Most Votes
- What's the highest dollar price will Bitcoin reach in 2024? Posted on February 28th, 2024 | 8477 votes
- Will ByteDance be forced to divest TikTok Posted on March 20th, 2024 | 7179 votes
Most Comments
- What's the highest dollar price will Bitcoin reach in 2024? Posted on March 20th, 2024 | 68 comments
- Will ByteDance be forced to divest TikTok Posted on March 20th, 2024 | 20 comments
I use a.. (Score:5, Funny)
I have a smelloscope, you insensitive clod!
(it had to be done really.)
Re: (Score:1)
Re: (Score:3)
Google Sky Map (Score:4, Interesting)
Re:Google Sky Map (Score:5, Informative)
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
I tried to install on 64-bit unbuntu and all the menu images were broken, among other things. I think you could praise it a little less.
Re: (Score:2)
Agreed, google sky map doesn't even have the moons of Jupiter on it.
Re: (Score:2)
Different purposes. Google Sky Map is there for people that are walking around wanting to know what constellations they're seeing. The folks like me that never bothered to learn to find them. Although these days it's getting harder to see the constellations and find them as you might only be able to see some of the stars.
But, more importantly, it doesn't appear that Stellarium has a mobile version. I personally use Google Sky Map outside where I can actually see some of the stars and planets referred to in
Re: (Score:2, Insightful)
What about Celestia? Flying around the solar system and beyond is too gimmicky?
Re: (Score:2)
Horses for courses. Celestia is absolutely wonderful for travelling through the galaxy and beyond, but Stellarium is much better at showing you what is in the sky from the ground. Think of it as an atlas (a very beautiful one) verses a flight simulator.
Swimming preferences (Score:5, Funny)
Totally naked
Scantily dressed (trunks, speedo)
Heavily dressed (wetsuit)
Robotic enclosure (submarine)
Only enough to meet social obligations.
Re: (Score:2, Interesting)
One can also apply it to Sex:
- Totally Naked (Married, wanting to have kids or just plain irresponsible)
- Scantily Dressed (Shirt, Socks, Condom)
- Heavily dressed (Bondage gear, Chain mail, Swing)
- Robotic Enclosure (If you're old enough to watch ultraporn)
- Only enough to meet social obligations (Your Jewish mother is nagging you to find a girl and get out of her basement).
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
I voted "Naked Eye" (Score:5, Funny)
But I have to resort to "optical telescope" when watching Natalie Portman. (She's a star, right?)
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
I'll just turn down the lights and watch the network cards blink on my Beowulf cluster...
Re: (Score:2)
Or, as translated into manglish...
Naked eye & binoculars (Score:1)
except I have been clouded out for the past week or so.
And before that not much was happening and when it was I was clouded out.
I want to buy a telescope but the WAF on that and another guitar is quite low.
Re: (Score:2)
Yeah, missing option... binoculars are actually a pretty great way to experience a good deal of stargazing. Astronomers like David H. Levy (of Levy-Shoemaker fame) certainly recommends it above even a modest telescope as a good way of catching a good many features, like galaxies and nebulae. And you can even track moving things like airplanes, satellites, ISS transits, etc.. You're also more likely to take it with you when you go traveling or hiking so you can see wildlife, or take it to a concert / the
Re: (Score:1)
I looked at what I needed - at least 12in mirror the minimum of what I want. I could go Dobsonian & save the $ (and get a bigger mirror)
But I want tracking and star finder and stuff. So very much a serious WAF problem.
But I have one half decent pair of binoculars and can get away with another
Re: (Score:1)
Binoculars are just two low end optical telescopes.
Robotic eye? (Score:2)
Radio telescopes are not robotic eyes, you insenstivie clod.
Even an optical telescope, equipped with a digital camera could fit the evil concept of "robotic eye".
The point is that you need some software for imaging analysis of astronomical images in order to keep the Humans useless.
But then the outcomes of those software would be useless without a Human being(tm) to "understand" them.
YOU INSENSITIVE ROBOTIC CLOD.
With my scantily dressed eye? (Score:4, Funny)
Not the first time something on /. has weirded me out, but it's usually on the comments pages.
So this is what "violated" feels like.
Re:With my scantily dressed eye? (Score:4, Funny)
Re: (Score:3)
These aren't mutually exclusive options, and they don't cover all options.
That's mandatory in order to be listed among all other /. polls.
Re: (Score:2)
Stars? In London? (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
When looking up, I see an average of 2 stars and 5 airplaines, so gave up looking. Would love to go to a place where I can see more though.
