Baycon Panels

So, if anyone is still following me, I'm going to be on these panels at Baycon.  Stop by and say hey,

 

Irreproducible Results on Friday from 2:30 PM to 4:00 PM in San Tomas
Panelists discuss the fun and foibles of the scientific world. Join Journal of Irreproducible
Results editor Norm Sperling and friends for a recounting of how science can go hilariously
wrong.

The Internet: The Next Television Network? on Saturday from 11:30 AM to 1:00 PM in Camino Real
Hulu, Netflix, and YouTube are all putting big bucks into producing original high quality
television shows. Meanwhile, traditional TV network shows' ratings and budgets are dropping.
There are rumors of Apple and/or Google offering a la carte cable plans. What happens when the
Internet turns from a distribution method into a production system?

Before there was Steam, There Was Sail on Sunday from 1:00 PM to 2:30 PM in Bayshore
For millennia, humans crossed the seas using nothing but muscle and wind for power. Mechanical
power is a relatively recent invention. We'll be discussing how we managed to cross the oceans and
explore our world without fossil fuels, and look at what the future holds.

Top 10 Rookie Author Gaffes on Monday from 10:00 AM to 11:30 AM in Ballroom A
What are the most common ways to prevent your first sale, and how can you avoid them? Why do so
many of them involve teenage vampires?

A Shot Rang Out on Monday from 1:00 PM to 2:30 PM in Bayshore ...and bounced down the hallway,
through the door, and out of the world. Come see hilarious, impromptu storytelling. Back as always
by popular demand.

Sunday evening one of our local hawks took its dinner to the top of the tree at the foot of our lot.  This dramatic photo resulted:

 

Sunset

 

We had a really pretty sunset last night:

 

So I now work at Apple, and my office is in the building called "Valley Green Six", which appears to be two buildings joined together by an enormous atrium.

 

About once a month some band or other comes and plays in the atrium.  Today it was:

 

 

Crowded House.  No kidding.  Yes, they did "Don't dream it's over" and "Weather with you" and "Something so Strong" and some new things.  Very cool!

 

One nice thing about the new Casa Berry is the birds.  We appear to have a mated pair of Redtail Hawks that periodically come by.  We think the used to hunt here until we cleaned up the back yard and removed most of the cover for their prey.

 

 

 

 

This last one is the best of today's batch:

 

 

Long time no post.  Here's some pictures of the flowers in our kitchen.  First a lovely orchid:

 

 

And an African Violet in a cute pot:

 

Finally, an orange. This is from the tree at the bottom of the garden, which would make a nice spot to sit under and read, or surf if the wireless reaches that far.

The orange was in full shade, and I like the vibrant color contrast of green and orange here.

This thing sent up those huge flowers in a few days. We need to trim it back since it blocks the pathway between it and the house, but does anyone know what it is?
(This one taken with my iPhone, not my fancy new camera)

On father's day I got a new camera for a present, and this is one of the first pictures I took with it. Click through to embiggen at Flickr.

The cactus in our back yard is going away soon, as everyone hates it even if it does have pretty flowers. This one was in direct sunlight, and the raw image had the stamens as a washed out blur of white.

Since I now work at Apple, I fired up Aperture and tweaked the highlights, and this is the result. Pretty nice.

Sundries

 

(As rm would say...)

 

* My daughter graduated from San Francisco State on Saturday.  I am very proud.

* The new Casa Berry is coming along.  The fumigation is done, the painting is done, the Bentleys are moved and most of the new appliances are in place.  The gas dryer needs an adapter to fit its gas line to the shutoff valve in the wall, and the new French Door refrigerator is 1/8 of an inch too wide for its spot; we'll have to adjust the counters.

* The job search proceeds apace, with pleasant interviews at several places including a fruity computer maker and a search engine giant.  For some  reason this job search is much less stressful to me than the last one.

* Speaking of job search, today one of my inquisitors turned out to be the daughter of a professional acquaintance, whom *my* daughter remembered from school.  Small world, innit?