First off: I hope discussion posts are OK? I don't see any rules except for tagging photo posts.

I have an old beseler B&W enlarger, no color filters or brightness configuration. I have a set of gels for contrast control.

When I'm printing 5x7 and I have my lens at the manufacturer's recommended aperture size, exposure times are very short (4-6 seconds). It's hard to get a good dodge/burn in such a short period. I can dial my lens down to f16, but even then I'm starting around 8 seconds for exposure, I'd like maybe 12-16.

I was thinking 1 or 2 stops of neutral density filter could slow down my exposure and give me more time to execute the print. Is that a thing people do?

In 1899, a Chicago train company commissioned "The Mammoth", a 1400lb camera that took photos 4.5 x 8 feet in size. They needed such a large plate because they wanted a highly detailed photo of their newest train, and techniques for enlarging negatives hadn't yet been perfected. By the looks of this pamphlet, graphic design hadn't been perfected either.

The train photo went on to win "Grand Prize of the World" in the 1900 Paris Exposition.

Does anyone know what happened to the FuckCombustion vape forums? Are they ever going to come back online?

It was one of my favorite places on the internet, so much information about vapes and cannabis lost :(

Not even sure if my posts will be federated with this community.

Once I get some furniture back from the repair shop (fuck you, shipping company), I'll have something to share.

I recently got a nice deal on a stereo microscope, and leapt at the chance. I've had a few projects in mind that would entail SMD soldering, and now all I need is a proper soldering station.

My current iron is pretty basic, but gets the job done for splicing wires and DIP work. Now I want something with temp control and a good supply of tips.

It seems like hobbyists are all talking about affordable Chinese T12 stations from brands like KSGER and Quecoo. There are just so many different models, it's hard to understand the features and differences. It also seems like there's a lot of "Reddit folk knowledge" where people just keep repeating what others have said. Eg: People say that some KSGER stations have no case grounding, but nobody says which models do or don't have the issue. All of them? Then people talk about the microcontrollers STM vs STC, but nobody says why it matters.

Played DX a few times, but the only part of the plot that never fully makes sense to me is Maggie Chow:

• She is an MJ12 plant who knows JC is Paul's brother, but doesn't know he's a fugitive? Or she does know he's a fugitive but doesn't call her MJ12 guards to take him out?
• She sends JC to the police station on a mission to steal information, but then the information incriminates her. Why? JC even asks her what she expected to happen.

Not so much a plot thing, but I also find it strange that she runs up to fight JC in Versalife with just a sword and no armor. It's the least threatening fight in the game. I know the people in Hong Kong say she used to do Kung Fu movies, it would have been cool if there was some allusion to that during the fight.