I need to get cracking.

I've been sidedtracked with both work and other projects, but I plan to pick up the pace with regards to developing the Cloudymidnights site.

I have a few additional links I will be adding shortly. Right now, my focus for the site will be creating a better layout.

That's it for now.

News and such for 06/10/06

Well it's been almost a month since the last update. So much for progress. I've been busy with some other issues and haven't done much with the site since the last update.

The one important bit of update information for the site is that I did add a link to cloudynights.com

I was unaware of the existance of this site and one day someone on the NW Astronomers List posted a note about the site being a good resource for reviews of telescopes and accessories. I added a link and a note to avoid any confusion for those looking for cloudynights.com

It does look like a good site for reivews of telescopes and accessories, so check it out.

Site Update and News 05/15/2006

I just started the Google Pages version of Cloudy Midnights. Actually Google Pages is quite easy to use and I hope Google expands the project.

I also added a link on each of the tribute pags for the cats to the Angel On My Shoulders list on Yahoo. This list has been very supportive of me and has helped me move on and get the Cloudymidnights site up and running.

I am also toying with the idea of startnig up with AdSense to possibly generate some revenue to help pay the costs of the site. I still have to think on this, because I am not sure about it.

Site Update and News 05/10/2006

I cannot believe it has been a month since I have worked on the site. I added a link for Oralux.org, a Linux distro for the visually impaired. They're a nice group of people and I will do what I can to support them. Speaking of supporting nice people, I added links for Nvu and for both FireFTP and the FireFTP charity projects.

I plan up doing some major renovation to the site in the near future. I'll be creating pages for specific catagories of links, and placing the links to those pages in a table on the home page. This should clean things up a bit.

I'll also create a seperate page regarding the cats and the naming of the site, though Midnight and Cloudy will still have their own pages.

I am hoping that I can find some good radio astronomy links. I am also going to incorporate the Google Page I get with the sites email address, and use it some how.

Site update 04/10/2006

Well I finally got around to updating the site and adding the three links for The See Project, You Can Do Astronomy LLC and The National Center For Blind Youth In Science

As always I am hoping I can do more with the site. If anyone is reading this and has some good links that I can post, please let me know.

A new link and a good book for new astronomers!

I just started reading Mike Lynch's "Washington Starwatch" and I really like his approach to the subject and writing style. Here is a link to his site.

I am planning to work on the site this weekend.

Site status 03/05/2006

Sadly the site status hasn't changed since the last post to this blog. I've been very busy with work and have not had time to sit down and do anything with the site.

I am planning to do some redesigning such as have seperate pages for visually impaired astronomers and their friends, and a links section.

I'm going to go ahead and post a few links that I hope people reading this blog might find interesting. I'll add these to the site shortly.

The first site is again the SEE Project. Then there is Noreen Grice's You Can Do Astronomy site which is is dedicated to making astronomy accessible to people who are blind and visually impaired. Lastly, there is the Blind Science site.

I am hoping that someone is at least looking at the site, and maybe even reading this blog. I could use some help tracking down resources such as interesting links. I just don't want to poach links off of someone else site. I've been searching and have found a few nice sites.

If you have any suggestions, please drop me a note either here or by email (see the site) Take care and happy star gazing.

The SEE Project

I have received replies from several people involved with the SEE Project , so I will be updating the site soon. From what I gather the funding for the project is winding down which is a shame given the effect it must of had on visually impaired students.

I have found other resources for the visually impaired who are interested in astronomy and sciences in general, and I will be adding them soon.

One of my major goals is to develop this site in such a way that it will work with what ever software visually impaired people use to access the internet. I will need to do more research on that subject, but I am hoping that if anyone who is reading this blog has any ideas or suggestions, that they will contact me. I also need to develop this site to be compatable with text only browsers, so I could also use some advice with that aspect.

I have been thinking about what resources are needed for thost astronomers who are climatically challenged, and will be working on a list of remote viewing sites, astronomy software, radio astronomy, and other subjects that will be of interest to shut-in astronomers.

Site news 02/05/2006

Well nothing to report. I'm still dealing with a bad cold though I did find a few more sites that I will put up the links page. I'm also reading a really good book on HTML "Head First HTML with CSS & XHTML" and it looks like the right book for me to be learning HTML from.

Site news 01/29/2006

Well between work and a bad cold, I have had much time to work on the site. I have done some searching and found some really good site and will post them when I have more time.

Site news 01/24/2006

Didn't get around to making some changes I had planned. I was hoping to create a seperate links page for Club, Societies, and Associations, and have it up for tonight, but I got sidetracked reading about meta tags.

I did find a really interesting site for "The SEE Project" which is for visually impaired astronomy students. I need to read up more about it and will be posting that link shortly.

Site updates 01/22/06

Changed the Astonomy Magazine link to the plural Astronomy Magazines and created a new page listing 8 magazine sites. You can see what magazines I added by clicking on new link.

I wish I had done more, but at least I am making progress.

Site updates 01-18-06

I added links for JPL and the Keck Observatory I set the fonts back to what they were previously, so they could be read easier and I also modified the headlines. Hopefully these changes work out.

I really need to start learning HTML and stop relying on the wysiwyg HTML editor, so I can better manage this site.

Well that's it for tonight.

Thoughts for the day: 01-16-06

Well I didn't get a chance to put anything up on the site, and I'm too tired to stay up and do it, so I'll add the links later.

I'm going to sperate the links off into specific groups so the homepage isn't so cluttered. I'll also move the story about the cats to it's own section. I have to get these terms down. I guess I should refer to them as folders/directories and files.

If you are wondering about the gray background, I found that it for someone like me who has floaters really bad, a gray or neutral background makes the text much easier to read than a stark white background.

Well, I'm too tired to think of anything else, so that's it for now.

Site updates 01-15-06

Well I didn't get as much done as I would have liked to, but I added a couple more links today:

Astronomy Magazine and Universe Today

I made the font smaller to fit more onto the home page. I have concerns about doing this because people with vision impairments may have trouble reading the site.

Some of the links I hope to add in the near future will be for sites or news articles about visually impaired astronomers. This is of interest to me, since I have both occular hypertension (gluacoma) and Type 2 diabetes, and while I don't have any problems yet, it is a concern for me and I am interested how visually impaired people pursue their interest in astronomy.

I also added a comment about the use of the HTML code - target="black" which will open a new page or tab when a link is opened. Some pop-up blockers may prevent this. If you are reading this and are having trouble, move your cursor to the link then right click and select the option to open in a new page or tab (for Firefox users)

I am also going to look into how to make this site functionable for text based browser users.

If you have any thoughts or comments, please let me know.