Category Archives: Travel

The Russian Woodpecker in Chernobyl

I was recently in Ukraine and I decided to visit Chernobyl. I did not know anything about this giant antenna system, the “Russian Woodpecker” until I got here. And it’s incredible. In 1976 the world heard for the first time the eerie woodpecker-like repetitive pulse coming from these transmitters in present day Ukraine. Conspiracy theoriesContinue reading “The Russian Woodpecker in Chernobyl”

How we organize and store our backcountry gear at home

There are two main reasons why it helps to neatly organize backcountry gear: 1) everything in its place and a place for everything makes it easier to find things and you “lose” things less often 2) unpacking completely and packing each time before an outing ensures full awareness of the gear on you, important discussionsContinue reading “How we organize and store our backcountry gear at home”

Shooting the lava flows in Hawai’i in 4K HDR

I spent several hours near the volcanic lava flows in the Big Island of Hawaii. I am trying to share those videos in 4K HDR and it’s been fascinating to learn how hard it is to access today as different OSes and devices will render a different variant depending on various factors. Here’s the 4KContinue reading “Shooting the lava flows in Hawai’i in 4K HDR”

Offsetting CO2 from flights

So if you are a frequent flyer types, here’s some quick back of the envelope math. About 50k miles a year usually corresponds to gold status with most airline programs (star alliance, skyteam etc). I haven’t done any rigorous calculations yet but it appears that flying that much would generate about 13 tons of CO2.Continue reading “Offsetting CO2 from flights”

When I almost lost my hand to dead flamingoes in Tanzania

For those who were following along at the time, it’s been 5yrs now since I almost lost my right hand! For those who came in later, here’s what happened. This may be a little graphic so please only continue if such content doesn’t bother you. I caught an infection in Tanzania that started developing symptomsContinue reading “When I almost lost my hand to dead flamingoes in Tanzania”

Finding the Beauty in Failure: at the summit of Mt Hood in Oregon

Elevation: 10,600ft / 3,200m Standing just below the summit of Mt Hood in Oregon, we are looking up at the climbers making the final approach. This is one of my favorite pictures. This is a picture of me not summitting Mt. Hood in Oregon. We had been training for the whole season. Mt Hood isContinue reading “Finding the Beauty in Failure: at the summit of Mt Hood in Oregon”

Traffic sounds in a Rickshaw in Mumbai: Binaural 3D Audio

I captured the sound on this video using two separate microphones in the field. This simulates how the human ear hears sounds. This is called binaural audio and it creates a deeply immersive, spatial experience. Please put on your headphones and then hit play. Without headphones you won’t be able to hear the spatial 3DContinue reading “Traffic sounds in a Rickshaw in Mumbai: Binaural 3D Audio”

Testing binaural audio

I am trying out a new technique for capturing audio in the field. This involves putting one microphone inside each one of my own ears. These two microphones then capture independent audio tracks which is an exact reproduction of the sound waves hitting each individual ear. The shape of the ear coupled with the factContinue reading “Testing binaural audio”

Breakfast in India at a highway stop

1. Gaathiya (yellow fried dough things) 2. Jalebi (orange/yellow sugary syrupy thingy) 3. Mircha (fried hot peppers with salt) 4. Cha (hot tea) With two sides: A) raw onions B) pickled carrots The flavors work so well together, at many different levels, despite the simplicity. The hotness of the peppers is accentuated by the heatContinue reading “Breakfast in India at a highway stop”