Type 8 traversing Notable Stellar Phenomenon

 

Flying my Type 8 through a deep red hued cloud with exobiological lifeforms at a Notable Stellar Phenomena in Elite Dangerous. Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/p/Dbo0eirDrAf/?img_index=1

Taking out the new Nomad to break it in

 

Video: Brand new in Elite Dangerous, my Nomad landed on the slop of a moon's crater with the casted shadow of a Caspian in the background! Music "Cloud View" by Matthew Lorono. Image: Exploring Sanguineous Rim.

Instagram:

https://www.instagram.com/p/DaVU2UIHKQZ/ & https://www.instagram.com/p/DaO8y6_OUUA/

Auckland Zoo too

 

On December 12, Allie and I took mass transit over to Auckland Zoo.  The Zoo has a lot of good exhibits with many animals. It's a small zoo, but well organized.  We got to view lions, tigers, zebras, meerkats, lizards, eels and so many other critters. However, it was disappointing that so many of the exhibits for New Zealand native animals were either closed or had the animals unavailable.

Afterwards, we met up with Allie's cousin again for dinner at Lone Star in Alexandra Park.

Rotorua, New Zealand

Allie's cousin (who has lived in New Zealand most of her life) planned a day trip tour for us to Rotorua on December 11. This required a long three-hour bus ride from Auckland aboard a small tour bus. Along with others on the tour, each person had their own outing scheduled for the day once we arrived in town.

The first tourist to arrive at their destination was at the Māori Cultural Center. Everyone else was dropped off at Wai-O-Tapu Geothermal Park. We had enough time to see most of the geothermal attractions, but not everything. At the designated time, we met at and piled back into the bus. The next stop was back at the cultural center to pick up the one tourist and drop off a bunch of others.

The last tourist, Allie and I were then dropped off at the Polynesian Spa for geothermal baths. Meanwhile, Allie's cousin was taken to a Redwoods Forest Tour.

The geothermal paths were relaxing, but weirdly, the highlight was when Allie and I took our first-ever cool plunges.

Feeling relaxed after 2 hours, the bus picked us up from the spa (we were the last group).  After a short stop at the lake, we headed back to Auckland.

The day was long, so we didn't plan anything for the evening.  

  

 

  

          

Some previous days in New Zealand: December 13, December 10, December 8 and December 4.

Exploring Auckland's Harbor and Newmarket Mall

Due to delayed travel plans, we had to reshuffle several major items on our schedule for our actual arrival in Auckland, NZ. Our Hobbiton Movie Set tour was pushed off to much later in the week. We also moved our harbor cruise to December 10.

First, Allie and I did a little shopping in the morning, confirmed our cruise tickets and then did a little more shopping. We found one tourist shop that was a sister shop to the one we visited in Queenstown, but it had shirts that had good designs and fit. For the first time on our trip, we actually bought some New Zealand themed t-shirts.

Afterwards, we lined up for the harbor cruise and boarded. The trip was a circuit around the Waitemata Harbour augmented with commentary on the various locations, including a bit of New Zealand history, facts about the islands and other interesting places to visit.

 

 

On returning to the CBD, we took a bus to Newmarket to shop at the Westfield Mall. We found some Japanese themed stores with a lot of cute anime items, of which we bought a few. We then found a store full of actual Japanese products, again buying some items that were actually needed during our trip. We also found some good options for dinner at the mall's food court, but chose a great broad noodle dish at a Thai fusion stand.

As the mall was closing, we purchased a couple more needed items from a bookstore, then headed to the bus line to return to the hotel. We did not want to stay out too late anyway since we had to get up early the next morning for a tour planned by Allie's cousin who has been living in New Zealand for most of her life.

Fun and Important Words - Malarkey

Malarkey is a colorful and punchy term for nonsense or foolishness.  It can also be used to describe insincere or exaggerated talk. It is a word that carries a specific weight when you use it to dismiss claims or excuses as hogwash.  While it has become a staple of American political discourse, it remains an informal, playful and expressive way to call out empty rhetoric. [1] [2] The origin of the word is famously murky, which is fitting for a term that means nonsense.  Evidence points to its emergence in North America during the early 1920s.  The first known use is often attributed to the Irish-American cartoonist Thomas Aloysius (Tad) Dorgan, who began using the term in his cartoons in Mid-1920s.  By the end of that decade, the word had begun to appear more widely in print. [3] Despite various theories, the etymology remains officially unknown.  Some linguists and researchers have suggested potential links to the Greek word malakia, which can mean softness or, in a figurative sense, effeminacy or weakness.  Others have pointed to the Irish surname Mullarkey (and its various spellings), though there is no verified connection between any individual of that name and the word’s development.  There is even a niche theory suggesting it might be related to the London expression Madame Misharty, a personification of wild sales talk.  Still another possibility is some use of the Gaelic root word "meall-", which means being deceptive or lying. [3] Because the word began as slang in the United States, it is not traditionally found in older printed dictionaries from the 19th century.  However, it is now widely recognized in major modern dictionaries as a standard, though informal, English noun. [3] According to Google ngram, common use of malarkey appears in the 1920s and then took off in the 1930s.

