Author: Sam Kornstein

How to Make People Float

Posted on by in Movies

I read Ender’s Game when I was 12 years old — it was on a summer reading list, and as a young kid, I loved the book. It was among the most unique stories I read in grade school. And given that it was written in the 80’s, many of its ideas were certainly ahead of the times. I’ve never been into sci-fi, but it was thought provoking and it grabbed my attention. I haven’t closely followed all of the Orson Scott Card controversy, but once I heard there was a movie in the works, I knew I had to see it. Last weekend I did, and thought it was thoroughly entertaining, and it at least did the book some justice.

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(Blackberry) Stout Recipe

Posted on by in Beer, Homebrew Recipe

Last week I brewed my first batch of beer in quite some time. I didn’t brew this past spring as I was moving in the summer, and didn’t want to worry about moving a bunch of extra bottles and/or full carboys. And It took some time to get settled in my new place. But now I’ve finally got my homebrew setup running. So let there be fresh beer again. Last weekend my plan was to brew a blackberry stout. I came up with a new recipe inspired by some previous stouts I had made, and brewed it last Sunday afternoon. I had picked up some blackberry flavoring with the intention of adding it at bottling. But I just transferred it

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Lightroom 5 Preset: Iceberg

Posted on by in Lightroom 5 Presets, Photography

Here’s my twelfth Lightroom 5 Preset, Iceberg. I created this one when editing shots from Jökulsárlón in Iceland. It looks great on cold icy landscapes, with a low clarity setting making bright objects glow a bit. Here are some examples: Here’s the download: Lightroom 5 Preset: Iceberg To install it in Lightroom, simply right click any preset, select import, and then select the downloaded preset file.

Lightroom 5 Preset: Wild West

Posted on by in General, Lightroom 5 Presets, Photography

Here’s my eleventh free Lightroom 5 preset, Wild West. I’d put it in the vintage photo category — it adds subtle sephia overtones and dulls the saturation. It seems to work best when there’s a subject in the foreground. It’s great for shots of people as well. Here are some examples: Here’s the download: Lightroom 5 Preset: Wild West To install it in Lightroom, simply right click any preset, select import, and then select the downloaded preset file.

Hatch

Posted on by in General

My good friend, Mr. Scott Sigel, has a hand in this great company. They recently rebranded and were written up in TechCrunch today: Makeably, the New York-based, custom-made goods marketplace that closed on seed funding from Great Oaks, 500 Startups and others earlier this year is now relaunching under a new, easier-to-remember name: Hatch. Alongside the rebranding, the company has also evolved the process by which consumers tweak and “remix” the products offered for sale. The site, founded by ex-Googlers Ryan Hayward and Anastasia Leng, is similar to CustomMade in that it’s an attempt to connect everyday shoppers with artisans capable of producing custom goods. But this summer, Hatch (then Makeably), made a slight shift to differentiate itself somewhat from its competitors. Leng explained that the majority of shoppers looking

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Lightroom 5 Preset: Black & Blue

Posted on by in Lightroom 5 Presets, Photography

Here’s my tenth free Lightroom 5 preset, Black & Blue. I stumbled into it by accident when playing around with some shots from Iceland. It’s essentially a grainy black and white filter that keeps and enhances blues.  To me, it has a surreal, cold, stark feel. Here are some examples: Here’s the download: Lightroom 5 Preset: Black & Blue To install it in Lightroom, simply right click any preset, select import, and then select the downloaded preset file.

Lightroom 5 Preset: Etched

Posted on by in Lightroom 5 Presets, Photography

Here’s my ninth free Lightroom 5 Preset: Etched. It’s a bold black and white filter with strong contrast and high clarity. This one’s fairly self-explanatory: Here’s the download: Lightroom 5 Preset: Etched To install it in Lightroom, simply right click any preset, select import, and then select the downloaded preset file.

Lightroom 5 Preset Examples from Tutsplus

Posted on by in Lightroom 5 Presets, Photography

Tutsplus.com has a very useful post showcasing examples of 100 free Lightroom Presets. It’s a great resource to find some new ones, and the author, Andrew Childress, included a few of my free presets posted on this site (and did a better job showcasing them than I have). Here are some of the examples Andrew posted of the presets I offer on my site, with the before/after images: