Astronomers have a powerful new resource in the Pan-STARRS survey of the night sky, carried out over five years and half a million exposures from the top of Mauna Kea on Maui. The two petabytes of data released publicly today cover three quarters of the night sky and show billions of stars, galaxies, asteroids, and other stellar objects.
This isn’t the kind of imagery that you print out and put on the wall, although the picture above, which shows the whole survey space in visible light, is quite cool. Think of images from Hubble and the like to be like extreme telephoto portraits of individual features, while this is an ultra wide-angle shot of our whole cosmic neighborhood. In fact, it’s thousands of them layered over one another.
These repeated observations over time are useful for tracking near-earth objects, bright but brief events, and large-scale features. Pan-STARRS has found dozens of asteroids and quasars, and is helping define things like the mysterious “cold spot” in our universe’s cosmic microwave background. Some of the projects successes are described in this (slightly out of date) PDF.
“Pan-STARRS has already made discoveries from Near Earth Objects and Kuiper Belt Objects in the Solar System to lonely planets between the stars,” said the University of Hawaii’s Ken Chambers, director of the project’s observatories, in a news release. “It has mapped the dust in three dimensions in our galaxy and found new streams of stars; and it has found new kinds of exploding stars and distant quasars in the early Universe.”
This release is the “static sky,” which is averaged values over the five years of observations, but a second, larger dataset will come out place next year with more temporal granularity. If you know what you’re looking for, you can find how to call it up at the Pan-STARRS webpage.
Babes with Bullets camp director Deb Ferns says the most common complaint she gets from her students while at the range is, “It’s too loud!”
Babes with Bullets instructor Deb Ferns has an ear protection suggestion that can help make anyone’s first-time-shooting experience a more enjoyable one.
Watch more tips featuring Babes with Bullets instructors Deb Ferns, Kay Miculek and Lena Miculek-Afentul, in our series of beginner shooting tips for women, by women. Developed by NSSF and Babes with Bullets (http://nssf.it/babeswithbullets-yt)
Rogue One is billed as a standalone Star Wars movie, but it’s far more entrenched in the story of the saga than many of us had thought. That’s not just in terms of its setting, though—it’s because it’s jam-packed with references and hints to the Star Wars stories that came before it. Here are all the major ones we spotted.
Of course, this should go without saying, but…
Dr. Evazan and Ponda Baba
Remember the disgruntled cantina patrons Luke encounters in Mos Eisley in A New Hope? Well, turns out they don’t just restrict their surliness to the surface of Tatooine. During Cassian and Jyn’s arrival on Jedha, Jyn bumps into a man making her way through a crowded market, who quickly threatens her before his alien friend calms him down… and it’s none other than Evazan and Baba.
Basically, they survived the destruction of Jedha City, flew to Tatooine to drown their sorrows, and then Obi-Wan sliced Ponda’s arm off. Rough deal, guys.
Star Wars Rebels Crossovers
Since the start of the Disney XD animated series Star Wars Rebels, fans have wondered if we’d see these heroes on the big screen. If it was ever going to happen, the obvious place would be Rogue One because it takes place in the same time period, and follows the same general group of people, namely the Rebel Alliance. Well, Rogue One delivers.
First up, the Ghost, Hera’s trusty ship, is in the film multiple times. You first see it outside the base on Yavin 4 when Jyn and Cassian get ready to go to Jedah. There’s a wide shot of the outside of the base and the Ghost is clearly visible on the left side of the frame. Later, the Ghost is one of the ships that jumps into battle over Scarif. It’s in a handful of shots, mostly flying in the background. Second, after Jyn meets with the Rebel Alliance about going to Scarif, you can hear a page for “General Syndulla” clearly over the PA on Yavin 4. This is almost certainly Hera, the pilot of the Ghost. Finally, during the battle on Scarif, a Rebel communications officer intercepts a signal about the battle and runs out to tell Mon Mothm; as he does, on the left side of the frame, the Rebels’ droid Chopper can be seen rolling along.
So will Star Wars Rebels cross back over with Rogue One and give us the animated version of Yavin 4 as well as the space battle over Scarif? Could this maybe be the finale this season? The season after (if we get one)? We’ll see.
The Droids We Were Looking For
C-3PO and R2-D2 have to appear in a Star Wars movie. They just… have to. It’d ruin a tradition that’s managed to last throughout the entire saga if they didn’t, so we’re glad to say they do indeed show up in Rogue One—very briefly, as the Rebel Fleet dashes to Scarif to support Jyn’s crew.
Darth Vader’s Castle
Concept art by Ralph McQuarrie during Empire Strikes Back pre-production of Vader’s Castle
The first time we meet Darth Vader in the film, when Director Krennic runs off to him to complain about Grand Moff Tarkin taking credit for the Death Star project, the locale is unlike anything we’ve seen before in Star Wars before… but not for a lack of trying.
Yes, Darth Vader having his own castle isn’t actually a new idea from Rogue One. Plans were made to make the castle an important location in Empire Strikes Back, but the idea was scrapped. It eventually re-emerged in the Expanded Universe, where Vader’s castle was on the planet V’Jun. In the new canon, though, Lucasfilm Story Group executive Pablo Hidalgo has confirmed the castle is on Mustafar… which seems like a harsh joke to play on Anakin Skywalker.
Mon Mothma Asks Bail Organa to Get Obi-Wan
Though Mon Mothma doesn’t initially okay Jyn’s journeyto Scarif, she does know something is about to go down. She casually mentions to Bail Organa to maybe get in touch with his Jedi friend—afriend, Bail says, who has been in hiding but helped him during the Clone Wars. They, of course, are referring to Obi-Wan Kenobi. Mothma asks who he could possibly trust with such a sensitive mission and Bail says he’d trust “her” with his life.
Bail’s almost certainly talking about his daughter, Princess Leia Organa. In A New Hope, Leia is obviously aware of Obi-Wan and sends the stolen Death Star plans to him when she knows she’s going to be captured. You have to wonder, though, is the implication here if Vader didn’t attack the ship, would she not have brought the plans straight to Alderaan? Was she still going after Kenobi? We’ll never know.
The Black Saber
When Cassian and Jyn dig through the Scarif archive looking for the plans to the Death Star’s codename, Jyn mentions one project called the “Black Saber.” It might not be anything, but it could be a connection to the Darksaber, a weapon wielded by Mandalorians characters in both Clone Wars and Rebels. The Darksaber was an ancient lightsaber, stolen by Clan Vizla and passed down through generations of warriors. Could the Empire be trying to make some of their own as a re-appropriation of lightsabers in the wake of the Jedi purge?
The Return of Red and Gold Leaders
There are quite a few familiar faces in Rogue One, but one of our favorite callouts was the use of original footage from A New Hope’s Battle of Yavin sequence to resurrect Garven Dreis and Jon Vander, the Red and Gold Leader of their respective X-Wing and Y-Wing squadrons in the Alliance. The two men may have lived to fight another day at Scarif, but would ultimately perish in the Battle of Yavin.
The Fate of Red Five
Speaking of Rebel pilots, we also get to learn in Rogue One why there was a vacancy in Red Squadron for Luke to fill in—the callsign of Red Five, specifically. Unsurprisingly, the vacancy is because Red Five dies in Rogue One, shot down like a chump after failing to pull up in time during the space battle over Scarif. At least Luke did the callsign good shortly after.
Why There Are No Shoretroopers or Death Troopers in the Original Movies
Rogue One introduces a lot of new ships and Stormtroopers who we never see in the original trilogy. Being as it takes places mere days before those films, that makes no sense. If these troopers, especially the elite Death Troopers, are so good, why do we never see them again? Well, Rogue One does kind of provide an answer. And that’s because they’re all dead.
When the Death Star blows up the Imperial facilities on Scarif it’s highly probable all Shore Troopers and Death Troopers went with it. Maybe TIE Strikers and U-Wings, too. It’s at least a plausible cover for all these new things to be missing during the original trilogy.
The Galaxy’s Favorite Beverage
Step aside, caf: There’s only room for one drink in the galaxy far, far away. During the film’s prologue when the Ersos discover that Krennic has found them, while Lyra Erso is hastily packing away supplies in the rush to escape, she heads to the family kitchen, where a large container of Blue Milk, first seen in A New Hope, is sitting on the counter, smack bang in the middle of the shot.
Blue Milk: the preferred drink of choice for soon-to-be-dead parental figures throughout the Star Wars universe .
Grand Moff Tarkin and Princess Leia Return
We’re going to leave the more complicated questions about these characters coming back until next week. For now, though, two critical characters from A New Hope are back, which makes sense for a few reasons. First, Tarkin definitely feels like he’s in charge of the Death Star when we meet him in A New Hope, so to show him basically steal it from Krennic is critical for the story. It also gives Krennic his own villain, which is a nice twist.
As for Leia, obviously, we know she’s on the Tantive IV with the Death Star plans when A New Hope begins. And after the movie has just gone through such a terribly dark ending, to see a familiar face helps ease the pain as you leave the theater.
Return of the Rebel Leaders
While we’re on returning characters, two more important Rebels from the original trilogy are in the movie—but unlike Tarkin and Leia, they’re portrayed by new actors rather than CGI counterparts. Well, we say “new,” although Genevieve O’Reilly has already played Rebel leader Mon Mothma before, in scenes ultimately cut from Revenge of the Sith, making her perfect for a return in Rogue One. She’s joined by Ian McElhinney—Game of Thrones’ Barristan Selmy!—who steps in as General Jan Dodonna.
The Whills
Chirrut Imwe and Baze Malbus offhandedly mention to Jyn and Cassian that they are part of a Force-believing religious group called the Guardian of the Whills. It might sound like a meaningless reference (like “nerf herder” in Empire) but the Whills have a long history in Star Wars, just mainly outside of the story of the saga.
Originally, when drafting the first movie in the early ‘70s, George Lucas planned to frame the events as a retelling from an ancient book called “The Journal of the Whills, Part I.” Whoever the Whills are, we never really knew—they were dropped from the outline and pretty quickly forgotten, save for some ancillary material in the Expanded Universe picking up the name again as a mysterious organization with connections to Force use (in the Revenge of the Sith novelization and early versions of its script, it’s mentioned that Qui-Gon Jinn learned how to become a Force Ghost from the teachings of a “Shaman of the Whills”). Rogue One marks the first time they’ve been mentioned on screen.
Galen’s Flaw in the Death Star Design
For almost 40 years, we watched A New Hope and just thought the people who made the Death Star were idiots and left this crucial flaw in the design as a mistake—a flaw that Luke Skywalker and his proton torpedos wouldexploit. However, now, we have to watch that scene in a wholly different way. We now know that it was Galen Erso who purposefully left that exhaust port there for the Rebels to find—his ultimate revenge for the Empire killing his wife and forcing his daughter into exile.
Even More Familiar Droids
While R2 and Threepio are the big cameos, there’s the return of a few classic background droids in Rogue One as well. A Gonk droid idles by in the background as Jyn is escorted through the Rebels’ base on Yavin 4 after being rescued, while Mouse Droids squeal their way around the legions of Stormtroopers on Scarif. Keep your eyes peeled on Jedha before Saw’s insurgents attack the Imperial convoy, too—there’s a probe droid from Empire Strikes Back floating around amongst the busy crowd.
Watching these soap bubbles freeze in 5 °F weather is pretty much the coolest. What’s that? You want me to acknowledge that pun back there in a playfully knowing way? Ok, fine. (via @choitotheworld)
It is an extraordinary short story, one of the best things I’ve read all year, and it’s proof positive of how rapidly China is becoming a society supercharged with creativity. I am pleased to see it received a Hugo Award for best novelette.
