Chris Noto's Weblog

I waited too long!

2011-03-14T20:44:00.000-04:00

Another Chris Noto got my domain name!

Rainbow Cichlids, Busy at 4:16 a.m.

2010-05-08T04:16:00.002-04:00

I woke up, thirsty, and wound up sitting here in the kitchen, with the computer on. I just looked up at the ten gallon tank with five nine month old Rainbow Cichlids, Herotilapia multispinosa, in it, to see them, very shy in the daytime, cavorting freely, and in fine, full color. Amazing.

My First Try at an Old Aquascaping Idea

2010-05-04T22:04:00.003-04:00

Today, for the first time ever, I made a moss covered piece of driftwood. I was inspired to do so by Jason Baliban's presentation at Sunday's meeting of the Atlanta Area Aquarium Associsation, at which he delivered a Power Point presentation on the basics of the aquascapers' art, and then aquascaped a moderate sized aquarium, from the bare tank, up.

I did my bit of elementary aquascaping, this evening, by wrapping clumps of good old fashioned Java Moss around a branch, tying dark, heavy cotton thread to the branch, and then wrapping the thread in a spiral over the moss. A couple of such passes, one on each of two sides of the branch, sufficed for a pretty good cover. Then a few snips with scissors, where the moss came up in obvious loops between the wrappings of thread, served to obscure a good bit of the man made nature of the artifact. Fun. Easy. Pretty. Pictures to come.

Pee-wee Gets an iPad!

2010-01-30T11:02:00.003-05:00

I've loved Pee-wee since the Eighties, when our whole family watched Pee-wee's Playhouse every Saturday morning. I'm so jealous that he got an iPad before I did!

Pee-wee Gets An iPad! from Pee-wee Herman

Me and the Scorpion

2010-01-14T21:18:00.002-05:00

When I was about ten or eleven years old, my family took a trip to Hot Springs, Arkansas. I remember my brother Frank and I prowling the area around the motel we were staying in. I turned over a piece of shale, and found a scorpion, which promptly stung me. It burned like anything, which scared me greatly, 'cause I didn't know how potent the toxin was. Probable Truth: under the influence of scarey Western Movie Nonsense, I thought I might die if untreated.

My dad, though, was pretty much guaranteed to fly into a rage if I came clean with the fact that I'd gotten stung. So, real casual-like, I initiated a conversation with the adults in the group about scorpions, and real, real casually checked out what they knew about scorpion stings. It sounded to me like it was about as bad as a bee sting, so I decided not to say anything further on the subject. I'll never forget the day, though.

Here's the guy who got me: "The only scorpion known to occur in Arkansas . . . the common striped bark scorpion."

"Death and severe allergic reactions have been attributed to the striped bark scorpions, but such claims have never been substantiated by reputable sources."

Bruce Sterling: State of the World 2010

2010-01-03T21:19:00.002-05:00

They've been doing this for eleven years now, at the beginning of every year. It happens on The Well, one of the earliest open-to-the-public Internet communities. Chairman Bruce, as he's known to old-hand science fiction fans whose memories go back to the first days of the cyberpunk movement, plays Delphic Oracle. All the rest of us get to ask questions, and kibbitz. Thoughtful, challenging, wonderful, fun.

My Planted 10 Gallon Aquarium

2009-09-03T18:15:00.004-04:00

My Planted 10 Gallon Aquarium

The floating Amazon Frogbit, Limnobium laevigatum, was thriving then, along with the Hygrophila corymbosa to the right, the Hygrophila difformis, the taller plant on the left, and the Dwarf Amazon Swordplant, Echinodorus tenellus, in the foreground. There is also a tiny bit of the formerly dominant Myriophyllum matogrossense, a lacy bunch plant, in lower center right.

This was all grown using fermented-yeast-and-sugar DIY CO2, though I've since switched over to pressurized CO2 setup with a tank, regulator, pH probe and controller. My lighting is two 5500k 13 watt screw-in compact fluorescent bulbs in the original equipment somewhat funky plastic hood. I use Seachem liquid fertilizers.

The vertebrate population includes one male Platinum Guppy, who shows up as a blur about halfway from top to bottom, almost to the left margin of the tank. Also, five Neon Tetras, three Corydoras trilineatus, one Siamese Algae Eater, and two Badis badis. There were a couple of large pond snails, but I guess they died of old age. No other invertebrates that I know of.

This shot is, so far, the height of my artistry as a planted aquarium geek.

Fun with German Guppy Enthusiasts

2009-08-18T17:23:00.006-04:00

I've been doing a bit of browsing just now, and wound up following a link from a blog I discovered a while back, Guppyfocus. This guy does some very interesting crosses, and also posts pictures of visits to the fishrooms of other breeders.

The fish above is from his most recent blog post, titled "piebald reticulata".

The first link a the forum is this, a thread that shows pictures of Tobi's, the Guppyfocus guy's, fishroom. The last pic in the series is interesting, as Tobi has mentioned a "Channa" that he feeds culled guppies to. It's a nice little planted tank, and I think you can see the snakehead hovering in mid-tank. According to this link, this may be the fish that has been terrorizing anglers in my brother's suburban D.C. area in recent years.

Next, a thread in which a young woman guppy breeder shares a series of shots of a group of male guppies, posing the group a puzzle as to how, genetically, she reached their phenotype, genetics-talk for their appearance.

Finally, here's the forum's "portal" page, pumped through Google Translate.

Wait, there's more! They're like peanuts, I can't stop. Two amazing "Pink Moscow Males". I hope you enjoyed the tour.

Reggaeton Music Video: Don Omar - The Chosen & Virtual Diva

2009-05-21T14:45:00.003-04:00

I was directed to this by Bruce Sterling's twitter stream.

Don Omar - The Chosen & Virtual Diva [ IDON : System Upgrade ]

Unstable CO2 Concentration as a Cause of Algae in Planted Aquariums

2009-05-09T14:28:00.006-04:00

I just found the text quoted below in this article.

Unstable CO2
Both plants and algae adapt to CO2 in their environment. To do this, they produces what’s call the Rubisco. The Rubisco is an enzyme that is used for carbon fixation. In a low CO2 environment, plants and algae will produces more Rubisco so they can fix carbon from the KH (-HCO3). When there is plenty of CO2, plants and algae no longer need the Rubisco so they simply get rid of it.

Problems show up when CO2 is unstable because algae are much faster to adapt to low CO2 than plants. So everytime your CO2 is changing, algae have a chance to outcompete the plants.

When I saw the enzyme RuBisCO mentioned, I remembered the first time I heard that word, which was at a meeting of the Atlanta Area Aquarium Association, during member Brian Revennaugh's great presentation on planted aquariums. If you'd been in the room with me, you probably could have seen the light go on over my head. Aha!

I've been a student of aquarium keeping, and especially planted aquariums, my whole life, and it is wonderful to be able to keep learning things about it.

Addendum: Brian R. adds some depth and precision in his post at the AAAA Forum discussion of this topic.

Notes on Our Noto/Martynowski/Petz/Shock Family History

2009-04-17T12:49:00.005-04:00

Back in the early 1970s, Grandma Lillian Martynowski, my mother's mother, whose maiden name was Lillian Petz, once told me that, when she was a little girl, her own mother's mother had told her that when she had been a little girl there were still Indians, Native Americans, that is, living on the outskirts of the city of Chicago.

I was amazed to hear her say that, as I had somehow assumed that all of my immigrant forbears had arrived in the New World around the same time as my father's Sicilian family, in the early Twentieth Century. I'm guessing, now, that the Petz clan, which my grandmother mentioned was from the Alsace region of Germany, the native land of the Alsatian, or German Shepherd dogs, came to North America as part of the Hessian army of mercenary soldiers that helped England's King George in his futile attempt to retain control of the American colonies. I've not yet heard any word of how they came to be in the Chicago area.

