Random and not so Random thoughts

The post.

nospam@example.com (Aaron Whiteman) — Wed, 06 Jul 2011 06:55:20 -0400

The previous two posts (Exposing Exposure part 1 and 2) dealt with how a camera exposes the media (whether film or a modern digital sensor).

But once you have that great picture, what do you do with it?

Everybody has their own opinions on how to publish it. This is mine.

Continue reading "The post."

Exposing Exposure, part II

nospam@example.com (Aaron Whiteman) — Wed, 30 Mar 2011 20:34:52 -0400

In part 1 of exposing exposure, I wrote of the three ways one can change the amount of light (or sensitivity to light) that reaches a photo sensor.

But that only leads to the next question, that is that's nice Aaron, but how does that help me understand my D40? Even a basic DSLR like the D40 has a lot of functionality in it, so what follows here is only a very basic introduction (and is applicable to nearly any camera, not just the 40).

Continue reading "Exposing Exposure, part II"

Exposing exposure

nospam@example.com (Aaron Whiteman) — Tue, 29 Mar 2011 12:54:09 -0400

To get a picture, it is just a matter of allowing the perfect amount of light to reach the sensor. Do that, and you’ve got something that is properly exposed. That’s it.

There are three ways to control the exposure.

Shutter Speed: the amount of time that the shutter is open. When the shutter is closed, no light reaches the sensor. This is measured in seconds or fractions of seconds, a smaller number is faster, allowing less light to reach the sensor.
Aperture: the size of the hole in the back of the lens that light must pass through to get to the sensor. This is measured in “f-stops”, larger numbers are a smaller hole, allowing less light to reach the sensor.
ISO Speed: the sensitivity of the sensor. Higher ISO numbers increase the sensor sensitivity, allowing it to be exposed with less light. That is, the higher the number, the less light that is needed.

What does this all mean?

Continue reading "Exposing exposure"

MG fixes, 2011

nospam@example.com (Aaron Whiteman) — Sat, 12 Mar 2011 12:28:28 -0500

For the MG anyway, March 12th is the beginning of the new year. While I installed the battery and fired her up for the first time since November on the 11th, this is the day that she got to actually move.

So, with that, the fixes begin.

Continue reading "MG fixes, 2011"

Political labels

nospam@example.com (Aaron Whiteman) — Sun, 06 Mar 2011 16:34:41 -0500

Twice today, I described my political feelings.

On facebook, I described myself as Socialistic Libertarian.

When writing to my state representatives and senator, it was Intensely private, moderate liberal.

Continue reading "Political labels"

for your listening pleasure

nospam@example.com (Aaron Whiteman) — Thu, 03 Mar 2011 09:07:58 -0500

You don't have to have an iPhone to listen to podcasts. You don't even need an iPod.

All you need is a way to download them (I use iTunes of course), and a way to listen.

Continue reading "for your listening pleasure"

Dave

nospam@example.com (Aaron Whiteman) — Sat, 05 Feb 2011 13:06:46 -0500

Driving back to Pullman from Moscow today, I found myself on a gravel road with the iPhone set to random play.

And it nearly made me cry.

Continue reading "Dave"

Subaru Maintenance, 2010

nospam@example.com (Aaron Whiteman) — Mon, 22 Nov 2010 17:25:00 -0500

It was in the year 2010, 3 and a half years after I purchased the reliable little Outback Sport that I finally reached the first major service. I've been slacking on my updates, so here's 3 months of work.

5 January 2010 (30626) 30000 mile service. Replace spark plugs, air filter, oil change, replace brake fluid, replace coolant. Services performed by Imported Car Services
19 March 2010 (32081) Swapped winter tires for summer all-seasons. Services performed by Heritage Wheel and Tire
8 April 2010 (33744) Oil Change. Services performed by Imported Car Services
16 July 2010 (37370) Tire change. Replaced OE Bridgestones with Yokohama AVID All season rubber.
16 July 2010 (37373) Oil Change. Self service, Mobile 1 synthetic
14 Sep 2010 (40326) Replaced windshield wipers, replaced the little clip that was no longer holding the seal retainer behind the driver's side rear door against the rear window weather seal. The clip had been failing since the car was 6 months old, I should have spent the $2 to replace it long ago.
22 Nov 2010 (41492) Switch to winter tires, replace failing OEM battery (4 years, not bad for OEM)

my iPhone has apps.

nospam@example.com (Aaron Whiteman) — Fri, 08 Oct 2010 19:03:29 -0400

My iPhone is not unlike most, suited to me and my personal inclinations. I've downloaded a few apps, some that I've found, some that were recommended to me

Continue reading "my iPhone has apps."

MG repairs for 2010

nospam@example.com (Aaron Whiteman) — Sat, 31 Jul 2010 15:20:00 -0400

In 2008, the continual stream of little things stopped in May, when the car went off to paint.

In 2009, the car eventually came back, but the work was essentially "get the car back together before winter."

It's now 2010. A new year begins.

16 January 2010 (83476): Replaced rear boot lid and bumper emblems with new copies; the originals were scratched and looked grotty. Installed bulbs in reverse lamps, tested and verified to work. I still don't know why the DPO had to remove them. Replaced top-to-body clip that holds the corner of the roof to the body behind the door; previous one had broken due to metal fatigue.
18 January 2010 (83500): Drove by ICS and thought perhaps my gearbox noise was due to low oil levels. Carl put her on the lift and checked, sure enough, low. We ended up putting nearly a quart in, so now I know I need to be more vigilant about that. I suspect it's a steady leak; the last time I checked the oil was nearly three years ago, though much of that time was spent sitting during the painting process.
25 February 2010 (83636): Replaced shifter knob. This was something I had planned on doing "eventually," but I had to bring up the timeline when somebody stole the badge out of the original.
8 May 2010 (83100): Replace front hub bearings, front wheel nut studs, front wheel nuts.
16 May 2010 (84131): Replaced windshield piller seals (again). Hopefully these will last longer than 6 months.
21 May 2010 (84133): Renew rear hubs, replace rear wheel studs and nuts (service performed by ICS)
24 May 2010: transport spare engine from Elma to Pullman for prep to install in car. Replacement seals and gaskets for engine and gearbox ordered.
31 May 2010: swap engine. Alternator, distributor, thermostat elbow, carburetors transfered from old engine. Renew side cover gaskets, oil pan gasket. Replace transmission front and rear oil seals. New spark plugs, new oil, new oil filter.
11 May 2010: Replace damaged wheel
17 Jun 2010: remove SU carbs, ship to Brooklands British to diagnose and repair high idle problems. Problem turned out to be a botched throttle shaft bushing.
26 Jun 2010: reinstall SU carbs, give rough tune.
28 Jun 2010: Proper tune, performed by Dave Tharp, former owner and operator of ICS.
31 July 2010 (85179): adjust tappets. Doing so involves turning engine by hand. Discovered #4 spark plug wire has a rusty connector to the plug. Replaced plug wires. new NGK plugs installed in engine when installed at end of May look good.

TiVo things I miss.

nospam@example.com (Aaron Whiteman) — Thu, 29 Jul 2010 11:40:30 -0400

I switched from Time Warner Cable to DirectTV last week. The price was good, the service is good, and tivo service is coming. The TiVo service isn't here yet, however.

Still, I switched and my TV is now connected to a shiny new "Direct TV HD DVR +". It works well enough for the most part, but there are things about it that just drive me nuts.

The remote places the fast forward/play/rewind functionality towards to top of the remote, away from where your hand naturally rests. As a result, I'm continually hitting the wrong set of buttons. When I want to fast forward, I instead start some sort of multi-play feature.
While the red button on the remote does delete programs (sometimes), there is no way to delete from a list without confirmation. What should be one press is instead 2.
The TiVo never deleted anything until it really needed to do it. "Delete" was "move to Deleted items", so you could recover a deleted item. This is why the TiVo didn't require confirmation.
the TiVo had a rich wishlist functionality. You could set up a wishlist to do full boolean logic against the guide metadata and create a recording that basically said "Record all first run shows that have 'The Simpsons' in the title, but do not contain the description 'Homer and Marge raise Bart and Lisa'. This allowed me to record new episodes of the Simpsons, without dealing with the 50 episodes a week that are reruns and the FOX affiliate was too lazy to update the guide data with real information. The DirectTV DVR can match keywords, but cannot match the wishlists of a TiVo.
The TiVo allowed me to specify what channels I receive, so that it would never attempt to record anything from channels I don't actually get. DirectTV automatically knows what channels I get, which is great. However, DirectTV includes PPV and subscription channels in the "channels I get", which is not great. Also, I don't care if I get Fox News, I don't want my DVR to think I get it. Ever. This would be fine if I could set up the keyword based programming to only look at channels I specify in a favorites list, but they are hardcoded to "channels I get" and cannot be modified.
The TiVo allowed me to create a season pass for new episodes of a program in the guide without recording the episode I selected. The DirectTV DVR allows me to record a series, but will also record the selected episode used to create the series—even if that episode doesn't match the rules of the "series recording" (consider the case where you are in rerun season and wish to set up a series recording for "House"). On the plus side, my TiVo HD did not allow me to specify a default way to set up a season pass, the DirectTV DVR does.
The TiVo had an embedded web server, which I could query to find the current list of recordings on the box. I even had a dashboard widget that used this functionality. The DirectTV lacks this feature (Direct2PC might work, but only on a PC, and only with nasty copy protection restrictions).
With a TiVo, when you pay for it, you own it.
The TiVo has a much more intelligent on-screen guide display, and when you change the guide settings, they stick. DirectTV's DVR reverts back to the default every single time.
I thought I would like the little "picture-in-picture" of live TV when I'm using the menus of the DVR. I have grown to hate it. When you have 100% bought in to the "never watch live", you don't care about what the active channel is; you'll often be tuned to something completely irrelevant. I find myself hitting Mute a lot now.

