I Never Knew These Amazing Facts |
| My father used to say: “A day you’ve learned something is a day not wasted.” As usual, he was right. I always feel good learning and discovering things I never knew before. Things like how amazing humans can be, how far our technology has come, how amazing our world is. Here are some facts that I hope will make your day worthwhile. |
SOURCE::::: ba-bamail.com
Natarajan
Got a smartphone and a telescope?
It’s a sight now common at many star parties. Frequently, you see folks roaming through the darkness, illuminated smartphone aimed skyward. Certainly, the wealth of free planetarium apps has done lots to kindle a renewed interest in the night sky.
Inevitably, after peering through the eyepiece of a telescope, the question then arises:
“Can I get a picture of that with my phone?”
The short answer is yes, with a little skill and patience.
Now simply aiming a camera at the eyepiece of a telescope — known as afocal astrophotography — and shooting without removing the camera lens and physically coupling it to the telescope is a tricky balancing act. Back in the olden days, the Moon and perhaps the brighter planets were the only bright target within bounds of afocal film photographers, and only then after a lengthy set of estimations to hit the correct focal length.
The advent of digital cameras and ‘live preview’ means that you can now simply aim, shoot, and throw away or delete anything off center or out of focus. Digital “film” is cheap, and most folks simply use trial and error to get the ‘keepers’. The Moon is an especially bright and easy target for beginners to practice on.
Of course, your typical smartphone, like a webcam, has an imaging chip much smaller than a DSLR. This is why astrophotographers are often tempted to take out a second mortgage (“we don’t really need that second car, do we?” is a common spousal refrain) in pursuit of excellence. Another drawback is that through a smartphone, a planet may look like an overexposed blob.
A simple but effective way to get around this is to affix a light reducing filter to the eyepiece. In fact, I’ve used a variable polarizer during live broadcasts of the Virtual Star Party to great effect. And as with webcam imaging, smartphone astrophotographers now often use automated stacking programs to clean up images and tease out detail. Being an old timer, my faves are still K3CCD Tools and Registax, though many young guns out there now use DeepSkyStacker as well.
Now, I’ll admit, I’m an “Android guy,” and I have put most of my efforts over the years into planetary imaging with a homemade webcam. We therefore sought out in-the-field expertise from someone on the forefront of iPhone astrophotography.
Andrew Symes has been taking images of the solar system and beyond with his iPhone coupled to his Celestron NexStar 8″ SE telescope for years. He also has one of the few handles on Twitter that we’re envious of, @FailedProtostar. He also ventures out into the chilly nights frequent to his native of Ottawa, Canada to practice his craft, as he observes in temperatures that would drop a Tauntaun.
We caught up with Andrew recently to ask him about some tips of the trade.
Universe Today: I know from doing webcam photography that acquiring, centering and focusing are often more than half the battle. Any tips for accomplishing these?
Andrew: Acquiring, centering, and focusing the objects I’m photographing is definitely the big challenge! To speed and simplify the process, I have a dedicated eyepiece that I use in association with my phone and adapter. Before even heading outside, I attach the adapter to this eyepiece, insert my phone, and hold the unit up to a light source to see if the camera lens is properly aligned with the eyepiece.
It usually takes a bit of fiddling to get things set properly because if the adapter and eyepiece are not perfectly aligned, nothing will show up on the camera screen. It’s better to get that process out of the way in a lit environment than outside in the dark.
I then set that unit aside, and use a separate “adapter-less” zoom eyepiece to locate and center the object in the telescope. Once I’ve acquired the object and am successfully tracking it, I remove my zoom eyepiece and drop in the eyepiece/adapter/phone combo. At that point, the object is usually visible on screen but out of focus since the focus required for the iPhone is different from what works for my eyes!
To ensure proper focus, I display the object on my phone’s screen using a live video app called FiLMiC Pro and adjust the focus until it is sharp. I use that app because it has a digital zoom function that lets me get a closer look at the object than the standard iPhone video camera view. Only once I’m confident that I’ve achieved good focus and am tracking the object properly, will I start to record video or shoot individual frames.
Universe Today: A question I always like to ask everyone… what was your biggest mistake? Are there any pitfalls to avoid?
Andrew: There are a few pitfalls to avoid when doing iPhone astrophotography. In the past, I would attach the adapter outside while the eyepiece was in the telescope but this caused a number of problems. Often, I would accidentally bump the object out of view while attaching and adjusting the adapter and have to align everything all over again.
The weather is also often cold here, and it’s VERY difficult to attach the adapter properly with gloves on, so I would either get really cold hands or spend a lot of unnecessary time fumbling with the adapter with gloved hands. For those reasons, I now prepare the eyepiece/adapter/phone unit indoors in advance as described above.
I also now make sure that my iPhone is fully charged before heading outdoors as I’ve found that the iPhone battery drains very quickly when the camera is running constantly — especially in cold weather. Even with an almost-full battery, there are times here in winter when the phone will simply shut down due to the low temperature so I make sure to only start capturing photos/videos once I’m completely confident in my setup.
Universe Today: You’re really pushing the envelope by doing deep sky astro-pics with an iPhone … anything else that you’re experimenting with or working on?
Andrew: My main focus is definitely still on iPhone astrophotography because I like the quick and “light” setup. I don’t need to bring a laptop outside and don’t need equipment that I wouldn’t normally have on me anyway (other than the adapter itself.)
So, I want to keep pushing the envelope with what I can capture using the phone and my goal is now is to see how far I can go with deep-sky objects. I’d really like to add the Ring and Dumbbell Nebulae to my portfolio, for example, and see if it’s possible to grab even fainter ones.
There are also some non-deep sky targets I’d like to try. I haven’t been successful at capturing a telescopic photo of the ISS, and would love to see if I can catch it transiting the Sun or Moon with my phone. I also still need to capture Uranus and Neptune to round out a solar system collage I put together in 2014!
Lastly, I’m continually experimenting with photo apps to see which are best at capturing and/or processing telescopic images, and have just started using both an iPhone 4S and iPhone 6 to take photos and video. Surprisingly, I still prefer the 4S for planetary imaging as I haven’t been able to properly capture the true colors of planets with the iPhone 6 yet.
The 6 has better camera resolution but seems to be adjusting the exposure of small, faint objects like planets differently than the 4S, so I need to change my routine and techniques to compensate. The methods I’ve become accustomed to using with the 4S don’t seem to translate directly to the 6 so I have some learning yet to do!
Amazing stuff, for sure. And to think, we were all gas-hypering film and using absurdly long focal lengths to get blurry planetary images just a few decades ago!
-Check out more of Andrew”s images, as well as read more about how he does it.
SOURCE::::
Natarajan
Birds, beasts and trees do service to man, without anticipating any recompense, but human beings seek help from their kind, from their parents, preceptors and even God, offering in return only insult and injury. They parade their loyalty to Truth, Right Conduct, Peace and Nonviolence – virtues arising from self-less love; but it is only for exhibition and not for experience. They long to recede respect and affection from others but are reluctant to treat others in the same manner. Their full concern is centered on the body-mind complex, ignoring the fact even a hundred-year long life has to end in the cemetery. In order to free oneself from the ego, people must learn to recognize the one Divinity that temporarily wears different forms and names to distract by apparent multiplicity. Removal of this mistaken view and attainment of the awareness of the unity in Divinity – this is the true purpose of education.
When some friends, well-wishers or relatives place a gift-article in our hands which does not please us, we accept it gladly only because our acceptance pleases them. When the gift pleases us, our reaction is hearty. We treasure it and are filled with it. Know that God too reacts in the same way to what man offers Him. When the offering is tainted, He may accept it in order to satisfy the longing of the devotee (sadhak).But when the offering pleases Him by its purity and sincerity, He welcomes it and His joy translates itself as abundant Grace. So, one has to discover and decide on the offering that gives Him delight and receive the blessing of Grace. Discriminate, prepare and plant healthy and potent seeds in the inner field of your hearts, so that you reap a plentiful harvest of Grace.
The gross body (Sthula deha) should be ever immersed in holy company (Satsanga), and the subtle body (Sukshma deha), that is your thoughts and feelings, should be ever immersed in the contemplation of the glory of the Lord. That is the sign of a true devotee. The one who shouts and swears, and advertises one’s worries to everyone they meet and craves for sympathy, is a devotee only in name! It is a great responsibility to tread the Godward path. On such a pilgrimage there is no sliding back, no halfway stop, no tardy pace or no side lane. Never deny with your tongue what you have relished in the heart; never bear false witness to your own experience. Become a true devotee with unshaken faith, and with an attitude of complete self-surrender. This attitude can come from constant, sincere and continuous remembrance of the Lord’s name, as continuous as the act of breathing!
