Science & Tech

Science: — Proposing a theory, which makes predictions that can be validated, or invalidated by future observations.


NOT Science: — Trying to associate those who disagree with your theory with Holocaust deniers.

I have switched to FreeBSD after spending a few months banging my head against OpenBSD. OpenBSD is a nice O.S., and I really didn't want to switch, but now that I'm trying FreeBSD, here are some first impressions of the differences.


Reasons to Choose FreeBSD

• Would you like clear, well-written user documentation, instead of curt citations of man pages, and faq entries? You want FreeBSD.

• Would you like to experiment with hosting MS-Windows (or Linux, or another BSD, etc.) as a guest O.S. in a virtual machine, right out of the box? You probably want FreeBSD.

• You have an older machine with only 1/2 gig of ram, and you think you should be able to run firefox without hitting the swap file? Free is the O.S. for you.

• You have an older computer that runs at just under 1 gighz, and you think it's reasonable to expect an O.S. to deliver decent performance from that? You need FreeBSD

• You've invested a lot of time switching from MS-Office to OpenOffice and you don't want to have to now learn the latest other OTHER office suite? Definitely, you want FreeBSD.

• You're an experimenter who wants to install BSD on your Raspberry Pi? Most seem to agree, FreeBSD is a better fit for you.

Reasons to Choose OpenBSD

• You think PF (Packet Filter) is a really cool piece of software and you want to run it? OpenBSD is for you.

And Now, for Something Completely Different

• Are you a masochist who is excited by the idea of being beaten to a pulp, and left naked in the middle of the ethical, legal, and financial mine-field that is the GPL?. . . You want linux.

I remember, almost two decades ago, when IBM scientists spelled out 'IBM' using xenon atoms. Ok, so, maybe they jumped the shark here a bit, but it's still kinda cool.

The scope has arrived!

It came in the mail yesterday. A used, JDR Instruments, 35 MHz, dual trace scope for $80.00 (Shipping included) on eBay!





It had two obvious problems.

1. No horizontal positioning — I was able to fix that by following wires and traces back from the front panel.

2. The brightness is at full all the time — not able to fix that without schematics.

I spent a bit of time with it, and while it needs some calibration, I haven't been able to find anything else wrong. Also cool, it has a Z input in the back, which means I'll be able to play asteroids on it


-djr

main()
{
    printf("goodbye, world\n");
}

"There is, I conceive, no contradiction in believing that mind is at once the cause of matter and of the development of individualised human minds through the agency of matter. "      — Alfred Russel Wallace

Lunar eclipse (total from all of U.S.) Tuesday 21-Dec. Begins: 01:32 (am - EST). Totality is achieved at 02:41 and lasts for 72 minutes.



Best time to look?

At 03:17 am EST the Moon will be in deepest shadow, displaying the most fantastic shades of coppery red.



Why Red?

From the article at NASA:

" A quick trip to the Moon provides the answer: Imagine yourself standing on a dusty lunar plain looking up at the sky. Overhead hangs Earth, nightside [facing you], completely hiding the sun behind it. The eclipse is under way. You might expect Earth seen in this way to be utterly dark, but it's not. The rim of the planet is on fire! As you scan your eye around Earth's circumference, you're seeing every sunrise and every sunset in the world, all of them, all at once. This incredible light beams into the heart of Earth's shadow, filling it with a coppery glow and transforming the Moon into a great red orb. "

Last time a lunar coincided with solstice?

1638 DEC 21, Next time it will happen? 2094 DEC 21

IBM has found that picking up a single carbon-oxide (CO) molecule onto the tip of their AFM (Atomic Force Microscope) allows them to get a much sharper "point" with which to obtain much sharper images of atomic scale entities. This image is simply amazing...





View the IBM Press Release (w/video)


-djr

From the: "it's all about the grant money" file


What is the latest euphemism for "kissing up"?


Ingratiating Behavior



Article about the study



-djr