Yikes, looks like we could use an open thread. I gardened most of the morning, have been working this afternoon.
Why can’t I get paid to read Balloon Juice all day? Then I could stay on top of things for sure. :-) As it is, I have to garden and take care of those pesky clients. (Just joking on the clients, I love my clients.)
How are the closing arguments going? What else is going on?
Open thread!
Baud
Consider law school.
WaterGirl
@Baud: hahahahaha
WaterGirl
@Baud: What the hell is wrong with Steve in the ATL? He’s usually only here in the evenings. Surely he’s not working all day? If he is, he must be doing it wrong.
WaterGirl
Can someone tell me how the heck to take a panorama photo on an iPhone? I have tried a few times and I must be doing it wrong.
frosty
Organized Labor won in the court of public opinion and in elections. Steve in the ATL has nothing better to do now than drink expensive French wine and play electric guitar (non-SG, poor guy).
frosty
Don’t bring the curse down on your head!!!! I’m trying to get over my 3-4-5 hour a day habit. Unsuccessfully.
Scout211
Apple Support
Parfigliano
@Baud: Already went.
Jay
@WaterGirl:
Tap the arrow to pan in the opposite direction. To pan vertically, rotate iPhone to landscape orientation. You can reverse the direction of a vertical pan, too.
(Apple Support)
Geminid
@WaterGirl: There will be a significant event in your town tomorrow. Rep. Nikki Budzinki will meet with members of an interfaith coalition advocating for a ceasefire in Gaza, at her Champaign office
Ed. There will be a protest outside.
Scout211
The first 1/4 of the prosecution closing was great but the last 3/4 has been so detailed that I lost interest.
And here’s a review of the prosecution from the defendant on his truth social:
Baud
@Geminid:
Protesting the meeting or the war?
frosty
That doesn’t sound good for the jury.
Baud
@frosty:
I didn’t follow along, but the jury actually has a job to do.
Baud
WaterGirl
@Scout211: @Jay: I swear I have tried that in the past. But I will try again, thanks.
SuzieC
Gardened today too. Re-potted a 46 yr old jade plant that was destroyed by first kittens, then after we took it outside, ants. My method for repotting: Save the two healthiest branches. Dip stems in rooting powder. Pot in terra cotta pot with bottom layer of perlite and top layer of cactus soil. Leave alone, out of danger of rain, for 2 to 3 weeks. Any suggestions?
TBone
He who farts last farts best.
WaterGirl
@Baud: Fucking Ohio Republicans.
Scout211
Yeah, but the judge didn’t seem to think so.
Jay
@WaterGirl:
Practice, practice, practice.
I learned how to do it by accident. Meant to take a snapshot, wound up with a panoramic shot. Same way I accidentally learned how to take a video.
SuzieC
@WaterGirl: Yeah. But our 4000 + band of Central Ohio activists is working to defeat them every day. Gotta do something.
Baud
@SuzieC:
👍
cain
@Baud:
Gosh, will the press cover this and tsk tsk on the lack of bipartisanship or is that only on Democrats?
I mean, JFC – talking about being petty.
Steeplejack
@Jay:
Okay, I just learned how to get out of selfie mode on my Android phone camera (after five years!). I never take selfies, but occasionally I mistakenly press something and get into selfie mode, and then I can’t get back because I don’t know what I pressed.
So I fired up my camera app and pushed a likely button that did put me in selfie mode, and then I was able to push that same button to return. Huzzah! I learned a new thing, and now my brain hurts.
Thank you, iPhone panorama people!
cain
@Jay: I can tell the demographics of this here blog based on this conversation :D
WaterGirl
Okay, so these are my PANO efforts. Neither is very good, I think. Trying to catch the new bed I added in front of the house last year.
Landscape and portrait both suck. And the bed doesn’t look the right shape at all.
I tried standing midway across the bed and then pointed the camera at the left side of the bed before I hit GO.
Geminid
@Baud: Protesting Congress’s and the Biden administration’s postures on the war in Gaza.
I think the coalition intends to stage protests at Rep. Budzinski’s other offices as well. The 13th CD runs from East St. Louis through Springfield to Champaign County.
Eyeroller
@Jay: It does take a steady hand, and taking care to keep the phone level (not as easy as one might assume).
Manyakitty
@WaterGirl: still looks great! Can’t wait to see it as it fills in.
Geminid
@WaterGirl: That’s some good weeding!
David 🌈 ☘The Establishment☘🌈 Koch
@WaterGirl: Here’s a short how to video I found on pornhub (video)
WaterGirl
@SuzieC: So if the DNC feels like they have to do this, does that mean DeWine wasn’t able to get the date issue addressed by the legislature?
WaterGirl
@David 🌈 ☘The Establishment☘🌈 Koch: on pornhub? Not clicking!
Quiltingfool
I posted this on a dead thread (pet names), so I’m gonna try again (I’m always late to the conversations!
One of our jackals asked for a quilt block featuring her heart kitty, Pablo. She sent me a photo, and I went to work (my first IRL kitty). She gave me permission to share.
https://pin.it/1njgKDRvL
Salty Sam
@WaterGirl: It is important to pan side to side at an even rate of speed, and keeping the camera as stable as possible. Jerky movement and wobbly camera will kill the panorama shot.
OTOH, my boys learned how to manipulate all that into some very otherworldly shots- people’s faces stretched out sideways, etc.
zhena gogolia
@Quiltingfool: OMG, gorgeous!
Doc Sardonic
@WaterGirl: Yes. BTW, flowerbed looks great, and panoramic mode on the iPhone camera works better at a distance I have found.
cain
I’d like to vote on Nikki Haley to have the most braindead political instincts. What is up with her? Who the fuck greenlighted her to type in “Finish Them”? It’s disgusting. Has she no understanding of what’s happening? Is this some kind of “choose me! choose me for VP!” thing?
No morals, no decency – it’s unfortunate that she and I are of similar race.
David 🌈 ☘The Establishment☘🌈 Koch
@WaterGirl: Is that your Monster truck In the driveway (on the right side of the photo)?
Miki
@WaterGirl: 🎵C’mon, c’mon, c’mon to my house. 🎶
cain
@Eyeroller:
It used to be much harder to do those panoramic shots – with all the anti-shake stuff – it is a lot easier to do.
MisterForkbeard
@WaterGirl: The DNC feels that there’s either going to be a poison pill, or that the other items Republicans are insisting on inserting into the special session (“campaign finance reform” that suspiciously only attacks democratic leaning groups) will tank the session.
Better to not depend on it.
David 🌈 ☘The Establishment☘🌈 Koch
@WaterGirl: I’m joking. its actually a nice demonstration on youtube.
zhena gogolia
@cain: She is so bad.
Geminid
@cain: This war has been bad enough without all the politicians who are trying to take advantage of it.
Doc Sardonic
@Quiltingfool: That is absolutely amazing
WaterGirl
To take a panoramic shot, and I supposed to be moving along? Or standing still and just rotating the camera?
Here’s what happened when I was walking and taking the photo. Can it only go on for so long and then it stops and starts again?
WaterGirl
@WaterGirl: It’s like I’m in some sort of nightmare where everything is like a ransom note cut out of a magazine and pasted together.
sigh.
This is why I periodically try the PANO thing and then give up.
Manyakitty
@Quiltingfool: I saw it and commented over there 🙂 Just lovely work 💓
WaterGirl
@Quiltingfool: I will say again (from having seen Pablo in the calendar) that it looks just like Pablo.
Only the roses have been changed to other flowers.
Excellent work!
Doc Sardonic
@WaterGirl: No, just move your torso and the camera, if necessary maybe do baby steps in place to go more toward 180 to 360 degrees.
Another Scott
@Steeplejack: I think it’s pretty common.
My brother used to take selfies with the main camera on his phone. Got pretty good at lining it up too!
Cheers,
Scott.
WaterGirl
@Salty Sam: So are my feet planted on the ground in the same place every time? So I am only moving my arms, holding the camera? Or am I supposed to be walking as I take the panorama?
I suck. at directions, time zones, and photography.
TS
@WaterGirl:
Can’t win fair, but they will cheat every which way what way – and scream about illegal voting at the same time.
WaterGirl
@Doc Sardonic: But at a distance it would be tiny, no?
Baud
@cain:
I’m just happy we’re not talking about our colonoscopies again.
WaterGirl
@David 🌈 ☘The Establishment☘🌈 Koch: My neighbor’s!
I have a 2005 Honda CRV.
Spanish Moss
@Quiltingfool: Love it, you are so talented!
p.a.
@WaterGirl: I’ve been drinking & I thought you wrote paranormal photo.
p.s. I’m in Philly & haven’t run into Atrios yet! Huh…
WaterGirl
@Baud: Yeah, I skipped that thread.
I’ll stop now – it’s a bad sign when someone has to say “well, it’s not as bad as the colonoscopy thread.”
This photo is half the bed, taken from the side.
If you click the photo, you can see a bigger version for more detail. (only gardeners would care about details)
Steeplejack
@WaterGirl:
He’s kidding! It’s YouTube.
KSinMA
@Quiltingfool: that’s fabulous!
Steeplejack
@Quiltingfool:
Beautiful!
Quadrillipede
What is Selfie Mode? A curious alternative name for the camera select button, or something else entirely
ETA: I ask because I might be stuck in it too, for all I know… 😅
TS
@WaterGirl:
Have you ever used IrfanView – free photo program – I take multiple single photos & use it to stitch them together. Works better for me than panorama
https://www.irfanview.com/
Jackie
@WaterGirl: Per the WaPo:
In other words, general GQP ratfuckery.
SiubhanDuinne
@Jay:
I wish I could accidentally learn how to deposit a few hundred thou in my bank account.
Jay
@WaterGirl:
Pano works best from one focal point, (stay in one place).
If you have good wrists, just rotate the phone with a steady hand.
If you need to “see” the shot that you are taking, on the phone, as you are taking it, rotate your torso or do a slow foot turn.
You can do a “sweep” pano by walking past in pano mode, but it is harder to do, because “walking” and the phone needs to be in the same position to your body from start to finish.
Jay
@WaterGirl:
That’s what zoom is for.
WaterGirl
@Jay: Doesn’t that negate trying to get distance?
geg6
Is it a good sign or a bad sign that the jury has told Merchan that they are willing to stay until 8 for Steinglass to wrap up his verrrrrry long closing?
WaterGirl
@geg6: Good sign. (For the prosecution.)
(I am not a lawyer.)
Quadrillipede
@geg6: Bad sign for the defence, but this is not legal advice.
WaterGirl
@TS: Huh. I have hit my max frustration level on this for today, but I will check that out another time. thanks.
Baud
@WaterGirl:
I’m disappointed no one has joked about needing panoramic mode to take dick pics.
Miss Bianca
@Quiltingfool: wow, gorgeous!
Steeplejack
@Quadrillipede:
Selfie mode is when you’re holding your phone and the camera app shows you your own face (like looking in a mirror) rather than what is “out there” that you would see when taking a regular photo
ETA: Illustrations here.
WaterGirl
@Baud: I think you just did!
Jay
@Quadrillipede:
Most phones have two cameras, (or more).
One camera on the screen side, the other, on the back side.
If you are taking a photo of yourself or a group, you use the screen side camera, so that you can see on the screen the framing and backdrop.
That’s a “selfie”.
To get more distance, or a bigger group shot, they make telescoping “selfie” sticks so you can hold the phone further away or at different angles.
It’s quite easy to accidentally take a “selfie”, ( I have taken lots of pocket photo’s and vids), but that is what delete is for.
Geminid
@WaterGirl: That’s some nice design, and some good work executing it. Of course, the plants did their part too.
WaterGirl
@Jackie: That is such fucking bullshit.
Apparently only Dems had the moms who taught us the if you cheat to win, it’s not winning.
Poe Larity
Since we’re talking about juries and panoramic, would I be able to use a VisionPro during jury selection?
Asking for a friend.
TBone
@Quiltingfool: 💙💜❤️
WaterGirl
@Geminid: Thanks. Dan B would probably shriek in horror.
I designed the size and the curve of the border. After that, I just buy plants I like and put them where I think they look good.
