Knuckledragger

I'm in the market for a refurb'd 15" MBP. I will most likely be getting a late 2011 model. I'm noticing that Apple offered two different screen resolutions on that version: 1440x900 and a "hi rez" 1680x1050 version. Any Head-Casers have experience with either of these? I'm old and blind, and really tiny text bothers me. After a couple years I had to get a glasses prescription to read my 2008 MacBook's screen comfortably. Curiously, on this late 2011 13" MBP, I do not. It's the same size and resolution (1280x800), but a much better binned pannel. I'm wondering if the 1680x1050 screen provides a useful amount more of workspace, or if it just means I'll always need to remember my glasses when I go out DJing.

Once again my radio show is on the air right now, in case you wanted to listen.

I had some pictures of fungal infections on human skin sprung on me earlier this week, so my "unsee" buffer is full.

I haven't posted any photos in this thread in ages. I have an, uh, large-ish backlog, but I don't have time to get in to that now. I mentioned briefly in passing that I bought an IR-modded EOS 5D. Kind of a strange purchase, but the price was too good to pass up. In early 2009 I bought an IR-modified PowerShot G2. Some time later I bought a Sunpak Nocto400 infrared flash. The Nocto400 is based on a mid-80s Sunpak "hammerhead" meant for medium and large format film cameras. It's output power is just a little bit more than digital point & shoot that can only stop down to F/8 can handle (inverse square law or no inverse square law). My experiments with the IR G2 and the Nocto400 did not go particularly well. Now with the IR 5D, which is an aging but full featured (and full frame) camera, the Nocto400 is proving itself to be a valuable tool. In the incandescent era, there were a lot of infrared photons flying through the interiors of most buildings. (Compact) fluorescent lights have really changed that. All the blinkenlights I use at clubs now are LED, which emit virtually no IR. Available light is my preferred method of photography, as I dislike the look of all but the most sophisticated flash setups. My objections are less significant in the near-infrared spectrum, where everything is so weird that harsh light from a strobe is kind of irrelevant. Last night I was up way too late after attending the local goth night's halloween party. Afterward I went to the diner I used to frequent regularly and harassed a friend of mine who was working the overnight shift. I chased her around like the paparazzi with my giant 5D/Nocto400 rig and took a few dozen frames. She asked why the flash wasn't going off and I told her it was so she wouldn't blink </lie>. The Nocto400 doesn't have much in the way of output controls, just "lo" and "hi". The former is still too bright much of the time, so I end up shooting in full manual and continually adjusting the aperture to compensate for exposure. It's like shooting with a 1970s film camera, with the immediate feedback of a digital body. The above shot is probably the best of the night, interms of framing, exposure and the subject's expression. I showed it to Marie today and she said she looked crazed. I suppose I will have to explain to her that it's an IR shot at some point...