Part of the Soyuz rocket that recently carried astronauts to the International Space Station burned up upopn re-entry last weekend. It was expected to do so, but the re-entry occurred over parts of Europe and was photographed by hundreds of people. Here is one of the best videos:
Monday, December 26, 2011
Thursday, December 22, 2011
Titan and Dione
via nasa.gov
Saturn's largest moon, Titan, is shown along with Saturn's third-largest moon, Dione, in this photo taken by NASA's Cassini spacecraft. Saturn's rings appear in the background. The side of Titan is the anti-Saturn side which is the side NOT seen from Saturn.
Titan is 3200 miles across and Dione is just under 700 miles across.
The photo was taken May 21, 2011 at a distance of about 1.4 million miles from Titan and 2 million miles from Dione.
Voting change for the 2012 election
I am proposing a change be made for the upcoming 2012 election -- both for the congressional and presidential election. Instead of the ballot showing the name of the candidate and his/her party affiliation, the name should simply be followed by "Incumbent" or "Challenger." In the event that an incumbent is not running, then both candidates would be the "Challenger." Many people simply vote Democrat or Republican without regard to what the candidate stands for. Removing the affiliation forces these people to learn more about the person they are electing. If they truly want "change they can believe in," then vote the incumbents out!
I think the odds of sending a new congress and, perhaps, a new president to Washington in January 2013 will be increased. Neither party is showing any leadership and time has come for wholesale changes! It's time for all of us to send a message to Washington.
This is funny!
Barney Frank looked disgusting--nipples protruding--in his blue shirt before Congress. Very very disrespectful.
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 21, 2011
Wednesday, December 21, 2011
This Penn State situation is only going to get uglier!
Enabling years of child-rape is good?RT @JayPaterno "Here's the letter from PSU players supporting Joe Paterno: wp.me/P24Hhv-2"
— Dan Bernstein (@dan_bernstein) December 21, 2011
Former coach Joe Paterno was just released from the hospital. What are the odds he lasts another few months?
Monday, December 12, 2011
Sunday, December 11, 2011
Saturday, December 10, 2011
Wednesday, November 30, 2011
Missed it by THAT much!
According to news reports, the Chicago area missed its first snow storm of the season Tuesday by around 100 miles. It was still cold and windy, but the precipitation stayed east of us with areas of Indiana receiving up to 10 inches of snow! I know it will not be too long before scenes like the above storm (from early 2011) will be the norm!
Saturday, November 26, 2011
This is a test
I'm testing to see if my Posterous account is correctly linked to Facebook.
If this had been an actual emergency, you would have been instructed where to tune in your area for news and official information.
Wednesday, November 23, 2011
Jupiter and her moons
It's very clear tonight and we are able to see Jupiter and one (or possibly two) of her moons with the aid of binoculars. Very cool!
Jupiter and her moons
It's very clear tonight and we are able to see Jupiter and one (or possibly two) of her moons with the aid of binoculars. Very cool!
Friday, November 18, 2011
Wednesday, September 14, 2011
Five of Saturn's moons
Five of Saturn's moons. Photo taken by the Cassini spacecraft in July 2011. From left to right are Janus, Pandora (in the rings), Enceladus, Mimas, and Rhea.
Sunday, September 11, 2011
Thursday, September 8, 2011
Blogger for iPhone
Blogger has been released for the iPhone! I downloaded my free app this afternoon and am using it now. It works great, but it's no substitute for the desktop application.
"Credible" terrorist threat
Homeland Security has announced that a "credible" terrorist threat has been uncovered involving either New York or Washington, DC. This comes on the 10-year anniversary of 9/11. No specific plans have been released and it may only be an uptick in "chatter." Nobody is taking any chances.
Football!
Looking forward to football season again. It was fun to watch college football kick off last weekend (go Huskers!!) and now the pros begin their season tonight.
Tuesday, September 6, 2011
New Moon Landing Sites Photos Are So Sharp They Show Detailed Rover Tire Marks
via gizmodo.com
Very cool photographs of the Apollo 17 lunar landing site.
Tuesday, August 2, 2011
Thursday, July 14, 2011
Booster Camera Video of Atlantis Launch
via youtube.com
Tuesday, July 12, 2011
A different perspective
via nasa.gov
I just love these photos of the space shuttle taken from the International Space Station. This is a recent NASA photo of Atlantis.
Friday, July 8, 2011
Blogger has a new interface
Google introduced its previously-announced interface design today. The new interface is available to all Bloggers at: http://draft.blogger.com. This is the first post that I've created with the new interface so I don't have much else to say about it right now.
Tuesday, July 5, 2011
Google to retire the Blogger and Picasa brand names
Excited to see how Google is going to re-brand this blogging platform as well as re-brand it's photo sharing platform -- Picasa. Here's the breaking story.
Thursday, June 2, 2011
Google Music Beta
Several weeks ago, Google introduced Google Music and announced they would be accepting requests to join their beta test. I submitted my request and heard nothing since.
Today I received word that my request was accepted and an invitation was extended to me. I completed the information and am waiting for my music library to be copied from my computer to "the cloud."
Once the upload is completed I'll know more how Google's version works.
Sunday, May 22, 2011
Very cool picture of Endeavour!
Very cool picture of the Space Shuttle Endeavour as it docked with the International Space Station on May 18, 2011. Click on the image for a larger view.
Tuesday, May 17, 2011
Abraham Lincoln's Second Inaugural Address
Abraham Lincoln's Second Inaugural Address, along with his "House Divided" speech and Gettysburg Address, are considered the most famous speeches he ever made. In fact, the Second Inaugual Address and the Gettysburg Address are considered among the most famous speeched by any president! I went to Wikisource and found the speech. I was struck by how relatively short it was. Since the Gettysburg Address was even shorter, perhaps the lesson is for our politicians to make their point quickly rather than go on and on.
Here the text of the speech given on March 4, 1865. Little did Lincoln know that John Wilkes Booth was in the audience. Booth would shoot the president a few weeks later at Ford's Theater on April 14, 1865. Lincoln died from his wounds the next morning.
Here the text of the speech given on March 4, 1865. Little did Lincoln know that John Wilkes Booth was in the audience. Booth would shoot the president a few weeks later at Ford's Theater on April 14, 1865. Lincoln died from his wounds the next morning.
Fellow-countrymen: At this second appearing to take the oath of the presidential office, there is less occasion for an extended address than there was at the first. Then a statement, somewhat in detail, of a course to be pursued, seemed fitting and proper. Now, at the expiration of four years, during which public declarations have been constantly called forth on every point and phase of the great contest which still absorbs the attention and engrosses the energies of the nation, little that is new could be presented. The progress of our arms, upon which all else chiefly depends, is as well known to the public as to myself; and it is, I trust, reasonably satisfactory and encouraging to all. With high hope for the future, no prediction in regard to it is ventured.
On the occasion corresponding to this four years ago, all thoughts were anxiously directed to an impending civil war. All dreaded it—all sought to avert it. While the inaugural address was being delivered from this place, devoted altogether to saving the Union without war, insurgent agents were in the city seeking to destroy it without war—seeking to dissolve the Union, and divide effects, by negotiation. Both parties deprecated war; but one of them would make war rather than let the nation survive; and the other would accept war rather than let it perish. And the war came.
One-eighth of the whole population were colored slaves, not distributed generally over the Union, but localized in the Southern part of it. These slaves constituted a peculiar and powerful interest. All knew that this interest was, somehow, the cause of the war. To strengthen, perpetuate, and extend this interest was the object for which the insurgents would rend the Union, even by war; while the government claimed no right to do more than to restrict the territorial enlargement of it.
Neither party expected for the war the magnitude or the duration which it has already attained. Neither anticipated that the cause of the conflict might cease with, or even before, the conflict itself should cease. Each looked for an easier triumph, and a result less fundamental and astounding. Both read the same Bible, and pray to the same God; and each invokes his aid against the other. It may seem strange that any men should dare to ask a just God's assistance in wringing their bread from the sweat of other men's faces; but let us judge not, that we be not judged. The prayers of both could not be answered—that of neither has been answered fully.
The Almighty has his own purposes. "Woe unto the world because of offenses! for it must needs be that offenses come; but woe to that man by whom the offense cometh." If we shall suppose that American slavery is one of those offenses which, in the providence of God, must needs come, but which, having continued through his appointed time, he now wills to remove, and that he gives to both North and South this terrible war, as the woe due to those by whom the offense came, shall we discern therein any departure from those divine attributes which the believers in a living God always ascribe to him? Fondly do we hope—fervently do we pray—that this mighty scourge of war may speedily pass away. Yet, if God wills that it continue until all the wealth piled by the bondman's two hundred and fifty years of unrequited toil shall be sunk, and until every drop of blood drawn with the lash shall be paid by another drawn with the sword, as was said three thousand years ago, so still it must be said, "The judgments of the Lord are true and righteous altogether."
With malice toward none; with charity for all; with firmness in the right, as God gives us to see the right, let us strive on to finish the work we are in; to bind up the nation's wounds; to care for him who shall have borne the battle, and for his widow, and his orphan—to do all which may achieve and cherish a just and lasting peace among ourselves, and with all nations.
Monday, May 16, 2011
Endeavour launches successfully
The good news is that Space Shuttle Endeavour successfully launched this morning on its final mission. The bad news is that I forgot to set the DVR for Kevin to watch when he comes back from school. I turned on the DVR literally as Endeavour was lifting off from the launch pad.
Friday, May 6, 2011
How did you first hear about Bin Laden's death?
I subscribe to Breaking News posts on Facebook and was on Facebook Sunday evening when they posted that Obama was going to address the nation, but the subject matter was unknown. That sounded ominous so we turned on Fox News and went back and forth between Fox News and CNN since they were both speculating about the announcement. The speculation ranged from a possible nuclear or biological attack on the U.S. to Gaddifi's demise in Libya. Like nearly everyone, I was pleased that the Pentagon confirmed Bin Laden's death before Obama addressed the nation.
via ScribeFire
Friday, April 29, 2011
Wednesday, April 13, 2011
I wish I was an iPhone app developer...
...because I have a great idea for a new app. Earlier today I took an old Mega Millions ticket to the grocery store and used the lotto scanner to see if I won anything. I didn't win, of course, but it occurred to me that this would make a great app for the iPhone (or Android or BlackBerry!). I can already refill my mother's Walgreen's prescriptions by scanning the barcode and ordering the refills. I can sell an item on eBay by scanning its barcode and setting a price. I can also do price comparisons by using the RedLaser app (owned by eBay). I can also buy coffee at Starbucks by scanning my account number at the check-out counter. Why can't I check my Mega Millions or Powerball tickets to see if I won anything?? To be fair, there are some apps out there that will check your numbers, but they require that you enter your ticket numbers by hand. The technology should be the same as the scanner I used earlier today at the lotto retailer. Wish I knew an app developer.......
Friday, April 8, 2011
Impending government shutdown
As of noon EDT, there is no budget agreement and it appears very possible that a government shutdown will occur at midnight tonight. The term "shutdown" is not completely accurate as the government will not completely cease operations. Essential services will continue, but many other Federal services will not continue. Curious if any of you will be affected by this stoppage.
Saturday, April 2, 2011
Hole on the Moon
Photo taken by the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter of a very large crater (Mare Orientale) on the Moon. The crater is approximately 600 miles across! It is located just over the edge of the Moon so it cannot be seen from Earth.
Friday, April 1, 2011
When the Earth takes a bite out of the Sun
Here's a solar eclipse, except it's the Earth blocking part of the Sun, instead of the Moon blocking the Sun. Photo was taken March 29 from NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory in orbit around Earth.
Thursday, March 31, 2011
Florida tornado warnings in effect
Dramatic photo taken at the Kennedy Space Center earlier today. Severe tornado warnings are currently in effect throughout Florida.
Wednesday, March 30, 2011
MESSENGER’s first picture from Mercury orbit!
The first pictures of Mercury taken by the MESSENGER spacecraft are now coming in! You'll recall that MESSENGER recently went into orbit around Mercury.
More information about MESSENGER and its mission can be seen on the website.
Tuesday, March 29, 2011
Happy anniversary M1911
Today is an important anniversary in U.S. military history. On this date 100 years ago, the U.S. Army formally adopted John M. Browning's .45 ACP (Automatic Colt Pistol) design and it is forever known as the M1911 (Model 1911).
Prior to 1911, the Army had used smaller caliber handguns, such as the .38 caliber revolver. This was proving to be ineffective in jungle warfare, especially during the Philippine-American War in 1902. In 1906, the Army announced trials to replace it's service revolvers with the new self-loading pistol technology. Several gun manufacturers submitted designs and, after rigorous testing, two designs remained -- a design by Savage Arms and a design by John M. Browning (and manufactured by Colt). 6,000 rounds were fired from a single pistol over the course of two days. When the gun began to grow hot, it was simply immersed in water to cool it. The Colt gun passed with no reported malfunctions, while the Savage design had 37. It was formally adopted on March 29, 1911.
The 1911 entered service later in 1911 with the U.S. Cavalry. It was adopted by the Navy and Marine Corps in 1913.
Originally manufactured only by Colt, demand for the firearm in World War I saw the expansion of manufacturing to the government-owned Springfield Armory and to Remington Rand.
The gun was the official firearm from World War I through Vietnam and was used in Operation Desert Storm by U.S. Army units and U.S. Navy Mobile Construction Battalions (Seabees) and in both Operation Iraqi Freedom and Operation Enduring Freedom with U.S. Army Special Forces Groups. The Texas Rangers carried M1911s and many police departments carried it as their official (or unofficial) sidearm.
