The International Astronomy Meetings List

This link lists the astronomy meetings that will happen around the world: The International Astronomy Meetings List.

Pretty nice.

The IFU wiki

To the IFU people: The Integral Field Spectroscopy Wiki

"Do you currently work with, or are you thinking about applying for
integral field unit (IFU) observations? If so, then the Integral Field
Spectroscopy wiki is for you."
(via AstroBetter)

Making your linux desktop more useful (and prettier)

Here is a list of things that I implemented in my Linux desktop manager (Gnome), and made it more productive and also prettier. By prettier I mean looking more like Mac OS X. So in fact this guide gives suggestions to make your linux desktop become more like Mac OS X.

Disclaimer: Some of the suggestions are suited for Gnome, which is the desktop manager that I use. My distro is Ubuntu.Why do I pick Gnome? Well, because I don't like KDE and because Gnome looks more like Mac OS X.

First of all, you need Compiz to turn on pretty 3D effects. And in order to have compiz working you need decent drivers for your video board, with support for 3D acceleration. I suggest to install the package compizconfig-settings-manager which provides a nice interface for changing the settings of the different compiz plugins.

The compiz plugins that I find most useful are:

• Desktop Wall, for switching between virtual desktops or viewports
• Expo, which shows a snapshot of all desktops at once, similarly to Mac's Spaces
  
• Scale provides the same functionality as Mac's Exposé

I like Mac's Dock, and I have something very similar to that in linux with the application AWN Manager.

Google Desktop for linux is a fantastic desktop search tool. It allows me to open the papers and documents I want incredibly fast, without needing to browse any folder. Just need to press CTRL twice and type the relevant keywords. It is the analogous of Mac's Spotlight.

For quickly opening applications, try Gnome-Do. It is the equivalent of Mac's Quicksilver. Again, no need to browse menus for the application you need. Just call gnome-do and type in the few beginning letters in the name of the program you want to launch.

For to-do lists and reminders, try the Sticky Notes applet that comes built-in with Gnome.

Any other suggestions? Feel free to comment.

Tutoriais sobre linux

Este post contém um material que enviei para algumas pessoas que estão iniciando no uso do linux. Pode ser útil aos usuários iniciantes.

Alguns comandos muito úteis no terminal do linux

TAB auto-completa comandos ou nomes de arquivos/diretórios
~ apelido para o caminho da tua home (exemplo: "cd ~" volta para a home)
whatis comando explica sucintamente pra que serve o comando
man comando manual do comando
whereis comando caminho onde está o programa responsável por comando
pwd mostra o caminho completo do diretório corrente

Tabelas de consulta rápida aos comandos

Printable beginner's guide to the terminal

Practical reference of linux commands

Páginas de referência (mais longas)

Guia Foca de Linux

Ubuntu pocket guide and reference (livro completo, grátis)

Linux tutorial for beginners

Alguém tem sugestões sobre bons livros para usuários iniciantes do linux/ubuntu? Escrevam nos comentários.

Programas equivalentes: linux e windows

Pessoal,

Achei este link que traz um post muito legal discutindo programas equivalentes em linux e windows.

Isso será útil para novos usuário.

TexMaker

Estive com problemas no uso do kile (editor de latex) no gnome. Uma boa alternativa é o texmaker, que roda muito bem no gnome e tem funcionalidades similares as do kile.

IDL for astronomers

I found an interesting blog entry that summarizes the basics of IDL for scientists. I personally think that IDL is much superior, regarding its resources for data analysis and plotting, than programs like Supermongo, Xmgrace (and its flavors), gnuplot and even Origin. The shortcoming is that IDL is not free and quite expensive, but you get what you pay for. I am curious though to learn how Python, supplemented with additional libraries, compares to IDL in this respect.

If you want to learn more about IDL, google for "idl tutorials" and check this guide of IDL for astronomers. The documentation (tutorials) included with IDL are also a nice way to start learning.

In addition, there are some pretty useful IDL libraries for astronomy that I listed.

Nota: a partir de agora vou passar a escrever alguns dos meus posts em inglês. Assim, algumas das informações compartilhadas neste blog poderão ser de utilidade a uma comunidade mais ampla.

Solved: Gemini PIT does not work in Ubuntu Linux (recent versions)

Some people noticed that the Gemini PIT (phase I tool) does not work well with some of the most recent versions of Ubuntu linux. What happens: you try to run PIT, but is welcomed by a blank window.

I found out that this problem happens because PIT is not compatible with the resource Compiz available in the most recent versions of linux. The goal of compiz is to make your desktop prettier, looking more like a Mac OS X. The solution is to temporarily disable compiz while you have to submit your observation proposal using PIT.

To temporarily disable compiz, there are two ways that occur to me:

1. In Gnome: System -> preferences -> appearance -> visual effects, set none.

2. Use the program Compiz-switch, which is what I did.

The same trick also works for the Observing Tool (Gemini OT) program.