Tuesday, June 28, 2016

Cool Free Stuff to use Online

3D modeling
Digital Painting:
Vector Drawing:
Digital Music Production:
Music MIxing:
  • http://mixxx.org/
  • From /u/TaTayou :For digital music production there is also reaper, you can use the demo (which is like the full version) as long as you want(and not only during 60days as advertised). : www.reaper.fm
-/u/just_not_ready says: Audacity Photo/Image Editing:
-/u/TunaLobster adds: Paint.Net Go to school and take courses:
Learn programming:
Make a game:
-/u/ViKomprenas says: http://superpowers-html5.com/index.en.html Learn a language:
Play old arcade games:
Learn how to fly a flight sim:
Nothing Needed
  • Write a book or short story. No Internet needed. Just word and your imagination.
/u/bumbletowne shares this huge list of art stuff. :MORE ART! (shameless plug for /r/drawing and /r/learnart ) Also for digital painting:
And for regular painting/figure drawing:
(New Masters Academy-they have gesture practice there too) https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCliUF1c8m7MUspaCykJljSg To practice gesture:
Reference libraries for people:
Palette selector (A THING THAT HELPS YOU PICK COLORS THAT GO GOOD TOGETHER)
Can't think of what to draw? Here's an image randomizer of things to draw
More
No comments:
Labels:

Cool Free Stuff to use Online

3D modeling
Digital Painting:
Vector Drawing:
Digital Music Production:
Music MIxing:
  • http://mixxx.org/
  • From /u/TaTayou :For digital music production there is also reaper, you can use the demo (which is like the full version) as long as you want(and not only during 60days as advertised). : www.reaper.fm
-/u/just_not_ready says: Audacity Photo/Image Editing:
-/u/TunaLobster adds: Paint.Net Go to school and take courses:
Learn programming:
Make a game:
-/u/ViKomprenas says: http://superpowers-html5.com/index.en.html Learn a language:
Play old arcade games:
Learn how to fly a flight sim:
Nothing Needed
  • Write a book or short story. No Internet needed. Just word and your imagination.
/u/bumbletowne shares this huge list of art stuff. :MORE ART! (shameless plug for /r/drawing and /r/learnart ) Also for digital painting:
And for regular painting/figure drawing:
(New Masters Academy-they have gesture practice there too) https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCliUF1c8m7MUspaCykJljSg To practice gesture:
Reference libraries for people:
Palette selector (A THING THAT HELPS YOU PICK COLORS THAT GO GOOD TOGETHER)
Can't think of what to draw? Here's an image randomizer of things to draw
More

No comments:
Labels:

Monday, June 20, 2016

Conservative Anti-Intellectualism and the Dumbing Down of America

What should I say? Should I be "PC" and beat around the bush or acknowledge the outliers and recite the old saws about blanket statements -or should I say what I really feel? I'll probably get jumped for it but here goes. Every time I read an article like this, the same bells go off. The driving force behind so much of this seems to come from the same damned source time and again; American conservatives -and it doesn't even stop with them.

The fusion of anti-rationalism with anti-intellectualism

"The rise of idiot America today represents - for profit mainly, but also and more cynically, for political advantage in the pursuit of power - the breakdown of a consensus that the pursuit of knowledge is a good. It also represents the ascendancy of the notion that the people whom we should trust the least are the people who best know what they are talking about. In the new media age, everybody is an expert."

There are, without question, two forces working in tandem to promote the anti-rationalist and anti-intellectualist movements today and the first is conservatism.

Donald Trump told us that, "The concept of global warming was created by and for the Chinese in order to make U.S. manufacturing non-competitive"

Ignore all those scientists, they've been paid off by the liberals who have worked with china to fabricate climate change because they hate the oil industry and china fears we won't want to buy from their sweat shops anymore. This is the logical chain of thoughts that shipped along with Trump's proclamation. And many more like it have been the added baggage of science denial, of all kinds, for decades. But don't read what the scientists say, don't notice that Trump buys from Chinese manufacturing, ignore the moral ramifications of sweat shops, don't examine anything that might get in the way of your total hatred of liberals and liberalism and certainly don't dare look closely at oil companies.

And that takes me to the other parties involved, the ones behind the conservative movement -the mega corporations, particularly oil / energy. We find it strange that voters from rural areas, with long histories of distrusting large corporations (and with good reason) all the way back to those Grapes of Wrath days, coupled with a severe hatred of the north (dating back to those Gone with the Wind days) should not only trust the politicians who are so obviously backed by the shadiest of our most powerful corporations and billionaires, but so trust Donald Trump who is, to use the rural parlance, a slick-talking Yankee businessman from New York. "New York City? Get a rope..." Remember those days? They are gone, replaced by a growing normalization of pro-corporate culture among all Americans, regardless of politics or geography, that should probably be its own discussion.

How have they so duped the conservative American population into accepting the contradictions right in front of their eyes? How does a billionaire convince you he is for the working class? How does he assure you that your jobs will be safe from immigrant labor when he embraces the practice himself?

Ignorance. Anti-rationalism. Anti-intellectualism. And hate. And it's been going on for a long time now.

That's how you make sure no intellectual's warnings can be heard; you make them despise the liberals entirely, invalidating their word on any number of subjects. That's how you make them not notice Trump imports immigrant labor or buys from China; you make them skeptical of everything outside of conservative sources.

And they have gone to enormous lengths to provide conservative sources that keep them in the bubble.Conservapedia is perhaps the best example. All the misinformation and lies you could want to control your population with all in one tidy site that, by the virtue of becoming the conservative go-to for information, neatly keeps them away from the dreaded wikipedia which clearly has that liberal bias of not being conservative. They cannot imagine that liberal (and some moderate conservative) intellectuals and scientists could possibly research topics without political bias, as though every botanist and physics professor only put their findings in some sort of liberal light. Because the march of progress and enlightenment rolled over creationism and endangered the profits of climate change causing industries, the voters must be made to resent, refute and refuse all science lest rationalism alert them to their folly.

That has been helped by a long-standing movement to undermine education in America, both K-12 and university. And it, like many of these conservative movements, is not the result of some star chambered cabal that cackles and twirls mustaches -it is coming from so many directions, each with their own set of beliefs to justify their actions and only loosely coordinated under a banner of conservatism. They are still pushing for school prayer because they need the religion to be state sanctioned for legitimacy. We have the jingoists who demand school must instill "citizenship" -but of course it always turns more into indoctrination, replete with oaths and flag waving and... fictitious history.
But then, there's also a separate but related movement to mess with science courses
When that's not enough, there's an entire movement for homeschooling
And a push to end public schooling entirely and close the department of education...
And lest we forget the historic call for an end to critical thinking courses in schools by the Texas GOP in 2012.

Then there are endless cuts to funding, repeated inflation of class sizes, the demonization of teachers and especially teachers' unions, and many more continual, well-funded and diligent attacks in this multi-pronged approach to tearing down education. And all of that that I just listed, every link -only concerns K-12. Then we move on to the "my liberal students frighten me" rhetoric flooding through the media. Check out the College Fix to see just a sampling of the fallacious and slanted articles hoping to shock the ignorant into rejecting every last shred of progressivism and just be racist, homophobic, bigoted, and unaware.

The Voter Rights Act of 1965, the pillar of the civil rights movement, has been gutted in our lifetimes. We have a surveillance state. We are beset on one side by terrorists and on the other by politicians. Our privacy is a joke. And the mindlessness of Facebook and reality television has made no one care. We are told time and again to stop being "Politically Correct" by people who really mean they just want to call black people niggers without social consequence.

