seanwillson.com

just like during my previous eyepiece review posting last year, i was poking around the new san diego astronomy association (sdaa) website and found some additional eyepiece reviews for folks that are interested. here are links to the newsletters (in pdf format) where the reviews take place as well as the eyepieces they reviewed.

• january 2003 — 24.5mm meade super wide angle vs. 24mm televue panoptic
• february 2003 — 14mm meade ultra wide angle (uwa) vs. 13mm televue nagler type 6
• march 2003 — 6.7mm meade ultra wide angle (uwa) vs. 7mm pentax xl vs. 7mm televue nagler type 6
• april 2003 — 20mm televue nagler type 2 vs. 22mm televue nagler type 4
• august 2003 — 17mm televue nagler type 4 vs. 16mm televue nagler type 5
• september 2003 — 8.8mm meade series 4000 ultra wide angle (uwa) vs. 9mm televue nagler type 6
• october 2003 — 5mm televue radian vs. 5mm tmb super monocentric
• november 2003 — 15mm televue panoptic vs. 14mm pentax xl
• december 2003 — 22mm televue nagler type 4 vs. 20mm televue nagler type 5

like the last set of reviews, these to are quite thorough and very impartial.


aside, when people redesign websites (insert sdaa here) they really should take into account changing their namespaces. all links to their previous website are now going to be broken because they’re not backwards compatible. that is one thing i have always strived to do, that is unless the site is extremely old. another thing to do would be to modify your 404 not found page to be a script that when loaded grabs the context page they are looking for and maps it into the new hierarchy and presents them with a “sorry but the page you wanted has moved” page. anyhow, don’t get me started on web design, i’m libel to go on for hours.


anyhow, thanks for the great newsletters sdaa, keep up the great work.

i came across this image on the 20/20 hindsight website and couldn’t help myself, it was hilarious. talk about motivating. i see these mock motivation posters all over the place. i own two actual motivation posters, not the mock ones, though i haven’t hung them since moving. anyhow, i thought this mars rebranding was funny, very original susan … to understand the complete context just visit her site.

i recently upgraded the ilife applications that came with my new mac to new ilife ’04 suite. it contains updates to iphoto, idvd, imovie and has the latest version of itunes. it also comes with a cool new application called garage band. this cool application contains a simple interface that allows you to combine various musical instruments and audio loops to create your own songs. you can then easily use those songs in other ilife applications, put up on the internet, or download to your ipod.


i know it sounds weird, heck most of us have no idea how to play an instrument let alone compose music. but, i have to honestly tell you that it’s amazingly easy and even addicting. you simply select an instrument type, a style of music, and then a sub style if you want. from there you can then select the loop name, tempo, key or beat that you want (you can also just scroll through all of the loops if you want). have no idea what any of that means, that’s fine to, just click the name of the loop and it will play the loop for you within your song or by itself. once you find the loop you want, you can drag and drop it into the view above resizing and positioning it within the song wherever you want it. you can repeat parts of it or the whole loop itself. it’s that easy …


if your semi musically inclined you can hook up a midi device to your computer via usb and use garage band to record your own musical segments. from there you can slice and dice it, change volume, or see how it would sound if played with another instrument.


i highly recommend that you check out ilife ’04 or the garageband jam pack which adds 2,000 more loops, 100 more software instruments and other effects. i haven’t picked up the jam pack yet, but it has crossed my mind. i was even thinking about picking up the pro version of garage band called soundtrack. amy and i have even discussed buying a keyboard with midi/usb input so we can both learn the keyboard. she already knows it pretty well because she is very musically inclined, i on the other hand have always wanted to play but never gotten around to it. this may be the catalyst to finally get that party started.


update — i decided to post a 1 minute track that i made with garage band. it’s not that great but it gives you a feel for what you can create quickly. you can check it out here: aiff (10.1mb), aac (1.4mb), quicktime (780k). this is an electronic piece that is purely a bunch a loops put together with no original content. if only i had a keyboard, i’d be dangerous.

have you ever wondered what the current state or our sun was? almost like the five levels of national security there are different levels of solar x-rays and geomagnetic fields. these various levels of solar activity all effect when and if you can see auroral activity in your location and also effects satellite communications on earth. if your interested, head on over to the national oceanic and atmospheric administration (noaa) website and dig around, or use these links to get right to the fun:

• space weather now — solar wind speeds, solar x-ray imager, auroral map, etc.
• solar and space — link to various space weather pages.
• today’s space weather — plots and images for todays space weather
• current solar data — a really nice compilation page that shows data from various noaa pages all in one location. soho images, x-ray, terrestrial, mt. wilson solar observatory, big bear solar observatory, etc.

the last link has the most information that is compiled from various sources. enjoy!

