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Going back to volcanoes again, here’s a DJI Phantom drone, piloted by director of aerial imaging Eric Cheng (whom I had previously met a long time ago in Palau), visiting the currently erupting Bárðarbunga Volcano in Iceland:
Meanwhile, in Japan, a surprise eruption on the volcano Ontake has stranded and killed hikers on its slopes. One of the survivors captured video of the ash clouds from the eruption as they fled. Here’s a stabilized version:
I still run a webcam to keep an eye on the house while we’re out, and this week I found Martha making a special appearance in the archive.
Both cats do like hanging around on tops of shelves lately.
When they’re not looking out the window for birds.
Or joining us at the dining table.
Some scenes from the Luce Foundation Center, one of my favorite parts of the Reynolds Center: multiple levels of display cases crammed full of art from the permanent collection, as well as the Lunder Conservation Center. Shot with Google Glass.
Sometimes I like to open up Google News and do a phrase search for Confessions of, which can turn up some interesting reading. Sometimes.
Confessions of a Google Glass Explorer. I was told that I was one of the first few hundred Explorers in the city, which made me feel like some third-rate Shackleton embarked on my own Nimrod Expedition into the neon ice.
Confessions of a Drone Pilot. Chillingly, to mitigate these effects, researchers have proposed creating a Siri-like user interface, a virtual copilot that anthropomorphizes the drone and lets crews shunt off the blame for whatever happens. Siri, have those people killed.
Confessions of a TSA Screener. Every now and then, a passenger would throw up two middle fingers during his or her scan, as though somehow aware of the transgressions going on.
Confessions of Cruise Ship Crew Members. Are crew members allowed to fraternize with the passengers? On the mass-market and other large ships, the answer is a simple “no.”
Confessions of a Divemaster. If dive guides or any staff members misbehaved too much, they’d be “NBO-ed” — i.e., fired and sent away on the Next Boat Off the island.
Confessions of a Fed Up Flight Attendant. Maxi Pads.
Confessions of a Vine Dad. Maybe I should stop. And yet … strangers liked me on the Internet—every insecure writer’s dream.
Still on the topic of volcanoes, here’s a “A Day in Pompeii,” a vivid 3D animation of the destructive eruption of Mt Vesuvius in 79 AD, by Zero One for Melbourne Museum in 2009.
Here’s a video of active volcano Tavurvur erupting in Papua New Guinea in August, recorded by an Australian taxi driver named Phil McNamara.
It’s an impressive explosion, with a visible condensation shock and a loud, delayed sonic boom. Tavurvur has killed people before, but current conditions during this eruption have spared surrounding populations from ash and debris.
BIG Maze (designed by Bjarke Ingels Group) is just that: a giant maze of high wood walls, but with a twist: as you go deeper in, the walls gradually descend towards the core, revealing more and more of the structure as you approach the center.
We visited last weekend and I got a POV traverse video with Glass.
We hadn’t been to the National Building Museum for a while; it was nice to see it again.
While in the maze we also ran into old friends and neighbors Jodi and Roberto.
Sadly the last day of the BIG Maze was on September 1st and it is now being dismantled. No word yet on if it will go elsewhere; would be nice if NBM acquired the piece as part of their permanent collection.
With the Corcoran Gallery transitioning to NGA and GWU owernship, admission is now free till the museum closes indefinitely in October, so we dropped by last weekend. This would probably be our final visit to the Corcoran as a private institution.
Farewell, Corcoran Gallery. More photos here.
We went to Kings Dominion for a Saturday day trip. No roller coaster Glass videos this time as I forgot my head strap, but here’s the view from the Ferris wheel:
They call it Sin City, but we weren’t in Las Vegas for gambling or sex: my primary mission was to get the nerdiest possible photo I could with William Shatner at the Star Trek Convention.
Mission accomplished.