And what I thought was a really cool effect, the “29 footsteps” was just that - all effect. It was done in a CGI lab and took almost a year to complete. You weren’t really watching those - it was all faked.

From the UK’s Telegraph:
The trick was revealed in a local Chinese newspaper, the Beijing Times, at the weekend.

Gao Xiaolong, head of the visual effects team for the ceremony, said it had taken almost a year to create the 55-second sequence. Meticulous efforts were made to ensure the sequence was as unnoticeable as possible: they sought advice from the Beijing meteorological office as to how to recreate the hazy effects of Beijing’s smog at night, and inserted a slight camera shake effect to simulate the idea that it was filmed from a helicopter.

NBC knew the footsteps were faked, but did they tell you? Apparently they did. As Bob Costas said during the movie clip (aired as “live”): “what you’re looking at is quite literally a cinematic event.”

So apparently we’re supposed to know that a “cinematic event” is videotape. Did you think that when you heard NBC use that line?

This first view is from up near Mt Laguna, taken by one of the wireless cameras in San Diego’s HPWREN network. It shows some of the very heavy rains, that helped prompt a flash flood warning today:

Pretty from a long ways away, these storms can cause flooding miles and miles from the storm itself.

Now most San Diegans don’t have that view of the storm, beautiful as it is, but you could still see a lot of the cloud buildups out in the East county from just about anywhere. Here’s a look at the same storm from roughly 45 miles away over at Point Loma:

Notice this storm does not have well-defined, hard, cotton ball or cauliflower-like edges, which indicates it is collapsing into itself. This is when you get the heaviest rains, strongest winds, and frequently good-sized hail.

Finally, here’s another look at the same storm from 22,950 miles away. Out in space. It’s the National Weather Service view from above, and it doesn’t look nasty at all! But of course, depth perception is everything here.

For most of San Diego, it’s just nice out there! But notice the line of storms developing along our mountains.

These photos were sent in by Jeremy Hamm here in San Diego - someone who’s keeping an eye to the sky. The severity of these storms and potential for disaster (and there IS that) are a reminder to all San Diegans with ANY outdoor plans to do like Jeremy does. . .and keep one eye to the sky.

The Dive-a-thon only lasts through the month of August. Just like a marathon, I’m going to dive as much as possible and drink that tank dry.

Last year, the Dive-a-thon event raised $32,000 and was able to fund ALL of the ships to reefs research projects and provided snorkeling trips to over 750 inner-city children. This fundraiser allows SDOF to continue projects that have a lasting impact in San Diego County and around the world.

So, get out and dive with me!

Follow This Link to visit my personal web page and help me in my efforts to support San Diego Oceans Foundation

Dive-a-Thon 2008
This event was developed in an effort to get DIVER$ DIVING while raising money for a CAU$E! As a diver, it’s simple to get started: you register to participate, develop you own personal webpage, and send your page to all your friends & family! For participating in the event you will receive free gifts and can win prizes worth thousands of dollars! You do not have to be a San Diego resident to participate, although all proceeds from the event will help support programs located in Southern California.
If I raise at least $500, I have the opportunity to have the SDOF present a marine science lecture to any classroom of MY choice in San Diego County during the 2008 school year. This free 60-minute marine science presentation includes an overview of marine invertebrates, live animal laboratory, and a hands-on activity! This program has been bringing marine science education to youth of all socioeconomic levels throughout San Diego County since 2002. This program gives volunteers the opportunity to educate and inspire San Diego youth to become passionate stewards of local ocean ecosystems. Surprisingly, many of the youth served have never been to the ocean before! Since 2002, SDOF has inspired thousands of kids… averaging about 600 per year!
So please help me reach my fundraising goal in order for the San Diego Oceans Foundation to continue its great programs and community outreach. Not only will I have the chance at winning great prizes, but I will also be helping an organization whose causes build the roots for promoting ocean stewardship throughout Southern California.

(Click map to view larger version)

White Shark Tagging
A map showing the track of the Monterey Bay Aquarium’s most recent White Shark resident was provided by researchers from TOPP (Tagging of Pacific Predators) and the Monterey Bay Aquarium including Dr. Salvador Jorgensen, a postdoctoral researcher at Stanford University’s Hopkins Marine Station.

June 25th was the last time the research team heard from the SPOT tag. Dr. Jorgensen says this is possibly because “water temperatures have increased and the shark may be avoiding the surface, or possibly the tag is no longer working. We can’t be sure.”

After the juvenile White Shark was released from the Aquarium, it swam south over the Continental Shelf relatively fast at an average speed of about 40 miles per day. The shark continued to travel at a fast rate, relatively uninterrupted until it rounded Cabo San Lucas and crossed over to the Mexican mainland coast. There, just off of Mazatlan, the shark no longer swam in a straight line, but began meandering around in a relatively confined area for nearly 1.5 months. Generally, this is an indication that an animal is in a habitat of interest and may be searching for food in the area.

In early May the shark made another direct movement, this time up into the Sea of Cortez offshore of Santa Rosalia where it remained again for a month. Santa Rosalia is known for having large populations of Jumbo squid (Dosidicus gigas) being captured by fishermen, so the shark may have remained in that area for a while to feed on the squid.

The PAT tag came off unexpectedly on June 12th and provided the TOPP team with diving, temperature, and location information. The team was still able to track the shark by way of the alternatively mounted SPOT tag until June 25th. The behavior observed seems to be a good indication that the shark has returned to a natural pattern in its wild environment.

Juvenile white shark habitat in the Eastern Pacific is generally bounded by Point Conception to the north down to the tip of Baja in the south, and also extends inside the Sea of Cortez.

“Juvenile and adult White Sharks have been captured inside the Sea of Cortez, but we don’t know whether they are born there or whether they migrate in and out. So it’s very interesting to see this juvenile swim from California all the way into the Sea of Cortez” said Dr. Jorgensen. “It goes to show that like many migratory animals, sharks don’t recognize international boundaries. It underscores the importance of working closely with our Mexican colleagues when making sure that we have adequate protection for the species”.

To learn more about sharks and how you can take action, look at the following links.
http://www.montereybayaquarium.org/cr/whiteshark.asp
http://www.montereybayaquarium.org/cr/topp.asp
http://www.flmnh.ufl.edu/fish/sharks/InNews/electronic2008.html
http://www.sharkwater.com/index.php

Local links from Scripps Institution of Oceanography:

http://scrippsnews.ucsd.edu/Releases/?releaseID=883
http://explorations.ucsd.edu/shark/
http://mbrd.ucsd.edu/labpages/graham_lab.cfm
Shark Dissection Webcast

An electric-powered Rolls Royce, not just for hunting pheasants

When you look under the hood of these cars, it’s a totally different scene than you may be used to!

I counted eighteen batteries on some of these cars. . .and they are heavy

Of course, there could be a problem if you don’t use the prudent SIZE of battery to run your vehicle -

What happens when one of your five hundred and sixty batteries goes bad? Can’t you spend a lot of time figuring out which one isn’t working!?

There were also some demonstrations of the latest technologies available. For example, a common complaint regarding scooters is you can’t ride either all electric or all gas if you want to. But this scooter, new to the market, combines both with the option of running all electric or all gas. For speeds up to 20mph, it’s electric, and for speeds over 20mph, it’s gas. But you can flip a switch to make it run one way or the other. The 49.5cc engine is small enough (just under the threshold of 50cc) so you don’t need a special license to operate it. It got a lot of looks.

Looks like fun!

Shouldn’t the LA Times be on the “left”?

Now I’ll zoom in on the two page one stories above the fold.

Someone’s got to be right!

Summer thunder