It is interesting how people, via the global social media, have responded to the poaching of Cecil the lion from Hwange National Park in Zimbabwe. According to the BBC and several other reputable sources, Walter J Palmer, a dentist from from Minnesota in the USA, was the perpetrator of the […]
Monthly archives: July 2015
May you find peace and happiness in the real world through reason and science. May your life be free from belief without evidence,and may you discover that reality is more inspiring than all gods ever invented by humans.
Thought for the day July 26, 2015
I don’t usually talk about my the work I do. Partly because we are startup and partly because, well, I don’t generally talk about the work I do anyway. I never really have done so. But today I want to. However, for the past three years I have been working […]
Three years with thumbzup – innovation up close and personal
The earth’s moon, Jupiter, Venus, and Regulus all lined up this evening. Regulus is just a faint point, even though it is the brightest star in the constellation Leo tonight. Regulus is a multiple star system with four stars in two pairs, and is 79 light years from earth, which […]
A moon, two planets and a star
Marievale Bird Sanctuary is a protected area on the Blesbokspruit, located near the East Rand town of Nigel in Gauteng, South Africa. The Blesbokspruit is a major perennial river, which is flanked by extensive floodplains on either side that are just fantastic for water birds with around 300 bird species that can be […]
Photos: Marievale Bird Sanctuary
Have you ever thought about how chemicals mediate a lot of the interactions that happen in ecosystems? The photo below is of a green seaweed, Chlorodesmis fastigiata also known as Turtle Weed, which occurs in coral reef areas throughout the tropical Indian and Pacific oceans. It is made up of […]
The crab and the seaweed: how chemicals mediate interactions in ...
This is something close to my heart, because if I live long enough and have enough money, I will design and create a 21st Century University that was protected from the political wims of public policy, insulated from the lethargic inertia of ancient practices, cut off from the linear approach, structured […]
Designing a university for the new millennium: David Helfand
Background I belong to a number of photography sites and facebook groups, and a common question asked relates to Adobe software tools that are useful to photographers. A frequent lament goes “I would love to have Photoshop and LightRoom, but they are so expensive.” Even if you don’t find them […]
Free Software alternatives to Photoshop and Lightroom: GIMP and digiKam
And now for something comepletely different: Lithophyllum cuneatum KEATS, a new species that I discovered in 1994, which is the white stuff on the pinkish stuff in the photo below. The both belong to the coralline red algae. Coralline red algae are common intertidal and subtidal inhabitants from polar to […]
For something different: Lithophyllum cuneatum KEATS
Last night when we went out to photograph Jupiter and Venus, Melissa and I also took a photo of the Southern Cross. We noticed a small cluster of stars just off to the left and slightly below Beta Crucis. Not being that familiar with the night sky, we looked into […]