Genetic Algorithm Breeds cars

I let this genetic algorithm run a few nights in a row to breed the "fittest" car for this course.  The difference between two nights isn't as dramatic as from the beginning.  The cars started pretty squat and then turned out spiky, and then rearranged he spikes a little.  I think that the spikes help when the cars tumble to let them right themselves again.  It may also have to do with weight distribution.3402 generations in human...

Read More

Snow at the beginning and towards the end

at first it seemed like a few beautiful flakes were going to cover some rocks in the creek and it would be done so...

Read More

Chrysanthemum Festival has passed

Did you get to see the chrysanthemums at Longwood gardens before they were done? My god, it's full of chrysanthemums....

Read More

More than one America - American Nations by Colin Woodard

I have just finished reading American Nations by Colin Woodard.  He argues that the United States is not a single nation with one people, which no one would really agree with, but a state consisting of eleven separate American nations, each with its own distinct characteristics and motivations.  He suggests that these nations formed early in the history of the colonization of North America and that they have retained these characteristics...

Read More

Pictures of the Minotaur I launch

I was able to get pictures of the Minotaur I launch from NASA Wallops.  I had to use the iPad because I haven't figured out how to have a long exposure with my new camera.The rocket is the faint dot in the middle of the pictures just above the lights of the water treatment facility.  These pictures were taken from Rock Manor golf course just across the for the water tatement plant and reservoir.  If you stand on top of one of the berms...

Read More

NASA Wallops to launch a Minotaur I tonight!

Another shot at seeing a rocket launch from NASA Wallops tonight between 7:30pm and 9:15pm.  The details are at the Orbital Sciences webpage.I downloaded the Google Earth data and made another view standing in Rock Manor golf course looking south-south east towards the Delaware Memorial Bridge.I will try to get a picture of the night launch but I make no promis...

Read More

Serious about sola sciptura!

This woman is serious about the scriptures being the sole source of divine revelation (no including tradition, you Catholics). She also doesn't seem to be a big fan of President Obama either.Don't get me started about how scriptures put together over hundreds of years with the help of church tradition can be understood outside of that context. You may wonder if SOLAS 1 though SOLAS 4 license plates in Delaware were taken before this woman applied...

Read More

Partial Solar Eclipse from Sunday Nov 3rd

Got up in time and have actual photographic evidence of the partial solar eclipse for Wilmington, DE on Sunday morning. It was already in progress at sunrise and I was able to find a spot where I could see it. I stopped by the water treatment plant in Rock Manor golf course, crossed the road and stood up on one of the hills they have to separate the fairway from the road. The eclipse started obscured by trees and then the clouds a few minutes...

Read More

Finally saw a NASA Wallops launch from Wilmington with my own two eyes!

On Wednesday September 18th, Oribital Sciences and NASA Wallops launched the Antares/Cygnus mission to resupply the International Space Station.  I made another view from Rt141 and Rt48 west of Wilmington Delaware to show where to look but I used the Google earth data from the April launch information since there didn't seem to be a file from that launch. It proved useful.I was able to see the contrail of the rocket, because...

Read More

Another NASA-Wallops Launch tomorrow at 10:50am

I did not see the LADEE launch from NASA Wallops earlier in the month.  But a ton of people did. Tomorrow (Wednesday September 18th), Oribital Sciences and NASA Wallops will launch the Antares/Cygnus mission to resupply the International Space Station.  Viewing possibilities from the Mid-Atlantic region can be found here.  I made another view from Rt141 and Rt48 west of Wilmington Delaware to show where to look but I used the Google...

Read More

NASA launch from Wallops tonight!

There is a launch of a moon probe tonight from NASA Wallops down the Delmarva peninsular from Wilmington.  Orbital Science, the company that put together the launch vehicle,  have helpfully supplied a Google Earth file which plots the trajectory of the launch so that you can see where to look from your own location on the East Coast.  The only problem is there are very few 3D landmarks in Delaware to use as a reference.Here is the...

Read More

Test the size of your vocabulary(statistically)

Ran across this clever test that gives you a list of words and asks if you know them.  The list is special in that it is a list ordered by frequency of use in the English language.  The more you know of the lesser used words the more likely your vocabulary extends to that point and thus the program derives and estimate of the size of your vocabulary.Leaving aside the sticky discussions of what is a word, do we include the inflected forms,...

Read More

Video of the raging Shellpot creek

This was the creek in all its raging yesterday morni...

Read More

Shellpot Creek rises after yesterday's torrential downpours

Yesterday's rain rapidly filled Shellpot creek in the morning.  Here is a picture.It's back to normal now, but it is always exciting to see and hear ...

Read More

Presidents of the United States of America at the Nationals Games

The presidents run races in between innings at the Nationals games in Washington, D.C.They also throw t-shirts to the crowd.I am sure after a game there presidents' approval ratings couldn't be high...

Read More

Snapped off tree from this Monday's storm

The neighborhood across Shellpot Creek from us had a tree snap in half, break a line pole and take out electrical wires to the area on Monday night during some pretty powerful thunderstorms.  I walked up to get some pictures.View of the tree and the snapped off pole.  The tree went completely across the street.At least on telephone pole was snapped off at the top.The tree looks burnt on one side.  I wasn't able to get a story from...

Read More

Nasa logo

This nice Nasa logo ...... was on the mobile quarantine facility that the Apollo 11 astronauts had to stay in to protect everyone on Earth from moon germs.  Yes, the information said "moon germs"I need to take the logo and make a T-shirt out of it or something.(at our visit to the Steven F. Udvar-Hazy cent...

Read More

Layers and layers of aircraft at the Steven F. Udvar-Hazy center

It seems that the general approach at the Steven F. Udvar-Hazy center is that the aircraft are displayed with a minimum of artifice.  There is the layer of aircraft on the floor.  Another set hanging above them and they seem to be filling in a third layer above that.There are three hangers, the Space hanger, the plane hanger and a restoration hanger where you can watch restoration of new aircraft joining the displays.The first...

Read More

Space Shuttle Discovery at the other Air and Space Museum

Two weeks ago during a trip to Washington, D.C to see baseball we took a day and went to the other National Air and Space Museum, the Steven F. Udvar-Hazy center that is out by Dulles airport.  This museum, part of the same Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum that is on the National Mall, is packed full of aircraft and some spacecraft.The Space Shuttle Discovery is there in the space hall with other interesting satellites and space technology.The...

Read More