I just walked across the street to Bartell's, to pick up some laundry detergent... and as I was walking back towards the detergents, something caught my eye. Compact Fluorescent Lamps (CFLs). Well, OK, no big deal, those are everywhere these days (yay). But the price... that was a bit more surprising. $3.99 for a 3-pack of 13W (60W equivalent) lamps. Or $1.59 for a single 19W (75W equiv.) or 23W (100W equiv.). That's like 70% off. Apparently the City of Seattle is somehow sponsoring this discount, though I couldn't find details on-line just now when I looked.
I don't know if it's all Bartell's locations, or just the Queen Anne store, near me, but it was a deal I couldn't pass up, and had to share, as well.
Get 'em while they last!
Wednesday, July 25, 2007
Monday, July 23, 2007
"Victimizing... with Reason"
Thank you, Laura my dear, for pointing out yesterday's Non Sequitur strip to me.
The rest of you: I recommend it; it makes for some good commentary on the insanity of faith, and the adherence (and adherents) to it.
The rest of you: I recommend it; it makes for some good commentary on the insanity of faith, and the adherence (and adherents) to it.
Friday, July 20, 2007
Reusable Bags
Reusable bags are cool. In particular, I like the ones from ReusableBags.com of the "workhorse" style shopping bag. Laura and I each have a couple, and they're basically with us (in her purse/bag, and in my back pocket) all the time, wherever we go. So, if we somehow randomly happen to need a bag (for shopping or... anything, really), we've got one.
I find them to be strong enough to hold anything I've put in them to date, including some pretty heavy items or sets of items... they fold (or just stuff) down into their attached little pouch quite easily, and once that's done, they're really small. Small enough to fit in... my back pocket, as previously mentioned. Thus, I can always have one with me, rather than the canvas bags I used to use a lot (and still do use for some things), which, while re-usable, you pretty much need to plan to take with you. Which screws you over on the random unexpected shopping trip.
Hence my love for Acme Bags (that's the other name for the same people).
So save the world, and stop using all those plastic bags. (Dog owners, I used to give you an ok on this, but Laura and Sophie have shown me that the cheap small little sandwich bags (which you can get at costco by the... ton?) work just fine, and surely they're lower impact. Hmm, I wonder if you can find those made from corn-plastic. That'd rule.)
Oh yeah, and in my last order, they gave me a little promo thing. You can get a free reusable bag by placing an order on their website that exceeds $25, and putting "FREE ACME BAG" in the comments box. They'll add a bag. (Some limitations apply, but they told me to "pass this offer on", so I feel it's fair game to blog about it.)
I find them to be strong enough to hold anything I've put in them to date, including some pretty heavy items or sets of items... they fold (or just stuff) down into their attached little pouch quite easily, and once that's done, they're really small. Small enough to fit in... my back pocket, as previously mentioned. Thus, I can always have one with me, rather than the canvas bags I used to use a lot (and still do use for some things), which, while re-usable, you pretty much need to plan to take with you. Which screws you over on the random unexpected shopping trip.
Hence my love for Acme Bags (that's the other name for the same people).
So save the world, and stop using all those plastic bags. (Dog owners, I used to give you an ok on this, but Laura and Sophie have shown me that the cheap small little sandwich bags (which you can get at costco by the... ton?) work just fine, and surely they're lower impact. Hmm, I wonder if you can find those made from corn-plastic. That'd rule.)
Oh yeah, and in my last order, they gave me a little promo thing. You can get a free reusable bag by placing an order on their website that exceeds $25, and putting "FREE ACME BAG" in the comments box. They'll add a bag. (Some limitations apply, but they told me to "pass this offer on", so I feel it's fair game to blog about it.)
I tube with no tube
A few hours ago, I entered the fray and posted some videos on youtube. Just some old time-lapse stuff I had lying around (I really need to do more of that)... for example, the moon crossing the sky at Seattle Center:
I don't "tube", though... I've got no television. Well, ok, like certain other things (ahem, my car), I still technically own one, I just haven't used it in months, and intend to sell it eventually.
(Anybody want an old Trinitron?)
In other news, I'm no longer working with the folks at Villij. They're off in Colorado, and communication unfortunately broke down, and they weren't willing to work on trying to fix that, so... bye bye, at least for now. Maybe that means I'll be more active here, and/or at flickr, and/or etc. It also means I could use another job or something, so... if anyone has any ruby (preferred) or perl (perfectly acceptable alternate) or other geeky (acceptability depends on the details) work you (or someone you know of) might want me to do, let me know.
See? I still exist (not that anyone had asked).
:-)
I don't "tube", though... I've got no television. Well, ok, like certain other things (ahem, my car), I still technically own one, I just haven't used it in months, and intend to sell it eventually.
(Anybody want an old Trinitron?)
