• we have focus….

    Posted on by beno Comment

    I focused the telescope tonight. It badly needed it. I should have done it quite some time back, but have been too busy. I have been working on the basic building blocks for the next version…..its taking some time, but I have been really enjoying getting it together. It will be for me and some of the stuff that Gary is doing. Speaking of Gary, hes got a new camera and mount. The nice thing about it is that it has 360° continuous rotation. I am very interested in the mount. The camera that comes with it is about .05LUX (from memory), so its not quite up to the astronomy light levels we need, but its more than enough for what he needs, and its razor sharp, the auto focus works very well, so all in all a very nice package that I will no doubt be spending some more time with as we get things in place to web enable it for Gary.

    Anyway, just wanted to let you all know that the focus is better, and I will tweak the iris the next clear and dew free evening we get.


    📂This entry was posted in Astronomy

  • Ubuntu and Automatix

    Posted on by beno 1 Comment

    With these two on your hard drive, life in the Linix world is nice, real nice.

    I have really got the hang of building a computer that is a joy to live with, and these two are the way to do it.
    Standard Ubuntu install, and then pick what you want from Automatix. If you can, get an Nvida graphics card and install the drivers off Automatix, it will make a big difference to the speed and overall smoothness of the system.
    I wish Skype for Linux would use the web cam, but I guess its a work in progress. Thats the only “down” that I can find.

    OpenOffice still will not spell check when first installed. You would think they would get that sorted, its not hard to fix, just go into tools, options and select your spell check language.

    Sadly, I can not get the PICAXE programmer to work under WINE, same with the Opto22 suite (actually, all but the graphics runtime work, so its rather useful, and probably pretty cheeky on my behalf to even try it). The Weather Display software that I use on my web site also seems to work ok under WINE.

    Thus I remain ssssssooooo close to being able to leave XP for good, but not yet……soon, but not yet.


    📂This entry was posted in Computers

  • A State of Trance – With Armin Van Buuren

    Posted on by beno Comment

    2 hours of non stop trance. WOW!
    There is a radio station in Melbourne that plays it (I think).
    Other wise you need to go to his web site to hear it.

    I have really come to love this show. Its great to listen to, it really just rolls along, the mix that he puts together is just great, new and old tracks and DJ’s.
    The 300th show was great, it was 7 hours of live Trance…….now THATS a trance track!

    I am becoming more keen to get to another Rave and hear some more live Dj’s. Im just not sure where to go. Im told that some of the Raves in Melbourne are really bad for drugs, but I want to hear some good DJ’s. I have not spent any time searching the web to see if I can find some locations or Raves that get a good balance.
    The other thing thats really important for me is sound, where ever it is, it has to have a good sound system. That was one of the best things about the Rave at Kryal Castle last year, the sound was sssssooooooo good.

    Im trying to figure out how long I have been listing to Trance music for. I know its been more than a few years, not as long as I have been listening to Mike Oldfield or Jarre, but its getting up there.  I think its safe to say I am enjoying it more and more. I am keen to get hold of some of the early stuff and see what it sounds like. I still have no idea what the Dj’s are doing, where the music comes from or how it is put together, but its a treat when they get it right.

    I think I like it because it has so much energy and is soothing at the same time, and because there is so much going on at once.
    One thing is sure, at ~170Mb per track, you need a good size MP3 player to carry the stuff with you!


    📂This entry was posted in Music