Recent content by collinsmark

... Part IV Definitely outside the Gaslamp Quarter. This is a keeper. I was crossing the street on the way to the trolley station and I spotted this person just standing motionless, basically in the middle of the street. 'Just standing there. After I got to the sidewalk, the person did move...

... Part III I love this time of year. "Screw the box. I think outside the straight jacket." I like the fence/gate, and of course the brick sidewalk. Very photogenic. And a puppy! How adorable! I like the lamp in the window. Continued in part IV (last part) ...

... Part II The 35 mm Summilux-M produces some nice sunstars (a.k.a. diffraction spikes) off of it's iris/aperture blades. Some days just call for salt and whiskey. The Field (Irish pub). She was changing a bulb in the decorative string light. I was letting my feet rest with a Guinness...

I took a rangefinder camera to San Diego's Gaslamp Quarter last Saturday evening for some street photography. Street photography is the art of documenting society at a particular place and time. While there is overlap with other forms of photography, such as architecture, photojournalism, and...

Oh, man. Where's that groan emoji we've been asking for. :DD

Ghost Nebula* (Sh2-136) haunted from my back Patio, June-August 2024. The nebula can be found in the northern constellation Cepheus. *(Not to be confused with Ghost of Cassiopeia [IC 63]; that's a different nebula.) I've been saving this one for the right time. Happy Halloween! The Ghost...

One day, after saying hello to Mr. Mittens, I thought I saw him go upstairs. But later, after going up to check on him, I didn't find him in his usual spot. It turns out he had found a new spot in the secret engineering laboratory* (pronounced: la-BOAR-a-tor-ee) taking a late-morning catnap...

Mittens update. Mr. Mittens, my neighbor's cat, continues to pop over to visit occasionally. Here he is looking out the window. I think he spies a bird or neighbor. I was playing with negative space here. This image violates a couple of rules of photographic composition to the benefit of...

I think you're mostly on the right track. My understanding, without breaking out my old textbooks, is the reason that free-space path loss is a function of frequency is that antenna size is (to some extent) baked into the path-loss equation. A separate parameter in the link budget is the...

As did/does Stephen King (for the movies based on the books he wrote).

Yeah, over a century ago, absinthe got a bad rap around the world: partly from misinformation (false urban legends) and partly from disinformation by the wine industry (absinthe was cutting into their profits/revenue). It was outlawed in may countries (even in the US, long before prohibition)...

Nah, the scope is the right size. The Saturn picture is actually a pretty heavy crop from a very small sensor -- yet still a heavy crop. I could have done better by using a 2x Barlow lens (increases the focal length by 2X). 'Same goes for Jupiter. A 2X Barlow lens, for an effective f/ ratio of...

Saturn and several of its moons last Thursday night. To the left is Dione. The bright one to the upper right is Titan. Below Titan is Tethys. Mimas and Hyperion are also in the picture but are too dim to make out. 'Not my best image of Saturn; I had issues. I won't complain about San...

True. That's why I ponied up for an RGB gaming keyboard. Gaming aside, it's still useful for everyday (or shall I say, "everynight") situations.

======== Satire ============= This from The Onion (an online, satirical magazine): https://theonion.com/nobel-prize-in-physics-awarded-to-alien-giving-peace-sign-driving-tie-dye-vw-bug/ Nobel Prize In Physics Awarded To Alien Giving Peace Sign Driving Tie-Dye VW Bug STOCKHOLM—In a ceremony...