In other news, I'm no longer working with the folks at Villij. They're off in Colorado, and communication unfortunately broke down, and they weren't willing to work on trying to fix that, so... bye bye, at least for now. Maybe that means I'll be more active here, and/or at flickr, and/or etc. It also means I could use another job or something, so... if anyone has any ruby (preferred) or perl (perfectly acceptable alternate) or other geeky (acceptability depends on the details) work you (or someone you know of) might want me to do, let me know.
See? I still exist (not that anyone had asked).
:-)
Saturday, April 28, 2007
Who needs netflix? free DVDs and more at SPL
Once upon a time, Netflix had a pre-paid-rentals mode of accounts. You'd pay for rentals in advance, in, say, a block of 50, they'd mail you the movies, you could return 'em whenever you wanted to get your next movie. It was great. You see, I'm an infrequent renter of movies, so their monthly-subscription-based plan didn't really make sense to me. I'd rent something every couple of months or so, and be paying a fortune for it. Granted, they've added cheaper monthly plans since then, as low as 4.99 a month, which approaches the point of being "worth it" for my infrequent rentals. But not quite, especially when there's something that's (arguably) even better...
Enter the Seattle Public Library (SPL), and in particular, their holds system. If you're an SPL member (which is free, you just have to live in Seattle or other certain parts of King County -- ok, granted, not everyone reading this will have that privilege), you can log in to the SPL web site, and you can then place holds on a fairly wide selection of DVDs. When they become available (which ranges from quickly to a good long while later, admittedly), you get an e-mail letting you know they're there, and you can wander in, pick 'em up, and do a self-checkout.
OK, it's true, this isn't quite as convenient as having them show up in the mail, but if you're as frequently downtown as I am, or near any of their other branches on a regular basis, then it's just a quick diversion from your regular routine. And it's Free! OK, yeah, there's also this funny thing called a due date, which netflix doesn't have... but you can usually (depending on how many other people are waiting) renew (on-line, with just a couple of easy clicks, 24/7), and if you're late a little, it's a much less harsh fee than what, say, blockbuster would charge.
Oh yeah, and you can also use it for books! And here's the best part: You can place a hold on hold (if you'll pardon my doubling up the word -- they actually call it "suspending" a hold), until you're ready to actually get the thing -- while still moving your position in line forward, in case there's a waiting list. So if, for example, you're in a book club, and you want to place a hold for the next book, but not get it until the day after this month's meeting, you can just choose that date as the target of a suspended hold, and they'll put you at the front of the line (or as close to it as you've gotten) on that day, and you get your book!
The Seattle Public Library on-line Try it. It's fun!
[This has been a random rambling by David Lindes. I just felt the urge.]
Enter the Seattle Public Library (SPL), and in particular, their holds system. If you're an SPL member (which is free, you just have to live in Seattle or other certain parts of King County -- ok, granted, not everyone reading this will have that privilege), you can log in to the SPL web site, and you can then place holds on a fairly wide selection of DVDs. When they become available (which ranges from quickly to a good long while later, admittedly), you get an e-mail letting you know they're there, and you can wander in, pick 'em up, and do a self-checkout.
OK, it's true, this isn't quite as convenient as having them show up in the mail, but if you're as frequently downtown as I am, or near any of their other branches on a regular basis, then it's just a quick diversion from your regular routine. And it's Free! OK, yeah, there's also this funny thing called a due date, which netflix doesn't have... but you can usually (depending on how many other people are waiting) renew (on-line, with just a couple of easy clicks, 24/7), and if you're late a little, it's a much less harsh fee than what, say, blockbuster would charge.
Oh yeah, and you can also use it for books! And here's the best part: You can place a hold on hold (if you'll pardon my doubling up the word -- they actually call it "suspending" a hold), until you're ready to actually get the thing -- while still moving your position in line forward, in case there's a waiting list. So if, for example, you're in a book club, and you want to place a hold for the next book, but not get it until the day after this month's meeting, you can just choose that date as the target of a suspended hold, and they'll put you at the front of the line (or as close to it as you've gotten) on that day, and you get your book!
The Seattle Public Library on-line Try it. It's fun!
[This has been a random rambling by David Lindes. I just felt the urge.]
Wednesday, April 18, 2007
Ask Lindes - Photography Q&A Blog
OK, I've been thinking of doing this for a while... and I've finally done it. Well, there's no real content there yet, but it's started up. What is this, you ask? Ah, good, you're asking questions! I like a curious mind. Good thing I have one, then, too... I guess that means I can like my own mind. ;-)
Anyway, what I'm talking about is Ask Lindes, my new photography Q&A blog. You (anyone) can send me questions you might have about my photography, and/or photography in general, and I'll do my best to answer -- and if I feel it's appropriate, I'll answer on the blog.
