IT Director for a non-profit in Washington, DC. Man About Internet.
Holuhraun volcan eruption
In the above video you'll see the massive size of the eruption of the rift and the resulting lava flow forming a river of magma. I've never seen anything like this before.
The ongoing volcanic eruption in Holuhraun has already become the largest lava eruption in Iceland since the 19th century, according to volcanologist Ármann Höskuldsson. More lava has been emitted than in the largest lava eruption of the 20th century, Krafla in 1984. Lava is made up of crystals, volcanic glass, and bubbles (volcanic gases).
In this video you'll see how low the viscosity of the lava coming from this eruption. It is clearly molten and moving below the surface but the "crust" of the flow cools enough to harden. It is as if to make it seem as a slow, relentless wall of rock is coming toward you.
Ohio State's marching band performs during the Sept. 27 Buckeyes game versus Cincinnati. Theme: The Wizard of Oz.
I'm a sucker for cool marching band shows. (I was in marching band).
Crazy wave clouds rolled over Lincoln NE on July 7, 2014.
From the video description by Alex Schueth:
Crazy wave clouds rolled over Lincoln NE on July 7, 2014.
Angela Fritz, writing for The Washington Post's Capital Weather Gang:
These clouds are as mesmerizing as they are ominous, and even more so when viewed in timelapse. Alex Schueth, who posted the video, calls them “crazy wave clouds,” but meteorologists know them better as undulatus asperatus — a newly defined cloud type. The asperatus clouds form in the same type of conditions as the well-known (and much beloved) mammatus clouds, with slightly different wind characteristics up at the cloud level. This time lapse video illustrates what meteorologists know about air and the atmosphere: it’s like a fluid, and the right kind of wind can make very interesting waves.
In 2009, the Cloud Appreciation Society (yes, you can join!) proposed that the undulatus asperatus be officially added to the list of known clouds. However, the World Meteorological Association maintains the list of recognized cloud types, and is in charge of determining what should be included in the International Cloud Atlas. While the asperatus hasn’t been added yet, we think the society makes a good case. If it is added, it will be the first new cloud type since the cirrus intotus was added in 1951.
While the the term comes from the Latin word aspero, which means “to make rough.” The Cloud Appreciation Society says that this term was used by Roman poets to describe how the sea looked during a cold, north wind. If you’re loving this video, the Cloud Appreciation Society keeps a gallery of user-submitted photos of the asperatus.
And here is the video slowed down to real time:
These clouds preceded a storm cell on July 7th, 2014
This looks like a time lapse, but it's not. It's just a straight-up gorgeous video of the aurora borealis filmed in Yellowknife, Northwest Territories, Canada.
It is real time motion! NOT time-lapse. Brighter the Aurora, faster the movement. Yellowknife, Canada. Captured between 2013.3.1. 22:25 ~23:50 I used Nikon D4, at ISO 6400. 24mm f/1.4G lens at f/2.0 or f/1.4. I also tested Canon 5D mark III same time. But Nikon D4 was absolutely winner. Canon 1Dx may have similar quality. (have similar sensor pixel size) ps) All the people are standing and watching aurora. But one guy is running around. It's me. -.-;;;
Thanks to John Gruber for linking this one.
A quick slow motion test of the new Apple iPhone 6.
This is the prettiest iOS review you'll read this week (and one of the most in-depth). Rene really outdid himself.
Craig Timberg, at The Washington Post writes:
Apple said Wednesday night that it would no longer turn over data from most iPhones or iPads to police — even when they have a search warrant -- taking a hard new line as tech companies attempt to blunt allegations that they have too readily participated in government efforts to collect user data.
The move, announced with the publication of a new privacy policy tied to the release of Apple’s latest mobile operating system, iOS 8, amounts to an engineering solution to a legal dilemma: Rather than comply with binding court orders, Apple has reworked its latest encryption in a way that makes it all but impossible for the company – or anyone else – to gain access to the vast troves of user data typically stored on smartphones or tablet computers.
It will be entertaining to see various police agencies flip their shit over this.
Chris Breen, writing on his site Hair-Breened Ideas:
As you’ve no-doubt heard, Macworld, the company I work for, suffered massive layoffs on Wednesday. Essentially, just about everyone in the masthead was let go. I remain, as do Susie Ochs and Leah Yamshon, and we’ll do our very best to do right by Macworld—we owe it to those who came before and our readers. But I admit that seeing my colleagues leave has been a bit like having everyone around you suddenly raptured while you stand gawking with a ham sandwich shoved halfway in your mouth.
It’s not my business to get into the whys and wherefores, but if you’re of an age where you care about newspapers and print magazines, you’re well aware that publishing has become a very difficult business. Advertising is increasingly hard to come by and readers are unwilling to pay in large enough numbers to keep their favorite publications alive.
It’s easy to blame management because, hey, it’s always The Man, right? But the truth is that Macworld continued as a print publication for as long as it did because the people at the very top had a soft spot for it. They tried every way they could think of to make it work. Regrettably, the realities of economics eventually took hold.
...
But I’m not here to feed Internet tittle-tattle. Rather, as someone who’s been with Macworld (and MacUser before it) for a very long time, I’d like to provide potential employers (and those who are simply interested in their favorite writers) some details about my departed colleagues.
You should go and read the entirety of his post, which gives a wonderful rundown of his former Macworld colleagues, many of whom are now out of a job. This is an amazing opportunity for companies as all of these talented people would be a tremedous "get" if you could manage to hire them. I suspect they will all have many offers to pick from.
I for one will greatly miss reading their work in Macworld, but am looking forward to reading their work elsewhere as they all now branch out across the Apple journalist community.