Sherman A1
Sherman A1's JournalNikon Files Patent That Could Turn 35mm Film Cameras Into Digital SLRs
It's one of the holy grails of photography — a practical, easy way to switch between digital and film for all the incredible analog 35mm cameras that are already in circulation. And while we don't know if it'll ever be produced, Nikon has recently patented a way of doing exactly that — a replaceable digital back for 35mm film cameras.
Spotted by the Japanese blog Egami, the patent sounds much like the equivalent of a digital back for medium-format cameras. The patent also specifically mentions being able to adjust the flange distance, to make sure it's recording as accurately as possible.
Nikon Rumors has some translated text from the patent itself. From what I can gather, the back would probably have to be camera specific in order to be switched easily between film and digital. Naturally, there would be other hurdles to deal with as well — making sure you protect the sensor when swapping backs, and getting the sensor to play nice with the shutter mechanism, all that sort of thing.
If Nikon were to actually go ahead and make this, the real sticking point would be price. There's a pretty good chance that this is patent for its own sake, so that no one else can make one, but if Nikon decides this is a product they want to create, how much would it go for? And what would users be willing to pay for it? Digital medium format backs cost tens of thousands of dollars, but I somehow doubt that a digital back for more than $1,000 would go over very well. Could a slightly lower resolution full frame sensor be assembled on the cheap? If they could create one for around $500, good luck finding old Nikons on pawn shop shelves anymore.
http://www.popphoto.com/gear/2012/12/nikon-files-patent-could-turn-35mm-film-cameras-digital-slrs?src=facebook
Just emailed both Missouri Senators & my Congressman on potential SS cuts.
I encourage all to do the same.
Dear Senator,
As talks continue on the so called fiscal cliff, I urge you to vote against any compromise that includes any cuts in any form to Social Security or Medicare. These programs are of incredible importance to the Seniors who have through the years in many cases seen their pensions gutted by the failure of their company's management and corporate raiders. These people played by the rules, contributed to this program and deserve to have the implicit contract of society honored without having the goal posts moved as they have been in the past.
IT COULD HAPPEN TO YOU: YOUR HOUSE BECOMES A SIGNAL FIRE FOR SANTA
Santa is a very wise fellow. Not only does he know who has been naughty and nice, but also knows exactly where you live. That’s why he cautions everyone to be very careful during the holidays because the smallest heat, fire or electrical accident could turn your home into a signal fire…and Santa doesn’t need the help to find you. Plus, he’s not landing on a blazing roof.
According to the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) and the U.S. Fire Administration (USFA), an estimated 240 home fires involving Christmas trees and another 150 home fires involving holiday lights and other decorative lighting occur each year. These fires are responsible for 21 deaths and $25.2 million in direct property damage.
Make sure to follow the home holiday safety checklist below prior to the holidays, and continue to be vigilant while your family and friends enjoy the holidays together.
http://www.photographytalk.com/photography-articles/2869-it-could-happen-to-you-your-house-becomes-a-signal-fire-for-santa
Is Anyone Surprised That Walmart Bribes the Mexican Government?
As if Walmart wasn't already having a rough day in the media, The New York Times just published a devastating piece on the company's habit of paying off Mexican officials to get what it wants. We're not talking a few bucks here to get out of an inspection or a couple hundred pesos there to speed up the permit process. We're talking about millions of dollars worth of bribes that gave Walmart de Mexico, the company's branch south of the border, the power to pretty much do what it wanted. In one instance, it even paid an official to adjust a map designed to create a protective zone around the region's priceless pyramids. World heritage be damned. If Walmart wants its store in a convenient location, Walmart will get its store in a convenient location.
The details really do make Walmart look pretty evil. After "traveling to dozens of towns and cities in Mexico" and collecting "tens of thousands of documents related to Wal-Mart de Mexico permits," The Times found that Walmart bribed local and national officials to build 19 stores, sometimes in "environmentally fragile" areas and other times without construction permits. Some individual stores required nearly a million dollars in bribes for Walmart to get what they wanted. This passage from the Times exposé sums up the problem well:
Wal-Mart de Mexico was an aggressive and creative corrupter, offering large payoffs to get what the law otherwise prohibited. It used bribes to subvert democratic governance -- public votes, open debates, transparent procedures. It used bribes to circumvent regulatory safeguards that protect Mexican citizens from unsafe construction. It used bribes to outflank rivals.
http://www.theatlanticwire.com/business/2012/12/anyone-surprised-walmart-bribes-mexican-government/60095/
Blunt: Preventing Mass Shootings Should Start With Mental Health, Not Stricter Gun Laws
Members of Congress from across the country are responding to the school shooting in Newtown, Conn.
Mo. Republican U.S. Sen. Roy Blunt called the shooting a huge tragedy and said that it put other parts of life in perspective.
But Blunt said stricter gun laws are unlikely to deter similar acts of violence.
“I don’t think the weapon is likely to be the problem here, nearly as much as, how do you identify people with these problems in a society and try to intervene before they do something that tragically impacts their lives and the lives of others?” said Blunt, who was in St. Louis to tour the St. Louis Area Food Bank on Saturday morning.
http://www.news.stlpublicradio.org/post/blunt-preventing-mass-shootings-should-start-mental-health-not-stricter-gun-laws
Blunt Decries 'Nuclear Option' For Filibuster
Missouri Senator Roy Blunt is joining his fellow Republicans in criticizing a push by Majority Leader Harry Reid that would limit the power of the filibuster -- a legislative technique to give power to the minority party.
