1945: First atomic bomb exploded near Alamogordo, New Mexico 

Whenever these kinds of anniversaries come up, I always find myself thinking about the genie that we have let loose upon the world. Today is the 63rd anniversary of the day the United States tested the first atomic bomb in 1945 near Alamogordo, New Mexico. The following month we dropped atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki in Japan, leading to the end of World War II.

People still debate that action. Should we have bombed a deserted island within view of the Japanese High Command instead? Was it necessary to bomb two cities in Japan instead of just one? I can’t get into these debates, because I wasn’t there as a part of the decision making process. I wasn’t there when we were at war.

But now it seems as if the genie has turned against us. Our government won’t come right out and say it, but I believe their biggest fear is that one of the “unfriendly” nations out there is going to get their hands on a bomb and detonate it within the U.S. That’s why we resort to saber rattling, economic sanctions, and other activities to deter anyone else from getting the bomb.

You have to wonder - will future historians talk about us as the first country to use an atomic weapon on another country, and also the last country to have a nuclear weapon used on it?

I don’t get very excited about software apps, so when something really special comes along, I want to share it with everyone. Note: I am *NOT* getting paid or compensated in any way, nor do I gain any additional benefit by posting this.

If you are like me, you are constantly coming up with things you wish you could store and easily retrieve. Things like ideas that I try to remember to jot down in my paper notebook, items I find on the web, photographs, whatever. I’ve tried at least three different “notebook” type applications on my computer, and none of them have really done the job. I always forget to keep my paper notebook handy. The problem is, I am not always sitting in front of my computer when these things that I want to remember come about.

The first cool thing about Evermind is that it is an Internet application. You download the basic program to your computer, PC or Mac, on as many computers as you like. Then whatever information you enter is uploaded to Evermind’s server, and it is all synchronized.

Next cool thing is - the basic service is free of charge! If you decide that you are really going to use this tool seriously and want to save a lot of data, their premium service only costs $5 a month or $45 per year.

Next cool thing - all of this information is indexed and searchable! You can create multiple notebooks. So let’s say you are writing a book. You can create one notebook that contains everything you want to save about your book. Character names, dialogue, even snapshots of people you want to model your characters after. You can upload this using your iPhone (I think other smartphones work too, but I haven’t worked on that aspect yet) and it will be waiting for you when you get back to your home office.

Let’s say you are at a friend’s house, or an internet cafe, and this amazing idea strikes you. You can use any computer on the internet to access your information, even without the basic program installed! This is simply a really great application and I am all signed up. 

Check it out here:  http://www.evernote.com

Be sure to watch their demo video. There are still some features I am trying to figure out, but what I have figured out already makes this a killer app!

I’m a photo nut and actually do some freelance photography on the side. So I keep up with the latest news in photography. My camera offers 10 megapixal images, which is considered enough to enlarge a photograph to billboard sizes and is used by professional photographers. Canon recently came out with a new model of the Rebel that offers 12 MP. I personally don’t think there is much of a difference between 10 and 12 MP.

But now I have read about a new camera from Denmark called the Phase One A/S P 65+ digital back camera system. This baby offers a whopping 36, yes 36! megapixal resolution. For a moment my heart sank, because I just dropped a good amount of money on a new Nikon D80 digital SLR camera. I figured this camera would last for several years, maybe even the rest of my life. When I heard about a 36MP camera and compared it to my measly 10MP camera, I thought maybe I bought too soon. But I’m okay - it turns out that this new camera STARTS at $39,900. Yes, almost $40 thousand dollars for a camera. That doesn’t even include a lens! I don’t think I will be buying one any time soon.

I try to be considerate of other cultures. But sometimes you run across something where you have to shake your head and wonder how our species has survived for as long as it has.

The latest news is that the Iranian Parliament is presently debating whether bloggers who establish weblogs and websites promoting corruption, prostitution and apostasy (heresy or abandonment of religion) should face the death penalty. Makes you appreciate our freedom of speech here in the USA, doesn’t it?

Hopefully, their decision will only affect bloggers living in Iran. But if I suddenly go missing, please contact the U.S. Embassy in Iran to inquire as to whether I might be in custody. Thank you.

Follow this link for more commentary and links on the subject.

photo credit: Theo R

I live in Northern California, just one county south of the area where there are hundreds of forest fires. These fires were created by lightning strikes and the forecast is for a possibility of more to come. Ironically, these are “dry” thunderstorms, meaning that they form rapidly and the rain never hits the ground. So we don’t even get that little silver lining of water.

Some good friends of mine live in the town of Paradise. Well, Paradise almost burned and they had to evacuate. Fortunately, their home was spared. Hopefully it will remain safe.

The reason for the title of this post is that there is so much particulate matter floating in the air that it looks like Los Angeles during a bad smog day. Everything has a tint of orange to it, and if you have any respiratory problems, you are warned to stay indoors. Yesterday, as the sun was setting, I was shocked to see a blood red sun. It felt like I was on a moon looking at Mars. I’ve seen Harvest Moons, and I’ve seen eclipses. I have watched comets go by and counted falling stars during meteor showers. But nothing celestial has ever hit that hidden primordial part of my soul like seeing that blood red sun. It was eerie!

Unfortunately, by the time I noticed it, I didn’t have time to get home to my camera and I missed the opportunity to photograph it. But guess what I’ll be doing today as the sun gets lower in the sky. It may have been a fluke thing, but if it happens again I will post a photo of it. 

UPDATE: No red sun, so I missed out on a great photo opportunity.