Daily Archives: August 7, 2012

Snapshots from Mars

Uncategorized,

A whole bunch of photographs rom Mars have bee posted by NASA, here. I thought the following one was pretty cool because it shows how accommodating the Martians are, cleaning the dust off the lens and all.

This image comparison shows a view through a Hazard-Avoidance camera on NASA's Curiosity rover before and after the clear dust cover was removed. Both images were taken by a camera at the front of the rover. Mount Sharp, the mission's ultimate destination, looms ahead. The view on the left, with the dust cover on, is one quarter of full resolution, while the view on the right is full resolution. Full-resolution images taken with the dust cover still on are not available at this time. The only other instrument on Curiosity with a dust cover is the Mars Hand Lens Imager (or MAHLI), located on the rover's arm. In this case, the dust cover is not removed but will be opened when needed. This way, the instrument is protected from dust that may be generated from other tools on the rover's arm, in addition to wind-blown dust. Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech.

Is Scripps News Service out of control?

Uncategorized

If corporations are people, there is an argument that Scripps News Service should have a restraining order placed on it. The news service repeatedly took down the hourly postings by NASA, made by NASA, on the NASA YouTube channel, because they thought somehow, by mistake, that NASA was violating Scripps News Service’s rights. Later, Scripps News Service apologized, but that is not enough. No apology can undo the fact that an ongoing real time event was repeatedly disrupted by what can only be seen as a grave error.

Imagine that there is an event happening where getting certain information out to the public is vitally important. Something that a future CDC would do, or something about an ongoing weather event, and Scripps News Service or some other similar corporation blunders along and causes the deletion of vital information because it has a policy of over-reacting? Oh, and it does have a policy of over-reacting; this is not the first time Scripps News Service has done something like this.

YouTube needs to fix its Copyright Robot, the Congress and similar agencies worldwide have to fix Copyright law, and Scripps News Service needs to start wearing an ankle bracelet.

The full story is here.