My view of the world

When I bought this new lens I was looking for a 12-24 Tokina. I decided I didn’t want to spend the money on a Nikkor, and after reading the reviews on Ken Rockwell it seemed the best choice.
I was unable to find the Tokina, however a salesman at Wolfe Camera out in Henderson sold me on the Sigma 12-24.
So far it seems to be a very good lens. I read one reviewer saying that the focus was too soft for them, but I haven’t found this to be a problem. (yet)

For testing I used my Nikon D70 and a D300 both in JPEG mode.
(The D300 weighs quite a bit more, but is 100 times the camera.)

Then in order to maintain the most rigorous standards I stepped out back with the cameras on auto, and fired. The only editing was cropping and resizing.

This shot was taken with the lens at 12mm to see if straight lines stayed straight. —They do.
I took several others with both cameras with the same results.

Then I hand held the D300 with everything running auto and the lens at 24mm from about a foot and a half or maybe two feet away to take this shot.


It will never match my Nikkor 60mm Macro, but for a lens that’s not designed for close-up work it’s not half bad.

All in all I’m pleased with the lens. What will happen after I’ve lived with it a while I can’t say.

As a side note:
There is a special on the purchase of a D300 and the 18-200 VRII lens. If you buy them as a pair before May 11, 08 there’s an instant $300 rebate on the lens. Bringing the cost down to about $2300+tax. I don’t know if all stores are participating but Ritz/Wolfe is and so is B&H in NY.

Digg exemplifies the extent to which we will go to satisfy our need to socialize, to be part of a group.

It also exemplifies what is wrong with Web 2.0…. it’s a time killer. I can easily kill an hour or two on Digg and never notice I’ve done it.

On Digg most of my “friends” seem to be posting from work, I see far fewer shouts or submissions on the weekends. Perhaps one day it will displace solitaire as the number one workplace time waster.

Of course the Grave Diggers seem to work 24/7
— Grave Diggers are how I refer to those folks who seem to be in charge of burying anything they disagree with.

From the Digg FAQ:
The promotion and burying of stories is managed by an algorithm developed by Digg. There is no hard number of Diggs/buries to promote or remove a story. It’s based on a sliding scale that takes several factors into consideration, such as number of Diggs, reports, time of day, topic submitted to, Digging/burying diversity, etc.

Yesserie Bob. We now have a whole new definition for the word “Nebulous.”

I find it hard to believe that as Digg says:
“Bury.
If you find stories with bad links, off-topic content, or duplicate entries, click “Bury.” That’s how we get the spam out of the system and let the good stuff rise to the top.
The system only works when users actively participate on a large scale, so make sure to do your part and Digg and Bury content that matters to you!” — Large scale??

How many buries does it take to kill an article? Digg won’t say….
I still believe that certain folks carry a lot more weight than Digg implies by their statements.

Other social networks have arbitrary ranking, so that you know who does what. While Digg insists on being secretive in their methods.

Kinda makes you wonder what they’re keeping from us, don’t it?

This did not start out as a whine about Digg, but rather an observation on how Web 2..0 can be incredible time waster.
Oh well. Such is life.

Western Digital has announced the release of a new 300 gig 10k rpm hd they call the VelociRaptor.
The company claims this new drive with it’s 16meg buffer is 35% faster than the old Raptors.

The drive is a 2.5 inch form with an SATA 3g/sec interface and integral heatsink bringing the outter dimensions to a standard 3.5″. —So no you can’t put one in your laptop —Yet.

Alienware is reportedly shipping with the new drives, but to buy just a drive from a retailer you need to wait until mid-May.

Not that that matters. Nobody should buy version 1 of any hardware or software.

I would hold off on this beast for at least a couple of months. By then the supply will have stabilized and any issues will be known.

My current plan is to wait about 6 months or so, then buy 4, put them in a machine running a very fast Intel chip, a pair of fast Nvidia cards, and run the drives in raid 5.

If you’re going to do something that is completely frivolous you might as well take it to the extreme.

Did you know that the Defense Intelligence Agency writes it’s own video games?

