I have a lot more pictures from our day on Block Island, RI in August. However this one was just used for his birthday invites and I kinda like it:
Preston at Block Island
Launching a Rocket
We didn’t have any live critters to put in the payload, so Preston picked a flower.
We managed to launch the rocket 9 times tonight. For the last launch (not shown, unfortunately), I put the little micro flashlight from my keychain into the payload. It was past dusk, so hard to see – but with the flashlight in the payload area, the nosecone of the rocket was totally lit up! So nice to see this light dropping from the sky. That last one was the easiest to track!
I would have caught this last one on video, but Preston kinda launched a wee bit prematurely: “Ten, Nine, Ignition! ” What happened to 8,7,6,5,4,3,2,1??? Again, very happy for that launcher key while I was attaching the igniter. Oh well, it looked really cool.
Engines were C6-5’s, the largest that fit in this rocket. This particular rocket has a plastic tail area with a twist-on engine stop, so it is really easy to reload with a new engine. Nice design, and quite sturdy.
I like the new igniters these engines come with: they have little plastic plugs that you push in to hold the igniter securely into contact with the engine. Back in the day when I was launching rockets as a kid, it was just a bare wire, and we had to use tape to hold it in. Many false ignitions/failures. But these new igniters with the plug to maintain contact work like a charm!
The launcher we used has a neat little “key” that you have to insert, and then you also have to hold down an “arm” button (which lights up an indicator light). While holding the “arm” button down, you then press the “launch” button to fire the rocket. This is a very safe mechanism. I just had to tell Preston to “remove the key” while I was attaching the launcher leads to the engine igniter – that way there was no way he was going to press the launch button by mistake and fire it off in my hands!
I remember using a small metal toolbox as my launcher. I drilled some holes in the top and put in a toggle switch, a light, and a button switch. Worked the same way as today’s pre-made ones – though I didn’t use a key; you used the toggle switch to “arm” the launcher (lit the light) and then the button switch to launch. Wish I could find that little launcher – would be cool to let Preston use it. But it is long gone. :(
Favorite quote from the launches: “I got it! Hey!! That’s hot!”
Second favorite quote: “Whaddya mean the kids have to chase after the rocket? Next time we are bringing Dylan!”
First Day of School 2014
Preston and Olivia off to school; Kindergarten and First Grade!
DuckDuckGo Privacy Policy
Now if only more Internet companies were like the search engine, “DuckDuckGo“:
Their Privacy Policy is simple:
We don’t collect or share personal information.
That’s our privacy policy in a nutshell.
Nice. Simple.
I do like the completeness of Google, however as the majority of Google’s revenue ( close to $16 Billion in Q2 2014!) is generated via ads, they collect and compile a TON of information on your search/browsing/email habits in order to sell very targeted adspace to their customers.
Maybe I don’t want to be a packaged product. Or maybe I don’t care. Or maybe I like the eerily spot-on ads that show up in my browser. In any case I like choice so there are times I will choose to DuckDuckGo. Plus, the name is cool.
Finally? DuckDuckGo likes me more than Google. A search for “Hooded Hawk” on DuckDuckGo results in my site being the first hit! On Google, hoodedhawk.com is on the third page of results. With all that Google tracks from me, they should at least know my own website! Phhhhht.
J.K. Rowling uses a hologram
Whoa. J.K. Rowling is obviously a very popular author due to her Harry Potter series. But I just today learned of her ingenious way to thwart “signature pirates”. It seems that she has been inundated with requests for her signature since the early days of the Harry Potter series. So much so, that she no longer signs books except for charities and the like. Well, that means that unscrupulous people have sold copies of her books with forged signatures (to greatly increase their worth on the market).
To counteract this piracy, since 2007 she affixes a little hologram to the opposite page of any book she signs. I’ve never heard of this before. Neat, sorta. But it’s also sad – I rely on the word of a dealer when I buy a book that was signed. I’m still optimistic that all the signed books I have are authentic (though more than half were signed in my presence)…
The book below is an example and you can get it for a mere ~$350.00 on ABEBooks.com. That’s a steal, as a 1st edition copy of her first book, “Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone” (published 1997) runs for more than $15,000.00 (with the hologram if signed after 2007).
