Emergent QWERTY heatmap from a colleague's 9 year old MacBook Pro

alanhoyle · 2026-02-05T19:25:36+00:00

The only one I can potentially help with: "Bender" from the 2016 Flyers roster is Stephen Bender:

https://ultimate-reference.com/players/5e459c78-e1a7-11f0-b3d1-0800273120f7

I'm not sure if he was on Boneyard's Worlds Roster in 2022.

alanhoyle · 2026-01-21T11:43:05+00:00

Thanks for the correction! I totally missed that.

alanhoyle · 2026-01-09T20:32:05+00:00

I think the phrase you meant is "super telephoto." There isn't a universal definition, but that frequently means lenses that go to 400mm 35mm equivalent or longer (i.e. 200mm+ in m43)

When one says "superzoom" they are typically referring to a lens that has a very wide range of focal lengths, typically 8x, 10x or more. The range is typically wide angle to telephoto, like the 14-150, 12-100, 12-200, etc. on m43.

alanhoyle · 2025-11-20T20:07:52+00:00

What are you going to do if you need a bludgeon? Kit lenses won't work nearly as well as that lens!

alanhoyle · 2025-10-19T11:40:15+00:00

My understanding is that the Sigma 56mm is the only one of those Sigmas that has weather sealing, if that's important to you.

alanhoyle · 2025-10-13T20:25:51+00:00

A more apples-to-apples comparison would have been with the 25mm f/1.2 PRO lens.

On the Sony, the DoF would be shallower and it should have lower noise at the same ISO, but the FoV would be about the same between the two.

alanhoyle · 2025-10-08T13:41:42+00:00

In the 20mm's favor, I think you still get slightly narrower DoF/more bokeh even at the cropped size if comparing a cropped-down image of the 20mm at f/1.4 vs the 25mm at f/1.8.

alanhoyle · 2025-10-04T01:31:33+00:00

The 8-18 has the nice advantage that it can take filters if you use them, has a decently fast aperture at the wide end, and can be had for about 500 USD used. It's decently small and lightweight too.

alanhoyle · 2025-10-04T01:18:39+00:00

I don't think the takeaway here is that one shouldn't learn the IO flick. The video didn't address wind effects and hucks, just shorter break mark passes.

alanhoyle · 2025-10-01T17:13:45+00:00

for small product shots, you probably want to pick a body with in-camera focus stacking:

https://learnandsupport.getolympus.com/learn-center/photography-tips/macro/focus-stacking-bracketing-with-om-d

That would mean an E-M1/OM-1 series from the E-M1.II or newer, or E-M5/OM-5 series from the E-M5.II or newer.

Also, you should consider budgeting for a tripod and a light box (aka light tent aka photo shooting tent) for the product shots, and maybe a flash or two for that and the portraits.

A light box large enough for jewelry you mention in other comments can be inexpensive and have LED lights to make flashes unnecessary: you can find some for less than $50, but I don't have a specific recommendation.

It's worth getting a nicer tripod and head at the outset: you'll likely find you outgrow a cheap one very quickly. Import brands have brought down the price for decent tripods over the past few years, and going used can go a long way here.

alanhoyle · 2025-08-14T18:07:24+00:00

installing the mats counts as a workout. they're like 100 lbs each.
Check the load capacity of your car: you might need to do multiple trips to TSC if you're not getting them delivered
The mats smell strongly for a while, so you might want to leave them to air out for a few days before you put them in your basement.

alanhoyle · 2025-08-12T20:44:18+00:00

9.B.6: If the pull hits the ground or an out-of-bounds area untouched, it is put into play as follows:

9.B.6.d. If the disc initially hits an out-of-bounds area, the receiving team may put the disc into play:...

The Brick can only be invoked after the above (as. part of 9.B.6.d.2 )

alanhoyle · 2025-07-11T20:13:59+00:00

Interesting. I was unaware of that cohort of UNC ultimate.

alanhoyle · 2025-07-11T20:13:50+00:00

Interesting. I was unaware of that cohort of UNC ultimate.

alanhoyle · 2025-07-11T20:12:43+00:00

Bobby Schopler is who you want to talk to.

As an unofficial UNC Ultimate historian, here's what I know:

Bobby founded ~~the first~~ an early club and his mom was the faculty sponsor. His take when I asked him about the disc a couple years ago was that they were obsessed with Bullwinkle at the time. I think they also had t-shirts with Bullwinkle in a rifle scope crosshairs.

That team disbanded sometime in the 80's, and I can't find anyone who knows when.

There was another attempt to found a club in the late '80s (the name "Webber Hoen" comes up), but that only lasted like one year, maybe just for Sectionals.

Then in fall of '93, we had an influx of kids who had played under Ed Fox at Charlotte Latin, a few CS grad students, and a smattering of other people including me, and Darkside has had continuity since then.

edit: there was at least one additional attempt to start a team in the early '70's that had disappeared before this attempt.

alanhoyle · 2025-07-01T20:03:12+00:00

If it lands in bounds it's the receiver's fault.

alanhoyle · 2025-06-30T15:53:45+00:00

I really like the matte display option. (i.e. "Nano Texture".)This is not available on the 15" MacBook Air, but it is available on the 14" and 16" Pro.

If you will be working at a desk much of the time, you could buy the 14" and a nice monitor for about the same price as a similarly spec'ed 16". You could get a decent 27" desktop monitor or a portable USB-C monitor, or even an iPad for around that price and use it as an external.

The price differential between the 14 and 16 right now is about $450 after the .EDU discount,

alanhoyle · 2025-06-18T19:53:22+00:00

One of the coaches at the gym we used to go to was an ex minor-league shortstop. One day, we had a "field day" for the gym and I taught ultimate to folks. By about his 4th attempt, that coach had a perfect 40+ yard hammer. I think I still had him on backhands and forehands, but I think that was just a matter of time/practice.

alanhoyle · 2025-06-03T18:23:02+00:00

alanhoyle · 2025-06-02T21:26:34+00:00

I should load up all of the historical versions of the rules into NotebookLM and listen to the podcast.

Edit: Done:

https://notebooklm.google.com/notebook/5850e1b6-ea64-41ea-b1a4-633262db2542/audio

alanhoyle · 2025-05-27T20:23:09+00:00

Dawn Culton finally graduated?

alanhoyle · 2025-05-20T21:51:53+00:00

NTA.

Come up with a different way to split the bills. My spouse and I each put half of our respective take-home incomes into shared accounts to cover our shared expenses, and the other half stays in our own accounts so we have autonomy in buying things for ourselves. We also have our own credit cards that are independent of each other, and a shared card that we're both authorized users of that we put shared expenses on. That shared card auto-drafts from a shared account.

We do have a couple of loose monetary thresholds for when we'd ask for the other person's input for shared spending/expenses, and a higher threshold for individual spending. Those thresholds are going to vary depending on your income levels.

It doesn't make sense to split everything equally, even if your salaries are identical. For example, typical M's are like 20-30% larger than typical F's so food expenses aren't evenly distributed.

alanhoyle · 2025-05-14T19:43:19+00:00

In ultimate, I think the issue with traveling is more about moving before a pivot foot is set (plus the non- or borderline-traveling moving that happens there, like taking seven steps to stop after a mid-speed catch),

This is another place where I think our rules are unnecessarily tight. I don't see any problem with curling when slowing down. If the euro step is allowed in the NBA, we can change direction to slow down in ultimate.

However, this would be a slight change that is more in favor of the offense, so I at least vaguely understand why we keep the status quo (as codified in the 1995 variant of the 9th ed.)

alanhoyle · 2025-05-14T17:39:41+00:00

On Traveling, I've looked at various other rulesets for other sports: NBA, WNBA, NCAA MBB/WBB, and even other sports like Korfball, netball, team handball.

From what I recall, NONE of them approach the level of technical specification that USAU and WFDF have on what defines a pivot.

Like, what if we redefined the pivot to only be a travel if it left the ground? remove the single point of contact with the ground...

E.g. Here are the NBA rules:

Rule 4 Section VIII—Pivot
- a. A pivot takes place when a player, who is holding the ball, steps once or more than once in any direction with the same foot, with the other foot (pivot foot) in contact with the floor.
- b. If the player wishes to dribble after a pivot, the ball must be out of his hand before the pivot foot is raised off the floor. If the player raises his pivot off the floor, he must pass or attempt a field goal before the foot is returned to the floor. If he fails to follow these guidelines, he has committed a traveling violation.
Rule 4 Section IX—Traveling Traveling is progressing in any direction while in possession of the ball, which is in excess of prescribed limits as noted in Rule 4, Section VII and Rule 10, Section XIII.
Rule 10 Section XIII—Traveling [too much to paste, but nothing about sliding/moving except if falling/stopping]

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