tingilinde

exotic part time job for night owls

Aircraft spotter for the artificial star on the Gemini telescope on Mauna Kea in Hawaii.  (a really neat trick being used to counteract some of the distortions of the atmosphere)

amazing views and some snow skiing in the Winter

 

AirCraft Spotter ENG812T

• Location: Hale Pohaku/ Mauna Kea Summit - Hilo, HI
• Deadline for Application: until filled
• Job Code: ENG812T

 

We are searching for team players to join Gemini Observatory Aircraft Spotter.    The Aircraft Spotter ensures that the Gemini North Laser Guide Star system is shuttered when aircraft pass over the telescope.  This position is located in Hilo, HI mainly based at Hale Pohaku and the Mauna Kea summit.. 

The nature of the job requires mainly night-time work at the Mauna Kea summit located at 14,000 foot elevation.  Logs the time, compass heading, elevation, and general directional heading or known destination of all aircraft in the sky.  Notifying telescope personnel when aircraft approach the laser, Shutters laser system when aircraft comes in close vicinity of laser without warning.  Managing the inventory of Aircraft Spotter supplies, and coordinating the rotation of spotters during the night.  Monitors Laser Clearing House Target List shuttering windows and alert and notifies SSA of impending laser shuttering.  Monitors ASCAM for aircraft detection alerts and notify outside spotter or confirmation.  Does a final check of summit installation at the end of each LGS night to make sure the areas used by the spotter group are neat and clean: this includes kitchen, microwave oven, dishes, crew room, etc., other duties in support of Observatory operation as directed by supervisor.  Ensures compliance with Gemini Safety policies and procedures systematically consults with supervisor the Senior Laser/Optical Engineer.  The successful candidate will have excellent oral communication skills, be organized, reliable and practice good judgment.  Must be able to work a flexible schedule, mostly at night.   Position requires a high school diploma; previous training in first aid is a plus. Must be able to drive a 4WD automobile and have a clean driving record.  MVR will be run on the successful candidate!

This position is part-time and a temporary position

 

 

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How to Apply:

Unless otherwise specified: Send current resume with cover letter relating your experience, education and background to the needs of the position, along with the names and contact information of three individuals familiar with your work/credentials/qualifications from whom a reference may be obtained. Please include the JOB CODE in your cover letter. Including salary history is appreciated. Cover letters and resumes must be written in English. Applications that do not conform to the specific requirements of the position will not be considered.

All applicants must be fluent in English and be able to write, speak and read English fluently. Spanish is a plus. All applicants are expected to be computer literate with the ability to use the Internet, e-mail and other applicable software applications.

E-mail: Gemini-jobs@gemini.edu. GEMINI OBSERVATORY, Human Resources Department, 670 N. A`ohoku Place, Hilo, HI 96720. No phone calls, please.

Affirmative Action/Equal Opportunity Employer. Qualified women and minorities encouraged to apply.

 

 

 

dealing with fragmentation and other issues

open is such a poorly defined term...

no surprises here - they need a manageable platform

our perception of risk

A piece in the LA Times on the perception of risk.  The levels of radiation from the Japanese nuclear plant disaster a distance from the plant are much lower than other radiation risks we don't think twice about and much lower than other forms of risk.  I'm not a fan of nuclear power, but the reasons are not plant safety issues - overall death risks are much lower than burning fossil fuels and we do that all the time without thinking about it.  (There are potentially very large risks associated with proliferation that we ignore ..  that is one of my nightmares about widespread nuclear use).  In general I'm not a fan - but only if you don't compensate by increasing fossil fuel burning.  As a country we really haven't exploited conservation and efficiency.  

Here are some dosage risks and a nice visualization of them (via Information is beautiful)  - note that a logarithmic scale is used.

The lowest estimates for deaths from the particulate that comes from burning coal are several thousand deaths per year in the US - yet almost no one worries considers that a real risk.  More perplexing is that we brush off over 3000 automobile deaths a month when very simple steps could easily cut that in half.  

We are very bad at risk assessment.  It may well be something we are wired with to deal with risks from a different time.  Very curious...

 

In the meantime it is probably not a good thing to be a Japanese fisherman or farmer.

more auroral video

beauty by Ole Calomonsen

In The Land Of The Northern Lights from Ole Christian Salomonsen on Vimeo.

 

bamboo bike fenders

Noted in Ecovelo - Planet Bike Grasshopper Fenders

Not exactly cheap, but very beautiful on certain types of bikes and functional.  

Over the weekend I had an email from a regular reader who decided to ditch the family second car in favor of bikes.  They ended up with his and hers commuter bikes and a dedicated cargo bike which cost about half what they got from selling their old 15 mpg pickup.  They figured they should sell now before gas is $5 a gallon and came to the conclusion they don't use it very much and could rent one when they really needed the utility. 

a dog who grew up with cattle

a detailed view

A 40 gigapixel (280,000 x 140,000) view of the library of the Strahov Monestary in Prague, Czech Republic.    Almost 3000 photos stitched together.  The camera was a Canon 550D using a 200mm lens.

thanks for the link Tom 

at&t goes with cng vans

AT&T buys 101 GM cargo vans that are fueled by compressed natural gas.

Over the life of the vans gasoline may well go to $5 or more a gallon, so this may be a very good investment.  I'm wondering how they'll be operated.  I don't know about the current AT&T fleet, but the communications companies in our area (cable and telco) often have their vans idling for very extended periods (I've seen an hour around here).  There is also an issue of dispatch and route planning.  The local cable company doesn't do any of that.   So a reasonable question is how efficiently is a fleet run independent of the fuel source.

Carbon emissions from natural gas are another issue.  Burning natural gas only produces about three quarters the carbon dioxide per joule of energy as gasoline.  Sounds like a win, eh?  The problem is (a) this isn't a huge reduction if you are interested in carbon emission reduction and (b) it doesn't look at the life cycle analysis of the fuels.

Life cycle analyses are complex - they look at the energy used for mining, processing, transportation of the fuel and combustion.  The problem with natural gas is that it is mostly methane - an extremely potent greenhouse gas.  Leakage to the environment at any of the stages - by a few percent - can render NG worse than burning gasoline and even worse than burning coal.  The devil is into the details.  Some analyses suggest that natural leakage of the current NG infrastructure is sufficient to remove its advantage and recent analyses suggest shale coal mining (fracking) may release considerable amounts of methane making NG worse than burning coal.  Much more research needs to be done and companies like AT&T have to be very careful about calling their NG vehicles "green" unless they have investigated the lifecycle impact of NG relative to gasoline or diesel fuel.  Of course green may not be the point and NG may turn out to be much less expensive in fleets.

they know when you've been sleeping .. they know when you're awake ..

Bjarne notes a link that illustrates our current level of privacy.  Of course things are getting worse -- think about adding Facebook, Twitter and things like Color

tampering with insulation in the brain

This is early work, but it may be that being obese (rather than just overweight) may be bad for cognition.  (noted in Science News)