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Tuesday, 31 January 2006
Editorial Note
As I mentioned yesterday, I'm leaving tomorrow for my annual pilgrimage to Houston, and will return Sunday. Blogging in the meantime will depend on internet access and actually having something to say.
Bittertown
I have several of the free iTunes tracks on my iPod, quite a few I've really rather enjoyed, and a couple have become real favorites (Of particular note is "Sweaters" by Beth Waters). While I've enjoyed being introduced to new music, it's also always kind of a nice bonus when the free song is from someone I'm actually already familar with, as is the case this week.
I'm far from the world's biggest country music fan, to put it lightly, which has to be taken into consideration when I saw that I really like the Lori McKenna. (I'm not the only one -- Faith Hill lifted three songs from McKenna's most recent album for inclusion on Fireflies, but don't hold that against Lori.)
All I have of McKenna's is her CD, "Paper Wings and Halo," so I've not heard the new free song yet, but I really like PW&H. McKenna has a very distinctive voice, is an excellent writer, and uses those two qualities in combination beautifully.
Today In History
Still Safe
eWeek has an article about the malware implications of Apple's switch to Intel chips:So what changes when the Mac moves to x86? If Apple's market-share shoots up and attackers suddenly have a better shot of finding Macs to attack, then more malware will be written to the Mac. But it won't be any easier to exploit for being on x86.
Apple SLVR
After ditching iTunes from its second generation of ROKR phones, Motorola has come back to the iTunes fold with its new SLVR phone.The link has more details, but doesn't tell why Motorola's using iTunes again or if the new phone is any good.
Monday, 30 January 2006
The Return Of Apollo
Following up on recent discussion aboud rumored possible names for NASA's next generation of spacecraft and launch vehicles, Cosmic Log suggests that the new Apollo-esque CEV capsule should be named, well, Apollo.Thoughts?
I like it (2 votes)
I don't like it (0 votes)
I'm not opposed to it, but surely they could do better (9 votes)
Voices From Space
Since I don't know what my blogging status will be while I'm out of town the latter part of this week, I'll go ahead and mention this bit about Friday's spacewalk.Among the tasks scheduled for the EVA is throwing an old space suit overboard, making it an independent satellite. (And, yeah, that link is one of my stories.) The suit will have a ham radio transmitter, allowing folks on the ground to hear prerecorded updates and state reports as it eventually deorbits.
Used tags: eva, international_space_station, nasa, roskosmos, space
Join The Army
WIRED does some pretty great covers, and there have been several I've liked better, but this most recent one, I think, is the one I would most like to have a poster of.
Arlo Update
I posted recently that Universal Press Syndicate has started offering newspapers manga strips for their comics page. I hadn't heard anything much about it since the announcement, but it turns out The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel has made room for a manga strip by dropping Arlo & Janis, which makes me now firmly against the whole thing.Also, recently on his Web site, I've found another thing Jimmy Johnson and I have in common: We've named pets for Soviet spacecraft.
Saturday, 28 January 2006
20 Years
All week long, I've felt the burden to write something really meaningful for the 20th anniversary, to come up with a fitting tribute to whose who gave their lives.
But, I just can't do it. Part of that is, since, for the past three years I've been much more serious about writing an anniversary piece, I feel like I've said a lot of what needs to be said. Granted, those things need to keep being said. (The events of three years ago show the high cost of believing the past can be left in the past.) You're welcome to go back through the archive and read those pieces.
Part of it is that I've put such an onus on myself to write something worthy that I've set an unreachable standard. Even without the additional burden of a major anniversary, there's no way I could write something worthy.
Part of it is that I've always taken these pieces as an opportunity to put past, present and future in the context of each other, and right now, the emotions I feel about the future of spaceflight are too complex to be boiled down to be dealt with that manner. Never have I been both so excited or so nervous about the future of exploration.
And, to be honest, as much as I hate to admit it, part of it is that I can't stop thinking about the anniversary in the context of my life. Twenty years. I was 10 years old; a student at Huntsville Middle School. I'm now three times older. So much time has passed. I still carry the indelible memory, though I have little in common with the person into whose brain the memory was burned.
But the lesson there is this -- we go forward. Their loss is a moment frozen in time. In his day of remembrance letter to the NASA family, administrator Mike Griffin borrowed words from Abraham Lincoln; words that are worthy for the occasion.
At Gettysburg, Lincoln said, "It is rather for us the living, we here be dedicated to the great task remaining before us--that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they here gave the last full measure of devotion--that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain ..."
Godspeed the crews of Apollo I, Challenger 51-L and Columbia STS-107.
Godspeed the crew of Discovery STS-121.
Godspeed those who will return us to the moon, and represent humanity on worlds beyond.
To honor the past, we must never stop looking toward the future.
Thursday, 26 January 2006
The Sound Of You And Me
According to, uh, this cached Web site:singer/songwriter garrison starr is planning a march 13[Should be 3/14--wdh] release for her fifth full-length disc, "the sound of you and me." her second album for vanguard records was recorded in nashville with collaborator/guitarist neilson hubbard co-producing the album with brad jones.
"i am not making an album that will be thrown against the wall to see if it sticks for radio," starr says. "it was made because it's beautiful and intense and sad and lonely and that's how i feel a lot of the time. i wanted to make a record that is true to my life."
earlier this month, starr completed a set of tour dates but expects to return to the road in 2006 to promote "the sound of you and me."
Tour dates for the next couple of months have been announced. There are a couple of shows in Birmingham, and even one or two I might be able to make this time around. None in Mississippi, though.
Hatbag Now!
Yep, it's that new Hatbag time of the week.
Remember
Ah, Russia
Ah, those Russian space organizations. With China quickly becoming a major competitive spaceflight player in terms of hype per accomplishment, the Russians are really having to ramp up their efforts. From today's Space Daily.Starting with the more mundane, there's exciting stuff coming for the international space station, which is "evolving into an international space port." OK, sure, I can believe the sentiment, if the phrasing is a bit over-the-top. More impressively, Russia is going to double the number of Soyuz launched beginning next year in order to increase ISS crew size to six. Uh, OK, if they say so. It could happen, but only with an increase in outside investment. Which could happen -- with the current situation, Russia has the ability to tell other nations, we can carry you up to spend time on the space station you've helped build, but you gotta buy your ride.
Further down the road, the Kliper spacecraft will begin crewed test spaceflights in 2013. Again, that's great, but where is the money coming from? Russia has practically gone around hat in hand seeking international funding for Klipper (if you prefer that transliteration), but so far has no commitments. Again, it could happen.
Oh, and one more thing -- Russia is going to build a permanent base on the moon by 2015, and be mining He-3 there by 2020. Uh, well, good for them. With what, exactly, are they going to do this? See, that one's just silly. But, it does top China's silly lunar ambitions by a couple of years. This is going to turn into a wacky international space version of Name That Tune. "OK, I can land on that moon by 2017.' "Well, I can land on that moon by 2015." "Well, I can land on that moon by 2012!" Until finally we get to, "Well, I can land on that moon next year!" "OK, land on that moon!" "What, did we say moon? We meant ... uh ... not the moon..."
Small New Worlds
Maybe I'm just cynical, but I'll be glad when we manage to start imaging some more of these extrasolar worlds that have been found. Announcements like yesterday's about the discovery of a small extrasolar world with a five-Earth mass are exciting, but, probably largely due to my utter lack of scientific understanding, I have to wonder whether there are other phenomena we're not aware of that could be responsible for some of the minor eccentricities that are attributed to planets.Still, assuming they are right about this one, it sounds like it's exciting news about the presence of other rocky worlds in the galaxy.
Jobs At Disney Update
Macworld has a column about the Pixar/Disney deal and What It All Means.
Embracing Intel
Per MacNN:Sales of new Intel-based Macs may be stronger than expected, according to a new report. Despite anticipation of lagging sales of Apple's new Intel Mac computers, Apple is have having some difficulty meeting demand for its Intel-based Macs, according to analyst Shaw Wu at American Technology Research. Sales of the Intel-based iMacs are being fueled by consumers who waited for the release of the new Macs to purchase computers, according to Wu. In a note to clients, he said that there was a noticeable purchasing trend in the K-12 and higher education, content creation, and consumer end markets. Meanwhile, pre-orders for Apple's new MacBook Pro are also strong.
On a barely related note, I got the video adapter for my iMac yesterday, so I'm now running with two monitors at home, which is very sweet.
Lost Discussion Post
To be honest, I just didn't get last night's Lost. I didn't understand what was supposed to be going on, or what the point of it was.But maybe that's just me.
Anybody have a different experience?
Wednesday, 25 January 2006
Posthistory Update
Not only is yesterday's B.C. strip another that clearly supports my theory that the strip doesn't take place in the past, but rather in a post-apocalyptic future, but it gives a clue towards the answer to the biggest question my theory raises: What could have brough civilization so far down as to return us, literally, to the Stone Age?I don't think there's a single answer to that question. Certainly, a big part of the cause of the cataclysm appears to be centered around experimentation with genetic engineering with no thought to morality or even good sense. Apparently, as evidenced by the return of dinosaurs, the development of clams that got legs and Grog, our scientists will become so concerned with whether they can do a thing that they don't stop to think whether they should do a thing.
That said, there seems to be evidence that was only one part of what led to civilication's collapse. Yesterday's strip seems to point to another reason -- A civilization where the iPod becomes hard to use is a world in which all that is good and right has been strangely turned around.
Ladies And Ladysmith
Eh, somehow this album escaped my notice (can't imagine how it could have kept a low profile) until I went to iTMS yesterday for the free music and saw it under new releases, so now I'm going to have to backtrack and see if anybody in town is offering it at a decent new-release price.Anyway, just in case anyone else on the blog likes the Ladysmith Black Mambazo, they have a new greatest-hits/collaboration CD out, in which other artists join them on some of their better-known songs. Among the artists joining them on the CD are Melissa Etheridge, Natalie Merchant, Sarah McLachlan and Emmylou Harris, which makes the whole package come pretty close to Dave narrowcasting.
The CW
Per CNN Money:Warner Brothers and CBS Corp. announced plans Tuesday for the creation of a new broadcast television network, called CW, that would replace the WB and UPN networks in the fall of this year.
The new broadcast network will draw on programming from both WB and UPN, and will be a joint venture between Warner Bros. and CBS, with each company owning 50 percent, officials of both companies said. (The "C" stands for CBS, the "W" is for Warner.)
This would, of course, mean something for the future of Trek on television, if there is such a thing.
Jobs At Disney
This one's dedicated to Nik:I'll be really curious to see where Steve Jobs ranks in Entertainment Weekly's Hollywood power players list this year. Realistically, whether they realize it or not, a computer guy is now the single most influential person in the entertainment biz. Where other people rank on the list five years from now will depend entirely on how quickly they realize that.
Sure, I'm biased, but I think the CNN story about the Pixar buy-out got it right. I looked at a handful of major media stories about the buyout yesterday afternoon, and they all featured the same two quotes -- one from Jobs and one from Disney CEO Rogert Iger. CNN, at the time, was the only one to put Jobs' quote ahead of the one from that other guy.
Now, the only question is what it means for the players.
I fear Pixar is the big loser here. At the moment, at least, I fear that Disney's corporate cash-in culture is such that it will compromise Pixar's integrity. Pixar has been incredibly successful, for two reasons -- they make quality products, and they make quality produccts. They do what they do well, but they also only do things that are worth doing. They have only one sequel on their filmography, and it's one that many people believe surpass the original. Disney churns out direct-to-video sequels to everything in its catalog, whoring out classics for a quick buck. Quick, shoddy productions have become the hallmark of the Mouse House over the past few years. It seems likely that this deal could mean that Disney now has the power to tell Pixar they will start producing D-T-V sequels to Bug's Life, Monster's Inc, Finding Nemo and The Incredibles. I wouldn't mind seeing sequels to some of those -- well, The Incredibles, at least -- but I would want to see them done the Pixar way, rather than the Disney way. Now, however, those are one and the same.
If there's any hope, it's because I think Disney ends up being the big winner here, gaining Jobs and John Lasseter. The impact of the latter is easier to quantify, though it still depends on how long a leash Disney puts him on. If anyone at Disney has the sense to listen, Lasseter will most likely be able to tell them that there's more to be gained from a limited, quality catalog worthy of the Disney name than the current anything-for-a-quick-buck mentality that is tarnishing the reputation Walt developed. The fact that he's in this position provides hope, at least, that the Disney board will be willing to listen. And one member of that board will be listening, most assuredly. One who isn't known for his meekness.
Jobs' impact on Disney is much more of an X factor. There's the possibility that he won't do much with the position. That he'll be content to participate in board meetings, give his opinion when he has one, and go on with his life. It's not necessarily the traditional Jobs way, but is he going to have the same sort of passion about this he does about businesses he started?
There's the possibility he'll want to play, but will be limited. Let's face it, the last time Steve was in an environment with anywhere near this sort of corporate environment was when Apple decided in 1985 that is should be a serious business. A serious business without Steve. There probably aren't a whole lot of people in turtlenecks in the Disney boardroom, and when was the last time you saw Steve in a tie? And, for all his strengths, Steve really isn't known for his ability to play well with others.
But ... If Steve does decide that he wants to be, well, the Steve Jobs of Hollywood, and Disney decides that it would like to be fresh and relevant and cool again, the sky's the limit. It's not impossible to imagine Jobs becoming the most important, influential and well-known Disney leader since Walt Disney himself.
Which is not coincidence. If you think about it, Disney is probably more like Jobs than any other business figure of the last hundred years. They both had some talent in their actual field -- animation and, uh, whatever Jobs started out doing. But they're success came from two things. They were great with ideas. Coming up with them, and judging other people's. They were masters of the coolness factor. And they both made dynamic embodiments of their companies; they were their own ideal spokesmen. The presentation was as important as what's being presented.
If those two qualities are all that Jobs brings to Disney, it could easily be enough to revitalize the giant. If I could give two pieces of advice to the Disney board, those would be what I would say: If Steve tells you whether something is worth doing, listen to him. And, whenever you can let Steve speak for the company, do so. You're not going to go wrong letting Jobs be your public face.
In addition to those two things, though, Jobs brings one other extremely vital factor to Disney: He probably knows as much about the future of entertainment media (and probably a good bit more than a company as mired in tradition as Disney, though they have done a few things right. [See Lost on iTMS]). In part that's because he's extremely savvy about such things, and in part because he's perhaps the single most important figure in bringing about that future. He can advise Disney on positioning itself for the future wearing his Disney hat (with mouse ears), or, if they choose, wearing his Apple hat (black, with white Apple logo), he can do it for them.
So what does the move mean for Jobs? If Disney's smart enough to listen, whatever he wants it to. It's just a question of what his priorities are.
Which brings us to the final, and, for a lot of readers of this blog, most important question. What does this mean for Apple? With Apple and Pixar, Steve has proved that, if he wants, he can multitask. Again, he may choose not to. His role at Disney may be like that of any number of board members at any number of companies. Show up when needed, vote when needed, collect checks when sent.
But can Steve resist the siren song of power? And, to be sure, there's a lot of power on the table here. Starting your own company is one thing. Being given the reins to one of the most established and respected giants in American business is another. (Of course, I almost made a comment about it being one of the highest-visibility brands in the nation, but pretty much every survey the past few years lists Apple as a much higher-impact brand than Disney.)
It's hard to imagine Steve, in the foreseeable future at least, turning the CEO position of Apple over to someone else. Which raises the issue of how much of Steve actually needs. Clearly, Pixar showed that it doesn't need his full attention, though it clearly got the majority. But could Apple be as successful with Steve delivering keynotes and coming in every week or two to review what was going on, give a few pointers, and do a "cool/not cool" review of products in development?
If he chooses to go the multitasking route with Apple and Disney as he did with Apple and Pixar, the question is which gets the Apple role and which gets the Disney role? Of course, the first issue there is how much power Disney is willing to let him have if he wants it? Better to rule at Apple, and all that...
Beyond that, though, it's ultimately probably a question of ego. It's not impossible to imagine Steve being seduced by the thought of the sheer power to completely shake things up that he could believe Disney would allow him to wield. Not only is he playing in a new sandbox, but, after years of being the tiny-market-share guy, he's the 800-pound gorilla.
I would really like to think, though, that Steve has unfinished business at Apple; that he still has something to prove.
Addendum: Comments from Iger and Jobs
Tuesday, 24 January 2006
Eh
You know, if I'd had any idea how slow it was going to be today, I would have saved some of that meme stuff from yesterday. Oh well.
Phone Call
"Hello?"
"Hey, John. It's Steve."
"Uh, hey, Steve. What's up?"
"Oh, I was calling to let you know I'm doing OK. You?"
"Uh, yeah, OK, I guess."
"That's great, John. Have a good day."
"Bye."
After Jobs' recent "told you so" e-mail about Michael Dell, can you imagine how that phone call would go? The ironic thing is, the firing of Jobs is probably what paved the way for his future. It not only made his incredible comeback possible, but one has to wonder whether he would have the same golden-touch reputation had he presided over Apple during those years instead of missing out on the crumbling and returning to repair things. (Another ironic thing is that if you run a Google search for John Sculley wiki, the first result you get is Jobs' entry, then Sculley's.)
Happy MacDay!
A reader was kind enough to point out to me that today is the 22nd anniversary of the introduction of the Mac.
Expedition 13 Delayed
Per Space.com:Russia's space agency has postponed the launch of the next manned mission to the international space station by one week, to March 30, a spokesman said Monday according to the ITAR-Tass news agency.
The launch, which had been scheduled for March 22, is to carry Russian cosmonaut Pavel Vinogradov, American Jeffery Williams and Brazilian Marcos Cesar Pontes.
The report cited Roskosmos spokesman Vyacheslav Davidenko as saying that the launch was postponed because problems were discovered with elements of the spacecraft's control system, and that parts would have to be replaced and fully tested.
Monday, 23 January 2006
Make Your Own Leonardo Code
Experimenting with a bit of coding, I've added a new page on The LC site that will let you create your own Leonardo Code, kinda. Try it out, and let me know what you think.Also, feel free to post your results in the comments here, but try it before you read other people's.
iTunes Question Meme
Set your iTunes to Shuffle. Use each song that comes up, in order, to answer the following questions:
Question: What do you think of me, ITunes?
Answer: Born In The U.S.A. -- Bruce Springsteen
Accurate, if pretty general
Question: Will I have a happy life?
Answer: Don't Let It Bring You Down -- Angie Aparo
I'm hoping that means that the key to a happy life is not letting things get to you. Either that, or iTunes is offering me a subtle warning
Question: What do my friends really think of me?
Answer: Wanted Dead Or Alive -- Bon Jovi
I'm taking that to mean that you all want to be around me
Question: Do people secretly love me?
Answer: Spectacular Spectacular -- Moulin Rouge
Question: What should I do with my life?
Answer: The Thrill Is Gone -- B.B. King
(Which is a better response than the person I got this from, for whom iTunes advised "Suicide")
Question: Why must life be so full of pain?
Answer: Freeze Frame -- J. Geils Band
OK, I can't think of any way that one makes sense
Question: Will I die happy?
Answer: Beyond The Blue -- 10,000 Maniacs
Eh, that sounds pretty good
Question: Can you give me some advice?
Answer: I'm Like A Bird -- Nelly Furtado
Yeah, I seem to remember that from the iTunes user manual
Question: What do you think happiness is?
Answer: Unwell -- Matchbox 20
Oh, great. My iTunes is channelling Marvin.
And one other mildly inappropriate question from the meme with an answer too good to skip for usual ATW prudishness:
Question: How can I maximize my pleasure during sex?
Answer: Sing -- Garrison Starr
Entitled
Good news, folks, according to Lulu's Titlescorer, the title The Leonardo Code has a 63.7% chance of being a bestselling title!Of course, the title What You Need has a 79.6% chance of being a bestselling title! (But we have to finish the thing for that to matter.
What Type Of Villain Are You?
What Type of Villain are You?
mutedfaith.com.
Naming Names
Per collectSPACE:When the next astronauts walk on the Moon, they may be taken there in spacecraft with the names Antares, Artemis and Ares, sources close to NASA tell collectSPACE. Unlike during Apollo, when crews gave mission-unique monikers to the command and lunar modules (e.g. Columbia and Eagle), NASA's new spaceships would retain their titles between flights, advancing only by number (e.g. Ares-1, Ares-2). Citing mission planning documents internal to the space agency, the Crew Exploration Vehicle (CEV) would adopt 'rival to Mars' Antares as its title while the Lunar Surface Access Module (LSAM) will be Artemis, the Greek's twin sister of Apollo, goddess of the Moon. NASA's heavy-lift rocket will be Ares, the Greek's take on the Roman Mars.
That said, I would note that all of this is a long way off, and thus subject to change.
Used tags: ares, collectspace, constellation, nasa, orion, space
Rolling Opportunity
To be honest, I didn't even realize that Opportunity had not been roving for the past couple of months. I'd reported the problems with its robot arm, but didn't catch that the team was continuing to work on that while the rover stayed in place. Anway, though, Opportunity is now rolling again.On Wednesday, Opportunity will be two (Earth) years into its 90-day mission.
Cheap Enterprise
After the recent announcement that the first three seasons of TNG and DS9 have been marked down, Best Buy this week is running a sale on the first three seasons of Enterprise, which can be bought in stores or online for $45.Season four, which is the main one I would be interested in buying, is still $107.
Various iNotes
Various and sundry Apple bites:- In a meeting about Pixar's future with Disney, a major point of discussion is the conflicts of interest a deal could create for Steve Jobs.
- Google has edged out Apple to regain its title as the most popular brand in the world, while Apple remains the identity with the most impact in the U.S..
- Following up on the recent market cap discussions: How can Apple be worth more than Dell?
- MacRumors.com has links to more info on the Disney/Pixar situation.
- Amazon is offering a rebate of up to $150 on the new Intel Macs.
Back To The Futurama Update
The bad news, for me at least, is that the rumors about Futurama returning as a regular television series appear to be untrue, at least in the near future. The good news is that later this year, the cast will begin recording four full-length Futurama direct-to-DVD movies. Very nice.
Sunday, 22 January 2006
Unboxing Day
Pictures of the unboxing and set-up of my new iMac: (click on thumbnail for pop-up full image)
I almost spared you the cardboard shipping box pic, but Lain said I should include it. Blame him.
The iMac box:
The iMac box, with the boxes for the extra monitor and keyboard I got to go with it:
Opening the box is the standard "Designed by Apple" greeting:
Within the sleeve in the last picture is the tray containing the Front Row remote, the Mighty Mouse, the documentation and software:
Once the top level is removed, the computer is visible:
OK, I probably could have skipped this one:
And here's a basic photography lesson (that applies to several of the next few pictures) -- If you're taking a picture of an object that is partially self-lit, unless you're only interested in the illuminated area, don't rely on the camera's auto-flash setting:
The iMac with the external monitor:
My computer desk (yeah, the TV is part of the set-up):
My, how things change:
So, I'm still not completely up and running, and there are a few bugs in the whole package:
The drivers for the wireless keyboard and mouse don't work. I'm not sure if that's because the driver is, as it says, only compatible through OS 10.4.2 and I'm running 10.4.4, or if, and this may be more likely, I've encountered my first Intel-incompatibility issue. Hopefully they'll update the driver soon.
The wireless mouse is, at times, sluggish. Not sure what the issue there is. May end up switching to the Mighty Mouse.
I thought the video adapter I had for my iBook was the same as what was needed for the iMac. As it turns out, I have Mini-VGA-to-VGA; I needed Mini-DVI-to-VGA. Nobody in town stocks Mini-DVI-to-VGA adapters. I ordered one yesterday from Apple, and it's currently en route.
The third-party dealer I bought the iMac from didn't actually include the extra half-Gig of RAM I was promised. I hope to get that worked out soon.
None of those issues, though, are really about the computer itself. The computer is wonderful. I haven't done anything yet to really test out the speed, but the 17" widescreen monitor is delightful, and I've gotten a few hints of the power in ordinary tasks. Very nice, indeed.
The View From Here
Joe was kind enough to forward to me these videos featuring Bill Gates explaining the brand new functions that will be included in Windows Vista. Mac users may find some of it kinda familiar.Part One
Part Two
Part Three
Friday, 20 January 2006
Long Live The King
I was about to be incredibly shocked by the news that B.B. King is about to start his farewell tour, until I read the article and saw that it's only his final world tour, that he'll still play around the U.S. after that's done.B.B. has talked about building a home in his native Indianola, Miss., but while I can imagine him wanting to spend more time there, it's hard to see him actually retiring there, or anywhere, recently. I have no doubt that the only reason B.B. might not tour until he dies is if he ever became physically incapable of it. As he puts it, "As long as people buy my records and come to my concerts, I don't see anything else I'd like to do."
Medical Post
So apparently the recipient of the world's first partial face transplant is taking advantage of having lips again to start smoking again, which doctors say could interfere with her healing and lead to her body rejecting the transplant.
With so much attention on her, it really makes her look bad to jeopardize the results of the ground-breaking procedure for something like that, and in my opinion, she really should stop smoking, just to save face.
The Evil Twin
Astronomers are saying that debris discs recently discovered around two nearby stars look much like our solar system's Kuiper Belt, and lend support to the Nemesis theory that our sun has an undiscovered dark companion.
More iPod Rumors
Per Apple Insider:Rumors that something may have been missing from Apple's keynote presentation at Macworld Expo last week may be true, AppleInsider has learned.
...
Specifically, Apple is said to have postponed the release of the previously rumored iPod Boombox product due to either: last minute product concerns, component availability or a change in the introduction climate. Apple chief executive Steve Jobs was reportedly less than thrilled with the outcome.
...
Nevertheless, Apple is expect to take a second stab at introducing the missing products in the near future, and is rumored to be planning a special media event or other high-profile launch that could be announced soon, sources have said.
Also per Apple Insider:
In addition to new Intel Macs, he expects the company will introduce the "actual” video iPod in the first half of the year.
Hmmm... something with a more PSP-like screen? Greater capability to watch movies?
Today
My Intel iMac is currently on the truck for delivery today. Woohoo!
Thursday, 19 January 2006
Yesterday's Geek
You are hereby cordially invited to go check out this week's new Hatbag. Thank you.
Shopping For Spaceflights
From Spaceref.com:For the first time, NASA is seeking non-government vehicles and commercial services to provide crew and cargo transportation for human space flight. The final announcement for Phase 1 of the Commercial Crew/Cargo Project invites proposals for Commercial Orbital Transportation Services Demonstrations. The companies or teams selected will develop and demonstrate the vehicles, systems, and operations needed to support a human space facility like the International Space Station. Once a capability is demonstrated, NASA plans to purchase these services competitively.
New Horizons Update
They'll be trying again at 12:08 p.m. CST today.This rocket will be the largest Atlas ever and is supposed to be the fastest ever, boosting New Horizons to the orbit of the moon in like 8 hours (a trip that took days for Apollo). I'm not sure what that will mean for the launch; whether it will be visibly faster or not. Anyway, you can watch on NASA TV, which is also broadcast on the Web.
What's Old Is New
The Star Trek: New Voyages series should have some cool stuff coming up -- if, you know, they ever start actually releasing stuff again.David Gerrold is writing two stories for the series, one of them based on an idea he had many years ago for a sequel to "The Trouble With Tribbles": "There is a twist," Gerrold explained. "What starts out funny won't be. It will become a horror story."
Apparently, George Takei has agreed to appear in the series, and will be playing Sulu, a prospect which simultaneously excites and frightens me. The episode will be co-written by Marc Scott Zicree, who wroted the DS9 episode "Far Beyond The Stars."
Also, an actor has been cast to play Sarek in an upcoming episode.
Of course, nothing has yet been seen of the vignettes which were supposed to start being released in November. It's exciting how many classic Trek folks -- Takei, Koenig, Grace Lee Whitney, D.C. Fontana, Gerrold, etc. -- are signing up to be involved, but, at the rate the episodes are being produced, they'll make it through their list of announced episodes maybe in time to do something really cool for the 50th anniversary of Trek.
Reunion
So for someone who has said he's not interested in playing, Patrick Stewart sure talks a lot about another Trek movie:He was again questioned about the rumours of a new TNG film. He was tight lipped but did say there was "great interest" in getting the TNG cast together again as well as including characters from the other series.
Stewart reveals, "It has been raised. Apparently there's interest in bringing THE NEXT GENERATION cast together with actors from different STAR TREK series."
Then they asked him if this meant Captain James T. Kirk would return, and he replied that he hoped so because William Shatner was a good friend. "I would love that. I'm very fond of William Shatner." he said.
Again, I don't really know enough yet to know if this is a good idea or not...
iMouse
It appears the rumors are heating up about the possibility that Disney will buy Pixar.As a fan of the Pixar movies, I don't know that I like the idea -- I'm afraid it would result in their movies becoming less fresh and creative and more, well, Disney. After a second golden age of Disney animation in the late '80s into the '90s, I've been unimpressed with their current direction; particularly their decision to cash in on the catalog of classic works with direct-to-video sequels. Lines like this to little to ease my concern: "The agreement would ... give Disney greater access to a stable of new characters that could be leveraged across the Disney empire."
I'm more concerned, though, at what this would mean for Steve, who would become the largest individual shareholder in Disney, and whom rumors would have in a leadership position at Disney after the deal.
