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  1. Jock Elliott

    One of the funniest things I've seen in a long, long time

    Cheers, Jock
  2. Jock Elliott

    A really unusual story from one of the other places that I post . . .

    I don't know if it was a regular thing on both sides, but there may have been a bit of "nah-nah-nah, we've got your guys" on the part of Germany. For sure it was a regular thing from Radio Berlin. Since I wrote that piece, I discovered that there have been two books written about other families...
  3. Jock Elliott

    A really unusual story from one of the other places that I post . . .

    It is an unusual true story about how shortwave listeners provided hope to my family during WWII. https://swling.com/blog/2022/04/wwii-radio-letters-a-real-life-shortwave-story/ Cheers, Jock
  4. Jock Elliott

    Something funny from the post office

    So Friday, I get a plastic bag in the mail from the US Postal Service . . . It contains a heartfelt letter . . . And one very mangled label. No letter, no package attached, mind you . . . just the label. Sigh. Cheers, Jock
  5. Jock Elliott

    Am I the only one that does this?

    Oh yeah, absolutely. When you glance at the screen, you tend to see what you intended to write, not what you actually wrote. What, really, really helps is to read your stuff aloud to someone else . . . that will force you to read what is actually on the screen. Cheers, Jock
  6. Jock Elliott

    US Stock Market - Hedge Funds vs. Reddit ($GME, $AMC)

    From my very limited understanding, here's what happens when you "short" a stock: 1. For a fee, you "borrow" a stock from its owner for a certain period of time. 2. You then sell the stock at whatever the current market price. 3. When the borrowing period is over, you must return the stock. If...
  7. Jock Elliott

    US Stock Market - Hedge Funds vs. Reddit ($GME, $AMC)

    It reminds me of that line from the movie War Games: "The only winning move is not to play."
  8. Jock Elliott

    Your favorite "For What It's Worth" cover . . .

    Seems like an anthem for strange times. Here are two of mine: Cheers, Jock
  9. Jock Elliott

    On the 7th day of Christmas...

    Excellent! Never mind all this book stuff . . . where did the sweatshirt come from? Cheers, Jock
  10. Jock Elliott

    Silver Machine in Isolation

    My favorite from the Ukulele Orchestra of Britain. Cheers, Jock
  11. Jock Elliott

    Why don't car windows have a safety feedback mechanism? (gross picture warning)

    That is a chilling account, but thanks for sharing. My wife and I now have a new policy: whatever side of the car I am on, I am in charge of the window on that side. She is still mortified by what happened. Cheers, Jock
  12. Jock Elliott

    Why don't car windows have a safety feedback mechanism? (gross picture warning)

    Not two months; coming up on four weeks this Sunday. Most of it has been pretty straight-forward. However, my family doc, two days after the event, looked at the Big Bump and said, "I'm not sure what's going to happen with that . . . " Now, almost four weeks into the mission, I'm waiting to...
  13. Jock Elliott

    Why don't car windows have a safety feedback mechanism? (gross picture warning)

    As you might know, electric garage door openers have a fail-safe feedback mechanism that causes the door to reverse direction if it is closing and something is in the way. To my knowledge, electric car windows do not . . . and herein lies a tale. On July 19, 2020, at around 3 pm, my wife and I...
  14. Jock Elliott

    As a fitting conclusion for the Memorial Day weekend . . .

    Enjoy! Cheers, Jock
  15. Jock Elliott

    Need help with a personal problem

    Shhhhh . . . that's on my bucket list.
  16. Jock Elliott

    Need help with a personal problem

    Especially when you have various jurisdictions releasing convicted criminals on account of "Covid concerns." You don't gotta be Einstein to figure this out. Cheers, Jock
  17. Jock Elliott

    Some thoughts for those "tele-working" for the first time

    For 17 years, I was a full-time freelance writer, working from a home office. Some observations: 1. Self-discipline can be the hardest thing to come by, but it is the most necessary thing for successful tele-working. Distractions are too easy to find. Determine that you will be...
  18. Jock Elliott

    Need help with a personal problem

    It's all Andrew Cuomo's fault. Yesterday he decreed that all New Yorkers -- including folks like me in upstate New York -- must have available, or wear, a face mask or covering while out in public. Not having a mask, I opted for a bandanna to cover my mouth and nose. I put on my hat and caught...
  19. Jock Elliott

    Windows 7 End-of-Life (or at least Microsoft Support)

    Thanks for the tip. I have a very old 2GB machine with a dead internal clock battery, dead battery pack (it stays alive only on the external power supply), not worth upgrading any hardware, that my brother-in-law and I will attempt to migrate to Linux. BTW, I have a 10-year-old Dell workstation...
  20. Jock Elliott

    In other (personal) news...

    First, congratulations on being accepted. From a generic standpoint (since I don't know your personal situation), I would have two concerns: time and money. Time. Pursuing still photography with serious intent can chew up enormous amounts of time; even more so documentary film. If you are also...
  21. Jock Elliott

    At last, I have a home page/blog

    Wow! Quick update. My home page/blog has been up since Saturday. I posted it here and on MU-43. So far, I've had visitors from all these places: Photography truly is an international community. Cheers, Jock
  22. Jock Elliott

    At last, I have a home page/blog

    It reflects my fascination with the skies, love of nature, and world view. With the help of my brother-in-law, I set it up so that if someone likes one of the images and would like to download it for their personal use, they can without cost or any marketing "hooks" whatsoever...
  23. Jock Elliott

    Okay, what is with the "Media" button on the top navigation?

    What I wonder is why the Media alerts exist at all. After all, we get alerts regarding the threads that we have subscribed to, and if we start a thread, we will get alerts regarding any activity on it. I click on the media button, all the media that I see are still shots, which doesn't make...
  24. Jock Elliott

    Okay, what is with the "Media" button on the top navigation?

    I get notifications that so-and-so has "added the media item . . . ." Are these items that do not otherwise appear in posts? Or perhaps they are uploaded through some means that is not normally used. I don't understand the significance. Please note: this is not a complaint in any way about...
  25. Jock Elliott

    Art Wolfe's Travels to the Edge TV series

    is available on Amazon Prime. I'm binge watching it now. Lovely images, lovely scenery, and a few photography tips. Lots of wildlife. It's got my recommendation! Cheers, Jock
  26. Jock Elliott

    "Mirage Man" - Interesting video on Amazon Prime

    Thanks for posting that. I started poking around . . . one thing led to another . . . and I went down some very interesting rabbit holes. https://www.atoptics.co.uk/links.htm https://atoptics.wordpress.com/ You've been warned -- don't come crying to me because you've lost some hours of your...
  27. Jock Elliott

    "Mirage Man" - Interesting video on Amazon Prime

    I found the guy was obsessed . . . maybe even had a form of obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). If I recall correctly, he said he had 30-40 categories of atmospheric phenomena he was interested in, and (putting the pieces together from different parts of the documentary), that he wanted to...
  28. Jock Elliott

    "Mirage Man" - Interesting video on Amazon Prime

    Mirage Man -- Finnish gent who chases images of atmospheric phenomena. Cheers, Jock
  29. Jock Elliott

    Some Chutzpah - Selling a Stolen Prototype

    It strikes me that there is something fundamentally weird about this story. High-end optics are, well, high-end optics. The materials are expensive. The workmanship that goes into transforming a hunk of glass into a lens is expensive. If you build a prototype, and it doesn't quite work as...
  30. Jock Elliott

    Here's one for Jock, and all other raptor fans.

    Exactly. There's a fellow on the M43 forum (forum handle Bristolero) who captures bald eagles from a kayak with a 300mm prime (that would be 600mm e). He says that practice tracking the birds in flight with the long lens is essential to his success. There's a lot that goes into being "ready to...
  31. Jock Elliott

    Signs of lost tribe found on Peebles Island, Cohoes, NY

    We have reason to believe that a highly secretive tribe, avoiding contact with modern folks, is living on Peebles Island. The spotter-in-chief and I were completing our circuit of the island, about to exit the woods on the lower trail, when we spotted this: Closer examination revealed this...
  32. Jock Elliott

    today's luddite problem

    Has anyone else here had the phenomenon of inadvertently invoking something on a modern digital camera and could not figure out how to make it go away? I have. At least three times, I've had to hit "total global reset" to make a camera stop doing something I did not wittingly ask it to do in...
  33. Jock Elliott

    Here's one for Jock, and all other raptor fans.

    Two things: 1. WOW! Seems like a once in a lifetime image. 2. Thanks for thinking of me. Cheers, Jock
  34. Jock Elliott

    "... so it's just normal for my age?"

    Amen to that, brother! I've had both eyes done . . . excellent results. Congrats! Cheers, Jock
  35. Jock Elliott

    Why I would suck as a commercial photographer

    The thread -- I don't want to teach grandma to suck eggs but ..... -- got me going on this. I responded to it as follows: "I like HCB's thought: "You don't take a photograph, the photograph takes you." Exact quote: ā€œA photograph is neither taken or seized by force. It offers itself up. It is...
  36. Jock Elliott

    Help me evaluate these photographs, please

    Hearty thanks to everyone for your various inputs. Bottom line, there doesn't seem to be a whole lot of difference between the two sets for sky photography . . . which is the primary target when I carry a pocket camera. And, yeah, I love the atmosphere here too! Cheers, Jock
  37. Jock Elliott

    Help me evaluate these photographs, please

    Kevin, I wasn't so much interested in having the photos critiqued, but rather seeing if others saw significant differences between the two sets. Cheers, Jock
  38. Jock Elliott

    Help me evaluate these photographs, please

    I'm always trying to "optimize" my everyday-carry rig . . . ie, the camera I stick in my pocket in case a really cool sky shot pops up. Generally, that has been the Canon G12. Around Christmas, I picked up the GX85 with the two-lens kit. A couple of days ago, I noticed that the GX85 with 12-32...
  39. Jock Elliott

    Which cameras are actually made in Japan these days?

    I just checked my cameras. In reverse order of acquisition: Panasonic GX85 -- China Sony HX400V -- China Fuji XP90 -- China Canon G12 -- Japan Olympus D550 -- Korea Cheers, Jock
  40. Jock Elliott

    Does anybody else think that CCD sensors have a slightly different "look" to the images they produce?

    By golly, you nailed it! I would argue that this -- from my humble G12 -- has a similar look: BTW, I think this -- "they render with a distinct, but again pleasing lack of dynamic range" -- is spot on. Never thought of it that way before . . . thanks! Cheers, Jock
  41. Jock Elliott

    Does anybody else think that CCD sensors have a slightly different "look" to the images they produce?

    There is a directory. Go to dpreview, click on cameras, then click on camera feature search: Camera feature search: Digital Photography Review : Digital Photography Review! Scroll down to sensor, click on sensor, then click on CCD for camera sensor type. There are, apparently, 1677...
  42. Jock Elliott

    Does anybody else think that CCD sensors have a slightly different "look" to the images they produce?

    If you do, how about posting some examples? And perhaps even some comparison shots, if you have them. Cheers, Jock
  43. Jock Elliott

    "... so it's just normal for my age?"

    On the flip side of "I'm getting older and things are getting worse", my bride (aka spotter-in-chief), who is 9 years younger than me (but still a seasoned citizen), has almost freakish distance vision. Check out this tale from almost six years ago...
  44. Jock Elliott

    "... so it's just normal for my age?"

    Barrie, I'll be 73 shortly, and I've had cataract surgeries done in both eyes, with excellent results. The right eye was the first to get done. It was a few years from the detection of the incipient cataract until it was bad enough to need the surgery. The left eye, by contrast, went downhill...
  45. Jock Elliott

    "... so it's just normal for my age?"

    Bear in mind that when you yell "Get off my lawn!" and shake your fist, you have to observe due and proper form . . . ask one of your older neighbors for tips on getting it right . . . :biggrin: Cheers, Jock
  46. Jock Elliott

    The sky was on fire this AM

    From my brother-in-law: From a friend: The defense calls no further witnesses. Cheers, Jock
  47. Jock Elliott

    Strange odyssey.

    Since the spring of this year, Iā€™ve been going through a strange odyssey. One day, in a fit of pique, I sold all my Olympus M43 gear: 3 bodies, 4 lenses. Poof . . . gone. I had noticed I wasnā€™t using them. I had all this nice stuff, but when it came time for me to go out the door, I would...
  48. Jock Elliott

    Merry Christmas (or whichever holiday you celebrate)

    Whatever you celebrate, may the peace, love, and joy of the holidays be with you and yours. Cheers, Jock
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