:: You must fight the bear! ::

Free Blog
So far, it's a slow day, and I've got nothing to say. If you do, do it here.
:: David 10:05 AM [+] ::
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Daily Hatbag
Um... since the only thing I've posted here so far today is about the internet, kind of, this strip is also about the internet, kind of.
:: David 10:05 AM [+] ::
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Safari
Apple has released Safari Beta 2. I've downloaded it, but haven't installed it yet.
:: David 10:03 AM [+] ::
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The Tower
You must fight the bears.
:: David 8:11 PM [+] ::
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Goodnight, Dino-moon
The guy who allegedly stole the Moon rocks also was alleged to have stolen other things, such as dinosaur bones.
Lain raised the excellent question of what a person would need with both Moon rocks and dinosaur bones, and offered these possibilities:
-Breeding dinosaurs...on the moon!
-Training dinosaurs to throw rocks
-Training dinosaurs to ROCK! (this is how the Rolling Stones do it)
-Cloning the moon, possibly in case the U.S. government feels the need to destroy it.
-Something involving Canada
:: David 8:05 PM [+] ::
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Quotes of the Day
Lain sent me these quotes from Newsweek.com:

"We have to know the difference between defense and offense. I also think this war was about a pretext. It was not about whether they had weapons of mass destruction. Let's face it: Poverty is a weapon of mass destruction, homelessness is a weapon of mass destruction, lack of adequate education is a weapon of mass destruction, our children not having good neighborhoods is a weapon of mass destruction. We're blowing up bridges over the Tigris and Euphrates, (but) we're not building bridges in our own cities."
- Rep. Dennis Kucinich of Ohio
Obviously, Rep. Kucinich believes the U.S. needs to start pre-emptive bombing of the poor and uneducated before they have a chance to deploy their WMD. While I believe this is probably a little harsh, I could suggest some good "shock and awe" targets to begin the campaign. "Well, it's OBVIOUS that man never landed on the Moon because... aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhh!

"I opposed the war and I'm still saying that I do not see the necessity for the war. I do not see where we've seen the nuclear weapons that we were told were there. I do not see the imminent danger. I do not see the necessity for the military action. I'm glad Saddam was toppled, but I also would like to see things toppled in this country, like no health insurance, like illiteracy, like childhood obesity. The real question to me is if we can come up with billions to occupy Iraq, why can?t we come up with money for the budgets of the 50 states we already occupy?"
- Rev. Al Sharpton of New York
Clearly Sharpton has the same outlook on the results of the Civil War as many of the people I knew in Mississippi.
:: David 7:58 PM [+] ::
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Improv
The local improv group will be holding performances on Fri. and Sat., April 25 and 26. I believe this will be the first performance with the troupe of my co-worker JoCasta's daughter Megan.
:: David 7:54 PM [+] ::
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Centuries Of Missiles
After watching the Great Moonbuggy Race Friday, Nicole and I went yesterday and saw my brother's Boy Scout troop(?) hold a catupult building competition, and then last night we launched some Estes model rockets for my first time in probably 12, 13 years. Great fun.
:: David 7:54 AM [+] ::
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Daily Hatbag
Happy anniversary to this strip.
:: David 7:49 AM [+] ::
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EW Update
According to the most recent issue of Entertainment Weekly (or, at least, the most recent one I've got), The South is "In," and Tori is writing a book.
(The West Coast, BTW, is "Five Minutes Ago" [The quake must have hit], and The Northeast is "Out," making the dispositions of the North and South a complete turnaround from 140 years ago.)
:: David 7:31 AM [+] ::
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More Apple Rumors
According to informed sources, Apple has a new behind-the-scenes plan to make me give them money.
Sooner or later, I will most likely own an iPod, whether I want to or not.
:: David 8:36 PM [+] ::
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WAR! Huh! What is it good for?!
Answer: this site, which is working now. That's right, ladies and gentlemen, be sure to check out WeLoveTheIraqiInformationMinister.com.
And while you're at it, here's an interesting article about the site.
:: David 8:32 PM [+] ::
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Tin Roof, Blasted
U.S. troops have discovered Saddam's Love Shack.
"One of the airbrushed paintings depicted a topless blonde woman, with a green demon behind her, pointing a finger at a mythic hero. From the tip of her finger came a giant serpent, which had wrapped itself around the warrior."
:: David 8:24 PM [+] ::
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On This Day
Today marks the 42 anniversary of the first manned spaceflight, and the 22 anniversary of the first Space Shuttle launch.
:: David 8:22 PM [+] ::
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Daily Hatbag
I still haven't decided whether to get that Q-bert arcade game. Maybe if they'd come down another $50.
:: David 9:56 AM [+] ::
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Face It, Saddam
According to the Mars Face people, Saddam is part of the interplanetary conspiracy. Check out these pictures. The "Saddam Airport Face" will likely change your life.
:: David 8:45 PM [+] ::
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I'm The King Of The ... Um, Well ...
If he can work it around The Princess Bride in his schedule, perhaps one of the next space tourists will be director James Cameron.
:: David 4:31 PM [+] ::
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Go, Peggy!
One of my favorite recent astronauts, Expedition 5 Science Officer Peggy Whitson, has said she wants to go back up.
:: David 4:28 PM [+] ::
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Stop Untrue NASA Rumors!
Responding to the piece from The Onion that I linked to Wednesday, NASA astrobiologists have reported to NASA Watch that they "are not cranky."
:: David 4:23 PM [+] ::
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Visit Once-Watery Mars
Landing sites have been selected for the two new Mars rovers that will launch this summer.
:: David 4:20 PM [+] ::
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The Rocket
Read the official newspaper for the coolest city ever.
:: David 4:13 PM [+] ::
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Apple Records
Hmmm... this is kind of an interesting development, if true (of course, that's the big catch...considering that past rumors about Apple-media mergers include such things as Disney buying Apple and Jobs running both, these things have to be taken with a grain of salt).
Apple has done an excelent job integrating multimedia functions into Macs in the last few years, and with the new online music sharing service on the way, this would be a consistent next step. Apple is creative enough to figure out a way to bring the music industry into the internet era, something that no one else has done succesfully. Achieve such synergy and controlling means of production would give Apple a huge advantage. And if this article's Pixar speculation is true, Apple really could be positioning to be a major media player.
Of course, rather than translates into anything other than Apple continuing to be really cool is yet to be seen.
:: David 2:15 PM [+] ::
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Moonbuggy!
The late blogging today was due to the fact that I was serving as a scorekeeper at NASA's Great Moonbuggy Race.
:: David 2:05 PM [+] ::
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Oops, I Explored The Attributes Of A Finite Barrier Quantum-Well Again
I had seen this before, but upon having it sent to me again by an actual engineer working in a scientific field, I decided it was worth including it here.
:: David 1:45 PM [+] ::
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Another NASA Conspiracy
The Mars-face people contend that you can find secret truths in certain NASA images if you study them closely enough.
Certainly that's the case with this brand new NASA image which reveals something we're probably not really supposed to know: Nobody actually lives in Canada.
:: David 1:19 PM [+] ::
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This Week At NASAexplores
Two new stories at NE this week:
Finally, the long-awaited astronaut underwear story is online for the enjoyment of all. Thrill as you learn about ISS crewmember wearing undies for days at a time! Learn how Don Pettit grew plants in his dirty spaceunder wear! Learn the secrets of the Russian scientists working to unleash an underwear-eating bacteria! All this and more! Don't miss it!
In addition, find out about the Eagle, which could be the first airplane to fly through the skies ... of Mars!
:: David 11:16 AM [+] ::
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Humor, Explained
Lain sent me this link.
:: David 10:13 AM [+] ::
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Admirable Chirac
Any way the wind blows, doesn't really matter to me.
:: David 9:30 AM [+] ::
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The Loons, Chakotay
Perhaps now that Kate Mulgrew is playing Katherine Hepburn, the can figure out a way to create a very special Trek in which Hepburn plays a really, really old Janeway. This should somehow be central to the temporal cold war.
And if you haven't been back to read it, the Trek discussion several posts back has now turned to what you expect from a good Vulcan.
:: David 9:20 AM [+] ::
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The Core Was Nothing
NASA Watch brings to our attention some very important questions raised during a Congressional hearing yesterday with NASA Administrator Sean O'Keefe, such as what NASA knows about "any pollution resulting from our space probes that cut through the thin veil of light that surrounds the globe." When you go to NASA Watch, scroll down until you find the section titled "Congressional Babbling."
:: David 9:15 AM [+] ::
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Daily Hatbag
As a tribute to the Concorde, I give you this strip.
:: David 9:05 AM [+] ::
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There's A Demon That Lives In The Commercial Sky
Supersonic commercial flight is on the way out as the Concorde fleets will be retired later this year. Despite its operational problems in the past few years and the still-amazingly-high ticket price, the Concorde remains state-of-the-art in high-speed passenger flight, proving that some technology remains viable even after 27 years. Um, other than the fact they're being mothballed.
:: David 9:01 AM [+] ::
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My DogCow Won't Bite If You Sit Real Still
In an example of Dave's dream syndergism, Tori Amos has teamed up with Apple (and also Rollingstone.com) to give you a chance to create the video for her next single. Check it out at Tori's Taxivision. As always, anybody wishing to form a team-up, let me know. Hopefully, this will lead to an ongoing Tori-Apple relationship. "Snow iMacs can wait, I forgot my mittens," "You bet iLife it is, just put in the password," "Made my own customized G4 machine ... iBooks on my right side, iBooks on my left side."
:: David 8:48 AM [+] ::
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What Family Is For
On behalf of my brother, who lacks a paypal account, I just purchased this.
:: David 8:34 AM [+] ::
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If You Believe They Put A Man On The Moon ...
As a reward for your loyal readership, here a link to a free lunar lander game. Enjoy!
(Though they have a slightly different definition of "virtual reality" than I do)
:: David 2:20 PM [+] ::
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If You Believe They Put A Man On The Moon ...
As a reward for your loyal readership, here a link to a free lunar lander game. Enjoy!
(Though they have a slightly different definition of "virtual reality" than I do)
:: David 2:20 PM [+] ::
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Today In History
Forty-four years ago today, the Mercury Seven were announced.
:: David 1:50 PM [+] ::
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Return to Flight
Spaceref.com posted this schedule from Johnson Space Center showing a proposed STS-114 date of October 1, 2003. This has not been announced to the public yet and is not official (in fact, the date has changed in the last two weeks or so--this one was set Tuesday), but it gives you an idea of what the agency is looking at.
:: David 1:44 PM [+] ::
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OSP, PDQ
The Houston Chronicle has one of the best articles I've read recently about NASA's planned Orbital Space Plane. In it, O'Keefe says the timetable for development of OSP could well be sped up by a couple of years, and he paints an interesting picture for OSP support of the International Space Station.
:: David 1:29 PM [+] ::
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War Update
Dear Worldwide Court of Public Opinion:
This should count for something.
:: David 1:18 PM [+] ::
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Columbia Update
Interim recommendations from the CAIB could come as early as Friday. The board currently plans to issue its final report in June.
Also:
Is Hubble in trouble?
:: David 1:15 PM [+] ::
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DVD Update
You'll be happy to know that Robin Williams' "Popeye" will be released on DVD on June 24.
:: David 1:09 PM [+] ::
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Daily Hatbag
Ah, remember Hootie?
(Actually I think they have a new album out.)
:: David 1:03 PM [+] ::
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Vote For NASA
Cast your vote in the Webby People's Choice Awards for NASA and the Earth Observatory.
Please.
:: David 1:00 PM [+] ::
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No life on Mars
Mean NASA scientists have announced that Mars is devoid of advanced life, according to The Onion.
:: David 8:38 AM [+] ::
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Trivia
I got this in e-mail. Long post, but these are kind of cool:

Can you guess which of the following are true or false?

1.. Apples, not caffeine, are more efficient at waking you up in the morning. 

2.. Alfred Hitchcock didn't have a bellybutton. 

3.. A pack-a-day smoker will lose approximately 2 teeth every 10 yrs. 

4.. People do not get sick from cold weather; it's from being indoors  a  lot  more. 

5.. When you sneeze, all bodily functions stop even your heart!

6.. Only seven (7) per cent of the population are lefties.

7.. 40 people are sent to the hospital for dog bites every minute.

8.. Babies are born without knee caps. They don't appear until they  are  2-6 years old.

9.. The average person over fifty will have spent 5 years waiting in  lines. 

10.. The toothbrush was invented in 1498.

11.. The average housefly lives for one month.

12.. 40,000 Americans are injured by toilets each year.

13.. A coat hanger is 44 inches long when straightened.

14.. The average computer user blinks 7 times a minute.

15.. Your feet are bigger in the afternoon than the rest of the day. 

16.. Most of us have eaten a spider in our sleep.

17.. The REAL reason ostriches stick their head in the sand is to  search  for water. 

18.. The only 2 animals that can see behind itself without turning  it's head are the rabbit and the parrot. 

19.. John Travolta turned down the starring roles in "An Officer and  a  Gentleman" and "Tootsie". 

20.. Michael Jackson owns the rights to the South Carolina State  anthem.

21.. In most television commercials advertising milk, a mixture of white paint and a little thinner is used in place of the milk.

22.. Prince Charles and Prince William don't travel on the same airplane just in case there is a crash. 

23.. The first Harley Davidson motorcycle built in 1903 used a tomato  can for a carburetor.

24.. Most hospitals make money by selling the umbilical cords cut from women who give birth. They are reused in vein transplant surgery. 

25.. Humphrey Bogart was related to Princess Diana. They were 7th cousins. 

