200 Pages Tagged “Category: Highlights”
Blog Posts
- We Have Met The Ferengi, And They Are US
We finished re-watching Deep Space Nine a few days ago. Quark’s rants in the second-to-last episode about rolling back the reforms regarding gender and worker protections, complaining that Ferengi society has been infected by a disease, and declaring that if he becomes Nagus he’ll bring back what made Ferenginar great again sound eerily familiar. There’s […]
- Marketing
In retrospect, it’s wild that so many tech people who were hyper-aware of the fact that Microsoft’s dominance in the 1990s and 2000s was due to more to marketing (“never underestimate Microsoft on marketing”) than technical merits…fell for the idea that a “marketplace of ideas” would coalesce around the best ideas, and not just the […]
- Culture Wars
I’ve long disliked the term “culture war,” partly because it’s tossed around in a way that trivializes the issues and partly because “War on whatever” framing tends to confuse the issues. But I keep thinking of a line in Cat Valente’s novel Space Opera about what war is. And when it comes down to it, […]
- Eye of the Mall
In downtown San Francisco, there’s a multi-level shopping mall with an atrium and a skylight. If you stand in the dead center of the atrium and look up, it resembles an eye, looking down at you through a giant microscope. This was taken during WonderCon 2009. Years later, I posted it for a February 2015 […]
- Upper Limit
Okay, okay, I won’t toss this speck of neutron star material here! I guess I’ll just have to pack it out. (Spotted at the Hermosa Beach Pier over the weekend.)
- Plane Hopping and Foxtrot
When wild jackrabbits roamed the fields of LAX. (Los Angeles Times)* From time to time passengers in giant air liners are amused when giant jacks race the plane on take-off. Until now, none of the rabbits has left the ground. I’m reminded of all the rabbits we used to see near UCI in the 90s, […]
- And Then… We Buuuuuurn The Hydrogen!
A while back, I mentioned one of the exhibits I remembered from a childhood visit to the Los Angeles Museum of Science and Industry (now the California Science Center) in the 1980s: …a multi-screen cartoon about energy sources and engine types called “The Water Engine.” (Each screen has a character talking up internal combustion, flywheels, […]
- It’s a Dream World
I recently found myself in Culver City and spotted a familiar-looking wall. Not because I’d been there often, but because I remember seeing it from the passenger seat of a co-worker’s car over a decade ago as we drove past on the way to…lunch? A bakery? I can’t quite remember. But I do remember Spider-Man […]
- Elemental States of Matter
It’s interesting how well earth, water, air and fire map to solid, liquid, gas and plasma. People recognized the four states of matter, but for ages they interpreted them as ingredients instead of structure.
- The Essentials
When I took this photo back in 2016, it was a combination coffee/Chinese food restaurant: they sold coffee in the mornings and Chinese food for lunch and dinner. The owner had previously run a separate coffee shop (The Bean Counter, IIRC) in the same shopping center, then combined the two businesses to save on rent. […]
- Made it to First Place!
While driving around Hermosa Beach, I finally made it to 1st Place! Unfortunately, once you get there, there’s only one way you can go.
- Plural of Eclipse
Yes, it turns out a colander *does* make a fun instrument for observing a solar eclipse! Also, thinking about how common eclipses actually are.
- On Gasoline Prices
Me, driving a smallish gas-fueled car in the 2000s: Wow, gas has gotten expensive these days, but at least I’m not spending too much per tank. Me, driving a hybrid car in the 2010s: Yeah, gas is still expensive, but I’m still not spending too much per tank, and I think I’m filling it less […]
- Hammers and Kneecaps
There’s a difference between making or selling a tool knowing some people will misuse it, and reaching out to those who will do so for endorsements or to encourage them to misuse *your* tool and not a competitor’s.
- Lan Security
Not what they usually mean by LAN security, but certainly effective.
- Partial Solar Eclipse Pics (October 2023)
It was hazy, and the weather forecast was partly cloudy, but the sun stayed visible and the eclipse glasses (used here for the photo) haven’t cracked! We didn’t do anything complicated this time: just took the glasses with us as we went about our morning, looking through the glasses every 15-20 minutes to see how […]
- Remember Back When Sudafed WORKED?
It’s been 18 years since drug companies replaced pseudoephedrine with phenylephrine to keep their cold medications available over the counter when the people waging War On Drugs(tm) decided to restrict the main ingredient in Sudafed (and what it was named after) because it could be used to make meth. Though I remember some other decongestant […]
- Cis is Just A Description
Imagine a small village near a valley, so isolated that they just call themselves “the people.” One day they find out about another village on the other side of the valley, and they start calling them “the people across the valley.” They can keep talking about “the people,” but sometimes they need to make a […]
- Lost Cities and Alien Skies
You wouldn’t think that books about astronomy and archaeology would have a lot in common, but Four Lost Cities and Under Alien Skies pack some odd similarities.
- Blue Sunsets on Mars
One of many cool facts brought up in Phil Plait’s new book, Under Alien Skies is that Martian sunsets are blue! On Earth, nitrogen scatters light randomly, with bluer colors scattering more than redder colors, so the ambient sky is blue, but when you’re looking toward the sun at a shallow angle (like sunrise or […]
- Venus and Jupiter Conjunction 2023
A photo of Venus and Jupiter close together in tonight’s sky, and a close-up that appears to have very blurry images of Jupiter’s moons.