Boondocks Fussbudget Gobbledygook Hella/Helluva Highfalutin Malarkey Newfangled Roust Twitterpated Whatchamacallit Whopperjawed

Calculator for Right Angles and Hypotenuse

A right triangle is fully defined by just two of its measurements. Enter any two known values, such as sides or angles, into the calculator below and it will instantly calculate everything else: the hypotenuse, both acute angles, the altitude from the right angle to the hypotenuse, area, perimeter, and the radii of both the inscribed and circumscribed circles.

Right triangle calculator — enter any two side or angle values to compute all triangle properties

Right triangle calculator

Enter any two known values (sides or acute angles) to solve all properties.

a Side a (opposite)

b Side b (adjacent)

c Hypotenuse c

α Angle α (opposite a) °

β Angle β (opposite b) °

Results

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Diagram

For information on other tools and topics:

• A list of many types of Angles from Geometry: So many varieties! [Do you know of angle types that didn't make the list?.]
• Collatz Conjecture Visualizer: Explore one of math's great unsolved problems interactively. [Explore the Collatz paths]
• Earth's Looming Expiration Date: Why Earth faces an early deadline as the Sun's energy output increases. [Idea on how to preserve our planet]
• Number Rounding Tool: Multiple methods of rounding supported. [Type your number and round it up or down!]

Trail Walking with a Say's Phoebe

 

A bird that appears to be a Say's Phoebe was jumping from fence post to fence post ahead of me and Joie while we walked, until it finally flew onto a nearby bush, on a Mid-Spring morning. It kind of seemed like they wanted us to follow, but maybe they were just keeping an eye out for any bugs we might stir up as we walked along the trail, a behavior for which Flycatchers are known.

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/p/DZBUlwADrIJ/

Auckland Exploration on Te Ika-a-Māui

After over a full day's delay, we finally landed on North Island of New Zealand in Auckland a bit late in the day on December 8.  After settling in, Allie and I took a running start on December 9 for our exploration of the city.  Sky Tower is within walking distance of our hotel, so we headed over. Sky Tower is tall enough to view everything in Auckland from high-up. Many of the places we will be exploring are clearly visible.

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After getting-the-lay-of-the-land, we explored on foot for while, then had an awesome dinner at Origine Bistro with great food and incredible service.  We had a table that offered a good view of the Harbor too.

 

 

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Due to the delay in arrival, there are a number of places we had to push off or reconsider for another trip in the future. However, the next few days did not disappoint!

Unfortunate Extra Day in Queenstown

 After enjoying a few days in Queenstown and surrounding region, we were excited about travelling to Auckland on December 7, 2026.  We took the morning easy in preparation for our flight to Auckland. Unfortunately, our flight from Queenstown was cancelled due to high winds after we arrived at the airport, and after we checked our bags and went thru security. So we had to retrieve our checked bags and find overnight accommodations. I found a room at the Hilton Queenstown Resort. We were reassigned a flight the next morning.

After we checked-in to the hotel, we took the water taxi to Queenstown CBD for a late lunch at a great seafood restaurant, and some ice cream at a popular shop. We then roamed a bit around the touristy area before returning via water taxi to the hotel for the evening.

At some point during the night, the reassigned flight was also cancelled. We were forced to accept an even later evening flight. In turn, this forced me to start cancelling plans in Auckland, as we were losing a day in town.

Lost Day - December 8, 2026

We didn’t plan for anything in Queenstown on this day, due to it being a lost day. We had breakfast at the hotel cafe, but otherwise relaxed in the hotel room until checkout time.  We finally went to the airport in the afternoon to wait for our early evening flight.

This flight was not cancelled. 

We ultimately landed in Auckland in the evening. After taking our hired towncar to the hotel and checking-in, we settled a bit then went to the hotel cafe for dinner.  Due to our delayed arrival, we had to rearrange plans for our first day in Auckland, and then our first full day!

Queenstown New Zealand Exploration

Allie and I arrived in Queenstown on December 3, 2026 in the afternoon (local time). We left California our previous day of December 1, 2026 (local time). We lost a day to travel and another day to the International Date Line. We also lost a portion of one day to a long stay in Auckland Airport on our way to Queenstown. The following are my journal entries from the first few days.

