Monthly Archives: November 2008

Jupiter and Venus

This is actually from a couple of nights ago, but the view as I left the office tonight was about the same (though the lights were just starting to turn on in this picture).

Jupiter and Venus silhouetted against trees

It’s really odd to walk out of the building into a lot that’s normally lighted (even when I head in to do emergency server maintenance at midnight) and see it completely dark.

Well, not completely dark. There was a little light leaking from windows behind me, and streetlights filtering through trees, and what I could see of the sign on the building across the street. Nothing compared to some of the camping trips I’ve been on, or the drive through Ka‘u at night. But for a suburban office building, it was a change.

Edit: Oops! For some reason I’ve been convinced that this was Saturn, but it’s actually Jupiter.

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Hot or Not?

  • Switched to long-sleeved shirts & started wearing sweaters this week. And now it’s supposed to break 90 DEGREES today and all weekend. WTF? #
  • Must sleep. Saw spam title “Wanna burn movies?” and first reaction was revulsion against gleeful censorship, not “look, more piracy spam.” #

Cross-posted at LiveJournal.

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Smoke Plume Above Trees


Smoke Plume Above Trees, originally uploaded by Kelson.

Smoke from various fires up near Los Angeles and Corona, creeping across the sky into Orange County.

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Picard’s Pills

Just got spam from “Patrick Stewart” for body-part enlargement. Reminded of that one SNL sketch with the cake shop. #

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Exoplanets: Say Cheese!

I remember being bowled over when astronomers first detected planets around other stars. Nowthey’ve actually managed to get pictures!

Of course, they’re about as detailed as pictures of the stars at a science-fiction convention panel taken from the back of the room, or the band on stage from the upper-top-fifth-tier seating (see! that dot there is so-and-so!), but still…it’s a start.

There’s one photo from Hubble of the planetary debris disc around Fomalhaut, with a little dot that apparently has been tracked in other images, consistent with being in orbit around the star. It’s estimated at being about the size of Jupiter and about four times as far out from its star as Neptune is from the sun.

Meanwhile: consider that we can see something the size of Jupiter even though it’s 25 light years away!

Then there’s one from the Gemini North telescope that has actually caught two planets in orbit around a star called HR 8799 — a photo of a planetary system!

Update: Hubblesite has more on Fomalhaut including this image showing Fomalhaut B’s location in 2004 and 2006:

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East/West, TV & Sudafed

  • The East/West terminology always bugged me too: http://xkcd.com/503/ But then, living in California, I figure we’re also Pacific Rim. #
  • What makes people think it’s OK to post insults/threats just because your old blog post isn’t what they wanted to find on Google? #
  • You know, it would be nice if ABC would SAY things like “In 3 weeks” when they’re going to preempt Pushing Daisies 2 weeks in a row. #
  • I like having (nearly) full movement in my arm again. #
  • End of an era: Our last box of real Sudafed has expired. #

Cross-posted at LiveJournal.

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More Pain

Arm still sore. Still not King. #

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Orange Clouds (no rain)



Orange Clouds (no rain), originally uploaded by Kelson.

The sunset view as I left the office this evening. The clouds turned even deeper orange over the drive home, with streamers of pink running halfway across the sky.

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Where Do I Start?

So, which one should you use first?

Four boxes, all labeled "use first"

Sort of like being told, “These are all top priority!” when you ask which task is most important.

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Pain

Arg. Shoulder seriously sore from tetanus booster shot. Typing hurts. Driving home’ll be REAL fun. Still, better than getting tetanus. #

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