@mattblaze@federate.social
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mattblaze

@mattblaze@federate.social

Scientist, safecracker, etc. McDevitt Professor of Computer Science and Law at Georgetown. Formerly UPenn, Bell Labs. So-called expert on election security and stuff. https://twitter.com/mattblaze on the Twitter. Slow photographer. Radio nerd. Blogs occasionally at https://www.mattblaze.org/blog . I probably won't see your DM; use something else. He/Him. Uses this wrong.

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mattblaze, to photography
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Ravenswood Power Station ("Big Allis"), Queens, NY, 2024.

Gigawatts of pixels at https://www.flickr.com/photos/mattblaze/53732990785

mattblaze,
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This is a composite of two side-by-side images, each captured with the Rodenstock 50mm/4.0 HR Digaron-W lens (@ f/5.6), shifted left and right +/- 12mm to produce a 205MP 2:1 aspect ratio final image.

The Ravenswood plant, along the East River in Long Island City/Astoria Queens, was built by Con Ed in stages in the early- and mid- 1960's. It produces about 20% of the city's electricity, as well as co-generated steam.

mattblaze,
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Known locally as "Big Allis" (after Allis-Chalmers, the manufacturer of the largest of the four generators in the plant), Ravenswood is fired by both natural gas (now the primary fuel) and oil, but also has the capability (never used, as far as I know) to burn coal.

Ravenswood has been linked to a spike in asthma and other respiratory disorders among local residents. There is pressure to decommission the generators and replace them with a battery bank to store renewable energy from upstate.

mattblaze,
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Hmf. Flickr's resizing algorithm is being particularly unkind to this image, producing a thin white boarder on the left and right that isn't present in the original image. The details look OK, but I've not seen this happen before.

mattblaze, to random
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When I'm photographing a subject, particularly something architectural, I generally start with the most boring, unimaginative composition I can think of, and then get "creative" after I've nailed that. More often than not, I end up liking the boring composition more than those that followed. You often find interesting elements and structures in the simplest compositions.

glennf, to random
@glennf@twit.social avatar

Saw a clip of the Agatha series actors bragging that the show has very little CG. The magic was all…practical. Who cares? What is this obsession? CG is only an issue for the director and creative people on the movie and accountants, and if it distracts by looking unreal while watching a TV show or movie. An unhealthy focus that feels anti-VFX worker, when there’s so much VFX in media that nobody realizes. This series captures the issue: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7ttG90raCNo&t=937s

mattblaze,
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@glennf Reminds me of the "shot on film" purity nonsense.

Noupside, to random
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🧵 I wrote ab the “is Signal secure?” manufactroversy on X. The Guardian wanted an explainer on why Elon & Jack were “concerned” about Signal. The answer, though, has nothing to do w/Signal’s product. It was part of an extended fight over whether woke NPR should be defunded & the CEO fired. Why? Because the CEO of NPR is on the board of Signal; by the Transitive Property of Bad People, Signal is thus compromised.

https://www.theguardian.com/technology/article/2024/may/18/npr-elon-musk-signal

mattblaze,
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@Noupside I'd say we live in the dumbest possible timeline, but every time I say that it proves me wrong by becoming even dumber.

mattblaze, to photography
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31-41 Union Square West, NYC, 2024.

All the pixels, each of which will be famous for 15 minutes, at https://www.flickr.com/photos/mattblaze/53731622110

mattblaze,
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Captured with the Rodenstock 32mm/4.0 Digaron-W lens (@ f/6.3), Phase One XT IQ4-150 camera. 12mm vertical shift to maintain geometry.

This is a straightforward head-on architectural view of the facades of the varied buildings on this block just after sunrise. It took some time to line up the camera to be parallel to the faces of the building, once again making photography feel more like an exercise in surveying.

mattblaze, (edited )
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Union Square West between 16th and 17th Streets in Manhattan is home to five distinctive and variously historically significant narrow mid-rise buildings.

The quirky Decker Building (2nd from left, at 33 Union Square West) is now chiefly residential with a retail ground floor storefront. From 1967-1973 it housed Andy Warhol's "Factory" studio, where, in 1968, he was famously and nearly fatally shot by an irate Valarie Solanas. The neighborhood was more colorful back then.

mattblaze,
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@Nonya_Bidniss NYC is a ghost town these days, haven't you heard?

mattblaze,
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@mkoek Not one but two Factories. The building at the corner to the left of the B&N was where he set up shop when he moved out of the Decker Building.

mattblaze,
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@Nonya_Bidniss Exactly. I was actually robbed and murdered shortly after making this photo.

mattblaze,
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@karlauerbach Right? It's such a strange feature. I'm not sure if it was added later.

mattblaze,
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@n1vux @Nonya_Bidniss Very early, or late the previous night, depending on your perspective.

mattblaze,
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@jzilske Thank you!

mattblaze, (edited )
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The empty lot at used to be an ugly single-story building with a McDonald's, but I had them move out before I made this photo.

mattblaze,
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@ecn The 32/4.0 has almost no geometric distortion - it's really impressive. I only had to correct for light falloff.

mattblaze,
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@dave_andersen @huitema I don't see it here, but I agree that's the likely explanation. Another possibility is that the eye follows an imaginary line around the various ornamental protrusions at the roof, which would indeed make it seem to get wider toward the top.

Teri_Kanefield, to random
@Teri_Kanefield@mastodon.social avatar

When people show me hostility, they often speak in the first person plural.

(I blocked this person, so don't pile on him.)

It's group think. It's also mob-like to think that a group of citizens can change the pace or outcome of a criminal investigation.

mattblaze,
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@Teri_Kanefield I find that many of the complaints I get on social media are based on three assumptions:

  • I have enormous, wildly outsized influence over things.
  • I am incompetent to wield this influence properly
  • Despite my enormous power, I will be chastened by the snide comments of a random stranger.
Alice, to random
@Alice@beige.party avatar

I have friends from high school who have kids that are graduating from high school and I’m over here celebrating my graduation into a new loyalty tier at my preferred hotel chain.

mattblaze,
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@Alice Wise choice. High school diploma doesn't come with free breakfast or late checkout.

mattblaze, to photography
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Track 13 (Watch Your Step), Grand Central Terminal, NYC, 2013.

All the pixels, waiting to commute home, at https://www.flickr.com/photos/mattblaze/10101066135

mattblaze,
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Captured with a full-frame mirrorless camera and 21mm lens.

This is mostly a study of lines, particularly the handrail (which provides an anchor for the eye to follow), but also the curved railing at the bottom of the stairs at left. I was attracted to the austere, utilitarian design, yet the curved pipe railing has an almost almost elegant, art deco look to it.

This was a difficult perspective to work from. A tripod was essential for framing, but it was crowded behind me. Had to be quick.

mattblaze,
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@darryl_ramm Well used as a location, for sure, but I couldn't get past the fact that they started out on the 1 train and somehow ended up at Grand Central. And that Amtrak was supposedly still running there (to Washington DC, somehow!) in 1993.

mattblaze,
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@darryl_ramm I would all have made sense if they ended up at Penn Station, but that's much less photogenic.

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