It's really incredible how many stars there are, and how infrequently I see them. With all the buildings everywhere, I'm lucky to see the moon.
My parents claim to live in the countryside (in the Midlands), but they're still too close to a city to see any stars.
How far away from London does one need to go? Zone 6? Or further?
Re: (Score:1)
Re: (Score:1)
Re: (Score:2)
I found a good map of light pollution for Great Britain: http://www.avex-asso.org/dossiers/pl/uk/index.html [avex-asso.org]
It doesn't include Sark, but it does include the Western Isles, which look particularly dark (perhaps too dark: there's no light for Stornoway, which seems odd).
Re: (Score:1)
Laser surgery (Score:1)
I'm thinking about getting my eyes fixed (not just to look at the stars). Can anyone comment on it? Like many /. users I spend a fair amount of time looking at screens. My current prescription isn't terribly strong but I keep my glasses on all the time.
I am a bit concerned about the dangers and how it might affect my work if I get one eye done at a time.
Re:Laser surgery (Score:4, Informative)
The surgery itself is extremely safe. The effects are great, I went from 20/275 in my good eye to 20/15 and am still slightly better than 20/20 in both eyes. What you will notice is a definite impact on night vision. They only correct a narrow circle on your cornea, for most vision, that's no problem, but at night when your iris opens to take in more light, it will open wider than the corrected area thus causing haloing around any and all lights. You get used to it but it's always there. Also in line with the poll that prompted your question, star gazing post Lasik sucks. I live in the west and when camping always enjoyed star gazing, but now I can only make out the brightest stars and can no longer see many of the constellations. This is due to the same cause as the halo effect, my eyes can't get enough focused light through the fixed area and the unfixed blurry area just blurs what light is coming in.
I'd recommend just getting them both done at once, so as to get it over with. One eye or two you're going to have to take at least one full day off with each surgery.
Re: (Score:2, Informative)
Nowadays, they correct a bigger circle and test how much your pupils dilate in complete blackness so they can make sure you won't get haloing effects. I had mine done about 6 years ago, with the new bladeless method (they now use a laser to cut the flap). I went from 20/150-2/200 to 20/10-20/15, and am still significantly better than 20/20. No halo effects at all, and the stars look great at night. You need that day off with surgery now (mostly because you'll be incredibly dilated all day), but the next day
Re: (Score:2)
Thanks for that, it was an interesting post. The night vision issues seem quite worrying. How is driving in the dark?
A lot of people I speak to say it is the best thing they ever had done, but it just worries me that the surgery is non-reversible so if there is a problem you are screwed.
Re: (Score:2)
Driving in the dark is hell. It's like you're inside a pinball machine.
that said, I agree with parent that it's the best money I ever spend. The joy of being able to see in the swimming pool, not having to fiddle with lenses for 5 minutes in the morning and evening. It's great.
Re: (Score:2)
But overall, I've still been able to drive safely since the operation. This time of year I'm most likely to be driving in the dark
Re: (Score:1)
Thanks for that, it has been really useful. I think I might take the plunge.
Re: (Score:2)
A bit from each end (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
I'll second that. All my experiences with home telescopes and observatories I've visited have been underwhelming to say the least. I'd rather look at Hubble images any day. The only exception is when I've been fortunate enough be in the mountains (or just away from urban areas and other sources of light) on a few clear nights. A telescope would have been nice, but it's amazing enough just to see the full night sky and everything I usually miss living in large cities. For shear breadth of view the naked / le
Re: (Score:1)
Stars? What stars? (Score:5, Informative)
Re: (Score:2)
yeah - the light pollution overwhelms my "scantily" (are coke bottle thick glasses scantly?) dressed eye. I'm lucky to catch a glimpse of Venus, much less any stars that weren't manufactured in Hollywood. Nothing will ever beat the night I was in Aruba and the island lost power, though - that was amazing.
Re: (Score:1)
Technically, yes. They're scant in the same sense granny panties are.
CowyboyNeal Option (Score:2)
My God, CowboyNeal is full of stars.
Re: (Score:2)
I have no eyesight... (Score:3)
MS World Wide Telescope (Score:1)
Moderate dress (Score:2)
Slashdot and no software option? (Score:2)
Dark Sky (Score:2)
All joking aside from this poll, those fortunate enough to live or visit areas with dark sky (low/zero light pollution) are aware of the bewildering awe that comes from gazing at the Milky Way in all its glory. I always found it a bit of an oxymoron that the brightest night sky you can see is called "dark sky".
