Now to add to my Google Earth addiction, Google today released its Google Moon site. Have fun!
Category Archives: eureka!
Happy Birthday
Mei Xiang – one of only 20 giant pandas living in zoos outside China – gave birth to a baby at 3:41 a.m. EST. Veterinarians at Washington’s National Zoo say mom and baby are doing just fine.
Mission Accomplished
The NASA Deep Impact space probe collided with the Tempel 1 comet with the energy equivalent of nearly 5 tons of TNT, hurling a fan-shaped cloud of debris at about 500 mph, or about the speed of a jetliner, scientists said.
The impact caused a bright flash of light, followed by a greater one as a larger-than-expected plume of gas and ice spilled from the comet. The Hubble Space Telescope captured the dramatic images of the impact.
“We’ve touched a comet, and we’ve touched it hard,” said Dr. Peter H. Schultz of Brown University.
Last week scientists guestimated the size of the impact crater would fall anywhere between a house and a stadium. Because of the cosmic dust, it could take another week before researchers can peek into the impact crater and take their first glimpse inside of the comet. Although they can’t measure the crater’s size, scientists think it was probably larger than a house.
Shopping for a new phone
I love gadgets. Especially hi-tech, hi-speed, wifi gadgets. Especially when they’re shiny and sleek and slim and take photos and videos and keep your calendar current AND make phone calls.
Today’s cell phone companies manufacture products with an endless list of features.
You can purchase a cell phone that – in addition to providing caller ID, conference call capabilities and voicemail (Duh) – will:
– Make calls over a Wi-Fi VoIP Connection
– Shoot photos
– Capture short video clips
– Surf the web
– Check Email
– Send short messages or use an instant messenger
– Listen to music by using MP3 and AAC files
– Play Tetris, Solitaire and Pacman
– Watch TV like CNN news segments, short clips from shows like The Daily Show and music videos
– Watch original programming (with a service like MobiTV or V Cast)
And that’s not all…. now Orange, a cellular carrier in the UK, is providing cell phone users with the option to Etch-a-Sketch.
I mean, seriously… when will phone companies produce an inexpensive phone that will work in all 50 states and abroad?
I need to replace my cell phone and fast (the casing cracked and retrieving voicemail is an uphill battle). I’m looking at Sprint’s Samsung IP-A790 but cringe at the $400 price tag. Unfortunately it’s the only phone I know of that is unlocked – so it can use foreign SIM cards (unlike it’s Verizon counterpart) – and will place calls on PCS and GSM frequencies.
If anyone knows of a less expensive alternative, I’m all ears.
Time
Back in 2001, I changed fields completely… went from working for the housing and construction industries to working in science.
The toughest concept I learned – in addition to getting a crash course in just about every discipline out there (archaeology, astronomy, biology, chemistry, genomics, nanotechnology, proteomics, etc) – is that there are no absolutes.
Now, I thrive on absolutes, on guarantees, on infallibilities…. like knowing for certain that 100 cents makes one dollar or that 1+1=2 or that dogs bark and cats meow or that Friday is payday or that there are 24 hours to a day.
I get a little upset when ALIAS moves from Sunday to Wednesday nights, when my brother changes his email address and forgets to inform me, when the Euro starts to bitchslap the US dollar, when I finally understand that time is a constant (it does not pass – we pass through it).
Quantum Physics my friends – the multiple worlds theory. For a quick introduction, rent What the ^@!&@# do We Know?
So now, almost five years later, absolutes no longer exist in my world. And, I think my life is better for it, though it’s been a long process.
And it’s got me thinking…. IF this many-world view of reality is a possibility and IF some super-genius at MIT figures out how to travel between these universes and IF I could afford to travel in time (because we all know it’ll be ludicrously expensive when it’s first commercially available), then where would I want to go?
10. Participate in a druid ceremony at Stonehenge in 1500 BC.
9. Tour the Great Library of Alexandria in 100 BC
8. Visit Alexandria, Egypt during Cleopatra’s reign in 51 – 30 BC
7. Witness the signing of the United States Declaration of Independence on August 2, 1776.
6. Menlo Park in 1879 when Thomas A. Edison invented the lightbulb.
5. Stroll the decks of the Titanic on the day of her launch on April 10, 1912.
4. Cape Canaveral, Florida, on July 16, 1969 for the launch of Apollo 11.
3. Hear JFK’s Inauguration Speech on January 20, 1961.
2. September 1499 for the return of Vasco da Gama to Lisbon, Portugal, during the reign of Manuel I.
1. Florence in 1480 to pose for Leonardo da Vinci.
If you could travel in time, where would you go?
Numbers
The Sunday morning tv wonk shows emphasized numbers. The number of soldiers who’ve died in Iraq. The proportion of people who will vote for Kerry. The share of voters who will vote for Bush. The percentage of Catholics who attend religious services at least once a week. The total of Catholics who only attend church on holidays.
I sat watching these pundits, thinking, “I am an individual, I am NOT just a number.”
And then I realized that they’re all right – as much as I’d like to argue against it.
I can’t get through a day without flashing one of my numbers:
– a social security number
– a credit card number
– a phone number
– an employee number
– a drivers license number
– a bank account number
And that’s just off the top of my head.
As for the pollsters, I’m counted in lots of percentages –
– the percentage of college-educated females who will vote for Kerry
– the percentage of single, white females who feel the President lied about weapons of mass destruction
– the percentage of Americans who have traveled abroad
– the percentage of Christian non-hispanics who are pro-choice
– the percentage of Americans with hi-speed internet at home
– the percentage of single females who bought a major appliance in the last six months
I feel my defenses go up each time I read or listen to the results of the latest polls…. “what do they know?” I think. I am not so easy to predict. I am an individual goddammit!
As much as I’d like to feel comforted by the idea that some of our leaders aren’t placing emphasis on poll results, I know it’s a lie. And pols have become masters at orchestrating public opinion – at influencing poll results.
Is it a bad thing that life can be summed up neatly by the results of a simple survey? For a short list of poll topics, go here.
Who’s got your number?
malaland.net 