Lost Again
This is your official ATW Lost discussion post. Any thoughts about last night's episode?
Wednesday, 18 January 2006
STS-121 Update
Per Florida Today:NASA Administrator Mike Griffin said Tuesday he is confident the shuttle fleet will return to flight in May or July, and then fly regularly enough to finish building the International Space Station before the orbiters retire in 2010.
Griffin said the agency is close to picking a target date for the launch of shuttle Discovery on the second post-Columbia flight.
New Horizons Update
Srubbed again, due to a power outage at APL. The forecast for tomorrow is calling for an 80 percent chance of acceptatble conditions.
Office For Mac
Per MacNN:Apple's iPod and the iTunes Music Store have been credited as a contributing factor to the rise in popularity of NBC's "The Office", which delivered a rating of 5.1 last Thursday--its highest ratings among adults 18 to 49. The show is NBC's top-performing video content available via the iTunes Music Store, accounting for one-third of all the NBC/Universal downloads. NBC says it is confident that the iPod exposure contributed to the rise, according to TelevisionWeek.
...
A 14 percent rise in the download audience for ABC's "Lost" show along with the knowledge that iTunes distribution may have grown rather than cannibalized TV ratings reportedly gave the ABC Disney Television Group the confidence to add more iTunes content last week. The latest offerings included content from ABC Family, Disney Channel, ESPN, ABC Sports and SoapNet.
DD Is BB
Lain sent me the news last night that apparently David Duchovny may star in a direct-to-video Hulk sequel, which initially struck me as a very, very bad idea.But after studying the stories a bit more, there doesn't seem to be any indication that Ang Lee will be involved. If they actually made a Hulk movie that was, you know, about the Hulk, it might not be so bad. I don't know that I care enough to rent it, but if they started making it and it turned out to be good enough to merit a theatrical release, I might go see it.
But, please, don't make Hulk 2, Ang Lee.
Tuesday, 17 January 2006
JPod
This may have been up for a while, but I happened to discover last night that Amazon has a listing for JPod, Douglas Coupland's follow-up to Microserfs, complete with release date (May 16) and cover art. I'm still unsure as to what the new book's relationship to Microserfs is; some places are listing it as a true sequel, others as a sort-of sequel. (According to Amazon, the "new novel updates Microserfs for the age of Google.)Whatever it is, I'm looking forward to reading it.
Forty Years Of Crawling
NASA's giant crawler transporters marked their 40th anniversary Friday. The crawler was first used in January 1966 to move the launch umbilical tower for the Saturn launch pad.Lucky media got to tour the crawler while it was in motion during the anniversary event.
Addendum: Per Aero-News: "They were originally seen as something of a folly, with no less an authority than Walter Cronkite stating they might never work. ... Crawler Transporters 1 and 2 -- known colloquially by NASA scientists as "Hans" and "Franz" -- are still hauling..."
New Horizons
The first mission to the last planet is only hours from launch.NASA's New Horizons spacecraft is scheduled to launch for Pluto at 12:24 CST today. A this time, things are looking good for launch.
After launch, New Horizons will take over nine years to reach its destination.
Return Of Sulu?
OK, this news is less exciting than it might have been at one point, but apparently George Takei is considering a guest role on Star Trek: New Voyages. No word on how they would work him into the show (or even if he would be playing Sulu).
Relativity
Oh, sure, Steve, in his keynote, may have showed off how he can run the Mac OS on an Intel chip. Not to be outdone, in the wake of MWSF, an even more impressive feat of old Apple software on new hardware was displayed. At the 2006 Worldwide Newton Conference, attendees saw the Newton OS running on a Linux-based PDA via the Einstein emulator.On a related note is the latest Joy of Tech.
Woz Wear
Finally, I'm actually posting a PodBrix announcement before the deadline. Sales begin tonight at 8 CST for the limited edition Wozwear 6502 shirt, a $35 t-shirt featuring an actual 6502 processor chip. The run is limited to 300 shirts.
Boooooong!
Among the notes in MacRumors' first impressions of the Intel iMac post is that, despite earlier rumors to the contrary, it does have the same startup sound as its predecessors.Addendum: On the flip side, though, it will no longer be possible to zap the PRAM, inasmuch as the new machines don't have PRAM.
Trek For Less
It appears that Paramount has marked down a few seasons of its traditionally way-overpriced Trek boxed sets. Specifically, the first three seasons of both Deep Space Nine and Next Generation now have an MSRP of $70 per season, meaning that you can get them online for a little over $50.The other seasons of those two shows, along with all of TOS, Voyager and Enterprise are still over $100.
Sunday, 15 January 2006
How 'Bout Them Apples
From Mac Daily News on Friday:On October 6, 1997, in response to the question of what he'd do if he was in charge of Apple Computer, Dell founder and then CEO Michael Dell stood before a crowd of several thousand IT executives and answered flippantly, "What would I do? I'd shut it down and give the money back to the shareholders."
...
Today, after a little more than eight years of hard work, Apple Computer, Inc. passed Dell, Inc. in market value. That's right, at market close Apple Computer ($72,132,428,843) is now worth more than Dell ($71,970,702,760).
Got any snappy retorts for that one, Mr. Dell?
Saturday, 14 January 2006
Yuri's Night
I had a request to post this on the blog, and so I am. Yuri's Night is coming, and this year it will mark the 45th anniversary of the first manned spaceflight:On 12 April 1961, Yuri Gagarin was the first human to see the Earth from space - to realize its awesome and fragile beauty. Yuri did not see lines demarcating countries or the conflicts between people. He did not see our problems or our achievements. What he saw was a magnificent planet, a tiny oasis in space, the home that we all share.
20 years later to the day, the US launched its first Space Shuttle, Columbia and opened the door to space even wider. Many cosmonauts and astronauts have returned from space with a new awareness of how small the Earth really is, how important it is to protect it, and how we must put aside our differences and work together. It is this spirit of space, the possibility of cooperation among nations to explore, learn, and be inspired, that we commemorate with Yuri's Night.
People of the world, join together and celebrate! April 12th marks the anniversary of the dawn of a new era. And now it falls to our generation to make the next mark on the pages of human history. For more information go to http://www.yurisnight.net/.
Yuri's Night is organized by the international student-run organization Space Generation Congress.
Return From A Comet
Per ... well, um, me:After almost seven years and billions of miles of travel through space, the Stardust spacecraft is about to come home. When it passes by Earth on Jan. 15, 2006, it will bring with it an incredible souvenir of its trip -- samples of comet and interstellar dust.
...
On Jan. 15, Stardust will return to Earth. Stardust will return its interstellar cargo by releasing a capsule containing the samples previously collected. A parachute will be deployed allowing a soft-landing safely back on Earth. The samples will land at the Utah Test and Training Range, where a ground-handling team will be eagerly awaiting their arrival. Scientists believe the samples Stardust returns will provide a unique look into the building blocks of our solar system and could help unravel mysteries surrounding its birth and evolution.
Friday, 13 January 2006
Small Giants
I would probably post this AJR article anyway just for what it has to say about weekly newspapers and the state of journalism. The fact that Joe, at least, probably knows some of the players is another plus.The fact that it features what is currently the greatest newspaper in existence seals the deal. (OK, I'm probably a wee bit biased.)
iPants!
Per Popgadget:Levi's wanted to get in on the Apple mania of MacWorld week and announced their new RedWire DLX jeans, which will have an iPod dock and controller joystick built into the pockets. The dock is hidden in a side pocket which is supposed to be almost "invisible" so there is no telltale iPod bulge. The iPod is attached through a wire which will let the wearer pull out the iPod for viewing the screen, without losing the dock connection. Another pocket will house the four-way control joystick for track and volume control without removing the iPod from your pocket. There is also built-in cord control through the retractable headphone unit. Levi's says the "minimalist design" of the jean controls will match the classic white iPod. No pricing announced but the jeans will be available in Fall 2006.
De-Lurking
According to BeaucoupKevin, or atleast according to whoever the person he heard it from heard it from, this is De-lurking Week, in which the people who read blogs but don't comment are supposed to make their presence known.But, you know, whatever. If you want to, go for it, I'd love to hear from you. If not, hey, that's your thing, too. (Actually, I'd love to hear from everybody, but since I'm sure roughly zero people will respond to this, making it optional lets me pretend it's because I didn't make it "mandantory.")
Compromise
Cosmic Log has an article today about the "how many planets" issue, with feedback from readers giving their opinion. I, of course, have been saying I don't think 2003 UB313 should be considered a planet, and that the only argument for keeping Pluto as a planet is that it's been on the roster for 75 years. The problem that raises, of course, is that how do you say Pluto's a planet but something larger is not?Here's a compromise someone suggested that would let the world keep Pluto as a planet, but dodge the issue of what to do about larger worlds. It's a bit silly, but I kinda like it:
Byron Raum, Beverly Hills, Calif.: “Since the ‘Pluto is a planet’ crowd is so adamant that we have to preserve our heritage and history: Let us just designate the largest iceball out there as Pluto. If we find a iceball out there that's larger than the current Pluto, then let that one be Pluto. This way, you can always argue on the basis of size: Pluto is a planet that is ‘this’ large, irrespective of what ‘this’ is. As we discover larger bodies, we can upgrade ‘this.’ This way, there will always be a Pluto, and civilization will not fall.”
A Few More iNotes
Again with the various and sundry:- Apparently Intel was taken by surprise by Apple's latest commercial.
- Apple Insider has some more iBook rumors.
- Apple has apparently received a patent for a device that is simultaneously a monitor and a camera.
- Having discontinued Internet Explorer for Mac, Microsoft is now abandoning Windows Media Player for Mac. I'm curious as to why, and what that means. The IE story made more sense, since Apple had released a competing browser. But this one is a bit stranger.
The Switch
You know, if you had told me two years ago, while I was suffering through the Dell I was assigned when I started working here, that I would be ordering an Intel-based computer, I never would have believed it. But now I have.