The author is Hao Jingfang and it’s on-line here. Did you know she is a macroeconomics researcher at a quango in Beijing? One key part of the plot and premise revolves around macroeconomic theory, here is an excerpt:
“Hard to say.” Lao Ge sipped the baijiu and let out a burp. “I suspect not. You have to understand why they went with manual processing in the first place. Back then, the situation here was similar to Europe at the end of the twentieth century. The economy was growing, but so was unemployment. Printing money didn’t solve the problem. The economy refused to obey the Phillips curve.”
He saw that Lao Dao looked completely lost, and laughed. “Never mind. You wouldn’t understand these things anyway.”
I cannot excerpt more without giving away spoilers. Definitely recommended, and for the pointer I thank Eva.
Those new to the prepper and survivalist movement interested in obtaining firearms for self-defense or bug out protection are often drawn to the wrong guns. By that I mean the quality not always the type, brand or caliber. There are still a number of really poor made firearms in today’s marketplace and should be avoided at all costs, no pun intended. It is often the cost factor that leads many down the wrong pathway.
I was reminded of this first hand while working a recent gun show with my dealer friend. Gun shows are the opportunity to buy, sell and trade, often on both sides of the tables. Many guns come down the aisles by people wanting to sell or trade up. Quite often these guns are of low quality and of very little value though the original buyer may have paid too much for it to start with. Others carrying a family heirloom often are mistaken that their wares are worth hundreds or thousands of dollars. They usually are not.
A seller approached our table with a small chrome plated handgun, which is usually a red flag to start with. I looked at the gun and declined it. I knew the brand name as cheaply made, unreliable to function and inaccurate if it fired at all. The dealer looked it over and researched its used value on line with his laptop. He said the gun was worth about $65 at best, but that he was not interested in any gun of that low quality. The man was incensed, of course. He had paid $225 for a piece of junk. His bad. Which, of course, is probably why he wanted to sell or trade it to start with.
So, how does first time or a regular gun buyer tell the junk from quality? Most often it starts with the name brand but assuredly the price. In this day and age, if you buy any kind of a gun for say under $300 you are not getting much. The exception might be somebody you know at work or otherwise in a pinch to raise some money. Still know the brand and know the gun. Then inspect the condition and standard evidence of use or abuse.
If you stick with a well-known handgun brand such as Smith & Wesson, Colt, Ruger, Browning, SIG, Beretta, Kimber and such you will buy quality. Same for long guns from names like Remington, Ruger, Winchester, Marlin, and many others. There are over 1000 brand names of ARs now, so pick established known makers. Beware of ARs that may be homemade by parts assembly in garage workshops. Seek out a good gun value reference book to learn more or perform an Internet search.
Next comes the inspection of the specific gun if it is used. Another good reason to buy NIB, or new-in-the-box guns. Then you just have to research the model, features, caliber, and functioning characteristics such as striker fired, hammer fired, single stack or double, etc. to match your needs, wants, desires, and expectations. You can better learn this at a shooting range or shooting course, which is highly preferred and recommended anyway.
Used guns can be a good value at a good purchase price, or you can get screwed. Obviously if you were shopping for a used car, you likely would not pick one with a missing bumper, or the back fender crushed in, seats ripped, or three different types of wheels or hubcaps. Today you would want a Carfax report to review its history. Get my point?
Look at used guns in this same light, because there is no “Gunfax” and dealers after all are trying to sell what they have regardless. Buyer beware is the watchword.
If the firearm is overtly worn, scratched up, stock cracked, sights missing or bent, bluing or other finish highly worn or just looks “rough” then it was probably abused and not well maintained. Are the weapon’s screws intact with screw heads not turned out? Does it look like a shade tree mechanic had been tinkering on it? If so, avoid the potential trouble and move on.
