Welcome to Marc Dickenson's Blog Page

"The greatest scientists are artists as well" - Albert Einstein

Blog: 06-29-2025: My new baby

Feeling really fortunate to have a new computer of my own. The image below is an HEIC file. I understand that it wont render on Windows . Still , for experimental peruposes want to add it in here. It is much smaller than .jpg and .gif files and higher quality.

Blog: 06-29-2025: Aquarena Springs Surprise: Encountering the Texas Cichlid

We recently visited Aquarena Springs in San Marcos, Texas. We had the pleasure of viewing this fish in an aquarium at the Meadows Center for Water and the Environment experience. We went specifically for the The Glass-Bottom Boats Tour.

Herichthys cyanoguttatus, commonly known as the Texas Cichlid. This species is native to the Rio Grande basin in Texas and Mexico. This cichlid exhibits a distinctive appearance characterized by a grey body covered in iridescent blue or green spots. Males often develop a nuchal hump, adding to their robust build. Its notable features include a stout body, thick lips, and a rounded head. They are freshwater fish, and their presence is a testament to the unique aquatic ecosystem of the region. The Texas Cichlid is known for its aggressive behavior, especially during breeding season, and its omnivorous diet consists of invertebrates, algae, and small fish. They are an important part of the natural ecosystem and a unique attraction at Aquarena Springs.

Authored by Gemini

Blog: 06-25-2025: Vibe Coding in T-minus...

Blog: 06-25-2025: Yes Please! Gemini CLI: your open-source AI agent

Yes I would like a slice of this please. Thank you! Gemini CLI: your open-source AI agent . I will explore the Gemini CLI , and share my findings.

Blog: 06-22-2025: Unveiling the Fruiting Secrets of a Botanical Specimen

As part of my plans to continue exploring the Gemini API in my sandbox and incorporating some AI generated content into my site; I present the output of this image processing command below. The command used to generate this content was

python gemimg.for.marcdickenson.blog.py ~/Downloads/IMG_1404.jpg "Please focus on fact that this is a stalk of a plant with a fruiting inflorescence and explain scientific details related to that. Please also take credit for the output writing and cite yourself as the author. Please also start the blog with an engaging title."

The generated output is not quite clear on plant species so I will have to investigate this mystery further and collect more details, and I also asked Gemini what the font should look like for its output and it generated the gemini-font below for me, so that one may see when the AI is speaking and when a human is speaking in normal font.

This image showcases a fruiting inflorescence, likely from a plant in the Asparagaceae family, potentially a Yucca or related species. The arrangement is a compound structure where numerous individual fruits (berries or capsules, depending on the precise species) are clustered along a central stalk. The fruits exhibit varying degrees of ripeness, indicated by color changes and some signs of decay. Note the structures where the fruit was attached which were the pistils of the now developing fruit. The stalk itself shows evidence of tubercles, indicating the position of earlier or aborted buds. The background suggests a partially blurred environment with other plants and a possible man-made structure.

Author: Bard

Blog: 06-08-2025: The bees are pollenating our Leucophyllum frutescens

The bees are pollenating the Leucophyllum frutescens in front of our house today.

Blog: 06-07-2025: Behind the Clouds: Developing a Simple Roblox Obby

My daughter and I collaboratively developed an obby, which is short for obstacle course, Roblox game and published it on Roblox. With the help of Gemini we developed, tested, and published the game all in under an hour. We both learned a new technology that we had never used before Lua for the logic and implemented the entire game on the Roblox Studio platform thereby unleashing the power of the Roblox engine. My daughter's Roblox skills were vital during the testing phase to jump from one platform to another and manipulate the interfaces. Then for publishing the video below we used Handbrake to convert the video file from .mov to .mp4 format. It was really fun to collaborate with my daughter on this development project. Thanks, Gemini!

Here is a video of us testing the Roblox game. Note even this video took some Gemini magic to get it looking the way that I want below with the big play button in the middle. Gemini showed me how to do that with some JavaScript as the default video html tag does not have a centralized play button in the middle of the video .

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Our Cloud Ascent Obby leverages the Roblox Engine and its Lua scripting language. Construction relies on BasePart instances with properties like Position and Anchored. Dynamic obstacles utilize Lua scripts attached to parts, employing event listeners like Touched and manipulating properties like Transparency and CanCollide. Checkpoints manage Player.RespawnLocation, potentially integrating Player.TeamColor for non-neutral spawns. That was one of the most challenging parts to debug setting the Player.TeamColor when the player reached the checkpoint is what fixed that bug in the code. Victory is celebrated client-side with ScreenGui manipulation orchestrated by server-side Lua within the victory trigger.

Blog: 06-01-2025: I am looking forward to exploring this api in my sandbox and incorporating some AI generated content into my site : Gemini API.

Blog: 06-01-2025: "So, yeah, helicopter's just doing its thing over Lady Bird Lake in Austin. Pretty standard. Looks like a couple of guys are suspended in a basket, messing with power lines. Seems like a hassle, but probably beats climbing poles. Just another Sunday, I guess." – Google Gemini's take on this group of images, with as requested Gen X vibe.

Blog: 06-01-2025: It's on the wall in all its glory.

Blog: 05-30-2025: The Sunflowers project is complete!

Blog: 05-28-2025: Step 33 of 34, only one step left.

Blog: 5/26/2025: Some local Hesperaloe parviflora that I saw on my walk today..

Blog: 5/26/2025: More info about the Lego art project, only two steps left.

Blog: 5/26/2025: Steps 1-32 of Lego art project are now complete. Now it is clear what the art is. Yes, it is Van Gogh's Sunflowers. I also used this montage command for the first time today to generate the 3x3 montage image below.

montage IMG_1098.jpg IMG_1090.jpg IMG_1087.jpg IMG_1113.jpg IMG_1112.jpg IMG_1106.jpg IMG_1122.jpg IMG_1121.jpg IMG_1115.jpg -tile 3x3 -geometry +0+0 -background white -border 0 -bordercolor black output_grid_with_options.jpg

Blog: 5/20/2025: Day two of Lego art project... what will it become?

Blog: 5/11/2025: Introducing my daughters to the world of investing has become a part of our family life and weekly routine this year, offering opportunities to discuss financial responsibility and the power of long-term growth. I love their curiosity, listening to their questions, and having open conversations about money has also helped me to strengthen my own understanding of financial topics. Together I believe we are laying a foundation for a successful financial future.

Blog: 5/11/2025: My updated resume is now available online. Dowload a copy of my resume here.

Blog: 5/4/2025: Gemini Deep Research: Software Development Productivity: A Product Manager's Perspective and Investigating types of graphs used for exploratory data analysis.

Blog: 5/3/2025: Gemini Deep Research: Measuring Software Development Quality: A Comprehensive Analysis

Blog: 5/3/2025: Gemini Deep Research: Software Development Productivity: Defining, Measuring, and Enhancing Team Performance