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@samuel @CaraBruar This weird notion that I'm personally obliged to protect people from reading something I might write that they might potentially find uninteresting or mildly disquieting is pretty offensive, frankly.
Just fucking block me if you don't want to see my posts. 100% effective. Or don't, in which case, be aware that I might post something you don't expect or like sometimes. Your choice.
@samuel @CaraBruar I don't really care. I don't think my posts are so terrible that anyone will suffer damage from reading them. Anyone afraid of my posts should block me.
@CaraBruar I think my posts are pretty objectively tame. I don't post obscenity or graphic descriptions of violence or whatever. I post about law and politics and technology and art. You can read what I write or not. Your choice. But if you do, you're taking a risk that it might fall outside your interests.
That's part of what makes life interesting, I think.
Next up, we need to expand the IACO alphabet to include Unicode characters.
@x_cli They're called "private mentions" on my web client. And just today I read one that included my name that was DEFINITELY not intended for me.
"Are you so arrogant that you think your posts are worth reading?"
Yes. Actually, I think that's a pretty good minimum threshold for anyone posting something.
I'm afraid union rules preclude me from explaining my jokes. Apologies if I have confused anyone.
@SteveBellovin @boblord Vibe coding and genAI will fix this for good, I’m sure.
House of the Temple, Washington, DC, 2023.
All the pixels, and I assure you absolutely no ritual sacrifices going on inside, at https://www.flickr.com/photos/mattblaze/53288608886
I am, by the way, a terrible hiking partner and dinner guest. If there's something interesting on the horizon or view out the window that catches my eye, I tend to reflexively set up the tripod* and geek out in my own little world while everyone else is trying to move on down the trail or sit down to eat.
* (Yes, I carry a tripod on hikes and to dinner parties. See above.)
This is an image that works best at the highest resolution. The Rodenstock 138mm lens has extraordinary edge-to-edge sharpness and a general lack of distortion that makes it especially well suited to wide stitched panoramas like this one.
The effect is sort like Where's Waldo; the whole is shown mainly to invite you into the details.
Captured with the Rodenstock 138mm/6.5 HR Digaron-SW lens (@ f/7.1), Phase One IQ4-150 back (@ ISO 50, 1/125 sec), Cambo WRS 1250 camera. Stitched panorama of two images, shifted left and right +/- about 18mm.
This view reminded me of Malvina Reynolds's famous 1962 song, Little Boxes (though she was inspired by nearby Daly City). If you look closely, the houses don't quite "all look just the same", but somehow, viewed on the hillside, there's more uniformity than there is up close.
University Mound, San Francisco, CA, 2024.
All the pixels, each made of premium-grade ticky-tacky at https://www.flickr.com/photos/mattblaze/54062971395/
Manhattan Bridge, NYC, 2023.
A dozen pixels for every story in the Naked City at https://www.flickr.com/photos/mattblaze/52841667763
The other thing that drives me nuts about Leica is their marketing, which makes you feel like you're buying fine jewelry rather than a useful camera system.
I have mixed feelings about the Leica M system. The lenses are of very high quality, and everything is small enough that I can travel (or hike) with a fairly complete kit when I'd otherwise not bring a camera at all. Most of my favorite "opportunistic" photos have been with a Leica.
But everything is obscenely expensive. And while the small size is great, it's also a compromise. I usually wish I had my larger camera (with movements, etc) with me instead.
This was a rather opportunistic capture with a Leica M240 camera, a 35mm lens, and a tabletop tripod on a windowsill, just before a late afternoon thunderstorm.
The light always does most of the work in photography. Sometimes it works especially hard.
Upper West Side, NYC, 2014.
All the pixels, but not enough to cover a down payment on a small one bedroom, at https://www.flickr.com/photos/mattblaze/14422880057
The Lincoln Memorial, an iconic DC tourist attraction, is crowded and bustling year round. But in the middle of the night, when it's empty and quiet, it becomes a very different place. It's solemn and peaceful in a way that takes you by surprise. I lingered longer than I needed to when taking this photo.
Part of my "slightly better versions of the pictures of local attractions than you might find hanging in your hotel room" series.
Captured with the Rodenstock 90mm/5.6 HR Digaron (@ f/7.1) and the PhaseOne IQ4-150 "Achromatic" back. 12mm of vertical shift kept the geometry in line. The sharp lens and achromatic back reveal a lot of detail zoomed in at full resolution (full res is downloadable on flickr).
This is a very simple composition, the frame filled with the Memorial from roughly the perspective shown on the $5 bill. The National Parks Service does a superb job lighting the site.