He would probably be horrified by all the colors, too, but all the color makes me happy.
jonas
@cain:
They all eventually end up as Trump dignity wraiths. All of them.
JaySinWA
They could have started with noting the phone needed to be in portrait mode for a horizontal panorama. I would have never gotten that right. It seems counter intuitive.
Jay
@WaterGirl:
Nope.
Easiest way I can explain it, sort of, Bill In Glendale can probably do better,
My Bro always got a weird face when he was being photographed, half grimace, half serial killer smile.
At his University Grad, I got the only really great photo of him ever.
I was on the 3rd floor of the concourse, easily 500 feet away, with a telephoto lens He never knew he was being photographed, (I took about 20 shots) and so I got his natural smile.
Being distanced give you a better focal point and less movement required for the span of the pano. The zoom allows you to compensate for distance.
Quadrillipede
Reloaded the page mid-comment 😵 but to summarize:
Selfie mode seems like it describes the intent of switching between the front and back cameras of a phone or tablet.
Jay
@Quadrillipede:
It’s not always intended.
Big fingers, tiny buttons.
No, Baud, No.
Doc Sardonic
@WaterGirl: Distance is relative, for what you are trying to do right around 15 to 30 feet would probably be as close as I would try to get. The iPhone camera, as good as it is has a very sensitive autofocus algorithm, and it always tries to focus on the closest object. The closer you are to the flowerbed the more objects it is going to try to focus on, pulling back a bit helps lessen the camera’s internal ADD about ‘must focus on everything’.
Jackie
Don’t read the Bulwark article if you’re worried about a hung jury. I mistakenly did, now I’m stressing out. Sigh… It will be what it will be with or without MY stressing over it. I just want a quick decision for my BP’s sake.
Kay
The United States will do absolutely nothing (other than providing all of the weapons) while this slaughter continues unabated.
Meanwhile, Nikki Haley is calling for the anniliation of the Palestinian people. All of them.
Just sickening.
Scout211
@WaterGirl: oh, your planting bed is gorgeous.
I haven’t used pano on my iPhone very often because the photo always ends up distorted on the sides like some wide-angle lenses do. I guess it takes practice but I think it works a little better if I don’t take the picture in a semi circle of sorts, just one side slowly to the other side in a straight line. But even then, it rarely looks good. I think pano works best for wide outdoor scenes like mountains, etc.
Or maybe I’m just an amateur photo hack. LOL
David 🌈 ☘The Establishment☘🌈 Koch
@WaterGirl: Thats nice. Love the melody of colors.
Sure Lurkalot
@WaterGirl: It’s beautiful! Your local nursery must LOVE seeing you walk in…hey, here comes that spendy lady again….
Kay
Look at this insane language our media uses. I wonder which “aspect” of this the Biden Administration “doesn’t like”? The blatant war crimes? The gaslighting of the US public? The 40,000 dead civilians?
Just sick, the utter disdain for the lives of these people.
Kay
Honestly don’t know how this can get any worse but with this green light from the Biden Administration I expect it will, incredibly, get worse.
Nikki Haley may get her wish after all.
Spanky
Wut??? I missed a colonoscopy thread? Now I haz a sad.
MomSense
@Quiltingfool:
That is beautiful! You do such nice work.
jackmac
@WaterGirl: scout21
@WaterGirl: scout211 has you covered. I’ve had some nice images via iPhone panorama. Keep a steady hand and don’t rush.
Tony Jay
@Kay:
It is. It’s sickening. Disgusting. Disgraceful. Abhorrent. It’s legacy-fouling and long term very bad politics.
Yes. Every single person with a vote in the USA should cast it in November for Joe Biden and every single Democratic candidate from Vice-President to deputy back-up dog catcher in the smallest town you can imagine. That’s non-negotiable.
But continuing to support Israel’s descent into genocidal failed-state? Shrugging off the slaughter of tens of thousands of innocents because it’s easier than doing the right thing?
That gets judged. How dare people judge it? Just watch them. The Republican Party’s alternative is so laughably awful that there’s a massive space between ‘voting for you’ and ‘this is disgraceful’ in which people with functional souls can hold two separate thoughts in their head at the same time and they’re both true.
That shouldn’t be a hard concept to grasp.
Gloria DryGarden
@geg6: did they get to order in some dinner? Yikes
Ken
The smile and the twinkle in his eye were because he’s thinking “you are so screwed, asshole.”
Redshift
@WaterGirl:
In case the previous answers weren’t clear enough, you’re supposed to be standing in one place. You can turn your body (to take a 360 degree panorama, for example) but a panorama is basically a really wide picture created by taking multiple images as you pan across and stitching them together (automatically.)
So you should hold your phone/tablet vertically (a little counterintuitive) and move it slowly horizontally.
Gloria DryGarden
@Baud: you mean, like, a row of all the biggest dicks in Congress. Clothes shots only! But there’s a lot of them. Can include female from Georgia..
.
prostratedragon
Whoops.
Damien
@Tony Jay: don’t bite my head off here, but it sure seems like the red line was a full military operation on ground in Rafa. Does that mean that it’s completely off limits to all military action?
I think that this war is horrifying, but does every single action taken by Israel at this point just immediately qualify as crossing a red line? They’ve done such horrible shit across the board, but it seems counterproductive to count every military move as the same thing.
zhena gogolia
@Baud: Now someone has.
pat
@Quiltingfool:
That is our Pablo. Perfect. It is draped over the couch right now.
A perfect remembrance for a lovely cat.
zhena gogolia
@Jackie: Oh, come on. Nobody knows. I’m not going to read the article, but basing a prediction of a hung jury on someone looking at Trump is pretty ridiculous.
zhena gogolia
@Ken: That’s just as valid an interpretation as any other.
Kay
@Tony Jay:
One can see the language of media and politicians shift as it continues – less and less of an acknowlegment that these are human beings. More and more abstract. Now they’re now longer “civilians” but instead a “tragedy” – no agency at all or personification at all – just a tragic..event. They’re literally being dehumanized. I suppose it’s a necessary part of choosing to stand back and watch this. If they’re people one would have to do something.
VFX Lurker
You’d think that would be the case, but as far back as November 2023, I saw I/P getting weaponized into propaganda to get leftist white women to vote for Trump.
I block it when I see it. I don’t signal-boost it. However, I didn’t speak up when I should have.
Jackie
@Ken: I wish. The same juror has made smiling eye contact with all the MAGA scum supporters.
Gloria DryGarden
@Ken: be it so.
sab
@WaterGirl: I see your shadow. The bed looks great. It really does. Nothing like mine, which turned into weed patch.
like a metaphor
@WaterGirl: I love anything paisley. Paisley shirts, paisley sheets, paisley… yards.
Seriously, tho, it looks great!
WaterGirl
I just added the word “early” in the name of my post to avoid confusion with two posts in a row with identical names.
Litano
@Damien:
Biden says he will stop sending bombs and artillery shells to Israel if it launches major invasion of Rafah:
During the brief window where the Biden administration inexplicably stuck to their guns on this position instead of folding and giving Israel everything as per usual, large munitions for aerial bombardment were specifically withheld and identified as especially dangerous for civilians in Gaza.
Side note– Biden indicating that Israel sees Palestinian cities as a “problem” that they need to “deal with” really is an illustrative Freudian slip.
Jackie
@like a metaphor: You left out Brad Paisley!♥️😂
wjca
The easiest way to get worse: TIFG gets elected, and explicitly green lights complete extermination in Gaza. Which he might not get around to on Day One. But (for an appropriate bribe, of course) would probably manage during Week One.
Dan B
@WaterGirl: I have my judgements..
Spoken with a level of extreme disdain suitable of Vincent Price.
WaterGirl
@like a metaphor: The bed really isn’t shaped like paisley! I promise. :-)
WaterGirl
@Dan B: Share them with me via email?
zhena gogolia
@wjca: Don’t blackmail us with what Trump’s going to do in Gaza! //
frosty
@cain: Race schmace. I find it unfortunate that Nikki Haley and I are of the same species.
Dan B
@WaterGirl: Brace yourself for withering disdain!
frosty
@WaterGirl: Nice! But that’s a LOT of gardening.
