KWBaker

“The heart of his breakfast was a plentitude of sourdough biscuits, which he cooked in a Dutch oven out in the backyard. His pot dough had been perking along happily for over ten years, and the first thing he did upon rising was check it out. The rest of the breakfast was secondary, just a matter of whacking off a few slabs of bacon and frying a panful of pullet eggs.” —Lonesome Dove

I recently had the immense pleasure of reading Larry McMurtry’s epic and masterful Lonesome Dove. I have to agree with Brett, my grandfather-in-law, and many others who note it as a lifetime favorite read that they’ll return to again and again.

In addition to the story’s epic narrative arcs, part of what makes the book so compelling are the vivid descriptions of cowboy life at the close of the Old West. As a home bread baker, one of the details that stood out to me the most was Augustus McCrae’s famous sourdough biscuits. He made them every morning for the Hat Creek crew (a group of Texas Rangers on a cattle drive), and kept his sourdough starter alive for over a decade. If you’re a baker, you know how impressive that is. And upon some further research, I came to discover that his concoction was fairly common for cowboys back in the day (and still is among the ranchers who continue to operate). I had to find a way to make some cowboy-style sourdough biscuits of my own, so I got to work experimenting.

Generally, biscuits are a little bit involved — the dough is made with baking powder, baking soda, and/or yeast and has butter cut into it, and the biscuits are cooked on a baking sheet in the oven, coming out super fluffy and flakey.

That’s not a cowboy biscuit. First off, sourdough is utilized for substance, rising, and flavor. Sourdough is self-sustaining, so it’s perfect for a cattle drive. Cowboy biscuits are also cooked not in a standard oven, but in the Dutch variety, often over the hot coals of a morning cooking fire. And instead of mixing butter (or lard) into the dough, we’re just using it to grease the oven, so the biscuits turn out more dense and cake-like than fluffy.

Below you’ll find my recipe for making Gus McCrae’s sourdough biscuits. You’ll notice a few modern liberties were taken; McCrae was a man of leisure and convenience, so I believe he’d approve.

First, You Need Sourdough Starter

Now, there are whole books written about sourdough. If you’ve never baked before, you probably don’t want to start with this recipe. Having some knowledge at the outset will be a great help. For the uninitiated, sourdough starter is basically a living ball of flour and water that’s used as a natural riser for any sort of bread product. Rather than using store-bought yeast, you use this. The starter requires regular “feeding” of flour and water (yeast is a living organism, remember) and can be maintained for decades, à la McCrae. How often it needs feeding depends on how often you’re using the starter. Augustus was feeding his every day, since it was being used every day. Mine gets fed once a week or so, the night before being used in a recipe.

How do you get it going? I was given a King Arthur Sourdough Starter last Christmas that’s been super easy to use and maintain. Some folks consider that cheating. I don’t. If you want to truly start from scratch, Tartine Bread is considered the master class on the topic.

Once you have a healthy sourdough starter that you’re comfortable with, proceed to the rest of this recipe.

Ingredients

• 1 cup sourdough starter
• 1 cup flour (all-purpose or bread flour, preferably, although McCrae probably only had whole wheat available)
• 1/2 Tbsp sugar
• 1/2 Tbsp baking powder (slightly cheating, I know; use this though to create just a little extra fluff in your biscuits, otherwise you’ll end up with a very dense biscuit)
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/4 cup milk (I used whole)
• 1 Tbsp melted butter (McCrae likely used lard; I didn’t have any on hand)

This should get you 7 biscuits or so. That’s enough for a single cowboy who shares McCrae’s legendary appetite. For most, it’s enough for 2-3 cowpunchers, especially if served with bacon and eggs.

Directions

1. Get Cookfire Started/Preheat Oven 

If you’re harnessing the true spirit of McCrae and cooking over a fire, get it started before mixing your dough. When using fire to cook rather than just to sit around and enjoy, you actually want to utilize hot coals and embers versus large flames. So get things going, let the flame actually die down a little bit, and let your logs turn into piping hot, simmering embers. This took me 15-20 minutes, and just a single large log with several smaller branches. 

If using a conventional oven, now is the time to preheat to 400 degrees F. 

2. Combine Dry Ingredients + Sourdough Starter

Throw it all in a mixing bowl and whisk together. 

3. Add Milk; Mix to Create Dough

Add your 1/4 cup of milk, and using a spatula, mix it all together until it forms a chunky dough. Then, use your hands to knead for a few minutes until it comes together as a single, mostly smooth ball of dough.

4. Turn Out and Pat Down

Turn out the dough onto a floured counter (or baking mat, as seen above), and pat it into a roughly round shape, about 1/2″ thick.

5. Grease the Dutch Oven

Melt a tablespoon of butter and pour it onto the bottom of the Dutch oven. Spread around to be sure the bottom is evenly coated.

