Moon May Have More Water Than Believed
http://www.msnbc.msn.com

Strange Hole-Punch Clouds Explained
http://www.wired.com

Boeing’s Biggest Airliner Ever Hits Key Milestones
http://www.wired.com

Me: Is there a problem officer?
Mac Cop: You made an improper land change
Me: I had my turn signal on
Mac Cop: Oregon law requires that you engage your turn signal at least 100 feet before changing lanes
Me: Are you serious?
Mac Cop: Have you been drinking?
Me: I had a gin and tonic about four hours ago
Mac Cop: I’m going to need your license, registration, and proof of insurance

So I had the guy all my stuff and he goes back to the squad car and sits there for like 15 minutes. I rearrange the contents of my glove box. He eventually comes back.

Mac Cop: There is a problem with your license
Me: What?
Mac Cop: Is this your current address? (points to license)
Me: I just moved to Kiezer, like, two weeks ago
Mac Cop: You have 30 days to change your address with the DMV or you’ll be in violation in Oregon law
Me: OK, thanks

And with that, I drove off for my hour long trip. Since I missed the last Wheatland Ferry run, I had to go through Salem, making my already long drive that much longer.

Saturday night was a much better experience. I spent pretty much the whole day putting together a video slide show for the evening, but I was having all manner of technical issues. Much of my computer stuff is still in boxes, so I spend a lot of time rummaging for correct power supplies or Firewire cables. And then I had all sorts of issues encoding the footage and burning the CD. All of this made me 30 minutes late to the Saturday event, but everything worked out fine. The video, while pretty rough around the edges, was generally well received. Later in the evening, I had a ton of great conversations. There were the standard conversations centered around where people lived and what people do for a living, but I enjoyed other conversations centered around the human condition. You see, when I was in middle school, I tended to get into a fair amount of trouble, as did some of my classmates attending this reunion. Nearly all of us got that waywardness out of our systems by high school and had left the delinquency behind us. For a few of our classmates, they never made that step forward and remained stuck in a cycle of alcohol and drug addiction. Some have been regular visitors to the inside of the Yamhill County Court House (or worse, the jail). I talked with a couple of my classmates about why we manage to make it through high school and lead relatively productive lives while some of our old friends floundered. One interesting insight a classmate had was that our troubled counterparts had virtually no other interests outside of getting blasted. I certainly liked drinking and smoking out during my middle school years, but it wasn’t something I wanted to do all the time. For some of our more trouble bent friends, the only activity worth participating in was one that included getting totally f’ed up. It’s like most of us outgrew that urge and moved on with our lives, while these old friends remain trapped in the past. It was weird seeing them, because it felt like some kind of pull from the past we had all deliberately tried to get away from.

Eyjafjallajokull
http://www.boston.com

Dennis Hopper: Photographs 1961 -1967
http://www.taschen.com

Glastonbury Festival 2010
http://www.boston.com

I kind of feel like I betrayed the whole vibe the event organizers worked so hard to foster back in ‘97. During a sudden downpour, I sought shelter with one of my female companions behind a concession stand. We both kind of grabbed each other in the excitement of the moment and ended up kissing. It was all very innocent and awkward, but it felt like we were breaking some kind of unwritten Lilith Fair rule. I suppose our spontaneous behavior was more befitting of something like Lollapalooza. The evening ended with a long car ride back to our rural postings which included my endlessly annoying renditions of Sneaker Pimp songs with made-up lyrics.

It seems like this year’s Lilith Fair doesn’t offer the same kind of deep bench the ’90s version offered. I was looking over the details tonight for the show in the ‘Couv and it doesn’t have the kind of impressive line-up like the ’90s.

