As I See It ...

Sky At Dusk

2022-12-17T16:00:00.004-05:00

SpaceX launched a communications satellite at dusk on Friday.

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2022-08-14T22:20:00.000-04:00

This was the second Saturday we saw Rob Whiting. Last weekend Rob gave a crystal clear talk about human’s history with water. This weekend Rob’s Jazz Express (RJE) put on a performance that I think would stir any venue, in any city.

Just like Rob’s talk last week RJE’s music this week was crystal clear and tight. They played like they were a family. Music written by Adderley, Gillespie, Shorter, Basie, Hargrove, Rollins, and more filled the afternoon. Great performances.

Rob’s Jazz Express (RJE)was hosted by the North East Florida Jazz Association (NEFJA), in the amphitheater of Daytona State College.

RJE is Rob Whiting, guitar; Ray Callender, trumpet; Melvin Smith, saxophone(s); Jack LaForte, bass; and Robert Banks, keeping time with the drums.

Before we got there we thought rain would be an issue. As it turned out it did rain quite heavily, but the rain was no concern. The amphitheater, on the college campus is covered. The roof protects both talent and audience. The covering also helps shape the venue's great acoustics. This is the DSC campus in Palm Coast. The line for the food truck during intermission was a testament for Q’jay’s tasty lemon peppered chicken.

The audience loved the performance. Anyone seemed well pleased with the venue, and the tremendous effort by NEFJA to bring it all together.

It was a great Saturday afternoon!

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Toward the Light

2022-08-14T16:06:00.002-04:00

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New Beginnings

2014-11-17T16:15:00.000-05:00

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2014-07-13T11:19:00.001-04:00

Dave's current blog ...

2012-04-29T15:52:00.001-04:00

View my Tumblr Blog here: http://royalld.tumblr.com

Shibumi 2012

2012-04-01T09:02:00.002-04:00

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Shibumi's 2012 Cruise

2012-03-27T22:42:00.001-04:00

Photo Gallery: Shibumi Spring 2012

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Siri ...

2011-11-06T15:59:00.001-05:00

It appears that Siri, Apple's digital assistant is having a few early problems. It is important to remember that Siri is still a Beta test; even so, it has been rolled-out to millions of people so a certain amount of reliability is expected.

I noticed last Thursday, while driving, that Siri could not make a phone call; which is a relatively simple task compared to all of the other goodies in her bag of tricks. Later that day Jill could not get Siri to create reminders or surf the web. It got to the point where we decided to write-off Siri and we used our new iPhones in the same manner we had always used cellphones ... manually.

On Friday, I read that Siri's issues were system wide. I treated that as a relief. At least it was not a problem with our phones or the local Sprint Network. Apparently Apple's servers were overloaded by the extreme high demand created by Siri's very popular feature.

In order for Siri to work, the iPhone must be connected to the network, either via cell tower or wifi. Then the network must communicate with a large database that houses all of Siri's considerable knowledge. The breakdown seems to be with the servers that host the database.

Apple has not yet mentioned a fix, other than a statement that they would increase server capacity. This morning I asked Siri to "search the web for problems with Siri". She did, and returned a Google list of articles written about her early missteps. The article said little more than what I just told you in the previous four paragraphs. So Siri can still churn out amazing work when server space allows her to; but I have to remember that AT THIS STAGE Siri is still a toy ... a toy that could very well develop into a very dynamic business tool.

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September Full Moon

2011-09-12T23:29:00.001-04:00

September 11

2011-09-11T11:59:00.001-04:00

I took pictures of Manhattan while descending over New York City on an approach to Boston's Logan Airport. That was early May, 2001. I had no idea that that would be the last time I would see the twin towers of the World Trade Center. The camera was a Fuji Finepix 4700Z pocket digital.

The Last Launch

2011-07-08T22:27:00.002-04:00

Clouds were the main feature of the sky when the Space Shuttle Atlantis launch from the Kennedy Space Center for the last time. Today's launch marked the final flight in America's 30 year-old space shuttle program. Atlantis will visit the International Space Station for ten days before returning to Florida to become a museum display at Cape Canaveral.

Jigsaw Puzzle ...

2011-05-29T14:34:00.000-04:00

Jill completed the 500 piece puzzle of a Chinese pagoda in about 3 hours.

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Not the best way to spend Saturday

2011-05-21T11:02:00.000-04:00

-- Sent via Palm Pre

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My iPod's camera looks at my windows ...

2011-05-19T21:46:00.002-04:00

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All planets in a line ...

2011-05-10T17:38:00.000-04:00

An application on my iPod is called SkyView. When the app's compass is aligned with North, my iPod becomes a mini-planetarium. As I move the iPod around the sky it brings into view the location of stars, constellations, planets, a number of satellites, planets, the moon, and our sun.

In this screen shot of my iPod, taken about 3 p.m. this afternoon, we see the Sun at the top of the picture. Beneath the Sun is Mars. The large planet is Jupiter. It is hard to see in front of Jupiter, but Venus is partially hidden by Mercury. The blue planet in the lower left is Uranus. Out of view but on a similar line is Neptune and below that the deplanetized Pluto.

So if you have been counting I named seven planets all in a line. The Earth makes eight. Planet number nine is Saturn, which is lined up too but is way on the otherside of Earth and won't be visible in my hemisphere until Earth rotates and gives us a look at that part of the sky.

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South bound in the spring?

2011-05-09T08:21:00.000-04:00

In recent days I have seen several flocks of birds flying southbound.
Do they know something about the spring climate that I don't know?

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Gas prices ...

2011-05-05T13:46:00.000-04:00

It is almost time to move full-time onto a sailboat ...

-- Sent via Palm Pre

Our website: http://shibumi.us

Steve Brimm and Sailing Vessel Pungo

2011-05-01T17:22:00.003-04:00

Steve was looking for "experienced" crew for Pungo's next ocean voyage.

He visited us for a few days after returning from the Exumas.
He rafted Pungo to Shibumi and had a chance to spruce-up some before continuing his journey north.

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Fascinated by the sky ...

2011-04-25T09:58:00.000-04:00

... I have always loved looking into the sky. I liked it so much I made a career out of looking into the sky.

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Spring Cleaning ...

2011-04-19T18:51:00.000-04:00

It is nearly time for me to go on another juice fast.

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Speak your truth quietly and clearly ...

2011-04-19T07:53:00.001-04:00

In the late 1970's I visited my sister, Lorraine, when she lived in San Francisco. I discovered three things during that visit: Sailboats - I Ching (the Chinese Book of Change) and - Desiderata. All three have had a profound influence on my life. Here is Disederata ....

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Fourteen Days and Three Hours Old ...

2011-04-17T13:48:00.000-04:00

At the time of this posting the Moon was 14 days and 3 hours 8 mins old. That makes it a Full Moon, which makes high tide is our canal a little bit higher than "normal". A little trivia: The Moon is shaped like an egg. The pointed end is always pointed away from the Earth.

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Jill in Savannah...

2011-04-16T15:16:00.000-04:00

Jill is visiting her son, Cory, in Savannah. He has a neat little ultra-light airplane.

-- Sent via Palm Pre

Our website: http://shibumi.us

Living Space ...

2011-04-11T12:38:00.000-04:00

Wow... How much space do we really need to live? We were very comfortable living aboard Shibumi for more than five months. We could fit the living space of four, maybe five, Shibumi's into our land home; and we have one of the smallest houses in the area.

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