Music Trivia 21

The answer to Music Trivia 20 was -

correctly answered by HighPower

Pink Floyd "Pigs"

Of course the official title is "Pigs (Three Different Ones)"

For this week -
What famous rock song is considered to be the ultimate motorcycle crash song?
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Sony A700's D-Range Optimizer

There are many new features and specs I was anxious to upgrade to with the new Sony A700, not the least of which was the D-Range Optimizer. The D-Range Optimizer automatically prevents loss of detail in dark shadow or bright highlight areas in strongly backlit or high contrast scenes. Although, somewhat skeptical of getting usable results with this feature, I believed it would be amazingly useful if it did work as intended. Imagine not having to dig out and work with filters or painstakingly have to rely on post-processing to save a picture whose exposure values were just too wide. After playing with the other various controls and features on the A700 (for a little bit), I decided to concentrate specifically on the D-Range Optimizer. As I'm sure most have figured out already, the D-Range stands for Dynamic Range and getting all the values properly exposed in certain photos with a large range has long been a pain for photographers. Let us see how the A700 handles such situations.


I chose a typical indoor scene which usually spells trouble for the camera trying to obtain proper exposure across the whole range. The scene has one standing in an interior shooting towards a window with bright sunlight. The view is wide enough to include much of the interior surrounding and in front of the window. Predictably, if we expose for the sunlight the rest of the scene goes very dark, as shown in the first shot above.

This was the first shot I took using the Optimizer and was meant to show how the scene would record using the camera's default value. Although, I thought this setting would be what the Sony labels (D-R) or the standard setting, somehow it wound up being (D-R+) or what Sony calls the Advanced Auto Setting.


Later on, I figured out how to change the setting to standard or (D-R), which was very easy to do actually. And this setting is represented above.


So then, for comparative purposes, I thought I would capture the scene using the camera's built-in flash and this is what we see here.



Now, on to the fun stuff. Sony's Advanced Level D-Range Optimization can be utilized through a five-step range, depending on the needs at the time.

Here is the scene recorded at Level 1.

Same scene at level 2.

Here is a Level 3 shot.

A shot at Level 4.

Here is Level 5, the highest setting.

I'll let everyone be their own judge here, as to the usefulness of this feature. It plainly did lighten up the shadows and expand the range of light values. Tell me what you think.

NOTE: To keep comparisons as accurate as possible, all shots in this post are presented with no post processing except to downsize them for web use. Notice even my typical copyright is not present.

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My New A700 Arrived

I arrived home from work yesterday to find my new baby waiting on me. My A700 has arrived safe and sound. I ordered it directly from Sony on Monday and received it yesterday, as I stated, with no special shipping. I was way too tired to try it out after a 17+ hour shift, so I will see what it offers today. I can tell you from the two minutes I did spend with it that the screen is awesome and beyond compare. Amazing! I can't post any further now as I must finally check out the new camera.

If you need a review of this camera
check out dpreview , Steve's Digicams, or imaging resource.

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Add A Caption 37

Who has a caption for this pic?
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Would You Invest?

Would you invest?
Who got the last laugh, here?

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Master of Malapropism

In my youth I greatly, enjoyed old reruns of 'The Bowery Boys' and especially loved the linguistic twists so often employed by it's lead character, Slip Mahoney. Well, I didn't realize there was even a word for it. A malapropism is the incorrect use of a word by substituting a similar-sounding word with different meaning, usually with comic effect. This is exactly what ol' Slip Mahoney always did and what attracted me to the hilarious series in the first place. Slip, played by Leo Gorcey, was a master of malapropism which henceforth became my favorite style of comedy. If done with talent and timing nothing beats this method of comedic effect.

From the mid thirties to the mid fifties Leo Gorcey was a very, busy actor. He became famous as the leader of the fictional gangs known as The Dead End Kids (1937-39), The East Side Kids (1940-45), and best of all The Bowery Boys (1946-56).

