Technology close up
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Something is going wrong when the camera with its impressive algorithms and countless AF options forces itself into the centre and, hence, between photographer and object. Ideally, I would think, we photographers ought to use the camera as if it was not there. Just focussing on the composition and the 'essence' of the object and having the settings run in the background. I am not advocating 'point and shoot', I am saying that a camera should be built in such a way that we can 'forget' about it and focus on taking the picture. I think my older cameras do that. My newer ones are much more sophisticated and what they are increasingly trying to do is take over decisions I could make myself. What is my reaction? Number one, I prefer using my older cameras. And two, when using my sophisticated ones, I turn off a lot of their computer-powered procedures. I wonder what you think.
The biggest security risk in any system is the user.
"Hundreds of Westminster insiders were added to - and then deleted from - a WhatsApp group set up by shadow justice secretary Robert Jenrick to promote his London Marathon run".
In this day and age there should be minimum level of competence with technology to gain access to any position of power or trust, (especially after the U.S "signal app" fiasco).
(As we old techies used to say the problem is "BTKAC" between the keyboard and chair).
The BBC has been told Jenrick is not referring himself to the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO), which investigates data breaches. (What a surprise!).
Sitting on the window-sill and enjoying the low afternoon sun. Illuminated and in sharp focus is the "good" eye, the one I use for photography. The other one plays second fiddle. However, none of them was really involved in taking this self-portrait. It was the artificial eye of the camera in connection with a clever algorithm (automatic eye recognition) that kicked in when I pressed the shutter release (via a long cable). This is one of the situations where camera technology enables me to do things with ease that, if done manually, would have been quite difficult to achieve.
Crazy Tuesday - Vintage Technology
A set of heavy metal scales (I borrowed) and imperial weights ranging from 2lb down to 1/4oz !!
Absolutely love the way this turned out. It's inspired by this concept art from Elysium. Something I've wanted to do for quite a while now. Not quite done yet as I need to add to the interior cargo area and make some actual cargo for it, but I wanted to get this photo before the decals aged or something happened to them. This is also the first time I've been able to get a white background to look good in a long time! XD
The cutting-edge technology that keeps the Silverstone motor racing track in tip-top condition could be coming to Croydon. John Bownas spoke to the team hoping to bring it here.
Pot holes – we all hate ‘em, and Croydon certainly has its share.
But now, the borough’s highways team is taking a lead from the people responsible for maintaining Silverstone’s grand prix circuit.
New technology that is good enough for the world’s top racing drivers is being tested in Croydon to see if it is up to the council’s exacting standards.
If trials are successful, the infrared-powered Nu-Phalt repair system could become invaluable to Croydon’s road repair crews who would be the first in London to realise its potential benefits.
Apart from a significant possible cost saving, the biggest advantages that the new technique has over traditional methods are:
•speed: a typical 1 square metre repair can be completed in just 20 minutes; currently, the same job takes considerably longer, and would be only a temporary fix;
•durability: the infra-red triggered thermal bonding means that patch repairs are far more permanent and blend seamlessly into the surrounding road surface;
•environmentally friendly: the process starts by recycling the existing macadam and needs only a small amount of new material to top off the repair.
The council has recently announced a multi-million pound investment project to resurface many of its roads.
However, there will always be a need for fast and efficient repairs in those cases where small patches of tarmac work loose.
This can happen at any time of the year – although it is usually after spells of wet or cold weather that these small holes open up to create a real headache for motorists and cyclists.
In total, the council’s emergency repairs operation currently costs about £560k every year in manpower and materials – and that’s not including the money that is budgeted separately for the major road resurfacing schemes that we will be seeing a lot more of over the next few years.
Steve Iles is the council’s head of highways, and he knows better than anyone else in the borough just how big a task it is to stay on top of the thousands of road repairs that his teams have to carry out every year.
Talking to Your Croydon about this mammoth job and his hopes for the promising high-tech solution, he first ran through some of the big numbers involved.
“We’ve got nearly 3,000 roads in Croydon, and these all get inspected by the council at least twice a year.
“We look out for any problems that might have arisen since the last visit – and particularly any new holes or cracks that could pose a hazard.
“Since January our system’s logged nearly 5,000 new reports from both streetscene inspectors and those members of the public who phone or email to tell us about possible problems.”
In that same time we’ve managed to fill in or repair about 9,800 – but there’s still around 8,600 that we know about waiting to be fixed.
“That takes a lot of doing,” continued Steve, “I’ve got six full-time staff who spend the majority of their day out doing this sort of work.
