Alien 13

My dog not only used cues but reflecting them too for example by looking at the clock herself to remind me it was dinner time.. Alan

We do ok with dogs though, actually far more than ok and to a lesser extent cats 😀 and its not just one way communication. Alan

As an alien myself I don't have constraints on imagination...I imagine. Intelligent life created from technology rather than nature. Life that lives for billions of years and runs so slowly that we would consider it inert. Life on every Planet and Moon in our solar system. Life on the Sun. Life in empty space. Alan

Here is another... In my view the prettiest and finest scope ever made. Alan

I have one of these for cleaning computer bits and keyboards, very powerful and because of the motor heat it does produce mildly warm air, might be a bit too strong for optics though as it can knock empty cans down from 12 foot away 😀 Alan

I agree although it only takes a new tiny observation or new discovery to open the imagination floodgates... Look at the discovery of electricity that spawned our 21st century life and gave us Frankenstein too 😀 Alan

Not impossible though as electricity was around then, would have been far more difficult to do in the middle ages.. Alan

Thing about imagination and invention is that we cant do either unless it has already been discovered/imagined, for example early bronze age man had all the ingredients sitting around him to make an electric carbon arc lamp but couldn't imagine the concept. I have tried to think of a single invention that wasn't discovered either by observation of nature or a complete fluke, all are small evolutions of what had gone before. Alan

Temperature is a valid one and those critters that can detect IR at a distance seem quite common. Another sense is pressure detection. Alan

It certainly is, looks like it belongs in a hospital 😀 Alan

Have been thinking (whatever that is) about the range of senses that are used by life on Earth and have come up with.. Visual covering the range from IR to UV. Sound. Taste. Smell. Magnetic fields. Electro Magnetism. To understand these inputs we need a processing unit and memory and a way of recording these for future generations. So given these senses what would the development of technology require as a minimum and could it be done without sight for example and are there any other senses we don't know about? Alan

I think one of the problems we face is that we use "human" math's and physics to describe the universe with our particular range of senses being a big influence, I imagine some alien species might have a completely different interpretation of the universe. Regarding "computer" simulations etc they would work for any advanced civilization provided our view of physics is universal, however if you wanted to create a "game" for Dogs (most life in fact and probably some aliens too) to play then you would need to be able to understand and re create complex scents/taste as its probably there primary method for understanding the world. Alan

After playing many many computer games there is no doubt in mind that we are in one or some type of simulation run by a collective intelligence. I firmly believe that the universe would not even exist without intelligent participants. Alan

Not long now folks, hope it goes well... Alan

Have been curious about the size of this rocked so found this which is interesting.. Alan

I like it very much, so natural. Alan

Nice, that tripod looks very much like mine. Those bowl levelers are brilliant. Alan

So many usb C cables are power only as nobody uses a data cable for mobile phones these days with Bluetooth etc around. I have been caught out too 😀 Alan

Make sure any cable is one that transmits data rather than power only.. Alan

I did think most modern Canon cameras have built in intervalometers, sometimes called "timelapse or interval" in the menu. My camera can do up to 99 shots at 30 seconds or a single bulb duration time but unfortunately not both together. Alan

I am using Affinity myself and too would be interested in any further thoughts regarding printing or indeed even compatibility when viewing images on sites like SGL etc. Have noticed that my monitor which is running natively in the P3 colour space and close to Adobe RGB does make everything very vivid when viewed by apps that use sRGB, thankfully my display does have a REC-709 mode which allows adjustment of brightness and contrast too. Alan

I think it could work, my smartphone camera already blows my DSLR away for normal images and video and is not bad at astro either. What would be nice is a dedicated smartphone micro EQ mount... Alan

Display calibration has been mentioned a few times but even a rough "eyeball" check with some decent test images will get you close enough to start, setting gamma contrast and brightness correctly are key. These are some useful sites https://www.cambridgeincolour.com/tutorials/monitor-calibration.htm https://www.pcworld.com/article/394912/how-to-calibrate-your-monitor.html Alan

The question I have is what type of monitor are you using and what colour space is it running in and is it calibrated? Lol that's three questions 😃 Alan

I have an Alienware laptop myself and you wouldn't want to drop it on your foot when carrying it around 😆 Alan