Tetherd Cow Ahead

GEEK ALERT!: Another camera mod that will probably have minimal interest for most of you, but I’m posting it up because I think it’s cool, and because I think you need to know.

The other day I happened to be listening to a podcast that mentioned in passing that over-exposed, processed colour negative film is mostly opaque to all visible light, but readily transmits infrared. The over-exposed bit of the neg looks ‘black’ on the neg strip. It’s actually a very deep blue to the naked eye if you hold it up to a strong light:

Translating: the ‘blue’ bit in the negative above allows infrared light to pass through. “Well, what the hell use is that, Rev!” I can hear you say. “Our eyes can’t see into the infrared!”

Aha! Your eyes can’t, Faithful Acowlyte, but maybe your digital camera can… To check, find a TV remote and press any button on it while pointing it at the camera lens. If the display allows you to see a light blinking on the end of the remote, then the camera’s chip sees infrared. This means (I can see you’re ahead of me now) that you can record infrared images!

Why would you want to do that? Because it’s pretty and mysterious! Isn’t that reason aplenty!? Just clip a piece of the end of an old neg, tape it over your camera lens and Bob’s yer uncle! The film knocks the exposure way down so for best results, set your camera ISO on its lowest setting and use a tripod and a longer exposure. If your camera is a Canon point-and-shoot, you may be able to hack the firmware to get exposure times of up to sixty seconds.

Now, for some striking results, go photograph some vegetation. Here’s a lily in my backyard. The leaves are actually a deep rich green, but because plants reflect so much infrared light (they can’t use it for photosynthesis) their foliage appears red, and sometimes even almost white.

Now. How to record ultraviolet…?

Cow Cool Rating: ☆☆☆☆☆

Spam Observations #49

This morning I received a very touching letter from Rick Hadley, or perhaps from the very pretty, but evidently lonely, Olga. I wasn’t quite sure. Spammer Gender Confusion strikes again. At least Rick/Olga sent me a picture of “herself”.

Hi my friend!

I only wished to write to you the letter and to tell as in general my letter got to you! First I would like to speak a little about myself my name is Olga to me 29 years I live in Russia to Kirov. All the others wash data and a photo in the appendix to the letter data.

Olga, I have absolutely no idea what you’re talking about. OK, I get that you live in Russia and you’re 29. But unless you’re trying to attract a geek with a laundry fetish, I’d lose the data washing. And even though I’m sure your appendix is as hot as the rest of you, a photo of it is something you might want to keep to yourself for a second date. With a surgeon.

I was in agency of acquaintance and to me advised yours e-mail the address I do not know whence they him took but they gave me yours e-mail that I could have acquaintance to you.

‘Whence’…? Nice. We do tend to mostly avoid it these days though. Personally, I like it and would happily see it make a comeback, but I think I’m in a small minority. I’m also partial to ‘heretofore’ and ‘wherewithal’ though they don’t get much of guernsey in day-to-day conversation either.

And I only wanted that you have spent about 10 minutes both looked wash a photo and wash data and received from you the answer you would like to have acquaintance to me or you only would not like this?

There we go with the washing again. If Olga is a bot, I think her data has been washed a few too many times.

Tell to me I so only the nobility it much would like. Also I shall wait much your answer.

Olga, I would very much like to oblige, but I am not at all sure what the question is…

I started to search the man as to me very alone and 29 years and I do not have man if you wish to begin with me correspondence or easier to begin acquaintance tell to me your answer. I shall wait much!

I hope your new friend well I hope that I can become for you friend Olga ! Can you send me you photo and story life on my e-mail

Olga encloses with her email a document with a strange name which I assume to be Russian for pleaseturnmypcintoaspamzombie.exe. Now, I don’t like to keep poor Olga waiting much, so, with the help of Babelfish, I’ve responded to her in her native language:

Дорогое Ольга,

Вы для вашей электронной почты. Я надеюсь что это находит вы наилучшим образом. Я нет на все уверенном чего вы значите запитком ваших данных, но оно звучает завораживающий. Я так люблю получить корреспонденцию от милых девушок в зарубежных странах. Какое обслуживание! Откуда, смогу я спросить вам, сделал вас найти мой адрес электронной почты? Я полюбил бы увидеть фотоснимок вашего приложения если вы имеете одно. Я буду держать его прикалывано к моему noticeboard для других насладиться. Вы никогда не знаете, один из моих одиночных мыжских друзей могло бродяжничать мимо и увидеть оно! Я надеюсь услышать от вас очень скоро.

Искренне ваш
Преподобное

Doesn’t that look convincing! This is how Babelfish says it should appear to her:

Dear Olga,

You for your electronic mail. I hope that this finds you in the best way. I no to entire confident of what you you mean by washing your data, but it is casting a spell. I so love to obtain correspondence from dear women in the foreign countries. What maintenance! From where, can I ask to you, he did make you to find my address of electronic mail? I would fall in love to see the photograph of your application if you have one. I will hold his to my of bulletin board for others to take pleasure. You never know, one of my single man friends it could wander by and see it! I hope to hear from you very soon.

Sincerely your
The Saint

I hope she doesn’t keep me waiting much with her reply.

A couple of posts back I mentioned Reborn Baby Dolls in the context of The Uncanny Valley and the problem of distinguishing robots from humans.

Well, Comment Number 22 on that post is very interesting because it is conceivable that it might just possibly have been made by a robot:

August 1st, 2008 at 10:19 pm

Tracy adds:

I will say that reborn dolls are the most realistic looking dolls I’ve ever encountered and dealt with, but don’t you think they are as creepy as they are cute? As mentioned before the ones with the open eyes can give a person the chills.

We can certainly entertain the idea that Tracy’s ‘human’ quotient is converging on robot. We know for sure that she is insincere, since her link takes us back to a Reborn Baby Doll site (well, it did before I made it go somewhere much more appropriate. Tsk. No free advertising of your creepy hobby on The Cow, Tracy).

See, this is the problem with the Uncanny Valley; bots, when approaching any level of ‘humanness’ are likely to appear at first as mad people. Or at the very least, untrustworthy people. I am unable to tell whether Tracy is real or a clever bot that has just done a search for Reborn Baby references and mangled some of my words to make it seem as if a real person has commented, embedding a link back to RBD site. Read it again. Does it make any sense to you? The grammar is wrong and the ‘sense’ of the statement is wrong (she’s agreeing with me, but not really…). Additionally, the cadence of the comment is very similar to some kinds of spam I’ve received – and believe me, I’ve read enough spam to get a very good feeling for it.

OK – show of hands – who thinks Tracy is a real person? And now, who thinks Tracy should make some further ‘guest’ appearances on The Cow?