We will be able to view a super moon, blue
moon, and a total lunar eclipse (blood moon) all on the same
night.
The blue moon is the second full moon in a month and the first
full moon showed up on January 1. The full moon (blue moon)
will occur at 8:37 a.m. ET Jan. 31. It is the first blue moon
total lunar eclipse in the US since March 1866.
The lunar eclipse on January 31 will last about 3½ hours from
the beginning of the partial phase at 3:48 a.m. PT until it
ends at 7:12 a.m. PT, from western North America across the
Pacific to eastern Asia. In the United States, the best view
of the eclipse will be along the West Coast. For skywatchers
in the central and eastern US, only a partial eclipse will be
visible.
The full moon will take on a dark, reddish appearance during
the eclipse and is described as a blood moon. This full moon
was also known as the "snow moon" by some Native American
tribes.
A super moon occurs when the full moon is at the closest point
of its orbit to the Earth.
Jan 26, 2018
Bigger MicroSD
Many are familiar with those little cards in smartphones,
and used by many laptop computers. They are called microSD
cards. Micro due to physical size and SD means Secure Digital.
Interesting to think that anything called micro could be considered large. However, there is now a microSD card capable of holding over half a terabyte of data. Integral Memory’s new 512 gigabyte card. It should hold about 24 or more hours of 4K video, depending on compression rate.
To give a perspective, 64GB is often the standard for high-end casual users and is capable of holding hundreds to thousands of high-quality photos. However, HD movies take up much more space.
Incidentally, just a few years ago, 32GB card was thought to be all you would ever need for storage. Before that, computers were sufficient at 32k. My how quickly times change.
Interesting to think that anything called micro could be considered large. However, there is now a microSD card capable of holding over half a terabyte of data. Integral Memory’s new 512 gigabyte card. It should hold about 24 or more hours of 4K video, depending on compression rate.
To give a perspective, 64GB is often the standard for high-end casual users and is capable of holding hundreds to thousands of high-quality photos. However, HD movies take up much more space.
Incidentally, just a few years ago, 32GB card was thought to be all you would ever need for storage. Before that, computers were sufficient at 32k. My how quickly times change.
Sizes Explained
Using the metric system 1,000 bytes would be a k, or
kilobyte, but in the computer industry a k is equal to 1024
bytes. That means each of the below metric designations are
approximate for computer terminology. Some medical computers
currently have storage measured in petabytes. Even as devices
have shrunk in size, demand for storage has increased in
inverse proportion.
kilo = thousand
mega = million
giga = billion (There are 1,024 GB in 1 TB.)
tera = trillion (There are 1,498 CD discs in 1 TB)
peta = quadrillion (A human brain can store about 2.5 PB of data)
exa = quintillion (Almost 11 million 4K movies can fit in 1 EB)
zetta = sextillion (1,180,591,620,717,411,303,424)
yotta = septillion
kilo = thousand
mega = million
giga = billion (There are 1,024 GB in 1 TB.)
tera = trillion (There are 1,498 CD discs in 1 TB)
peta = quadrillion (A human brain can store about 2.5 PB of data)
exa = quintillion (Almost 11 million 4K movies can fit in 1 EB)
zetta = sextillion (1,180,591,620,717,411,303,424)
yotta = septillion
Jan 19, 2018
Happy Friday
Tomorrow, as with
climate cannot be accurately predicted.
Do not worry about tomorrow, be happy today and celebrate a Happy Friday!
Do not worry about tomorrow, be happy today and celebrate a Happy Friday!
January 23 - National Rhubarb Pie Day
I love rhubarb, whether in
pie, stewed, poached, or baked. It is a seasonal thing, so grab
some when you can.
New Layoff Terms
Here are a few politically correct terms from IBM,
'productively redeployed' and RA or 'Redundancy Action'. IBM is
doing this to 30% (30,900 people) of one of its groups during
2018. Up to 9,000 may be 'redeployed' or 'reskilled' and another
10,100 not refilled. IBM wants 20 per cent of GTS 'on-shore' at
a country level, 20 per cent in 'near-shore' locations and 60
per cent 'off-shore'. Seems it is living up to its old
moniker "I've Been Moved."
Hurricanes
Hurricanes are not caused by global warming according to the
insurance industry, which insists they are "Acts of God."
Shade Antenna
RCA is showcasing an antenna built into a roller shade. Now not
only can your roller shade keep the sun out, but it can also
pick up free over-the-air TV.
This new antenna is not yet available for sale, but RCA won a CES 2018 Innovation Award for new products. We should see these antennas hitting stores sometime later this year.
Roller shade antennas from RCA are one more step in a rush to sell antennas that will seamlessly blend into your home surroundings. No longer is the TV antenna something that stands out, it is now something that can vanish into the backdrop of your decor.
This new antenna is not yet available for sale, but RCA won a CES 2018 Innovation Award for new products. We should see these antennas hitting stores sometime later this year.
Roller shade antennas from RCA are one more step in a rush to sell antennas that will seamlessly blend into your home surroundings. No longer is the TV antenna something that stands out, it is now something that can vanish into the backdrop of your decor.
Autonomous Cars
This is also known as a driverless car, self-driving car,
robotic car, and unmanned ground vehicle. There are six levels
from zero, which is where we currently are, to five, which is
self driving.
Level 0: This level is where we mostly are. The human driver controls everything: steering, brakes, throttle, power.
Level 1: This level means that most functions are still controlled by the driver, but a specific function, like steering or accelerating can be done automatically by the car.
