iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Dr. Juande Santander-Vela @juandesant.astrodon.social.ap.brid.gy · 06/06/2025

Combined Public Service Announcement and Today I Learned: if you have `CLICOLOR=1` on macOS, if you do an `ls` of a directory which is inside iCloud Drive, evicted files (i.e., those that cannot be immediately used, but need to be downloaded first from […] [Original post on astrodon.social]

A Finder window showing a Folder named "CLICOLOR_Test" with two files: a PDF called "cssday.pdf", and a PNG file with a name that starts with "Screenshot-2025-" and ends with "17.08.34.png". The iCloud Status icon shows a cloud with a down arrow, indicando that it is not currently downloaded.

Screenshot of Terminal.app showing the command `ls -ln` run on the CLICOLOR_Test folder, and showing both files with a gray background in their filename.

Another screenshot of the CLICOLOR_Test folder, now with cssday.pdf showing a down-arrow circle (representing that the file will be kept downloaded), which means it is undoubtedly locally available.

Screenshot of Terminal.app showing the command `ls -ln` run on the CLICOLOR_Test folder, but this time the `cssday.pdf` file shows a white background, while the screenshot file still sports a gray background behind their filename.

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Dr. Juande Santander-Vela @juandesant.astrodon.social.ap.brid.gy · 18/05/2025

Thinking on the ‘Anthropomorphized Brushed Metal’ series by @gruber … It seems that after loosing his last gigs with QuickTime and iSync, he found a position as the startup texture for the inflight entertainment system at least for Airbus… think of a career path change!

Initialization screen for the Airbus entertainment system. Some gears in the center. With Initializing written under them. The background is a form of brushed metal, but much darker than the one Apple used.

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Dr. Juande Santander-Vela @juandesant.astrodon.social.ap.brid.gy · 12/05/2025

[Duolingo 350 day streak] Just 16 days away from a whole year of Japanese practice! Yay!

Orange-yellow badge showing a bit more than half of Duo, the mascot owl for Duolingo, flaming as a phoenix bird, set on the right side. The badge reads: “I'm on a 350 day learning streak!” On the Center-left, and “duolingo” on the bottom left.

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Dr. Juande Santander-Vela @juandesant.astrodon.social.ap.brid.gy · 09/05/2025

Is it radioactive waste? No, it is just solar power and translucence 😉

A picture of a yellow plastic recycling bin shining next to a dark gray organic waste bin on the left and a blue paper recycling bin, neither of them shining.

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Dr. Juande Santander-Vela @juandesant.astrodon.social.ap.brid.gy · 06/05/2025

Of course all of this builds on the initial success from the original ALMA long-baseline campaing that looked at HL Tau and found its protoplanetary disk in all its glory… […] [Original post on astrodon.social]

The first ALMA image of the HL Tauri protoplanetary disk. The image color palette orange and red, with more emission in brighter colors. Grooves can be seen in the disks where protoplanets have been eating away at the material.

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Dr. Juande Santander-Vela @juandesant.astrodon.social.ap.brid.gy · 06/05/2025

Using data from ALMA and advanced simulations, a research team led by Santiago Orcajo from the Instituto de Astrofísica de La Plata in Argentina (CONICET and Universidad Nacional de La Plata) has presented a new model that traces the evolution of […] [Original post on astrodon.social]

This image shows the 15 brightest protoplanetary disks (ordered in 5 columns and 3 rows) in Ophiuchus (as observed by the ODISEA project and DSHARP), in which one can observe the presence of rings and grooves of different sizes that indicate the presence of bodies in formation. Credit: Orcajo, S. et al. (2025)

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Dr. Juande Santander-Vela @juandesant.astrodon.social.ap.brid.gy · 29/03/2025

Today I learned (thanks to @vla22) what Alexander’s Band (or Alexander’s Dark Band) is… and I had photographed it before! en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alexander's_b…

Another version of the precious photograph, now looking to the northeast, with a very vivid rainbow, and second order one, and the dark band even darker. The bow starts right from a train bridge.

