tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-108507292024-03-13T08:19:26.456-07:00Billy Bob BainOne man's life.Unknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger88125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10850729.post-6248932786768291622010-03-02T16:01:00.001-08:002010-03-02T16:02:03.912-08:00Sun + Ice = Power<div>I hope I live long enough to see a moon base.</div><div><br /></div><a href="http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/Mini-RF/multimedia/feature_ice_like_deposits.html">http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/Mini-RF/multimedia/feature_ice_like_deposits.html</a><div><br /></div><div>BBB</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10850729.post-85602376077972513922009-10-03T12:04:00.000-07:002009-10-03T15:50:26.217-07:00Library of Congress PhotosI am totally addicted to the <a href="http://www.loc.gov/rr/print/catalog.html">Library of Congress Prints & Photographs Online Catalog</a>. The excellent site <a href="http://shorpy.com">Shorpy.com</a> started my addiction. <br /><br />Here are a few of the photos I liked from today.<br /><br />Here's a nice one from 1906 of Luray, Virginia. All of these are converted from a TIFF to JPEG and possibly adjusted a bit in Lightroom.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/astros/3978011612/" title="Aerial view of Luray, Virginia by texas_mustang, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2432/3978011612_890ff69da0.jpg" width="500" height="402" alt="Aerial view of Luray, Virginia" /></a> <br />View in <a href="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2432/3978011612_0ce6970558_o.jpg">High Definition</a>.<br /><br />TITLE: [Aerial view of Luray, Virginia]<br />CALL NUMBER: U.S. GEOG FILE -Virginia--Luray [item] [P&P]<br />REPRODUCTION NUMBER: LC-USZ62-137039 (b&w film copy neg.)<br />RIGHTS INFORMATION: No known restrictions on publication.<br />MEDIUM: 1 photographic print.<br />CREATED/PUBLISHED: c1906.<br />NOTES:<br />H78518 U.S. Copyright Office.<br />Title devised by Library staff. <br /><br />There are tons of pictures of Atlantic City, NJ.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/astros/3977689487/" title="Crowd on beach at Atlantic City, New Jersey by texas_mustang, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2535/3977689487_64f3749655.jpg" width="500" height="400" alt="Crowd on beach at Atlantic City, New Jersey" /></a><br />View in <a href="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2535/3977689487_371bef037f_o.jpg">High Definition</a>.<br /><br />TITLE: [Crowd on beach at Atlantic City, New Jersey]<br />CALL NUMBER: U.S. GEOG FILE - New Jersey--Atlantic City--Seashore <item> [P&P]<br />REPRODUCTION NUMBER: LC-USZ62-105986 (b&w film copy neg.)<br />MEDIUM: 1 photographic print.<br />CREATED/PUBLISHED: c1910.<br />NOTES:<br />J144330 U.S. Copyright Office. <br /><br />Then there are the seemingly endless number of Lewis Wickes Hine photos to examine. From what I've looked at, Lewis always looked for the sad ones, but somehow they seemed to smile and spoil his plan.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/astros/3978478686/" title="Three Families in a Shack in Maryland by texas_mustang, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2615/3978478686_7528858b32.jpg" width="500" height="358" alt="Three Families in a Shack in Maryland" /></a><br />View in <a href="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2615/3978478686_2ae9b96fd9_o.jpg">high definition</a>.<br /><br />TITLE: Name: Three families is the rule in these shacks, one room above and one below, but sometimes four families crowd in. Outdoor dining room at side[?] Maryland. Location: Maryland.<br />CALL NUMBER: LOT 7475, v. 1, no. 0852[P&P]<br />REPRODUCTION NUMBER: LC-DIG-nclc-00028 (color digital file from b&w original print)<br />LC-USZ62-29135 (b&w film copy negative)<br />RIGHTS INFORMATION: No known restrictions on publication.<br />MEDIUM: 1 photographic print.<br />CREATED/PUBLISHED: 1909 July.<br />CREATOR:<br />Hine, Lewis Wickes, 1874-1940, photographer.<br /><br />In the spirit of the upcoming baseball playoffs, this one says it all.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/astros/3977731447/" title="Huge crowd of baseball fans watching baseball scoreboard during World Series game in New York City by texas_mustang, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2483/3977731447_791b1d7d3a.jpg" width="500" height="366" alt="Huge crowd of baseball fans watching baseball scoreboard during World Series game in New York City" /></a><br />View in <a href="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2483/3977731447_02ac508384_o.jpg">High Definition</a>.<br /><br />TITLE: [Huge crowd of baseball fans watching baseball scoreboard during World Series game in New York City]<br />CALL NUMBER: LOT 11147-3 [item] [P&P]<br />REPRODUCTION NUMBER: LC-DIG-ppmsca-18452 (digital file from original photograph)<br />LC-USZ62-105852 (b&w film copy neg.)<br />RIGHTS INFORMATION: No known restrictions on publication.<br />MEDIUM: 1 photographic print.<br />CREATED/PUBLISHED: [1911 Oct. 27]<br />NOTES:<br />Title devised by Library staff.<br />Bain News Service photograph.<br />Forms part of: George Grantham Bain Collection (Library of Congress). <br /><br />Hope you enjoy these as much as I did. This is planned to be an ongoing series.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10850729.post-9248669959448352242009-07-31T18:45:00.001-07:002009-07-31T18:53:45.450-07:00Colorado RulesWe just got back from Colorado and had a great time.<br /><br />This was a sunrise, not a sunset. (Blue Mesa Reservoir)<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3530/3758528193_6b75514ed4.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 500px; height: 332px;" src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3530/3758528193_6b75514ed4.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><br />Gotta love the cabin wildlife.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2671/3758935894_f05412de32.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 500px; height: 246px;" src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2671/3758935894_f05412de32.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /><br />I am Blue for Colorado.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2445/3758940062_33bd0f2a7f.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 500px; height: 295px;" src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2445/3758940062_33bd0f2a7f.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /><br />Mine Shitter...<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2636/3758710695_032939498a.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 500px; height: 332px;" src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2636/3758710695_032939498a.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /><br />and the most photographed waterfall in Colorado.<br /><br /><object type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="400" height="225" data="http://www.flickr.com/apps/video/stewart.swf?v=71377" classid="clsid:D27CDB6E-AE6D-11cf-96B8-444553540000"> <param name="flashvars" value="intl_lang=en-us&photo_secret=97a5cd9f83&photo_id=3771165309&hd_default=false"></param> <param name="movie" value="http://www.flickr.com/apps/video/stewart.swf?v=71377"></param> <param name="bgcolor" value="#000000"></param> <param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><embed type="application/x-shockwave-flash" src="http://www.flickr.com/apps/video/stewart.swf?v=71377" bgcolor="#000000" allowfullscreen="true" flashvars="intl_lang=en-us&photo_secret=97a5cd9f83&photo_id=3771165309&hd_default=false" height="225" width="400"></embed></object><br /><br />The full set is <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/astros/sets/72157621716504771/">here</a>.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10850729.post-20327707592640018592008-02-27T08:41:00.001-08:002008-02-27T08:46:41.434-08:00R.I.P. William F. Buckley Jr.The <a href="http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5htj3BNDPQZfgo1Sjus7DBavzhHjQD8V2OV800">associated press is reporting</a> that William F. Buckley Jr. died this morning. Makes me pretty sad. Last August I was <a href="http://billybobbain.blogspot.com/2007/08/where-is-william-f-buckley-jr.html">wondering</a> about him.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10850729.post-1497397320268563922007-12-02T22:27:00.001-08:002007-12-02T22:39:15.914-08:00Babbleknot New FeaturesThis was originally posted on the babbleknot.com <a href="http://babbleknot.blogspot.com">blog</a>.<br /><br />The <a href="http://www.babbleknot.com/">babbleknot.com</a> team has been gulping diet rockstar & busy adding new forums and features. Currently the board is loading at the rate of about 4,000 new forums per day, with a goal of 150,000 boards during the beta. Just now over half-way there with 78,184 forums loaded.<br /><br /><img style="margin: 10px 10px 10px 0px; float: left;" src="http://www.babbleknot.com/images/lr.jpg" /> I continue to be amazed at the variety of boards out there, and the activity that still occurs, even with the popular web 2.0 destinations. I was a fan of King of Queens, but below is a thumbgraph of an <a href="http://www.leahreminiguardforum.com/upload/forumdisplay.php?f=4">entire board</a> dedicated to Leah Remini. Anything is there. You just have to look. In the graph below, the "green" lines are indications of direct replies in threads, which is a clue to relationships between members.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.babbleknot.com/forum.do?threads=20&sort=lastpost&forumId=1196327647592"><img src="http://www.babbleknot.com/captured/1195577590821-lastpost-20.jpg" /><br /></a>We'll crank up the search & daily indexing rates in the future. Right now, many graphs are done on demand or at the rate of 2,000 per day in a background job. Babbleknot is running on <a href="http://aws.amazon.com/">Amazon's Elastic Compute Cloud</a>, EC2, with plans to add servers for spiders, large graph layout, and other types of large scale analysis as demand increases.<br /><br />The new features are key milestones that I am happy to finally check off. Here they are in my perceived order of significance.<br /><br />The biggest new feature in my opinion is background generation of graphs. Before, if you clicked a forum link & the data was unavailable, the board was parsed while you waited, hourglass clocking, driving you crazy. Now if the data isn't on hand, the generation is pushed to the background. Most complete in 30 seconds or so, but a large board with lots of content & posts will obviously take longer. The forum names appear on the right sidebar immediately & will change to a hyperlink once complete. Sending the generation the background is good for both usability & the overall performance of the site. Right now the requests are persisted for the current web session, but the thought is we will keep that history for a short time so you can go back a bit.<br /><br />Second new feature is an RSS feed <a href="http://www.babbleknot.com/feed.do"><img src="http://www.babbleknot.com/images/social/rss.ico" title="atom 0.3" /></a> of the <a href="http://www.babbleknot.com/home.do">recent graphs</a> page.<br /><br />Finally, image flagging is now in with very basic functionality. Clicking the red flag <img src="http://www.babbleknot.com/images/flag_red.gif" /> next to content image will remove the image from view on subsequent retrieves of that graph. It's possible entire forums should be flagged. To me, flagging isn't necessarily bad. I believe there is a large segment of the population that would probably like to surf only the flagged content & boards. This will eventually become part of the <span style="font-weight: bold;">Safe Search</span> feature, which I think I'll brand as an opposite, like <span style="font-weight: bold;">Wreckless Search</span>.<br /><br />More updates coming soon. Please post questions and comments if you love or hate <a href="http://www.babbleknot.com/">babbleknot.com</a>.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10850729.post-48113559514017931972007-12-02T14:53:00.000-08:002007-12-02T14:55:49.170-08:00Social Graph Visualization with Babbleknot.comThis item <a href="http://babbleknot.blogspot.com/2007/12/social-graph-visualization-with.html">originally ran on the babbleknot.com</a> blog. <br /><br /><a href="http://www.babbleknot.com/">Babbleknot.com</a> is now open for a public beta.<br /><br />Babbleknot scans the index pages of over 70,000 message boards to generate thread / topic metrics. Things such as velocity, mass, acceleration to name a few. These metrics are used to generate input to a spider that indexes the content and generates graphs of the <i>hot</i> threads.<br /><br />Below is a sample graph which is part of this <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/astros/sets/72157601925962762/">flickr set</a>.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.babbleknot.com" title="babbleknot.com"><img src="http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1221/1383975848_29df32617a.jpg" alt="3dmodels" height="500" width="500" /></a><br /><br />On the graph above, you see people, threads, and images, with lines representing relationships between objects with a "circular" layout.<br /><br />Graphs? Why? The graphs provide a top-down view of the content, people and their relationships. You can see 10s, 100s of threads & topics at once. More coming hopefully as we learn to scale. In the future you'll also be able to generate graphs that span boards & forums. The best part of these graphs are that they aren't just static images. You can zoom & pan (<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nthNODHQUKE">screencam</a>), and all the embedded content images are wrapped in a lightbox for easy display and perusal. You have quick access to the thread & user profiles with links representing post responsibility and direct quoting. More coming.<br /><br />Privacy? Yep, there will be complaints. I expect some push back. I'll be happy to pull any board that doesn't want to be indexed. We'll be respecting robots.txt soon to make that easy.<br /><br />What else is coming? Identity claiming so you can link your babbleknot.com identity to individual board identities, and delve deeper into your own social graph. Tagging of all kinds is 99% complete & will be on the home page soon. Full content indexing, thread tracking, alerts, content recognition beyond images, more board types, and maybe even posting capability.<br /><br />Watch this blog for more information and give <a href="http://www.babbleknot.com/">babbleknot.com</a> a try today.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10850729.post-41251411031465020252007-09-12T16:21:00.000-07:002007-09-12T16:42:37.265-07:00Where is Billy Bob Bain?I've been busy working on this... <a href="http://www.babbleknot.com">babbleknot</a>.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.babbleknot.com" title="babbleknot"><img src="http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1046/1368645746_a84a3d23b0.jpg" width="500" height="405" alt="babbleknot" /></a><br /><br />It is now up on <a href="http://www.amazon.com/b/ref=sc_fe_l_2/104-6670678-1390369?ie=UTF8&node=201590011&no=342430011&me=A36L942TSJ2AJA">Amazon EC2</a>. I still have lots of work to do, but it's fun and keeps me out of bars.<br /><br />I need an artist / partner. I'm great at the back-end stuff, but lousy at the front-end. (or so I'm told)<br /><br />The easiest way to explain it is that <br />1) it crawls message boards<br />2) draws pretty pictures<br />3) figures out "who is who", and their relationships<br />4) is great for looking at porn<br />5) and is a privacy nightmare if you use it right<br /><br />I've talked about this <a href="http://billybobbain.blogspot.com/2006_03_01_archive.html">here</a>, and <a href="http://billybobbain.blogspot.com/2006_04_01_archive.html">here</a>.<br /><br /><br />BBBUnknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10850729.post-31590933029039213782007-08-06T15:35:00.000-07:002007-08-06T16:13:04.651-07:00Where is William F. Buckley Jr.?Has anyone seen William F. Buckley Jr. post anything lately? <br /><br /><a href="http://author.nationalreview.com/?q=MjE0Ng==">National Review Archive</a><br /><br />I hope he's just taking an extra long holiday.<br /><br />BBBUnknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10850729.post-30808530225355659792007-08-01T07:02:00.000-07:002007-08-01T08:36:04.562-07:00Robert Earl KeenHere are the promised Robert Earl Keen pictures from the Astros vs Rangers game a few weeks ago. Click the picture to visit flickr & view the complete set.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/astros/sets/72157601142373445/" title="Photo Sharing"><img src="http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1243/974470559_db2f843ded.jpg" width="500" height="333" alt="REK singing the National Anthem" /></a><br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/astros/974469401/" title="Photo Sharing"><img src="http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1251/974469401_4e0f463523.jpg" width="500" height="333" alt="REK after singing the National Anthem" /></a><br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/astros/974469977/" title="Photo Sharing"><img src="http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1125/974469977_fca6e7f241.jpg" width="500" height="333" alt="REK after singing the National Anthem" /></a>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10850729.post-12938425794252471202007-06-27T06:46:00.000-07:002007-06-27T06:57:02.365-07:00Hotdog!Went to see the 2 crappiest baseball teams in MLB play on Saturday. The best part of the game was the Robert Earl Keen concert afterwards... followed closely by this delicious dog.