We are now to hate Mexicans (but that's not a race, they repeatedly admit, so it can't be racism, right?) and Muslims (hey, that's a religion, not a race. Safe again!) and illegals (still no race, prove to me Trump is a racist, they scream!) and gays (batting a thousand!) and on and on the list goes until, gosh and golly, you are left with only one sanctioned and approved group -straight, white, christian, conservatives. And don't try to prove that with any number of source citations because now no source is considered unbiased unless it is a conservative source. 

Mother Jones? Not allowed, won't even look at it. I mean, it IS liberal, but never mind the thousands of issues they raise because we can throw the baby out with the bathwater. So on you move to the New York Times. Oh no, that's the "lame stream media" so good luck with that. Only Breitbart and FOX news will do! Amazing how the various and quasi-related multi-pronged approach has effectively stripped every source away until you are left with nothing but propaganda.

We have no one person or organization to blame. We can cite the Heritage Foundation or the laughingly named Family Research Council, churches that double as political rallies and organizers, politicians, and probably scores and scores more sources so you have no lone villain to remove or despot to replace but it all leads back to a handful of billionaires and corporations that fund what was once a small fringe. 

As I approach my 50s, I increasingly wonder what happened. Born in '70, I have watched the nation progress, refusing to accept the hard conservatism of the 1950s and throwing off its yoke until the 80s where religious conservatism seemed to take a distant back seat to fiscal conservatism and the rise of the middle class. 

When I was a teenager, we dreamed of the 21st century as a time of unbridled progress but somewhere after 9/11, surely the worst thing to happen to the American future in our history, we fell into a painful bear trap and have stood still ever since. NASA has been relegated to the back burner, green energy has been hamstrung and replaced by drill, baby, drill, climate change prevention has so long been stymied that if we too every measure we can think of tomorrow it will still happen, and reading a book or learning actual science and history is anathema to half the nation.

So, I'll borrow a page from their playbook, the "let's not be PC" entry -let's face the truth, while not every conservative is "evil" and while not every liberal or centrist or otherwise is guiltless, this billionaire-funded conservative attack on every single aspect of our lives, from what goes on in our bedrooms to what happens in our classrooms, has long been behind the push for anti-intellectualism in America. 

With each generation, they become less and less able to be reasoned with because, like a copy of a copy, the errors and fallacies get ingrained and leave blurry artifacts. But the politicians, since they are rich, don't get offered those "manual laborer" high school diplomas some red states have decided they will push on kids but instead a fine private and ivy league education -so they know the score even if their voters no longer seem capable of it. 

Jeb Bush isn't stupid -he just hopes you are. And in the end, after all of the variables, there is one answer after the equal sign; the greed of a few is fueling the bonfire of anti-reason. Now nearly half the populace is not even adequately equipped to hear your arguments and the elite gets closer to what they have always wanted since the dawn of history -to be the worshiped kings and queens of our time with a near moronic populace to lift and toil for them, accepting their peanuts without feeling "entitled" to more so their lords can sup on the finest foods and live in the finest homes your far harder work will never afford you.

And we'd better start doing something about it.

SOURCE
No comments:
Labels: , ,

Monday, June 13, 2016

New Zealand Travel Guide

South Island - I would recommend the lower South Island (Use Queenstown as a base to set up), you can visit 'the fjords', Milford Sound is really good can take a tour bus to get there and they stop along the way so you can take pictures, option for a mini cruise in the sounds when you get there. Queenstown is good for summer and winter loads to do there, a real hotspot. Check out 'Fergburger' for a REALLY good burger and chips; there is 'Ferg bakery' next door too.

In Queenstown you can do Bungy Jumps and a big 'Swing' over a gorge Link (Also as a side not, Kawarau and Queenstown are relatively close. Bungy jumps can also be done in Auckland off the 'Auckland Harbour Bridge'. But the original is down in Queenstown.

If you are more into hiking and stuff there are some really good trails around, some from 3-4 hrs and others longer at around 6-8 hrs, bring good hiking gear. Also look for guides if you're going to go REAL bush, or you might get lost and end up as local news for a month.... we have no news :( Link

West coast of the South Island is quieter, but really good scenery. You're away from civilisation, but it is good for camper vans.

Dunedin on the lower east coast of the South Island; relatively close to Queenstown (Inner city buses that run between there cheaply so you don't have to drive, etc).

In Dunedin there is some cool things to do like -

Albatross Centre - When I went with my family it was a bit expensive and didn't get 'too good of a picture' of an Albatross; but I think it is season dependent. (Also close enough Dunedin centre, but it would be best to hire a car here IMO).

Yellow Eyed Penguin Colony - An interesting tour to see Yellow Eyed Penguins. (About $50 NZD for 90 minutes New Zealand Time) - Look at this cutie

Speights Beer Factory tour - Good price, loads of fun. Right in the heart of Dunedin too, go for a nice tour of the old factory and than have a piss up at the end with FREE beer for a period of time. Perfect to do just before dusk, than go out for a nice dinner and if your feeling keen, partying with the local Otago University students (Season dependent too, like the animals....). (Book in advance if possible, a couple of days should do it, but if you know you want to, than book when you're planning).

Cadbury Chocolate Factory Tour - Cheap, plus you get loads of free chocolate!!!! I did when I went on it a second time last year! Good fun, free chocolate for lowish price. (Once again, book in advance if possible, a couple of days should do it, but if you know you want to, than book when you're planning).

Check out 'Baldwin Street' too (Dunedin) while you're at it, it is really steep. Depending on when you go, they do an annual Jaffa race down the street hosted by the Cadbury Factory. Here

There are some other cool things to see like the local gardens, the old Railway Station where you can catch a train along the Taieri Gorge - The Taieri Gorge is expensive, nearly $100 NZD. I did it when I went down with my friend who is a train enthusiast. It is expensive, but unless you're absolutely dying to go on it....worst of all....no free food :( It is something you don't have to see, but it is there.

Lastly for Dunedin, you can go look at the Moeraki boulders - I'm pretty sure it's free. A gift shop near by and a cafe to visit so a nice day trip. Another instance in which you might want to hire a car.

Further up from Dunedin (more than a day trip, I think). You can do some {whale watching in Kaikoura] (http://www.whalewatch.co.nz/your-experience/our-tours-and-kaikoura-day-tours/) - Book in advance if possible. Never done, so I do not know the odds of seeing whales, however between March and November there is an extra, (a 4th tour), so there may be more whales here??? Which is weird as it is our winter...Not sure.

Christchurch - A lovely place to go. As of roughly 5 years ago was hit by an earthquake, the second major one which wrecked the city. Has gone through a lot of rebuilding, I went last year during the cricket world cup, it was amazing, I would go there if you're keen.

You can check out the Container City/Mall - Photo's - I went through the Container City/Mall which was so much fun, there were so many little stalls set up for food, clothing, 'knick knacks' and had a lot of fun exploring.

There is also a cool tram which you can ride on (pay for it; not sure about booking). Link - It is a cool way to see some sights, but you can walk if you're keen. I only went on the tram because of my friend who likes trains.

I have never been to the top of the South Island, but I hear it is pretty cool, some great scenery there through Marlborough Sound, Nelson, and some great winery's. (If you like wine, check out where ever you are going for wine tours, I hear they're pretty good....according to my mum.

North Island -

Wellington is at the bottom, our capital. You can get there by flying from Christchurch, Auckland, Dunedin, or'Interislander Ferry' from Picton to Wellington or vice versa. It takes vehicles, kinda long, can be rough sailing in and out of Wellington as it is a really windy city as well as Cook Strait being rough too.

Wellington has some good things to do like Weta Workshop - Really cool!! There is also Hobbiton - However that is closer to Auckland than it is Wellington, so don't book it if you're in Wellington haha.

Te Papa Museum - Also in Wellington, I have been and it is really awesome to go check out, a lot of interactive sets and pieces. I really enjoyed it.

Pro Tip for the North Island - It is a good idea if you're in the North Island to hire a car and do exploring (Personal experience; just make sure you have a good map and co-pilot).

Taupo -

A place in the centre of the North Island; previously was a super volcano, but is now a lake. It is a good hotspot to go for some fishing, hiking, and water skiing. I could go on for the rest of the North Island to give you some idea's if you're keen.

Hiking -

Hardcore hikers - Mt Ruapehu Hike - Roughly $100 NZD - Essential to book before hand - Good for experienced hikers - Info on what to bring for the hikers. - Bring camera for memories and the View's from the top.

Less hardcore - Tongariro Crossing - A good day trip for the less experienced hiker, but still want to see some stunning views.

What to bring

Additional information about Tongariro

Nearby things to explore are the Huka Falls (pronounced like hook - ah).

Rotorua -

A geothermal hotspot of New Zealand. A lot of indigneous Maori there. Sites to see are the gysers, mudpools; especially the Puhutu gyser which sprays boiling water many metres into the air.

Rotorua gysers, hot pools and mud pools - Requires booking. Average day pass for an adult is about $50 NZD.

If you are interested in Maori culture this is a really good place to go - You will be involved for 3.5 (3 and a half) hour in Maori culture and experience. In the Maori village linked you will also get a buffet feast (kai - Maori word for food) and free transport to and from. It is very pricey however, $115 NZD pp Adult. But heavily involved experience if you are interested in immersion. Link

There are activities such as mountain biking, luge (also available in Queenstown too), gondola too (also available in Queenstown).

Bay of Plenty (Also known as BOP) -

White Island - Helicopter or boat trip to an 'active' volcano island off the coast. (Not active in the sense that it is spewing lava, however there are steam vents pits of hot mud, volcanic streams and a lake of boiling acid). It is $200 NZD pp Adult for 6hrs. (Most time might be trip there and back, but if you're interested, probably worth it).

Coromandel and the Coromandel Peninsula -

Great place to come fish, especially during our summer. But if you do come during the summer beware of every 'Aucklanders' coming down, as it might over crowd. However the beaches here are something to behold, truly fascinating.

If you're here and want to fish there are so many charters who will take you out, best to pre-book and look at the newspaper for the days ahead where it is expected to be 'good fishing days' to ensure you get a nice juicy snaper to take home and powder in a little flour and fry in a pan with a knob of butter, a freshly squeezed lemon and $2 worth of piping hot chips and tomato sauce (tomato sauce = ketchup here). ($2 dollars worth of chips per person is about the norm here haha, damn fatties haha). Honestly nothing better than eating that meal on a deck watching the sun set in summer. Christmas time summer ;)

Also not going to link a charter, you can find 10 million charters in the Coromandel Town Centre or somwhere further a long the coast.

An amazing place to check out is Cathedral Cove A classic screen saver. It is free to explore and is only a small walk about 30 minutes, but most of that time you are gawking at the little islands out in the bay. Potential to hire kayaks too.

Other cool places are hot water beach. Lots of places to go on small hour walks too, all these are available in the nearest town centre with the i.

Matamata/Hobbiton -

Keen to visit Middle Earth, Hobbiton is for you - It is a really cool place to visit! When I did I had an absolute ball of a time. Hobbiton - It is linked above, but I decided to link it again in case.

Auckland and day trips you can do out of Auckland -

Waitomo

Waitomo Glow Worm caves -

Really cool place to see glow worms. Even I was like, "nah not really my thing," went a long anyway with the family....best thing ever. I was in awe. In total it is relatively cheap; Adult ticket is $50 NZD pp, a Family Pass is $121 (2 Adults and 2 Children). (Best to book in advance as well, just in case).

Adding on to the Glow Worm caves; You can also go 'Black Water Rafting', caving as well as a bunch of other really awesome activities for those who want more of a adrenaline rush (You can see the glow worms when rafting as well).

Waitomo is a great place to visit! You can do Hobbiton through here if I remember correctly.

Tip - Be on the look out for special deals with Waitomo Glow Worms, Rafting and caving, you can sometimes get a good deal that saves you money...which is good for a trip ;) - Deals for Waitomo

This ended up being too long....

Other good day trips from Auckland -

Piha beach and lion rock -

Lion rock is the rock in the picture. Piha is a favourite tourist spot and spot for locals as well, its black sands make it piping hot in the summer. It really is a place to be hold. However, HUGE WARNING, beware of the rips a Piha and other surround West coast beaches outside of Auckland, they are strong and if you are not wearing the correct swim gear you will struggle. If you're not confident, don't go out too deep. Also as a side note, I think Lifeguards are only there during the summer holiday months (Mid November - Mid March) <- Don't quote me on that time frame. Also if you are going to do some fishing off the rocks....maybe don't, huge swells come in and have swept people off the rocks never to be seen again. We have a T.V show called Piha rescue, if you don't want to end up on it being dragged into a life boat in a less than glamorous state....take precautions. (Also wear sunscreen, hat and sunglasses so you don't get sunburn in summer).

There are really good other things to do in Auckland like all the 'ex' volcanic mountains you can climb for free for really good panoramic photos. Idea's - Mt Eden, One Tree Hill (Chose this photo cause sheep.... Also One Tree Hill might not have a tree at all on top cause some (cough) kept chopping it down :( )

Rangitoto Island -

A really good walk where you can take photos of nature, and at the summit where you can 360 no scope the city, the harbor, or the ocean behind. You will need to take a ferry - Link - At the moment it is about $30 NZD for the 30 min trip (Return) Early bird tickets are available. It is a hike to the top a couple of hours; wear hiking shoes or really good 'runners' (aka running shoes). ALSO Don't miss the ferry back.... or you will be left behind on the island.....all alone with other people sleeping over, and poisonous rocks that will eat you. You don't want to be left behind....you wont die....you'll just end up on the news....we have no news.

There are other cool places to go to such as Tiritrii Matangi Island - Another great walk - 75 minute boat ride. However the island differs from Rangitoto as it is a sanctuary for birds. If you like walking, taking photos os scenery and bird life....you're in for a treat. One of the birds that they have there is the Kakapo - If it ain't the cutest thing you have seen....

Waiheke Island is another great place to go for some excellent beaches. It also has a great wine and beer tour. Tours - It is great fun, you basically get driven around the island trying wine and beer and stuffing your face....what more can you want :D

There are lots of other good things to do in Auckland, but part of the fun is exploring yourself.

Whangarei and Kaitaia -

Up north of Auckland there are plenty of great adventures in nature, both walking and in the sea.

A great walk and attraction is seeing the great northern Kauri trees which tower over the surrounding land. What was once a booming industry in the 19th century are now protected trees ( I actually wrote that, no copy and paste here haha).

Along the same vein; the Kauri Museum which look at the history of Kauri logging in the North and the old technology in the logging industry.

