Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with slide

What are your favorite toys for the lake or pool side?

wrnealis — Thu, 04 Jun 2009 12:51:12 -0800

Lake toys! What are your favorite toys for the lake or pool side? Going to be spending some time at the lake house this summer and I'm looking for some toys that adults and kids would enjoy. We have dock with 13' off the end. Also have an upper deck that we can jump off of.

I was looking at some inflatable or fiberglass slides, maybe an air bag to launch the kids in the air. Water guns and rafts, whatever.

What toys do you keep coming back to?

Grass burns here we come!

Ugh — Sat, 30 May 2009 21:49:25 -0800

Help me make an awesome homemade (adult) Slip N' Slide. After seeing one of those cheesy little Slip N Slides in Target this afternoon, I decided I want to pull off a major adult-size contraption for our 4th of July shindig. I looked at a few videos on YouTube and this one in particular suggests using simple 6 Mil Plastic Sheeting from a home store. Will that work?

Here's where it gets tricky. The yard we plan to use it in is level for the most part. How do I get water to run the length of it? Just a sprinkler at the top and maybe one in the middle? Or should I use baby oil like a friend suggested and fore go the water completely? Do I just stake it into the ground (tent stakes?) and repair it as it eventually starts to tear? I also plan on getting a few floats so people can sled down it if that will work better. Is there a way to do a ramp into a kiddie pool that won't be life threatening for possibly inebriated attendees?

I'm thinking, i'll probably end up with something like this. which frankly, might be a little boring. Any suggestions on games we could play (human bowling? where to get the pins?) or other things we could do to spice it up?

Any and all advice, suggestions, and warnings welcome.

Looking at fine art without visiting the gallery

vespr1610 — Fri, 29 May 2009 09:14:45 -0800

What is the best way to view fine art without visiting the gallery? I'm studying fine art, and I need a way to look at paintings without visiting the gallery or buying expensive giclée prints. I'm not happy using a computer screen - too small, screen glare..etc - so I'm wondering what the alternatives are.

I've been thinking about buying a slide projector, apparently this is what Picasso did. I've never used one before, do they produce a good quality image? Does anyone know where I can get hold of fine art slides?

Any other ideas would be much appreciated.

Film in Lima

ashaw — Tue, 21 Apr 2009 17:39:02 -0800

Where can I pick up Black and White film in Lima, Peru? There´s an abundance of photo processing shops with colour film but can´t find anywhere which sells black and white film (Fuji Neopan, Ilford etc) or more specialised slide film. Also whilst we´re on the subject, where in Lima can i pick up cheap second hand cameras? I´m thinking of markets etc.

Turning thousands of photos into billions of bits?

killdevil — Thu, 16 Apr 2009 21:04:04 -0800

My dad has many thousands of photos in 35mm slide and print form (the output of 40 years as a photography hobbyist). He's looking for an archival-quality photo scanner that can handle both formats, as well as provide some degree of bulk-load automation. What should he get?

Projector question

sarelicar — Thu, 19 Mar 2009 21:39:52 -0800

I don't know anything about 35mm slide projectors but I have an idea for projecting a 35mm slide image onto a wall as an artistic feature, the projection unbroken by passersby.

I believe i need the projector to be above and at a distance of no more than a foot from the wall since this is a high traffic area and i don't want people walking through the picture. Is this easier than it seems?

Do slide projectors still exist out there?

I_drew_an_angelfish — Thu, 26 Feb 2009 16:21:52 -0800

Help us find a slide projector in Minneapolis/St. Paul? My father is very very ill and tomorrow is his birthday. My siblings and I want to put together a slide show for tomorrow as most other birthday doings wouldn't be enjoyable for him in his current state. Our slide projector is in Seattle. Does anyone know of where we could buy/rent/borrow one in the Minneapolis/St. Paul area? I can't find anything and we are running out of time.
We are looking for the old 35mm (I think) slide projector. We have trays and trays of old slides.

Vintage water slide decal adhesive

Ambrosia Voyeur — Sun, 09 Nov 2008 16:48:44 -0800

What is the adhesive that backs water slide decals made of? I've been collecting vintage water slide decals for a while now, and some work beautifully.

Some very old ones crumble and flake apart when they go into the water, and then there's this third problem: decals that seem to just not adhere. They stiffen as they dry, and don't just fall immediately off the surface I stick them to, but they also don't lay flat enough that the clear part stays clear. It definitely lifts a little bit, not even in bubbles, just in a crackly-looking air matrix. I think the problem is the adhesive, because I successfully took them off with hot water and then repositioned them, paying more attention to smoothing them out, thinking that leaving too much moisture beneath them caused he crackling. No luck, they still dried "up" a little.

Maybe these particular ones never had adhesive. Wikipedia informs me that it is optional. I think the way they are, they would do alright on a matte wall, but I'm putting them on a metallic purple bottle, but I'm applying them to a metallic surface, a lot like I did here, this time to a Sigg bottle, so the littlest bit of opacity throws off the look altogether.

Can I try a little adhesive? What kind do these use originally? What would be water soluble, super thin, and perfectly clear?

HALP!

Buy an airplane slide?

Marky — Fri, 01 Aug 2008 17:34:01 -0800

Where can I buy an airplane evacuation slide? I'd love to get one of these for my treehouse. I probably couldn't afford a new one, but surplus would be fine. I know they part out old aircraft, someone must sell these, but I don't know where to look. None on Ebay...

