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!

Pros and Cons of Gut Strings

A friend of mine who has recently gotten back into the double bass, asked me about gut strings the other day. Like most bass players, I struggled (and still do) with choosing strings for my instrument. I don’t know if classical or jazz players struggle as much with this issue, but for Americana music, string choice can directly affect what styles of music you can effectively play on your instrument, and how long you can physically endure playing it.

How To Track The ISS And Watch It Fly Across The Sky

The International Space Station (ISS) is cool. It’s a multi-section science lab in low Earth orbit (about 240 miles up), constructed and manned by personal from NASA, the European Space Agency (ESA), the Russian Federal Space Agency (RKA), the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency(JAXA) and the Canadian Space Agency (CSA). It travels at over 17,000 miles per hour, completely circling the globe every 91 minutes.

See? Cool.

I Totally Quit My Job

About a month ago, I tendered my resignation at ground(ctrl). The experience has been surreal. I contributed a good portion of my life to the cause there. While I’m extremely proud of the team we assembled and what we were able to accomplish in five short years, it has been a relief to have a few weeks off to reflect and decompress without the pressure of what has to be done when I get back.

Christopher Hitchens Has Died

A hero, contrarian, and defender of free speach is gone. We knew it was imminant, but this makes it no less easy. These are my thoughts on the great man which I regret not making public before his death.

Words that make questions may not be questions at all

Stephen Colbert interviews Neil deGrasse Tyson. This is worth every second of your time. 5,082 seconds of your time specifically.