Recent content by tfr000

More compute power is good. The stuff I can do on my PC today in minutes would have bogged down the time-share minicomputers of yesterday for hours, to the point where the other users would have complained. I am, however, somewhat in agreement that we've mainly prettied up the interface. For...

Well if you're comfortable with some math, http://www.willbell.com/math/mc7.htm has a (brief) chapter on the Moon's motion. They didn't include the CDs back when I bought my copy. Danby can be a little terse - by which I mean, I sometimes feel like I would have liked a little more explanation...

No, he doesn't, but some other authors do. I don't think their simplified derivations would give you any kind of reasonable approximation of reality. The definitive semi-analytical work on lunar theory is: https://books.google.com/books?id=CKvQAAAAMAAJ Good luck with it. He worked on it all of...

Well... that didn't quite format right, but you get the idea. The first number is for lunar perigee, the second for lunar ascending node.

Mean annual motion of the: perigee node caused by: Principal solar action +146426.92 -69672.04 Figure of the Earth +6.41 -6.00 Direct planetary action +2.69 -1.42 from Roy...

Ha... I actually used to use TECO and had to key in the bootstrap with the front panel switches a couple of times... we used to write character-cell computer games for the VT52's. Slightly more complicated than Pong, but only slightly.

Yup. They used to play the Star Spangled Banner, or something, over a waving flag. Or was that when they came back on in the morning? ... it was a long time ago...

Well, I've seen it. I liked the older, wiser, mellower, more care-worn Han and Leia. That meshed with the old series very well. The bigger, better "death star" was interesting just for its vastness, but it's the 3rd one now. "Anakin" number two... I suppose it does play well that these young...

Not unlike the oft-asked question, "How far can you see with your telescope?" "Well, I've seen 3C273..."

Vastly superior alien life shepherding the development of the human race.

Today I learned that the Higgins Armory Museum closed a couple of years ago! Probably the coolest museum I have ever had the pleasure of wandering through... http://www.higgins.org/...

Several books here would probably help you. http://www.willbell.com/math/index.htm None of it is terribly difficult to understand, but it takes a while to get your head into that mode of thinking.

I'd say the answer to your question is "yes", but I think you're looking for more than that. Maybe you should elaborate.

Or maybe with "Ladle rat rotten hut".

Yup. The skill is called "flat filing". About 100 years ago, one was required to have the skill to make machine parts by hand if no other means were available. One of the steps, for iron parts, was to first anneal the metal, that is, to heat treat it until it softened up some, to make it easier...