Apache Junction is named for the junction of the Apache Trail and U.S. Highway 60. Superstition Mountain, the westernmost peak of the Superstition Mountains, is nearby.
The Superstition Mountains, popularly referred to as "The Superstitions" or "The Supes", are a range of mountains in Arizona located to the east of the Phoenix metropolitan area. They are anchored by Superstition Mountain, a large mountain that is a popular recreation destination for residents of the Phoenix, Arizona area.
The mountain range is in the federally-designated Superstition Wilderness Area, and includes a variety of natural features in addition to the mountain that is its namesake. Weaver's Needle, a prominent landmark and rock climbing destination set behind and to the east of Superstition Mountain, is a tall erosional remnant [1] that plays a significant role in the legend of the Lost Dutchman's Gold Mine. Peralta Canyon, on the northeast side of Superstition Mountain, contains a popular trail that leads up to Freemont Saddle, which provides a very picturesque view of Weaver's Needle. Miner's Needle is another prominent formation in the wilderness and a popular hiking destination.
As with most of the terrain surrounding the Phoenix metropolitan area, the Superstition Mountains have a desert climate, with high summer temperatures and a handful of perennial sources of water. The altitude in the more remote, eastern portion of the wilderness is higher than the western portion, which lowers temperatures slightly. Numerous hiking trails cross the mountains from multiple access points, including the Peralta Trailhead, the most popular.[2] The Lost Dutchman State Park, located on the west side of Superstition Mountain, includes several short walking trails.
Saturday, December 19, 2009
Tuesday, December 15, 2009
Monday, December 14, 2009
Thursday, December 3, 2009
Nikon D90 and D5000: are they the same?
I am in doubt choosing my next camera between Nikon D90 and D5000, which recently are getting closer in terms of pricing.
I went on dpreview.com website (obviously) and I had the idea of using the excellent “Digital Cameras Side-by-Side” tool to compare the features of the two cameras:
Surprise: there are no differences! Only LCD, weight and size are not equal, but, from the technical standpoint, they appear to be the same camera!
Monday, November 30, 2009
Climate Change Is Inevitable — It’s Time to Adapt
Wired – at least the online version – it’s always great reading.
The global war on carbon has not gone well for the atmosphere. The really inconvenient truth: We’re toast. Fried. Steamed. Poached.
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It’s worth keeping in mind that the planet we inhabit has always been fundamentally out of control, driven by fantastically complex, chaotic systems we scarcely understand. With or without our help, dear Mother Earth is capable of producing circumstances highly inimical to human life. Pick whatever black swan you like—how about the next asteroid or an avian superplague or that Yellowstone volcano? Climate change could end up being just a side note.
There are lots of reasons to avoid shifting the focus to adaptation. For starters, “We’re toast” is nobody’s idea of a call to arms. But in fact, an honest accounting of where we stand ought to be the jumping-off place for a more important (and way more interesting) discussion. The real question is not how we can keep things the way they are but how we’ll survive, and maybe even thrive, on a hotter planet. Yes, we should still work on cutting carbon. But we need to be realistic about what that can accomplish and what it can’t.
At the risk of sounding horrifically flip, change is good. Really. Without the challenges inflicted by our volatile environment, starting with some nasty 80 percent-plus species extinctions, Earth would still be the planet of the trilobites. We just need to find a way to do what we’ve always done: adapt and—dare I say—evolve. And then start getting ready for the next ice age.
Mathematical Notation Gets an Upgrade
For 70 years, mathematicians have been stuck on the Halting Problem: Computers occasionally hang on one line of code and fail to move on to the next, and no one can reliably predict when that will happen. (The result is the unending hourglass or pinwheel of death.) But a few years ago, Microsoft researcher Byron Cook and his colleagues did the unthinkable — they hacked a fix. When Cook tried to describe the workaround, however, he found it impossible to explain with existing mathematical symbols.
His only option, he decided, was to invent new ones. Cook phoned a friend, artist Tauba Auerbach, and after several months of brainstorming, the duo sketched out nine symbols, each of which indicates a function not easily describable with existing notation. Cook is applying the signs in a book on the Halting Problem and plans to submit them for inclusion in LaTeX, the typesetting program mathematicians use to publish their work. “Symbols change over time,” Cook says. “Some really convey what they’re after, and some don’t. Those that do stick.” Hopefully, Cook’s signs will stick around long enough to ensure a glitch-free future.”
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