Thursday - January 24, 2008
Tuesday - August 21, 2007
Tuesday - August 07, 2007
Thursday - June 14, 2007
Wednesday - June 13, 2007
A Smoke Angel...
Explanation: What type of cloud is that? It is not a naturally occurring one. Looking perhaps a bit like a gigantic owl monster, the cloud pictured above resulted from a series of flares released by an air force jet over the Atlantic Ocean in May. The jet that released the flares, a C-17 Globemaster III, is seen on the right. The flares release smoke and the resulting pattern is sometimes known as a smoke angel. The circular eyes of the above smoke angel are caused by air spiraling off the plane's wings and are known as wingtip vortices.
Thursday - May 17, 2007
Boys should be Boys...
This (flash) is so perfect. It is a must listen (mp3).
A big problem today, in my opinion, is the lack of 'shop' classes. When I was in Junior High I took Wood Shop, where we built a stool. I took Metal Shop, where I learned to weld, both oxyacetylene and arc. I could lay down a great 'bead.' Can you? I even used a lathe to make a small brass cannon. In Junior High! I also took 'Home-Ec.' I learned to cook, well, sort-of. I learned to sew. I made the worst t-shirt you have ever seen.
I never took auto in high school, but I did take 3-years of electronics. Three full years! I also took 3 years of typing. Computers were cool and you had to type. Remember the Commodore PET? It was cool. Black and white monitor, well, really just a small B & W TV. No hard-drive and 5 1/2 inch floppies.
My friends and I also played. I don't mean video games, I mean really played. Interacted. Riding bikes. Flying kits. Rock throwing contests. Climbing trees. Making stuff up. Chasing lizards on 'lizzy-mountain' (our name for some rocks down a dirt road in our area). We played in the woods. Built things. Broke things. Fought. Made-up. Had fun. Do boys do that anymore? They should, it was great. Sometimes we even let my little brother play (He will tell you that all I did was beat him up. Heh. Right Bro?).
I had a Wrist-Rocket. I had a BB gun. I even shot my dad's 22. I learned safety. I had fun.
My dad taught me useful skills. I learned how to build a flagstone patio, use a chain-saw, drive, change a tire and the oil, repair dry-wall and even built a room out of a porch. There was more, but you get the idea.
When I was 12, I got a motorcycle. A Honda Trail 70. I put more than 2000 miles on it in the first summer, in our backyard and around the neighborhood. I crashed. I was actually hurt a couple times. It was great.
I needed money for gas. I got that money by painting the entire exterior of our house. We had a big house! I learned how to paint. It was great.
I had to cut down the weeds that grew on the leach field in our backyard, with a weed-eater, in summer. I hated it, but I learned. I was doing the stuff my dad did when he was a boy, I was proud to know that. I needed to know that. It was the way a boy became a man. We need that back. I miss it.
Boys need to be boys...
Update: Most of my readers are men that were boys and are close to my age. Tell us your stories in the comments or link to your post on the subject, it is important. We need our boys to be boys and become good men.
Friday - April 27, 2007
Astrophysicist's Dream...
Astrophysicist Stephen Hawking, paralyzed by Lou Gehrig's disease, floats during a zero-gravity flight; an apple, a tribute to Isaac Newton, drifts along with him.
The story:
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. — Free of his wheelchair and tethered only to heart rate and blood pressure monitors, astrophysicist Stephen Hawking on Thursday fulfilled a dream of floating weightless on a zero-gravity jet, a step he hopes leads to further space adventures.The modified jet carrying Hawking, a handful of his physicians and nurses, and dozens of others first flew up to 24,000 feet over the Atlantic Ocean off Florida. Nurses lifted Hawking and carried him to the front of the jet, where they placed him on his back atop a special foam pillow.
The jet then climbed to around 32,000 feet and made a parabolic dive back to 24,000 feet, allowing Hawking and the other passengers to experience weightlessness for about 25 seconds.
Hawking, a mathematics professor at the University of Cambridge who has done groundbreaking work on black holes and the origins of the universe, has the paralyzing disease ALS, also known as Lou Gehrig's disease...
Sunday - April 22, 2007
Enough Said...
“We get up and go to work. We get up and go to church. And we get up and go to war when necessary.”
Saturday - April 21, 2007
Thursday - April 12, 2007
Monday - April 09, 2007
Sunday - April 08, 2007
The Trinity Site...
Wednesday - February 21, 2007
Thursday - February 08, 2007
Wednesday - February 07, 2007
Saturday - February 03, 2007
Safe Saw...
There are two people in my family, my Dad and Grandpa, who have lost parts of fingers due to saws.
(via Neatorama)
Monday - January 29, 2007
Saturday - January 13, 2007
Great Portraits...
Sunday - January 07, 2007
Blue Sky at Night...
"Who says you can't take an interesting astro-photo under a full moon?" asks Larry Landolfi of Rochester, New Hampshire. In fact, he says, "you can," and as proof he offers this 3-hour exposure under the full Wolf Moon of Jan. 2nd.The nighttime sky is blue! There's a simple explanation: The daytime sky is blue because molecules in the air scatter sunlight. The nighttime sky is blue because molecules in the air scatter moonlight. The physics is precisely the same. The blue of a moonlit sky is so faint, however, that a long exposure is required to reveal it.
Long exposures also make star trails--slow, graceful arcs traced by the stars as Earth spins on its axis. These are visible in Landolfi's photo, too.
(via SpaceWeather)
Saturday - January 06, 2007
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