26.. If coloring weren't added to Coca-Cola, it would be green.

(ALL OF THE ABOVE ARE TRUE)
:: David 8:21 AM [+] ::
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DM Press Update
OK, finally got off my butt and stopped just mouthing off about the DM press situation and decided to find out what was actually going on. So I picked up the phone and called the editor of the DM, Julie Finley (I had e-mailed her earlier about a letter to the editor, and had received a reply, but no more details). So here's what's going on: Nobody really knows. The original plan was to get rid of the press and outsource the printing (likely to The Eagle), but the DM staff/student media center convinced them to step back and really look at that situation. So the administration agreed to consider just moving the press elsewhere, either on or off campus. The problems are, nobody knows where, and it's going to cost a bunch. Add into that the fact that if it's moved, given that it's not exactly a new press, nobody can say for sure that it can be calibrated correctly again (keep in mind, this is the beautiful color DM these days). So The DM staff wants to keep the press in Farley, where it belongs. However, it sounds like if a new home can't be found, then the outsourcing option may be eyed again. Basically, I told her to keep my e-mail address, and that if they need help, to let me know.
:: David 8:28 PM [+] ::
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Save Trek
Per Lain's request, I'm entering this post as a forum for discussing how to save Star Trek (see this article).
Let me begin with a caveat: I don't know to what extent Trek needs to be saved. Certainly I want it to keep high enough ratings to continue, but I don't know that I want it to have mass market appeal. I would hate for Apple to say, hey, we only have a small market share, how can we make our computers more like PCs. Plus, some market share can be regained just by producing better Trek, not better-engineered Trek. Nemesis had action and effects and sex and a supervillian and all the blockbuster ingredients, while Star Trek IV had basically none of those. This above all else, to thine own Trek be true.
That said, I would continue to play up the adventurer aspect of Enterprise. It's interesting the way that, to me at least, the Trek series alternate between frontier series and scientist/diplomat series. Lay off the cerebral, we're-so-civilized aspects of TNG and Voyager, and play up the "boldly go" aspect. Require every Trek writer to watch "The Right Stuff" every year. Ignore the old Trek tropes. We don't have to have the Borg on Enterprise. Better yet, ignore the new Trek tropes, and pull some old ones back out. Make the writers watch TOS to refresh themselves on what the galaxy was like at that time... who were the major players, and who had we not heard of yet. By and large, I really like the direction Enterprise is going. I like the characters, and think the show is second only to DS9 in using the characters to drive plots, rather than vice-versa. Basically, just do more of the Enterprise-y type stuff, and less Trek type stuff.
So, what are your thoughts?
:: David 12:31 PM [+] ::
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War Update
Baghdad has been captured by The University of Georgia (contributed, natch, by Lain).
:: David 12:09 PM [+] ::
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Daily Hatbag
Just another example of how ahead of its time Hatbag is: Note that this strip was written six years before Colin Powell actually became a politician.
:: David 9:57 AM [+] ::
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Batman movie plans (kinda)
OK, so this is one of those AICN rumors that you just assume isn't going to happen, and don't let it bother you. After becoming a criminal, young Bruce Wayne hires Alfred, and then later, after becoming Batman, seeks "bloody vengeance" after his wife is killed.
:: David 8:47 AM [+] ::
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?
According to this AICN article, among the projects to which James Cameron is currently attached is an "Untitled Princess Bride Project," written by Danny Ruben. I checked IMDB, and Danny "Rubin" is the guy who wrote Groundhog Day, and has no writing credits in 9 years. Hmmmm....
:: David 8:42 AM [+] ::
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War Update
In case you've missed it, U.S. troops are beginning to commit suicide in Baghdad. The soldiers of Saddam Hussein have given them a lesson they will never forget. The Iraqis are encouraging more suicides, and have given U.S. troops death and poison. Officials are saying that American leaders in Washington have sent the military here "to be burned." Baghdad is safe and secure, and the Iraqi people are strong. Also, Americans are silly and stupid.
Before the war, there was discussion as to who the star of this Gulf War would be, a la "Scud Stud" Arthur Kent in Gulf War I. For my money, the breakout debut of this conflict has got to be Iraq's Information Minister Mohammed Saeed al-Sahaf. I actually cheered this morning when they announced that he had not been killed in the bombing yesterday. He really needs to get a talk show or something after this war is over.
:: David 8:27 AM [+] ::
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Lotsa Lana
For the true Superman fan whose not happen until they're collection includes something just slightly disturbing, you can print out a life-sized poster of Smallville's Kristin Kreuk, who plays Lana Lang (Similar posters are also available for Clark and Lex, but not Pete or Chloe. Nor are posters available for John Schneider, so if that was all you were lacking for your life-size Duke Boys collection, you'll just have to wait).
:: David 7:16 AM [+] ::
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Well, Atleast They're Cheerful About It
When I got home today, the following message was awaiting me on my answering machine: "This is the Family Christian Store calling to remind you that Armageddon is coming out tomorrow."
:: David 6:28 PM [+] ::
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Dune
Accidentally came across this review of the movie Dune while surfing the Web. Apparently, it's written by the guy that does The Outside Scoop in The Onion, inasmuch as that it combines a vague understanding of its subject with a love of random bold letters. But maybe I'm just being elitist. Anyway, it's great reading, check it out.
And if you enjoy that one, there's plenty more good reading in the site's archive.
:: David 4:06 PM [+] ::
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DM Press Plea