If you stand at the same level as the ocean and look at it, it will appear as a vast sheet of water. On the other hand, if you look at the same ocean from a height, it will appear like a lake. Similarly, since the rishis(sages) were on a higher level in spiritual knowledge and away from the world, they could recognise this vast world as a very small and insignificant entity. When at a lower level, one thinks that the world is big, important and manifold. The diversity and the differences will be seen more clearly. But when one evolves to a higher state, everything will look smooth, small and even. When we have a narrow vision, our country, our people, our languages will all appear as full of problems and differences. If you can go to a high place and look at the world, it will appear in one unified aspect and all the people and all languages will appear as one.
“கடவுள் என் முன்னே தோன்றி உனக்கொரு வரம் தரப்போகிறேன்! என்ன வேண்டும் கேள் என்றுகேட்டால்! என் வாழ்நாளில் மறைந்த இந்தியாவின் தேசத்தந்தை மகாத்மா காந்தியுடன் ஒருநாள் இரவு உணவருந்த வேண்டும் என்று கேட்பேன்” என்று அமெரிக்க ஜனாதிபதியாக தேர்ந்தெடுக்கப்பட்ட நாளில் பதிலளித்தார் பராக் ஒபாமா.
ஆயுத உற்பத்தியில் முன்னிலை வகிக்கும் வல்லரசு நாட்டின் தலைவர் ஒருவர் மூன்றாவது காலாக கைத்தடியை மட்டுமே வைத்துக் கொண்டு, அங்குமிங்கும் இந்திய மண்ணின் விடுதலைக்காக ஓடிக்கொண்டிருந்த அந்த மனிதரைப் பற்றி இப்படி குறிப்பிடுகிறார் எனில் அந்த அரையாடைத் துறவி நம்மைவிட்டு மறையவில்லை. கடல் கடந்து காலம் கடந்து இனம், மொழி, மதம் என எல்லாவற்றையும் கடந்து இன்றும் உலகின் வழிகாட்டியாக வாழ்ந்து கொண்டிருக்கிறார் என்பதையே இது காட்டுகிறது.
காந்தி வணங்கிய கடவுள்:
உலகில் வேறு எந்த தலைவருக்கும் இல்லாத சிறப்பு காந்திக்கு மட்டும் எப்படி என எண்ணும் போது அவரின் வாழ்க்கை நிகழ்வுகளே அதற்கான பதில்களாக விரிகின்றன. போர்பந்தரில் பிறந்த காந்தி ஆயுத போர்களை நம்பாதவர். 2500 ஆண்டுகளுக்கு முந்தைய பழமையான அகிம்சை சத்தியாகிரகம் என்ற தத்துவங்களை நவீன காலத்தில் வெற்றிகரமாக மறு நிர்மாணம் செய்து உலக மக்களைக் கவர்ந்தவர். “சத்தியமே அவரின் மதம். அன்பு அறவழி ஒழுக்கம்; மனசாட்சி இவையே அவர் வணங்கிய கடவுள்கள்”. வழக்கறிஞராக தான் சம்பாதித்த செல்வங்கள் அனைத்தையும் தாய் நாட்டின் விடுதலை வேள்விக்கு காணிக்கையாக வழங்கிய வள்ளல் நம் காந்தி! ஒத்துழையாமை இயக்கப்போராட்டம் வெற்றிகரமாக நடை பெறவேண்டுமென்றும; அதேவேளையில் சாமானிய ஏழைமக்கள் பாதிக்கப்பட கூடாது என்றும் திலகர் நினைவு நிதி வசூலிக்க உண்டியல் குலுக்கிய தன்னலமற்ற மனிதர்! இதன் மூலம் எங்களை எவரும் அசைக்க இயலாது என்று ஆணவத்துடன் எக்காள முழக்கமிட்ட ஆங்கிலேய ஏகாதிபத்தியத்தின் அரியாசனத்தை அசைத்த முதல் மனிதர். இதில் சிலருக்கு மாற்றுக் கருத்தும் உண்டு. ஆனால் முதல் சந்திப்பிலேயே முரண்பட்டு காந்தியக் கொள்கையை நிராகரித்த தேசியநாயகன் நேதாஜி, காந்தியின் போராட்ட வலிமையையும் தாய் நாட்டின் விடுதலைக்காக காந்தியின் பின்னே அணிவகுத்து நின்றமக்கள் சக்தியையும் பார்த்து, ‘தேசத்தந்தை’ என அழைத்தார். இதுவே காந்தியின் போராட்டங்களுக்கான அங்கீகாரம். பாரதியின் வரிகளைத் தொட்டுச் சொல்வதானால் “நரைகூடிக்கிழப்பருவமெய்திய”பின்னரும் “குன்றென நிமிர்ந்து நின்று” உள்ளத்தில் போராட்ட உணர்வோடு 30 கோடி இந்தியர்களை தன்னுள் அடக்கி வைத்திருந்தவர் காந்தி.
