The full spectrum of "astro", in increasing order of complexity and expense:
1. Binoculars & a book - learn the sky, see great wide-field objects too big for scopes. Hard to do photos. Cost: $50 and up.
2. Mount camera on still mount - make pictures of star trails, meteors, eclipses, etc. Incremental cost to step 1: $200 and up for camera, $300 and up for mount.
3. Mount camera on motorized "clock" mount that moves approximately at speed of earth rotation. Good enough for 30-60 second exposure times with a wide lens. Photograph bright star clusters (M13, etc.). Incremental cost: $150 and up for clock drive rig.
4. Buy portable scope & static mount - learn more sky, see planets, moons, etc. Incremental cost: $300 and up for scope. $800+ starts to get you something you may keep a long time.
5. Put scope on motorized clock mount from step 3, connect camera to scope. Good for 1-5 minute exposure times, depending on quality of mount. Photograph fainter clusters, stack exposures in software to image bright galaxies. Incremental cost: $100 for adapters to connect camera to scope.
6. Introduce closed-loop tracking control to your mount system. Typically requires a second, co-mounted scope & low-quality camera for tracking guide starts. Requires PC and software, all-freeware solutions readily available. Can image almost anything - limited by sky conditions and quality of equipment, primarily scope optics and quality of mount mechanics/drives. Incremental cost: $150 for cheap tracking scope, $50 for webcam to use as tracking camera, $100+ for clamps etc. to piggyback tracking scope on main imaging scope.
7. Make upgrades to mount, drives, primary imaging scope, camera. Invest in filters, etc. Incremental cost: Start thinking in units of $1000.
8. ???
9. Profit! (just kidding)
I have run the whole gamut and find myself spending most time now doing 1. and 3. because it's fast, fun, and easy to teach/involve kids, friends, etc.
My next upgrade will probably be a really nice set of binoculars.
I run a large ($1B revenue) multinational company in Korea. We have operations in China. As one of the "virutal slavemasters" you detest, let me offer some observations:
(1) I have not found a single employee out of thousands that shares your armchair view. And no, it's not because they're scared to tell it to the boss - they friggin' strike all the time for various issues, one of which is...
(2) More overtime. Our curret labor agreement meets the union DEMAND for 60 hour work weeks. They will strike if they get less overtime. And they don't strike for higher wages and less overtime with the same net take home pay - they actually want the extra pay in the form of overtime. In Korea the demands for overtime went up when the country eliminated the official 6-day work week about 2 years ago. Employees felt they were getting "screwed" by not being allowed to work weekends, and demanded higher weekday overtime.
(3) In many cases, dorms are preferred by employees to their "homes" which are often tiny apartments holding grandparents, children, etc. You won't be shagging away in front of gramps at home either. The dorms are often an upgrade in standard of living. We often cannot hire employees from the competition UNLESS WE OFFER DORMS.
(4) Sure, we could just be "nice" and pay 10 times average local wage rates (rather than "merely" the current multiple of 2 or 3) so our workers can have equivalent pay to Americans. Then there is no reason for my company to leave the USA. Then there are no more big companies in China. Then the workers in China go back to subsistence farming for 50 years until they develop their own big companies without outside help. Yeah man, great plan. Great plan. Why don't you put it to my unions for a vote and see what they think?
I run a large multinational company in Korea (approx $1B revenue). Our Korean labor unions DEMAND 12 hour shifts, 5 days per week, with the associated overtime. In case you're a little slow this means 60 hours per week. Cutting back on overtime is a trigger for strikes. Partly this is a reaction to the disappearance of the official 6-day work week about 2 years ago. Workers figured they were somehow getting "stiffed" on a day's pay and wanted to make it up during the week with overtime.
FYI there is a recent phenomenon akin to depression where Korean employees don't know what to do with "excessive" leisure time now that Satudays are not working days. There is even a speciality of psychological counseling now available.
Before you assume everyone should frolic in free time, realize that attitudes like Korean workers are part of the reason Korean auto and electronics industries are kicking ass globally while US and European car companies (among others) are slowly dying.
We regret to inform you that due to your failure to purge all electronic records of your Hopping Mad Mines Project work from your personal laptop, you have been found in violation of new U.S. laws governing the safeguarding and portability of classified data.
Unsightly above-ground wires or expensive below-ground cables? Bah, a false choice.