When I was in Oxford this past weekend, I was reading through recent copies of The DM, and saw this letter. Would anybody out there be interested in co-signing a similar letter? I could see us easily sending a letter with a dozen names on it of former DM staffers. What points should such a letter make? I think it's worth noting that I, for one, had to take some journalism classes outside of Farley, and would not for a moment have considered trading the DM press just to have all of my classes in the same building. Again, speaking just for myself, but the DM was a huge part of why I came to Ole Miss, and the press was an important part of what made the DM unique. I would add that having the press there and being able to work so closely with the press operators helped me learn alot about printing (that isn't taught in any j-school class) that served me well in later years. What else?
:: David 1:06 PM [+] ::
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Poll Results
Well, JLA won the first You Must Fight The Bear Poll, with 44 percent of the vote (a whopping four votes). Watchmen came in second, with two votes, and the others each received one vote.
So, what's your dream casting for the JLA movie?
(The next poll should appear later today).
:: David 11:55 AM [+] ::
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You Must Fight The Bear Book Club Update
I wrote a while back about my reading list, so here's a little aside on that: My copy of "The Little Friend" is signed by Donna Tartt, thanks to Richie, ditto Grisham's "King of Torts," "No Way To Treat A First Lady," was inscribed by Christopher Buckley thanks to Lain (I now have two generations of signed Buckley books), and Jasper Fforde's "Lost In A Good Book" was purchased signed at Square Books in Oxford (where I also picked up a $4 signed Bill Fitzhugh), so I now have signed copies of the full list, with the exception of Dave Barry's Tricky Business (which I could have bought signed online a while back, but didn't).
To be honest, I really couldn't explain what the appeal of signed books, etc., is for me. Lain met Buckley last week, had a copy of his book at home, stood in line to get a book signed for me, and yet didn't get one signed for himself, though it would have taken a good 30 seconds of effort (well, other than finding the book). (Lain does have signed pictures of Lobot and Khan that I've bought him though).
What about anybody else? What are your thoughts on signed items, and do you have any you're particularly proud of?
:: David 11:50 AM [+] ::
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Things Dave's Wondered
Every once and a while I come across answers to things I've wondered for a while, and so I post the info here just in case anyone else has ever cared. Today's entry: Growing up in Huntsville, I'm quite familar with the German V-2 missile, but what exactly was the V-1?
:: David 11:23 AM [+] ::
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Daily Hatbag
Rare Hatbag behind-the-scenes trivia note: The musical notes in this strip are actually completely meaningless.
:: David 11:16 AM [+] ::
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Yo, Alien
James Cameron said he might be willing to try to make another decent Aliens movie. (That said, I actually liked Alien3 OK).
:: David 11:00 AM [+] ::
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Take Me Back To The Astro City
Another issue of the greatest comic book of all time comes out Wednesday.
:: David 10:56 AM [+] ::
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Big Cheeburger
A while back, I wrote about eating with my brother at Cheeburger, Cheeburger, where he got his picture put on the wall for eating a 1-pound cheeseburger. At the time, he wondered if he could get anything else for eating more. The answer is: a full page spread in the local newspaper. But you've got to eat ALOT more than he did.
:: David 1:17 PM [+] ::
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Font Of Wisdom
According to Entertainment Weekly, the purveyor of all that is cool and once-cool, the font Courier is "In," Helvetica is "Five Minutes Ago," and Chicago is "Out." (I was never really that keen on Chicago to begin with).
:: David 1:02 PM [+] ::
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Nimoy says Onward
According to The Huntsville Times, Leonard Nimoy said space exploration should continue, during his speech here Thursday night. But mostly he talked about his new photography project about the feminine nature of God, which, unsurprisingly, consists of a lot of pictures of naked women (NOTE: I'm serious. If you're going to be offended by naked women pictures taken by Spock, don't follow the link).
:: David 12:58 PM [+] ::
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Daily Hatbag
This strip is dedicated to my co-worker, Mindi, who missed the joys of ST:TNG during its run, only to recently discover them on DVD, and for whom the series is just now about to end.
:: David 12:53 PM [+] ::
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Daily Hatbag
I picked this strip for today because it's late, I'm tired, and this is the first one I came across.
:: David 10:39 PM [+] ::
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Tasty Chicken
Among the highlights of visiting the in-laws in Oxford: Abner's. Man, if Abner's were to open here, that would be among the best and worst things that have happened to me.
:: David 10:38 PM [+] ::
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Jumpin' Jack Bass
You know, it's really kind of a sad day when you buy gas for $1.43 and marvel at what a great deal you got. It's about $1.69 here, but during my travels, I saw it as low as $1.37.
:: David 10:36 PM [+] ::
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As Only NASA Can
OK, here's another way working for NASA is different from other jobs I've had.
Bathroom graphitti is generally some pretty unclassy stuff--those of you who went to Ole Miss can likely remember some pretty choice examples.
So I'm in the men's room in the Flight Projects building today, and scrawled above the urinals was a debate as to which was bigger--Skylab or Mir. The two space stations were depicted as RV trailers, with one drawn a little bigger than the other. To pro-Skylab guy, to show which one was which, had even drawn a tiny stick figure drinking vodka inside one so you could tell it was Mir. Beside it was written, "Skylab was a little bigger than Mir," in which someone had added the word "NOT" after was. Now where else are you going to see that?
:: David 10:59 AM [+] ::
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Blog Note
Nicole and I are leaving this afternoon to go visit her family in Oxford, so tomorrow may be the first time that there's no new Daveblog. Sorry. I'll post if I get a chance, but don't know that I'll be around a computer (And I may yet post more today, of course).
:: David 9:52 AM [+] ::
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Daily Hatbag
Remember that time Hippie betrayed his Southern roots to go ally himself with the North?
:: David 9:51 AM [+] ::
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More Reasons To Dislike Marvel
Lain sent me this one: Captain America, Traitor?
:: David 9:49 AM [+] ::
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Hey, You Laika The Space Toys?
OK, now this is just amazingly tempting, but the $50 price tag is a little steep.
