Mountain Views News          Saturday, October 9, 2010

12

THE WORLD AROUND YOU

 MountainViews-News Saturday, October 9, 2010 


POTENTIALLY HAZARDOUS ASTEROID DISCOVERED


The Panoramic Survey Telescope & Rapid Response System (Pan-
STARRS) PS1 telescope has discovered an asteroid that will come 
within 4 million miles of Earth in mid-October of this year. The 
object is about 150 feet in diameter and was discovered in images 
acquired on September 16, when it was about 20 million miles 
away. (For a perspective on distances, the Sun is some 90 million 
miles away and the Moon is about ••• million miles from us.)

This is the first “Potentially Hazardous Object” (PHO) to be 
discovered by the Pan-STARRS survey and has been given the 
designation “2010 ST3.”

“Although this particular object won’t hit Earth in the immediate 
future, its discovery shows that Pan-STARRS is now the most 
sensitive system dedicated to discovering potentially dangerous 
asteroids,” said Robert Jedicke, a University of Hawaii member of 
the PS1 Scientific Consortium, who is working on the asteroid data 
from the telescope. “This object was discovered when it was too 
far away to be detected by other asteroid surveys,” Jedicke noted.

Pan-STARRS is an innovative design for a wide-field imaging 
facility developed at the University of Hawaii’s Institute for 
Astronomy. The combination of relatively small mirrors with very 
large digital cameras results in an economical observing system 
that can observe the entire available sky several times each month. 

The prototype single-mirror telescope, PS1, is now operational 
on Mount Haleakala, Hawaii. Its scientific research program is 
being undertaken by the PS1 Science Consortium—a collaboration 
between ten research organizations in four countries.

Most of the largest PHOs have already been catalogued, but scientists 
suspect that there are many more with diameters of less than a mile 
that have not yet been discovered. These could cause devastation 
on a regional scale if they ever hit our planet. Such impacts are 
estimated to occur once every few thousand years.

Timothy Spahr, director of the Minor Planet Center (MPC), said, 
“I congratulate the Pan-STARRS project on 
this discovery. It is proof that the PS1 telescope, 
with its Gigapixel Camera and its sophisticated, 
computerized system for detecting moving objects, 
is capable of finding potentially dangerous objects 
that no one else has found.” The MPC, located 
in Cambridge, Mass., was established by the 
International Astronomical Union in 1947 to collect 
and disseminate positional measurements for 
asteroids and comets, to confirm their discoveries, 
and to give them preliminary designations.

Pan-STARRS expects to discover tens of thousands 
of new asteroids every year with sufficient precision 
to accurately calculate their orbits around the sun. 
Any sizable object that looks like it may come close 
to Earth within the next 50 years or so will be labeled 
“potentially hazardous” and carefully monitored. 
NASA experts believe that, given several years 
warning, it should be possible to organize a space 
mission to deflect any asteroid that is discovered to 
be on a collision course with Earth.

Pan-STARRS has broader goals as well. PS1 and its 
bigger brother, PS4, which will be operational later 
in this decade, are expected to discover a million 
or more asteroids in total, as well as more distant targets such as 
variable stars, supernovas, and mysterious bursts from galaxies 
across more than half the universe. PS1 became fully operational 
in June 2010.

You can contact Bob Eklund at: b.eklund@MtnViewsNews.com.

Pan-STARRS observatory on Mount Haleakala in Hawaii Courtesy Harvard.edu

Ask jai……

 
This week saw the release 
of the movie “The Social 
Network” which, despite its 
rave reviews, I won’t be going 
to see. Not in the theater. Not 
on whatever cable channel 
gets the second-run release. 
Not on NetFlix. Not on a 
plane and not on a train… 

 I think you know where I’m 
going with this. I am not a 
fan of the Facebook and by 
extension that means that I wouldn’t be a fan of 
a movie about Facebook. I don’t have anything 
against Facebook or other any other social 
networking site and this rant isn’t being written 
on an Model T Portable Manual typewriter inside 
of a handmade wooden shed located far away 
from any sign of modern ‘lectric civilization but 
I just don’t get the whole Facebook thing and 
I don’t really care to. But as an IT Professional 
I am truly fascinated by the inner workings 
of the digital monster that is FaceBook. With 
more than 500 million active users, FaceBook is 
the busiest site on the Internet and has built an 
extensive infrastructure to support this rapid 
growth. The social networking site was launched 
in February 2004, initially out of Facebook 
founder Mark Zuckerberg’s dorm room at 
Harvard University and using a single server.

