royby.com http://royby.com a personal blog Sun, 17 Feb 2013 07:49:02 +0000 en-US hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.5.1 amazing Peacock spider http://royby.com/amazing-peacock-spider/ http://royby.com/amazing-peacock-spider/#comments Sun, 17 Feb 2013 07:25:22 +0000 Roy Hornsby http://royby.com/?p=2390 Sometimes I become complacent and start to think nothing can amaze me anymore, until I stumble across images like those of the amazing tiny Peacock spider and some extremely good video footage showing the spider doing his “thing”. What is his thing? Well it’s a truly incredible display by male Peacock spiders designed to attract [...]

The post amazing Peacock spider appeared first on royby.com.

]]> Sometimes I become complacent and start to think nothing can amaze me anymore, until I stumble across images like those of the amazing tiny Peacock spider and some extremely good video footage showing the spider doing his “thing”. What is his thing? Well it’s a truly incredible display by male Peacock spiders designed to attract female Peacock spiders and lure them to mate. For the male, it’s a ritual that’s very dicey and if you watch the video to almost the finish you’ll see why.

8150001846 31bc2d8827 z amazing Peacock spider

Two major things fascinate me about these spiders. First off, given they are found in my native country Australia and not in some remote (to me) wilderness, how is it this is the first time I’ve ever seen or heard of these colourful little guys? The answer is to be found in a couple of the related articles below. Secondly, how is it that the decor of their abdomen decorations bear striking resemblances to masks that could have been fashioned by some South American or African culture? (My second question is purely rhetorical, but the resemblance is weird nevertheless).

5439908909 7a3acc0994 z amazing Peacock spider

5450569016 c63796d3e2 z amazing Peacock spider

These images and the video footage are the work of “Peacockspiderman”, aka Jurgen Otto. Jurgen’s work can be found on FaceBook, YouTube, and a great collection of Peacock spider images on Piccsr.

5447734132 7f4b87defc z amazing Peacock spider

Watch the video, and go cruise through Jurgens great images, you won’t be disappointed I assure you.

If you want to follow up on this story, here are 4 very good articles related to the peacock spider
amazing Peacock spider

The post amazing Peacock spider appeared first on royby.com.

]]> http://royby.com/amazing-peacock-spider/feed/ 0 Chinese pagoda at Lai Thieu is very beautiful. http://royby.com/chinese-pagoda-at-lai-thieu-is-very-beautiful/ http://royby.com/chinese-pagoda-at-lai-thieu-is-very-beautiful/#comments Thu, 31 Jan 2013 13:38:41 +0000 Roy Hornsby http://royby.com/?p=2375 Posted from WordPress for Android

The post Chinese pagoda at Lai Thieu is very beautiful. appeared first on royby.com.

]]> wpid CameraZOOM 20130131132752507 Chinese pagoda at Lai Thieu is very beautiful.

Posted from WordPress for Android

The post Chinese pagoda at Lai Thieu is very beautiful. appeared first on royby.com.

]]> http://royby.com/chinese-pagoda-at-lai-thieu-is-very-beautiful/feed/ 0 innovative! http://royby.com/innovative/ http://royby.com/innovative/#comments Thu, 31 Jan 2013 11:18:52 +0000 Roy Hornsby http://royby.com/?p=2371 bathroom at Cafe Hoa Gio on the Sai Gon River, Lai Thieu – innovative for sure.

The post innovative! appeared first on royby.com.

]]> bathroom at Cafe Hoa Gio on the Sai Gon River, Lai Thieu – innovative for sure.

e33fcd1a6b6911e28a5c22000a1f8acf 7 innovative!

The post innovative! appeared first on royby.com.

]]> http://royby.com/innovative/feed/ 0 we successfully completed the design course http://royby.com/we-successfully-completed-the-design-course/ http://royby.com/we-successfully-completed-the-design-course/#comments Sat, 05 Jan 2013 06:17:09 +0000 Roy Hornsby http://royby.com/?p=1763 I’m happy to report that last December we both successfully completed the Coursera course from the University of Pennsylvania, “Design: Creation of Artifacts in Society”. We attained 96% and 97% overall grades and both agree that it was an enjoyable experience. There were few technical hitches during the course, the lecture videos were of high [...]

The post we successfully completed the design course appeared first on royby.com.

]]> I’m happy to report that last December we both successfully completed the Coursera course from the University of Pennsylvania, “Design: Creation of Artifacts in Society”. We attained 96% and 97% overall grades and both agree that it was an enjoyable experience.

