Author: Sam Kornstein

3D Printing at CES

Posted on by in General

In my second hour at CES, after spending some time looking at health trackers, I stumbled into the 3D printing area. There seemed to be hundreds of firms showing off their 3D printing skills, and all of the plastic things they printed. I was struck by how many firms are eagerly competing and innovating here. The first printer I saw, and maybe my favorite, was Zeus: A 3D scan, print, copy, fax machine: When pressed, the Zeus guy admitted the fax button just sends a copy of a scan to any other connected Zeus machine over the internet, but still. I was impressed. I asked about resolution, and learned that it’s measured in layer microns, and the highest (smallest) resolution of

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First Day at CES

Posted on by in Technology

I spent my first full day at CES, and most of the descriptions I’ve read are spot on. It’s a complete zoo, it’s exhausting, and it’s awesome. I started the day at Tech West, spending most of my time in the Sands Expo. I first worked my way through more fitness/health trackers than I previously could have imagined existed. There were obviously dozens of Fitbit-like step counters and sleep trackers, which seemed increasingly irrelevant as much of this functionality, at least the step counter part, is a feature on most new smartphones. I found a “Smart Basketball”, 94fifty, that sends real time data on your shot speed, backspin, arc, and dribbling to your phone: There was Skulpt, which initially sounded ridiculous to

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Lightroom 5 Preset: Highland

Posted on by in Lightroom 5 Presets, Photography

It’s been over a year since I’ve added a new Lightroom 5 Preset. I’ve actually got quite a few new ones in the works, and over the next few months will plan to post them. Here’s my thirteenth preset: Highland. It’s a vintage looking filter, with nice oranges, reds, and browns. I’ve found that it’s often helpful to adjust highlights and exposure after using it. Below are some examples. Hope you enjoy, and thanks for all the support. A highland cow, which inspired the preset: An old Porsche that was parked outside my brother’s Vancouver apartment when I visited: A couple Mariachi’s waiting for the bus in Meixco City: And a few produce traders in New Delhi: Here’s the download: Lightroom 5 Preset: Highland

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The Best Combination of a Map and a Chart

Posted on by in Charts & Data, General, Greater Boston, Maps

I love maps and I love charts. So I was particularly excited to find this great chart of the world’s population by latitude, which obviously resembles a map (because most people live on land): This is a much more eloquent way of combining latitude and longitude population charts, as I’ve previously posted about here. At the bottom of the post, the creator links to whackdata.com, where Ryan Brideau posted some R scripts that take publicly available data and create similar population map charts. Ryan does a great job describing why the chart is so interesting: “What I love about it is that, in the absence of any traditional map features, the outlines of countries and continents are immediately apparent. And as long as you are familiar

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The 10K Pushup Challenge

Posted on by in General, Health

Sometime in mid 2014 I added 50 pushups to my morning routine. It seemed like a small and simple thing to do to supplement my gym workouts, taking just a couple minutes every day. I stuck with it for about three weeks, then forgot one morning. Once the streak was broken, I just stopped and didn’t think about it again for a while. Last month I decided I wanted to start again. But I knew I needed to approach it differently if I wanted to make it a longer term habit. What I quickly realized is that I don’t really care whether I do 50 pushups every day, and there isn’t anything particularly special about doing 50 reps. Some days maybe I’ll want

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Sidecar Dogs and Doggles

Posted on by in Dogs, Movies

I recently stumbled across a trailer for a documentary about dogs riding in motorcycle sidecars. The preview was perfectly executed: bikes and revving engines, dogs wearing goggles with their faces in the wind, americana music, and a bunch of biker stories about how much dogs enjoy riding in sidecars. After watching the first thirty seconds, it quickly becomes apparent that there’s a whole sub culture of people who absolutely love taking their dogs on bikes. I hadn’t previously considered the possibility, but I’m extremely happy to know this is a thing. The movie is called ‘Sit Stay Ride: The Story of America’s Sidecar Dogs’. It was funded through Kickstarter earlier this year, raising almost $35K from 679 backers, and appears to have been primarily released

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Dogs on the Beach

Posted on by in Dogs, Lightroom 5 Presets, Photography

I spent the holiday in Narragansett with Laura’s family, and we took a long walk on the beach on Christmas day. The weather was perfect for this time of year – almost sixty degrees – and the light in the late afternoon was even better. I hadn’t taken my camera out since the late Summer, and it was great to spend the afternoon shooting. Here are a few action shots I took of Bella playing with some other dogs in the water: