Argh, Busy

So it's pretty much a given that I'm going to neglect my blog writing duties at this point, given that I'm a fully-fledged member of society and actually doing work now.

But I found this cool insect on my veranda today.  Considering it's the dead of Winter, I'm a little worried that it won't survive on account of there being no food around. On the bright side, my plan of leaving a trough out with bare soil, and letting the natural flora grow there seems to be working. I've already seen a few ladybirds, some spiders and now this guy out there.

Compare that to last Summer even, where the only insects that visited were moths, flies and spiders.

Unfortunately, I'm going to spray down my hydroponic system with some insect killer, and go after the stuff that's attacking my strawberries because no matter what I grow in there, it gets infested almost immediately.  I now understand why all the professional hydro growers maintain their spaces as clean rooms.

I wonder whether that's going to make a dent in the issue, or whether I'm just going to have to grow my hydro stuff in a cold frame looking thing.

I've already got a metric ton of different seeds I want to try in there, so hopefully I'll find a crop that is pest resistant.

I'm including this one for two reasons. First of all, this was shot at f22 which is as wide as it'll go, and the focal plane is still only millimetres. Very difficult to get good pictures handheld.

The second reason is look at his evil little feet. Kind of cool.

This one is the best of all the ones I took. I haven't done any editing, so it's a little bright, the colours aren't great etc. This lens is still pretty damned cool, and I'm reminded of that fact whenever I get time to use it.

P.S. The net is to stop the bloody pigeons.

Literally, the Best Picture Ever Taken by a Human

This is literally the best picture taken by a human being in the history of mankind.

I qualify human, because I'm sure in my lifetime a robot will have taken a better picture.  Perhaps it will be an automated drone type thing, perhaps it will be floating in the ocean when an elusive giant squid floats by, being chased by a school of ocean faring piranha somehow.  Maybe there are aliens involved.

Anyway, without further ado, here is the picture:

Actually, before I get to the picture, just note that I've made some modifications to it, to ensure that no one steals this amazing picture and puts it on facebook with some misattributed inspirational quote.

Please feel free to e-mail me for a copy of the original.  (Only 2500 USD, one copy, digital, 240px by 320 px.)