Transit of Venus Nerd Family Viewing

Claire had a birthday around the time of the transit of Venus between us and the sun.  I rushed home from work and gathered a bunch of optics and parts.  The old Canon FD lenses couldn't be focused quite right.  Ditto for the old slide projector lenses.  The 12x50 binoculars bungee corded to an old tripod did the trick!

 Thanks to the people that threw up a webpage dedicated to viewing the transit.  The tips came in handy.  Sure, it was a shadow on a projected image but we felt like we had done something wonderful.  Claire had been at a K.U. engineering camp earlier in the day and was happy to be doing some practical science.

I am out on travel at the moment.  This blog is on scheduled post mode.  Please leave a comment if you so choose and I will moderate it when I return.  Thanks!

Opportunity: Hail the Amazing Rover!

NASA's Opportunity rover is now 8 1/2 years (3043 days) into its 92 day mission and still going strong!  It powered up after its fifth Martian winter and is on the move.  It is a little pokey given the amount of dust that is collecting on the solar panels.  Still, we at the House Full of Nerds are impressed at this engineering accomplishment.  This little guy landed on Mars on January 25, 2004.

The twin rover, Spirit, became mired in deep sand and its last communication with Earth was on March 22, 2010.  Opportunity is currently alone on the red planet, but will be joined by the next generation in rover technology in August, 2012.  Curiosity is a substantial mobile laboratory with a nuclear power source.  The landing system is unique and we are hoping for a good start for the mission.

The vista circa May, 2012.  This is the largest crater in the journey and represents the oldest rock strata.  You can see the edge of one of the solar panels in the foreground.  The dust accumulation is reducing power output.

Just to give you an idea what Opportunity has been up against, Mars receives roughly 43% of the amount of sunlight that Earth receives.  With a thin atmosphere, it can't hold heat well.  The high summer temperature ranges up to 23 degree F.   Mars has frequent, large scale dust storms which sometimes cover the entire planet.

Discovery from late 2011:  Gypsum like deposits caused by free water percolating through rock strata.  Opportunity and Spirit both observed evidence of past free water on the surface of Mars.

Self portrait from 2007.  The solar cell still look pretty clean.

Source:  http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/mer/multimedia/pia15684.html

Video: Eight Years and Counting

Congratulations to Opportunity and the many builders and mission operators of NASA.  The mission is now open ended.  We hope Opportunity keeps producing good science for many days to come.

Opportunity in 2002

Metallic Typing and Fictional Mail

I owe the inspiration for this post to two fellow bloggers.  First, I need to commend Ledeaux of Dante's Wardrobe for catalyzing fictional correspondence among our family members.

 http://danteswardrobe.blogspot.com/2012/04/fictional-correspondences-what-are-they.html

Second, I'll give a shout out to Florian at Maschinengeschrieben for showing that typing on aluminum foil can be done.
http://maschinengeschrieben.blogspot.com/2011/11/11112011-1111.html

Before I get to the aluminum foil typing, I need to explain the path to this little exercise.   MEK read the information on fictional correspondence and decided it might be a good way for our family of word nerds to communicate.  Hannah F. and Claire F. readily agreed.

One thing lead to another and a reply to a Dr. Sottenmeyer in the future was required. Why aluminum foil?  Well, it is obviously a superior medium for surviving time transmission.  Duh!  Or something like that...

This aluminum post was brought to you by Olympia!, our perky SM3.  I guessed that the sans italic would translate well to foil.  The trick to getting a clean impression is to use two pieces of paper underneath and one on top.  This sample was done with the ribbon vibrator running.  It takes a harder key strike that way.  Turning the ribbon vibrator off makes the aluminum impression easier but leaves no typed hard copy.  Life is full of tradeoffs.

Olympia says "Click here and look at me!"