If you enjoy fishing.... OH BOY are you in for a treat -

Bay of Islands -

The Bay of Islands is just of the east coast of Russel and Kerikeri, it is well known for it's great fishing spots, especially big game like Kingfish. - Just leaving a general link for Bay of Islands, but it has links to accomodation, fishing, and Maori culture - Link

Poor Knights Island

Although not fishing; Poor Knights Island is just below the tip and on the east coast of the North Island and is a marine reserve where you can go to dive and snorkle. It has some amazing scenery both above and under the water. As it is a marine reserve altering the underwater landscape is highly prohibited....we also have a show about protecting our marine life so don't get on that either haha. - Link.

90 Mile Beach (Not actually 90 Miles, its actually 88 Miles) -

Another cool place to go is 90 Mile Beach which has amazing scenery, beach and waves crashing. Almost seems like the beach never ends. Link

Some tips if you're coming -
Bring a good camera if some scenery and memories.

*Even if you're not hiking, some good sturdy trainers will help if you decide to get a bit rugged when exploring.

Pack according to the season, however that being said, New Zealand weather can be strange and be freezing cold and boiling hot too. Be prepared/keep an open mind. IDK TBH.

If swimming at places like Piha, be careful of rips and waves or you'll end up on T.V.

If it is summer - we have UV intense sun due to ozone destruction I think??? Either way, be careful about getting burned.

Driving!! - Key - We have had instances of tourists driving on the wrong side of the road and causing crashes, injury and death. Just so you know we drive on the Left. We have had some policy changes about letting tourists know what side we drive on.

Just to add to driving; if you're in Auckland....beware the road rage of drivers heading to the CBD around 7,8 and 9 am and coming home 3 (school rush) and 5 and 6 pm.

There may be others and stuff. But if you do come have fun and enjoy yourself :)

No comments:
Labels:

Wednesday, June 1, 2016

How to Treat a Man

  • Don't be cutesy; no baby-talking or making little kissy faces like you would to a puppy
  • Do ask him to help with physical tasks, like moving heavy stuff, opening pickle jars, and squashing bugs
  • Don't expect him to communicate like a woman; if you have a problem, he will probably offer a solution rather than simply listening. Let him know if you just want him to listen. Similarly, don't talk to him like a female friend; he doesn't want to hear about how fat you think your ass is or how much callous you peeled off your heel. He may not have an opinion on your lipstick or nail color.
  • He may not have an opinion on many things. He may not be thinking anything. He is not always aware of exactly what he's feeling. Stop trying to get him to bare his soul like you do with your girl friends after 2 glasses of wine.
  • Do let him decompress. Let him have quiet time to play video games, play guitar, work out, take a long dump, whatever. You don't need a play-by-play of his whole day as soon as he walks through the door.
  • Do treat him... dinner, a massage, lingerie. Enjoy sex with him, and if you don't, communicate what you want him to do.
  • Don't say anything bad about his penis or his body. You wouldn't want him to do this to you, even as a joke. Your man is your stallion.
  • Don't expect him to read your mind. If you let him know what you want (as a request, not a demand) and he does it, let him know how awesome he is.
  • Don't pressure him to open up if he's stressed. Men go into man-caves to figure shit out. Let him know you're there for him. Be his cheerleader, not his coach. Or his mother.
  • Do realize that a man compartmentalizes. While he's working on his car, he's thinking about car stuff. While he's gaming, he's thinking about gaming. While he's showering, he's pondering the mysteries of the universe and he can't hear you past the water anyway. If you want to tell him something REALLY important and he NEEDS to remember it, don't talk to him about it while he's busy. Make sure you are having an actual conversation with eye contact.
  • Don't take everything personally. If he's stressed about work, it's not about you. If he's stressed about money, it's not about you. If he is struggling in the sack, it's probably still not about you. If he wants to do something aside from hanging out with you, it's not that he doesn't like/respect/find you important. There isn't a continuum of importance... it's all important. You, his hobbies, his job, his friends. Just like your life is important.

  • Above all, remember and APPRECIATE that he is a MAN and he is DIFFERENT from you. Enjoy his manliness!
source
No comments:
Labels: ,

On being an Entrepreneur

Being an entrepreneur isn't about just going out and starting a business because you have the drive. It's a mind set. Yeah, you can be the charismatic sociopath who can convince anyone of anything and get people throwing money at you right and left, or you can be the enthusiastic go getter, or the idea man. You can be anyone of these. However, none of these make you an entrepreneur.

The reality, it's the details that make you an entrepreneur.

Nearly all, I mean like 99.9%, will fail the first time around. You might make another go because you thought you learned something, you might not, it varies. You will then go back to working for someone because a paycheck that is steady is so much nicer than trying to make the big score.

After a few years of working for someone, you will get sick of having no say, or no ability to affect change in the company. You will then maybe look at doing a little something on the side. Yeah, that's sounds good. You will have a great little side business and think, I can make this more.

You will give up the day job and try to make a go, only to realize that you have to build clients up really fast or else you will be broke and have to move back in with your parents. So, you might do it, you probably won't. You think, what the hell, my parents house isn't so bad. You push forward. Finally, you give up and go back and try and get your job back. Most likely your boss will take pity on you and let you have your old job back, but pay you less.

All this is going to teach you something very important. It's not what you do that is important. It's the business that's important. You have to understand business. So now you can go one of two routes. You can find a mentor or you can go back to school. Either are good. Sometimes both is a great option. I did both. But you are going to find the person who can teach you everything about business you can consume. This needs to be like the little kid who just got a copy of Harry Potter. It needs to be everything. It needs to keep you up at night, because you know how important it is.

You will need to learn about accounting. You will need to learn about marketing. You will need to learn about HR and management. You will need to learn about Sales. You will need to learn about operations. Everything you can possibly learn.

Then comes the day you have an idea. You will see it in a whole new light. Most likely you will reject it. You realize it's not going to make enough money to be a job. So you're working in business in some area, biding you time. You have a few more. In fact, you have so many ideas, that you keep a journal of them. Each one you do a quick look at it. Most of them you quickly reject because your business knowledge tells you to.
You realize that most of them are great ideas that don't fill a need. You realize that what you really need is a problem. Because that's all any business is about. Solving problems. Coolness only works in lifestyle brands. Unless you're a Apple, you are just a person providing a solution to a need.

One day, you will be out doing something totally unrelated, and it will dawn on you. There is a need I know is out there, and there is a solution that I know I can provide. It may be in something you have never worked in. You will start doing the numbers. You will know how to run them because you learned all of this and why it's important. You will research the market because it's what you know you have to do. You will know that you need to be a sales person first and fore most, because if you don't have a client, you don't have a business.

Finally, all the pieces fall into place. Cash flows look good, there's room in the market, you have a few potential clients ready to go. You quit the job, you're making good money. You are a real entrepreneur.
However, you will probably even fail then. Because people make mistakes. You might not be very good at managing and hiring the right people. Or you could screw up on your taxes and the IRS takes care of that for you. Or you could just have not had a sustainable business model because after you started something changed and you didn't see it coming.

That's business. That's why I want to discourage you. Because you should be discouraged. You shouldn't go into this head long and take the bull by the horns. You should walk home, find a sniper rifle, and knock the bull down from the stands. Going head long just results in failure.

So now that I've told you this long winded story. Let me get to my final point. I'm not so much worried about how do you make a sustainable business. That's actually pretty easy once the business is running. If you know how to manage and run a business, you'll change and adapt to the market. What I am worried about is how you are going to get client number one or ten. Your first ten clients are going to be both your easiest and hardest. Hardest because frankly you don't know how to sell anything right now. Easiest because you're so full of energy, you can probably bull through enough people to get some.

