Mountain Views News          Saturday, January 22, 2011

12

THE WORLD AROUND YOU

 Mountain Views News Saturday, January 22, 2011


New Telescope Explores Solar System “Outback”

In the outer reaches of our solar system lies a mysterious region 
far more aremote and difficult to explore than the Australian outback. 
It remains the only part of our solar system not visited by 
spacecraft. Called the Kuiper Belt, this area beyond Neptune is 
home to the dwarf planets Pluto, Eris, Makemake, and Haumea. It 
also harbors thousands of smaller objects that form a second, icy 
asteroid belt (or more appropriately, comet belt). In this realm of 
perpetual twilight, the distant Sun looks like just another bright 
star.

A new telescope located on Haleakala, Hawaii, has begun to explore 
the “solar system outback,” and already is scoring discoveries. 
The Panoramic Survey Telescope & Rapid Response System (Pan-
STARRS) PS1 telescope has found ten Kuiper Belt residents. Based 
on their brightnesses, the newfound objects range in size from 180 
to 300 miles.

“We’re excited that Pan-STARRS is beginning to find these objects,” 
said Smithsonian astronomer Matthew Holman, who leads 
the Pan-STARRS-1 Outer Solar System Key Project.

“It marks the tip of the iceberg for future Pan-STARRS discoveries,” 
he added.

Among the known Kuiper Belt objects, the most famous is Pluto. 
Discovered in 1930 by Clyde Tombaugh at Arizona’s Lowell Observatory, 
Pluto was considered to be the 9th planet in our Solar 
System until 2006, when it was reclassified as a “dwarf planet” by 
the International Astronomical Union (IAU)—primarily because 
other similar-sized objects had been discovered in the Kuiper Belt. 
However, many professional astronomers took issue with the IAU 
decision, and a large part of the public was outraged. In fact, the 
House of Representatives of New Mexico (where Tombaugh had 
long resided) resolved that Pluto would always be a planet in New 
Mexico skies; and the State Senate of Illinois (Tombaugh’s birthplace) 
also passed a resolution condemning the reclassification.

The Outer Solar System Key Project is part of a larger survey to 
which 60 percent of Pan-STARRS telescope time will be devoted. 
Over the course of the coming months and years, PS1 will repeatedly 
survey the full sky that is visible from its location on Haleakala, 
spotting objects as faint as magnitude 23 (10 million times 
fainter than visible to the unaided eye). “The survey is expected 
to find a whole range of objects—from small, nearby asteroids to 
possibly more dwarf planets,” stated Harvard astronomer Pavlos 
Protopapas.

“By the end of the survey, we’ll have an essentially complete census 
of everything brighter than the survey’s limiting magnitude,” 
said Holman. This corresponds to Kuiper Belt Objects about 180 
miles in diameter or larger.

 “Pan-STARRS-1 offers us a remarkable opportunity to study 
the outer solar system in unprecedented detail,” said team member 
Ying-Tung Chen, a graduate student at the National Central University 
of Taiwan.

Pan-STARRS will allow planetary astronomers to locate many 
new Kuiper Belt Objects and characterize their orbits. This will 
provide a firmer understanding of the structure, dynamics, and 
evolution of the outer solar system. Pan-STARRS is also likely to 
be a productive tool for discovering new comets.

Pan-STARRS-1 is a 1.8-meter (71-inch) telescope featuring the 
world’s largest digital camera—a 1.4-gigapixel (1,400-megapixel) 
monster that can photograph an area of the sky as large as 36 full 
moons in a single exposure. PS1 became fully operational in June 
2010.

The Pan-STARRS Project is being led by the Institute for Astronomy 
of the University of Hawaii.

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


Ask jai……


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.

“ZERO DAY”

I have over 15 years experience in marketing and worked for 3 employers. I do not feel that a one page resume 
tells my story. What is the right number of pages for a resume? Perplexed.

Dear Perplexed,

The appropriate number of pages for a resume depends on your work history and experience. Rule of thumb is 
no more than two pages. I would suggest one page if you have less than five years experience and two pages if you 
have more than five years experience. Be sure that you include all the necessary information to get the employer’s 
attention to respond to your interest in their position: Summary of Experience, Work History with accomplishment 
statements, Computer and Software skills, Industry skills and Education.

I received a call from an employer who said she was reviewing resumes and wanted to ask me only one question: 
“what type of salary did I want?” I wasn’t sure what to say. I was afraid that I would give her an answer that would 
be too high or low and not be considered for the job. The answer I finally gave her was the salary that I made at my 
last position. I was really underpaid at my last job. What should I have said? Underpaid.

Dear Underpaid,

Employers typically conduct a “candidate screening call”. It sounds like this was a screening call and not a telephone 
interview. In this scenario there is only one person who does not know what the salary is. That is you. You 
should always prepare yourself to answer this question during a screening call, telephone interview or office interview. 

