Author Archives: AndyS

The Golden Temple, Bylakuppe, Karnataka, March 2017

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Having covered October visits to Bangalore, Mount Abu, and Udaipur in earlier posts, I will step back to an earlier trip and a visit to the Golden Temple in Bylakuppe, Karnataka in March 2017.

The Golden Temple, also known as Namdroling Monastery, is a Buddhist monastery located in western Karnataka about 153 mile (247) kilometers from Bangalore. Established in 1963, it is one of the largest teaching centers of Tibetan Buddhism in the world (per Wikipedia). It is an impressive and beautiful facility.

We visited in the morning on our drive back from a work event at Club Mahindra Virajpet Coorg. After parking, we walked past the living facilities into the temple / monastery area. The first notable building we saw was the Zangdog Palri Temple, which is quite an impressive facility. We were unable to go inside.

Zangdog Palri Temple seen from the entrance path

It is impressive from the back as well as the front.

A view of the back of the Zangdog Palri Temple

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Udaipur, Rajasthan, October 2017

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A couple of months back, I wrote about a trip to Mount Abu. This post takes up the story the next day, when we drove to Udaipur, a city in southern Rajasthan, to catch our flight to Mumbai. This is a shorter drive (three hours rather than five hours) than a return trip to Ahmadabad and, as a bonus, we got to see more sights.

We left at a comfortable time in the morning. At the 3,900 feet / 1,200 meter altitude of Mount Abu, the weather was clear and pleasant. We set off in a caravan of cars and headed towards Udaipur. Udaipur is known as the “City of Lakes” and is a very popular tourist destination. There are many palaces in the city and on the lakes. The palaces are considered of the Rajput era and were built from the 16th to 19th century.

Our first, and only palace visit, was to the see the Monsoon Palace on the western outskirts of Udaipur. Built in 1884, the palace is high on the Aravalli Hills, just outside Udaipur. According to Wikipedia, it was planned to be a large astronomical observatory, but upon the premature death of the builder, Maharana Sajjan Singh, it was turned into a hunting lodge and a place to observe the monsoon clouds. It has a fantastic view of Udaipur, its lakes, and the palaces. This first picture is of Lake Pichola taken from the Monsoon Palace.

Lake Pichola in Udaipur from the Monsoon Palace

This next picture is the only one that includes any part of the Monsoon Palace. It is a rather plain palace and most of the pictures I took there were of our traveling group. As a policy, I don’t include people pictures in these public blog posts. Here you can see the wall of the palace with Udaipur and its lakes in the distance.

The walls of the Monsoon Palace with Udaipur in the distance

This is a view of another major lake in Udaipur, Fateh Sagar Lake. It has a park and a solar observatory on islands in the lake.

Fateh Sagar Lake from the Monsoon Palace

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Chicago

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A week back, I took a short business trip to Chicago for a conference. This was my first visit to Chicago in over 10 years. I’ve been in and out of O’Hare Airport countless times, and it was weird to actually leave the airport to go to the city.

One of the highlights of the conference was an event at 360 Chicago. This venue is near the top (94th of 100 stories) of the John Hancock building and provides views in every direction (hence, 360 Chicago). The observation room is 1,000 feet (305 meters) above the ground.

The views are fantastic. Here is a panorama of the view looking southwest over downtown Chicago. The Willis Tower (formerly known as the Sears Tower) is on the far right of the picture and was the tallest building in the world from 1973 to 1998. It is now 16th tallest in the world and second-tallest in the United States.

Downtown Chicago looking sourheast from 360 Chicago

The view north is also quite nice. Mid-April is a little early for beach activity in Chicago, but I would imagine the beaches below will be quite crowded in August. It had snowed just a week earlier even though the temperature was in the mid-50s Fahrenheit (~12° Celsius) during my trip.

Looking north from 360 Chicago

360 Chicago has a thrill ride called “Tilt.” Tilt is a hydraulically driven set of glass stalls that tip you out over the edge of the building so you can look down. And I mean straight down. I admit that I chickened out and jumped back when it got way out, but did get this picture before I stepped back. As you can see, you are looking straight down.

TILTing out and looking down from the top of the John Hancock Building

One of the highlights of the event was an interview with Arnold Donald, the CEO of Carnival Corporation. Carnival is the largest cruise company and “has a combined fleet of over 100 vessels across 10 cruise line brands.” [Wikipedia] While he was providing great insights, there was a beautiful sunset right behind him.