There were few technical hitches during the course, the lecture videos were of high quality and always seemed to load ok. There were some problems with the peer review process but our grades indicate these were ironed out.

Unfortunately I had to cancel my enrollment in the physics course, “How Things Work” as the start date has been put back to March which is not suitable for me.

I’d highly recommend a Coursera course and I’ll certainly be looking to take another in the future.

lan cert1 we successfully completed the design course

roy cert we successfully completed the design course

Related articles

 

we successfully completed the design course

The post we successfully completed the design course appeared first on royby.com.

]]> http://royby.com/we-successfully-completed-the-design-course/feed/ 1 The Best City Time-Lapse Videos of 2012 http://royby.com/the-best-city-time-lapse-videos-of-2012-arts-lifestyle-the-atlantic-cities/ http://royby.com/the-best-city-time-lapse-videos-of-2012-arts-lifestyle-the-atlantic-cities/#comments Wed, 02 Jan 2013 09:26:54 +0000 Roy Hornsby http://royby.com/?p=1737   Worth taking the time to view these time-lapse videos, they’re truly great!   Another year, another great batch of time-lapse videos with cities as their subject. Kuala Lumpur, Chicago, Toronto, and San Francisco are new to the ranks in 2012. The only repeat from 2011 is New York — though this year’s video focuses [...]

The post The Best City Time-Lapse Videos of 2012 appeared first on royby.com.

]]> 6240755615 8aab56f8ef m The Best City Time Lapse Videos of 2012

Time Lapse Contraption (Photo credit: garryknight)

 

Worth taking the time to view these time-lapse videos, they’re truly great!

 

Another year, another great batch of time-lapse videos with cities as their subject. Kuala Lumpur, Chicago, Toronto, and San Francisco are new to the ranks in 2012. The only repeat from 2011 is New York — though this year’s video focuses only on that part of Lower Manhattan where Hurricane Sandy made landfall. Here are this year’s five best, once again presented in no particular order.

 

The Best City Time-Lapse Videos of 2012 – Arts & Lifestyle – The Atlantic Cities.

Related articles
The Best City Time Lapse Videos of 2012

The post The Best City Time-Lapse Videos of 2012 appeared first on royby.com.

]]> http://royby.com/the-best-city-time-lapse-videos-of-2012-arts-lifestyle-the-atlantic-cities/feed/ 0 the word from above http://royby.com/the-word-from-above/ http://royby.com/the-word-from-above/#comments Thu, 06 Dec 2012 10:13:17 +0000 Roy Hornsby http://royby.com/?p=1721 The word from above has been given, “Though shalt have a minimum two plants outside your house, or else”. By this time last Thursday that decree was to have been observed and it was amusing to watch the activities in our hem from Tuesday evening until late on Thursday as evaluations were done, observations made, doorbells [...]

The post the word from above appeared first on royby.com.

]]> The word from above has been given, “Though shalt have a minimum two plants outside your house, or else”. By this time last Thursday that decree was to have been observed and it was amusing to watch the activities in our hem from Tuesday evening until late on Thursday as evaluations were done, observations made, doorbells rung, visitations visited, neighbours clucking, pots appearing, pots being shuffled, plants copping fertiliser, and so it went.

For us it made no difference cos we’ve had two plants outside our house for some time now…

plants 1 the word from above

For others who’ve been enthusiastic pot plant outside the front doorites it was a non-event…

plants 2 the word from above

Others made an effort…

plants 3 the word from above

Well, sort of an effort…

plants 4 the word from above

plants 5 the word from above

plants 6 the word from above

But some just haven’t got into the spirit of the whole thing at all…

plants 7 the word from above

The post the word from above appeared first on royby.com.

]]> http://royby.com/the-word-from-above/feed/ 0 christmas is upon us http://royby.com/christmas-is-upon-us/ http://royby.com/christmas-is-upon-us/#comments Thu, 06 Dec 2012 02:17:19 +0000 Roy Hornsby http://royby.com/?p=1713 Last night I realised I was hearing christmas carols playing from houses around the neighbourhood. They were in both English and Vietnamese, but of course the melodies are unmistakeable no matter what language the lyrics. Later in the evening while sitting at a small pavement style seafood place I even noticed the CD vendors are [...]

The post christmas is upon us appeared first on royby.com.

