Chip on the Card

It seems my Bank sends me the new card every two years.  The card got magnetic track and an embedded microchip as well.  This chip seemed to have so much information about my banking data. 

(Photo left showed the back of a chip. = You can see those 5 dots were connected to the chip by the gold wires. = Yes, they are a sophisticated electronic device ! —– and, if you collected million cards, you can mine, may be one gram of gold.   😀  ) 

In fact, where ever we go on this planet, as long as the device was on-line, the data contained in the chip can define who I am and my banking.  And the data would link to such as the credit record as well. 

Once before, the Virgin Media double charge me (since they are the merged company, one of their part = Nortel, as well as the Virgin sent me the net-connection bill.  I blocked the direct debit at once then the battle started. 

It took another 6 months for them to realize that they made a mistake (seemingly they don’t know what other part of the company was doing what).  The Virgin kept sending me the so-called outstanding charge then sold the alleged debt to a debt recovery company and the threat of debt recovery by force started, and my bank account was black listed. (= no more direct debit contract)  And the trouble of credit rate lasted over a year while Virgin was saying “Credit company did it not us” and to find which credit rate company did it = we need to pay money to investigate it !   Since then I never trust Virgin, even look at their AD mail.   

So, just check the card, its data can tell all the “So-called trouble” whether they are true or not. = Naturally, I’m very cautious about to give off the data = number etc.  and when I dispose the old card, I not only cut them but also heat them and twist like in a photo on top.   You may say its a paranoia — no, it’s not a joke.   With this kind of guard and never used real name on the net, thanks goodness, I’m virtually free from Spam, Fraud, trickster sales.   🙂

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Robot with Leiz (?) Lens

Among my camera collection, the most peculiar one must be this Robot camera with a Leiz Xenon lens.  Leiz lens though, it was made by the Taylor Hobson.  Taylor Hobson is a British optical, precise engineering company, so why British lens was sold as Leiz Xenon Lens may have interesting story. (You may find.)  And the lens was made for Leica camera and further modified to fit this Robot camera.

  The name Robot came from its spring driven automatic shooting mechanism.  And this particular model has double length of the spring which enable the whole 50 shots in one charge of the spring.  I think this camera was designed to be used on the scientific or military front in mind.  = such as that the camera was mounted on top of a microscope or under a wing of a spying aircraft where the shutter was triggered by a remote cable.

The camera was very well designed and solidly made (= heavy).  Film was loaded to the double cassett of which the film slit will be opened for a smooth winding of the film when the back cover was closed.  36 exposure film (about 1.5 m long) can have 50 shots with its square (24 x 24) format.

80, 90 years ago, 50 mm lens with F1.5 was an exceptionally bright lens and as its optical design was protected by the Taylor Hobson, no way else, Leiz needed to buy it from them. 

Leica lens can be easily used on the Sony A7 camera with a simple and cheap (about £5) adapter. (Photo left)

There are funny mix of the British-German conflict.  The distance scale was in imperial = feet, and it goes down to the closest distance 3.5 feet.

On the test shot on A7 camera showed quite sharp image = it convinced me, that the military reconnoissance people desperately wanted this lens on a Robot !

On the photo above left, about 70% to the right, you may see faint red spot, and that part was enlarged on the right photo.

And the same shooting of the same dried Rose on 3.5 feet distance. = photo middle was F1.5 fully open and the right was F6.3. —– Whether the softness on F1.5 was caused by the aberration or internal reflection (ghost) was questionable.   Still, somewhat common with the Zeiss lens’ softness isn’t too bad.  And I’m quite happy with it.   🙂

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Dorkbot Xmas Gathering

The word Xmas may be misleading, since a kind of techno people / Dork seems to have nothing to do with a religion. Nevertheless, they had a gathering last night.

London/SE “people doing strange things with electricity…” since 2001:
When:  19:30-22:30, Thu Dec 8 2016
Where: The Boxing Club, Limehouse Town Hall, 646 Commercial Road, E14 7HA
(directions below)

Free entry, no registration required
Talks start 7.30pm, doors open from 6.45pm…

Don’t forget – you can also follow us on Twitter:
http://dorkbotlondon.us11.list-manage.com/track/click?u=c64ae7bbb8eb1249be8ca8fa6&id=ea282147e5&e=0c7441a498
See who’s coming via the Facebook event:
http://dorkbotlondon.us11.list-manage.com/track/click?u=c64ae7bbb8eb1249be8ca8fa6&id=2d313544d5&e=0c7441a498

With speakers including – but not restricted to…

==== Hadeel Ayoub ====
twitter: @HadeelAyoub
http://dorkbotlondon.us11.list-manage.com/track/click?u=c64ae7bbb8eb1249be8ca8fa6&id=b961a31fba&e=0c7441a498
Hadeel has developed a “smart glove” that translates sign language
from hand gestures
to visual text on a screen and audible dialogue. She’s now working on
an app to enable
real-time translation of the text into other languages.

