This is for Madame Zoltar!

Yes Madame Z we have a special one just for you. I was wondering is this the Ex Mr. Zoltar? If so we know where he is and I will let you know. A family member has found his so you can start to get your child support again for Junior. Here is a picture of him-


Four for Fridays

Hello everyone and welcome back! It has been a tough week for me.... It's a wonder that I'm surviving it. Looking forward to leaving the madness behind and getting some rest, Anyways, your questions...

1) What subject are you better at, math or English?

2) What are your plans for Thanksgiving?

3) What is the farthest you have traveled to spend Thanksgiving with?

4) Who is the funniest person you know?

Enjoy your weekend!

Open Blog - Friday


Smile away, you chubby-cheeked chubby cheeks.

"Mother says girl shot in head 'winning the battle'"

From The Journal Times.com:



"MILWAUKEE — Four-year-old Ja’Nyela Marsh-Highshaw is awake and even communicating after suffering a gunshot wound to her head on Nov. 5.

“'They’re calling it a miracle,' mother Janikka Marsh said from the intensive care unit at Children’s Hospital of Wisconsin in Milwaukee on Wednesday evening, Nov. 19. 'Her neurosurgeon said she’s winning the battle.'

"Ja’Nyela was smiling, using sign language and breathing on her own. Her medically induced coma ended Saturday, Nov. 15, and her feeding and breathing tubes had been removed on Tuesday, Nov. 18.

“'It’s been trying,' Marsh said. 'It’s been a test of faith and I hope we both pass.'”

Read more:  http://journaltimes.com/news/local/mother-says-girl-shot-in-head-winning-the-battle/article_cd4d62db-ff6f-519d-b830-40c29190c2d5.html


God bless Ja’Nyela.  What a nightmare.  A 4-year-old is sitting on grandpa's lap when bullets rip through the house, one of them striking her in the head.

What the hell is the matter with us?  Why do monsters keep popping up all over the place?

Unfortunately, the 5-year-old girl shot in the head in Milwaukee didn't make it.

I don't want to be part of this world.

Wednesday, November 19, 2014

Seeing In the Infrared: The Seek Thermal Camera

I have neglected this blog for a while, but vow to do better! And I have a really fun entry today.
Infrared cameras have been around a long time but have always been very expensive. Even a low cost Flir camera starts at about $1000. I have had the opportunity to borrow infrared cameras for work and have always enjoyed playing with them and wanted one for myself.
Earlier this year, Seek Thermal announced a new camera that attaches to your cell phone (both Android and IOS) for $200. It looked promising and I decided to take a chance and order one from Amazon. 
The first thing I will say it it took a while. They were overwhelmed with orders and it was backordered for several weeks. Part of the reason I ordered from Amazon is they won't charge you credit card until the product ships (some people complained they ordered from Seek directly and their credit cards were immediately charged even though the camera was backordered). 
My camera finally arrived on Monday. I downloaded the app for my cell phone (free), plugged in the camera and it took right off giving me infrared images. As you can imagine, the first thing you do is take a selfie.
img_thermal-1107409294You can clearly see warmer and cooler parts of my face. It's hard to take a selfie since the camera points away from you! The resolution of the camera is pretty low...only about 32,000 pixels (compare to many megapixels for modern cameras). However, that is normal for infrared cameras to have a much lower resolution and some of the entry level Flilr cameras have resolutions of under 5,000 pixels (such as the Flir E4 which starts at $995) so I would say they are doing pretty good for the price point.
When I got home, of course the cats were instantly the subject of pics. They both have cold noses.
img_thermal1550530536img_thermal992005676
A picture of my television and entertainment center. I believe you can tell where the LCDs are located behind the screen from the heat signature. The big heat source beneath the television is my stereo receiver and the DVR is on the shelf below that.
img_thermal-1910200754
I went outside. The camera works in the dark of course since it detects infrared instead of visible light. You can tell the difference between the lower level of my townhouse which is exposed brick versus the second story that has siding.
img_thermal1302672591
Last night I went to Jersey Mike's subs here in Tucson since I didn't have time to go home for dinner. Couldn't resist snapping a photo of the grill. I believe that is meat for cheesesteaks on the grill. Looks like the one on the left will be done first!
img_thermal-745333136I have been playing with it. I have managed to see footprints in the infrared and can tell if someone has been sitting in a chair recently. You can also use the camera to measure temperatures of objects. I have used this feature but not done any testing to see how accurate the readings are. 
Two minor issues with the camera. I find that if you bump the camera while it is plugged in, it is easy to jostle it enough for the software to lose contact with it. It always finds the camera again quickly so that is not a major issue. The second issue is a software nag. When you plug the camera in, a pop up window appears and asks if you want to allow the phone to access the camera. There is a little box you can check that says always allow this connection. I check that box but it always shows up again and asks the same question every time I connect the camera. Hopefully this will be fixed in a future software release. 
The camera will record video as well. However, the refresh rate is only 9Hz so the video will not be very smooth. Again, I have found this true even with the $1000 (or more) IR cameras so you have to pony up a pretty penny to get around this!
Overall, my first impressions are positive andI hope to play with it for a long time! I will take it with me when observing/photographing outside so I have something to entertain myself with while my camera clicks away.
The other issues I should mention is with the iPhone version. According to Seek's facebook page, Apple has not approved it for use with the iPhone so shipments of the iPhone model are on hold currently and people waiting for that version are not happy. It looks like they are almost caught up with the backlog of orders for the Android version.
You definitely can't beat the price...this is the first time a decent IR camera has been available at this cost and I look forward to seeing what people can do with it!
Reprinted with permission from the Half-Astrophysicist Blog. 

Dear Madame Zoltar

Hello, my frozen delights!  How are you?  I almost went back into the house when I first left and felt the temperature and winds today.  My Lord, I’m not ready for this.  Below zero wind chills in November – ack.  Someone sober up Mother Nature or tip the planet in the right direction or plug the hole in the ozone or whatever, but set things right.  Everyone use your ice dispensers to send ice to the artic and sub arctic where the ice packs are melting.  They should set up snow making machines there and not turn them off until things are right.

Our glorious and vaunted Green Bay Packers dismantled the Philadelphia Eagles last week.  Now they face the hated Minnesota Vikings, this Sunday, November23, at noon, at Vikings Stadium, covered by FOX.  (I haven’t had the location right for a number of these.  Better double-check with THB.)  May the Packers pound the Minnesota Vikings into dust.

In the Irregular Football League, Mr. OrbsCorbs’ Orbliterators continue to duke it out with my Screaming Psychics for last place.  The Half- Astrophysicists continue to dominate the league.  (Personally, I think Mr. hale-bopp has scientist friends working on his team.  They break it all down to numbers, and then feed those into a supercomputer and out pops a list for his roster.)

Did you hear that Charles Manson (80) and some 26-year-old idiot are supposed to get married?  They took out a marriage license.  Serial killer Manson never should have been allowed to live this long.  In days of yore, he would be drawn and quartered buy four horses, one attached to each appendage, pulling in opposite directions.  A serial killer.  A woman 54 years his younger.

Instead, what we get is another media circus in the carnival of life.  Insult after insult to our intelligence.  Maybe they can get Manson a TV show.  Everyone gets rich!  Hurray!

Tsk, tsk, so sorry for my outburst there.  What’s happened to our country?

Hey, don’t be a dickhead when driving in the winter.  Clean all of your windows of snow.  Your exterior lights, too.  Slow down when driving.  Allow yourself extra time.  Be extra vigilant for kids playing in the snow.

Thank you all for reading my blog today.  I think it’s supposed to warm up as the week progresses.  Ha, ha, ha!  We’ll probably get a polar vortex and a foot of snow.

Stay warm, my dears.  I love you all,
Madame Zoltar®

Tuesday, November 18, 2014

"Fucking Okies, I swear….."


http://knuckledraggin.com/2014/11/fucking-okies-ill-bet-money/

Now, don't go taking things too seriously, OKIE.  I saw the heading and picture and immediately thought of you and your barnyard neighbors. 

Cold is relevant!

It is 52 degrees right now in Southwest Florida.  To me, this is the equivalent of your ten degree days!  On top of that, there is WIND!  Add, a bit of rain and it is just plain miserable!  I'm frozen!

Now, if I were smart, I'd hang around here for a day or so and the temps would nice again.  You know, about 78 degrees, approaching the low 80s by the weekend.  Nope, we are heading to SC where the low was 19 degrees this morning.  Average for the next week will be in the 40s.  Oh, heavenly days, what were we thinking!


What's on the Menu!

I know I have not posted any recipes in a long time I am so sorry about that. I was suppose to get a couple from my mom when she came down to Milwaukee last week to help me out yes she forgot again. I found one that sounds so good from a magazine that came in the mail. It is my daughters magazine too. I picked this recipe because of the cold weather we are having. Here is the recipe-

                                              Asian Chicken Noodle Bowl

1- medium onion
2- carrots peeled, sliced in coin shape
3- garlic cloves chopped
2 1/2 lbs boneless skinless chicken thighs cut in cubes
1-20 ounce can of pineapple in juice
3 tablespoons cornstarch
1/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup vinager
1/4 cup ketchup
3 tablespoons soy sauce
1- red pepper chopped
1/4 lb snow peas sliced
4 cups cooked rice noodles
1/3 cup toasted almonds

Drain pineapple and keep 1/4 cup of juice. Put onion, carrots, garlic, chicken in slow cooker. Mix pineapple juice, cornstarch, sugar vinegar, ketchup and soy sauce together very well and cover over chicken. Cook on low for six hours. The last thirty minutes add red peppers, snow peas and pineapple. Serve with cooked rice and toasted almonds.

I am going to try this I hope if anyone else tries this they will share how it was. 

Open Blog - Tuesday


Someone needs an attitude adjustment.

Monday, November 17, 2014

"Man who bungee jumped at Sheboygan flagpole sentenced to jail"

From JSOnline:



VASELINE......

This is what old people do for entertainment when they can't golf anymore!

Click here to watch Raiding Bird Feeder

This is scream to watch.....SER.



Testing Helmets

Oh my, this is something the Chicago Bears would do. And Congrats to them, they finally won a game yesterday after the throttling they received last week from the Pac.


Testing football helmets in 1912


Sunday, November 16, 2014

"Screaming Sweden"



This is humorous and kinda spooky at the same time.