Hour of Code

~Over at Khan Academy, you too can learn the basics of computer programming in less than 60 minutes thanks to the Hour of Code.  It's completely free, and through interactive tutorial videos, you'll learn how to draw and color shapes in JavaScript by creating functions and parameters.

Below is a greeting card image that I made. Sure, it may not look like much, but I didn't draw that using MSPaint or any art program; instead, the colors and shapes you see are the result of computer code on the left that told the program where to place each shape and what color to make it.

If you want to learn how to do this yourself, head over to: https://www.khanacademy.org/hour-of-code/hour-of-code-tutorial/v/welcome-hour-of-code

Spin-off of "Project: Greeting Card"

Made using: Khan Academy Computer Science.

Aquarium of the Pacific

~While in Long Beach, California (just south of Los Angeles), I found some time to visit the impressive Aquarium of the Pacific. Here are some of the better pictures from my time there:

A sea-horse.

"You're going to need a bigger boat..."

A colorful Lorikeet.  There was a group of these birds in a closed-in area called the "Lorikeet House" where you could walk about, the birds flying freely around you. They are very gregarious and friendly, and have no compunctions about landing on your shoulders or arms.

Penguins!

High and dry.

A jellyfish, very small but very colorful.  The edges of the jellyfish that look ridged in this picture are actually bio-luminescent, with rainbow-colored lights flashing down them like LCD screens.

  

Moon Jellyfish.  These specimens are hand-sized, but they can grow to be over a foot in diameter. Prey that brushes against their tentacles is paralyzed and drawn into the stomach that comprises much of the central bell.

This bird tried his hardest to swim through the glass. He failed.

Gina the octopus, one of two octopuses currently at the aquarium. The octopus is one of the most intelligent of sea creatures and they have been known to break out of captivity and pull themselves through dry land for short stretches, but they have a relatively short lifespan.  In contrast to giant squid, octopuses are not very large (Gina's body is less than a foot in diameter, although her tentacles make her seem much larger).  They can also change color to evade predators, and to communicate mood (red means they're angry; Gina is actually orange-ish in this picture, which means calm).

A California King Crab, also known as the Spiny King Crab for obvious reasons. These fellows live deeper underwater than most commercially-harvested crabs, so they're not a major food item. 

A Japanese Spider Crab.  The body is about a foot in diameter, and its long legs make for a vaguely menacing appearance.  Despite the name, they are not related to spiders. 

EXCUSE ME.

This diver delivered a live presentation while in an aquarium tank; another presenter asked him questions by radio while the audience watched through the tank wall. There were other divers in the tank as well, cleaning the rocks and coral. One particularly playful fish named "Bubbles" loved to swim through the bubbles from the diver's mask. There was also a small (and presumably satiated) hammerhead shark swimming around, who obligingly swam by the window several times. I think he was preening.

Clownfish, and other tropical fish in a tank with colorful corals.

The purple and orange organisms are also coral, but of a variety that lives deeper in the ocean. Coral are actually colonies of tiny animal life. Coral living close to the surface gets over 90% of its energy from symbiotic photosynthetic algae living inside of it, while these darker, deeper corals cannot get energy from sunlight and so must subsist on plankton and other passing microorganisms.

Bangaii Cardinalfish, also known as the Kaudern's Cardinal.

A Leafy Sea Dragon. What amazing camouflage!

Dominion GardenFest of Lights 2013

~The Christmas Season is upon us, and lights and decorations are everywhere.  While in Richmond, VA last week, I walked though some amazing lights and decorations at the Lewis Ginter Botanical Garden.  The display is called Dominion GardenFest of Lights 2013.

The courtyard garden in front of the arboretum (the building in the background) was colorfully lit up, including this fountain.

The fountain, seen from another angle.

Inside the arboretum looking up at the glass dome high above.  There are a wide variety of plants from many different climates inside of this building.

This pool in the arboretum had been decorated with colorful flowers and animal statues.  See the frog sitting in the middle?

It's hard to tell from this picture, but the scale of this ornately-decorated tree is colossal -- it was at least 25 feet tall.  The name of the display is "Birds and the Bees" (seen on the banner at lower left) -- if you click on the picture for a closer look, you can see the many bird- and bee-themed ornaments that almost entirely cover the surface of the tree.

Another fountain in the courtyard.  The water on this one had been turned off and replaced with blue lights.

This small courtyard was covered by netting that held star-shaped lights.

This walkway was decorated to look like a caterpillar...you had to walk into its mouth to proceed further into the garden.

The benches in the garden are cleverly decorated as animals, insects, and in this case, trees.

These trees were strung with colorful lights.

This small house had animatronic Christmas decorations!

This picture was taken from an elevated walkway, and shows how extensively lit the garden was; this is only a small portion of the GardenFest display. It reminded me of a scene in the film National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation when the Griswold family turns on their massive Christmas display for the first time, consuming so much electricity that engineers at the power plant are forced to activate a backup nuclear reactor.

