Miscellaneous
June 04, 2008
Short Post
Perfection is achieved, not when there is nothing more to add, but when there is nothing left to take away. Antoine de Saint-Exupery
Posted by Paul at 06:02 AM | Comments (0)
August 06, 2007
Wow! 100 year old color photographs of Czarist Russia
Sergei Mikhailovich Prokudin-Gorskii (1863-1944), was photographer to the Czar and spent 10 years between 1905 and 1915 traveling around the Russian empire documenting what he saw. Amazingly, Gorskii took his pictures in color using an ingenious camera that took three exposures through red, blue, and green filters. High resolution digital scanners and Adobe Photoshop didn't exist 100 years ago, Gorskii had to make do with a lantern projector with three colored filters focused on one image. Today, we can use the aforementioned digital media tools to create the most amazing pictures which you can see here, at Alex Gridenko's website.
For more digital realizations of this amazing trove of material, look at the Prokudin-Gorskii exhibit of the Library of Congress. And for details on how these images were created, look at this page.
Posted by Paul at 10:45 PM | Comments (0)
April 22, 2007
It really is all in your mind
It is enough to think you are exercising. You don't actually have to do it. Click below to read about a remarkable study that claims the placebo effect works for exercise.
Exercise Sizzle Works Sans Steak.
Although it goes against the grain of my overly-logical bent, there really does appear to be good evidence that health is driven by your state of mind.
Posted by Paul at 01:40 PM | Comments (0)
February 08, 2007
List of the Day
This is the best list I've seen today: 33 Names of Things You Never Knew had Names. I knew five of them. My favorite is #28.
(Thanks to TT @ About Last Night).
Posted by Paul at 05:05 PM | Comments (0)
October 31, 2006
The Amazing Volcanic Pumpkin
There comes a time in a young man's life when Halloween, like Gregor Samsa, goes through a metamorphosis from something familiar to something vaguely unsettling. One year Halloween means providing for the Dentist's retirement, and suddenly, the next year, it is a venue for impersonating Bela Lugosi. While trick or treating was fun when you are a "little kid", and visiting the local Haunted House was okay when you were only a kid, things change so that actually MAKING a haunted house, or as close as you can get to it, becomes a really cool thing.
I remember a Halloween in the early 1960's when I went through this change. Since I was the studious sort, not the juvenile delinquent type, my Haunted House was well... a little weird. After all, one must admit that a Volcanic Pumpkin is a far cry from a Haunted House. I don't remember where I got the idea, but I think it must have been from Mr. Wizard.
Continue reading "The Amazing Volcanic Pumpkin"
Posted by Paul at 08:30 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
March 18, 2006
High Fasion in a Low Time
I've never been much concerned about clothes, but I have two thoughts about this picture: 1) it seems incredible that this might be thought of as high fashion and worth a premium, and 2) we seem to have "graduated" to a post-egalitarian age where it is not even the common which is exalted it is the pathetic.
Posted by Paul at 07:13 PM | Comments (0)
Richard Avedon Pictures
Barbara Schwartz, delegate to the 2005 Democratic National Convention. (click the picture for original site)
Posted by Paul at 06:31 PM | Comments (0)
January 22, 2006
U.S. Obesity Epidemic
Now there is proof that it exists.
Posted by Paul at 09:39 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
December 22, 2005
The Meme of Four
Four jobs you've had in your life: paint salesman, cost accountant, CEO, consulting practice director.
Four movies you could watch over and over: Ran, Melvin and Howard, Adventures of Baron Munchausen, On the Waterfront
Four places you've lived: Cedar Mills, OR; Los Angeles, CA; Charlotte, NC; San Francisco, CA
Four TV shows you love to watch: News Hour with Jim Leher, Nova, The Ernie Kovacs Show, Twilight Zone.
Four places you've been on vacation: Kenya, Oxford, British Virgin Islands, Japan.
Four websites you visit daily: Instapundit, American Spectator, New York Times, California Insider
Four of your favorite foods: smoked salmon, stilton cheese, mushrooms, wine.
Four places you'd rather be: The French Laundry, The Ojai Valley Inn and Spa, the Village Vanguard, the summit of the Matterhorn.
Posted by Paul at 11:33 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
December 17, 2005
A Trip to Bangkok
Well, here I am in Bangkok, Thailand working on a business analysis for a local polymers company. At Siam Polyolefins, Ltd. (the company we are working with), the standard business dress for men is dark trousers, white shirt and a tie. There is an official company neck-tie, so everyone wears the same tie each day. (My jet-lag was so bad, that I didn't notice this until the third day!) On Friday, they have casual dress day, just like the U.S. Well, not exactly like the U.S... Here it means you can wear a colored shirt, it doesn't have to be white! Tie still required.
Continue reading "A Trip to Bangkok"
Posted by Paul at 04:59 PM
September 28, 2005
Crystal Ball
It's not a real crystal ball, it's just an upside down picture of a wineglass (from the Hog Island Oyster Bar post below). But just like in the movies, you can see things in the reflection that you wouldn't expect (click on the photo for a bigger version).
It wasn't perfectly clear outside, and Hog Island uses a computerized check system. What else do you see?
This sort of Blow Up might lead anywhere, but it is clear it would be easier with more pixels to play with. This picture was made with a 3 megapixel camera. Six or eight megapixels would make this sort of drilling down easier. Am I talking myself into a new camera?
This "crystal ball" is also a good example of mental focus. It is taken from a fairly plain still life of some oysters on the half shell, but as in most things in the real world, there is more there than initially meets the eye. Is the ability to find the hidden information a positive attribute? Or, is it a form of attention disorder? Like most crystal balls, it contains more questions than answers.
Posted by Paul at 11:16 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
June 27, 2005
The Past Recaptured
Here is a fascinating website where the webmaster collects old cameras hoping there will be old rolls of exposed film.
"The pages below show prints I made from processing film I found in old cameras. In many cases the exposed films were over fifty years old. You are seeing them for the first time as they were lost by the photographers that took these images."
I've always hoped that Mallory's camera would be found on Everest, with undeveloped film inside, but these bittersweet and strangely-moving photos will do for the now; actually they'll do quite well: Photos From Old Rolls of Film.
Posted by Paul at 09:44 PM | Comments (0)
January 13, 2005
Groucho was no Dummy But His Dummy Is On Sale
Lover's of wisecracks have an unprecedented opportunity here, but I suspect they'll have to act fast. A company in New York City (where else?) has a Groucho ventriloquism dummy on sale for $38. There are all kinds of things one could do with a Groucho Doll. For instance, you could make a doorbell out of it: a little door opens, and Groucho says: "I never forget a face, but in your case I'll be glad to make an exception." Or, you can take him to a party and make sure that no one forgets that Groucho once said: "Outside of a dog, a book is man's best friend. Inside of a dog, it's too dark to read." Or, it might make a great gift for your daughter, or perhaps your Mother in Law. The opportunities seem endless.
Posted by Paul at 01:08 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
December 19, 2004
Function Follows Form
Is this the most self-indulgent, time-wasting, but strangely-compelling blog post ever?
Posted by Paul at 03:02 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack