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Le Lune

The fortnight gone has been really overcast, so despite the bitter cold, the clear sky last night was a welcome change and provided me with a chance to partake in one of my favourite hobbies: gaping at the Universe. (It's big!)

With this, last night was the first time I got to try out my new(ish) camera (pictures below!). The great thing about this camera (the Canon Powershot S1 IS) over my last camera (the Canon Powershot A10) is that it provides alot of features found on film-cameras, and while it still isn't as good as a DSLR, it's great for taking photos that would otherwise stretch most point-n-shoot cameras.

Anyhow, here's a thousand words (click on the thumbnails to view them at full size)...



Le Lune
Taken at full (optical and digital) zoom. Cropped and adjusted in Photoshop.



Capella (I think! I forgot to take my Palm with me)
Again, taken at full zoom, and cropped and adjusted in Photoshop. The red halo effect around the star is an artifact of the lens.



Perseus (Again, I think!)
Cropped and adjusted as the others. I had the aperture opened up to the max. on this photo, while the shutter speed was set for 2-seconds -- enough time to resolve the detail without too noise from the CCD.

Random musings

Earlier today I was on my way across the college walkway to buy some lunch when I walked past Prof. Stephen Hawking going in the opposite direction. Neither of us were travelling at a velocity close to light speed so please do not draw any Einsteinian analogies from that last sentence. ;) I think Prof. Hawking is here for the conference on quantum gravity in honour of Prof. Chris Isham's 60th birthday. It was good to see a celebrity on campus (whereby celebrity is defined as someone who has appeared in an episode of The Simpsons).

When blogging, is it better to write shorter pieces frequently than longer pieces less frequently? Answers on the back of a postcard to...

Last week's All Hands Meeting in Nottingham, UK, had its ups and downs. The presentation of my paper was nearly marred when my laptop decided to permanently switch to VGA mode 10 minutes before I was due to talk -- Microsoft aaaarrrrrgh! None of our group managed to win anything in the raffle, but we managed to acquire a few freebies. In order of coolness:

• a 4-port USB hub -- courtesy of PPARC
• an OMII branded Yo-Yo -- courtesy of the OMII
• a pen with a built in LED causing it to light up blue like a light saber -- courtesy of PPARC
• an OMII branded pen -- courtesy of the OMII

We're such nerds! :)

I recieved my new camera last week! Yay! A Canon PowerShot S1 IS... *drool* Can't wait to try it out!