Is the gun clean? Why dealers put a dirty used gun on their shelves or tables is beyond me. If a revolver, check the cylinder for burned powder and a lead build up. Same for the barrel using a bore light, which is simply a special flashlight or clear tube to focus a beam down the barrel. Inspect the barrel for signs of wear. Lands and grooves should be well defined and sharp, no chinks or chucks, scratches or dark spots. Inspect the muzzle crown for damage.
If a semi-auto pistol, check the chamber and barrel for dirt, grime and lead. Make sure the magazine is original and locks up. Double check the safety mechanisms on all guns. Truth is if a gun looks worn or overly used, then it probably is, but it could still be mechanically sound and safe. Just be careful.
On rifles and shotguns, check the bolt heads, chambers, and loading mechanisms as well as the safety. Cycle the bolt and then bounce the gun on the floor with the safety “ON” especially with shotguns. If the firing pin releases at this test, pass on it. Inspect scope mount holes on rifles to see if the original factory screws are in place. Has there been a scope mounted but is now missing? Inspect the barrel as suggested above. Look for heavy copper or leading fowling in the barrel which means the owner never cleaned it. Again such a gun could be recovered, but be mindful.
The main point here is if you are just starting out in the buying of a gun(s), then use caution with used guns and for new ones, just buy a well-known and recognized brand and model. What you don’t need is a gun that does not function well or breaks down with little use.
We’re always finding ingenious workarounds to life’s problems, big or small. This year we treated pool noodles as all-purpose cushions, removed and saved wine corks, got the most out of a burner phone, and used a simple test to see if the power went out.
Certain aspects of Pokémon Go, like hatching eggs, require a great deal of walking, running, or biking. If moving is more difficult for you, however, a basic turntable can help even the playing field.
Whether you’re evacuating because of a hurricane or you’re just leaving for vacation, you’ll want to know if the power went out while you were away for any substantial amount of time. Fill a cup with water, put it in the freezer until it’s solid, then pop a coin on top. Leave it in there, and when you get back, check.
Pokémon Go is great for adventures on your feet, but just like the original Game Boy games, having a bike makes everything better. You travel faster, you can carry more stuff, and it’s a shitload of fun. Here’s how I built the ultimate PokéBike, and how you can build your own.
Have some extra pool noodles around? This video is chock-full of great pool noodle tricks, including a way to spiral-cut them into padding you can wrap around almost anything.
When you think of “burner” phone numbers, espionage and spies probably come to mind. But there are plenty of reasons regular folks would want a burner number, and a few apps, let you create as many as you need. Here are a few ways you can use a burner number professionally, to protect your privacy, and even kill text message spam.
Just because that fancy washing box in your kitchen is called a dishwasher doesn’t mean that’s the only thing it can wash. You can also clean things like gardening tools and plastic toys with it.
If you don’t grill very often that probably means you don’t clean your grill regularly either. If your grill grates are covered in burnt food and rust, you can get it ready for a cookout with a few household staples.
Is your office thermostat locked behind a plastic guard box? This clever trick can help you raise the temp of your freezing office building a little without having to touch the thermostat at all.
What do you do when you have a lovely bottle of wine but your corkscrew has gone missing? When teetotaling is not an option, there are countless unconventional ways that people claim you can open a bottle of wine. We put them to the test.
I have long loved IKEA, not just for the LACK units of my college days or the little table I’m sitting at right this moment, but I love them for their food. No trip to the Swedish superstore is complete without a helping of meatballs, but their market is equally worth checking out.
Hiding your valuables is a great way to protect them. Even if someone breaks into your home, they may not get away with the goods. This clever hiding spot makes use of some old three-ring binders you probably have lying around somewhere.
You go to pop open a fresh bottle of wine—maybe you don’t have a proper wine-opening tool—and the cork, or part of it, plummets into the bottle. You’re left with two choices: finish the bottle, or use this handy trick.
If the people in your household do a good job of scraping or rinsing off their plates before sticking them in the dishwasher, it can be hard to tell when the dishes inside are clean or dirty. A small, upright glass makes for a great indicator.