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/astros/639164820/" title="Photo Sharing"><img src="http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1182/639164820_b10c6b6f59.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="Hotdog!" /></a><br /><br />I'll post some pics of him soon.<br /><br />BBBUnknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10850729.post-40314110126633265222007-06-16T14:03:00.000-07:002007-06-16T14:07:56.071-07:00baseball blackoutsI am a paying subscriber for the premium package on mlb.com including mlb mosaic. The blackouts have been annoying me lately, especially since they consider the Astros a home team in my zipcode of 75044. (which is North of Dallas)<br /><br />Today I fired up mosaic? What am I paying for exactly?<br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/astros/557869638/" title="Photo Sharing"><img src="http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1389/557869638_88748329f0.jpg" width="500" height="388" alt="mlb-tv-is-worthless" /></a><br /><br />The only video available is some crap from the baseball channel. I will not renew next year, for $119.95. I am obviously a sucker.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10850729.post-43498362901738732532007-05-28T06:32:00.000-07:002007-05-28T06:38:37.842-07:00fauxhawkJust a few camera phone pics from the last few days. My wife called this a fauxhawk.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/astros/516083245/" title="Photo Sharing"><img src="http://farm1.static.flickr.com/222/516083245_2f491a54fe.jpg" alt="Fauxhawk" height="375" width="500" /></a><br /><br /><br />My parents are here for the fishing trip to Arkansas.<br /><br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/astros/515091414/" title="Photo Sharing"><img src="http://farm1.static.flickr.com/222/515091414_c54928c0ef.jpg" alt="Noah and Mamaw" height="375" width="500" /></a><br /><br />This mini rc car runs for 6 minutes on a 1 minute charge. Makes a 3 year old much happier. (and dad)<br /><br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/astros/501301899/" title="Photo Sharing"><img src="http://farm1.static.flickr.com/232/501301899_228933cc00.jpg" alt="Noah and MiniRC" height="375" width="500" /></a><br /><br />Chocolate!<br /><br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/astros/499968420/" title="Photo Sharing"><img src="http://farm1.static.flickr.com/194/499968420_f88aaad6e9.jpg" alt="Chocolate" height="375" width="500" /></a>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10850729.post-13754414351071570562007-03-28T17:02:00.000-07:002007-03-28T17:17:03.052-07:00BubblesWe had a friend from of mine from college over & he brought his daughter. This bubble gun is cool. I don't remember anything like this as a kid.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/astros/435845039/" title="Photo Sharing"><img src="http://farm1.static.flickr.com/174/435845039_2e72e32bf7.jpg" alt="Spring 2007 with Traynors025" height="333" width="500" /></a><br /><br />She had been to a party & has some paint in her hair.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/astros/435833181/" title="Photo Sharing"><img src="http://farm1.static.flickr.com/145/435833181_f763bbf5c4.jpg" alt="Spring 2007 with Traynors014" height="500" width="343" /></a><br /><br />This looks pretty good printed in large format.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/astros/435843453/" title="Photo Sharing"><img src="http://farm1.static.flickr.com/172/435843453_bb2367bc9b.jpg" alt="Spring 2007 with Traynors024" height="333" width="500" /></a><br /><br />We called these bowheads in college I think... I'll need to ask her dad about this.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/astros/435832575/" title="Photo Sharing"><img src="http://farm1.static.flickr.com/169/435832575_8f149a0599.jpg" alt="Spring 2007 with Traynors013" height="500" width="389" /></a><br /><br />He likes old fashioned bubbles too.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/astros/435839203/" title="Photo Sharing"><img src="http://farm1.static.flickr.com/159/435839203_a90c52e11b.jpg" alt="Spring 2007 with Traynors021" height="333" width="500" /></a><br /><br />Have a nice day. Maybe we won't bomb Iran tomorrow.