A short entry for today. Blog material has cycles. For this blog, I write 4 types of items:
1) Framing pieces (info about satellite work in general)
2) What I have learned (in the process of building this specific satellite)
3) Progress reports (photos and details)
4) Fluff (neat stuff that partially relates to this work).
In my other column, I have a wider net and tend to write about a variety of topics. That work still falls into the top two categories. Often, the writing is based on something I either learned that day (at an event or in the context of work) or had to study to do something work related.
For example, Friday's Measure the Sun Yourself came from part of a physics class I was teaching. It was an interesting bit to present to the class, and armed with their response, I figured I'd share it further.
There is a lag between discovery and publication here, or work and publication. For example, I bought a new heatgun with a narrower aperture and a set of nozzles to speed my soldering of the tiny surface mount components. We now have a lag between the soldering work, and my post-mortem writeup of the results.
During that lag, I sometimes write lighter pieces. I suppose the real question is whether this piece counts as 'progress report' or 'fluff'.
Alex
Launching Project Calliope, sponsored by Science 2.0, in 2011-2012
News every Tuesday at The Satellite Diaries, every Friday at the Daytime Astronomer
1) Framing pieces (info about satellite work in general)
2) What I have learned (in the process of building this specific satellite)
3) Progress reports (photos and details)
4) Fluff (neat stuff that partially relates to this work).
In my other column, I have a wider net and tend to write about a variety of topics. That work still falls into the top two categories. Often, the writing is based on something I either learned that day (at an event or in the context of work) or had to study to do something work related.
For example, Friday's Measure the Sun Yourself came from part of a physics class I was teaching. It was an interesting bit to present to the class, and armed with their response, I figured I'd share it further.
There is a lag between discovery and publication here, or work and publication. For example, I bought a new heatgun with a narrower aperture and a set of nozzles to speed my soldering of the tiny surface mount components. We now have a lag between the soldering work, and my post-mortem writeup of the results.
During that lag, I sometimes write lighter pieces. I suppose the real question is whether this piece counts as 'progress report' or 'fluff'.
Alex
Launching Project Calliope, sponsored by Science 2.0, in 2011-2012
News every Tuesday at The Satellite Diaries, every Friday at the Daytime Astronomer
