Tech

Jul252017 by Chris MarquardtNo Comments

The DSLR Shutter and the 100 Year Old Lens

Last year when Monika bought an old old lens, I started a project to attach it to a large format camera. Problem was, the lens didn't have a shutter. After some discussion on the Happy Shooting Slack, Jochen Möller (of flying 4x5" fame) came up with a solution: the shutter from an old DSLR. Of course it features an Arduino and I'll have to do a bit more work to integrate it with the camera and be able to change shutter speeds.Here's the first test:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BVtWJA7o_sM

Apr122017 by Chris MarquardtNo Comments

Standing at Stage 3 of Augmented Reality

Tech, VR/AR/MR

Photo: Samuel ZellerBenedict Evans is a partner at Andreessen Horowitz, an investor company who has their money in a good number of well-known tech businesses. And in Magic Leap, who I've written here about before. He just released an interesting article regarding Augmented and Mixed Reality, in which he talks about the first decade of augmented reality and where he sees this going.Among other things he makes a good comparison with the mobile phone transition from keys to slabs of glas and multi-touch.Here are a few excerpts from his article......on discovery of what AR/MR is/will be:"In the late 1990s we argued about whether 'mobile internet' devices would have a separate radio unit and screen, plus an earpiece, or perhaps a keyboard, or a clamshell with a keyboard ...

Apr92017 by Chris MarquardtNo Comments

AirPods – My Verdict

Personal, Tech

When the AirPods were finally out in December 2016, I got my order in for the first batch. The cabled EarPods always fit my ears well, so they've got that going for them. While they don't cover all use cases, they worked well for me and so my expectation for the AirPods was to do pretty much the same, but without the cable mess.I have two main things to say about the AirPods:they are probably the most convenient and comfortable pair of earphones that I've ever owned. Seemingly endless battery life if you're willing to give them a quick rest in their tiny charger box after several hours of listening. And I've had several occasions where I was walking around the house searching for them, just to realize that I was wearing them all along. they have one really big quirk that's

Apr72017 by Chris MarquardtNo Comments

You go, Mastodon!

Personal, Tech

Another social network. Open. Decentralized. Getting a bit of hype lately.I'm there. Dipping my toes in.As chrismarquardt@mastodon.network - giving it a fair shot. I'm a fan of open and decentralized, so I wish it all the best. You go, Mastodon!Ping me here.

Feb172017 by Chris MarquardtNo Comments

Rejiggle all the things

Tech

Update: making progress, the list now includes tipsfromthetopfloor.com (took a bit longer because I had to make sure there was no interruption or side-effects on the podcast delivery). Once I'm back from Russia, I will get to work on the rest of the sites.It's about time to revamp my web hosting. So far, it's all on one dedicated server (as in a hardware box with spinning disks, mirrored albeit) and the system has served me well in the past. It's getting a bit long in the tooth though and the cloud offers everywhere are quite intriguing. Especially as many of them run on really fast hardware, SSDs, quick networking and the flexibility is beyond anything I've ever had. Fire up an instance with the click of a mouse. Add a temporary server for a special purpose, delete it later and pay by

Oct92016 by Chris MarquardtNo Comments

AI, you still got a long way to go…

Tech

...either that or my photography is boring.Enter: Keegan, the photo coach. Keegan is an AI that will critique your photos and give them ratings. I uploaded a few of my favorite pictures to test it:Keegan doesn't like detail in photos. Keegan loves blur. I get a ribbon. Must. Do. More. Blur. Oh, first time Keegan calls it my colors pleasant. At least that. Yep, they're hiding in the shadows. Those buddhist monks. Okay Keegan, I'll keep trying... My colors are weird. *sniffle* Yeah, the colors are off. The guy is all orangy and yellow. 😂😂😂 Did I mention Keegan loves blur? Oh, and guess I better apologize for the guy in the background.

Jan32016 by Chris MarquardtNo Comments

Nach dem Kongress is vor dem Kongress

Tech

Das Küchenradio hat hier einen schönen Rundgang über den 32. Chaos Communication Congress in Hamburg gemacht. Sehr hörenswert! Alleine schon, weil z.B. viel Einblick in die Hintergründe gegeben wird. Da ist zum Beispiel das VOC (das Video Operations Center), die es durch Automation erreicht haben, dass die meisten Videos kurz nach der Aufnahme bereits geschnitten, betitelt und online verfügbar sind. Hier hören: http://www.kuechenstud.io/kuechenradio/episode/kr387-chaos-communication-congress-2015/

Dec162015 by Chris MarquardtNo Comments

Philips just announced they will revert their decision

Politics, Tech

6 days ago Philips released firmware 1.11 for their hue wireless lighting system, breaking interoperability with un-certified 3rd-party lights, something they had held up high for years through their membership in the Connected Lighting Alliance and their stated commitment to maximum interoperability. After sneaking up this change on their most enthusiastic users, all hell broke lose between Dec 11 and Dec 16 2015. After a massive public outcry, that involved everywhere from their Facebook profiles to a big hit to their Amazon ratings, Philips has now announced they would revert the update. This is an overview and a quick analysis of what has happened.Listen here:

Aug162015 by Chris MarquardtNo Comments

Do we really need the Apple Watch?

Tech

Photo: Kārlis Dambrāns - used under a CC-BY-2.0 licenseSeriously dude, do we really need the Apple Watch? (substitute with your favorite wearable device)Not really. Actually not at all. Your iPhone (substitute with your favorite mobile platform) will do almost everything the watch does. It’ll show you notifications, it’ll tell the time, let you reply to messages, allow you to make video calls, track some of your health stats, allow you to cross items off your shopping list. And you can use it to watch TV. All you have to do is pull it out of your pocket. Your iPhone will even do a lot of things that your Apple Watch can’t do.But do we really need the iPhone?Not really. Actually not at all. Your Macbook (substitute with your favorite portable computing platform) will do almost eve

Aug52015 by Chris MarquardtNo Comments

bossjock jr.: starting your own podcast has never been easier!

Tech

The people who brought you the original Bossjock Studio app have now released bossjock jr, a free and wonderful little podcast recording app. When I say “podcast recording" I actually mean “a frigging full-featured podcast studio with jingles and all in one free app" - it does everything, from recording your voice, allowing you to add in jingles, pause when you need a second to think of what to say next, export to all sorts of formats, include artwork and meta data in your recordings. It’s brilliant! It even comes with an Apple Watch extension. There’s not a single excuse not to start a podcast now. » bossjock jr (iTunes link)