CollectSPACE (if you read this, Robert, I think I got the style for the name correct this time [I even changed it in the link on the sidebar]) has info today about new cosmonaut toys being released by the tiny-toy company, Kubrick.
"Made by Medicom Toy of Japan, Kubricks are a cross between LEGO and Playmobil, but modeled to represent celebrities and other pop-culture favorites. New to their line this May are 'Cosmonauts' including mini-versions of Yuri Gagarin, first (space) dog Laika, and a surprisingly detailed Vostok spacecraft. Imported from Japan, the box set will retail for approx."
The info at CollectSPACE even has a link to pictures of the toys, which are very cool.
:: David 9:37 AM [+] ::
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One Of These Days
The European Space Agency has unveiled its solar-powered SMART-1 lunar probe, which will launch this summer. Among its missions will be to search for water in deep craters on the Moon.
The ESA is really proud of the low $100 million price tag on SMART-1, noting that it's part of their efforts to build spacecraft more cheaply than NASA can. Ironically, NASA is currently moving away from the mandate to build smaller, cheaper spacecraft, which was a major initiative under former administrator Dan Goldin. Instead, NASA is moving back in the direction of building better spacecraft, which are actually capable of performing more scientific research when they reach their destination.
:: David 9:26 AM [+] ::
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OV-099
The Space Shuttle Challenger launched for her debut flight 20 years ago, at 1:30 p.m. EST April 4, 1983.
Interesting trivia: Challenger was not originally intended to be a flight-worthy member of the Orbiter fleet, but rather a test article. After it was decided not to modify the heavier Enterprise from its Approach and Landing test configuration, Challenger was instead modified for flight capability.
:: David 9:14 AM [+] ::
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Space Club Drop-Out
While still interested in possibly moving ahead with an unmanned lunar probe, India is apparently backing away from recent claims that it would launch a manned space program soon.
:: David 8:59 AM [+] ::
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Up With Quark
New details are here about Quark XPress 6, the first version to be OS X native. Hard to believe I've gone seven months now without using Quark. There probably weren't many times in the preceding 13 years that I'd been more than a couple of months. What a brave new world that doesn't have such software in it.
:: David 8:53 AM [+] ::
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New Record
I've set a new Dave-blog record--I've blogged the whole day without posting anything worthy of feedback! Oh well, they can't all be winners. Sorry, guys.
:: David 5:29 PM [+] ::
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Gloves-On Science
The Microgravity Science Glovebox onboard ISS is working again.
:: David 2:25 PM [+] ::
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Two days left
The sweatshirt sale at the Hatbag store ends tomorrow.
:: David 11:46 AM [+] ::
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This guy needs a job
I'm not saying he was right to do this, but anybody that can scam money using the good name of "Baywatch" has legitimate talent.
:: David 11:41 AM [+] ::
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Iraq Burning
WFOR-TV of Miami, FL (4/2, 5:32pm) reports, "NASA is sending out images of Baghdad burning from space. The Expedition-6 crew aboard the International Space Station capturing these pictures of smoke rising from Iraq. NASA says this video was recorded March 31 during one of the orbits of Earth."
For other satellite Iraq pictures, go here.
:: David 11:34 AM [+] ::
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Let there be light
It turns out Al Gore had many more inventions. These are mildly amusing, maybe, but the face Gore's making in this one is priceless.
:: David 11:30 AM [+] ::
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Xur and the Kodan Armadillo
As I mentioned earlier in the week, Starchaser Industries today unveiled their Nova capsule, the manned spaceflight equivalent of the car Lain's parents used to use for cow-tipping.
On a related note, here's a link to Armadillo Aerospace, a Texas-based (hard to believe, huh) company aiming for the X Prize that has already performed manned drop tests of their capsule.
Be sure to check out the video of the capsule drop test... they're apparently planning to use the most creative form of capsule recovery I've seen.
:: David 11:13 AM [+] ::
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ISS Update
Russia will fund extra ISS flights, but they're not happy about it. Again, shades of 2010.
:: David 10:57 AM [+] ::
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Daily Hatbag
Everybody knows one of these people.
:: David 10:48 AM [+] ::
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This Week At NASAexplores
The two new articles this week at NASAexplores deal with the Canadarm robot arms on the Space Shuttle and Space Station, and with aerocapture, a proposed method of "braking" for interplanetary spaceflight.
:: David 10:45 AM [+] ::
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Han Solo's Higher Power
As a too-devoted Star Wars fan, I was aware that the Millenium Falcon was equipped with a "rectenna," which apparently is that satellite-dish-looking thing mounted on the outside. However, other than snickering a little at the name, I had no idea what one was. Now that I do, I'm a little disappointed.
Rectenna--n. RECTifying anTENNA. An antenna comprising a mesh of dipoles and diodes for absorbing microwave energy from a transmitter and converting it into electric power. In future rectennas will be used to generate large scale power from microwave beams delivered from orbiting SPS satellites.
If the Lucasfilm gurus are correct, then the Falcon relied, at least in part, on an external power source. Hard to believe.
:: David 4:58 PM [+] ::
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Guess Who's Back?
So like five and a half years ago, Lain, Richie and I went to Lilith Fair in Atlanta. Great concert, great performers, great performances. But the big surprise of the evening was Jewel, who had not yet come out with her second album, but was already known for her sensitive, folksy ways. But at this concert, Jewel ROCKED hard. Well, for Jewel anyway. Certainly she rocked more than anybody else at the concert. So then the new album came out, and we thought maybe this was going to be the new rocking Jewel album. And it wasn't. And then another album. A little more upbeat, in places, but nothing like the Jewel rocking we had witnessed years earlier. I've even seen video of Jewel performing live, and no rocking. So maybe it was just like a one-night thing. Or maybe on that tour she flirted with rocking, but decided against it.