Tuesday, December 3: A Lakeside Welcome at Wakatipu Grill

We stayed at the DoubleTree by Hilton in Kawarau Village near Queenstown. After settling in, we walked over to Wakatipu Grill at Hilton Queenstown Resort and Spa. Restaurant staff sat us in a glass-enclosed patio with good views of the lake as the sun set. The dishes were very good. I had the Pork Porchette, and Allie had a steak dish she liked a lot. We also tried a drink called a Matcha Mojito, which ended up tasting more like a Long Island Ice Tea than anything that should bear the name “mojito” or “matcha.”

The staff were really helpful, though. They went out of their way to make an actual Iced Tea for me even though it’s not on the menu. For a location that doesn’t brew iced tea, they made a great one. Dessert was a bit of a surprise. The Strawberry Cheesecake was really more of a strawberry mousse. Even still, it was fairly tasty, just not what we expected. We also had a type of Chocolate cake that tasted very good but came with a super hard chocolate shell that was thicker than a candy bar. It literally required a steak knife to break through. The shell was likely just too thick, making it a bit of a nuisance to an otherwise tasty dish. Overall, it was a great experience with extremely attentive, capable staff.

Wednesday, December 4: Water Taxis, Gondolas, and Queenstown CBD

The weather was nice and sunny with light cloud cover and a little bit of a morning chill. We started the itinerary by taking a water taxi from the Hilton over to the Queenstown CBD, which let us see the area from the lake and take in the gorgeous scenery. From the CBD, we walked over to the Skyline Gondolas. On the ride up to Skyline Queenstown, we saw and heard a goat on the side of the mountain. I had an 11:45 reservation at the Stratosfare Restaurant for their buffet lunch. The food was high quality with a lot of great options, and our table offered awesome views of the town and lake from a high vantage point.

Afterward, we hit the souvenir shop before heading back down. We had another appointment at Kiwi Park Queenstown where we explored this special kind of zoo. Highlight is that we were able to catch glimpses of actual kiwi birds! That was awesome. We also saw many other beautiful and native animals, including a bird and reptile show. There was also a happy and buzzy bee colony.

We left the park and roamed around the CBD for some more shopping. The town is very much a touristy place, and there didn’t seem to be a ton of local personality beyond the architecture and the beautiful deep valley lake backdrop. After a long day, we took the water taxi back to the hotel to relax and rest for the evening.

Thursday, December 5: Hiking Frankton and Finding the Local Spots

Allie and I went on an exploratory hike into the Frankton area and ended up at Pantry by Frank’s. We ordered a couple of bagel sandwiches, but what’s called a “bagel” here is more of a white bread with a pastry crust than an actual dense bagel. Allie’s Pesto Chicken sandwich was served cold for whatever reason, while my Chicken Club was warm. Allie had a hot breakfast tea, and I had a hot Chai tea. Exploring the area further, we discovered an Asian market, a grocery store, a very nice laundromat, and a few other shops. The grocery store had a permanent resident cat who guards the entrance as it naps throughout the day. On the way back to the hotel, we took a heavily vegetated trail along the river. The bugs annoyed Allie, but luckily none bit her.

Being so far South on the Globe in the summer means there is still direct sunlight on the city at 9pm. Later that night, I caught a view of the full moon with its light reflecting perfectly across the lake.

On December 6, we took a day-long tour of various Lord of the Rings filming locations on the South Island.  Unfortunately, we had a series of cancelled flights on December 7, so we ended up staying an extra day in Queenstown, not making it to Auckland until December 8.

Discoveries across the Galaxy

While exploring the Galaxy recently, I made several incredible discoveries.  This first image was taken in a newly discovered system of a white dwarf (DC) as the primary star with closest planet being an Earth-Like World (ELW) and the second planet being Water World (WW). Both planets are under 60ls from their star. This is a very rare configuration, even taking into account all white dwarf types in the Elite Dangerous galaxy. 

In another Neutron Star System, I discovered a rare luminescent lifeform.

On the same trip, I also discovered even rarer Crystalline Shards.

Related Instagram post: https://www.instagram.com/p/DVxR0Y2Dt_j/?img_index=1

Escape Velocity Calculator

Escape velocity is the minimum speed an object needs to break free from a body's gravitational pull without any further propulsion. The formula is simple: v = √(2GM/r), where G is the gravitational constant, M is the mass of the body, and r is the distance from its center. The result tells you how fast something must be launched to escape that gravity well entirely with no engines required after the initial push.