So, what you really need is a strong marketing and sales plan, mixed with a really well thought out cash flow statement. Those two will help you more than anything.

In the end, if you really want to be an entrepreneur. You have to get out of the mind set that you are going to be the developer. You aren't. You need to be the businessman. The deal guy. The salesman. The accountant. You need the be the ever loving, hell have no fury, type A, over achieving, money loving, bring it on I'm going to close this deal now, RAIN MAKER. That's what you need. You won't be able to afford to hire those people right now. So YOU have to be able to do it.

And that my dear friend, is how you become an entrepreneur.

Source
No comments:
Labels: ,

Why you (still) can't Cancel Print Jobs

1) Print jobs had to spool back in the day because that's all the available hardware and software would allow them to do. Spooling was done in the application being run, and not by the OS. This was okay because printers and print jobs themselves weren't complex at all.

2) People decided to make printers more complex by allowing them to monitor the printer and change print jobs, and the 'change print jobs' part is supposed to be what allows you to cancel it. This involved tacking extra functionality onto printer drivers.

3) This extra functionality failed to work properly because it was written and conceptualized poorly, and there was just no way of making sure that their printer would be compatible with whatever print spooling techniques were being used by X application.

4) Microsoft addressed the issue by making print spooling an inherent part of Windows, and allowing printer manufacturers to use standards Microsoft themselves came up with to make sure everything went smoothly.

5) The major printer manufacturers refuse to use these standards. Instead, they all come up with their own fancy-seeming proprietary software using its own printing language. But that software still has to interact with the Spooler Service, and trying to get two standards to work together is always a recipe for disaster.

6) And this is the 'why' of it - The software fails to work because these manufacturers still treat print jobs the old-fashioned way, one thing at a time, process by process - a holdover from the days when hardware was incapable of doing the things it now should be capable of doing. The machine gets the command, and you better believe it's going to finish what it's doing before it takes another command, because that's the entire reason that the spooling process - a now obsolete concept - exists.

7) Canceling it in Windows fails because Windows isn't really in control of it. Turning it off fails because the print job is still sitting there in the printer - it's got its orders from the spool. Sometimes the Print Spooler Service just straight-up crashes because the third-party software is just incapable of taking into account every possible scenario it could come across.

So, even though we have complex operating systems and wonderful hardware like USB, the problem's not going to be fixed until traditional print spooling is dropped and a modern standard is adopted, and a modern standard isn't going to be adopted anytime soon because currently each manufacturer is able to load their printer with 'features' and write their own shiny software for it.

source
No comments:
Labels: ,

How to Stop Procrastination

Do not fear faliure. You procrastinate because you worry that you are not a wolf, that if you try and fail it will prove you to be less than something.

Do not fear this. Fear the life you failed to live. Fear must be reserved for fear itself. Fear wasting time. Fear giving up. You will be knocked down. You will stumble. There will be problems in yur life that genuinely stump you, but fearing them will never solve that problem. Fear of facing challenges can paralyze you. Don't let it.

You are a wolf. Humanity has climbed mountains, split the atom, flown to other planets and cured countless illnesses. Those humans are no different from you, if you choose to be among them.

You must choose. Not once, not just now, but for every moment of the rest of your life. Life is struggle. You will falter, you will fail, and in times of need you will come to your fellow wolf pack and we will, kick you, drag you, carry you until you are once again standing, running with the wolves. In time we will look to you for support. In time you can abolish the fallacy that you are anything less then a member of the species which dominates this world.

Go now. If this motivates you for 5 min, then good. When that 5 is up, try again, aim for 6. If you fail, go back to 5, and continue.

Give your very best, and if it is not enough you will die happy knowing you genuinely tried. Motivation can be fleeting. The weak and pessimistic will attack you for it. Let them.

If you try, if you fight, if you work like you have never worked before, you will reap rewards beyond any the pessimist can comprehend, and all they will be left with is a 4th place ribbon and the regret that they didn't try harder.

Fight wolf.

Fight.
No comments:
Labels:

How do you Know When You're Grown Up?

Children always want to be grown up. You know you've grown up when you start wishing you were a kid again.
No comments:
Labels:

How to Get Started with Meditation

There are lots of techniques out there, all of them will help you develop different aspects of your mind. The core of the Buddhist teaching revolves around the 4 noble truths. Ideally the meditation instructions you follow should continuously show you how these truths operate, so you gain more insight in them.
The four noble truths can be summarized as follows:
  • There is suffering. Often stated as an observable fact.
  • There is a cause of the suffering, and the cause of suffering is craving.
  • There is the cessation the suffering, that is the letting go of craving.
  • There is a path leading to the cessation of suffering. That is the noble eight fold path.
Ideally in your meditation you should learn to recognize craving (2nd noble truth) and learn how to let go of this craving (3rd noble truth). The vehicle for this is your meditation (4th noble truth).

What you need is a workable definition of craving, such that you can easily recognize it in your practice.

Craving manifests itself as tension and tightness in your mind &amp; body. Resulting in the following meditation instructions:

Take an object of meditation. This can be anything, a point of reference to which your mind will return. This is called your home base. Observing the breath and relaxing during the in and out breath is what is mentioned in the suttas. Simply start observing this object of meditation.

Now inevitably thoughts will arise. The game becomes this:
  1. Recognize that your mind has moved from your object of meditation. You will now be involved in thoughts.
  2. Release the distraction, by simply letting it be there. Just let thoughts be there without paying any attention to it.
  3. Relax any tension and tightness caused by the movement of mind. This is where you are recognizing craving and letting the craving go. This results in a slight relief. Feel how your mind slightly expands. Notice that there are no thoughts in your mind!
  4. Re-smile. Put a gentle smile on your face. This facilitates the arising of joy, and important balancing factor of your mind. (It's the middle component of the 7 factors of enlightenment)
  5. Return to your object of meditation. Gently redirect your mind to the object of meditation.
  6. Repeat.
Each time when you cycle through these 6R's you will teach yourself about how the 4 noble truths are functioning. You are learning how to recognize craving and how to let it go.

source
No comments:
Labels:

How to Select a Steak

A great steak doesn't necessarily have to come down to how much you spend, but rather more than how you prepare it (within reason). And preparation depends on the cut.

Steak is graded into three general categories: Prime, Choice, and Select. This has to do with how the fat marbles through the beef.

The least common is Prime, but it has the best marbling and the highest price. The better fat is distributed throughout your selection of beef, the juicier and more delicious it will generally be. Hanger fat on the edges doesn't put juice in the meat, marbled fat does.

How fresh is the beef you're buying? Dark blood means old. Cloudy blood means old. If it's transparent and bright red, it's generally fresh.

How does it smell? If it smells bad, it probably is. Fresh kill will generally have a slightly sweet smell. A butcher can help you with learning that smell.

Intentionally aged meat will have a more dark purple color to it than old meat, which is generally browning/graying on its own. Aged meat can ramp up certain flavors in the beef because it removes water, and there are ways you can age this at home if you have the space and time to dedicate to the procedure.

I'd advise against kobe beef within the US, as it's not really kobe beef.

There are rules and other aspects as to why, but like with most foods in the US, there are ad words to entice sales and up prices. Ad words on your food are bad (see things like "certified organic", "low fat", "great source of omega-3s", etc). The exception to this might be with Certified Angus Beef, as the certification is done by an independent panel. Granted that panel is somewhat tied to Angus ranchers, so there may still be a little bias there. But you can lookup the grading points they look for on Certified Angus to see if that's something you might be interested in. Note that Certified Angus isn't the same as Angus. There is nothing special about Angus, it's the certification process that sets it apart from other meats.

