[meteorite-list] COMPLETELY METEORITIC IMPACT RELATED

From: Sterling K. Webb <sterling_k_webb_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Tue Aug 15 05:15:49 2006
Message-ID: <00a001c6c04b$61f27e40$ce29e146_at_ATARIENGINE>

Hi, All,


    John Walker, founder of Autodesk, Inc. and co-author of
AUTOCAD, naturally became rich, sold the company, moved
to Switzerland. He has a website full of astronomical programs
of all kinds, all free (he can afford it), and other tidbits, like the
full text of an 1880 book by P. T. Barnum, entitled The Art of
Getting Money.

    At this URL is a free download of an impact screen saver:
http://www.fourmilab.ch/craters/

    I quote his description:
"What better way to protect your monitor's phosphor
than by smashing rocks into it at dozens of kilometres
per second? The Craters Screen Saver simulates cratering
of initially flat terrain, obeying the same power-law relating
crater size to number observed on airless solar system
bodies. New version 3.0 is compatible with dual screen
configurations on Windows XP and saves preferences
in the registry individually for each user. This is a minimalist
screen saver originally released in 1994 which appeared in
the November 2000 issue of Sky & Telescope magazine."

    It's quick, effortless, not buggy, fascinating to watch, and
free -- what more could you want?

    His list of astronomical programs (also free) is worth
exploring, too.


Sterling K. Webb
Received on Tue 15 Aug 2006 05:15:41 AM PDT