6. Cut Biscuits and Place Into Oven

Use a biscuit cutter to create your biscuits, or a pocket knife if you’re feeling particularly like a cowboy. After you’ve done as many as you can with your round of dough, put all the scraps together and roll it out again with your hands. (I was able to get 7 biscuits from this recipe.) Put your biscuit rounds into the greased oven.

7. Cook 

If cooking over a hot fire, you’ll only need 15-20 minutes; if cooking in the oven, give it 30-35 minutes. Consider flipping the biscuits halfway through so both sides get a nice, crispy butter coating, but it’s not strictly necessary. 

Serve warm; as with all biscuits, they’re not nearly as good the next day, or even a few hours later. This is especially true since this is a more dense biscuit than you’re used to. Literally, get ’em while they’re hot! When you split open a biscuit, give it a hearty whiff; the smell of warm sourdough will transport you right to the plains of Texas, if you’re not there already!

The post How to Make Cowboy Biscuits appeared first on The Art of Manliness.

Based in Lonavala, India, the Gabion House adopts its namesake feature as the backbone of the home. The wall is 8 foot wide and runs the entire length of the...

Visit Uncrate for the full post.

In the mid-60s, the Baldwin Chevrolet dealership and Motion Performance, a Chevrolet tuner, combined forces to offer customized cars. In 1971, the federal government shut them down in a crackdown...

Visit Uncrate for the full post.

As a beginning photographer, it can be hard to come up with photography ideas. What should you take pictures of? It seems like such a simple question, but figuring out where to point your camera or smartphone can be surprisingly difficult. These 18 photography ideas for beginners will have you snapping away in no time. From toys to animals to the night sky, cool photography ideas abound. All you need to do is start snapping! 1. A Rubik’s Cube Let’s start with something simple. Many of us have a Rubik’s cube lying around somewhere, probably in your basement or attic...

Read the full article: 18 Creative Photography Ideas for Beginners to Improve Their Skills

Gmail is the most popular email provider in the world, but that doesn’t mean it’s right for everyone. Perhaps you want to start afresh with a new Gmail address to reduce the amount of spam you get. Maybe you’re worried about the privacy implications of using Google’s services. Or do you want to change to an email provider that doesn’t have so many limitations? If so, you probably want to delete your old Gmail account. Luckily, it’s surprisingly straightforward. Best of all, you don’t need to delete your entire Google account, meaning you can retain your data on YouTube, Play...

Read the full article: How to Delete Your Gmail Account

Our verdict of the Populele:Buy it if you're a complete ukulele novice. Otherwise, there are better alternatives for those who are familiar with stringed instruments.710Learning to play the ukulele doesn’t have to be hard. And with the Populele, the world’s first smart ukulele, it’s now easier than ever. Imagine learning to play the ukulele without paying for classes, scouring YouTube for tutorial videos, or deciphering utterly confusing chord sheets. Instead, picture a ukulele that will show you exactly where to place your fingers on the fretboard and actually playing songs in your first attempt. That’s Populele. Background Populele originally came...

Read the full article: Populele Review: Learn to Play the Ukulele in 15 Minutes

From media and documents to applications and system preferences, your Mac Finder eats every kind of data you throw at it. Even when you’re using other apps, Finder is the final destination for data and preferences. No wonder it gets cluttered up so often! A thorough Finder cleanup every now and then is necessary, but it can only take you so far. You need a good strategy for dodging clutter as well as clearing it. Lost files, distracting data, and space-hogging duplicates can really suck up valuable space. Let’s look at five strategies you can adopt to reduce clutter in...

Read the full article: Reduce Finder Clutter and Mac Junk With Aliases, Tags, and More

I spent close to a decade of my life as a sports photographer and during this time it never crossed my mind to shoot dance. My dance photography all began when I was asked by a friend who was auditioning for a dance program to help with her audition photos.

I didn’t have a clue about what to do, but thankfully she was very patient and the photos turned out okay. She got into the program and credited me for the images. People saw the work I had done and through a series of fortunate events, I soon found myself working with pre-professional and professional dancers in my area.

My style is heavily influenced by my foundation in sports photography. To me, two distinct elements that make a good dance photograph is its ability to showcase a person’s physical attributes while conveying a sense of feeling and emotion.

I’ve realized that there isn’t a lot of literature on the Web with regards to dance photography, so here are four simple pointers that I thought I’d share to help any photographer get started on this journey.

Pointer #1. Set your camera and lights to freeze the action

A blur image is the thin line between a good photo and a great one. Motion blur can be a dance photographer’s enemy and freezing action outdoors and in a studio requires two completely different sets of considerations.

In sunlight freezing the action is more straightforward. The sun is a continuous source and all one would need would be a fast shutter speed. I find 1/400s to be sufficient to freeze movement. I supplement any fill-in requirements with neutral reflectors to keep the temperature on the subject consistent.

In the studio, things are different. Shutter speeds have no impact on freezing the action when using strobes. Flash duration — in particular, the t0.1 rating of a strobe — determines how well one would be able to freeze action. Without getting into the technical details, all you essentially need to take note of is that the shorter the t0.1 time, the better for freezing the action. From my experience, a t0.1 rating of 1/2000s is sufficient to stop any action associated with human motion.

Do not be concerned if you can’t locate the t0.1 rating in your strobe’s manual. Just get your assistant to wave his or her hands while you take a shot at full power. Then drop the power on the strobe until the motion blur stops. This works because flash durations reduce when strobe powers are dropped. This method might take a little experimenting but it works every time.

Pointer #2. Use back button focus

One significant feature I adopted from my background as a sports photographer is to set the autofocus mode on your camera to continuous and to use of the autofocus button on the back to focus. This takes a while to get used to, but decoupling the shutter release from the autofocus allows you to release the shutter as you see the action with next to no lag.

Another plus point of using the back button focus is the ability to pre-focus when needed. This is exceptionally useful for situations where the subject turns or jumps on the spot. You just pre-focus on the person and release the shutter when the time is right.

Pointer #3. Keep the set up simple

The first couple of times I shot dance saw me set up five lights just to shoot one person. Given the complexity of my set up, I spent more time directing my assistant in adjusting the lights than actually communicating with the dancer. This lack of two way communication with the dancer led me to capture numerous wasted images that the dancer did not use afterward.

I have since evolved towards simpler set-ups with no more than two lights at any one time. I also make it a point now to ask the dancer before every shot what he or she hopes for me to capture. This has helped me to create more usable images with a lot less effort.

Pointer #4. Take the dancer’s perspective

Understanding the technical elements of what you are shooting always pays off. Renowned dance photographers Rachel Neville, Vikki Slovitor, and Deborah Ory all have backgrounds in dance and I believe this knowledge has contributed towards their ability to create amazing images.
 
For those among us who aren’t able to turn back the clock and enroll into ballet class at the age of 4, it’s not the end. As an alternative, bring a friend who is familiar with dance along as an assistant to help you spot poses and movements. Observe what you can, learn the terminology, and over time you too will know what’s good and what’s not.

As a photographer, speaking the dancer’s language goes a long way. Once you know an attitude from an arabesque and are able to appreciate the aesthetics behind limbs and lines, you’ll not just take better photos, but will also see more work coming your way.

I hope these pointers will prove useful for those considering a start in dance photography. While things are unlikely to be perfect in your first few shoots, as with all things, practice makes perfect.

---

About the author: Shaun Ho is a Asian dance and sports photographer based in Singapore. You can find more of his work on his website and Instagram.

---

Credits: Header photo is of dancer Megan Lau.

Every December, as Earth passes through a debris-filled trail left by the 3200 Phaethon asteroid, we puny humans can get a glimpse of the burning debris, dust, and rocks that is the annual Geminid meteor shower. This year is no different, and all that detritus will provide a pretty dazzling light show tonight, …

Read more...

My colleague Patrick Allan once explained how to avoid being a sore loser at competitive games. Let’s revisit his lesson in a higher-stakes context. Say, an election.

Read more...

Feature: Franklin got the nickname "Ruby City" because the land around it is rich with gems. ...

Feature: An attraction built for those who want to see Florida alligators without having to go outside into Florida heat, rain, and bugs. ...

I love landscape photography.

It's always been my passion in this field, and my selection of cameras over the years is testament to that.

I bought a Nikon D800 back in the day. It was a great camera that was perfect for my landscape photography.

Then, I upgraded to a Nikon D810. Again, it seemed like a perfect camera for capturing landscapes (even more so than the D800).

But now that I have a Nikon D850, it's clear that this camera is tops when it comes to landscapes.

Here's a few reasons why I think the D850 is simply the best camera for landscape photography.

Editor's Tip: If you're in the market for a new camera, you can sell your pre-owned camera to help offset the cost. MPB is one of the best marketplaces in the world for selling (and buying) pre-owned gear. Visit their website to see how to sell your old camera and to check out their inventory of quality pre-owned photography gear.

The Sensor is Second-to-None

Here's the short version of the D850's sensor description - it is the only sensor ever to earn a perfect score from DxO Mark. It is simply unparalleled in terms of the quality of the images it produces.

The longer version of the description is as follows...

At 45.7-megapixels, this sensor isn't exactly a slouch. It's even back-side illuminated, a first for Nikon full frame cameras.

Sure, it doesn't quite meet the resolution of the Canon 5DS and 5DS R (both 50.6-megapixels), but who cares if the quality of the D850's sensor is better?

Besides, the 5-megapixel difference won't have much (if any) impact on your ability to make large prints, which, if you're a landscape photographer, you probably want to do.

Trust me - you won't have any resolution problems when you make large prints of photos taken on a D850.

Learn More:

• The Nikon D850 vs. the (Rumored) Canon 5D Mark V

It Has Excellent ISO Performance and Dynamic Range

Given that the D850 sports a back-side illuminated sensor, it's able to create images that are highly resolute and they have improved dynamic range.

When you take a photo of a landscape, you often find that the sky is very bright and the landscape itself is very dark, creating a dynamic range that's simply too much for most cameras to handle.

When I shoot with my D810, I need a graduated ND filter to help even that dynamic range out.

However, when I shoot with my D850, I find that there are occasions when I don't need a graduated ND at all - this camera is that capable.

It's got tremendous ISO performance, too.

As the light fades, I can shoot at ISO 3200 and above with little noise. That allows me to speed up the shutter and shoot handheld deeper into dusk than ever before. 

It's ISO range extends from 64 up to 102400, too, though I wouldn't recommend pushing the ISO that high if you've got designs on getting sharp, noise-free prints.

You'll Love the LCD and Viewfinder

The D850 has an excellent LCD screen that's not only touch-enabled, but it's also tilting.

That means when I want to get an ultra low-angle shot (or even a high-angle shot), I don't have to wrench my body around to try to see the LCD.

It's a big screen, too, with 3.2-inches of display area and a whopping 2.35-million dots of resolution. In other words, it's big, bright, and beautiful.

I like the fact that it has a virtual horizon built in as well!

As for the viewfinder, well, it's big and beautiful too. 

The D850 lacks a pop-up flash, which means that Nikon could dedicate a little more room to the viewfinder.

As a result, it's got a 0.75x magnification factor, which is the largest of any Nikon camera.

I also appreciate the fact that Nikon thought to add an eyepiece shutter, which helps prevent light leakage during long exposures. 

A bonus of not having a pop-up flash is much-improved weather-sealing. That means you can shoot in the rain, sleet, snow, fog, and other elements and worry less about your camera getting damaged and more about the shots you take.

Learn More:

• What You Need to Know About the Nikon D850 Before Spending a Dime

Focusing is a Breeze

Yet another great thing about the D850 is that its focusing system is top-notch.

It's got a 153-point autofocus system, 99 of which are of the cross-type variety. That makes getting sharp photos of wildlife and other moving objects in your landscape photos much easier.

Of course, with the larger, brighter LCD, manual focus in Live View is much easier as well.

The display is crisp and the touchscreen function is precise, allowing you to quickly select the focus point and get the shot.

If you give a D850 a test drive before purchasing one, I'm betting that you'll be blown away by its ability to lock focus and track moving objects with ease.

Helping matters is the addition of a multi-directional joystick right above the LCD panel that makes for quick adjustments to which autofocus point is selected.

Editor's Tip: Need a new lens for your camera? Buying a pre-owned lens lets you stretch your dollar further and get a higher-end lens for a lower price. MPB has tons of lenses for Nikon and other cameras. Check out their inventory here.

Too Many Features to Even List!

Though the features above are awesome for landscape photographers, they aren't the sum total of incredible features that Nikon has packed into this camera.

It's got 7fps burst shooting, 4K video, a buffer that can accommodate 170 12-bit RAW files, built-in focus stacking and focus peaking, and a wireless shutter.

It's also got Nikon's SnapBridge, which gives you wireless control over the camera right from your smartphone.

Additionally, if you're already a Nikon shooter, the D850 will feel familiar in your hands.

With a similar form factor as the D810 - but with a beefier grip - and a similar button layout, you'll be able to pick up the D850 and feel comfortable almost immediately.

If you're in the market for a new camera for your landscape photography, it's hard to go wrong with this rig!

Learn More:

• What Camera Should I Buy? Your Take-You-By-the-Hand Guide

---

Filed under: Bugatti,Auctions,Automotive History,Coupe,Classics,Luxury,Performance

It's one of the most rare and coveted prewar sports cars.

Continue reading First-built 1931 Bugatti Type 55 could fetch $5 million at auction

First-built 1931 Bugatti Type 55 could fetch $5 million at auction originally appeared on Autoblog on Tue, 12 Dec 2017 11:10:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink |  Email this |  Comments

Everyone wants to be an influencer these days. Here's how to actually do it.

Upon its release in 1931, the Type 55 was one of the most advanced cars on the planet. Extremely lightweight with a straight-eight, supercharged motor and unheard-of alloy wheels, the...

Visit Uncrate for the full post.

British cars and British rockstars go together hand-in-glove. Paul McCartney's DB5 is going up for auction and the DB5 of another member of British rock royalty is now for sale....

Visit Uncrate for the full post.

Offered in alongside the Tadek V8-engined DBS model, Aston Martin continued to offer its 4.0-liter inline-six, which was renamed the Vantage — which had traditionally been used to denote the...

Visit Uncrate for the full post.

Bordering the Laponia World Heritage Area, Sápmi Nature Camp lets you experience the indigenous culture of northern Sweden. Guests stay in lavvu tents. Each one is decked out with double...

Visit Uncrate for the full post.

Did you know that you can password protect PDFs? This underused PDF feature is great for when you have to email and sign sensitive forms or contracts. We’ll show you free and professional tools to add a password to your PDF. Do you know of other methods and tools to secure PDFs? Please share in the comments below! How to Password Protect PDFs With Adobe Acrobat Pro DC Adobe Acrobat Pro DC is a full-service PDF creation suite. It’s $14.99 per month after a seven-day free trial. Besides making and editing PDFs, you can password protect PDFs in Adobe Acrobat...

Read the full article: How to Password Protect a PDF: Free and Paid Options

Rolling green hills recede as a drone buzzes up and away from the scientists controlling it. It yoinks behind it, at the end of a tether, a fluttering decoy that flaps and tumbles like a bird in flight. Suddenly, on the drone's video feed, a brown speck appears on the horizon, and—swoop!—arcs to the front of the frame like a bolt of lightning. A peregrine falcon snatches the dummy bird and makes off with it, gone somewhere over the emerald knolls as quickly as it appeared.

Birds of prey are notoriously swift and effective airborne hunters—some can scud at their targets at up to 200 miles an hour. A new study, published today in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, looks for the key to this bloody precision, and suggests that the falcons’ attacking technique offers hints for how to design tools for taking out drones.

To understand how the birds are able to follow such clear paths to their “uncooperative targets” at such high speeds, researchers at the University of Oxford’s Department of Zoology outfitted birds with GPS receivers and small digital cameras to track them and see what they see as they zoom toward targets, such as food lures hurled into the air by a falconer or tugged along by a drone.

The choppy scenes above and below show “how peregrine falcons intercept moving targets that don't want to be caught,” said principal investigator Graham Taylor in a statement. “It turns out that they do this in a similar way to most guided missiles." The trick seems to be in the birds’ capacity for what is called proportional navigation. Instead of barreling down a straight course, the birds are constantly assessing their position relative to the prey. Sometimes, one might twirl in a curlicue and then lock onto a path parallel to its target only when it's poised to strike.

This information is newly useful in part because of the explosive growth of the drone industry, which sold around 2.4 million units in the United States last year. The Federal Aviation Administration has released guidelines designed to keep the industry from spiraling out of control, even as some companies imagine speckling the skies with the flying robots. But airspace can get crowded, and good intentions can't be legislated, so taking out drones that aren’t flying by the rules is a subject of interest. Officials in France and the Netherlands, for example, have already tapped eagles to intercept drones hauling alleged contraband. This new research builds on that idea, with the notion that, instead of training birds to drop drones, designers could make anti-drone drones that behave more like birds.

Biomimesis—borrowing from nature to solve some human problem—has a rich history in the design and manufacturing world. Architects, for instance, might look to animal habitats, eggshells, or bone for guidance in building durable, sustainable structures. It's an idea that's ready to take wing.

While wrenching on my $800 Jeep Grand Wagoneer this past weekend, I made a major gaffe that could have cost me hundreds of dollars. But it was just one of many blunders I’ve made over the years, and it’s the sort of thing I’ve come to embrace. And if you want to get into wrenching, then you should embrace your own…

Read more...

When I first started in photography all those years ago, there wasn't the incredible selection of gear that we have today.

I mean, I started on a film camera, so that tells you how old I am...

That isn't to say that we didn't have a variety of cameras, lenses, shoulder straps and bags, tripods, and other accessories back then. It just wasn't as large of an inventory as we have to choose from today.

So, with that in mind, I wanted to share a few gear tips for beginners so you're sure to get what's most likely to help you improve as a photographer.

Buy Lenses, Not Cameras

Assuming that you have budget constraints (if you don't...that's great for you!), you'll need to decide where to put your money.

Some new photographers think that the best place to spend their money is on a new camera, thinking that the fancy rig will greatly improve the quality of their photos.

Well, that's just not the case...

You still have to understand how to use the camera to take a great picture, so the camera body itself has less to do with the quality of your shots than your know-how.

Furthermore, good lenses will do more for your photos than a new camera any day of the week.

Good glass renders sharper images with more detail, improved dynamic range, less aberrations, and so forth.

Good lenses also perform better in low light and can produce better bokeh (the blurry backgrounds you often see in portraits).

On top of all that, a good lens will last you forever, so it's a great investment, especially if you find high-quality used lenses.

Think about it - good glass is expensive, so if you buy pre-owned, you can stretch your budget and get a great lens without breaking the bank.

For my money, MPB is the place to find great used lenses (and other used gear, too).

In fact, I've bought pre-owned gear from MPB before, and not only was it a great experience, but I saved a ton of money in the process.

That allowed me to get two nice used lenses for about the same price as one of them would have cost me brand-new.

Besides, you can also sell your old gear to MPB and use that money toward making purchases of new-to-you-gear.

So, the moral of the story is to save your money for lenses, not a new camera, and stretch that money as far as possible by buying pre-owned.

Learn More:

• Tips for Buying Used Camera Lenses
• There are Only 3 Lenses You Need in Your Camera Bag

Get a Better Camera Strap

One thing you'll learn very quickly as a new photographer is that the strap that came with your camera is not good.

