Photography word for the out of focus bits. The design of the lens, shape and quantity is aperture blades, maximum aperture size, distance to the subject, all kinds of stuff make the blurry bits different. Phones often try to fake this with a portrait mode setting.

Film photography. With smartphones having taken over the roll of point and shoots and covering the majority of people's photography needs, it's quite a different experience breaking out a half century old camera. Everything is more tactile, your shots are finite, and the result is a 100% determined by your decisions. Different films produce different results, and if you get into developing your own film you get to play mad chemist in the bathroom.

There's a learning curve, but if you're already into photography and understand the basics it's really not that hard. Labs still exist to develop for you if you'd rather not go down that rabbit hole. The results may surprise you!

It's not a distraction so much as it's the bait. Gas cooking gets the utility serviced to the building, which enables the gas furnace vs electric heat pump conversation. Gas furnace is cheaper up front, so that's what goes into suburbia.

Builders and developers will always do the absolutely cheapest thing possible to stay competitive, and will only do better when they're either legislated to or consumers demand it. Home builders associations lobby to keep minimum requirements ... minimal, and most consumers just see pretty showers and big kitchen islands, so this is why we still build houses like it's 1980.

Always amuses me how many people care about gas mileage on a $50k car but couldn't give two shits if their $2m home is efficient.

Source: I'm a home designer who frequently has this conversation and that's usually how it goes down.

I don't think the round itself was guided, rather the sniper was guided by visuals and data from the drone. Even more impressive if it was a good ol' analog shot apart from help where to point it.

Photography. Yes you can do it with your phone, but a proper camera makes the process much more intentional. It can cost a fortune, but it can also be relatively cheap. I started off with a little digital camera when my daughter was born to document her kid years, now I'm dragging large format sheet film cameras up mountains on camping trips. Any mirrorless or DSLR from the last decade will get you going. Also photography pairs so well with basically any other hobby and sometimes can provide the motivation to do the other thing. Tons of YouTube videos and channels on the subject.

Biking. Great as a way to get around town in a healthy way. Brings about that joy of being a kid just ripping around the neighborhood. Then I started getting more and more into mountain biking, which has been a fun rabbit hole. Progressed slowly to avoid injury, and now I'm ripping blacks at the bike park and just raced my first enduro last month.

Running. Trail, road, whatever, just run. The best stress relief imaginable, and the best time to work through whatever is in your head. You'll feel better, maybe not always in the beginning but after a run definitely. Buy some shoes and off you go.

Climbing. Noticing a physical activity trend here. Climbing is awesome though. Such freedom of movement, it's like self weighted vertical yoga. Bouldering is a great place to start. No ropes or technical ability required, just bring a friend to a gym and they'll get you started. From there you can get your own shoes, get a membership, learn to top rope, meet some more experienced climbers, go outside with them, learn to lead ... another deep rabbit hole.

Hope those give some inspiration!

Don't let this discourage anyone from trying. Yes it sounds absurd when put that way, and yes the costs are getting out of hand at most major resorts, but it can be an absolutely amazing sport/hobby/passion/lifestyle.

The first few times add up cost wise, hard to get around that, but once you figure out what you're doing and make the decision the sport is for you then it gets better. With a season pass and my own gear I'm <$30cad a day on the hill, and that's at a major BC resort.

Still a big wad of cash for gear and a pass up front, and definitely coming from a privileged lens to say that it's affordable, but lots of people spend way more than that on take out, coffee, booze, streaming services, etc. All about priorities!

I think this is a huge part of the problem. Rental property owners are just a liability buffer for the banks. There should be mortgages at a 1% down payment for first time buyers with a proven track record of making rent payments on time. Maybe the rates are a little higher, with the extra interest giving the banks motivation for taking on the extra risk. Then after the first term the owner can renew with a normal rate.

Doesn't help with the demand issue, but maybe all the rentals will flood the market after nobody is being punished for not having $100k laying around because they're busy paying someone else's carrying costs.

So a water source heat pump tapping into mine shafts, neat. Run the heat pump off wind or solar, have a decent thermal envelope to lower overall demand, voila emission free heating and cooling. Sounds promising to me.

And still is. I shoot a fair bit of black and white film. It's cheaper, I can develop it at home, it produces a silver negative that will last centuries. The medium itself had been around for a century, so it imparts a sense of timelessness. I appreciate a good photo that you can't tell if it's 1924 or 2024 until you notice some dude with a cellphone in the background.

Old camera lenses are awesome. I've got some steel and glass rokkors that are beautiful. They render in such a wonderful way too, so painterly. They have thorium in the glass! Not enough to be sketchy to use but something that obviously isn't done anymore. Bonus points that they can be fixed with a hammer.

Old camera stuff in general is subjectively cooler. The leaf shutters in my 4x5 lenses are incredible little machines. Film in general is cooler than whatever sensor the latest and greatest has. Actual bits of silver suspended in emulsion, with colour filters and dye couplers that react in development. There's a great three part video on YouTube breaking down Kodak's manufacturing process. It's mind boggling that stuff even works. Ohhhh and actually darkroom optical prints! Don't get me started there!

I'm going to develop some rolls I think. Got me in the mood.

Agree to some extent, but a counterpoint; some of us who do need them spend a lot of time doing the adventure things and less time making money, so not enough means or care to have nice normal or urban clothes on top of the expensive adventure kit.

So for sure, a bunch of Arcteryx clad status symbol signaling happening down at the local brewery, but don't judge too harshly. Some of us just came down from the mountains long enough to have a pint.

I'm an architect. It's nice having the project I'm actively working on always active on one screen, with design sketches, marked up revisions, email with comments from client, renderer etc. active on the other. Sure it only saves a second not having to tab back and forth, but if you're doing it non stop all day it makes a big difference. Also just less effort.

"gluteal crease" that's a new one for me, well done.

Right? That's what I'd set my AC to. It's a balmy 18 in my place now and -4 outside. Problem the lack of daylight leasing to the depression. Pop some vitamin d and put a sweater on. Cozy warm clothes are the best clothes.

Knocking on the door of 40. I spent this week moving into my own new place after a decade of toxicity, so this one resonates with me as well.

View from the top of yesterdays mountain bike ride!

Job's done!

Doubtful it's the longest I have looked for something, but going on a month or so trying to find my baking sheet. I just want to roast some veggies damn it. How do you lose a baking sheet!?

They changed the comic to point out veganism being a meaningful change compared to meatless Monday. While I agree it doesn't fit the context or intent of the comics original message, they aren't wrong. Like it or not at some point we all need to acknowledge that animal agriculture is one of the worst things we do to this planet. All they did was point that out and suggest that hey, maybe we should not do that.

The only attack is your reply. They didn't call you out as a self important, smug carnivore who huffs pig farts. It sounds more like you're being defensive at the notion that something you do has a negative impact, and it's easier to go "vegans preachy radical ideology, hurr durrr mah bacon!" than it is to confront the inconvenience that there are very real and surprisingly easy things you can do to bring about actual change in the world.

Thin sliced tofu, fried crispy in a skillet, tablespoon of both maple syrup and soy sauce, and a few drops of liquid smoke. I call it tofakeun. Seriously, try it.

Wildfires had my place on evacuation alert, the garbage dump was on fire with 800+ AQI index, so I said fuck this and got out of town for the weekend. Two hours later I got the Amazon delivery notification. World was burning and couldn't breathe, but Amazon finds a way.