i read more about string theory today. basically learned more about the notion of extra dimensions. back in 1919 when Einstein was working on relativity, the idea for extra dimensions was introduced. Einstein didn't come up with this idea and seemed to waffle on it but ultimately gave it his stamp of approval. the extra dimension was proposed such that every single point in space had a dimension that circled back onto itself (like a ring). with this thought, there could be 4 spacial dimensions and 1 time dimension. i guess that would have given us the 5th dimension, or was that an R&B group from the 70's....
at any rate, formulae were developed that described how this extra spacial dimension would behave, and these equations turned out to be the same as the equations that had already been developed for electromagnetism.
with this in mind, it seems only logical that there may be other time dimensions. there may be a way for time to curl back on itself. we may be living in a universe that only sees one dimension in time and in reality there may be multiple.
how would your life change if you could move as freely through time as you do through the 3 spacial dimensions that we know today? think about it, it gets interesting...
my website "martinirecords.com" is in the process of an update. i've created a new section specifically for photography (digital astrophotography to be more specific). i currently have some pictures of a few planets and one of the moon. if the clouds ever go away, maybe i'll get some more. it won't be long and i'll be starting my journey to image all 110 messier objects. i'll be posting them here as i capture them.
there are some broken links on martinirecords.com right now, but i hope to get things fixed in the next few days. i know that specifically the links to download my songs from my server will not work. if you want to listen to my songs, you'll need to go to either songramp or soundclick for the time being.
if you have any comments about my site, let me know. i appreciate all feedback.
friday night, time to relax, listen to some music, write some nonsense and have a beer. i am having a grolsch, premium lager imported from holland, and it tastes just fine. friday finally came, it's about time.
my new bed was delivered today. it's an air filled mattress from "select comfort" (i think). i adjusted my side to 60; i'm not sure what will be the best thing for my back right now since it is in pain from the wrenching i put it through last weekend. anyhow, it's about time we had a new bed.
i am listening to a new cd tonight (at least new to me). it's the new effort from steve winwood, titled "about time". i was a bit of a winwood fan about 15-20 years ago, and i wasn't sure how his music would have changed. i was a little skeptical about picking it up, but i'm glad i did. "about time" sounds distinctly steve winwood, but yet has a bit of flavor that i don't recall winwood using in the past. his work on the hammond sounds awesome. i have no idea if this album is getting any air play on commercial radio, i only listen to a small independent listener supported station. i recall they played a cut from this cd a few months ago, i guess that's why i ended up with it. my final words on this recording; if you liked steve winwood back in the days of steve winwood, then i think you'd really like this cd.
tonight i went to a lecture on our solar system given by Dr. Anita Cochran. it's simply incredible how much we have learned in the last 30 years, and it's even more incredible the things that we will learn in the next 30 years. i've just begun my journey into astronomy, and i wish i had started this many years ago.
i always told myself that i didn't want to be bothered with taking guitar lessons, but i regret that today. i wish i had put forth the effort to learn when i was younger. my excuse was that i didn't want it to become work.
i wish i had started learning more about our universe when i was younger.
i wish i had done a lot of things when i was younger, because as i get older i fear that i may not have the time in my schedule (or life) to do them.
if you work hard when you're young, you WILL appreciate it when you are older. believe me.
i'm looking forward to tomorrow evening. hopefully i'll be attending a meeting/lecture on the planets and objects in our solar system. i'm also intending to join our local astronomy club.
i think i wrenched my back this weekend trying to either take out or put away my telescope. i now have a knot in my back the size of rhode island. it doesn't help that my mattress is about dead too. the good news is that the mattress is about to change. friday i should be getting a new bed, one of these new fangled things that is filled with air. you can pump it up for a firmer surface, or let some out for a softer sleep. that's what i like, science and technology helping me to sleep better.
i sat down tonight to watch tv for a change. i flipped through the channels for several minutes wondering why i pay over $40 / month to get commercials on almost any channel i pick. a few months ago i couldn't live without my daily fix of fox news. i trusted them to keep me in the know on the war and economy. lately i've even been disappointed with fox news, and i feel like i'm not getting the true un-biased picture of the world.
maybe it was just because sunday night isn't a popular time to watch tv. maybe all the good shows are on tomorrow.
when i was a kid, it seemed there were always shows with a family theme. that was great. i loved sitting down with my parents and we all watched tv; shows that we all found entertaining.
today there are so many cable tv channels that everyone can watch whatever they like whenever they want it. just get everyone in your family a tv so they can go watch their own personalized story or show. there is nothing to draw families together anymore. we wonder why families don't communicate, and we wonder why today's youth is under such stress...
maybe i'll save my $40 a month and take my family to dinner more often or buy some more board games.
i just got my telescope put away a few minutes ago. i really only wanted 2 things tonight; a great picture of jupiter and i wanted to see a DSO (deep sky object).
after i set up my scope tonight, i collimated it with my laser. it worked pretty good and i think the image i get through the scope is a bit sharper. i took a ton of pictures of jupiter and every one of them stinks - overexposed, blurry and gooey. i don't know what i'm doing wrong.
i then took off for deep space looking for galaxies, nebulae, and other star clusters. the sky and atmosphere seemed very clear to me, but the light pollution around here kept the sky from lighting up. i didn't see anything like i had hoped.
i'm looking forward to the first visitor night at the veen observatory next weekend. i hope i can go. time to go read my astrophotography email.
i thought i'd do a little research and learn something about where the fabulous combination of gin and vermouth came from. turns out that it was first concocted in the mid to late 1800's and was primarily vermouth with a little gin. apparently vermouth has been around since 460 bc. in the early 1900's the first dry martini was introduced, but it seems that there is no record of where the olive came from. personally i like a crunchy onion in mine. :)
the skies finally cleared up enough tonight to take the telescope back outside. for the past week and a half i've either had things i've had to do, or it has been cloudy.
i've had trouble getting a good sharp focus, and i've thought it was probably that the scope needed to be collimated. last week i bought a laser collimator and tonight i stuck it in to see what it would do. i didn't see what i had expected to see and thus confirmed my suspicions of needing to adjust the primary mirror. maybe i'll try to do that this weekend.
tonight i took several pictures of venus, jupiter and mars. my intent was to stack them, however every picture seemed to be overexposed again. i need to learn how to use the camera in manual mode so i can try different speeds. i also need to buy or build an adapter so that i can attach my camera directly to the eyepiece. i am still setting the camera up on an independent tripod and trying to get it close to the eyepiece. this has proven to be a very frustrating method.
every time i take out the scope i try new things, and i learn new things. i can't complain about that.
some people try to verbally dance around the subject. they fumble for words until they find a few that may fit in with whatever the question was, then they drive a tangent into orbit around the center of the question. once they are dancing around, they can say whatever they want and it never seems to matter.
why?
every day i'm asked questions that i don't know how to answer. the thing is, i can admit it. i can admit what i've done wrong and when i don't know what to do. i guess i'll never be president.
Q1 has passed and we are now 2 weeks into Q2; how are your new years resolutions going? like a lot of people i decided i would drop a few pounds this year. i guess that's going ok for me. i'm staying away from the atkins fad and i'm trying to diet the old fashioned way - fewer calories, less fat, and more exercise. i've lost about 13 lbs since 1/1/04, and i'm almost on track with my goal.
the resolution that i'm behind the most in is my resolution to write and record six new songs. i've barely picked up my guitar this year. i just seem to lack the drive i once had. i still haven't given up, but every day i am getting more behind.
once a person has committed to a new years resolution, and if mid-way through the year it appears that this task may not be achieved, there should be some time set aside for working on or re-evaluating ones resolutions. for the working class, i propose a new holiday, resolution re-assessment day. since students get spring break, the working class should have an equal amount of time to delve into ones personal tasks or to evaluate and update ones list of resolutions. think of all the new hallmark cards that could be written...
put the cake down,
the ice cream away,
wipe away that frown
it's resolution re-assessment day!
maybe i should turn this whole thing into a song. let me get my guitar...
last night i was exhausted. fell asleep on the couch about 8pm. noticed the clouds had broken up, but the sky was still hazy. decided i was too tired to take the scope outside and i slept on the couch. i didn't wake up until 1am. then it was all i could do to drag myself off to bed.
anymore it seems that when the weekend rolls around, i am so tired i fall asleep as soon as the sun goes down.
i think i need more exercise.
so i'm thinking about string theory., and wondering about the different elements that make up wood. at the same time i'm wondering where the energy comes from when you burn a piece of wood. what happens to the individual elements? are they only released as heat and light? and smoke? does any of the energy released go into other dimensions? what happens to time where light energy is being produced?
since i went to bed so early last night, i'll probably be awake for a while tonight. worrying about some of these things... if you have any answers or theories, let me know.
last night i was exhausted. fell asleep on the couch about 8pm. noticed the clouds had broken up, but the sky was still hazy. decided i was too tired to take the scope outside and i slept on the couch. i didn't wake up until 1am. then it was all i could do to drag myself off to bed.
anymore it seems that when the weekend rolls around, i am so tired i fall asleep as soon as the sun goes down.
i think i need more exercise.
so i'm thinking about string theory., and wondering about the different elements that make up wood. at the same time i'm wondering where the energy comes from when you burn a piece of wood. what happens to the individual elements? are they only released as heat and light? and smoke? does any of the energy released go into other dimensions? what happens to time where light energy is being produced?
since i went to bed so early last night, i'll probably be awake for a while tonight. worrying about some of these things... if you have any answers or theories, let me know.
last night i was exhausted. fell asleep on the couch about 8pm. noticed the clouds had broken up, but the sky was still hazy. decided i was too tired to take the scope outside and i slept on the couch. i didn't wake up until 1am. then it was all i could do to drag myself off to bed.
anymore it seems that when the weekend rolls around, i am so tired i fall asleep as soon as the sun goes down.
i think i need more exercise.
so i'm thinking about string theory., and wondering about the different elements that make up wood. at the same time i'm wondering where the energy comes from when you burn a piece of wood. what happens to the individual elements? are they only released as heat and light? and smoke? does any of the energy released go into other dimensions? what happens to time where light energy is being produced?
since i went to bed so early last night, i'll probably be awake for a while tonight. worrying about some of these things... if you have any answers or theories, let me know.
last night i was exhausted. fell asleep on the couch about 8pm. noticed the clouds had broken up, but the sky was still hazy. decided i was too tired to take the scope outside and i slept on the couch. i didn't wake up until 1am. then it was all i could do to drag myself off to bed.
anymore it seems that when the weekend rolls around, i am so tired i fall asleep as soon as the sun goes down.
i think i need more exercise.
so i'm thinking about string theory., and wondering about the different elements that make up wood. at the same time i'm wondering where the energy comes from when you burn a piece of wood. what happens to the individual elements? are they only released as heat and light? and smoke? does any of the energy released go into other dimensions? what happens to time where light energy is being produced?
since i went to bed so early last night, i'll probably be awake for a while tonight. worrying about some of these things... if you have any answers or theories, let me know.
songs are boring if they simply state how much the singer/writer wants something. movies are boring if there isn't some tension created by opposing goals or views. paintings and pictures are boring if their colors are faded and washed out.
to make the boring not as boring, you need something that is in contrast to the main plot, idea, view. you need a second opinion, a second side to the story, a different color or a new perspective.
last night i wrote about exclusivity and how contrasting sides tend to battle wtih each other.
tonight i think about that same contrast, however the result can be beautiful and not violent.
open your mind to new opinions. let contrasting ideas form new visions. don't fight it, but work with it. see the beauty in the world.
how many groups dictate that you can belong to this group, but you can't belong to any others like it?
isn't that how college students usually feel about fraternities? they are the best and are in constant battle with everyone else.
it probably started thousands of years ago with children. one of them decided that his or her group would hang out by the big rock or tree, but if you started hangin' out with them, you couldn't go hang out with the other group by the stream. the kids that did probably got pelted with stones.
that mentality has grown to be the taproot of society. you can't belong to two different gangs... same way with politics; you can't be a republican AND a democrat. you also can't be a Christian and a Muslim, even though both groups claim that if you believe in what they say, you will have ever lasting life. they both say that the ONLY way to have everlasting life is believe what they say. one of them must be wrong... or could they both be right?
i think it takes more intelligence to see both sides of two groups and form your own opinions. remember what i said the other day about opinions?
violence breeds in exclusivity. form your own opinions, and break down the walls of exclusivity. peace awaits.
tonight i decided to get serious about digital astrophotography. i ran into some problems with the equatorial mount for my telescope. it seems to not be working properly, which made it a real chore to follow the planets and take photos.
i took a few pictures of venus before the sun was completely down and they didn't turn out very good. i also took a group of pictures of saturn, with the intent of "stacking" the images. the raw images are quite nice, and as i write this i am trying to figure out this program i downloaded that will help combine the raw images into a single and hopefully better image.
i will be creating an area on my website real soon that will be devoted to my photography. i'm looking forward to publishing my images.
follower... if you're in the game, you are either a leader or a follower. i'm in the game, are you? maybe you're a leader, maybe you're a follower. i'm a follower. always doing what i'm told and rarely given the opportunity to have an opinion.
i started thinking today, what are my opinions... what are my opinions about politics, religion, corporate usa, my career, popular music. i rarely think about my opinions, but they matter, at least to me.
think about your opinions, they are who you are. even if your time doesn't allow your opinion, let them form in your head. nurture them and let them grow.
the world needs some new opinions. the world needs to know how you feel.
most of the world seems to be obsessed with money and power. make war for oil and make money from the loss of the life of someone's son or daughter.
make mediocre music and force people to listen to it then tell them that they like it so they'll buy it....
tell people that they'll have ever lasting life if they give you money.....
since our skies were crystal clear this evening, i had to set up the telescope and try to get some pictures. i already have pictures of saturn, jupiter and the moon. i wanted to get pictures of mars and venus. these proved to be a little tougher to get than expected...
once it was dark i zeroed in on venus. she was reflecting almost too much light, but i still took two pictures of her. i then realized that the battery in my camera was at the dieing point. i quickly put it on the charger, but the 90 minutes that it took to charge allowed mars to sink behind my garage. i was able to see mars, however it wasn't that great of a view. maybe next time i can get a picture of it.
i then took another picture of saturn, however it didn't turn out very nice. it was overexposed. i also tried to take more pictures of jupiter and it's moons, however i was running out of time and it was difficult to get the camera lined up so that i could take the picture. i did take a few shots of jupiter but none of them are better than the ones i took the other day.
i plan to post my astrophotography on my web site when i have a few decent pictures.
tonight i need to divert slightly from the standard i've been setting. tonight i must return to my roots of music.
i'm listening to "hamell on trial" and i just feel the need to write a little about music.
i've been playing my guitars again, and been trying to write some new tunes. i haven't been extremely productive, but i have been inspired. it will all begin to come together again soon, i can feel it.
i'm actually feeling a bit inspired listening to "hamell on trial", this guy has written some great songs. i really like his lyrics and guitar playing. if you haven't listened to "hamell on trial", check him out {acousti/electri folk-punk for the 21st century}... good stuff
well, it's been a few days since i've had time to blog. i promised a final chapter to the pinewood derby timer saga, and i'm finally going to write it.
recap-
a week ago i was stressin' about this timing system i had created to time and manage a pinewood derby. the pinewood derby is a race of small hand made cars from a block of pine. they roll down a short track (32 feet) and the first one to cross the finish line is the winner. i volunteered to build a switching system and write software that will manage the entire race. the switch is an array of infrared leds and phototransistors that connect to a laptop via the parallel port. the software reads the parallel port and takes care of all the race management duties to run the race. two nights before the race (1 week ago today) i found some potential issues with my code. the next night we set up the track and timer and confirmed my suspicions that the software does not run properly on windows xp.
race day-
i installed the software on a good old windows 98 machine and it seemed to load OK. i did an initial test with the infrared switches and they all seemed to be working as well. so far so good, but i kept telling everyone that i was certain there would be problems at some point. we had about 41 entries in the race, and i sat diligently at my the windows 98 laptop entering names, numbers and car nick names. as noon approached i saved the data often. i wanted to make sure i had enough copies of the original data in case of a major melt-down during the race. i wanted to avoid this situation because i know what it feels like having 50 cub scouts and 100 parents staring at me wondering why "it doesn't work?" because that's what happened to me 1 year ago.
with data saved many times, in many places, the first heat of cars were lined up on the track. the announcer called "read, set, go!" and the starting gate fell. i looked at the laptop display, the numbers began running away at 1/1000th of a second intervals, and all timers stopped roughly 2 1/2 seconds later as all the cars streaked across the finish line. my breathing relaxed a little, the first heat was successful, now only about 100 more to go.
as the day went on, there were a few hiccups with the laptop, but nothing major went wrong with the switch or the software. we ran the entire race without any problems and we didn't even have any upset parents.
i do need to fix the problems that i know of. luckily i was able to make sure that we never got into a situation where we saw any of these problems. next year shall be even better.
