of human rights and violation of women," Huckabee said on CNN's "Late Edition." "Every time we put our credit card in the gas pump, we're paying so that the Saudis get rich - filthy, obscenely rich, and that money then ends up going to funding madrassas," schools "that train the terrorists," said Huckabee. "America has allowed itself to become enslaved to Saudi oil. It's absurd. It's embarrassing." Huckabee said "I would make the United States energy independent within 10 years and tell the Saudis they can keep their oil just like they can keep their sand, that we won't need either one of them." Responding to the gang rape case in Saudi Arabia, the State Department expressed astonishment about the sentence of the Saudi court against the rape victim. The woman was convicted of being in the car of a man who was not a relative. The seven men convicted of raping her were given prison sentences of two years to nine years. Under Saudi Arabia's strict interpretation of Islamic Sharia law, women are not allowed in public in the company of men other than relatives. The woman has said the 2006 attack occurred as she tried to retrieve her picture from a male friend. While in the car with the friend, two men climbed into the vehicle and drove to a secluded area. She said she was raped by seven men, three of whom also attacked her friend. The woman initially had been sentenced to 90 lashes after she was convicted of violating rigid laws on the segregation of the sexes. The Saudi court said the woman's punishment was increased because of what the court said was her attempt to aggravate and influence the judiciary through the media.
I will definitely be watching this fellow as well as the others on the scene. We have a year to go, like I said....
*sigh*
~Boz
“Ant No Aphrodisiac”
Posted on November 24, 2007 - Filed Under News
Oz Turns out in China, troops were sent out to stop protesters who had been conned into raising ants that were supposed to provide ingredients for a health tonic promising an aphrodisiac boost.For every 10,000 yuan ($1,350) they paid the company as "deposit," investors were promised a dividend of 3,250 yuan. Chinese media have said the scheme collected more than 10 billion yuan from hundreds of thousands of Liaoning residents.More on the Reuters Article HERE 🙂 ~Boz
No Chestnuts Roasting by an Open Fire in San Francisco?
Posted on November 23, 2007 - Filed Under Environmentalism, News
Oz, surely you know the Christmas Song suggested in the title? 🙂 Apparently, San Francisco is considering banning fireplaces. To me, that sounds a little extreme. To ban our most primitive form of light and warmth while industry continues on, merrily polluting away (but offset by carbon credits) is plain wrong. My guess is, the gas & electric company is in bed with the government there in San Francisco. Revenue could be better. People are cleverly warming themselves the old fashioned way; FREE. More on the story HERE BozExchange Vote for an iPod Touch
Posted on November 15, 2007 - Filed Under News
Hi Oz, did you hear this one?
"NYU students said they'd take in exchange for their right to vote an iPod Touch in the next presidential election, a recent survey by an NYU journalism class found.
Only 20 percent said they'd exchange their vote for an iPod touch."
That's a worry that young college people should think like that.
Seems to me, they don't know (or care) how fundamental the right to vote is, the very privelidge of it.
They should be careful for what trinkets they would give their vote away.
Someone could get elected that takes the trinkets away.
More on the story HERE
~Boz
Annie Lennox gives fans the Finger
Posted on November 9, 2007 - Filed Under News
Hi Oz
We both know what a music fan I am, but we also know that we have realistic views of the 'stars' behind the music. Basically they are arrogant, spoiled brats. I don't think age and experience softens them too much either.
Take the recent story about former Eurythmics member, Annie Lennox. She was in a concert for a charity event. I repeat -- a CHARITY event to benefit UNICEF. Apparently into her second song, she felt that the people in the crowd weren't paying close enough attention to her music, and she decided on an obscene gesture to let them know she wasn't pleased.
And she called the crowd rude. Guess she showed them what rude was.
Not So Sweet
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