The Monty Hall Problem

Because I kept searching for it again and couldn't remember what it was called, here's a note link. For everyone who thinks they always intuitively assess their chances correctly, this might be an eye-opener.

Here you can find the original article.

A Muzzle for SCO

Good. At least putting verbal brakes on this nonsense is a start.

At heise online news you can find the original article.

Correct lens distortion

Another plugin. I haven't tried it yet and therefore don't know whether it works well or not. The principle sounds very useful though - and it might even make sense for the digital cameras. My other cameras don't have any problem with lens distortion

Here's the original article.

Photokit - analog image effects for Photoshop

A new addition to my Photoshop plugin collection is the linked Photokit.

First, a drawback: the operation is somewhat awkward, as it doesn't integrate itself as a menu in the Filters menu where you would expect it. Instead, it's an automation plugin that you select, after which a small dialog box appears where you choose the effect group and the effect. Only then is this applied. However, the advantages outweigh this: all effects are placed in their own layer. The big advantage of this: they can all be combined well with the image via the transparency setting of the new layer and their strength can be influenced. Another advantage is the strict orientation of the effects toward photographic terms - albeit English terms. If you have problems with that, you might find help in the dictionary from http://contax-users.de/. Also nice about Photokit are the really good sharpening filters - luminance sharpening avoids color artifacts and the high-pass filter offers good variation of the effect through layer transparency. And last but not least: each effect is only one step in the Photoshop history - this makes the history clear and through multiple steps the effects can be well combined into your own more complex actions. Further tests were conducted at Digital Outback and at Luminous Landscape. The price of 49 US dollars is certainly not exactly small, but the tool saves a lot of work and since time is often short even in hobbies, and tedious standard tasks can be handled well by computers, it's a worthwhile addition. Here's the original article.

Siggy Pop

So we have a politician here who often stands out through intelligent comments and arguments against political opponents and by frequently demonstrating—for a politician—a pronounced sense of reality. What do we do with him? We make him pop commissioner. Is this supposed to ensure that he is never taken seriously again, because he contradicted the great Gerhard?

At tagesschau im Internet there is the original article.

Overview of the History of Linhof Technika

Because Jutta now owns a Linhof Standard Press (basically a Linhof Technika III with limited front standard adjustments), I searched the web for Linhof information. The title links to what I consider the most comprehensive overview. Unfortunately, there isn't much information online about the special models. But the camera is beautiful - everything is mechanically robust, well-crafted, and in good condition even after 50 years. And the Polaroid 545 cassette fits behind the ground glass - now we just need 55 Polaroid film.

Here's the original article.

US Regulatory Authority Under Suspicion of Corruption

Well, the old question: who regulates the regulators. Well, our trust was more like "trust-foolish" than acting as a trustee. And that's still the polite assessment.

At heise online news there's the original article.