How about making above-ground wires a little more sightly?
Where I live, power and phone and cable are all spliced and diced and strung in sloppy fashion from poles to homes.
With about 2 minutes of thought and very minimum investment in cable races, ties, etc., the neighborhood "spider webs" could be easily tamed. Hell, use green colored cables and races and blend it into the foliage. Put flower planters and ivy up the sides of the poles. There a lots of things that could be done.
Let's cast a nostalgic browser into the ether and see what some once-fabled URLs return. I've also included results for some of the lesser-known companies mentioned in other slashdotters' postings and, of course, companies from TFA.
cyberrebate.com - "Distributions to creditors (including rebate claimants) are being mailed beginning April 22, 2005. Creditors will receive $.08802 per dollar of allowed claims" The check is in the mail!!
pets.com - Bounces you to petsmart.com. Wonder how much PetsMart had to pay for the DNS rights? I'm guessing 2 barks and a milkbone.
webvan.com - DNS error. Legend has it this company actually burned through $1 billion.
peapod.com - Still alive in ChiTown, Milwaukee, and SE Wisco. Go peapod!!
carsdirect.com - Still alive but appears to be simply a car dealer referral service, not the once vaunted "direct seller". Never hit that sweet IPO - it was withdrawn as the bubble burst.
imotors.com - They built small factories to refurbish and re-warranty used cars which were delivered to customers. The factories are gone - now they're just an information broker apparently.
flooz.com - WTF? Random placeholder page?
boo.com - A splash page lives on and claims a new site is launching in 2006. Register your email address to receive updates. "The boo is back! Shh..." Oh joy!
kozmo.com - DNS error.
priceline.com - Still around of course.
agillion.com - Essentially blank page save the link to blogger.com
sprockets.com - Now a musical composing, scoring, and production service.
cuecat.com - An online obituary. Are they hoping this gets search-engine-indexed into posterity?
i2 - Supply chain software. Still here, but stock price is at $17, down from the 5-year high of $643. Look out below!
eToys - Still around.
idealab - Famous incubator - carsdirect, petsmart.com, etoys, etc - still around.
Don't discount how polarizing this will be for many Americans. The groudswell of resistance will cause the idea to fail politically before it can be implemented.
I used to manage a company in the mid-South. When we tried to eliminate physical paychecks and go to mandatory direct deposit, there was a near-strike among the workforce. Main argument was biblical - "linking me with all those numbers is the first step toward being marked with the sign of the beast."
Yeah they forgot that even with paper checks the company reported pay data to the IRS. But the resistance was emotional, visceral, and strong.
I agree with other posts that first and foremost you should choose something you enjoy doing. Poor and happy is better than rich and miserable.
Once you've cleared that criterion, I think there is always a lucrative niche for technical people that have language skills (e.g. Chinese, not Perl) and are willing to work in the global economy. I'm an engineer, I have three languages, and have worked as an expat for companies in three countries.
There are thousands of MBAs who speak Chinese. There are vastly fewer people who have technical ability and can function overseas. Do a couple of years locally polishing your tech skillz, then you can go abroad as a project manager. Do a good job and soon you will be asked to decide whether to stay in a tech track or continue upward in management. Even companies that outsource need competent people who can run the show.
My recommendation: If you enjoy CompSci, then go CompSci major and Chinese or Japanese minor. How to choose Chinese vs Japanese? Trying firing up your favorite ethnic pr()n sites and see what tickles your fancy. Remember, do what you enjoy...:->
Stem cells and abortion...
on
Google's DNA
·
· Score: 1
...are not inextricably linked, but in this case they should be. When people start talking about companies in terms of grand metaphors like stem cells and "all things to all markets," it's time to abort the stock. The days of meaningful growth are peaking.
Call it the business analysts' version of jumping the shark.
(1) Closed-captioning for hearing-impaired users, when coupled with voice reconition.
(2) Real-time foreign languge subtitles, when coupled with voice recognition (speaker talks in French, user sees English subtitles in field of view - "Your mother was a hamster, and your father smells of elderberries.")
(3) Real-time foreign language text translation, when coupled with OCR (read a menu in a French restaurant, see English meaning in field of view)
OK, three. The three most powerful applications are these, plus fanatical dedication to the Pope. Four. Amongst the four most powerful...
Slashdot Mirror
In Japanese the chemistry term for base (vs acid) is "enki" which means "salty material". Salts make the soil basic.
The full spectrum of "astro", in increasing order of complexity and expense:
1. Binoculars & a book - learn the sky, see great wide-field objects too big for scopes. Hard to do photos. Cost: $50 and up.
2. Mount camera on still mount - make pictures of star trails, meteors, eclipses, etc. Incremental cost to step 1: $200 and up for camera, $300 and up for mount.
3. Mount camera on motorized "clock" mount that moves approximately at speed of earth rotation. Good enough for 30-60 second exposure times with a wide lens. Photograph bright star clusters (M13, etc.). Incremental cost: $150 and up for clock drive rig.
4. Buy portable scope & static mount - learn more sky, see planets, moons, etc. Incremental cost: $300 and up for scope. $800+ starts to get you something you may keep a long time.
5. Put scope on motorized clock mount from step 3, connect camera to scope. Good for 1-5 minute exposure times, depending on quality of mount. Photograph fainter clusters, stack exposures in software to image bright galaxies. Incremental cost: $100 for adapters to connect camera to scope.
6. Introduce closed-loop tracking control to your mount system. Typically requires a second, co-mounted scope & low-quality camera for tracking guide starts. Requires PC and software, all-freeware solutions readily available. Can image almost anything - limited by sky conditions and quality of equipment, primarily scope optics and quality of mount mechanics/drives. Incremental cost: $150 for cheap tracking scope, $50 for webcam to use as tracking camera, $100+ for clamps etc. to piggyback tracking scope on main imaging scope.
7. Make upgrades to mount, drives, primary imaging scope, camera. Invest in filters, etc. Incremental cost: Start thinking in units of $1000.
8. ???
9. Profit! (just kidding)
I have run the whole gamut and find myself spending most time now doing 1. and 3. because it's fast, fun, and easy to teach/involve kids, friends, etc.
My next upgrade will probably be a really nice set of binoculars.
I run a large ($1B revenue) multinational company in Korea. We have operations in China. As one of the "virutal slavemasters" you detest, let me offer some observations:
(1) I have not found a single employee out of thousands that shares your armchair view. And no, it's not because they're scared to tell it to the boss - they friggin' strike all the time for various issues, one of which is...
(2) More overtime. Our curret labor agreement meets the union DEMAND for 60 hour work weeks. They will strike if they get less overtime. And they don't strike for higher wages and less overtime with the same net take home pay - they actually want the extra pay in the form of overtime. In Korea the demands for overtime went up when the country eliminated the official 6-day work week about 2 years ago. Employees felt they were getting "screwed" by not being allowed to work weekends, and demanded higher weekday overtime.
(3) In many cases, dorms are preferred by employees to their "homes" which are often tiny apartments holding grandparents, children, etc. You won't be shagging away in front of gramps at home either. The dorms are often an upgrade in standard of living. We often cannot hire employees from the competition UNLESS WE OFFER DORMS.
(4) Sure, we could just be "nice" and pay 10 times average local wage rates (rather than "merely" the current multiple of 2 or 3) so our workers can have equivalent pay to Americans. Then there is no reason for my company to leave the USA. Then there are no more big companies in China. Then the workers in China go back to subsistence farming for 50 years until they develop their own big companies without outside help. Yeah man, great plan. Great plan. Why don't you put it to my unions for a vote and see what they think?
I run a large multinational company in Korea (approx $1B revenue). Our Korean labor unions DEMAND 12 hour shifts, 5 days per week, with the associated overtime. In case you're a little slow this means 60 hours per week. Cutting back on overtime is a trigger for strikes. Partly this is a reaction to the disappearance of the official 6-day work week about 2 years ago. Workers figured they were somehow getting "stiffed" on a day's pay and wanted to make it up during the week with overtime.
FYI there is a recent phenomenon akin to depression where Korean employees don't know what to do with "excessive" leisure time now that Satudays are not working days. There is even a speciality of psychological counseling now available.
Before you assume everyone should frolic in free time, realize that attitudes like Korean workers are part of the reason Korean auto and electronics industries are kicking ass globally while US and European car companies (among others) are slowly dying.
Dear DARPA Contractor:
We regret to inform you that due to your failure to purge all electronic records of your Hopping Mad Mines Project work from your personal laptop, you have been found in violation of new U.S. laws governing the safeguarding and portability of classified data.
