jeffmcbride.net

Aguereberry Point Panorama

Jeff — Thu, 11 Mar 2010 06:19:54 +0000

This was a royal pain in my ass to get working, and frankly, it’s not that interesting. I’ve been scouring the net for a way to display large panoramas recently. I was looking for a flash app, initially, but I couldn’t find anything I didn’t have to pay for. I finally decided to try out a javascript approach from here.

Getting it running in a stand-alone HTML file was not too bad. But I just killed a good chunk of my evening getting the stupid thing to display correctly in the post. Eventually it got to the point where it was actually working, except that I somehow triggered chrome’s cross-site scripting detection. I still have on idea why. But, it seems it only happens in the preview, sooooo….here you are. Aguereberry Point, in Death Valley:

Higher-res version of the shot is on flickr.

Vivek and Pallavi

Jeff — Fri, 12 Feb 2010 09:55:50 +0000

In January, I went to India for two weeks with a couple of friends. Vivek is from Lucknow, and was visiting his family; Htay and I came along. The first place we went when we arrived in India was to Bangalore where we met Vivek’s girlfriend, Pallavi (who, incidentally, became Vivek’s fiance shortly after we got there). We had a few fun days in Bangalore, hanging out with Pallavi and some of her friends, and then we had to leave to Lucknow. This gallery is dedicated to Vivek, Pallavi, and Pallavi’s electronic incarnation which traveled with us everywhere, always attached to Vivek’s ear.

The Flash Player and a browser with Javascript support are needed..

Full screen version is here, or right-click to open a particular image in the show..

Yosemite in Winter

Jeff — Fri, 25 Dec 2009 06:04:29 +0000

This weekend Mary and I packed up the car before dawn and headed north for Sonora, CA. We got lunch in Sonora, then saw “Christmas, My Way” — a Frank Sinatra Christmas tribute show — at the Fallon House Theatre in Columbia State Park. Afterwards, we headed off to Yosemite valley to spend the night camping in the snow. I’ve been to Yosemite twice now. The first time, we camped in Toulumne Meadows, and that area was awesome. But, when we went into the Valley it pretty much sucked. The roads were a traffic jam, and there were people EVERYWHERE. This weekend was so much calmer, and the snow was nice. When we first left camp around sunrise, the valley was nearly deserted. People started emerging from the lodges a bit later, but it was still a pretty quiet place.

Inscriptions on the wall at the Hong Kong Garden Restaurant in Sonora, CA. We figured these to be cattle brands for local ranchers(either past or present). We're not really sure though. FYI, if you are in Sonora and thinking of eating at this restaurant, I definitely do not recommend it, despite the interesting decor.

Just some blocked off stairs on the end of a bridge that caught my eye

: Giant Sequoia in Toulmne Grove

Yosemite Creek

More is in this set on Flickr (or view slideshow).

Jeff — Sun, 31 May 2009 08:26:23 +0000

Hello wandering reader. You are, no doubt, here because you are looking for something desperately enough to make it all the way to page 10 of your search results, where you found me. I know it is you, because I’m quite sure that my three regular readers from long ago have long since stopped checking for any new posts. However, I am not dead. Just quiet. I don’t actually have anything to say, but I have been taking a lot of photos recently (Mostly using my wonderful girlfriend’s Nikon D50), so I thought I’d share a few here.

I saw this lucky bamboo at Ikea today for $3. I thought it looked cool, and they had the perfect vase for it for only $0.79. I got to wondering how you make bamboo curl like that, so I went and looked it up. So, someone, somewhere, has been patiently and slowly rotating my bamboo around for at least a year, until it was shipped to Burbank so I could buy it for $3. I’m often amazed at just how cheap some things are. Then again, perhaps they fed it some kind of bamboo super-grow fertilizer and it grows a couple of inches in a month instead of a couple per year.

Paraglider at Torrey Pines Glider Port

The pier at Paradise Cove in Malibu. Went for breakfast here last week. Was a pretty nice place, ate breakfast at a table on the sand, then walked on the beach for a bit.

More on my Flickr page. Just click any of the photos.

Running up the Dune

Jeff — Sun, 10 May 2009 08:48:46 +0000

Photoshop is pretty cool. Gimp is nice…but photoshop…its just better.

This is a combination of shots taken while walking out into some sand dunes at Death Valley a couple months ago.

What is so exciting about a freakin wal-mart?

Jeff — Fri, 28 Nov 2008 22:13:27 +0000

People, are, really, really, stupid.

Redefining Elite

Jeff — Mon, 22 Sep 2008 01:14:03 +0000

Sam Harris has a Newsweek article up about Sarah Palin, and America’s apparent penchant for mediocrity in politicians. When McCain was nominated, I had decided that this was an election I could live with either way. There are some things to like about McCain. His choice of Palin changed that real fast. John McCain is 72 years old, can’t dress himself without help, and Sarah Palin as POTUS is a very scary prospect. Please, please, please, please America, do not elect her vice president. Any policy differences between McCain and Obama are completely mute points next to the possibility of Sarah Palin as president.

What is so unnerving about the candidacy of Sarah Palin is the degree to which she represents—and her supporters celebrate—the joyful marriage of confidence and ignorance. Watching her deny to Gibson that she had ever harbored the slightest doubt about her readiness to take command of the world’s only superpower, one got the feeling that Palin would gladly assume any responsibility on earth:

“Governor Palin, are you ready at this moment to perform surgery on this child’s brain?”

“Of course, Charlie. I have several boys of my own, and I’m an avid hunter.”

“But governor, this is neurosurgery, and you have no training as a surgeon of any kind.”

“That’s just the point, Charlie. The American people want change in how we make medical decisions in this country. And when faced with a challenge, you cannot blink.”

Obama vs. McCain not very close, internationally

Jeff — Sat, 13 Sep 2008 20:23:17 +0000

If the US presidential election was being held worldwide, it looks like Obama would be on course for an easy victory. At least according to a Pew Research Survey, in June. Perhaps republicans have good reason to resist immigration. Courtesty of Alex at The Daily Transcript, who discussed it as part of his “Let’s talk about facts this election” series.

Wait out for space junk!

Jeff — Tue, 09 Sep 2008 18:37:27 +0000

USA Today: Space junk could hinder Hubble repair mission

One of every 300 shuttle missions to the space station could expect to be destroyed by space debris, Shannon said. By contrast, Atlantis faces a 1-in-185 risk of fatal damage, he said.

Wow. That’s scary odds, if you ask me.

Electric Clippers

Jeff — Mon, 25 Aug 2008 04:52:04 +0000

I’d just like to point out that if you search for “electric clipper” on google images, there is a picture of me with a hole in my hair on the first page. Woohoo! But, if you add an ’s’, I am lost in obscurity.