Bravo Terry!

Terry, over at Nitpicker is breaking out the champagne, celebrating the completion of his degree. Drop in and add your voice to the congratulatory chorus!

Why aren't we hearing this question?

"So here we are, two years after the fall of Baghdad, and the President still has no plan to get us out of Iraq. When does Mr. Bush intend to start doing his job?"

Speaking Sense About Iraq

Please go and read Representative Murtha's statement on Iraq.

As I had noted in a comment at Nitpicker,

My take has always been that, having created this mess, we should stay as long as we are doing more good than harm (not that I could quantify what that means, mind you). But I had no better solution then "walk away" when it was clear we were causing more harm than good.

Murtha's plan makes more sense than anything else I have heard proposed. My take is that initially the Administration will continue to orchestrate attacks on Murtha (and anyone else putting forward an alternative to the status quo). But, once they start catching enought flack from the congress-critters up for re-election in '06, BushCo will roll out something remarkably similar and demand that we bow before their brilliance.

Lies and the lying liars?

Let me join skippy in noting for the world that there is a terrorist sympathizer in our midst who has called for evil-doers to destroy the Coit Tower, which Bryan quite accurately describes as "a monument to the heroic firefighters who battled the multiple conflagrations that occurred after the San Francisco earthquake of 1906 and continue to risk their lives."

(OK, I know that I am doing just what Bryan implores us not to. However, I never had any will power anyway. Besides, how else are we to fight back against those terrorist sympathizers?)

High-Speed Video

If you like the bullet photo, you should also know about high-speed video (HSV) cameras. There are many out there, from many different manufacturers. But, most modern HSV cameras can give you 1,000 megapixel images per second, and can store up to (typically) 1 to 10 seconds of imagery.

If you need to go faster, you can get in excess of 100,000 frames per second, but at reduced resolution, perhaps 256x64 pixels. While the resolution sounds low, it is still enough to make out what is going on for most applications that require such high frame rates.

You can find some examples created by Gene O'Connell and his team at Tech Imaging.

Follow the link for "Demo" and a window will pop up with some cool high-speed video footage. (If it looks like the movie is not playing, click the "->>" button a few times to increase the playback rate.)

If you need high-speed imaging services, talk to the folks at Tech Imaging.

Oh, all right. If you need insanely fast high-speed imaging, check out DRS's page of "Ultra-High Speed Digital Images". The "Terminal Ballistics" section (second from the bottom) has some extraordinary stuff. While you are there, poke around the "Photo Gallery" links to the left.

Their Imacon 200 can run as fast as 200 million images per second (that is not a typo). Of course, you only get a maximum of 16 images, so it's all in the timing.

A "Thank You" to our Veterans

I have long believed that we are quick to take for granted the men and women in our armed forces who strive to keep us safe in our beds. The fact that we can take their work for granted is a testimony to their overall success.

So, let me extend my personal thanks to all who have served (or are serving) under our nation's flag. In particular, let me publicly thank those vets whose blogs I follow regularly; Terry, Bryan, and Daniel (who, alas, is no longer blogging, but is still serving for his second time in Iraq as a 'stop lossed' soldier).

And finally, my deepest thanks and respect go to my father, who, as a 20-year-old second lieutenant, led his platoon through a long night in 1945 upon a height they called Coconut Hill, on the island of Cebu in the Philippines. I cannot comprehend the occurrences of that night. I only know that 60 years later the nightmares continue to visit you on some nights, and that you can still weep for those who died.

Bush in Freefall

Life has intruded upon Blogging, but, for my hypothetical audience, check out this amusing bit of Flash animation.

I don't think the "Guarantee" covers this

But, it can be a lot of fun to take photos like this one. Terry (over at Nitpicker) kindly pointed people here to my blog, so I took a couple of photos of an Ace of Diamonds and sent them to him.

If you want to learn more about how to take your own high-speed photos, check out Dr. Loren Winter's site at HiViz.

The key to a good bullet photo is the flash. This was taken with an EG&G model 549 Microflash. These strobes (sad to say) are no longer manufactured.