Organic with beef doesn't really apply the same way as with vegetables. What really plays into the flavor is what the animal is fed. In general, cows are fed dent corn, and allowed to graze on natural grasses (in the Midwest). In California, they are most likely fed only corn and pellets.

Corn tends to fatten up animals quickly, as it does with humans, so what you are looking for is something fed totally, or primarily, on grasses. There is also a counsel that certifies this. There is also grass finished beef, which just means the cow ate grass while it was waiting for slaughter. Is the flavor difference really that noticeable? I think that depends on your palate and preference. It does cost more, so you'll probably take that into account.

Regarding cuts, most steaks come from the loin and the butt (shoulders) of the cattle. There are plenty of other cuts from a cow, but they are best prepared as roasts, ground for burger, turned into stews, etc.

For pan frying/grilling you'll want cuts from the loin or shoulders. These include all the common steaks you grew up hearing about like sir loin, flat iron, porterhouse, t-bone, rib eye, tenderloin, etc. You'll generally also see steak cuts of round for cheap. Round is simply the buttocks of the cow. Round also has less marbling, so it'll tend to be a drier steak.

There's a great video to show you a pan frying method (if you have access to an oven) here. You want to taste the meat, not the marinade (at least with pricier cuts), so stick with grape seed oil, sea salt, and fresh ground black pepper as a rub.

source
No comments:
Labels: ,

How to Find Happiness

The foundation for almost all marketing is to make us think, at some level, that what we're feeling about things right now isn't okay, and some product will make our lives better. They keep us off balance so we'll buy. This is advertising 101.

Since we're bombarded with messages like this, people get conditioned to think that's what life really is. To work at feeling good and to do whatever it takes to improve the shitty parts of their lives so they can, again, feel good. There's some truth in that, since we experience pain and pleasure for a reason, and they are useful emotions, but they're also very basic emotions. The net effect of these constant messages is that we become reduced to creatures who are basically just looking for the next high.

Encouraging deep personal satisfaction hurts the bottom line or, at the very least, it doesn't sell. And since most of the ideas we live by are filtered through a screen of marketers or have been filtered through that screen long ago, we just don't see ideas that don't sell as often. Its just not common knowledge anymore.

Think about the people you know. The vast majority of them don't think critically enough about information to be able to pick out good ideas and discard bad ones. Lots of people were basically raised by the media, or at least they picked up their mores from the media somehow or another.

Mass marketing, in other words. Ideas that sell. They were raised by parents who were bombarded by mass marketed messages, too. It was more basic back then, but it was still an important influence. So, ideas, even important ones that came through their parents were influenced, to some extent, by manufactured messages that sell.

That's why there are a bunch of poor people voting for Romney. Its why people are chucking phones they bought a year ago to go buy the newest one. It's why the divorce rate is through the roof and rising. The messages people hear are intended to make them chase emotional highs. To sell. When the high wears off, its time to buy something new. Or buy into something new.

You've got people who, their entire lives, have only heard that stuff or things or these really popular ideas or this or that will make them happy. Will change their lives from the outside in. When they buy into products, they experience a thrill and momentary satisfaction that reinforces the belief that x = happiness, but it fades when its newness wears off, but since whatever it is made them feel good, and happiness is feeling good, all we need to do is got get more happiness. The products don't always have to cost money, either. Money isn't the only currency we possess. We've also got time and attention.

So they get their high, then after a while its back to being unsatisfied and trying to figure out how to get that good feeling back. So they buy in again. They pick a side. They keep chasing feelings, running from bad ones, and the cycle repeats.

The biggest problem with all of it isn't necessarily that people are chasing happiness, it's that they don't understand what happiness is not. They're chasing an illusion of happiness strictly defined as a positive feeling. Or unhappiness strictly defined as a negative feeling.

Happiness isn't something the media or anyone else can define for you. It's up to you to figure out what happiness is for yourself. Your idea of happiness may differ from other people's idea of happiness, but you'll know it when you see it. But you can't do that if you're convinced that happiness is this or that or whatever, or that it's at the end of some endless trail and you'll get there eventually if you follow the breadcrumb emotional highs along the way, and if you buy this product or that it'll help you get further along.

I can't tell you what happiness is. I can't tell you what it is for me, even, cause I'm still figuring it out. All I can tell you is that lately, I've been far more interested in pursuing balance than just about anything else, and its helped me gain a perspective I never had the luxury of seeing from. I feel more... myself.

Feelings are weather. Not end states or goal states or happiness or unhappiness. We don't get angry at the world for raining on us even though we might not like it. We might feel better if the sun is shining, but we don't hate it if it's hidden behind some clouds. We don't abandon our lives just to find sunny places. Well, most of the time, anyway. Some people do. Most of us will just take trips every so often (and we should! Its fun!).

But the point is, we live where we live, and the weather is just the weather. We adapt to it, and work with it, we don't stamp our feet at the clouds and yell at them to stop raining. We put on a raincoat. We don't shoot at the sun when we get a sunburn. We wear sunblock. When it rains, we aren't cursing the planet because it rained, even if we might not be happy with it. We recognize it as a fact of life.

You live in your own world, and emotions are your personal weather. They're a fact of life. They come and go. When you see that, when you understand that, you stop trusting them to lead you to happiness, cause your feelings have no idea how to get you there.
No comments:
Labels:

Getting Started with Photography

Please excuse any typos or grammatical issues. I just typed this in one sitting and haven't proofread it. This is part one. I'll wait for questions and write the second, and last part, then. This replaces the much shorter, kind of half-assed post that used to be here.

Section A

Like most art forms there are two components to photography: the technical part and the aesthetic part. Traditionally with any art form a great deal of time is spent on the rudiments before anything of merit can be produced: a lot of piano practice and theoretical study is required before playing or composing a complex piece. Sculpture, painting – they're all the same in this respect: people generally learn the craft before getting good at creating art because the technical stuff is such a barrier to entry. Learn the basics and the barrier goes away – suddenly your trombone stops making farty noises and you can really learn to play. Until quite recently this was true of photography – because you had a limited number of shots on a roll of film (typically 24) and it took time and money to see the results it made sense to do a bit of homework so that you wouldn't get 23 dark or blurry shots back.

With the advent of digital cameras there's a trend towards reversing this order. Because you can pretty much take a camera out of its box, turn it on, point it, and get a picture, in my experience most people buy nice cameras and never learn how to photograph. I'm a firm believer in learning the (very simple) basics of photography first. And the way I'm going to explain it requires you take a lot of test shots to make sure you understand what I'm talking about. As you do this you're going to be stretching your aesthetic muscles without even realizing it.

Bottom line: if you and another equally proficient person pick up identical cameras and use them for a month (you following this document and the other guy just mucking about) you will be a dramatically better photographer than the other guy. I guarantee it.

Ok. There are three components in every camera: The lens, the shutter, and the film (or image sensor.) I'm going to explain in as much detail as you'll probably ever need how each component works, and then how they work together. As you progress through all of this make sure you have a camera handy to experiment with. The more you shoot the faster you learn. And as daunting as this may seem once you “get it” it's all really simple, and you need to know it if you want to be a good photographer.

The three camera parts operate in very simple, predictable ways. I'll start by explaining each component.
Lenses are actually made up of two components: the glass part which focuses and zooms, and the aperture, which limits the light which passes through the lens. First let's figure out the lens part.

Lenses are described by their focal length, measured in millimeters. The longer the focal length the higher the magnification, and the magnification increases linearly, or proportionally to the focal length. This means that a 100mm lens provides twice the magnification of a 50mm lens, and a 200mm lens provides 4 times the magnification of a 50mm, and so on. The focal length is derived from the diameter of a theoretical glass sphere. Take a 50mm glass sphere and slice a piece off, any piece. It doesn't matter if you cut it in half or take a tiny contact lens slice. The resulting piece of glass (flat on one side and curved on the other) is a 50mm lens and they will all have the same magnifying power. But a simple lens like this is prone to all kinds of optical errors and flaws so camera lenses use multiple glass elements which, when added together, both eliminate many of the flaws and result in the same magnification as the simple single element lens.

Prime lenses have fixed focal lengths. They don't zoom, but the images they produce are generally of a much higher quality, certainly dollar for dollar. So a prime lens is described by its focal length: a single number like 50mm or 35mm. On a typical DSLR a 35mm lens will produce a field of view that's about as wide as what you see with your naked eye. Zoom lenses are described by the minimum and maximum focal lengths, like 70-210mm or 24-70mm. These lenses can operate at any focal length between the first and second numbers. Beware the incredibly wide range lenses like 20-300mm. While it might seem like this one lens can do a lot there's generally a tradeoff in quality. Professional photographers (if they use zooms at all – I rarely do for reasons I'll get into later) generally have 3 zooms, roughly: 18-35mm, 24-70mm, and 70-210mm.

Each one is engineered for optimal image quality over its range, something which can't be said for the tempting 20-300mm cheapie.

Lenses all have a focus ring which can be set manually or automatically. Auto focus allows you to pick some high contrast picture element and let the camera do the focusing for you. It doesn't matter. If you dial in “5 meters” and stand 5 meters from a tree, the tree will be in focus just as if you let the camera do it for you.

Sometimes it's difficult to find something to focus on so manual focus will be your only option. This differs from camera to camera and playing around with it is the only way to know when to switch to manual focus. For the time being stick to auto. There's more to focus which I'll get into when I explain how this all fits together.

Lenses all have apertures at the camera side of the lens housing. An aperture is like the pupil in your eye – it's a (roughly) circular opening that can change size from small to large. Obviously the bigger the opening the more light gets through, and vice versa. The way the aperture is measured is a bit tricky but worth understanding. Short form: it's precisely the opposite of what you would think.

The aperture size is measure in f-stops. The f-stop is derived by taking the focal length and dividing by the actual diameter of the size of the opening. Because the opening is the denominator the bigger the f-stop the smaller the aperture, and vice versa. This is very important: f/22 is tiny, and f/2.8 is huge. It will take a little while to get used to this so just keep in mind that, with aperture, small is big and big is small.

If you think about this for a second you'll realize that the actual size of the aperture opening to let through a specific amount of light for a 50mm lens is smaller than the size required for a 100mm lens. This is why the formula includes the focal length. F/2.8 on a 50mm lens lets exactly the same amount of light through as f/2.8 on a 100mm lens, but the opening on the 100mm lens is twice as large as on the 50mm. F-stops allow you to forget about the focal length because they are universal.

Another tricky thing is the fact that, in a zoom lens, the aperture opening size for f/2.8 at 24mm is a lot smaller than the size of f/2.8 at 70mm. A lot of clever engineering is required to make a zoom lens that can open up to f/2.8 all the way from its shortest to longest focal lengths. Such lenses exist but they are expensive. Typically a cheaper zoom can't open up as wide at the longest range, so these zooms are described with both minimum and maximum focal lengths, and the maximum aperture at each end of the focal range, like 70-210mm f/4.5-5.6. This means you can open up the aperture to 4.5 when it's zoomed all the way out, but only to 5.6 (which is smaller, remember?) when you zoom in. Zoom halfway in and the maximum aperture will be somewhere between 4.5 and 5.6.

Why the weird f-stop numbers? Why not easier numbers like 2, 3, and 4? There's actually no reason other than convention and one other thing: each f-stop results in precisely half (or double) the amount of light passing through. Many lenses have half or even quarter stops you can dial in but here is a list of full stops. Compare these to what your lens can do.

1 1.4 2 2.8 4 5.6 8 11 16 22 32 ….

You may notice that these numbers correspond to 1/sqrt(2)0, 1/sqrt(2)1, etc.

Some lenses will have f-stops in between these numbers (most will, actually.) And you don't need to memorize these full-stops, although you will end up knowing them anyway. 1.4 lets in twice as much light as 1. 4 lets in half as much light as 5.6. It's pretty simple, and it doesn't matter what lens you use. F/4 is f/4 is f/4.

So you've got a lens that can focus light onto a plane that sits somewhere behind the back of the lens. This light passes through the lens elements, through the aperture, and hits what used to be a piece of film but is now a digital sensor. This sensor is designed to require a specific amount of light in order to produce a properly exposed image. More on sensors in a moment, because before the light passes through the lens and hits the sensor it has to get past the shutter.


Section B

The shutter is pretty straightforward. While it's a bit more complicated than this, you can think of it as a flap that is totally opaque, covering the sensor. It slides up, allowing light from the lens to hit the sensor, and then down again. While it's down the sensor sits in complete darkness – the only light the sensor receives gets there while the shutter is open.

We know that a specific amount of light is required by the sensor in order to produce a photo. And it should be apparent that there are two ways to control how much light hits the lens: the aperture and the shutter speed. In general (assuming in both examples the camera is pointing at the same scene) if the aperture is wide open, like f/2.8, then the shutter only needs to be open for a very short period of time. And if the aperture is closed tightly, like f/22, then the shutter needs to stay open a lot longer to allow sufficient light to hit the sensor.

The shutter speeds on a camera make a lot more sense than f-stops. 1/50, 1/40, 1/30...it's pretty self explanatory what each means. But there's a kind of subtle but enormously important thing to learn here and it requires going back to f-stops for a moment.

Remember how the arbitrary seeming divisions between f-stops are set up so that one stop in each direction allows either half or double the amount of light to pass? This difference in the amount of light is sometimes referred to as a “stop” but it can get confusing for beginners because it's so close to the term “f-stop.” A new term was coined to avoid this confusion: Exposure Value, or EV.

Each f-stop adds (or subtracts) 1 EV of light. Big deal, right? It's just another way of saying what you've already learned. But here's the cool thing that 90% of photographers will never figure out: each shutter speed value does the same thing.

Read that again. It's one of the most important things to understand. If you toggle through the possible shutter speeds you'll see they go from about 1/8000 all the way through 1 second and up to about 30 seconds. But the possible shutter speeds aren't arbitrary – each successive shutter speed allows twice as much (or half as much, depending on if you're getting faster or slower) light as the previous. So f-stops and shutter speeds all add or subtract 1 EV each.

Now read that again. Seriously. And consider the following: Let's imagine that for whatever reason your camera has decided that it wants to use f/4.5 and 1/30 sec for your shot. Let's call the amount of light that hits the sensor X. If you were to close your aperture down by one EV to f/5.6 the shutter would have to stay open longer, to 1/15 sec.

(I can't think of a non-cumbersome way to talk about increasing or decreasing shutter speeds and f-stops so I'm going to use the word “click.” When you dial these values the thumb wheel will click every time you increase the f-stop or increase the shutter speed to the next one along, so when I say “click” I really mean “select the next f-stop or shutter speed value, either up or down, depending. I hope this makes sense.)
To recap: for a given f-stop and a shutter speed it's possible to maintain the same amount of light hitting the sensor in the following way: if you add a click in f-stop you subtract a click in shutter speed. If you go down a click in one you have to go up a click in the other. Make sense?