- It’s Crop!
Just cropping an image isn’t always enough to remove the data. Watch out for display-only crops, thumbnails in metadata, and even broken file saving!
- Free…Coffee?
Um, no thanks, I’d rather pay for coffee across the street than take my chances here.
- Full Halo
A 22-degree circular halo spotted today, caused by sunlight refracting through ice crystals in the thin cloud layer.
- Hearts Among Us
Spotted at a park last week. Amusingly, my phone autocorrected “crewmate” to “cremate” while I was adding the alt text. Considering this is Among Us, it’s not that far off…
- Faded Guidelines
Some of the signs are still up, almost three years later. Some people still wear masks, sometimes. And some people still get covid, sometimes. And memory of the 2020-2021 lockdown continues to fade.
- Entradero Basin: Spring and Fall
The flood control basin has been partly restored for stormwater infiltration and as habitat for native plants and migrating waterfowl, bounded by a city park on one side, baseball fields on the other, and hills all around. The city is currently expanding the basin while the water level is low.
- The 2022 Social Media Experience
The 2022 update: What it’s like to use Twitter, Facebook, Tumblr, Mastodon, Pixelfed and Instagram now.
- The Web Was Responsive From The Start
I’ve been meaning to write a post about email newsletters that still assume you’re reading on a desktop and send out layouts that rely on a wide screen size and end up with tiny 2-point type on a mobile phone — you know, where most people read their email these days. Then I stumbled on […]
- Forgotten, But Not Gone
Remember standing six feet apart?
- Wait, Bees are…Fish?
California’s endangered species law doesn’t cover insects. But the fish and game code is a bit broader than intended in its definition of fish.
- Microforests
Interesting read on building “microforests”: If you don’t have enough room for actual rewilding, plant a small plot of multilevel native plants and trees in a park, school yard, or even your own back yard — especially in urban areas. Anywhere you can fit an oak (or equivalent), some shorter trees, some bushes and some […]
- Hi, We’re Your Bank! (Yeah, SURE you are.)
Phishers: Hi, we’re your bank, please click on this attachment for important information. Security experts: Never click on an unexpected attachment in an email even if you think you know who it’s from. It’s likely to be malware or a scam to steal your login credentials. Actual banks: Hi, we’re your bank, please click on […]
- Bad Design: Splitting Notification Preferences
Splitting notification preferences across the app UI and the system UI is a mess for usability. But if the goal is making you see more notifications?
- May I Have Your Attention Please. All of it. FOREVER.
One thing I like about the Fediverse is that it doesn’t constantly scream for your attention to keep you online as long as possible.
- Impact Contrast (meteor impacts, that is)
One of the things I find fascinating about the Tunguska and Chelyabinsk impacts is that in one case it took decades of scientific research and multiple theories to settle on what probably caused it, while in the other we have video footage and the actual meteorite. But there were eyewitnesses to Tunguska despite its remoteness, […]
- Waking Up is Hard to Do (PC Edition)
Always nice to be greeted by this unlock screen: Ever since upgrading to the latest NVIDIA driver, my Linux system has had a weird quirk with resuming from suspend/hibernate. All the applications and services that were running pick up right where I left them, but anything drawn by Gnome shell — including the unlock screen, […]
- Coronaversary
Google wished me a happy second coronaversary this morning. Well, not in so many words. But I count March 8, 2020 as my last normal day, the day I went out to de-stress by taking pictures of the ocean, seagulls, and a zillion tiny clams, grabbed coffee at Peet’s on the way home, and came […]
- The Adventures of Bus Ryder and the Busonic Woman!
Apparently this was a 1976 comic book to promote the then-new county bus system with campy knock-off superheroes (and really wonky perspective). I mean, Bus Ryder looks suspiciously like Superman, and there’s no question where the Busonic Woman got her name. Photo courtesy Orange County Archives.
- Monarchs!
From this afternoon’s walk along the greenbelt: About as many monarch butterflies in one photo than I’ve seen in the last few years! There were a whole bunch of them clustered on a pine branch above the path. I wouldn’t have even seen them, but other people out walking had stopped to check them out. […]
- I know tastes are supposed to change over time, but this is ridiculous
For a couple of days my sense of smell went really wonky. It never went out completely. It was more like taking an audio equalizer and readjusting the sliders so that some frequencies are barely audible and others are louder than they should be. And maybe shifting tracks out of sync while you’re at it.
- Using the Internet in the 1990s (and early 2000s)
A few weeks ago, Szczezuja asked the GeminiSpace community: How you were using the Internet in 1991-1995 and 1995-2005? This may be a bit longer than asked for, and I thought about breaking it into smaller pieces, but I decided it would be more appropriate for a Gemini post to be one single unit. 1991-1995: […]
- Cello Goodbye
The kid’s gotten interested in playing music and has been trying out various instruments over the last few months. (Yay for rentals!) The latest is cello. As soon as he heard Bach’s cello suites, he was convinced. We lined up lessons with the same teacher he’d had for violin earlier this year. Then we went […]
- Normal is Weird
The other day I grabbed a coffee and muffin while out walking, and found an out-of-the-way outdoor place where I could unmask and eat without being near anyone else. It was weird! It felt like I was getting away with something. This sort of thing used to be normal, but now it isn’t… and that’s […]
- 2020: Overachiever (The Monoliths)
November 23: Helicopter pilot finds “strange” monolith in remote part of Utah. November 25: Using Google Earth to look for the Utah monolith site. One candidate that matches the landscape seems to have something vertical that appeared between the 2015 and 2016 images. No coordinates in the article. Attempt no landings there. December 7: After […]
- Halo Over Bike Path
A bright circle in the sky surrounds the silhouette of a stop sign blocking the sun. Below it, a bike path winds into the distance and electrical towers stretch upward.
- Whale Call
Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home holds up better than I thought it would. At the end, I found myself trying to imagine the conversation between the whales and the probe. Probably something like this…
- Jedi Blocks
Apparently Mojang hired Anakin Skywalker to write the captions for block descriptions in Minecraft Earth.
- Tech Giants’ Core Strategies
The Verge makes an interesting point about Microsoft’s acquisition of Bethesda: for the most part, Microsoft doesn’t care what hardware you run their stuff on, they just want you to buy the software. So it’s less likely to be about trying to gain Xbox exclusives and more likely to be about getting more games for […]
- Bar and Grille
The outside of the former Great Maple restaurant at Del Amo Fashion Center. It opened with the new upscale wing of the mall, and closed suddenly about a year later. (Like, people showed up to work and the door was locked.) Nothing’s moved in since then, and of course nothing’s likely to move in for […]
- Virtual Waiting Room
Waiting at home for a link to a video call is, in some ways, better than waiting at the doctor’s office. You’re home, after all! You can use your most comfortable chair. You don’t have to worry about getting sick from other people in the waiting room. You know where the bathroom is, you can […]
- Individualism: Healthy vs Unhealthy Varieties
I’ve been thinking about individualism, and how there are healthy versions and unhealthy versions. For instance… Healthy: If you can take care of something yourself, do it, so you don’t have to rely on someone else to do those things. Self-reliance is valuable, but it’s only one tool in the toolbox, and you recognize situations […]
- Objection!
Went out for a walk. Group of jerkwads in a pickup covered in conspiracy slogans about Bill Gates, beaches, and Wal-Mart were driving around shouting about not believing stuff and “freedom.” First time we got stuck at the same light, I studiously ignored their attempts to get my attention. (I was the only one at […]
- Looking Back at Camp Myford
I’ve been looking through photos from back when we could, you know, go places and found a set from the hills above North Tustin during a year that we got enough rain to turn the hills green. There were some really clear shots of Peters Canyon, Saddleback, and even some south Orange County hills that […]
- Wandering Off…
- Democracy or Republic? Yes!
“We live in a republic, not a democracy” is a false binary. The United States is a representative democracy in the form of a republic. It’s both. It’s like saying you’re not in a car, you’re on a road. You may be driving yourself (direct democracy) or choose someone who’s going your way (representative democracy). […]
- Hawkspotting
I’ve been seeing hawks lately when I’m out walking, which is new. I know partly it’s that I’m actively looking for suburban wildlife, but I’ve been doing that since last June when I started participating in iNaturalist. I started noticing how many squirrels and sparrows and phoebes and finches were around (in addition to the […]
- Winter Birds of Madrona Marsh
I went hiking at the marsh preserve this weekend and was astonished at just how many different types of birds I saw. Five species of ducks alone (it is winter, after all) — not just the more common mallards, but shovelers, teals, wigeons, and one I hadn’t heard of before called redheads (for obvious reasons). […]
- The Rise of Skywalker vs. the Other Star Wars Sequels (spoilers)
I saw The Rise of Skywalker last week, and I’ve had some thoughts bouncing around in my head for a while. I think it’s been long enough. So, to start with, let’s look at the major themes of the Star Wars sequel trilogy. The Force Awakens: There will always be a new generation of fascists, […]
- Social Squirrel
I swear I’m not trying to turn this into a squirrel-themed blog, but here’s another encounter that I thought was worth sharing. Most of the squirrels I see are really skittish around people. This one, in a city park, walked up to me and posed. I’m not sure what it was doing in the first […]
- I Guess
I’ve got to appreciate this network error UI from Minecraft Earth. Especially the button text.
- 15 Minutes with Minecraft Earth
Took Minecraft Earth for a spin around the block. Most of the demos I’d seen showed either the build-on-a-plate mode or the AR adventure mode, so I wasn’t sure how the map mode was going to work. You see a Minecraft-ified version of your local area. Real-world buildings appear as raised ground instead of buildings, […]
- The Visible Housing Timeline
I saw an article about open space preservation efforts in Newport Beach, and decided to look up the area on maps’ satellite view. Looking around nearby areas in Newport, Laguna Beach, Irvine, Tustin, Orange, etc, I realized: the timeline of residential development in central Orange County is actually visible. Newer neighborhoods have bigger houses than […]
- Online Permanence: Host Your Own or Use a Service?
What you put on Facebook or Twitter will die when they do (or sooner, at their whim). What you host yourself will stay…as long as YOU can keep it up.
- Free Software and Failed Ideals
Once upon a time, the idea that “only the code mattered” was sold as a way to be inclusive. No one would be shut out if their code was good. But building software is more than code. It’s design. Planning. Discussion. It’s figuring out use cases, misuse cases, and failure modes. It’s interacting with people. […]
- Treetop Tomatoes
Is this the weirdest place I’ve seen a volunteer tomato? It’s certainly up there! *sorry* *ok, not sorry* 🙂 Originally posted on Pixelfed. Observation on iNaturalist. Update: There’s also a black nightshade of some sort and a ficus growing out of the same tree, which you can sort of see in the medium-zoom photo. Update […]
- Doom and Gloom are Not Enough
Doom and gloom alone aren’t enough to help us deal with climate change, or any of the other problems we face. Fear sustained turns to despair, and to inaction – because why bother? We have to celebrate successes to keep hope alive so we can keep going. We do need to know what we’re up […]
- Moonshots
Saturday night’s crescent moon. One shot for the daylit crescent, the other for the night side lit by earthshine (with some clouds as a bonus). J. helped with focusing the telephoto lens. The second shot is a lot noisier than I’d like since I was adjusting levels on the JPEG, but I have the raw […]
- Ring! Ring! Who’s There? *handcuffs*
Police from five cities — and an LA Sheriff’s helicopter — descended on a neighborhood because someone panicked over Ring footage of a food delivery sent to the wrong address.
- What’s in a Name? (1984 Edition)
I always find it weird when someone insists that 1984 is warning about socialism because of the party name.
- Art or Eyesore?
A few miles from Hearst Castle, a trash collector spent fifty years cobbling together his house out of junk and found objects. As Cambria became more trendy in the 1970s, neighbors wanted him to tear down the multi-level “eyesore,” while others saw “Nitt Witt Ridge” as a folk art monument. It’s still there, and still […]
- The Walnut Burglar
This squirrel bounded along a wall carrying a walnut in its mouth as I walked down the sidewalk. It stopped and looked at me as if it had been caught in the act of walnut burglary. I had enough time to snap a couple of pictures with my phone and pull out my camera for […]
- Critical Infrastructure
Sign on a pillar next to a cafe, proclaiming “Internet WWW Access.” I also found (a) gopher nearby.
- Looping Around Orion
Photo by Andrew Klinger via Astronomy Picture of the Day The first time I saw a picture of Barnard’s Loop (the arc running through Orion), I was astonished at the scale of it in the sky. I always had it in my head that (aside from the Milky Way, anyway), most of the astronomical features […]
- Shouting Into the Less Exploitative Void
Sometimes you choose which social app to open based on who you want to talk to who you want to hear what you want to talk about Sometimes you’re just shouting into the void. At those times, I figure I’ll choose the void that feels less exploitative. That’s part of why I still have a […]
- Somebody Else’s Problem
Guys, “Check your privilege” isn’t a moral judgment against you, it’s a reminder that we all have blind spots. The human brain is very good at downplaying or dismissing problems that we don’t see much ourselves to focus more energy on those that we do. It’s the same psychology that makes Douglas Adams’ “Somebody Else’s […]
- An imagined conversation with an email petition
“Please sign this petition about X!” “OK, I care about X, what’s the petition actually say?” “It’s about X!” “Right, but what’s the actual wording? Am I putting my name on supporting a specific action? ‘Cause I’d support some actions but not others.” “It’s telling them to do something about X!” “Yeah, I got that. […]
- The Smartphone Paradox: Social Media vs. Actually Using the Damn Thing
This post I rescued from my Google+ archive in August 2011 really speaks to how quickly expectations for mobile computing were derailed by the social media feedback loop. Years ago, I wanted a smartphone so I could write down all the blog posts I compose in my head when I’m away from a computer. Now […]
- Snow Above Los Angeles (Feb 2019)
The winter storm of the past few days is over, leaving a thick coat of snow on the higher parts of the San Gabriel Mountains and a thin dusting on the lower parts, even the mountains behind the Hollywood Hills, still lingering though mid-morning. By mid-afternoon, most of the snow in the second photo appeared […]
- Smiling Sky
The last few weeks have been really good for halos. The first tangent arc I’ve seen, a clear circumscribed halo, the more common sundogs and 22° halos, and now a circumzenith arc, looking like an upside-down rainbow high above the sun, wrapping around the top of the sky. I think this is the second I’ve […]
- Lunar Eclipse, January 2019
The evening was hectic, and I almost forgot. I had literally just put my son to bed when I remembered, “The eclipse!” We went out to see if the sky was clear. Clouds were rushing across the sky, but for the most part, it was clear, and we had a perfect view of the moon […]
- Tangent in the Sky
When I first started paying attention to solar ice halos, I read about tangent arcs. But this is the first time I’m sure I’ve *seen* one.
- Individuals or Groups?
I often see conservatives say that they see individuals where liberals see groups. But it doesn’t track. Conservatives are regularly willing to exclude whole groups of people, then allow exceptions. On the same issues, liberals often allow groups, then exclude individuals. Put another way, liberals want to ensure everyone eligible is allowed access, and conservatives […]
- This space intentionally left…
- Who are phone notifications for?
Phone notifications aren’t notices, they’re alerts. They should serve your interests as the person using the phone, not the interests of the app or service.
- First Try With The Old Film Camera
We got the negatives and scans back from the two rolls of film we shot with the old manual film camera. Despite the damage to the case, it seems to still be light-proof, as the second roll of film came out about as well as the first. It was an interesting experiment. We mostly took […]
- The Old Camera
The 7YO was looking through the closet the other day and found my old camera bag. Inside it: the old film SLR camera that my grandfather gave me when I was around 12. It’s older than I am, a Sears camera that appears to be a rebranded Ricoh Singlex TLS from 1967. It’s completely manual […]
- Afternoon to Golden Hour: What a Difference 90 Minutes Makes
The air has finally cleared up enough to see Downtown Los Angeles and the mountains. After several weeks of smoggy days, wildfire smoke, and occasional gloom, it’s nice to be able to see something other than a gray blur in the distance! Also interesting: seeing how much the view changes from late afternoon to really […]
- What I Miss About CDs
You know what I miss about CDs and other physical music media? Liner notes. Art, lyrics, sometimes stories… …and credits. Who is that familiar-sounding background singer? Who wrote the song? Is it a cover? This one really reminds me of a certain composer, lyricist, or arranger’s style – can I confirm that? The performer and […]
- Eye(s) of the Tiger
The tiger was a lot closer to the fence than I expected, watching us tourists with a disdainful look as it lounged in the afternoon heat. The fence mostly blurred out of view, but I didn’t notice a dry leaf in front of its face to the left of its mouth, leaving a brown splotch […]
- Long-Form Twitter: WHY OH WHY?
Twitter is suited for short statements and back-and-forth conversation. It’s terrible for anything long-form.
- Re-Engineering the Road
Imagine a dangerous road curve. Do you blame the drivers and call it a day? After all, not everyone crashes over the edge or into oncoming traffic. Or do you bank the turn, calculate a safe speed limit and add a railing? It won’t stop all crashes, but it’ll reduce them. Re-engineering the road doesn’t […]
- Double Solar Halo
Two solar ice halos spotted at lunch today. The 22° halo around the sun is really bright and clear, and not that uncommon even in Los Angeles. I’ve seen so many that I still take photos, but I often forget to post them unless there’s something unusual about the view. The circumhorizon arc below it, […]
- Drink From the Bottom Of Your Shoe
I was looking for sandals and found these. They’re flip flops with a built in bottle opener, I suppose to make them more…cool? Gadget-y? But it’s on the sole of the shoe. Someone really didn’t think this design through. Update: There are some replies at Wandering Shop from people who’ve worn or used these. Apparently […]
- GPS Navigation Options We Need
GPS navigation options we need: I know how to get to the freeway from home. I know how to get home from the freeway. Don’t send me down someone else’s narrow residential streets just to save two minutes. If I’m trying to get somewhere other than home after work, I’ll use GPS to get an […]
- I would have done the same
“I would have done the same” should never be the end of your thought process, but the start of it. Why would you have done the same? Would you have been right or wrong? What knowledge or differences would have changed your actions or their rightness/wrongness?
- Treat Passwords Like Driving: Separate Your Hazards.
The last time I set up a new computer, I was surprised to find that installing a password manager has become a critical part of getting the system ready to use. It used to be that you could pick a few unique passwords for critical services like your primary email and banking sites, and reuse […]
- Flickr vs. Instagram / Who’s in Control?
If Twitter and Facebook are like shouting into the void, hoping someone will hear you, Flickr is like building a gallery and hoping someone will visit. When someone finally does, they’ll see it, and look around.
But that scream on Twitter is already fading on the wind.
- Not Too Soon
“Too soon” is meaningless when something happens on a more-than-weekly basis. It’s not too soon to talk about it. It’s past time. Sure, real solutions will be complex and incomplete. But we solve nothing if we block research and refuse to discuss the issue.
- Link Sharing and Source Trails
I read a lot of articles in one of two ways: Open a bunch of tabs and then read them one at a time Save a bunch of interesting-looking stories to Pocket and then read them one at a time So by the time I’ve decided to share a link to the story on Facebook […]
- How Link Shorteners Leave Holes in Your Social Media
Another problem I’ve noticed in my Twitter archive: Lots of URL shorteners and image hosts have shut down or purged their archives. Sure, bit.ly and is.gd and tinyurl and ow.ly are still around. But in the days before t.co, I used a lot of different Twitter apps that used different shorteners or image hosts. I […]
- Searching Your Twitter History: Case of the Missing Context
One of the problems with Twitter’s search capability is that the results are isolated. I’ve said before that one of the keys to making a social account feel like I own it is that I can find things in it if I want to go back later. You can search your old Twitter posts by […]
- SpaceX Rocket Launch Over LA
Yesterday’s Falcon 9 rocket launch from Vandenberg AFB, seen across Southern California. I walked outside and saw a bright spot (presumably the rocket) moving across the sky, trailing an expanding shell of vapor. I ran back inside shouting “come see this, fast!” and grabbed the better camera, but it wouldn’t focus, so I snapped the […]
- Straight-Party Checkbox: Bad Design Pattern
Putting a straight-party checkbox on a ballot violates a key design principle: The polling place and ballot should strive to avoid steering people toward specific choices. This is also why some places randomize candidates’ names or stick with alphabetical order. The human brain would rather work on auto-pilot than think carefully. Give it an excuse […]
- Gondor Calls For Aid!
Actually it’s just the last light of the setting sun reflecting off of a structure (the observatory?) atop Mt. Wilson. Also, you can see the sign on the Wilshire Grand tower is seriously bright, even from this far away.
- It’s amazing more email accounts weren’t hacked back in the 2000s
We’d walk into an internet cafe and rent time on one of their computers. Then we’d log into our primary email account over plain, unsecured HTTP.
- The Color out of Cyberspace
We’ve got this dimension right next to ours, that extends across the entire planet, and it is just brimming with nightmares…
- Thread 1/
Twitter threads are a pain to read, especially when they aren’t well-crafted. But what they lack in readability, they make up in reach.
- Achievement Unlocked: Total Solar Eclipse!
I’ve always wanted to see a total solar eclipse, but until now I never had the opportunity. I’ve caught a number of partial solar eclipses over the years, and quite a few lunar eclipses. This year’s “Great American Eclipse” was perfect: it passed close to Portland, where we have family, and we could visit friends […]
- (Ir)replaceable?
I have a bunch of old coffee mugs from TV shows, art museums, even an apartment complex where I used to live. In once sense these aren’t replaceable. If I ever break my Mozilla Coffee mug or the “I’m in the middle of fifteen things, all of them annoying” quote from Cmdr. Ivanova, or if […]
- Remembering Marineland (Or Not)
Marineland was an ocean park/aquarium (like Sea World) near Los Angeles that closed in 1987. I don’t remember much about the one time I visited, but apparently the park’s decline was rather sordid.
- Wildflower Superbloom in the California Desert – Anza-Borrego Spring 2017 Photos
A family day trip out to the desert to see desert wildflowers in bloom. On the way we drove through old familiar mountains and a grove of iron statues.
- Science vs Magic–I Mean, Sufficiently-Advanced Technology
People are turning away from science as a way to understand the world, even though we keep using more and more advanced technology which is invented using that scientific knowledge.
What if it’s that, in terms of Clarke’s Third Law, the technology we use is sufficiently advanced that it might as well be magic?
- Still amused whenever I pull Order 66
- Tree Blood
I’ve described sap as “tree blood” before, but this seems a little too apt. There are a bunch of tipuana trees mixed in with the jacarandas and palms around the area where I work. (One fewer now.) They look a lot like jacarandas with yellow flowers instead of purple, though the leaves are a little […]
- Free Shavocado!
This sign used to say FRESH AVOCADO. But for several years, it’s said something more like FRE SH AVOCA DO. Now it’s been “fixed.”
- Why would you risk eating out with a food allergy?
Someone always asks this. It’s like asking why, if a car could kill your child, you would cross the street with them instead of keeping them home?
- What makes online posts feel “permanent?”
Facebook is testing a feature to make their posts less permanent, but they already feel ephemeral (even though they aren’t). My thoughts on why that is.
- Big Wave Realty?
I always feel like this logo is warning you not to buy in the tsunami zone.
- Spring! Sundogs! Silhouettes!
For once it wasn’t the ocean view, but the *sky* that was the most impressive sight from Del Cerro Park up in the Palos Verdes hills.
- Coastal View: Before and After the First Sunset of the Year
Del Cerro Park sits atop a hillside overlooking the Pacific Ocean and, in the distance, Catalina Island off the coast of California. Suburbs surround it on the inland side, but the hills rolling down to the sea remain mostly open space (though to be fair that’s in part because the land isn’t stable enough to […]
- Why Kilgrave’s Power is Scarier than a Jedi Mind Trick
It’s not just that Kilgrave’s a sociopath and Jedi are compassionate. The Sith aren’t known for mercy, but Force users’ mind control has limits.
- Oddly Specific Advertising
A Casper billboard on PCH advertises the ‘perfect mattress for furries.’ I assume it’s part of a series. Either that or they’re into really niche marketing.
- Epi-pen How-To
A diagram of how to administer an epi-pen to someone experiencing severe anaphylaxis as a result of a food allergy, bee sting, etc.
- Listening to Chess
I recently went through a few weeks listening to Chess over and over again. This happens every few years when I find a new (to me) recording of the musical, and then I forget about it for a few years until I stumble on another version and the cycle starts again. I’ve never seen the […]
- So that’s where Vaporware comes from!
This sign pairing has been there for years, and we finally picked up enough round tuits to snap a photo of it. Usually we try to catch funny signs like this as soon as possible. You can bet M’hael’s wasn’t up for very long. But sometimes, as in this case, it’s not something broken, it’s […]
- Seasons of Madrona Marsh
I went back to the Madrona Marsh Preserve for the third time this year, and combined a Spring/Summer/Fall photo of one of the seasonal pools.
- Seasonal Wetlands: Before and After the Summer
Before-and-after view of the seasonal pools at Madrona Marsh, full of water in spring and grasslands in summer.
- Back to the Marsh (what’s left of it)
I returned to Madrona Marsh at the end of summer to see how much it had dried out since hiking there last spring.
- Eek! GERMS!
One of many kids’ drawings reminding you to wash your hands at a children’s hospital.
- Train to Wonderland
I love that Boston has a subway station called Wonderland, and since it’s the end of the line, all the direction signs for north say ‘To Wonderland.’
- Rainbow Cloud
A brilliant circumhorizon arc fragment seen above Los Angeles. I went to lunch at exactly the right time, and judging by Instagram, a lot of people saw it.
- Painting the Grass Green
California has cut back a lot of water usage, but some places just can’t accept ‘brown is the new green’ for their lawns.
- Enjoy Your Park!…Just Don’t Touch Anything
Absolutely no swimming, wading, fishing, biking, dogs, barbecues…actually it’s probably best if you don’t do anything at all.