Answers may be edited over time; the hope is that each posting will be a useful document unto itself, for someone trying to get a particular question answered. I expect some questions to be more general than others, of course. Any question is welcome, from a general how-to to a very specific technical question, or a question about how I made a particular image.
So, there it is... Ask away!
Anyway, what I'm talking about is Ask Lindes, my new photography Q&A blog. You (anyone) can send me questions you might have about my photography, and/or photography in general, and I'll do my best to answer -- and if I feel it's appropriate, I'll answer on the blog.
Answers may be edited over time; the hope is that each posting will be a useful document unto itself, for someone trying to get a particular question answered. I expect some questions to be more general than others, of course. Any question is welcome, from a general how-to to a very specific technical question, or a question about how I made a particular image.
So, there it is... Ask away!
Friday, March 16, 2007
Panda Labs - most excellent customer service
OK, that's it. Panda Lab just rules. This place is two blocks from my house [edit: no longer true, but still pretty convenient and still my main place to get processing done, as of January 2011], and I've been by there a bunch of times, and never gone in. Why not? I don't know. They're awesome. Yeah, OK, so their systems could maybe stand to be computerized or something, but... wow, what excellent customer service. I took them my two rolls of IR film (my first ever -- for the class I'm taking at PCNW), and dropped them off on Wednesday. I asked (actually they asked me what I wanted) for just basic development (no push or pull, or anything special), and a contact sheet... Everything was ready yesterday, but I didn't have time to go in until today.
So today, I went in, to pick things up. Eager to see how my first rolls of IR would come out. Well, I got more than I bargained for, and in a good way. The gal at the counter got my stuff, and handed it over, then proceeding to do up the bill. Distracted by watching the hand-processing of the invoice, I somehow failed to even bother looking at the results yet. And then as she was processing my debit card, she apparently mentioned that one of the IR pickups was here. So this guy Dana comes out, and in a very friendly way offers to look over things with me.
And so I opened things up, and looked what was inside. My two rolls of film (cut into 6's, as had been the choice I'd made when asked if I wanted 5's or 6's -- very nice) were there, in Print Files, and 8 contact sheets. Yup, that's right. 4 contact sheets per roll, each exposed a different amount, so that I could see the results of all the insane bracketing I'd been doing. Wow, that's flippin' cool.
And it didn't end there. Dana proceeded to pull out a couple of the contact sheets, and the negatives, and lay them down above and on (respectively) a light table, and take a look with me. He pointed out the varying densities of things, and asked me about how I'd been metering, and gave me pointers about things, and told me which negatives he thought had the best densities (yay, they were mostly the ones I'd metered for -- so I guess I was doing OK on the metering already), and just all sorts of little tidbits about things -- telling me about which shop I could go to (Camera Techs, in Ballard) to find out if I could fix the DX coding reader problem that blasts one set of sprockets on my film -- or to get a different body, if I couldn't do that, and just generally being helpful and friendly and cool.
He even said to say hello to Patricia, the instructor for the Infrared course I'm taking.
Just cool. Contact sheet scans:
Roll #1:
Roll #2:
Scans of other images to follow over time.
So today, I went in, to pick things up. Eager to see how my first rolls of IR would come out. Well, I got more than I bargained for, and in a good way. The gal at the counter got my stuff, and handed it over, then proceeding to do up the bill. Distracted by watching the hand-processing of the invoice, I somehow failed to even bother looking at the results yet. And then as she was processing my debit card, she apparently mentioned that one of the IR pickups was here. So this guy Dana comes out, and in a very friendly way offers to look over things with me.
And so I opened things up, and looked what was inside. My two rolls of film (cut into 6's, as had been the choice I'd made when asked if I wanted 5's or 6's -- very nice) were there, in Print Files, and 8 contact sheets. Yup, that's right. 4 contact sheets per roll, each exposed a different amount, so that I could see the results of all the insane bracketing I'd been doing. Wow, that's flippin' cool.
And it didn't end there. Dana proceeded to pull out a couple of the contact sheets, and the negatives, and lay them down above and on (respectively) a light table, and take a look with me. He pointed out the varying densities of things, and asked me about how I'd been metering, and gave me pointers about things, and told me which negatives he thought had the best densities (yay, they were mostly the ones I'd metered for -- so I guess I was doing OK on the metering already), and just all sorts of little tidbits about things -- telling me about which shop I could go to (Camera Techs, in Ballard) to find out if I could fix the DX coding reader problem that blasts one set of sprockets on my film -- or to get a different body, if I couldn't do that, and just generally being helpful and friendly and cool.
He even said to say hello to Patricia, the instructor for the Infrared course I'm taking.
Just cool. Contact sheet scans:
Roll #1:
Roll #2:
Scans of other images to follow over time.
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