Posts Made By: jess tauber

Wait til' tonight. We're never gonna leave- never..... :S

OK, fine with me. Let's just ANNEX the place and forget all the fancy footwork. Then NOBODY will screw with it. It'll be US SOIL. Let 'em dare to try. The Russkies can have IRAN, France can have Lebanon back. Syria goes to the Brits. Jordan to Germany. If Pakistan starts to get funny, we can hang over their heads giving them back to INDIA. China can have Afghanistan. Saudi Arabia- give it to Japan.

Problem solved. Sort of.

Jess Tauber

This article was in today's ScienceDaily:
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/09/070909212115.htm

It talks about using piezoelectric pressure sensors for polishing silicon flats for the electronics industry. So.... could something similar be used for telescope optics? Or is it already?

Jess Tauber

I found this today at ScienceDaily: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/09/070919170025.htm

When they have this perfected maybe astro applications will come along- you could, for instance, use something like this instead of some wheeled aid to help you drag your equipment up and down hills, or into areas without paved roads, etc.

Another possibility is using such a system to BE the mount for your scope. Convoluted light paths if on your back, or counterweights on the back and scope in front.

I keep envisioning that thing Sigourney Weaver used in Aliens to load cargo and fight big bad mama alien... 8)

Jess 'You don't see them ******* each other over for a percentage' Tauber

I just got a large vintage Goerz prism from an old process camera, and am probably going to use it to fold a refractor. Anyone ever use one of these old type prisms? The thing weighs a ton, but from what I've been able to find on the WWW and from what people are telling me this was a top-of-the-line optic, unless cheaper versions came out for use in copy machines and that is what I have.

Such large prisms (mine is 3.5x4) seem to show up infrequently for sale from what I can tell.

Jess Tauber

I originally posted on the Equipment forum but no responses- so I'll try again here- hopefully someone can help answer questions.

A week ago I bought an old 3.5 inch Goerz reversing prism, in excellent condition (no scratches or reflecting face mars)- after asking the seller more about it he offered me the entire lot of such prisms he had picked up at a local auction (ironically a stones throw from TeleVue). I just got back after picking them up. I got a mate for the Goerz (meant for a binoscope project with two Celestron C6R refractors I've posted before about here)- this should allow me to fold the binoscope- color may not be that much of a problem since I'm far more interested in nebulae and star chains than planets.

The smallest of the lot is a Jos. Schneider Kreuznach 2.5 inch prism, which rattles a bit. I also got two reversing prisms from Taylor and Hobson- one a model 506 (3 inches), and a model 502, a monster at 5 inches. This last is the best of the bunch conditionwise- the others have issues with chips (off the optical train) or problems with the reflective surface.

I know what I'm going to do with the two Goerz prisms, but the question remains as to what should be the fate of the other three.

Does anyone use uncoated prisms like these for astro work of any kind? Can old glass be coated without destroying the relevant surface quality?

Hopefully the TM forum members will be able to give me some answers. Thanks!

Jess Tauber

So the NYTimes is threatening national security again by disclosing the whole torture *thing* as Bush I might have termed it.

I'm just wondering whether the torturers in Chile a generation ago or their kin in other countries with right wing despotism used to reassure themselves that they are just doing the tough stuff nobody else wants to do in order to save the country, and just keep repeating the 'its not torture- we're incapable of torturing because we're the good guys' mantra to reinforce those parts of their weak personalities that have doubts.

This administration hides behind slogans and symbols- apparently a common theme for fascists of either wing right or left- here you dumb citizens, look at this shiny object as I swing it back and forth, back and forth. Pay no attention to the bleeding boy on the pavement. You're getting sleepy....sleepy.....here, sign this blank check before you go under...sleeeeeepyyyyy.....

Apparently the Shrub inherited Bush I's 'vision thing'- except that the former has them all the time. Otherwise I can't imagine how he thinks he isn't going to end up in front of a judge some day perhaps in the not too distant future.

