Category: Tech

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The Cats of University Heights: Fluff

Oh my, this is the 200th profile since the series started in October 2016. I expected a month time-frame, never imagining that in a dog neighborhood there would be so many cats. Our friendly feline also is third in a row from Alabama and twenty-fourth featured from that street. The two recent others: Maxie and Striker.

Yesterday, while walking with my wife, I spotted the presumed Maine Coon between Howard and Polk. Fluff is appropriate nickname, don’t you think? The kitty stayed put long enough for me to get the farther Featured Image and to move in closer for the companion. 

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The Cats of University Heights: Maxie

Call me flabbergasted. Four days after seeing Striker, along Alabama between Mission and Madison, my wife and I encountered Maxie and his owner on the same block. The tabby is the twenty-third profiled from the street, and—gasp—another, spotted earlier today, will be next up.

Maxie came to his 71-ish caretaker about 24 months ago. The feline started hanging around, even though he technically belong to neighbors. They left about a year later, and the kitty stayed behind. Maxie rooms with another cat, whose story we may share sometime soon. 

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The Cats of University Heights: Striker

Yesterday, my wife and I walked along Alabama between Mission and Madison, beyond which we could make out silhouetted Itchy Valentino shading on the next block. I stopped, seeing orange fur against foliage along a driveway. A cat! She spotted his prey—an overly large lizard—that (sorry) was no longer visible when I shot the Featured Image using Leica M10 and Summarit-M 1:2.4/50 lens. By posture, you can see stalking still.

Photo vitals: f/5.6, ISO 200, 1/250 sec, 50mm; 4:13 p.m. PDT. The EXIF shows f/4.8, which the camera estimates based on other settings. I am sure about the aperture. 

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The Cats of University Heights: Dutch

We close out the month and first half of the year—on a Caturday! In celebration, please meet the husky shorthair nicknamed Dutch. I couldn’t approach close enough to read the tag attached to his collar. Thus, he earns the moniker for distinctive sighting: First feline on New York Street, which dead-ends into a canyon on one side and Madison on the other. In the 1620s, Dutch settlers claimed the area around and on Manhattan Island that the English would later rename New York. Does that make any sense of my choice?

I used Leica M10 and Summarit-M 1:2.4/50 lens to capture the Featured Image, yesterday at 3:24 p.m. PDT. Same day, the camera manufacturer released new firmware, which I updated. Dutch has the honor of being first cat captured with v2.4.5.0, which changes default auto-ISO to 200—supposedly to improve dynamic range. The camera now also includes (guessed) aperture in the EXIF (e.g. metadata). Vitals: f/2.5, ISO 200, 1/750 sec, 50mm. 

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My Tidal Time Ends

As explained yesterday, Google Store Father’s Day sale specials spurred along my decision to abandon Apple for Pixel devices and supporting services, nothing more. I had contemplated such a move for some time before acting, which brings me to revealing another change: Leaving behind Tidal.

I have subscribed to the high-fi, lossless music streaming service since its rebranded launch under Jay Z (and partners) ownership: April 1, 2015. A few other times I cancelled, mainly because of monthly cost ($19.95), but resubscribed during the billing cycle. Why? I can hear the difference, particularly in vocals, which pulled me back. Every other option makes muddy audio. But I have finally decided to, regrettably, put value before fidelity. 

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The Cats of University Heights: Royal

I read about this beautiful Bengal for about a month in various posts on the NextDoor social network before finally making contact, June 7, 2018. Residents wanted to know who this animal belonged to, if anyone, with some confusing the regal feline for Abby, who lives about four blocks away.

Earning nickname Royal, the cat commanded great presence. During our early evening walk, the shorthair approached my wife and I, coming up Monroe Ave. Interestingly, a ginger followed about a half-block behind, eventually seeking refuge either in the alley or some yard between Louisiana and Texas streets. 

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OK, Google, I Surrender

They say the devil you know is better than the one you don’t. That sentiment is root of a change in progress: Abandoning Apple for Google, choosing one digital lifestyle over the other—and not for the first time. If you’d ask me on May 30th about giving up the fruit logo company for the search behemoth, the response would have been a chuckle. Yeah, right. But, correcting Apple co-founder Steve Jobs’ grammar, in less than 30 days I think differently, which whys this reflection explains.

Like many other decisions, this one didn’t just happen. Like suddenly blossoming Spring, change had been budding for many months, as the cold winter ways of my thinking responded to nurturing warmth and water. I was never really satisfied giving up my Pixel lifestyle—whether Chromebook, smartphone, or tablet—but did so somewhat reluctantly in March 2016 for three simple reasons that today aren’t as important. 

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The Cats of University Heights: Maui

We follow Phil with the twenty-first feline seen on Alabama street. This fellow lives in the same residence as Itchy Valentino and Mr. Kitty, no less. I take a chance not clarifying the name, which the owner told me recently. I asked if the spelling was Maui. He hesitated, then said yes. But, in retrospect, I wonder if he could have meant: Meowee, which isn’t a stretch considering the others’ monikers. I will change should that prove correct.

I first spotted Maui under the shade of a chair on May 15, 2018 but couldn’t get a good enough photo through the yard’s fence. He presented again, street-side, on June 1, when I shot the Featured Image using Leica M10 and Summarit-M 1:2.4/50 lens. Vitals: f/5.6, ISO 100, 1/90 sec, 50mm; 9:37 a.m. PDT.

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The Cats of University Heights: Darth Mew

It’s a Friday doubleheader: two beasties with Star Wars names—and real they are! We follow Princess Leia with Darth Mew, whom my wife and I met on June 10, 2018. Texas Street is the neighborhood’s designated boundary, and we saw Darth just beyond as we walked in the direction of Arizona.

The Featured Image comes from iPhone X. Vitals: f/2.4, ISO 16, 1/60 sec, 6mm. The other is an ever-so-soft-focus portrait taken with Leica M10 and Summarit-M 1:2.4/50 lens. Composed as shot: f/5.6, ISO 200, 1/60 sec, 50mm. Time for both is 8:52 a.m. PDT. 

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The Cats of University Heights: Princess Leia

We celebrate this fine Friday with the start of a two-part Star Wars theme. Who would have guessed that yesterday I would meet a Calico named Princess Leia along Louisiana between Meade and Monroe. She worried me, though, with her scratchy and continuous mews, that she might be lost—or maybe just lonely. She sounded and moved like a mature madam. I regret only getting her name from the tag.

I used the Leica M10 and Summarit-M 1:2.4/50 lens to capture the Featured Image, which is composed as shot. Vitals: f/11, ISO 100, 1/45 sec, 50mm; 12:30 p.m. PDT. The companion, cropped 3:2 and auto-corrected, comes from Google Pixel 2 XL, which I acquired last week to replace iPhone X. (Oh, yes, it’s gone!) Vitals: f/1.8, ISO 91, 1/4673 sec, 4.6mm.