Have you been ever interested in how much stuff is flying around in space? If so, https://stuffin.space is the place to go.
Visualized in WebGL, the source is available via GitHub at https://github.com/jeyoder/StuffInSpace .
Data is updated every day from https://www.space-track.org.
Also, I barely swim in the Atlantic ocean, the Ocearch Shark/Turtle/Wahle/Dolphine and some other species Tracker shows you recent movements of individuals out of the above-mentioned species.
The probably coolest feature is the fact, the tracked animals are known by name and the fact…
…you can drill down into the travel activity (let’s ignore the GDPR for a moment) of each animal as well, keep a favourite list and so on.
Unfortunately, it looks like the data is not publicly available. I just think about some ideas of how to process the data and predict movements and so on using some nice algorithms. If you want to access the data, you need explicit permission to do so.
Ever wondered how to build a space ship? You should listen to the following talk from the CCC “Gulaschprogrammiernacht 16” (sorry, German only). These are almost 90 minutes of an insane level of detail knowledge.
Link: https://media.ccc.de/v/gpn16-7623-wie_baut_man_eigentlich_raumschiffe
If you are somewhat in astronomy and space, as I am, you might fall in love with the European Southern Observatory.
They provide an overwhelming library of images and videos. Many of them available as desktop wallpapers in various sizes.
Among, you find images like this 340-million pixel image from Paranal
or the 108 200 x81 500 pixels image from the milky way. You can download the 25 GB file or just check out the zoomable view.
In case you fall in love with any of the views you might want to order a mounted image in their shop.
Definitely a rabbit hole.
I just came across a nifty UI thing when printing in Word 365.
When the printing dialog comes up and you select all pages you get this nice description of Print all Pages:
Not sure if this is really necessary, but it made me smile.
Check out https://www.astronaut-test.com/ if you want to know if you would be an astronaut candidate. Being fascinated by space, I think I missed the right direction at one point. I only do fit 50% into the required scheme.
What’s the test about?
Astronaut Aptitude Test asks a series of lifestyle and knowledge questions based on official NASA Astronaut Candidate requirements to determine how suited you are to space. The quiz also includes visual tests based on psychological studies to analyse your spatial visualisation, mechanical comprehension and abstract reasoning – the essential qualities that NASA first tested in 1959.
So what I am missing? The results of the questionnaire are broken down on the website:
The good point: I would fit into space based on my personality. I did not do well in the physics and astronomy questions, therefore I really really failed in knowledge and education. Actually, I did not know in which whatever “sphere” satellites do fly.
Said that I think I have to read some astronomy books and I will come to the test back at a later point. Give it a try. It might surprise you as well.
When looking for a nice design the colour palette is one of things I usually fail epic.
Lospec is a website providing a pixel editor, pixel art tutorials and more important to me some hundreds of colour palettes based on a wide range of 8- and 16-bit games.
The Lospec Palette List is a database of palettes for pixel art. We include both palettes that originate from old hardware that could only display a few colors, as well as palettes created by pixel artists specifically for making art. All palettes can be downloaded and imported into your pixelling software of choice
I like using these palettes when creating a logo (also I am not good in this discipline) and presentations when not bound to any corporate identity.
The palettes can be downloaded as png image or even as Adobe Photoshop, Paint.NET or GIMP file to be used in your favorite application.
You don’t know what an Octocat is? If you don’t there is probably no need to read on, just enjoy my Octocat.
If you want to know, let me help you. That’s what Wikipedia says:
GitHub’s mascot is an anthropomorphized “octocat” with five octopus-like arms.
The character was created by graphic designer Simon Oxley as clip art to sell on iStock, a website that enables designers to market royalty-free digital images.
GitHub became interested in Oxley’s work after Twitter selected a bird that he designed for their own logo. The illustration GitHub chose was a character that Oxley had named Octopuss. Since GitHub wanted Octopuss for their logo (a use that the iStock license disallows), they negotiated with Oxley to buy exclusive rights to the image.
GitHub renamed Octopuss to Octocat, and trademarked the character along with the new name. Later, GitHub hired illustrator Cameron McEfee to adapt Octocat for different purposes on the website and promotional materials; McEfee and various GitHub users have since created hundreds of variations of the character, which are available on The Octodex
If you want, you can get you very own Octocat at https://myoctocat.com/ and customize the hell out of it:
Take a break from your build and create an Octocat that’s all you, from whisker tip to tail.
Link: https://myoctocat.com
Some more stuff I came along the last few days…