It can be surprising as to how much this number varies.  Earth's escape velocity is about 11.2 km/s. Jupiter's is over 59 km/s. The Sun's surface escape velocity is around 617 km/s. And for a neutron star, it can be a significant fraction of the speed of light. Use the calculator below to explore escape velocities for planets, stars, galaxies, and any custom body you wish.

Escape Velocity Calculator

Quick-select a known body: — Custom / enter manually — Moon Mars Earth Venus Jupiter Saturn Sun Sirius A Neutron Star (typical) Sgr A* (Milky Way black hole) Milky Way Galaxy Mass of body (kg): Radius / distance from center (meters):

For information on other tools and topics:

• Collatz Conjecture Visualizer: Explore one of math's great unsolved problems interactively. [Explore the Collatz paths]
• Futhorc Runic Bi-Directional Converter: Turn your message into First Millennium runes and back! [Try out this rune conversion tool on your own messages.]
• Earth's Looming Expiration Date: Why Earth faces an early deadline as the Sun's energy output increases. [Idea on how to preserve our planet]
• Number Rounding Tool: Multiple methods of rounding supported. [Type your number and round it up or down!]

Movies I watched in the theater in 2017

I am not sure where I saw most theatrically released movies in 2017. This list is put together from memory. One fact I remember is that the only reason I saw Star Wars: The Last Jedi was because The Disaster Artist was sold out when I arrived at the theater. I think this may have been the point where I stopped doing walk-ups and started to regularly buy my seats ahead of time.

Movies I saw in the theater in 2017:

• Lady Bird
• Baby Driver
• Blade Runner 2049
• Thor Ragnarok
• Dunkirk

• Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 2
• Logan
• Star Wars: The Last Jedi
• John Wick: Chapter 2
• Wonder Woman

• Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle
• Happy Death Day
• Justice League
• Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales
• Alien: Covenant

• Kong: Skull Island
• The Disaster Artist
• Annabelle: Creation
• Ghost in the Shell

2017 - 2018 - 2019 - 2020 - 2021 - 2022 - 2023 - 2024 - 2025

Many Paths of the Collatz Conjecture

The Collatz Conjecture is one of mathematics' strange unsolved problems. The rule is deceptively simple: take any positive integer, and if it's even divide it by 2, if it's odd multiply by 3 and add 1. Repeat this process and the sequence seems to always eventually reach 1. Always. This is true for every number ever tested! Even still, no one has ever been able to prove it, though some attempts have got close.

The sequences themselves are practically unpredictable. For example, the number 27 takes 111 steps while rocketing up to 9,232 before finally collapsing to 1. Nearby numbers can reach 1 in just a handful of steps, while others take hundreds of chaotic steps before converging. Use the interactive math tool below to explore and compare up to 5 numbers at once.

Collatz Conjecture Visualizer

Pick any positive integer. If it's even, divide by 2. If it's odd, multiply by 3 and add 1. Repeat. No matter what number you start with, the sequence always seems to reach 1, but nobody has ever proved why. Enter up to 5 numbers to compare their paths.

Enter Numbers to Compare

About the Collatz Conjecture: Mathematician Paul Erdős said: “Mathematics is not yet ready for such problems.”

For information on other tools and topics:

• Futhorc Runic Bi-Directional Converter: Turn your message in to First Millennium runes and back! [Try out this rune conversion tool on your own messages.]

• Earth's Looming Expiration Date: Why Earth faces an early deadline as Sun's energy output increases. [Idea on how to preserve our planet] 

• Number Rounding Tool: This the rounding tool that you didn't know you need! Multiple methods of rounding are supported. [Type Your Number and Round it up or down!]

Movies I watched at the theater in 2018

2018 was likely the year I really started using my AMC membership. At some point that year I joined the AMC Stubs program and later upgraded to AMC A-List. Before then, I had never used an elevated membership to go to the movies. I think I had the equivalent of the free Insider level since 2016 or 2017, but I was not using it regularly during those years. Since 2018, I have watched most of my movies at AMC, though not all. For example, I saw Mandy at an independent theater.

Here's the list of movies I was in 2018:

• Aquaman
• Spider-Man: Into The Spider-Verse
• Once Upon A Deadpool
• Bumblebee (early access screening)
• Hunter Killer

• First Man
• Venom
• A Simple Favor
• The Meg
• Mission Impossible: Fallout

• Ant-Man And The Wasp
• Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom
• Deadpool 2
• Avengers: Infinity War
• A Quiet Place

• Game Night
• Mandy

2017 - 2018 - 2019 - 2020 - 2021 - 2022 - 2023 - 2024 - 2025