A wire-frame peacock. How ostentatious!

A butterfly.

I'm not lyin' to you, this is a lion display.

The entrance to a Japanese tea house garden, located on the grounds of the botanical garden.

A stone lantern in the tea house garden. I like the way the lighting came out on this picture.

If you're in the Richmond area, the GardenFest is well worth a visit. Tickets are $11 for adults, $7 for kids (3 and under are free), and it runs through January 13 (closed Dec 24 &25).  There is also a list of activities that take place there on some nights.  The address is 1800 Lakeside Avenue, Richmond, VA 23228.

Triskaidekaphobic Architecture?

~I haven't seen this in a building in a long time:

^ I first noticed the missing floor when I was going up the stairs, and it seemed to take less time than it ought to have...

Philadelphia

~I've been in downtown Philadelphia lately, and took a few pictures around the area:

The impressive front of Philadelphia City Hall.  The largest municipal building in the world, it was built in the late 19th century and is the world's tallest masonry building (at 548'), constructed of brick and granite walls without a steel frame.  

City Hall from another angle, showing the spire at the top.

A statue of John F. Reynolds, a Union general who died in the Battle of Gettysburg.  I wanted to take a picture of the more dramatic other side, but it was in shadow and my flash didn't go that far -- the statue is surprisingly tall.

Continuing on the subject of Generals, here's a bronze plaque inside City Hall commemorating General Smedley Butler, a two-time Medal of Honor recipient who fought in conflicts across the world in the first half of the 20th century.  He left the marines to become Director of Public Safety for Philadelphia, in charge of the police and fire departments, and was charged with cleaning up the notoriously corrupt police force.  He later said, "cleaning up Philadelphia was worse than any battle I was ever in."

Today, Butler is perhaps best known for his 1933 speech War is a Racket, in which he denounced many of the military interventions he was deployed to as serving a profit motive for well-connected business interests, rather than security or liberty.  The essay is well worth reading and remains disturbingly relevant.

Sculptures on top of a column under City Hall.

More sculptures.  I love the elephant head!

A bear, I assume.

Entrance of the Masonic Temple near City Hall.  The temple was finished around the year 1900 and is a National Historic Landmark.

A statue of Benjamin Franklin, across the street from city hall.

This bizarre statue is located near the Benjamin Franklin statue, and is titled "Government of the People".  For an explanation of what it represents, see here: http://associationforpublicart.org/interactive-art-map/government-of-the-people.

A 37-foot tall, 27-ton bronze statue of William Penn atop City Hall, made by sculptor Alexander Calder and installed in 1894.

A giant paintbrush statue outside of the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts.

Purring Monkeys!

~Among 441 new species discovered in the Amazon jungle between 2010 and 2013 is a new species of titi monkey, Callicebus caquetensis.  Baby monkeys of this species exhibit a behavior not seen before in other species of monkey: when content, they purr!

Read the whole story (and about some of the other species discovered) here:

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/10/131025085909.htm

The Hennepin Canal

~While visiting Sterling, I took several evening walks along the nearby Hennepin Canal.  This canal was built at the turn of the century to link the Illinois and Mississippi rivers, shaving several hundred miles off of the trip  in order to facilitate shipping.  Unfortunately, the canal was not a commercial success; decades-long delays (construction was supposed to start in 1834 but did not commence until 1890) meant that by the time the canal was finished in 1907, railroads had become the major method of bulk transport between the areas the canal was intended to service.  At its commercial peak in 1929, the canal transported around 30,000 tons of shipping...which sounds like a lot, but that was only 1/600th of the canal's projected annual shipping capacity.  With the cost of maintenance exceeding its return value, the canal was closed to commercial traffic in 1951.

Still, despite its commercial failure, the canal was a landmark engineering feat.  It was the first canal constructed with concrete without cut stone facings, a technique which some engineers believed would not work.  The builders of the Hennepin proved these naysayers wrong; in fact, the materials and techniques (such as new types of canal locks) created and tested to build the Hennepin served as a model for the Panama Canal.

After its closure, the length of the canal was later made into Hennepin Canal Parkway State Park, reinventing it as a recreational area for boating, kayaking, hiking, and cycling.  And of course, for visitors like me to enjoy.

Part of the canal system that goes under a bridge.

The far side of the canal.

A path leading through the woods parallel to the canal.  The embankments on either side of the canal are heavily wooded, but narrow; beyond them stretch endless fields of corn.

Ruined bits and pieces were scattered throughout the woods, such as this reinforced concrete bar.  I'm not sure if this is left over from the construction of the canal, or is more recent.

Mushrooms growing on a fallen tree trunk.

Lovely autumn colors on the trees that line the canal.  What a great reflection in the water!

Beautiful red leaves.  Any guesses as to what species of tree this is?

A classic old automobile, now on display in a park near the canal.

The shattered trunk of a fallen tree.  It was getting dark at this point, so I turned back towards the hotel.  I did hear many owls hooting in the woods, and startled a heron who was walking along the edge of the water.