I gifted myself a Nikon Z6ii this year and have been exploring all the new features I'm not accustomed to, human facial eye tracking, animal eye tracking, focus following, etc...... While delving into focus peaking settings which highlights the areas in the photo that are in focus, a depth of field preview function, I stumbled across a product that converts old manual focus lenses to auto focus. Sounds like snake oil or vaporware huh? Compared to native auto focus lenses it is slow and noisy, but hey, manual focus to auto focus, wow. I will be trying it out, as I have a pile of manual focus lenses. It appears only for Nikon Z cameras, but possibly that could change in the future. (this is not spam, simply sharing 21st Century magic)

While reading a story about the myopic Hubble Telescope fiasco, the word "bokeh" struck me as a funny thing with it's unorthodox Romanized Japanese spelling, prompting me to ask out loud to an empty room:"Why is a Japanese word used to describe some out of focus portions of photography?"

After some digging, I was shocked to find the genesis story of the word "Bokeh" began in a May/June 1997 Photo Techniques magazine article, way less than 1 grandpa ago.

https://boingboing.net/2022/12/12/the-reason-why-bokeh-is-spelled-with-an-h-at-the-end.html

cross posted from the photography group: https://www.democraticunderground.com/1036109490

to my uncle Larry, center who was at Hickam Field on this day 81 years ago and spent the next 4 years of basically hand to hand through the Pacific, suffering badly with what we know now as PTSD. He was the only other Army guy (besides me) in my Navy family. Uncle Roy, on the left who was a radioman on the Enterprise, and my dad on the right, SeaBee and Bell System employee at the birth of the SeaBees, and stationed on a PT boat base in New Guinea.

From Spidey and me!

True story, Thanksgiving day 2016, my wife called me and said "there is something big in the backyard!"

And yes there was, sans mask.

Interesting, if long read on the psyche of Ron DeSanctimonious

snip

Our own Gov. Ron DeSantis romped over his colorless Democratic opponent Charlie Crist, and left our state — which had once been a perky purple — a bright, suppurating, blood red. Liberals in our state have begun pulling down their window blinds when they watch MSNBC. Volvo dealerships are going to take a hit. With DeSantis taking Miami-Dade County, with his iron grip on the Legislature, it’s game over for us in Florida for the foreseeable future.

And yet. It may not seem to those of my persuasion as if the crazies have taken over. True, we still have, may always have, the unctuous Marco Rubio, the venal Rick Scott, the frat rat Matt Gaetz — 2020 election deniers all. But speaking for myself, the rout by DeSantis doesn’t quite feel like it’s part of some vast, vicious red tide.

Why is that? As your occasional Designated Senior at this paper, I’ve kept a grandfatherly eye on the antics in this state. As a kind of side hustle, I began covering DeSantis from the start, before he made a national name for himself. I did so with rising concern, sometimes with horror, once in a while with grim appreciation. It’s what he does, and he’s learned to do it with skill at an early age.

I’d like to offer one man’s view of what might await us Floridians in the next couple of years, now that we have a twice-elected governor, flushed with success, headed for higher places. Though I’m not a political reporter, just a humble country essayist, let me put it through the lens of a subject I have some interest in, education.

https://www.tampabay.com/opinion/2022/11/17/why-gov-desantis-won-landslide-i-think-hurricane-handshake-helped-column/

TAMPA — Could a solution to traffic lights going dark in big storms come from the Florida sun? The city of Tampa is looking to find out.

In a pilot program, the city has installed 84 solar panels on the surface of a downtown sidewalk near the intersection of Jefferson and Cass streets to soak up the abundant sunlight and power the traffic signal there.

These solar panels are on the sidewalk stretching along Cass Street in downtown Tampa.
These solar panels are on the sidewalk stretching along Cass Street in downtown Tampa. [ JEFFEREE WOO | Times ]
Next to that solar-paneled stretch of sidewalk is a tall white cabinet that contains the necessary equipment and is printed with an explanation for curious passersby.

“This intersection is powered by solar energy and will continue to operate even if the electricity goes out,” it reads. “The signal stays on.”

https://www.tampabay.com/news/environment/2022/11/18/hurricanes-knock-out-traffic-lights-could-tampa-solar-sidewalk-change-that/

TAMPA — Elsie Perez suffers from acute renal failure and receives dialysis three times a week. Every month she frets over how she will make ends meet.

“Everything has gone up and it is very difficult to live in these conditions,” said Perez, 54, a Mexican-born mother of two adult children.

Perez is a Democrat but now she regrets it. She pointed to the unique challenges she faces with inflation and the economy.

“That’s why I voted differently,” she said.

https://www.tampabay.com/news/2022/11/18/florida-republicans-won-latino-vote/

Turnout Was a Big Problem for Democrats in Major Florida Counties
Only about half of the Democrats showed up for Tuesday's election while around two-thirds of Republicans voted.

snip

In Miami-Dade County, there are 135,229 more registered Democrats than Republicans, but more Republicans showed up: 61% of registered Republicans voted and only 46% of Democrat registered voters.

There are 106,299 more registered Democrats than Republicans in Palm Beach County. 55% of registered Democrats showed up and 66% of Republicans showed up.

The same thing happened in Central and North Florida in several major urban areas. There are 53,156 more registered Democrats than Republicans in Hillsborough County but only 39% of Democrats showed up and 44% of Republicans showed up to vote.

In North Florida’s Duval County, there are 31,173 more registered Democrats than Republicans, but 65% of Republican voters voted compared to 49% of Democrats.

https://www.nbcmiami.com/decision-2022/turnout-was-a-big-problem-for-democrats-in-major-florida-counties/2906393/