dream

nospam@example.com (Aaron Whiteman) — Tue, 20 Jul 2010 06:04:15 -0400

So last night I was dreaming. I'm sure I dream most nights, but when I woke this morning, I still remembered this one.

I was a college age woman, apparently in a theatre class. I was all stressed about some multi-page monologue I had to memorize... but what the professor actually had me do was write "a book report" about what I had read "In redneck". With chalk. On the floor.

So I went ahead and wrote some sort of rambling schlock that just barely pertained to the monologue (which I had not memorized and was stressing about), with lots of 'yers' and mis-speelings. The instructor gave it an F.

What the hell kind of dream is that?

Adventures in wheels

nospam@example.com (Aaron Whiteman) — Mon, 28 Jun 2010 18:17:05 -0400

Misadventires

The story begins innocently enough. I have two coworkers that are also quite good friends. They both ride motorcycles. They both enjoy the twisties. So do I, albeit using 4 wheels rather than two.

So, on the last week of April, 2010 we go out on a grand trip. From Pullman, we head east, go through Moscow, to Troy, down to Kendrick, through the reservation down the Ahsaka grade into Orofino. There, we have lunch. Our grand trip was not yet complete, however. We continued up the Clearwater river, eventually coming to Grangeville, where we finally turn and chase the sun. At Cottonwood, the real fun begins.

For it is here where I pass an RV and the car "feels funny". A few miles later, I think I exploded a tire and pull over to stop. This is where the wheel and I part company. I see it bounce twice and it's gone, over a guardrail. My friends on the bikes are long gone, they don't realize they lost me for a good twenty miles. Fortunately, with the help of a army reservist that is reporting to Spokane the next day, I find the wheel. It's a little worse for wear and needs to be replaced, but by stealing one lug nut from each of the three remaining wheels, I have enough to limp to Lewiston. There, I buy some cheap nuts. Not even losing a wheel is going to stop me from enjoying the Spiral Highway.

All in all, the trip was good, though next time I could do with just a little less "adventure" and more blissful hard driving.

Spares progress

nospam@example.com (Aaron Whiteman) — Sat, 29 May 2010 13:43:54 -0400

A week ago, I had a 330 chunk of cast iron in the back of my Subaru. The lump, a spare engine, rebuilt with my very hands (under supervision from somebody that knows what they are doing) in the mid 90s is destined to go into my MG.

If it all goes to plan, on Monday evening, it'll be done.

So far, I've fixed the clear oil leaks on the new-to-me motor, amounting to a sump gasket, the valve cover gasket, and the tappet cover gaskets.

On Monday, the plan is:

Pull the current motor and transmission from my MG.
Migrate the following parts from the current motor to the new one:

Thermostat housing
Clutch
Cooling fan
Carburetors

Replace gaskets and seals on the gearbox
Then put the new motor with current transmission back in the car, put everything back together, and off I go.

A pile.

nospam@example.com (Aaron Whiteman) — Tue, 23 Mar 2010 19:34:02 -0400

With the (temporary) addition of Chris's 500mm mirror lens (it's borrowed, I'll have to give it back soon enough), I have 6 lenses and a teleconverter sitting on my table.

It's really quite extraordinary when I think about it. Just over a year ago, I had a single Panasonic Lumix Point and shoot camera. Now, I not only have a small Digital SLR, but a pile of sharp lenses too (in some cases extra-ordinarily so). What a wild ride.