Posted by Tom Moertel
Tue, 14 Aug 2007 05:05:00 GMT
I wrote in an earlier post that one of my photos of British soldier lichen was going to be published in an upcoming issue of a popular Pennsylvania magazine. Now that the issue is out, I can reveal that the periodical is none other than Milford Magazine. My photo appears in the August 2007 issue, on top of the second page of the lichen feature, “The Secret Lives of Lichen” (PDF).
Do check it out. This may be your only opportunity to read an article that celebrates lichen in interview form.
I kid you not.
Posted in photography
Tags lichen, milfordmagazine, photography
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Posted by Tom Moertel
Thu, 31 May 2007 04:01:00 GMT
Earlier today I received an email from the editor of a
Pennsylvania-based magazine. (I won’t mention the name of the magazine
in case what I’m about to write next amounts to a spoiler.) He asked
if I would allow the magazine to publish one of my photographs of
British soldier
lichen
in an upcoming issue.
Of course, I said yes. (I’m always looking for ways to spread the word
about British soldier lichen.)
My fee? I asked for a free issue of the magazine when it goes to
press. They said it will be in my mailbox.
Cool.
Posted in photography
Tags fun, lichen, me, photography
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Posted by Tom Moertel
Fri, 07 Jul 2006 20:39:00 GMT
Last week I was vacationing with the in-laws in upper Michigan.
They live on Lake Huron in a wooded area. One of their neighbors
pointed out an unusual growth on a nearby wooden fence:
“matchstick moss,” he called it.
Intrigued, I grabbed my camera and tripod
and took some pictures.
Man, are these things weird. And tiny. For scale, that’s a woman’s
wedding band in the pictures below.
Some recent
Googling revealed
that matchstick moss not moss at all but rather
lichen, in particular “British
soldier lichen”, Cladonia cristatella.
Here’s some more information on the fascinating little guys:
Now that’s interesting stuff!
Posted in photography, interesting stuff
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Posted by Tom Moertel
Sun, 18 Jun 2006 20:44:00 GMT
Around my garden, there is no greater hero than the larva of the lady beetle. They patrol my garden and eat the nasty aphids that otherwise would suck the life from my plants, especially my precious tomatoes.
Today, I got some good shots of one crawling around on a Spirea japonica ‘Little Princess.’ For perspective, the larva is the size of a large grain of rice.
Lady-beetle larva
Ain’t she cute?
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Posted by Tom Moertel
Tue, 24 Jan 2006 03:39:00 GMT
When I let the dog out this evening, it didn’t take long for her to start barking. Figuring she had cornered the neighbor’s cat, I went outside and called her. Naturally, she ignored my order to come back into the house.
Angrily, I marched up to her, underneath the crabapple tree, and took her by the collar. I made sure to bend low and look her in the eyes, just to let her know that I was not happy about having to walk in the wet grass to fetch her. When I stood up to lead her back to the house, my head reached into the lower branches of the crabapple tree.
And then I saw it, inches from my face, looking right back at me.
Read more...
Posted in photography, interesting stuff
Tags animals, opossums
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Posted by Tom Moertel
Sat, 12 Nov 2005 02:42:00 GMT
The main network switch in my home office is an HP ProCurve
4000m, which
has been running non-stop for over half a decade. It is a great
switch, and even though it is getting old, it is still dependable.
A while ago I noticed that the 4000m’s fault indicator was
lit. So I logged into the switch and checked the log: fan
1 was dead. The switch has built-in redundancy (three fans),
and so I didn’t worry about it, but I did call HP ProCurve
tech support.
The woman I spoke with was friendly and helpful. I told her what was
wrong, and she said a new fan array would
be on my doorstep within 48 hours. No charge. (I guess the
ProCurve warranty really is worth something.)
Today, I installed the array. This meant opening up the switch,
which is a fun thing to do. If you are curious about what is inside
of a 4000m, I took photos of the operation.
During the process, I recalled why I love old-style HP engineering:
- The replacement parts came with clear instructions
that showed me how to remove the old array and install the new one.
They were easy to follow and didn’t leave anything to guess.
- The 4000m is solid – inside and out.
- The electrical components are top quality.
- The industrial engineering is superb. For example, all of the user-removable
screws have non-stripping torx heads and are designed not to fall
out and get lost; instead they remain attached to the module or
panel you are removing. (See this photo of removed modules
to see how the screws stay in place.)
Everything about the process made me think, wow, this is really well engineered.
The thing is, I know, as I sit here and watch the blinking LEDs on my
now-restored 4000m, that my next network switch will probably be a
Dell.
As much as I love the ProCurve engineering, the Dell price is
compelling. Even if I expect the Dells to fail twice as often (and
the Dell warranties are comparatively lame), I can buy twice as
many Dells and keep spares on the shelf – and still save money
compared to the equivalent ProCurve equipment.
I find the situation somewhat sad. I am an engineering guy to the
core. So when I go for the cheaper product because it is so darn cheap,
I know that much of the market will do likewise. That bodes ill
for HP. Like HP’s calculators, the ProCurves too may pass into
history.
Posted in photography, hardware, engineering
Tags 4000m, engineering, hardware, hp, networking, photos, switch
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Posted by Tom Moertel
Wed, 13 Jul 2005 16:00:00 GMT
One of the many great things about digital cameras is that they are
surprisingly good for close-up photography. Most have macro modes and
can focus on subjects only a few centimeters away.
Digital cameras also provide a partial remedy to close-up
photography’s notoriously limited depth of field. When the subject and
field of focus are nearly the same size – sometimes
only a centimeter or two – it’s hard to focus on the
entire subject. Slight errors result in severe blurring. The
workaround is to focus (probably imperfectly) on the subject, back off
a bit, and then take numerous shots while slowly moving closer to the
subject. The best-focused shot will stand out later, during a
full-sized review. While this kind of blanket bracketing would be
expensive with traditional film, digital cameras make it
practical. Shots are free; snap as many as it takes.
As an example of what is easily within reach, look at these backyard
photographs I took earlier
this week. The white clover is probably my favorite, but the honeybee
in the Stokesia flower, where you can see the grains of pollen, is a
close runner up.
If you have a digital camera, spend a few minutes with its
manual. Figure out how to take close-up photographs. Go outside and
photograph the things you usually overlook. You might be surprised by
what’s out there when you’re seeing small.
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