Sunset from 360 Chicago

I was staying right next door to the Hancock Building at the Four Seasons Hotel. Located in the 900 North Michigan Avenue building, the hotel is sandwiched in between a mall and condominiums. Here is a view of the 900 North Michigan Avenue building from 360 Chicago.

The 900 North Michigan Avenue building, home to the Four Seasons Hotel

The hotel was very nice as one would expect from the Four Seasons brand. I was very impressed with their service, with one incident really showing their ability to deliver. The power outlets near the desk area had been damaged so that plugs would not make contact. I reported the problem to the front desk when I came down to dinner on Sunday night. By the time I returned to my room after dinner, it had been fixed. On a Sunday. I was impressed.

Apparently, the famous winds of Chicago can make rooms uncomfortably noisy. The hotel left these earplugs with this explanatory note next to my bed each night. Very thoughtful.

Nighttime courtesy from the Four Seasons

Mount Abu, Rajasthan, October 2017

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On a trip to India last October, our week finished in Ahmedabad, a city in the state of Gujarat. The team planned an excellent team-building event, a trip to the hill station of Mount Abu in Rajasthan.

Before I go into the narrative of the trip, here is a teaser picture to get you interested enough to read and look further. This is a view from Guru Shikhar, the highest point (5,650 ft / 1,722 m) in the Arbuda Mountains where Mount Abu lies.

Looking south from Guru Shikhar, the Mount Abu town is in the distance on the right.

We left after our morning meetings on Friday, setting off on the highway heading northwest from the offices in Gandhinagar. The roads were generally good, but also filled with commercial as well as personal traffic. The drive was about 5 hours.

Trucks on the way from Gujarat to Rajasthan

Large trucks were not the only commercial traffic on the road. We came upon some cattle being herded in this rich agricultural region.

Cattle being herded down the road on the way to Rajasthan

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SpaceX PAZ Launch From West LA

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We got up early on February 22nd hoping to see the planned launch by SpaceX of the PAZ satellite from Vandenberg Air Force Base. The last launch from Vandenberg was quite impressive with a huge display in the sky seen from all across Southern California.

The launch happened on time at 6:17 am PST, putting the satellite into a polar orbit. Two smaller SpaceX satellites went along as a secondary mission to test their planned satellite internet service. They also tried to land part of the payload fairing. That landing was not quite successful but the fairing half survived in good condition.

We watched the web cast of the launch and got our cameras ready. About two minutes after launch, we saw the rocket moving above the treeline. The trees were a bit of a problem as they fooled the autofocus on a few shots. This shot is at 6:19 am PST, T+2:05 into the mission. The rocket is already about 28 miles / 45 kilometers high and is going 2,600 MPH / 4,200 KPH. My speed and altitude numbers are approximate as I obtained them from matching my estimate of mission time (T+) to the webcast replay.

Approximately T+2:05

Just 12 seconds later, this shows how the rocket trail is expanding and is not lit up white by the Sun. T+2:17, 37 miles / 60 kilometers up and going 3,300 MPH / 5,400 KPH.

Approximately T+2:17

This picture was taken at just about main engine cut off or MECO. At this point the first stage shuts down, the second stage separates, and the second stage engine starts up. We are at 6:19 am PST, T+2:32, 48 miles / 77 kilometers up going 4,200 MPH / 6,700 KPH.

Just about the moment of main engine cut off (MECO) at T+3:32

The second stage burning looks interesting and there appear to be two objects moving along. These pictures were taken at T+2:52 and T+2:57 respectively. This is approximately the time when the fairing was deployed, so that could be the other object in the picture. Altitude increasing quickly, 64 miles / 103 kilometers in the first picture, 72 miles / 115 kilometers in the second. Speed has gone down a bit to 4,000 MPH / 6,500 KPH.

Second stage well on the way at T+2:52

Approximately T+2:57

At this point the clouds began to interfere more and the rocket was increasingly hard to see. This final image was taken at 6:21am, t+4:11 with the spacecraft at 132 miles / 213 kilometers in altitude moving 4,500 MPH / 7,300 KPH.

