saurav

What postscript-viewers are available for iPad? [Ask AstroBetter]

by saurav November 9, 2011

Cameron M. recently got an iPad and is frustrated by the lack of a postscript (PS) viewer: I recently got an iPad that I’m trying to use for research (e.g., paper reading / annotations, outlining, etc).  It looks like it can be useful, but a major annoyance is no PS viewer.  I’ve even jailbroken my iPad. If anyone [...]

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Category: applications, productivity Tags: , , , ,

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Custom Search Engine for ADS BibTeX

by saurav June 7, 2011

We have previously talked about how to use Quicksilver to do custom ADS searches on Macs, and the Alfred version is pretty slick as well. However, such custom searches can also be done from straight from the web browser, independent of the OS you are using. Benoit Thiell, a developer at ADS, has sent along [...]

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LaTeX/BibTeX Tools Worth Knowing

by saurav May 23, 2011

A couple weeks ago, I was looking around the web for a script that would create a small bib file for just the references cited in a certain TeX manuscript. It took me a while to find the right one (aux2bib), which prompted me to write this post on LaTeX/BibTeX tools that are available but not [...]

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Privacy Issues with the iPhone/iPad and DropBox

by saurav April 20, 2011

There have been two recent developments exposing how false our sense of privacy is in this technological world. As all of us use the iPhone/iPad and/or the DropBox fairly regularly, this merits some discussion. 1) iPhone/iPad: Alasdair Allan & Pete Warden found that their iPhone has been tracking their location and the associated timestamp ever since [...]

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What Vector Drawing Packages Are Available? [Ask AstroBetter]

by saurav March 28, 2011

Matthew K. sent in a question for our Ask AstroBetter series: What vector graphics drawing package do you use for your figures? I’ve been using xfig for all my “hand drawn” plots, but I wonder if anyone has successfully moved on to more recent drawing packages … [a package] to draw simple figures like optical [...]

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Category: applications, figures Tags: , , , , ,

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What Changes with XCode 4 Not Being Free Anymore?

by saurav March 10, 2011

Marcos talked about the Mac App Store and the advantages it brings to Mac users.  While I was (and am) excited about the App Store and the numerous applications I now have easy access to, my one big fear is coming true: previously-free applications now need to be paid for. With the App Store handling [...]

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Category: applications, OS X Tags: , ,

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OS 10.7 (Lion) Will Bring Version Control, Application Resume, and More

by saurav February 25, 2011

Apple just seeded the developer’s preview for Mac OS 10.7 Lion and released more details about what Lion is going to bring. As OS 10.6 Snow Leopard was more of a cosmetic improvement, it has been a while since we got a “new” OS. Here are five reasons why I am really excited about OS [...]

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Category: OS X Tags: , , ,

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Spectrum summarizes 2010 Decadal Survey’s approach towards minorities

by saurav February 6, 2011

The January issue (pdf) of the Spectrum, the newsletter of the AAS Committee on the Status of Minorities in Astronomy, summarizes the 2010 Decadal Survey Report’s (New Worlds, New Horizons, on Astronomy & Astrophysics) comments on minorities and what should be done in the next ten years to improve astronomy’s abysmal record. Given its length and unfamiliarity, [...]

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Category: policy Tags: ,

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Mac OS X Hints for 10.6 Snow Leopard

by saurav January 13, 2011

As we look forward to the days of Mac OS 10.7 Lion (Summer 2011) and a flood of hints on how to take advantage of new features in Lion at Mac OS X Hints, I thought it would be a good idea to share the list (from my bookmarks) of my favorite hints  since 10.6 [...]

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Category: Links, OS X, productivity Tags: , ,

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Add Symbols and Equations to IDL Figures with LaTeX and PSfrag

by saurav January 4, 2011

While IDL does support math equations and symbols—often made easier by routines like sunsymbol.pro and textoidl.pro—the results are not aesthetically pleasing. One particular instance that has annoyed many of us astronomers has been the sunsymbol (⦿). The available solutions are not ideal: the dot inside the circle is off-center in sunsymbol.pro, the vertical alignment is [...]

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Category: figures, idl Tags: , , , ,

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