Wednesday, August 29, 2007

Data Loss!

Due to a hard drive crash (oops!) email sent to Chimoosoft between August 7th and August 29th has been lost. If you sent an email during that time period which has gone unanswered, please try again.
Addendum: In the process of recovering lost data, Data Rescue II quite literally came to the rescue; read the Chimoosoft review.  Another program to help prevent problems in the future is Apple's own Backup software, free with a .Mac subscription; read the review.

Wednesday, August 15, 2007

Stellarium 0.9 Review

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Stellarium is a free (and open source) planetarium program for Mac OS X, Linux, and Windows which uses OpenGL to render the sky. Unlike competing commercial software, Stellarium is extremely simple and easy to use - no manual required. Set your location using the map, then drag the sky around using your mouse. A toolbar along the bottom lets you toggle displays such as ground, constellations (with or without artwork), atmosphere, nebulae, and more. Simple to use time controls enable play, fast forward, rewind, and return to current time. Some nice touches including random meteors and twinkling stars are also included.

Even if you have access to commercial software such as Starry Night, you may well find yourself preferring Stellarium; it's quick, simple, and easy to use. This software does not suffer from feature bloat. Next time you're planning to go stargazing, check out Stellarium first; or even bring it along on your laptop.

Note that version 0.9 has a few quirks including a problem starting in full screen mode. These issues will likely be addressed soon, so keep an eye on their web site for updates.

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