Wesley's Tool-Box

Witnessing Nuri rocket's 5th launch

nospam@example.com (Wesley) — Thu, 08 Oct 2026 16:07:00 +0900

A seagull photobombs Nuri rocket shortly after liftoff on October 7, 2026

Nuri rocket (a.k.a. KSLV-II) launches have become something of an annual event for the past half decade. And visiting a small island in Yeosu to witness their launches in person has become a personal ritual of mine. The fifth launch of the rocket occurred at 12:25 PM on October 7, 2026 without any delays, and like the previous launches except for its maiden one, it was successful.

While successful launches all look fairly similar, there can be some interesting differences. Last time, it was a first-ever night launch. This time, it was done right in the middle of the day. All other ones were done in late afternoons. And as luck would have it, a seagull happened to be passing in front of the rocket just after takeoff, allowing me to capture this fun photo.

How the Nuri rocket and its launchpad looks like with iPhone 17 Pro Max's camera

Another thing about this observation was that it was the second time that I used an iPhone 17 Pro Max to capture a rocket launch. Since I normally upgrade my iPhones once a year, I would have normally used different phones for each launch. But I'm waiting for iPhone Neo to be release on October 23, so this did not happen. And since iPhone Neo won't have a telephoto lens, it's likely that I'd still bring the 17 Pro Max to the sixth launch as well. Here's how the rocket looks like with its telephoto lens at maximum zoom. Continue reading "Witnessing Nuri rocket's 5th launch"

Today’s “The Toon-Box”

nospam@example.com (Wesley) — Thu, 08 Oct 2026 08:54:00 +0900

Today’s “The Toon-Box”

nospam@example.com (Wesley) — Wed, 07 Oct 2026 08:51:00 +0900

Today’s “The Toon-Box”

nospam@example.com (Wesley) — Tue, 06 Oct 2026 08:43:00 +0900

Today’s “The Toon-Box”

nospam@example.com (Wesley) — Thu, 01 Oct 2026 08:51:00 +0900

Today’s “The Toon-Box”

nospam@example.com (Wesley) — Wed, 30 Sep 2026 08:49:00 +0900

Today’s “The Toon-Box”

nospam@example.com (Wesley) — Tue, 29 Sep 2026 09:05:00 +0900

Today’s “The Toon-Box”

nospam@example.com (Wesley) — Mon, 28 Sep 2026 08:52:00 +0900

Today’s “The Toon-Box”

nospam@example.com (Wesley) — Fri, 18 Sep 2026 08:54:00 +0900

Today’s “The Toon-Box”

nospam@example.com (Wesley) — Thu, 17 Sep 2026 08:48:00 +0900

Today’s “The Toon-Box”

nospam@example.com (Wesley) — Wed, 16 Sep 2026 09:05:00 +0900

Today’s “The Toon-Box”

nospam@example.com (Wesley) — Mon, 07 Sep 2026 08:35:00 +0900

Today’s “The Toon-Box”

nospam@example.com (Wesley) — Tue, 15 Sep 2026 09:08:00 +0900

Today’s “The Toon-Box”

nospam@example.com (Wesley) — Mon, 14 Sep 2026 08:50:00 +0900

Today’s “The Toon-Box”

nospam@example.com (Wesley) — Thu, 10 Sep 2026 08:52:00 +0900

Today’s “The Toon-Box”

nospam@example.com (Wesley) — Wed, 09 Sep 2026 08:52:00 +0900

Today’s “The Toon-Box”

nospam@example.com (Wesley) — Tue, 08 Sep 2026 08:46:00 +0900

Today’s “The Toon-Box”

nospam@example.com (Wesley) — Fri, 04 Sep 2026 09:09:00 +0900

Today’s “The Toon-Box”

nospam@example.com (Wesley) — Thu, 03 Sep 2026 08:53:00 +0900

Today’s “The Toon-Box”

nospam@example.com (Wesley) — Wed, 02 Sep 2026 08:50:00 +0900

Today’s “The Toon-Box”

nospam@example.com (Wesley) — Tue, 01 Sep 2026 08:52:00 +0900

Today’s “The Toon-Box”

nospam@example.com (Wesley) — Mon, 31 Aug 2026 08:54:00 +0900

Today’s “The Toon-Box”

nospam@example.com (Wesley) — Fri, 28 Aug 2026 09:14:00 +0900

Today’s “The Toon-Box”

nospam@example.com (Wesley) — Thu, 27 Aug 2026 08:51:00 +0900

Today’s “The Toon-Box”

nospam@example.com (Wesley) — Wed, 26 Aug 2026 08:53:00 +0900

Today’s “The Toon-Box”

nospam@example.com (Wesley) — Tue, 25 Aug 2026 08:50:00 +0900

Today’s “The Toon-Box”

nospam@example.com (Wesley) — Mon, 24 Aug 2026 08:50:00 +0900

Today’s “The Toon-Box”

nospam@example.com (Wesley) — Fri, 21 Aug 2026 08:51:00 +0900

Today’s “The Toon-Box”

nospam@example.com (Wesley) — Thu, 20 Aug 2026 08:54:00 +0900

Today’s “The Toon-Box”

nospam@example.com (Wesley) — Wed, 19 Aug 2026 08:51:00 +0900

Today’s “The Toon-Box”

nospam@example.com (Wesley) — Tue, 18 Aug 2026 08:48:00 +0900

2026 Total Solar Eclipse observed in Spain

nospam@example.com (Wesley) — Mon, 17 Aug 2026 20:24:00 +0900

Total solar eclipse witnessed near Alcázar of Segovia on August 12, 2026

While I've personally witnessed several solar eclipses before, none of them were total. So when I found out that one such occurrence would take place near a direct flight destination - Madrid, Spain - I seized the opportunity. Because Madrid was just outside the path of totality, I went to Segovia, a city about 70 km to the north, a day after my arrival. I scouted for a good location to observe the eclipse and eventually settled on a spot near Alcázar of Segovia. As you can see above, it was an excellent vantage point.

Prominence and Baily's Beads are visible on the left side just before totality (20:31:06)

Since Segovia was a bit off from the "optimal" location, the totality would last just short of a minute, compared to nearly 2 minutes in some places. So that left less margin for error and thus I came prepared. Fortunately, my efforts paid off, and ended up shooting 35 photos of the totality, as well as several hundred of the partial eclipse. And I was able to do continuous shoots for the most part, except for a brief break where I had some issues with the tracker I brought. The entire sequence has been uploaded to YouTube. Continue reading "2026 Total Solar Eclipse observed in Spain"

Today’s “The Toon-Box”

nospam@example.com (Wesley) — Fri, 07 Aug 2026 08:54:00 +0900

Today’s “The Toon-Box”

nospam@example.com (Wesley) — Thu, 06 Aug 2026 08:52:00 +0900

Today’s “The Toon-Box”

nospam@example.com (Wesley) — Wed, 05 Aug 2026 08:52:00 +0900

Today’s “The Toon-Box”

nospam@example.com (Wesley) — Tue, 04 Aug 2026 08:50:00 +0900

Today’s “The Toon-Box”

nospam@example.com (Wesley) — Mon, 03 Aug 2026 08:51:00 +0900

Today’s “The Toon-Box”

nospam@example.com (Wesley) — Fri, 31 Jul 2026 08:50:00 +0900

Today’s “The Toon-Box”

nospam@example.com (Wesley) — Thu, 30 Jul 2026 08:50:00 +0900

Today’s “The Toon-Box”

nospam@example.com (Wesley) — Wed, 29 Jul 2026 09:00:00 +0900

Today’s “The Toon-Box”

nospam@example.com (Wesley) — Tue, 28 Jul 2026 08:49:00 +0900

Today’s “The Toon-Box”

nospam@example.com (Wesley) — Mon, 27 Jul 2026 08:48:00 +0900

Today’s “The Toon-Box”

nospam@example.com (Wesley) — Fri, 24 Jul 2026 08:50:00 +0900

Today’s “The Toon-Box”

nospam@example.com (Wesley) — Thu, 23 Jul 2026 08:53:00 +0900

Today’s “The Toon-Box”

nospam@example.com (Wesley) — Wed, 22 Jul 2026 08:49:00 +0900

Today’s “The Toon-Box”

nospam@example.com (Wesley) — Tue, 21 Jul 2026 08:51:00 +0900

Today’s “The Toon-Box”

nospam@example.com (Wesley) — Mon, 20 Jul 2026 08:48:00 +0900

Thesis presentation at 2026 KIEE Summer Conference

nospam@example.com (Wesley) — Fri, 17 Jul 2026 18:12:00 +0900

Getting ready for my presentation on July 10, 2026

Korean Institute of Electrical Engineers (KIEE) held its 57th Summer Conference at Mona Yongpyong Resort in Pyeongchang-gun, Gangwon State, Korea on July 2026. This event provided me with an opportunity to present a follow-up to my Bolt EV battery thesis from 5 years ago. I had originally planned to write up on the results of the battery degradation after 8 years and 160,000 km of driving. But due to the battery recall that took place 4 years ago, I had to modify the topic slightly.

Giving oral presentation of my thesis on Bolt EV's battery degradation

The result was a comparison of degradation trends between two sets of batteries, each going for roughly 4 years an 100,000 km. While I will probably still get the newer battery up to 160,000 km point eventually for yet another thesis, the one I presented this time was meaningful in that the trends were starkly different despite keeping the driving patterns more or less consistent. For those who are interested, here are the original paper and the video of the presentation I gave.

Thesis: 'Comparative Analysis of Real Life Degradation Trends Between Original and Improved Batteries on Bolt EV' - submitted for 2026 KIEE Summer Conference (PDF file)

Video: 'Bolt EV Battery Analysis thesis - 2026 KIEE Summer Conference' - YouTube

Today’s “The Toon-Box”

nospam@example.com (Wesley) — Thu, 16 Jul 2026 08:48:00 +0900

Today’s “The Toon-Box”

nospam@example.com (Wesley) — Wed, 15 Jul 2026 08:52:00 +0900