Fake Tree Vortex Threatens to Suck in Entire Backyard

"The wall and floor planes are actually entirely flat and perpendicular, and the tree vortex is an illusion created by the sloping lines."

I find that I barely watch actual movies any more, because they all suck. But Sleep Dealer was fantastic, and you should watch it at once. It reminded me of Varley's Blue Champagne mixed with Haldeman's Forever Peace.

Also Moon was really good.

I can't actually remember any other movies I saw this year that I enjoyed. (Oh, Up. That was cute.)

Then there's the televisions.

I wish there was Mythbusters feed that omitted the interminably long and redundant "coming up next!" and "before the break!" bits. Do they think that people only watch the show accidentally while channel-surfing? I think it's a 20 minute show that they pad to an hour. (Ok, 42 minutes plus commercials.)

DNA Lounge update, wherein the War on Fun continues apace.

> Because it messes up the order in which people normally read text.
> > Why is top-posting such a bad thing?
> > > Yes.
> > > > Is top-posting bad?

So there's a plugin for Mail.app called QuoteFix (download) that makes it do bottom-posting by default instead of top-posting. It also supposedly strips signatures out of the quoted text. Sadly, I can't get it to do anything at all. Anyone have any luck with it on 10.6.2?

Dear Lazyweb,

I shoot with a Canon EOS 5D and an f1.4 50mm lens. This combo takes great photos in the dark, but the auto-focus sucks.

One solution it to put a flash on it and set it to "emit, no fire" so that the flash uses a red light for focus assist, but doesn't actually flash. I don't like this solution because the flash doubles the size of the thing I'm lugging around, and I bang it into things all the time.

Another solution is the Canon Speedlite Transmitter ST-E2, which is basically a flash without the flash part: it does focus assist and does it well (it also does other things that I don't care about).

Here's the problem: unlike a real flash, it doesn't run on AA batteries. It runs on these shitty 6v "2CR5" batteries, the disposable version of which are around $5 each. They don't last very long, maybe 1500 or 2000 shots.

I've bought rechargable 2CR5 battery kits from two different manufacturers, and guess what, they don't work. More specifically, they seem to not fit. I can only get the ST-E2 to function with them if I keep the lid open and manually jiggle the battery. They're not making contact somehow. I've tried the obvious things, including taping shims around them, to no avail. Maybe my ST-E2 is defective, but since it always works fine with the disposable batteries, that seems unlikely.

What I'd like is something that plugs into the hot-shoe and does focus-assist, but that runs on AA batteries. Failing that, a rechargable 2CR5 that actually works with the ST-E2. Any suggestions?

Drilling for Scotch whiskey on frozen continent

A beverage company has asked a team to drill through Antarctica's ice for a lost cache of some vintage Scotch whiskey that has been on the rocks since a century ago. The drillers will be trying to reach two crates of McKinlay and Co. whiskey that were shipped to the Antarctic by British polar explorer Sir Ernest Shackleton as part of his abandoned 1909 expedition.

Workers from New Zealand's Antarctic Heritage Trust will use special drills to reach the crates, frozen in Antarctic ice under the Nimrod Expedition hut near Cape Royds. Al Fastier, who will lead the expedition in January, said restoration workers found the crates of whiskey under the hut's floorboards in 2006. At the time, the crates and bottles were too deeply embedded in ice to be dislodged. The New Zealanders have agreed to try to retrieve some bottles, although the rest must stay under conservation guidelines agreed by 12 Antarctic Treaty nations. [...]

Richard Paterson, Whyte & Mackay's master blender, said the Shackleton expedition's whiskey could still be drinkable and taste exactly as it did 100 years ago. If he can get a sample, he intends to replicate the old Scotch and put McKinlay whiskey back on sale. "I really hope we can get some back here," he was quoted as telling London's Telegraph newspaper. "It's been laying there lonely and neglected. It should come back to Scotland where it was born.

Previously, previously, previously.

DNA Lounge update, wherein there are some photos.