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Posts with tag astronomy

Filed under: Internet, Windows, Microsoft, Freeware, Beta, web 2.0

Microsoft launches WorldWide Telescope public beta

WorldWide Telescope

Microsoft has launched a public beta of its WorldWide Telescope software. Basically, WorldWide Telescope is like Google Earth or Virtual Earth for the sky. It's a desktop application that lets you browse astronomical photos stitched together.

There's more than a terabyte of high resolution imagery available, but you don't need a massive hard drive to access it since WorldWide Telescope connects to an internet server and just downloads the images you need. If you have a broadband connection, the downloads are quick enough to make you feel like you're scrolling across one large image. You can also zoom in and out to get a better look at the nebula of your choosing.

But WorldWide Telescope has a few more tricks up its sleeve. You can take guided tours, which are narrated by astronomers and teachers. You can join "communities," which are currently maintained by several astronomy magazines. Community members will have access to exclusive tours and other content. And if you have your own telescope, you can connect to to your computer and control it with WorldWide Telescope.

[via CNet]

Filed under: Fun, Utilities, Windows, Macintosh, Linux, Freeware, Open Source

Your Windows to the heavens

If you are an Astronomy buff like me, you've probably wished that you could see a better view of the night sky, besides the one from your kid's binoculars that don't really make anything look great. Perhaps you have trouble finding things in the night sky, like me. I have found three great apps that let you do just that. First is Meade's TeleStar software (click on TeleStar software on the page). This is made to work with many of Meade's telescopes, and works as a great stand-alone viewer for those without a telescope. It even sports a night-vision mode so you don't have to be blinded by your screen while you are trying to look at fuzzy objects light years away. Next is a really stellar (pun not very much intended) app called Celestia. Celestia has many downloadable modules that make it the most extensible of the sky-viewing applications I have seen, not to mention its ability to let you view anything from any viewpoint. Celestia is probably the best of the three, but can be difficult to learn how to use. Last is a program called Stellarium. This program is very slick looking and has a nice interface for helping you get your bearings in the night-sky. All three programs are free downloads (code for "happy geek"). Celestia and Stellarium both run on Windows, Mac, and Linux, but it isn't clear if Meade's software runs on either Mac or Linux. I use all three on Windows XP whenever I am trying to find Jupiter or catch a glimpse of those ever elusive globular star clusters.

Update: Image fixed to display the correct one. Thanks Robert for pointing this out!

Filed under: Fun, Windows, Macintosh, Linux, Open Source

Stellarium: Open source PC planetarium

StellariumOne of these days I expect Google to come out with "Google Galaxy" or some similar outward-looking companion Google Earth. But we don't need to wait for Google, as there's some good free offerings out there for people wanting to stargaze from the comfort of their computer. Among them is Stellarium, an open source, multi-platform desktop planetarium. Stellarium features over 120,000 catalogued stars, our planets and their satellites, illustrated constellations and star clusters, images of nebulae, a realistic Milky Way, and "very realistic atmosphere, sunrise and sunset." In the eye candy department it does realistic sunrise, sunset, atmosphere, and star twinkling, shooting stars eclipse simulations, and skinnable landscapes. It can also do fisheye and spheric mirror projection for real dome shows and has scripting for recording and playing back your own star shows. Wow.

Filed under: Fun, Web services, Google

Google Maps lands on Mars

Google MarsFor the interplanetary traveler, Google has launched Google Mars which lets you pan and zoom around the red planet's surface. It gives you three different views: visible, color-coded elevation, and infrared. Unfortunately there's no cheesy easter eggs a la Google Moon, but there are a bunch of markers for locating landmarks (including the legendary "face" and the less well-known Happy Face Crater) and landing sites. Google Mars and the mars-themed logo at Google.com commemorate the 1855 birth of astronomer Percival Lowell.

Featured Time Waster

Forumwarz - a potentially offensive time waster

I pwn UAfter spending the better part of an hour on Forumwarz I still can't decide if it's just sick or if it's kind of fun. It's a bit like a car wreck on the highway. I know I shouldn't be looking but I can't quite turn away.

It's sick, it's twisted, it's the internet on it's worst level and darn it, it's kind of fun. At least for a little while.

Forumwarz is a parody role-playing game that takes place on the internet - or at least the Forumwarz version of it. Your goal is to complete missions that are given to you through a mock up of GoogleTalk called Sentrillion.

Your first "friend" is ShallowEsophagus who begins giving you missions to pwn various forums by being a troll. Depending on the character type you are assigned at start up, you have tools like drooling on the keyboard or bashing your head on the keyboard that you can use to destroy forum threads and eventually, pwn a forum.

Future missions involve buying illegal software from the Russians, pwning more difficult forums and other internet oddness.

Completing missions gives you cash, called Flezz in game, and items that you can pawn or use in other missions. The game is NOT for those easily offended. It's crass, coarse and there are frequent f-bombs in the fake chat sessions.

This is also a game for a more mature audience as it requires you to shop at the Drugs R Fun store to get various concoctions to improve your playing, engage in certain cyber activities to get more Flezz and just generally use a more adult perspective.

If you can get past that, here are the more enjoyable and time-wasting aspects.

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