- It is a Silly Place
The most appropriate movie quote I’ve ever seen on this sign: Round Table Pizza meets the Knights Who Say Ni.
- Comic-Con with a Stroller: Geek Parents with Kids Under Five
Geek families will inevitably want to bring their kids along to cons. Here’s our experience balancing our own fannish interests with a small child.
- Glass, Steel, Rails and Wildflowers: A Walk in Manhattan Beach
Lately whenever I take my car in for maintenance, I end up taking the car-free morning away from home as an excuse to walk down to the Manhattan Beach Pier. The last time was right after a Halloween storm, which was gorgeous, but this time it was a gloomy morning, and I took the opportunity […]
- Fuzzy Memories of Duck Food Danger
A moment of deja vu while helping at a preschool field trip got me thinking about early childhood memories of a food allergy incident.
- Wait, What’s “Groung” Level?
Hazards of font choice in a parking garage sign.
- Constructed Wilderness: A Tale of Two Parks
Madrona Marsh Preserve and Hopkins Wilderness Park take opposite approaches to being islands of nature in the middle of the city.
- Wait, is this the same shop?
Gelato, coffee and bikinis. Definitely a beach town!
- Hiding the Thirteenth Floor
Hiding the 13th floor by renumbering everything above 12 always seemed like a silly superstition, but then aren’t they all when you really think about them?
- Halo achievement unlocked: Spotted a parhelic circle.
I happened to look up in the opposite direction of the sun and saw a smooth, white upturned arc in the clouds.
- Well, THAT narrows it down.
Went to see a screening of the Wizard of Oz. Not that you could tell from the ticket, but they made sure you knew who was presenting it!
- Venus and Mercury Above the Trees (UPDATED 2x)
I walked out of the office and stopped: there, framed by the trees and the next building over, were Venus and Mercury, right in front of me.
- Priorities!
I love the contrast between the two reviews of this park. Great for families? Great make-out spot? It’s very versatile!
- Look up in the sky!
You may never seen a halo around the sun or a sundog next to it, but they’re actually quite common. You just have to look up. (Just don’t stare at the sun!) I usually keep an eye out for sun halos whenever there’s a thin cloud layer, since there usually aren’t ice crystals near the […]
- Restroom for ME! All Mine! You Can’t Have it!
Someone had fun with this sign. Several someones, I suspect. At first it seemed oddly specific. Why have a restroom for just ME? A hand-painted N fixed it…until someone else scraped off the remaining letters. Now it just says N…
- Spamfighting vs. Privacy
As a former email admin, I found this history of spamfighting from a former Gmailer fascinating. The implications of widespread encryption are sobering.
- From the Department of Excessively Loquacious Indicators
Photo of an amazingly wordy sign. Really, they couldn’t just say “STAIRS TO LEVEL 2″…?
- Working Around a Solar Eclipse (Oct 2014)
I couldn’t go anywhere special for this partial eclipse, but I did check in on a grove of trees near the office for a few minutes here and there.
- Exploring the Creek (Two Photos)
My 3-year-old son wanted to go exploring during a picnic, so I followed along. I wasn’t expecting to find a stream with water in it during a heat wave.
- Order 66, Extra Crispy
Appropriately, the kiddo was wearing his Darth Vader shirt.
- Neighborhood Hunting Grounds?
I don’t think they need to worry about anyone hunting, fishing or trapping in this tiny suburban lot. Well, maybe squirrels…?
- Not That Kind of AD&D Coverage
The abbreviation AD&D always makes me think of Advanced Dungeons & Dragons, not Accidental Death & Dismemberment
- Parking Lot Design: Guiding People to Make Bad Choices
Dozens of spaces in this lot are unusable because people park too close on either side. Some are just jerks, but the design leads them to park badly.
- Giant’s Chess Set
Photo: This chess set at a local coffee shop (actually only about 2x normal size) draws my attention whenever I go there.
- Dosage Matters: The Car Analogy
Yes, something *can* be harmless or even beneficial at low dosages and dangerous at higher levels. Think about that the next time you see a scare warning.
- The Slowly Emptying Mall: Anaheim Garden Walk
You’d never guess from the busy restaurants out front, but there’s not much else in the rest of this mall. It never quite filled in after it opened.
- Sun Halo Behind a Plant Frame
Photo: I spotted this great circular halo while we were out shopping for our garden. A frame was perfect to block the sun and keep the halo visible.
- Lunar Eclipse = Front-Yard Astronomy (Photos)
One of the nice things about lunar eclipses is how easy they are to watch. No special equipment needed, just a clear view, even from the city.
- Reading, Online vs. Off…or is it Screen vs. Print?
We know people read differently online than offline, and now spillover effects are appearing. But do different types of screens have the same effect?
- Price wars are getting serious
9 Cent Only Stores: Now that’s what I call a discount!
- Gullible
There’s an old children’s joke that goes like this: “Did you know the word gullible isn’t in the dictionary?” Then when the other child goes to look it up, you laugh at them for believing you. On the face of it, it’s a lesson in not believing everything you hear. But when it comes down […]
- Hotels and the Illusion of Simplicity
A hotel stay feels like you’ve simplified your life, but it’s an illusion. Your complexities are deferred, and someone still has to handle maintenance.
