The Pod Bay

kim holder

01:46

^ Area of the Sahara Desert that would need to be covered by 'solar power plants' (type unspecified) in order to provide power to, left to right, the world, the EU, and Germany. Data from a study by the German Aerospace Center, 2005. So i'm going to say it's good.

bbc.com/news/science-environment-34987467

^ and a good article summarizing the issue. yeah, i'm going to chuck my interest in space solar power, i think.

XKCD

12:46

'If you're done being pedantic, we should get dinner.' 'You did it again!' 'No, I didn't.'

Feeds

16:07

kim holder has added an event to this room's schedule.

Developer Compensation: Stack Overflow Doesn't Stack Rank

David Haney on March 7, 2016

Are Developers Good Negotiators?

kim holder has added an event to this room's schedule.

kim holder has removed an event from this room's schedule.

kim holder has added an event to this room's schedule.

kim holder has removed an event from this room's schedule.

Feeds

16:45

kim holder has added an event to this room's schedule.

kim holder

17:58

ok - the international astronautical congress deadline for abstract submissions is today. and i can see no downside to applying... they actually have tracks i fit into, it turns out...

iafastro.org/the-call-for-papers-for-iac-2016-is-now-open

if they let me speak, it's much easier for hubby to feel good about paying - this conference is expensive.

duzzy

You have to pay even if you're speaking?

kim holder

at the ISDC if you are speaking, they will give you a refund for that day. If you ask for it.

but you have to pay for the other days. and if you want to schmooze at meals, you pay separately for each one.

and they weren't cheap. (or good.)

duzzy

18:52

That's kind of lame.

You should charge them

kim holder

well, the IAC is a different beast than the ISDC. maybe they'll give me a bigger break, i don't know. These things are largely fund-raisers for the parent organization. Only keynote speakers get their tabs paid and maybe a fee.

StackExchange

20:52

NASASpaceFlight.com: SNC handover 11 OG2 satellites following in-orbit checkouts

posted on March 07, 2016 by Chris Bergin

Sierra Nevada Corporation’s (SNC) Space Systems has successfully completed all in-orbit checkout procedures for the final 11 satellites in the ORBCOMM Generation 2 (OG2) constellation. The fleet of... Related posts: SpaceX win contract to loft JCSAT-14 via Falcon 9 Falcon 9 v1.1 successfully conducts second Hot Fire SpaceX get their foot in the EELV door with double launch contract win

kim holder

21:08

iafastro.directory/iac/paper/id/35439/ext/abstract-pdf/…

^ my first submitted abstract, for an interactive, 'poster-session' presentation

> authors are asked to prepare slides which will be displayed for
the duration of the congress on plasma screens. During dedicated interactive sessions,
authors will stand beside the computer displaying their presentation and discuss their work
one-on-one or in small groups with attendees.

iafastro.directory/iac/paper/id/35543/ext/abstract-pdf/…

^ my second submitted abstract, for an oral presentation

Hohmannfan

@kimholder What is it, and why do I get a password prompt when following the link?

kim holder

oh - i guess you need to register with the organization or they don't let you view it.

let me subvert that. just a sec....

chances of seeing elon musk in person - now much higher.

he's going to present SpaceX's plan for how to colonize Mars at this conference

Hohmannfan

21:34

@kimholder Signed up for GitHub, I see you have list of files there, related to the website. Do I have to send a request, or get invited, or something else to contribute?

kim holder

um, let me see... i put it up but i haven't worked with github much, and never as an administrator for a repository...

Hohmannfan

My speciality is a combination of good math, questionable JavaScript and bad HTML

kim holder

yes, i see where i add you as a collaborator. let me just refresh my memory as to what my password is...

@Hohmannfan all useful. possibly with a touch of oversight on the items to the right :P

@Hohmannfan what user name did you select?

Hohmannfan

Same as on Moonwards

kim holder

There - you're added ")

:)

geoffc

21:43

@kimholder HAve you explained this aspect to Aldo? Its ok to fanboy at space conferences right?

kim holder

oh yes, i made him aware when you told me about it. It makes a difference :]

geoffc

What could go wrong? (To be fair, I should never be allowed near Elon Musk, I would probably misbehave).

kim holder

fortunately, he seems to generally take that amazingly well :D

Hohmannfan

@geoffc I WILL misbehave, the question is only how

geoffc

@Hohmannfan I do not even know how I would behave. Other than poorly.

Hohmannfan

21:45

"you have nice rockets"

"just stop crashing them, OK?"

kim holder

one of my presentations will directly question the value of settling Mars before the Moon. The other would imply the same thing, constantly looping on a monitor in the lobby. So, just maybe i can goad him into some dim awareness of me.

if they let me present, of course...

geoffc

@Hohmannfan He is testing his warhead delivery system. They keep hitting a tiny target spot on. They are now just experimenting with better explosive systems for the target destruction.

Hohmannfan

kim holder

oooh do i dream of that...

geoffc

Why can't we do both? Zubrin, whilst advocating for Mars made a simple case for the moon at the same time! You build a heavy lift booster (NASA way, aka SLS) and it can only launch to Mars every 2 years. What do you do with it between Mars windows? Moon missions!

kim holder

21:53

Check it out - Full time students of any age or teachers of primary or secondary school pay $85 to get into this year's IAC

geoffc

@kimholder Quick start home schooling your dogs!