In fact, it's terrible.

It's flimsy, so it's not something that will stand the test of time.

It's also not comfortable, either, which is a bummer to find out a couple of hours into a photowalk.

They're just not functional, either, always flapping in the breeze and getting in the way when you want to take a photo.

That's why you need to get a better camera strap to solve all those problems.

A great solution is a SpiderLight Hand Strap by Spider Holster, shown above.

As you can see, the strap hugs your hand in a way that gives you the safety and security you need to carry your camera.

But notice that it's not so tight that it cuts off circulation or is hard to get your hand into it.

On the contrary, the unique contoured design of the strap makes for easy on and off. It also puts the camera in the ideal position in relation to your hand, making for an easier shooting experience.

That means that you can easily reach all the controls on your mirrorless or small DSLR.

That also means that you have more freedom of movement to take your photos because your camera is right there in your hand without a long shoulder strap to get in the way.

And as you can see in the GIF above, the SpiderLight Hand Strap is made to last.

It's constructed of flexible, yet strong nylon materials that are both flexible and comfortable.

The inside of the strap is lined with soft foam, too, so your hand won't fatigue as you're out taking photos.

In other words, camera straps might not be the first thing you think to buy for your camera, but they can make a world of difference!

Learn More:

• Mirrorless Camera Accessories You Need to Have
• Good and Bad Ways to Carry Your Camera

Don't Skimp on a Tripod

Remember when I said a good lens is more important to the quality of your photos than a new camera?

Well, along those same lines, a tripod is one of the most important camera accessories you can buy.

That's true whether you take portraits, landscapes or something in between.

Obviously, the primary benefit of a tripod is that it stabilizes your camera. The more stable your camera, the sharper your photos will be.

But beyond that, having a good tripod allows you to expand your creativity into realms that would otherwise be impossible.

That includes things like long exposure photography or time-lapse photography, in which your camera has to be stable for long periods of time.

And don't think that any tripod will do, either, because tripods certainly aren't made alike.

For top-notch tripods, it's hard to beat Vanguard.

Not only are their tripods built to last, but they also have a wide-range of price points so you can find a tripod for your needs that will fit any budget.

What I particularly like about Vanguard tripods is how easy they are to use - which is not something that cheap tripods can claim.

They have legs that are quickly and easily extended and locked into place. Their legs also have multiple locking angles to accommodate varying terrain (or varying compositional needs, like getting a low-angle shot as shown above).

The Vanguard VEO 235AB shown above also has rubber feet to give it a solid base as well as metal spikes in case you're a landscape photographer and need to set up on uneven ground.

It's compact and lightweight, too, making it a great option for photographers that travel a lot or simply want a solid tripod without carrying around a bunch of weight.

This tripod even comes with a ball head, a bubble-level, and an arca-swiss quick release plate.

That means that for a great price, you get a top-shelf tripod with all the bells and whistles you need to improve your photos.

Learn More:

• The Best Full Size Tripods for Any Budget
• 5 Things You Need to Know About Tripods Before You Buy One

You Need Good Filters, Too

 

If you enjoy landscape photography like I do, there's another piece of kit that you'll want to pick up sooner rather than later - a good set of filters.

Like lenses, not all filters are made alike. By that, I mean that you want to spend a little extra money on getting better quality filters so they help, rather than hinder, the quality of your images.

For landscape photography, there's a few filters you'll want to pick up.

The first one you need is a polarizing filter.

These filters cut down on glare off of things like water, giving your images much-improved visual quality.

They also minimize atmospheric haze and improve the contrast of the sky, resulting in photos with more clarity and pop.

Something else you'll want to pick up is a graduated neutral density filter.

These filters have varying filtering power - they're darker on the top and clear on the bottom - to help even out the dynamic range of landscape photos.

These filters are handy because it allows you to darken the sky (which is often quite bright) and have no effect on the landscape (which is often dark, anyway).

The result of that is that your landscape photos have a much more even exposure and a pleasing look.

Regular neutral density filters are another type of filter you should think about adding to your kit.

These filters have a consistent level of filtering power throughout, which allows you to darken the entire scene.

This comes in handy when you want to use a longer exposure during the daytime, which helps you show movement in your photos, as seen in the blurred waterfall above.

Without a neutral density filter, the image above would be wildly overexposed. If long exposure is something you want to try, this filter is a must.

When looking for filters, I suggest you check out Formatt-Hitech.

These guys know how to make a top-quality filter without busting your budget.

They've got polarizing filters, graduated neutral density filters, neutral density filters, and more. In other words, you can find whatever filter you need at Formatt-Hitech.

And speaking from experience, these filters are impeccably made. Their Firecrest line of filters is especially impressive, which render clear, crisp results without worry of aberrations or color inconsistencies.

Take it from me - your landscape photos will be better if you use good filters!

Learn More:

• A Guide to Lens Filters for Absolute Beginners
• The Best Filters to Have in Your Bag (and Why You Need Them)

---

{source 0} {/source}

Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

At one point or another, we all learned about World War II.