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Dr. Juande Santander-Vela @juandesant.astrodon.social.ap.brid.gy · 25/03/2025

EHT Reveals New Insights of Jets from Supermassive Black Holes. ALMA is a big part of EHT, and in this case provided the most accurate calibration for the observations, which was used later for the longer baselines between EHT telescopes. ps. IAA-CSIC plays […] [Original post on astrodon.social]

Schematic view of an active galactic nucleus (AGN). The relativistic jet is launched from the black hole and its accretion disk in a parabolic geometry, later transitioning to a conical appearance. Credit: J. Röder/M. Wielgus.

Artist’s impression of an active galactic nucleus. Credit: Juan Carlos Algaba.

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Dr. Juande Santander-Vela @juandesant.astrodon.social.ap.brid.gy · 20/03/2025

BTW, did I mention ALMA is now officially 12 years old? On March 13th, 2013, ALMA was famously commanded by then President Sebastián Piñera to point to the galactic center! Since then, ALMA has been delivering stunning science year after year, and during […] [Original post on astrodon.social]

A picture of a celebratory cake with white frosting on a small table, with 12 ALMA-like antennas on top, together with 12 stars, and ALMA and 12 written in bold blue letters.

Behind, a larger table has a round cloth with a white ALMA-like antenna printed on it, surrounded by white, light blue, and dark blue balloons with stars. That cloth is surrounded by additional things to eat, like plates of fruit, parfaits, jellies, and other delicacies.

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Dr. Juande Santander-Vela @juandesant.astrodon.social.ap.brid.gy · 19/03/2025

ALMA Discovers “Space Tornadoes” Around the Milky Way’s Core! Although the galaxy’s central molecular zone (CMZ) has long been known to be filled with swirling dust and gas molecules cycling through formation and destruction, the mechanism that drives this […] [Original post on astrodon.social]

This image corresponds to Figure 1 in the paper.

The image is divided into multiple panels labeled (a) through (g):
Panel (a) shows the now classical large-scale MeerKAT radio observation at 1.28 GHz of the galactic center, rotated to better align with other panels. The galactic center sureoundings appear as a cloudy, filamentary structures with brighter regions and darker spots. Sgr A* (our galaxy’s black hole) is labeled with a star symbol.

Two red boxes highlight regions with different velocity components (50 km s⁻¹ and 20 km s⁻¹).

Panels (b) and (c) are zoomed-in views of these velocity components showing SiO 5-4 transition observations from ALMA (Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array) at low resolution. These panels show filament-like structures. Panel (b) shows the 50 km s⁻¹ component, while panel, with an outline indicating where the ALMA observation was made. Panel (c) shows the 20 km s⁻¹ component with three regions labeled A, B, and C indicating additional ALMA observations.

Panel (d) corresponds to the ALMA observation outlined in panel (b). Panels (e) to (g) corresponds to regions A to C in panel (c). Those panels show many filaments with coherent speeds, sometimes perpendicular to other flows.

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Dr. Juande Santander-Vela @juandesant.astrodon.social.ap.brid.gy · 18/03/2025

We're hiring again! Now we're looking for an Science Archive Content Manager (aka SACM). This person will be a mamber of the Data Management Group, and will be integral on creating useful science data from the raw data generated by the observatory. And in […] [Original post on astrodon.social]

The text reads:

ALMA Observatory is looking for a new
Science Archive Content Manager (SACM)
Internal & external ALMA JAO opportunity
The successful candidate will be part of the Data Management Group (DMG) within the Joint ALMA Observatory (JAO). She/he will join a very active team of astronomers (Science Archive Content Managers - SACMs).
Some of the major responsibilities will be related to:
- QA of the science data products produced by the pipeline.
- Manual data reduction, depending on level of expertise and first level of investigation on issues (hardware or software).
- Contribution to defining specifications and testing of new pipeline heuristics, as well as define, update or improve procedures.

Minimum requirements:
- Master's degree in astronomy with minimum three years of relevant working experience. PHD degree will be an asset.
- Experience in data processing of astronomical data. Good command of Unix/Linux.
- Experience in sub-mm/radio interferometric and/or single-dish data reduction, and Python programming skills will be an asset
- Fluent in English is a must. Fluent in Spanish is an asset.

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Dr. Juande Santander-Vela @juandesant.astrodon.social.ap.brid.gy · 17/03/2025

Galaxy clusters are the largest structures in the universe. Protoclusters like SPT2349-56 offer a unique window into this process, allowing astronomers to observe galaxies as they come together in a dense environment. By comparing ALMA's high-resolution […] [Original post on astrodon.social]

Illustration of the extended molecular gas (red) surrounding the galaxies (blue) in the protocluster core SPT2349-56.

In blue,

Credit: MPIfR/N.Sulzenauer

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Dr. Juande Santander-Vela @juandesant.astrodon.social.ap.brid.gy · 06/03/2025

Remembering Graphing Calculator [1] in today's macOS… I always loved how quickly it plotted inequalities… Reminder of the Graphic Calculator story 2] (which shipped with all initial PowerPC computers, and then some) courtesy of @timbray. Not sure if […] [Original post on astrodon.social]

Snapshot of Graphing calculator plotting the area where 3x<7y is in violet, with a blue line showing exactly where 3x = 7y. Also, a grey surface shows where 7x < 3y, and a black line shows where 7x = 3y.

Above the plotting area, an equation area shows the colors for the different plots, and the 4 equations above indicated.

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Dr. Juande Santander-Vela @juandesant.astrodon.social.ap.brid.gy · 06/03/2025

@thomasfuchs.at is that the whole picture background for the ZX Spectrum manual?

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Dr. Juande Santander-Vela @juandesant.astrodon.social.ap.brid.gy · 25/02/2025

@TeLoDescribot please, provide a description. Focus on all words in the image, and the kind of display.

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Dr. Juande Santander-Vela @juandesant.astrodon.social.ap.brid.gy · 19/02/2025

I’m happy to share that we’re looking for what we call a Communities Liaison: the person that will support the ongoing relationship of the observatory with the local communities in the San Pedro/Toconao area, including their leaders and elders…

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Dr. Juande Santander-Vela @juandesant.astrodon.social.ap.brid.gy · 05/02/2025

@wdormann it depends 😉 If I see it in Ivory, it just the plain markdown. But here is how it shows in Elk.

Snapshot of an Elk post retooted by Dr. Juande Santander-Vela

The post was by Will Dormann 20min before the snapshot was taken.
@wdormann@infosec.exch..

Testing markdown:
> This is a quote

`This` should be fixed-width, right?

The > did not produce a quote, but the backticks did produce a fixed-width text.

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Dr. Juande Santander-Vela @juandesant.astrodon.social.ap.brid.gy · 21/01/2025

[Sexual vocabulary / nazi salutes / USPol] In the same way the “Mull of Kintyre rule” discriminated between flaccid versus erect penises, it is easy to differentiate between a Nazi salute and other expressions/hailing movements […] [Original post on astrodon.social]

Graphic sarcastically showing which angle of arm lift is what: zero degrees (downwards) is rest; around 15° is for petting a dog; around 30° is for petting a child; a bit below 45°is for calling a ta taxi; and 85° to 90° is for calling a taxi. All remaining angles are a Nazi salute.

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Dr. Juande Santander-Vela @juandesant.astrodon.social.ap.brid.gy · 15/01/2025

Desde la Comisión de Mujer y Astronomía de la Sociedad Española de Astronomía están organizando (entre otras actividades por el 11-F, Día Internacional de la Mujer y la Niña en la Ciencia), un concurso de dibujo para niñas y niños de entre 3 y 15 años. El […] [Original post on astrodon.social]

Cartel del Concurso Infantil de dibujo 2025
"MUJERES Y ASTRONOMÍA"
Organizado por la Comisión Mujeres y Astronomía
de la SEA con motivo del 11 de Febrero

Incluye los logos de la Sociedad Española de Astronomía (SEA), del 11F (Día Internacional de la Mujer y la Niña en la Ciencia), y código QR.

Incluye también un enlace a https://www.sea-astronomia.es/comision-mujer-y-astronomia-11-de-febrero.

En la parte inferior, aparece una banda de película en la que hay cuatro fotogramas. De derecha a izquierda, aparecen: a) una niña con carteles representándo diferentes fases de la luna; b) un dibujo de una niña mirándooslo estrellas y nebulosas desde su ventana, mientras que a su lado hay un telescopio, un libro con cartas estelares, un gato en un cojín de estrellas, varios libros, y un cohete; en la pared tiene un poster de la NASA y de otros objetos astronómicos; c) un dibujo de El Principito en B612; y d) una astronauta columpiándose en la luna.