3

Hohmannfan

"The Space Show - Mars and human spaceflight" Perfect

kim holder

he joined the forum the other day. seems pretty solid

geoffc

@kimholder Bob Zubrin?

kim holder

(today's Space Show guest. not Elon Musk)

or bob zubrin

geoffc

21:55

Who is todays guest?

kim holder

Robert Walker. Another self-made space advocate. But he has a degree in mathematics and a long history as a small-scale inventor

and absolutely wild hair and beard

Hohmannfan

Mathematics? +1 Wild hair and beard? +5

geoffc

@kimholder Wild beard is always appreciated. I have some stupid pictures from my youth. What colour hair though? Only red heads appreciated here!

Hohmannfan

End score: 6, status: qualified

geoffc

@kimholder You on GChat right now?

kim holder

21:58

@geoffc a steel gray! classically elegant.

geoffc

@kimholder Meh! Grey is boring,

kim holder

i have gmail open in a tab most of the time

and my new cell phone now gives me alerts

you know, like a real smartphone...

duzzy

@kimholder I'm a student! I should go!

What's the IAC?

kim holder

iac2016.org

go, duzzy, go. company! that would be great...

has to be full time though...

duzzy

I am full time.

Hohmannfan

22:01

To Guadalajara? Way too many a's for me.

kim holder

Elon Musk... just let that image sink in...

making possibly his most historic speech ever...

geoffc

@kimholder That is a real selling point.

kim holder

isn't it though?

duzzy

22:14

Flights aren't as expensive as I would have thought.

kim holder

oh - you're checking??? i can help you with spanish stuff and find a decent yet cheap hotel!

duzzy

I'm considering it. I don't know what will be going on in September, and I don't know Spanish, and I'm sure most of the stuff at that place would go right over my head anyway... but it looks like fun.

kim holder

there are ssooooo many tracks. something for everyone. gigantic event.

and guadalajara is beautiful

geoffc

@kimholder And MMMMMMUUUUUUSSSSSSKKKKKKKKK!!!!! Going to MMMMMMMAAAARRRRRSSSSS!!! I am tempted...

kim holder

ok, well, if other people were coming, i'd go whether i was presenting or not.

and look into group deals

Hohmannfan

22:29

The IAC seems tempting, still several months to decide.

kim holder

may oil prices remain super low! :)

geoffc

@kimholder I do not think I can do it, as tempted as I might be.

duzzy

It would be pretty cool if a bunch of us were able to go.

2

geoffc

Kosher food in that Gua... city in Mexico (Did manage in Salt lake City, UT, so how bad could it be?)

kim holder

@duzzy it sure would be. but no pressure. it is a significant expense

duzzy

22:31

@geoffc Look harder.

I think you can do it!

geoffc

What TimeZone is G in?

kim holder

i can check into kosher

duzzy

Mexico time

geoffc

What TZ is that?

kim holder

CST, same as me and duzzy

sir_ian

22:33

why do you keep talking about the kosher?

Hohmannfan

@sir_ian try to guess?

duzzy

Sometimes when I'm thinking about time in other countries, I'll sit for a second and try to think of the conversion. Not due to time zones, but because I remember money, weight, length, etc... and I think "okay... what time unit does Russia use? How do I convert from minutes and seconds?"

kim holder

he's traditional Jewish

duzzy

Then I realize I'm an idiot.

kim holder

comunidadisraelitadeguadalajara.com

geoffc

22:35

Had a funny story with an Indian consultant at a client. Was explaining kosher. Her comment was "Can you show me your god?" Can you show me a picture of your god? Had a hard getting her to grasp the fundamental distinction between an Indian and Western view of G-d. Was kind of funny in hindsight as you watch cultures collide.

@kimholder So first off, thank you! I was trying to find the source of that specific kosher symbol! Excellent. My google-fu for images sucks.

kim holder

a rather nice one, that. mexicans have great design chops.

Hohmannfan

@kimholder I was once concerned about what to do in a Spanish language country. Then I realized it was easy as hypergolics to read it.

kim holder

lots of latin. a lot of words are easy to translate. then there are the others.... and the grammar...

Hohmannfan

Oral Spanish may not be understandable directly though, but it should not take that much time to come up to speed.

David Freitag

@kimholder I think that's the largest domain name I've ever seen

kim holder

22:49

long names for institutions are really a thing here

it's like more letters means more important

Hohmannfan

not longer than 3.1415926535897932384626433832795028841971693993751058209749445…

duzzy

I may need to add some letters to "duzzy"

Hohmannfan

that is an adress

duzzy

@Hohmannfan lol what's at it?

Hohmannfan

@duzzy duzzytheultimatespaceandrocketgnome?

geoffc

22:56

@Hohmannfan Did anyone solve for N, to find the current indexN.html on that site yet?

Hohmannfan

@geoffc I found it!

Brian Tompsett - 汤莱恩

23:35

Can I play the domain name game with llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwyll-llantysiliogogogoch.in… :-)

kim holder

that gets points for both length and unpronouncability

the pi.com site beats it by 5 characters, 66 to 61, before the .com / .info part

Hohmannfan

That site actually got me into the index page guessing game. I found it after a while.

kim holder

yes, that looked quite clever, and like something i shouldn't spend time on :)

Hohmannfan

23:51

But the reward was 1 million digits of $\pi$

kim holder

well, if i ever want to take a look, i can now cheat and ask you

one of the great benefits of hanging out on the pod bay :)

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