Simulating Sun-Shielded Roofs

The SimRoof program I have been developing can now simulate the thermal performance of sun-shielding roof covers.

For more, click on the graph.

Simulating CoolRoofs

The SimRoof program I have been developing can now simulate the thermal performance of horizontal cool-roofs from the measurements made by coolroofs.org.

For more, click on the graph.

Argiope aurantia

This spider at about 4.cm is the largest I can remember seeing. It has an interesting zigzag pattern in its web.

chipping-sparrow chicks

chipping-sparrow chicks, originally uploaded by aubrey_jaffer.

Here are three-day-old chipping-sparrow chicks. The nest is in a yew(?) bush in a neighbor's yard.

West meets East

2500 years ago, Buddha, sage of the (warrior) Shakya clan, taught:

All is impermanent.

65 years ago, the warrior sage of the MacArthur clan answered:

There is no security, only opportunity.

Storm clouds

IMG_2160, originally uploaded by aubrey_jaffer.

The sun was shining brightly behind thunderheads.

Color Name Dictionaries

Newly expanded and updated, Color-Name Dictionaries is my most popular webpage, averaging 150 visits per day. It is linked from Wikipedia and elsewhere. Chirag Mehta has created a Name that Color webapp using the Resene Paint Colours list. There is even a Color Dictionary iPhone app based on the NBS-ISCC Centroids and Dictionaries of Color Names.

Unfortunately, Color-Name Dictionaries has not been noticed by the X.Org Foundation nor the World Wide Web Consortium, whose products contain deeply flawed color dictionaries from the 1980s. Instigating change in the face of so much organizational inertia is a daunting task.