Level 2: At least one driver assistance system of "both steering and acceleration/deceleration using information about the driving environment" is automated, like cruise control and lane-centering. It means that the "driver is disengaged from physically operating the vehicle by having his or her hands off the steering wheel and foot off pedal at the same time." The driver must still always be ready to take control of the vehicle.
Level 3: Drivers are able to completely shift safety-critical functions to the vehicle, under certain traffic or environmental conditions. It means the driver is still present and will intervene if necessary, but is not required to monitor the situation in the same way it does for the previous levels.
Level 4: Level 4 vehicles are "designed to perform all safety-critical driving functions and monitor roadway conditions for an entire trip." However, it is important to note that this is limited to the "operational design domain" of the vehicle, meaning it does not cover every driving scenario.
Level 5: This level refers to a fully-autonomous system that expects the vehicle's performance to equal that of a human driver, in every driving scenario, including extreme environments. It can operate without a driver or passengers.
It is important to distinguish between "autonomous" and "driverless." Driverless is a more advanced stage of autonomous.
Other considerations - car insurance business will be affected, since the number of accidents is predicted to go down 80% by 2040. The different levels are important, because they change the risk profile of the car. Other costs are more likely to go up as new technology is added to the cars.
Interesting to know the things auto manufacturers are dealing with, such as avoidance of large animals requires recognition and tracking. Volvo found that software suited to caribou, deer, and elk was ineffective with kangaroos.
Level 0: This level is where we mostly are. The human driver controls everything: steering, brakes, throttle, power.
Level 1: This level means that most functions are still controlled by the driver, but a specific function, like steering or accelerating can be done automatically by the car.
Level 2: At least one driver assistance system of "both steering and acceleration/deceleration using information about the driving environment" is automated, like cruise control and lane-centering. It means that the "driver is disengaged from physically operating the vehicle by having his or her hands off the steering wheel and foot off pedal at the same time." The driver must still always be ready to take control of the vehicle.
Level 3: Drivers are able to completely shift safety-critical functions to the vehicle, under certain traffic or environmental conditions. It means the driver is still present and will intervene if necessary, but is not required to monitor the situation in the same way it does for the previous levels.
Level 4: Level 4 vehicles are "designed to perform all safety-critical driving functions and monitor roadway conditions for an entire trip." However, it is important to note that this is limited to the "operational design domain" of the vehicle, meaning it does not cover every driving scenario.
Level 5: This level refers to a fully-autonomous system that expects the vehicle's performance to equal that of a human driver, in every driving scenario, including extreme environments. It can operate without a driver or passengers.
It is important to distinguish between "autonomous" and "driverless." Driverless is a more advanced stage of autonomous.
Other considerations - car insurance business will be affected, since the number of accidents is predicted to go down 80% by 2040. The different levels are important, because they change the risk profile of the car. Other costs are more likely to go up as new technology is added to the cars.
Interesting to know the things auto manufacturers are dealing with, such as avoidance of large animals requires recognition and tracking. Volvo found that software suited to caribou, deer, and elk was ineffective with kangaroos.
Clothes Scraps
I am sure you have noticed the little scrap of material, usually
with a button or two sewn on it that is comes with new many
clothes. The reason for that material is to wash it before you
wash that shirt or sweater, or whatever, to test how the
material holds up so that you do not ruin the whole outfit. The
buttons are replacement, in case you lose one.
What's in a Name
In the UK many names seem unfamiliar to us, but have logical
beginnings. For instance, the East Midlands were ruled by the
Danes during the ninth century. This resulted in the creation of
place names ending in "by" (a suffix thought to originate from
the Danish word for "town"), such as Thoresby and Derby. Others
end in "thorpe" (meaning "settlement"), such as Ullesthorpe.
Water vs. Soda
Bottled water took over carbonated soft drinks as
Americans' favorite drink during 2016 for the first time ever,
according to Beverage Marketing, a research and consulting
company. US consumers bought 12.8 billion gallons of bottled
water versus 12.4 billion gallons of carbonated soft drinks.
This once again shows the power of advertising.
Marketers have convinced people to purchase something that is natural, almost universally available, and mostly free vs. something that is artificially created in a lab. In some places water has a higher price than soft drinks. I have this pet rock. . .
Marketers have convinced people to purchase something that is natural, almost universally available, and mostly free vs. something that is artificially created in a lab. In some places water has a higher price than soft drinks. I have this pet rock. . .
Jan 12, 2018
Happy Friday
Impossible is just a
word. What matters is if you pronounce it with a short I or a
long I.
It is not impossible that Impossibly happiest on a Happy Friday!
It is not impossible that Impossibly happiest on a Happy Friday!
Agatha Christie
On January 12, 1976,
Agatha Christie died at age 85 at her home in Wallingford,
Oxfordshire, England. At her death, she was one of the most
popular writers of all time, the author of more than 100
novels, including a legendary collection of murder mysteries
that featured the fictional detectives Miss Jane Marple and
Hercule Poirot. Her books have been translated into more
languages than any other author in literary history,
including Shakespeare.
Christie also wrote nineteen stage plays, including The Mousetrap, a 1952 play that premiered at London's West End Theatre and is still currently being performed elsewhere. It is the longest continuously-running stage play in history, with more than 27,000 performances during 65 years. The play has such a surprising ending that, after the final curtain goes down, patrons are asked not to reveal it.
Christie also wrote nineteen stage plays, including The Mousetrap, a 1952 play that premiered at London's West End Theatre and is still currently being performed elsewhere. It is the longest continuously-running stage play in history, with more than 27,000 performances during 65 years. The play has such a surprising ending that, after the final curtain goes down, patrons are asked not to reveal it.
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