Slashdot Mirror
The Deepest Photo Ever Taken
Astroturtle writes "Astronomers using the Hubble Space Telescope's powerful new Advanced Camera for Surveys (ACS) have taken the deepest visible-light image ever made of the sky. The 3.5-day (84-hour) exposure captures stars as faint as 31st magnitude, according to Tom M. Brown (Space Telescope Science Institute), who headed the eight-person team that took the picture."
2nd, we hope
Mess with the best. Die like the rest!
Regarding "deep" photos, might a goatse link actually be on topic for once?
No, I'm not going to provide it...
My legal education, in nifty podcast format
"Don't do it; hold yourself back!" But it's so HARD to.
"Much work is lost, for the lack of a little more." -Edward H. Harriman
I'm glad they finally were able to top the Dildo Cam.
..There's a-dooin's a-transpirin'
. .
thanks Taco!!
5 words for you...
I'm not wearing any pants.
[ed. note: in the following text, former FreeBSD developer Mike Smith gives his reasons for abandoning FreeBSD]
When I stood for election to the FreeBSD core team nearly two years ago, many of you will recall that it was after a long series of debates during which I maintained that too much organisation, too many rules and too much formality would be a bad thing for the project.
Today, as I read the latest discussions on the future of the FreeBSD project, I see the same problem; a few new faces and many of the old going over the same tired arguments and suggesting variations on the same worthless schemes. Frankly I'm sick of it.
FreeBSD used to be fun. It used to be about doing things the right way. It used to be something that you could sink your teeth into when the mundane chores of programming for a living got you down. It was something cool and exciting; a way to spend your spare time on an endeavour you loved that was at the same time wholesome and worthwhile.
It's not anymore. It's about bylaws and committees and reports and milestones, telling others what to do and doing what you're told. It's about who can rant the longest or shout the loudest or mislead the most people into a bloc in order to legitimise doing what they think is best. Individuals notwithstanding, the project as a whole has lost track of where it's going, and has instead become obsessed with process and mechanics.
So I'm leaving core. I don't want to feel like I should be "doing something" about a project that has lost interest in having something done for it. I don't have the energy to fight what has clearly become a losing battle; I have a life to live and a job to keep, and I won't achieve any of the goals I personally consider worthwhile if I remain obligated to care for the project.
Discussion
I'm sure that I've offended some people already; I'm sure that by the time I'm done here, I'll have offended more. If you feel a need to play to the crowd in your replies rather than make a sincere effort to address the problems I'm discussing here, please do us the courtesy of playing your politics openly.
From a technical perspective, the project faces a set of challenges that significantly outstrips our ability to deliver. Some of the resources that we need to address these challenges are tied up in the fruitless metadiscussions that have raged since we made the mistake of electing officers. Others have left in disgust, or been driven out by the culture of abuse and distraction that has grown up since then. More may well remain available to recruitment, but while the project is busy infighting our chances for successful outreach are sorely diminished.
There's no simple solution to this. For the project to move forward, one or the other of the warring philosophies must win out; either the project returns to its laid-back roots and gets on with the work, or it transforms into a super-organised engineering project and executes a brilliant plan to deliver what, ultimately, we all know we want.
Whatever path is chosen, whatever balance is struck, the choosing and the striking are the important parts. The current indecision and endless conflict are incompatible with any sort of progress.
Trying to dissect the above is far beyond the scope of any parting shot, no matter how distended. All I can really ask of you all is to let go of the minutiae for a moment and take a look at the big picture. What is the ultimate goal here? How can we get there with as little overhead as possible? How would you like to be treated by your fellow travellers?
Shouts
To the Slashdot "BSD is dying" crowd - big deal. Death is part of the cycle; take a look at your soft, pallid bodies and consider that right this very moment, parts of you are dying. See? It's not so bad.
To the bulk of the FreeBSD committerbase and the developer community at large - keep your eyes on the real goals. It'
ok.. now if I was an editor for slashdot, or if I was writing a story for slashdot... the "deep" and "picture" would be about my last choice of words for the title. I mean come on.. do these people really think about possible responses to thier articles?
boobies boobies voodoo boobies
Some of those porn sites have cameras that go pretty deep
"Smoking helps you lose weight - one lung at a time" -- A. E. Neumann
It's mindboggling indeed. I suspect that political views are, for some people, like religion. It requires them to throw overboard the ideals that made them turn to science (astronomy in this case) in the first place. It's weird. It's also weird to see him say, on his website, that he doesn't want hatemail... I guess hating is ok only sometimes.
It's a game. Click the link. A very politically incorrect game but so what? Not the first we've seen (Redneck Rampage to name just one other). For crying our loud, people get so touchy any time anyone tries to poke fun at race. Get over it.
Exactly. He also said it's weird that we shouldn't judge other on racial basis, since we can judge people on their friendliness, intelligence, etc. What he fails to understand is that race is not the same as the other things we sometimes judge people from. There are friendly and unfriendly people among all races, and stupid and smart people among all races. To judge on the basis of race would have interesting implications, since I am pretty sure he is white, and I am white, and I know a lot of white people that all are different. How can he expect me to judge all these people in the same way simply because all these people are white?
In A.D. 2101 War was beginning. Captain: What happen ? Mechanic: Somebody set up us the bomb Operator: We get signal Captain: What ! Operator: Main screen turn on Captain: It's You !! Cats: How are you gentlemen !! Cats: All your base are belong to us Cats: You are on the way to destruction Captain: What you say !! Cats: You have no chance to survive make your time Cats: HA HA HA HA ....
Captain: Take off every 'zig'
Captain: You know what you doing
Captain: Move 'zig'
Captain: For great justice
That's what I thought when I read the headline. I figured that he got a colonoscopy or something.