]]> Last night I realised I was hearing christmas carols playing from houses around the neighbourhood. They were in both English and Vietnamese, but of course the melodies are unmistakeable no matter what language the lyrics. Later in the evening while sitting at a small pavement style seafood place I even noticed the CD vendors are using christmas carols to broadcast their presence at warp 10 through junky speakers mounted on bicycles with cart attached. In yet another sign that christmas is upon us, decorations are going up here and there. I’m very impressed with the effort the people from this small house near ours have put in, this nativity scene is hand crafted from alfoil and to my untrained eye they’ve done a great job.

christmas decor1 christmas is upon us

christmas is upon us

The post christmas is upon us appeared first on royby.com.

]]> http://royby.com/christmas-is-upon-us/feed/ 0 the bean store – on Vo Van Tan http://royby.com/the-bean-store/ http://royby.com/the-bean-store/#comments Fri, 30 Nov 2012 04:17:59 +0000 Roy Hornsby http://royby.com/?p=1688 There are so many new food/coffee shops opening around Vo Van Tan and Cao Thang Sts in District 3 these days that it’s hard to keep up with them. But in the interests of my stomach I keep trying to update constantly. The Bean Store is yet another new one, clean, quiet, sensible background music,nice [...]

The post the bean store – on Vo Van Tan appeared first on royby.com.

]]> There are so many new food/coffee shops opening around Vo Van Tan and Cao Thang Sts in District 3 these days that it’s hard to keep up with them. But in the interests of my stomach I keep trying to update constantly. The Bean Store is yet another new one, clean, quiet, sensible background music,nice decor, friendly staff, great menu, good food, reasonable prices, what more need I say?? Give it a try!

the bean shop the bean store on Vo Van Tan

The Bean Shop

The post the bean store – on Vo Van Tan appeared first on royby.com.

]]> http://royby.com/the-bean-store/feed/ 0 chocolat de vietnam http://royby.com/chocolat-de-vietnam/ http://royby.com/chocolat-de-vietnam/#comments Fri, 23 Nov 2012 13:33:10 +0000 Roy Hornsby http://royby.com/?p=1618 Somebody once said that you learn something new every day, and today I learned that Viet Nam is producing some first class chocolate, first class that is if you enjoy proper dark chocolate that doesn’t contain so much sugar that it becomes sickly sweet. It just so happens that I enjoy dark and slightly bitter chocolate and [...]

The post chocolat de vietnam appeared first on royby.com.

]]> Somebody once said that you learn something new every day, and today I learned that Viet Nam is producing some first class chocolate, first class that is if you enjoy proper dark chocolate that doesn’t contain so much sugar that it becomes sickly sweet. It just so happens that I enjoy dark and slightly bitter chocolate and today I came across some chocolat de vietnam that makes my taste buds really happy.

This is a really high class product produced by Marou, just take a look at the detail that’s gone into the wrapping, it was shameful to mess with the beauty of it all. But… lets face it folks, it is all about the chocolat de vietnam waiting to be disrobed and feasted upon… am I right? Oooh la la, sexy chocolat!

The thing that took my eye with this brand of chocolat was the way that Marou promote the fact that it’s made wholly from produce grown in Viet Nam, but even more pleasant is the fact that they promote the styles of chocolat produced from different provinces close to Sai Gon. The map below borrowed from the Marou web site shows that chocolat de vietnam is available from Dong Nai, (the first style I’ve tried), Baria, Tien Giang, Ben Tre and Lam Dong.

Bliss, I have four styles yet to try. Where did I buy it you ask? Well… I bought this block at Mekong Merchant in An Phu, but it seems to be available worldwide.

[Click on a thumbnail to witness a shameless disrobing of chocolat de vietnam]

chocolat de vietnam chocolat de vietnam chocolat de vietnam chocolat de vietnam chocolat de vietnam chocolat de vietnam

 

Related articles

 

chocolat de vietnam

The post chocolat de vietnam appeared first on royby.com.

]]> http://royby.com/chocolat-de-vietnam/feed/ 0 wall painting http://royby.com/wall-painting/ http://royby.com/wall-painting/#comments Sat, 10 Nov 2012 08:12:09 +0000 Roy Hornsby http://royby.com/?p=1603 wall painting in L’Usine on Le Loi St appeals to me…  

The post wall painting appeared first on royby.com.

]]> wall painting in L’Usine on Le Loi St appeals to me…

wall painting wall painting

 

wall painting

The post wall painting appeared first on royby.com.

]]> http://royby.com/wall-painting/feed/ 0