In the wake of the intelligence bungles that propelled the United States into the Iraq war, it’s no secret that the nation’s spies have been working to improve the quality of their analysis. Now the top U.S. military intelligence agency has come up with a new tool for teaching recruits critical thinking skills: videogames.
The U.S. Defense Intelligence Agency has just taken delivery of three PC-based games, developed by simulation studio Visual Purple under a $2.6 million contract between the DIA and defense contractor Concurrent Technologies. The goal is to quickly train the next generation of spies to analyze complex issues like Islamic fundamentalism.
There are three games and none are for sale to the general public. As a general rule they are not about run and gun, but rather more on the lines of the eight points of analysis and proper interrogation techniques.

The DIA isn’t alone in turning to videogames for training. The U.S. Army Intelligence Center is using a custom game to train interrogators, or “human collectors,” as they are euphemistically known. Known by the staggering title of Intelligence and Electronic Warfare Tactical Proficiency Trainer Human Intelligence Control Cell, the simulation was designed by General Dynamics from the shooter Far Cry.

The game does not teach coercive interrogation techniques, like waterboarding. But it may eventually be modified to show how offensive or abusive questioning will cause detainees to become less cooperative, says Dennis Mitchell, chief of the intelligence center’s training devices branch. “One of the persons who helped us out on it was an instructor who trained people on what the current [interrogation] manual is, and what the rules of war are, and how you treat prisoners of war acceptably.”

Former DIA analyst A.J.Rossmiller says videogames won’t fix what he sees as systemic flaws in American intelligence, where conclusions by analysts are distorted as they work their way up the chain of command. “A lot of problems are stated as analytical when they’re management problems.”

If you think these games will work I suggest you read any number of books on the intelligence blunders past and present. — Any schooling is only as good as the premise behind it.

AMSTERDAM (Reuters) - Dutch students have developed powdered alcohol which they say can be sold legally to minors.
The latest innovation in inebriation, called Booz2Go, is available in 20-gramme packets that cost 1-1.5 euros ($1.35-$2).
Top it up with water and you have a bubbly, lime-colored and -flavored drink with just 3 percent alcohol content.
“We are aiming for the youth market. They are really more into it because you can compare it with Bacardi-mixed drinks,” 20-year-old Harm van Elderen told Reuters.

Hmmm? — Lime flavored beer? Yuk!

Ok, fizzy, alcoholic Kool-aid to keep the tots quiet.
The inventors say that since it’s legal in Holland to drink at the age of 16, this is aimed at a younger crowd.

Alcohol sales aimed at children…..
Is it just me or is there something inherently wrong with their business model.
– Potentially profitable, but just wrong.

If you think that it will stay at 3% check out this chem co.

The Google’s recent investment in Navigenics is proof it wants an early stake in direct-to-consumer genetic screening.
The Internet giant received heavy press in 2007 when it invested at least $4.4 million (BusinessWeek.com, 11/29/07) in a genetic screening company, 23andMe, that was started by Anne Wojcicki, the wife of Google co-founder Sergey Brin, and her business partner.
Calling 23andMe an example of a company “generating a whole new batch of information of interest to a broad range of people,” Pederson says Google wants to extend its capabilities into genetic testing.
For a spit of saliva and $2,500, Navigenics delivers your genetic test results to your computer screen with your genetic likelihood for 18 medical conditions, from Alzheimer’s to rheumatoid arthritis to several types of cancer.

“We are interested in supporting companies and making investments in companies that bolster our mission statement, which is organizing the world’s information and making it universally accessible and useful,” Google spokesman Andrew Pederson says.

The companies say that this is to help patients and doctors, and it probably is.

However, who has/will have access to the database?
How long before this information is used by insurance companies?
And why should we trust anyone who makes their living disseminating information, and currently catalogs every search we make?

23andMe, Inc. operates as a personal genetics company in California. It builds DNA analysis technologies to enable individuals to access, explore, and understand their genetic information.

Navigenics, Inc. offers personalized genetics-based consumer health and wellness services. It provides clinically based knowledge to help clients take positive steps to live healthily.

I came across this on Digg.

This is a copy of a Chinese bill, done with stacked eggs.
This site has the best photos I’ve found.
I think the original gallery in China is suffering from the Digg effect. — It’s unreachable.
The main Gallery is open with plenty of photos of China.
The site is mostly Chinese, but if you click on photo at the top of the page it will take you to an excellent set of photos.

I haven’t turned my game machine on in what feels like forever.
I bought a power supply to replace the one that failed. I as soon as I got home I unboxed it and set it on top of the case, where it sits to this day.

Games require a great deal of time and concentration. I find I’m lacking both.

Instead of putting this beast back together, I have been house cleaning.
From my office alone I have filled two large garbage bags with shredded paper. I find that I never throw any receipt, bill or statement away.

I discovered paperwork from a machine shop I owned back in ‘80 something.
I have old car registration and insurance for almost every vehicle I’ve ever owned.
I have power and water bills from places I haven’t even seen in years.
And on and on.

I found a receipt for a 286 with a 10meg hd, 2 5 1/4 floppies, and 1 meg of ram. We won’t discuss what I paid for it.

Under a drawer full of paper I found a couple of cpus, an Intel 386 and an AMD 486 DX4 100.

I found a single speed (yes that’s 1x) cd burner with controller card.

I found 2 9gig scsi drives I used to run in raid under Windows NT and a failed Adaptec card to go with them.

I found 2 200meg Western Digital hds

I found half a dozen cases sitting in the corner of a closet. - I kept one just to see if I can mod the ps and m/b to make the big red switch work.

If you’re a computer geek, take a look around. I’m sure you’ll find an amazing amount of obsolete and broken equipment.
You need to ask yourself, just how many old IDE ribbons you need?
What do you do with a 10 or 20 meg mfm or rll hd?
Or how about an old xt case?

My house cleaning has resulted in more room in my office, which results in more places to store all the “good junk” that I might need or fix some day.

It seems congress is trying to slip a few more bennies for car makers and oil companies into another “environmentally friendly” bill.
I was reading the Daily Kos when I happened across this gem:

“Well, apparently congress isn’t quite sure about all of this BEV (battery electric vehicle) stuff. In an otherwise great bill, H.R. 5351 gives a rather hefty tax credit to plug-in hybrid vehicles (PHEVs), which have a small electric range (and sometimes cannot even drive at highway speeds on pure electric power) in addition to a gasoline engine. The bill doesn’t cover pure EVs at all. That is, to say, owners of the Chevrolet Volt would get the credit, but owners of the Aptera Typ-1e or Tesla Roadster would not — even though they’re doing more for advancing the technology, promoting energy independence, and eliminating pollution.”

Open Congress has the complete bill if you don’t mind the headache that inevitably come from reading such things.

In the mean time if you happen to have a spare $100k here’s the electric car for you.

The two-seat Tesla Roadster, with a top speed of 135 mph, can travel more than 200 miles before it needs to be recharged.

I came across this on a blog called Madness Beckons. It originated in the Daily Mail.

Evidently the Brass of the London Metropolitan Police department have decided that the best way to keep track of their officers is to implant an RFID in each of the 31,000 men and women on the street.

This is their reasoning:
“Steve Rands, health and safety head for the Met Police Federation, told Police Review: “This is so that we know where officers are. Let us say that when voice distortion or sound quality over the radio is lost, if you cannot hear where that officer telling you where he is, you can still pinpoint his exact position by global positioning system.”

“If he needs help but you cannot hear him for whatever reason, APLS will say where he is.”

These devices will also tell them if an officer is at lunch too long or is taking too much time with tickets. It will also tell them if an officer is at home, at the pub or visiting a friend.

Given the nature of the beast, I would make the assumption that somebody will monitor these cops 24/7.

They will probably set up a completely automated system so that nobody ever has to look at it unless they get bored. Or a supervisor wants to make brownie points and prove his power, by spying on the troops and inventing problems.

The basic premise may be fine, but the abuse of the system is pretty much a sure bet.