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HeadlinesPrairie Lakes Audubon Chapter holds meetingOne Community, One BookFashion show debuts in Alexandria'Precious Bane' to be presented FridaycelebrationsEngaged Wilts and Hedstrom

HeadlinesBirths Douglas County Hospital through January 12, 2015Births Douglas County Hospital through January 3, 2015Engaged Pavek and JossartBirths Douglas County Hospital through December 28, 2014outdoorsWildlife of Douglas County: Snowy Owl Ray McDonald 49ers Jersey

HeadlinesDNR postpones AIS training and trailer decal programDNR studies shed light on local fisheriesDayton proposes expanded buffer zones along Minnesota watersWildlife of Douglas County: Fisher

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opinionHeadlinesLetter: 'Local heroes' tackle community's needsLetter: Accountability needed for gas taxCommentary: Put governing over gridlock in 2015It's Our Turn: Social media is often riddled with rumors, untruthsGuest Editorial: Time for Legislature to step up for Greater MinnesotacountryTen tips to successful seed starting

HeadlinesFarming community invited to sustainable farming conferenceLivestock disaster aid deadline nearsPotato growers invited to hearing on check off fees January 23Winter garden college planned Michael Wilhoite 49ers Jersey

HeadlinesDouglas Machine holds poster contestManufacturing strength expected to continue in 2015New medical executive committee leadership electedOperation Round Up grants announced.

FARMINGTON, CT (WFSB) Police said the most recent case on Feb. 24 was classified as a robbery because loss prevention personnel attempted to stop one of the males and was struck in the face by one of the suspects.The victim received unspecified injuries from the strike, investigators said.Customers said that it making them think twice about shopping in the area."I be very fearful," said Alyssa Hunter of West Hartford. "Especially walking in with three young children, I taking a second thought of even taking them in there at this point."Police released surveillance pictures from that crime. They said they include the suspects vehicle, which was described as a light colored, possibly tan, Buick SUV."You think after one or two, they see a tan SUV pull up and red flags would go up instantly," Koppel said.Anyone with information about this is asked to call the Farmington Police Department Detective Division at 860 675 2411. Police said reports can also be made to the department tip line at 860 675 2483.Man killed in north Nashville apartment shootingMan killed in north Nashville apartment shootingUpdated: Monday, January 26 2015 9:47 PM EST2015 01 27 02:47:14 GMTA man was killed and another was injured in a shooting at a north Nashville apartment complex on Monday.A man was killed and another was injured in a shooting at a north Nashville apartment complex on Monday. Mark Sanchez Jerse

CAREER HITMAN IS BACK BEHIND BARS AFTER POLICE SAY HE WAS ATTEMPTING TO KILL LOCAL DEFENSE ATTORNEY ROBERT JENKINS. POLICE ARRESTED KENNETH LEE LAST WEEK AFTER FINDING OUT ABOUT THE MARK ON JENKINS' BACK. WDSU'S CASEY FERRAND IS LIVE AT SIX TO EXPLAIN HOW THIS MURDER FOR HIRE PLOT CAME TO LIGHT. RANDI, THE F B I UNCOVERED THIS DEATH THREAT ABOUT THREE WEEKS AGO AND PUT SECURITY MEASURES IN PLACE TO ENSURE JENKIN'S SAFETY. NOW THE SUSPECTED HITMAN IS BACK IN FEDERAL CUSTODY AFTER BEING RELEASED ABOUT 3 MONTHS AGO. ON DECEMBER 22 AN ARREST WARRANT WAS ISSUED FOR KENNETH LEE . WHO WAS ALLEGEDLY ENGAGED IN A PLOT TO KILL JENKINS OVER THE HOLIDAYS. HE'S BEEN LINKED TO DONALD SYLVESTER. WHO IN 2007 WAS CONVICTED OF MURDERING A FEDERAL WITNESS IN BROAD DAYLIGHT. JENKINS PREVIOUSLY REPRESENTED SYLVESTER. WHO'S NOW SERVING A LIFE SENTENCE IN FLORIDA. IN OCTOBER. SYLVESTER TOLD PRISON PERSONNEL THAT KENNETH LEE. ANOTHER INMATE . APPROACHED HIM SAYING HE WAS WILLING TO KILL SYLVESTER'S FORMER ATTORNEY FOR A PRICE. LEE WAS CONVICTED IN 2009 AS AN ARMED CAREER CRIMINAL. HE WAS ORIGINALLY SENTENCED TO 15 YEARS IN PRISON. BUT WAS RELEASED IN SEPTEMBER AFTER HIS SENTENCE WAS REDUCED. COURT DOCUMETS SAY. IN RECORDED PRISON PHONE CALLS. AFTER LEE'S RELEASE. THE TWO SPOKE IN CODE ABOUT HOW AND WHEN THE HIT WOULD HAPPEN. THE F BI WAS ABLE ARREST LEE ON DECEMBER 23 AFTER SETTING UP A STING OPERATION FOR LEE TO COLLECT PAYMENT FOR THE HIT. RIGHT NOW. LEE IS IN FEDERAL CUSTODY IN BALTIMORE, MARYLAND. ON YOUR SIDE CASEY FERRAND WDSU NEWS. Seth Joyner Jersey

PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) The embattled director of Oregon's problem plagued health insurance exchange said Monday that he'll be taking a leave of absence for medical reasons. Chris Borland 49ers Jersey

The board of Cover Oregon approved up to 12 weeks of medical leave for Rocky King, who came under fire when the online enrollment system wasn't ready to launch on schedule in October.

Emails uncovered by the On Your Side Investigators revealed that King knew back in May that critical coding issues had put the October launch of Cover Oregon in jeopardy. Messages KATU reviewed between state IT experts and the website's main contractor, Oracle, show an almost complete communications breakdown and a failure to meet several testing deadlines.

The botched rollout also forced people to apply using paper applications. The state has scrambled to hire or reassign nearly 500 people to process applications by hand.

KATU reached out to Oracle again for comment Monday but received no response.

The announcement about King's medical leave came right before Cover Oregon's board went into executive session to discuss his job performance. The board had the executive director on notice, demanding to know when the website will work and how Cover Oregon will get people enrolled by the end of the year.

King told reporters he had struggled with his health for several years and was planning to take some medical leave for a while, though he did not pick the date until last week.

"It's time for me to focus on my health for a little bit," he said. "I'd always planned in the last year to take some time as soon as we really got through the launch on Oct.1 . Unfortunately, it didn't launch quite the way we wanted."

He did not describe what his medical condition entailed. He also said he has not resigned, though his return to Cover Oregon was dependent on his health.

"No one's talked to me about stepping down. So far, everyone's supported me," King said. "This was really a personal decision that I've had to come to. I've struggled the last couple years with some issues had to take a couple medical leaves and this just kind of seemed like the right time as soon as we started to see that momentum going up."

But for the third time in the past few months, the board voted that King was not in compliance, this time when it came to the exchange's launch date, the plan to enroll the maximum number of Oregonians, and the plan to get the exchange functional.

King has said Oregon set out to build an unusually complex exchange and didn't have enough time to do adequate testing. Experts warned for months that Oregon was trying to do too much and risked missing the deadline to launch, but Cover Oregon officials refused to substantially dial back their plans until it was too late.

For two months, Oregon was unable to enroll a single person. Officials announced Monday that the first 219 people have enrolled in private insurance. About 3,200 have enrolled in Medicaid.

More than 54,000 applications have been received so far. Many of them are incomplete, King said, requiring workers to follow up with applicants to fill in missing information.

And 40,000 of those applications have yet to go through eligibility determination that's not counting the applications that will be filed over the next two days. For coverage that begins Jan. 1, applications must be postmarked by Wednesday.

In a report to the board, Cover Oregon officials said they would complete all application determinations for tax credit eligibility and mail enrollment packets back to applicants by the end of this week. Officials did not say how they would process such a large number of applications in a matter of days.

Once Oregonians receive their enrollment packets, they must choose a plan and mail the packet back to Cover Oregon by Dec. 15.

