Astro-Club in Lawrence, internet at home, ConQuest this weekend

A buddy of mine informed me about this organization here in town: The Astronomy Associates of Lawrence (they also have a Facebook page).

This Wednesday, May 26, they'll have open telescope observing in South Park immediately following the Lawrence City Band concert, starting at approximately 9:30 PM. It's free and open to the public! The next times are June 9, June 23, and July 7 - perhaps one of those won't be filled with thunderstorms. Phooey.

In other news: For the first time in weeks, I have the internets at home! When high school (just down the block) ended, FreeNet killed their free internet (ironic much?), so I signed up with DSL. The new connection is about 50x better than FreeNet ever was for only about $15 more per month. I win.

Finally: I apologize for my terrible LJing and Facebooking, and hope to do much better this summer - and next fall, when I most assuredly won't be teaching 8 classes.

Finally: ConQuest is this weekend in Kansas City! I'll be there doing lots of panels and stuff. Hope to see you there!

Chris

Astro-Club in Lawrence, internet at home, ConQuest this weekend

A buddy of mine informed me about this organization here in town: The Astronomy Associates of Lawrence (they also have a Facebook page).

This Wednesday, May 26, they'll have open telescope observing in South Park immediately following the Lawrence City Band concert, starting at approximately 9:30 PM. It's free and open to the public! The next times are June 9, June 23, and July 7 - perhaps one of those won't be filled with thunderstorms. Phooey.

In other news: For the first time in weeks, I have the internets at home! When high school (just down the block) ended, FreeNet killed their free internet (ironic much?), so I signed up with DSL. The new connection is about 50x better than FreeNet ever was for only about $15 more per month. I win.

Finally: I apologize for my terrible LJing and Facebooking, and hope to do much better this summer - and next fall, when I most assuredly won't be teaching 8 classes.

Finally: ConQuest is this weekend in Kansas City! I'll be there doing lots of panels and stuff. Hope to see you there!

Chris

GodMode

This is a really neat tool: GodMode for Windows 7. Here's how it works.

Yes, I finally bought a new computer, my first since... geez, the 1990s, I think. (Shut up.) I've been using an ancient computer my mom gave me after viruses fried the hard drive and memory, and a work laptop for mobile computing, upgrading their memory and video and everything else along the way. Well, when those both finally became unusable, and the English Department IT guy said that they didn't have a decent laptop that I could use, I figured it was time to buy a new machine.

After much research and deals-hunting, I got myself a wicked-fast and beautiful laptop so it could serve all my functions: work and class demonstrations, writing both at home and on the road, telescope imaging with my astro-camera, coffee-shop goofin' off, and so forth. ( click for technical details )

And it's pretty:


Click the image to see the story.


Anyhow, it comes with Windows 7, which seems pretty neat, and reviews say it's great and very secure, but it's taking some getting used to. So I went in search of the secret GodMode feature I heard about on the radio. Here's how it works:

Create a new folder and name it thus:

GodMode.{ED7BA470-8E54-465E-825C-99712043E01C}

(No ohs, only zeroes.)

After you do that, the folder gets a cool icon that lets you know you can enter GodMode by opening it. Basically, this is an Uber-Control Panel that houses tons of control and configurations options all in one place. Super handy.

I'm at the office right now, installing software: Microsoft Office (KU has a deal for Office - only $10 for those with a KUID - and the same deal for Windows 7) and Sophos Anti-Virus.

I see that Sophos virus protection has finished installing; I'm off!

Best,
Chris

GodMode

This is a really neat tool: GodMode for Windows 7. Here's how it works.

Yes, I finally bought a new computer, my first since... geez, the 1990s, I think. (Shut up.) I've been using an ancient computer my mom gave me after viruses fried the hard drive and memory, and a work laptop for mobile computing, upgrading their memory and video and everything else along the way. Well, when those both finally became unusable, and the English Department IT guy said that they didn't have a decent laptop that I could use, I figured it was time to buy a new machine.

After much research and deals-hunting, I got myself a wicked-fast and beautiful laptop so it could serve all my functions: work and class demonstrations, writing both at home and on the road, telescope imaging with my astro-camera, coffee-shop goofin' off, and so forth. ( click for technical details )

And it's pretty:


Click the image to see the story.


Anyhow, it comes with Windows 7, which seems pretty neat, and reviews say it's great and very secure, but it's taking some getting used to. So I went in search of the secret GodMode feature I heard about on the radio. Here's how it works:

Create a new folder and name it thus:

GodMode.{ED7BA470-8E54-465E-825C-99712043E01C}

(No ohs, only zeroes.)

After you do that, the folder gets a cool icon that lets you know you can enter GodMode by opening it. Basically, this is an Uber-Control Panel that houses tons of control and configurations options all in one place. Super handy.

I'm at the office right now, installing software: Microsoft Office (KU has a deal for Office - only $10 for those with a KUID - and the same deal for Windows 7) and Sophos Anti-Virus.

I see that Sophos virus protection has finished installing; I'm off!

Best,
Chris