Author Archive

New Lens

Saturday, April 18th, 2009

I’m somewhat of a wanna-be cool photo dude so I was elated when I got my new 50mm f/1.4 lens in the mail as a late birthday present (late as in Amazon f’d up, not my folks).

it’s a really fast lens, and can open up real wide so you get pretty nice background blur and can take good photos in poor light. the depth of field is real shallow with a 1.4, something i haven’t experienced yet. Definitely a lot less cumbersome than my kit 28-135mm lens, but not the best walk-around, due to the focal length.

Here’s a few sample photos…click to view bigger, or even bigger on flickr.

Brett

Brett

Turtle

Turtle

grumpy

grumpy

Tweet On My Cat.com

Thursday, April 9th, 2009

Ok, while I did post about this in my other blog, I felt as though its topic was quite relevant and interesting so I’m posting it again here.

Some lonely cat nerd loser genius decided it would be entirely important and relevant to find out the utilization of his cat door. Not only that, he wanted to know who was using it and when. So, he simply:

  • Gave RFID chips to his cats Gus and Penny (an RFID chip is something you’d find in your CTA card…it’s a unique identifier)
  • Gave himself a twitter account
  • Got himself a cheap digital camera
  • Wrote himself some code

What did he end up with? THIS:

IT’S AN AUTOMATICALLY TWEETING CAT DOOR. WOW!

Gus walks in. His RFID chip passes by the sensor, identifying him as Gus. This triggers the camera to take a picture of Gus in action. Then, with the photo, his program creates a tweet that shows the picture and the cat entering the door. This way, when he’s at work, he can monitor his cats using the door and thus see what they’re doing! it’s like nanny cam (for cats) 2.0! I really want sometjing like this.

read all about it at engadget

Follow Gus and Penny on Twitter

Dance Moves that ROCK

Wednesday, April 8th, 2009

There’s something entirely inapprops about 2 little kids dancing to Flow Rida - but when they’re pulling off moves like THIS, then all instances of bad parenting are forgiven:

via lepanopticon.tumblr.com

Hollywood Geniuses Do It Again

Saturday, April 4th, 2009

There’s a new movie out, about fighting.

It’s called … wait for it … Fighting. No joke.

tatum-in-fighting-01

What will they think of next?! Sad truth: this movie will make a ton of money.

SuperSolveig - 10 year old graff artist and tattooist!

Thursday, April 2nd, 2009

Seriously, this is rad.

She’s my new fav.

And she’s adorable, and so is this:

Doucher Wear

Wednesday, April 1st, 2009

It’s awful to say this, but totes true, that you can ascertain a fair amount about somebody based upon their clothing choice. This entry is all about the clothes that douche bags wear. I see it often. Yes, i’m passing judgment here. I don’t care.

Ed Hardy
Where Von Dutch left off, douche-dresser Christian Audigier has bastardized another underground classic in Ed Hardy. Ed Hardy is a well-known and
well-respected and very good tattoo artist. His traditional flash work is top-notch, as shown by this poster below.

(more…)

Favorite Chicago Blogs

Wednesday, April 1st, 2009

Since I know Toner is currently napping prepping for an OOC night, I may as well add a list to the mix.

Chicago is a pretty darn tech-savvy city — as it should be, we’re the 3rd largest in the nation — so here’s a short list of my fav Chicago-based blogs. Most are directly related to Chicago itself. This list is probs gonna grow!

  • Chicagoist - General aggregate news blog with features on local bands , restaurants, etc. Part of of the -ist universe. I read this one more than once a day.
  • CTA Tattler - Good for catching up on the CTA news and alerts. Not updated very often, but a decent once-every-two weeks check. Also links to the CTA Flickr pool.
  • The Expired Meter - Found this one recently. Has had a lot of action lately thanks to the City’s insane plan of leasing out all parking meters to a private company (seriously, insane plan that warrants its own blog post, even though tis been beaten to death). Funny blog, too - and features a weekly feature where you can ask the Parking Geek questions about contesting tickets, etc.
  • Gaper’s Block - Not strictly a blog, but an in-depth site about the city’s offerings and a general opinion site. Well designed too!
  • Second City Cop - I certainly don’t agree with this cop’s politics, but he does offer insider perspective to a notoriously corrupt and misunderstood organization - the CPD. Good to read after police-related scandals (such as the 14 year old kid posing as a cop).
  • The Food Chain - Part of The Reader, Chicago’s alternative weekly rag. I enjoy their reviews and whatnot in the printed magazine, so this is a good resource for when you’re trying to find a place to dine and don’t have a copy of The Reader handy.

I hope to increase this list, and of course, recommendations welcome!

Silly Dutch

Sunday, March 29th, 2009

via @Stile15

If LG was North Korean…

Saturday, March 28th, 2009

… I’d expect this to be true:

It’s a filter for your TV that replaces swear words with baby laughter, sad parts with kittens in a basket (also available in puppy!), and sex scenes with cartoons. Let’s get on this, people!

Ever wanted to drive a bus?

Friday, March 27th, 2009

…But don’t have the guts to steal a bus of your own?

Boston is training their bus drivers with their new Bus Simulator, essentially a more boring version of Out Run, where you train in the weather, fight traffic, and more.

I’m all for training bus drivers, fighter pilots and more with simulation; i think it’s safer, cooler, and gives them the confidence to take to the real streets when they’re ready without risking running people over. I mean, you’re not driving a VW Rabbit here. I wonder when they’ll make kids take driver’s ed on simulators rather than driving in the left lane at 15 mph wreaking havoc in the streets.