King also told board members it was unclear whether Cover Oregon would meet two deadlines to have the online exchange fully functional. King had told lawmakers he hoped the online system would be ready on Dec. 9 for insurance agents and community groups that have contracts with Cover Oregon, and for all individuals on Dec. 16.

Cover Oregon has had three security breaches after workers following up on incomplete applications mailed personal information to the wrong people. In one case, the person who received someone else's application shredded it. In the two other cases, Cover Oregon officials are contacting the people whose information was compromised.

King said workers will now mail blank forms when seeking additional information. Ian Williams Jersey

"We take the issue of protecting consumer information very seriously," King said.

As for Cover Oregon's new interim director? Goldberg's first focus is signing up Oregonians for health insurance. Daniel Kilgore 49ers Jersey

"I think one of the things we've learned and we talked about in the board meeting today was the need for more regular and frequent communications that I think have a bit more depth to the board that give them the confidence and the public the confidence that this is moving forward," he said.

Winners Losers: Recruiting Issue, Hopkins, Fallball and Ankle Socks Inside Lacrosse Staff Sep 10, 2014The Recruiting Issue has landed, andplayers are hitting the fields for fall practices. It's a great time to be a lacrosse fan. Check out the IL staff's Winners and Losers below: DeMeco Ryans Eagles Jersey

Lee Zink retired after an 11 year career as one of MLL's best defensemen. Above, he plays for the Baltimore Bayhawks back in 2005 before spending nine years with the Denver Outlaws. (Inside Lacrosse Photo: James Schaffer)

IL Recruiting Issue The annual Recruiting Issueis always a highlight, but I especially enjoyed the work that went into this year's edition. The photography, the writing, the hours spent at the fields and on phone calls with IL's crack team, it's all there on the pages of this year's magazine. Even more helpful, the recruiting issue comes in a digital format, putting the book in the hands of the most fervent readers immediately with added content. Moving forward, we have some big things planned on the recruiting front, but it's always good to honor a job well done in the present. So, hiring a qualified candidate much less one thats a good fit is an especially impressive is an especially impressive task, and that's just what Princeton did by bringing in Dylan Sheridan, a young coach with a diverse playing background, widespread geographic connections and Final Four level experience, not to mention an impressive demeanor and acumen who'll handle the defense.

Johns Hopkins Blue Jays The text on the cover of this 2014 Inside Lacrosse Magazine Recruiting Issue says it all: "The class that Johns Hopkins fans have been waiting for is finally on campus." This is just the third top ranked class for the Jays since IL began ranking classes in 1998. It's the second class since 2006 to be ranked higher than No. 5 (the 2009 group was also No. 1). Clearly, the Cordish Center and the tradition of the program are reaping huge benefits for the Jays, who reeled in a big Baltimore centric class (led of course by No. 1 recruit Shack Stanwick) that also includes talented Canadian Joel Tinney from Culver Academy. Zink did something that's tough to do in a world of flashy highlights: He made a name for himself throughsteady, team first play. He might not stick out to a casual fan, but his play is hugely important to the success the Outlaws have had in his nine years in Black and Orange. You want to see remarkable stats, look at his penalty minutes from the past few seasons: 2.5, 5.5, 5.5, 2, 3.5. And those are against the No. 1 option nearly every time. Wow. Enjoy the much deserved summer weekends with the family. DeMarco Murray Eagles Jersey

Northwestern While I've been scrolling through instagram the past week or so, it's been impossible to miss the slew of images detailing practices, early morning run tests, sessions in the weight room, so on and so forth. A team that I haven't seen doing that (yet; I'll preface this by saying that, as we all know Northwestern gets their work in and then some): The Wildcats of Northwestern University. Why, might you ask? Oh, they're in Italy. Byron Maxwell Eagles Jersey

Over the past few months, we've seen lacrosse teams around the country take some pretty incredible trips together. Loyola traveled to London and then to South Africa; Stanford was Hawaii bound before touching down in Japan. Northwestern is now on their Italian Tour before classes begin in Evanston, Illinois. As a student athlete at Syracuse University, some of my most memorable experiences with my teammates were our off field adventures with one another. These girls undoubtedly will be coming home with some memories of a lifetime. Authentic Sam Bradford jerseys

