Friday, September 26, 2014

Barn: three walls up, one to go...

Barn: three walls up, one to go...  The builders are zipping right along...

Flagpole: concrete poured!

Flagpole: concrete poured!  Now in two or three days, I'll see if I can get the form off :)

Barn: another wall, rising...

Barn: another wall, rising...  By the end of today, all four walls on the second floor should be erected...


Cichorium intybus...

Cichorium intybus...  Via BPOD, of course...

Rosetta moves in closer...

Rosetta moves in closer...  Click on the thumbnail to embiggen...

Mystery of butterfly-shaped radar image solved!

Mystery of butterfly-shaped radar image solved!  It was caused by ... butterflies!

Clever extension of “magic number” division...

Clever extension of “magic number” division...  I've known about the use of multiplication by a “magic number” as a substitute for division by an integer constant, to improve performance.  I've always thought of the technique as being limited in range, for reasons that are obvious if you understand how it works.  Here's a simple technique to remove those limitations...

The earth's water is older than the sun...

The earth's water is older than the sun...  That's a rather amazing fact, but follows directly from Sagan's famous statement about us being made from “star stuff”...

Marbling paper...

Marbling paper...  You've seen the fancy marbled end-papers and inside covers in fancy books, I'm sure.  This is how they are made.  I had no idea...

Oh, noz!

Oh, noz!  These thoughts completely erased all my joy at Eric Holder's resignation...