Sounds pretty sci-fi to me — shooting down our broken satellites
Wow, this is just like something out of a sci-fi novel or movie of my childhood. We have a broken satellite headed to hit the Earth sometime in early March. According to a breaking news story from the Associated Press, we're planning to shoot the satellite down -- apparently to avoid having it injury anyone or anything when it comes down. (Or to keep some of the satellite parts and pieces secret?? I only speculate.)
Details are pretty sketchy for now. The AP story says the Pentagon will have an official announcement later with more details.
The story also points out that this is a "sensitive" issue because last year the U.S. and some other countries protested when the Chinese shot down a defunct weather satellite, apparently because of concerns over debris issues.
Personally, I find it fascinating that we can modify current missile technology to shoot down a falling satellite -- but we have to spend billions/trillions of dollars on the so-called "Star Wars" missile defense system that has little or no chance of every working as advertised.
But, I'm no rocket scientist. (Although my son IS a bona fide rocket scientist, with a degree to prove it.) I wish them well. I hope the satellite debris neither falls on anyone nor raises any international fuss. And given the huge amount of space debris we've got orbiting the Earth, this issue isn't likely to go away in our lifetime.
[tags]falling satellite, space age warfare, missiles, satellite debris, just a guy who reads the papers[/tags]
What a bummer — FBI warns about Valentine’s Day ecard ‘worm’
What better way to show your love on Valentine's Day than to send a "worm" infected e-card to your lover to infect his/her computer??
Yeah, what a bummer. In a news report just released, the FBI says some e-Valentines making the rounds out there are not loving wishes -- they contain the "Storm Worm," which will hijack your computer and make it part of the Storm botnet and allowing nasty folks to use it to attack websites. Not too nice, I'd say.
So if you get a Valentine's e-card and you aren't 100% sure about the sender -- maybe you should simply trash it and avoid the risk. Or, as the FBI warning suggests:
"Computer users are warned to avoid any Valentine's Day mesages sent by unknown admirers, leaving suspicious e-mail unopened and especially not clicking on links in the e-mail."
Better safe than sorry, and I'm sure all your friends, family, and loved ones will understand. (If some legit Valentine's greetings get axed this way, here's my suggestion -- tell 'em not to be so darned cheap and to send you flowers, candy, or both next year!)
[tags]Valentine's Day e-worm, computer virus warning from FBI, just a guy who reads the papers[/tags]
Undersea cable repairs will restore Asia, Middle East Internet access
I posted last week about the undersea cables which were damaged, shutting down Internet access to large sections of Asia and the Middle East. It seems the companies involved are busy repairing the damages now and it should take a week or so to get the job done. The story I linked to in that last sentence says no one knows for sure how the damage happened "but there have been reports that the breaks were related to a tanker dragging its anchor along the sea bed."
A tanker's anchor shut down Internet access to a large portion of the world??
Maybe there ought to be options to undersea cables and Internet access? I have no idea what the expenses would be or how it would need to be done, but it seems something better ought to be available in our high-tech world, doesn't it?
Ah, well, what do I know? I'm just a guy who reads the papers.
[tags]undersea cable repairs, Internet access, ships and shipping, just a guy who reads the papers[/tags]
All you fellow bloggers out there: Have you checked out your ‘RealRank’ yet?
IZEA is a company you need to know about if you're a blogger -- especially if you're a blogger who wants to make money from your blogging.
The company itself is the parent company of PayPerPost -- an outfit I hooked up with a few months ago to make some money from my several years of blogging efforts. So far, it has worked well for me.
What I want to do here is encourage you, my fellow bloggers, to take a close look at IZEA, at PayPerPost, and specifically at the Blog Ranks and ranking system IZEA is developing. Even if you aren't interested in working with these particular companies to make money with your blog(s), you can do their free sign up, install a small bit of javascript code on your blog, and find out what your "RealRank" is.
They've developed a pretty nifty looking system to take some measures of a blog's "ranking," based on traffic and influence factors they've identified. They call that system "RealRank," and you can find out what your real rank is by taking just a few minutes of your time.
So if you blog, and especially if you're interested in making money with your blog, I would encourage you to check out the IZEA RealRank process. You'll get some useful information about your blog -- and about your blogging business.
[tags]blogging, blogging for money, IZEA RealRank, PayPerPost, just a guy who reads the papers[/tags]
I don’t ‘get it’ with some high-technology unless you keep it very simple
I ran onto an article praising the success of some studies about using "smart grid" technology to save big bunches of energy and money for all of us consumers.
The problem is, "smart grid" was never really defined or explained in the article. I felt like an English speaker being stuck watching a French dvd with the dvd subtitle copy also written all in French. (Don't even get me started on the inherent complexity of simple movie dvds.)
The problem I have with "smart grid," I think, is that the term has over-complicated a simple idea. Why not just say "computer controlled" utility networks or something like that? As I understood the article, that's pretty much what they meant by "smart grid." They spoke of the computers on the utility company's side interacting with computer monitored and controlled consumer electronics and appliances to "power up" or "power down" stuff that wasn't needed.
The thing that I "get" with this is that it saves money because everything from the power generation sources through the kitchen stove and refrigerator communicate effectively and work efficiently together.
AND THE MACHINES WILL RULE THE WORLD!! WATCH OUT FOR THE ROBOTS!!! SPACE ALIENS WILL CONQUER US ALL!!!
Oh, sorry. I lost it for a minute there. Really, though, the "smart grid" idea sounds good to me. Now if someone would just tell me how to quickly move from starting a dvd into watching the movie without having to push too many buttons to get rid of the annoying commercials and maddening menu/music loop -- then I'll be happy and think a lot more about "smart grids."
[tags]smart grids, dvd subtitle, dvd menu, simplified high technology, just a guy who reads the papers[/tags]
Keeping up with video technology really seems impossible
Well, I now feel just about as old as a caveman: I still remember when black-and-white televisions were the norm, and now Sony has released a OLED television -- and someone's already selling the $2,000+ little darling on eBay.
Now, I'm not entirely clear what "OLED" means, but it stands for "Organic Light Emitting Diode" technology. I haven't had the time to research what that is. Perhaps some "techies" out there could comment on this post and enlighten us? I know it has something to do with millions of dots, or pixels, per square inch -- or square something? -- that deliver incredibly crisp, quickly refreshed images.
Which would be good to have, since the TV only has an 11-inch screen.
So at this point, you won't need to outfit your home with home theater lighting to enjoy a widescreen, in-theater experience with it, will you? In other words, it's just an electronic gadget or toy for those who have too much money on their hands at the moment. But of course, every technological revolution has to start somewhere, and it usually starts with something small that captures our imagination and then our money. Just look at the iPod and iPhone and you'll know what I mean.
It'll be awhile before I'm up to speed on this, and before the price drops anywhere near my range. Which is probably why I've given up all hope of keeping up with the many high-tech revolutions and/or cutting edge equipment. I'll just keep watching my antique RCA and tap, tap, tapping along on my 3-year-old Toshiba laptop.
Ah, well, what do I know? I'm just a guy who reads the papers.
[tags]Sony OLED TV, home theater lighting, high-technology, television, just a guy who reads the papers[/tags]
Anybody have a quick explanation for me? How does closed captioning work?
Just awhile ago, a commercial ran on one of our local television stations about closed captioning for local newscasts. One of our local lawyers sponsors the commercial and sponsors the cost of the service for our primetime local newscasts on that same station.
Every time I see that commercial, which shows closed captioning going on during a newscast, I ask myself -- just how does closed captioning work?
I know I could probably "Google" the phrase and get a quick answer, which I will do if I must. But I thought, first, I would ask all of you out there reading this -- anybody have a quickie explanation of how closed captioning works?
Because, as I sit here watching Iowa caucuses news, late shows, and other stuff on television, I cannot imagine anyone being able to type fast enough to do an ongoing, usually very accurate, caption of what I'm watching/hearing on television. I type about 60 words a minute, which was good enough to land a typist job for a few years. But there's no way I could possibly type as fast as the closed captions go up on the screen.
So how's it done? Some sort of delayed broadcasting, I suppose? Explanations anyone?
[tags]closed captioning, newscasts, typing, just a guy who reads the papers[/tags]
Good to know: Planets Earth and Venus are practically twins
Okay, I guess I'm not understanding enough about how scientists, particularly astronomers, think -- because I just read a couple of stories where they announced that Earth and Venus are so similar that they could sort of be thought of as twins.
That's really quite a stretch for me to figure out. Even with all the talk of global warming, Earth's normal surface temperatures don’t come close to those on Venus. On Venus, "surface temperatures exceed 800 degrees Fahrenheit, hot enough to melt tin and lead," according to an article I was just reading. The atmosphere on Venus is almost pure carbon dioxide and is about 100 times as dense as on Earth.
As far as I can tell from reading the story (I'm no rocket scientist — but, coincidentally, my son is!), Earth and Venus are similar in size and Venus shows signs of once possibly having Earth-like oceans. Venus also apparently has lightning flashes going on, as well as unexpected temperature swings between the "day" and "night" sides of as much as 70 degrees F.
All pretty interesting stuff. The story I've linked to relates to recent papers and meetings by scientists studying data from Venus Express, a satellite we sent to orbit the planet and which has been sending back data now for over a year.
Whether the two planets share a common past and are anything like "twins," the scary task scientists face is trying to decide whether, how, or when Venus reflects Earth's future. God help us all if some of the things we're doing today will lead our descendants of the far distant future to an Earth like present-day Venus!
Ah, well, what do I know? I'm just a guy who reads the papers.
[tags]Earth, Venus, planetary science, astronomy, Venus Express, just a guy who reads the papers[/tags]
Looking at a digital camera for the holidays? Take a look here
How do you use your digital cameras? You do have a digital camera or two lying around the house, don’t you? Perhaps in your cell phone at least?
According to some statistics I saw online, digital cameras were the most requested electronics gifts for the 2006 shopping season. In fact, we never purchased our first digital camera until about a year ago — and we still don’t have a phone camera.
We finally got a nice little Kodak, an inexpensive model whose number escapes me right now, so that we could take holiday pictures and have the convenience of seeing the pictures as we were taking them, as well as being able to store and share the digital photos via computer and e-mail. One of the joys of digital cameras is this "instant gratification" aspect. You can take a holiday family picture, regroup and try it again, before Aunt Mabel and Uncle John break up the family group to head for the cranberries.
To my surprise, my mostly-non-techie-wife has become the digital camera "ace" in our family. She picked it up and started taking pictures of the flowers she grows in various locations around our large yard. She's done some very artistic, beautiful work of individual flowers as well as groups of flowers. When I have occasion to use the camera, she's the one I turn to for pointers on framing the picture and how to make it look best.
I recently found a website selling just about all the digital cameras and photo supplies and equipment anyone could want. The site is RitzCamera.com & Electronics. If you’re in the market for a new digital camera, take a look around. They also have a wide selection of other electronics and film photography equipment, too.
What sort of digital camera did you say you have? Feel free to comment here and let us know some of your favorite camera tips and tricks. Perhaps you have a favorite model camera you would like to own. Go ahead, tell us about it.
[tags]RitzCamera.com & Electronics, digital cameras, give digital cameras, just a guy who reads the papers[/tags]
Stem cells from skin cells — scientists revolutionize controversial research
You’ve undoubtedly read about the breakthrough in the news, seen about it on TV, and already know the story: Researchers have released groundbreaking work in which they produced what appear to be human stem cells from human skin cells.
(I posted a blog entry about a related issue just a few days ago.)
From all accounts, this is revolutionary. It may finally lead to amazing breakthroughs in treating such until-now-incurable diseases as Parkinson’s, for example. And it would eliminate the controversies surrounding the earlier stem cell research using tissue from human embryos.
By all accounts, the techniques used and needed methods of bringing about usable therapies from this discovery are in the very early stages. So it probably isn’t cause for rejoicing by those immediately affected by the various incurable diseases it may eventually cure.
But it’s hope. It gives light for the future to those suffering and to the families of those suffering from many dreaded diseases.
Hooray for science, I say!
[tags]science breakthrough, stem cell research, stem cells from skin cells, just a guy who reads the papers[/tags]
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