But it's an event that's so detailed and widely spread that it's impossible to learn everything.

That means that there are hundreds - perhaps thousands - of events during the war about which most people never learn.

The images in this article recount some of those events and the people that lived them.

By U.S. Navy photographer [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons

The fresh-faced young man in the photo above is Calvin Graham, the youngest U.S. servicemember to enlist and fight in World War II.

Graham enlisted in the Navy in Houston, Texas, on August 15, 1942, spurred to do so after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7th of the previous year.

When he enlisted, he was only 12 years old, yet he managed to fool everyone into thinking he was old enough to serve.

He did so on the USS South Dakota, where he participated in the Battle of Santa Cruz. He was wounded on Guadalcanal.

Graham won the Purple Heart, the Bronze Star, and received a Navy Unit Commendation for his actions in the war.

Once the Navy discovered his real age, he was dishonorably discharged, and his awards were rescinded. However, he won an honorable discharge in 1978, and eventually all his medals were reinstated.

By Official Finnish photograph [Public domain or Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons

During the Winter War between Finland and the Soviet Union, Finnish ski soldiers were able to kill 40 Soviet troops for every one Finnish troop that perished.

The skill of Finnish soldiers in repelling Soviet advances helped the country to remain unoccupied throughout the war. In fact, Helsinki is one of only three European capitals (along with London and Moscow) never to be occupied by enemy troops.

By Helmuth Ellgaard (1913-1980) (Familienarchiv Ellgaard) [CC BY-SA 3.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0)], via Wikimedia Commons

Though Japanese Kamikaze pilots are well-known in World War II history, there were suicide pilots in the European Theater as well.

Soviet pilots would sacrifice themselves by flying directly into German planes in an act that they called taran, which means "battering ram."

Though some of the Soviet pilots were quick enough to eject before the collision, many perished.

Public Domain, via Wikimedia Commons

The man pictured above is Hiroo Onoda, an intelligence officer with the Japanese Army during World War II.

He was stationed in the Philippines and held the rank of second lieutenant.

When Japanese forces surrendered to the United States in August 1945, Onoda refused to surrender, instead manning his post for an additional 29 years.

Only after his former commander came to the Philippines to issue direct orders to surrender did Onoda go home. 

Public Domain, via Wikimedia Commons

The first concentration camp established by the Nazis in Germany was Dachau, which was built on the grounds of an abandoned munitions factory and opened in 1933 - six years before the outbreak of war.

Heinrich Himmler, the infamous subordinate of Hitler, opened the camp to house imprisoned Jews, criminals, and foreign nationals from countries Germany occupied.

Eventually, Dachau grew to include almost 100 individual camps. The camp was liberated by U.S. troops on May 1, 1945, after 12 years of operation and more than 32,000 documented deaths. Untold thousands more deaths were undocumented.

Public Domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Though many countries suffered terrible losses of life during World War II, Poland was especially hard-hit.

More than six million people in Poland were killed during the war, most of which were civilians killed during the Nazi occupation of the country. In the image above, Polish citizens are rounded up by the Nazis for forced labor.

In all, about one-fifth of the country's population perished in the span of approximately six years.

By Darkone (Darkone) [CC BY-SA 2.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons

German U-boats had a mystique about them as vicious naval vessels, particularly during World War I.

However, in World War II, they were much more effective when used for economic warfare to raid commerce ships and enforce blockades.

Though torpedoes were the weapon of choice, U-boats also made use of underwater mines and even deck guns that could be fired when the vessel was surfaced. You can see the deck guns on the U-boat in the image above.

By 日本語: 米国海軍 English: United States Navy [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons

The Japanese submarine I-401, shown above, far left, was the largest submarine in the world during World War II.

It was commissioned in January 1945, far too late to have any impact on the course of the war. In August 1945, the submarine's crew surrendered to the crew of the USS Segundo.

Eventually, the sub was sunk off of Pearl Harbor in May 1946.

By The original uploader was MIckStephenson at English Wikipedia (Transferred from en.wikipedia to Commons.) [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons

During the war in Europe, the greatest need for ships was to transport troops from the United Kingdom to mainland Europe.

As a result, the U.S. Army actually had more vessels than the U.S. Navy.

In the image above, taken on D-Day on June 6, 1944, you can see the enormity of the invasion fleet.

In all, there were nearly 7,000 vessels involved in the Normandy Landing.

Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

One of the most dangerous missions in the war was to fly bombing raids over Europe.

Anti-aircraft guns and Nazi fighter jets were among the perils that Allied bombers faced during their runs.

Yet, over the course of the War, the U.S. Army Air Force dropped 623,418 tons of explosives on Germany alone. The image above is from a raid on a factory in Marienberg, Germany in 1943.

Bundesarchiv, Bild 183-1987-0703-507 / unbekannt / CC-BY-SA 3.0 [CC BY-SA 3.0 de (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/de/deed.en)], via Wikimedia Commons

Germany invaded or attacked a number of countries during World War II.

