In search of the Amish

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Jean sold 20 bales of straw to an Amish lady who runs a small cannery.  She gave an address and vague directions and asked, “do you have gps?  It’s easy if you have gps.”  So we set off looking for an address on Koopert Rd in Bellville.  Of course that didn’t come up in the … Read more

A fine puffball

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We’ve had a bit of rain, and it produced a fine puffball back in the apple trees.    I had part of it with a steak, fried with garlic and butter. It had a very delicate flavor and a surprisingly light texture like mousse.  

Chat with a robot

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I bought a new truck and wanted to set up online payments at Huntington Bank.  So I went to the home page and couldn’t quite figure out how to get set it up,  A helpful chat window popped up: So I chatted with “Amy”, somewhat annoyed that I couldn’t just use a link, fill out … Read more

Soybeans are not looking too bad.

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Here’s what the soybeans are looking like.  I think they are going to be ok this year.  This plant is near the edge of the field and is a bit greener than further in; also it’s showing about 5% leaf damage, probably from pesky bean leaf beetles.

GOES ECIR Satellite of Hurricane Isaac Development

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Using an AppleScript, the individual images were collected from NOAA’s archive site, and made into a movie with QuickTime Player 7.  The coverage is from 8/05/2012 to 09/05/2012, showing the development of Hurricane Isaac.  The images are from the IR (infra-red) band of the GOES, which permits 24 hour coverage.

Social space for birds

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Birds, like us, seem to want to keep some social distance. Is there anything  complicated to it, or are they just leaving enough room to take off?  Why is the spacing wider on the neutral (top) phase than on the far phase?  What’s the story with the guy off by himself?      

Xsan 2.3 client won’t mount

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I’m having a problem with clients dropping their  xsan volumes, usually on a restart of the client.  The fix I used is below, but  I’d live to have abetter method.  Here’s what I know: The MDCs are running 10.7.4, as are the clients.  There is a ghost directory that I have deleted, but it returns … Read more

Hopes for Lytro

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I was one of the ones who pre-ordered a Lytro pretty much as soon as the product was announced last year (http://blog.lytro.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/Lytro-Camera-Launch-Press-Release-10-19-11.pdf). I immediately took a bunch of shots, and immediately thought, “this is, right now, a one-trick pony”.   By the way, if there are big gaps in the post, the lytro plugin seems … Read more

Why collimate? And an excuse to try LaTeX

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I’ve been enjoying a book i got on sale thru SPIE, Friedman and Miller’s “Photonics Rules of Thumb”.  Much of it is (literally) rocket science, but there are wonderful offerings for the advanced beginner, especially in the introductory sections.  One tidbit amateur astronomers may find interesting is a formula relating to the optical performance of … Read more