RCNevada

This isn’t a review so much as me prattling on about my newest toy.

I just received my new Sigma 8-16mm from B&H so I put it on my D300s and trotted over to Sunset Park to give it a test.

These shots were done with no correction for barrel or pincushion.
(click on an image for a larger version.)

 

In the shot above I focused on the near top edge of the bench and you can see how the top bar curves and the legs apparently lean forward.
(You’ll also notice the supports are tapered which exaggerates the apparent lean.)

 

 

This newest offering from Sigma is solid feeling, fast focusing lens with a permanently attached tulip hood and an adapter ring that allows the attachment of a 72mm lens cap. –Just remember to remove the entire piece not just the squeeze cap to avoid vignetting.

When I un-boxed this critter what jumped out at me is this bulb sticking out the front. –It looks like one of those round security camera covers you see hanging from the ceiling in a casino.

This feature not only prevents the use of filters, Sigma says that it “may” create a problem with ghosting and flare. –When a manufacturer says you “may” have a problem, you know it’s a sure thing.

What turned out to be kind of amazing about this lens is that at 8mm (which is about the equivalent of a 12mm on a full frame) this lens is still rectilinear. –Don’t be fooled by the word “rectilinear” and expect straight lines out of this little beastie. One glance at the front element and you’ll know that ain’t gonna happen. But it looks like the worst offenses should be relatively easy to deal with in PhotoShop..

Fortunately I’m like most people and I didn’t buy an ultra-wide for architectural photography. I bought an ultra-wide to do what ultra-wides do. –Create panoramas, or at the other end of the scale, create an up-close, exaggerated perspective that draws the viewer into the picture.
(If you want straight lines, you need to invest in, and learn to use, either a tilt-shift lens or a large format camera.)

So far I’m happy with my new toy. It’s a specialty lens and won’t get used much, and I know it’s only 3mm wider than my 11-16mm Tokina, but hey, size matters, and I think I can see enough difference to justify having purchased a second wide angle.

Now all I need to do is remember to keep my fingers from wandering past the corner of the hood so I don’t wind up with pink blobs in all my shots.

William Shatner aka “The Shat” has a new gig as the Admiral on My Outerspace dot com

The site is completely SiFi themed and subdivided in to ships and planets where the members interests can be explored.
The planet Orpheus has a musical theme and the Galaxy is where Sci-Fi Fans and MYOUTERSPACE observers participate in discussions, view videos, and communicate with the MYOUTERSPACE community.
But my favorite planet is Creatia:

Creatia
People like writers, directors, and playwrights call this planet home. Creatia hosts a creative environment for thinkers of all kinds like writers, directors, and playwrights, who call this Planet home. Become a citizen of Creatia today and take advantage of the rich resources that this planet offers its citizens.

Obviously writers, directors, playwrights and the other masters of redundancy are welcome, but editors are strictly persona non grata.

The site’s been kicking around since 2009 so it’s still young and the only thing that bothers me about it, aside from the copy being written by someone from the Department Of Redundancy Department, is Shat’s green hair. I wonder if it’s supposed to be a joke, or if all those years knocking boots with brightly colored women has finally taken it’s toll.

For those of you who don’t remember Shatner’s younger years, follow this link to his classic rendition of Rocket Man.

In it’s latest effort to keep the Barbie line current Mattel is proud to present Barbie Video Girl

She’s the ultimate multimedia doll. She comes with a built in video camera, editing software, an lcd screen and a usb port in her back so you can connect her directly to your computer.

Maybe it’s just me, but there’s just something creepy about a webcam dressed up to look like a doll.

A new creepy thought…… I wonder how many 40 year old guys are gong to buy one?….. For their “niece” of course.

Emotiv Systems is working on a new form of remote control that uses brainwaves to control digital devices and digital media.

The controller is a headset that reads the electrical impulse generated by your brain without the need for shaving your head or the use of special gels.

For a more in-depth explanation of how the device works, here is a link to Tan Le’s talk and demonstration of this device at TED

Even though this device is not ready for prime time, the price is only $299 and there are several software packages available, so it looks like a fun way to test the concept.

In fact you could buy two of them, or at least an extra set of sensors and turn it into a party game.

The rules would be simple:
As the night wears on if a person loses control they are declared drunk and aren’t allowed to have another drink until they regain control.
Or as the night wears on, if a person doesn’t lose control they’re not drunk enough and have to do two shooters in rapid succession.
Or finally, if a person never loses control, they are declared so boring they have to sit in a corner and watch PBS.

You say you’ve hit burn out on ordinary snacks.

Potato chips don’t leave you chipper and your last cake didn’t get a rise.

Well here’s a recipe for a simple snack that is sure to cause comment.

Ingredients:
Mud

Instructions:
Gather mud
Beat with big stick
Shave into curls
Cook over smokey fire until done
Let cool before serving

(I just finished editing this for Madness and just had to post it here)

The Colorado River Toad or Bufo alvarius, also known as the Sonoran Desert Toad, is a psychoactive toad found in the Southwestern United States and northern Mexico. The skin and venom of Bufo alvarius contain 5-MeO-DMT and bufotenin.

Here’s the deal:
Owning this toad is not illegal, but the substance it secretes is a controlled substance. So you don’t need to worry about some wildlife agency busting you for possessing and/or licking this critter, but you might need to worry about the DEA.

