Twelve

Twelve years old.
June 17.
3 years from driving.
6 years from voting.
6 years from college or the military.
Half way to the age when I became his father.
A lifetime of possibilities.
Happy Birthday to my son.

Photos from Indianpolis Air Show

Finally sorted through a couple of thousand photos and picked about 100 or so to share. Something for everyone here, if you like aircraft!

Can you spot me in the photo.. I'm there. I promise.

Here's the link to my album:

http://picasaweb.google.com/johnmknight/IndyAirShow2009#5345517606458113298

The sunburn is a lot better for those who saw me afterwards. I'll remember the sunscreen next time.

Sunset at Silver Beach

Thomas and I took a walk along the beach last night and took a few photographs. All the pictures of me were taken by Master Thomas as well as this awesome pic! Click here for the rest of the pix.

Thomas and the Jeep

An inpromptu pose for the camera. Thomas is enjoying the Jeep, almost as much as I am. ;)

Space, The Final Frontier

Here is my review of the new Star Trek movie: Go see it.

There are a few caveats to my review. 

1) You must like movies.

2) You must be breathing.

3) While you don't have to even like Star Trek to enjoy this film, hating Star Trek prior to viewing may impact your viewing pleasure.

It's fun. It's action packed. It's the best Trek movie ever.

On a related note. I just happen to be the proud owner of some actual, authentic, NASA Apollo and Skylab food and food containers. Actual (non flown) artifacts from our nation's space exploring history. For those that know, I have a little collection of space related items and these new items will be proudly displayed.  Pix to follow. Warning: 40 year old freeze dried food is not appetizing to look at. You've been warned... 

The new Ride

Here she is. Our new ride, a 2009 Jeep Wrangler Unlimited in Deep Water Blue. Thomas has his eyes on this one... Sweet 16 isn't THAT far away afterall.

RFID Enabled Globe for remote controlling Google Earth

My plan to control the world is done.. at least the prototype.
I have created a globe that has RFID tags stuck on the insides that drives Google Earth. So, in effect, I have created a remote control physical globe for a virtual one. :) Right now the globe only has three tags and supports viewing Africa, Antarctica and the good 'ol U.S. of A. via a Touchatag reader.
To Google Earth's credit, just using a command-line to load a .KMZ file is quick and painless, with no noticible UI refreshes, etc. So, the effect of using the globe remote is smooth and seamless. I'll publish a video and how-to later.


Here's a link to the pictures:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/johnmknight/sets/72157615349049677/

New Photos.

Randomness from this week in photos.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/johnmknight/sets/72157615371310694/
Enjoy.

The Space Station is behind my house!

I took this picture of the ISS last night as it flew behind my house. I don't know why NASA didn't consider the big tree in my backyard when they decided to give me a fly over. Silly rocket scientists. Couldn't have have cut down some branches at least with a laser or something? For those wondering if a follow up shot of Endevor chasing the ISS is order, the answer is yes. Now, NASA just had to cut down some trees from space...