The Chilean Junta folks wrote their own immunities into law before they let the people step tentatively and gingerly into democracy again. It took a decade before they began to show enough security in their own power to undo these 'protections' and start to prosecute monsters for their vile acts.

The equivalent characters from the US may be a lesser breed in terms of raw violence and sadism, but that doesn't mean they should just be able to go on to comfortable lives of profitable speaking tours either. Chile wasn't a superpower, wasn't projecting its power abroad (much), and wasn't pretending to be the bastion of freedom, hope, and justice in the world. That should make a difference.

Maybe Alberto should take up waterboarding....

Jess Tauber

By now I'm sure all of you must have heard about James Watson's unfortunate commentary about genetics, race, and intelligence that cost him not just his British tour, but may ultimately sweep him out of his Cold Spring Harbor position as well. It already has cost him any lingering respect I might have had for him.

I met him at the Science Department party we had for him back in the late '70's when he was our guest speaker at the opening of the college's new library. He was pickled by the time I got through- and when I introduced my then girlfriend to him his great response was to whisper in her ear and pinch her behind. Luckily she wasn't interested. His talk came after- this was back when genetic engineering regulation was being proposed- Watson was vehemently against it.

Why a man whose claim to glory was futzing around with some molecule models and never really did much researchwise after should be looked upon as a font of wisdom is beyond me. At least Crick went on to help determine the actual code behind the double helix, and then afterwards distinguished himself as a leader in the new field of cognitive science. Watson, if I remember correctly, also had choice opinions about Rosalind Franklin, who was denied her part of the Nobel Prize, probably due to her gender.

I guess when you reach a certain age, the brakes one normally puts on unwanted opining start to wear thin at times- and Watson was already never one to hold much back publicly. So perhaps it really is time for him to hang up his helices.

Jess Tauber

Have you heard about this? Apparently the State Department is now having trouble getting lower level diplomats to voluntarily take Iraq assignments, so is going to force them to go, on pain of firing.

Their protestations are now at the level of their union- apparently THEY read about this policy change in the media- nobody bothered to tell them! And the newly appointed Bush toady supervising the program got all flustered, when challenged to explain the 88/12 split in union polling indicating they disbelieved Condi Rice had their best interests at heart, compared it to opinions in favor of slavery in former times in the US- this guy himself is African-American. That's logic for ya!

Hmm, let's see- diplomats think Iraq assignments are potential death sentences, and doubt Rice's sincere interest in their fates, and then get compared to racists slavers because of it. On the face of it, perhaps one *could* claim that the argument was simply that 88 to 12 doesn't make the 88 right (which was the context)- but the particular choice of comparison was both bizarre and manipulative.

But then higher numbers have never impressed Bushites- otherwise President Gore would be sitting in Washington not having to worry about diplomats in Iraq, and fear of Saddam might have kept Iranian nuclear interests subdued. Oh well.....

Jess 'Calling 'em as I see 'em' Tauber

There is supposed to be a show tonight on PBS detailing the ID/evolution case from Pennsylvania from two years ago. Dunno if it will give as detailed an overview as I got from following the news reports online, but I may watch.

It IS ironic that the movement trying to derail the teaching of evolution has had to evolve itself as its environment changes. Maybe it will end up 'kinder, gentler' but something inside me says it will just camouflage itself further- maybe they should try Batesian mimicry

A Concerned Darwinist (i.e. 'Seed of Chucky')

Been away a while- Happy New Year (Shabaguta Yararum) to those of you who've been good.

I wanna ask whether any of you know if there are any politicians out there (past or present) who are known for their interest in astronomy- some of the current crop of presidential candidates have expressed opinions about whether or not the space program should be expanded or cut back, or redirected, but I haven't heard any of them say they are ever out there themselves with their scopes and binos.

Maybe astronomy is too quiet and private for such folks?

Jess Tauber