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Dr. Juande Santander-Vela @juandesant.astrodon.social.ap.brid.gy · 17/12/2024

We're hiring again! In this case, we are looking for another System Engineer to help both with our current operational system, and with tasks related to our Wideband Sensitivity Upgrade (WSU). Are you a system engineer, or think like one and have the right […] [Original post on astrodon.social]

Image of a job posting for the ALMA Observatory. The posting is for a Systems Engineer.

The top half features a panoramic photo of the ALMA Observatory's radio telescopes in a high-altitude desert landscape, with slightly cloudy light blue sky. The top is separated from the bottom by a turquoise swirl.

The bottom half contains the job description:

ALMA Observatory is looking for a new
Systems Engineer- Grade 15
(Internal & External ALMA JAO opportunity)

The Systems Engineer will support processes related to problem reporting and investigation, including root cause analysis, leading Material Review Board (MRB) processes, and carrying out related technical analysis, among other activities.

Some of the major responsibilities will be related to:
- Support the System Engineering processes for ALMA development projects, including gate reviews.
- Lead and follow up on Material Review Boards (MRBs) to resolve non-conformances.
- Guide sub-projects and/or developments, perform on-demand analysis and prepare summary reports.
- Contribute to the definition, verification and validation of technical requirements.

Minimum requirements:
- A university degree in engineering or equivalent, preferably in the fields of software, electronics, mechanics or mechatronics.
- At least 3 years of related working experience in Systems Engineering.
- English: advanced level, reading, and writing. Spanish: intermediate to advanced level or a willingness to learn.

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Dr. Juande Santander-Vela @juandesant.astrodon.social.ap.brid.gy · 12/12/2024

Are you an IT specialist that would like to become a support engineer for the ALMA Observatory? You might want to consider this ALMA Font Line Support Engineer vacancy! If you're interested, please apply at […] [Original post on astrodon.social]

Picture of an American (in the foreground) and an European 12-m (a bit further away) ALMA antennas pointing almost to the zenith at the Chajnantor plateau with blue, slightly cloudy sky, and some snow in the mountains. A blueish swirl separates the image from the text.

The job vacancy text reads:

ALMA Observatory is looking for a new
Front-Line Software Support Engineer
Internal & external ALMA JAO opportunity

The Front-Line Software Support Engineer will join the Software Group and his/her main purpose will be to support activities for maintaining the observatory operations.
Some of the major responsibilities will be related to:
- Provide front-end support to observatory operations through the recovery of computing systems.
- Investigation and Reporting of computing issues detected during operations.
- Installation and configuration of the software associated to the core processes of the observatory.

Minimum requirements:
- Degree in computing, software or electronics engineering, computer sciences, physics or equivalent. No previous working experience is required.
- Knowledge in Linux environment is mandatory.
- Intermediate-advanced English level (oral and written).

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Dr. Juande Santander-Vela @juandesant.astrodon.social.ap.brid.gy · 09/12/2024

Is it just me, or Aptos Narrow and Aptos Display look a lot like Apple's original Geneva? #Fonts #Aptos #AptosDisplay #Geneva #Fonts #FontComparisons

Screenshot of an Excel workbook called `AptosVsGeneva.xlsx`
Column A has the names of two fonts, Aptos Display in A1, and Geneva in A2.
Column B shows two pangrams, one in English (The quick brown fox jumped over the lazy fox) and one in Spanish (Jovencillo emponzoñado de whisky, ¡qué figurota exhibe!). B1 is set in Aptos Display 12 point, and B2 is set in Geneva 9.5 point.

All glyphs are very similar, but Aptos tends to be slightly more rounded than Geneva.

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Dr. Juande Santander-Vela @juandesant.astrodon.social.ap.brid.gy · 08/11/2024

This paragraph from The Economist is really something…

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Dr. Juande Santander-Vela @juandesant.astrodon.social.ap.brid.gy · 30/10/2024

We're looking for a part time Public Relations Officer! If you fit that profile, or know someone that does it, please pass them this opportunity! The application link is […] [Original post on astrodon.social]

Image of an ALMA Job advertising with a swoosh that shows a few ALMA antennas with a blue, slightly cloudy sky in the background.

ALMA Observatory is looking for a new Public Relations Officer (part time)
External ALMA JAO opportunity

The Public Relations Officer will provide a permanent support to the ALMA Management regarding the community relation initiatives and being the key point of contact for different stakeholders of the local community.

Some of the major responsibilities will be related to:
- Community Relations Support.
- Educational and Public Outreach support.

Minimum requirements:
- University degree in the areas of Human Science /Communications/Public Relations.
- At least 1 year of related working experience.
- Driver’s License Type B (for vehicles) is required.
- Advanced level of Spanish and English is essential (at least B2 level according to the international language standard).

Apply here: https://www.comeet.com/jobs/almaobservatory/F5.001/public-relations-officer-part-time--grade-13/6C.C4B

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Dr. Juande Santander-Vela @juandesant.astrodon.social.ap.brid.gy · 28/10/2024

Commodore balance seen on the wild! I did not know Commodore made this kind of equipment, did you? #RetroComputing #Commodore #Balance

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Dr. Juande Santander-Vela @juandesant.astrodon.social.ap.brid.gy · 18/10/2024

At ALMA, not all of our vacancies are for astronomers or engineers! Large projects have a lot of procurement and contracting to do, and in this ocassion we are hiring a Contract Supervisor to ensure the right execution of the activities performed by […] [Original post on astrodon.social]

ALMA Observatory is looking for a new Contract Supervisor
Internal & external ALMA JAO opportunity

The contract supervisor will support the Contract and Facility Group, part of the ALMA Department of Engineering (ADE), to ensure the right execution of the activities performed by contractors with the focus in the availability and reliability of support services and equipment

Some of the major responsibilities will be related to:
- Monitoring the performance of the services providers, and oversee the operational contracts.
- Coordinate, supervise and control daily activities performed by external/internal resources in order to optimize the work. Minimum requirements:
- Degree in Engineering with specialization in: Administration, Civil, Mechanics, Industrial Maintenance, or Electricity/Electronics.
- 5 years experience with at least 1 year in leading teams and/or contractors in maintenance or construction activities.
- Intermediate English level (B1 as per international language standard).

Apply here: https://www.comeet.com/jobs/almaobservatory/F5.001/contract-supervisor--grade-14/D2.C41

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Dr. Juande Santander-Vela @juandesant.astrodon.social.ap.brid.gy · 10/10/2024

The Joint ALMA Observatory is hiring! In particular, we are looking for a Trainee Software Engineer. The alt text of the image has the main responsibilities and requirements, and you can read more on our job portal […] [Original post on astrodon.social]

Image for a job advertisement at the ALMA observatory. It shows ion the top an image of two ALMA antennas with a background of snowy mountains, and slightly cloudy sky. Below a wave, it reads:

ALMA Observatory is looking for a new Trainee Software Engineer
Internal & external ALMA JAO opportunity
This position is designed for engineers without previous working experience and it is oriented to train staff for developing all activities performed by experienced software engineer.

Some of the major responsibilities will be related to:
- Participate at the deployment, configuration and testing of different ALMA software releases used for commissioning or operations activities at the observatory.
- Provide support on ALMA software usage to non-software engineers and astronomers, including off-hours emergency support on occasions.

Minimum requirements:
- A university degree in computing, software or electronics engineering, computer sciences, physics or equivalent.
- Knowledge in object-oriented programming in C++/Java on a Linux/Unix environment.
- English Intermediate to advanced level (able to communicate effectively both verbally and in writing).

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Dr. Juande Santander-Vela @juandesant.astrodon.social.ap.brid.gy · 08/10/2024

Just got my PDF for the Six Centuries of Type & Printing by @glennf. Reading the first chapter (The Master Printer), I had to laugh at the fact that Gutemberg had made a Fustian pact... and lost. (I know @glennf will appreciate the pun 😉)

Paragraph from Glenn Fleishmann’s Six Centuries of Type & Printing:

«While most of Gutenberg’s early works were made under contract
for or subscribed to by the local powers in the Catholic Church, he
managed his own affairs and owned his business, as did most printers
who came after him. He printed the Bible because it was popular and
he thought it would be profitable. (He paid the price, though, as he
lost control of his workshop by 1456, when he couldn’t manage his
key investor, Johann Fust.)»