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10850729.post-1243986733385714712007-03-09T16:06:00.000-08:002007-03-09T16:16:56.186-08:00Rest In Peace Dave AveryDave Avery was only here a couple of months, but I had grown to like him. <br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/astros/415966089/" title="Photo Sharing"><img src="http://farm1.static.flickr.com/158/415966089_1750e18983_o.jpg" width="170" height="227" alt="dave-avery" /></a><br /><br />I thought at first this might be another lame KHYI joke, but unfortunately it appears to be true. <br /><br />Not sure what you drank, but I'll drink a Shiner for you Dave. The next round I buy at L&W will be for you.<br /><br />Stolen from some website:<br />In lieu of flowers the family would like any donations to be made to:<br />Little sisters of the Poor located at:<br />2345 West 86th Street<br />INDIANAPOLIS, Indiana 46260-1981<br /><br />BBBUnknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10850729.post-36156014264779321232007-02-26T05:01:00.000-08:002007-02-26T05:57:38.080-08:00Hidden WellOn Saturday, the <a href="http://springcreekforest.org">Spring Creek Forest Preserve</a> had its 14th Annual <a href="http://springcreekforest.org/trout_lily_tour.htm">Trout Lily Tour</a>. Unfortunately, I had to miss it due to a conflict with incoming relatives. <br /><br />On Sunday morning I woke before everyone else & went to look for myself. Now, these little guys are pretty small & I had only seen pictures before. Due to the early morning hour, they were still closed, making them harder to spot. I finally stumbled across this one. <br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/astros/402094637/" title="Photo Sharing"><img src="http://farm1.static.flickr.com/159/402094637_2afd7224b7.jpg" width="500" height="333" alt="Trout Lily 1" /></a><br /><br />All of these are shot with natural light, most likely on a tripod. If not a tripod, then I had the VR on my new <a href="http://www.dpreview.com/news/0608/06080901nikonafs70-300vrlens.asp">Nikon AF-S VR Zoom-Nikkor 70-300mm f/4.5-5.6G IF-ED lens</a>. (what a mouthful!)<br /><br />I had read that often, when you find one, you find another. These guys are pollinated by ants (among other things) & <a href="http://www.arhomeandgarden.org/plantoftheweek/articles/troutlily_3-31-06.htm">one theory</a> is that after the ants take the seed, it produces a volatile pheromone that triggers something called the “dead corpse response.” They lose interest and drop the seed. Other ants ignore it as well.<br /><br />Nearby I found this one. <br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/astros/402108667/" title="Photo Sharing"><img src="http://farm1.static.flickr.com/147/402108667_77813901fa.jpg" width="500" height="333" alt="Trout Lily 2" /></a><br /><br />Now that I had spotted a couple, I started walking the trail back & noticed a few more. <br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/astros/402107250/" title="Photo Sharing"><img src="http://farm1.static.flickr.com/171/402107250_72dace2b54.jpg" width="500" height="333" alt="Trout Lily 3" /></a><br /><br />I plan to get out this week during the afternoon and catch them open.<br /><br />Now, that isn't all. On the way back home, I stopped at a piece of "private property" near my house that has similar wet ground and trees to cover the ground. I was hoping to find a Trout lily, but stumbled across something quite different. I was thankful that it was daytime.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/astros/402737966/" title="Photo Sharing"><img src="http://farm1.static.flickr.com/138/402737966_0171c75027.jpg" width="500" height="333" alt="Hidden Well" /></a><br /><br />An "open" well just waiting for someone to fall in. I dropped a couple of rocks down... seemed to hit a hard bottom & fall about 20 feet. I couldn't see the bottom. I may head back with a flashlight again & see what is down there.<br /><br />Another shot. Not much to see... just a hole. Dangerous as hell though.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/astros/402736102/" title="Photo Sharing"><img src="http://farm1.static.flickr.com/147/402736102_77bdb5214f.jpg" width="500" height="333" alt="Hidden Well" /></a><br /><br />To be honest, it freaked me out at the time. I recently saw both<a href="http://imdb.com/title/tt0298130/">The Ring</a> and <a href="http://imdb.com/title/tt0102926/">Silence of the Lambs</a> and kept thinking about what if I saw a fingernail stuck in the wall. -shudder-<br /><br />BBBUnknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10850729.post-91514101821545204182007-02-08T07:08:00.000-08:002007-01-04T05:16:32.194-08:00Johnny SunflowerseedWe were doing a little random bird feeding in the backyard yesterday.