Speedbird in Phoenix

Even caught on an iPhone, a Boeing 747 is still a thing to behold.

As seen from a few meters away: the daily British Airways (callsign: Speedbird) flight from London to Phoenix lands at Sky Harbor International Airport. Even caught informally by an iPhone, it’s still an impressive sight to behold.

httpvh://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vb5cwUL4dCY

Units will set me free.

How to be 95% sure your physics/chemistry/science homework is correct? Check your units.

My friend Jamie Gladhart posted this to Facebook and it’s definitely worth a share here:

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You’ll have to click on the image to see it in full resolution. If you get the joke, then you are a good person. If not, then I hate to say that you’re missing out on a very good science joke.

I post this because I’ve been asked by several friends (and even colleagues!) about doing the math of science problems. Here’s what I say to them, and repeat after me: Units and Dimensional Analysis will set me free.

If you want to be about 90-95% sure that the math you have done is right, check your units. If your units in your problem make sense, then you’ve most likely done the math right. If they don’t, then check your work and your logic.

Units will set you free.

Veterans’ Day 2012

Veterans Day 2012

While tomorrow may be a day off from work, it’s a day filled with observation, commemoration, and gratitude for friends, family, and all who have served, are serving, or are yet to serve in our country’s armed forces. We are eternally grateful for your service and sacrifice every day, even if it’s just more acute on this day.

Her Secret is Patience

A picture of Her Secret is Patience, the public art piece in downtown Phoenix.

I think it goes without saying that my all-time favorite piece of public art hangs right here in downtown Phoenix. It’s Her Secret is Patience, created by the artist Janet Echelman, for the Downtown Phoenix Civic Space Park.

Photo of the Day, 19 Oct 2012

It, like most things in downtown Phoenix, photographs better at night than during the day.

Supermoon 2012

The world was treated to the Supermoon on 5 May 2012.

If you didn’t know, the orbit of the Moon around the Earth isn’t a perfect circle. It’s an ellipse. At its nearest point, the Moon is about 50,000 km closer to the Earth than it is at its farthest point.

Science and numbers aside, it makes for pretty pictures. Enjoy!

all photos copyright (c) 2012 Edward Jensen, all rights reserved

Park(ing) Day 2011 [edited, more photos!]

Today was just a great day to be alive and in downtown Phoenix. The weather was finally beautiful after an endless summer in the desert! Also, pictures and videos from Park(ing) Day in downtown Phoenix.

[Author’s edit: Check the bottom of this post for a link to my photos.]

Today was just a great day to be alive and in downtown Phoenix. The weather was finally beautiful after an endless summer in the desert!

And this morning was also Park(ing) Day 2011, an annual event where citizens, artists and activists collaborate to temporarily transform metered parking spaces into “PARK(ing)” spaces: temporary public places. It forces us to consider public policy and what type of parking is more appropriate in an urban environment: car parking or people parking?

This year, my friend Donna Reiner and I set up and played some piano duets, ranging from absolute beginner to Clementi, Mozart, Diabelli, and Fauré. Even at sight-reading, I thought we were pretty good.

Anyway, some pictures and videos (with more being uploaded throughout the day…check back tonight for more):

Park(ing) Day Phoenix, morning photos

Park(ing) Day Phoenix, morning photos

Park(ing) Day Phoenix, morning photos

Edit, 9:45pm: All of my photos from the day are on my Park(ing) Day 2011 set on Flickr.

I am not a robot. I am a unicorn.

Well, I guess we have answered the question of what happens when two computers start talking to each other. They talk down to each other.

Well, I guess we have answered the question of what happens when two computers start talking to each other. They talk down to (and occasionally insult!) each other.

Thank goodness that IBM’s Watson, the Jeopardy!-playing computer, had a much nicer disposition. And credit to Crave, CNET’s gadgets blog, for first posting this video.