Posts by Astarte

1 Osman = 8 horses

Standards, standards, there are so many but XKCD provides a nice image of distancing

https://xkcd.com/2286/

Rosetta

It's a shame Rosetta will be destroyed, after all 67P will be back in six and a bit years and who knows what may have changed.

Sheep

Sheep - will it work on sheep?

Ceres Map

Why does that remind me of a KSP Biomes map of Minimus?

Great Green Arkleseizure

Douglas Adams was right, again.

The Great Green Arkleseizure is the creator of the universe, as claimed by adherents of the faith on planet Viltvodle VI. The Jatravartids of this faith believe that the Universe was sneezed out the Great Green Arkleseizure's nose.

Beware the coming of The Great White Handkerchief.

Space Debris

I used to be able to view near earth space objects on Google Earth. It had KMZ layers for classes of objects and showed orbit data such as periapsis and apoapsis etc. I appears have been withdrawn, disabled or moved.

Does anyone know how to find it or it's replacement?

Wouldn't it be nice ...

... if some philanthropic hacker left something really useful on ATMs. I'm thinking something like an entry code to make the terminal play Pong, Space Invaders or Rocket Raid to pass away a few minutes now and then while waiting for a bus/train/taxi etc. For a bonus win it could credit the score in the currency of your choice to an account of your choice.

Original Directives

If I recall correctly LOHAN was to be a paper structure. Is the new 3D-printed version made from liquefied Papier Mâché or did I miss one its many evolutionary stages. Perhaps the link was broken when the use of PARIS was dropped.

Job for LOHAN

The real test about life on Earth should be about The Mice. I suggest the next high-altitude LOHAN flight should include Playmonaut holding a small piece of cheese (hard cheddar should do nicely) to see if it becomes contaminated or even shows evidence of having been nibbled by a mouse. We've all heard of pigs in space - why not mice?

Hydrohelium

Perhaps LOHAN should now be renamed LOH2AN (unless you have a good supply of monatomic hydrogen).

At last - Pi(e) in the Sky

Lovely thought.

Vivat Elite

I do hope the new version will be as much fun as the original and not be bloated to the extent that playability is sacrificed to just a demonstration of graphics programmers' skills. Sadly, a lot of modern games concentrate on excellent and jazzy graphics while managing to create a very impressive but ultimately boring game with little or no satisfaction.

I still have my ‘Beeb’ model B in storage complete with second processor and dual floppies (5¼ and 3½-inch) plus my library of discs – I’m going to open it up, dust it down and cross my fingers.

Plugs

With apologies to J. R. R. Tolkien -

One plug to rule them all, One Plug to find them,

One Plug to bring them all and in their Laptop fry them.

Cutler Ridge, FL

I drove through Cutler Ridge on the Atlantic coast some a long time ago on my way to the Keys. Back then the sign proudly announced

Cutler Ridge, Pop. 97, Elevation 3ft

I thought then that if a supertanker went by a bit too close and a bit too fast it would swamp a fair amount of Florida.

If 'i' Ruled the World . . .

. . . we'd all be very sad.

Sweepstake

Divide that part of the world's surface, where the bits are likely to fall (that's most of it), into a grid and have a sweepstake or similar where you can predict a likely impact area. Score one point if it's in the sea or an unpopulated area, two points for a populated area and three for an impact on a human. Charge each entry a Pound, Dollar, Euro or whatever and share the total take amongst the winners, minus a small administrative charge of course. More fun than a lottery.

Early Unit of Measurement - just for interest

In earlier days (long before ISO), experiments with X-ray sources the radiation strength was quantified as so many 'Gillett’s'. One Gillett being the level needed to just pass through a standard razor blade. Stronger sources were measured using a staggered stack of blades on a photographic plate and the strength determined by counting the shadows.

Cutting-edge eh?

Parking

Just beyond and to the right there's a small blue plate on a post. It has a large white 'P' on in and underneath the words 'Permit Holders Only'. I expect the authorities towed the vehicle away and ordered it to be crushed for non-compliance.

Welsh codes

They've been using Baa-codes to identify their sheep for a long time so they have plenty of experience.