1999 (The 9 Years, Part 7)

As we are now in 2009, we can expect to see a great many articles trumpeting the 70th anniversary of the fabled "Best Movie Year," 1939. This is tradition, dating back probably to every 9 year of every movie-oriented decade. But is 1939 really the best year for movies? I don't know about that. It was great, but after the watershed year 1979, I started having my doubts. In 1989, I started

1999 (The 9 Years, Part 7)

As we are now in 2009, we can expect to see a great many articles trumpeting the 70th anniversary of the fabled "Best Movie Year," 1939. This is tradition, dating back probably to every 9 year of every movie-oriented decade. But is 1939 really the best year for movies? I don't know about that. It was great, but after the watershed year 1979, I started having my doubts. In 1989, I started

Saturn, the Lion, the Moon

Saturn is visible high in the evening sky for the coming months. The ringed planet is a gem to see through a telescope so if you have a telescope now is the time to get it out and take a look at one of the most impressive sights in all of the universe.

Saturn, like all the other planets and the Moon, travels around the Solar System in a path called the Ecliptic. This path extends through twelve constellations known as the Zodiac. Saturn, which takes nearly 30 earth-years to travel around the Sun once, spends about two and a half years moving through each sign of the Zodiac and is presently moving gradually eastward through Leo the Lion. This constellation is a favorite for many because its shape is quite distinctive and resembles a Lion in the sky with its furry mane and head pointed to the west and its tail and hind quarters to the east. As you can see in the diagram, Saturn is below the constellation and to the left (east) of the bright star Regulus.

Offline Install or Update Ubuntu Packages (Without Internet)

So you have a machine without Internet or the Internet is very slow and you want to update or install Ubuntu and packages.

There is a simple way to install packages and softwares in machine that doesn't have Internet with it.

First go to the machine that doesn't have Internet, i.e. the machine you want to install packages.

1. Open Synaptic Package Manager from System-Administration Menu.
   
2. Select the packages you want to install.
3. Go to File and select Generate Package Download Script
   
   
4. Save the file and bring it to the computer that has Internet.
5. Run that file.
   
6. It will download all the packages and its dependencies.
7. Put them in a removable drive.
8. Bring the drive back to the old machine.
9. Open Synaptic Package Manger again.
10. From File menu choose Add Downloaded Packages.

You're done. That's 10 easy steps to install software and add packages to Ubuntu box which doesn't have Internet.

To update your system follow the same above procedures but instead of 'step 2' Go to Edit and Mark all Upgrades.

Cosmic Juxtaposition: Pleiades, Mercury and Moon

The next three evenings present a visually stimulating lineup of objects near and far in a juxtaposition that is just right for binoculars. You will need a clear western horizon so I have my fingers crossed that conditions permit this at Ocean Beach in San Francisco, but wherever you are, the diagram shows the close alignment of Mercury and the Pleiades star cluster and the daily motion of the Moon through this configuration. On Saturday 25th the challenge will be to spot the very young Moon. On Sunday 26th the sight of all three things in one binocular-field-of-view. And if you get a weather trifecta and see this three nights in a row, then Monday 27th you will have seen just how far the Moon *and* Mercury move in 48 hours - and I think the results will surprise you.

Happy Viewing!

compiz problem in Jaunty solved

Today I upgrade few machines to Jaunty Jackalope 9.04. However in machines with Intel's graphic driver I faced two kind of problem with compiz.

Problem 1: After upgrading to Jaunty, compiz couldn't be enabled.
The error was saying that the driver was backlisted.

To solve this create a file ~/.config/compiz/compiz-manager and put

SKIP_CHECKS=yes

Now enable compiz and it should work.

Problem 2: After upgrading to Jaunty, compiz is very slow.
You'll easily notice the performance degradation.

To solve this you can revert to intrepid driver by following https://wiki.ubuntu.com/ReinhardTartler/X/RevertingIntelDriverTo2.4

But what I did was used "UXA" instead of "EXA". UXA is new and far better but this has some bug, which prevented it from being default in jaunty.
To do this open your /etc/X11/xorg.conf and add

Option "AccelMethod" "uxa"

under Section "Device"

A Dawn Spectacle: Moon Occults Venus on Wednesday April 22

Wednesday morning in the pre-dawn skies we have a rare opportunity to witness a very unique spectacle, an occultation of the planet Venus by the Moon. Think of it as an eclipse of Venus, a brief time when the Moon's orbit blocks out brilliant Venus for about an hour. From here in San Francisco the Moon and Venus will just be rising above the eastern horizon around 5:00 am and by approximately 5:11 am the Moon will close in and cover the planet. As the Moon rises and the earliest light of dawn arrives, the Moon will reveal Venus again at approximately 6:05 am. For more information, click on the image.

I am particularly fond of this special event for it was during an occulation of Venus that I first became interested in astronomy as a young boy. So my advice is to take a few minutes to experience this rare and impressive sight. It might just move you too.