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/astros/383025782/" title="Photo Sharing"><img src="http://farm1.static.flickr.com/156/383025782_88a3b4af7c.jpg" width="500" height="333" alt="Johnny Sunflower Seed" /></a><br /><br />BBBUnknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10850729.post-69850356860381563692007-01-04T05:07:00.000-08:002007-01-04T05:16:31.912-08:00Dinosaurs Alive! in the woods at the Heard Museum in McKinneyMy wife shot this video of a life-sized T-Rex in the woods at the <a href="http://www.heardmuseum.org/go/DinosaurExhibit.htm">Heard Museum</a> in McKinney. There is a side-shot at 34 seconds where my son is standing right in front of the "dimosaur" and you can judge the size for your self.<br /><br /><object width="425" height="350"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/wQhX-gCPd9Y"></param><param name="wmode" value="transparent"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/wQhX-gCPd9Y" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" width="425" height="350"></embed></object>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10850729.post-15519658589313934202006-12-28T05:24:00.000-08:002006-12-28T05:25:18.802-08:00Please, Please, Please<object width="425" height="350"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/sb0dcRjHnCU"></param><param name="wmode" value="transparent"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/sb0dcRjHnCU" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" width="425" height="350"></embed></object>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10850729.post-17627663839022254432006-12-15T16:32:00.000-08:002006-12-15T16:33:10.881-08:00R.I.P. Larry YoungUnknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10850729.post-64027279279470818832006-12-01T08:24:00.000-08:002006-12-01T08:42:30.613-08:00Eleven Hundred SpringsI am a huge fan of the Texas band <a href="http://www.elevenhundredsprings.com/">Eleven Hundred Springs</a> & I try to catch them every time they play at <a href="http://www.loveandwarintexas.com/">Love & War in Texas</a>.<br /><br />They sell these old school caps with a big ass logo at their shows. In the photo below Noah is wearing the ugliest one I could find.<br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/astros/305807388/" title="Photo Sharing"><img src="http://static.flickr.com/117/305807388_26ee7f6cab.jpg" alt="Eleven Hundred Springs Fan" height="375" width="500" /></a><br /><br />Shot with my new <a href="http://www.samsung.com/Products/MobilePhones/Sprint/SPH_M500ORASPR.asp">Samsung M500 1.3mp camera phone</a>. Nice phone, btw.<br /><br />Have a nice weekend.<br /><br />BBBUnknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10850729.post-1160092255240142992006-10-05T16:50:00.000-07:002006-10-05T16:50:55.263-07:00Padres vs CardinalsCan't they both lose. I hate both of them.<br /><br />BBBUnknownnoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10850729.post-1147976386438528182006-05-18T11:01:00.000-07:002006-05-18T11:19:46.793-07:00Capitola CaliforniaI am at JavaOne this week & we spent the weekend in Capitola, California. It's a small beach community near Santa Cruz. This was the view out the hotel (motel) window.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/astros/148425883/" title="Photo Sharing"><img src="http://static.flickr.com/45/148425883_720f6a06a7.jpg" width="500" height="333" alt="View out of Hotel Window" /></a><br /><br />Noah got his feet wet. You can see mom's shadow in the picture... we kept very close due to the strong currents.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/astros/148425023/" title="Photo Sharing"><img src="http://static.flickr.com/44/148425023_a462026672.jpg" width="333" height="500" alt="Noah Testing Waters" /></a><br /><br />This is Noah on the bridge over the creek that flows into the ocean in Capitola.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/astros/148432950/" title="Photo Sharing"><img src="http://static.flickr.com/45/148432950_ed549262ef.jpg" width="339" height="500" alt="Noah looking out" /></a><br /><br />The real reason we went to Capitola was to get close to the Roaring Camp Railroad. Like many toddlers, Noah is train-crazy. (opposed to Crazy Train by Ozzy)<br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/astros/148427023/" title="Photo Sharing"><img src="http://static.flickr.com/51/148427023_3e3ecc4807.jpg" width="500" height="333" alt="Noah and Mom" /></a><br /><br />We rode the #7 Shay Engine. I enjoyed it as much as Noah.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/astros/148427941/" title="Photo Sharing"><img src="http://static.flickr.com/46/148427941_d25c590db5.jpg" width="500" height="333" alt="Old Number 7 Shay Engine" /></a><br /><br />He seemed to have a good time. It was warm that day, so a hat was essential.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/astros/148430465/" title="Photo Sharing"><img src="http://static.flickr.com/47/148430465_67d05db7b4.jpg" width="333" height="500" alt="Noah on Train" /></a><br /><br />For both of us. I had my hat on backwards... notice Noah did the same on his own.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/astros/148428929/" title="Photo Sharing"><img src="http://static.flickr.com/47/148428929_f42a169846.jpg" width="500" height="333" alt="Matching Hats" /></a><br /><br />Mom and Noah in front of the train. <br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/astros/148429741/" title="Photo Sharing"><img src="http://static.flickr.com/49/148429741_802cf1e67d.jpg" width="500" height="333" alt="Lee Ann and Noah" /></a><br /><br />There was a tattooed family on the train. I really like the scorpion.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/astros/148431126/" title="Photo Sharing"><img src="http://static.flickr.com/53/148431126_3ecf1ff5d7.jpg" width="500" height="333" alt="Tattooed Family" /></a><br /><br />I think we'll go back to Capitola again. It was fun, albeit a bit expensive.<br /><br />BBBUnknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10850729.post-1144414756855985782006-04-07T11:00:00.000-07:002006-04-10T13:44:54.923-07:00More Social NetworkingI received an e-mail yesterday from the webmaster of the <a href="http://www.3drealms.com">3drealms.com</a> site. This company is the old "Apogee" and the maker of some of my favorite games from back in the day. I wasted so much time on <a href="http://www.3drealms.com/keen1/index.html">Commander Keen</a> that I might have finished my thesis had I not played it constantly instead of writing C code & reading math journals. (just kidding DAD)<br /><br />I ran "threadster" against a couple of the forums after a little bit of work to make it compatible with VBB 3.5.4. The name "threadster" will not last, since that domain is taken. Suggestions would be appreciated.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/astros/124449440/" title="Photo Sharing"><img src="http://static.flickr.com/6/124449440_56ab85bc04.jpg" alt="3drealms-4-6-2006" height="500" width="500" /></a><br /><br /><a href="http://static.flickr.com/6/124449440_56ab85bc04_o.jpg">original 4096 x 4096 image</a><br /><br /><br />I may regret doing this so early, but I've put up an early access version <a href="http://threadster.sleepycat.net/">here</a>. Feel free to click around and generate pictures. It may crash often & you may lose data at anytime... it's alpha stage & I wipe out the database fairly often.<br /><br />BBBUnknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10850729.post-1144086217077880712006-04-03T10:37:00.000-07:002006-04-03T10:43:37.136-07:00Social Network UpdateI have been continuing my work on the message board forum viewer. This is an image generated on 4/1/2006 of <a href="http://www.mustangworld.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=4">Mustangworld.com</a>.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/astros/122554831/" title="Photo Sharing"><img src="http://static.flickr.com/35/122554831_badb5cd401.jpg" width="500" height="500" alt="mw-04012006" /></a><br /><br /><a href="http://static.flickr.com/35/122554831_badb5cd401_o.jpg">original</a><br /><br />I will be posting a url for the site in a few days & it will be open for business. Currently only VBB 3.0.x is supported as a valid message board type. About 1/4 fails parsing... due to customization mostly.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10850729.post-1141973268818270512006-03-09T22:45:00.000-08:002006-03-09T22:47:48.830-08:00Social NetworkSomething I'm working on at home. A depiction of the last 100 threads at the mustangworld.com clubhouse. Click to view at flickr.com.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/astros/110373309/" title="Photo Sharing"><img src="http://static.flickr.com/37/110373309_74bdd54b76.jpg" width="500" height="500" alt="mw-100-posts" /></a>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0