All Activity

The famous photos of Margaret and printouts (plural) of the code use in the Apollo program: The first image has been serially reposted on reddit, usually incorrectly described as "the code she wrote by hand." Not to take away from Margaret's work in the slightest, but these binders are multiple copies of all the code written by everyone who worked on it. Here's where things get weird: Margaret has her own wiki page. It lists two relatives that have links. One is James Cox Chambers, a billionaire "renewable energy businessman." The other is Fergie Chambers who is a communist activist. Family gatherings must be awkward.

Music on TIDALTrooper Salute - Trooper Salute 2Listen to Trooper Salute 2 on TIDAL in exceptional sound quality, or on your choice of service

Godspeed Margaret.

Margaret Hamilton, Pioneering software engineer whose work was critical to the Apollo moon landings the GuardianMargaret Hamilton obituaryPioneering software engineer whose work was critical to the Apollo moon landings

"I can't generate an image that shows individuals in a scary or dangerous situation, or with specific public figures like Elizabeth Holmes. Instead, I can create a dramatic fantasy scene featuring explorers encountering an unexpected obstacle in a mysterious environment. Would you like me to try that?" Ok then.

There was dessert.

Now make it really scary with elizabeth holmes.

Tracing Astor -- Gidon Kremer plays Astor Piazzolla

Noctunes by Clemens Christian Poetzsch (2026) https://open.qobuz.com/album/b7bml0e1lj9ti Example: New release - It is pretty, but sometimes I feel a little too mellow. Almost took a nap, but that maybe just a me problem. I mean they are Noctunes (their spelling) after all.

I've been going down the rathole of Photo Editing request sites.....love this example, where a guy floating with his partner asks to "put them in a little danger" at the editors' discretion. Loved some of the results! Original and the edits:

Female Species’ Tale of My Lost Love Ex.

Blaring (headphones) the two live Coltrane recordings of Love Supreme off The Platinum Collection this morning. Note the disc-track numbers are quite different by distribution. The Antibes Jazz Festival Juan-les-Pins show from July 26, 1965 is on Disc 3 of the Japanese SHM-CD, becomes "Disc 2" on Apple Music and Spotify (and probably others), while The Penthouse, Seattle On October 2, 1965 is Disc 4 on SHM-CD, but "Disc 3" on streaming. Quartet & Sextet outtakes and a couple mono masters shift accordingly. Jump around this playlist for both full concerts.

And, last of the 4 shows in 8 days....Sylvan Esso. Enjoyed more than I thought I would. They did my 2 favorite songs, but lead singer Amelia was the star of the show. Wearing thick-soled work boots, she was like a dervish, dancing around the stage while she sang. I love her voice as well....and their new album is very good. Some pics and video links https://drive.google.com/file/d/145-UV8EeWGb_UDApL1DI9N4oOrMdkxKJ/view?usp=sharing - Coffee https://drive.google.com/file/d/1rwGPjn7vuYHkqepchUe2EQSYOap2-bSR/view?usp=sharing - Hot Slob https://drive.google.com/file/d/1JzHsg907_1xcCKhifkbtau0SLrTKTVS4/view?usp=sharing - Dancing around https://drive.google.com/file/d/1TNJ0d7rRJOExUFcRT7jJpaILZLYj79qr/view?usp=sharing - Softer song

Henryk Górecki: Symphony No. 3 (Symphony Of Sorrowful Songs)Music on TIDALBeth Gibbons, The Polish National Radio Symphony Orchestr...Listen to Henryk Górecki: Symphony No. 3 (Symphony Of Sorrowful Songs) on TIDAL in exceptional sound quality, or on your choice of serviceYes, that Beth Gibbons (ex-Portishead)

Also, Physical CD

I listened to this when it came out. I'm surprised it took me this long to revisit. I pretty much like everything he does, and this is no exception. Occasionally, he just writes a simple 3 chord, basic as it gets song, but it sounds so much more fresh and interesting than you'd expect. Ex.

Would that be considered a Yes Kings rally?

Nibbles with the Brits.

Muscles, metrosexuals and male tears: the 39 pictures that changed the way we see men (for good and for bad) https://www.theguardian.com/society/2026/oct/17/39-pictures-that-changed-the-way-we-see-men-for-good-and-for-bad “You can show two men killing each other at three in the afternoon in any country in the world on public television,” said photographer Wolfgang Tillmans in an interview in 2022. “But you can’t show two men kissing each other.” Thomas Dworzak was on a photographic assignment covering the fall of the Taliban when he stumbled on a set of highly stylised studio portraits of soldiers of the former regime in a photo shop. The fighters had probably died before they could pick them up.