However, it only officially declared war on one nation - the United States - which it never invaded.

In the photo above, Hitler is seen announcing his declaration of war against the United States on December 11, 1941, in the Reichstag.

Via USA Social Condition

---

{source 0} {/source}

From Al Capone's ride to Vladimir Putin's, these hot wheels are built to stay cool under fire

Best holiday gift guide
For my tastes, the best holiday gift guide is the annual catalog of cool books, games, toys, and diy tools put together by The Kid Should See This website. Ordinarily the site hosts the best video clips your kids should see, but during the holidays they compile this long and annotated list of cool stuff that is aimed at active kids, but also works for adults with young minds. — KK

One app for all your messages
I use a lot of different messaging services. It was a hassle to open them all and switch from app to app. I’m glad I found Franz, which consolidates all your chat & messaging services into one application. I use it for Hangouts, Slack, Skype, Facebook Messenger, LinkedIn, and Telegram. It’s free. — MF

Block website tracking
Ghostery chrome extension shows me what’s being tracked when I visit a website and blocks it. I don’t know what it all means, but it makes web pages load faster and less cluttered and I like it. — CD

My primary travel luggage
I travel a lot, mostly overseas, often for many weeks at a time, and sometimes in very remote parts of the world. I pack everything I need for 3 weeks or more of adventuring and business speeches into one carry-on size luggage. My bag of choice is the Travel Pro Crew, also highly recommended by the intense researchers at the Wirecutter. At 20-inches in length it fits easily overhead, has plenty of storage, pockets and recessed wheelies. Fully packed it won’t tip over. This is slightly lighter, cheaper (and shorter) than Travel Pro’s Magna 22-inch model, but since I carry on rather than check it, it’s held up fine. — KK

Comfortable driving pillow
This car pillow makes long drives, slow traffic and neck pain more tolerable. The material is so soft and it’s so nice to lean my head back on this after work. When my husband drives he can easily adjust it to his height. — CD

Interested in Bitcoin? You need a hardware wallet
I wrote a story for Wired about forgetting my password on a small USB device that stored my bitcoin keys and how I hired a hacker to help me unlock it. Despite my experience, I’m still using the same hardware wallet (the manufacturer updated the firmware to address the exploit) because it’s still the best way to keep hackers away from your cryptocurrency. It’s called a Trezor and it costs about $85. If you have more the $1000 in bitcoin, ether, bitcoin cash, or other cryptocurrency, I recommend getting one. — MF

Get the Recomendo weekly newsletter a week early by email.

-- Kevin Kelly, Mark Frauenfelder and Claudia Dawson

 

 

The revolution will not be centralized – as they say.

One can see why the central bankers are getting antsy. Though Fed Chair nominee Powell said this week that Bitcoin wasn’t that important.

OK.

(Powercompare.co.uk)

Here are a few other interesting facts about Bitcoin mining and electricity consumption:

• In the past month alone, Bitcoin mining electricity consumption is estimated to have increased by 29.98%

• If it keeps increasing at this rate, Bitcoin mining will consume all the world’s electricity by February 2020.

• Estimated annualised global mining revenues: $7.2 billion USD (£5.4 billion)

• Estimated global mining costs: $1.5 billion USD (£1.1 billion)

• Number of Americans who could be powered by bitcoin mining: 2.4 million (more than the population of Houston)

• Number of Britons who could be powered by bitcoin mining: 6.1 million (more than the population of Birmingham, Leeds, Sheffield, Manchester, Bradford, Liverpool, Bristol, Croydon, Coventry, Leicester & Nottingham combined) Or Scotland, Wales or Northern Ireland.

• Bitcoin Mining consumes more electricity than 12 US states (Alaska, Hawaii, Idaho, Maine, Montana, New Hampshire, New Mexico, North Dakota, Rhode Island, South Dakota, Vermont and Wyoming)

Click here for the article.

You can use Excel for your checklists. Many apps promise to handle your to-do list, but do you really need yet another app? If you’re already spending your days in Excel, look no further. Even if you don’t want to use it as an everyday to-do list app, a checklist is a good way to keep track of what you still need to do in your spreadsheet, directly in the spreadsheet itself. Let’s see what you can do with checklists in Excel. How to Make a Checklist in Excel We’ll show you how to create a checklist with checkboxes you...

Read the full article: How to Create a Checklist in Excel Like the Pros Do

Do you have thousands of photos on your iPhone? Is it hard to find any of the pictures you’re looking for? Is your iPhone storage full? Then you need to work on the way you manage photos. Fortunately, improving your photo management practices is easy. With a few new habits, some cloud storage, and an app or two, you can get your iPhone’s Camera Roll back under control in no time. Review Your Photos Immediately It’s easy to snap a few photos and then forget about them until… well, possibly never. And that’s the number one thing that fills up...

Read the full article: Improve Your iPhone Photo Management to Free Up More Space