Author: Ashley Bischoff

Oh, So That’s The Deal With 13!

Ashley Bischoff5 Comments

Since yesterday was “Friday the 13th”, I got to thinking about why there was superstition surrounding the number thirteen. As it turns out, I ran across an article on the CSICOP website which addressed just that. (CSICOP is the “Committee for the Scientific Investigation of Claims of the Paranormal”, is a pro-science group.)

How did thirteen get such a bad reputation? To understand, one needs to know the history of twelve, says CSICOP Senior Research Fellow Joe Nickell. “The number twelve has traditionally represented completeness in mythologies and religions around the world,” says Nickell. “There are twelve months of the year, twelve chief gods of Olympus, twelve signs of the zodiac, and twelve apostles of Jesus. Thirteen exists just one digit beyond twelve, and is symbolic of the first departure from divine completeness or the initial step towards evil.” […]

Now for the chicken-and-the-egg thing, I’m left wondering whether thirteen was thought to be unlucky and then the number of apostles was recorded as twelve, or if it happened the other way around :-/.

Web Junk 20 on VH1 — The Video Meme Show

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Apparently Viacom bought iFilm back in October and now they plan on making use of it — “Web Junk 20” is premiering on VH1 this evening:

“Web Junk 20” is a weekly show based on clips and shorts that will be shown on VH1 and on-demand via VH1's broadband network VSpot.

Set to premiere Jan. 13, “Web Junk 20” is a countdown of the strange and humorous videos being spread virally around the Internet. Hosted by comedian Patrice O’Neal, the show is executive produced by Rick Hankey, Shelly Tatro and Michael Hirschorn. […]

Sounds like fun — with this and Best Week Ever, maybe I’ll be able to stay current with pop culture ;).

Robocop Showing at the Inwood at Midnight

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Matt was kind enough to let me know that Robocop is showing at The Inwood at midnight tonight. And, as it’s my 8th favorite movie, I wouldn’t want to miss out on that :).

I’m guessing this isn’t the director’s cut, which is a minor disappointment, but I’m still pretty stoked about this since I’ve never seen the film on the big screen. Oh, and for any Dallasites attending, keep an eye out for some Dallas landmarks that crop in here and there, such as the interior of the Plaza of the Americas and Dallas City Hall standing in for the OCP building :).

My Nikon 5700 is a PT Cruiser

Ashley Bischoff3 Comments

I’ve had a Nikon 5700 digicam for a couple years now and it’s served me well. All the same, it’s been getting on my nerves a bit recently as I've been pushing its limits — my current gripe is that there's no way to disable the internal flash while leaving an external flash enabled.

And, while reading Ask MetaFilter, I came across an analogy from kcm which was able to nicely summarize my perspective on the camera:

I was never happy with the prosumer choices like the S2 (I had the PowerShot G2 and G3). Not enough control to justify the size. It’s like driving a PT Cruiser because you need to haul stuff for construction projects but you want a small car to autocross: it sucks for both. […]

Now, I don’t think my Nikon 5700 sucks, but I have been keeping an eye out for an upgrade. The hard part is where to go from there, which kcm comments on as well:

If you DO go for a DSLR, be prepared to have two cameras — one to slip in a pocket, like your Elph, and the DSLR, which is generally too bulky for events where your primary concern is not photography.[…]

So maybe that would be a workable long-term strategy (buying both a compact digicam & a DSLR). The predicament I have now, though, is that I can't afford both of those :-/. Decisions, decisions…