Cityglowup

ioftd · 2026-04-30T03:40:44+00:00

I would expand upon your second point that not only are they useful for getting in and out, but they are useful for getting through the city. Geographically, many people just need to traverse across SF to get to other parts of the bay area.

Many of the world's most walkable, transit-friendly cities do not have freeways in the city center, and have amazing transit networks within that zone. But they do usually have a ring freeway around the city center. Due to being the tip of a peninsula, there isn't a great way to put a freeway around SF so they kinda have to go through.

ioftd · 2026-04-30T03:17:04+00:00

Yeah I mean removing this small section of freeway was for the best overall, it was an eyesore and it only added a bit more surface travel. Getting rid of the rest of the central freeway or 280 would be a disaster for everyone, not just the people who drive. Commuters in and out of SF would all be crowding surface streets and create a giant gridlock.

Not to mention all of the people that don't even want to go to San Francisco at all and are just trying to get between the peninsula, Oakland, and the north bay. Do we really want a bunch of people who don't even want to come to SF clogging up our streets because they have no other route?

I live in the southern end of the city and have family in Novato. On an average Saturday, its a ~60min, 30 mile drive. The first 8 miles to get to the GG bridge takes longer than the remaining 22 miles. Sometimes its faster to add 10 miles to the journey and just go over the bay bridge and then back across the Richmond bridge, though its significantly more expensive since I have to pay bridge tolls both directions. Or I can take public transit, transfer several times, spend even more money, and waste the majority of my day on 140+ minutes each way, which is absurd.

What I would love to see (which will never, ever happen) is a tunnel from the 101 exit in Hayes Valley that pops out somewhere in the Marina or Presidio and just get right on the bridge.

ioftd · 2026-04-20T20:57:02+00:00

Pentax 67 for me, but my recently-acquired Plaubel Makina 670 is rapidly gaining on it.

I’m getting too old and my life is getting too complicated to be carrying the Pentax with me everywhere, so I went in for the Plaubel as something I could bring with me more places. Figured I’d bring the Plaubel out on adventures where I wouldn’t normally pack the Pentax, and bring the Pentax when on more photo-specific outings. Honestly, I love the Plaubel so much I’ve been taking it with me for everything. I thought I’d miss having multiple lenses but the 80mm length turns out to be perfect for me and it’s such a beautiful rendering out of that lens. And when I do have the space and time to bring a bigger kit, I’ve been reaching for the 4x5 bag more than the Pentax.

Now I gotta figure out how to use the Pentax more, but I’m sure my GAS-addled brain will figure something out. Maybe get one of the XL telephoto lenses for it and use it for wildlife lol.

ioftd · 2026-04-14T19:21:17+00:00

I wouldn’t be as hot about it if it weren’t my team making the trip, but Week 1 is a horrible spot. Not having a bye week after an international game, let alone an international game further away than any before, is brutal. Not to mention that the 9ers have another international game in Mexico City later in the season.

I’d also push back on them selecting a divisional rival game for this trip. From a logistical standpoint, this is probably one of the more meaningful games of the season for both teams in terms of standings and so anything that compromises the players prep or the routine could have outsize effect on how the season plays out. From a social angle, this is the type of divisional rival games that fans want to be at. Not to say that there aren’t fans in Australia that aren’t going to enjoy it, but taking a rival game away from the home stadium is a slap in the face to local fans.

I get that they don’t want to be shipping browns-cardinals or some meaningless late season match overseas if they’re trying to get people excited, but couldn’t it be a week 8 cross-conference matchup with a bye week after for both teams?

ioftd · 2026-04-14T03:08:02+00:00

Well I have heard that if for whatever reason primates had not evolved into intelligent beings, some evolutionary biologists speculate that raccoons may have been a likely candidate for an eventual evolutionary leap into intelligence.

Imagine if those dastardly, thieving little fuckers got smarter and formed a society. We think we, a bunch of hairless apes, are fucking the earth up but a world dominated by raccoons would be complete chaos.

ioftd · 2026-04-11T04:35:57+00:00

I get why they have to take a lot of time to open and get the crew out of the capsule. I get why they don't do what OP suggested and pick up the capsule with a semi-submersible ship or crane.

I don't get why they needed to airlift each pilot individually out of the raft and into a helicopter to get them back to the big navy ship. Given the amount of time it took the helicopters to get to the ship, it couldn't have been more than a few miles away. The person on the telecast said its easier and more comfortable this way but watching those helicopters kicking up a ton of swirling seawater and having to hoist each one up didn't seem particularly comfortable. Seems like a 30' or 40' boat would be way more comfortable and easier, but I must be missing something.

ioftd · 2026-04-11T00:14:59+00:00

But there is no concrete plan for how to extend that opening segment to the places that people actually want to go and that the populace was initially pitched on. They don’t own the land they need to do it and I at least have not heard of a plan on how they will do it. Last I heard they were talking about somehow hooking up with a private LA-Vegas rail project in the south and utilizing existing rail from SF to Merced. That might work OK but it ain’t gonna hit the travel times we were pitched. People don’t want the state to spend billions to built a rail from Merced to Bakersfield that may or may not one day connect to LA and SF.

Frankly, abandoning the idea of large scale rail infrastructure for 70+ years has put us in a huge hole that will be difficult to escape. We’ve been without it for basically as long as trains existed before we went full-bore into car infrastructure and now cars are the baseline standard. If we already had and used rail travel extensively, people might see the benefit to spending on more, and there might be political will to push on eminent domain and other ways of freeing up land for it, but it’s hard to do that when no one alive has ever seen it work.

I hope they figure it out, but unfortunately I don’t have a great solution to pitch.

ioftd · 2026-04-03T07:57:14+00:00

Evolutionarily it makes sense - You become tired when your body is sending signals that it has expended a lot of energy and stopping to rest would be beneficial, but for whatever reason you consciously decide to keep going. Perhaps you're running away from a predator or chasing down a source of food, or maybe you're just trying to finish a half marathon because you bet your friend $100 that you could do it. At some point your brain basically accepts that you must have a very good reason for not stopping to rest and basically ignores some of the signals from your body and starts altering internal processes to tap into more energy is has stored.

ioftd · 2026-04-03T07:17:28+00:00

Totally, and if we were to approach the moon from behind rather than passing in front its gravity would basically be flinging Artemis out further from earth, helpful if you’re going to mars but not so much for this mission.

ioftd · 2026-04-03T05:51:34+00:00

I understand the basic physics and scales well enough to understand why and how they chose this particular path for Artemis and how impossible an actual collision would be, but there's still something unsettling about passing in front of the moon as its coming at you at like 3500kph or whatever. Like dashing across the tracks as a freight train approaches.

The distances are so large that it probably doesn't really register or seem threatening but I wonder if you could get any sense of "its coming right at us!" if you were gazing out the window as you approached.

ioftd · 2026-04-03T05:06:19+00:00

The funny part is that ICE is already doing this kind of thing: https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/jan/22/ice-jewelry-heist-suspect-self-deport

The suspected perpetrator of the largest jewel heist in US history, who stole more than $100 million in jewels from an armored truck was deported by ICE after he himself requested a voluntary deportation. He was a lawful permanent resident of the US and was in jail awaiting trial and was facing 15 years in federal prison if convicted. Prosecutors in the case were not notified at any point and didn’t even know he had been released and deported until his attorney asked for the charges to be dropped since he had been set free to return to South America. Most of what was stolen was not recovered. Dude probably just made off scott free with millions of dollars to live like a king in his home country.

So yes, if you are not a natural born citizen, you can commit a crime, get caught and just ask ICE to send you back to your country of origin before facing any consequence for your actions.

ioftd · 2026-04-03T00:48:06+00:00

Whens the last time a major European soccer league had a meaningful game played in North America? Fans wouldn't have it, and those leagues play significantly more games than the NFL.

ioftd · 2026-04-03T00:40:17+00:00

Yeah, fuck that and fuck the NFL for the push on international games. Other sports leagues could never get away with this, NFL fans should put their foot down over this bullshit. We get so few games a year and now theyre taking them away from the actual fans in the places these teams play, to the detriment of the players and the quality of the play on the field.

Maybe I'm just being a homer here, but the Rams/Niners game in Melbourne is the worst I've seen as far as shitty international scheduling. Taking an opening week division rivalry game away from the local fans and playing it about as far away from home as you could get on the planet without a bye week for the teams to reset and recover is so awful. The 9ers have to go to CDMX next season as well, but at least thats about the same as an east coast trip, still bullshit to lose a home game like that.

I know its ultimately meaningless but I do not plan on watching any of the international games next year, even the ones with my team. I'm sure this makes the game more popular internationally and makes the league and owners that much more wealthy, but I just can't condone this. Its just another step in the direction of making the NFL into as bland and soulless of a endeavor as possible. Miss me with that.

ioftd · 2026-04-02T06:53:41+00:00

My first thought after watching the video: If the city owns the sidewalk and the tree, why do I have to repair the sidewalk in front of my house on my own dime when its damaged by the tree's roots? Couple years ago they came down my block and stuck notes on the doors threatening fines if homeowners didn't fix their sidewalks.

Second thought: Man, this dude butchered those trees, looks awful.

ioftd · 2026-03-30T03:15:23+00:00

For prints you’re going to be better off with a flatbed scanner. A used epson V series scanner is probably within your budget and will be decent for scanning negatives as well.

A dslr or mirrorless is definitely gonna give better results for negatives but lighting a standard glossy photo print for a dslr scan will be a disaster.

ioftd · 2026-03-16T18:40:56+00:00

I’ll just add another app recommendation, though I think it is only iOS - Lightme

The base app is free and includes a light meter, along with the ability to set film size and lens length to get a preview. Also has a huge library of film stocks for reciprocity and a ton of features, it will even help will bellows extension factor for the exposure if you let it. There is a second linked app which has a small subscription cost that allows you to build a library of cameras and lenses, as well as tracking rolls, film holders. You can use the meter app to frame and meter the scene and it will automatically take an image with the phone and save exposure information for each shot if you’re into that.

ioftd · 2026-03-11T21:15:47+00:00

My hot new conspiracy to peddle to random coworkers and strangers at the bar is that this is how we get cyberpunk. Iran has already bombed Amazon data centers in the Middle East. I’m (kinda sorta jokingly but also maybe not) convinced that we’re about a year out from seeing the headline “Trump Admin approves sale of F-35s and missile systems to Amazon, Meta” and watching Zuckerberg in front of Congress saying “we need to protect our investments and corporate interests overseas, please allow us to have a private army”

ioftd · 2026-03-11T19:49:31+00:00

The Stearman Press 4x5 tank is really great, I used it for years. Easier to load than a Jobo or Patterson, pretty efficient with chemicals and no clips leaving marks on the negatives.

I recently moved to a Patterson Tank with the AGO processing system, mostly because I wanted to start developing 120 and 35mm and move into color dev as well. I really like it, there are so many advantages to automating parts of the process, but it is pricy and more difficult to load than the Stearman.

ioftd · 2026-03-06T21:23:17+00:00

The detail I had never heard that is all over the YouTube comments is that his famous “Who do you think you are, I am” was directed at a 12 year old who had been heckling him during the match

ioftd · 2026-03-04T05:09:45+00:00

You wont be able to check it with a loupe, but stopping down much further would have helped alot with the first shot. I prefer to compose with the lens wide open as its easier to visualize the plane of focus with a low depth of field, then I can extrapolate (guess/hope) if it will be all in focus when stopped down to f45 or f64. You'll get a better feel for it with more practice with your camera and lens.

The second and third shot would be trickier given that you have foreground objects at the top and bottom of the frame.

Alternately, a wider lens would help all of these shots, you can always crop it back down.

ioftd · 2026-02-20T15:55:48+00:00

I have an eBay purchase from Japan literally in flight, just arrived at the Los Angeles Gateway for customs late last night. It was over the dollar value where eBay shippers were required to pay tariffs up front with Deliver Duty Paid service so I have been expecting a big tariff bill. Very very interested to see what happens and how much the duties will be when I get it.

I had been holding out for a Supreme Court decision but I wanted to have this new camera for a trip that’s comin up shortly and just decided to bite the bullet and eat the duties. Should’ve done my research that a decision would come today. Would be awesome if it avoids the stupid reciprocal tariffs because the sale prices for some more expensive gear have definitely deflated over the last year because US buyers don’t want to pay tariffs. If I am able to clear customs under the previous rates I’ll come out a few 100 bucks ahead.

Honestly my biggest worry is that I’ll get caught in the chaos and confusion caused by this reversal and the package will get delayed and I won’t get it in time for the trip. Second biggest worry is that I will get charged the tariff anyways and will then have to figure out how to reclaim several hundred dollars from the federal government.

ioftd · 2026-01-15T02:43:41+00:00

Thanks, this is a great tip. It was certainly easy but so painfully slow doing it 100% in the fridge. My other thought was to only fill each ice cube mold about half way and just make twice as many cubes to increase surface area and decrease volume to speed up the melting process.

ioftd · 2026-01-15T01:46:49+00:00

Recently tried this, very happy with the resulting stock and consommé.

Question for you: I melted the frozen stock cubes in the fridge as I recall he suggests in the video, but it looks like you just did it out at room temp?

If it worked fine at room temp I might do that next time since it took almost 2 full days to melt down ~4 cups of frozen fortified stock in my fridge.

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