Weekend Top 6 Picks for September 6th and 7th

Posted on by Thor

Saturday September 6, 2014

7:30pm to 9:30pm $15 at the door. Whisper/Roar. The Orange Studio 1121 N Mills Ave, Orlando, Florida. Two collaborative evenings of modern dance, music,film, costume couture and installation art.

Collaborators: Voci Dance, DJ Nigel John, Tamara Marke, and Mario Schambon.

When: Friday, Sept. 5th and Saturday, Sept 6th; Doors open at 7:30, Performances at 8:00

Where: The Orange Studio, 1121 N. Mills Avenue, Orlando, FL 32803

Wine available as well as lite bites from Happy Chow.

More info: vocidance.wordpress.com

8pm to 11pm Free. Official Observatory Open House. Embry-Riddle Observatories 600 S Clyde Morris Blvd, Daytona Beach, Florida. Please join us for the Astronomy Observatory Open House nights at ERAU’s Daytona Beach campus! These free events allow the campus community and members of the general public of all ages to view the night sky through the Observatory’s telescopes, ask questions, and learn about our universe.

This year we are introducing a new Public Lecture to the Astronomy Open House that will begin at 7pm. Observations will follow from 8pm – 11pm.

View the sky through many of the Observatory’s telescopes and binoculars. We have step stools so kids can reach the eyepiece!

In addition to viewing the night sky through our telescopes, explore our astronomy posters and take a walking tour of the solar system. There is no fixed program for observations and no reservations are necessary. Just drop by to see the stars!

9:30pm to 11:30pm Free but at least get a drink. Son Flamenco. Ceviche Tapas Orlando, 125 West Church Street, Orlando, FL. Hot blooded Flamenco dancers every week.

Sunday September 7, 2014

1pm to 3pm Free. Yoga.  East side of  Lake Eola Park, Orlando, FL.

2pm to 4pm Free. Join poet Peggy Miller as She Reads. Winter Park Library 460 E. New England Ave. Winter Park, FL. Comstock Review Editor Peggy Miller reads at the at Winter Park Library. As a previous research assistant working in biochemistry for the USDA, Peggy Miller’s poems are often inspired by the sciences. Join poet Peggy Miller as she reads and discusses her latest works at 2 p.m. on September 7th at the Winter Park Library.

9pm to 11pm Free but grab a Yak! Comedy Open Mic. Austin’s Coffee, 929 W Fairbanks Ave, Winter Park, FL. Free comedy show! Come out and laugh, or give it a try yourself.

Tablet Repair

Posted on by Thor

My Motion Computing Tablet started running some diagnostic that kept me from writing. The ominous screen popped up every other time I booted up the computer. Naturally I panicked. I called Damon Natch Burke, who is the brother of local artist Tracy Burke. “Tracy got all the artistic talent and I got all the analytical abilities.” He said. Damon used to work, engineering rocket payloads. A poster in his workshop showed a schematic of one of those rockets.  He now works an Embry-Riddle as an Observatory engineer. He came across the same warning signs and decided to attack the issue from the inside out. First he researched on Google to see if any other people had the same issue. I did the same thing, but he always seems to find more in depth reports. Somehow he hooked his computer up to mine and he ran a barrage of tests.

He let me sit in and sketch as he took the tablet apart. The tiny screws were balanced on top of his own iPad. The pressure sensitive screen was popped off and he finally found a way to inspect the heart of the machine, a tiny hard drive. He approached the problem from all angles. If the hard drive was to blame, he wanted to be sure he ordered the right one. When he rebooted and the diagnostic screen came up again, he asked how long I had let the diagnostic run. I had let it run all night and when I saw it hadn’t finished by the next morning, I had assumed it was frozen. As we sat and talked, he let the diagnostic continue. He placed his ear to the machine and listened for movement in the hard drive. I joked that the doctor needed a stethoscope. He actually had one and he decided to use it. “You can’t draw me using the stethoscope however.” He insisted.

As the hard drive continued to click and whir, Damon suggested I go out and get some lunch.  When I returned, it was still working. I went back home to get all my software disks in case the hard drive had to be wiped clean. In the end, the machine fixed itself. I had just not been patient enough to let the program finish its work. The experience was a wake up call. I need to start backing up all my data. I’ll do that soon, when there is more time.