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All posts for the month November, 2008

Web site favorite: APOD

Posted by Kenneth Ristau on November 26, 2008
Posted in: Technology, Writings. Tagged: , , .

The Astronomy Picture Of the Day Web site literally digs into the vast archives of astronomy-related imagery and selects one photo to present every day. In addition to providing awesome desktop backgrounds, there is a small paragraph with each photo explaining exactly what you are seeing and providing links which let you dig deeper into the concepts behind the photo.

While I don’t select every day’s photo to add to my background collection, I do take the time to read the descriptions of every photo presented. I keep up to date by using their RSS feed.

Podcast Favorites: Two for one: Astronomy Cast and Slacker Astronomy

Posted by Kenneth Ristau on November 16, 2008
Posted in: Technology, Writings. Tagged: , .

I started out listening to Slacker Astronomy, an excellent podcast which gives an entertaining presentation of some of the latest news and events in astronomy. When one of the main characters, Dr. Pamela Gay moved on, however, I had a tough decision to make with my limited podcast listening time.

I ended up subscribing to Astronomy Cast because it mixes in the fundamental concepts of astronomy with some of the latest developments and still maintains a light attitude that makes it an enjoyable listen.

Astronomy Cast is a good place to start if you are new to the topic. Over time, as I learn more from Astronomy Cast, I may “graduate” back to Slacker Astronomy for more up to the minute news.

Then again, maybe I should drop one of my other podcasts so I can listen to both of these. . .

P.S. The most recent (as of this writing) episode of Astronomy Cast The Moon: Part 2 was full of information about the exploration of our nearest celestial neighbor. My favorite link was to the recent Selene mission conducted by JAXA, the Japanese space program. They have a lot of high-definition photos which make great desktop backgrounds for your computer!

Podcast Favorites: Linux Outlaws

Posted by Kenneth Ristau on November 6, 2008
Posted in: Linux, Technology, Writings. Tagged: , .

Even when I get a back log of podcasts and have to decide which ones to delete, every episode of this podcast stays in the queue.

Dan and Fab have a solid format wherein they cover new releases of Open Source software (mostly Linux distros), recent tech news headlines (including Microwatch), in depth Linux distro reviews and listener feedback (with Dan’s hilarious attempts at various accents from around the world).

Dan and Fab have a great rapport which makes every episode a fun listen that is also full of good content. If you want to keep on top of what’s going on with Linux and Open Source software, download a couple of episodes and give Linux Outlaws a try.