But that is not the end of the story.  Sure enough, Dr. Sottenmeyer found the transmission at the research library in 2195 and sent a return package.  It was an elaborate package with instructions on the making of synthetic paper including a sample of the necessary Adamantium.  Addressed to the Scientific American, it arrived on time in the late 1800s.  Like magic, the 1898 Scientific American Cyclopedia was updated by way of an Errata sheet!  Time is fluid that way.

This is one of the most awesome books, ever!  You can download digital copies, but it is not the same experience as browsing 114 year old pages to find recipes for everything including alloys, paint, paper and ink.  Some would say it is an essential post-apocalypse library addition.

This type looks suspiciously like it came from our gold Royal.  Hmm.

In theory, the recipe should eliminate the need for metallic transmission media.  But that assumes the technology of 2012 is as good as that of 2195.  We shall see.

Composted Irony

As seen on the shelf at my favorite thrift store.  I suppose I should have brought it home to see how the cultures developed, but I decided to let someone else have that particular pleasure.

Update:  Three weeks after this photo was taken, the book is still there.  Won't someone give it a little love?

Canon 7D Survival Test

The nice people at DigitalRev TV are a little crazy.  But they are crazy in an entertaining way.  In this video, Kai puts a Canon 7D through a series of torture tests.  Can this DSLR survive being hit with a truck, immersed and frozen, shot, thawed and burned?

I'm not going to give away the ending.  However, I probably don't need to coddle my 60D as much after watching this test.

I have to admit that this was pretty excessive.  I would not try this with my own camera.  I certainly wouldn't go quite as far over the top as Kai. I'm not quite that childish.

Even with all that, I am reminded of the photojournalist who died in the collapse of one of the World Trade Center towers.  His Canon DSLR was found smashed in the rubble.  While the camera was well beyond the point of ever functioning again, the files on the CF card could still be retrieved.  I'm impressed with how far imaging technology has come.

Geek Pride Day!

Today is Geek Pride Day!  It is also the 35th anniversary of Star Wars Episode IV.  In some quarters it is Towel Day in celebration of the Hitchhiker's Guide.  To celebrate, I have posted some photos of some of my favorite geeky things.

 

DANGER! Work in Progress

Typed on Margo, the Royal Quiet de Luxe (and me with one gimpy finger. please forgive the typos)

The 'brains' of this operation.  Not a good sign.

More about the Royal Arrow at A Royal Study in Toughness

So there you have it.  Should these pathetic misfits get it together, the Royal Arrow will roll on with the heart of champion, Richard Polt's flames and the brains of a Hot Wheels toy.  The crew will have to take a break for an upcoming living room floor installation.  More delays.  Worse than the Big Dig, I tell you.

Claire F. has not yet forgiven me for starting this particular project.  Ah, well.

This post was created several days ago and scheduled to go live later this evening.  I had to throw in a little fresh custom Turbo Torpedo typewriter goodness from Richard Polt Turbo Torpedo: the nitty gritty  I am in awe of the purple platen.

Rhinos Illustrated in "The Kingdom of Nature"

This is part 2 of the series on illustrations from "The Kingdom of Nature; An Illustrated Museum of the Animal World".  Just click on the label at the end for the rest of the series.

This post is just for the members of the Typosphere.  There is a special rhino obsession that accompanies an annual typing event, the NANOWRIMO (National Novel Writing Month).  To see rhino mascots at their best, visit
http://danteswardrobe.blogspot.com/2012/04/wherein-rhinoceros-typed.html

Our guest typewriter for this post is mysterious as it has not yet been blogged.  Some may recognize its unique typeface.  We also have a guest writer:  Hannah F. of thoughtsatfullspeed.blogspot.com.

Basic rhino anatomy.

The horse just doesn't get that the rhino wants to play.  Awww!

When pressed, the mighty rhino will defend himself.

But mostly, the rhino is a friend to all animals.

Like a Candle in the Windy City: Marilyn Hits the Road

WARNING:  Tacky Camera Angles Ahead

 

Marilyn Monroe was loaded on two trailers said goodbye to Chicago on May 8th.  These photos were taken on May 7th as she was being disassembled.

