Just thought I’d share a cool photo I snapped on my phone this evening. This dragon fly was buzzing around the yard, but sat still long enough for me to get a picture. The post processing was done in the app TiltShiftGen. Check it out.

On Saturday I was playing soccer in the backyard with my son, when a chickadee came to a feeder rather close to me.  I got the idea to turn on the chickadee song from iBird to see what kind of reaction I would get.  I sat the phone on a fence post and let it play.  This curious and brave little chickadee was very neighborly and sang beautifully to my phone and at one point jumps on it, before flying off to eat again.  Perhaps not as funny or dangerous as Messin’ with Sasquatch, but still not a bad few minutes of entertainment. I hope you enjoy.

iBird Explorer Pro

Straying off topic for a moment, but I imagine there are a few people out there who might be interested in this.  I came across a new free iTunes application made by Gibson called Gibson Learn & Master Guitar Application. It is cool for those who play guitar and has some great features. My favorite is the guitar tuner that listens as you play the strings and guides you in your tuning efforts.  You can choose from many popular tunings as well.  Also there is a metronome with a  few timings for keeping rhythm.  There is a chord map that shows you most of the chords you would need to play just about any song.  There is also a conduit into Gibson’s premium lessons, which I haven’t really clicked around too much.  Some features that are missing which would be cool to have would be to add a way to strum the chord that is in the map as well as a way to play the same chord at different locations on the fretboard.  The user interface is really nice and fairly easy to pick right up and use.  All in all this is a cool app and you can’t beat the price, check it out!

Gibson Learn & Master Guitar Application

Two things going on in this post.  First, I am celebrating my 100th post for Under the Aspens.  I started this blog over the Christmas holiday on a whim of boredom, but it seems to have stuck.  I am enjoying spending an hour or so each night writing stories for the next day.  So far, the response has been pretty good and readership seems to be growing steadily thanks in large part to Twitter and a few other areas where links are posted.  I hope to keep it coming.  If you have enjoyed what you have read, give me a shout out in the comments below.

Second, which I guess really should be the primary focus here, is I came across a cool project today, thanks to Maker Blog, called project NOAH.  The project makes it possible for all us regular Joe’s to unleash our inner scientist and contribute to a worldwide catalog of species.  To make it even easier, they have created a new iPhone application that uses GPS to pinpoint observations and you can upload photos as well.  I haven’t yet submitted anything, but the application is simple to use with a clean interface.  One cool thing I like is the targeted missions to which you can contribute.  Currently there are 6 missions listed that cover cataloging squirrels, ladybugs, mushrooms, butterflies, and more.  In all it looks like it should be pretty fun to contribute.

Links:

• Project Noah: Networked Organisms and Habitats (via Maker)
• Project NOAH
• Get the app now! 

I have created some wallpapers that you can download for your desktop or iPhone. Click here for more downloads.  Get ‘em while they’re hot.

Chickadee Wallpaper

I recently got an iPhone and really enjoy the camera. I like the colors it captures. I have recently taken a few outdoor themed photos that make nice wallpapers feel free to download them if you like.This photo is some grass from my frontyard covered with hoarfrost.This is one side of my nymph box…This is the other side.- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone