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I haven't had a drink at home in a fortnight, but I have a couple inches of whiskey left in a 1.75L bottle. I'd be doing Jimmy a disservice if I don't kill it. *Cheers*

Because of And a conversation with @MexicanDragon, do you know what I fancied tonight? (Oh, you know it) Or as the kids say

here is a link to simmcon's takedown of the eha5. its mandatory reading for everyone. https://www.audiosciencereview.com/forum/index.php?threads/topping-eha5.42149/post-1712440 in other news, birgir sent me a srd7 to test. in other other news, i have finally found a company that will sell me cores and bobbins in small quantities. so making electrostatic transformers becomes a possibility.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brown_note

^^ OR, for when you really fucking hate your neighbors

I've helped set up a sound bar with Google Assistant (can't recall if Samsung or LG) for elderly friends, who eventually disabled google assistant, because it would perform unprompted commands from time to time. A ghost in the machine perhaps? But voice control of volume and content plus ability to tell you the time and jokes, why not? Unless you're paranoid about having an always on network connected microphone in your living space. But there's nothing to worry about, citizen.

I'm trying to "control" a Samyang 800mm F8 + X2 teleconverter. This thing is a nightmare. I thought it would be easier to get better results but for the moment this is what I am getting. If you have a recommendation, as always it is welcome. Something different: A traveler passing through from Africa

Now we are talking about a full head-case machine

16.98V is about what you would get if you had R7 and R8 swapped. Check the positions on the board.

https://www.theverge.com/2023/9/12/23824688/iphone-15-event-live-blog-apple-keynote

Over the last few weeks, I revisited a bunch of photos I took between 2006 and 2008, I posted a few taken with the first "modern" film body I owned, an EOS Rebel G as well as a Rebel K2 (which I recently resurrected.) I also took a bunch with a Dollar Store Camera and a Vivitar Ultra Wide & Slim, both of which are on the previous page of this thread. In the late 00s, I was not nearly as good at editing photos as I am now. Also editing software has gotten a lot better. Lastly, my eye has changed quite a bit. I'm both more and less forgiving toward the flaws of a given photo. First some previously covered ground: The Edgartown public library, November 2006. Dollar Store Camera, Kodak Gold 200. Pontiac GTO, Edgartown. 07/29/08 - 1:57PM. Vivitar UW&S, Ritz Crystal 200. These two ^ were my favorite shots with both cameras when I took them. Amherst, 07/14/08 - 8:07PM. Vivitar UW&S, Ritz Crystal 200. Hadley, 07/14/08 - 8:32PM. Vivitar UW&S, Ritz Crystal 200. Hadley, 07/14/08 - 8:17PM. Vivitar UW&S, Ritz Crystal 200. The EDG lighthouse and some dinghies, June 2007. Dollar Store Camera, Kodak Gold 200. I cannot imagine why I didn't like this photo enough in 2007 to pass on uploading it. Amherst, 07/11/08 - 6:25PM. Vivitar UW&S, Ritz Crystal 200. This shot required adjustments to the levels, colors and cropping. I'm not sure if that's a light leak or just the sky in the upper right of the image. I like it either way. Dollar Store Camera and Kodak Gold 200, October 2006. This one was a mess. I ran it through Topaz DeNoise AI and then adjusted the colors and levels in Photoshop. I do like the "half remembered dream" quality the DSC produces sometimes. Amherst, 07/14/08 - 8:05PM. Vivitar UW&S, Ritz Crystal 200. Foolishly pointing the Vivitar into the sunset. Its plastic lens did something amusing this time. Tune in next time for a bunch of re-edits of photos I took of Katherine the dancer in 2006.

I’m on the road with the Flair Pro 2, the Bellman, and the Orphan Lido OG grinder. Not a bad setup for a little latte in the morning. I’ve found soaking the brew chambers in boiling water to be the most effective way to go.

R.I.P. Jimmy and condolences Brent. He sounded like a great friend, which can be rare.

RIP Jimmy. Sorry to hear Brent... {hugs}

Sorry Brent. R.I.P. Jimmy.

My condolences, Brent. Sounds like he was a helluva guy. RIP Jimmy.

RIP to your friend Jimmy, Brent.

RIP Jimmy and sorry for your loss Brent.

^ What's the worst that could happen?

