.. and I bet there are plenty of Slashdot users who still shoot film instead of, or in addition to (me) digital. Actually, I was going "mass market" -- I normally shoot E6 transparencies ("slide film"). Now *that* is a business that's fast disappearing.

True black and white film, however, will be around forever, as an art medium. It is much, much easier to make (some can actually do it at home), and there are several small-scale manufacturers in Eastern Europe, England, India and China, as well as Fuji, the Japanese giant. It has qualities that are difficult or impossible to produce digitally.

In Montgomery County. It took 2 hours on Sunday afternoon. Electronic voting machines. It took me about 3 minutes to cast my vote, even though I'd prepped with a sample ballot, as there were 7 referendum items and 2 county questions, in addition to the candidates.

I'm waiting for "Wascally Wabbit" myself.

Braudel's book is a truly stunning/awe-inspiring/breathtaking summary of the nature and history of the Mediterranean and the lands surrounding it. Two volumes, and I think he gets around to Philip II somewhere in the second volume.

Anything Braudel wrote will be worthwhile and entertaining reading, but make sure that the translator is Sian Reynolds - she did a superb job, and I had the illuminating experience of reading some essays by Braudel that she translated alongside the same essays translated by someone else -- it was night and day.

I'm personally waiting for "Wascally Wabbit".

Most free programming/systems administrator/etc. free books seem to be available only as PDF, which is pretty much unusable on a Kindle.

Does the Slashdot hive mind know of any sources for free computer books suitable for a Kindle or Nook (Calibre solves the epub to mobi problem)?

It reminds me of Weekly World News' "stunned scientists say" (and the scientists were always stunned).

I tried

1 furlong in feet =

and it couldn't come up with an answer. What good is it?

Not just Unix puns - the protagonist makes a reference to some programming where INT21 was used as the error handler. Hopefully, on this site, I don't have to explain why I started laughing hysterically when I first read that.

This is a post-atomic war novel, set in *and written in* the late '50's, recounting the experiences of a small town in pre-civil rights rural Florida after the bombs hit. Well written, well thought out, good characters, including good African-American characters who are not cartoons.

If I were teaching history to HS kids, I'd want to assign this to convey both the cold war and race relations of the period (just like I'd assign "The Unpleasantness at the Bellona Club" by Dorothy Sayers to convey the effect of WW I on British society).

By putting all of this "good for you" freight on the book, I'm afraid that I'm distracting from the fact that this is one hell of an entertaining read. I first read it as a teen; I'm now in my 50's and have read it probably 20 times and it stands up.

An amazing writer. His "Joe Mauser" series posits a world where MegaCorps strive with each other by hiring mercenaries to fight strictly-limited battles that are broadcast on TV.

Thoughtful (he'd have been all over "reality TV" if he'd lived past 1983) , but also hugely entertaining. He also comes from a different ideological angle than most Golden Age SF authors - his dad ran for US President twice as the candidate of the Socialist Labor party, and he himself was a lifetime member of the SLP.

From Wikipedia:

Much of his work is downloadable for free from Gutenberg or the other usual suspects.

Actually, the subscription is equal to the price of three books. If I have two "definites", I can usually gambe that there's at least one good one in the remaining 4 or 5...

1) Install Calibre
2) Install DRM removal addons from http://apprenticealf.wordpress.com/2011/01/13/ebooks-formats-drm-and-you-%E2%80%94-a-guide-for-the-perplexed/
3) ???
4) Profit!

As some pundit said back in the '80s, the first time "the paperless office" came up, "We will have the paperless office the same time as the paperless bathroom".

How do you make Spotmatic-era M42 screw mount lenses fit on a K-mount Pentax bayonet (K1000 through current) - duct tape?

I agree that I can use my old screw mount lenses on my K100D digital, but it *does* require an adapter....