May 2006 - Utah-Astronomy - mailman.xmission.com

Computer question
by Patrick Wiggins 27 May '06

27 May '06

I'll bet someone here can answer this question. I have found that after I burn a bunch of my astronomy talks onto CD, when I try to access the CD with a Windows machine it can only see the last file added while Macs can see them all. Is that normal? When I add a file I'm always sure to check the section that says the files will be readable by both Macs and Windows. Patrick

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Re: [Utah-astronomy] SLAS working capital - what to do with it? A suggestion
by Michael Carnes 27 May '06

27 May '06

I'd consider myself a light to moderate member, and I think I agree with the general sentiment expressed by Kurt and Chuck. The thing I like about southern and central Utah is going there, seeing it, camping in it and being with a friendly group of fellow astronomers. If I wanted to use a robotic scope, I'd probably just hop on slooh.com or join one of the many survey groups going over material from one of the historic surveys. I think Chuck's right about the maintenance. I've observed that there's almost nothing in central Utah that's not been decorated with bullet holes. I'd think a little dome might be an irresistable target for a particular class of bonehead. Personally I enjoy having places like Bryce, Capitol Reef and the new opportunity at Great Basin. Patrick, Kim and many others have done a lot of work to open these places up for us. We get to enjoy really dark skies at the cost of a tank of gas and a little show-and-tell. Of course there's no real research going on, but those who have research inclinations seem already to have invested in that little shack out back. Michael

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Canon considers halting film cameras
by Patrick Wiggins 26 May '06

26 May '06

I guess it's inevitable but I'll still miss film once it's gone. Hopefully it'll still be a round for a few years. http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/12970479/ Patrick

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SLAS working capital - what to do with it? A suggestion
by Canopus56 26 May '06

26 May '06

At Tuesday's SLAS meeting, there was some preliminary discussion of what to do with the current working capital in SLAS's budget. One suggestion was to continue the current building program by planning a new facility - a robotic telescope at a remote location in central or southern Utah. My own feeling is that the current program should be fully completed first and that a dedicated capital replacement fund should be established. First, the SPOC three observatories should not be considered separately from a dedicated reserve fund for major repairs. Like any building, there will be future unanticipated major repairs. A scope drive could go out; a roof could be damaged in a high-wind storm. We should have a dedicated reserve to meet those unanticipated expenses. Second, there may be one major completion expense. The lawn around the front of the new refractor building has been compacted to mud-brick. Looks like it may need to be replaced. Like making an addition to your house, the last thing that usually needs to be done is to replace the lawn that the tradespersons used to get on and off the property. Just some randomn thoughts. Every body have a good long-weekend. Clear and dark skies - Canopus56 __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Tired of spam? Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around http://mail.yahoo.com

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RE: [Utah-astronomy] New Sagan book, was: More on religion
by Dale Hooper 26 May '06

26 May '06

I don't recall seeing anything about the following here. But, speaking about religion - a new book by Carl Sagan will be released later this year. It's culled from lectures that Sagan gave years ago concerning, "science and religion, where they intersect and diverge, and his personal feelings about the two." I saw a more detailed writeup about it somewhere but all I can find right now is info from his son's blog: http://nicksagan.blogs.com/nick_sagan_online/2006/05/carl_sagans_sea.htm l Clear skies, Dale. > -----Original Message----- > From: utah-astronomy-bounces+dale.hooper=sdl.usu.edu(a)mailman.xmission.com > [mailto:utah-astronomy- > bounces+dale.hooper=sdl.usu.edu(a)mailman.xmission.com] On Behalf Of Patrick > Wiggins > Sent: Friday, May 26, 2006 5:53 AM > To: utah astronomy listserve > Subject: [Utah-astronomy] More on religion > > With all of the talk of creationism here of late I came close to posting > a humorous look at the 10 Commandments (the movie) I just received. > > It's basically an updated, modernized remake of the movie's trailer and > is, IMHO, quite funny. > > Unfortunately at the very end they just had to stick in a cuss word. :( > > So I wont risk offending anyone by posting the URL here but if anyone > would like to receive it just send me an email _off list_ requesting it. > > Patrick > > _______________________________________________ > Utah-Astronomy mailing list > Utah-Astronomy(a)mailman.xmission.com > http://mailman.xmission.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/utah-astronomy > Visit the Photo Gallery: http://www.utahastronomy.com

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More on religion
by Patrick Wiggins 26 May '06

26 May '06

With all of the talk of creationism here of late I came close to posting a humorous look at the 10 Commandments (the movie) I just received. It's basically an updated, modernized remake of the movie's trailer and is, IMHO, quite funny. Unfortunately at the very end they just had to stick in a cuss word. :( So I wont risk offending anyone by posting the URL here but if anyone would like to receive it just send me an email _off list_ requesting it. Patrick

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pit n pole
by Joe Bauman 25 May '06

25 May '06

Hi all, I'm considering going to the Pit N Pole that I've heard about on the newsgroup from time to time. But I've never been there and I am hoping someone could tell me where it is -- also, I think there's a map on the Internet but I don't have the URL. Is it pretty dark? I have seen some glorious astrophotos taken there, so I assume it's a nice place. Please respond asap as I'm trying to decide where to go and if I head to the Wedge, I'll need to take off soon. Best wishes, Joe

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Re: [Utah-astronomy] sexiest vegetarian
by Michael Carnes 24 May '06

24 May '06

This is perhaps a risky topic to take on in Utah, and has little to do with astronomy, but what the hey. Patrick's not the only vegetarian in the group. Although I do eat dairy products, I haven't eaten meat or fish in many years. Without getting preachy about some aspects of it, it's pretty safe to say that the level of antibiotics and growth hormones in meat have skyrocketed over the last decades. If you don't want those things in your body, lowering or eliminating meat intake helps a lot. As Chuck said, a calorie is a calorie. If your caloric intake is reasonably constant, I don't know that meat or veggie is going to make much difference in how hot you feel. Could just be the Mad Cow disease... MC >Is it better to cut down on meat in the summer? I don't like very much meat in the hot summer months. I've heard meat creates heat in the body. Is this true? I'm by no means a vegan but believe eating meat in smaller amounts is better for the digestive tract.

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Re: [Utah-astronomy] weather (whether) news
by Olhomorto＠aol.com 24 May '06

24 May '06

So is anyone planning on Carping the Noctem? Mike

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weather (whether) news
by daniel turner 23 May '06

23 May '06

The good news is that the next three nights look to be clear, calm, and dry. The bad news is that a storm is moving in for the weekend and the snow on the benches is a distinct possibility by Saturday night. I know most of you have lives that preclude weekday evening astronomy, but Carpe Noctem if you can. DT __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Tired of spam? Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around http://mail.yahoo.com

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