Tam Pan

By Robert Ellison. Updated on Saturday, February 19, 2022.

Tam Pan

Time-lapse panning over the San Francisco bay area from the Gardner Lookout at the east peak of Mount Tamalpais.

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(Published to the Fediverse as: Tam Pan #timelapse #4k #video 4k time-lapse from Mount Tamalpais in Marin County looking over the San Francisco bay area. )

Book reviews for December 2016

By Robert Ellison. Updated on Friday, February 24, 2017.
The End is Now by John Joseph Adams

The End is Now by John Joseph Adams

4/5

Review coming with book 3...

 

The End is Nigh by John Joseph Adams

The End is Nigh by John Joseph Adams

4/5

Review coming with book 3...

 

Night School (Jack Reacher, #21) by Lee Child

Night School (Jack Reacher, #21) by Lee Child

4/5

I much prefer flashback Reacher to modern day midwest town trauma Reacher. This is one of the best.

 

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Rio Vista Bridge

By Robert Ellison. Updated on Saturday, January 18, 2025.

Rio Vista Bridge

Photo of The Helen Madere Memorial Rio Vista Bridge spanning The Sacramento River.

The photograph titled "Rio Vista Bridge" presents a tranquil scene where the bridge stretches across a serene expanse of water. The morning sun glows brightly in the sky, casting a soft luminescence over the scene and creating long shadows on the water. On the left, delicate branches frame the image, their bare forms intricately detailed against the backdrop of a clear blue sky. The silhouettes of trees are faintly visible in the distance, adding depth to the composition. The calm water mirrors the bridge and surrounding elements, lending a sense of symmetry and reflection to the tableau.

The composition of this photograph is a harmonious blend of symmetry and balance. The bridge serves as a leading line, directing the viewer’s gaze across the image while creating an impressive structure that anchors the scene. The sun, placed high in the frame, adds a focal point of brightness that contrasts with the darker tones of the bridge. However, the strong sunlight can be somewhat distracting, pulling attention away from other elements. The framing provided by the tree branches softens the industrial character of the bridge, introducing a touch of nature. The photograph successfully merges natural and man-made elements, yet the intense sunlight may benefit from slight moderation to prevent it from overpowering the delicate reflections below.

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(Published to the Fediverse as: Rio Vista Bridge #photo #bridge Photo of The Helen Madere Memorial Rio Vista Bridge spanning The Sacramento River in California. )

Pitcher Plant

By Robert Ellison. Updated on Saturday, January 18, 2025.

Pitcher Plant

A picture of a pitcher at the Conservatory of Flowers, Golden Gate Park, San Francisco.

In this photograph titled "Pitcher Plant," we are drawn into the exotic world of carnivorous flora. The central subject is a pitcher plant, hanging elegantly amidst its green companions. Its vibrant, reddish-brown hue stands in stark contrast to the surrounding verdant foliage. The leathery surface of the plant's body, adorned with subtle patterns, leads up to a slightly curved, glossy lip that invites a closer look. The background is a gentle blur of greens and whites, hinting at a lush, garden setting that remains delicately out of focus, allowing the viewer's attention to remain fixed on the plant's striking form.

The photograph employs a shallow depth of field, which artfully isolates the subject from its environment, enhancing the plant's fascinating features. The composition adheres to the rule of thirds, with the pitcher plant slightly off-center, creating a balanced yet dynamic visual narrative. The natural lighting is soft, enhancing the textures and colors without casting harsh shadows. What captivates me most is the vivid contrast between the plant and its blurred backdrop, creating a sense of depth. However, I find that the tension between the sharpness of the plant and the softness of the background might have benefitted from a slightly tighter focus on the lip of the pitcher, which is the plant's most intriguing feature. Despite this minor critique, the image is a captivating exploration of nature's curious beauty.

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(Published to the Fediverse as: Pitcher Plant #photo #pitcher Photo of a Pitcher Plant at the Conservatory of Flowers, Golden Gate Park, San Francisco, California. )

Unidentified Butterfly

By Robert Ellison. Updated on Tuesday, January 21, 2025.

Zebra Longwing Butterfly

Could be anything... (seen at the Conservatory of Flowers in San Francisco's Golden Gate Park, do please leave a comment if you know what it is.)

The photograph titled "Unidentified Butterfly" captures a mesmerizing scene where a real butterfly, clad in contrasting black and white stripes, rests exquisitely on a sign that displays an image of a similar butterfly. The butterfly, likely a Zebra Longwing, perches gracefully atop the informational sign, creating a delightful juxtaposition between reality and representation. The sign itself, adorned with vibrant pink and white text, stands against a backdrop of blurred greenery, studded with sporadic bursts of purple and green foliage. The overall tone of the photograph is calm and inviting, drawing attention to the connection between the living creature and its illustrated counterpart.

The composition employs a shallow depth of field, effectively blurring the background to emphasize the butterfly and the sign, the clear focal points of the image. This technique adds depth, enhancing the viewer's focus on the detailed patterns of the butterfly's wings. The diagonal placement of the sign adds dynamic movement to the scene, subtly guiding the viewer's eye through the frame. However, while the colors are vibrant and the subject intriguing, the photograph could benefit from a tighter crop to eliminate some distractions in the background's upper portion. Despite this, the photograph achieves a harmonious balance between the natural and artificial, capturing a serene moment that evokes curiosity and admiration.

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(Published to the Fediverse as: Unidentified Butterfly #photo #butterfly What is clearly a zebra longwing butterfly at the Conservatory of Flowers in the Golden Gate Park, San Francisco, California. )

ASCII Sunset

By Robert Ellison. Updated on Saturday, February 19, 2022.

ASCII Sunset

A sunset timelapse rendered as ASCII art. Music from JukeDeck.

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(Published to the Fediverse as: ASCII Sunset #timelapse #video #4k Sunset over the Pacific, a timelapse rendered as 4K ASCII art. )

Expert

Expert

I haven't checked Klout for a long time - while I was away they've decided I'm a expert in Indian politics. Explains a lot...

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(Published to the Fediverse as: Expert #etc #klout Klout for some reason thinks that I am an expert in Indian Politics. )

Enable GZIP compression for Amazon S3 hosted website in CloudFront

By Robert Ellison. Updated on Sunday, August 11, 2024.

Enable GZIP compression for Amazon S3 hosted website in CloudFront

By default compression doesn't work in CloudFront for a website backed by an Amaxon S3 bucket.

The first step is pretty obvious - switch on compression in CloudFront:

Compress Objects Automatically option in Amazon CloudFront

To get to this setting open you distribution, go to the Behaviors tab and edit your behavior(s). Scroll down to the bottom and toggle Compress Objects Automatically to On. Save and drum your fingers while the distribution updates.

The less obvious piece is that CloudFront will only compress files between 1,000 and 10,000,000 bytes (as of writing this post) and it detects the filesize from the Content-Length header. What the documentation doesn't mention is that S3 does not send the Content-Length header by default and so no compression is applied.

Go to S3 and open the properties for your bucket (not for individual files). Expand Permissions and then click Edit CORS Configuration. You need to add Content-Length as an allowed header like this:

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(Published to the Fediverse as: Enable GZIP compression for Amazon S3 hosted website in CloudFront #code #software #s3 #cloudfront #aws How to configure Amazon CloudFront to apply gzip compression for websites hosted using Amazon S3 (Simple Storage Service) )

Book reviews for November 2016

By Robert Ellison. Updated on Friday, February 24, 2017.
Revenger by Alastair Reynolds

Revenger by Alastair Reynolds

5/5

Far future space pirates. Awesome.

 

Badass: Making Users Awesome by Kathy Sierra

Badass: Making Users Awesome by Kathy Sierra

3/5

The overall message is good - focus on making your users actually awesome rather than you looking awesome with some concrete strategies to find out what that is and how to get there. A central theme is removing barriers to effective usage. The product here is a book. It was hell to read on my phone. Now if the graphics were large and central to the message and couldn't be done other than in some weird non-standard way I might forgive this. But all I needed to on every page was zoom in to get rid of the needless massive borders. That's all it took. Hundreds of times. So I'd recommend this if you still like paper books or are some sort of tablet toting throwback but on phone? No.

 

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El Capitan

By Robert Ellison. Updated on Saturday, January 18, 2025.

El Capitan

El Capitan shrouded in winter fog at Yosemite National Park.

The photograph titled "El Capitan" captures the majestic granite monolith of Yosemite National Park as it pierces through the soft embrace of low-hanging clouds. The formidable rock face emerges dramatically from a lush forest of towering pines, their pointed silhouettes accentuating the sheer scale of El Capitan. The sky, a deep and unfettered blue, frames the scene with a vivid backdrop, adding a sense of tranquility to the awe-inspiring scene. Wisps of cloud gently caress the rock's summit, creating a mood of mystery and grandeur, while the bare trees in the foreground hint at a winter's chill with their dusting of snow.

The composition of the photograph is a blend of natural grandeur and artistic framing. The photographer utilizes the rule of thirds, with El Capitan slightly off-center, allowing the viewer’s eye to flow naturally across the image from the foreground trees to the majestic monolith and up to the vast sky. The use of contrasting elements—dark trees against the bright rock face and vivid sky—adds depth and balance to the composition. What stands out particularly is the juxtaposition of the dense foliage with the openness above, creating a dynamic tension. However, the focus seems to be slightly skewed towards the darker areas, potentially losing some detail in the low-light sections. Nonetheless, the photograph beautifully captures the transcendent grandeur of nature, evoking both serenity and awe.

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(Published to the Fediverse as: El Capitan #photo #yosemite Photo of El Capitan shrouded in mysterious winter fog at Yosemite National Park. )