It is interesting that this is also how my wife's father's German ancestors, the Shocks, came to be on this side of the Atlantic. Carla Shock, my mother-in-law, has a copy of a genealogy that tells of three brothers travelling down the Ohio River on a raft, with one, my father-in-law's forbear, getting off around Evansville, Indiana.

125 mph...

2009-01-06T14:55:00.006-05:00

... in a friend's 1999 Porsche Carrera Cabriolet! My personal land speed record for this millenium, or, actually, since hitting 145 mph with my brother back in 1971. And that in third gear. Sheesh.

I've learned that "It never hurts to ask." I've gotten to drive a 1985 Porsche 911 that was set up for autocrossing with real stiff shocks, springs, and neoprene suspension bushings, a similarly cool old Toyota MR2, a BMW M Coupe (with the big three liter engine from the M3, and big rear tires under some mean fender flares), a recent, brand new BMW 330ci, a five year old BMW 740, a bright red 1999 BMW M3 convertible, and now, this. Life is sweet.

No Corvette, Ferrari, or Lamborghini owner has given me the keys yet, but you never know.

Peas,

out.

Chris.

(P.S. The picture is actually a 2009 Porsche, but it was too easy to find this one at Porsche.com for me to look any further.)

Intelligent design?

2008-12-14T17:07:00.003-05:00

After receiving frequent forwards from a buddy, I finally went and subscribed to the daily quotes at gratefulness.org for myself, and was happily surprised to find that today's quotation is by Mary Catherine Bateson, "Of any stopping place in life, it is good to ask whether it will be a good place from which to go on as well as a good place to remain."

Bateson is the daughter of Margaret Mead and Gregory Bateson, and G.B. was one of the mentors of Stewart Brand, founder and editor of the Whole Earth Catalog, the Last Edition of which turned out to be a life changing document for me. An interesting chain of events. Intelligent design? I don't like the weaponized way in which that phrase is being used in my culture, but...

Video: The Auditioner

2008-11-27T11:56:00.002-05:00

The Auditioner from Kate on Vimeo.

Siskel & Ebert at the Jugular

2008-11-27T11:23:00.003-05:00

Roger Ebert has posted a beautiful essay at his blog, Roger Ebert's Journal. He talks about his physical journey from fat man to cancer man, weaving in the thread of his relationship with Gene Siskel through those same years and changes. There are photos throughout, and two closing videos. Don't miss any of it.

Ya gotta love that 80s music!

2008-11-13T21:31:00.002-05:00

I sure do!

A slice of life in the VloggerHood

2008-10-17T11:58:00.001-04:00

Subtle? Who knows.

Stuff from all over. Combined artfully. Me like.

Rocketboom, "O RLY? Know Your Meme"

2008-10-17T11:48:00.001-04:00

Whole lotta fun goin' on. YMMV, but it was worth three minutes and thirty-two seconds of my time.

Late 1960s Volkswagen Beetle

2008-10-17T11:30:00.003-04:00

Nola and I owned a 1967 Volkswagen from 1974 through 1980, and loved it dearly, though the experience was a lot like driving an overgrown riding lawnmower.

I saw the driver of this one waiting for his lady in the parking lot of Your Dekalb Farmers Market, and couldn't resist.

Roger Zelazny, "The Agnostic's Prayer"

2008-10-01T19:24:00.005-04:00

My son posted a status update on his facebook page, saying that he was "praying to the test gods," which reminded me of "The Agnostic's Prayer," written by Roger Zelazny, published in his novel, "Creatures of Light and Darkness," back in 1969.

"Insofar as I may be heard by anything, which may or may not care what I say, I ask, if it matters, that you be forgiven for anything you may have done or failed to do which requires forgiveness. Conversely, if not forgiveness but something else may be required to insure any possible benefit for which you may be eligible after the destruction of your body, I ask that this, whatever it may be, be granted or withheld, as the case may be, in such a manner as to insure your receiving said benefit. I ask this in my capacity as your elected intermediary between yourself and that which may not be yourself, but which may have an interest in the matter of your receiving as much as it is possible for you to receive of this thing, and which may in some way be influenced by this ceremony. Amen."

Movie Trailer: "Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist"

2008-09-28T10:24:00.003-04:00

From Wikipedia: "After seeing his ex-sweetheart Tris (Alexis Dziena) with a new guy at his band's gig, high school student Nick O'Leary (Michael Cera), member of The Jerk Offs, is asked by college-bound Norah Silverberg (Kat Dennings) to be her boyfriend for five minutes to prove something to her friend Tris. Little does Norah know, Nick is Tris's ex-boyfriend, who Norah has developed a crush on even before seeing him. This is due to his mix CDs he had made for Tris after she broke up with him. Nick's friends then attempt to set them up, thinking it would help Nick get over Tris."

This looks like way too much fun to miss.

Today's Breakfast

2008-09-26T12:01:00.005-04:00

Huevos Rancheros, Noto Brand Hickory Smoked Jalapeno Pepper Sauce, and a hot cup of coffee. The hot sauce is home made by my brother Frank, from his own organically grown, home smoked jalapenos.

Aaron Sorkin Conjures a Meeting of Obama and Bartlet

2008-09-26T08:23:00.007-04:00

By Maureen Dowd, New York Times, September 20, 2008
"Now that he’s finally fired up on the soup-line economy, Barack Obama knows he can’t fade out again. He was eager to talk privately to a Democratic ex-president who could offer more fatherly wisdom — not to mention a surreptitious smoke — and less fraternal rivalry. I called the “West Wing” creator Aaron Sorkin (yes, truly) to get a read-out of the meeting. This is what he wrote"

Memory Lane: My 1970 Z/28 Camaro

2008-09-22T21:53:00.005-04:00

Back in 1970, I owned a car that looked exactly like this, except for the license plate.

Since I considered my driving skills to be exceptional, I did not always drive this amazing vehicle in what you'd call a responsible fashion.

One afternoon my brother Frank and I drove to a brand new section of road, freshly paved, flat as a pancake and straight as an arrow for a mile or two, way out in the middle of nowhere west of then-developed suburban Fort Lauderdale, Florida. We turned off the radio, rolled up the windows, tightened down our seatbelts (no shoulder harnesses in those days, kids) and I put my foot down. Up through the gears we screamed, until the telephone poles were flicking by at an amazing rate, and I noticed that we were in fourth gear and the engine was wailing away, 500 rpm past its redline.

Some years later, sitting with coffee after a family Christmas-season dinner at my parents' place, with the car safely gone to other parts, I was remembering the car fondly. My mother asked me how fast I had gone in it. I told her, "You really don't want to know." She insisted. I reiterated. She insisted again. So, I told her, "One hundred and forty-five miles an hour."

"I wish you hadn't told me." she said.

My Favorite Atlanta Area Bakery

2008-09-22T19:08:00.005-04:00

Having grown up in a household managed by my mother, who was, among other things, a German-American Baker-Woman Superhero, baked goods have a special place in my universe.

With that in mind, I thought I'd turn on all you Twitter-less souls to my Favorite Atlanta Area Bakery, Southern Sweets, across from the Dekalb Farmers Market, off Laredo Drive, in Decatur. It is a family business. Mom bakes, her twenty-something red-haired son fronts the retail operation, and Dad is the artist who has produced the delightful paintings that fill the walls.

Go. Buy. Eat. Enjoy. Then write to me and tell me all about it.

Laurel's Kitchen - Oatmeal Pancake Recipe

2008-09-19T18:01:00.005-04:00

This is one of our all time breakfast favorites, from Laurel's Kitchen, our favorite cookbook back in the hippie days. The two things we always added was hot real butter and real maple syrup!

