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Webcam Modification for Telescope

Posted at 9:57 PM on Aug. 11, 2006
At last,the promised tutorial!

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Ice cream in 5 minutes

Posted at 7:11 PM on Aug. 1, 2006
Want a fun and tasty science experiment to do with your children?  How about making ice cream in a resealable bag in just 5 minutes?

Here's what you need:

ice
1 cup half and half
1/2 cup salt
2 tablespoons sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 resealable sandwich bag
1 gallon-sized resealable freezer bag
  1. Fill gallon-sized bag with ice and salt.
  2. Mix ingredients in small bag an seal.
  3. Placed sealed small bag in large bag.
  4. Shake for approx. 5 minutes.
  5. Open bags and eat ice cream.  Be sure to wipe salt off the outside of the small bag first.
For chocolate or strawberry ice cream substitute syrup and half the sugar.

So where does the science come in?  The salt  lowers the freezing point of water allowing it to remain frozen longer.  For a variation on this experiment see http://www.stevespanglerscience.com/experiment/148

Have fun!

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So Much For Consitency

Posted at 9:36 AM on Jul. 26, 2006
I really need to stop promising myself that I'll update this blog weekly.  It's just going to get me depressed.  A post is forth-coming this week.

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Webcam Astrohotography

Posted at 8:22 AM on Jul. 1, 2006
In an attempt to do something with this blog I'm aiming to post at least once a week a technology-related article.  This week I'll discuss using a webcam for astrophotography.  This is actually an entry from my "normal" blog but after this post they'll be completely original.

So what prompted this all of a sudden?  After interviewing Jay Ryan for my podcast I decided I should start this blog up again because many homeschoolers use Homeschool Blogger as a resource and since I want to reach as many of you as possible this seemed like the best place to start. 

So without further adieu,

Moon   I saw a tip on Anthony Ayiomamitis' website about using a webcam for astrophotogrpahy.  He said,

Strange as it may sound, the cheapest cameras are also the best when it comes to imaging the moon (and other members of the solar system). The king of the webcams is the Phillips ToUCam Pro (740k and 840k models) which is available for less than $100, has a removeable lens and requires a $20 adapter so that it can be dropped into a star diagonal (I use a black Kodak 35 mm film canister which perfectly doubles for an adapter and fits perfectly into a 1.25" diagonal). The strength of these web cameras and which pulverizes the more powerful and expensive CCD and digicams is their ability to continually sample our target of interest so that brief moments of good and steady seeing are not only captured but are recorded in droves due to the high sampling rate, thus allowing for a wealth of material to increase the S/N {Signal-to-Noise -- ed.} ratio! Who says the brute force method (vis a vis incessant sampling) is not preferable?!


So I found an old Logitech Quickcam Express, removed the lens (very easy) and attached a black 35mm film canister.  I took the contraption to the Hirsch Observatory, slapped it into a 10" telescope and the image at the beginning of the post is one of the many pictures I took that night of the moon. 

This is something you can do in your own backyard with a small telescope and just about any webcam.  Just make sure your telescope will accept a 1.25" eyepiece.  So all of you homeschooling moms out there, find a webcam at a garage sale for about $1 (or free like I did).  Dads, you modify the camera (with your son, of course) and find somebody with a telescope and have at it.  A laptop computer would be preferable when imaging because of it's portability but there's nothing to prevent you from hooking up your desktop PC outside (make sure there is zero chance of rain!).

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All's Well That Ends Well

Posted at 3:42 PM on Feb. 10, 2006
It was bound to happen. I mentioned in a previous post that this blog was destined for the digital dumpster and that's exactly what's happened.  Homeschool Tech has morphed in Jesus Geek, a weekly podcast about geeky stuff.  I haven't abandoned the homeschooling idea yet.  In fact, there's a homeschooling minute featured in every podcast.

Hopefully, things will pick up here.  Perhaps I'll feature some science experiments that I've performed with my kids.  However, as I don't really have time to maintain 3 blogs and a podcast, this one will almost assuredly end up in the aforementioned digital dumpster.

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New Homeschool Tech Podcast

Posted at 11:05 AM on Jan. 24, 2006
It's a short one but you can doneload it here:  http://bezahlt.podomatic.com

In my next episode I plan on discussing some homeschooling websites (like HomeSchool Blogger).

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Show Notes for Episode 1: Basic Internet Security

Posted at 10:29 PM on Nov. 28, 2005

I will post show notes here for Episode 1: Basic Internet Security.

Please give a listen: http://bezahlt.podomatic.com

Cheers!

7 Basic Security Tips
  1. Always make sure Windows is updated.
  2. Always leave automatic updates and your firewall turned ON.
  3. Use antivirus software and keep it updated.
  4. Use antispyware software and keep it updated.
  5. Don't use file-sharing software like Kazaa or eMule.
  6. Never open attachments in email you're not expecting (not mentioned in podcast).
  7. Never purchase anything from an unsecure website (not mentioned in podcast).

Software mentioned in the podcast

Windows Updates: http://windowsupdate.microsoft.com
MS AntiSpyware (Beta): http://www.microsoft.com/athome/security/spyware/software/default.mspx
Zone Alarm: http://www.zonealarm.com
AVG Free: http://free.grisoft.com
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What's All This Then?

Posted at 2:12 PM on Nov. 28, 2005

I've been blogging for a couple of years now.  As a matter of fact, my main blog (Bezahlt(dot)Org) has been stopped and started, rebuilt and retooled a number of times.  On top of this, I have a media blog (Double-Minded Man) where I post audio, photos and video sporadically, additionally  it lets me vent verbally when I feel the urge.  In fact, I updated it almost daily when I took a trip to Bay St. Louis, MS in September.  So why start another blog that's destined for the digital dumpster?

Simply, this will be a companion site to a podcast which I'm starting: Homeschool Tech.  If you choose, you can go over there now (just click on the link) and listen to the horrible, untitled Episode 0.  I felt like I didn't have enough to do between staying right before God, being a good husband, raising 5 children (soon to be 6 in February), homeschooling said children and work.

More about me and why I'm insane in later posts (perhaps I'll share this in my profile).

Cheers!
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