From: blockedofcourse@foo.invalid   
      
   On 1/1/2026 4:04 AM, Martin Brown wrote:   
   > Nothing beats a good loupe for close inspection.   
   > Although a pair of strong reading glasses on top of your prescription glasses   
   > can be very handy as a quick way to see finer detail.   
   > (old watchmakers trick)   
      
   I started carrying a cell phone just as a timepiece (cuz   
   every time I asked someone "what time is it?" they looked   
   at their cell phone -- hey, I can do that!).   
      
   The *second* application I found for it was as a camera...   
   so I could snap a photo of some tiny thing and then enlarge   
   it (zoom) to see the fine detail.  This is especially handy   
   for reading the microprint that is now common on devices (does   
   that say "12V @ 0.2A" or "15V @ 0.2A"?).  The flash/illuminator   
   makes this particularly useful in low light situations (like   
   when you are trying to examine a device at the bottom of a   
   pallet of other devices and don't want to have to unload the   
   pallet just to gain access to it!)   
      
   [You can, of course, also use it as a "variable gain magnifier"   
   if you can maintain a sight line to it while viewing the   
   object in question]   
      
   I used to keep a jewelers loupe in the console of the car but   
   that proved too tedious (trek out to the car to fetch it any   
   time you needed to see something "fine" -- the phone was in   
   your pocket as a timepiece so much handier!)   
      
   --- SoupGate-DOS v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)