Category: Tumblr

Google Street View’s face-blurring algorithm is a little more zealous than it needs to be…

Google Street View’s face-blurring algorithm is a little more zealous than it needs to be.

(Incidentally, this restaurant closed last year, and a new restaurant has taken over the location. Apparently the chain is still around, but until I saw this one, I was under the impression it was long gone.)

Last year’s solar eclipse seen from Los Angeles.

Last year’s solar eclipse seen from Los Angeles. I was waaaay out of the viewing area for yesterday’s eclipse seen across Australia and the Pacific Ocean, but I got to see a really good partial eclipse last year. More photos and commentary about the experience on my blog.

St. Patrick’s Day Moon & Jupiter

St. Patrick’s Day Moon & Jupiter on Flickr.

Yesterday I looked at the moon and Jupiter and thought, there’s going to be another conjunction tomorrow, isn’t there? Then I forgot, but fortunately I had to make a grocery run.

I took this photo just minutes ago. If you’re in the western half of North America, and the sky is clear, you can walk outside RIGHT NOW and see this.

Parsing the Veronica Mars Kickstarter Issues

The Bird and The Bat: Parsing the Veronica Mars Kickstarter Issues

thebirdandthebat:

Most Kickstarters are, for lack of a better term, exclusive events. If you don’t participate in the 30 days they’re up, you’re out of luck. There are some exceptions to this of course, many comic book Kickstarters now offer retailer incentives so people can actually purchase books in a shop if they’ve missed the end date. But the Veronica Mars film will not be exclusive to backers and that seemingly makes it less special to those who did back it. But that doesn’t seem to be an issue for fans, they just want to see the movie.

Um….what? People have it in their heads that crowd-funded business ventures are supposed to only produce things for their investors and nobody else?

I think they’re missing the point of a platform called Kickstarter.

Edit: I should add that none of the Kickstarter projects I’ve backed have given me the impression that the product was going to be given exclusively to the backers. So whether “most” is true or not in general, it hasn’t been in my (admittedly limited) experience.

Manhattan Beach at Night

Manhattan Beach at Night on Flickr.

My first attempt to spot Comet Pan-Starrs on Monday evening didn’t work out, but I got to look back at the coast from the end of the pier, which was nice. You can see the Palos Verdes hills/peninsula in the background to the right.

Read about my comet-watching experience.