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Time for Another Update

Well, after a wonderful long vacation paid for by LexisNexis severance, it's time for me to get back to work. (That is, the money has finally run out!) So, I'm now finally back to looking for gainful employment.

In other news, my brother has introduced me to the HP Jornada palmtop PC, which was a really marvelous design; I don't know why nobody else seems to make anything quite like it. I'm installing Linux on it for him, and I think I'm going to have to get one of these for myself...

Laid Off

Well, it finally happened -- my job at LexisNexis has been outsourced to India. So, I'm investigating other options. I've got a little money saved up, so I guess I don't need to look for another job right away. I may try to start up my own business; I'll have to check out the possibilities.

However, if you're looking for a C++ programmer with experience in managing very large legacy software systems (plus I've done smaller projects in Java and a few more obscure languages), send me a note. :)

New Moon

Hey, I've finally gotten back to the telescope. I managed to take a few pics of the moon before my fingers started freezing, and created another mosaic. The Meade LPI camera I've got is definitely low-tech and cheap, but does a surprisingly good job, particularly using Meade's software. Even given my trouble getting a good focus, the results were fairly decent. I've also gotta admit that the LX200GPS telescope is a joy to use, whisper-quiet when running at low speeds, and easy to control...

Stars Nearby Earth

Check this out! I've just been reading some of the Sci-Fi works of C. J. Cherryh, which describe a future where we travel between some of the stars nearby Earth. Her stories actually involve the stars that are currently near us, so I figured I should try plotting them out. Looks like somebody else already did: the SolStation site has detailed information involving pretty much everything we know about the actual near-Earth stars, plus maps of where the interesting points lie in Cherryh's stories.

For example, check out this interactive map of the nearer stars (up to 47 light years away).

Also, as usual, Wikipedia has a good list of nearby stars, with lots of good info...

Pietrzak Farm

My Aunt Mary and Uncle John are creating a website for their business; currently, I'm hosting it on my site! Check it out: the Pietrzak Farm.