Category Archives: Video (misc)
DJI Avata (George Kopp)
The virtual reality thing (as I understand it) hold no appeal for me. But I would be willing to strap on some goggles for a drones-eye-view of some interesting place. This is already a thing, yes?
My friend George recently got his hands on the DJI Avata, a pricey ($1388) little drone you fly with goggles and a joystick.
Reminiscent of William Gibson’s simstim. “…recorded sensoriums, like racing a black Fokker ground-effect plane across the Arizona mesa tops; diving the Truk Island preserves.”
Invisible Fence
For many years we’ve had an Invisible Fence surrounding our yard (and a bit more). We managed to cut that wire while digging the new well. Today Edward came out to repair the fence so it was a good time to reposition a little to avoid similar issues in the future. Edward’s trenching gizmo made quick work of it.
74
Today is my 74th birthday. I’ve never been one for big celebrations. I struggle to see anything special about the day. A cultural thing, perhaps… like Valentine’s Day or Memorial Day. I thought I’d be wiser by this time, depending on how one defines wisdom.
When I think about the future these days, it tends to be in years rather than decades. Mortality and death are no longer abstractions. For the last dozen years I’ve viewed god and the universe through the lens of Buddhism and zen. I’ve concluded the self and free will are illusions. In short, this is It. William Gibson said it nicely in All Tomorrow’s Parties:
“He, like everyone else, is exactly where, exactly what, exactly when he is meant to be. It is the Tao.
PS: The clip below was floating around, unattached, in the media library and this seemed like a good place to park it.
What the birds see (George Kopp)
My buddy George has been playing with drones for about eight years. (You can see some of his amazing video here, here and here.) In 2015 he got his drone snagged in a very tall tree while shooting some video of our place. So I was a little surprised when he agreed to come back and shoot some video of our recently expanded homestead.
As you might imagine, the technology has gotten a lot better in the last half dozen years and George has gotten even better at flying the things. The video below runs right at 2:30.
This was shot from an altitude of about 400 feet so the drone was just a black dot but the quality of the video was even better than what I’m streaming here.
I love trees. I love being surrounded by them. And I’ve tromped around our acreage over the years so I know there’s a bunch of them. But it took this birds eye view to give me a real sense of just how many trees surround us.
Trump interview
Why you need two dogs
Reply
You ‘look’ like a dog but you don’t ‘smell’ like a dog
Two good things about winter
A good fire and a good dog. I’m not a winter/cold weather person. I like it HOT. But I do enjoy a good fire. Add a sleeping pup and it’s as good as it gets.
