With all of the changes to the website, Facebook, and the Experiment of the Week newsletter, I find myself missing the good old days, when every Experiment of the Week had a few paragraphs sharing my travels, experiences, and views on science. In spite of the fact that I should be doing all the tasks on my "To Do" list, I have decided to add a blog section to the Happy Scientist website.

While the topic will generally be science, there may be times when I talk about nature photography, video, cooking, and of course, ice cream. Everything will be family friendly, and I will restrict any rants to appropriate topics. As with the rest of the site, all comments are moderated, so your post will not be visible to others until I approve it. That means no flaming, trolling, unkind comments, spam links, off topic posts, or anything inappropriate for a family audience. I reserve the right to delete any comment, remove inappropriate links from your comment, or ask you to rephrase your comment to make it acceptable. Be prepared to provide valid sources for any scientific claims.

OK, if that did not chase you away, lets get started.

First, almost all of the videos on the site are now IPad/Iphone compatible. That was not nearly as easy as I had hoped, since there seems to be no such thing as a single video format that works on all browsers. At this point, I have four versions of each video, and I really need to add two more, to make it seamless. The only non-IPad videos are some of the early ones that were edited by someone else. All I have for those is the original Flash version, which does not work on IPads. Since pretty much everything is now IPad friendly, I removed the special category for IPad videos. Unless it is in the "original flash", any video you find should be IPad compatible. If you find one that is not, please let me know.

I had a LOT of fun making the Calling a Woodpecker video. David Attenborough did that with a large, tropical woodpecker in one of his marvelous documentaries, and I decided to give it a try with our local Pileated Woodpecker. The first time I tried it, I was amazed at how quickly the bird responded, and how close it came. Since then, I have tried it five times, and it has worked every time. I wondered if he would figure it out, and realize that the crazy human with the fuzzy face is banging on the trees again. Maybe he has, and just comes for a good laugh.

My next project is Puppydog Physics, a series of force and motion videos that will feature Junie Moon, The Happy Science Dog. I thought this one would be quick and easy, but it has its challenges. At this point, we are learning not to lick the lens, and that the fuzzy microphone cover is not a dog toy.