Increasingly hard to see at T+4:11

Bangalore City Tour, October 2017

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On our first day in Bangalore in October 2017, we had a chance to go out into the city to see some of the sights. Our flight from Hong Kong was delayed so we did not start at the crack of dawn as planned, but rather at about 10am. The early start had been planned because Bangalore is notorious for its bad traffic. Believe me, it can be really bad. The calendar was on our side as this was Sunday on the tree day weekend of Mahatma Gandhi Day which is celebrated as an Indian national holiday every October 2nd. It being a holiday weekend, traffic was quite light.

We headed off from our hotel, the Park Plaza Bangalore, going to Bangalore Palace and picking up our guide on the way. The palace was built in the 1870s in a tudor style by Maharaja Chamarajendra Wadiyar X, the king of Mysore. It is still being used by the current king of Mysore for his ceremonial duties.

You can get recorded audio tours that describe the features of the palace and its history. One note on the tour — you have to pay extra to be able to take pictures.

An outside view of Bangalore Palace.

There are hunting trophies throughout the palace including this elephant head at the top of the entrance stairs.

This elephant head overlooks the main entrance to the Bangalore Palace

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SpaceX Iridium Launch from West Los Angeles

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On Friday night, December 22nd, SpaceX launched a Falcon 9 with 10 Iridium satellites aboard from Vandenburg Air Force Base near Lompoc. We watched the initial lift off on YouTube, and my wife went outside to look for the rocket. I’ve seen rocket trails before but was not prepared for the sight we saw that night. It first appeared as a short, red flare-like glowing spot, moving quickly up into the sky. My photos of the early appearance did not turn out. As it got higher in the sky it became much more impressive.

Here is the rocket still boosting on the first stage. Changes in the atmosphere probably account for the changing density of the plume.

I took this short video which, as best as I can guess, covers stage separation and the initial boost back of first stage.

This next shot is after main engine cut off and stage separation. The bright spot on the left is the boosting second stage on its way to orbit. The bright spot just behind it is the first stage. And the plume is looking pretty interesting.

This next shot has the crescent Moon, the boosting second stage, and the descending first stage. If I remember correctly, they did a mock landing of the first stage with no drone ship.

The dissipating cloud looks vaguely like a dragon in the sky.

Keep out the Birds: Observatory Roof Motor Housing

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I have had an ongoing problem with birds nesting in my observatory roof housing. It usually happens in the Spring and generally there are baby birds, so I let the babies grow up and then clean it out. This year I waited until a couple of weeks ago to clear it out. Then, when I am up by the observatory yesterday, I hear birds in the housing! That early move-in was the last straw. So now I believe there will be no more birds.

Here is a wide view of the Observatory. You can see the motor housing just under the upper roof.

In this view of the Observatory you can see the motor housing on the wall below the upper roof.

The problem is that there are two openings in the motor housing, allowing the birds to get it. I really don’t blame them as it is a very secure location for a nest. This picture shows the opening on the top which is the main entry point the blackbirds that were hanging out there yesterday.

The top of the observatory motor housing allows birds to enter and nest.

So, what is the solution? I carefully measured the dimensions of the opening. I made a paper model of a covering the the opening that would allow the chains to move freely but not have any opening large enough for a bird (I hope). I then cut that shape out of some 1/8 inch rubber sheeting.

Carefully cut rubber sheeting to cover the opening.

Here is the rubber sheeting over the opening. I believe the chain can move freely, although I have not tested it. It is easy enough to remove if needed.

The rubber sheeting covers the opening while still allowing the roof to operate.

I then took several pieces of wood and a large rubber strap to secure it in place. A little make-shift, but I believe it is effective.

The final fix in place with some wood to hold down the sheeting and a strap to keep it in place.

The rubber strap also holds a piece of wood over the hole on the bottom of the motor housing. All in all, it looks fairly neat from the outside.

The hole on the bottom of the housing is also now covered.

I hope I have solved the bird problem for the long-term. I expect the birds to keep trying, so we will see if my solution works. I also need to see how well it stands up to the Sun and the weather. It shouldn’t get a lot of direct Sun as it is on the north side of the building. But it will get rain and will get heat.

UPDATE: The damn birds managed to push the wood holding one side away so they could get in again. I added a second rubber strap and tightened the first.

I added another strap. I hope this keeps them out.

The pictures for this post were taken with my Pixel phone camera and processed with the new Adobe Lightroom CC. All but the wide picture were edited on my iPad. A first for mobile photo processing.