Once again, insomnia and a love of street photography got me out of my hotel late last Monday evening.  I tend to wander aimlessly with a camera in hand.  Chicago is a great people watching town and there is always something interesting going on.  On this particular evening, that something was the sculpture Forever Marilyn being taken apart and readied for shipment to warmer climes.

But first, I need to provide a defense of tastelessness.  I like to think of the camera as a neutral party.  It will always seek drama and interesting light.  A misty night in Chicago with the Wrigley Building bathed in floodlights provides more drama than a poor camera can tolerate.  The view from the other direction was comparatively boring.

You were warned about the tacky/tasteless camera angles.  Turn back before it is too late!

I love the Wrigley Building.  My employer provided the restoration products for it and many of the other landmark buildings in downtown.  Bear in mind that tourists have been basking in the 26' Marilyn's glory for almost a year.

The specter of a 26' Marylin looming over Pioneer Court was controversial to say the least.  It wasn't around long enough to become an object of adoration.  It did draw a number of protests and attention from the teeming masses of tourists.  The Chicago Sun-Times produced a celebratory editorial entitled "Goodbye and Good Riddance, Norma Jean."

This statue represents a titillating and iconic scene from the 1955 movie The Seven Year Itch.  Today we would find much worse on network TV.  It's the scale and placement that draws attention.

As public art, it would be hard to argue that the entire installation wasn't a bit tasteless.  It was kitchy and over-the-top and probably would look more at home in Vegas.  Actually, Palm Springs is a sensible home.  It is warm, optimistic and smells vaguely of Hollywood.  According to local news reports, Marilyn Forever arrived in Palm Springs on May 14th.

I would not have guessed that Marilyn was assembled onsite.  It makes sense.  How could you get this under an overpass in one piece?  Factoid:  this sculpture weighed in at 34,000 pounds!

And we have separation!

Not surprisingly, the crew was very professional and everything was planned out ahead of time.  Seeing Marylin split in half triggered some science fiction memories.  Yeah, like the saucer separation of the Enterprise D!  (Just don't let Troi do the driving.)

The Marilyn Separation continues.

The Marilyn Separation also reminded me of another iconic Star Trek scene.

I didn't want to go too heavy on the photos or I would have added images of one of the crew climbing in and out of the lower section.  Tasteless is one thing; tasteless and disturbing is quite another.

By now you might have surmised that more than one camera was involved.  For walking around at night, I fit the Sony NEX 3 with an Olympus PEN F 38mm f1.8.  I pressed the iPhone into service for wider angles.

Marilyn always did love the bright lights.  Goodbye and enjoy your new desert home!

I walked by Pioneer Court last Friday before heading to the airport.  It looks barren without Marilyn, but I'm sure Chicago has other mass installations in store.

Im*PEN*ding Sense of Doom

This figure is done in an expressive and heroic Deco style, yet wears flares.  Nice.

This paper was a thrift shop find.  It's meant for inkjet printing.

Imagine hundreds, perhaps thousands, of pens and mechanical pencils in one place.  Pen Place also stocks lots of ink and doesn't hesitate to spread small samples for the customers.

Why, oh why did they have to tempt me with carbon fiber?

This is an over the top combination.  More carbon fiber and stainless steel... and I even like the orange sherbet parts.  It may or may not write well.  I could say the same thing about Margo, the gold QDL.  There are times where performance just doesn't matter that much.

Temptation, you are a cruel and horrible mistress.  As it turns out, these tarts run in the $300-600 range.  I guess I am not the only person with extreme tastes.

 And here we have MEK's TWSBI Diamond 540 and my TWSBI Montesa.  The latter is referred to as the "Buy One Get One Free Road to Ruin".  TWSBI recently ran a nice Facebook offer as a means to get rid of old inventory.  I do like this pen.  The refill mechanism on the 540 is sublime.

The temporary display stand is an especially tasty subject for a future post.