For obvious reasons this is called reciprocity. Whatever you take away from one you have to add to the other. The good thing is you only need to pick one: either your f-stop or your shutter speed. Most professional photographers choose the aperture and let the camera figure out the shutter speed, and I recommend this, eventually. Forget about every camera setting on that dial and find A (or AV) mode, S (shutter) mode, and M (Manual) mode. These are all you will use. You will never use Auto, or P, or (god forbid) Landscape again.

AV or A mode lets you pick the aperture and the camera measure the light and chooses the appropriate shutter speed. S mode does the opposite – you dial in your shutter speed and the camera sets the appropriate aperture. 6 of one. I almost always use A priority. M mode lets you pick both the shutter speed and the aperture, although when you pick one it does tell what it thinks the other should be. But more on that later.

A quick word about shutter speed and aperture. While the amount of light hitting the sensor is the same whether you have a slow shutter/small aperture combo or a fast shutter/big aperture combo, the resulting photos will not be identical. They will be exposed the same way but will look different in a few potential ways.

The longer the shutter is open the more time moving objects have to change position before it shuts again. So if you're at a racetrack trying to get good clean shots of the horses but your shutter opens for 1/30 of a second the horse (and its legs) will have moved quite a lot in that time. They will be blurry. This might be what you want. But for fast motion a good rule of thumb is that your shutter should be no slower than about 1/250 sec. Obviously because you'll be using A mode you're not going to be picking the shutter speed. But choosing a wide aperture (meaning a low f-number) will result in a faster shutter speed. So if you go to a soccer game set your aperture as low (open) as possible and you'll automatically use the fastest shutter speed. Another thing to bear in mind is that if you aren't using a tripod it's kind of hard to stay totally still for longer than about 1/15 sec. Even if you're taking a picture of a tree it's going to blur because your hands shake at 1/15 sec, at least without practice. Again, open your aperture to get a faster shutter speed.

That's about all you need to know about shutter speed and its effects on the image. What about aperture? It's a bit tricky to visualize this and very easy to see it so I'll see if I can dig up some images. What's important to understand is that when you focus on an object at Z meters away there is a certain distance closer to you than Z and past Z that will also be in focus. For example if you stand across the street from a house and take a shot it's likely that the car parked in the driveway, considerably closer to you than the house, will also be in focus. But if a kid standing 6 inches in front of you photobombs the shot his head will probably be out of focus. This range, a distance in front of and behind the actual focus setting, is known as “depth of field,” abbreviated as DOF. And there's a simple rule: the lower the f-stop (meaning the wider the aperture) the smaller the depth of field. So a portrait shot at f/16 will look fine. But a portrait shot at f/1.4 might have the eyes in focus but the ears blurry. The DOF at very wide apertures can be millimeters.

The final piece of the puzzle is the sensor. Back in the days of film you could purchase stock of various speeds, measured in ASA. If you were shooting in broad daylight ASA 100 (quite slow) would be great. Dusk might require a very fast ASA 3200. The tradeoff was that the faster the film, the grainier the picture. And of course once you stick a roll of ASA 200 film in the camera you are shooting at ASA 200 until you finish the roll.

With digital you are free to change the sensor speed whenever you like. Sensor sensitivity is measured in ISO but the numbers are exactly the same as ASA. And there's the same tradeoff: low ISO means cleaner images but requires more light. High ISO means much less light is required but produces more digital grain, known as noise.

And here's the cool thing. Every time you go up one click on the ISO wheel, which typically means every time you double the ISO, you gain one EV. So the reciprocity I spoke about earlier has a third component: ISO. This means if you go up a click in ISO you can go down a click in either f-stop or shutter speed. Etcetera.

Section C

When your camera points at something and you push the button it measures how much light is needed to properly expose an image. It calculates this based on the ISO setting. Then (if you've chosen the aperture) the camera selects the shutter speed and takes the picture. If you've chosen the shutter speed it picks the aperture and snaps the shot. Manual is a bit different – you need to experiment a bit to see how this works but here's my best shot at an explanation:

In manual you typically have to tap, but not push, the shutter button to tell the camera to take a light reading. Looking through the viewer (or at the LCD) you will see some kind of scale kind of like this:

x....x....0....x....x

The “0” in the middle represents a perfect exposure. As soon as you tap the shutter button you should see a line on this scale which represents how under or over exposed your shot will be based on the current aperture/shutter settings. It will look something like this:

x....x.|..0....x....x

Each “x” (or whatever your camera uses) represents 1 EV, so this image is currently a bit less than 1 EV underexposed. You want it to look like this:

x....x....|....x....x

Figure out which dials control the shutter and aperture settings and try a few clicks in each direction with each one. You'll see that the “|” moves left and right as you click up or down on either dial. And you'll really “get” the reciprocity rule – it's possible to move the “|” to the left with a few clicks of the aperture and back to center again with the same number of clicks in the opposite direction on the shutter wheel. And of course if you double your ISO this will happen:

x....x....0....|....x

The overall exposure of a shot is often referred to as 0 EV if it's properly exposed because the “|” sits right on the middle 0. A shot that's overexposed by 1 f-stop or 1 shutter click has an exposure of +1 EV, meaning the “|” will be to the right of the 0 where the first x is. A shot that's underexposed by 1 f-stop is -1 EV. Not every shot will be perfect at 0 EV. Sometimes things work better over or underexposed, and this is where experience and experimentation comes in.

Congratulations. You've just covered about a year of film school. What do you do with all of this? The first thing I recommend is to purchase a fast 50mm lens, stick it on the camera, and don't take it off for a month. A fast 50 means an f/1.2 if you're rich, an f/1.4 if you're doing fine, and an f/1.7 if you're a student. You can get a nice used f/1.7 in Canon, Nikon, or Sony off Craigslist for under 100 bucks. Spend that money – you won't regret it. The wide aperture will allow you to take beautiful shots with defocused backgrounds as well as razor shot landscapes. And foregoing the zoom will force you to think about where you want to be to take the shot. Zooms are nice but they can lead to laziness, especially when you're starting out. And most kit zooms only open up to 4.5-5.6, so they're useless unless you're shooting in very bright light.

Regardless of whether or not you can buy a fast 50mm, here's what you do next. Learn how to use manual mode as I described above. Then commit to shooting in 4 chunks. Maybe 4 days, or 4 groups of 2 days. I recommend spreading out your 4 chunks into what will fit in a month. If you're using your zoom, don't zoom it – keep it at the shortest (lowest, widest) length possible. And every day you go out pick some simple subject like a car or a flower – something stationary – and shoot it every way you can. Stick to the one subject per day for now. Don't delete any shots and don't fuss too much over what you see on the LCD.

Think about aperture, shutter speed, and DOF. Review all the shots when you get home on a computer, so you can look at the shot and see all of the settings you used to get it.

For the first chunk shoot your subject at every possible aperture. You can use Aperture priority for this.

Then, for chunk 2 shoot your subject at every possible shutter speed. You can use Shutter priority for this.
For chunk 3 shoot in Manual mode, remembering that you want to center that “|” to properly expose a shot.
For chunk 4 try taking a shot at -1 EV, meaning the “|” is left to the first x, then -2 EV. Try overexposing at +1 EV, then +2. See how far you can over or underexpose. Pay close attention to what over and underexposing does to your shots when you review your work on a computer.

source
No comments:
Labels:
Subscribe to: Posts (Atom)