we’re into week four of our challenge. we have missed a few workouts the past two weeks but we’re eating really well. amy lost a bit more last week and i sat still. i knew i’d hit a small plateau but it didn’t help that we missed some workouts. it’s really hard getting up so early in the morning when the sun doesn’t come out. on the positive side we’ve done all of our weight training workouts so the workouts we’re missing are the cardiovascular ones. this may sound bad, but contrary to popular opinion cardio workouts raise your metabolism for a few hours where as weight training raises your metabolism for around 24 hours after a workout.


we are going to double down on the workouts this coming week. we’ve made it through a few harder scheduling issues the past few weeks and should have an easier time next week. we also have the train moving and have seen some great progress. we’re going to harness that and push forward. the meals are really fun and interesting with very little repetition or boredom. i highly recommend that you check out the eating for life book if your looking for some simple enjoyable recipes that taste great. if your following body for life this book is a must.


some words of wisdom from the first few weeks. missing a workout doesn’t mean you failed, you cannot and should not use that as an excuse to stop workout out. you have to get right back on track and continue forward with your plan. do not eat bad that day, do not give up for that week and start over, one problem is not an excuse to cause another. each up and down is a learning experience, life always throws us a few curve balls. you have to take on each challenge one at a time and move on after you get through it.

bums, everyone has one. is anyone else as tired as i am of hearing everyone’s opinion about space? i guess i wouldn’t be as tired if:

1. they had a clue about what they were talking about.
2. they took the time to research their topic before writing opinions that really do nothing other than show their level of inept journalism.
3. they stopped to look at the bigger picture of how manned space exploration not only inspires people but also has huge financial impact on our country.

i was working on a fairly large piece about the effects that president bush’s recent space vision would have on our country but then i started thinking. people already have instant opinions on the topic and they are either for or against it. there is no middle ground and people rarely stop to really think through their biases. usually there is something in their past that influences their decision negatively or positively. for this topic it could have been a really mean science teacher or maybe reading a really good science fiction novel. i don’t have the clout nor the verbally nimble vocabulary to inspire and change minds.


typically i’m better at playing devils advocate or backing up an issue with facts. here are a few that may or may not sway your position:

• nasa contributes research and technology
  to the war against cancer — you can thank nasa for mri and cat scans, next generation digital imaging mammography, new drug for melanoma, multi-layer microcapsules help drug delivery/fight tumors, etc.
• brest cancer detection
• scratch resistant sunglasses
• athletic equipment padding
• the roof of the silver dome
• space pens
• bar code labels
• vehical tracking systems
• better commercial fishing nets
• the portable computer
• speech aids
• ez chair lift
• farmland suveying
• better wine
• night vision camera
• advanced lubricants
• tv satellite dishes, medical imaging, ear thermometers, smoke detectors, cordless tools, joystick controllers, etc.

the lists go on and on. take this information however you want but all i ask that you do is honestly ask yourself if you live a better life because of funding to nasa. i’m not advocating nasa as the best or only solution, but it is our current solution. i’m also not advocating bush’s specific vision, only the vision of manned space exploration and the positive effects it has on society and our nation. your vote and position on this issue matters and needs to be heard, just make sure that you get your facts straight and you truly understand the issues and effects a policy or administration has on america and the world.

amy and i were perusing the pet store a few weeks ago and we saw a really cool white rabbit up for adoption. we stopped to pet it and play with it. it was really fun and very people friendly. after we left the pet store amy was really interested in possibly getting a rabbit as a pet so she and i started researching rabbits online. after researching, thinking it through, and talking about it we finally decided to go for it and adopt one.


this morning we stopped in to an animal shelter in barrington hills illinois to check out their rabbits. we had decided it was best to get a rabbit that was already a year or so old. they’re past their skittish problematic moods by that age and we wanted one that was already people friendly and litter trained. we also decided to adopt a rabbit rather than buy a new one because we wanted to save a life rather than let one go without a good home. we looked at all of the rabbits that they had and narrowed it down to a gray one and a beige/brown one. we weren’t sure at that exact moment which one we wanted so we left. on the way home we talked it out some more and decided to get one of the ones that we had seen.


we then went to a few pet stores and bought everything we needed. we bought a large cage, feeder, water bottle, litter box, litter, treats, a bed, pellets, a bowl, and a few things i’m sure i’m missing. anyhow, we took it all home, set it up, and then headed back to the shelter.


we decided on a rabbit that they called d.c. … the beige/brown one. he is very fluffy, people friendly, and he loves to be held. we renamed him huxley d.c. willson because we both liked the name. i have included a few pictures in this posting. you can also see a few others on amy’s website. this is her first real “real” pet that isn’t a “pocket pet” as she calls it. needless to say we are both pretty excited. welcome huxley to the family!!!