Impossible engineering?
Saturday, 4 September 2010
If I could zip through the vegetable aisle in a vehicle with two steering wheels, I’d probably enjoy it more!
Musings
3D camera picture-perfect
Friday, 3 September 2010
Back to last night’s game—this is a crucial part of the 3D broadcast process; these are the screens the truck-guys watched to make sure the left-eye and right-eye pictures “came together” (not a technical term) properly. They watched those grey pictures on the left like hawks. Those projections highlighted whether the dual pictures were in registration (my term, maybe theirs too, I dunno) or not. Remember, most of the cameras were right down on the field, and the field was HOT! Tough conditions, we thought…but the guy in charge of the cameras said they’d done 3D shoots in India, Australia, so this was, well, not the worst yet.
3D details
Thursday, 2 September 2010
Remember a 3D camera is really two cameras, stuck together with the lens distance carefully calibrated. This gear is ungainly more than it is heavy, I was told by a camera-dude. Still, I’m very glad I didn’t wear it!
And, here’s the picture on a 3D monitor, playing in 3D—the view without glasses to “fix” the image and make it 3D!
The 3D team got all the glitches taken care of by game time, and we heard ooohs! and aaahs! for the graphics (and the pictures, uh-huh), and even laudatory comments from an assortment of big-wigs, we were told!!!
3D all over
Wednesday, 1 September 2010
In our leetle world today, the focus has been on 3D. But not HBA 3D like this!
HBA = health and beauty aids, in Meijer parlance
Is this for real?
Tuesday, 31 August 2010
I have been looking at ancient stadiums (actually, I prefer to pluralize it as stadia) recently, but today I looked at a REEEELY big REEL one. Toasty day, bright sun. And the playing surface was hot, hot, hot, did I say: HOT!
I think part of the reason they use the fake turf is that keeping the grass alive in the exaggerated heat of this focal-bowl must be nearly impossible. A few rows of what looked like sycamores in the sea of asphalt that surround the stadium (general parking: $50, no lie) had assorted leafless limbs and generally looked on the brink of their demise.
The closeup is from a few extra chunks of lifeless sod stacked on a pallet on the edge of the parking lot; some pieces even had white “stripes.”
Your turn to write
Thursday, 26 August 2010
3D HD TV: screen and specs. And, yes, the picture looks terrible because the specs are on the table and not the camera.
Even if you aren’t a letter-writer, consider writing one to protest this: the Ivanpah Solar Generating System. The deadline is 2 September, so hop to it.
It’s in the desert. The project area is 3582-acres—plus “adjacent habitat”—which is not quantified!
Perhaps that is enough to get you writing!
In another place in the “Presiding Member’s Proposed Decision” (CEC-800-2010-004 PMPD; dated August 2010), the authors note that the area’s the storm water flows would be affected over a 13,900–acre area—natural sheet water flows come across the project area in California west of Las Vegas.
Plus the finished project will have three towers almost 500-feet high (scattered, not clustered). Can be seen pretty much forever in this flat area!
I know many people think the desert is “empty” land, but it isn’t. Just because you don’t see lush trees doesn’t mean that it is “waste land.” Actually, imagine trees there, if you have to, and then think about why they aren’t considering putting this solar system (haha) right smack in wasted land in cities—right by the users, after all—and on land that’s essentially been abandoned. C’mon.
After all, Las Vegas is a few miles away, and grids of roads have already been dozed into the desert there, without the development that speculators had planned. Perfect place for this; these are the people (well, and Southern Californians) that are putting the energy demand load on the system; they should be looking at the consequences of their air conditioning, etc.
IMHO.
Don’t get me started about the Cultural Resources section—which endows construction workers with the responsibility for identifying archaeological resources they may uncover. Hah!
Read the critical document here, or download it from the California Energy Commission here (it’s 9.7 megabytes). Chris Clarke summarizes the reasons for you to write a letter. Even if you don’t live in Arnold’s state.
Like me.
(I guess) you had to be there
Wednesday, 25 August 2010
Once upon a time, there was a holographic pig. He lived an empty life, but he was very reflective.
3D, many ways
Monday, 23 August 2010
More from yesterday’s pool visit….
I did something I’ve never done before today: I saw some 3D TV, that is, 3D HD TV. Woooooohoooooooo!
Spectacular prices
Sunday, 1 August 2010
I need a new pair of glasses. I have my prescription, but am daunted by the next step.
The Guru talked me into checking out an upscale glasses place late last week, where I discovered the inexpensive rack advertised frames for $139.
I did find a lovely frame on a rack hidden in the back, and asked the price. Roughly $325. Well.
Since I was at it, I asked about lenses. Lenses are more than glass. There’s the scratch-resistant surface treatment; that can be pricey. Or less so. There’s the transition lenses I need. That’s just an additional hundred. Just.
So, final price for these glasses on my face? Something like $700.
Not this shopper.
Guess I’ll be headed to one of those discount places advertising two pair for $69—with an eye exam!
Game boy Teddy
Monday, 12 July 2010
I have now read a book on TD (aka Teddy, stands for That Device, known in commercial circles as an iPad). And watched a full-length movie. I have to say, it worked well for both. I can see why Kindle fans find the surface glare distracting under some conditions. However, the clarity of the movie, wow!
Speaking of Teddy, can you read the quote? The title is Youth. This is from the Teddy Roosevelt salon, now the east-facing main entry to the American Museum of Natural History in NYC. The façade is under construction, so you enter beneath cleverly disguised scaffolding. Outside is a monumental sculpture of Teddy on a horse, with a compliant Indian standing next to them. The composition is just plain weird if you have twenty-first century values in your brain when you look at it. I realized, however, that if you’re interested in horse tack, the sculpture offers tremendous detail, with rosettes, saddle decorations, and the like. Anyway, the Teddy quote*:
I WANT TO SEE YOU GAME BOYS
I WANT TO SEE YOU BRAVE AND MANLY
AND I ALSO WANT TO SEE YOU GENTLE
AND TENDER
BE PRACTICAL AS WELL AS GENEROUS
IN YOUR IDEALS KEEP YOUR EYES
ON THE STARS AND KEEP YOUR FEET
ON THE GROUND
COURAGE HARD WORK SELF MASTERY
AND INTELLIGENT EFFORT ARE ALL
ESSENTIAL TO A SUCCESSFUL LIFE
CHARACTER IN THE LONG RUN
IS THE DECISIVE FACTOR IN THE LIFE
OF AN INDIVIDUAL AND OF NATIONS
ALIKE
Is this the first example of the phrase “game boy”? Yeah, I know I’m supposed to have a loftier take-away, but my feet were hurting when I read this the first time….
* Apparently punctuation was beyond precious. Or anti-style. Sorry, I couldn’t get the technology to display the proper indents—which are inconsistent anyway.