In honor of one of the most beloved and sicking of all Easter temptations, Peeps, the local newspaper is having a contest of Peep inspired dioramas. Here is my entry, “Open the Peep-bay doors Hal!” I was going to fill up my full-scale 2001 helmet replica with them and title it “My God it’s full of Peeps!” But this one was too perfect and only needed two of the things. So, what am I to do with 3 dozen extra Peeps now? To see some other entries...

On Columbus Day weekend we celebrate “Fleet Week” here in the San Francisco Bay Area. Navy ships in the areatake part in a parade of ships, followed by their smaller counterparts by the dozens. We are treated to a grand air show over the bay, culminating with the Blue Angels. Instead of facing the traffic and parking problems the San Francisco is notorious for, I opted to go out on a boat. This “boat” was a wonderful recreation of a late-18th...

After leaving my cameras in the men’s room at Gate 25 of the Santiago, Chile airport (D’oh!), it became necessary to make my iPhone 4 my exclusive camera to shoot the July 11 total solar eclipse. This posting is merely some observations about the phone’s handling in less than ideal conditions. The eclipse’s path began in Argentinean Patagonia, the most southern province in Argentina. Our target was the town of El Catafane, pop. 25000, a popular...

So I was on my way to South America last week for the July 11 eclipse, and a funny (as in really stupid funny) thing happened to me. I left $600 of camera gear in the men’s restroom. Fifteen minutes later when I discovered this little jewel in the crown of stupidity, my new Canon ELPH, and relatively new Canon SX10IS had vanished to the hands of some lucky, bas….er, “fortunate traveler.” As a longtime amateur photographer, I always yearn (yes,...

When I reserved my iPad, I selected Apple’s flagship store in Palo Alto for pickup. I had never quite understood the Apple line mentality. After all, most people could just save a lot of time and either order one online or wait a day or two. Now I see the light. Plus I absolutely needed to get a unit ASAP to test my software, Distant Suns. It was already live in the App Store and had over 80 downloads, so I needed to see what others were to...

I can’t tell you how I got these photos, but they come from a “trusted source” who claims that these could be of the much rumored “tablet” that Apple will introduce tomorrow. First off, sorry for the poor quality of the photos. But they obviously are of some new device in the Apple labs. The size is said to be about 8 1/2 x 11 inches. The screen seems to be flush with the left and right edges, while it leaves a...