A lot of old-school ceiling speaker systems use "constant voltage" lines that operate at 25 to 70 volts (which probably will not work with your Denon unit). You can tell if this is the case if each speaker has a "step-down" transformer mounted on it, like so...

If this is the case, you could optionally bypass the transformer by wiring directly to the speaker itself instead.

70-volt ceiling speaker

The pentagram design itself immediately reminded me of all the various Freemason/Illuminati "conspiracy theory" stuff that's always floating around, like how the eyeball-in-pyramid got on the dollar bill, etc...
Here's an interesting article I found with a quick Google search on "freemasons pentagram", THE SACRED PENTAGRAM
http://www.freemasons-freemasonry.com/pentagram_freemasonry.html

Yes, it does seem quite efficient, doesn't it?... I hadn't thought much about the pentagram layout, until a friend of ours freaked out upon seeing it and swore to never set foot on those fields. Personally, I think it's brilliant!

I was looking over some local landmarks on Google Earth, and happened to notice that some of our baseball diamonds look a little different from above. Makes me wonder where the city engineers may have apprenticed...

pentagram practice fields

wow... I can't believe I actually read all 24 pages, but this has been rather revealing, if not entertaining. And I'm confident that MtnMan should at least feel put in his place... And I am compelled to relate my own story as relates to B&H's Jewish factor:

The company I worked for had an account with B&H, and for years we regularly ordered gear from their catalog (pre-e-commerce days). One time we had a deadline to meet and needed something (don't recall what), so called B&H, only to be greeted with a recorded message saying they would be closed through this week for Hannukah. When I told my boss (a devout Christian) he said, "geez, I never knew they were Jewish", and neither did I (so much for imposing their beliefs!), and I asked if we should try and order from someplace else, he said, "nah, just move back the deadline and get it from B&H next week."

Shalom

Prairie Seasons: Having read lots of your posts, I have always wondered if you were a just plain idiot, or if you have some actual justification for your lack of civility and constant spewing of hate. Now I'm sure - just plain idiot. :-)

So right! :thumbup:

I just can't help but add... after having been trained on high-end DSLRs, then using a Canon SX30 (bridge camera) a whole bunch, I generally tend to regard ALL of the SX30 pics (jpgs) as "snapshots." Some of them are pretty good though, I think... :-)

I can't believe everybody is weighing in on this stupid question, so I might as well add my less-than-2c worth:

Snapshot = a photo which someone who fancies himself a photographer regards as somehow inferior to their own work; a photo that everyone but the shooter finds uninteresting; a term invented by photographers to artificially elevate their own work above that of people who do not find photography to be "work."
;-)

I don't really get why so many of you guys seem to have this sort of "post processing = evil" mindset going on, but the first thing that comes to my mind is - don't forget there are a lot of different kinds of photography, and depending whether you usually shoot people, landscapes, bugs, birds, sports, or whatnot, it will surely influence how - or whether - you are considering post when shooting. A question I think would have bearing on the answer to the OP's would be, "What do you shoot?"
When I did a lot of product photography, the approach was knowing that the shot would surely be post-processed, and probably by someone else. Do you think the shots in this screenshot were shot for post? of course! They probably had all kinds of funky background that just got clipped out.
Photoshop is not evil, really... ;-)

You be the judge!

The images in Google Earth update at varying rates, with the radar updating more often than the clouds. I just grab the pics when the clouds update, which is roughly once every hour or so.

Thanks! Just today I modified my screencapturing program to take shots over Europe and Australia also. The next batch of captures will be slightly higher resolution and the next video will be 720p (unlike the current funky "XGA" size on Youtube now).
More to come, for sure... Unfortunately, I can't seem to get Google Earth to "fill in" a certain wedge of weather data above the UK, as seen here:

missing weather wedge over europe

probably not what you might expect, but I find it interesting to watch, so you may also... a weather animation for January over North America:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sCM1uLXmKkI

I've been playing around with controlling Google Earth and Photoshop with Applescript, with some fun results so far...

haha! no worries - I missed the part in the topic header about "current best" and went with "most recent post" instead... but that's okay, I'm keeping my current best for the money shot! ;-) as if...

A fascinating series of shots here - I like! Here's my very first, and my most recently posted pic.

Improvement level: Questionable at best!

...at least my subjects are consistent, I guess.

Fred


Puff Ball

What completely preoccupied me through Beyonce's performance was the fact that her eyes were constantly seeking out the camera (as camera jockeys all, I'm sure you guys probably noticed that, too). As a professional performer, I think she should at least have been coached to understand that a "live" performance is not about collecting a portfolio of "come hither" headshots... well, some of the body shots were pretty good, but does she always have to look at the camera ?