 |
Saturday, 30 September 2006
ATW Comics War: Round One, Fight Five
The latest All These Worlds War continues: the ATW Comic War! Characters from twenty comic strips will be pitted against each other in one-on-one combat, and you pick the winner. All you have to do is vote for the character each battle that you think would be most likely to win.OK, this battle is ATW Comic War, family-style. Calvin's dad versus Foxtrot's Jason Fox. Let the battle begin!
Cast your vote for the character you think would win:
Calvin's dad (3 votes)
Jason Fox (1 votes)
Friday, 29 September 2006
Banned Book Week Update
You know, if you're serious about this whole banned book week thing, forget trying to help out books that are already bestsellers or classics.Instead, show your support by picking up truly marginalized literature. What if you had the chance to buy a book of which only a handful of copies exist in the United States, that no library in the nation has acquired, and that even every library it's been offered to for free has refused to shelve it!?
Now you can!
Fight for your First Amendment rights! Strike a blow for free speech!
ATW Comic War: Round One, Fight Five
The latest All These Worlds War continues: the ATW Comic War! Characters from twenty comic strips will be pitted against each other in one-on-one combat, and you pick the winner. All you have to do is vote for the character each battle that you think would be most likely to win.No soldiers or warriors this time. Just a normal guy. And a cat. The fourth fight pits Dagwood Bumstead against Garfield. Let the battle begin!
Cast your vote for the character you think would win:
Dagwood (2 votes)
Garfield (3 votes)
iState
To be honest, I'm old enough now that I really don't remember enough about watching The State on MTV 13 years to recall why I liked it so much, but I did. Regardless, the first few episodes are available on iTS now.
STS-116 Update
The countdown clock on the left just dropped by a week.Launch is now scheduled for Dec. 7, 9:38 p.m. EST.
SpaceShipTwo Revealed
OK, this is fascinating to me.I'd read that the design for SpaceShipTwo was going to be unveiled yesterday, but had to read through five space news sites this morning before I found one that had anything about it. Apparently the Rutan lovefest may be waning.
Anyway: SpaceShipTwo.
I Am ... Iron Man!
So, Robert Downey Jr. is Tony Stark.Oh, man, that's inspired casting.
We could not think of another actor better suited to bring one of Marvel's crown jewels to the big screen," said Kevin Feige, President of Production, Marvel Studios.The quote doesn't go on to say, "It'll take great actor to play the likeable, intellegent and sophisticated guy dealing with alcohol abuse issues, but for some reason, we think Downey's up to the task."
Robert Downey Jr. as Tony Stark.
Bwah-ha-ha-ha.
Space MySpace
I'm not entirely happy about it, but, because of someone here who shall remain nameless, I have a MySpace page.I don't plan to post any actual content there -- I have plenty of better places to do that -- but if you've got a MySpace page, feel free to friend me. And, hey, you can learn about my zodiac sign and favorite books and stuff.
So, like, totally... whatever. (ZOMG!)
Thursday, 28 September 2006
Profreading Errors
This week's new Hatbag kicks it totally old-school, in more ways than one, with a special touch that long-time As always, please vote Hatbag. Thanks.
And, since apparently a bunch of ATW readers don't follow the weekly Hatbag link, I thought a brief explanation might be in order -- Hatbag is a weekly webcomic Lain and I create. If you read ATW, take a few extra seconds to go read Hatbag. Please? Please?
ATW Comic War: Round One, Fight Three
The latest All These Worlds War continues: the ATW Comic War! Characters from twenty comic strips will be pitted against each other in one-on-one combat, and you pick the winner. All you have to do is vote for the character each battle that you think would be most likely to win.The third fight doesn't feature a U.S. soldier like the first two, but it does feature a battle-hardened warrior -- Hagar, the Horrible! In the other corner is Cathy! Ack! Let the battle begin!
Cast your vote for the character you think would win:
Hagar (4 votes)
Cathy (2 votes)
Here I Am Now, Entertain Me
Folks, the ATW blogosphere is really letting me down lately.The time since posting of various blogs linked to from ATW:
Spatula Forum -- Uh, one day. I was ready to blast him for not posting since the 15th, but it turns out he posted yesterday.
This is my brain... -- One week.
Does anybody read this -- Nine days.
Abnormal Aspirations -- 18 days.
Right Space -- One month, 8 days.
Random Declarations -- One month, two weeks.
The Not-So-Secret Life of Enzo -- six months, two days.
Taking A Nap -- Seven months, 18 days.
And, while it never had enough posts to make the blog list, "Idle Ramblings" is just shy of two months since its last (and fourth) post.
I demand to be amused!
Zune Gets Cheaper
A month ago, all indications, including some fairly good evidence, was that Microsoft was planning a price point of around $300 for Zune.Now Microsoft has announced Zune will sell for $249.99, 99 cents more than the iPod with the same hard drive capacity.
But for that extra buck, you get limited-potential WiFi. (Which gives you greater compatability, with other Zunes at least, if not the thousands of accessories available for iPod.)
And, of course, that buck also gets you the option of buying your mp3 player in brown.
Reports have indicated that Zune was going to lose money at $300. I've seen no official confirmation of that, but Microsoft, in this article, does confirm the following:
Erickson wouldn't provide financial specifics but said the operation won't make money immediately.
"In total we won't be making a profit this year, but we will of course work toward becoming a profitable business in the future," he said.
I would be so, so tempted to gloat -- if my memory were a bit worse.
On The Books
I love books. I know people who have more (to wit, Richie), but I have my share. And perhaps a couple of other people's.And, I love libraries. I don't frequent them as often as I could (see above), but I like them in theory, and have had several good librarian friends.
I get all that out of the way to provide context when I say this -- the American Library Association's Banned Books Week is a pretty high pinnacle of intellectual pretention.
It's nothing but straw-man argument that people use so they can pat themselves on the back for their own open-mindedness.
The whole idea shows just how much certain parties take our freedoms as an American for granted. The books on the list are not truly banned in the way they would be in other countries, where it would be difficult or illegal to get your hands on them.
What "banned" means to the American Library Association is that some particular organizations chose not to have that book. That's "banned"?! The fact is, no organization on Earth has every book ever. Every library, every bookstore, every person chooses to acquire and shelve the books they feel most appropriate for their needs. Finding that a book doesn't meet that standard is hardly banning it.
Also under the heading of "banned" for the ALA is "challenged," which means that someone said that a particular book might not be appropriate for a particular audience.
You know what? Some books aren't appropriate for some readers. There, I said it. Blasphemy, I know.
And there are some people who are going to go too far with more extreme applications of that idea. Putting that under the heading of "banned" just gives credence to crackpots.
With its Banned Book Week, the ALA makes a mockery of the true struggles faced around the world. While authors sit in jail in other nations and governments, even as progressive as Australia, keep certain books out of their borders, the ALA throws around the word "banned" to talk about parents who don't want their young kids reading sexually explicit books. It cheapens the the very idea.
The ALA does, at least, refer to its Banned Book Week "top" list as the "most challenged books" of the year, likely because it would have a hard time putting together a list that it could really apply even its very liberal standard of banned to.
Even so, here are the top books that people are trying to keep you from getting your hands on: It's Perfectly Normal, Forever and The Catcher In The Rye.
Now try to explain Cai Zhouhua, in prison for three years for distributing Bibles in China, how "Available for 1-Click Ordering" fits the idea of a "Banned Book" week.
The Dream Is Still Alive
I've blogged before about Dream Chaser, a spacecraft design proposed by SpaceDev based on an old NASA lifting body design. The spacecraft was the company's entry in NASA COTS commercial spaceflight bid contest, but was turned down in favor of two other companies.It turns out, though, Dream Chaser isn't dead. SpaceDev founder Jim Benson has started a new company that will pursue development and commercial operation of the spacecraft.
This makes me happy for two reasons. One, I just like the design. As NASA moves back to an Apollo-esque architecture, Dream Chaser keeps alive a sort of "son of space shuttle" motif, particularly in the pics where it's mounted on a booster package not onlike the STS SRB/ET combo. Second, as a SpaceDev shareholder (albeit a very very tiny one), it sounds like a good model -- the new company, it seems, will bear the risk, while paying SpaceDev for the hardware.
