Archive for June 2013

Ooda Thunkit

Posted by on June 28th 2013 in In the News

How many years have we been made to fund successive governments' barmy policies to address climate change?

Looks like Aldi have an economical Climate Control solution:

 

 

🙄

eBay Feedback (not SFW)

Posted by on June 26th 2013 in Just for fun

Go on, click here, it's about time you had a good laugh!

😀

Cyberdyne Systems Series R20 Model 101

Posted by on June 24th 2013 in In the News

This year's Fathers' Day saw the welcome addition of the "Terminator" box-set to the DVD/BluRay collection.

 

 

You know the story-lines... Terminators sent back in time, their missions being to kill off the Resistance-to-be at various points within the plot's history, trying to ensure that both Judgment Day and the Rise of the Machines come to pass.

I used to see parallels between the Machines and wind-turbines, between Skynet and RES, between John Connor and Alan Sloman, but the men in white coats put me in a padded room and tried to cure me of my delusions and of my overwhelming desire to insert another "e" into "Judgment".

 

 Today's news, therefore, is a tad spooky:

 

 

Screengrab source and story

R20

Men in Black

Posted by on June 12th 2013 in Just for fun

The cat growled and raised her hackles at the silhouettes visible through the patterned glass of the front door. Two black-suited men stood there. They hadn't knocked or used the doorbell. It was all a tad sinister but I could see that one had a clip-board and the other a very brief briefcase, these lending a hint of officialdom to the scene. Maybe they were from HMRC, maybe they were from the local police who still maintain that they're going to contact me about a string of offences that I reported to them nearly two months ago. Either way, I decided to entertain them.

Without introduction, an ID card flash or even a cheery "good morning", the larger of the two explained their presence...

"We're here to ask if there really is a God that cares for us".

Damn. No HMRC tax refund, no CSI team to sort out the local miscreants. Still, I was in the mood for another Q&A session seeing as we'd won a charity pub-quiz last night.

"Us? Do you mean just you two, or all three of us?"

"Well, everybody."

"Ah, I see. So why are you asking me?"

"Because you might have The Answer." (His emphasis)

"Seriously? You think that a middle-aged balding bloke from the English Midlands would have The Answer to one of The Fundamental Questions that has been troubling Believers for millennia?"

"Errr..."

"It's unlikely, isn't it?"

"I suppose so."

"Anyway, don't you already know The Answer?"

"Well, we believe that God cares for all of us."

"Well there you go, you've answered your own question! Your work here is done, you can have the rest of the day off."

"But... but... do YOU believe that God cares for all of us?"

"That's not what you asked me at the start when you thought me to be The Messiah."

"Errr..."

"OK, lets' try something else. Do YOU believe that God sees and hears everything?"

"Yes. We believe that God is omnipresent."

"So, God must know when HMRC and the Police are going to arrive."

"Errr... you've called the Police?"

"Well, yes, but..."

"We'll be off now. Thanks for your time."

"Hang on, I still want to see your ID cards."

"We don't have ID cards, we're not selling anything."

"Do you really believe that?"

There was no answer. They'd gone.

Could have been worded better

Posted by on June 5th 2013 in A bit of a rant

On-the-spot fines for middle-lane hoggers?

Won't that be inherently dangerous in the middle of a busy carriageway?

Far better to pull the feckers onto the hard-shoulder and then apply the fine.

😉

Mind you, there is a more suitable sanction:

Observing Report 26th-27th May 2013 (The Great Eye)

Posted by on June 4th 2013 in Astrostuff, Observing Reports, Pics

It had been a while since I'd pointed the scope at the Moon.

These pics show my favourite phase - 2-3 days past full - when the terminator runs down the eastern limb and highlights a string of craters and maria.

Here's Mare Crisium - the Sea of Crises - looking like a huge lidless eye staring into the void:

 

Mare Crisium (27/05/2013).
DMK mono camera @ prime-focus on the 6" R-C.

 

And here's a poor effort at a clickable mosaic of the whole shebang:

 

Moon (27/05/2013).
28 panes stitched with iMerge. Each pane is 500/2000 stacked frames.
DMK mono CCD camera @ prime-focus on the GSRC6M.
The seeing was bad so the detail isn't as good as usual.