Category: Tech

Photo by Joe WilcoxMar 9, 202311:04 pm

Driving Disaster

What an appropriate time to see this vanity plate, as we meet the challenges of a medical emergency (not involving either my wife or myself but someone else). After a long day dealing with the situation, I chose takeaway for supper. Returning home from Pizza Hut, I came upon the car at the stoplight on Florida Street at El Cajon Blvd.

I pulled out Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra and shot the Featured Image through the windshield. Vitals: f/2.4, ISO 640, 1/35 sec, 70mm (film equivalent); 7:07 p.m. PST; composed as captured. Typically, I obscure the numbers and/or letters but what privacy is there to protect with something so bold and timely as crisis. Oh, yeah, it’s rememberable, too.

Photo by Joe WilcoxMar 7, 20239:17 pm

My Moon Shot

Driving home tonight, I came upon the most magnificent moon rising on the Eastern Horizon. I pulled over the car at Georgia and Meade, which crests a hill, here in San Diego community of University Heights. I had read that, using the 100x zoom (optical and digital), Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra can produce impressive moon shots. Is it perfect? No. Is it fantastic coming from a device carried in the pocket? Absolutely. Wow.

The Featured Image has a little help from Adobe Photoshop Lightroom, which I used to tweak the white balance and to amp dehaze and texture settings. Vitals: f/4.9, ISO 50, 1/120 sec, 230mm (film equivalent); 6:48 p.m. PST. Composed as captured.

Mobility by Joe WilcoxMar 5, 20239:22 pm

Can Your Clunky WiFi Do THIS?

During visiting hours at a hospital in Encinitas, Calif., today, I needed to access a file from Google Drive that refused to open. I wondered if Internet bandwidth could be culprit, so out came the […]

Photo by Joe WilcoxMar 2, 20238:35 pm

Stoneman Says ‘Break Out Your Winter Weather Gear’

Because of a family emergency, I post briefly and quickly. I used Leica Q2 to capture the Featured Image on Dec. 14, 2022. What is stone snowman’s relevance in March 2023? The literal mountains of snow coming down in California.

Let this excerpt from a Sacramento Bee news story—dateline today—give glimpse: “Mammoth snow totals fell in the greater Lake Tahoe area between Monday and Wednesday…In those three days, between 5 and 8 feet of snow was recorded in parts of the mountains, including 92 inches at the Palisades Tahoe ski resort, according to the weather service”.

Photo by Joe WilcoxMar 1, 20238:33 pm

The Cats of University Heights: Bristle

From the door we go to the window: Different resident owners and different wonderous pets. In August 2019, we met Misty, during her last days living in an apartment listed for rent. Same flat, on Jan. 21, 2023, a seemingly scowling tabby looks onto the world where he (or she) cannot go. That’s lucky, too, because it’s pup season and more coyotes hunt the neighborhood streets than is typical. These are dangerous nights (and days) for any of the scrawny scavengers’ potential prey. This situation also partially explains why so many of our recent profiles are indoor kitties.

The Featured Image comes from Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra. Vitals: f/4.9, ISO 40, 1/900 sec, 230mm (film equivalent); 3:16 p.m. PST. For perceived manner and fur coloration that reminds me of a brush, this fine feline earns nickname Bristle.

Photo by Joe WilcoxFeb 28, 20238:23 pm

Another Alley Treasure

I sometimes wonder why San Diegans put such valuable items in alleys for free. Take this bureau that my wife and I came upon yesterday. The condition is, at the least, very good. Craftmanship is excellent, and the dresser is solid wood—no particle board! Some antique shop might even put a hefty price tag on the discard. If we had need, or space, I would have stood guard while Annie fetched the car.

The find presented opportunity to test one of Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra‘s higher megapixel modes. Standard default is 3:4 at 12MP. But 50MP and 200MP are available at the tap of a finger. The Featured Image and companion were shot at the former. Original files measure 8160 x 6120 pixels and weigh in at 14.6MB and 13.1MB, respectively, before being cropped 3:2.