Blunt and the GOP call Reid's proposed rule changes the "nuclear option." Reid prefers the term the "constitutional option."
Whatever you call it, it would limit the use of the filibuster by making a few changes – most notably being that the one doing the filibustering actually has to be present for the speech, and can’t just threaten it.
The filibuster is a tactic that's been used increasingly in recent history. Just last week, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell even filibustered his own bill. Missouri Democratic Senator Claire McCaskill, who was presiding at the time, feigned whiplash and joked with reporters later that it "was really weird. McConnell kind of lost it."
http://www.news.stlpublicradio.org/post/blunt-decries-nuclear-option-filibuster
Calif. judge says victims' body can prevent rape
SANTA ANA, Calif. (AP) — A Southern California judge is being publicly admonished for saying a rape victim "didn't put up a fight" during her assault and that if someone doesn't want sexual intercourse, the body "will not permit that to happen."
The California Commission on Judicial Performance voted 10-0 to impose a public admonishment Thursday, saying Superior Court Judge Derek Johnson's comments were inappropriate and a breach of judicial ethics.
"In the commission's view, the judge's remarks reflected outdated, biased and insensitive views about sexual assault victims who do not 'put up a fight.' Such comments cannot help but diminish public confidence and trust in the impartiality of the judiciary," wrote Lawrence J. Simi, the commission's chairman.
Johnson made the comments in the case of a man who threatened to mutilate the face and genitals of his ex-girlfriend with a heated screwdriver, beat her with a metal baton and made other violent threats before committing rape, forced oral copulation, and other crimes.
http://news.yahoo.com/calif-judge-says-victims-body-prevent-rape-023033459.html
This guy apparently went to school with Todd Akin. 
Wal-Mart, Kroger among Hostess bidders: report
(Reuters) - Hostess Brands Inc, the bankrupt Twinkie and Wonder Bread maker, has received bids for assets being sold by about two dozen parties including Wal-Mart Stores Inc and Kroger Co , according to a media report on Thursday.
Some of the bidders are interested in acquiring all of the Hostess assets, while others are just focused on its cake or breads businesses, said the report by Bloomberg, which cited a person familiar with the matter.
Spokesmen for Hostess, Wal-Mart and Kroger all declined to comment. A banker at Perella Weinberg, which is running the sale, was not immediately available.
Hostess received court permission last month to wind down its 82-year-old business, which cleared the way for the company to begin selling assets. Proceeds will help it repay creditors.
http://news.yahoo.com/wal-mart-kroger-among-hostess-bidders-report-210651904--sector.html
McCaskill lashes out at House GOP leaders on Violence Against Women Act
WASHINGTON – House Republican leaders “should be ashamed of themselves” for blocking action on a Senate-passed expansion of the Violence Against Women Act, Sen. Claire McCaskill said Wednesday.
Noting that all 17 women senators voted for the bipartisan bill, McCaskill told a forum that GOP women in the House “should be the ones that are showing the country right now that they can force the leadership of their own party to do what’s right for women, who are really in jeopardy every single day if nothing is done.”
McCaskill’s comments on VAWA – a 1994 law aimed at ending violence against women that was reauthorized in 2000 and 2005 but expired last year – came during a discussion at the Center for American Progress about whether the importance of women voters in this year’s elections will translate into greater influence on the national policy agenda.
The Senate passed the act's reauthorization in April by a 68-31 vote, expanding the law to cover new protections for Native Americans, members of the lesbian and gay community and undocumented immigrants. In May, the House barely approved, 225-205, a watered-down reauthorization that the American Bar Association opposed as “a retreat in the battle against domestic and sexual violence.”
https://www.stlbeacon.org/#!/content/28449/mccaskill_women_voters?coverpage=2320
Generals: Get real and cut Pentagon spending
Editor's note: Lt. Gen. Robert Gard is the chairman of the Center for Arms Control and Nonproliferation, a member of the Council on Foreign Relations and a former executive assistant to two secretaries of defense. Brig. Gen. John Johns is a former director of human resources development for the Army General Staff. He taught at the U.S. Military Academy and lectured at the Air War College, the Army War College, the U.S. Military Academy, and the Naval Academy. He serves on the board of advisers for the Council for a Livable World.
(CNN) -- A strong U.S. military is indispensable to our national security. As retired military officers, we have dedicated our careers, on active duty and retired, to that end. We have been involved in crafting and teaching national security strategy, of which military strategy and use of military force are vital components.
In the debate over the Pentagon budget and with threats of deeper cuts coming, the president, Congress, governors and the entire defense community are rightly concerned about sequestration, which cuts both domestic and defense spending indiscriminately. It is agreed that overall spending reductions are necessary, but the "fiscal cliff" crisis reflects a lack of political will, not rational planning.
Too often, the Pentagon spending debate is ensnared in the outmoded ideology of past wars and driven by legions of lobbyists for parochial interests in the military-industrial complex.
http://www.cnn.com/2012/12/12/opinion/gard-johns-military-spending/index.html?hpt=hp_bn7
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