Powerpoint export

Jofus — Mon, 02 Jun 2008 05:17:36 -0800

Powerpoint 2007: I have one large presentation of 200 or so slides in one ppt file. Is there a way I can automagically export each slide as its own ppt file. I'm imaging some manner of macro but the very idea fills me with dread. Does anyone have the mad VB skills they could bring to bear? Failing that, perhaps someone could softly caress my brow and whisper "there, there."

How should I scan 500 40-year-old slides?

Pastabagel — Mon, 28 Apr 2008 09:41:03 -0800

Recommendation for professional 35mm slide scanning services, either through the mail or in the Washington D.C. metro area. Best recommendation for extremely long term archival storage of slides. About 400-500 slides. I have recently come into possession of some very valuable 35 mm slides that are very old. There are about 400-500. Most of the slides are about 40 years old, however some are as old as 55 years old (I didn't think slides went back that far).

The slides are a combination of "Kodachrome Transparency", including the oldest, and "Agfachrome". The way the slides have been stored for the last 30 years at least has guaranteed that they are almost entirely dust and scratch free.

I want to scan these at a very high resolution, but I'm not comfortable dropping these off at a Ritz or Penn Camera store.

Any recommendations for a mail-away service? Any experience with ScanCafe? Any ideas on how I should tell them to do it?

What about storing these slides? The massive B&H catalog doesn't not include anything for storing slides, so any ideas for storage would also be helpful.

Finally, if anyone knows any particularly useful photoshop plugins or filters for color correcting these slides, I'd appreciate that as well.

This slide film is almost as old as me, and slight more stale, do I bother?

chrisbucks — Wed, 03 Oct 2007 15:08:37 -0800

Kodachrome 25, expired 1988, un-used. Developing is prepaid, bother using it and sending it away? If so, what special attention should I give it? I'm a fairly 'experimental' photographer... most of my film stock in the freezer currently is expired about 6 - 7 years ago and I enjoy getting pretty creative with it, messing with emulsions, using old cameras, holgas and the like.

Was clearing out a draw and found a roll of Kodachrome 25, expired 12/1988.

Normally I'd bin it, or make it into a mantle piece type thing, but on the off chance I could get something pretentious out of it, and because the processing has been pre-paid I might as well take it for a spin right?

_{(Spoke to Kodak and they said they'd handle it for me and honour the mailer, though I presume that means send it to Dwaynes)}

It wasn't frozen/fridged, it was in a draw in the back of the house, I think the humidity and temperature are fairly constant in there... but regardless, not the best environment.

If I do bother with it, should I push it? and by how many stops? If anyone else has bothered with 20 year old unfrozen slide film and got workable results, I'd be keen to know!

_{(the alternative method of developing I've read, is to process it as b/w in a longer process, but the chemical would probably cost as much as the postage)}

Looking for Slideshow Inspirations

Rolandkorn — Wed, 13 Jun 2007 05:40:32 -0800

I recently bought a zune and i am looking for pictures that are semi information or thoughtful. i recently quite a few photo selection on it and play music with it. Some of the stuff i like is Dali Art, Betty Page pinup, Optical Illusians and Post secrets. i am trying to find some more photos that are either information like pictures of shots that have to the side how to make them or pictures that are thought provoking maybe some religous art. I was hoping the Hive mind could steer me into jpeg slideshow that would be interesting to put on my zune and where to find them either eduction or inspirationial not really into people falling off ladders and stuff.

Using an opaque projector as a slide projector?

pissfactory — Thu, 04 Jan 2007 11:27:27 -0800

Converting an opaque projector to a decent slide projector? This is the projector I have... projector

I'd like to use it to view some slides and have an approximation how they will look on a real slide projector

Info TV

raildr — Thu, 02 Nov 2006 14:48:15 -0800

Old hardware, open source (free) software, JPG's and slide show I have the need for a cheap (free) way to do the following:
unattended PC's (no keyboard or mouse) slide show of JPG's, kind of a information TV.
I assume to use linux and older harware. I would like to keep most folks away (informal hacker types) other than viewing. I could use a USB keyboard when it needs updating, plugging it in should ask for password.

How to download video or slideshows from the NYT.

muse — Fri, 05 May 2006 11:47:55 -0800

Is there a way to save/download slideshow content from the New York Times? I use OS X Tiger, and I believe the content is Flash. I would appreciate any help you can extend to me.

Tips for an inspirational slideshow?

bryanzera — Mon, 27 Dec 2004 14:21:53 -0800

I'm putting together a video/still shot slideshow for our company's annual "We Did Really Well Last Year" video. I'd like to make it as visually appealing as possible... [MI] 1) Where do you go to for inspiration on video projects of this nature?

2) Would my best bet be to do the stills and any additional animation/visual effects in Flash and piece those together with video footage in Premiere or should I take the time to learn After Effects?

Version Control for Art

X-00 — Sun, 27 Jun 2004 20:56:00 -0800

Look for a versioning control system (like cvs) for art/design work [More inside] Ideally I would love something that uses WebDav transparently like Office does with Sharepoint, can be split up into client/project sections and will work in a mixed Mac/PC Office.
I like the look of Version Cue, but I'm also going to be doing stuff in Flash and Authorware so that's out. CVS seems to overly-complicated and cumbersome (plus I understand it does not handle binaries well). What else is there?