Category Archives: Musing
Uncanny Valleys
There’s a concept in robotics called the uncanny valley. Basically, as robots become more and more human-like, people want to be around them less and less, the robots become uncanny. This is why robots intended to socialize with humans often have cute cartoon faces instead of lifelike animatronic ones. The cartoon faces are different enough…
Polar aspirations
It has always bugged me that Robert Scott and Ernest Shackleton are two of the best known Antarctic explorers. Scott, after all, died during an attempt to become the first to reach the south pole due to a number of reasons including poor planning, lack of preparation, and sheer British bravado. Shackleton is only known…
Traverses
I like to think that I put more than average brain cycles towards thinking about routes and traverse paths. My job requires it after all and I’m predisposed due to hobbies like hiking and backpacking which require good route knowledge. I’m always on the lookout for new styles and types of maps that represent route…
Why I Quit
I sent out the last edition of my Explore and Observe newsletter this weekend. I started it in the summer of 2019 thinking with the goal to share something I’m passionate about with a lot of other people. I saw it as an asset, something that would grow with time and hopefully provide significant benefits…
GPS
I’ve read a fair bit on navigation techniques and books never fail to point out how GPS is bad for your brain. The general story is that spatial navigation exercises the hippocampus, a region of the brain also closely linked with episodic memory, spatial reasoning, and other important functions. An overreliance on GPS means you…
Roosevelt
Theodore Roosevelt lived a life that was both remarkable and well documented, so there is no shortage of literature on the man. A few that I’ve read are Edmond Morris’s authoritative trilogy which can’t be beat for thoroughness, Theodore Roosevelt in the Field by Michael Canfield predictably focuses on Roosevelt’s exploits as a naturalist and…
What time is it?
I had a course in grad school where the clock in the classroom ran a few minutes fast. The professor would awkwardly wait until the clock indicated a few minutes past the hour to start, and was always a bit confused as to when class ended. One day I got the bright idea that I…
Systematic Scientific Observation
I recently came across a phrase in a conference paper on utilizing AU vs to explore shipwrecks that I think is worth repeating. “Navigation provides the common reference for overlaying observations from multiple sensors into coregistered maps. This transforms otherwise purely observational explanation into systematic scientific investigation.” There is a metaphorical truth in that statement…
On Ice Cream
Life is short. Always get the waffle cone. If you really want to know how good an ice cream store is, get vanilla. Anyone can hide behind fancy flavors and chocolate chips, but it takes an expert to make a memorable vanilla.