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Author: pchuck

iPhone4 vs. Nikon D300

iPhone4 vs. Nikon D300

Much has been written lately about the high quality of the latest iPhone’s camera, how megapixels aren’t the only metric, and how it outperforms other cell and consumer cameras. The ability to easily take HDR and panorama shots, with zero postprocessing effort, and instantly share them, gives the iPhone4 some advantages over even the highest-end SLR’s. Even the low-light performance has improved dramatically. With previous generation iPhones, I wouldn’t even bother to reach in my pocket unless there was an…

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EyeClops BioniCam

EyeClops BioniCam

Received an EyeClops BioniCam for Christmas. Device records magnified movies/images to a removable USB stick, in FAT16, which is hence, Linux (and Mac OS X) compatible.. Manufacturer warns that “the Eyeclops is a handheld bionic microscope meant to be used as a fun toy – not as an educational aid.” I’m no expert, but a tech gadget, particularly an electronic microscope, which is easy to use, magnifies whatever you point it at to 400x, and captures live video or photographs……

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Downtown Denver Wi-Fi Survey

Downtown Denver Wi-Fi Survey

On July 27th, we carried out a thorough scan of 802.11 networks in downtown Denver. A Columbus V-900 tracking device was used to log location and path, validating that all streets and alleys were traversed. Meanwhile, an iPhone 3G and Wififofum were used to detect and log detected networks, their location, and attributes. The area bounded by Speer Blvd to the SW, Broadway to the East, and 20th Avenue to the NE were covered. Total area traversed was approximately 1.4…

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Comprehensive Wi-Fi Network Discovery

Comprehensive Wi-Fi Network Discovery

Introduction Since Pete Shipley first pioneered wardriving in the San Franciso-Bay area, many people have cataloged the locations of 802.11 networks around the world. I still remember the excitement, in the early days, driving the streets of downtown with a makeshift antenna, Orinoco ‘Gold’ card, and the soft glow of a Thinkpad 600x illuminating the passenger seat. You could often drive several miles before the faint signal of a distant access point would flicker across the screen. Much has changed…

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Financial Crisis – “Black Swan”?

Financial Crisis – “Black Swan”?

The financial market meltdown has caused many to re-evaluate their models for expected market returns. In reality, though, the recent market swings are not out of the ordinary in terms of what has been observed in the past. They are still within the fringes of the ‘long tail’ of the distribution of daily market returns. If there is an unpredictable and high impact event, waiting to spring on the market and challenge the perception of normal or ‘expected’, the “dot-com”…

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Daily Leveraged Funds, Short and Long-term Performance

Daily Leveraged Funds, Short and Long-term Performance

Introduction   Daily leveraged funds have been the topic of numerous articles recently which have questioned whether they should be held for periods longer than a single trading session, and in turn, whether they are suitable for individual investors. Take, for example, the Russell 2000 Index (^RUT), the iShares Russell 2000 ETF (IWM), which tracks the index, and the various daily leveraged funds which attempt to track the index to the tune of -3x (TZA, Direxion Daily Small Cap Bear…

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Southampton Beach Dive

Southampton Beach Dive

Dive Stats * 2009.04.01 – 09:00 * Southampton Beach, Bermuda * Pat, Dave and Guide (Chris) * 35 ft max depth * 30 ft visibility * 35 minutes dive time * 65 deg F water temperature * 3000psi start * 1000 psi end * 12lbs weight Details Shore dive with Dave and guide (Chris). Waded into light surf on private beach of Fairmont Southampton Hotel. Swam directly south from hotel beach, over a limestone/coral wall and out into the open…

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2008 RMDiv Solo2 Summer Series

2008 RMDiv Solo2 Summer Series

The Lotus Elise and 911 GT3 have dominated super-stock in national competition for three years running, but the Z06 continues to reign supreme in the SCCA rocky mountain Colorado and Continental Divide regions. Driving a Z06, I took super-stock for the third year in a row. Points average was up by more than ten points per event, barely enough to ward off the challenge posed by several determined and talented Lotus Elise drivers who have kept things very close in…

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Fowler-Hilliard Photographs

Fowler-Hilliard Photographs

Attached are some photos from a trip to Fowler-Hilliard, a 10th mountain division hut near Minturn. I shot these pics with a Nikon D100, a 6 megapixel camera which takes SLR lenses. The original images are 3008×2000. Click for higher detail. Shot with a 105mm macro lense plus extension tube to allow extreme closup and high magnification. The big sphere is a dew drop on a small leaf measuring about 1/2 centimeter long. If you look closely at the surface…

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