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MaartenVC

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  1. MaartenVC
    "NASA’s Webb In Full Focus, Ready for Instrument Commissioning" https://blogs.nasa.gov/webb/2022/04/28/nasas-webb-in-full-focus-ready-for-instrument-commissioning/ "Alignment of NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope is now complete. After full review, the observatory has been confirmed to be capable of capturing crisp, well-focused images with each of its four powerful onboard science instruments. Upon completing the seventh and final stage of telescope alignment, the team held a set of key decision meetings and unanimously agreed that Webb is ready to move forward into its next and final series of preparations, known as science instrument commissioning. This process will take about two months before scientific operations begin in the summer." "Engineering images of sharply focused stars in the field of view of each instrument demonstrate that the telescope is fully aligned and in focus. For this test, Webb pointed at part of the Large Magellanic Cloud, a small satellite galaxy of the Milky Way, providing a dense field of hundreds of thousands of stars across all the observatory’s sensors. The sizes and positions of the images shown here depict the relative arrangement of each of Webb’s instruments in the telescope’s focal plane, each pointing at a slightly offset part of the sky relative to one another. Webb’s three imaging instruments are NIRCam (images shown here at a wavelength of 2 microns), NIRISS (image shown here at 1.5 microns), and MIRI (shown at 7.7 microns, a longer wavelength revealing emission from interstellar clouds as well as starlight). NIRSpec is a spectrograph rather than imager but can take images, such as the 1.1 micron image shown here, for calibrations and target acquisition. The dark regions visible in parts of the NIRSpec data are due to structures of its microshutter array, which has several hundred thousand controllable shutters that can be opened or shut to select which light is sent into the spectrograph. Lastly, Webb’s Fine Guidance Sensor tracks guide stars to point the observatory accurately and precisely; its two sensors are not generally used for scientific imaging but can take calibration images such as those shown here. This image data is used not just to assess image sharpness but also to precisely measure and calibrate subtle image distortions and alignments between sensors as part of Webb’s overall instrument calibration process." Credit: NASA/STScI
  2. MaartenVC
    Twitter seems to get its money mostly from advertising revenue from companies, selling user-data-analytics to companies, and selling tweet-promotions to invested users. Conjecture: Besides its financial revenue, twitter's worth for its owners may also lie in the potential power it can hold over its many twitter-readers and to an extent society as a whole. In theory, by changing the feed-algorithms and bot-allowances the owners have the potential to quite effectively influence targeted groups of people or even parts of society. Or maybe they could really want to make a public platform for discussing and giving opinions, making the world a better place... doubtful though. More conjecture: This could be the long-term goal of Elon Musk. I personally feel that his public reason for buying twitter to make it more free speech is merely a useful populist facade obscuring his true inner motives which may be somewhat about money but more likely and more importantly about influence / power over the digital world and maybe more worryingly over society. I'm not saying it is for sure, but that's just my pessimistic (but maybe less naive) reasoning for what Elon Musk's reason might be for buying twitter.
  3. MaartenVC
    Inside an Intel Manufacturing Center where they make processor dies. The tech is absolutely mind-boggling.
  4. MaartenVC
    Yes, one of my favorite animation movies. ? Highly recommended.
  5. MaartenVC
    A number of risks for staying in space for an increased length of time (for example for going to Mars), and some solutions being worked on.
  6. MaartenVC
    Quoting a comment: "Ice cream flavored trucks & caramel flavored depravity is enough to make one’s sugary cone hard."
  7. MaartenVC
    Still enjoying Elden Ringuuu very very much. Played 80 hours so far. Still only in Liurnia of the Lakes. lol I'm gonna take my time. She gonna get hers before I. I'm gonna take it slow. I'm not gonna rush the stroke.
  8. MaartenVC
    1883 "Follows the Dutton family as they leave Tennessee, journey to Fort Worth, Texas, and join a European immigrant wagon train undertaking the arduous journey west to Oregon." The premise sounds great, right? How could you mess this up? Well, this series will show you how. Actually it starts off really good. And some parts stay that good throughout the series, but other parts... are absolute trash. There's this really obvious thick fat line between the good parts and the bad. The contrast couldn't be more obvious. You see, I'm 100% sure this series was written by 2 teams, whom each had a very specific audience in mind. The first writers team -we'll call them the A-team- writes a gritty story about the arduous journey migrants (aka frontier settlers) had to undertake to reach the territories to the West. Introducing: the Orgeon Trail. These parts are generally written well and realistically. The acting for these parts is also good. Especially Sam Elliott does a great job. Cinematography and locations are all good too. Now, the other writers team -we'll call them the Elsa-team- writes for the daughter of the family, Elsa. This is their sole interest. This kid single-handedly destroys the entire story. She's so annoying, soapy, dramatized, naive, privileged, selfish, historically-misplaced, love-thirsty, narcissistic,... it will make you puke. When taken separately you can kinda ignore the Elsa parts, and focus on the actual 1883. It's still an enjoyable experience. Or if you like the Elsa one in the case you can somehow identify yourself as her -what's wrong with you?-, you can do it the other way around... But -by the nine- when these two writing teams collide, there's no way out, and you'll have to cringe through. It's when you wish you lived in an alternate time-line where the Elsa-team had died on the Oregon trail themselves. Painful. Such a shame. So, in short, I'd recommend 1883 if can find an edit with all the Elsa-trash cut out.
  9. MaartenVC
    The retreat of the Putin's army is truly sickening. Leaving mines and bodies behind in the streets. Rape, executions, pillaging, starvation,... Disgusting, shameful, spineless, inhuman. Bucha:
  10. MaartenVC
    How to deal with negativity directed at you? Some nice strategies in this presentation imo. These could help people I think. I would like to add: > Try to fix things after grounded negativity towards you for things you know you're responsible for.
  11. MaartenVC
    NASA plans to retire the International Space Station (ISS) by 2031. https://edition.cnn.com/2022/02/02/world/nasa-international-space-station-retire-iss-scn/index.html They're probably gonna let it de-orbit/crash to Earth. (more specifically into the South Pacific Oceanic Uninhabited Area, aka Point Nemo) Personally I kinda wish they'd put it into a stable orbit around the sun, or put it in a Lagrange point, or just fling it out our solar system, for historical/archeological reasons. But it would probably cost too much to do so. Easier and cheaper to let it crash. Some info about the ISS: - Collaboration between 15 countries. - The first component was launched in 1998, and the first long-term occupants arrived on 2 November 2000. - It was slowly assembled over more than a decade of spaceflights and crews. - It consists of: pressurized habitation modules, structural trusses, photovoltaic solar arrays, thermal radiators, docking ports, experiment bays and robotic arms. - About 251 people from 19 different nations have visited the space station, many of them multiple times. Some photos: ?
  12. MaartenVC
    "What is inside a black hole? Inevitable crushing doom? Gateways to other universes? Weird, multidimensional libraries? If you’ve ever wanted to know then you might be in luck - Some physicists have argued that you’re inside one right now." (probably not, but it's fun to think about the possibility)
  13. MaartenVC
    Zogg from Betelgeuse is back on Earth to teach us aliens all about humans! "How do Earthlings think? Turns out they have two thinking systems. Earthlings call them Intuition and Reason, scientists call them System 1 and System 2, and I call them The Guesser and The Ponderer."
