Keith'snote: The NASA 2010 PM Challenge is underway today and tomorrow. According to NASA: "The PM Challenge is one of NASA's premier training events. It brings together the best speakers, discussion panels, case studies, and networking opportunities in program/project management, systems engineering, safety & mission assurance, team building, business management, and many others." Participants are Twittering from inside the event. You can follow their Tweets here.
Monthly Archives: February 2010
Ground Control To Major Toms
NASA Launches David Bowie Concept Mission, The Onion
"NASA officials announced today the successful launch of the new shuttle Moonage Daydream, marking the beginning of a long-anticipated two-week conceptual mission inspired by British rock star David Bowie. The crew of Moonage Daydream embark on the 4.5 billion dollar, genre-defying mission. According to NASA administrator Maj. Gen. Charles F. Bolden, Jr., the highly experimental glam space program--dubbed Project Starman--has been in development for exactly five years. Though engineers initially feared the mission might "blow our minds," the historic launch ultimately proceeded without incident."
Endeavour Is In Orbit
NASA STS-130 Report #01 4 a.m. CST Monday, Feb. 8, 2010
"After a one day delay due to clouds, space shuttle Endeavour launched at 3:14 a.m. CST Monday from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida with a new module and an attached cupola for the International Space Station that should increase human understanding of our home planet. It was the last scheduled night launch in shuttle program history."
Video: STS-130 Night Launch
Solar POWER in the Midwest
Mario Monesterio, Westwood Renewables, tours the solar modules at St. John’s University in Minnesota. The project is complete and is producing electricity for the campus. Photo by Jason Wachter
There’s a brand new operational solar array in the upper midwest, and it’s performing at expected rates even in the dead of winter. This array is in Minnesota, and the largest in the upper midwest. If this is successful here, it can be successful anywhere the sun shines.
From the local newspaper:
The (St. John’s) university’s experiment in capturing energy from the sun began operation Dec. 10. The 1,820 black-paneled modules were installed in a 14-acre farm field just northwest of campus.The project is a joint effort of the university, the Order of St. Benedict and Westwood Renewables. The Eden Prairie-based company received a $2 million grant from Xcel Energy to build the largest solar farm in the Upper Midwest.
This is exactly what we need more of in the United States. Too many people still consider solar power some type of oddity, but it can and will produce a lot of power. This array is currently producing only 4% of the university’s power needs, but on a series of cloudless, sunny days it can supply up to 20%. Read more here.
Solar power is getting to be very popular in Minnesota and across the United Sates. There is also money to be made with real green energy. From a letter to the editor that appeared in the Star Tribune last week, I was pleasantly surprised to find out that Timothy Geithner, one of the most disliked people in the Obama administration, visited Minnesota last week and injected some hope into the local economy. He visited the Honeywell corporation and announced the Obama administration’s support for an additional $5 billion in funds to be used for “clean energy manufacturing”. This is welcome news and will create jobs.
Secondly, the letter went on to point out, green energy companies have received stimulus money for advanced energy manufacturing projects. One of two companies to received some of this money, which amounted to $154 million for this company, was REC Silicon, and the 2nd largest amount ($84.2 million) went to SolarWorld. SolarWorld is based in Germany, but manufactures solar panels in the United States in Washington, Oregon and California. The polysilicon used to make solar panels is made by REC Silicon. Honeywell manufactures materials for solar panels also. All these companies will make solar power more affordable, more efficient, and will help create more clean energy jobs. This is the stimulus money doing good things and it deserves our support.
We hear how many jobs coal miners would lose if the coal mines were shut (only 63,000) but what if they were all employed in producing, installing and maintaining solar panels and wind turbines? Then there would be no need for all of that dirty, toxic coal.
Elusive Engines: The Crosley V-8
As rare as the Crosley-Fageol flat-8 engine is, at just a baker's dozen rumored to have ever been built, even rarer is the Crosley-based V-8. I was led to believe that V-8 was professionally built, possibly for racing and possibly by Bandini, so I have a suspicion the Crosley V-8 pictured at lef
Serenade Island
Part of the idyllic Sapodillas Cayes, Senenade island is a stunningly beautiful caye located in a world Heritage Area of Belize. Like most of the country, Serenade Islands is home to some of the World’s best diving & kayaking. This idyllic island is one of just eight southern isles of Belize.
The island would be ideal for the development of a boutique luxury resort with 6-8 luxury villas or over the water Bora Bora style cottages. But it would also make an ideal luxury private or corporate retreat, as well as being ideal for a sea kayaking or diving base camp.
For more information on this unique opportunity visit Private Islands Online.
Futurism 101: Cocktail Party (Brooklyn, Feb 20, 2010)
Frosty the Fire-Breathing Snowman Caught on Video [Image Cache]
In case you haven't heard, there's a bit of a Snowpocalypse happening. Delayed flights aside, it's really not so bad though. After all, it finally lured the abominable fire-breathing snowman out of his cave and right into this video.
Built by some folks in Bel Air, Frosty—or at least I like to think that's his name—is one huge snowman with flamethrower lungs:
And here I was proud of building a six-foot tall snow beast when I was ten. [Baltimore Sun]
Motorola WiMax Dock Boosts Your USB Modem’s Reception and Morale [WiMax]
If your USBw 200 WiMax modem is feeling lonely and is looking for a spooning partner, this new dock is the perfect companion. In addition to matching the modem to a T, it also boosts its reception significantly.
As of now the device is only slated for plug and play use with Windows, and it won't be available until sometime in Spring. The price hasn't yet been announced, but when the time comes it will be available directly through carriers. [Electronista]
Android 2.1 Update for Motorola Droid NOT Rolling Out This Week? [Android]
When Motorola's official Facebook page showed a post announcing that the Droid would be getting an update this week, everyone got excited. But it seems that someone might've been too quick to write about Android 2.1.
BGR explains that "according to Matt, forums manager over at Motorola, the information was prematurely released" and that "the DROID update page on Motorola's website has been pulled and all links to the update page have been deleted from the forums." [BGR]
Looking forward
I wish more people could be here at the FAA Commercial Space Transportation conference in Crystal City. The commercial space community is so vibrant and eager to step up to the challenges ahead.
DoD is looking to them to help usher in an era of operationally responsive space access.
FAA and NASA are working to safely build a suborbital and LEO industry, and, thus, enable NASA to focus on exploration.
I honestly think that anyone who says the United States is surrendering its leadership is either completely unaware of what’s really going on or simply reacting out of fear. This is not just the work of a few ideologues, as I’ve heard some people suggest.
DOT and FAA are 100% behind this. Every one of the DoD folks that presented today and that I talked to says this is the future. NASA is giving the new Chief Technologist a portfolio with real funding authority that includes innovative partnerships with commercial space.
This is a broad-based shift from building centrally-planned programs to fostering a sustainable industry that is responsive to the operational needs of its customers. Boeing already seems to be positioning itself to thrive in the new environment with their announcement of their own commercial capsule design being developed in partnership with Bigelow Aerospace. I think this kind of partnership between the “New Space” companies with experienced system integrators is likely to be common.
Alan Stern said today that he thinks human space flight will be healthier under the new plan, but that NASA still needs to set clear exploration goals. I agree, which is why I’m glad to hear that Administrator Bolden has a vision for building a pathway to Mars.
The details executing on all this are still to come and there’s a whole second day of this conference tomorrow, but I am genuinely excited for the future of the space program. We need more ideas, more options, and more innovation. It looks like we’re going to get it.
A Blurry Look at PUMA’s Sporty, Solar-Powered Cell Phone [Rumors]
There's been talk of sportswear company PUMA going into the cellphone business and—based on the teaser website just launched—it looks like we'll really be seeing a solar-powered, super-sporty cellphone soon. For now we just have a blurry picture.
The clever boys over at MobileCrunch took the time to rifle through the source code of the PUMA Phone teaser website and managed to gather these tidbits about the device:
- It'll be called the "PUMA PHONE"
- As the PUMA brand implies, it'll be aimed at sporty folks with a feature-set to match.
- It has a solar cell built-in, presumably for charging the phone
- GPS
- Video Chat
- Bike/Run tracking applications
- Pedometer (Step counter)
- Built-in stopwatch
- A "Music Turntable"
- Sports news app, IM app, and various other PUMA-branded apps which "give you access to the PUMA world"
Sounds like the phone would be more athletic than I. [PUMA Phone via MobileCrunch]
A Flirtbot’s Dirty Come-Ons: So Wrong (For All the Wrong Reasons) [Flirtbots]
PC Tools, a security software maker, shared this allegedly true flirtbot encounter. If you're so gullible and/or lonely that a flirtbot this dumb can con you, your old Windows machine deserves to get gangbanged by phishing scams, viruses and spyware.
Remember, this is supposed to be really real:
ernestineholom553@hotmail.com says:
hey, hows it going?Mary says:
good thanks
sorry who r u?ernestineholom553@hotmail.com says:
i'm 21/f your a male right?Mary says:
um no!
32/f
how did u get my msn??ernestineholom553@hotmail.com says:
nice, I just got off work and finally got some time to relax which site did i msg you from again?Mary says:
i have no idea, you added me....ernestineholom553@hotmail.com says:
I know a way we can chat and have a better time.. do you cam?Mary says:
ummm but you are a girl?ernestineholom553@hotmail.com says:
Well i don't do yahoo cam or any other cam because i have been recorded before... But i do know one site you can watch me on cam, that assures me no one records...Mary says:
sorry but i am not into girls
i dont know how you got my msnernestineholom553@hotmail.com says:
I mean... Do you want to see me on my cam?Mary says:
sorry but i am not into girls
how did u get my msn?ernestineholom553@hotmail.com says:
Ok go to [EVIL REDACTED URL] accept the invite on the page babyMary says:
what is the capital of saudi aurabia?ernestineholom553@hotmail.com says:
sweet, fill out the info ur info.. i can not wait for you to see me baby let me find something nice to wearMary says:
wow this is a botnet, crazy!!
ha haernestineholom553@hotmail.com says:
whats a bot?Mary says:
u r not a real personernestineholom553@hotmail.com says:
its the sites policy to ensure no minors get access to the site, so they might ask for CC to verify your age babe.Mary says:
what is the capital of saudi arabia.....ernestineholom553@hotmail.com says:
What color Panties do you think i should wear? i might have you favorite color here somewhere...Mary says:
hmmm pinkernestineholom553@hotmail.com says:
ok, great I got the perfect pink panties for ya ...ur gunna love these!!Mary says:
no blackernestineholom553@hotmail.com says:
Your such a good boy, i'm gonna show you what good boys deserve.. you can tell me to do anything you want me to do!Mary says:
i am a girl!!ernestineholom553@hotmail.com says:
Ok let me know when you get in so I can invite you directly to my cam.
I mean really. How can this bot not even know the capital of Saudi Arabia? And doesn't it know all 21-year-old females who like to party are named Chastity? [PC Tools]
Robot Joe rendering by FlySi on Flickr/CC license
Bill Gates on the iPad: "It’s a Nice Reader, But…" [Blockquote]
Bill Gates doesn't seem very impressed with the iPad. Sure he's throwing out some nice compliments to Apple, remarking about how great the iPhone is, and all that. But beneath all the pleasantries, he's pretty much dismissing the product.
You know, I'm a big believer in touch and digital reading, but I still think that some mixture of voice, the pen and a real keyboard – in other words a netbook – will be the mainstream on that.
Youch. Of course, as AllThingD's John Paczkowski remarks: Bill Gates has made similar remarks in the past. In fact, when the iPod first came out he was noted as saying that "there's nothing that the iPod does that [he would] say, ‘Oh, wow, I don't think we can do that.'" Deja vu. [BNET via All Things D]
Another Response to Citizens United: Remove Supreme Court Appellate Jurisdiction
Much has been written about the Supreme Court's Citizens United opinion overruling a century of precedents and statutes designed to curb corporate campaign spending. Many have offered suggestions on ways to counter the decision's effects; but another possibility - one of the oldest on the books - is also available: Congress could constitutionally remove campaign finance issues from the Supreme Court's appellate jurisdiction.
Every first-year constitutional law student learns that under the Constitution's Article III, section 2 "Exceptions Clause," Congress has complete authority to limit the sorts of cases the Court may hear on appeal: "[T]he supreme Court shall have appellate Jurisdiction, both as to Law and Fact, with such Exceptions, and under such Regulations as the Congress shall make."
As the Court stated in Ex Parte McCardle in 1869: "We are not at liberty to inquire into the motives of the legislature. We can only examine into its power under the Constitution; and the power to make exceptions to the appellate jurisdiction of this court is given by express words." Similarly, in 1882 it observed, "[A]ctual [appellate] jurisdiction is confined within such limits as Congress sees fit to describe."
Over one hundred bills have been introduced in Congress to limit the Supreme Court's appellate jurisdiction over various topics just since the 1940s. As recently as 2005, for example, the House passed bills precluding judicial review of the Defense of Marriage Act and of the constitutionality of the Pledge of Allegiance (neither bill passed in the Senate).
Some may object that Congress's use of the Exceptions Clause threatens judicial independence. This is a valid concern. But when the Supreme Court itself indiscriminately infringes on policy decisions appropriately left to the elected branches, Congress is justified in removing some of the Court's independence. That is the very purpose of the Exceptions Clause, after all - it was placed in the Constitution for a reason.
Some may say, moreover, that removing the Court's appellate jurisdiction in campaign finance cases is an instance of trying to close the door after the horse is already out of the barn. True enough - Citizens United is on the books. But removing the Court's appellate jurisdiction in future campaign finance cases will prevent the Court from interfering with Congress's future efforts to restore its century-long effort to curb the negative effects of massive infusions of corporate cash into political campaigns.
In short, Congress has the constitutional authority to limit the Supreme Court's appellate jurisdiction in campaign finance cases. While use of the Exceptions Clause should not be undertaken lightly - judicial review is vitally important for checking majority excesses - when the Supreme Court so egregiously oversteps its bounds as it did in Citizens United, Congress's exercise of its Exceptions clause power is entirely appropriate.
Hype, Hype, Hype from a single study.
You know what pisses me off. The blatant stupidity given to hyping one piece of literature and making it seem as if it is true.
What pisses me off more is insinuating that there is some inherent value in a certain single study without prefacing the factors.
Let me tell you who often does that.
1. Nutriceutical salesmen in a Multi Level Marketing Scheme
2. People looking to sell some fancy medical device
3. Pharma companies creating fake journals
4. DTC Genomics companies trying to prove value from their tests......
Don't believe me? Well, just read the spittoon's blog post about TRALI....which is Transfusion Related Acute Lung Injury......
How does this hype occur? First the study....
It starts with a scare
"TRALI is one of the major causes of transfusion-association deaths in the developed world."-Spitton
Ok. We used to think this was rare and yes, it is more common based on some new agreed standards..... 1 in 300,000 people in some studies.....
Then it continues with baffling science jibberish to make people think you know what you are talking about........
"One reason TRALI happens is that ...... Several triggers for this type of TRALI have been identified. One of these, the HNA-3 antigen, has repeatedly been associated with severe and fatal TRALI reactions. HNA-3 comes in two versions: HNA-3a and HNA-3b........ The likelihood that a woman will have antibodies against HNA-3 increases with each birth.
The new research found that the different versions of HNA-3 are due to SNP rs2288904 in the SLC44A2 gene. Someone who is GG at this SNP will express only HNA-3a. Someone who is AG will express both the HNA-3a and HNA-3b version. Finally, someone who is AA at rs2288904 will express only HNA-3b. " -Spittoon
It finishes with a testimonial and a point of sale
"Confused? Here’s an example from my own family that will hopefully make things more clear:
My mom is AA at rs2288904, meaning that her body expresses only HNA-3b. My brother and I are both AG (we inherited the G at this SNP from my father), so we have both HNA-3a and HNA-3b in our bodies. If my mom was exposed to blood from my brother and/or me while we were being born, her immune system could have recognized our HNA-3a antigens as foreign and made antibodies. So now, if my mom gave blood to my brother or me, we would be at risk for TRALI, even though we all have the same ABO blood type (A+)."-Spitton
What is wrong with this? It asserts that they would absolutely without a shadow of a doubt be at risk of TRALI........based on ONE STUDY!!!
And the point of sale?
"(23andMe Complete Edition customers can check their data for rs2288904 using the Browse Raw Data feature.)"
OMG, Holy Crap, I have to know whether I will be at risk for TRALI. Thank you so very much 23andMe! You have solved my life's problems. Maybe I could get a life alert bracelet with all of the "risks" I have?
Seriously. What would have been nice is a "This is only one study and there is no other replication out there, but, this is interesting EARLY SCIENCE"
We still have not conclusively implicated TRALI to just this.......There is no complete consensus on the absolute pathogenesis of TRALI.
The Sherpa Says: One study a fact does not make. Nor does it make good marketing. Tssk, Tssk. One would figure that they would use proper editing of these things........Oh wait, they fired them.
Book Excerpt: The Wisdom of a Broken Heart
Susan Piver on the links between tears, compassion, and meditation.
Book Review: The Wisdom of a Broken Heart
Wise counsel, exercises, and Buddhist spiritual practices that can turn the pain of heartbreak into the joy of healing and wholeness.
Commercial Space Conference Underway Despite Blizzard
Keith'snote: The 13th Annual FAA Commercial Space Transportation Conference is underway despite the closure of the federal government again tomorrow (Thursday) and blizzard/whiteout conditions in the DC metro area. Kudos to FAA and the AIAA! Live tweeting of FAA AST conference is going on at #astconf and #FAAcstc. Charlie Bolden was scheduled to speak tomorrow morning. Lori Garver will speak instead. I am not certain if NASA TV will carry Garver's speech.