A Leslie Wong Blog

An Astronomer’s Paradise from Babak Tafreshi on Vimeo.

This video made me think about interstellar space travel. Voyager 1 is currently the fastest moving man-made object, traveling at approximately 38,100 mph (61,300 kph). At that rate, it will take 17,614 years to travel one light year. At warp 9.9, (ref. The 37′s), it would take 24 minutes and 29.66 seconds.

via Phil Plait / Bad Astronomy

Yosemite HD from Project Yosemite on Vimeo.

“This video is a collaboration between Sheldon Neill and Colin Delehanty. All timelapses were shot on the Canon 5D Mark II with a variety Canon L and Zeiss CP.2 Lenses.”

(Watch this in HD and full screen!)

via Phil Plait

SparkFun Electronics sells a missile switch cover:

“…The hot red safety cover protects a toggle switch from accidentally being turned on. When flipped up, the user has full access to a switch underneath. Upon closing the cover, the cover will force the switch arm back into the lower position – a safety mechanism so you can quickly hit the cover down and deactivate the switch.” (It’s also available in Carbon Fiber)

Lakeshore Avenue, Oakland, CA.

Dungeness crabs, $3.69/lb, Lucky Seafood Market #2, Oakland, CA.

Update: On 4 December 2011, the price is $3.29/lb
Update: On 5 December 2011, the price is $2.99/lb
Update: On 7 December 2011, the price is $1.99/lb
Update: On 8 December 2011, the price is $2.99/lb

See it on the Shark Lagoon Cam at the California Academy of Sciences.

Rendering Synthetic Objects into Legacy Photographs from Kevin Karsch on Vimeo.

“Abstract: We propose a method to realistically insert synthetic objects into existing photographs without requiring access to the scene or any additional scene measurements.” Authors: Kevin Karsch, Varsha Hedau, David Forsyth, Derek Hoiem