blivet radio
The Radio weblog of Hal Rager

Thursday, March 7, 2002

This is just fantastic. NASA has needed a mission like this for some time Wed | Mar. 6, 2002 - 5:30 pm EST "The Advanced Camera for Surveys (ACS), the brand-new science instrument installed during EVA4, has now fully passed its Aliveness and Functional Tests. Both the Wide-Field Camera (WFC) and the High Resolution Camera (HRC) have been shown to have excellent (very low) read noise, very well-performing amplifiers, and properly functioning shutters, filter wheels, and calibration doors. The Thermal Electric Coolers (TEC's) easily cooled the detectors to -67C, using only a fraction of their available power. Cooling to operational levels of -74 to -80 C will be easily accomplished after deploy. Four EVA's down, one more to go - this time for the Nicmos Cooling System and its associated radiators and Capillary Pump Loops, starting early tomorrow (Friday) morning!" [Mission Updates] 6:54:41 PM    comment   trackback []

"Welcome to the weblogging sweatshop: Blogging in the Dark Satanic Mills." [Jonathon Delacour] note: this is a very fragmentary exerpt below, that may, in fact, have missed the intent of Jonathon's entry completely. It would be prudent to read his post, thinks I. That great image is how Jonathon summed up the (sort of) discussion about 'short-form' and 'long-form' blogging between Michael, Dave Winer, and Garth. It is hard to say if it is a discussion, as in responding to each other's posts. That is always a problem, knowing who is talking to whom. Anyway, it (approximately) concerns what is perceived as the spirit of the new XML feeds ranking system which would appear to disfavor long posts. I suppose my weblogging more resembles the long-form, as does my conversations in person. Much of what I do here is short-form, which passes more as social noises, as in, "I'm still here and listening. I'm not ignoring everyone." I haven't had the perceived time for quite a bit to sit down and write in the more lengthy form. But then, after the last six months of 2001 I haven't felt like I have much to contribute besides 'yeah, what they said', and 'fatherhood is more rewarding than I ever imagined it would be.' Frankly, I'm amazed anyone comes around at all.  6:44:19 PM    comment   trackback []

Genetic Analysis Reveals Complexity of Modern Human Origins. [Scientific American] I'm looking forward to reading this. I'll try to follow up. 6:09:58 PM    comment   trackback []

Sean O'Faolain. "There is only one admirable form of the imagination: the imagination that is so intense that it creates a new reality, that it makes things happen." [Motivational Quotes of the Day] Yes! 6:06:18 PM    comment   trackback []

Phillip Lopate. "The prospect of a long day at the beach makes me panic. There is no harder work I can think of than taking myself off to somewhere pleasant, where I am forced to stay for hours and 'have fun'." [Quotes of the Day] 6:00:52 PM    comment   trackback []

Eve Babitz. "By the time I'd grown up, I naturally supposed that I'd be grown up." [Quotes of the Day] 5:55:41 PM    comment   trackback []