To be honest, I wouldn't take bets right now on whether the Dream becomes reality, but that's true of a lot of spacecraft on the books right now. But it's just such an exciting time, with so many new spacecraft being pursued, from Orion on down.
iPhone Video?
Supposedly someone has found code in iTunes 7.0.1 that indicates the iPhone will play TV shows. Which, I mean, gracious -- that means that either the hard drive and screen would have pretty big for a phone, or that it's going to be a pretty limited feature. To be honest, I don't know that I'd want it included; I'm afraid it would require too many compromises.Still, it's an interesting idea -- you're out somewhere, bored, so you pull out your cell phone and watch TV. What brave new world is this, that has such cell phones in it. Now we can watch Jackie Gleason while we eat ... out.
That said, I want a job adding extraneous code to iTunes just to get the fanboys excited. "Are you sure you want to copy all PS3 games to your Blu-Ray iTablet? This operation would be cool beyond imagination!"
Return Of Sulu Update
With the release of the Chekov-gets-old episode of New Voyages theoretically less than a month away, details are starting to leak about the Sulu-gets-old episode of new Voyages, including a wacky, wacky picture.You know, I was excited about the news about Walter Koenig being on the show, but now the XXXX-gets-old episodes are, well, getting old. I understand why they'd be excited to have the original actors on the series, but, really, space things out a bit, guys.
Wednesday, 27 September 2006
ATW Comic War: Round One, Fight Two
The latest All These Worlds War continues: the ATW Comic War! Characters from twenty comic strips will be pitted against each other in one-on-one combat, and you pick the winner. All you have to do is vote for the character each battle that you think would be most likely to win.Like the first fight, the second features a veteran soldier -- Doonesbury's B.D., who will be taking on a seriously old school opponent, The Yellow Kid. Let the battle begin!
Cast your vote for the character you think would win:
B.D. (2 votes)
The Yellow Kid (2 votes)
Door To The Moon
CAPE CANAVERAL - NASA quite literally opened the door Tuesday on a new era in space exploration at Kennedy Space Center.
For the first time since the end of the Apollo program in the mid-1970s, NASA raised an 80-foot-tall door on the west side of the KSC Operations & Checkout Building.
The high bay inside -- which once housed moon-bound Apollo spacecraft -- is being converted into a factory for the Crew Exploration Vehicles that will carry U.S. astronauts back to the lunar surface before the end of the next decade.
Tuesday, 26 September 2006
ATW Comic War: Round One, Fight One
It's that time again!Welcome to the latest All These Worlds War: the ATW Comic War! Characters from twenty comic strips will be pitted against each other in one-on-one combat, and you pick the winner. All you have to do is vote for the character each battle that you think would be most likely to win.
The very first fight features Lucy Van Pelt, who dominates her neighborhood in Peanuts with an iron fist. But will she be up to the challenge when faced with battle-trained U.S. Army officer "Sarge" Snorkel. Let the battle begin!
Cast your vote for the character you think would win:
Lucy (3 votes)
Sarge (0 votes)
New Site
Welcome to the most pointless self-promotional post in recent ATW history!I've added another Web site to my list. To prevent the possibility of someone else registering the title of the book, I grabbed the domain a while back, and, since it was just sitting there, I threw some stuff up.
Anyway, it's not really much of a site since there's not much to say yet, but I wanted ATW to be the place where I debut homesteadingspace.com.
Sign Of The Woz
I mentioned yesterday that I was working this, and apparently got it done today -- you can pre-order signed copies of iWoz from Book Soup in California. It means I'll have to wait until after the Nov. 14 signing to read the book, but, hey, it's Woz, you know.I had trouble getting the order to go through, but apparently it finally did.
TFACD/A/CoMBtSCC!
No doubt, you've thought something along these lines:"I'd like to support the education of needy schoolchildren. But it would be great if I could boost awareness of Apple at the same time. And, of course, who wouldn't want to work alongside Claire Danes, star of television and movies?!"
Well, today is your lucky day! Cult of Mac has announced The First Annual Claire Danes / Apple / Cult of Mac Back to School Computer Challenge! Make a donation to help one of eight school projects, and Claire Danes will match your gift!
How cool is that! (Though, in my humble opinion, they're missing out by not having at least one of the challenges be named "My So-Called iLife.")
Monday, 25 September 2006
Dear Pete Boone
A 27-3 loss? Against Wake Forest? At home? Pete, you made a mistake. Admit it. Fix it. Or, more realistically, the fix needs to come from above. (Possibly really above. At this point, divine intervention seems like the only way for this season to be saved.) Do the honorable thing, and submit your resignation to Chancellor Khayat.
Lack of talent in the quarterback position last year (and the year before that) was blamed for a lot of the problems, but Schaeffer's performance makes one wonder if maybe there's another reason Ole Miss is weak at that position. Or, more accurately, it should drive home the issues that were probably obvious to everyone but you and the coaching staff last year -- whatever talent the team does or doesn't have, the real blame falls on the coaching staff for blaming the kids instead of making the most of what they do have.
Your arrogance in thinking you were a better coach than Cutcliffe has already sent the Ole Miss football program spiraling. It's time to put your pride aside, and think of what's best for the team, instead of what's best for yourself.
Heaven On Its Shoulders
Forty-four years ago, the first American in orbit got there a top an Atlas rocket. Now, there's a possibility that the booster will reprise its historic role in the commercial arena. Bigelow Aerospace (the "space hotel" folks) is working with Lockheed Martin to study the feasability of human-rating the Atlas V. Doing so would still require the creation of an orbital crew spacecraft, but would solve the problem of how to get that vehicle into orbit -- and to the Bigelow hotel.
Photokina Today
Apple's Photokina announcement begins at 9:30 CDT today.An Aperture update seems to the logical focus, though there are rumors of such things as laptop upgrades as well.
They Might Be Giants
After fighting against such major players as IBM, Microsoft and Dell, it appears Apple has a new addition to the enemy's list -- Wal-Mart. Apparently Wal-Mart has been warning studios not to sell movies through the iTunes Store, under threat of retaliation. Last year, the chain reportedly sent back "cases and cases" of DVDs to Disney after the company announced it would sell hit ABC shows on iTMS. Wal-Mart currently sells iPods and, I believe, iTunes cards, but I could be wrong about that.Addendum: Wal-Mart denies it. While of course they're going to, they argue there's been no retaliation for Disney selling movies on iTS.
Saturday, 23 September 2006
Decalogue Dennis
So here's my question about today's Dennis the Menace:
Which three and a half?
I I am the Lord thy God, thou shalt have no other gods before Me.
II Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image.
III Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain.
IV Rmember the sabbath day, to keep it holy.
V Honor thy father and thy mother.
VI Thou shalt not kill.
VII Thou shalt not commit adultery.
VIII Thou shalt not steal.
IX Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbor.
X Thou shalt not covet.
Heroes
So, anybody out there in ATW land planning on watching the new "Heroes" show?
Any thoughts on whether we would like it?
Friday, 22 September 2006
Relief
"But would you like to know / how it feels to live / like a free man..."
-- Angie Aparo, from Free Man
This morning, I had printed two copies of the manuscript for "Homesteading Space" to be mailed to our publisher. Turns out it was a pretty large stack of paper.
More pictures below: (more)
Beyond Genesis
Per Space.com:If the planned Jan. 30 launch of Bigelow Aerospace's Genesis 2 space module on a Russian Dnepr rocket is successful, Las Vegas entrepreneur Robert Bigelow plans to send a human-rated habitat into orbit in either the second half of 2009 or the first half of 2010.
Bigelow's Genesis 1 module was launched July 12 and continues to provide data on its condition in low Earth orbit. But while it is hosting some experiments, Genesis 1 – and Genesis 2 – will not be capable of supporting low Earth orbit space tourism, Bigelow's ultimate goal.
But the module Bigelow plans to launch at the end of the decade would be capable of supporting visiting crews of up to three people.
At a luncheon speech today in San Jose, Calif., at the AIAA Space 2006 Symposium, Bigelow said his third module, dubbed Sundancer, would have a mass of 8,618.4 kilograms and be equipped with life support systems, attitude control, three windows, on-orbit maneuverability, reboost and de-orbit capability.
He plans to place it at an altitude of 250 nautical miles at an orbital inclination of 40 degrees. Bigelow said that while Sundancer will be a scale model of the large, human-rated habitat he eventually plans to launch into orbit, it will nonetheless have 180 cubic meters of habitable space.
"We're pretty damn serious," Bigelow said in his lunch address.
Initially Sundancer will require a six-to-nine month period to check out all of its onboard systems. After that, Bigleow said, Sundancer would be able to stay in orbit for several years, which may be necessary since he acknowledged that at present there are no commercially available spacecraft designed to take humans into orbit.
Sundancer will, in effect, be a destination waiting for a means to get there.
Thursday, 21 September 2006
Picture Of The Day
The ISS as seen by the departing Atlantis.
Trebek Another Time
Whoo-hoo! It's new Hatbag day! Let there be rejoicing in the streets!As always, please vote Hatbag. Thanks.
And, since apparently a bunch of ATW readers don't follow the weekly Hatbag link, I thought a brief explanation might be in order -- Hatbag is a weekly webcomic Lain and I create. If you read ATW, take a few extra seconds to go read Hatbag. Please? Please?
STS-116 Update
And, with Atlantis down, I've reset the launch countdown clock at the top left for the Dec. 14 STS-116 launch of Atlantis. (It'll have to be tweaked a little on the time -- right now, it's only set to the minute, rather than the usual second, for the time that I have, and that's subject to change also; but the date should be right.)I'm thinking now that I may just leave the countdown clock up there as a permanent feature until 2010, though it may be a bit much for some of the longer gaps, like the almost four months between 117 and 118 next year. What think y'all?
Addendum: Even the date may soon be wrong, per Florida Today: "Next up: A complicated mission to rewire the entire 235-ton station. Six astronauts are scheduled to launch aboard Discovery on Dec. 14, but NASA is going to attempt to get the flight going a week early so its shuttle team can be home for Christmas."
Final STS-115 Update
Wheels stop.Welcome home, Atlantis, and congratulations on a succesful mission!
Hollywoodland
Finally got around to watching Hollywoodland last night. Don't have much of a review; it was basically what I thought it would be. (Well, it was on the good side of the range of what I thought it might be.)
Wednesday, 20 September 2006
TOS HD In HSV
So it turns out the enhanced TOS episodes are airing in Huntsville (and Birmingham, and Jackson -- in fact, more cities in Mississippi than in Alabama, surprisingly). Now I just need to find out when. (The full list of affiliates is at that link, and the schedule is here.)That said, one simple request/suggestion: Dear HD TOS folks, please check out the iTS. If you put these episodes on iTunes, I would buy some. And I doubt I'm alone in that.
One Million Dollars
You know, you would think I would learn.When Steve Jobs announced the video iPod last year, and started selling video (largely music videos) on iTMS, my reaction was that the only reason there would be any sales in the beginning was the curiousity factor, combined with some people wanting to have a handful of music videos in their digital library. Of course, Steve leveraged that beginning into something rather succesful.
So last week, when Steve announced movies on iTunes, I tried to be more positive about it -- "Well, it's not for me, but I guess some people might be interested" -- but I had my doubts. Still, the fact that the 75 movies that are available were downloaded a total of 125,000 times in the first week is rather impressive, particularly considering that this is really only the beginning for Apple's movie efforts.
So, yeah, congrats.
Three-Piece Supes
I mean, since they're coming out at the same time and all, would it really have been too much to ask to make the Superman Returns DVD package and the packages for the packages for the new Christopher Reeve Superman movie DVDs match?
They wouldn't even have to use the same design for the front. I'm probably not going to get the whole Reeve set. But I'm definitely going to get the new Donner-cut Supes II, and could see myself getting the new four-disc Superman: The Movie set. If they had at least made the side of all the DVD boxes match, which wouldn't have been that hard since the Reeve boxes are pretty plain, those two and Superman Returns would look like a trilogy, which would be cool.
STS-115 Update
In case you didn't hear while I was gone, today's scheduled landing of Atlantis has been delayed until at least tomorrow, due in part to weather at KSC, but also in part to an object Mission Control observed near Atlantis, which they are now working to determine if it came off the orbiter.The first landing opportunity tomorrow would be at 5:22 a.m. CDT.
Occasional Windows Venting
I've gone a few days without saying anything, but the problem has continued long enough that I've got to vent. After this, I'll feel better for a while, and we can go about our business. If you're the sort to get upset about this, don't read it.OK, all that said, for several days in a row now, I've had to clean numerous spam comments off of ATW. And I don't even understand why. The links people are spamming ATW with don't even work. Some of the comments aren't even anything but random collections of links, that don't even include links or e-mail or anything. And while I constantly improve my spam filter to keep stuff out (To be honest, I miss the good old days of completely unwholesome spam, when it was all porn and gambling and stuff. Once I blocked those, I'm having to move on to fight stuff like discount home insurance and great hotel rates. What sort of spam is that?), there's no way I can block completely random text. So I have to go through and kill it off manually and that takes time.
While I don't know the motivation for this, the one thing I do know is the means -- Windows.
There is one, and only one, reason this spam bombardment works -- The majority of the population who use Microsoft systems.
While I can't block every random permutation of spam comment that could be posted, I could still use my IP blocking tool to stop it, if it were just one person spamming. But, of course, it's not. I'm fighting an army of zombie PCs; passing between them instructions to spam every site they can, mine included.
And the people who own those computers, the people responsible for my site being spammed, aren't even aware of it, because they don't even know what they're computer is doing. Which, even were that victimless, would be an attitude I would have trouble empathizing with.
But it's not victimless -- I'm paying the price for their decision.
Yeah, not all Windows users are bad guys here -- those who keep their system protected are OK. But that's a huge challenge, considering that following the correct protocols, that is, downloading everything Microsoft tells you to, often means adding new vulnerabilities to your machine without even realizing it.
So this isn't like the old "Mac vs. PC" debates of 10, 15 years ago -- "My computer's better than yours! "No, mine's better!" Ultimately, it was a matter of personal choice. Whatever worked better for you, that's what you should choose. I really can empathize with why someone would have wanted to use a PC in the early '90s -- the compatability issues with the rest of the world were a big advantage to weigh against.
Today, though, it's completely different. It's not just a matter of personal choice -- The decision of these people to use Windows affects me personally. I pay the price for their decision. Mac users used to could just sit smugly on the sidelines and watch as the Windows community turned itself into one big cesspool of malware (and, I'll be honest, that is very rewarding), passing disease back and forth amongst themselves. But now, even though we're still immune to their various contagions, through this zombie thing they've managed to find a way for those contagions to make our lives miserable anyway.
So until the Windows operating system no longer negatively affects my life, I have the right to criticize Windows.
That is all. Carry on.
Editorial Note
OK, I'm back. Sorry for missing yesterday -- the home repair/improvement work we have going on was further complicated by the discovery Monday night that our water heater had water coming out of it in ways that a water heater shouldn't. We had two separate work crews doing their things at opposite ends of the house yesterday, and a whole variety of plumbing supplies in the front yard, including this year's hip accessory, the porch toilet.But I'm back today.
Monday, 18 September 2006
So ... Um ... Yeah
But, really, how many rebuilding years in a row can you have -- with no actual rebuilding -- before you admit you're not really rebuilding, you're just bad?
I didn't say anything after the Memphis game. My thought at the time was that a three-point win over Tiger High didn't bode well for the season, but, hey, it was a win. So that's something.
When the Rebs lost against the Tigers (no, different Tigers -- and not those Tigers, we don't play them for more than a month. And not those Tigers either, we play them near the end of the season. How we ended up with a season that's a third Tigers, I don't know. [And maybe more, some of these teams, I don't know what their mascots are.]) ... oh, yeah, I was in mid-sentence here ... the reports made it sound like, to be blunt, the team just didn't know what they were doing. Not a lack of talent, just playing poorly.
This week's game was summarized as, in a word, sloppy.
Is it just me, or would some of that not be the fault of bad coaching?
Two years later, I'm still just not seeing the benefits of firing David Cutcliffe. It still strikes me as a bad decision. And I still think Pete Boone needs to be held accountable for the arrogance that has sunk Ole Miss football to its lowest point in years.
OK, that's it. Now back to Macs and space and stuff. Thanks.
Just Like The One-Winged Dove
It doesn't look like NASA has posted any flyaround photos of the new 12A configuration of ISS yet, but Spaceflight Now has a screen capture from NASA TV taken during the shuttle's departure. Those arrays are so big that it almost looks like the truss is the primary axis of the station, rather than the crew modules.
According to collectSPACE, the ISS icon on the tracking screen at Mission Control changed Saturday for the first time in about four years to reflect the change.
Used tags: collectspace, international_space_station, space_shuttle, sts_116
Three Up
At the moment, there are three separate crews on three separate spacecraft orbiting the Earth, with a total of 12 people. The Expedition 13 crew is on the International Space Station, the STS-115 crew of Atlantis is on their way home from ISS and the Expedition 14 crew is on their Soyuz on their way to ISS. That's just kinda cool.
(And, to be technical, there are actually four crewed spacecraft on orbit right now, counting the Expedition 13 Soyuz taxi docked with ISS.)
Yeah, Yeah
ThinkSecret is reporting a rumor that, even after releasing new iPods last week, Apple may yet release the fabled "true video iPod" this year, barely in time for Christmas shopping season.Those who love to cling to any shred of hope about this mythical product (OK, that probably includes me) see the price drops on the iPod line as a sign that Apple is making room for a high-end product, although it's just as likely, if not more, that the price drop is because they're girding their loins for war. Microsoft (I believe) has yet to announce a price point for the Zune, but rumors (ah, lovely rumors) would have one believe that they've been eyeing a $300 price point, and, better yet, that they would be selilng the player for a loss at that price initially, as they've done with the Xbox. As things stand, the price drop means that instead of buying Microsoft's 30GB iPod killer for $300, you could get the real thing for $50 less -- or an additional 50 gig for only $50 more. (A dollar a gig, not bad for an mp3 player.)
So Microsoft either sticks to their guns, and argues that it's worth another $50 to get the Microsoft name (man, who woulda thought we'd see the day that the little Apple logo on a product was a sign of savings?) and WiFi, which lets you swap music with other people who pay the extra cost to swap music with you. Or they drop the price, and, if the rumors are correct, take an even bigger hit for each player sold.
Apple, on the other hand, is apparently making a pretty tidy profit of its iPods even at the lower price point, meaning that, if they needed to, they could undercut Microsoft even further and still make money.
Friday, 15 September 2006
Madonna In Space!!!!!!
Dear Roskosmos:Don't Tell Me I can't fly on Soyuz! As the second female space tourist, I could tell the world What It Feels Like For A Girl. I would love to appear in the night sky as a Ray of Light, a real Lucky Star. If you Justify My Love of space tourism (which seems to be all the Vogue these days), I'll Live To Tell what a great experience it was.
So, please, Open Your Heart, and let's work things out.
If not, I may have to buy my spaceflight from some other group, Like A Virgin.
Crazy For You,
Madonna
Walking Again
Astronauts Joe Tanner and Heidemarie Stefanyshyn-Piper are currently performing the STS-115 mission's third and final spacewalk.
A New Set of Wings
I'm really looking forward to seeing the pictures the Atlantis crew takes as they leave the ISS this time. The picture above of one of the new solar arrays is nice, but I can't to see what the station as a whole looks like.
It was a fortuitous coincidence that the station was at the point in its assembly that it was when Columbia was lost. During the almost four years that there has been only minimal station upgrades, the ISS has been in a symmetrical configuration, which has been advantageous for long-term operation without shuttle support. Its relatively streamlined shape offered controllers options for new flight protocols that allowed them to make the most of their resources.
The 12A configuration the station will be in at the end of this mission is notably asymmetric, and it'll be interesting to see how it looks in real life.
Naming Names
The world that has been variously called Lila, Xena and 2003 UB313 (and, in the common noun category, "planet') now has a name: Eris, after the Greek goddess of discord and strife, which seems to capture the effect its had on the world of astronomy (uh, does that phrase even mean anything?) over the past year or so.Personally, I like it.
The Next Event
The good news is, Apple's holding another special event on Sept. 25.The "eh" news is, it's on the eve of the Photokina conference, and will likely be photography-related, probably some sort of Aperture update announcement.
The bad news is, ThinkSecret is reporting the "iPhone" won't be released until January, though bad rumors, like good rumors, are still just rumors.
Toaster Bites Update
In case, like me, you want to watch the BSG shorts but have a hard time remembering to check them out, they're now up to Part Four.
Bonus!
If you checked out this week's Hatbag strip yesterday morning, you may have missed a "hidden" bonus Easter Egg strip that we added later in the day. Can you find it?As always, please vote Hatbag. Thanks.
And, since apparently a bunch of ATW readers don't follow the weekly Hatbag link, I thought a brief explanation might be in order -- Hatbag is a weekly webcomic Lain and I create. If you read ATW, take a few extra seconds to go read Hatbag. Please? Please?
Thursday, 14 September 2006
Editorial Note
I'm having some work done on the house today. I'll blog only if I have opportunity and something to say. (That last part setting the standard much higher than usual, I know.)
All Together Now
As challenging as producing a webcomic can be; there are some wells that you know you can always go back to. For example, any time there's a Stevenote coming up, we know we'll have fodder for that week's Hatbag if we need it. And this week, we did.As always, please vote Hatbag. Thanks.
And, since apparently a bunch of ATW readers don't follow the weekly Hatbag link, I thought a brief explanation might be in order -- Hatbag is a weekly webcomic Lain and I create. If you read ATW, take a few extra seconds to go read Hatbag. Please? Please?
Wednesday, 13 September 2006
STS-115 Update
They're spacewalking again.More truss installation and activation work. I saw an article about how unusual it is to have back-to-back spacewalk days like this the other day, but I lost it, and can't find the information now. Anyway, suffice it to say, it's unusual; I just don't know how unusual.
Replacing Kennedy At Kennedy
He's been sort of low-key since being reassigned from his position as shuttle program manager, but NASA yesterday announced that Bill Parsons will become the next director of Kennedy Space Center at the beginning of the year.I post this solely because it amazes me to see an Ole Miss engineering grad in a position like that.
Monopoly Space
A while back, I posted a piece asking ATW readers to vote for Johnson Space Center to get a space on a new Monopoly set.Well, your hard work and dedication paid off. JSC represents the city of Houston on the new Monopoly Here and Now board (In fact, JSC took 79 percent of the vote on Houston locations.)
Ironically, the graphic used to represent Houston "Here and Now" is outdated, showing the Saturn V outside the center the way it appeared a couple of years ago, before renovation work began and a shelter was constructed around it. (But what can you do? Johnson's just not as photogenic as some other NASA centers I could name.)
Among other locations near me -- Atlanta is represented by ATL, which I guess is probably the part of the city seen by more people than anywhere else (the square is the equivalent of one of the railroads in classic Monopoly), and Centennial Olympic Park, making it a rare location to get two squares. New Orleans is represented by the French Quarter, which I guess worked out well. Nashville's square features the Grand Ole Opry (Nashville? Really? If you're going to Tennessee, why not the larger Memphis? [At first I thought it might have been the fact that it's the capital, but New Orleans belies that.] Plus, Memphis has locations far more interesting that the Opry, like the Pyramid or Beale Street or Corky's. [Uh, actually, I guess Nashville has Corky's also, but that's not the same.])
STS-116 Update
Hey, look, it's the first ATW STS-116 Update!One could make the argument that I'm jumping the gun, and that this really should be another 115 update. And one would be completely correct! I'm just really digging on the whole being-back-to-working-on-one-mission-while-the-previous-one's-still-in-space thing. It's good to be back.
Anyway, per Spaceflight Now, things are looking good for progressing with 116 as scheduled:
"The team overall does feel extremely confident about launching at night," he said. "The radar that we have, we got another test of it this flight, and it worked extremely well for us. We also think we'll get some good imagery still just from the backlighting form the solid rocket boosters. So we're feeling good about the night launch.
"What you might lose for a night launch is further understanding of the external tank or the solid rocket boosters or the environment that we're flying in. Launching at night does not impact the safety of that crew, because we're going to do the full inspection just like we did on this flight. So, all you would lose launching at night is additional information about the environment that you might apply to ... future shuttle missions. It will not affect, though, the safety of the crew that actually launches at night. So we're feeling very comfortable that we could do that."
That same article also has a bit of a STS-125 Update: (more)
SegWoz
There's been a lot of stuff posted in the last 19 hours or so about the Showtime Stevenote yesterday, and most of it I'm not linking to (A few interesting points -- Lain and I discussed this yesterday, and Apple is increasing the resolution for TV shows on However, the one thing that I'm making an exception for is Cult of Mac's post about the picture at right.
Tuesday, 12 September 2006
Showtime Review
My thoughts:
--I did pretty well with my predictions, methinks.
--The new nanos: Cool. Wonder how they'll affect mini sales. Not terribly revolutionary. I still don't need one.
--Movies on iTMS: I figured there would be somebody other than Disney at the beginning. Expect more soon. As predicted, probably too expensive for my needs. For the cost of a DVD, I'll buy a DVD thankyouverymuch.
--New iTunes: Played with a little bit. So far, I like it. Seems to allow better control over my iPod. Don't understand why they would release it for download requiring a version of Quicktime that apparently isn't available yet.
--New shuffle: Instantaneously, my opinion of this changed from love to dislike. At first glance, the form factor is awesome. Almost unrecognizable, either as a shuffle or as an mp3 player. It was amazing to me that the first shuffle was actually a media device, but that's nothing compared to the new one. Only -- I use my shuffle as much as a keychain flash drive as I do as a music player, maybe more. That's no longer an option. Think I'll stick with what I've got. (Now, I may get Nicole one of the new ones...)
--iTV: Sounds cool. May be tempting. I wanna actually see it, though. Hate that Apple's not putting the preview on the Web site. Kinda interesting that they're announcing it so far in advance, though. Why? My only guess is to boost sales of movies/iPods during fourth quarter.
--New iPods: Oh, Steve, why do you torment me? A year ago, when the video-capable iPod was announced, I thought it was cool, but, having only bought an iPod a half-year earlier, I didn't really need one. I didn't see myself watching video on my iPod. I could see myself using it as a portable VCR (a use I'm surprised you don't see more about), loading my QuickTime files on there and then carrying them with me. But I didn't need that $400 worth.
Then, earlier this year, the rumors started about the "true video iPod," and I decided I do want one of those. I've had no temptation to buy an iPod in the meantime, even though the days of waiting have turned into over half a year.
But, now -- the iPod itself hasn't changed that much, although the size-to-price ratio is a lot nicer (60GB for $250? Not bad. I can even save an extra $16 with my NASA discount.) But the iTV bit makes the whole Apple-media-constellation approach more appealing in general. Don't know about movies, but if I can buy an episode of Battlestar Galactica or Lost that I miss on iTMS and watch it on my TV instead of my computer, I'm even more likely to do so. And that episode of Monk that's in my shopping cart, that I'm interested in watching but don't want us to have to sit in front of the computer to do so; yeah, I'd be more likely to get that. And my old iMovie files, and this cool Superfriends thing are more likely to have done to them whatever hoodoo is necessary to watch them through iTunes and/or Front Row and/or iTV.
And if I'm going to have all that media available and sync-able anyway, then, yeah, why not have them on my iPod. And the games thing, while not a killer app by itself, is a nice addition also.
Basically, today, I take my iPod back and forth to work to listen to. If I'm going on a trip, I take it in the car with me. Other than that, it pretty much just sits in its case, waiting to be used. But an iPod (particularly one with a much smaller form factor than my primitive model, from way back in the early days when iPod Photo was an entirely separate line) that could carry video and play games and was easier (thanks to the new iTunes) to carry my pictures on, that would come a lot closer to crossing the line into being more like my cell phone -- something I carry with me all the time in case I need it.
So, yeah -- suddenly it's much more tempting. And the fact that they're announcing it now means that the "true video iPod" isn't coming this year. But I don't need it.
Really, I don't.
Didn't sell any stock today. I've been tempted, and am tempted to right now. But I think I'm gonna ride it out. You know, wait for the iPhone.
Name-Calling
The Minor Planet Center has assigned the asteroid number designation 134340 to erstwhile planet Pluto.Which, though it doesn't really meen much, in my opinion, nevertheless has a pretty major emotional impact for me. I'm all for stripping Pluto of its planetary status, but I have to admit I kind of winced reading that article.
STS-115 Update
Per NASA:STS-115 Mission Specialists Joe Tanner and Heidemarie Stefanyshyn-Piper continue work outside the International Spacewalk to prepare the newly installed P3/P4 integrated truss for operation. The spacewalk began at 5:17 a.m. EDT and is scheduled to wrap up about 11:37 a.m.
During the early stages of the spacewalk, the Mission Control Center in Houston told the STS-115 crew that no focused inspections of Atlantis’ heat shield were needed. The good news allows the crew to press ahead as planned with the mission’s second spacewalk Wednesday.
The new truss element, which includes a set of new solar arrays, was attached to the station at 3:48 a.m. EDT. Tanner and Piper began their excursion after bolts connecting the P3/P4 to the P1 truss were tightly secured. The third of four bolts was tightened at 4:35 a.m., officially making the P3/P4 a part of the station.
The new 17.5-ton, 45-foot truss will provide power, data and communication services for the station. The arrays will be unfurled to a full length of 240 feet on Thursday and will eventually double the station’s power capabilities.
CG TOS Update
Continuing the geekfest, in case you missed it, there's now a trailer for the remastered Trek episodes.This is really bugging me, 'cause I bought TOS on DVD a while back, and have only watched the first season so far. Now I'm kinda inclined to just hold off and watch the second and third seasons in the remastered versions, though that's going to be a while. I just figure the odds I'm going to watch TOS twice through in fairly quick repetition are pretty low.
Editorial Note
"This will be a day long remembered..."Let me just note for the record that a day that features a Stevenote, the release of the OTOT Star Wars on DVD and the space shuttle in orbit is pretty close to the ATW definition of a "good day."
Almost Time For Showtime
Just a reminder -- Apple's "It's Showtime" event will be held today at noon CDT. (And, of course, I'm going to be in a meeting then, so wouldn't be able to take advantage of mid-note euphoria to dump my stock.)My attempts to handicap the Stevenote:
- Movies on iTMS -- Odds: 1:1 -- I would be absolutely shocked if we don't see some feature films on iTunes announced today. I'm expecting a good number, but only from a limited number of studios, to include Disney and Lion's Gate, along with maybe a few others. Prices too high to interest me in the service.
- Movie-focused Streaming Device -- Odds: 2:3 -- My guess here is that we will see the rumored Airport-based video-streaming device that will let you watch you iTMS-bought movie library on your living room television; but if not that device exactly, I expect we'll see something to facilitate watching iTMS content on a TV. (And when you think about what this means for file-size, etc., it's pretty amazing.)
- Second-gen iPod nano -- Odds: 2:3 -- It was almost exactly one year ago today that the first-gen nano was announced, and there hasn't been a significant bump since then. Sales figures are slacking off, and we're about to start fourth quarter. Time for something new. Not entirely sure what will make the new nanos new, but more metal, video capability and new color options are leading possibilities.