If I Published Postcards

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I’ve been taking photos for years, starting in middle school and continuing to today. I spent years working on black and white photos in the darkroom and really loved the control one has to control how your photos look. The birth of digital photography has brought that joy back. With great tools like Adobe Lightroom and Photoshop, I can crop, adjust contrast, and tweak however I’d like. I can even “cheat” by removing unwanted items from a photo (although I do that sparingly: One must protect the integrity of the image unless one just calls it “art”).

At this point, I have about 9,500 pictures in my Lightroom catalog, going back about three years. I find there are some I really like. So I thought, which one of these would I want to publish as postcards or in a calendar? That is the subject of this post. To share some of my photographs that I particularly like. This does not include any of my astrophotos, I focused solely on terrestrial photography. Selecting the photos was difficult. My original culling left me with over 30 photos. The standard I learned in the 1980s was that a National Geographic photographer would take 20,000 photos to print 15, so quantity enables quality.

As it is, I am still imposing 10 of my photos on you. So I hope you like them. And forgive my vanity in posting them.

The first is a real favorite. Just a bird on a rock, but all the subtle grays and sky really are nice. Taken at McCarty’s Cove in Marquette, Michigan.

McCarty’s Cove, Marquette. Michigan

We had a road trip earlier this year and I took a ton of photos at the Grand Canyon. We were lucky to have storms to liven up the view.

Grand Canyon and storms from Pima Point

This ore dock in downtown Marquette, Michigan has been out of use since the mid 1970s. It used to deliver chunk ore as opposed to the processed pellets used today. There was a railroad bridge that extended over downtown to the dock in the front of the picture, so now this really looks like a relic.

The downtown Marqueete iron ore dock,, once used to load iron ore on ships

Living in Southern California, we “visit” the snow. What a change from when I lived with it. I like the subtle tones and shapes in this image.

Fog and snow near Idylwild, California

High clouds, dusk, fall, what else does one need?

Tree and rock in Lake Riverside

This is a temple in Telakadu, India. I like how the interior is indirectly illuminated by the bright sunlight.

The interior is quite pretty

Matheran, India is a hill station — a mountain top resort — near Mumbai. We saw an amazing sunset there.

The sunset from Sunset Point, Matheran, India

This is a special woods trail for me. In the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, this picture is a classic early summer image of the woods.

The trail through the woods between Conway Lake and Lake Superior

Along the road from downtown Anacortes, Washington to the Washington State Ferry Terminal, there is a very active shipyard. Walking through it, it is clear that it has been active for a long time. This oil truck has no doubt been parked for an extended period.

A colorful old oil delivery truck.

Finally, a late afternoon picture from Hermit’s Rest at the Grand Canyon. I’ll admit I took 500 shots on the sunset tour alone. I was bracketing the exposures to get all the subtle tones and differences in brightness.

Sunset and storm over the Grand Canyon from Hermit’s Rest

Thanks for looking.

HP Windows 10 Computer Sits with Black Screen After Login for 10 Minutes

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UPDATE: This fix from HP appears to work: http://ftp.hp.com/pub/softpaq/sp81501-82000/sp81965.exe

  1. Install the update
  2. restart
  3. re enable App Readiness
  4. Restart again

You should be good.
END OF UPDATE

Certainly an exciting blog post title, particularly for a rare more than one per month post. I hope I can help someone out there with this information.

When I booted up my fairly new HP Envy laptop this morning, after entering my password, the screen went blank. I could hear the fan going, so it appeared to be doing something. If I touched the touchpad, it would show the cursor. I could run task manager by clicking ctrl-alt-delete. I could run Chrome or other programs from the File>Run new task option in Task manager. But the screen stayed black.

I tried everything. Safe mode, drive checks, you name it. Then I let it sit. After 8-10 minutes, the main window came up and everything worked fine. Until I restarted. When I restarted the computer, the error re-occurred. Time for the magic of the internet.

The key was the search phrase “Windows 10 black screen with cursor after login for 10 minutes.” That led me to a post in HP’s support forums which had the solution. You need to disable the App Readiness service.

Here is how you do it:

  1. Hit the Windows Key and type “system configuration” and select the system configuration tool

    Finding the system configuration tool from the Windows menu

  2. Select the Services tab in the System Configuration tool

    Select the Services tab from the System Configuration tool

  3. Un-check the box next to the “App Readiness” serivce

    Disable the App Readiness service by un-checking the box next to that item

  4. Reboot your computer

That fixed it for me. The system now completes the startup process normally. I hope this helps someone.