In the continuation of my slow but inexorable backslide into the Fuji camera gear universe, I recently picked up a secondhand lens hood for my X100T. Although it was a bit on the expensive side, I figured the construction would be of higher quality and more natural looking (in keeping with the traditional charm of the camera itself). Construction and fit The lens hood system comprises two pieces, and adapter which threads onto the front of the base lens; and the hood itself, which cleverly twists and locks onto flanges on the edge of the adapter. ...

• photography

Yesterday, I woke up and decided to try and make chicken stock from scratch. And, after another ten minutes of reflection, I further resolved to make it “from scratch” if at all possible. I rushed out the door to go grocery shopping, and grabbed the first set of ingredients: soup greens. Then, while I was at the butcher, I grabbed the second set of ingredients: chicken bones (prepackaged). (The bones ran me about $5, but my butcher charges a lot because they’re the only game in town; I’m pretty sure at other places it would be cheaper. ...

• cooking

I was chatting with my dad the other day, and the topic of backing up computers came up. At the moment, he uses the “Time Machine” feature built into his aging MacBook Pro to do backups of his hard drive. However, his Time Machine is backing up to an already tired external USB hard drive, and he’s now at the point where both his laptop and his USB hard drive are at risk of keeling over whenever. ...

• computers
• technology
• tech-support

I was recently assigned to a new project at work, which requires some concurrent programming. I’ve long put off investing in any formal Java programming texts, partly out of thriftiness and partially because none of the professional programming I’ve done to date required a formal education/reading of relevant texts to avoid writing completely incorrect code. Usually in line-of-business application development, a sub-optimal solution is not completely incorrect; at worst, it wastes CPU cycles. ...

• java
• programming
• software-engineering
• concurrency

Lately, both my wife and I have been working long hours at our jobs; the health of our diets have suffered as a result. Although we have a few minutes each night to cook, we don’t have the time to run out to the market in the middle of the week, or to lavish time on a full-course meal. Whereas in years past I used to dictate the meal plan for the week and put two or three complex dishes into each weeks’ menu, that either my wife or I would simply make after arriving home from work, these days we scarcely even have time for that. ...

• cooking