 The company’s web servers and storage units are 
now housed in data centers around the country. 
Each data center houses thousands of computer 
servers, which are networked together and linked 
to the outside world through fiber optic cables. 
Every time you share information on Facebook, 
the servers in these data centers receive the 
information and distribute it to your network 
of friends. Just how big is FaceBooks’ internet 
infrastructure? With more than 690 billion page 
views each month Facebook currently accounts 
for about 9.5 percent of all Internet traffic, slightly 
more than Google and technical presentations by 
Facebook staff suggest that as of June 2010 the 
company was running at least 60,000 servers in its 
data centers, up from 30,000 in 2009 and 10,000 
back in April 2008. Numbers this large testify to 
the fact that this is a really big deal. 

Beyond the fact of FaceBooks’ massive footprint 
is the reality that the social networking 
phenomenon has really ‘changed things’ for a 
great many people. Entire new norms of inter-
personal communication have arisen as a result 
of the rise of Facebook and these changes have 
spanned generations and continents as big ideas 
usually do. So even though I don’t get it I can kind 
of understand why you might.

 

Ask jai is a weekly column that will strive to honestly answer your job search 
questions relating to job searching techniques, networking skills, resume 
writing and interviewing. The employment situation is getting better, however, 
it is still a challenge finding were the jobs are located and how to get pass the 
“gate-keepers”. As an Executive Recruiter I was privy to working directly 
with Corporate Recruiters and understanding their process in selecting which 
candidates to interview and hire. I will candidly answer your questions, possibly 
bluntly answering you questions, but I will be totally honest. My objective is to 
help you achieve your employment goal. 

All Things Facebook

Q: My daughter will graduate from college in two years with a Bachelor 
Degree in Marketing. My concern is that she is going to have a hard time finding a marketing job. I 
keep encouraging her to find an internship or part-time job while she is in college. She says that her 
Marketing Degree is all she will need to get a job after graduation. I am afraid that is just what will 
happen she will get “a job”. I support my daughter financially and emotionally to get a degree that 
will eventually lead to a rewarding career. I emphasize career not “a job”. How can I impress on her 
how important it is to get work experience before she graduates from college? What type of advice 
would you give her? Concerned Mother

Dear Concerned Mother

You and your daughter are putting in a lot of time, energy and money over a four year period for her 
to only eventually just get “a job”. It appears to me that your daughter is not focusing on her future 
or career aspirations. This is normal for students in their junior year of college. However, this is the 
right time for her to focus on her future employment and develop a career plan. What is her long-
term career path, objective and goal? Marketing Degrees are very diverse in their areas of career 
focus and paths. I would suggest that you encourage your daughter to find out (or decide) what area 
(or areas) of marketing she is interested in pursuing. 

 Student internships, summer and part-time jobs, and volunteer experience are very important in the 
hiring decision making process today. Employers seek out college students and graduates who have 
career-related experience as an intern, volunteer, summer or part-time employee that matches with 
their requirements and qualifications. 

Express to your daughter that participating in career related activities or employment during college 
is an excellent way to explore her chosen career path and passion. I suggest that your daughter 
visits her college career center and make an appointment with a career advisor. The center will have 
information and job descriptions from employers about internships, jobs and volunteer positions. 
The advisor will assist her in designing a career development plan based on her course of study, area 
of interest, career goal and objective. The career center advisor will also assist her in acquiring work-
related experience that will eventually be vital to her in securing employment in her chosen field of 
study. 

 Employers make their final decision about which student or graduate to hire based on the student’s 
commitment to their career goals, and that could be reflected in the student’s experiences and skills 
acquired in their internships, part-time jobs and volunteer activities. Pre-graduation work experience 
can separate those who get hired and those who do not. Continue to encourage your daughter to 
include work experience either on-campus or off-campus to her educational experience. Career 
driven knowledge, experience and focus will make it easier for her to find gratifying employment 
before or after graduation. 

RICH Johnson

WOMEN: CONTINUE TO IGNORE THIS COLUMN


In keeping with my recent 
theme on better relating with 
women, I continue.

It is not uncommon for 
members of the fairer sex 
to query their partners as to 
what they are thinking at any 
given time. This, of course, 
can be very dangerous as you probably have no 
idea as to what they want you to be thinking.

Jumping the gun is the best way to head them off 
at the past. Memorize and be ready to offer up a 
response. I’ll list some below with the pros and 
cons of each:

“I’m thinking that tonight it’d be nice to stay home 
and sit by the fire together.”

Pros: Romantic and it sounds as if you are 
spontaneous.

Cons: It requires a fireplace. And it could backfire. 
Romantic moments have been known to spawn 
even more “what are you thinking” queries.

“I’m thinking how much I love you.”

Pros: Generally provokes a positive response. 
And it often short circuits any need for further 
conversation. 

