Category Archives: Science

Professor for a Day

A very good friend of mine, Terez Anderson, is a professor of Speech Communication at MiraCosta College in Oceanside, CA.  She and I attended San Diego State University together.  Now she works with my old Forensics coach at MiraCosta, Neil … Continue reading

Posted in Recreation, Science, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

ArduSat – By the numbers

676 Backers $106,330 pledged against a… $35,000 goal via ArduSat – Your Arduino Experiment in Space by ppl4world — Kickstarter. I’ve written about this twice before. Here, and here.  With this kind of support the ArduSat team can launch a … Continue reading

Posted in Astronomy and Space, Science | Leave a comment

Update: ArduSat Funded!

Remember this from a couple days ago?  Yeah, well they hit their goal to launch the satellite! ArduSat – Your Arduino Experiment in Space by ppl4world » Comments — Kickstarter. What’s more, they still have 22 days to go.  If … Continue reading

Posted in Astronomy and Space, Science | Tagged , | 2 Comments

Get your experiment into space!

The awesome this is cannot be overstated.  Discover Magazine is contributing to a project (and a contest) to help the public create and run experiments on a bona fide satellite to be launched into space.  The KickStarter project aims to … Continue reading

Posted in Astronomy and Space, Science | Tagged , , , | 2 Comments

Cisco’s VNI Forecast Projects…whatever the hell it wants

Cisco’s VNI Forecast Projects the Internet Will Be Four Times as Large in Four Years – The Network: Cisco’s Technology News Site. I really want to love a study that uses the term zettabyte without a trace of sarcasm but … Continue reading

Posted in Future of IT, Science, This is Why We Can't Have Nice Things | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

Congratulations SpaceX!

America, you may now return to your regularly scheduled program of space exploration.  This time, I know the mission will be a success.  They brought along the finest engineer to keep the engines in tip top shape.

Posted in Astronomy and Space, Science | 3 Comments

Solar Eclipse Pictures? We got that.

Owing to some Luddites in the family, I keep all my astrophotography on Facebook.  We had some cloudy but still impressive views here from 33N, 117W.  My solar filter?  A Mylar toy wrapper over the end of my Canon lens. … Continue reading

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Inexact Processing? This channels my inner nerd.

Tip of the hat to Fark for this gem. Some processing tasks just don’t require absolute precision or accuracy in calculation, namely, human interface tasks. Enter “Inexact Processing”. Through some interesting cuts to the processor, fiddling with power and managing … Continue reading

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Rack and Pinion Telescope Focuser Fix for Too Much Rock

Do you have back and forth rock in your rack and pinion focuser? I did and I fixed it with about $15 worth of parts. The illustrated story, below. At the bottom I have a parts list and step-by-step instructions … Continue reading

Posted in Recreation, Science, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 36 Comments

Why I Read News, NOT Tech “News”

I read The Economist, Financial Times (when I can find it) and maybe the local paper in the city I find myself each week.  Online, I follow about 3 blogs and Fark.  I don’t, as a rule, read any of … Continue reading

Posted in Future of IT, Hardware, In the News/Blogosphere, Science, The Nature of IT | Tagged , , , , | 3 Comments