- iPod Update -- Odds: 1:2 -- To be honest, I'm hoping not to see this one. Last year, the nano and the video-capable iPod were announced at two separate events, about a month apart. If we do see an iPod update today, that's all it will be -- the current fifth-gen iPods with more bang for the buck. If Steve doesn't mention the main-line iPods today, then the rumors that we maybe seeing the "true video iPod" by the end of October. Else, it'll be early next year. I hope I'm wrong on this one.
- iPhone -- Odds: 1:3 -- Again, I'd love to be wrong here, and see this announced today. But I doubt it will happen. I'm not convinced it's ready (although, while rumors are putting it early next year, you know Steve would really like to have it available for Christmas shopping season if at all possible), but, even if it is, I can't imagine the iPhone playing second fiddle at the announcement of something else, and this is the "It's Showtime" announcement, not the "Call to Action" or something. That said, if Steve announces the Airport video streamer today without saying the words "One more thing..." then my pulse will likely quicken, even if I know better.
- MacBook Pro -- Odds: 1:4 -- These should be the next machines to get the newest Intel processors, but if they were going to, they would have been announced last week with the iMac and Mac mini.
OK, there's my guess, which is roughly as good as yours. We shall see.
Monday, 11 September 2006
Of Gods And Men Trailer
OK, sure, there are a few places where the trailer for Of Gods And Men shows its budget limitations.But I'm still looking forward to watching it. For all its flaws, it looks like a lot of fun.
And congrats to Captain ThatGuy for becoming a "legend" of Star Trek!
STS-115 Update
Per NASA:There was no fumble in space today when Space Shuttle Atlantis’ robotic arm handed off the P3/P4 integrated truss structure to its counterpart on the International Space Station. The orbital exchange took place at 10:52 a.m. EDT today and sets the stage for installation of the truss on the station on Tuesday.
The truss arrived with the STS-115 crew when Atlantis docked to the station at 6:48 a.m. The STS-115 and station’s Expedition 13 crews quickly went to work shortly after the hatches opened at 8:30 a.m.
Lead STS-115 Flight Director Paul Dye said rendezvous and docking operations went smoothly. “The rendezvous this morning was probably as perfect as any rendezvous that I have been a part of,” Dye said.
And per Spaceflight Now:
An initial assessment of the shuttle Atlantis' heat shield gives mission managers "high confidence" the spaceplane completed its climb to space Saturday without any potentially dangerous debris impacts, officials said today.
John Shannon, chairman of NASA's Mission Management Team for orbital operations, said the results of a detailed analysis of ground imagery, radar data, shuttle inspections, wing leading edge sensor data and photos shot from the space station during final approach Monday will take several more days to complete.
But so far, it would appear what little foam that did fall away from Atlantis' external tank during launch did so well after the shuttle had climbed out of the dense lower atmosphere where debris can attain the energy needed to damage the ship's heat shield.
...
"All the foam we saw lost was after what we call the aerodynamically sensitive transport time that ends at 135 seconds. The first piece of foam we saw come off was after four minutes. So we're in good shape there."
You Don't Know Mac!
Test your Apple trivia knowledge with Who Wants To Be A Mac-ionaire...I made it straight through the $500,000 question my first time before missing one. How well can you do?
Remember
To begin with -- the obligatory, "Where were you?"
My 9/11 story starts like my Columbia story -- I was completely out of it when a co-worker called and told me the news.
I was still working at The Enterprise-Tocsin in Indianola, Miss. then; by the next anniversary I would have moved on.
The schedule at The E-T, the two nights before press day, involved late nights, and thus usually late mornings. As I recall, I was in the process of getting ready when the phone rang.
To be honest, I had no clue what my co-worker, David Rushing, was trying to tell me. I blame the way he put it -- something along the lines of two separate or unrelated planes crashing into the World Trade Center.
When you hear about planes crashing into things, or landing in at the White House or Kremlin or something, it's always these little private prop planes. So that, of course, is what I'm thinking. Some idiot hit the World Trade Center. Not only that, but two, the same day. What are the odds? It's kind of an interesting, unusual story, but couldn't it have waited until I got to work.
Finally, David gives up -- "Just turn on the TV."
Oh.
By the time I made it to work, the TV was showing the smoking towers. And then, we watched them fall.
And that's where I was.
I could write for quite a while, now that I've left the newspaper business, about what it was like being a reporter that day. Suffice it to say, days like that (to the extent that the phrase "days like that" even has any meaning regarding Sept. 11) are the memories that make me question my decision to leave the profession.
What I will say about being a reporter that day is that the incredible thing was that it was truly a national news story.
Not in the usual sense, that it's the sort of being story that you watch on TV on that national news, or that daily papers everywhere are going to pick up off the wire and put on their front page.
Rather -- it was local news everywhere. It was not some remote event that happened across the country; it happened everywhere in the United States.
I was in Indianola, Mississippi. A small town of about 11,000 people. Hundreds of miles away.
And yet, within hardly any time at all, we were connected via cell phone to Ground Zero. A former E-T intern, who had gone on to become a respected surgeon, had been attending a medical conference nearby when the towers fell. The conference had become a triage center. One degree of separation. From Indianola, Mississippi to Ground Zero.
The same day, we found out that a local kid was in one ofthe towers. He had just started a job -- I forget where he was based -- but he had to go to a training session at the WTC. The second plane hit not far from where he had been. We talked to his family that day and got their story.
Hundreds of miles away, and yet it's a local story, multiple times over. Those were the two biggest connections, but as we interviewed people for a local reaction piece, we heard even more.
And that is why September 11 was different from so many other tragedies -- it didn't just affect the entire nation, it happened to the entire nation.
Saturday, 9 September 2006
The Naked Truth
Will Wheaton reviews The Naked Now.
STS-115 Update
Finally!Godspeed, Atlantis!
Friday, 8 September 2006
Project Highwater
Just came across a bit of NASA history I hadn't read before -- the second and third launches of the Saturn I rocket were used for something called "Project Highwater."The Saturn testing was done, literally, in stages -- the first launches involved only the first stage being fired. For the first launch, the rest of the rocket consisted of a dummy structure, filled with water to provide ballast to provide accurate aerodynamics for testing the lower stage. (Something similar is being planned for development testing of the Ares I rocket.)
For the second and third launches of the Saturn I, Marshall decided to put that ballast to use to research cloud formation. The S-IV and S-V stages were filled with 95 tons of water, again serving as ballast for the lower stage. However, at an altitude of 150 kilometers, explosive charges ruptured the two stages, releasing the 30,000 gallons of water into the upper atmosphere.
Within five seconds of the detonation, ground observers witnessed the formation of a huge ice cloud estimated to be several kilometers in diameter.
And there's your NASA history lesson for the day.
STS-115 Update
SCRUB until tomorrow, 10:15 a.m. CDT.
Trek At 40
So what do you say about today?
"Happy Anniversary, Star Trek"? "Happy" just doesn't seem quite appropriate, when the franchise seems to be barely clinging to life.
"Congratulations on 40 years" also seems somewhat off, when new Trek hasn't been aired since the franchise was only 38.
StarTrek.com, of course, is glad to celebrate the occasion, and, in addition to the Trek-themed Hatbag strip we did this week, we've posted another bit of anniversary art today (Go check it out!).
But, to be honest, it just doesn't seem like much cause for celebration. Alas.
Defining Cool
I love those times when I discover that my Mac is cool in ways I didn't realize. For example, did you know that in any cocoa app, you can highlight a word, hit Apple-Control-D, and the definition will pop up? That's just cool.
STS-115 Update
Gracious, OK, let's see...At this writing, it's within three hours of the scheduled launch time. The crew is on board the spacecraft.
BUT -- there's been another Engine Cutoff (ECO) sensor failure... remember those? MMT is trying to decide whether to go as-is or not.
BUT -- if they decide to stand down, apparently tomorrow is now an option, at 10:15 a.m. CDT.
For the latest updates, a good place to check is Spaceflight Now's Mission Status Center.
And, of course, there's now a live feed on NASA TV, which can be watched online through the NASA homepage.
