Back in March of 2010, I wrote a post looking at the frequency of earthquakes occurring around the world and examined whether or not there were more earthquakes occuring than normal. Specifically, I chose to look at earthquakes between M6.0 and M6.9, as they are sufficiently large enough to be detected by seismometers around the world and they seem to be well documented in recent history.

So, what were the final numbers for 2010? Using the global earthquake search tool on the USGS website, we can see that there were 151 M6.0 - M6.9 earthquakes detected last year.

FILE CREATED: Mon Jan 3 19:59:37 2011 Global Search Earthquakes = 151 Catalog Used: PDE Date Range: 2010/01/01 to 2010/12/31 Magnitude Range: 6.0 - 6.9 Data Selection: Historical & Preliminary Data

According to recent USGS data, an average of ~134 earthquakes happen in this range every year. Yes, we had 151, but does that mean it's time to freak out?

No!

It falls well within what we would expect. In fact, there were more earthquakes within this magnitude range in 2007 (178) and 2008 (178)! What? Crazy!

A few more data points: M7.0 - M7.9 eq's in 2010: 21 (avg: ~17) M8.0 - M8.9 eq's in 2010: 1 (avg: ~1)

Here's a handy table from the USGS [via]:

So, to sum things up, the world is not ending, despite what crazy folks say, earthquakes are not increasing, and there's probably a number of other things more important to worry about.

Cheers and happy new year!

Divisadero at night, in front of Gamescape in San Francisco. I absolutely love their logo (it's the city skyline).

Amusing and relevant autocorrection!, originally uploaded by Dave Schumaker.

Oh, man. I think I have a morbid sense of humor.

Ringing in the New Year with some simple light painting in our apartment. Here's to hoping 2011 is awesome!

This picture instantly makes my palms sweat and my feet tingle.

Original author unknown

[via Weird Friends]

Is it that time of the year already? 2010 has absolutely flown by! One of my favorite ways to reflect on the past year is to look back on it through the photos I've taken. See previously, my photographic year in reviews for 2009, 2008, and 2007.

One thing I find particularly striking is that I've used my iPhone and Canon S90 more and more, and my DSLR significantly less. It kind of bums me out. Something I'd like to refocus on in 2011 is getting back into using my DSLR!

Anyway, let the review begin!

January 2010

We started the year off by seeing a friend's brother make a guest appearance during a Beats Antique show at the Independent in San Francisco. (If you haven't heard them, do check it out. Some great tunes and a good show featuring some interesting interpretive dance!)

We also got to dog-sit for our friends Scott and Marcie. Can you say cutest dog ever?

Of course, our cats would have something to say about that. Jealous, much?

More music, please! State Radio (one of my favorites) at the Fillmore.

Also, San Francisco can have some seriously great weather, even in January! Hello, colors!

The cats were always demanding attention. This was fun to wake up to.

February 2010

Overall, a pretty mellow month! I did finally get a chance to go out and use my DSLR. A new sculpture was put up at Patricia's Green in Hayes Valley.

It's only February, and I already feel live I've been taking an overwhelming amount of cat photos.

Shot some things for my friends hosting BarBot 2010. (You can also see a video I shot of this thing in action.)

March 2010

I got a new bike! Hello, beautiful!

Traveled to Austin for SXSW and gdgt live in Austin. Unfortunately, I didn't have time to take many pictures. But I did snap a photo of this bacon bloody mary. Umm, yes!

Returned to the Left Coast to spot this crazy art car in the neighborhood.

Doggie Diner Heads at the Laughing Squid going away party.

Bonfires on Ocean Beach!

April 2010

Waited in line early in the morning for the iPad launch. An AP photographer snapped this photo as I picked up an iPad for the first time ever.

Might as well put the iPad to use -- banana bread baking!

Explored the SF Underground Farmers' Market. Pretty damn crazy!

Random trip to Southern California, where I stopped by Galco's Soda Pop Shop. Crazy amounts of soda! Check out my post on Laughing Squid.

Stopped by my parents' place and got to see Axl. It would be the last time I'd ever see him.

May 2010

My old-roommate Julie celebrated her engagement with her new fiance, Ryan. A mighty fine looking couple!

And because of this, Kerry and I got to play dress up!

Also, Bacon Camp! Went to support my friends on the Starvin Marvins BBQ team!

And here are the tasty, tasty MOINK balls they made.

Another gdgt event! This time, we visited Chicago -- where I decided to use my phone to take crappy pictures with crappy toy camera apps.

gdgt live in Chicago was fun though!

June 2010

June rolls around -- it's WWDC time in San Francisco, and that means a new iPhone is coming out!

So, of course I was there for the Stevenote on behalf of gdgt. Hey, Steve!

Later that month, I hung out with the Starvin Marvins team again as they went to a BBQ competition.

Huh, it seems like I haven't taken cat photos in awhile. Time to fix that.

New iPhone 4 finally arrived. I hear it has a pretty good camera. Time to test it out.

Also, the World Cup was going on! So, obviously we had friends over and it was time to cheer on the Red, White, and Blue. (Of course, Sanjin shows up in a Croatia jersey, but I guess it's the thought that counts.)

Speaking of Sanjin, he got married!

July 2010

Needed to get away from the oppressive fog in the city, so we ventured up to Point Reyes, for a day of oyster shucking.

We also got ourselves a new office! No more working out of our apartments. Pretty nice. A photo from the early days.

August 2010

Camping trip season! I discovered a creepily familiar Paul Bunyan.

Sitting around a campfire...

Canoeing!

More canoeing!

And back to the city and dealing with our transit system.

I love the F line.

And another Apple event soon approaches...

September 2010

Another Apple keynote. iPods, Apple TV's, oh my!

We went out to Sacramento to surprise and cheer on our friends in Starvin Marvins at another BBQ competition.

They won second place for their chicken!

gdgt live in Boston! This time, I'm flying out early, so I can check some things out.

MIT

Near MIT - Kendell Square

Who met the Tron Guy? This guy!

October 2010

Hardly Strictly Bluegrass Festival arrives in town. I can't think of a better way to spend a foggy day in the park.

It's October. Do you know what that means? Hear that sound? "It's the sound of freedom." This time, I rented a gigantic, 400mm lens for the Blue Angels' show.

There were also some pretty crazy clouds in San Francisco.

Also, a street food bonanza was happening at Off the Grid.

Working across the street from Blue Bottle Coffee was proving to be dangerous.

Kerry took me on a surprise visit to the Napa Valley Wine Train.

This thing called a World Series happened in San Francisco. Since I'm a Dodgers' fan, I have no idea what that is.

San Francisco kept looking mighty fine, as always.

November 2010

Party in the streets, as the Giants would go on to win the World Series.

An election happened...

City Hall was bathed in orange for the Giants win.

A World Series parade...

Aubrey Huff wears his "rally thong."

It was homecoming (for gdgt). gdgt live in San Francisco preparation resulted in tons of boxes in our office.

I don't care what people think, I still love dogs.

Quick stop in Southern California for a wedding in Laguna Beach.

<img alt=""Califorrrnnniiiiaaaaa"" src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5204/5204514511_90e422f13c_z.jpg" height="478" width="640" />

Returned to San Francisco to find this nearby. Someone had a rough night.

I also began my transition from a hipster into a yuppy.

December 2010

What can we say about December? It's rained a lot.

My dentist apparently has a crush on me.

Prepping for some awesome things in the 2011. It results in late nights at the office.

(And the month isn't even over, yet!)

I recently stumbled across a 1997 article from Outside Magazine on what it's like to freeze to death. Can't say that it sounds too enjoyable.

At 85 degrees (core body temperature), those freezing to death, in a strange, anguished paroxysm, often rip off their clothes. This phenomenon, known as paradoxical undressing, is common enough that urban hypothermia victims are sometimes initially diagnosed as victims of sexual assault. Though researchers are uncertain of the cause, the most logical explanation is that shortly before loss of consciousness, the constricted blood vessels near the body's surface suddenly dilate and produce a sensation of extreme heat against the skin. All you know is that you're burning. You claw off your shell and pile sweater and fling them away.

This is pretty brilliant! I picked one of these GRID-IT organizers up today thanks to this LifeHacker post.

These are all things that are floating around in my bag anyway (and cluttering things up), so it's nice to finally have a way to organize them!

So, what do we have here?

• iPhone USB cable
• iPhone power brick
• micro USB cable
• mini USB cable
• iPad camera connection kit
• USB flash drive (16GB)
• Transcend multicard reader

Now I just need a way to easily keep track of one of my various cameras, and I'm all set!

Speaking of people with large balls, a drunken Serbian man killed a shark by jumping on its head.

“Dragan climbed on the jumping board, told me to hold his beer and simply ran to jump. There was no time for me to react or to try to stop him, he just went for it” says Milovan. “Dragan jumped high and plunged down to the sea, but didn’t make as much splash as we thought he would”, explained Milovan. The reason could be because Dragan Stevic ended up jumping straight on the shark which was lurking near the beach, probably looking for its next victim. Dragan had nailed it right in the head, killing it instantly. The Egyptian police found the shark washed out on the beach that morning. Dragan was able to swim to the shore and told his friends he had twisted his ankle, telling them the water was not that soft. The water is soft buddy, you just landed on a shark. At the moment, the fearless hero is in a hospital recovering from alcohol poisoning. After Dragan gets well, he will get a chance to have some more drinks as the resort had awarded the Serb tourist with a free vacation for his heroic deed.

Part of me thinks this is some sort of fake story, but part of me really, really wants it to be true.

[Via Geekologie]

The Justin Bieber of bullfighting?

I can say for a fact, this is something I never considered doing as a kid.

Though he stands just four feet ten—short, even for a kid who is about to turn 13—Michelito has become internationally renowned for his exploits in the ring. By his own estimate, he has already put the sword to 300 bulls. Ask him if he remembers his first kill and he says, "It was October 27, 2005, in my mother's home state of Tabasco. I was 6 years old." Four years later he tried to set a Guinness World Record for novice bullfighters (novilleros) by slaying six bulls in a single appearance—and succeeded, but Guinness refused to recognize it. ("We do not accept records based on the killing or harming of animals," its website explained.) This past June, Michelito became the youngest matador ever to perform in the world's largest bullfighting arena; he was such a hit that he was invited back in August.

[Via Daily Dish]