==== James Larsson ====
twitter: @JamesLarsson
http://dorkbotlondon.us11.list-manage.com/track/click?u=c64ae7bbb8eb1249be8ca8fa6&id=388f08ed24&e=0c7441a498
The inventor, techno-humorist and Dorkbot London regular returns to
launch his all-new
“Flashing Light Prize”.

==== Laura Dekker ====
twitter: @LauraDekker_io
http://dorkbotlondon.us11.list-manage.com/track/click?u=c64ae7bbb8eb1249be8ca8fa6&id=d17cc3de89&e=0c7441a498
Laura’s installation, “Some Small Robots Perform Recent News Media
Output Concerning AI”, can be seen in the “Technology is not neutral”
touring exhibition at Watermans Arts Centre until 8th Jan 2017.

==== Dr Kate Devlin ====
twitter: @drkatedevlin/
http://dorkbotlondon.us11.list-manage.com/track/click?u=c64ae7bbb8eb1249be8ca8fa6&id=a5d9b5721d&e=0c7441a498
For mature audiences: Dr Devlin is organising this December’s Love and
Sex with Robots conference in London to bring together academics,
industry professionals and anyone else interested in sex robots.

==== Open dorks/demos: ====
Fresh from this year’s “CruftFest”:
Jon Pigrem’s @ObliqueResponse Phone
Giacomo Lepri’s Cembalo Scrivano .1 (CS1) augmented typewriter
(&…perhaps you?)

Our old friend Ian Morrison passionately talked about howling wolf though, I missed to catch the point how it was connected to the technology.

—– ?  But that is what Dorkbot is.   😀

For me, it is an occasion not only to see a kind of technical fun but also to see the old friends. — anyway, if anybody was a serious techno person, he / she wouldn’t come to Dorkbot.   Dorkbot is a jokey spot to see a fun.  😀   

(Those photos were taken by a junk Canon EFS 18~55 Zoom or Toy lens on Sony A7R)

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Mindfulness yet again ? ? ?

Many years, I’ve been having incongruity toward the use of the word, so-called Mindfulness. — With a kind of hunch (There seems to be a big mistake ! ), I refer back to the Agama scripture how they wrote about the definition of Selfless. —– It seems there is no direct description of No-self in the Agama, but only the indirect explanation, which was as an answer to a question “Is there permanent Self (Atoman) exists ?”   It was only in a metaphor of the impermanence of a soil (or cow dung). (= Even such simple existence of soil couldn’t be permanent, how the mind or Self could exists permanent.)

Of course the No-self was not the primary phenomenon but only a consequence of No-permanence, and No-permanence was because of the constant activity of the Karma. Understanding of the Karma was Lord Buddha’s most fundamental philosophy, and from here, such as Four Noble Truth were deduced.   Therefore, it may not too strange to have less significance of the No-self in the Agama scripture.   Or, it could be the deliberately placed emphasis to negate the Self.  Since you can’t talk about a thing which is not exists. Why Self is not exists, because it was a deluded product of the mind.  And the mind is only a momentary reflection of the Karma.  So that, to put emphasis on the mind (of awareness / memory) in the Mindfulness practice IS not Buddhism.  In deed, the Theravada sect who promoted the idea of Mindfulness was based on the idea of Sathi, which was the idea in the Vedic meditation.   Of course Vedic stands on the idea of Atoman = Perpetual mind / Self = so that, become aware of the mind = mindfulness IS their practice.   It is not a Buddhism but nothing but a Hindu practice.  This IS a typical mix-up or a misunderstanding of the Buddhism by the Theravada sect.

Whether clinging the mind could bring any good to the mental health of the person, in comparison to the empty-minded Buddhists.  It was too apparent in the social phenomena in a Hindu country, in contrast to a country where people even don’t remember that they were the Buddhist = Japan.   A country where the notorious brutal gang rape cases were kept happening, or the country where the safest place to travel.       The question IS where their Ethos and the Morality came from.

It was the observation made by Lord Buddha 2500 years ago.   Clinging the idea and such mind is nothing but a delusion since the idea of “such mind could exists” itself IS the delusion.   And let all the five senses free = not to stick to any perception will make us to emancipate any notion or image, hence able to see the Dharma. (All those notion, images which were the products of thinking, has been masking the Dharma.)

