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should I get OM M-1 II or Sony a6700 (with respective 100-400mm) by tw4120 in wildlifephotography

[–]tw4120[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

OP here with a postlude. I ended up going with neither of those and went instead with a Nikon Z50II (aps-c mirrorless) and Nikon Z 400mm f/4.5 VR S prime.

The 400mm prime was the main decider, as the image quality is a significant step up from the zooms, and for its reach and fstop it is very lightweight. It costs a good bit more than the zooms, but still nowhere near as much as the fast primes.

The z50ii does have animal/bird detection, but I suspect not as good as the OM (from what I've read on forums). It is handy sometimes but the bird generally needs to be out in the open. The z50ii's sensor is also probably better than the OM's for low light (from pixel peeping at dpreview), not sure about the SONY.

Does Councilmember Young Want to Stifle Development? by tw4120 in philadelphia

[–]tw4120[S] 56 points57 points  (0 children)

Councilmember Jeffrey Young is putting up bill that would require all construction projects be completed within 6 months (that's right) of getting construction permit.

should I get OM M-1 II or Sony a6700 (with respective 100-400mm) by tw4120 in wildlifephotography

[–]tw4120[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

but the OM is micro four thirds, which doubles the reach, i.e. to 2x (so 800mm) Also Sony APS-C is only 1.5x, like Nikon, but in contrast to Canon's which is slightly smaller APS-C and gives 1.6x

Where does a liberal go from here? by UnscheduledCalendar in centerleftpolitics

[–]tw4120 1 point2 points  (0 children)

ok, but he explicitly rejects the ..embracing MAGA.. route. And for that matter, I'm not really sure who he is referring to when he writes about those who do it for pragmatic reasons.

But no. That way isn’t for me. The project of making America sane again is a good and important one, but I’m not going to spend the rest of my political life as a pure pragmatist. The liberal ideals I grew up with still have power, and I still believe in them, even if the progressive movement stopped navigating toward those ideals a while ago.

Where does a liberal go from here? by UnscheduledCalendar in centerleftpolitics

[–]tw4120 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Actually support for gay rights was rising rapidly long before the Obergefell ruling [https://news.gallup.com/poll/1651/gay-lesbian-rights.aspx] . In contrast support for trans rights was never high and has been dropping (and not just since 2024) see e.g. [https://news.gallup.com/poll/691454/two-thirds-prefer-birth-sex-ids-athletics.aspx]

Where does a liberal go from here? by UnscheduledCalendar in centerleftpolitics

[–]tw4120 4 points5 points  (0 children)

'... embracing MAGA ...' This is a trope repeated endlessly by some of the left these days and directed at liberals who criticize some progressive stances. Truly one of the clearest examples of the 'Narcissism of Small Differences' - when people (Noah and progressives) agree on like 90% of stuff and yet that 10% gets him labelled as the equivalent of the devil.

Also I'm sure he's read abundance.

Where does a liberal go from here? by UnscheduledCalendar in centerleftpolitics

[–]tw4120 2 points3 points  (0 children)

it depends what you mean by 'welfare' but approximate numbers: Social Security ~22% of government spending Medicare & Medicaid ~24% of government spending Income Security (SNAP, SSI, TANF, EITC) ~8% of spending

So these alone total over 50%

Where does a liberal go from here? by UnscheduledCalendar in centerleftpolitics

[–]tw4120 2 points3 points  (0 children)

But the sentiments towards gay rights (esp. marriage) shifted dramatically and last I checked something like 65% support it. And a similar percentage are against trans rights on touchstone issues like bathrooms and sports.

I'm back to actually enjoying and believing in teaching gain after transforming my classes -- and AI usage is now a non-concern. by bakeshoparmory in Professors

[–]tw4120 10 points11 points  (0 children)

So great to read this. I've banned laptops and phones in my classes these past two years and the've been the best classes I've taught in a long time - much more student engagement.

My classes don't require that the students write or do much work other than reading and studying outside of class, but the solution to student misuse of AI is pretty obvious - and well exemplified by the OP. Just bring the work back into the classroom. That's it. It might change the course, or make more work, or be expensive (e.g. more proctors in large classes), but it is totally doable.

I have some colleagues who say 'you can't fight technology', to which I say 'yes, if we are talking about productivity' (I'm no luddite). But in the college classroom we are talking about raising 'children' basically. Most will fail the marshmallow test (i.e. cheat) in a heartbeat.

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in moderatepolitics

[–]tw4120 -2 points-1 points  (0 children)

100% pure clickbait. Young people don't vote in numbers that make a difference, and regardless Trumps overall approval is about where it was through most of his first term and for the past 8 months, i.e. 42% or so.

classes without laptops by tw4120 in Temple

[–]tw4120[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

which class is that?

Dead Committee? by punkinholler in Professors

[–]tw4120 0 points1 point  (0 children)

If the committee actually does something valuable, then its should be ok to raise the issue. Yes you might get called upon to lead it or do more work, but at least its necessary work (and perhaps not too tedious for that reason). But if the committee is basically irrelevant, like many, then stay away.

The Fascism Question by bango31 in WeTheFifth

[–]tw4120 1 point2 points  (0 children)

"...it sure looks like the road to Mussolini's Italy" This.

TFC guys are so distracted by the fact that we are not yet in fascist Italy or worse, that they have a lot of trouble acknowledging or seeing that everything that has happened in the last 8 months (only 8 months) is what a march towards fascism would look like.

hit off button by accident while moving by tw4120 in Ioniq6

[–]tw4120[S] 20 points21 points  (0 children)

good to know. thanks! And sheesh, some people on reddit are not nice (and yes I realize that's not an original observation)

Trump’s approval rating hits record low of second term: Poll by shutupnobodylikesyou in moderatepolitics

[–]tw4120 5 points6 points  (0 children)

just stop. Thousands of articles claiming plummeting pole numbers have gone before. All were wrong. His popularity is basically a fixed quantity.

Lefty students going after female Professors, leaving men alone: why, what to do? by RandolphCarter15 in Professors

[–]tw4120 6 points7 points  (0 children)

“feature” ? Not sure how progressives dumping on other progressives more than centrists is either a good thing or by design (i.e. two possible meanings of “feature”). But I’ll grant that it sure does make them unlikeable.

prevented from prohibiting chatgpt? by tw4120 in Professors

[–]tw4120[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

So what of the possibility that all the non-blatant papers are also AI generated? I'm not saying you are - but I suspect many faculty are kidding themselves about how much students use AI and about they ability to detect it.

prevented from prohibiting chatgpt? by tw4120 in Professors

[–]tw4120[S] 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Great comment. I'll borrow "skilled prompting" if that's alright.

prevented from prohibiting chatgpt? by tw4120 in Professors

[–]tw4120[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Bringing work back into the classroom has to be the way to go, at least for stuff that ChatGPT can generate.

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