Cons: You can’t use it too much or she’ll know it’s 
a line. Then you are really in trouble.

“I was imagining, if I were an animal, what sort of 
animal I’d be.”

Pros: Gals tend to love this idea. It’s not only 
imaginative it also inpires women to spend a 
whole evening trying to establish your place in 
the animal kingdom.

Cons: She might think you resemble a skunk or 
weasel. Or worse yet, she may forego the animal 
kingdom and go straight to yeasts.

“I’m just thinking about how true the lyrics to 
‘Dust in the Wind’ really are.”

Pros: Shows how sensitive you are (or pretend to 
be.) It also shows depth of musical knowledge. 
In fact, you can forestall further conversation by 
breaking out into the song. Memorize the lyrics.

Cons: If she’s a connoisseur of 1970’s melodic 
rock, you may find yourself in a bitter, divisive 
quarrel about which is deeper, “Dust in the Wind,” 
or Aerosmith’s “Dream On.”

“I’m was wondering if there is actually life on 
other planets.”

Pros: Imaginative. Shows you are a deep thinker.

Cons: She may actually get the impression you 
are a geek nerd. Don’t bring this up particularly 
if you play video games and/or regularly go to 
ComicCon.

Be encouraged to plan your own actual thoughts. 
I would prethink the thoughts up and run them 
by a sister or the wife of a good friend. If you 
actually have one at the moments she asks (hey, 
it could happen,) go ahead and bring it up. That 
is unless it’s along the lines of “This relationships 
stinks,” “I really like margarine.” 

A little planning can help you go a long, long way. 
Or so I’ve been thinking.

Finally, on another note, it’s quite an extraordinary 
and timely coincidence the LA Times just 
now reported an alleged incident involving 
gubernatorial candidate Meg Whitman using an 
undocumented worker all these years. So close 
to the election. Possibly they were paid political 
advertisements purchased by the Democratic 
party. Who can say? And finally, just exactly 
what is the difference between an undocumented 
worker and an illegal alien? 

Exploding Fish

KATIE Tse ..........This and That

 I think the psychologist intern must’ve thought I was severely disturbed, 
perhaps with violent tendencies. It was preschool or kindergarten (I don’t 
remember), and a nice lady was asking me questions like “What do birds 
do?” “Fly,” I said. “And what do fish do?” she asked. “Explode.” I replied.

 My response is entirely understandable, if you knew the circumstances 
leading up to it. As a young child, my parents had great faith in my animal 
husbandry skills, and entrusted me with feeding the fish. Our collection 
included a few goldfish and an algae eater. One day I was curious to 
see what would happen if I dumped the entire jar of flakes in at once. 
Soon bloated goldfish corpses rose from the murky soup to the surface 
like sinister bobbing apples. Only the algae eater survived --tough old 
devil. So you can see how the novelty of this experience prompted me 
to associate fish more with explosion than swimming at that point in my 
childhood.

 Jump to the present. For the past few weeks I’ve been helping out in 
my niece’s kindergarten class. The other day a boy, who’s been having some difficulty adjusting to 
school, squirted his chocolate milk all over a girl during morning recess. The teacher asked me to 
accompany him to the principal for reprimand. The principal wasn’t there, so we were left waiting 
in her office. The boy soon noticed her fish tank, and I asked him if he had any pets. “Yes,” he said, 
“I have a fish.” “Oh,” I said, “What’s it like?” He furrowed his brow in concentration. “Well, one’s 
little.” he said, indicated its size with his fingers. “And the other’s big.” “Oh. So you have two fish.” 
I replied. He shook his head, “No. We put the big one in the toilet and it went round and round.” 
He spun his finger for emphasis. “It was dead,” he said. “Oh,” I replied, ready to reassure him that 
his fish was happy somewhere in Fish Heaven. “My mom said I fed him too much,” he said. I was 
busting up inside but I think I kept a straight face, at least straight enough for a kindergartener. “Oh, 
that’s okay, Honey,” I told him. “I did the same thing when I was your age.” His expression told me 
he didn’t get it at all, but for me, the moment was priceless!


WRITING SERVICES 

 Could you use help in preparing written communications for your business? I have extensive 
experience in writing and editing business documents including brochures, proposals, 
newsletters, resumes, customer success stories, press releases, and articles for newspapers and 
magazines. 

 Current work includes writing the column, “Looking Up with Bob Eklund,” in Mountain Views 
News, and writing newsletters for the Mount Wilson Observatory. I recently published a book, 
First Star I See Tonight: an Exploration of Wonder, and am finishing a second book, Winds 
Aloft. For writing samples and resume, see my web site: www.bobeklund.com. OR beklund@
sprynet.com (310) 216-5947