Ingredients

1 1/4 cups milk
1 cup rolled oats

1 tablespoon oil
2 eggs, beaten

1/2 cup whole wheat flour
1 tablespoon brown sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt

Process

Combine the milk and rolled oats in a bowl and let stand at least five minutes.

Add the oil and beaten eggs, mixing well. Stir in the flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt. Mix just until the dry ingredients are moistened.

Bake on a hot, lightly oiled griddle, using 1/4 cup of batter for each pancake. Turn them when the top is bubbly and the edges are slightly dry.

Makes 10 to 12 pancakes.

P.S. We also got used to having to make a double batch of this great recipe. Enjoy.

Added a new plant to the aquarium

2008-07-20T14:54:00.003-04:00

I found a couple of bunches of Rotala wallichii at The Fish Store, up in Sandy Springs, last Wednesday. I didn't know what it was, but it looked healthy, and had that reddish tinge that I've been thinking would add a bit of spice to the aquascape. I took one of the bunches home for a mere $4.59. We'll see how the red color holds up under my lighting.

P.S. Here's a note from the future, from October 17, 2008, to be precise. The Rotala didn't hold up. I'm guessing that it needed more light than it was getting in my little tank, but maybe it was needing more nutrients, as well. There are a few small bits left, but most of it gradually turned to a dark brow mush.

Koi Pond T-Shirt

2008-07-18T11:07:00.005-04:00

My wife, Nola, is out of town this week, so it was my turn to go check the mail. There was a key in the box to one of the big boxes. In the big box was one box and one Tyvek bag. In the bag was this beautiful shirt.

The shirt is by a Marie McVey, a lady I met on the Aquarium Photography Forum. Marie keeps goldfish and koi, photographs them, and manipulates the images to get the watercolor effect you see here.

Her work is displayed, and available for sale at extremely reasonable prices, here.

New fishes!

2008-04-28T19:34:00.006-04:00

After work today, I headed out Roswell Road, about a mile past the Perimeter, to a tropical fish store. I was hunting a specific fertilizer for the plants in my aquarium and I did find that, but as long as I was there, I browsed the shop, and turned up a bunch of these guys:

They are known in the trade as Corydoras julii, though they are almost certainly actually Corydoras trilineatus. Hmph. Anyhow, they are delightful little guys, now about an inch long, and I picked up three of them. They have this charming habit of swimming around in schools, with their noses in the gravel, looking for some left-overs for lunch. Very cool.

Crayon Physics Deluxe

2008-02-29T22:51:00.000-05:00

The most amazing game / simulation.

Ellery Creek Bighole

2007-12-21T18:28:00.002-05:00

Ellery Creek Bighole
Originally uploaded by Patricia Mc

I want to go swimming here, or just sit quietly for a day.

Beatnix: Beatles "performing" Stairway to Heaven video mashup

2007-12-19T17:24:00.001-05:00

found via boingboing.net

Warp 9

2007-11-15T14:49:00.002-05:00

Warp 9
Originally uploaded by Wings of the Morning

In the Civic, headed for home, about 9:30 p.m., down Georgia Highway 400.

Orbital “The Box” Video, with Tilda Swinton

2007-10-05T10:42:00.001-04:00

A significantly sciencefictional item, in which Tilda Swinton, who went to school with Diana, Princess of Wales, appears.

What does a lazy, beer drinking roboticist do in his spare time?

2007-10-04T10:14:00.003-04:00

Nikki on the job: V-Day, 2007

2007-10-01T18:08:00.001-04:00

Here's my daughter Nikki directing part of the cast of Atlanta's V-Day fundraiser, "A Memory, a Monologue, a Rant, and a Prayer". These folks are, from left to right: Nikki's exercise coach, an actress by the name of Jane Fonda, a singer, half of an act known as "The Indigo Girls", Emily Saliers; and Doria Roberts, a musician.

I’m not sick, but I’m not well

2007-09-26T13:47:00.001-04:00

Lip Dub - Flagpole Sitta by Harvey Danger from amandalynferri on Vimeo.

