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rocketyak  ·  2356 days ago  ·  link  ·    ·  parent  ·  post: Mars rover Opportunity goes dormant amid huge dust storm

Coming out of the woodwork after being 6ft under in rover work for the last several months.

I think you meant Opportunity in the first paragraph; Curiosity will be fine =) I drove her yesterday. We're re-tracing our steps to go do more drilling, so as long as we can localize ourselves the impact of the dust storm right now on that mission are minimal.

Oppy has -some- chance; she's in a low power state now, but if the ambient conditions are right (not too cold, Tau goes back down sooner than later) then even if she does turn off she has the ability to wake back up.

rocketyak  ·  2495 days ago  ·  link  ·    ·  parent  ·  post: Pubski: January 24, 2018

Right? I'm sure I was spending way too much time with my little screen. Ooops.

So now I've got a flip phone. I'd forgotten how satisfying it is to hang up calls by closing the phone. Plus hitting the keys a million times to text = just saying 'screw it' and calling people. I can see this being a good change already.

That feeling when the square footage of my $2k/month apartment is only slightly more than the cost of your mortgage. Oof. Who wants to help me move JPL to the midwest on a big crawler...

rocketyak  ·  2498 days ago  ·  link  ·    ·  parent  ·  post: Homebrewing Raspberry-Apple [hard] Cider, Part 1

Since I can't drink beer (celiac) I've been considering doing some homebrew ciders at some point. Really interested to see how yours goes! What's the long term timeline after step 3?

rocketyak  ·  2497 days ago  ·  link  ·    ·  parent  ·  post: Pubski: January 17, 2018

    I think driving any of these all-electric vehicles is going to change your perception of driving, from "all the comforts of home, in the car", to transportation as utilitarian need.

Interesting, and that makes sense considering range is the name of the game with EVs right now and weight from extra BS = less range.

I wonder though how that will change when widespread use of autopilot enters the game, since my assumption is that autonomy is more likely to show up in all the EVs/hybrid/tech-y cars before the gassy ones (totally talking out of the air here). Once you remove the passenger from driving, it seems like the trend would go towards making the interior more home-y rather than less. I guess it makes the most sense to think two branches will emerge: one cheap utilitarian set of vehicles, and a set of luxury ones.

Those new Civics keep popping up in my life lately as a lot of my friends and family are getting them and loving it. I got to drive one over the weekend and yeah. If they could stuff a battery in the bottom I'd trade in my Prius for it yesterday.

rocketyak  ·  2505 days ago  ·  link  ·    ·  parent  ·  post: Pubski: January 17, 2018

What's your opinion on the Bolt? Might be able to fit a roof rack on that.

rocketyak  ·  2505 days ago  ·  link  ·    ·  parent  ·  post: Pubski: January 17, 2018

Really sorry to hear =(

rocketyak  ·  2589 days ago  ·  link  ·    ·  parent  ·  post: Pubski: October 25, 2017

Yes! I'm going as a penguin, fiance is going as a squid. We're weird, but at least we found each other ha.

rocketyak  ·  2589 days ago  ·  link  ·    ·  parent  ·  post: Pubski: October 18, 2017

No worries - busy week for me too. Hmm I'll try this and see what happens. I'm starting the cultures over tomorrow since I threw out everything from the botched batch, but for the next week I'll try this and see if it helps. Also you've inspired me to to screw around with some pH strips in food this weekend, ha. Thanks!

rocketyak  ·  2589 days ago  ·  link  ·    ·  parent  ·  post: Pubski: October 18, 2017

Hmmm this is interesting. I guess it just dries things out thereby firming it up? I wonder how this differs from usual gelling.

rocketyak  ·  2589 days ago  ·  link  ·    ·  parent  ·  post: This Land Is No Longer Your Land

My Morning Jacket did a remake of the song with the old? or maybe just similar? lyrics. I love this version though.

rocketyak  ·  2595 days ago  ·  link  ·    ·  parent  ·  post: Pubski: October 18, 2017

Yeah, it just didn't look any different than it did right after I mixed in the cultures. No gelling and (surprisingly since it's not homogenized) not much layer separation. No idea what the pH might have been since I was a bit afraid to taste it since it wasn't doing what I expected.

My method

- Bring a quart of goat milk to just below a boil in a dutch oven

- Put the top on and let it cool off the burner for 15 mins (or until lukewarm - 15 mins worked for me)

- Whisk in 1/4 cup yogurt <- my issue may have been here since the recipe I used the first time around was with a half cup, and we just didn't leave enough of the last batch

- Put the lid back on, and put it in the oven with a light on for 4-6 hours (check at 4 for gelling, my first batch was good at 4.5 so I figured a cap of 6 hours would start getting too sour for me)

- Put it in the fridge once finished.

Any suggestions for a culinary pH meter? I hadn't considered that as a gate check for yogurt making, but it makes a lot of sense. Not sure what else I can use it for, though I'm tempted to just start poking all kinds of things and get some food science data going ha.

And haha right!

rocketyak  ·  2595 days ago  ·  link  ·    ·  parent  ·  post: Pubski: October 18, 2017

Continuing my streak of mind-melting drill sequence reading/organizing. At least things make sense now that I have a better handle on the macros, plus I found out this fantastic piece of 2003 NASA history exists. Came for the rover drifting, stayed for the algorithms.

Goat milk didn't work very well for yogurt... maybe I didn't use enough starter? Maybe the different structure of goat milk protein means it needs to boil/incubate for longer? ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ The tasty, sometimes very stinky, experiment continues. If anyone has yogurt making tips I'm all ears!

Also picked out our wedding colors so yay for progress.

rocketyak  ·  2595 days ago  ·  link  ·    ·  parent  ·  post: Pubski: October 11, 2017

Thanks! Definitely living a dream.

rocketyak  ·  2595 days ago  ·  link  ·    ·  parent  ·  post: Pubski: October 18, 2017

Good luck! Sounds like you've got a handle on it. Start slow and get enough fuel and you'll be fine =)

rocketyak  ·  2595 days ago  ·  link  ·    ·  parent  ·  post: Pubski: October 18, 2017

Ooo good luck! Marathons are addicting. Do you have a fuel plan? Also body glide. Everywhere. Especially if there will be any humidity or precipitation - it will make life more comfortable around mile 23.

Also if you're food motivated like me, it might help to have someone at the finish holding your favorite dessert haha. It's literally all I think about the last couple miles.

Hope it goes well! I'm sure it will be beautiful. Also have fun in S. Korea =)

    It's pretty bizarre that it charges you for a phone charger but doesn't hit you for gas.

This weirdly glazes over most of the finances involved with driving, including almost bi-weekly oil changes, and the trap where you can get stuck near a university doing minimum fare drives for two hours only making ~$5/hr. Also the star rating is unrealistic as most people will give 4 stars when they're satisfied not realizing penalties for drivers start at 4.6 and below (or at least they used to). At least now people can tip; that was a huge reason I made the switch from Uber to Lyft and still exclusively use Lyft when I need a ride.

    Also, "a passenger slammed the shit out of your car so we suspended you from driving." I'd really like to see the footnote on that one.

I drove for Uber and then Lyft for a few months after grad school and literally never heard of that. Maybe it's a footnote for leased cars that didn't apply to me?

rocketyak  ·  2605 days ago  ·  link  ·    ·  parent  ·  post: California Wine Country is burning

Yeah they can move very quickly; especially around mountains due to wind effects. Plus wildfires that get large enough tend to influence the atmosphere around them (i.e. coupled fire atmosphere dynamics), making their movement even harder to predict. Though the research in this area is promising! Bonus: research in the journal of combustion which is just a fun place to browse.

I was living within 2 miles of the Sand Fire last year, and it was insane and terrifying how quickly the fire line moved. Nothing like laying in bed and seeing a fire-tornado on the ridge out your window. Luckily I had a go bag by the door, so leaving quickly was easy, and the fire didn't reach my place. Same thing happened again a couple months ago when the La Tuna fire was within 2 miles of where I moved to, ha. This state is determined to almost burn me down.

rocketyak  ·  2611 days ago  ·  link  ·    ·  parent  ·  post: A few of my thousands of pictures from Nepal

    How are Pokhara and Kathmandu recovering after the earthquakes in 2015? I heard there are still lots of ongoing problems.
Pokhara didnt seem to be hit as badly as Kathmandu, the surrounding valley, and Bandipur. Repairs are in the works, but it's super super slow. Most of the locals we talked to linked it to corruption in the government, where money that should be going into road repairs, fixing older buildings, etc is going into people's pockets. I'm sure things will get put back together (it mostly was short of some of the world heritage sites taking an understadably long time to regroup and rebuild) but it will be a while. The flooding near Chitwan earlier this year didnt help with disaster relief funding, though from what I saw Chitwan at least has mostly recovered.

We never made it to Nagarkot! Next time. We found our swing outside Bandipur, and played on another on a hillside just outside Kathmandu. I do love those swings though... how many weird looks wpuld I get for building one in LA next to my apartment? Haha. Did you get to see/ride one of the wooden mini ferris wheels? Those things can go FAST! So much fun.

rocketyak  ·  2612 days ago  ·  link  ·    ·  parent  ·  post: Pubski: September 27, 2017

FYI =)

rocketyak  ·  2613 days ago  ·  link  ·    ·  parent  ·  post: Pubski: September 27, 2017

Haha sorry! I will when I get home tomorrow. Having a hard time getting pics uploaded between the slow internet and only having mobile. I agree; Nepal is awesome!! Especially getting to explore it with a local. I could stay in Pokhara forever. Have you been to Nepal?

rocketyak  ·  2653 days ago  ·  link  ·    ·  parent  ·  post: In Seattle, people are protesting monuments to the confederacy - and communism

Seconded! Anyone interested in space or space history could easily spend a day here. Loved it!

Sorry, this comment is private.
rocketyak  ·  2693 days ago  ·  link  ·    ·  parent  ·  post: New Pictures from Juno's Closest Flyby of Jupiter's Great Red Spot

I wonder how much of the Algebraist was inspired by that - their aliens and settings are painfully similar.

rocketyak  ·  2694 days ago  ·  link  ·    ·  parent  ·  post: Gluten and Communion: What’s a celiac to do?

Bordeaux or Chardonnay? I'm trying to figure out what will go best with heat.

rocketyak  ·  2695 days ago  ·  link  ·    ·  parent  ·  post: Gluten and Communion: What’s a celiac to do?

Haha! Do we get our own Celiac layer of hell? I'm imagining tables and tables of cardboard-like pizza crusts and dry, crumbly toast. Mmmmm

rocketyak  ·  2696 days ago  ·  link  ·    ·  parent  ·  post: Mountaineering in Alaska, 2009

I think just lack of circulation. I had frozen/numb feet for a few parts of the trip (especially as we hiked off glacier in the 3rd-ish week) from standing in icy water, and ended up with a tiny yet convenient bit of nerve damage from it. Mostly loss of pain sensation - which is nice while my fiance and I take dance lessons! Haha.

And ooo those sound like fun! Are they fairly close together to do a loop? I don't live near there, but it would be fun to make a trip out of them. They look beautiful! Especially in the fall (or at least from what I can see on google images ha).

rocketyak  ·  2696 days ago  ·  link  ·    ·  parent  ·  post: Cows

My mom is similar, but rather than a cow phase, it was a rooster phase. I've noticed many of my friends' mothers also went through an intense, obscure farm animal phase.

I wonder why it seems like so many mothers go through a phase like this. Also I'm curious to see if I wake up in 10 years with the urge do re-decorate the place with goats or something. Hmm.

rocketyak  ·  2753 days ago  ·  link  ·    ·  parent  ·  post: Nature Soundmap

Love it! Found a new soundtrack for work ;) Also I got a huge rush of nostalgia when I played sounds near where I grew up (living 2,000 miles away now).

rocketyak  ·  2760 days ago  ·  link  ·    ·  parent  ·  post: There are diseases hidden in ice, and they are waking up

I'm curious now - does the age of these pathogens affect modern humans' susceptibility to them? I wonder if there's some sort of function where, as you move back in time, diseases are easier to fight off because our immune systems recognize them and their offspring, however after a certain point the old disease is different enough from its modern counterpart that it's basically new to us all over again. Think like the great x 1000 grandparent of the modern strain of rhinovirus. Would/can our immune systems make that connection and fight accordingly?