By the late '70s the 1911 was acknowledged to be showing its age. Congress pressured the military to standardize on a single modern pistol design and the U.S. Air Force conducted trials to select a new semi-automatic pistol using the NATO-standard 9mm Parabellum pistol cartridge. After trials, the Beretta 92S-1 was chosen. The Army contested this result and subsequently ran its own competition in 1981, the XM9 trials, eventually leading to the official adoption of the Beretta 92F on January 14, 1985.
Despite "losing" its designation as the official sidearm of the military, the M1911 is still used by many law enforcement agencies and is probably more popular than ever.
Beginning in the late '80s, a number of gunsmiths and "boutique" gun manufacturers began building custom M1911s based upon the original design. These manufacturers began adding new features and cosmetic changes that proved popular with collectors and hobbyists alike.
Today the M1911 is more popular than ever and many manufacturers are issuing special "centennial editions" of the classic M1911 such as the Ed Brown model below.
Happy anniversary!!
Monday, March 28, 2011
Scar on Mars
Another photo from Mars. This time taken with the Mars Express orbiter. This is an elongated crater measuring about 50 miles long and 15 miles wide at its widest point.
Thursday, March 24, 2011
Valley at the north pole of Mars
Photo from the Mars Odyssey spacecraft of the valley Chasma Boreale ("northern chasm") near the north pole of Mars. This photo is stitched together from a combination of photos taken by the spacecraft between 2002 and 2005.
Click on the photo to see it enlarged. I've downloaded it for desktop wallpaper.
Wednesday, March 23, 2011
PeopleBrowsr Presents A Brief Cartoon History of Social Networking 1930-2011
Check out this SlideShare Presentation:
PeopleBrowsr Presents A Brief Cartoon History of Social Networking 1930-2011
View more presentations from PeopleBrowsr.
Friday, March 18, 2011
Facebook needs a new filter!
Since social gaming has really taken off on Facebook, my wall is now cluttered with updates from my FarmVille and FrontierVille neighbors. This is fine as I actively play both games, but my neighbors are also Facebook friends and I'm interested in their non-gaming posts and status updates.
I use Facebook Lists and all my FarmVille/FrontierVille neighbors are in one list called "Neighbors." However, I have not figured out a way to filter out the gaming posts in this List to see their regular posts.
Is there any way to do this or should this be another Facebook feature request?? There is a filter called "Games," but there should also be a filter called "Non-Games."
Wednesday, March 16, 2011
Love is in the air
The temperature nearly made it to 60 degrees today. It was warm and sunny and the feeling of spring was definitely in the air.
It brought out something else too as the Killdeer have returned and their mating ritual was in high gear.
Unlike most birds, Killdeer build their nests on the ground instead of up in the trees. We have several vacant lots south of us and every spring we have a number of nests in place. That apparently will be the case again this year judging from all the noise and activity in the lots. A lot of flapping of wings and singing indicates that something is happening. A couple of male Killdeer were trying to impress the ladies and seemed to be battling it out.
I'm sure we'll have several hungry mouths again soon!
Disappointed with Fox News
I have to say that I'm very disappointed with Fox News regarding their coverage of the Japan earthquake and the resulting nuclear crisis.
First of all, let me say that I'm a fan of Fox News as they seem to be the one news channel that "gets it." As a conservative Republican, they best match my political ideology but, more importantly, they seem to be the one channel that is "fair and balanced" just like their motto says. They seem to bend over backwards to bring in people with different political viewpoints and have a balanced debate on whichever issue is top of mind. They clearly have an agenda, but so does MSNBC who could care less about bringing in different viewpoints. CNN seems to be in the middle and not taking sides with anyone. I watch them second if I'm not watching Fox News.
My complaint about Fox News centers around their evening prime-time lineup. Of their three major night-time shows, only Greta Van Susteren is actually in Japan and reporting on what is happening there. Bill O'Reilly and Sean Hannity are staying in-studio, but refer to Japan in passing. They are concentrating more on their usual political reporting, specifically NPR, the Wisconsin union debates and the budget impasse. These are all important topics -- and would be important to discuss in "normal" times -- but the Japan earthquake and tsunami are major international events with repercussions for all of us. The news crawl at the bottom of the screen is about the only earthquake news they show. To be fair, the Fox News daytime lineup is covering the earthquake and they have many reporters in Japan reporting on it. However, people who work during the day don't see this coverage and want to know the latest when they are home. Instead, they see John Stossel in front of the Capitol Building pulling a stunt that seems petty in light of the nuclear meltdown that may be happening overseas.
CNN has many reporters in Japan as well as two of their main anchors and seems to be providing the most informative coverage ... at least for these eyes.
I'll be curious to see the ratings over the next few days.
via ScribeFire
Tuesday, March 15, 2011
The Event
Anyone watch "The Event" Monday night on NBC? Part of the show's storyline had to do with the theft of fuel rods from a Southern California nuclear plant. The rods were stolen by aliens. In 1986, the same aliens unsuccessfully attempted to steal fuel rods from a reactor in the Ukraine which ended up causing the Chernobyl "accident."
While the theft was occurring, the president was meeting with the Japanese prime minister!
You can't make this up!
NBC is bring criticized for airing the show as events in Japan were developing.
President Obama on cars
From the San Fransisco Chronicle:
At Friday's news conference, President Obama tried to connect with the common man coping with rising gasoline prices. Instead, the president left little doubt that he is clueless about cars.
"You may want to buy a fuel-efficient car," quoth Obama, "but you may not be able to afford it. And so you're stuck with the old clunker that's getting 8 or 10 miles a gallon."Eight to 10 mpg? Which clunker would that be? I wondered. An old Hummer? Your father's father's Oldsmobile? A late-model Lamborghini? It takes a luxury brand, a boat-sized machine and/or a few decades to approach those dismal mileage numbers.
Perhaps the president is laying the groundwork for "Cash for Clunkers Part Deux."
via ScribeFire
Saturday, March 12, 2011
Dark side of the Moon
Amazing mosaic from the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter orbiting the Moon from a height of 30 miles. This image is stitched together from 15,000 images and shows the dark side of the Moon -- the side we never see.
For more information and additional images, click here.
Friday, March 11, 2011
Obama against defunding of public broadcasting
President Obama came out today against defunding of public broadcasting.
President Obama
defended public broadcasting from cuts on Friday, emphasizing that defunding networks like NPR and PBS would do little to rein in spending.
[...]
"I think it's going to be important for us to have a conversation after we get the short-term budget done, about how do we really tackle the problem in a comprehensive way," Obama said at a press conference on Friday.
[...]
Republicans included in their continuing resolution to fund government the rest of this year provisions that would severely cut support for public broadcasting. Calls to defund those networks have only intensified after a conservative activist's video emerged this week showing a former NPR executive referring to the Tea Party movement in harsh terms. Democrats, in turn, have accused Republicans of trying to defund "Sesame Street," the popular children's program on PBS.
I wonder if he would feel the same if Fox News received Federal support!
via ScribeFire
Thursday, March 10, 2011
The Ravinia Festival has some "interesting acts" this summer
The 2011 Ravinia Festival schedule has been announced. Besides the usual wonderful classical music lineup, there are some odd pop pairings this year. For example, on 18 June, classic rock band Deep Purple will play with the Ravinia Festival Orchestra. On 4 September, country-pop artist Carrie Underwood will also appear with the Ravinia Festival Orchestra.
No Kanye West or Lady Gaga, of course, but some of the acts have been around for awhile. On 10 June, The Judds will appear in a farewell concert although I thought they quit performing years ago. Maybe it's their 2011 farewell concert! Hall & Oates appear on 26 June. Peter Frampton will appear on 5 July for his Frampton Comes Alive 35 tour! I think the "35" refers to the 35th anniversary of the Frampton Comes Alive album (although it could refer to the 35 people who still care!).
Other acts past their prime are Chicago, The Moody Blues, Doobie Brothers, Steely Dan and Lynyrd Skynyrd. I guess Wham! isn't touring this summer.
There's even an ABBA cover band presenting the "Music of ABBA." You really can't make this up!
To be fair, still-relevant Maroon 5 appears 30 June and 1 July.
Since Ravinia is the summer home of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, I have always found the classical music to be more interesting than the pop acts.
via ScribeFire
Tuesday, March 8, 2011
My old bank is turning into a bar
Just read an article about the bank building where I used to work at Ashland and Division in the Wicker Park area. The building is being converted and the old basement vault area will become a bar!
The building was built, if I remember correctly, in the early 1920s and was a solid "old-school" bank building. The vault in the basement was huge and will serve as the lounge for the restaurant that will go in there.
via ScribeFire
I know I'm sounding like a broken record...
...but I'm so freaking tired of the idiots using the self-service checkout at the grocery store!
I've lamented in the past about rude, inconsiderate or unaware people who use these checkout lanes. I use them all the time (I'm none of these people!) as I find it quicker and easier to check out. When I use them, I'm always aware of the person in front of me and I wait until they finish packing up their food. I wish people gave me the same consideration.
