Color Blind

Every once in a while I get a reminder that I have partial color blindness. Certain shades of green, brown, red, and some blues and purples are not "distinct" to me.

I came across this article today about an Internet security expert who developed an iPhone app to help color blind individuals distinguish colors. It "punches up" the hues of certain colors so they become discernible to the color blind.

You point your iPhone's camera at something and in real time it displays the chromatically adjusted image on the screen.

In case you are wondering, in the images above I just see a bunch of random dots when I look at the 2 circles on the left. In the enhanced images on the right, I can clearly see the number "45" and make out a pixelated "6" in the other.

The author of the app, Dan Kaminsky, is not color blind. He was intrigued by a color blind friend who was unable to identify the green skinned girl in the last Star Trek movie as having green skin. She appeared tanned to him.

For those of us in the computer business, Kaminsky is fairly well known as a proponent for improved methods for securing transactions on networks.

For those of us in the Star Trek world, the green skinned girl was an Orion. The first reference to the Orions was in The Menagerie where an Orion slave danced for Captain Pike.

A few months ago, the neighbor across the street painted her house a bright pink, (think Pepto). To me it looks like a light rosy beige, but mostly beige. She had to tell me it was pink. The typical comment expressed by others (when she is not around) is "It is PINK!!"

On a completely different note, check out our Christmas photos on Flickr.

All Hallows Eve

A few photos and recollections about Halloween.

Henry started off the season attending a costume birthday party wearing a modified Darth Vader outfit.

He then used the black body suit for the kindergarten parade around his school, appearing as a ninja-style assassin.

Finally, on the big night, he wore the Vader cape with Joni-modded bat wing scallops cut into the bottom along with the excellent make-up applied by Joni.


What about Sam?

No changing allegiance with him.
He wore his Buzz Lightyear costume to bed the night we bought it.
He wore it to school twice.
He wore it to bed again. And again.
He wore it on the big night.

Thank goodness it was dark outside - it was getting pretty dirty!

Joni did her usual magic with some pumpkins as you can see in the photo with Sam and Mickey Pumpkin.



The big pumpkin was a Medusa. It sat on a pedestal by the front door with a spot light on it.




I appeared as a ruggedly handsome Viking. Although in this unflattering photo I appear as a fat, unshaven, disgruntled looking guy with a cheap costume and a Hollywood starlet's wig



Joni pulled off a great imitation of Flo, the Progressive Insurance lady. I apologize for the glow - we had a couple kids tugging and pulling to get out to Trick-or-Treat so I did not get the photo set up properly.

We joined up with some of the neighbors and their kids so we could attack the houses as a large pack, much to the liking of my Viking senses. We brought along the red wagon to cart home any tired kids, but mostly to carry the ale and wine that would sustain us on such a cold night and long trek.

Make sure you check out the vacation photos I finally uploaded from our Marthas Vineyard trip with the Obamas. There are some beautiful sunset photos taken from Menemsha harbor.

Jet Pack

I could feel the tears of joy welling up as I read this article from the Yahoo shopping pages link. Yes, the shopping pages as in "You can buy your own Jet Pack TODAY!!"

Well maybe in 2 years. According to the Martin Aircraft Company website, the craft is powered by a 200hp 2.0 liter V4 gasoline engine. It will have a maximum ceiling of 8,000 ft and a range of about 31 miles, limited by the 5 gallon gas tank.

The limit is imposed by the FAA FAR-103 regulation, the same one that governs the ultralight planes that Pop and I have been to see. Aircraft that meet the FAR 103 restrictions can be operated without a pilot license.

So we can ALL have our own Jet Packs.

I'm not sure I can wait 2 years. The Martin craft is engineered with safety features and enough power to lift over 300 lbs. I think by modifying a couple of 2 cycle weed whackers I should be able to generate some pretty good lift. Maybe not enough to fly to 8,000 feet. What it if could lift say, 150 pounds? Then I could giant-leap to work as if my constant nemesis, gravity, hardly mattered at all.

Check out the videos of the test flights on the Martin Aircraft Company website.

Indy Trip

I uploaded a bunch of photos off of my phone to the Flickr account. This one is from our stay on Martha's Vineyard last week. The resort has a giant chess set in one of the courtyards. The chairs are large enough for 2 adults to sit side by side with their legs dangling down.



Joni and I had a kid-free long weekend visiting private beaches off-season, sipping cocktails in the cozy lounge, shopping in Vineyard Haven and Oak Bluffs, eating fresh seafood at the harbor in Menemsha, and generally takin' it slow.

This week Henry and I flew to Indianapolis for my father's 80th birthday. Henry's first flight went very well and he is willing to fly with me again. David came with Ben, Diane hosted Mom and Brian, and Herb the cat seemed to tolerate the guests very well.

We spent a full day at the Children's Museum, geocached in Eagle Creek and Marot Park, spent an afternoon at the track for the Indy 500 qualifications, and enjoyed each other's company.

It had been a few years since I'd seen Ben and Dave. Henry got along very well with Ben, following him around and doing his best to get them into trouble.

Check out the rest of the photos from May here.