There is little left for my next adventure:

credit: @amiciaudiofiliitaliani • Instagram photos and videos

Sorry for the lack of updates over the weekend, the wifi at the house could basically support one device at a time. Short version, the ride was great. Continue on for TLDR... The day started with overcast skies, temps in the mid 70s which was pretty ideal. We met Kelly (left above) and Edie (KBF Executive Director) at the starting line for a quick pick after the main pack rolled out around 7:30. We weren't particularly worried about riding with any other groups/folks. The first 25 miles or so passed without much incident, one guy got a flat which was quickly changed with a little help from the ride support crew and then the five of us riding the 100 split off to take the longer way home. Through the next 20 miles temps and the weather continued to be on our side. As we passed through 50 miles the sun came out with a vengeance. What had been simply a warm, very humid day turned into a hot and steamy one fast. But sunscreen was applied and much fluid consumed (I think I drank between 8-10 22oz bottles on the day) and with the exception of my friend Jim who cramped and had to call in the sag wagon at 85 miles, we all survived in tolerable shape. Much fun was had, much money was raised. Our little 9 person team ended up raising a bit over $25k and the event topped the million dollar mark on the day of the ride. I spent a significant amount of time on the front along with my friend Gus as we'd both logged considerably more training miles than the others. All in all, I just can't say thank you to all of you that continue to support me and this event. The foundation does some truly amazing work and changes lives every time that they do.

In the parlance of our times, wake up babe, the new 300mm Orestegor dropped. Not actually, that'd break my toe. With that said, I had a bunch of packages waiting for me at the post office today. The Janpol Color 55mm F/5.6 enlargement lens arrived. It's weird and have no idea what I'm doing with it yet. I also got a second copy of the Meyer Optik Orestegor 300mm F/4. If I had any doubts about the extent to which my old copy is afflicted with haze and fungus, they are now laid to rest. Allow me to illustrate: Old 300mm, around F/8. Edited in Photoshop to bring the contrast and colors up to acceptable levels. The same, unedited. The new 300, today, unedited. Shee-it.

Until then, anyone seen this opera? It’s coming back to SF.

https://www.apple.com/apple-events/ large_2x.mp4 Apple Event Watch on 9/12 at 10 a.m. PT. View online at apple.com or on the Apple TV app. Add to your calendar https://www.theverge.com/2023/8/29/23819494/apple-september-event-iphone-15-pro-watch-ultra-date

I found out today that a close friend from Chattanooga, Jimmy Burgess, passed away on August 16th. I met him through Mensa, but he was a bit atypical of the people I normally come across. He had more stories than almost anyone I've come across, including being a pit boss at Harrah's, carrying duffle bags of cash to deposit at a bank after a big day at Ringling Brothers, stationed in Hawaii during a stint with military intelligence, and he'd always join me after meetings for the after party, which sometimes involved a few, but often involved the two of us going somewhere and drinking/talking for hours. Most of the time I've known him, though, he was working at a recycling center. He'd often have people drop stuff off which was still in good working order, so he wound up liberating it from a sad fate. He lived across from my grandmother's house, and I had a ~cousin who lived next to him and found out they would barter/trade all kinds of things. There was a time we were at a dinner and I'd mentioned that my receiver had a channel die earlier that week. At the end he was like "follow me to my car, I have something for you." (No, Steve, not that.) He had a 1200$ Denon receiver that was pre-HDMI, so it was being tossed. The audio section, however, worked flawlessly, and continued to power my Rega Jura speakers in TN until I moved out. Last year, I had a friend who had been abused by her then-BF with whom she lived. She didn't have anywhere to go, so I called up my buddy Jimmy and he got ready and went and rescued her from a bad situation, took her out to eat, talked and drank for hours, then got her set up in a hotel for a couple days. Today, she's doing great, has an amazing new job where she's even been able to pay for her mom to get two surgeries she's needed. When I moved out of TN, my house had been a wreck, and all the packing/boxing up/getting rid of stuff that was supposed to be done by the kids' mom hadn't been started. We spent hours and hours while I was there for 4 days working on it, and he kept going over and taking care of anything that needed to be done over the next month while I was 2500 miles away. He was a good friend, and I'm so glad we got to hang out in July when I went to Chattanooga to visit, just didn't realize it was going to be the last time I saw him. RIP, Jimmy. 1943-2023

We put Sophie down today. She’s had congestive heart failure for over a year and had been doing ok with meds. However, she got really bad over the last few days - gained a lot of fluid weight, had several seizures, and was coughing much more than normal. We went to the vet and they said she had less than two weeks. We couldn’t let her suffer anymore. I miss her so much. She was the best dog ever. IMG_3005.mov IMG_3386.mov