A strange object from outside our solar system just zoomed past the sun - Popular Science

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Rendezvous with Rama?

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Rendezvous with Rama?

Looks like it's in post production.

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Go find your "boom-box" from the 1980's along with some Disco music....
Cassette Tapes Are Almost Cool Again

Tapes are due for a midlife crisis. Invented in 1963 by Lou Ottens and later introduced at the Funkausstellung radio exhibition in Berlin, compact cassettes would go on to become the most prevalent form of prerecorded music from 1983, when they began outselling records, until 1991, when the CD became the most popular medium.

Tapes were undeniably an iconic part of music culture for several decades during the height of physical musical sales and distribution. And as the technology turns 50 this month, is anyone paying attention?

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*****
The cassette isn't quite shaking physical music these days, and it isn't enjoying the same sort of renaissance as vinyl, which has seen a 33.5 percent increase in sales in the first half of 2013 alone. But there is undoubtedly public interest in the format today, spurred by new tape labels popping up, a phenomenon Marc Hogan wrote about in a 2010 Pitchfork feature. Our colleagues at Noisey have said there’s a “resurgence” of tapes, even if most folks have yet to see it.

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Go find your "boom-box" from the 1980's along with some Disco music....
Cassette Tapes Are Almost Cool Again

I still have several devices to play tapes, and plenty in my collection, along with records of 33's, 45's, and 78's.

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The mind is a weird and mysterious place

I even have some tapes for my Philips N1700 player!!!

Now there is a bit of ancient history.

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Grant
Darwin NT

Still have the Betamax top loader as well. But not quite collectors items YET !!

Beta top loaders were collectors items about the time Beta eventually lost out to VHS.
:-)

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Grant
Darwin NT

I have several Sony Elcaset decks, and blank tapes for them.
A very cool but short-lived format.

Meow!

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"Freedom is just Chaos, with better lighting." Alan Dean Foster

I have several Sony Elcaset decks, and blank tapes for them.

I hadn't heard of that one.
Looks like it lasted about as long as DCC (which was meant to be a competitor to DAT- but DAT was was already well established in professional use, even though it never gained any acceptance for general public use, as neither did DCC).

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Grant
Darwin NT

Elcaset wiki.
Sony Elecaset on ebay.
They are a sought after collector's item, and commanding a good price.

Meow.

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"Freedom is just Chaos, with better lighting." Alan Dean Foster

Love one of the comments:

"Car is worth $500, but this commercial is priceless."

I will Survive - The Thanksgiving Version
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8jGOc0P5DEI

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Nice picture Chris. You have a much better camera than anything I have access to. All I can do is get a little pill sized moon.

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Great picture Chris. This just shows how far on the small bridge cameras have come-on in recent years.

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Bob Smith
Member of Seti PIPPS (Pluto is a Planet Protest Society)
Somewhere in the (un)known Universe?

Here was the night before the full moon. This view was from the albuquerque airport. This was hand held. I tried to zoom in closer but keeping it steady was not eazy. This is with a Nikon P900 16MP24-2000mm or 83x Optical Zoom.



Here is what it is capable of with a tripod.

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Hand-held shooting with long lenses is quite an art, and does involve quite a few wasted shots.

When I get home I'll post one I took a few days ago with a D7000 and a Sigma 500mm zoom at full stretch (equivalent to about x15, 50mm is equivalent to about x1.5). I tend to work handheld as it gives me the mobility to grab shots without having to work out how to position the tripod etc. - one day I'll try using the Sigma on a tripod and see what it will really do....


At the other extreme I've done time lapse star trails using a 10mm (x 0.2) and they are "quite mind bending" these are typically made from ~1000 off 20second exposures - one does need still & cloudless which and they are VERY rare in the UK at this time of year :-( And one definitely needs to use a tripod and dew heater for them, even in the summer!

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Bob Smith
Member of Seti PIPPS (Pluto is a Planet Protest Society)
Somewhere in the (un)known Universe?

Stuck a couple of Lunar shots in the photos thread.

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Bob Smith
Member of Seti PIPPS (Pluto is a Planet Protest Society)
Somewhere in the (un)known Universe?

I can remember hearing on TV, "The Eagle has landed". People in Houston were about to turn blue(probably not literally), since the LEM was about out of fuel for the descent stage.

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The T1 Trust, PRR T1 Class 4-4-4-4 #5550, 1 of America's First HST's

Shockingly good detail on the moon picture!

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The mind is a weird and mysterious place