Entertainment and Places
Optical Migraines in Advertising and Promotion
by sky on Dec.31, 2012, under Entertainment and Places, Photography
I was just so astounded to see these unique photos in an email promotion for the Del Sol Performing Arts Organization over the last month. I like Del Sol, and if you’re in the San Francisco area you should check them out (or get recordings), but the photos caught my eye because they (and especially the one on the right of Rick Shinozaki) look so much like what I see when I get an optical migraine that it’s totally astounding. (continue reading…)
Space Shuttle Endeavour’s Last Flyover
by sky on Sep.21, 2012, under Amateur Radio (AA6AX), Entertainment and Places, Technology and geeky stuff, We Blog the World
NASA flew the retired Space Shuttle Endeavour through the San Francisco Bay Area this morning. It was a treat for tens of thousands of us who waited and watched for this very last flight of the Endeavour. It is one of four shuttles going into retirement in the form of permanent exhibits…with Endeavour ending up in Los Angeles.

Using amateur radio repeaters — there were lots of folks watching for the aircraft all along its route — I tracked the flight’s progress from Southern California up past Stockton, where it flew around the capitol building in Sacramento twice, then down the Sacramento River to the Bay Area. The craft made a pass by the Golden Gate Bridge, one around the Bay in a big loop, and then back out straight between the bridge towers. I joined hundreds of enthusiastic fans viewing from Twin Peaks (elev. 800+ ft) in the geographical center of San Francisco. We were nearly the same elevation as the aircraft, which flew between 1,200 and 1,500 feet during the entire maneuver. (continue reading…)
Summer of Yosemite 2012
by sky on Jul.14, 2012, under Amateur Radio (AA6AX), Entertainment and Places, Media, Photography, The Quantified Self, Yosemite
It has been my plan to make several trips into the Yosemite wilderness this summer in order to visit some places I’ve never seen before. Most tourists have seen Yosemite “Valley” and many have seen Tuolumne Meadows. Access to the wilderness areas is controlled by a “permitting” process that limits the number of people who may enter on a wilderness trailhead each day. There are a couple dozen trailheads, and they have quotas of one to two dozen camper-hikers per day per trailhead. Once you’re into the wilderness area, you can pretty much go where you desire, as long as you have the energy and the food. (continue reading…)
SOTA—Summits On The Air
by sky on May.31, 2012, under Amateur Radio (AA6AX), SOTA, Technology and geeky stuff, Yosemite
Since the age of 6, when I visited Estes Park, Colorado, whenever I see any geographical feature more than say 100 meters above me, I climb it. (Provided it’s not a technical climb.) If I can get there without hanging by my fingertips, I go.
Summits On The Air [SOTA] is an organization that operates mostly in Europe and the US, which encourages amateur radio operation from mountain peaks. In many areas these are really just large hills, but here the western mountains of the US, we have many hundreds of peaks that are truly mountains and not just high spots. (continue reading…)
I hope you’ll enjoy this mix of topics stemming from my ongoing experiences in the world of online communication. Oh, and sometimes the inspiration comes from face-to-face communications too. Many were sparked by my work as Chief Technology Officer of 