Thursday, 7 September 2006
Editorial Note
OK, I've resurrected the poll in the left-hand sidebar. I saw this poll elsewhere, and wondered how it would play out here. So vote.(And, hey, this is the first time I've used the ATW logo icon for two months. Huh.)
Shall We Play Another Game?
Two words: WarGames 2Can it be done? Should it be done? How would it be done?
Given that it's in an article led by the fact that MGM is making another Legally Blonde movie, but without Reese Witherspoon, I suspect this is going to be one of those modern-old-film sequels like Road House 2, where they don't bring back the original cast or directly continue the story, but instead do more of an inspired-by story or in-continuity reimagination.
But -- if it were your call, how would you do this? Would you bring back any of the original cast? Would it be a direct sequel? What would it be about?
Taking Stock
For whatever reason, after rising the last couple of days, Apple stock has hit a four-month high today, with my investment value up about $64 more than when I bought.My initial dream was that I would buy prior to the Apple 30th anniversary announcement, watch the stock soar, and then get out. That announcement, of course, never came, and no announcement since has had the sort of impact as the January Stevenote that unveiled the first Intel machines. Instead, there have been several points when I've been a good bit down on my investment. I'm thinking about getting out; and, rationally, this would be a good time to do it, before it falls again.
But -- I just can't walk away with a Stevenote just five days away. Of course, Stevenotes can have either effect on stock -- they can send it soaring or tumbling. But, hey, that's the fun of it, right?
Our Nine Planets, Goshdarnit!
Despite an official agency statement that "NASA will, of course, use the new guidelines established by the International Astronomical Union," the Principal Investigator for the New Horizons mission to Pluto and the Kuiper Belt announced yesterday that "The New Horizons project, like a growing number of the public, and many hundreds if not thousands of professional research astronomers and planetary scientists, will not recognize the IAU's planet definition resolution of Aug. 24, 2006."So, at NASA, there are officially eight planets, unless you're working on the mission to the ninth planet. (This is one of those interesting areas -- New Horizons is a NASA mission, managed by the Advanced Phyics Laboratory at John Hopkins University, for whom, I believe, Alan Stern works.)
Pryor Offenses
OK, check out the current Superman III DVD cover at right.Then scroll down to the new special edition cover on this announcement about the new set.
Notice anything different?
To Boldly Dream
This week's new Hatbag is a little celebration of Trek's 40th anniversary tomorrow. We've even included a link-y history of the strips' 12-year love affair with Star Trek. Go check it out.As always, please vote Hatbag. Thanks.
And, since apparently a bunch of ATW readers don't follow the weekly Hatbag link, I thought a brief explanation might be in order -- Hatbag is a weekly webcomic Lain and I create. If you read ATW, take a few extra seconds to go read Hatbag. Please? Please?
STS-115 Update
So, um, tomorrow? Maybe?The MMT will meet at noon CDT today to decide what to do.
If Friday, launch time would be 10:40:37 CDT. If not, the next possible daylight slot would be late October.
Wednesday, 6 September 2006
Our, Uh, Planets
OK, I'm sure this has been all over the place, but it's one of those details I'm just now noticing; something I realized while reading this article about the Tombaugh family joining the pro-Pluto protests (say that five times fast) -- The eight planet solar system means that now, once again, no planets have been discovered by Americans. Also interesting is that on the other extreme, the first "12-planet" proposal could have resulted in the next few years by a solar system consisting of a majority of American-discovered planets (and immediately America would have discovered more planets not known to antiquity than any other nation).
Stevenote Rumor Watch
OK, I'm starting to have a tiny bit of hope that next week's Stevenote is going to rock. I've been burned by a couple of them recently, but...Yesterday, MacNN posted an item speculating that one of the big items that could be released at the rumored Sept. 12 event was a 23-inch iMac, with the larger screen tying in to a movie-focused event.
The event next Tuesday is now official for noon CDT. ("The company issued an invitation with the words 'It's Showtime' with Hollywood movie premiere spotlights crisscrossing over and around the white Apple logo on a dark blue background.") In making that announcement, MacNN reported again: "Apple is expected to launch its new digital media strategy at the special event with a new 23-inch iMac, a widescreen video iPod, an iTunes Movie offering, and 'one more thing,' according to AppleInsider."
But they were wrong about the iMac in two respects -- Apple wasn't waiting until next Tuesday. The new iMacs are out now. And it's not a 23-inch machine -- It's a 24-inch iMac. Sweet gracious, that thing's big. The line is also faster.
They've also officially announced the Mac mini upgrades today.
So, yeah, if a new 24-inch iMac didn't make the cut for next Tuesday's event, maybe they actually do have something worth announcing.
That said, I'd put the odds pretty high for the some full-length feature films being announced on iTMS, and can buy the movie-streaming Airport device. I would love to see the widescreen video iPod, in that the increase in my stock value would somewhat offset me going out an buying it right away, but I'm not entirely convinced we'll see it next week -- I find the generation-increase for the Nano and the smaller bump for the iPod more believable.
Andy while American Technology Research is reporting that the iPhone is real and ready ("The design will be an iPod nano-like candy bar form factor and come in three colors"), I doubt we'll see it next week. (However, I also expect we'll see more Stevenotes before December, with there being rumors of a second one in September. Not sure I'd bet on that, either, but October, along the lines of last year's iPod nano & video announcements, seems entirely possible.)
(Interestingly, my Apple stock has been falling since market open today -- fast enough that I can actually watch it fall real time [I've lost ten bucks while writing this paragraph]. No clue why. Still, it's up $50 or so, at the moment, from my purchase price. The market actually closed yesterday with my portfolio worth more than my initial investment for the first time in too long. If there's a big hike with next week's Stevenote, I may get out. And, then, of course, kick myself when there's another, bigger, better announcement later this fall. We shall see.)
(Boy, this entry has a lot of parentheses. [I really have a parentheses addiction problem. {At least I admit it.}])
Toaster Bites
The first Battlestar Galactica webisode is now online. A total of 10 parts will be added every Tuesday and Thursday until the day before the season three premiere on Friday, October 6.I like me some BSG.
STS-115 Update
Scrub.The launch has been delayed until at least tomorrow because of a problem with a fuel cell. The Mission Management Team will meet at noon CDT to decide what to do, and an announcement will be made following the meeting. If the MMT decides to shoot for tomorrow, there will two launch opportunities, on Thursday and Friday, before the window ends.
Tuesday, 5 September 2006
Superman Returns With More Depth
Finally got to see the 3D IMAX version of Superman Returns this past weekend. We had a coupon for a free ticket, which we were happy about; if we'd paid the full $23 for two tickets, we probably would have been even more disappointed with how little 3D was in the movie.That said, the quality of the 3D was not bad at all. I don't know what it compares with "real" IMAX 3D, which seems far more immersive to me, but only makes sense, given the way those are made. However, the movie compared favorably with any non-IMAX 3D I've seen, and you never would have known it was made completely artificially. Basically, I came out of the movie just really excited about the potential the technology promises. I want to see the 3D Star Wars OT Lucas talked about a while back. Heck, I want to see 3D Gone With The Wind. That's right, Hollywood -- I, the American viewing public, demand you to 3D them movies up real good!
STS-115 Update
Since I've been gone for a while, I'll start with a reminder that STS-115 is scheduled for launch tomorrow at 11:29 CDT (12:29 EDT), with weather reports currently showing NASA has announced that if necessary launch attempts would be made all three days of the remaining window. Weather is looking like 70 percent Go Thursday and Friday. (If the launch can't be made my Friday, the next opportunity would be in late October.)
Stevenote Rumor Watch
So the more extreme version of the rumors for next Tuesday's Stevenote are that not only will movies on iTMS be revealed, but that announcement will be accompanied by a complementary new product that will be totally incredible and unbelievable, and have something to do with watching the movies you download. The description AppleInsider gives, however, strikes me as both credible and believable (which, uh, aren't really that different, huh?)Elsewhere, rumors are that we'll also see second-gen Nanos, upgraded iMacs and improvements to the 5G iPods.
So there you go.
Saturday, 2 September 2006
Hello
Greetings from the Apple Store, Lenox Square Mall, Atlanta.
