Category: Science & Geeks
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Comparison of high-end tele zoom lenses
During my recent safari in Kenya, I got the occasion of seeing some of the best tele-zoom lenses in action (I was the one with the smallest photo equipement). This gave me a feeling about the advantages or inconveniences of these, and the idea to dig a little deeper into the issue of comparing. So,…
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How to solve the back-focus problems of a Minolta Maxxum 7D
This is one of the biggest challenges for an amateur photographer. Some Minolta Dynax/Maxxum 7D had (and sometimes still have) problems of imprecise autofocus. Usually, the solution is to send the camera back to the Minolta (now Sony) repair shop. But there is some available data to do it by yourself. If you are not…
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How to clean C source code (fast)
The old tricks for cleaning your C code of most of its unwanted ugliness: Run PC-Lint on the code. Run LCLint on the code. Run CL /W4 /Za /Ox on the code (with your usal compiler, optimization finds many bugs not found without) Run GCC -O3 -Wall -ansi -pedantic on the code.
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Only f/5.6 for auto-focus
People keep asking a simple question: “why do my expensive camera fail to auto-focus when I plug my tele-lens into a 2x converter?”. Unfortunately, the answer is pretty simple. Most auto-focus cameras (digital or not) have a AF sensor limited to f/5.6 detection. If your lens is not opening more than that, the AF is…
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Inkjet paper has a surface: Is microporous best?
All inkjet papers were not born equal. For example, their surface can be varying a lot from one paper to the next. Maybe, you thought that the only difference was in the weight of the paper, whether it was glossy and its price. Oh boy! Were you wrong… As a matter of fact, paper manufacturers…
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Valve cuts its games in episodes
Valve, the famous producer of the Half Life video game, decided to try transforming distribution of video game software. As they announced, the next launches will see short episodes (shorter than the original successful game) aimed at a public ready for paying less but more often. It seems to be a way to avoid the…
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AdSense, delay to sense
Your blog contains AdSense ad banners and you are wondering whether they are always taking into account the real content of the articles you publish. A few remarks from a mere user.
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This Boring Headline Is Written for Google
That is exactly the title of an article just published in the New York Times and explaining how online publication had to adapt itself to search engines, their literal-minded approach to text and the impossibility to use nice, intelligent, witty, humorous, sarcastic titles.