More Arnold pics

Due to numerous requests, here's one at 27 days of age:

James Webb Space Telescope to view Big Bang

Able to collect light nine times faster than the Hubble telescope, and mirrors more high-tech than the one you use in the morning, this looks very interesting.

The mirrors for the telescope have now been finished.

More info on the NASA site.

RSS feed available for this blog

I knew it was here somewhere, but I kept forgetting to look. If you point your RSS aggregator to http://paulinperth.blogspot.com/atom.xml, you will get every new post as it appears (depending on your RSS aggregator settings, of course). I put a logo on the side.

For more info on RSS, perform a search using Google, or go here.

Breadwinner and housewife

Mom and bub are back at home, both well. I have decided that it is a great privilege to be the breadwinner in the family. I get paid good money to do half the work in a day that my wife has to do. Dishes, laundry, mopping the floor, feeding the cat and fish, making beds, cleaning up after playing, the list goes on. And all the time spent on the road driving to shops, shops that are laid out like a horse's behind.

And my wife gets paid nothing to do all this work on a daily basis. Nice to get a bit of perspective every now and then...

A son is born

Unto me a son was born on 3 January 2007. He shall be known as Arnold, for he is strong as an Eagle. 2.38 kg (5 pounds 4 ounces), 44 cm tall, both he and mom healthy.

Matrox TripleHead2Go

It all began in October 2005. I visited South Africa, and saw Armand had a 19 inch LCD monitor at home. It was so much better than my 17 inch CRT...

At work I was running two 15 inch Dell LCDs, and with people joining, and everyone wanting to also have two monitors (great productivity enhancer in my line of work), I passed on my two 15 inchers, and had two new Dell 1907FP monitors on my desk at work.

This was just too much, of course, and thanks to eBay, I purchased one for home at a greatly reduced price.

Today that monitor lost its place of pride as my only monitor, and became monitor number 3. I have just received my two new 1907FPs, as well as the box of magic from Matrox.

Was it worth it? Oh yes. The immersive quality of having three screens full of VC view, with no impact on framerates, I am hooked. In fact, I am off to fly again now.

Oh , the top picture is me flying the FFS Van's RV7 over YPPH, and the bottom one the Aeroworx King Air B200 with most of the sub-panels permanently displayed in 2D mode. Cool.

All the things I did not write about

It has been some time. Good day to you all.

I have purchased a Line6 LD150 bass guitar amp. I can not use it to its full potential at home. On a setting of 3.5 I rattle the windows as well as the nearest brick wall, and thus I have never gone louder. I am very happy. Line6 makes the coolest gear.

Microsoft Flight Simulator X has been released. Since the shelf life is typically three years, versus most other games a few months at most, the software has to be designed for next-generation hardware. Meaning that current hardware battle to maintain good framerates. And old hardware (like what I have at home) get very bad framerates if you want too much detail out of the sim. But soaring simulation is magnificent, and since it happens away from busy commercial airports, I get mid-teen framerates. Very good. But if you really want good framerates, consider purchasing this Alienware machine.

I also purchased Need for Speed Underground 2 on eBay for AUD20 delivered, and am having a lot of fun with that.

I have been travelling a lot recently, and when I am home, my family, music, and flying comes before blogging.

Strangely enough, as I write this I am sitting in a hotel room, with lots of spare time on my hands for the evening. Ironic, is it not?

Paul the Chameleon

Last Monday morning I shaved off my moustache and goatee, and of course my hair has been growing for some time now. So I get to Perth airport this morning, and the lady refuses to give me my boarding pass. Because, according to her, I do not look anything like my passport photo.

Asks me if I have my driver's licence handy. Yes, and I present it. Inwardly laughing, as it will not help. I have had the same short hair and moustache for the last seven years. Eventually she decides that it is me, and I get my boarding pass.

Had a good chuckle about it in the lounge, and eventually arrived at Shanghai Pudong airport tonight. And lo and behold, they would not let me in to the country. Looked at me, looked at my passport, looked at me, looked at my passport. Asked how old the passport photograph was. Asked for some Australian ID. So I presented my driver's licence again. ANd both officers burst out laughing, as the licence and the passport look the same. But both look different to me.

Eventually they did let me in.

So, here's the deal: I decided to grow my hair into a pony tail again, which will be a three year project. And I decided that I will not care what the customers think or say about my hair. But having all this hassle getting in and out of countries is another story.

So, as my colleague said today, grow the moustache again...

2007 Lamborghini Murciélago LP640: More Horsepower on the Hoof

The following exerpt from the New York Times: "The LP designation refers to the engine’s mounting position (“longitudinale posteriore”) behind the two seats; 640 is the horsepower it makes in European specification. Because of slight changes to meet American emissions rules, the output in this country is slightly less, at 632 horsepower — akin to the difference between getting hit by a .44-caliber bullet or a .45; the wounds are pretty much the same size."

Classic!

Metrosexuals and Mark Latham

I am at a resort in Phuket, and had my first facial today, at the ripe old age of 37. I was mildly disappointed. Unlike a massage, I did not feel the earth move for me. Then again, it has taken many years to find out what type of massage I enjoy (very hard, try to make me scream in agony), so I guess I should not judge by a single experience.

Does my skin feel any softer and more radiant? No, not really.

So I might do it again, but I would much rather have a massage. Mark Latham would be proud. I am not a metrosexual. Now where did I leave my gel and mousse? Ahh, there it is. Next to my Gucci sunglasses.

Not!

Natural Born Killers

I am not speaking about the movie. I am speaking about my daughter's new pet. I have always been a dog person. I vaguely recall at one time thinking that I will never ever get a cat. But since we live in a unit, after the mice died of cancer, and the fish are not so good to play with, we decided on a cat.

And now I am a changed man. Caterina is six months old, black with white legs, and the predator instinct fascinates me.

After two days of sleeping under our bed, she now sleeps on the bed. And in the morning we get woken up with a miao to indicate she is hungry. After breakfast it is another miao, this time to indicate that she wants you to play with her. And if you ignore her, she can get quite grumpy.

My playing of course is actually something to keep her fit and powerful for catching her first bird one day. I throw her ball up the stairs. Yes, you read correctly, UP the stairs. She is up the stairs in a flash, but sadly she never brings the ball back to me. I have to go and collect it myself.

Or perhaps she is just very clever, and wants me to get some extra exercise...

Why the title then? Because everything she does is primal, all the playing, pouncing, biting and scratching is built in.

I read a few weeks ago them domesticated cats, when ferrel, can comfortably survive in the wild. I believe that. As long as they had enough time with their mothers as babies to learn the ropes, they will be hunters/predators for life.

And me? Well, my reaction times are getting faster as well. I still sometimes lose the reaction game, and do not pull the toy (or my hand) away fast enough. But other times I do.

The hard disk turns 50 years old

We take many things for granted in our lives. Computers are one of them. I acquired my first one in 1990, a 286 with an EGA graphics card. I kept the original keyboard until 2004, when my wife decided that she didn't like the typing action. Fine!

As I am sitting here today, typing away merrily on my Microsoft Natural keyboard, two Dell 1907FP screens staring back at me, 60Gb hard disk, 2Gb RAM, Pentium 2GHz Mobile(roughly 3 GHz), in a portable computer that weighs less than 3kg, lugging it all over the world, making my life easier, quicker, and more productive, spare a thought for where we came from.

Even in the short time I have been using computers, things have changed so much. I am reminded of something I say every now and then: "Technology may progress, but human nature remains the same". We may find more ingeneous ways to kill each other, and to find cures for certain ailments, but because we live in this sinful world, it takes a conscious decision to rise up above the ways of this world.

Luckily God planted in us a conscience, and whether you are a born again Christian or not, the Holy Spirit makes you aware of what is right, and what is wrong.

I think I might have gotten side-tracked there. Back to technology.

So where will we be in 50 years' time? I plan to still be alive, retired, spending time with grandchildren, hopefully have my own plane, and still medically legal to fly it, and computers will be worn as watches, with 3D air-based screens that you look at, think about changes, and the sensors in the watch-sized computer (which also shows the time, of course), types for you, or whatever.

And we will see half the retail stores we have now. Online auction sites like eBay will continue to grow, and many more businesses will sell stuff online only.

So you can measure the accuracy of my predictions in 50 years' time. But I suspect that this text might have been archived by then, never to be seen by another soul. But in 100 year's time, some journalist might be doing research, and finding it again. Who knows...

Another tribute from me

Michael Schumacher has announced his retirement at the end of this season from Formula1 driving. He will, however, remain with Ferrari in an as yet unannounced capacity. I have always been a fan, especially knowing what sort of personality it takes to drive a car to its absolute limit, without exceeding it. I know, because I am not such a man. I kept on thinking about the frailty of the human body, and braked just that little bit too early.

But the current season still has some time to go, and as Michael said, for now it is all about the championship.

Steve Irwin Obituary

One of my role models passed away this week, swimming with a ray in the Great Barrier Reef. A role model, because I wanted to be more of a nature-oriented person, not confined to my office job. Knowing about animals, how to treat them, how not to treat them. How to pick up a snake or scorpion without being bitten - basically all the things a man should know how to survive in the bush. And have some fun wrestling with crocodiles, and such like!

I will miss you, Steve. And my family's prayers will include your family for some time to come. The road ahead will be lonely for some time. Fortunately God sent the Holy Spirit as our comforter, and I hope/pray that Your comfort, which is above our understanding, will impact their lives.

God in politics

Interesting reading...

Ozzie, Ozzie, Ozzie

Oi, Oi, Oi!!!!!

As of last night, I am an Australian citizen. And this morning, I applied for my Australian passport. What a good feeling it is. I feel like I have been set free of bonds, now officially part of a free society. We had a great session at the Victoria Park Civic Centre, and we have a lovely town mayor. Must be the most friendly politician I have ever met.

And of course I can now vote. I also have to vote, but that does not bother me at all.

Pretty cool, all in all.

You are my sunshine

The following from Ekklesia: The Journey. Do you believe in miracles? I do. This is one of them. And it specifically appeals to me, since I have not been spending enough time speaking to our new baby, as I did with my daughter before she was born. Well, tonight it starts.

Silence of the hand

I can not remember when last I posted something here. And even today there is not much to say.

Except perhaps, that it is a beautiful day, lots of rain, lots of wind, and we need it - the rain, that is, not the wind. Life has been good since my last scribblings. And I can ask for little more.

Commercial Level Simulations have announced that they are in the process of modelling an Eclipse 500 light jet. I will be following that with interest.

Apologies to my regular readers, I will eventually get back on top of workload, family life, music, beta-testing, and a few other things...

God bless.

FSX Shared skies video

Found this on Avsim. It is a video featuring the new shared skies concept in FSX. Not a new concept, but a great video. 38 Mb .wmv file, for those that might find it a constraint.

John Patitucci on bass

Just for fun, here is John playing a classical Bach piece. I am deeply humbled. But, perfect practice makes perfect.



And here is a great solo from John as well.