Voice from the past

On Saturday, September 8, 2012 4:10:49 PM UTC-4, Jan Owen wrote:
It's been a long time, but I thought I'd just drop in here, & see how many of the old gang are still around... I never intended to leave SAA; but my ISP dropped newsgroups, and I didn't really try hard enough to find alternative ways to get back on board... I'm just as involved in amateur astronomy as ever; just in somewhat more isolation than when on SAA. Sure miss those old days...

Nice to hear from you again, Jan!

On Sunday, September 9, 2012 9:19:50 PM UTC-7, (unknown) wrote:
On Saturday, September 8, 2012 3:10:49 PM UTC-5, Jan Owen wrote:

It's been a long time, but I thought I'd just drop in here, & see how many of the old gang are still around... I never intended to leave SAA; but my ISP dropped newsgroups, and I didn't really try hard enough to find alternative ways to get back on board... I'm just as involved in amateur astronomy as ever; just in somewhat more isolation than when on SAA. Sure miss those old days...



JAN!!! Nice to hear from you again! I stop in now and then. I wish more of the old crew would come back. I always liked the simplicity of SAA over all the more organized, compartmentalized, groups.

Marty

Nice to be back, and to hear from you... Couldn't even send you an e-mail, because two or three years ago, I had a hard drive crash, and while I had backups for most of the contents, somehow, I'd failed to have a backup for my e-mail addresses. I missed comparing notes ofline, now and then, as well as on SAA...

I just had an e-mail from Jon Isaacs; we still stay in touch, if not as frequently as in days past. But Jon's on several of the other astronomy venues I frequent, so our paths still cross on a regular basis...

And of course I'm in touch with Howard Lester several times a day, via e-mail, on most days... Howard's retired from the Steward Observatory now, and has moved back to his native New York, but now in upstate NY, where he's enjoying some space around him, and dark skies... He's also returned to SAA; not sure how frequently he's on, though...

Hope you're doing well... I miss your Christmas Eve walk reports. I walk about four miles a day (preferably outside around the periphery of our many golf courses here (but when it's too hot, I also have a treadmill, so I can still do my mileage, even when the weather doesn't cooperate), five days a week now, and report to Howard any interesting bird or wildlife encounters (and he does the same), and we share any astronomical observations (or equipment testing) from the previous night...

In sci.astro.amateur message , Sun, 9
Sep 2012 10:29:58, Martin Brown
posted:


I don't think you can filter on Google groups though - and they are in
fact one of the main perpetrators of spam abuse against usenet


My feeds seem to be filtered against Google Spam, but not against real
Google posts.

Anyone here know Latin? I'm working on Euler's E304 -- Considerationes
de motu corporum coelestium (Considerations on the motion of celestial
bodies).

--
(c) John Stockton, nr London, UK. Mail via homepage. Turnpike v6.05 MIME.
Web http://www.merlyn.demon.co.uk/ - FAQqish topics, acronyms and links;
Astro stuff via astron-1.htm, gravity0.htm ; quotings.htm, pascal.htm, etc.

On Sep 9, 5:23*pm, "Chris.B" wrote:
On Sunday, September 9, 2012 3:43:14 PM UTC+2,an anonymous coward wrote:



It is still occurring, only in the form of posts from ChrisB.

While the trolls continue to dominate every thread I see no harm in bringing a little humour to the tedium of their endless repetition. Those who don't care for my humour, or troll teasing agenda, have kill-filed me already. Your anxiety suggests that you are still reading my posts. Why? Do you have a reading compulsion? Why not do some active astronomy?
Instead of hanging around here. Hoping to be irritated by me.

About them sentence fragments.

On 11 Sep., 02:52, wrote:

About them sentence fragments.

Que?

Your reader suddenly seems to be as broken as your English,
Sir. ;-)

Surely you meant to use "What" and "those"?

BTW: I was able to pick up a brand new and unused, 32mm EP.

For a fraction of the new price.

Now I can test my visual acuity on the planets at even lower powers.

Everybody needs a hobby.

I knew you'd approve.

Without my putting in a formal request.

In triplicate.

With, or without, the mandatory backhander. ;-)

Bye-bye.

Y'all have a nice day.

If you can.

PS.Sorry to go off topic.

To start discussing amateur astronomy.

Instead of keeping to your asymmetrical, political agenda. ;-)

On 10/09/2012 20:18, Dr J R Stockton wrote:
In sci.astro.amateur message , Sun, 9
Sep 2012 10:29:58, Martin Brown
posted:


I don't think you can filter on Google groups though - and they are in
fact one of the main perpetrators of spam abuse against usenet


My feeds seem to be filtered against Google Spam, but not against real
Google posts.

Third party cancel notices get most of the dross, but if you try and
look from Google groups itself you will find endless "copy watch",
"nike/Gucci", Solutions Manuals posts cluttering up the place.

Anyone here know Latin? I'm working on Euler's E304 -- Considerationes
de motu corporum coelestium (Considerations on the motion of celestial
bodies).

Only old schoolboy Latin nothing like good enough for scientific papers.

--
Regards,
Martin Brown

On Sep 11, 1:41*am, "Chris.B" wrote:
On 11 Sep., 02:52, wrote:

About them sentence fragments.

Que?

Your reader suddenly seems to be as broken as your English,
Sir. ;-)

Surely you meant to use "What" and "those"?


Obviously, you don't get the humour (sic.)

Word salads make no sense, but their sentences are at least
grammatically correct with a subject and a verb in each. Your posts
make no sense AND have poor grammar, as a matter of routine.

Hi Jan, It's good to hear from you again. I've been more of a lurker
than a participant of late -- but I think that trend started before
your unintentional departure. Several years ago my ISP also dropped
newsgroups. Eventually I managed to re-connect via Google -- perhaps
not the best solution, but it works most of the time.

I've not been very active in the "carpe noctem" thing lately. Summer
fires put a real damper on observing in my area. The 250,000 acre Ash
Creek fire blazed around my location -- getting within about a quarter
of a mile of home. The night of my evacuation I was without
electricity and a wall of orange-red flames could be seen approaching
from the west. Smoke was so think (at times) after I returned home
that I recall seeing a full moon in a cloudless sky that looked every
bit as dark as a 'dark' lunar eclipse. I had to look carefully to see
it at all! Similarly, red and orange suns were the norm for quite a
while.

Nevertheless, I do have an ambitious (is there any other kind?
observing plan in the works. That plan will likely stay on 'hold'
until the next printing of the 2nd edition of Uranometria rolls off
the presses. I usually manage to check into saa once a day for a
quick look around . . .

Sketcher,
To sketch is to see.

s.a.a's problems have multiple causes: The description for this forum/
group is that it is for "The discussion of amateur astronomy and its
equipment."

The high level of anonymity offered to the poster here is a superpower
afforded equally to the imbecile and immature poster alike. Society
does not usually offer superpowers even to to its most important
members. Not without good cause and constant monitoring for corruption
by that very same power. There are no elections to be the next Andrex
de Foulmouth or Squirrel o' ********. You're stuck with them!

TV and radio, in most countries of the world, are carefully filtered
to avoid transmission of anything which might interrupt the program.
The public are always carefully excluded because they simply cannot be
trusted to behave intelligently and on topic. We have already seen how
the Internet has corrupted many millions of imbeciles, bullies and
raving nutjobs. It has become so polluted as to sag under the sheer
weight of the crap being transmitted freely across the globe. The
chattering classes have largely wasted their unique opportunity to be
heard due to a complete lack of self-discipline on their part.

The lack of imagery (on s.a.a.) in a hobby which relies so heavily on
the visual denies the amateur astrophotographer an outlet for his/her
talents. It also denies those who are proud of their purchases or
creations an easy way of displaying their instrumentation.

Professional imagery has progressed so rapidly that it has largely
eclipsed the amateur's best efforts. NASA's colourful artistry has
polluted even the amateur discussion of astronomy. Giant telescopes on
mountain tops, using sensors completely beyond the amateur's means,
leave little room for really meaningful contributions from the
amateur. With certain important exceptions of course.

Those exceptions require very high levels of dedication and expense.
That very expense is a major turn-off for many, more casual,
observers. The amateur who wishes to make visual observations for his
own pleasure is often left wondering at his lack of investment. There
are single eyepieces which cost far more than many complete
instruments. Checkbook competition, by those who may never use their
jewel box in anger, from one year to the next, is bound to make many
amateurs feel like beggars and paupers.

This forum/group has often had lengthy discussions on the merits of
each particular thousand dollar offering as if anything less was
beneath contempt. Where are these wealthy eyepiece buyers now? The
acceptance of inflated prices extended to mountings and apo
refractors. Drooling over multi-thousand dollar apos of very modest
aperture was very normal here only a few short years ago. There was
never much discussion over the merits of the humble Newtonian and the
superb optics which were carefully crafted by the owner and user. Big
money bought prestige and the adulation it brought was very visible on
this forum. Where are they now? Moved onto another hobby where their
wealth can obtain instant adulation?

This forum has always been frequented by pedants and snobs ready to
share their low opinion of anything remotely basic or home-made. Well
now the pedants have been bypassed. The mirror makers have gone
elsewhere. The home-made, mounting makers became sick of hearing how
the AP this and that was the bees knees. Even if it was total
vapourware. Or ten years in the making and sold off at a useful, tax-
free profit the moment it was released to the greedy investors. Those
who had cynically bought into the hype list for immediate resale on
delivery.

Now AP has been bypassed by even more expensive products. Making
comparison with the cost of new cars and luxury boats is nonsense when
you compare the CPS (cost per second) of active enjoyment of the
product. I suppose you could get drunk while perched on your AP3901/RC
Marmite. But, it lacks a certain something. At least compared with
sharing it all summer with a bunch of scantily clad floosies soaking
up the UVs down in the marina.

There are now so many different outlets for astronomical self-
expression and display that s.a.a's remaining bunch of time-wasters
and their acolytes have become a cobwebby irrelevance. Moaning about
it is as useful as making faces in the bathroom mirror. Enjoy the
view! ;-)

On Wednesday, September 12, 2012 9:32:01 AM UTC-4, Chris.B wrote:

This forum has always been frequented by pedants and snobs ready to

share their low opinion of anything remotely basic or home-made. Well

now the pedants have been bypassed. The mirror makers have gone

elsewhere. The home-made, mounting makers became sick of hearing how

the AP this and that was the bees knees. Even if it was total

vapourware. Or ten years in the making and sold off at a useful, tax-

free profit the moment it was released to the greedy investors. Those

who had cynically bought into the hype list for immediate resale on

delivery.



Now AP has been bypassed by even more expensive products. Making

comparison with the cost of new cars and luxury boats is nonsense when

you compare the CPS (cost per second) of active enjoyment of the

product. I suppose you could get drunk while perched on your AP3901/RC

Marmite. But, it lacks a certain something. At least compared with

sharing it all summer with a bunch of scantily clad floosies soaking

up the UVs down in the marina.


I sold all the 'spensive stuff for a used Harley, the open road, some much needed peace of mind, and a little self discovery. Now I have a Harley, a 10" Dob, and a pretty bad case of narcissism.

I might be willing to trade the Dob for a floosie though. That sounds kinda nice. But no way can I afford a boat in the marina, so said floosie will have to settle for "riding bitch" on the open road, and sleeping in a tent. Not sure I'd have any takers.