If you have no idea what the salary for the position is you have all the right in the world to ask the employer. Knowing 
the salary should also become part of your employment screening process. A possible response could have been 
“I did not notice a listing for the salary, could you tell me what the range is?” At this point you should be prepared 
to respond if you are or not comfortable with the range. If the employer does not give you a salary range and pushes 
you for a response, again, be prepared with a salary response. I would suggest that you give the employer a $5,000 
- $10,000 range around the salary you actually want. Be very careful with your response because an employer will 
usually hold you to what ever salary or salary range you give. Research salaries in your area by checking out the 
following websites: HYPERLINK “http://www.PayScale.com” www.PayScale.com or HYPERLINK “http://www.
Salary.com” www.Salary.com. 

A frequent topic of computer security discussions is the so-called “Zero-Day 
exploit”. A Zero-Day exploit is defined as a computer vulnerability being 
used by a hacker taking advantage of the vulnerability on the same day as the 
vulnerability is generally known, before software vendors have had a chance to 
fix the issue. There are typically “zero days” between the discovery of the exploit 
and the attack, hence the name. In most cases when vulnerability is found in 
computer code, the discoverer will notify the company responsible for creating 
and publishing the software (and sometimes the computing community at 
large) so that a fix can be developed and implemented before any real damage is 
done. Even if hackers happen to learn about the exploit as the same time as the 
software publisher they may not be able to take advantage of the vulnerability 
before it is fixed. When the hacker also happens to be the discoverer of the 
exploit and the vulnerability wasn’t generally known in advance, there may 
be no effective way to guard against an attack using this new vector. For these 
instances, security software companies have devised programs and sub-routines 
that look for specific, suspicious activity (such as requests to format drives that 
do not originate from the console) and disallow such actions.

The name “Zero-Day exploit” itself is a bit misleading because in many 
instances the vulnerabilities that are taken advantage of have been know to 
either the software company or hackers themselves for quite some time before 
“something bad” happens. Many of the larger software manufactures have 
entire well-financed sections of their operations devoted to identifying, tracking 
and repairing security holes in their products. Sometimes there are differing 
opinions as to what constitutes a vulnerability needing immediate attention and 
a bug to be fixed in the next scheduled software update. 

The best thing you can do to protect against zero-day exploits is to follow good 
security policies in the first place. By installing and keeping your anti-virus 
software up to date, blocking file attachments to emails which may be harmful 
and keeping your system patched against the vulnerabilities you are already 
aware of you can secure your system or network against 99% of the bad stuff 
that’s out there. 

One of the best measures for protecting against currently unknown threats is to 
employ a hardware or software (or both) firewall. You can also enable heuristic 
scanning (a technology used to attempt to block viruses or worms that are not 
yet known about) in your anti-virus software. By blocking unnecessary traffic 
in the first place with a hardware firewall, blocking access to system resources 
and services with a software firewall or using your anti- virus software to help 
detect anomalous behavior you can better protect yourself against the dreaded 
zero-day exploit.

As the youngest of seven children, I spent my childhood 
growing up in the rural deep south, with loving parents 
who taught me to be a sensitive, caring person. I had a 
charmed life, with a big yard, peach trees and a sustainable 
fresh vegetable garden. We raised chickens & rabbits, and 
had many pets including dogs, cats and horses. 

When I was 6 years old, we had a neighbor who raised 
hound dogs that he used for the sole purpose of hunting. 
I remember feeling so sad for those hounds next door, because 
the owner would nearly starve them between hunting 
trips, to peak their senses and make the most of their 
tracking abilities. At times those poor hunting dogs got 
so thin, you could count the rib bones on either side of 
their pitiful empty stomachs. When our neighbor would 
leave his house to go into town, my sister Vicki and I would 
sneak into his back yard and feed his dogs left-over scraps 
our mother saved from the dinner table. It broke our hearts 
to see them snap up the scraps within a few short seconds 
, then look up at us with those sad eyes, begging for more. 
It wasn’t long before my parents called the humane society 
and reported our neighbor for animal neglect, and the 
dogs were taken away. 

The memory of seeing those hungry hounds in my 
neighbor’s back yard as a young child stayed with me all 
of my life. I promised myself I would somehow find a way 
to make up for the cruelty those dogs had been subjected 
to, and I decided that one day I would have a bloodhound 
of my own who would receive the love that they had been 
denied. 

A few years ago, I finally found myself in the position 
to pursue my long awaited pilgrimage of finding a bloodhound 
in need of a good home. Before I started my quest, 
I read a lot about the breed, and I consulted with people I 
knew who were familiar with their specific characteristics 
and peculiarities. Within a week after I started my search, 
I came across a non-profit breed rescue agency called 
“Bloodhounds West” and I called them to see if there 
were any dogs available for adoption. The volunteer told 
me there were no hounds on hand at the time, but when 
she realized how determined I was, she told me about a 
young AKC registered female bloodhound that had been 
bred for show, but had proven to be less than promising in 
the ring. Apparently the owner/handler had become quite 
fond of the dog, but had been forced to make the difficult 
decision to give her up to a loving home when the right 
person came along. She went on to say that this particular 
bloodhound was special, and would require more love 
and attention than most typically do. Well, I could not have 
custom-ordered a more perfect match! After all, I had set 
out to find a hound dog in need of lots of tender loving 
care, and this one apparently needed way more than most! 

