Amazing Light Show, with NO 'audience scanning' (just a few gamma-rays! ;)

[Jem]

Wow Jon, those are absolutely beautiful, truly awe inspiring. Isn't nature mega

Thanks for the posting.

Cheers

Jem

[DZ]

Very nice photos, Jon, thanks for sharing.

[steve-o]

Wow, truly beautiful!!! I saw the northern lights once when stationed in North Dakota and those rank right up there with them!!
_____________________________
DZ- What's the matter w/ 401K - no I havent checked on mine lately...
(i know the economy's gone bust)
-edit- yeh I just checked it.. glad i just got bonds and lo-risk stuff... still bad tho...

[DZ]

DZ- What's the matter w/ 401K - no I havent checked on mine lately...
(i know the economy's gone bust)
-edit- yeh I just checked it.. glad i just got bonds and lo-risk stuff... still bad tho...

Geez! A week and a half ago I check and was down 9%, just check this morning and I'm down 29%! I've also just moved most of it into high risk because one of two things is going to happen, either this has been a huge over self-correction caused by panic, or we really are headed for a serious depression. If that were the case though, then why did the company I work for completely beat wall street expectations a few days ago, and yet the stock is down nearly $40. Either way, I still have another 30+ years of working before retirement, which is plenty of time for recovery!

[buffo]

If you're going to retire in the next 5 years and you're 100% invested in stocks, you may be fucked. You've already lost over 30% and may not make it all back up before you retire.

However, if you're like DZ and I and plan to be working for at least the next 25 years or so, then leave your money where it is. In fact, if I had the funds, I'd be buying stock like crazy right now. When was the last time you could get in on a 6 year low?

Also, some good news: the market *always* rebounds in an election year.

Adam

[steve-o]

Huh? I'm 0% stocks, 100% bonds and low risk stuff. It's still doing good. Going to retire in about 10 years, maybe. I am however worried about 401K not being FDIC insured, though. I may roll it over to an IRA.

[buffo]

If you all in bonds, then you're probably safe. Don't sweat it.

Like I said, the only ones that should be worried are the high-risk dudes that are close to retirement yet still 100% in stocks. Those guys are probably screwed.

Adam

[steve-o]

Well, since this thread has already been hi-jacked, How's the 635 nM project going, Adam?

[buffo]

Hi Steve-o!

Well, I'm not the one doing all the grunt work. That would be Mike. (I don't have the knowledge or the patience for that sort of thing. I kill just about every bare diode I get my hands on!) From what I understand though, Mike has met with considerable success. He's still tweaking the optics train. Would like to make it simpler I gather... (I know he had a 7 element optical train that was giving him .7mrad divergence on a 4 mm beam, but the thing was something like 9 inches long, so it wasn't very practical.)

I'm still leaning on him to try to put these things into production one day. Since it appears that Marconi isn't selling the Maxyz modules anymore, maybe Mike can fill the gap! He still has some work to do though re: the housing and stuff.

I also spoke with a guy in Europe that is looking into a new 635 nm red diode that has an even smaller stripe width than the one's Mike is working with. But there are a lot of unknowns with that setup. (For sure it would cost more, and would probably be *very* sensitive to back-reflection as well.) I think Mike has the best shot at cracking this nut in the short run, and maybe in a year or so my pal in Europe may be able to work something out - assuming the diodes come down in price.

Adam

[steve-o]

Adam-
Sounds good, I hope Mike gets it going . I was just looking back on this thread, and it's been hi-jacked more times than an Iraqui 747.. from '10 dimensions' to 'space luminas'... no tellin' what else is back there...haha..