காந்தி விரும்பிய பொது வாழ்வு:
உடல் உழைப்பு சிறுமை; மூளை உழைப்பே உயர்வு என்ற மேல்த்தட்டு சிந்தனையை முற்றிலுமாக நிராகரித்த காந்தி தனது சர்வோதயா சமூகத்தில் மூளை உழைப்பாளர்களும் கண்டிப்பாக உடல் உழைப்பை செய்யவேண்டும் என்று வலியுறுத்தினார். உடல் உழைப்பும் மூளை உழைப்பும் சேரும் போதுதான் தனிமனித வளர்ச்சி மற்றும் சமூகவளர்ச்சி சாத்தியம் என்று விளக்கினார். “எல்லோரும் சரிநிகர் சமம்” என்ற உணர்வு அனைவரிடமும் ஏற்படவேண்டும் என்று விரும்பிய காந்தி எளிமையான வாழ்க்கை வாழ வேண்டும் என்று விரும்பினார். ஆனால் ஏழ்மையான வாழ்க்கையை வெறுத்தார். நாமே விரும்பி தேவைகளைக் குறைத்துக் கொள்வதன் மூலம் எளிமையான வாழ்க்கை வாழ்ந்து ஏழ்மையை விரட்டமுடியும் என்று நம்பினார். இன்றுள்ளதுபோல் நகரங்கள் கிராமங்களைச் சுரண்டும் நிலை ஏற்பட கூடாதென்று, தான் கனவுகண்ட பொதுவாழ்வு சமூகத்தை கிராமிய நாகரிகத்தால் கட்டமைக்க விரும்பியவரே நமது காந்தி.
காந்தி விரும்பிய கல்வி:
ஆங்கில அரசு 1835-ல் புகுத்திய கிளார்க்குகளை உருவாக்கும் கல்வி முறைதான் 2015-ம் ஆண்டிலும் சில மாற்றங்களுடன் தொடர்ந்து பின் பற்றப்படுகிறது. ஆங்கில அரசின் மெக்காலே கல்வித் திட்டத்தின் சீர்கேடுகளை காந்தி தெளிவாகவேஅறிந்திருந்தார். அது நமது கலாச்சார பண்பாட்டு வேர்களிலும் ஆழமாக வேரூன்றி நம் முன்னோர்களின் அடையாளங்களை மறைத்து விடும் என்று உணர்ந்தார். ஆங்கிலக் கல்வி முறை நேரடியான சமுதாய சூழ்நிலைகளிலிருந்தும் உடல் உழைப்பிலிருந்தும் நமது குழந்தைகளைப் பிரித்துவிடுகின்றது என்றும் இதனால் மாணவர்கள் உள்ளத்தில் சமுதாய உணர்வு வளராமல் போகும் என்று தீர்க்கதரிசனமாகக் கூறினார். “உண்மையான கல்வி என்பது தனிமனிதனின் மனதில் பண்பு, ஞானம், பொறுமை, உண்மை ஆகியவற்றை விதைப்பதில் அடங்கியிருக்கிறதே தவிர இலக்கிய பயிற்சியில் இல்லை” என்று சிறந்தகல்விக்கு இலக்கணம் கூறியவர் காந்தி.
“அகிம்சையை நேசித்து ஆணவத்தை எதிர்த்து சத்தியம் என்ற உண்மையைக் கடைப்பிடித்து சரித்திரமாய் ஒருவர் இந்த மண்ணில் வாழ்ந்து மடிந்துள்ளார்” என்பதையே இன்றைய பெரும்பாலான இளைய தலை முறை நம்ப மறுக்கிறது. “காந்தியவாதம்”அவர்களுக்கு இன்று கசப்பு மருந்தாகிப் போனது. இனிப்பை மட்டுமே சுவைக்க விரும்பி பழகிவிட்ட இன்றைய இளைய தலைமுறைக்கு”காந்திய சித்தாந்தம்”என்ற மருந்து கசந்தாலும் அதை நிச்சயம் அருந்த வேண்டியகாலம் வரும். அப்பொழுது இந்தப் புனித மண்ணில் எண்ணற்ற காந்திகள் தோன்றுவர்.
