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3D Weather Globe screenshot with hurricane

Originally uploaded by Eamon Ford.

I took this screenshot in 3D Weather Globe because I thought it looked cool with the hurricane.

My dad and I went to Alpenrose Velodrome again yesterday. Unlike last week, where I just tipped over in the grass, this time I wiped out on the corner, taking out four other people (including my dad). We were doing a mock race, and on the first lap, my foot came out of the pedal (the fact that my cleat had come loose was at least part of the cause). Unfortunately, it happened right before the curve, and so I wasn’t going fast enough to stay on. I tried to slide off the track, but somebody happened to be passing on that side, causing the Pileup.

I bruised and scraped my hip, but other than that, everything’s fine.

Update: This picture has a striking resemblance to what happened…

I found a cool freeware app called Seismac, which turns your PowerBook/iBook/MacBook into a seismograph, using the laptop’s Sudden Motion Sensor (SMS).

Joseph also showed me another SMS based app called MacSaber, which, as you probably guessed, turns your Mac into a lightsaber.

My dad, Eric and I went to the Alpenrose Velodrome in Portland yesterday for a track racing class. It was my first time riding a fixed gear bike; it felt weird at first to have no brakes or gears, but I got used to it.

But then I had to get used to riding on what felt like a wall: the bank on the turns is 43°, and the minimum speed to stay on it is 12mph. It literally felt like being on a rollercoaster.

Amazingly, the only time I crashed was when I was going 1mph in the grass (it’s hard to get used to a fixed gear).

We saw a real live bike messenger while we were there. He did a track stand with no hands and one foot!

I wish I had some pictures, but since I don’t, just pretend I took this.

I repaired Odin after its destructive flight on Monday, and Eric and I launched it and two of his rockets yesterday. Odin flew better than before, even though there’s more tape on it now. Also, I removed the parachute. It just causes problems, and it worked fine without one.
We didn’t film all the flights, but here are the ones we did. (For you people who think all my rockets crash, watch the end of the first video. This proves I am capable of making a working recovery system!)

Third launch of Odin


 
Fourth launch of Odin


 

Saturn V launch

I built a rocket today for the first time in over a year. I named it Odin, after the Norse god of war.

Since pictures are worth 1000 words, here are some pictures of the rocket before it was launched…

We launched it twice. The first time, everything worked, except that the cord which attaches the nose cone and parachute to the body came off, but no real damage was caused. On the second flight, the parachute failed to come out, so it plunged down to Earth like a… rocket.

Since videos are worth 1000*(number of frames in video) words, here are the videos of both flights.

First launch

Second launch

Are you wondering what it looked like after that second flight?

NASA Streaming Video Screenshot

Originally uploaded by Eamon Ford.

I thought this was a cool view looking down the payload bay of the space shuttle with the Earth in the background (especially since it was live), so I took a screenshot.

Here are some pictures of the fireworks last night:

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Also, I watched the space shuttle Discovery launch in realtime yesterday. You can get live streaming video from the shuttle on NASA’s site.

The asteroid 2004 XP14 will be passing within the moon’s distance of Earth in one hour and 33 minutes!

Edit: I saw the asteroid. It’s visible with the naked eye, but I could see some details using binoculars (I had more luck than with a telescope).