Once again today, I checked out and finishing packing up my food and some older woman decided not to wait and send her two cases of bottled water in my direction. This time I firmly asked if she would wait until I finished. She mumbled something about being sorry and she didn't see me there. What?? I'm right in front of her. Then she said that she didn't know the conveyor belt would move. Of course she knew, she didn't want to be bothered waiting literally a few more second for me to finish.
I'm tired of these people. I'm either going to stop using self-service or make an ugly scene the next time it happens. I'm leaning towards the latter!
via ScribeFire
Skywatchers are in for a treat tonight!
Skywatchers, especially those in the Chicago area, are in for a treat tonight if the weather is clear. Early Monday, the space shuttle Discovery undocked from the International Space Station to prepare for its return to Earth. On Monday and Tuesday (and depending on where you live) you can see the two spaceships as they fly in tandem with each other. Tonight (Tuesday) will be the last night to see those two as Discovery is scheduled to land in Florida on Wednesday.
In the Chicago area, the best time to see the two spaceships will be at 6:20 p.m. local time. They will be in the north sky flying west to east. Discovery will be the fainter of the two (at a magnitude -1.1) and the space station will be brighter (at -3.4). The reason the ISS is brighter is because it is much bigger.
They will reappear at 7:56 p.m., but will be in the lower southwest sky and will appear fainter.
It is suppose to rain this evening in the Chicago area, but I hope it hold off until later in the night.
This will be the last time to see Discovery as it is retiring after this flight. There are only two more shuttle flights scheduled -- Endeavour and Atlantis will each make their final flights this year.
You can check to see the location of the space shuttle or the ISS or any other satellite by going to Heavens Above and input your location.
Enjoy this NASA video taken Monday morning of Discovery performing the fly-around maneuver of the ISS.
In the Chicago area, the best time to see the two spaceships will be at 6:20 p.m. local time. They will be in the north sky flying west to east. Discovery will be the fainter of the two (at a magnitude -1.1) and the space station will be brighter (at -3.4). The reason the ISS is brighter is because it is much bigger.
They will reappear at 7:56 p.m., but will be in the lower southwest sky and will appear fainter.
It is suppose to rain this evening in the Chicago area, but I hope it hold off until later in the night.
This will be the last time to see Discovery as it is retiring after this flight. There are only two more shuttle flights scheduled -- Endeavour and Atlantis will each make their final flights this year.
You can check to see the location of the space shuttle or the ISS or any other satellite by going to Heavens Above and input your location.
Enjoy this NASA video taken Monday morning of Discovery performing the fly-around maneuver of the ISS.
Saturday, March 5, 2011
Can't tell if it's winter or spring!
It was an odd day weather-wise in the Chicago area. On the same day that we saw our first robin, it was blustery and overcast with snow flurries most of the day. Seems like it couldn't decide what kind of day it should be and so it was both. It is suppose to get warmer next week with temps in the mid-40s.
via ScribeFire
Friday, March 4, 2011
My crock pot chicken recipe...
...was not well received by my family tonight so I will not be posting it. Back to the drawing board, I guess.
Chicago White Sox on MLB TV
Jake Peavy's long road back to the White Sox starting rotation begins today with his scheduled start again the Anaheim Angels. The game begins at 2 p.m. CST and will be braodcast on MLB TV. He will be limited to about 40 pitches today.
via ScribeFire
My Top Ten iPhone apps
I've had my iPhone 3GS for about a year and have loaded a lot of apps into it. Some of the apps I have since discarded, but there are many worthwile apps and I thought I would share my Top Ten iPhone apps. All of these apps work on the 3GS running iOS 4.2.1. These apps are listed in no particular order and were free at the time I downloaded them.
- Facebook - If you are a Facebook user, this is a must-have app. It's fun to update your status while away from your PC. It's also convenient to easily upload pictures or video from your iPhone.
- Twitter for iPhone - If you are a Twitter user, this is the "official" Twitter iPhone app. Other great Twitter iPhone clients include TweetDeck, HootSuite and Seesmic. These apps also let you update your Facebook status.
- IntoNow - This is an interesting app. Asuming you are a Facebook or Twitter user, you can share the TV show you are watching with your friends/followers. Load the app and place the iPhone near the TV speaker, within a few seconds it will recognize the show and list it on the phone. From there, you can share it. I don't know how it knows the show, but it's recognized the show about 98% of the time!
- SoundHound - Have you ever turned on your favorite music station only to miss the name of the song that's playing? With SoundHound, you simply place the iPhone near the radio speaker and it will recognize the song and display it for you. You can even order it from iTunes if you wish. Be careful doing this, however, while driving!!
