Wilderness Vagabonds

Chemtrails and the Lizard Brain

Thu, 7 Feb 2013 15:54:00 GMT

A conspiracy theory case study

The word chemtrail is short for "chemical contrails" and refers to a conspiracy theory that some combination of chemical and biological agents is being deliberately sprayed from airplanes, usually over populated areas. I first learned about this threat last summer when a friend told me about her deep fears for her children’s health. She explained that chemtrails could be any number of things, including a secret U.N. ...
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Wunderalert bot?

Fri, 4 Jan 2013 19:25:00 GMT

The wunderalert bot posts comments on my blog that I don't quite understand.... posting a new blog triggers it to comment on my last blog. Can someone explain why that is and whether I can change it?
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Cheaper Astrophotography for Beginners, Part 2

Fri, 4 Jan 2013 19:21:00 GMT

In Part 1 of this guide I laid out my case for beginning with wide-field astrophotography using only a dSLR you already own, or an interchangeable lens camera you can buy for ~ $500 like the NEX-5N. Most of what follows will generally be true for any dSLR or mirrorless camera, but I'll make an effort to note what is NEX-specific. I also said that you need a sturdy tripod. Because you're deliberately including elements of the landscape in your composition, you can't ...
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Cheaper Astrophotography for Beginners, Part 1

Wed, 2 Jan 2013 00:30:00 GMT

There are other beginner guides to astrophotography on the Internet, but many of them assume the purchase of a telescope and tracking mount. It's an expensive hobby, and I can't afford a good telescope and mount right now. I figure a reasonable starting budget is $4000-$5000 USD for scope, equatorial mount, camera, autoguider etc. While it can be done for less by sacrificing aperture or quality, there will be diminishing returns in the photographs that are produced....
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Gravity Waves

Sat, 29 Dec 2012 17:56:00 GMT

When I posted this photo I was unsure what to call the wave patterns I periodically observe with my camera at night. You can see the waves most clearly nearest to the horizon, though I think the pattern continues up to the top of the frame where the troughs are apparently spaced further apart (probably an optical illusion).

It seems that these are gravity waves, an entirely new phenomenon to me. Wikipedia says:

In the Earth's atmosp...
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