Fresh coconut is delicious, but they’re tough to break into, especially when you don’t have any tools with you. This trick might save your life if you get stranded on a desert island. Or at least save the day at a picnic or barbecue.
Whether you’re a pro or an amateur, pack a plastic bag in your bag with your camera the next time you go out to take pictures. This video features five great reasons why you should, including the old rain protection trick and a beautiful soft, weathered effect for your photos.
If you want some more clever tricks, be sure to check out our best clever uses and MacGyver tips from 2015, 2014, and 2013.
This guide discusses in detail the two most popular backup utilities available for MySQL and MariaDB, namely mysqldump and Percona XtraBackup.
Topics such as how database features like binary logging and replication can be leveraged in backup strategies are covered. And it provides best practices that can be applied to high availability topologies in order to make database backups reliable, secure and consistent.
Ensuring that backups are performed, so that a database can be restored if disaster strikes, is a key operational aspect of database management. The DBA or System Administrator is usually the responsible party to ensure that the data is protected, consistent and reliable. Ever more crucially, backups are an important part of any disaster recovery strategy for businesses.
So if you’re looking for insight into how to perform database backups efficiently or the impact of Storage Engine on MySQL or MariaDB backup procedures, need some tips & tricks on MySQL / MariaDB backup management … our new DevOps Guide has you covered.
If there’s one thing I consistently love and can be trusted to both enjoy free or even pay money for, it’s fireplace videos. Sometimes called yule log videos, too, these are those things you see on Netflix, in the Apple TV App Store and on YouTube that just show a fireplace for a long period of time, often looping a clip and sometimes including music or sound effects. They’re arguably the best televisual content currently available, and Marvel wants in on that red-hot market.
The Disney-owned superhero brand behind favorites including The Avengers, Iron Man and Mrs. Marvel released five separate fireplace videos in 4K resolution on its YouTube channel, each around an hour in lengthy. The Coca-Cola-sponsored clips also include an “up close” variant in 1080p HD, since the 4K originals are way zoomed out to give you a sense of the surrounding environment, each of which ‘belongs’ to a specific Marvel superhero or super team.
There are videos for Guardians of the Galaxy, Iron Man, Thor, Ms. Marvel and Captain America, and each contains some set dressing unique to the character, as well as background audio that will make you feel like you’re right there next to these heroes enjoying their hearth.
Some of the videos also appear to contain brief Easter Eggs, but not that are particularly revelatory about plot points or aching like that, unfortunately. There’s a dancing baby Groot in the Guardians one that is shamelessly adorable, though, if you’re looking for that sweet, sweet sap.
All of the fireplace videos are included in the YouTube playlist embedded above, so go ahead dim the lights, mull some wine and enjoy the vibes.
Have you ever wanted to search for existing or expired design patents not only in your own country, but in the countries where you’d like to sell your designs? A website called DesignView has wrangled together the design patent databases of 45 countries, plus the ARIPO (African Regional Intellectual Property Organization), EUIPO (European Union Intellectual Property Office) and WIPO (World Intellectual Property Organization), and lets you search all of them at once with a single search box.
Even better, the service is completely free, and they claim the databases they have access to are updated daily.
Just out of curiosity, I typed in "waffle irons" and got 97 results from a host of countries. I then discovered that the 2003 patent on Philippe Starck’s waffle iron design has expired, meaning this is a prime time for me to swoop in and produce a too-close-for-comfort competing product.
Here’s a complete list of the countries and organizations covered:
Albania ARIPO Austria Benelux Brazil Bulgaria Canada China Colombia Croatia Cyprus Czech Republic Denmark Estonia EUIPO Finland France FYROM Georgia Germany Greece Hungary Iceland Ireland Italy Latvia Lithuania Malta Mexico Morocco Norway Poland Portugal Republic of Korea Romania Russian Federation Serbia Slovakia Slovenia Spain Sweden Tunisia Turkey United Kingdom United States