Live Map II

Ok, I'm trying this again. This time, Brianna and I are driving from Colorado Springs, Colorado to Everett, WA, along with all her things (she's moving to the Pacific Northwest). The weather is not supposed to be as nice as it was for me last time, so it might take a little longer, but ideally it will only be a two day trip. Let's see if I can set the map up correctly:

Update (Jan 16th, 2012, day after arrival): Another successful trip! We had some bad winds (gusts up to 50mph!) going through Wyoming, and Satus Pass through the Cascade Mountains was busy and wet, but we didn't actually hit any really bad driving conditions until the very end. It had snowed in Washington and some of the roads were icy, particularly the side streets. All told, it was a really smooth trip, although we were really glad to be out of the U-Haul cab by the end of it!

View Road Trip - bringing Brianna to Washington in a larger map

Grad School Update

I've been back in Washington State for just about 4 weeks now, and I've just completed my first week of grad school at the University of Washington. I've really enjoyed being back home in Washington, especially for the holidays! Grad school is going well - I have three math-focused classes: Mechanical Engineering Analysis, Finite Element Analysis, and Manifolds and Geometry for Systems and Control; and one fun course: Rapid Prototyping, which means playing with 3D printers :-D

Lots of math, and starting during winter quarter isn't doing me any favors in terms of being up to speed with the other students, but I'm enjoying myself!

Live Map

During the drive home, I'm trying something new with geo-tracking: a live map. As I'll be on the road most of the time, I won't be able to do much trouble-shooting while the map is actually updating, but the testing has all worked out, so I have high hopes this will automatically update during my trip.

UPDATE: That seems to have worked out rather well. Here's a static map of the journey:

View Road Trip - Midland to Everett in a larger map

Moving Home

After three years of wandering in the desert(s), I'm coming home to the Pacific Northwest! I'll be leaving Midland in just three weeks, on December 10th. 

On January 3rd, 2012, I'll begin work on a Master's Degree in Mechanical Engineering at the University of Washington.

Over the past several weeks, I've been using Craigslist, Good Will and Best Buy's Electronics Recycling Center (which is a really great program - try it!) to pare down my possessions to the point that everything I own in Texas can fit in my Honda Civic for the drive North-west. It's been surprisingly challenging, given I moved down here with a suitcase and a backpack, but I'm almost there.

The actual route I take will depend on the weather forecast and my personal whims of the moment, so the trip could take anywhere from 2-4 days, depending. I'm looking forward to seeing all my friends and family in the Northwest!

Brian is a Nerd

I'm starting a sub-blog for topics I think are more nerd related that the usual fare on this site. It's a single column design, allowing for larger photos and maps. I'm calling it "Brian is a Nerd" and it can be found at nerd.wheretheheckisbrian.com. There is a permanent link on the left sidebar. The first post is about tracking gas mileage using an iPhone, spreadsheets, and Google Fusion Tables. Check it out!

The Palms

I live at an apartment complex called "The Palms". As part of their shtick, they imported and planted about twenty palm trees throughout the property.

They all died during the drought this summer. 

Undaunted, management brought in NEW trees, just in time for winter. These people have a firm grasp on the reality of climate, and how much the weather cares about their desires, you see. 

Last night we had a pretty impressive thunderstorm: lightning, hail, high winds, rain, the works. Impossible to sleep through. This morning, this is what I saw as I drove to work:

Winter

Winter has finally arrived. It was 32 degrees this morning when I left the apartment, and at 10:45am it's only 37 degrees outside.

The cold front arrived yesterday, and brought a ton of dust with it. Someone snapped this picture while flying into Midland Airport, and put it on Facebook.

Big Bend: Third Time's the Charm

The weather finally cooled off a bit, so I took the opportunity to drive down to Big Bend National Park for my third visit. Packed up the night before, then left straight from work on Friday. Got to the Chisos Basin campground with enough time to set up, eat dinner and relax a little. Last time I was at Chisos Basin, everyone had hammocks. This time I brought my own.

That night I slept for eleven hours.

Saturday I drove around the park and did a bunch of short hikes. The stand-out feature was Santa Elena Canyon:

I spent the afternoon reading in the hammock, surrounded by mountains. Very relaxing.

Sunday I did the Window Trail hike. It's a nice hike down a dry stream bed that cut a "window" into a cliff.

As usual, more pictures here.

Road Trip to Arches

After working a 10-day shift, I took off for a four-day weekend to meet my parents at Arches National Park. They were on the southernmost point of a two week trip, but it still took fourteen hours of driving to get to the rendezvous point. I had never been to Arches before, but I've wanted to go for awhile. The rock formations were worth the drive.

We also saw a big-horned sheep, which apparently is a pretty rare treat:

All told, I drove 1660 miles, getting 38 miles per gallon in my little Honda Civic.

View Arches Road Trip in a larger map

More pictures in my Picasa gallery:

New Kindles!

Amazon has just presented new Kindles!

Most people will be focused on the Kindle Fire - a 7-inch, color touch screen device with an 8-hour battery primarily used for Amazon eBooks, music, movies, TV shows and apps, all for $200. Amazon will sell a lot of these, and it looks great. However, I'm not expecting to buy one, for the same reason I didn't buy an iPad 2: my original iPad still gets the job done just fine. However, if you're looking to by a tablet, this looks like a worthy contender.

I'm far more interested in the new e-Ink Kindles. The new base Kindle (non-touch) is available for just $79, and is available today. At that price, this is going to be a huge seller at Christmas. However, I'd probably get the reduced-price $99 Kindle Keyboard if I was going that route.

The Kindle Touch is the product I'm interested in. Amazon has ditched the old hardware keyboard and is using a system of infrared sensors to enable a touch-screen interface. This is the same system the Barnes and Noble Nook Simple Touch uses, and worked even better than I expected when I test-drove a Nook at the local B&N last night. I'm on the fence as to whether I want the 3G version or not. It's an extra $50, and with a little forethought probably wouldn't be that necessary. But when I'm traveling, having that free, world-wide 3G connection sure is appealing, especially with the experimental web browser built into the Kindle.

A few caveats: the Kindles don't come with covers or chargers, just a USB cable. Not having a cover included is a downer, but who really needs another USB wall wart? Also, the pricing: the advertised prices for the e-Ink Kindles are all for the ad-subsidized versions. If you don't want ads on your sleep screen, it'll cost an extra forty bucks. On the other hand, all the ads to-date have looked pretty attractive. I might be willing to put up with them.

The Kindle Touch (4th gen) and Kindle Keyboard (3rd gen).

All in all, it's a pretty decent upgrade. The screens appear to be the same component used in the previous generation, with the new IR touch sensors embedded in the bezel. I still think the Kindle Keyboard is more attractive, both in color and form. But it may be about time to retire my venerable first-generation Kindle.

The 1st generation Kindle.