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FED 4 Review: A Soviet Rangefinder, a Leaky Shutter and a Light Meter That Quit
When I bought this camera, it had light leaks in the shutter curtain. That's common on old rangefinders, and really on any old camera with rubberized cloth shutter curtains. The rubber coating dries out and cracks over the decades, and tiny pinholes open up in the cloth. Each pinhole lets a little light through while the shutter is closed, and it shows up on the film as spots or streaks.
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Why Every Office Door in City Hall Must Have Raised Lettering and Braille: ADA Signage Requirements for Municipal Public Buildings
Imagine arriving at your city's municipal building to pay a utility bill, apply for a permit, or attend City Council meetings and having no way to know which door leads where. No readable signs. No way to distinguish the Tax Assessor's office from the City Clerk's office from a utility closet. This is why we have the ADA, to ensure that our rights are not infringed upon.
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Understanding ADA Compliance vs. Accessibility
When people talk about the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), they often assume that “compliant” automatically means “accessible.” It doesn’t. In fact, the gap between those two ideas is where many disabled people run into the most frustrating and sometimes dangerous experiences. ADA compliance is about meeting the minimum legal requirements. It’s a checklist: Are there braille room signs? Are doorways wide enough? Is there a ramp? ADA accessibility, on the other hand, is about whether a space is actually usable in the real world by people with disabilities. It’s not just “Did you install the sign?”, it’s “Does this space work for someone navigating it independently?”. That distinction might…
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Monday Jaunts Through Norman: Coffee, Chaos, and the Senses That Guide Me
Mondays have become my favorite kind of reset. While the rest of the world seems to groan its way back into the workweek, I lace up my shoes and head out for a long, slow walk around Norman, Oklahoma. There’s something deeply comforting about the familiar rhythm of these days: the aroma of fresh coffee, the distant buzz of college students stressing over exams, and the constant percussion of construction echoing through the streets. This morning started, as so many good ones do, at Yellow Dog Coffee. I settled in with not one, but several cups, letting the rich, warm brew wake up my senses and my spirit. The place…
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Why I Chose the Fujifilm X-T4 for My Digital Photography
Over the past few weeks, I’ve been writing about the rising cost of film photography, and unfortunately, the trend hasn’t slowed down. With global instability, tariffs, silver prices, and persistent inflation, film prices continue to climb. Film photography is drifting into the territory of a luxury hobby. That’s a difficult reality to accept, especially for those of us who have relied on it as a primary creative outlet. I don’t want photography, especially something as timeless and expressive as film, to become inaccessible. But practicality has a way of forcing decisions. For me, that meant looking for an alternative. Some of you may remember that I previously owned a Sony…
