After the Deluge Report

There hasn't been much happening on the surfing front as of late, due to the deluge we've experienced here in SoCal over the last few weeks. To get an idea of just how much rain we have received, San Diego's average annual rainfall is in the neighborhood of 7 inches. This year (which starts in July, I believe), we are about 13 inches OVER that average.

One of the local lakes (Lake Hodges) was down to 20% of its maximum volume in October. Now, it is overflowing (as it is designed to do) for the first time since 1998!

Thus, with all of the runoff from the swollen rivers, the local beaches are a disaster area. The water looks like Willy Wonka's chocolate lake, and to top it off, it would be wise to step carefully if you decide to stroll along the beach for the next few days!

Tuesday Afternoon Surf Report

I got back in the water today, knowing full well that this would probably be the only chance I had to surf this week since another bout of rain is making its way to our shores as I type.

So how was? Small, but clean and relatively wind-free. After several days out of the water, it was just nice to get back in and catch a few small waves, paddle around, etc. Definately better than a kick in the nuts, as we say...

Four Billion Pixel Images

The Gigapixl Project is a fascinating look at high end photography, and what can be accomplished with old and new technologies when combined. While the camera which takes these gorgeous pictures is not digital (it uses negatives which measure 9 inches by 18 inches), the negatives are scanned immediately after the film has been developed. Once scanned, the film is archived in a temperature and humidity controlled environment, with all further work done using the digital scan.

To give you an idea of how large a four gigapixel image is, each uncompressed digital image requires approximately twenty-four (24) gigabytes of storage. If your computer monitor is set to a 1280 by 1024 display resolution, then you would need a grid of monitors seventy wide and 44 tall. Yowza! Take a look at the images up for display, and be amazed at the details!

Google Maps!

Google Maps has just opened its doors as of today. Currently, it it fairly javascript heavy and only works well in Mozilla browsers (including Firefox) and Internet Exploder. Looks pretty slick, at least as far as my brief test can tell.