Friday, 1 September 2006
Big Spring Jam
I hadn't planned on posting about this year's Big Spring Jam. I read the list of headliners -- Bo Bice! Clint Black! Jo Dee Messina! Other people I care nothing about! -- and said, "Eh."
But reading further down the list, there's actually a pretty fair number of artists that, while none of them would be worth the full price of admission by themselves, are each worth the five bucks or so that would be their share of the ticket price -- Joan Jett & The Blackhearts, North Mississippi All-Stars, Morris Day & The Time, etc.
Also tempting would be the live performance of a typical block of music on the campus radio station when I was in college -- "Jenny says, turn off the radio" ... "But words can't say, And I can't do, Enough to prove, It's all for you" and, of course, burned directly into the tapestry of my mind -- "Tell me do you think it'd be all right, if I could just crash here tonight."
So, anyway, I'd love for anyone who wants to to come to Huntsville on Sept. 22-24 to go to BSJ. As an added bonus, we could drive around this town and let the cops chase us around.
Our Indeterminate Planets
More than 300 astronomers have signed a petition saying they're still going to call Pluto a planet.So there. Nyaaaah.
That SMARTs
Per Space.com:A European lunar orbiter is on track to hit the Moon over the weekend.
The controlled crash of the probe will occur September 2-3, coming to a "rest in pieces" site within the Moon's southern hemisphere called the Lake of Excellence.
The high-tech spacecraft—Small Missions for Advanced Research and Technology—belongs to the European Space Agency (ESA), and is better known as SMART-1.
For spacecraft operators to precisely pinpoint ahead of time the exact crash locale of SMART-1 would be a bit of dumb luck. Meanwhile, the call is out for professional and amateur skywatchers to monitor the result of the probe's purposeful suicide ending. It is not clear, however, what might be visible from Earth.
At present, the favored prediction is that SMART-1 spacecraft will impact the Moon's surface Sunday morning at 1:41 a.m. ET. However, it might hit roughly 5 hours earlier on its planned next-to-last orbit.
Orion Update
Jordan asked me yesterday what I thought about the fact that Lockheed Martin will build Orion.The truth is, I really don't have any strong feelings about it. There were two strong proposals, and one of them was going to be accepted. I have no reason to believe NASA didn't pick the best, nor any reason to believe that the NG/B team submitted a bad proposal. This was simply deemed the better of the two, and chosen.
Mostly, I'm just excited that the contract has been awarded, and that the project is moving forward. I can't wait to start seeing hardware.
(This being a dignified blog, I'm not going to share my photographic evidence that the Orion model shown at the announcement yesterday would make a really cool hat.)
Start It Up
OK, fire up the rumor mill again. Apple has announced a special press event for Sept. 12.Initial speculation is that there may be an announcement of an iTunes movie store, which had been previously rumored to be nearing a mid-September unveiling.
Also, various sites are reporting that iMac and MacBook Pro stocks are running low; that a bulk order for Mac Minis was turned down; and that a large shipment was just sent from an iPod manufacturing plant; all of which could indicate that one of those products could also see an update announced. (FWIW, last year, the iPod nano was announced around Sept. 7, followed by the video iPod a month or so later.)
Addendum: The Mac Mini update may have already happened. Or not.
Saturday, 30 September 2006
ATW Comics War: Round One, Fight Five
(Read Entry)Friday, 29 September 2006
Banned Book Week Update
(Read Entry)
ATW Comic War: Round One, Fight Five
(Read Entry)
iState
(Read Entry)
STS-116 Update
(Read Entry)
SpaceShipTwo Revealed
(Read Entry)
I Am ... Iron Man!
(Read Entry)
Space MySpace
(Read Entry)Thursday, 28 September 2006
Profreading Errors
(Read Entry)
ATW Comic War: Round One, Fight Three
(Read Entry)
Here I Am Now, Entertain Me
(Read Entry)
Zune Gets Cheaper
(Read Entry)
On The Books
(Read Entry)
The Dream Is Still Alive
(Read Entry)
iPhone Video?
(Read Entry)
Return Of Sulu Update
(Read Entry)Wednesday, 27 September 2006
ATW Comic War: Round One, Fight Two
(Read Entry)
Door To The Moon
(Read Entry)Tuesday, 26 September 2006
ATW Comic War: Round One, Fight One
(Read Entry)
New Site
(Read Entry)
Sign Of The Woz
(Read Entry)
TFACD/A/CoMBtSCC!
(Read Entry)Monday, 25 September 2006
Dear Pete Boone
(Read Entry)
Heaven On Its Shoulders
(Read Entry)
Photokina Today
(Read Entry)
They Might Be Giants
(Read Entry)Saturday, 23 September 2006
Decalogue Dennis
(Read Entry)
Heroes
(Read Entry)Friday, 22 September 2006
Relief
(Read Entry)
Beyond Genesis
(Read Entry)Thursday, 21 September 2006
Picture Of The Day
(Read Entry)
Trebek Another Time
(Read Entry)
STS-116 Update
(Read Entry)
Final STS-115 Update
(Read Entry)
Hollywoodland
(Read Entry)Wednesday, 20 September 2006
TOS HD In HSV
(Read Entry)
One Million Dollars
(Read Entry)
Three-Piece Supes
(Read Entry)
STS-115 Update
(Read Entry)
Occasional Windows Venting
(Read Entry)
Editorial Note
(Read Entry)Monday, 18 September 2006
So ... Um ... Yeah
(Read Entry)
Just Like The One-Winged Dove
First photo of expanded ISS. (Read Entry)
Three Up
(Read Entry)
Yeah, Yeah
(Read Entry)Friday, 15 September 2006
Madonna In Space!!!!!!
(Read Entry)
Walking Again
(Read Entry)
A New Set of Wings
(Read Entry)
Naming Names
(Read Entry)
The Next Event
(Read Entry)
Toaster Bites Update
(Read Entry)
Bonus!
(Read Entry)Thursday, 14 September 2006
Editorial Note
(Read Entry)
All Together Now
(Read Entry)Wednesday, 13 September 2006
STS-115 Update
(Read Entry)
Replacing Kennedy At Kennedy
(Read Entry)
Monopoly Space
(Read Entry)
STS-116 Update
(Read Entry)
SegWoz
(Read Entry)Tuesday, 12 September 2006
Showtime Review
(Read Entry)
Name-Calling
(Read Entry)
STS-115 Update
(Read Entry)
CG TOS Update
(Read Entry)
Editorial Note
(Read Entry)
Almost Time For Showtime
(Read Entry)Monday, 11 September 2006
Of Gods And Men Trailer
(Read Entry)
STS-115 Update
(Read Entry)
You Don't Know Mac!
(Read Entry)
Remember
(Read Entry)Saturday, 9 September 2006
The Naked Truth
(Read Entry)
STS-115 Update
(Read Entry)Friday, 8 September 2006
Project Highwater
(Read Entry)
STS-115 Update
(Read Entry)
Trek At 40
(Read Entry)
Defining Cool
(Read Entry)
STS-115 Update
(Read Entry)Thursday, 7 September 2006
Editorial Note
(Read Entry)
Shall We Play Another Game?
(Read Entry)
Taking Stock
(Read Entry)
Our Nine Planets, Goshdarnit!
(Read Entry)
Pryor Offenses
(Read Entry)
To Boldly Dream
(Read Entry)
STS-115 Update
(Read Entry)Wednesday, 6 September 2006
Our, Uh, Planets
(Read Entry)
Stevenote Rumor Watch
(Read Entry)
Toaster Bites
(Read Entry)
STS-115 Update
(Read Entry)Tuesday, 5 September 2006
Superman Returns With More Depth
(Read Entry)
STS-115 Update
(Read Entry)
Stevenote Rumor Watch
(Read Entry)Saturday, 2 September 2006
Hello
(Read Entry)Friday, 1 September 2006
Big Spring Jam
(Read Entry)
Our Indeterminate Planets
(Read Entry)
That SMARTs
(Read Entry)
Orion Update
(Read Entry)