Photo by Joe WilcoxFeb 27, 20238:30 pm

Wow, Samsung, 200MP is for Real

If you are considering purchasing Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra look no further than the Featured Image—or, rather, the original digital file, which weighs in at 51MB and monstrous 16320 x 12240 pixels. Click at your own risk, and if you do be sure to zoom in and regard the detail—all the while remembering that this moment comes from a smartphone, not a dedicated camera.

The classic Ford, which I passed parked in an alley, today, is my first shot taken at 200 megapixels. You know, the feature some people regard as a gimmick, given the device’s tiny image sensor. Call me skeptical, too, until randomly stopping to test the capability. The photo is presented as captured. No cropping. No editing. If you aren’t amazed, I surely am.

Photo by Joe WilcoxFeb 26, 20239:33 pm

Better Than Mardi Gras

The days when rain isn’t falling, but the ground is wet and the air sweet Spring fresh and moist, are delightful. Over on Louisiana Street, some young men made festive the late afternoon of Feb. 22, 2023. They skateboarded to boombox rock, and I absolutely loved the spirit and ambiance they created. Why not bang on doors and have an impromptu block party?

Pepto, who is among the “Cats of University Heights” sauntered through the mayhem, taking up observant position by a car. That’s his block, baby.

Photo by Joe WilcoxFeb 25, 20238:24 pm

Mother Nature’s Remedy

Crazy best describes the year’s winter weather across California—so much rain has fallen that the drought is effectively over. Snow blanketed Los Angeles today. There is a (gasp) blizzard warning, too, that remains in effect. You won’t see many, if any, scantily-clad roller skaters this weekend.

The white stuff piles up across the more mountainous areas here in San Diego County, such as Julian. Closer to the coast, rain is Mother Nature’s prescription for an area that had been sick with drought. Thank you!

Photo by Joe WilcoxFeb 24, 20239:04 pm

The Overlook Remembered

Twice we have shared the view from the Madison Avenue overlook in University Heights—2017 and 2021. The Featured Image gives glimpse from 2013. Yep, 10 years ago. Click the links to the two other musings; do compare the photo from the more recent of the pair with the one above.

You will see: Where once was a college is now a massive condominium complex. San Diego politicians can’t authorize the building of enough unaffordable housing. Why is that? Homeless encampments bear too much resemblance to refugee temporary housing—tent upon tent upon tent—seen in (other) countries besieged by natural disaster or war. Well, they give high-rise tenants living in high-cost flats something outside the window to look at.

Photo by Joe WilcoxFeb 23, 20238:30 pm

World at War

February 24 marks the first anniversary of Russia’s incursion into Ukraine. The United States’ involvement prolongs the conflict—leading to more lives lost and ever-increasing destruction of homes, businesses, and infrastructure.

As allies join the fracas—and increase armaments supplied to Ukraine (OMG, tanks!), along with billions upon billions of financial support—what should have been a regional conflict escalates to global war. We are on the brink, and Joseph Biden’s ministrations in Kyiv this week and elsewhere among NATO members sets the world on a dangerous course. Europeans prepare for the possibility of nuclear bombings (one, two, three examples), while Americans are as clueless as lemmings racing towards the cliff.

Photo by Joe WilcoxFeb 22, 20238:28 pm

A Christmas Tree for Lent

Wicked winds roared through San Diego on this Ash Wednesday, which is also President George Washington’s birthday (in 1732 by the Gregorian calendar). Sustained, from the West 32 to 40 kilometers per hour (20 to 25 mph) and reaching 72 kph (45 mph) or more.

When the gusts were greatest, my wife and I chose to walk around Westfield Mission Valley rather than endure blowing debris and risk being pelted (injured or killed) by falling/flying palm fronds. We started at Bed, Bath, and Beyond, which was absolutely deserted. I mean, day-after-apocalypse abandoned.