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Dr. Juande Santander-Vela @juandesant.astrodon.social.ap.brid.gy · 03/10/2024

Reminder to myself: the "file in place” syntax for zsh is <(script), where the output of script is substituted as a file input argument to a particular tool. I use it a lot with ksdiff to make diffs of things that may come, for instance, from Jira messages […] [Original post on astrodon.social]

Screenshot of Kaleidoscope showing the graphical output of the terminal command `ksdiff <(echo "Final texto") <(echo "Final text”)`.

You can see that the row is highlighted because there are changes in it, and the words texto and text are more strongly highlighted to indicate where the change is exactly within the line.

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Dr. Juande Santander-Vela @juandesant.astrodon.social.ap.brid.gy · 03/10/2024

If you don't follow @bbcmicrobot, you should! Remember to click on the decode button to have a chance to see the BASIC words in use… And then, of course, there is the jewel that is the 3D version of the BBC micro, where you can list the program, type it… […] [Original post on astrodon.social]

BASIC code for BBC Micro on the left hand pane:

10 MODE®: VDU29, 640;480;5 :K=260
20 F=10:C=0
30 FORZ=88T08STEP-10
40 B=F: F=1000/Z
50 FORS=-1T01STEP2
60 MOVEZ*14-40*S-720,K:K=K+RND (80)-40 :DRAWZ*14-40*5-770, K
70 x=S*4-Z*Z/400+Z/8:Y=-4-Z*Z/900
80 H=RND (1) *2+3:R=Y+2+H
90 C=(C+1)MOD5: GCOL (C+1)*16,0
100 MOVE (S*2+X) *B, R*B
110 DRAW (S*2+X)*F, R*F
120 PLOT85, X*B, (Y+H)*В
130 PLOT85, X*F, (Y+H) *F
140 C=(C+1)MOD5: GCOL (C+1)*16,0
150 PLOT85, X*B, Y*B
160 PLOT85, X*F, Y*F
170 PLOT85, X*F, (Y+H) *F
180 C=(C+1)MOD5: GCOL (C+1)*16, 0
190 PLOT85, (S*4+X) *F, Y*F
200 PLOT85, (S*4+X)*F, (Y+H)*F
210 PLOT85, X*F, (Y+H)*F
220 PLOT85, (S*2+X)*F, R*F
230 NEXT,

Below, there are buttons called Decode and Shrink. The code uses 486 characters, and was posted by @bazzargh on Mastodon

On the right-hand side, a graphical representation of what the code does is shown. A button below is named 3D. Text: (6,12) and Graphics: (97,619) is also shown.

3D representation of a BBC Micro running on Safari, showing the execution of the code mapped into a CRT monitor on top of a BBC Micro unit. If you press keys in the keyboard, they are lowered in the virtual image.

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Dr. Juande Santander-Vela @juandesant.astrodon.social.ap.brid.gy · 02/10/2024

I'm very glad to report that during the just finished Cycle 10 ALMA accomplished more than 4000 hours of good quality observing time on PI targets — that is, without calibration overheads! That is more than 300 hours beyond our previous record, and brings us […] [Original post on astrodon.social]

Three screens from the ALMA control room. The one on the center shows a big 4000 for QA pass hours (under an arc chart showing not just QA pass, but calibration, and additional observation hours), while the other two screens show fireworks.

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Dr. Juande Santander-Vela @juandesant.astrodon.social.ap.brid.gy · 24/09/2024

Today I learned that you can check if groups of people, or particular individuals, can view a particular page in Confluence. You just need to use the horizontal ellipsis menu (\cellip), and select the option People who can view this page (see first image) […] [Original post on astrodon.social]

Image of a Confluence page (the home page of the ALMA Integrated Development Team), showing the People who can view this page option highlighted from the ellipsis menu.

The same Confluence page now grayed out, with a modal dialog titled People who can view this page. The search box contains “juande”. The results show just one matching user.

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