New Feed Old Feed

Thursday, May 3, 2012

Royce Bair's Night-Lit Landscapes

There are no AC plugs near Delicate Arch in Grand County, Utah, where Royce Bair made this night landscape shot. So all of his flashes needed to be battery-powered to illuminate the 20-meter tall formation.

Two of his light sources were Norman 400B's, weighing in at 6 lbs and from which he needed a total of 48 pops to make the image.

But his Big Gun required only two pops to balance with the Normans. That 110,000 lumen light source weighed about a pound, all-in. And it ran off of a 9-volt battery. Read more »

F1 drivers praise Mugello but Petrov says it’s not safe | 2012 F1 season

F1 drivers praise Mugello but Petrov says it’s not safe | 2012 F1 season:
F1 drivers praise Mugello but Petrov says it’s not safe is an original article from F1 Fanatic.

If this article has been published anywhere other than F1 Fanatic it is an infringement of copyright.

F1′s return to Mugello for testing has been praised by many drivers – with the exception of Vitaly Petrov who says the track isn’t safe enough.
On Tuesday Mark Webber hailed the circuit as being far more satisfying to drive on than some modern F1 venues:
“Did ten dry laps today around Mugello, which is the same as doing 1,000 laps around Abu Dhabi track in terms of satisfaction,” he posted on Twitter.
In between runs today Daniel Ricciardo said: “Love driving the beast round here, awesome high speed circuit. Can’t wait to get back in after lunch.”
Sebastian Vettel said: “I’m happy to be here. Unfortunately we don’t have this track on the calendar. It’s an incredible circuit with a lot of high-speed corners.
“It’s what you hope for in a Formula One car, because you can really feel the downforce. Once you get into the rhythm it’s really enjoyable.”
Nico Rosberg, Bruno Senna and Jean-Eric Vergne also praised the circuit.
But Petrov raised concerns about the circuit: “I’m not sure the track is right for today’s F1 cars,” he said yesterday. “You get very close to the walls and it’s maybe a bit small for the cars now, but it’s still a good challenge putting together a quick lap.”
He told Autosport today: “I don’t think we should have come here. It is not safe and wide enough.”
Unlike most modern F1 venues, Mugello has no tarmac run-off – the track is mainly bordered by grass and gravel traps as can be seen in this satellite picture:

2012 F1 season

Browse all 2012 F1 season articles
Image © Caterham/LAT
F1 drivers praise Mugello but Petrov says it’s not safe is an original article from F1 Fanatic.

If this article has been published anywhere other than F1 Fanatic it is an infringement of copyright.

Keith Vaz renews attack on violent games

Keith Vaz renews attack on violent games:

Parliament's most vocal videogame critic slams PEGI and calls for tighter restrictions after Breivik's Modern Warfare reference.

UK MP Keith Vaz has again hit out at games, calling on government to "provide for closer scrutiny of aggressive firstperson shooter videogames."
Vaz, MP for Leicester East and a frequent critic of videogames, tabled an early-day motion on April 24 titled, simply, "violent videogames." The source of his inspiration is Anders Behring Breivik, the man currently on trial for the murders of 76 people in Norway last year.

Namesakes, Ctd

Namesakes, Ctd:

Many readers can relate to this post. William Smith writes:

Anyone named Wesley Snipes (under 40 or so) or Robert DeNiro (who's under 70 years old) is just asking for it. Consider a nickname or a change of name or your middle name, if possible. Try being named something simple, Will Smith or something really common like that. That's where the suckage really begins because it's both common and famous. I doubt half the people in high school knew my first name, since I was "Fresh +/- Prince" or even "FP" for short. And yes, I am very white. Kinda sucked and when I went to college, adopted my nickname. In short, I am rarely known by my real name, which I actually prefer.

John Coulter writes:

I married a woman with the first name Anne back in 1997.

(We just celebrated our 15th anniversary). Being a liberated woman, she did not take my last name: Coulter. A few years later, she started softening her stance on changing her surname to mine. About that time, THE Ann Coulter burst on the scene and gave her an excuse to never change it.

John Phillip Sousa writes:

I wrote an essay [pdf] about being named John Phillip Sousa.

Michael Sheard writes:

The "well-known" person with whom I share a name - the late British character actor - isn't all that famous, but he does have a famous image. He played Adolf Hitler in several movies and TV shows, most notably Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade. So if you use Google Images to try to find a picture of me, usually the first thing that pops up is a picture of (an actor dressed as) Hitler.

(Note: All readers waived the Dish's anonymity policy to use their real names, for obvious reasons.)

Sauber says no to dual DRS

Sauber says no to dual DRS:
From a distance, Mercedes AMG Petronas seem to have innovated a performance-impacting dual DRS rear wing system that provides additional drag reduction during the deployment of the driver-activated system. While teams protested, the FIA approved the system and this has many Formula One fans wondering if other teams will now adopt their own versions of the dual DRS system.
Assessing the performance gains versus the cost of developing the system is a major issue. Mercedes boss Ross Brawn said the system is simple but if the chassis wasn’t designed around the innovation, it would be difficult to recreate or bolt on to an existing design.
Sauber’s Matt Morris said they’ve decided that the gains and costs associated is not something the team is willing to pursue telling AUTOSPORT:

“We have done some evaluation on it in the factory, but at the moment it’s not really working for us in terms of cost versus performance,” said the Chief Designer, Matt Morris.
“It doesn’t really stack up for us at the moment. And beyond the cost versus performance issue, it’s difficult to know exactly the potential benefits and then it’s only really useful in qualifying.
“It’s definitely a few tenths of a second in qualifying, but to get that [benefit] so many parts in the car would have to be changed. That’s the problem.”

Formula 1 fans will be watching closely to see if any of the remaining teams will arrive at the next grand prix in Spain with a dual DRS system. What is your guess? Do you think any of the teams will adopt the Dual DRS system this year? IS the gain worth the pain?

Share and Enjoy

• Facebook • Twitter • Delicious • Digg • StumbleUpon • Add to favorites • Email • RSS • LinkedIn

Wednesday, May 2, 2012

Automated Dorm Room Causes a School Inquiry

Automated Dorm Room Causes a School Inquiry:

First time accepted submitter ElectronicHouseGrant writes "Freshman Derek Low rigged up his Berkeley dorm room with something he calls B.R.A.D., which is short for 'Berkeley Ridiculously Automated Dorm.' The room includes automated lighting, drapes, music, motion detection, and more. He can control everything through voice recognition, but a wireless remote, his iPhone and his iPad are also in on the control party. Derek started the install on February 4 and finished just a few days ago."

Are There Legal Forms of Hazing?

Are There Legal Forms of Hazing?:
Florida prosecutors announced charges against 13 people on Wednesday in the hazing death of Florida A&M University drum major Robert Champion. Members of the school’s marching band beat Champion as he ran down the aisle of a charter bus, and he later died from the trauma. What’s the difference between a regular college initiation ritual and illegal hazing?