Google Satellite and Ridefinder

Google has just released a couple of new tools that rock big time! They have added satellite maps to their regular maps page as well as a ride finder service that tracks taxi cabs! Here is one of twentynine palms.

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Apollo bacteria spur lunar erosion

I'm pretty sure this is an april fools joke from Nature.com, but it's pretty funny nonetheless: news @ nature.com - Apollo bacteria spur lunar erosion  - Images reveal worrying cracks in the face of the Moon.

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Desert Globemallow

I think the Desert Globemallow is my favorite wildflower in the Mojave Desert. On my most recent excursion I didn't see any until we were driving back. I pulled over and took some photos. What a beautiful flower.

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EOS 20D Overload

So I just got back from the desert, and I took about 500 photos. The only problem with my new camera is that it takes photos so quickly. With bracketing it really adds up quick. I got some great photos including 2 separate run ins with desert tortoises. I am sorting through them now.

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Daffodil Macro

This is one of the first really nice photographs I have taken with my new Canon 100mm f/2.8 Macro USM lens. I took it in my backyard. The daffodils were provided by the illustrious and beautiful penelope. I am heading out tomorrow morning to the desert and I will be back with many photos of wildflowers!

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Daffodil Anthers and Stamen Cluster

I took this photo with my new Canon 100mm f/2.8 Macro USM lens. I need to get another flash to get more even lighting but this one still came out pretty good. I am going to the desert this weekend to take some photos of flowers. Last time I was in the desert I photographed over a dozen species of flowers. I wonder how many I will get this time.

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New Macro Lens!

I just got back from Samy's Camera in Santa Ana. So far I have had two good experiences with Samy's and their salespeople. When I bought my camera, they sold it to me below the website cost. When I bought my lens and flash today they also gave me a good deal. I picked up the Canon EF 100mm f/2.8 Macro USM lens and the Canon Speedlite 580EX. I just played around with the lens for a few minutes handheld (I have work to do) and the results are really amazing. The lens is really quite a deal, as I thought it would be after reading nothing but good reviews about it. I will be heading out to the desert again this weekend in search of more wildflowers.

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Reorganized photography...

I reorganized the photography archive on my site. You will find it much more intuitive and have an easier time locating galleries.

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Mojave <del>Desert</del> Paradise

This weekend was my birthday and a group of my friends and I went camping in the Mojave Desert. The normally brown sandy desert, which receives and average 2" of rainfall a year is green and covered with flowers due to the 6" of rain that has fallen so far this year. I took some really wonderful photos with my new Canon EOS 20D. I can't wait to go back and take even more. I identified almost a dozen different species of wildflowers.

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My New Canon EOS 20D

Today I bought myself a big birthday present. I picked up a Canon EOS 20D, with the Canon EF-S 18-75mm USM lens. I also bought the battery grip and a Manfrotto 3021BN with an Arca-Swiss monoball B1 head. Here is one of the first images I shot. I really love this camera and have been planning on buying it for a while. I am really looking forward to taking nature photos this weekend!

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My Birthday Party This Weekend

I will be in the desert this weekend for my birthday. If you'd like to come send me an email.

-eek

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More on Gannon Gate

Here is an interesting read about the media's so called "liberal bias"

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Matt Drudge Is a Fool

And he makes it painfully obvious with his attacks on Chris Rock.

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I.C.E. 9 and Khumbu Crampon Safety Recall

I just got a letter in the mail from Montrail about their ICE 9 and Khumbu crampons. The recall is for all crampons produced between September 2003 and February 1st 2005.

From the letter:

Montrail has received some reports of breakage on the Kumbu and I.C.E. 9 crampons. No injuries have been reported.

Thhe breakage occured in the vertical reails of the forefoot portion of the crapon just aft of the point array. When the crampon breaks in this way, it will no longer remain attached to the boot or the function as a traction device on snow and ice and and could result in serious injury to the user.

You can call for an RMA#: 800-826-1598 M-F 8-5PST or email custservice [at] montrail [dot] com.

Montrail will provide postage and several reimbursement options.

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NCRC Training 2004

The National Cave Rescue Commission was formed in 1979 to train rescuers and track rescues related to caves. It is a component of the National Speleological Society which is a non-profit group of over 50,000 cavers who are dedicated to preserving caves and cave environments. The NCRC does NOT do cave rescues, instead it trains rescuers in the latest cave rescue techniques.

Every year the NCRC sponsors a national week long cave rescue seminar. In 2004 there was also a regional week long (actually 10 day) seminar located at California Cavern in Cave City. Most of the SBCSD Cave Team members attended.

NCRC trains rescuers on 3 levels:

• Level I - Team Member
• Level II - Team Leader
• Level III - Incident Command / Rescue Management

[Click permalink to read the rest.]

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iPhoto 5 Doesn't Suck

So I have been using the new iPhoto 5 for about a week now and I am really happy with its performance. It is much faster than iPhoto 4, especially with my 5,200+ high res images. The Adjust widget permits me to adjust my photos without having to open them in photoshop (which I can do now easily too). The comment typing bug has been fixed. The search and smart folders rock. [Ed's Note: I should proofread and edit what I write.]

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Red State Road Trip

I just watched a very touching series of interviews with people throughout the red states. Here are the links to the videos.

• Day 1
• Day 2
• Day 3
• Day 4
• Day 5

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Spiders

During the month of January I received over 200,000 hits from search engine spiders. Here are the top 6 spiders that crawled my site:

• 116,448 Hits from Yahoo! Slurp
• 37,011 Hits from msnbot/0.3
• 26,424 Hits from Ask Jeeves/Teoma
• 14,618 Hits from psbot/0.1 (picsearch)
• 12,204 Hits from Mediapartners-Google/2.1
• 10,514 Hits from Googlebot/2.1

I wonder if picsearch will ever have more than 4 images from the search for eecue.

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Vincent Thomas Bridge Lighting

So after many years of planning the best (only suspension?) bridge in (greater)LA will be officially lit with spiffy LEDs. The official website has more info. I will be there (this Sunday) to take pictures. I found out about this on blogging.la.

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Huntington Library and Botanical Garden

Last Sunday Peneloper and I went to the Huntington Library in Pasadena. We had a great time and I took some beautiful photos. I look forward to our next trip there.

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One Wilshire Video Tour

This is really cool... A full tour of One Wilshire from the colo cages to the roof to the coolers. I wonder if I could get a tour to take more photos.

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