- GasBuddy - With gas prices soaring, finding the nearest gas station with the lowest prices has become a challenge. With this app, you can find out where the lowest prices are. After sharing your location (via GPS) with GasBuddy, you can find the nearest stations and sort it by the lowest prices or the nearest location. If you register at the GasBuddy website, you can also update the station prices.
- FootFeed - After getting your mobile phone, you may find yourself playing some of the locational games such as Foursquare and Gowalla (among others). These games involve checking in at some location such as a restaurant, store, bar, museum and so forth. If your friends also belong to these services, they will know where you are. You can vy to be the "mayor" of the location by having the m,ost check-ins. Some locations offer discounts or some incentive to check-in. Each of these services have their own mobile app, but if you belong to several services, it becomes a pain checking in to each service. FootFeed solves that by letting you check into multiple services at one time.
- Google Mobile App - This app lets you use your Gmail or do a Google search on your iPhone. There are a host of Google services bundled within the app and can be revied here.
- RedLaser - Ever been to a store and found an item you wanted to buy, but were curious if you could buy it cheaper somewhere else? With RedLaser, simple scan the item's barcode and you will be presented with a list of prices at nearby locations and online stores. RedLaser was recently purchased by eBay and the scanning functionality has been built into the eBay iPhone app. The new eBay app now includes online auctions.
- Posterous - If you have a Posterous blog like me, you can update your blog or upload photos to your blog with their new app. Tumblr has a similar app for their blogs too.
- ESPN ScoreCenter - Do you have to be somewhere, but don't want to miss the score of the big game? With ESPN's app, you can keep track of your favorite teams away from home. You can set up score alerts so each time your team scores, it will sound an alert. (Be careful with this, however, as it can become obnoxious!)
There are other great apps for the iPhone, but I limited this list to my favorite ten apps. I'm curious what your favorite iPhone apps are.
Note: With the new iOS, you can organize your apps into folders for easier access.
via ScribeFire
Chicken legs for dinner
A couple of weeks ago I bought a large "family pack" of chicken legs from Sam's Club. There must be a lot of large families as the pack contained about two dozen chicken legs. We used what we needed and froze the remainder. After scouring the web in search of crock pot chicken recipes, I decided to try my own recipe for tonight. If it turns out well, I'll post it on my mom's recipe blog.
via ScribeFire
Monday, February 28, 2011
Wednesday, February 23, 2011
Tried out a new recipe
I tried out a new recipe last night and posted it on my mother's recipe blog.
Sunday, February 20, 2011
Huskers upset No. 3 Texas
Can't believe Nebraska beat Texas Saturday in Lincoln! It was completely unexpected. Nice the basketball team was able to extract a small amount of revenge for the football team's failure to win in football.
Here's the coverage from the Lincoln paper: Huskers upset No. 3 Texas.
Friday, February 18, 2011
Playing with ScribeFire again
It's been several months -- ir not more than a year -- since I posted using ScribeFire. I'm using the latest ScribeFire extension available for Google Chrome. It works with Blogger, WordPress and other blogging platforms.
Stress-free Friday night
Fun to sit around the kitchen checking out Facebook on the laptop and watching the Blackhawks game on TV. Also nice that it’s relatively warm in the Chicago area these past few days. Got into the high 50s yesterday and in the mid-40s today. Almost all of our snow is gone.
Thursday, February 3, 2011
Back to school!
After two snow days for our blizzard, I think Kevin is ready to go back to school, albeit for just one day. It's nice to get a little break in February, but I know he wants his days back in June.
Some school districts will still be off because of the brutal cold, but we have not heard anything and are planning on his attending tomorrow.
Friday, January 28, 2011
Tuesday, January 25, 2011
The Bears and the media
Listening to Lovie Smith and Jerry Angelo address the media yesterday reminded me of that great quote from Gen. Maynard M. Mitchell in TV's M*A*S*H: "Now just a minute! This is a press conference! The last thing I want to do is answer a lot of questions!"
Friday, January 21, 2011
Wednesday, January 19, 2011
Monday, January 10, 2011
Friday, January 7, 2011
New documents: Hitler-mocking dog enraged Nazis
BERLIN – Newly discovered documents have revealed a bizarre footnote to the history of the Second World War: a Finnish mutt whose imitation of the Hitler salute enraged the Nazis so deeply that they started an obsessive campaign against the dog's owner.
Absurdly, a totalitarian state that dominated most of Europe was unable to do much about Jackie and his paw-raising parody of Germany's Fuehrer.