So, anyway, Jewel's got a new album out after two years. And the Netscape homepage says it rocks. And for Jewel, it does. Certainly it's a long way from that Hands stuff of Pieces Of You crap ("Ugly giiiiiiiirl..."). But nothing like the great lost Jewel-rocking of 1997. The world may never see such Jewel-rocking again.
:: David 3:31 PM [+] ::
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How Strong Is Your Kung-Fu
OK, discussion question. I got to thinking about this earlier. What skill do you have that would take the longest to learn from scratch? I don't know that I have any that would take more than a day to learn. Now, I'm not talking about ability level, but just being able to perform a task. I mean, while it would take the average mortal years, if ever, to learn to write a news story as well as I do, you could take any person of moderate intelligence, and by the end of the day, they could write a functional news story. Compare that to, for example, brain surgery. There is no way you could no nothing about brain surgery and be able to do it functionally with any small amount of training. I got to thinking about this because I was looking at some of the code for the sites I'm operating, and realized that I would likely need actual lengthy, formal education to do that, as opposed to the basic coding I do now. Everything you would need to know to reach my level of web programming, I could teach in a day (well, some of that would be learning how to learn more, but, still...). Even including just basic life skills, I'm having trouble thinking of exceptions. Despite the fact, for example, that it takes a semester to teach driver's ed, you really can cover the basics pretty quickly. Since my readership is pretty liberal-arts-intensive (if DeeDee's still out there, she may be the exception), I would be curious to see if any of you can come up with an exception, either for yourself or for me.
:: David 1:54 PM [+] ::
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Questions? Dave's Got Answers!
BTW, as part of my work on the NASA Kids and Liftoff sites, I've started answering a reader-submitted question three times a week (MWF) on each site. Check it out here and here. I've even help set up FAQs (with links from those pages) to which the answers will be added, but only a few of the FAQ answers are mine currently.
On a related note, I plowed further back into the e-mail backlog on those sites than I'd been before, and ran into something kind of sad. I get a bunch of e-mails assuming that the person reading the e-mail is going to be like the head of NASA, or an astronaut, or the crew of ISS ("How's it going up there in space?"). I also get a lot of messages addressed to Becky and Patrick, the former curators of the sites. But I saw this one sent in late January, addressed to Laurel. Who's Laurel? Well, after reading it a couple of times, I figured it out. Laurel is STS-107 astronaut Laurel Clark. The message was sent by a relative of hers (the grandfather of her nephew), and talks about looking forward to hearing about her adventure when she returns. And it ended up in my inbox. Hmmm.
:: David 1:43 PM [+] ::
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iBox
Want a $300 G4 clone? This 21-year-old guy says he'll sell you a brand new iBox soon.
:: David 12:49 PM [+] ::
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Daily Hatbag
I still hate that our glorious Alaskan rebirth was so star-crossed.
:: David 9:51 AM [+] ::
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Talk To The Monkey
This is interesting also. I read David Brin's Uplift novels years and years ago, in which humanity helps other primates and dolphins become members of the galactic sentient community. Apparently pretty prescient.
:: David 9:37 AM [+] ::
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Gates to Mars
I missed this yesterday when it was posted. Exciting news, but I hope their ship doesn't crash (like Windows, get it?).
:: David 9:37 AM [+] ::
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Hughes on the Hill
Lain's dad is currently addressing a subcommittee of the U.S. Senate about cell phones. And, thanks to Internet streaming, Lain can hear him now.
:: David 9:30 AM [+] ::
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Another Columbia Update
This site also has a fair bit of news. In fact, if you're following the investigation (or several other topics), it's a good one to bookmark, since it summarizes several news reports.
:: David 9:28 AM [+] ::
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Columbia update
Well, apparently it wasn't RCC panel No. 6. Two steps forward, one step back.
:: David 9:19 AM [+] ::
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This is AT&T
JoCasta sent me this lesson in telephone ettiquete a while back. Kind of funny.
:: David 3:51 PM [+] ::
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Yet Another New Feature
I've added, at the very bottom of the sidebar to the left, a poll. Not the greatest poll in the world, I just wanted to see if it would work. Let me know what you think, and if you have any ideas for future polls. And, BTW, I obviously have nothing to do with the ads (or other content) on the results page.
(And now, not only is the number of Idle Ramblings not showing up, the name has revered to Shout Out again. I don't know why. Hopefully this means it's being fixed.)
:: David 2:14 PM [+] ::
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Happy Birthday, Apple
The greatest computer company in history turns 27 today (Meaning that Jobs and Woz started Apple about 8 months after I was born, no doubt knowing that there target audience had come into the world).
:: David 12:38 PM [+] ::
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Not my fault
A Blogger problem this morning prevented publishing. Sorry for the delay!
:: David 11:37 AM [+] ::
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That's No Moon!
Astronomers are on the verge of a problem: What is a moon?
:: David 8:50 AM [+] ::
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Daily Hatbag
Sometimes, you just gotta see the light.
:: David 8:48 AM [+] ::
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Indie Spaceflight
According to SpaceDaily, British company Starchaser Industries is preparing to unveil on Thursday its new rocket capsule, the Nova II, which will then be transported to the US for drop-testing to prove its landing system. Once that's done, unmanned and then manned rocket launches will follow.
No timetable is given, so I can't guess as to whether this will occur before China becomes the third country to launch a manned rocket later this year.
The Nova II is a stepping stone for Project Thunderbird, Starchaser Industries' effort to when the $10 million X Prize, offered to the first non-governmental organisation capable of launching three people into space with a reusable vehicle.
:: David 8:42 AM [+] ::
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DYI FTL
Wanna travel faster than light? Here's your chance.
:: David 8:31 AM [+] ::
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