NASA is predicting a brand new meteor shower for tomorrow night, May 23-24.  This is the first time that the Earth has passed through the orbit of Comet 209P, so we don't know exactly how big it will be, but the dust from the last few centuries of the comet are predicted to produce 100-200 meteors per hour at the peak.  It could be nothing, since we're not very good at space weather prediction yet (that stuff is dark, man), or it could be the first of many great shows.
The Camelopardalid Meteor Shower is expected to last from 10:30 pm on May 23 to 7:00 am on May 24 EDT (7:30 to 4:00 am PDT), with the peak viewing time somewhere in the middle (3 EDT/midnight PDT, ±1 hour).  Meteors will appear to originate out of the less known constellation Camelopardalis, between Ursa Major and Andromeda (and lying roughly 10° southish of Polaris, depending on the time of night).
That said, meteors can appear in any section of the sky in a meteor shower.  The best time to view all meteor showers is after midnight, where the Earth faces forward in its orbit, though that effect might be less since the source is so far from the ecliptic.
Either way, get outside, try to find a dark place, and enjoy the show.  Even if it's just stars out there, Mars and Jupiter are both very bright.
More info: http://www.nasa.gov/topics/solarsystem/ ... alids.html
METEOROLOGIST BRENT LAABS(producing his first forecast not involving hydrometeors)
-- ∇×V

So I have some really old unfinished starts sitting deep into the past of this board, but this opening popped into my head a couple hours ago so I typed this up over my lunch break. Don't have a specific time period selected for it, but late enough that Rhett really ought to have known to exercise more care while trying to wave up an AI in his computer.

Quote:Rhett groaned as he
woke to a sore neck. As well as a sore cheek, sore backside, and sore
he-wasn't-sure-what. I've gotta stop falling asleep
mid-anime binge. Cracking an eye open found his keyboard
sitting right in front of his nose.

"I wondered
when you'd wake up. Can you close the window before I join my monitor
in shorting out?"

"Sho— It
worked! You're awake! I've got an A.I-yaa-yai-why's my voice all
funny?" the curtain blew inwards on a warm breeze carrying a
light mist of rain with it. Adding to the greasy puddle that passed
where his chin had rested to drip in the floor.

Leaping to his feet,
trying to leap to his feet, sent his chair rolling across his room
while he tumbled in his loose clothes barely landing on his hands and
toes. He'd no sooner caught his breath when his toes reported they
were sitting within a cold puddle on the floor. Bouncing shoulder
first off the corner of his desk he finally managed to stand, one fur
covered hand reaching up to hold to the desktop.

Fur covered?

Up
to the desktop?

Holding his hand up
he poked at it with his left hand. Fur. Soft white fur. Sudden
suspicion had him reaching for his face while twisting around to look
at his backside. Suspicions half-confirmed by the odd sensation of
his fingers brushing whiskers that were not from a beard. Spinning
twice clockwise he made a sudden jump counter-clockwise and grabbed
at a black tipped tail.

"Agh! I can't
go to class like this!"

Donate to UNICEF via the http://www.omaze.com/experiences/starwars-episode-vii]"You Could Be in Star Wars™: Episode VII" page at Omaze.  For every $10 you donate you get one entry in a drawing (plus rewards for different donation levels, a la Kickstarter).  If your entry is drawn, you get the following:

Quote:You & A Friend Will

• Shoot a scene for Star Wars: Episode VII
  
• Be J.J. Abrams’ VIP guest on set in London
  
• Flight and hotel included for 2

The Register: http://www.theregister.co.uk/2014/05/16 ... n_a_house/]Real, hovering SPEEDER BIKE can be YOURS for cheaper than a house

"Aerofex claims the Aero-X can achieve an airspeed of up to 45mph (72kph) while hovering at an altitude of up to 12 feet (3.66m) above the ground – although Aerofex suggests most riders will feel comfortable at around 5 feet." Sticker price is $85,000. Delivery in 2017.

Video embedded in the article.
--
Rob Kelk
"Governments have no right to question the loyalty of those who oppose
them. Adversaries remain citizens of the same state, common subjects of
the same sovereign, servants of the same law."

- Michael Ignatieff, addressing Stanford University in 2012

One possible consequence of the Lun mission to Arcadia.

Quote:"Captains Log, Date: 12/02/2025.

USS Virgil Grissom remains in polar orbit of planet Earth conducting final calibration tests of our modified sensor array. Installation and commision of the array has been completed two days ahead of schedule. Doctors Katsuragi assures me that the modifications will be functional in time for our scheduled survey of Arcadia in two weeks time. "

Captain Lutjens set the PADD down on the armrest of his chair, letting it upload to the ship's master computer. The bridge of the big Gagarin-class ship was closer in feel to the cockpit of he airliners he'd flown in another career - slightly larger with enough space for a couple of extra crewmembers, but still small and snug compared to the spacious Trek ideal.

Beside him, the science specialist, Doctor Katsuragi of the Tsoukalos Institute for Extraterrestrial archeology. Technically an acting Lieutenant, it entitled him to the traditional blue-shirt, while exempting him from the usual starfleet grooming requirements. The Japanese man's hair and beard grew wild, the good Doctor preferring to spend his time preparing for the greatest mission of his life, than on personal grooming.

His head was down, buried in a computer console as his fingers flashed across a touchpad.

Lutjens took the time to survey his ship, operating mostly under the automatic supervision of it's Mind. Pilot and Navigator stations were locked and idle, as was the communications station to his left. The crew were otherwise busy with final preparations. Earth orbit was a safe harbour.

Lutjens became aware of strange emptiness encroaching on his bridge, an absence that defied explanation. He scanned around, taking a few squirming heartbeats to realise that Katsuragi had stopped typing.

"That's funny," said the doctor in that mildly curious tone that heralded all the greatest of scientific discoveries.

"what is?"

System error, Lutjens had already concluded. Instrument failure was the bane of all scientists. Especially prototype instruments. It had to be a malfunction. It just had to be...

"I'm getting a Tannhauser signature, Captain. It's coming from Earth."

The man didn't believe it himself. It couldn't be possible.

"What?" This all but confirmed it as a malfunction. "I thought you'd ironed out all the bugs. Check your gear."

Katsuragi already busied himself at his sensor controls, working at speeds that'd make an android jealous. Lutjens found himself staring out at the blue ocean rolling past above his craft, a thousand possibilities sparking in the back of his mind, even as he braced himself for the disappointment.

"Confirmed," said Katsuragi, placing is palm softly against the side of his head as he drew in a deep, long breath. "Antarctica, about five kilometres South of Mount Markham, on the surface, beneath the ice-sheet." His eyes were wide as he turned to face Lutjens. "It's there Captain. I'm certain of it."

His breath was shaking.

"Another gate..."

Ever the scientist, Lutjens searched for the simplest explanation, and now that equipment failure had been ruled out, that left only one possibility. A gate between Earth and the Moon certainly matched the pattern... maybe intact gates were the exception, rather than the rule.

"I'm not sure..." Answered Katsuragi. "It's just a signature."

Feeling the hand of history weigh down upon his shoulder, fully aware of the certainty that his name would forever be associated with what was, by any accounts, something big and important, something that changed the history of Earth and potentially that of humanity entirely. He said the only thing a ship-Captain could say at a time like that....

"Oh bugger me."

http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap140419.html]%[link=http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap140419.html]http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap140419.html]

Yes, I know it says "Kepler-186f." Kepler-186 is 500ly from Sol, and only the Miranda has gone that far Out yet - that we know about. Of course, there's nothing stopping us from ... liberating ... this public-domain image for our own purposes.

So ...

Tell me about this system in Fenspace. If you don't want to go a year's travel one-way to Kepler-186, there are still plenty of http://www.fenspace.net/index.php5?titl ... terstellar]systems within 20ly of Earth that haven't been described in Fenspace terms yet - pick one and go to town.
--
Rob Kelk
"Governments have no right to question the loyalty of those who oppose
them. Adversaries remain citizens of the same state, common subjects of
the same sovereign, servants of the same law."

- Michael Ignatieff, addressing Stanford University in 2012

*eyebrow twitching*
I am presently considering writing a short story in which the UNMF make a rescue raid on a fictitious country in response to situation like this
http://news.yahoo.com/sudanese-woman-se ... 04046.html
and follow up with a pirate TV broadcast in which a face-shadowed figure declares to the world that just because most would sit by and complain but still allow it to happen doesn't mean that everyone will.
Do the moderators have any potential complaints against this?

http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap140514.html

As I post this, it's daytime for the ISS - so I'm seeing clouds over ocean.

Pretty.
--
Rob Kelk
"Governments have no right to question the loyalty of those who oppose
them. Adversaries remain citizens of the same state, common subjects of
the same sovereign, servants of the same law."

- Michael Ignatieff, addressing Stanford University in 2012

Amiga, amigos

Chiptune website replicates the Workbench of the old Amiga OS.

I had one when I was four! Nobody knew what to do with it in the house - it'd been bought to be part of the 'future' - so it was used solely to play pirated games until 1999 when the graphics finally fizzled.
________________________________
--m(^0^)m-- Wot, no sig?

Prefacing this post: I live in a jurisdiction where it's legal to do this, as long as I pay the licensing fees - which I do.

I've been using CDex to convert CD tracks to MP3 for quite a while now, but that program hasn't been updated in over half a decade. I'd like something that recognizes non-Latin filename characters (and isn't in beta), and is supported on Windows 7. Does anyone have any recommendations, either for or against?
--
Rob Kelk
"Governments have no right to question the loyalty of those who oppose
them. Adversaries remain citizens of the same state, common subjects of
the same sovereign, servants of the same law."

- Michael Ignatieff, addressing Stanford University in 2012