Leap Day

A post to save this day for posterity.

While not on the same level as Y2K, or even the (bonus) Leap Day of 2000, it seems that United Airlines' Easy Check-in ("Mr. Chicken") kiosks failed today.

The last time I actually had to be on-call for work was over eight years ago, in late December, 1999. With luck, I should be happily retired by the time Y2K+38 rolls around. Or even better, I might be called out of retirement on an exorbitant contract for specialized skills in ancient 32-bit systems...

Starstruck

Q. Which is the largest city in the world without a planetarium?
A. Probably Toronto...

Gas Giants

To top it all off, the University of Toronto is now shutting down the historic David Dunlap Observatory. Granted, the facility has limited scientific value now, surrounded by the big city. Let's just hope the university doesn't completely sell out to developers. We've already lost the Canadarm in recent months. We could really use a proper, dedicated Space Museum.

"Let's go burn down the observatory so this will never happen again!" - Moe Szyslak, The Simpsons

Adler Planetarium

Once again, Chicago just seems to do things better. Maybe all we need is a dictatorial, despotic mayor.

Copernicus

Without a local option, I've been wanting to visit the newer Hayden Planetarium, in New York City, but the Adler in Chicago will have to do for now.

Liberty Bell 7

One thing about being in the U.S. is that sometimes, you get to see the original equipment.

Ecliptic

All Rights Reserved

Hmmm. Already a second photo credit. Except this one didn't come with a request form for permission.

At least there's attribution. Not that I would be looking for compensation or anything. I wouldn't even have noticed if not for Technorati.

It's also not like I booked a studio, expensive models, or rented equipment. Anyone with a camera walking by the same area (or one of the other 400 across the country) could easily have taken the same photo.

Still, this feels wrong to me. IANAL (or a professional photographer either), but I assumed that I retain all rights to my photos by default. I did consciously set my Flickr licensing to "None (All rights reserved)" after all. Had I been asked, I would gladly, and freely, have allowed this photo to be used with attribution, like the other one.

I'd just like to know about it. The Web makes it too easy to "re-use" someone else's "work" and people seem to have assumed that if it's out there in the wild for all to see, it's public domain.

That brings up the issue of taking photos of someone else's artwork. Do they not also retain the original copyright? Even if the piece is in a very public place?

Earthbound... Unbound by Ingo Maurer

Eclipsed

It's not that easy to take a photo of the moon. When it's near the horizon, and appears to be much larger than usual, the camera proves that's definitely an optical illusion. However, to see any detail requires serious telephoto, even with a 1.6x DSLR crop factor.

Regular Moon

One good rule of thumb is to set your camera aperture to f/11, and the exposure to 1/ISO (e.g. 1/100 s for ISO 100). This seems to work well, but only for a full moon.

Umbra

While a lunar eclipse is the poor country cousin of the solar, at least you don't need special glasses, or to travel to Mongolia to see it.

Totality

It's a bit of a struggle to get the exposure (and even focus) just right, in order to capture fine detail, as well as the proper reddish colour. Probably need some better equipment. With the next lunar eclipse not due for another 32 months, I have time to save up...

Normality

Family Day

It's an unusual, but pleasant, feeling to have a long weekend in the middle of winter. Too bad we lost a floater holiday in the summer to get it.

Unfortunately, while still fighting off the remnants of a nasty cold, it is not a good time to be visiting family. Instead, I get to put my new travelling companion through its paces. I like it!

Year of the Rat

It's Chinese New Year, and I'm stuck in Ottawa.

Singha by Kla Kitburi (Thailand)

So, it's Beaver Tails for dinner (just who would actually order garlic and cheese?), before hitting the ice.

BeaverTails

A true local tradition, along with Winterlude.

Bal de Neige

There is now apparently some dispute over who has the longest skating rink in the world - Ottawa or Winterpeg. The Rideau Canal is hard to beat, even if recent rainy weather has made the ice conditions poor.

Federation

I still need to get to the Carnaval de Québec some day, and see Bonhomme in person.

Québec 400

Not many places in North America can claim to be in their fourth century.

Welcome to Our World by Mark Davis (USA)

Just as the "ice legs" start to come back, the skating muscles (especially in the back) start to give out, and it's time to go back to the hotel and warm up.

Bank Street Bridge