DJ Shadow, Q-Tip, and Lateef The Truth Speaker performing "Enuff" on David Letterman's "The Late Show

2007-08-09T11:15:00.001-04:00

I've been hearing about this DJ Shadow fellow for some time now, but just got around to checking him out. Very cool. Here's his Myspace page. there's more good stuff there.

French music video: "Motus" by Seb Martel, directed by Arno Salters

2007-08-06T15:07:00.001-04:00

Via speculative fiction author Jonathan Carrol's blog.

Throw Rocks At Boys

2006-07-08T16:53:00.001-04:00

The girls, and all of the boys who have a sense of humor, are going to love this cute little game: Throw Rocks At Boys! These folks sell tee shirts here, and have a few other games accessible through that main menu.

Jesus says...

2006-06-22T21:28:00.000-04:00

This one was just a little too good to pass up. From Penny Arcade, the web cartoon on gaming culture that I've referred to once before. Buy the shirt at Think Geek for an entirely reasonable $17.99.

Photo: Land's End

2006-05-28T12:47:00.000-04:00

Land's End
Originally uploaded by Richard-.

A mind blowing aerial photo.
From the photographer: "These fields seem to be (look like they are) slowly eroding away into barren wasteland. At 30,000 feet one can more easily see geographic transitions like this..."

Hawaii #5 - Clown Fish and a story

2006-05-25T09:46:00.000-04:00

Hawaii #5 - Clown Fish and a story
Originally uploaded by pinhole.

Great shot!

Pic o' the Day: "Flying high"

2006-05-15T12:55:00.000-04:00

Flying high
Originally uploaded by Gudmann.

An asounding image: you are flying over a river in Iceland, another plane under you, thousands of Greylag Geese under him, the river streaming by at the bottom of it all, highlighted by the streaks of your speed and the sun's flare on the water. One to dream on.

Pic 'o the Day - April 10, 2006

2006-04-10T16:18:00.000-04:00

Much more photo-goodness at photo.net.

Lord of the Rings!

2006-04-07T11:38:00.001-04:00

Getting ready to go see the second movie in the series, John, on the right, and several of his friends.

Miami-Hollywood Speedway Park

2006-04-07T11:04:00.002-04:00

We used to go out here in the sixties, on Saturday nights to drag race, and once in a while to see the sportscar guys road race. This car is coming off a hairpin curve that led onto the main straight, which was also the dragstrip. I'm pretty sure it is a late sixties Formula Ford, perhaps even a Lotus. Pretty little thing, isn't it?

Nikki in her native habitat: L5P, The ATL

2004-04-01T11:50:00.001-05:00

Pic of the Day: Nikki, in her attic apartment, with the purse Nola made for her birthday, 2004. L5P = Little Five Points, one of the city's hippest neighborhoods, though, actually, Nikki's place was about a mile east of L5P, in Candler Park. The phrase "The ATL" is an anachronism, at least for me, 'cause I hadn't heard it back in '04.

Nick is so cool!

2003-01-11T16:30:00.001-05:00

Of course, this is artwork he did a long time ago. I haven't been out west in a few years to check out the gallery. (That's a hint, Nick. Send me some scans, and I'll post them here.)

Oh, my, Toto, I don't think we're in Kansas any more.

2003-01-11T12:19:00.001-05:00

This is a test. I have no idea how this is going to work out, or if it is going to work at all. This is my first time using Blogger. I am very nervous about this.
Nope, it didn't work. OK, here's a second try. Nope, not yet. Third try. Fourth try. Tinkering with settings . . . Let's see. Augh! Even that didn't work. The fifth try: ah, finally, it worked. (No, it didn't!)
You didn't come here to read all this, though, did you?
P.S. April 7, 2006, and I've finally gotten a photo in here. This is my dear departed father-in-law, taken back in the summer of 1977, at a reunion of his family in southern Indiana. You should see the one where he's pitching horse shoes. It hasn't been scanned yet, though.