Thursday, 12 January 2006
Super Mistake
OK, your Thursday is now complete. This week's new Hatbag is now online.
Sure
So Sony's starting a new gay label:Sony Music has teamed with the founder of a gay cable network to form a record label geared toward developing gay, lesbian and transgender recording artists.
The label, dubbed Music With a Twist, plans to employ talent scouts nationwide to find emerging artists who have generated a buzz in the gay community and have the potential for mass appeal.
Well, it's nice to know there's now hope for fringe acts like Elton John, Melissa Etheridge and the Indigo Girls. It's fascinating to me the thin line between "equality" and the ghetto.
Mint Gone Wild
Is it just me, or has the U.S. Mint just gone completely wacky? I did a bit of coin collecting in high school, and back then, the most recent changes to any coins had been the short-lived Anthony dollar a decade earlier, and the two-year variant Bicentennial quarters were the only change to mainstream coins in quite a while. Since 1999, though, they're just changing stuff all the time, with the statehood quarters going on for a decade, and the new dollars planned, and frankly, I've just lost track of everything they've done with the nickel. Also, they'll be doing funky stuff with the penny in 2009.That said, I kinda like it. The changing stuff up, that is. The new nickel I'm sorta eh about. I liked the bolder profile they've been using the last couple of years better, I think.
SpaceShipThree Update
Virgin Galactic is making rumblings about SpaceShipThree again, saying Virgin and Scaled will cooperate on development of the orbital vehicle if the SpaceShipTwo-based suborbital spaceline is successful. No word on how long Virgin Galactic will have to make flights before it's considered enough of a success for a decision about SS3 to be made.
CEV Update
Per NASA:NASA's Constellation Program is making progress toward selecting a prime contractor to design, develop and build the Crew Exploration Vehicle (CEV), America's first new human spacecraft in 30 years.
The agency has issued Phase II of a Request for Proposals. It is a "Call for Improvements" that incorporates the results of additional analysis and study. Phase II adds detailed design, development and production requirements. Phase II proposals will be evaluated and used to select a single CEV contractor later this year. ...
For the first time, the Phase II Request for Proposals specifies a configuration for the spacecraft: an improved, blunt-body crew capsule shape. Requirements are based on future exploration mission needs and the desire to fly the first CEV mission as close as possible to 2010, when the space shuttle will be retired. Phase I resulted in contract awards in July 2005 for CEV systems requirements definition to teams led by Lockheed Martin Corp. and Northrop Grumman Systems Corp. Phase II proposals are due March 20, 2006.
More Mac Tidbits
Various and sundry:- Apple has reportedly requested a trademark for the term "Mobile Me." No clue what that could mean, but it could be cool. Or, you know, not.
- The Macworld Expo pushed Apple stock to an all-time high.
- And, given that my reaction to the IT/Segway rumors I just posted below was that they were the product of people who had been taken in by the rumors ahead of time and just didn't want to let go of them, I post the following with a bit of irony. Cult of Mac has a piece reporting that part of the Stevenote had been cut -- that there had been additional announcements planned but then scrapped. I had wondered the same thing myself, if some of the rumors didn't pan out weren't actually true, it just wasn't time to announce them yet. And, to be sure, that does happen with Stevenotes to some extent.
The comments in the CoM piece could be taken to support the revamped "iBook" rumors and some of the iPod/iTunes rumors. FWIW.
Addendum: More info on the possibility of running Windows natively on an Intel Mac. In short: It may not be possible.
No 'Inside' Outside
I didn't even think about this until yesterday, but I guess that answered the "Intel Inside" question, and I, for one, am pretty happy with the answer.
What Is It? It's It
So I've pretty much gotten use to the ad campaign by now, but am I the only one who, upon the first few times of seeing eBay's new "it" commercials, featuring an amazing but unrevealed "it," immediately thought back to the incredible, and frankly ultimately disappointing, hype over the "It" that turned out to be the Segway -- the similar connatations of "whatever this it is, it's wonderful and just what you need." Given how lackluster that "it" turned out to be (and nothing against the Segway for what it is, it just hasn't revolutionized any American cities that I know of, as it was promised to do), I find eBay's campaign a little surprising. Of course, it's entirely possible that this is just one of those things that bugs me and no one else. I don't know how much mainstream (non-tech-geek) awareness of "It" there was pre-Segway, or how much that hype lingered in people's brains. And I'm the sort of guy that makes random connections like that -- I was a little taken aback when I heard Mitsubishi, in late November or early December, advertising a big "Zero-Zero-Zero" sales event one year.
Addendum: Just had someone point out the rumors that IT wasn't really Segway, that there's a mysterious cooler project that Kamen has never released. I don't buy it personally, but there you go.
Adamant
Yeah, I've been spending too much time on LiveJournal sites lately:
 | You scored as Capt. Lee Adama (Apollo). You have spent your life trying to life up to and impress your Dad, shame he never seemed to notice. You are a stickler for the rules. But in matters of loyalty and honour you know when they have to be broken.
What New Battlestar Galactica character are you? created with QuizFarm.com |
Wednesday, 11 January 2006
Leonardo Code Update
Just posted a few new additions on The Leonardo Code site:- Joe recently sent me the Leonardo Code Love Theme, which I've posted online. It can be found on a new LC Music page, which also hosts the LC Main Theme he wrote, and where I'll post any additional LC original music.
- I've finally posted the last of Lain's relics of the future, this time in the form of a couple of CDs. The first is the LC audiobook (Nicole and I recently finished listening to the book -- very nicely done), a sample of which is available online -- a special introduction from "Harlan Ellison." The other is an LC soundtrack, the track listing of which is on the site.
- Finally, I posted another chapter online. Turns out this is slow going, and I just found a way to make it slower -- This latest chapter is the first to feature annotations for its references. Text explaining references pops up when you mouse over them.
Anyway, go check it out.
Random Comics
The greatest flaw of The Eagle_Fire Garfield Randomizer is that it doesn't provide an easy way to share your strips with others.
Uh...
From Reuters:U.S. Sen. Ted Kennedy is writing a children's book that will explain the workings of government from the point of view of his dog Splash.
Publisher Scholastic said "My Senator and Me: A Dog's-Eye View of Washington, D.C." was a 56-page picture book about a day in the life of a senator and his dog, explaining how laws are made. It will be published in May.
Well, that will be an interesting ... uh ... waitaminnit ... Teddy Kennedy's dog's name is "Splash"? Um, is there some way that isn't horrible?
Milky Way Dark
OK, here's another of my secret shames. Even as long as I've been doing this, when I read a passage like this ...After nearly 50 years, astronomers have figured out what causes the mysterious and periodic warping of the structure of the Milky Way galaxy: The Large and Small Magellanic Clouds are interacting with the galaxy's dark matter halo to magnify their gravitational influence, creating the warps as they orbit their parent in a cycle that takes about 1.5 billion years.
... my reaction, based on my level of understanding, is basically: "Oooooh, science."
Trek On Demand
I really don't have anything to say about this, but I'm posting it solely in case there's some import I'm missing that will be recognized by those in the audience who are more TV-tech-savvy than I (and I'm looking specifically at Joe here).Anyway, turns out Comcast is offering all ten Trek films "on demand" this month. So there it is.
Macworld Tidbits
A couple of interesting MWSF bits from MacRumors:- MacBook Pro naming. Steve Jobs: "It's a new name because we're kinda done with 'Power' and because we want 'Mac' in the name of our products." This would imply that the MacBook name may not only replace the PowerBook but the iBook as well. Also raises some questions about the continued use of the "PowerMac" name.
- Phil Schiller maintains that Apple will not prevent users from booting Windows on the new machines, though no first hand reports whether or not this is easily accomplishable.
“That’s fine with us. We don’t mind,” Schiller said. “If there are people who love our hardware but are forced to put up with a Windows world, then that’s OK.”
Hmmm... have to learn more about that last bit, though I'd likely only use it for gaming, and I don't do enough gaming that I'd probably ever get around to doing it, but...
Tuesday, 10 January 2006
So...
Thoughts?
Public Service
Once you get done here, go over to Tutor's Blog and review cars for him. Thanks!
Falcon Update
After last month's failure of the Falcon I rocket, SpaceX has shipped a new first stage to the launch site and is preparing for a new launch attempt on Feb. 8.
My Predictions
No major surprises or real going out on a limb here, just posting this mainly to see how I do afterwards:- New Intel iBooks with revised form factor (most likely at least some widescreen)
- New iLife with new application (almost certainly iWeb) and possibly new iWork
- New Mac mini retooled to serve as a multimedia appliance
- Evolutionary, but not revolutionary, announcement about iTMS. At most, limited selection of feature films
- New Apple-branded iPod gadgets
- Evolutionary, but not revolutionary, iPod changes -- changes to capacity but not capability
Borderline:
- New Intel Powerbooks
Saturday Night iLife
It's disappointing to me that the new Saturday Night Live offering on iTunes don't include any Celebrity Jeopardy skits (well, there may be one or two as part of the $10 collection sets, but not as individual sketches, but it does amuse me that you can buy the recent sketch parodying Steve Jobs through iTunes.
Comics Question
For the one or two readers I have who might be able to answer this:I've heard really good things about Brian Wood's Demo, but don't know a whole lot about it. I've been reading Local and enjoying it, which seems like a pretty good indicator that I would like Demo, also.
Now Demo is out in trade paperback, but with only the stories, not the backmatter, etc.
Question a) is, should I read Demo, and question b) is, should I buy the trade, or would I be missing out enough to go through the expense and effort of tracking down the single issues (which would also likely bump it down in my reading order to after a couple of other series I'm buying back issues of right now)?
MWSF
The people who care have probably already asked, but: 11 a.m. CST.Don't know yet who will or won't be doing live updates (or whether Steve's going to try to crack down on them like he did last time, or whether he'll be any more successful if he does [I was reading most of the news in German last time]), but I'll be checking the usual outlets.
Monday, 9 January 2006
Get Fuzzy
I've never had a local paper that runs "Get Fuzzy," so I hadn't really been familiar with it, but I picked up the daily cartoon calendar at the beginning of aught-five 'cause it was on sale for a couple of bucks, and I'd heard people speak highly of it, so I thought I'd check it out.It's gradually grown on me over the year, but as of today, I'm totally sold. I got behind turning the pages, and so I read four cartoons (from last year's calendar) today. Allow me to share lines from three of those four cartoons:
- Ahhh, cheese. Is there anything you can't do?
- "Monkey" is not a color ...
- Ha ha! No comeback to ham!
Pure comic gold, I tell you.
Used tags: comics, funny, monkeys
The Producers
Went and watched The Producers this weekend. Good stuff.I can see where the criticism comes from that it might have been better if the actors had acted as if they were in a movie instead of on stage. Ultimately, though, the payoff comes from just how over-the-top the humor is; the climax is farce writ gloriously large.
(i have this nagging feeling, though, that the story of two producers intentionally trying to put on a horrible show somehow explains the story behind Berman and Braga's These Are The Voyages, but not funny and without the happy ending.)
Regular Richie Feature
Top search strings on Hatbag.net for the first week or so of 2006:- funny kitten (this was number one, and with caps is also number four)
- funny fight
- noah s ark satellite
- popeye's chicken
- pregnant dog
- bush on mars
- science fiction spacecraft
- 8-Bit Mario
- Dogma Ben affleck
- Kato green hornet
- Moon hoax
- comics mesf
- costume for pregnant
- dave hitt
- duck suit
The last three are more amusing if you imagine them as one continuous thought:
Grammar Quiz
How grammatically correct are you? (Revised with answer key)
brought to you by Quizilla
(Some of the answers, though, depend on which style you are using. There were a couple of my answers that I maintain are correct for what I do.)
Outwit, Outlast, Out-of-this-world
You know, I've never watched a single season of Survivor. Don't think I've seen two minutes of any episode of the 500 seasons so far. Not the original, not Survivor: Marquesas, not Survivor: Wal-Mart Supercenter, none of it.But that may be about to change. The next season of Survivor will feature retired astronaut Dan Barry. Survivor: Panama premieres on Feb. 2 (while I'm in Houston, unfortunately). It'll be interesting to see how he does. On the one hand, he's very smart, and has been through survival training. On the other, NASA protocol may have rid him of the necessary deviousness.
Given my general distaste for watching broadcast TV, I'm not sure if I'll actually watch or not; particularly since doing so would generate mixed feelings for me regarding his performance. In general, I'm all for him winning, but since I'd only watch for as long as he's on, a part of me would be waiting for him to lose.
Eh, Just Some Ranting
OK, a bit of a pet peeve here, so feel free to tune this one out. There some good Mac and Trek stuff below (unless you're reading the space-only version of ATW, in which case you're missing out, and should immediately flip over to the full version).Anyway, SpaceDaily enages today in some gleeful NASA bashing today echoing an argument I've heard elsewhere that NASA agreeing to buy Soyuz vehicles from the Russians showed that they had no choice but to do so. I've seen this presented as an argument of the failure of the shuttle program and that NASA has bottomed out.
The truth, though, is just the opposite. NASA did, indeed have other choices. Most obviously would be to simply not have Americans in space until the shuttle was ready to fly again. It certainly wouldn't be the first time America was completely grounded. The other option would have been to go with a "good enough" approach to safety -- fly longer ISS expeditions exchanged via spaced-out shuttle flights, decreasing the risk by decreasing the number of flights (this one still involves reaching an agreement for the use of Soyuz as a lifeboat in event of an emergency, but would allow the use of shuttle seats as a bargaining chip for Soyuz seats).
Not having a choice is what happened from 1975 until 1981, when there was simply zero U.S. access to space. No launch vehicles at all, and no one we could bum a ride from. To a lesser extent, it's what happened from 1986 to 1988; though arguably there was the option of flying with a flawed system, but not launching when it was too cold -- not a good option, and one NASA wisely did not take.
There is an American in space right now because NASA did have a choice. By cultivating an international space partnership, the U.S. is able to take advantages of capabilities of its partners to supplement its own. More options, not fewer. And, as a result, the U.S. has maintained continuous human presence in space for the last three years when it would have otherwise been difficult or impossible.
Personally, I see that as a good thing, not a bad one.
Clash Of The Titans
The war for the future of digital media is heating up, and the sides are taking shape.Google has announced it's going to start its own online video store that will compete with iTMS, and among its offerings will be Deep Space Nine and Voyager. I don't see any information on pricing, nor exactly how the DRM will work, other than a bit noting that "iPod and Sony Playstation Portable users will also be able to download and watch any non-copy-protected content from Google Video," which presumably means the same is not true for paid content.
The big difference between Google Video and iTMS is that, as Google brags, "Google Video is the first open video marketplace where any video producer, large or small, can upload their content and distribute it for free or at a price." I'm curious what that will mean in competition with iTMS. I mean, it's a nice idea, but I'll be interested in seeing whether it's executed in such a way that if I go online to download a copy of "Duet," and type "Star Trek" into the search box, I'm going to have to wade through bunches of stuff like this to find what I'm looking for (On the flip side, where else could you see "A portly man in a star trek costume"?).
(There's a side editorial that one could write here about the fact that this would be a great opportunity to let fans do like New Voyages has expressed interest in, and charge for their videos, recouping some of their costs and cutting Paramount in for "a piece of the action." But I'm not going to write that side editorial now.)
The DS9 Mini-Series Campaign
OK, even if this were well done, it would have about zero percent chance of making a difference, and, quite frankly, it's not that well done.However, being a sucker for Deep Space Nine, here's you're link to the official "Make A DS9 TV Mini-Series Campaign" Web site. One of my favorite parts is how they talk about how they've made contact with several of the series' stars about the campaign, but say nothing of the response they got (well, actually, the response they got appears to be in the form of autographs, but, hey).
There also appears to be no sort of online petition or other involvement available, it all centers around sending snail-mail. Eh.
Plasmapple
So here's you another MWSF rumor to tide you over for the next day or so: MacRumors is linking to a PowerPage article which reports that tomorrow's announcements will include giant Apple-Intel widescreen plasma displays, with 42- and 50-inch screens. It sounds like they're basically both plasma displays and computers. Hrm. Too pricey for me, though.And, oh yeah, if you're into the whole .Mac scene, an upgrade to that is expected to be announced Tuesday as well. It would have to be pretty impressive to make me overcome the bitterness I'm still feeling over them revoking the free mac.com e-mail addresses.
Monster Deal
Per MacNN:Rumors are circulating that Pixar Animation Studios and Walt Disney are on the brink of signing a megadeal, either the possible sale of Pixar to Disney or a new distribution pact between the two companies. Continuing talks have reportedly been migrating toward Disney acquiring all or part of Pixar, which would make Steve Jobs--CEO of Pixar and Apple Computer--a major Disney shareholder, and possibly the media giant's chairman. Some analysts have speculated that by selling Pixar, Jobs could focus on running Apple, while others doubt the executive is willing to sell even a part of Pixar, which he bought in 1986 from George Lucas for $10 million. Pixar's market value is now almost $7 billion, according to a report from bizjournals.com.
Saturday, 7 January 2006
Silly Weekend Blogpoint Opportunity
It's a little-known (and just made-up by me) secret in the publishing industry that famous authors are almost all known for atrocious restaurant-related habits. Children's author Maurice Sendak, for example, developed a reputation for always having waiting take his meals back to the kitchen -- steaks wouldn't be done enough; he wouldn't like a side, etc. -- for which he developed the nickname "Sendback Sendak." Coming from Mississippi, the shoe-less behaviour that led to the nickname Shelby "Bare"Foote is unsurpring, the story behind "No Pants-y Tom Clancy" perhaps a bit moreso.I'll award Blogpoints for creativity for your famous-author-bad-restaurant-behavior nicknames.
Friday, 6 January 2006
Even More Glimpses Of The Future
Continuing the series about the Leonardo Code tie-in merchandise Lain brought back with him from the future, here is a selection of LC stuffed toys.
Another (Fan) Nail
Urgh. I've really had hopes for "Star Trek: New Voyages" being an important part of the future of Trek, not only for its own merits, but for proving there is still interest in the franchise and for being a major stepping stone towards a more open-source era of Trek.So the news that exec. producer Jack Marshall is leaving the show is not particularly encouraging, especially when he has this to say about his departure:
I've taken the show as far as I can, I don't believe in the direction the show is headed, I'm tired of not getting paid for working, I'm extremely tired of the Trek universe and have not enjoyed it as a fan for a long time, I'm tired of defending myself and the show on the internet.
Even filtering it for the "I'm just completely fed up with this factor," I have to wonder what the bit about not believing in the direction the show is headed is about. The obvious thing that comes to mind is whether the canon issues with the Chekov episode have anything to do with it, but clearly he's stuck around for a while knowing about that. Hrm.
Hypertime Update
I found an article that has more information about the "hyperdrive" engine that I posted about yesterday. The additional details make it sound even more incredible, in both senses of the word.The hypothetical device, which has been outlined in principle but is based on a controversial theory about the fabric of the universe, could potentially allow a spacecraft to travel to Mars in three hours and journey to a star 11 light years away in just 80 days, according to a report in today's New Scientist magazine.
...
Also, if a large enough magnetic field was created, the craft would slip into a different dimension, where the speed of light is faster, allowing incredible speeds to be reached. Switching off the magnetic field would result in the engine reappearing in our current dimension.
The US air force has expressed an interest in the idea and scientists working for the American Department of Energy - which has a device known as the Z Machine that could generate the kind of magnetic fields required to drive the engine - say they may carry out a test if the theory withstands further scrutiny.
Professor Jochem Hauser, one of the scientists who put forward the idea, told The Scotsman that if everything went well a working engine could be tested in about five years.