That weekend I drove up to a gorgeous canyon ranch 
in Saddleback, where I met “Tatertotts” for the first time. 
When I arrived at the ranch she was in a kennel, cantering 
back and forth under a huge canopy of old California Oak 
trees. The excitement that glowed through her big brown 
eyes stole my heart! I knew I had to have her. 

Upon arrival at her new home in Sierra Madre, Tatertotts 
was quite nervous about being suddenly transported 
to a strange place with people she did not know. It took 
me about an hour to convince her that it was safe to go 
inside the house, but once she was in, there was no getting 
her out! Little by little, Tatertotts became familiar with 
her new surroundings and eventually gained full trust in 
her new owner. Within a few short weeks, we were best 
buddies! 

I like to call her “Sweet Tater”, because she really is very 
sweet and because she makes those “poor pitiful me” kinds 
of looks on her face when she gets hungry or wants her 
way. My Sweet Tater is indeed a special girl, with very 
specific, special needs. Most bloodhounds are pretty easy 
going and for the most part very social, from what I understand, 
but Tater is different. She is selective when it comes 
to who she chooses to allow in her personal space. Ironically 
though, Tater is way more sensitive to the feelings and 
thoughts of other beings than many other dogs, therefore 
she reacts more intensely to those who approach her. Regardless 
of her individual idiosyncrasies, that floppy-eared, 
sloppy-faced hound dog has made her way into my heart, 
and become a major part of my life. Each day I am comforted, 
knowing that Tater receives the unconditional love 
that my childhood neighbor’s dogs did not receive, and I 
benefit from knowing that I chose to be driven in a positive 
way by the emotional impact that early childhood experience 
had on me. And I tell you what, Sweet Tater appreciates 
that very much!

Sweet Tater


Happy Tails

by Chris Leclerc


ONE & DONE

It was a particularly frigid winter, wouldn’t you say? We got a lot 
of rain, which helps the environment and lets me get away with not 
washing my car. Besides keeping us soggy down here in the foothills, 
the rain and cold ushered in a familiar winter guest. I’m not talking 
about your relatives from the northern Mid West who time their visits 
to coincide with the weeks they’d be most likely to slip on a patch of 
ice on their porch; I’m talking about snow. It shined and twinkled at 
us from the peaks as we drove along the freeway, and beckoned to the 
skiers and snowboarders like Odysseus’ sirens. 

I love the hot sun and hate being cold. I 
think snow is best appreciated as part of a 
nice documentary viewed from the warmth 
of my couch. My husband, however, is passionate 
about snowboarding. When we 
were first dating, he invited me to hit the 
slopes with him, and offered to buy me the 
clothes necessary for such a venture. I persuaded 
him to only purchase the pants; I 
would assemble the rest of the outfit from 
my existing cold weather clothes. In the 
back of my mind I knew it would likely be 
my one and only winter sports experience 
(which it was), and I didn’t want to feel guilty that his money was spent in vain (it was).

I have absolutely no athletic skills even under the best conditions. So needless to say, I 
spent most of the day on my rear. I don’t know who invented the snowboard, but having 
your feet strapped to a plank at hips width makes you feel like one of those little green 
toy soldiers. For my husband, the board is a natural extension of his legs, allowing him 
to cut and glide through the snow. I, on the other hand, found myself tipping forward 
almost as often as I fell backwards. The snow insidiously found a way inside my boots 
and jacket; the only thing keeping it from refreezing was my constant movement. After 
several hours of alternately slamming my wrists and bottom, I was cold, clammy and 
sore. I wanted to cry but managed to keep laughing at my pathetic attempts at grace and 
balance.

We decided to have some friends join us for our next trip to the snow so that my 
husband wouldn’t have to snowboard alone. A couple of the non-snowboarding girls 
and I walked around Mammoth while the others spent hours going up and down the 
hill. I soon got tired of having to put on my mittens and take them off every time we 
entered and exited a store. I slipped a few times on the slushy sidewalk and toppled onto 
a couple eating lunch at an outside table (who eats outside with a wind chill factor?). At 
least their drinks were empty; otherwise it could’ve been even more embarrassing. That 
night our rented condo quickly ran out of hot water, so I had to shower cold. I seriously 
considered staying dirty, and probably would’ve if the others weren’t with us. I’m usually 
easy to please and overlook minor inconveniences, but the snow did something horrible 
to me – it turned me into a diva! 

Since then I have cheerfully sent my husband off on any snowy excursion he wishes to 
take. People sometimes say it’s so nice of me to let him go off and have fun while I stay 
home. Smiling, I nod and keep my real motives to myself.