aerial topography
Maps have always been a fascination of mine. I never seem to tire of looking at maps, old ones, new ones, cities, countries, whatever, it doesn’t matter, I’ll keep looking. Topographic maps are especially fascinating – being able to see the undulations of the hills, and the way the rivers and streams have carved their way through the hills has always held my attention. While I was in college I used to fly back home for christmas and stare out the window at the snow covered landscapes below. One stretch I was always enjoyed was crossing upstate New York, between Buffalo and Syracuse. With a covering of snow the striations left behind by the glaciers was easy to see.
Just last month I was flying out west on a crystal clear day and I was able to take a few photos of the snow covered Great Plains, the Rockies the parts of the southwest canyon lands. The real challenge was trying to figure exactly where I was. I’ve included a few of the photos here, and there are more over here.
[ Please click on the photos for a larger image ]
There are several more photos in my gallery, Moon Shots, including Denver from 30,000 feet, the Front Range and the canyon lands. So go take a look.
1295 days ago | Photos |
A Pearl of a toy - I mean phone
For the last month I’ve been using the latest offering from Blackberry – the 8100 aka the Pearl, and it’s great! After being frustrated with trying to get emails while on the road, and watching my wife’s addiction to her BB, I decided it was time to get my own.
After some research into models and plans I decided on a 7130 from Cingular. Fortunately my decision was delayed due to more pressing matters (i.e. life in general). Then the Pearl was released. After watching the video on the Pearl site I was sold – It looked to be an awesome phone/PDA/whatever.
More searching turned up a bargin! I could buy the phone for $100 and then get $100 in rebates – net cost =$0 – a no brainer. I would have to switch to T-Mobile, but I was already resigned to switching.
The 8100 is great! The phone is very good, the messaging (email, text, IM) all work without a hitch. The camera is good for a phone, and the media player handles mp3 & video without any problems. The web browser is very good and it’s easy to change options to handle sites that don’t behave very well on a small screen. I even have it set up as a bluetooth modem for my Powerbook.
One of the negatives that I kept hearing is that BB’s doesn’t play nice with a Mac, however with PocketMac for the BB (free) I can sync my addresses, calendars, etc easily – and with the memory card I can drag & drop music, etc. right from the finder.
If your looking for a great smartphone and want email, etc., look no further than the Pearl.
1401 days ago | Gadgets |
finding new music
so how do you find new music?
Lately one way that I’ve used is the iTunes store. Every Tuesday they post a free song. Right now my “free” collection is around 65 songs. They aren’t all hits, but they are pretty good, and after a while you hear some tunes on the radio.
My most recent find is Katie Melua , however I didn’t find her via iTunes, instead it was an email from TicketMaster that made me listen. She’s scheduled to play here in July so they were promoting her concert. I hadn’t heard of her so I dug around some, and after listening to snippets of a few tracks I bought her album “Piece by Piece” on iTunes.
She has a great voice and her arrangements are unique. Two selections that are my immediate favorites are “Nine Million Bicycles” and “On the Road Again”. The first one has some great lyrcis and meoldy that evokes a chinese feeling that matches the lyrics. “On the Road Again” is very nice rendition of the old Canned Heat favorite. I’m curious as to how she chose the song. Pick up the album if you’re looking for a great voice.
1527 days ago | Music |