- I Left my Trash in San Francisco
San Francisco makes you think about just where your trash is going, both by offering options and by labeling them.
- Ghosts in the Cave
A long exposure shot in Thurston Lava Tube on Hawaii. If I’d known it would look this much better in black and white, I would have converted it ages ago.
- How Disneyland is Like Comic-Con
It’s been a few years since I’d been to Disneyland, and with NYCC happening this weekend, I couldn’t help but compare the experience to San Diego Comic-Con.
- Reflections on Solar Alignment
Seeing the sun through a building, and then seeing the sunset in the east…wait, the east? Things get weird when the sun lines up with the street grid.
- Crimson Saucers in the Sky
In a case of perfect timing, I caught this view of lenticular clouds over the San Gabriel Mountains last night, lit up red from the side by the sunset.
- Supermoon and Lamppost
Most of the “supermoon” effect is illusion and expectation, but it’s a great reminder to get out and look at — or photograph — the full moon.
- Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre
Photos: Not long after graduating with my drama degree, I found myself in London for a few days. I had to visit the reconstructed Globe Theatre.
- Cassette…Now I Remember
I tried to explain what an audio cassette was to a two-year-old. It turned out to be trickier to demonstrate than I expected.
- No…Pho King Way!
The next time someone tells you “There’s No Pho King Way!” you can tell them that yes, actually, there is.
- Enforced by Laser!
I’m sure 45 MPH ENFORCED BY LASER doesn’t mean what it sounds like, but really…who wants to take that chance? (GIF animation of a real traffic sign.)
- Photos: Comet Watch LA
An evening watching the sun set above the clouds, a crescent moon pop into existence, Jupiter through a telescope, a red moonset, and of course a comet!
- Tips: Keeping Connected at Comic-Con
Smartphones, live-blogs and social networking have brought their own challenges to the crowded world of Comic Con. Here are some tips for staying connected.
- Tablets and the Geek Bubble (i.e. “Who uses THAT?”)
A lot of geeks don’t consider that someone else might have a different use case, workflow or need. Disdain for tablets is the latest expression of this.
- What the M’Hael?
Apparently in the First Age, Mazrim Taim sought power by running a craft store, rather than becoming head of the Asha’man.
- Chas Bank
They get really annoyed when you call and ask to talk to Chuck.
- Who Owns Your Online Profile? Thoughts on Instagram, Facebook, and Blogging
When you live your online life through a social network, you give up control. If Facebook is no longer around 10 years from now, what happens to all your photos?
- Divide and Conquer
A pair of separate billboards used for Microsoft’s Surface tablet ad campaign. Creative use of existing space.
- I knew those looked familiar!
These are the voyages of the starship Epinephrine. Please help support its continuing mission.
- Visiting Endeavour on its Final Journey
Spotting the space shuttle from a mile away, then walking out to see it up close while it sat in a Los Angeles parking lot.
- Fire Dragon
Photo of clouds lit up by the setting sun, resembling a dragon or a giant phoenix.
- The Culture of *Now*
Are you sharing something about a current event online? It had better be really current, because the internet has a very short attention span.
- Watching Endeavour’s Final Flight Through LA
Half of the people at my office turned out to watch the space shuttle’s final flight around Los Angeles.
- Four Travel Lessons Learned at Chicon
Hotel laundry, flying with a toddler, rental cars and parking in Chicago, and the cost of internet access.
- Professor Jones’ Pizza
If a professor of medieval studies and Grail scholar wanted to run a pizza parlor franchise, Round Table would be the one to go with.
- 1984 Olympic Torch Runner
In 1984, the Olympic torch relay for the Los Angeles games ran down my street. I took this photo at age 8, the first time I tracked a subject’s movement.
- Not “Frictionless Sharing” Again…
Frictionless sharing is just a way to generate noise. I don’t want to know every article you read on some website. I want to know which articles you think are worth sharing.
- Ticked off by Meat Allergy
People are becoming allergic to meat after tick bites.
- False Choices, Free Culture and Music.
It’s not just “pay for everything in this manner” vs. “take what you want.” Tech has transformed media distribution, so we need new compensation models.
- Google+, Blogging and the 90-9-1 Rule
Activity on Google+ depends on where you’re looking, and participation rates follow the same patterns you’ll find elsewhere on the internet: many lurkers, fewer posters.
- I’m Weary of This: Seven Things that Just Bug Me
Some things that Just Bug Me, including language misuse (weary, intensive purposes, full proof) and tech annoyances.
- Photos: Solar Eclipse from Los Angeles (May 2012)
I went up into the hills to view the eclipse and ran into dozens of other people with the same idea…and got to look through their telescopes, welding helmets and more.
- The Phantom City
Years ago, I’d catch glimpses of what looked like a distant city while driving the 405 freeway at night, but it always vanished from view before I reached it.
- Don’t Use Third-Party Links in Email – Object Lesson: Comic-Con Registration
A click tracker that couldn’t hold up to the strain of Comic-Con registration prevented thousands of potential attendees from getting into the system in time.
- Lunar Eclipse and Sunrise (With Photos)
I woke up early this morning to catch the lunar eclipse. I watched it move into totality from home, then drove down to the beach to watch it set, and stayed out to watch the sun rise.
- Now you can have that bacon latte you’ve always wanted!
Seriously? Bacon flavoring syrup?