A warrant has been issued for your arrest.
Sincerely,
United States Department of Defense
Unsightly above-ground wires or expensive below-ground cables? Bah, a false choice.
How about making above-ground wires a little more sightly?
Where I live, power and phone and cable are all spliced and diced and strung in sloppy fashion from poles to homes. With about 2 minutes of thought and very minimum investment in cable races, ties, etc., the neighborhood "spider webs" could be easily tamed. Hell, use green colored cables and races and blend it into the foliage. Put flower planters and ivy up the sides of the poles. There a lots of things that could be done.
cyberrebate.com - "Distributions to creditors (including rebate claimants) are being mailed beginning April 22, 2005. Creditors will receive $.08802 per dollar of allowed claims" The check is in the mail!!
pets.com - Bounces you to petsmart.com. Wonder how much PetsMart had to pay for the DNS rights? I'm guessing 2 barks and a milkbone.
webvan.com - DNS error. Legend has it this company actually burned through $1 billion.
peapod.com - Still alive in ChiTown, Milwaukee, and SE Wisco. Go peapod!!
carsdirect.com - Still alive but appears to be simply a car dealer referral service, not the once vaunted "direct seller". Never hit that sweet IPO - it was withdrawn as the bubble burst.
imotors.com - They built small factories to refurbish and re-warranty used cars which were delivered to customers. The factories are gone - now they're just an information broker apparently.
flooz.com - WTF? Random placeholder page?
boo.com - A splash page lives on and claims a new site is launching in 2006. Register your email address to receive updates. "The boo is back! Shh..." Oh joy!
kozmo.com - DNS error.
priceline.com - Still around of course.
agillion.com - Essentially blank page save the link to blogger.com
sprockets.com - Now a musical composing, scoring, and production service.
cuecat.com - An online obituary. Are they hoping this gets search-engine-indexed into posterity?
i2 - Supply chain software. Still here, but stock price is at $17, down from the 5-year high of $643. Look out below!
eToys - Still around.
idealab - Famous incubator - carsdirect, petsmart.com, etoys, etc - still around.
eCompanies - Famous incubator - still around.
Don't discount how polarizing this will be for many Americans. The groudswell of resistance will cause the idea to fail politically before it can be implemented.
I used to manage a company in the mid-South. When we tried to eliminate physical paychecks and go to mandatory direct deposit, there was a near-strike among the workforce. Main argument was biblical - "linking me with all those numbers is the first step toward being marked with the sign of the beast."
Yeah they forgot that even with paper checks the company reported pay data to the IRS. But the resistance was emotional, visceral, and strong.
I agree with other posts that first and foremost you should choose something you enjoy doing. Poor and happy is better than rich and miserable.
Once you've cleared that criterion, I think there is always a lucrative niche for technical people that have language skills (e.g. Chinese, not Perl) and are willing to work in the global economy. I'm an engineer, I have three languages, and have worked as an expat for companies in three countries.
There are thousands of MBAs who speak Chinese. There are vastly fewer people who have technical ability and can function overseas. Do a couple of years locally polishing your tech skillz, then you can go abroad as a project manager. Do a good job and soon you will be asked to decide whether to stay in a tech track or continue upward in management. Even companies that outsource need competent people who can run the show.
My recommendation: If you enjoy CompSci, then go CompSci major and Chinese or Japanese minor. How to choose Chinese vs Japanese? Trying firing up your favorite ethnic pr()n sites and see what tickles your fancy. Remember, do what you enjoy... :->
...are not inextricably linked, but in this case they should be. When people start talking about companies in terms of grand metaphors like stem cells and "all things to all markets," it's time to abort the stock. The days of meaningful growth are peaking.
Call it the business analysts' version of jumping the shark.
Happy Days and Long Nights -
- Supergus
(1) Closed-captioning for hearing-impaired users, when coupled with voice reconition.
(2) Real-time foreign languge subtitles, when coupled with voice recognition (speaker talks in French, user sees English subtitles in field of view - "Your mother was a hamster, and your father smells of elderberries.")
(3) Real-time foreign language text translation, when coupled with OCR (read a menu in a French restaurant, see English meaning in field of view)
OK, three. The three most powerful applications are these, plus fanatical dedication to the Pope. Four. Amongst the four most powerful...