Kocevski.com

Jon Fowler’s Lamb Stew

kocevski — Wed, 30 Jan 2013 19:51:48 +0000

Here’s a way to make a tasty stew. This recipe was originally given to me from Jon Fowler.

1.5-3 lbs lamb or beef, cubed into roughly 1? chunks, salt and peppered
and refrigerated overnight or as long as possible

one onion, diced
a few garlic cloves, crushed and diced
root vegetables if you want them, chopped into fairly large chunks

raisins, apricots, and/or other dried fruit–maybe a total of 1 cup
minced ginger–about an inch of a skinned root or a tablespoon or the
minced.
1/2 tsp cinnamon or one stick
about 3/4 cup red wine
one juiced orange
mint leaves
bay leaves
other spices like parsley, rosemary (available wild all over Berkeley),
marjoram are good.

Heat the pan with a thin layer of oil on the bottom over medium high heat. Put in the meat to sear. It is really important to do this right: the meat must be placed with a little bit of space between pieces, not just poured in, because you want to sear the meat, not steam it–often you end up having to sear the meat in two or three batches. Turn the meat with prongs or a fork to sear on all sides; this typically takes about four minutes per batch (Unless you want to make this right away, you may want to watch someone do it right before attempting it yourself.)

Remove the meat from the pan, pour off excess froth, and saute onions and garlic until semi-translucent, 2-3 minutes. Put the meat back in, deglaze the pan with the wine (turn heat on high for a few seconds, pour in the wine, scrape the bottom of the pan with a wooden spoon to take up the seared bits), then add all the other ingredients and cover. If you’re doing this in a pressure cooker, seal the cooker, bring the pot to it’s high pressure mark (80 kPa gauge pressure), stabilize the pressure (medium to medium low heat usually suffices), then cook for about 20 minutes. Turn off heat and allow to cool naturally until pressure valve is released. In a regular pan, cover the pot, reduce temp to low, and simmer for at least 2 hours, checking every half hour or so whether there is adequate liquid and topping off with broth or water.

Aerial Photography

kocevski — Sun, 25 Dec 2011 18:13:38 +0000

My aerial photography project consists of an Multiplex Easy Star radio controlled airplane which is equipped with a GoPro HD camera. The plane is controlled with a standard 72Mhz Futaba radio and the video from the GoPro is relayed to the ground via a 900Mhz transmitter and receiver. I’ve successfully tested the control and video link, using a directional patch antenna, up to a distance of about a mile.

The Easy Star uses a Permax 400 electric motor that is powered by a 2100 mAh Lithium-Ion Polymer battery that gives about a 30-45 minute flight time. In order to reduce potential noise in the video link, the 900mAh video transmitter is powered by a separate 450 mAh that provides about 30 minutes of transmitting power. The video receiver is also powered by a 450 mAh with about the same operating time. The GoPro records HD video to a SD card onboard the plane while simultaneously outputting a VGA signal to the video transmitter. I can fly the plane from the first person point of view using a pair of FatShark video glasses.

Overlayed on the transmitted video is an artificial horizon and Heads Up Display provided by an Eagle Tree Data Logger and the On Screen Display board. The Eagle Tree system also incorporates an onboard GPS unit and accelerometer that allows the plane to auto level and overlay distance and bearing information. The combination of the GPS and accelerometer also allow the plan to be flown autonomously in a “return to home” mode in case the control or video link is lost. The Eagle Tree computer is an incredibly sophisticated system for it’s cost/size.

You can check out some photos of the setup below as well as videos from a few of my flights. The whole setup has turned out to a lot of fun to build and tinker with and flying it has really been a joy.

Equipement Photos

« previous | start | stop | next »

Videos
Joshua Tree National Park

Crissy Field, San Francisco, Ca

Arastradara Ragional Park

Equipment List
Multiplex Easy Star
Permax 400 electric motor
72Mhz 6EXAS Futaba transmitter
72Mhz R1456 Futaba reciever
900Mhz video transmitter
900Mhz video receiver
GoPro HD Helmet Camera
FatShark video goggles
Eagle Tree data logger
Eagle Tree OSD board
Eagle Tree Gardian stabilization board
Eagle Tree GPS module
2100 mAh lithium-Ion polymer battery
2 x 450 mAh lithium-Ion polymer battery

WikiAtlas

kocevski — Sun, 25 Dec 2011 17:29:34 +0000

App Info:
Current Version: WikiAtlas 1.2
Device Support: iPhone, iPad, & iPod Touch

App Description:
WikiAtlas displays the location and description of over 1.7 million Wikipedia articles in 230 languages around the world. WikiAtlas allows you to display articles near your current position or around a specified address or city.

WikiAtlas also includes an offline mode, allowing user to save article information around a location and then later view the information offline without a data connection. This makes WikiAtlas a great travel companion. Simply turn on save mode and any article information that you view will be cached for later offline use. Users can also set standing filters to sort through article informaton so as to only display articles of interest.

WikiAtlas is the most comprehensive Wikipedia mapping app currently avaliable in the iTunes store and is the perfect app for anyone interested in learning about the area around them, whether while on travel or closer to home.

Additional Features Include:
- Access to over 1.7 million Wikipedia articles in 230 languages
- Offline mode! Save unlimited article information for offline use at no additional cost
- GPS utility to display articles around your current location on an embedded map
- Full browsable catalog of all articles around a specified location
- Comprehensive search utility to sort through articles
- User selectable filters to display only articles of interest
- Email article coordinates and descriptions without leaving the app
- Native iPad and Retina display support
- Support for both portrait and landscape viewing

App Support:
If you’d like to report a bug or suggest a way to improve the current version of WikiAtlas, please don’t hesitate to email me at support{at}kocevski.com. I appreciate all the feedback I can get!

App Download:

Correlations paper submitted to ArXiv.org!

kocevski — Wed, 07 Dec 2011 02:48:05 +0000

My recent paper where we investigate the origin of the infamous correlation between a GRB’s nuFnu spectral peak Epk and its isotropic equivalent energy Eiso has been posted to ArXiv.org. I do this by simulating a realistic population of GRBs and examine how these bursts would appear to a gamma-ray detector here on Earth. I find that a strong observed correlation can be produced between the source frame Epk and Eiso for the detected population despite the existence of only a weak and broad correlation in the original simulated population. The energy dependance of a gamma-ray detector’s flux-limited detection threshold acts to produce a correlation between the source frame Epk and Eiso for low luminosity GRBs, producing the left boundary of the observed correlation. Conversely, very luminous GRBs are found at higher redshifts than their low luminosity counterparts due to the standard Malquest bias, causing bursts in the low Epk, high Eiso regime to go undetected because their Epk values would be redshifted to energies at which most gamma-ray detectors become less sensitive. I argue that it is this previously unexamined effect which produces the right boundary of the observed correlation. Therefore, the origin of the observed correlation is a complex combination of the instrument’s detection threshold, the intrinsic cutoff in the GRB luminosity function, and the broad range of redshifts over which GRBs are detected. These simulations serve to demonstrate how selection effects caused by a combination of instrumental sensitivity and the cosmological nature of an astrophysical population can act to produce an artificially strong correlation between observed properties.

The full paper can be found at the link below:
http://adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2011arXiv1110.6173K

Time Dilation paper now on ArXiv.org!

kocevski — Wed, 07 Dec 2011 02:44:03 +0000

Our recent paper on the effects of time dilation on gamma-ray burst pulses has now been posted on ArXiv.org. In the paper we explain that the observed lack of time dilation in the temporal profiles of high redshift GRBs is due to an instrumental bias that effects the duration measurement of transient signals in the presence of background noise. We find that the observer frame duration of individual pulses does not increase as a function of redshift as one would expect from a cosmologically expanding Universe. In fact, the duration of individual pulses is seen to decrease as their signal-to-noise decreases with increasing redshift, as only the brightest portion of a high redshift GRB’s light curve is accessible to the detector. We show that this fundamental duration bias implies that the measured durations and associated Eiso estimates for GRBs detected near an instrument’s detection threshold should be considered lower limits to their true values. The full paper can be found at the link below.

http://adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2011arXiv1110.6175K

Mass-Metallicity paper now on ArXiv.org!

kocevski — Thu, 02 Dec 2010 22:33:45 +0000

Our recent paper on the origins of the M-Z relation for long gamma-ray burst host galaxies has now been posted on ArXiv.org. In the paper we explain the observed offset between the GRB and SDSS defined M-Z relations as being due to a bias towards finding transient events in low metallicity, high star forming galaxies. If low metallicity galaxies produce more stars than their equally massive, high-metallicity counterparts, then transient events that closely trace the SFR in a galaxy would be more likely to be found in these types of galaxies. You can read all about it at the link below:

WebCacher

kocevski — Tue, 23 Feb 2010 08:30:11 +0000

App Info:
Current Version: WebCacher 1.2
Device Support: iPhone 2G, 3G, 3GS, iPod Touch

App Description:
WebCacher allows you to save files from the internet directly to your device for offline viewing. WebCacher supports all files that can be viewed by the iPhone or iPod Touch. These include html, MS Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Apple Pages, PDF, rtf, xml, all plain text files, and more.

WebCacher is especially useful for reading documents at a later time when your device doesn’t have access to the internet (a feature that mobile Safari currently does not support). It’s a perfect tool for catching up on articles, papers, or presentations while on the move.

Additional Features Include:
- View documents in both portrait and landscape mode
- Email saved documents without leaving the app

App Support:
If you’d like to report a bug or suggest a way to improve the current version of WebCacher, please don’t hesitate to email me at support{at}kocevski.com. I appreciate all the feedback I can get!

App Download:

Historical Markers

kocevski — Tue, 23 Feb 2010 08:18:22 +0000

App Info:
Current Version: Historical Markers 1.3
Device Support: iPhone 3G, 3GS, iPod Touch

App Description:
Historical Markers displays the location and description of over 100,000 historic markers throughout North America. Access detailed plaque descriptions, photos, and links to online repositories of historical information. The application allows you to display markers near your current position or browse the entire marker catalog through a comprehensive search utility right on your device. Historical Markers contains thousands of markers with full plaque text from the Historical Marker Database as well as the entire U.S. National Registry of Historic Places.

Historical Markers is a perfect application for anyone interested in learning about the history around them, whether on travel or closer to home.

Additional Features Include:
- Over 23,000 markers from the Historical Marker Database
- Over 76,000 markers from the U.S. National Registry of Historic Places
- GPS utility to display markers around your current location on an embedded map
- Full browsable catalog of all markers sorted by State/Region
- Comprehensive search utility to sort through markers
- Email marker coordinates and descriptions without leaving the app

App Support:
If you’d like to report a bug or suggest a way to improve the current version of Historical Markers, please don’t hesitate to email me at support{at}kocevski.com. I appreciate all the feedback I can get!

App Download:

ArxivReader

kocevski — Mon, 22 Feb 2010 07:54:30 +0000

App Info:
Current Version: ArXivReader 2.2
Device Support: iPhone 3G, 3GS, iPod Touch

App Description:
ArXivReader is an iPhone and iPod Touch interface to the ArXiv.org pre-print server, allowing you to easily browse and save recently submitted papers in all ArXiv categories. ArXivReader also features a comprehensive search utility, allowing you to search the entire ArXiv.org site for past papers.

Additional Features Include:
- Save PDF files directly to the your device for offline reading.
- Flip view that lets you save notes on individual papers
- Subcategory filters that let you sort through recently submitted papers.
- New multi-threading capability lets you continue to browse the ArXiv.org feed while downloading papers
- Email the PDF files and your associated notes without leaving the application
- View papers in portrait and landscape modes

App Support:
If you’d like to report a bug or suggest a way to improve the current version of ArXivReader, please don’t hesitate to email me at support{at}kocevski.com. I appreciate all the feedback I can get!

App Download:

Julia’s Chicken Stir-Fry Recipe

kocevski — Mon, 30 Jun 2008 03:17:43 +0000

BROWN RICE AND CHICKEN STIR-FRY WITH EDAMAME AND WALNUTS
1/2 cup coarsely chopped walnuts
4 tablespoons tamari soy sauce* or low-sodium soy sauce

2 skinless boneless chicken breast halves, thinly sliced crosswise
1 teaspoon honey

4 teaspoons oriental sesame oil
4 teaspoons minced fresh ginger
3 garlic cloves, minced
1 1/2 cups short-grain brown rice, cooked according to package directions, cooled
2 cups shelled cooked edamame beans (from about 26 ounces of pods)

2/3 cup chopped green onions
Stir walnuts in medium nonstick skillet over medium heat until lightly toasted, about 3 minutes. Drizzle 2 tablespoons tamari over walnuts; stir until tamari coats walnuts, about 45 seconds. Cool. (Can be made 3 days ahead. Store at room temperature in airtight container.)

Combine chicken, 2 tablespoons tamari and honey in medium bowl; toss to coat. Let stand 15 minutes.

Heat oil in large nonstick skillet over high heat. Add chicken and stir-fry 2 minutes. Add ginger and garlic and stir-fry 30 seconds. Add cooked rice and edamame; reduce heat to medium and stir-fry until heated through, about 5 minutes. Season with salt and pepper. Divide rice mixture among plates. Sprinkle with green onions and walnuts.