Oh, and to the ignorant masses: Observe. [dakotalapse.com]
I watch the stars with my glassy eyes (Score:1)
1, 3 and 4 (Score:5, Interesting)
I like all stargazing options available to me, but voted for 4.
My radio telescope is a very simple one: a receiver tuned to remote (500-1500km) Mexican analog TV transmitters on channel 2, connected to a "rabbit ears" antenna in the attic. I can hear reflections from meteor trails as short "pings". The next step is to connect it to the PC sound input and use SpectumLab+Colorgramme software to count the reflections 24/7/365 and then upload the data to www.rmob.org. About $200 worth of equipment (the PC is an ancient laptop), and I collect some real scientific data.
With a heavily dressed eye (Score:2)
dunno (Score:1)
True missing option (Score:3)
I'm awash in city lights and can't see any stars, you insensitive clod.
I live in the Chicago suburbs. About a year ago, my wife and I took her sister's son, then 9, to visit my mom, roughly a hundred miles south. He had never left the metro area and was amazed by all the stars visible on the drive back.
not that many stars to see (Score:2)
Within 50 light-years, we only see 133 of the 1,400 stars. So most star we see are REALLY bright
Re: (Score:1)
I live in the city of Chicago, only a couple of miles from the Loop, and on hazy nights I can only see a few, but I can see some (think single digits). Lately, it's been much better, and I've been able to see quite a bit more than that with the naked eye (I can see Orion's sword e.g.). With binoculars, I could see the Orion Nebula very easily, many stars in the Pleiades, and even found Uranus the other day (I could even tell it was blue).
That's right, Uranus is so big I could see it from downtown Chicago.
Re: (Score:2)
Oh sure, we can see a few but it's nothing like where I grew up, in a small town in the middle of miles of corn fields.
I'm just looking up at the sky while walking around outside, not really looking. I spend a lot of time driving my nephew around and he's been doing planets and stuff in school lately, so he's really funny. "Hey, that's Jupiter. Oh wait it's flashing and moving. That's a plane."
Binoculars (Score:2)
I voted for the silly option, but my real preference is binoculars. They magnify nicely, but are much easier to slew around the sky to look at whatever interests you.
In fact, in my experience, binoculars are what amateur astronomers most often recommend to novices.
Telescopes are very nice, too, but they're only useful if you have the time and interest to sustain them.
Only when ... (Score:2)
Professionally (Score:2)
With at least a 1.8 m scope (like last night), or up 8 m if I can; using either a V+R broadband filter or going longward to H-band if using adaptive optics (helps to close the loop, you see). Granted, I'm always tracking non-sidereal targets, and so the "stars" show up as streaks...
Re: (Score:2)
XXX Naked Eye XXX (Score:2)
I usually make two trips to dark sky sites in the summer during new moon weekends to do some astrophotography. While my imaging rigs are doing their thing I prefer to sit back and soak up those ancient photons.
Binoculars? (Score:2)
Light Pollution (Score:2)
I do miss the neighborhood where I grew up. It was outside a small town on the Oregon coast, and there were no street lights (mainly so as not to clutter up the ocean views). It was fantastic to just sit outside on clear nights (admittedly, few and far between) and look up at the sky with almost no light pollution at all.
Brooklyn is nowhere near the same in those terms...
Here: (Score:2)
http://www.freakzilla.com/pics/index.php/2010/07/16/thats-no-moon/ [freakzilla.com]
200mm lens with a 2x teleconverter.
Aperture fever is... (Score:1)
With my SETI (Score:2)
Re: (Score:1)
Stars are those things we see in the summer.
At least that's when we see them in Seattle.
TMZ (Score:2)
The way a fruit flies does, for navigation (Score:1)
Because, let's face it, there are a heck of a lot more fruit flies watching the skies than people.
In the Checkout Line (Score:2)
Ok, so Demi and Ashton have split, and Miley Cyrus Got Liam Hemsworth a Puppy for 22nd Birthday, but I'm still left wondering what the hell is a "Kardashian" - is that like an Elbonian?
Modestly dressed eyes (Score:2)
I use binoculars. Somewhere between options 2 and 3 I guess.
None of the above (Score:2)
There are no windows in my room.
What do I need them for anyway, I have Google Earth -> View -> Explore -> Sky.
Can you say ... (Score:1)
Photon Phix (Score:1)
I like to watch the stars ... (Score:2)
While totally naked
Telescopes. (Score:2)
Winter (Score:2)
Its winter here now - if its clear emough to see the stars then its damned cold. Naked eyes would freeze. Wind chill tonight could be -40 degrees