period planets.

[Flyfisher]

For those worrying about ageing - All you need to do is sleep downstairs....
http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn19494-standing-on-a-stepladder-makes-you-age-faster.html

Well, we're getting to the time of year when it's not at all uncommon for me to fall asleep on the sofa in front of the fire after a few glasses of wine, so perhaps I should start thinking about what to do with the extra 90 billionths of a second I may live as a result.

 

[Penners]

Sounds like you may have time for two glasses of wine.

 

[robgil]

steven hawkins is onb c4 +1 now and hes going on about time travel. defo worth a watch.

 

[Nigel Watts]

Just set up my cheap(ish) Chinese telescope with its azimuthal mount (if that is the right expression for the thing that has to point north and be at the same angle as the earth's axis so the scope can track the earth's rotation) for the first time since Mars was at its nearest for a few thousand years.

After fiddling around for about half an hour I finally manged to home it in. Completely stunning view of the planet and three moons and some surface detail in spite of London's hideous light pollution.

 

[FamilyWiggs]

Nigel, I went out again last night - which was the first clear night for a few nights. Stunning view again, but only 3 moons. This time I woke the kids up - who although sleepy seems suitably impressed at seeing the moons and surface detail.

The moon was almost full and looking particularly spectacular last night. We are lucky to have not too much light pollution of looking South or West.

 

[robgil]

its a bit cloudy here tonight but the moon does look quite ghostly with the clouds passing by. its funny, You never really notice such things being sat in the house most of the time.

speaking of time ,has anyone ever heard of John Titor? A very interesting probable hoax of a time traveller who posted on some internet forums around ten years ago and although very much unbelievable he did bring up some very interesting subjects and theories on time travel. He spoke of time travel being hand in hand with inter dimensional travel , the theory being that every decision creates a parallel dimension , so if you come to a point in time where you have to decide whether or not you cross the road time splits into as many different sets of circumstances that can come from that particular point in time and scenario.
with me? now , if you travel back in time you cannot be accurate enough to get to the parallel reality you would like , instead time and space fans out and you could end up anywhere.
this would explain how a paradox is possible , for instance the grandfather paradox can be possible because there are so many different parallel universes that the one you kill your grandfather in may not be the one you came from.
above top secret have loads in John Titor , lots of info but worth a read , especially if you like sci-fi.

http://www.abovetopsecret.com/forum/thread61544/pg1

 

[Nigel Watts]

Looked again (20 to midnight). Definitely four moons now, unless one is a star.

 

[robgil]

apparently if you look up and to the right of the planet you can see a faint Uranus.
its still really cloudy here so i wont be seeing Uranus tonight.

 

[FamilyWiggs]

For those without a telescope (or Joce's thermals!), then this is a very good free desktop planetarium, available for Linux, Mac and people still stuck with Windoze:

http://www.stellarium.org/

 

[Penners]

i wont be seeing Uranus tonight.

Likewise, I'm sure.

 

[Flyfisher]

For those without a telescope (or Joce's thermals!), then this is a very good free desktop planetarium, . . . .

A friend recent bought a new 'smartphone' (can't remember the model, but it wasn't an iPhone) and he has an application on it that identifies stars and planets and large satellites (e.g. ISS) when held up to the sky and the screen display moves as you pan the phone around the sky. Clever stuff.

 

[Penners]

FF - are you sure it wasn't an iPhone? I have a friend who has an iPad - it has exactly the same app installed.

 

[Flyfisher]

Yes, positive. Jnr has an iPhone, so I'd have recognised it, plus he told me what it was and I was surprised it wasn't an iPhone - obviously too surprised to remember. I'll ask him when I see him later this week.

Perhaps all 'smart phones' provide the same operating system environment and can all run these applications? Or the application is available for differnet phones?

I confess to being rather out of touch with mobile phone progress these days. The only 'smart' thing mine can manage is to behave as a telephone and handle text messages. Shameful, I know.

 

[Penners]

the application is available for differnet phones?

That must be the case.

Here's an instant mug-up on smartphone OS's. There are certainly more than I imagined:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Smartphone

Like you, I have no interest in having a phone that's more intelligent than I am. People with iPhones never seem to stop playing with them, even when they're supposed to be having a face-to-face conversation (remember those?). They're always "wiping" across the screen and glancing down to see whether they've got emails, the weather forecast, the latest news about the Turkmenistan turnip harvest... our son-in-law even has an app that turns his iPhone into a light sabre. He claims it's to amuse the children. :roll:

 

[LadyArowana]

People with iPhones never seem to stop playing with them, even when they're supposed to be having a face-to-face conversation (remember those?). They're always "wiping" across the screen and glancing down to see whether they've got emails, the weather forecast, the latest news about the Turkmenistan turnip harvest... our son-in-law even has an app that turns his iPhone into a light sabre. He claims it's to amuse the children. :roll:

I am sure they must be boy children, for girls there is http://www.net-a-porter.com/Content/apps/iphone and if you ever do get one yourself then http://www.theiphoneappreview.com/12/lumbar-manipulation-iphone-app/ would be just what you need.

 

[JoceAndChris]

Oh, I love my iPhone, I couldn't be without it now. I can liven up a traffic jam bidding on Ebay (not me driving, of course), look at the stars, the weather, listen to R4, always have a torch, read what you lot are up to wherever I am and type at Gareth late at night under the bedclothes. Everyone should have one.

I agree with Penners though, anyone who values being charming should not fiddle with it in front of others, unless those others are dreadfully dull and need to be got rid of (which could never be the case when talking to Mr P).

 

[Flyfisher]

the latest news about the Turkmenistan turnip harvest...

Ah, I was only worrying about that last week, perhaps I should think of upgrading my mobile phone into the 21st century so I need never be out of touch with such things.

My friend tells me his phone is a Samsung Galaxy and it runs the Google Android OS. I don't really know the differences to an iPhone, but it looked and behaved very similarly, based on the limited experience I've gleaned after prising Jnr's iPhone off him for a few minutes at a time.

The astronomy app is Google Sky, which I've seen on Google Earth before and it makes sense they'd have a version for their smart phone OS.

I've used Palm PDAs for all my contact and diary needs over many years, but my current one is showing signs of withdrawing into its shell (i.e. the touch screen is becoming unreliable) but they are no longer being made, having been superseded by smart phones, so I may have to take the plunge sooner or later.

Oh, I love my iPhone, . . . . type at Gareth late at night under the bedclothes.

Now that sounds like fun. I trust video mode is switched off. :wink:

 

[JoceAndChris]

FF, take the plunge!

Now that sounds like fun. I trust video mode is switched off. :wink:

Oh, Gareth is stuck in the boring old dark ages with his Conservation phone. He wouldn't know video mode if you hit him over the head with it. And it isn't necessary, as all our conversation is about Betjeman, of course. :lol:

 

[Penners]

I'd like to know what Gareth is doing under your bedclothes anyway! :wink:

And please enlighten me - what is a conversation phone? Is it what my generation would call... a phone?

 

[Flyfisher]

And please enlighten me - what is a conversation phone? Is it what my generation would call... a phone?

NURSE! Penners has lost his reading glasses again.

Conservation phone . . . . possibly one of these: