Buzz Buzzed

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I knew something was up when the hits on WWTQ/Buzz suddenly took a huge jump — also generating a ton of secondary hits to this site. The hits were pouring in from Stavros The Wonder Chicken’s Bullshitr, which, it turns out, had been thoroughly Dugg, del.icio.us’ed, Hot Linked, Fireballed, Reddited, TechCrunched, and generally linked to from all over.

What with all the attention, I figured Buzz needed a slight update, so I added a few phrases to the buzz list, changed the font to Lucida Grande / Trebuchet MS (Note: 1.1em Trebuchet MS is the new 11px Verdana), and published the PHP code I use to do the typographic remixing so other people can do their own versions of Buzz. Hope you like it. It’s the wave of tomorrow. 2.0!

Nose + Paw

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Here are a couple of macro shots of Pandora on the couch, for your “aaawwww”-ing pleasure. Poor cat hasn’t been feeling well this past week — she’s been a bit weak, sleepier and more sedentary than usual, and has had a bit of a cough and a touch of feline conjunctivitis. She’s getting better now, though, and her appetite is strong as ever.

PoaS on ReadExpress

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Thanks to Michael Grass at ReadExpress for highlighting Planes on a Snake yesterday. The joy of getting noticed was only partially dampened by the fact that my mention came out under a photo of Jessica Cutler, a.k.a. Washingtonienne. Ah, well, at least I can now say I had the Washingtonienne on top of me for a day.

COD liked PoaS too, but so far that’s all the inbound linkage I’ve noticed. Come on, Internet. You can do better.

Mayon Eruption Update: Imagery Roundup

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Those of you who got here searching for “mayon volcano webcam,” sorry to disappoint, but there aren’t any live cameras pointed at Mayon 24/7 — not that I know of, anyway. At best you’ll have to settle for watching the “Mayon” tag on Flickr, and PHIVOLCS’ Mayon photos page.

(Photo uploaded by cathy_)

Latest update from PHIVOLCS reports six explosions in the last 24 hours, with lava still flowing down the mountain into the danger zone. There was a significant eruption event last Saturday, and the ABC 5 S.O.S. crew has some great photos of the violent pyroclastic flows which swept down Mayon’s slopes that day. Photographer Ninfa Z. Bito has shots of a trip into the danger zone to see the advancing lava wall.

Planet Classification Overhaul

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Update: I have launched a site for just this issue: Demote Pluto!

I’m kind of happy about the IAU’s recommendation for a reclassification of Solar System planets: simply put, “planet” would be defined as a round body orbiting the sun, but the Pluto-Charon system receives “minor planet” status, along with other relatively large, spherical objects in the outer solar system, henceforth to be called “plutons.” As I said just about a year ago, it’s enough to settle for eight major planets, and give Pluto chief position among a new class of smaller faraway bodies of similar size, composition, and orbital eccentricity, thus preserving Pluto’s stature as first of these objects discovered, as compensation for its demotion.

I would argue that “plutons” don’t even need the distinguishment of being regarded as “planets,” officially; it’s enough to lump them in with comets and asteroids and planetoids as part of the leftover debris from the formation of the solar system. That way, we can avoid arguments about whether to number Ceres and Sedna and UB313 among the planets, and just settle for a solar system of “eight planets and a bunch of smaller things.”

More from Space.com, National Geographic, Metafilter, Bad Astronomy, WaPo, NPR, Mule Design, and Defective Yeti.

Crafts Room Cross

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Late Sunday afternoon: service is long over, church is mostly empty, and the sun in the west shines into the Sunday School crafts room — and sometime prayer room, I guess, judging from the cross and candles. By the way, this was a color shot.

Sunday: Sick Cat, Island Hike, Green Curry

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Sunday morning before service was supposed to be spent at church eating a Deacons’ Pancake Breakfast to benefit the retirees at Thomas House. Instead, I stayed home, laundering a bathroom rug and bed sheets after Pandora pooped on one and threw up on the other. Don’t worry, she’s feeling much better now, and the poop problem is an old one, and she misses the litter box more than half the time.

After service, some of the young adults joined up for a hike around Theodore “Teddy” Roosevelt Island. Teddy Island is always a pleasure to visit — though parking by the footbridge on a summer Sunday afternoon is a nightmare — and we even did a couple of trails I hadn’t been aware of before.

I also lunched on of the best bowls of Thai green curry I’ve ever had, at Bua Restaurant, and I liked it so much I went to Whole Foods immediately after the hike to get myself some green curry mix and free range chicken. Tonight’s the night I make my first Thai-style curry. Wish me luck.

For your pleasure, some photos from Teddy Island:

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Wet Parakeet

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Here’s how Pickles the Parakeet looked when I came in this morning on neighborly petsitting duty; as with most birds, he dunks his head in the water bowl to clean:

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And here he is on my shoulder a few nights ago, about to peck at my smirking mug:

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