In the middle of World War II — months before Hitler ordered some 4.5 million troops to invade the Soviet Union — the Foreign Office in Berlin commanded its diplomats in the Nazi-friendly Nordic country to gather evidence on the dog, and even came up with plans to destroy the pharmaceutical wholesale company of its owner.
Historians had not been aware of the episode before some 30 files containing parts of the correspondence and diplomatic cables were recently found by a researcher at the political archives of the German Foreign Office.
Klaus Hillenbrand, an expert who has written several books on the Nazi period, was contacted by the historian and examined all of the documents for an article to be published Saturday in daily newspaper Die Tageszeitung.
In an interview with The Associated Press, Hillenbrand called the entire episode "completely bizarre."
"Just months before the Nazis launched their attack on the Soviet Union, they had nothing better to do than to obsess about this dog," Hillenbrand said.
Finland cooperated with Nazi Germany but the relationship between the two countries was strained.
Finland allowed the Nazis to take over the northern part of the country after the Finns suffered heavy casualties and lost 10 percent of their territory to the Soviet Union in 1939-1940.
After an intense Soviet attack and heavy bombing of its territory, including of the capital Helsinki, Finland made a pact with Germany in 1944 that lasted two months. Finland then annulled the pact and made a truce with Moscow that later led to a peace treaty with the Soviet Union.
The dog, Jackie, was a mutt owned by Tor Borg, a businessman from the Finnish city of Tampere. Borg's wife Josefine, a German citizen known for her anti-Nazi sentiments, dubbed the dog Hitler because of the strange way it raised its paw high in the air like Germans greeting the Fuehrer with a cry of "Heil Hitler!"
On January 29, 1941, German Vice Consul Willy Erkelenz in Helsinki wrote that "a witness, who does not want to be named, said ... he saw and heard how Borg's dog reacted to the command 'Hitler' by raising its paw."
Borg was ordered to the German embassy in Helsinki and questioned about his dog's unusual greeting habits.
He denied ever calling the dog by the German dictator's name, but admitted that his wife called the dog Hitler. He tried to play down the accusations, saying the paw-raising had only happened a few times in 1933 — shortly after Hitler came to power.
The Finnish merchant ensured the Nazi diplomats that he never did anything "that could be seen as an insult against the German Reich."
The zealous diplomats in Helsinki did not believe him and wrote back to Berlin that "Borg, even though he claims otherwise, is not telling the truth."
The different ministries that were involved in the dog scandal — the Foreign Office, the Economy Ministry and even Hitler's Chancellory — meticulously reported all their findings about the canine.
The economy ministry announced that the German chemical conglomerate IG Farben, which had supplied Borg's wholesale trade with pharmaceuticals, offered to eliminate his company by ending their cooperation with him.
Based on all this support, the Foreign Office was already looking for ways to bring Borg to trial for insulting Hitler, but in the end, none of the potential witnesses were willing to repeat their accusations in front of a judge.
On March 21, 1941, the Foreign Office asked the Chancellory whether to press charges against Borg and five days later they answered that "considering that the circumstances could not be solved completely, it is not necessary to press charges."
There's no evidence that Adolf Hitler was ever told of the case, even if the case made it all the way to his chancellory, Hillenbrand said.
Tor Borg died at 60 in 1959. A spokeswoman for Tamro Group, Margit Nieminen, said the dog died a natural death, and Josefine Borg passed away in 1971. Borg's company Tampereen Rohduskuppa Oy eventually became Tamro Group, the leading wholesale company for pharmaceuticals in the Nordic countries.
Nieminen told the AP that the company had not been aware of the story surrounding Borg's dog until the recent archive discovery.
via news.yahoo.com
Gallup Poll: Democratic Party ID Drops in 2010, Tying 22-Year Low
In 2010, 31% of Americans identified as Democrats, down five percentage points from just two years ago and tied for the lowest annual average the Gallup Poll has measured in the last 22 years. While Democrats still outnumber Republicans by two points, the percentage identifying as independents increased to 38%, on the high end of what Gallup has measured in the last two decades.
The Awesomerest View of a Solar Eclipse I've Ever Seen
via gizmodo.com
It's amazing the images that have been captured with both the recent solar and lunar eclipses.
Thursday, January 6, 2011
Aerial picture of 2011 Rose Bowl flyover
via mbd.scout.com
This is a very, very cool photo that I first saw in Sports Illustrated. It's a photo taken above the U.S. Navy F-18 jet flyover before the 2011 Rose Bowl game in Pasadena.
Wednesday, January 5, 2011
Thierry Legault - Partial solar eclipse and transit of the Space Station from Oman
Amazing photo of the recent solar eclipse with the International Space Station in the foreground!
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