“And when they can’t do road repairs, because of snow and ice, they drive the gritting lorries to try to keep the roads clear.”
Tony Whyatt is the highways engineer whose research into improved technology solutions has led to the trial of the Nu-Phalt system.
“I’m really optimistic about how this will save us time and money.
“We reuse most of the existing road material on-site and need to add only a small amount of fresh material to each repair.
“There’s no noisy compressors, and the system cuts the number of vehicles and staff involved in each repair.
“We also minimise disruption to traffic – which is good for drivers – and these repairs can be driven over again almost immediately they’re finished.”
Indeed, driving away from our meeting with Tony we drove over a number of holes that had just been filled – and the first thing we noticed was that we didn’t notice them at all.
The repaired road was as smooth as the day it was originally laid.
The destabilization of Mon Cala had spread to the edges of the sector, and had reached as far as Lothal. Trusting the adamant support of Lothal, New Republic officials and security forces had been reallocated to other Outer Rim systems deemed more in need. Lothal had taken big strides towards establishing fully independent governmental departments, true to New Republic ideals. Or so they thought.
Lothal Defense Systems was a local privately owned security force that has been struggling to establish an interstellar defense grid across the Lothal sector. With several unanswered inquiries for personnel, and technology to the New Republic, the LDS was growing weary to put it mildly.
Lothal Defense Systems Headquarters
The tension in the room was palpable. The expression on the guard's resembled surprise, or more accurately, disbelief. Only the hum of the consoles, and the careful smirk of the deputy director broke the tension. It had been a long time since Imperials had been so warmly welcomed on Lothal.
“Welcome to Lothal, Colonel” The smirk on the deputy director stayed, as if painted on. “I’ve been looking forward to our meeting.” The colonel signaled to the troopers to stay in place at the entrance, and walked up to the deputy’s desk. At his side was a nervous-looking Mon Calamari, seemingly more interested in his datapad than anything else.
“Thank you Director. I understand you’ve been briefed? That should save us some time.” The deputy director nodded, and turned to her guards. “You can leave the room now.” It took a few seconds to sink in. The guards were clearly not in agreement with the latest turn of events.
As soon as the colonel, the Mon Calamari and the director had the room to themselves, the colonel looked down and continued. “We have brought the personnel and the tech you've requested.” The director smiled, while the colonel looked directly at her. “We’ve adjusted our plans slightly. All long range communications are disabled immediately. We need all clearance codes to the defense grid, and your personal authorization to move the ships into Lothal’s orbit.” The director's smile had faded back to the initial smirk. She nodded, and turned to her console. Flicked a few buttons, and looked at the Mon Calamari. “Comms are disabled. You should have access to the grid now.” The colonel nodded to the Mon Calamari. He had what he needed, and he left the room, while adjusting approach vectors for capital ships on his datapad.
The sun had begun setting, and the colonel and the director walked to the back window of the office. The colonel seemed less tense. He turned from the window, facing the director. “Let us hope that the dawn will inspire the people to embrace the new Lothal.”
///
The first chapter of the Invasion of Lothal in the SW Factions RPG.
I was super inspired by the PreMor offices in Andor, some details should be recognizable.
Thanks for watching.
Done for the Macro Monday theme, "Technology."
For a lot of years the hard drive spinning at 5400 RPM was the standard in laptops and netbooks. This is a Seagate 2-1/2 inch, 160 GB hard drive from a 10-inch Asus netbook.
One PC in our household has already been upgraded to the faster and more efficient SSD or Solid State Drive. Ah, technology... Happy Macro Monday!
A 70's telephone where you were attached by a wire, and it came in shades of muddy brown and avocado.........
Stagecoach 34627 (KX54 OPB) operating route 4 along Technology Drive, Rugby. I had not seen this dart for several months (My last shot seems to be July last year) as it seemed to have been out-posted to Kettering. However, it is now in the reserve fleet, and today. the 1st of June 2018, I saw it pass me here on the way to Brownsover, so I decided to wait for it return, bound for the Admirals Estate.
The month of March has just begun here in Germany, and that means the time to build think tanks inspired by Ghost in the Shell is right now.
Pickett N600-T > Hewlett-Packard HP-35
Hewlett-Packard HP-35 calculator. $400. Introduced about April of 1972. Over 10x the price of a slide rule. HP Marketing forecast first year sales at 10K. Actually sold 100K. Pickett went out of business two yrs later. I bought one in 1973.
This is my slide rule from high school, 1963.