  14. MaartenVC
    That Zone Between Area 50 and 52: (about "Storm Area 51, They Can't Stop All of Us" aka the Area 51 Millennial Raid)
  15. MaartenVC
    about Alpha Centauri C aka Proxima Centauri "At just four light years away, Proxima Centauri is our closest solar neighbor. The recent discovery of the new exoplanet Proxima D, has reopened the discussion of whether the proxima system is our best chance at reaching another Earth. How did we discover Proxima D? How do we know what the conditions are on planets so far away? Watch the episode to learn more." The Alpha Centauri Triple Star System - It is the closest gravitationally bound star system to our star system. - It includes the following star systems: Alpha Centauri A, Alpha Centauri B, Alpha Centauri C aka Proxima Centauri. The Alpha Centauri C Star System aka Proxima Centauri - It is an infrared red dwarf flare star. - small (14% Sun) low-mass (12.5% Sun) dense (33x Sun) very-low-luminosity (0.17% Sun) - It is the closest star system to our star system. (located 4.2465 light-years away from the Sun) - It has the following exoplanets: Proxima Centauri b, Proxima Centauri c, and Proxima Centauri d. - Proxima d is a sub-Earth orbiting very closely to the star. (discovered in 2020, confirmed in 2022) 0.028 Earth-Sun-distance orbit, 5.1 Earth-days orbit, 0.26 Earth mass, 0.81 Earth size, 360 K (87 °C; 188 °F) - Proxima b is an Earth-sized exoplanet in the habitable zone. (discovered in 2016) 0.05 Earth-Sun-distance orbit, 11.2 Earth-days orbit, 1.07 Earth mass, 1.30 Earth size, 234 K (−39 °C; −38 °F) - Proxima c is a super-Earth possibly surrounded by a huge ring system. (discovered in 2019) 1.49 Earth-Sun-distance orbit, 1928 Earth-days orbit, 7 Earth mass, ? Earth size, 39 K (−234.2 °C; −389.5 °F)
  16. MaartenVC
    More photos from the last 3 weeks: (sorry for dumping these all at once)
  17. MaartenVC
    Drone footage of destroyed buildings. Drone footage shows debris and destroyed buildings as well as burnt-out Russian military vehicles in Borodyanka, a small town 60km north-west of Kyiv. Drone footage shows heavy damage to a shopping centre and residential buildings in the Ukrainian port city of Mariupol, where fighting has reached the centre of the besieged city, according to reports on Friday. Drone images showed damage after parts of a Russian missile fell on a residential building in the northern part of the Ukrainian capital, Kyiv, on March 18, 2022, emergencies services said.
  18. MaartenVC
    "Three Russian cosmonauts have arrived at the International Space Station wearing flight suits in yellow and blue colors." https://apnews.com/article/russia-ukraine-kazakhstan-space-launches-science-business-d947eb778e5527e28cd8554eedcf3414 Is this real? I can't reach roscosmos.ru. Sergey Korsakov, Oleg Artemyev and Denis Matveyev emerged from the Soyuz capsule wearing yellow flight suits with blue stripes, the colors of the Ukrainian flag. The men were the first new arrivals on the ISS since the start of the Russian war in Ukraine last month. Roscosmos via AP
  19. MaartenVC
    Good news, everyone! NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope Reaches Alignment Milestone, Optics Working Successfully https://www.nasa.gov/press-release/nasa-s-webb-reaches-alignment-milestone-optics-working-successfully While the purpose of this image was to focus on the bright star at the center for alignment evaluation, Webb's optics and NIRCam are so sensitive that the galaxies and stars seen in the background show up. At this stage of Webb’s mirror alignment, known as “fine phasing,” each of the primary mirror segments have been adjusted to produce one unified image of the same star using only the NIRCam instrument. This image of the star, which is called 2MASS J17554042+6551277, uses a red filter to optimize visual contrast. Credits: NASA/STScI This new “selfie” was created using a specialized pupil imaging lens inside of the NIRCam instrument that was designed to take images of the primary mirror segments instead of images of the sky. This configuration is not used during scientific operations and is used strictly for engineering and alignment purposes. In this image, all of Webb’s 18 primary mirror segments are shown collecting light from the same star in unison. Credits: NASA/STScI
  20. MaartenVC
    I really hope the devs and their families are all ok and in safety. And that they can continue their work on their new game. The S.T.A.L.K.E.R. games were quite special for the time: blending Role-Playing, Open-World, Survival and Shooter elements all together in a gritty immersive post-apocalyptic real-world setting. Nowadays this blend of genres is rather common: Fallout, Dying Light, Metro,... But for some reason the S.T.A.L.K.E.R. series still feels surprisingly unique, maybe because of the atmosphere and cultural difference. If you plan on playing S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Shadow of Chernobyl (2007) I recommend looking up some mods reducing instability and bugs though.
