Events

I've just upgraded my main camera to the same model's Mark II. The first shot doesn't seem that impressive, as it's a daylight shot of a familiar view. (There are noticeable differences in Lightroom, however.) But check this out: That was shot at ISO-51200, 1/60th second at f/5.6. I mean, holy crap. To put this into perspective: in order to take that shot with the Tri-X Pan film I used as a kid, I'd need a 2-second exposure at the same aperture—a 7-stop difference. The mind reels. Yes, it's grainy, but...

...with my new camera: More details forthcoming...

Via Citylab, the clearest explanation yet for why subways have delays, courtesy NYMTA:

Thomas Cook needs to apologize Is the novel dead? Chicago Magazine has a guide to O'Hare and Midway that seems useful. (There's a Wow Bao in Terminal 5? Right, I've never flown out of T5.) Some people just won't lower the price on their houses. I know the feeling. Attention, David Cameron: You bloody well know austerity doesn't work, unless you're already wealthy.

The Economist quotes a study finding that a quarter of American schoolchildren believe Canada is a dictatorship: Most of the closed [Chicago Public School] district schools were in deprived areas. Nearly three-quarters of the children were black and more than 90% were poor. The report [from the Thomas Fordham Institute] concluded that “though fraught with controversy and political peril, shuttering bad schools might just be a saving grace for students who need the best education they can get.” They do....

A pile of Gulf moisture has arrived in Chicago making the otherwise-comfortable 22°C feel like a sauna. I'm using the day to do some planning for my next trip (11 days, 22 hours!) and move (28 days, 22 hours!), client work, and taking Parker to an interview of sorts at a new daycare facility. Yes, an interview: he has to play with the other dogs for two hours so they can decide whether to allow him to come back. I hope he passes. Results from that, as well as a probably thunderstorm (unrelated), later...

I went to the NPR show's taping last night: The show will be broadcast tomorrow. It's going to be hi-larious.

South Africa Airlines will no longer transport your trophies: Shooting a marvel of nature and shipping its carcass home seems an odd practice to many. But business is roaring. An estimated 1,000 captive lions are shot dead by mostly American and European tourists on South African ranches annually. That's nearly double the number of wild lions felled across the entire continent. Killing beasts in fenced-off, private property is easier than gunning them down on their own turf. It's also much cheaper...

Fortunately, I have a couple of long flights coming up in two weeks. Unfortunately, not all of this will be relevant then: Mike Huckabee's entry into the presidential race may mean the Christian right is deteriorating. Bourbon's popularity, and the longevity of oak trees, is a problem. Did Jeb Bush trigger an Iraq War watershed? The Southern Regional Climate Center has a new climate tool that I'm going to play with...someday. Only one more Mad Men episode. I'm sad. ICYMI: Upgrading to Windows 10 will be...

After Moody's cut our credit rating this week, people are starting to compare Chicago with Detroit: here are five reasons, now more than ever, that suggest Chicago is akin to Detroit—or, by some measures, even worse. Or, as Illinois Republican Gov. Bruce Rauner put it last month: “Chicago is in deep, deep yogurt.” BIG, SCARY NUMBERS: Chicago's unfunded liability from four pension funds is $20 billion and growing, hitting every city resident with an obligation of about $7,400. Detroit's, whose population...