Hot Club of Cowtown Coming To Town

It’s been years. Three of them! I am so excited, I’ve been pumping myself up with some new videos on YouTube.

Two Thousand Twelve

Last year at this time, you may recall, I had parted ways with ground(ctrl) to take a full time position with my last remaining freelance client. I speculated the change would optimize my life in many ways. It would reduce my commute from 2 hours per day to 12 minutes per day, eliminate my freelance workload, and make cycling my primary mode of transportation. So, how is it going? In one word: badicle!

I Conquered The Yeti

The Yeti by Clutch

I’ve been itching to learn this song for years, and I finally worked it out.

Front Row Seat

The annual Geminid meteor shower peaks tomorrow night (December 13, 2012) between 10 p.m. and 2 a.m.. That’s between 10 p.m. and 2 a.m. local time, everywhere on the planet. Why so late? Well that’s because between midnight and 2 a.m. is when the part of the earth you are on is plowing head on into the meteors.

Neptune Opposition

I had a great night of viewing last night, even though the atmosphere was hazy. There was a first quarter moon, Neptune was in opposition and my neighbors were’t home!

Misophonia

Misophonia, or Selective Soft Sound Sensitivity, or 4S is one of those totally crazy, whacked out, voodoo mental disorders you hear about on prime-time investigative network TV shows. It’s real, though. I know, because I’m pretty sure I have it.

Pamela Gay at TAM

Pamela Gay spoke at TAM this year. Here presentation has been published to YouTube and lots of people are talking about it.

Two things that fuck everything up for people who ride bikes

Question: In California, when two or more vehicles arrive simultaneously at a four–way stop, who goes first?

Talking Chicken, Bigotry and Free Speech

I was involved in a politcal discussion on Facebook last week regarding the recent protests of Chick-fil-A Appriciation Day started by Mike Huckabee in honor of Chick-fil-A COO Dan Cathy’s remarks about same sex marriage. The thread starter was criticizing the protest.

Some Perspective On The Venus Transit

Last week’s transit of Venus made for some big scuttlebutt in nerdy astronomy circles. What’s the big deal with Venus’ orbit bringing it between us and the sun? After all, from Venus’ perspective, it’s just business as usual. Well, it’s our perspective that makes the event so interesting. It is, after all, the story of how we learned the scale of our solar system.

Project The Transit of Venus With Binoculars

On June 5, 2012 (or June 6th depending on your location), Venus will pass between us and the sun, obscuring portions of it sort of like a tiny eclipse. This is called a transit, and the next time Venus does this, everyone you know will be dead. So take a few minutes out of your afternoon check it out. Here is a super-easy way.

It’s Annular Eclipse Day

There is going to be an annular solar eclipse today! That means the moon will cast a shadow on the earth as it passes between us and the sun while it is at apogee (the furthest distance it gets from earth in its eliptical orbit). This results is a big, black ball with a ring of fire surrounding it. That ring is called an annulus, which is why we call it an annular eclipse.

Turn Off The Blank Window in Photoshop CS6

It’s called the application frame, and if you are a Mac user, you probably hate it.

To turn it of, go to Window > Application Frame (click it to uncheck it).

Libby Anne vs. AiG

I found this exchange between a former fundimentalist Christian and Answers in Genesis pretty riveting. Follow along in order for maximum enjoyment:

Can Beer Please

Now that more craft breweries are canning, the bennifits of canned beer vs. bottled are finally starting to trickle into public awareness. Many of the articles I’ve read on the subject, however, seem to pride themselves on outlining “just some of the benifits.”

This is an insult to the cause. Bottles are bad for beer and bad for our planet. It’s time for a comprehensive list of why bottles should go away completely and cans should be the default packaging vessel for beer.

April Fools

Vintage Park Community Church in Sacramento put a reminder on their marquee this week that April 1st is international atheist day. This is a popular Christian joke this time of year. They are referring to Psalm 14:1.

Some Hackings

My apologies for the broken image links and any spammy redirects you may have encountered here recently. My shared server was victimized by some bot hacking, and I’m still tidying things up.

Jerry Coyne vs. Neil deGrasse Tyson

I love a good mash-up! When two or more of your favorite things collide, there is amazing potential for awesome. In this case, two of my favorite scientists/science advocates mildly butt heads on the topic of science and religion.

Lent

Rather than give up something frivolous for the sake of paying tribute to an extremely self destructive act performed thousands of years ago by a person who claimed to be an omnipotent sky monster, why not take on something useful instead?

Little Darlin’ Pal O’ Mine

There wasn’t much to go on on the YouTube when I was trying to learn this tune for the Pleasant Valley Boys, so I slowed it down for other bass players out there. In the name of more bass and banjo duets!