Anybody have a better knowledge of photography history than I can google? I found a box of glass negatives in my grandparents' stuff. Based on where I found it, I can narrow it's origin to Europe, probably Vienna, definitely before WWII. It's glass negatives, about three by four inches. (Next thing I'm going to do is try scanning them with white paper behind them, then use photoshop or something to switch the black/white colors, to see if the photos themselves give any clues. Of the people in my family who I know were living there then, I think there are only two or three that I can recognize from a photo.)

t edit: OK, I got better google search terms. 1850-1920 for glass negatives, it seems. Judging from the clothes I can see in these, I'd guess the later end of that period.

And I need to figure out if I can make beans in my crockpot.

What kind of beans do you have in mind? What size crockpot?

New TSA regulations on flying with lithium batteries: [link]

The TSA has discovered that on January 1st, 2008 lithium batteries are going to become more dangerous than they were on December 31, 2007. Thankfully, they've taken action by forbidding them beginning in 2008.

Lithium Metal Battery, Spare or Installed (over 2 grams lithium):
In checked bag? Forbidden
Carry-on? Forbidden

Oh for fuck's sake. Does this effectively ban all laptops, iPods, cell phones, etc?

what the fuck? do they want people to stop flying altogether?

They are fucking insane.

Hey, my laptop screen is on. How weird. Yay?

I have a small crock pot that runs only on low. We made beans at my parents, but theirs has multiple settings, and I don't recall what we used. Need to ask my mom.

Do the TSA people even know that they're looking for!

Don't most laptops use lithium-ion batteries, not lithium metal batteries?

::off to google::

In the laptop it's OK, but you can't bring a spare? Apparently.

So I totally wasted the entire rest of the day after my modicum of productivity early. At least I've made excellent progress on getting all of the snacky food out of my apartment....

OK:

# Under the new rules, you can bring batteries with up to 8-gram equivalent lithium content. All lithium ion batteries in cell phones are below 8 gram equivalent lithium content. Nearly all laptop computers also are below this quantity threshold.

# You can also bring up to two spare batteries with an aggregate equivalent lithium content of up to 25 grams, in addition to any batteries that fall below the 8-gram threshold. Examples of two types of lithium ion batteries with equivalent lithium content over 8 grams but below 25 are shown below.

# For a lithium metal battery, whether installed in a device or carried as a spare, the limit on lithium content is 2 grams of lithium metal per battery.

# Almost all consumer-type lithium metal batteries are below 2 grams of lithium metal. But if you are unsure, contact the manufacturer!

So I guess we can still fly with most lithium batteries....

[link]