Add A Caption 36

So, what's going on here?
Anyone have an explanation
or a caption?
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USG Racing

USG's NASCAR Ford was in town today. This baby driven by Matt Keneseth had four wins last year (Fontana, Dover, Michigan and Bristol) and a career best of 15 top-five finishes. Matt, also, finished second in the Nextel Cup championship point standings.

The USG/NASCAR partnership began nine years ago in 1998. Many more exciting years are anticipated.
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Men's Restroom Etiquette

With the semi-recent events in mind, concerning a certain senator in an airport restroom stall, I felt that we all need a review of proper restroom etiquette. While not all the bases are covered here it is a good remedial primer, for us all.
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Omphaloskepsis 12

I wonder if Houdini ever lost his car keys?

Bought Corel Paint Shop Pro Photo X2

I broke down and bought Corel Paint Shop Pro Photo X2 today. Maybe I'll be an Ansel Adams or a computer artist tomorrow. Of course, Ive owned the last four versions and it hasn't happened yet.

Add A Caption 35

Another pic waiting for a caption. Who has one?

Omphaloskepsis 11

How is it one careless match can start a forest fire,
but it takes a whole box to start a campfire?

Music Trivia 20

What awesome 1977 song starts every verse with-

" . . . ha ha charade you are"

and who performed it?

Who would believe it!
We have a new expert here -

HighPower correctly said...

Pink Floyd "Pigs"

Of course the official title is "Pigs (Three Different Ones)"

Get A Gun - Not A Doctor

Doctors:

A) The number of physicians in the U.S. is 700,000.
B) Accidental deaths caused by Physicians per year are 120,000.
C) Accidental deaths per physician is 0.171.

Statistics courtesy of U.S. Dept of Health Human services and is a conservative number.

Now think about this:
Guns:
A) The number of gun owners in the U.S. is 80,000,000. Yes, that is 80 million.
B) The number of accidental gun deaths per year, all age groups, is 1,500.
C) The number of accidental deaths per gun owner is 0.0000188.

Statistically, doctors are approximately 9,000 times more dangerous than gun owners.
Remember, "Guns don't kill people, doctors do."
FACT: NOT EVERYONE HAS A GUN, BUT ALMOST EVERYONE HAS AT LEAST ONE DOCTOR.
Please alert your friends to this alarming threat.
We must ban doctors before this gets completely out of hand!!!!!
Out of concern for the public at large, I have withheld the statistics on lawyers for fear the shock would cause people to panic and seek medical attention.

shamelessly stolen from the smokers club

Add A Caption 34

Who has a caption for this pic?

looks like eddyquette does
he replied -

"Okay, so I'm not much cop at riding a bull,
but check out my elegant step-off!"
John chuckled inwardly as he slid away with sartorial elegance.

Corel Announces Paint Shop Pro Photo X2

Wow, well I was on hiatus from computing in general and blogging specifically, Corel snuck one in on me! Their newest version is entitled Corel Paint Shop Pro Photo X2. Could they make the title any longer?

This version offers an 'Express Lab' where one can supposedly edit dozens of photos in the time it used to take to edit just a few, partially because you don't have to wait for each individual photo to open. The new interface has gone dark, which seems to be the current rage in software (at least photo software). An exciting new feature is the ability to create HDR images and I'm looking forward to trying this out. There are now, also, new styles for layering ( whatever this means) and the ability to create visible watermarks. There is a new make up tool called 'Thinify', which just seems silly to me and several other program enhancements.

I can't wait to download the trial version and start putting this new program to the test. Hey, I guess I'll do that now.

Add A Caption 33

Who has a caption for this pic?

Sony A700 Finally Arrives

Now that Sony has finally announced the release of the A700, I am compelled to make an announcement of my own -

To anyone who is properly concerned, if you are willing to send me this new camera please contact me for my shipping address. She will be graciously accepted and used frequently. I will provide a good home for the precious A700 and give her all the care and support she so truly deserves.

Tomorrow is my brother's birthday. Perhaps he should consider buying me this camera for his birthday? It would make a great gift.

Computing Vacation

Anyone missed me?

Aim better!