Gloria DryGarden
@Jackie: which juror is it? Does anyone know?
sab
@Dan B: You should see mine. Short plants in the middle, completely overwhelmed by very tall shasta daisies everwhere. I can barely see anything because of wild strawberries blooming and fruiting in the middle muddle.
The plants I actually bought last year didn’t make it, except for the ones grown at a local nursery that specializes in native plants.
Next time I will plan, instead of ordering a plant then planting where it might fit.
As my sister says about golf: amateurs just whack the ball while professionals actually aim at something.
Kay
@wjca:
Your language is changing too like media and the Biden Administration. Your standards are lower.
It might be better if we just give up on the “harm reduction” argument on Gaza. It seems to be dead in the water. Can they vote for Biden despite his Gaza position? Maybe just go that route. I don’t know that one wants to be spiltting hairs on “complete extermination”.
Quiltingfool
@pat: He is a very lovely kitty!
Kay
@Litano:
They added “major” to “invasion”. Also – “thousands” of troops is the new condition – just added today.
Thousands. Could be 5000. Could be 100,000. Probably a safe bet they’ll never have to find that red line with that much leeway. Fewer than a million troops is not a “major” invasion. Okey doke.
Kay
@wjca:
Just give them Gaza. Concede. Move on to courts or reproductive rights ot whatever else – all legitimate arguments. No legs left to stand on Gaza. Take that one off the list.
Jackie
@Gloria DryGarden: The writer didn’t ID he/she at all. Which was the correct protocol. It could have been a smokescreen as mentioned above, but I didn’t get that impression from the writer. I’m just hoping that this juror is compelled to vote honestly based on the evidence – just as the right-leaning juror did in the E Jean Carroll defamation trial.
Dan B
@sab: Shasta Daisies! The horror!!! I planted them along the tiny drive at my first house in the narrow beds. It was great exercise*.
*Digging them out…
sab
@Dan B: Rain or shine, drought or flood, they always come back. Even when my sigificant other mows them weekly. I think they have even choked out the monarda beebalm.
I probably should have asked you last year before I transplanted them. But excellent cut flowers for inside. They last for weeks with flower food in the vase.
wjca
I’m hoping that it’s a juror who is so disgusted by TIFG’s actions in this case that (s)he’s getting some amusement by building up false hopes at the defense table.
Jackie
@Dan B: @sab:
My absolute favorite flower! How can you murder smiling, cheerful uplifting daisies? 😢
Jackie
@wjca: 🤞🏻🤞🏻
sab
@Dan B: What is your opinion on spiderwort. Neighbor offered me some. I like them. She says they are too resilient and she wants them gone.
Scuffletuffle
@Quiltingfool: Wonderful!
sab
@Jackie: In my opinion it isn’t a question of may you murder them. More can you murder them. Probably not.
They messed up my garden “plan” (such as it was) but I still love them. Pretty, resilient, bloom all summer if you deadhead them. What’s not to like except tfor their weedy tendency to spread?
like a metaphor
@Jackie: my favorite flower too! I wore them in my hair (and beard) on the plane when I moved to San Francisco. Meant it, too.
Jackie
@like a metaphor: 😊♥️🥰
https://youtu.be/bch1_Ep5M1s?si=KJcEY-OPiWcSamO8
Tony Jay
@Damien:
I’m not going to snap your head off. I will just say that after-the-fact sophistry and appeals to “well now, technically…” are the language of medical insurance gougers and don’t typically get employed when the case is strong.
Biden said don’t invade Rafah. The reasoning was that it would inevitably cause a humanitarian catastrophe. Israel invaded Rafah. There’s a rapidly worsening humanitarian catastrophe. No one on any side of the ‘debate’ is fooled by mealy-mouthed post-match justifications about Biden ‘really meaning’ don’t invade too hard.
Bottom line. Israel flipped America the finger and did it anyway, and instead of following through with its warnings America is shrugging off the implications and instead using harsher language to condemn the vast majority who have frankly had enough of this particular lawless state’s callous brutality. That’s what I’m talking about, because that’s what’s happening.
It would be a very good idea if it stopped.