  21. MaartenVC
    About the Colonization of Mars In my opinion the technological investments and advancements are the most important reason to wanting to go to / settle on / terraform Mars. Not so sure if it'll ever actually be possible to make Mars into a self-sustaining Eden where people would like to live. Seems next to impossible. Or, it would at least take an immense amount of time and resources. Too much probably. I think there are more-suited candidates for that romantic idea. It also seems there are not that many valuable resources on Mars. So economically it also seems like wishful thinking. Only thing I can think of is that Mars would be a great hub for the mining of the Asteroid Belt. In that way Mars could become an industry center for refining resources and for producing space-related materials, objects, vehicles,... Mars could be a first step in our 4X space game. I really can't tell how long it would take though. I just hope humanity doesn't destroy itself in such way it could never recover from to do go and explore and expand into the vastness of space. What a waste that would be.
  22. MaartenVC
    Yeah, Limgrave Tunnels, that's the one with some low-level Smithing Stone Shards. You can kill the miners quite easily by 2-handing your weapon, doing a sneak attack or a charged heavy attack from behind, making them fall down on their face, and when they start getting up time another charged heavy attack. That should kill them. Beware of the rats further down though. If this tactic doesn't work there's another good old dark souls tactic that always works: Run for the item(s). It doesn't really matter if you die. You'll still get the loot. Except you lose your runes/souls of course.
  23. MaartenVC
    My Elden Ring tips: (no spoilers) Caves and dungeons can be quite hard at the start. They're more of a challenge, to acquire something valuable. I started as the wretch starting-class and the first caves and dungeons were pretty damn hard I remember. It was mostly because I had no armor at all, only had a simple club as a weapon, and hadn't unlocked anything yet. Unlock the first 3 Sites of Grace as soon as possible. They unlock item crafting (throwables), your horse (mobility), and ashes of war (ghost summons at boss fights). I suggest exploring the open-world some more. Some areas are easier than others. Explore Limgrave: both the left side were you start, but also the right side, the south, and eventually the north. You don't have to beat most bosses yet. You can do them any time you want. Try leveling up your endurance and health. Try out weapons. They all have different advantages and attack-patterns. I decided that bleeding weapons are my go-to in this game. When you like a certain weapon's fighting style upgrade it. Upgrading your weapon is key. There's an easy cave close-by near the lake area with tons of weapon-upgrade materials. Be sure you're not fat-rolling. Rolling is important to dodge attacks. When you first encounter a new enemy learn its attacks by triggering them and then rolling away. Or block with a shield if you prefer. Shields are a bit OP in souls games in my opinion. You can two-hand weapons. If you do a heavy jumping attack with a weapon two-handed, and follow up with another heavy attack, the enemy will get stunned in most cases. Really powerful. The stun thing is an important hidden mechanic in this game. A bit comparable to the stun-mechanic in Sekiro. (I haven't played that game yet though) Maybe you could start a different starting-class. Some starting-classes are easier to start than others. But in the end all characters will be able to do most things. So no stress. For reference: I'm 40 hours in and I still haven't completely finished Limgrave. I still have to do the main-quest castle and some optional bosses. Reason: I became distracted by 2 other truly magnificent higher-level areas. I was in awe. Don't give up on this game. It's a magnificent game with tons of amazing areas and things to find. It might be hard at the start, but because you can do anything you want to do and go anywhere you want to go, it's actually not that hard really. I find it way easier than previous souls games because of this. It will get easier once you learn how to play, upgrade your weapon, and find more helpful awesome stuff.
  24. MaartenVC
    About United Fruit Company (Chiquita) and CIA activities in Guatemala. Inhumane imperial/colonial/slave-nation clusterfucking.
  25. MaartenVC
    Some photos from the last few days.
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