SOURCE:::: முனைவர் .சி.செல்லப்பாண்டியன், in http://www.dinamalar.com
Natarajan
Jan 30 2015
The Gita advises everyone to adopt ‘inoffensive speech, which is truthful, pleasant and beneficial.’ During the practice of the Sadhana of truth, at times, it may become necessary to reveal an unpleasant truth. At those moments, you must soften and sweeten its impact by consciously charging it with love, sympathy, and understanding. Help ever hurt never – that is the maxim. Revere truth as your very breath. Your promises are sacred bonds. Never break the vow of truth. The only obstruction to practicing truth anyone will face, is selfishness. Give up selfishness, adhere to truth and selfless love, let your heart be attuned to truth and the mind saturated with love. The triple purity – speech free from the pollution of falsehood, mind free from the taint of passionate desire or hatred, and the body free from the poison of violence – must be taken up by everyone as ideals and lived in accordance with.
Attention Senior Citizens
An important and useful information, particularly for senior citizens.
This would help our children to inherit easily what is rightfully theirs.
Inform at least one of your family members or your reliable friend about these documents.
A very helpful guide and a timely reminder for us all
If action is taken as advised in this mail, your children need not run from pillar to post to inherit what is rightfully theirs.
10 documents to secure before you bid adieu
Keep these essential papers in place and inform at least one family member so that your heirs don’t have to run from pillar to post to inherit what is rightfully theirs.
1) Primary documents: These include your birth certificate, marriage certificate, PAN card, passport, election ID card and the Aadhaar card. Will be needed when transferring assets to your heirs.
2) Insurance details: The purpose of life insurance will be defeated if your family is in the dark. Make a list of all the policies, mentioning the name of insurers, policy numbers, insured sums and the tenures.
3) Pension documents: If you have an NPS account, mention the account number and nomination details. Give the pension account number recorded with your employer.
4) Property papers: All property-related documents should be in one place. If the property is mortgaged, keep photocopies. Mention the loan account number and the latest outstanding amount. If property is insured, mention policy coverage.
5) Bank account details: Make a list of various bank accounts, giving the name of the bank, the account number, holding pattern and the nomination details.
6) Bank locker details: Mention the name of bank, locker number, ownership pattern and whereabouts of the key. Maintain an inventory of items kept in the locker and update every time you operate it.
7) Demat account details: Give the name of depository partner, demat account number and nomination details. If possible, update the details of the securities in the demat account.
8) Other investments: Give details of the PPF account and folio numbers of other post office investments. Make a list of mutual fund investments, mentioning folio numbers, ownership pattern and nomination details.
9) Loans and Receivables: If you have taken or given private loans to relatives or friends, mention the amount and the date by when these are payable/receivable.
10) Online 10 passwords: Though these are to be kept secret, keep a list for emergency reference. Mention the website, the online ID and the password.
[Keep this in mind that this information is to be kept secret and accessed only if the main breadwinner of the family has either died or is in a medical emergency.]
Make sure to update the information regularly. How often you do this depends on your convenience and the changes in investments.
The information listed above is very basic. You may want to add more details of other assets along the same lines.
You may want to make an online version of this information as well, but make sure it is on a secure site.
Store your documents online: [ But with appropriate Security Steps ]
Worried that your documents are not secure? Digitising them could solve the problem. Many portals now offer to store digital versions of your documents, which can be accessed by anyone from anywhere, saving you the cost of buying and printing reams of paper.
You can make changes to the files offline and this can be synchronised automatically when you log on to the Net.
You can use services like Google Docs (docs. google.com), DropBox (dropbox.com) and Windows Live SkyDrive (explore.live.com/skydrive). The latter lets you store up to 25 GB of data for free, while DropBox provides a free account of 2 GB.
You can store your medical history on Yostechnologies.com and MyHealthRecords. in, which let you upload scanned paperwork. This lets you access the information any time and avoids wastage of money on duplicate tests if you misplace a report.
There are also apps that help organise your paperwork and make good use of offers, such as Warrantify. This app allows you to scan your receipts and warranties, and store them on the cloud. You can add information about the model, price and warranty validity. The app will keep track of the warranty period and notify you when the expiry date approaches.
SOURCE:::: input from a friend of mine… Very useful not only for Senior Citizens, but also for all “going to be Seniors “one Day …!!!
Natarajan
Jan 30 2015
Take off with Natarajan 