Thinking about carbon detonation in white dwarf stars (Type IA supernova)

I was reading about white dwarf stars because I've been very interested in neutron stars and I was wondering about something slightly less dense but really still incredibly dense.  While I was reading about that I learned about "Carbon Detonation" in which enough matter falls into a white dwarf star that it causes a runaway fusion reaction and explosion, which we've observed / classified astronomically as type IA supernova.  Here's some thoughts I've had about carbon detonation.

homebrewing hard cider

I'm attempting to home brew a hard cider, starting with the simplest possible recipe. 
Ingredients:

Installing a sparkling* drain near our house

I installed a sparkling drain* near our house, here is a time-lapse video, description below the fold:

* you may be more familiar with the name French drain, however, that is only correct if it is made in France

Installing pavers at the end of the driveway

I always wanted to do a project with paving stones - I've always been inspired by ancient stonework, especially reading about ancient roman roads - so I decided to put a band of pavers down along the end of our driveway.

Cutting down a dead pine tree

I cut down a dead pine tree, took some live and time-lapse videos of it.

Sunset views from a 66' lift in Watertown, MA

I rented a lift to do some tree work, and took some pictures from it at its highest level during sunset.

Cutting down a black locust tree in our back yard that was dying / dead

We had a black locust tree that a couple years ago was late to have leaves, and then as the years went by only had leaves in one area of the tree.  A couple years go my good friend Nick and I did some work removing some of the branches, and it was a bit terrifying how heavy they were.  The tree appeared to show some new life after that, but the new life unfortunately just looks like the branches that sprout from a dead tree.  We made another attempt at removing it, this time got it down!  Full disclosure, there was a not of terror and caution using this kind of equipment (full, diesel powered lift; chainsaws, winches, etc.)

This picture completely fails to capture how thoroughly coated in sawdust we were.  We're wearing safety harnesses, which got surprisingly heavy as the day wore on.  I think they are only 5-10 lbs. so I can't imagine how people would wear 30-50 pounds of armor in medieval and ancient combat.  Or how modern soldiers pack a third of the body weight on a day's march!

Photoshopping our license plate to say "Tukkaa"

I just spent a good chunk of time photoshopping a picture of our car to spell out my friend's name, however I misspelled it "Tukkaa" instead of "Tuukka".  Because I'm ridiculous.  Photoshopped using the program GNU Image Manipulation Program (GIMP).

Possibly some pictures of rain squalls over Boston

Seeing what appear to be clouds going from more typical, higher clouds to the ground, I stopped to take a picture, thinking they might be squalls / rain.

Pictures of Spring 2019

Stuff I need to remember

I'll be editing this to update with stuff I need to remember.

2019-04-15:

pic.twitter.com/XY38dk9Zmg

— Goat Page (@goats_page) April 15, 2019

Random question from reading History of the Peloponnesian War by Thucydides

It took me several tries - several starts and stops - to get through "History of the Peloponnesian War" by Thucydides, but eventually I did and it was well worth it.  I really wanted to read the original source material before reading a more modern account.  That's not to decry the modern account which takes into account more sources etc. - I read "The Peloponnesian War" by Donald Kagan and enjoyed it a lot.  I've filled in some answers below using the modern infowebs / wikipedia.

Thoughts about Ghost in the Shell Stand Alone Complex, Season 1, Episode 12: “Tachikoma Runs Away; A Movie Director’s Dream - (Escape From)"

I recently found these thoughts I wrote down (sometime before 2010 I think) about an episode from Ghost in the Shell, Stand Alone Complex, Season 1, Episode 12:  “Tachikoma Runs Away;  A Movie Director’s Dream - (Escape From)"

The episode is in two parts, and I remember the first time I watched it I could not piece together the connection between the two parts, so I watched it again and kept thinking about it.  I eventually wrote down these notes.

Spoiler alert and plot details follow, but also if you're not familiar with Ghost in the Shell the original movie and/or the Stand Alone Complex series, it's probably not going to make much sense.  Apologies for the lack of background.

Amazing street art in Atlanta

In Atlanta for a conference and I happened to wander into a neighborhood with a lot of amazing murals on buildings.

Stars over and through reeds

I took some night photos of stars over some reeds.  All photos taken with 30s exposure, maximum aperture, on a tripod.  ISO was varied (200 - 1000) to adjust brightness.  In some pictures it appears that stars are shining through the reeds ...

This one captures the big dipper asterism/constellation over some reeds

Comparison of night and day photos Rushy Marsh Pond and the ocean

I wanted to understand the effects on the photos I took at night previously of shooting at night / in the snow compared to shooting during the day, so I went back to the same locations today and took pictures of Rushy Marsh Pond and the ocean, with roughly the same scenes.  The color difference is striking; I think it is due in large part to the cloud cover at night.  It would be good to take these night shots again on a clear, moonlit night (the moon is about 3/4 full) to confirm.

 

Photos of a dam from a plane landing in Montreal

I've always been fascinated during plane landings, marveling at the view of man made structures from a high altitude.  Luckily on this landing in Montreal we passed over a structure on the river - it might be a dam, I'm not sure.  I enjoyed taking pictures of it especially since the plane turned as we went by allowing me to see it from other angles.

3 AM photos of Rushy Marsh Pond and the Ocean

I woke up early and went for a walk with camera and tripod to take some at night pictures of a nearby pond (Rushy Marsh Pond) and the ocean near our house.  It was snowing increasingly hard, the sky was very cloudy, there was no moon visible, so it was fairly dark, but I was able to capture color images using 30 s exposure and maximum aperture opening.  The light was probably as diffuse as it can be.  It was amazing to me to see these color images, since to through my eyes the world around me was entirely shades of gray.

Looking from the road through trees at Rushy Marsh Pond

ginger mead, unpasteurized honey

2019-03-10: I decided to try an experiment of ginger-flavored mead; I did it on a 1-gallon scale rather than a full 5 gallons in case I don't like the flavor.  I know this is bad science but another variable I changed was I did not boil or pasteurize the honey - this is supposed to preserve the flavor of the honey.

Time lapse of stars aimed at Polaris 2019-02-08

Some more images and time-lapse video of the night sky, this time focusing / aiming towards Polaris, to directly observe the effect of the Earth's rotation on our view.

Time lapse video of stars moving through the sky

I made a time lapse video of stars moving through the sky.  I had 3 attempts that I stitched together into a video:

Time-lapse videos of Sydney, Australia skyline during sunrise / sunset

I created some time-lapse videos of the Sydney skyline during sunrise and sunset.  This one is my favorite because you can see a clouds moving, a star appear and move, and a plane:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vfu9yXc8yt8

(best with HD / full screen)