The Universal Globe Spins in the Wrong Direction
What a geek I am. Here we were at Universal Studios Park in Orlando, FL to visit Potter World and the first thing I notice is the Universal Globe is spinning in the wrong direction. [...]
A robust and cost effective strategy to manage my computer data files and backups
I am a content creator. As such, I create a lot of data files in the form of text, images, programs and well, data. And since so much of this content has my time and [...]
Field of View of our Canon 450D and Two Lenses
In a previous post, I reviewed the fields of view for the Canon 60Da with the C925 telescope. In this post, we look at the fields of view for the Canon 450D camera and the [...]
Field of View of our Canon 60Da and C925 Scope
In a previous post I reviewed how the angular field of view of an image sensor is related to the focal length of the optical tube and the sensor size. We then applied this analysis [...]
Field of View of our Small Imaging Sensors
In an earlier column about field of view, I showed that the focal length of a telescope really translates image size at the focal plane into an annular size of the object. The angular size, [...]
Four essential tools for wifi connectivity and analysis
When a wifi connection works, it is effortless, but when it doesn’t, or you need something more than just a standard connection, here are a few tools I use all the time that allow for [...]
Preparing a 30 mWatt laser pointer to take out a street light
As noted, I was able to use a 30 mWatt laser pointer to take out a streetlight. But, I needed to modify the laser in three important ways to turn it into a practical solution: [...]
Taking out a streetlight with a laser pointer
There is a very obnoxious street light located behind the dome of the Addie Rose Observatory. It is almost in the sight line to Polaris. This make most of the views around the celestial north [...]
Testing the speed of an internet connection
We all have a need for speed. When I want to measure how fast (or slow!) my interconnect connection is, I use the online test at www.SpeedTest.net. It doesn’t get much simpler than this. Go [...]
Creating high resolution panoramic images
A limitation with panoramic stitching on the iPhone can be overcome to create stunning, high resolution panoramic images using any camera and Hugin, a free tool. The iPhone has a built-in panoramic mode for its [...]
iPad Essential App- Splashtop family of tools for PC integration
I am very impressed with the capabilities of the Splashtop family of iPad apps. I use three of them pretty regularly, in conjunction with my laptop. They each enable new activities I could not do [...]
iPad Essential App- NoteShelf and Adonit Stylus Pen
I’ve been looking for a substitute for the traditional notebook and pen for more than 20 years. I thought the old Palm Pilot was a pretty good substitute to the small back-pocket notebook, until the [...]
Windows Live Writer, the best offline editing tool for my WordPress blog
One of my general principles in life is that computers should work for us, not the other way around. In this context, am always looking for tools that simplify tasks. One of those is adding [...]
We don’t take no S#!T from a machine
This is one of the best lines from a movie. It set the attitude which later lead to the man-machine battles in the little known 1989 movie, Moontrap, staring Walter Koenig (Ensign Chekov), and Bruce [...]
A four hundred year old lesson for today
The competition is surging ahead. A few past public product failures are casting doubts on the ability of the company. The Boss feels under pressure to show the competition up, and he is pressing his product development team to deliver something that will blow the completion away.
Lessons From Deep Space: Why Pioneer Is Important
published in EE Times “The Voyager spacecraft has left the solar system,” read many headlines over the last few months. But its predecessor, the Pioneer spacecraft, should not be overshadowed. It left an important legacy [...]
1 in 5 Sun-Like Stars in Milky Way Host Planets in Habitable Zone
published in EE Times NASA scientists reported Nov 4, 2014, on the summary of results from the third year of the Kepler Space Telescope observations. Based on the results from measurements on 40,000 Sun-like stars, [...]
Mars Explorer MAVEN Makes Picture-Perfect Launch
published in EE Times “We’re on our way to Mars!” Dr. Fran Bagenal, spokesperson for the NASA’s MAVEN project team at the Laboratory of Atmospheric and Space Physics at the University of Colorado, Boulder, shouted [...]
Toy Startup Enables All Kids to Be Makers
published in EE Times Looking for that perfect Christmas gift that will give your 6- to 14-year-old a taste of the most basic engineering principle — that you can change your world if you can [...]
MIT Professor John King Honored by Students, Peers
MIT Professor Emeritus John G. King (SB 1950, PhD), experimental physicist and pioneer in atomic clocks, fundamental physics experiments and physics education, was honored by more than 60 colleagues and former students on April 1, [...]