Domestic violence We're an office full of engaged sports professionals, so of course we've spent the last few days discussing the journalistic, bureaucratic and cultural implications after new video surfaced this week showing NFL running back Ray Rice knocking out his then fiance in a casino elevator. Lacrosse faced the reality of domestic violence in a horrendous incident just a few years ago with the murder of former Virginia women's lacrosse player Yeardley Love by former Virginia men's lacrosse player George Huguely. In the wake of Yeardley's death the One Love Foundation, founded by the Love family and friends in her honor, has worked hard to build an infrastructure to provide resources to help identify eliminate relationship violence. Multiple current high school freshmen have already committed to DI men's lacrosseteams. There's blame to go all around, but no clarity in responsibility. Reform is a long way off. I find it hilarious, but it's really making me feel old that I completely missed when ankle socks became lame. Last fall I went to about a dozen different teams' practices, and there were clearly some individuals who were a step behind. Some of them were slated to be impact players but were taken down a peg because they didn't put in the work. It's good to see these teams getting after it with the workouts and the conditioning, and I know there are some individuals who are showing off how much they've stepped up their game this offseason. I'll see you all on the fall practice circuit starting next week.

Anyone not taking advantage of watching this fall's college action I've said it many times, but fall is my favorite time of year for lacrosse and this fall's lineup of action really just supports that notion. With Harvard's "Melting Pot" Tournament kicking off the action in late September, each weekend from there on out is filled with some of the college landscape's most competitive action. While spring road trips to watch two teams compete are always a good time, catching one of the many tournaments happening this fall all over the country give fans the opportunity to watch a number of teams still experimenting with different lineups, plays, etc. take on numerous other teams.

The ratio between the focal length and the aperture (diameter) of a lens is called the f/number. The smaller the f/number, the more light is let in. Fast lenses start around f/2.0, and the light let in goes as the inverse square. Compared to f/2.0, f/1.4 lets in twice as much light, f/1.0 four times, and f/0.71 eight times. The fastest camera lenses designed for DSLRs and widely available are between f/1.4 and f/1.2, but lenses as fast as f/0.75 have been made in quantity for special applications, and some of those are available quite cheaply via scrap yards, surplus stores, or eBay.

These ultra fast lenses usually are branded either Kowa or Rodenstock and were designed for use in medical or semiconductor industry equipment, etc. They are not well suited for use on DSLR cameras, and are no substitute for an f/1.4 or f/1.2 lens that was designed for your camera. However, they easily can produce very distinctive images. Here how to use one on a DSLR.

The example here is a Kowa 1:1 55mm, an f/1.0. There are lots of others to choose from, mostly branded Kowa or Rodenstock. The Kowa shown here cost $25, including shipping, via eBay. Personally, I purchased ultra fast lenses from two eBay suppliers: ctr_surplus and svcompucycle.

Fundamentally, these are commonly junked lenses and should not be too expensive. However, these lenses were used in very expensive equipment and probably cost a lot when new, and people often go nuts when they see fast apertures, so pricing varies wildly. The Kowa 1:1 55mm is among the cheapest and most commonly available, but there are many alternatives. I heard that one can find ultra fast lenses for $1 in junk yards if you diligent and dress like a buck is all you can afford. However, surplus stores and eBay sellers are commonly listing ultra fast lenses anywhere from $10 to $400. Some of the more exotic ones, or ones with DSLR compatible mounts, are between $600 and $2,000.

In any case, you want a lens with a rear element that fits inside the diameter of your DSLR mount. A lens with a larger rear element generally might imply vignetting, as well as being harder to mount on your DSLR. Independent of the rear element diameter, large diameter lens barrels can complicate mounting by colliding with an overhanging finder or a front hand grip on your camera body.

Thanks for this great tip, I ordered a Kowa 1:1/55 right after reading and haven regretted it. I noticed (as your images show) that it has a sort of light bleed towards the edges. Light seems to get smeared away from the center of the image.

Here is how I was able to fix this: On my lens, there were three screws on the back (the part that touches the camera) so I unscrewed them and found that the back piece of the lens could be completely removed (removing a couple of the lens elements along with it).

When I tried the Kowa with the real piece removed directly against the camera body, the focal plane was a good 10 feet from the camera. At this point you can move the lens further away from the camera body to bring the focal plane closer, but you will also be losing quite a bit of light. Mike Quick Jersey

So I further modified the lens by using a 10x opteca macro lens attachment between the lens and the camera body. This brought my focal plane right back up close to the camera allowing me to take very similar macros to the original Kowa lens, but without the light bleeding (and, of course, a ridiculously thin depth of field).

I have been amazed at the low light performance of this setup (which I believe is better than the Kowa on it own). With four elements it works much better than any single element macro attachment. And though I haven used it much since I bought an actual macro lens, it has proved to be one of the most useful elements in my exploration of DIY lenses as it seems to have very different focus properties than single element macro attachments.

In fact, you can even used this attachment as a as it own lens: I happened to have a Canon attachment for a spotting scope which included a 2 extension tube so I simply stuck the opteka onto the end with some sticky tack. This works very well as a super fast macro lens. And because of how thin the attachment is, you can use a shorter extension tube and actually achieve infinity focus (which would only be possible on the Kowa if you had the skills / equipment to cut off some of it length). This could also be easily turned into a tilt shift! Connor Barwin Eagles Jersey

Anyway this comment has gone on too long, I hope someone finds it helful!

I have an Apo Goerz lens from a 30 vacuum back copy camera that also has a very long focal length (and slow aperture, unlike the lenses in this Instructable). However, the long focal length means it can focus to infinity on a DSLR. Bennie Logan Jersey

Thus, my mount for it consisted of a custom back for a 4 camera to mount my 35mm SLR (I did this long before digitals) and a custom lensboard to extend the lens way past the normal maximum extension of the 4 bellows. Very scary to use and not really worth the trouble for the IQ, but impressively huge and strange to look at. :)

Actually, the stated f/ will only be at the designed specifications of the lens itself. A lot of these lenses have an extremely short back focal length. So, if your camera has a lens mount to sensor distance of say 43mm and your lens has a back focal length of 15mm then the projected image will be larger than designed and the amount of light hitting anyone area will be reduced. Similar to a macro lens will have you have to increase exposure the higher your magnification.

The lenses will still be fast, especially for the money, but not as fast as one thinks.

This already was explained in step 3.

Here the math. The effective focal length of a lens typically is increased by the extra distance that the lens is moved from the film/sensor plane when focus is set closer than infinity. An Xmm lens that is f/Y and moved Zmm more distant from the sensor still has an aperture of (X/Y)mm, but now has effective focal length of (X+Z). Thus, the effective f/number would be (X+Z)/(X/Y). Cedric Thornton Jersey

Close focus using a lens designed for your camera typically will have the same impact on it effective f/number. The most common exceptions are lenses that have internal focus mechanisms that cause them to change focal length independent of the distance to the sensor, and even for them there is usually a similar effective change in f/number at close focus.

Pedal extenders are an ingenious UGG Nightfall addition to the piano. At first sight, they look like a footstool and can serve the purpose of giving a child a place for the feet so they do not dangle freely, but UGG Nightfall Boots they also have piano pedals. Piano pedals sit on the top, and underneath are posts that sit on the pedals of the piano, so that when nightfall uggs the child pushed the pedal on the footstool, the piano pedals are pushed by the extenders. But its real purpose is to keep the many pieces of music organized and out of sight. Most piano benches ugg 5359 can hold music, but this storage space is limited.

Pedal extenders are an ingenious UGG Nightfall addition to the piano. At first sight, they look like a footstool and can serve the purpose of giving a child a place for the feet so they do not dangle freely, but UGG Nightfall Boots they also have piano pedals. Piano pedals sit on the top, and underneath are posts that sit on the pedals of the piano, so that when nightfall uggs the child pushed the pedal on the footstool, the piano pedals are pushed by the extenders. But its real purpose is to keep the many pieces of music organized and out of sight. Most piano benches ugg 5359 can hold music, but this storage space is limited.