Handicapping MWSF
Macrumors.com has posted a summary of rumors for Macworld San Francisco. Among the ones I hadn't heard before -- that has some pretty good evidence -- is that there will be a new application called iWeb.In a related note, investment research firm PiperJaffray is predicting an updated iPod shuffle, an Intel-based Mac mini and iBook, iTunes video content, and a new consumer electronics device."
Enemies List
Hewlett-Packard has announced that it will stop bundling iTunes with its computers, switching instead to Rhapsody. The move comes in the wake of the company's decision to stop selling HP+ iPods, and moves the PC company safely back into the Mac "enemy" category, after a couple of years in the friends category.Really, the last year has seen a fair amount of flux in the Mac friends and enemies lists:
- Motorola, one of the charter members of the friends list, has just switched over by dropping iTunes and starting a competing service for its phones. As best I can tell, this leaves Motorola with no relationship with Apple other than competitor, moving them to the enemies list.
- IBM, one of the charter members of the enemies list that has since spent half the life of the Mac on the friends list, moves, I guess, onto the neutral list. I don't know that IBM now has any relationship with Apple at all, save whatever interest in has in the company it sold its PC business to.
- Intel, another charter enemy, is now well-ensconced on the friends list.
- Microsoft is, has been and always shall be the enemy (less, possibly, the Mac BU. And, actually, I can imagine a scenario in which that "always shall be" part isn't true, but I can't imagine it ever being a warm relationship).
Virgin With Comics
So in an apparent effort to be relevant to all of my interests, Richard Branson has announced that not only will he be running a spaceliner service, he's now launching Virgin Comics.
Happy Holidays
May you have a great Epiphany today!
Thursday, 5 January 2006
Superman and Green Lantern Ain't Got Nothin' On Me
You are Green Lantern
| Hot-headed. You have strong will power and a good imagination.  |
Blogpoint Opportunity, Continued
OK, continuing the predictions Blogpoint Opportunity from yesterday:Below the cut is a list of possible predictions for Steve's Macworld Keynote Tuesday. In addition to the ones people have posted, I've added a few more. For each one, go through and say yes or no as to whether you think it will actually come to pass. I'll award Blogpoints for correct predictions based on how many people guess correctly (i.e., if everyone says something will happen, it's worth very little; if you're the only one, it's worth more.) (more)
More Glimpses Of The Future
Continuing yesterday's post about the Leonardo Code tie-in merchandise Lain brought back with him from the future, here is a selection of LC action figures.
Priorities
Per RConversation:Microsoft’s MSN Spaces continues to censor its Chinese language blogs, and has become more aggressive and thorough at censorship since I first checked out MSN’s censorship system last summer. On New Years Eve, MSN Spaces took down the popular blog written by Zhao Jing, aka Michael Anti. Now all you get when you attempt to visit his blog at: http://spaces.msn.com/members/mranti/ is the error message pictured above. (You can see the Google cache of his blog up until Dec.22nd here.)
Note, his blog was TAKEN DOWN by MSN people. Not blocked by the Chinese government.
Auld Lang Seth
And here's the first new Hatbag of 2006.
Reminder
Just a little reminder from your friendly neighborhood ATW -- If you've got anything you need to mail, and any remaining 37 cent stamps, you need to go ahead and send them out by Saturday, since the rate hike to 39 cents goes into effect Sunday.
Alcohol Ban Update
OK, I told you to take the recent Russian article about the alcohol ban on the international space station possibly being lifted.According to Cosmic Log, NASA says it's not going to happen:
"We — NASA — have not changed our policy regarding alcoholic beverages on an operational spacecraft," he told me in response to the Interfax report. "We do not endorse that, nor do we execute that manifest."
Navias said "there's no debate" with the Russians on that point. And he disputed Interfax's claim that a recent cargo shipment to the station bent the rules by including some "chocolate liqueurs" (or would that be liqueur-filled chocolates?) for station commander Bill McArthur.
It makes one wonder, though, exactly how the ISS partnership works, that one partner can unilaterally ban something for everyone, if that's in fact what's happening here.
Help Wanted
Want to work for NASA, but don't want to have to get out of bed? Today is your lucky day!Participants are currently being sought for a 115-day bed-rest study that will help NASA learn more about controlling physical atrophy in spaceflight. Participants will spend 90 days almost entirely in bed, lying slightly tilted with their head lower than their feet.
Hypertime
Per New Scientist:EVERY year, the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics awards prizes for the best papers presented at its annual conference. Last year's winner in the nuclear and future flight category went to a paper calling for experimental tests of an astonishing new type of engine. According to the paper, this hyperdrive motor would propel a craft through another dimension at enormous speeds. It could leave Earth at lunchtime and get to the moon in time for dinner. There's just one catch: the idea relies on an obscure and largely unrecognised kind of physics. Can they possibly be serious?
The AIAA is certainly not embarrassed. What's more, the US military has begun to cast its eyes over the hyperdrive concept, and a space propulsion researcher at the US Department of Energy's Sandia National Laboratories has said he would be interested in putting the idea to the test.
According to another report, the engine would "create an intense magnetic field that would produce an anti-gravity force and propel craft faster through space" (Assuming that's the same one. This article also mentioned other dimensions, but I don't know enough to understand why other dimensions are involved in that explanation.) That report also says a round trip to Mars would be cut from 2 1/2 years (A long figure, based on staying from one opposition to the next -- the actual travel time each way is "only" six months) to five hours.
Make It So?
Per TrekWeb:STAR TREK THE NEXT GENERATION star Patrick Stewart told Yahoo News UK more about his meetings with the studio for a proposed STAR TREK XI featuring Captain Jean-Luc Picard and the Enterprise-E crew.
"Weighty people in Hollywood have come up with a very interesting proposition." he said
He insists the offers would be tempting, if only he were a little younger. "But they told me it was still two, three or four years down the road, by which time I would only be able to sit in the captain's chair and not have the energy to get out of it!"
(One wonders if that last comment was why he agreed to take on the role of Charles Xavier.)
That said, I'm still just not sold on it. At this point, it would have to be not just an incredibly good movie but an incredibly good concept for a movie to make people care. (One might think the former would be more difficult than the latter, since it's easy to blow a good concept when actually making a movie, but, for example, think of how you could have described the plot of Wrath of Khan in one or two sentences that would excite someone who wasn't a big Trek fan.)
Music Duo
This post is primarily for Tutor, who just yesterday was telling me of his desire to have Bluetooth capability on an iPod.This isn't a new iPod, like he was talking about, but then, if you already own an iPod, an adapter for your current player is probably better anyway.
Wednesday, 4 January 2006
Glimpses Of The Future
When I visited Lain over this past weekend, he was kind enough to share with me a bag of tie-in merchandise he had brought back in time from the future, when The Leonardo Code is a best-selling book and the movie is about to come out.It'll take me a little while to get all of the swag online, but I've started with these movie posters.
Blogpoint Opportunity
OK, gonna try something different Blogpoint contest-wise--predicting next week's Macworld Expo San Francisco.It's a two-step process. Step one is, I'll award 4 Blogpoints for each prediction posted by noon tomorrow about what will be announced at MWSF that turns out to be correct. Make them as specific as possible; I won't award points for "New content on iTMS" or "New computers," but would award them for predictions about what said content or computers might be.
Blogpoint Update
OK, I've totalled up the December Blogpoint results, and have some winners. Coming in in first place was Joe, with 144 Blogpoints, followed by Jonathan in second, with 114.Both win a free song of their choice from iTMS, though Jonathan probably doesn't want his (If not, I'll figure out something else to do for you). Last month's winners, Lain and Mrs. Tutor, still haven't told me what they want either, so if the four winners will tell me what they want, I'll try and figure out how to gift it.
Below the cut is the full Blogpoint list for December; as well as the complete Blogpoint totals for 2005. (more)
Today In History
On this date in 1958, having successfully changed the world, Sputnik 1 reentered the Earth's atmosphere after 92 days in orbit.
Er, also, Spirit landed on Mars two years ago yesterday.
Space Alcohol Ban To Be Lifted?
OK, this is coming from the Russian media, so take it with a grain of salt, but it's kind of amusing:A ban on alcohol aboard the International Space Station (ISS) could be lifted in 2006 to allow crews nips of liquor after grueling work assignments, Russia’s Interfax news agency reported on Tuesday.
“They fly in orbit for half a year and perform a heavy workload, especially during exhausting space walks when they shed several kilos in weight over a few hours,” said a source in the Russian medical support teams for the manned space program. “Many people think a small ration of alcohol would help restore their strength.”
It goes on to note that while Russia has allowed "moderate alcohol consumption" in the past, those stuffed shirt Americans are always complete space teetotallers. (NASA came very close to allowing wine on Skylab -- and did indeed allow it on a full-duration mission simulation on the ground -- but cancelled the plan after complaints from the public. The ban was most recently the topic of news for the STS-107 mission, during which Israeli astronaut Ilan Ramon had hoped to carry wine for a Sabbath blessing ritual, but was barred from doing so by NASA.)
Better Than DVD?
The announcement on MacNN says that Apple has add new content to iTunes from ESPN and ABC Sports, ABC Entertainment and Touchstone Television, ABC Family, ABC News, Buena Vista Television, Disney Channel, and SOAPnet, as well as content produced by Walt Disney Feature Animation.In actuality, only some of that has been added, and other bits of it are forthcoming. That said, it was the last item in that list that grabbed my attention. Walt Disney Feature Animation? What does that mean? I'm sure there are any number of things it could be, like short films or "content" that is basically advertising, but the way it sounds is like actual Walt Disney animated features. My initial reaction was that they wouldn't do that; why would they sell for two bucks online content that would cost $15-20 on DVD?