That’s right. There are people who actually lick this toad to get high. –Although it seems to me that if you’re running around licking toads…. you probably don’t need to get any higher.

There’s no word yet on a PETA campaign to rename the Colorado River Toad to “land puppies” to try and stop the practice.

If you want plenty of new material for your blog the Guardian.uk is now giving it to you at no cost, albeit with embedded ads.

From the FAQ: There are many different ways you might choose to work with us; You may want to take our data or content and augment them with other data or functionality on your own web site or within your apps. Or you may want to build applications with us using our content, tools, design and promotional expertise in return for a revenue share. We have three access tiers to choose from: Keyless, Approved and Bespoke

Tier 1: Keyless (Access to Guardian headlines, but not the body copy of the article.)
In this instance you are welcome to take the headlines free of charge, and keep any advertising revenue you make on the associated pages. The Keyless tier also offers access to our metadata and information architecture. You can access this metadata without an API key and without any need to let us know, but your IP address will be subject to limits on the number of queries per second and queries per day.

The Keyless tier does not include a license to republish full articles from the Guardian.

This tier is designed for entry level, principally small publishers and other tools providers who want to augment their own services with additional headlines or useful tags and metadata. [...]

Tier 2. Approved (Access to Guardian full article copy.)
This gives you permission to republish full articles written by Guardian staff and many of our contributors at no cost. We will embed advertising in the body text of each article in addition to a watermark and a performance tracking code. [...]

Tier 3. Bespoke (Unrestricted access to all available Guardian content.)
If you want ad-free content, multimedia content, higher volume access, dedicated support or if you have other custom requirements, we would be pleased to help you devise a package that meets your needs.

Sounds great, just register and grab tier two and you’re good to go.

Almost… kinda… not quite…. There’s a huge catch, they will only allow you to store the article for 24 hours, after which the data must be deleted, and there’s a 5,000 request per day limit on the api.

The 5k limit doesn’t matter to a dinky site like mine, but that isn’t very many hits for a growing mid-sized blog, and when you hit the 5k wall you must then request a higher limit, which will cost money.

As far as the Bespoke, is concerned, since I couldn’t find a rate schedule I will assume that the price is negotiated on an individual basis so you’ll never know if your competitors are getting a better deal than you.

All in all, it looks like a well laid out scheme to increase exposure for the Guardian’s advertisers, but it’s aimed at sites with much higher traffic than mine is ever likely to have, and the 24hr removal requirement looks to be a royal pain.

So I’ll leave this sort of thing to those people who are willing to work harder than I am and continue plodding along.

If you want to get sued, just give the local newspaper data you’ve collected, and then repost the article they couldn’t have written without your generosity.

David of the Wild Wild East Dailies, emailed me this article “Publisher Sued For Reposting Article Based On His Own Research”, from The Daily Online Examiner.

According to the post Anthony Curtis of The Las Vegas Advisor does an annual entertainment ticket price survey. Said survey was freely shared with the Las Vegas Review Journal by Mr Curtis and subsequently used as the basis for an article, Mr Curtis then re-posted that article and now the RJ’s legal leg breakers, Righthaven, have filed a lawsuit suit against Mr. Curtis claiming copyright violation.

From the MediaPost article:
For his part, Curtis says he expects this “patently absurd” lawsuit will quickly disappear. “Hopefully this will be averted before I even make a call to my attorneys,” he tells MediaPost.

Curtis shouldn’t hold his breath. Righthaven CEO Steven Gibson tells MediaPost he’s sticking to his guns. “We believe that the claim is rightfully made,” he says.

Oops. I just quoted more than four words. I hope they don’t sue me.
–Oh never mind. I think the four word rule applies only to the AP.

While I don’t know the specifics in the RJ vs Curtis case, I do know that, in general, copyright enforcement has become an ongoing act of terrorism. If they go after enough little guys they can keep everyone too afraid to risk violating some company’s self-defined rules concerning “fair use.”

I’ve got someone sending me a couple of RC trainers so I can learn to fly.

“Fly?” as optimistic an assessment as I’ve ever heard. (There’s a reason why friends who are pilots don’t let me touch the controls.)

Since I don’t know when I’ll be receiving the kits, I bought the Real Flight Basic flight simulator, which comes complete with it’s own dedicated controller. It’s great fun and an excellent way to learn to control both planes and helicopters, but mostly I’m using it to discover just how many interesting ways there are to fly a plane into the ground.

While I was buying the simulator software and an rds8000 controller for a plane I haven’t even seen yet, I rediscovered why I try to avoid stores that sell toys for guys like me that have never grown up. –I spent a c-note on a fun little indoor helicopter called a mini-stinger. It’s built for specifically indoor use, comes with a controller, and is unlikely to damage anything it hits. -Just the thing for a klutz like me.

I’m still learning, but I have discovered one very important thing…. When it comes to helicopter vs coffee table, bet on the table.

The thing laying beside the chopper is called a fly bar, and I’m getting quite proficient at reattaching it.

A few minutes ago the skid broke and that particular spare part is on back-order, so since the helicopter too small for duct tape, I’m resorting to superglue.

It’s a good thing I’m good at fixing stuff because I’m beginning to suspect I have no real talent for flying.