It IS the biggest irony, as long as you are thinking or seeing something, you can not see the truth. When you abandon to see, you start to see the Dharma. — The most funny irony IS, to abandon to see, stop thinking to see IS exact opposite of the so-called mindfulness practice. So, those so-called mindfulness practice is creating yet another delusion and the obsession.

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Kitsune-koge

Mind you, I’m not living on that bellows.  I’m living on my food (with very little blah blah or ism in it = just buy cheapest ingredients = it’s happen to be the fresh material) and cooking every day myself.  And I’m not using electric rice cooker, instead cooking the rice in a pan on the electric cooker.  But this evening, I was distracted by an Email and missed the timing to turn down the heat.  So, I burnt the rice very lightly which showed light brown on it, which we Japanese calls Kitsune-koge.  Since the color of light brown = Kitsune = Fox. 

Up in the mountain, where air pressure is lower, the water boils not at 100°C — 2000m high, boiling point is 85°C and makes a boiled rice soggy.  So, we try to burn the fire more and longer, resulting the rice burnt. — In England, I think I’ve made the rice burnt only once before.   Cooking manual heating and made the rice burnt only twice in the long half century isn’t too bad.   But much more important point IS, we Japanese appreciate the Kitsune-koge.  Like a burn on Onigiri on an open fire, lightly burnt rice, and its crispy flavor is a rare treatment on the life.   (Though, I wouldn’t intentionally burn the rice for this purpose.)  —— Bon appetet  !   😀

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Thinking process

Sorry, it’s about that bellows again.  — behind the apparent shape and its function, that Sony Tilt attachment has many hidden structures and the stories, such as the bottom of A7R camera, additional plate was screwed. Because the device’s constant adjustment = rotation, the plate protect the camera bottom scratched.  And the hard alumium plate has anodized hard surface, which would prevent the two aluminium parts stack together.

You may not able to guess how the bag bellows was made and attached to the mount of both side.  Imagine, if the leather bag was made separately, how you can attach it to the mount (Body side was a camera body cap and the lens side was the back of the front panel with Canon EF mount attached.)  = In order to have the precise position of the mount, a length of black leather was first glued to each mount ring.  Then the leather was folded to the position and stitched together to make a closed bag.  (Because the tilt movement is only one side, the bag was made wedged shape.)

When we make (design) something, there are two different approach.     One is to imagine the final piece in the brain first. And cut the material in each size and shape then assemble altogether.   And the other is, bring the major material to the place and find the size and shape etc on the spot while giving many considerations.  So that the making process is step by step.

(Sound somewhat out of context, you may think though)  The Buddhist’s approach is the later.  Lord Buddha loathe to rely on the imagination, hence he didn’t teach notions, even not rely on the words.  Because  he taught the Karma = everything exists and moves following the Karma.   The sign or agent of the Karma are on front of us and they are keep changing moment to moment.  Perceive all those Karma and intuitively follow them will be the least troublesome life we can have. (Intuitive mean, without having “thinking” self = Selfless = be in the Void = with Dharma)    This is the reason why we have to deal with the things on front of us.  If not on there, its mean, it exists in the thinking or imagination.   So, to make a thing on the spot, while finding the precise dimension and the requirement is the right approach to do.   (It’s not against the nuclear scientists designing particle collider — we may not able to see the particles or tela gauss magnetic force by our eyes still, they are there. = Scientists intuitively count its effect in.) —– In this world, there is no ideal remedy or solution (which was a product of imagination or fantasy) but only practical measure applied on the spot, moment to moment. (You might have seen or remember that all the so-called  “ology / ism” has been bankrupted leaving immeasurable destruction behind ! )

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Sony Tilt

This is a photo taken by a homemade tilting device for my Sony A7R with Canon EFS zoom, while giving 20° tilt to the lens. 

I wouldn’t proclaim this photo was anything typical or special, still it might be pretty unique to this device.  Since the lens has been heavily tilted, focused area was only in the center and the both end was out of focus.  —– you may say “So what” I would say “Nothing, it was just a character of this device” that all. (Since broken EFS lens has no F-aperture control = it was fully open — still Zoom from about 24mm to 55mm and the manual focus was perfectly usable = not too bad for the lens of £5 from a junk box of a camera shop.

So the device or tilting attachment (which I’ve shown you the work piece on the previous post) was now usable state (though, I’m going to add a semi-automatic iris control for Nikon lens).  The lens mount was Canon EF even though Canon lens has no iris control, but its mount IS to attach Nikon, Pentax, Contax etc mount adapter.  With this device, up to 30° tilt is possible though, how useful is the another matter. Still, when opportunity was there, why not try.  It’s a fun.  😀

(The effect of extreme lens tilt IS, —> think IF one side was extended 15mm more, it’s mean for 15mm wide-angle  lens, it IS an extension for a life-size close-up, while keeping other end of picture still focused to infinity.)

In fact, I planed to make a tilting DSLR device using Canon 5D Mk-II, so that I bought one more Mk-II body to be hacksawed. (and 5D original body for research / test disassemble = so, I end-up to have x4  5D body — then, as I got Sony A7 body able to use it without hacksaw work ===> so, here is Sony Tilt !    🙂

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Cutting business

Yes, it IS (was) a cutting business (with hack-saw and the files etc) in deed.   (It was a reason why I’ve been away a while — normally Zen Buddhist doesn’t make any excuse (= since, if it’s happened, it has to be happened) though, these days, others may mistake I’m dead !  😀  

As a work on front of me, which was to make a tilting bellows for Sony A7 camera.  In the past, I’ve made quite few lens tilting devices and the cameras which can push the character of the wide-angle lens to the limit, exaggerating the effect of perspective in the pan-focus image enviroment.   To make it with the convenience of the DSLR, I pland it using a Canon 5D Mk-2, hence I’ve bought one more body though, while encountering to Sony A7 which got 18mm thin flange-back (distance from the lens mount to image sensor) on full frame format, I changed my plan at once.

18mm flange-back against the most of full frame SLR’s lens of which got about 45mm back-focus, the margine of 15mm or so was ample enough to maneuver the lens even with 30° tilt !   (+Added advantage of the A7 camera is, its electronic view finder can keep showing the bright image even under the heavy tilt and the aperture stopped-doun condition.)

From this point, the rest of work would be a stitch work to make a leather bag bellows. (and the hundreds of the test shots to establish the technical data.)  🙂

I’ll show the finished product and the worthwhile image when they were ready.)

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Fill the sink-hole in one week

A sink-hole ( 30m x 25 m x 15 m deep) appeared in the center of Hakata city in Japan has been filled just in a week. Here is a video footage of whole process condensed to the even shorter 140 second. (Compiled from the NHK 24 hours live camera image)   They are a record of the ordinary ground work = nothing fancy, no drop of the soil from a helicopter kind but just a filling work, connecting life line etc. in a gapless efficient works.  Hence it was done in the shortest possible time (save a little delay due to the bad weather) of which the foreign media described that if it was in their country, it could have taken a month, even a year or more.    Though it involved ten or more specialist company, each work wouldn’t take long hours to do = in other words, well organised continuous work (= without waiting, arguing kind of time waster) work could be done and has been done. —– On this episode, the most crucial point in the Japanese psyche is, that they can make themselves Ego-less at once.  This is the core of the Japanese Ethos, originated from the Zen Buddhism, Mushin (Mind of No-mind). With this deeply sublimated Ethos = Collective Unconsciousness, all the construction company, expert in each trade come together work together, disregard the competing company’s interest etc. The company’s interest, individual interest were copletely over ridden by the sense of “Duty”to serve the community. 

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How silly !

Nik-DD

While checking my own post (I need = notorious trouble of mis-speling), I realized “Wait a moment, why did I need to make a screen shot of Aster flower, while having such fuzzy pinhole — How silly”

Whether you believe or not, I’ve completely forgotten the existence of Double Density Pinhole.  I should insist, this was not a demented memory but the Zen No-mind.   🙂   —– Zen only deals with the things on front = if not on front, it is not exists, since the mind is not clinging the No-existent things.

Anyway, to find the “Pinhole Machine” for Sony A7  and  For Nikon (+ adapter), and had the shot of Aster with ISO 25600 setting.  (More artefact noise would appear with longer exposure = dark evening)

The left photo was a Double density Pinhole. — Nikon type Pinhole machine has Multiple Pinhole as well. (Photo right)

They are the compalison = Pinhole machine for Sony A7 —– As the pinhole is much closer to the sensor, the images are much wider and the color on the edge is sifted to magenta. (Left is DD, and the right was mono-pinhole though, not much present fuzzy effect.

Nik-DD

Pinhole sounds simple and easy to make though, — because it IS such small, very difficult to controle = very difficult to replicate the same effect.

Nik-DD

So, I have to be contented to have this fuzziness on Autumn Color.  🙂

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