Worst. Concert. Ever.
http://blog.washingtonpost.com

Japanese Sci Fi Illustrations
http://pinktentacle.com

Colour Changing Lightbox
http://www.robandnick.com

Vince Clarke and the Temple of Synth
http://www.motherboard.tv

Remembering the E-mu Drumulator
http://www.retrothing.com

“Doctor Who” on Guitar
http://www.youtube.com

Air - La Femme D’Argent
http://www.youtube.com

LCD Soundsystem - Drunk Girls
http://www.youtube.com

Doves - Black and White Town
http://www.youtube.com

Not many people are interested in a single purpose digital camera, which is exactly what the Sigma DP1 is. Designed for wide angle nature photography, this compact digital camera offers few features most consumers would want, like a mechanical zoom lens or the ability to shoot HD video. But the DP1 does include features I find particularly appealing, like a DSLR sized imaging sensor and manual exposure control. I’m especially fond of the long shutter option, which allows for (semi) long exposure night photography — something I haven’t seen on many compact digital cameras. I also like the overall design and construction of the DP1, which has a decidedly old-fashion flair to it. When the lens is retracted and covered with the purpose-built cap, it slips easily into the jacket pocket. The layout of the controls are pretty simple and the camera is relatively easy to learn. There is no optical viewfinder, but I always use the LCD for framing shots, so this isn’t a big deal for me. And while I like the design from an aesthetic standpoint, the ergonomics are really quite bad once you start using it on a regular basis. So bad that I prefer the way my crappy Canon A-70 handles. Once you attach the lens shade/filter adapter, the camera becomes even more awkward to use. But I suspect most fans of the DP1 put up with its quirk because when it does perform, it performs fantastically. I was sold on the camera after seeing example photos on the Sigma website. It’s not easy to produce razor-sharp and highly saturated pictures, but with some practice, it within reach of even the most novice of users. One other thing worth pointing out is the DP1 does export images in the RAW format, which is common for DSLRs for not so much for compact digital cameras. Unfortunately, Sigma forces you to use their software to convert the images to something you can use (like .jpg), but for me, this isn’t a big hassle. I suppose if you had dozens of photos to convert it would be frustrating though.

Finally, it’s worth mentioning the newer DP2 offers some features that might appeal to a wider user-base. Gone is the wide angle lens, which has been replaced something approximating the standard 50mm focal length (non zoom of course) someone would use on a DSLR. But other than the lens change, I don’t know if Sigma made any radical departures from the original design. Would I recommend this camera to someone in the market for a compact digital camera? Probably not. Besides the fact it lacks a zoom lens, most people would be very disappointed with the shutter lag and low light performance. These aren’t really issues for most DP1 users who are taking landscape photos, but casual users are looking for something to take pictures of their kids, which the DP1 wasn’t really designed for. I suppose the DP1 would make a good travel camera due to it’s small size and robust construction — just make sure and bring the battery charger.

For examples shots from the DP1, see my Flickr page

Danish Pavilion at EXPO 2010
http://www.dailyicon.net

Cool Parking Structure
http://www.dezeen.com

America’s 11 Most Endangered Historic Places
http://www.preservationnation.org

Of course there are many on the inter-webs criticizing the Pentagon’s response to the terrorist attacks of 9/11. They suggest too many minutes passed between when the planes were identified as hijacked and when the order went out to scrambled interceptors. They also complain the USAF unnecessarily restricting interceptors to subsonic flight. For those who aren’t familiar with supersonic flight, when the sound barrier is broken, it creates a “sonic boom” that can shatter windows and generally make people angry — particularly the elderly, who hate having Mattlock interrupted by anything, including acts of war. Because of this, military aircraft are only allowed to “kick out the jams” over the ocean. So this is a fair criticism of the USAF I think, but the fault may really be with the FAA. There should be some kind of supersonic waiver granted for interceptors when faced with hostile aircraft over the continental US. We can deal with a few broken windows and the agitated old folks (P.S., old people need to be isolated and studied so it can be determined what nutrients they have that might be extracted for our personal use…hey, it’s not just a Lyndon LaRouche campaign slogan anymore!)

Anyway, my take away from the BBC documentary was we need to increase the number of interceptor aircraft on alert in or near large urban areas. And we don’t need fancy F-22s or F-35s for the job. More F-15s and F-16s would do just fine, thank-you-very-much. I foresee two problems with this recommendation though. 1. Cost. The Pentagon would want to spend vast sums of money on additional F-22s/F-35s for air defense instead of cheaper F-15s/F-16s. That’s just the way they roll. Everybody knows USAF brass don’t secure lucrative post military “consulting” jobs by pushing inexpensive weapons systems. 2. NIMBY. Basing interceptors close to urban areas means you’re going to piss a lot of people off. Already, there are many in PDX complaining about the ANG’s F-15s. Frankly, I don’t mind them that much even though I live fairly close to the airport. They only fly after 9:00 AM, so the noise it’s a big deal compared to the ass-hats who run their leaf blowers nonstop. But people like to bitch about every little thing, so increasing deployment of fighters would surely create a lot of angry letters to politicians.

To me, it would make sense for the US to reevaluate air defense in, say, five to ten years. There is a lot of technology hitting maturity, like phased array radar, that’s coming down in cost and could be deployed to increase radar coverage. The phased array sites we currently have in Alaska, California, and Cape Cod look out. Why not look in as well?Increasing and modernizing radar sites would benefit both the FAA and USAF. Also, it’s a safe bet the F-16 will still be in production for another decade based on the strength of foreign orders, so I think it would be a good idea to purchase additional aircraft for air defense purposes or overhaul older F-16s slatted for retirement. Like a wise man once said, an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.