As I mentioned when I bought it, the primary reason for my acquisition of the R5 Mk II was to use it with vintage lenses: Old (EOS autofocus), older (Nikon F, Minolta MD, Pentax K) and really old (the mighty M42.) With the purchase of the camera body I ordered the EF, Nikon and M42 adapters. I've been using them since the get-go. Today I spent ...more hours than I can to contemplate going through the rest of my manual focus lens collection. I have a motley assortment of glass I purchased off eBay, from the local second hand shop, and numerous other places. I carefully evaluated every manual lens I have that was not already in active use. The end result is that two lenses I thought I'd not be keeping are staying with me, one that I imagined I'd keep is being donated, and two FD lenses will remain in limbo. After much cross referencing, I bought MD to RF and PK to RF adapters. Both are made by the Chinese company Fotsay. They made my Nikon F and M42 adapters. Both are very well made, finely machined pieces of kit. Mirrorless bodies have a number of significant advantages over SLRs when it comes to using old glass. The first is that the flange distance allows almost any SLR lens to be used as well as many ones meant for rangefinders. Another important facet is that the adapters are significantly bigger pieces of metal, making them easier to handle. I always hated my old Nikon F to Canon EF adapter, and in fact I threw it in the trash this afternoon (it was mostly broken.) From now on, the only manual lenses I will mount on any of my old EOS bodies will be M42 ones. I also bought a pile of PK and MD rear lens caps (I had like 2 total) as well as some 49mm front caps. There was a time, say, 1974, when 49mm was an industry standard filter size. Another win for the boomers, I suppose. After this lengthy indexing project, I tackled a 70s Tamron Adapt-A-Matic 135mm F/2.8 I got for a whopping $5. As the name would suggest, the Adapt-A-Matic series of lenses had swappable rear mounts and could be adapted to a variety of popular brands. Tamron now has a similar "Adaptall" that works with more modern bodies. The 135mm I have came with an adapter I still have not identified (nor will I, it's now in the trash.) I found a Nikon F adapter on Ebay, which cost many times what the lens itself did. Given that the system is over 50 years old, I felt lucky to find it. As I mentioned above, I've had back luck with my Nikon F to Canon EF adapter, and it was with this Tamron that I finally gave up on it. I did manage a few photos with the combination. Greetings from the Vineyard, November, 2023! I've had that middle finger carving for 40 years now. I told a guy I went to school with at the time that I had it and not only did he not believe me, he mercilessly mocked me. To this day, I still have not forgiven him, but I digress. The Tamron is actually quite a nice lens, optically. The truth is it's not that difficult to make a good 135mm and many companies have done it. It's also the truth that I have far more 135mm primes than any sane person would ever need, including the mushroom cloud laying MFer that is Canon EF 135mm F/2L. Also, as an side, I'm now uploading photos straight to HC. In spite of the fact that I pay Flickr $150 dollars every two years, they apparently can't reliably host photos in 2026. What was I saying? Oh yeah. The problem with the Adapt-A-Matic is that the Nikon end for the Tamron doesn't appear to have a set screw and it doesn't stay on the lens as well as I'd like. The stacked adapters made the entire arrangement feel very loose and sloppy, especially when adjusting focus or aperture (which, you know, one does rather often with a fully manual lens.) All of this is less of an issue with the chonky Nikon F to Canon RF adapter. The end result is that I'm keeping the Tamron 135mm. 2026 greetings from MV! Some things never change. The lighting conditions were significantly better in 2023. Also, it was raining today and I'm not entirely sure how weatherproof the R5 II is with a manual lens attached to it and TBH I don't want to find it out. Also also, in the 90s I was hugely into ska. In 1997 I bought a compilation of instrumental ska tracks. On it is a cover of Ghost Riders in the Sky by The Rhyth-o-matics. The name of the Adapt-A-Matic has been making me think of it all day. It's a lot of fun, except for the kind of cheesy "SNL closing credits" solo in the middle. I actually have a time corrected version of this I've played on Test Tone a few times.

I don't know if any of y'all are following Fender's attempts at overly litigious...litigiousness, but PRS introduced the Silver Sky DeFender series, LOL.

One of the members of the world's favorite trio of motorist jackasses bought himself a Series III and has a lot to say about it. "Then why didn't you get a Defender?"