I’ve forgotten this several times now so it’s time I wrote a short post to help me remember in future! In Solaris 11 we use the Image Packaging System to maintain the software on the system. This is written in python and uses libcurl and for non zoned systems setting the http_proxy is sufficient to allow the system to communicate with the repo. Read more
The shed part is pretty much complete now. Last weekend I made the door, got the rest of the weathersheeting in place, finished the roof, and got the wood preservative on. I also added a 2×3 to strengthen the beam with the castors so that the ends no longer touch the track; I’ve to do the same to the other side sometime, but as it stands I can move the roof easily with one hand. Read more
In between rain showers I’ve managed to almost get the building work completed on the observatory. Building the support for the roof and rails was easy enough though the beams were very slightly warped; this doesn’t matter too much as it can be corrected by placing the rails in the correct line.
The roof was trickier than I thought. I hadn’t tried to build a roof before and it’s quite easy to get things out of alignment and not straight. It’s not perfect but more than good enough for my requirements. Read more
Only a few showers this weekend, which makes it probably the sunniest of the whole summer! So I managed to get two decent afternoons work done.
This summer has been uncharacteristically wet. And it wasn’t until last Saturday that I got to take the wood out from under the tarpaulin and start working. The first thing to do was to get the floor joists in place. The longest part of that was ensuring the 2×4 frame was level. Read more
Over the past while I’ve noticed that some confusion has arisen about the distinctions between Dark Sky Parks and Dark Sky Reserves. In preparation for an upcoming meeting I drew up the following 2 pager explaining the key differences. For the impatient, here’s the 2 line difference from Steve Owens:
I’ve put back For Harry Latham and Elsinore this evening. Same containers as the originals.
For Harry Latham is a very easy cache in the center of the town. One of the few that I have actual written permission to place! Thanks to Heritage Ireland. Read more
I’ve had a Roomba for a few years. One thing I’ve always been curious about it whether it actually does clean the whole room and whether all areas get cleaned equally. So I decided to try a little experiment.
I have about 200 MiniDV tapes in my attic that I’ve been looking after since the Shamrock Rovers F.C. cameraman, Mícheal O’Brolochaín, passed away a couple of years ago. Recently, with the permission of his son, and the support of the Heritage Trust, I’ve started creating an archive of this material.
About 10 years ago I decided to build an observatory. I’m finally getting around to doing it. My reasoning for building it has changed down the years. Initially I wanted to build it in order to have a serious imaging and research setup, now I want it for convenience. I want a setup that I will use – far too many good nights are wasted by not taking the scope out because I don’t have enough time, or it’s just too inconvenient to set up properly. Read more