If this article on MacRumors is true though, there's a very good reason why they would. Turns out there's speculation that content owners get as much as 70 percent of the $1.99 for an iTMS sale, which is reported to be comparable to a DVD sale profit margin. So Disney could possibly sell a movie on iTMS as an impulse buy for chump change, but get as much profit from it as the DVD. Plus, if someone likes the movie and wants to see special features or watch in on their television or just have a hard copy, it's not hard to imagine they might still go out and buy the DVD also, letting Disney cash in twice on one product. If that model is correct, it's not hard to imagine that when Apple gets the download and piracy-prevention technology down, an iTunes Movie Store could be the sort of thing people would want to buy into.
(It also makes one wonder what that model looks like for television shows. Granted a TV season box set costs more than an individual DVD, but I'm curious how the per-episode profit margin on iTMS compares when the margin on a box set.)
Back To The Futurama
This blog loves it some Futurama, even though I really didn't discover the joys of the show until I started watching it on DVD well after it was cancelled. I was excited about the news that there was talk of producing some new direct-to-DVD Futurama, and am now even more excited that it might return to TV.(I was initially a bit troubled by the fact that would mean its continued survival would depend on me managing to actually watch it regularly when it was on, only to realize that my actual viewing habits don't really matter.)
Tuesday, 3 January 2006
Officially
Well, it's official: I'm too much of a hack to even successfully write fanfic.How sad is that?
Shock Of The New
Having trouble adjusting to this strange new world that is 2006? Well, you'll be happy to know that some things never change: The year was all of two days old when an announcement was made of another vulnerability in fully patched versions of Windows XP and Server 2003.Attacks so far have been limited to installation of adware and spyware on compromised machines, but “you’re probably going to see Trojans and more sinister code develop and emerge in the next few days,” Dunham said.
JAXA On ISS
With ESA's Thomas Reiter still scheduled to become the first non-American-or-Russian spacefarer to make a long-duration stay on the International Space Station at whatever time the space shuttle resumes flying again, plans are already way for yet another agency to be able to have a representative live on ISS. An astronaut from the Japanese space agency JAXA is already in training for a flight to the ISS. Plans are for two JAXA astronauts to make long-duration stays while the Japanese Experiment Module, Kibo, is added to the station. Work is expected to begin in 2007 and conclude the following year.
Congrats
Per Space.com:A naval aviator who helped deploy the Hubble Space Telescope, a pilot who flew the fourth and final orbital test flight of the Space Shuttle Columbia and an Air Force test pilot who was at the controls of the first international Spacelab mission will be inducted next year into the US Astronaut Hall of Fame, the organization responsible for their selection announced on Friday.
The Astronaut Scholarship Foundation named Charles F. Bolden, Jr., Henry W. "Hank" Hartsfield, Jr. and Brewster H. Shaw, Jr. as the 2006 class of Astronaut Hall of Fame (AHOF) enshrinees. The three mission commanders will be the fifth group of shuttle astronauts to be honored and will join all Mercury, Gemini and Apollo veterans inducted since the Hall opened in 1990.
Alternative ROKR
Motorola is ditching Apple for the next generation of ROKR phones, instead going with a proprietary service (for which, to differentiate themselves from Apple, they came up with the brilliantly original name "iRadio").Don't know what it will mean for Motorola. On the one hand, it would seem they lose the advantage over competitors of the distinctiveness of having iTunes on a phone. On the other hand, this would eliminate the taint of mediocrity that had settled onto the ROKR.
Likewise for Apple, they lose the marketing they were getting from Cingular and Motorola, but, on the flip side, I wasn't too keen on the idea of the ROKR being someone's first exposure to Apple.
Personally, I'd love for this to be a sign that Apple is getting closer to producing its own phone that will be cooler than any other phone ever created, but I'm not getting my hopes up.
Monday, 2 January 2006
Oh Well
I thought I'd created a cool neologism to describe the upcoming final Harry Potter book, but was disappointed that Google shows there are already 13 instances on the internet of the term "Potterdammerung." Alas.
Tuesday, 31 January 2006
Editorial Note
(Read Entry)
Bittertown
(Read Entry)
Today In History
(Read Entry)
Still Safe
(Read Entry)
Apple SLVR
(Read Entry)Monday, 30 January 2006
The Return Of Apollo
(Read Entry)
Voices From Space
Space suit will be thrown overboard during EVA. (Read Entry)
Join The Army
(Read Entry)
Arlo Update
(Read Entry)Saturday, 28 January 2006
20 Years
(Read Entry)Thursday, 26 January 2006
The Sound Of You And Me
(Read Entry)
Hatbag Now!
(Read Entry)
Remember
(Read Entry)
Ah, Russia
(Read Entry)
Small New Worlds
(Read Entry)
Jobs At Disney Update
(Read Entry)
Embracing Intel
(Read Entry)
Lost Discussion Post
(Read Entry)Wednesday, 25 January 2006
Posthistory Update
(Read Entry)
Ladies And Ladysmith
(Read Entry)
The CW
(Read Entry)
Jobs At Disney
(Read Entry)Tuesday, 24 January 2006
Eh
(Read Entry)
Phone Call
(Read Entry)
Happy MacDay!
(Read Entry)
Expedition 13 Delayed
(Read Entry)Monday, 23 January 2006
Make Your Own Leonardo Code
(Read Entry)
iTunes Question Meme
(Read Entry)
Entitled
(Read Entry)
What Type Of Villain Are You?
(Read Entry)
Naming Names
Speculation on names for exploration vehicles. (Read Entry)
Rolling Opportunity
(Read Entry)
Cheap Enterprise
(Read Entry)
Various iNotes
(Read Entry)
Back To The Futurama Update
(Read Entry)Sunday, 22 January 2006
Unboxing Day
(Read Entry)
The View From Here
(Read Entry)Friday, 20 January 2006
Long Live The King
(Read Entry)
Medical Post
(Read Entry)
The Evil Twin
(Read Entry)
More iPod Rumors
(Read Entry)
Today
(Read Entry)Thursday, 19 January 2006
Yesterday's Geek
(Read Entry)
Shopping For Spaceflights
(Read Entry)
New Horizons Update
(Read Entry)
What's Old Is New
(Read Entry)
Reunion
(Read Entry)
iMouse
(Read Entry)
Lost Again
(Read Entry)Wednesday, 18 January 2006
STS-121 Update
(Read Entry)
New Horizons Update
(Read Entry)
Office For Mac
(Read Entry)
DD Is BB
(Read Entry)Tuesday, 17 January 2006
JPod
(Read Entry)
Forty Years Of Crawling
(Read Entry)
New Horizons
(Read Entry)
Return Of Sulu?
(Read Entry)
Relativity
(Read Entry)
Woz Wear
(Read Entry)
Boooooong!
(Read Entry)
Trek For Less
(Read Entry)Sunday, 15 January 2006
How 'Bout Them Apples
(Read Entry)Saturday, 14 January 2006
Yuri's Night
(Read Entry)
Return From A Comet
(Read Entry)Friday, 13 January 2006
Small Giants
(Read Entry)
iPants!
(Read Entry)
De-Lurking
(Read Entry)
Compromise
(Read Entry)
A Few More iNotes
(Read Entry)
The Switch
(Read Entry)Thursday, 12 January 2006
Super Mistake
(Read Entry)
Sure
(Read Entry)
Mint Gone Wild
(Read Entry)
SpaceShipThree Update
(Read Entry)
CEV Update
(Read Entry)
More Mac Tidbits
(Read Entry)
No 'Inside' Outside
(Read Entry)
What Is It? It's It
(Read Entry)
Adamant
(Read Entry)Wednesday, 11 January 2006
Leonardo Code Update
(Read Entry)
Random Comics
(Read Entry)
Uh...
(Read Entry)
Milky Way Dark
(Read Entry)
Trek On Demand
(Read Entry)
Macworld Tidbits
(Read Entry)Tuesday, 10 January 2006
So...
(Read Entry)
Public Service
(Read Entry)
Falcon Update
(Read Entry)
My Predictions
(Read Entry)
Saturday Night iLife
(Read Entry)
Comics Question
(Read Entry)
MWSF
(Read Entry)Monday, 9 January 2006
Get Fuzzy
This is actually good stuff. (Read Entry)
The Producers
(Read Entry)
Regular Richie Feature
(Read Entry)
Grammar Quiz
(Read Entry)
Outwit, Outlast, Out-of-this-world
(Read Entry)
Eh, Just Some Ranting
(Read Entry)
Clash Of The Titans
(Read Entry)
The DS9 Mini-Series Campaign
(Read Entry)
Plasmapple
(Read Entry)
Monster Deal
(Read Entry)Saturday, 7 January 2006
Silly Weekend Blogpoint Opportunity
(Read Entry)Friday, 6 January 2006
Even More Glimpses Of The Future
(Read Entry)
Another (Fan) Nail
(Read Entry)
Hypertime Update
(Read Entry)
Handicapping MWSF
(Read Entry)
Enemies List
(Read Entry)
Virgin With Comics
(Read Entry)
Happy Holidays
(Read Entry)Thursday, 5 January 2006
Superman and Green Lantern Ain't Got Nothin' On Me
(Read Entry)
Blogpoint Opportunity, Continued
(Read Entry)
More Glimpses Of The Future
(Read Entry)
Priorities
(Read Entry)
Auld Lang Seth
(Read Entry)
Reminder
(Read Entry)
Alcohol Ban Update
(Read Entry)
Help Wanted
(Read Entry)
Hypertime
(Read Entry)
Make It So?
(Read Entry)
Music Duo
(Read Entry)Wednesday, 4 January 2006
Glimpses Of The Future
(Read Entry)
Blogpoint Opportunity
(Read Entry)
Blogpoint Update
(Read Entry)
Today In History
(Read Entry)
Space Alcohol Ban To Be Lifted?
(Read Entry)
Better Than DVD?
(Read Entry)
Back To The Futurama
(Read Entry)Tuesday, 3 January 2006
Officially
(Read Entry)
Shock Of The New
(Read Entry)
JAXA On ISS
(Read Entry)
Congrats
(Read Entry)
Alternative ROKR
(Read Entry)Monday, 2 January 2006