Author Archive

July Trip to New Orleans

We had a chance to visit New Orleans for the first time in July, and had a great deal of fun (despite the nearly 37 C temperatures!). We particularly enjoyed the food, the history, and the alligators. Here is a link to the photo gallery of our pictures for the trip.

And here are some videos that we took during our outing to the Honey Island Swamp with Cajun Encounters:

• Feeding Alligators in the Swamp
• Swamp Pigs!
• Baby Alligators in an Aquarium
• Zooming by the Swamp in a boat

And here is a video we took of an industrious diving beetle at the Insectarium (a great bug-focused museum!):

• A diving beetle at the Insectarium

Below are some various panoramas/photospheres that we took on our trip as well (click to view):

First Article authored by my undergraduate researchers

I just had to immortalize the moment: the first research article authored by my undergraduate student researchers at MSU Denver has been published:
“Conformational design optimization of transcription factor beacon DNA biosensors” in Sensing and Bio-Sensing Research. So proud of their hard work to make this happen.

Caribou Ghost Town

Just sharing a little panoramic photo that Teisha took of the Caribou ghost town we visited this weekend:

Japan Trip – May 2014 – Mega-Summary Post!

Teisha and I are always so lucky to get to go on such amazing vacations, and our latest trip to Japan– with Bob and Meg, Teisha’s parents, continued our trend of fun times and great exploration. We had a chance to revisit some of our favorite places (like the New Izu Hotel in Tokyo, the Tsukiji fish market, and the Okonoin cememtary), as well as see a few new ones (like the amazing Toyota museum in Nagoya). Here, we’ve compiled our travelogue and photos into one mega-post!
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Minecrafting

So, I’ve been having a great deal of fun playing Minecraft with my friends lately. I’m hosting a server on the Ubuntu 12.04 box in my basement that doubles as my media center, and it works pretty well supporting 6 or 7 simultaneous players.

One of my favorite things about minecraft is the high detail that the log files contain: when players join, when they leave, number and causes of player deaths. Being the data-driven type that I am, I’ve been writing some quick python scripts to combine the log files and strip out extraneous information (MC_LogParse.py), make a nice csv file of the deaths of each player (MC_DeathLog.py), and add up total time played for each player (MC_Playtime.py). I thought I’d share them below, for anyone interested– all should be compatible with stock Minecraft 1.7.4. They work on Ubuntu and OSX, at least. I also included the list of terms I strip out of log files (log_terms.txt).
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The Android Future

So, I finally took the plunge and upgraded from my iPhone to a Nexus 5 Android phone… and I feel more like I’m living in the future then ever before. Rather than rant about it, I thought I’d just share this photosphere of my living room:

Pretty slick! And Android is so much more open, hackable, and customizable. Good times.

Hawaii Trip, Day 8: Hilo Wanderings

Our flight home wasn’t until 9PM, so we had quite a bit of time to wander around before heading to the airport. First thing in the morning we checked out the local farmer’s market again, but since it was a Saturday they had the larger farmer’s market – it filled a few square blocks, and there was an amazing assortment of just about any fruit that could be grown in the area, as well as many Asian-style prepared foods, jams and honey, flowers, plants (amazing orchids), gifts, and more. (photos from today are on Day 8 of the Hawaii Trip Gallery)
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Hawaii Trip, Day 7: Kapoho Tide Pools and the Volcano

Today we spent the day mostly wandering around the Hilo/Pahoa area, with the highlights being exploring the Nanawale Forest Reserve/Park, snorkeling at the Kapoho tide pools, and getting close enough to poke hot lava with a stick (in Kilauea). (photos from today are on Day 7 of the Hawaii Trip Gallery)
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Hawaii Trip, Day 6: Driving to Hilo & Botanical Gardens

Having explored the area south of Kona, we headed to Hilo (which is on the opposite side of the Big Island) taking the Nourthern route. Hilo is the rainforest side of the island, and we were excited to see more lush landscapes. (photos from today are on Day 6 on the Hawaii Trip Gallery)
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Hawaii Trip, Day 5: Snorkeling around the Big Island

Today was our big day of snorkeling. There were a few beaches around the Kona area specifically recommended for snorkeling, so we first headed to Snorkel Bob’s, a little shop next to our hotel that rented snorkeling equipment, and rented some fins and floating devices to make it a little easier (we already bought some snorkeling goggles/tubes before the trip). We were ready to go! (photos from today are on Day 5 of the Hawaii Trip Gallery)
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