General

Here is a link to a nice article about the New Mexico spaceport, largely about Virgin Galactic, but mentions some of the other private spaceflight firms.

Just reading this story about Virgin Galactic builing a spaceport in New Mexico brings me back to my childhood, reading those Heinlein stories and dreaming about the future. I am glad to be alive when the ‘future’ is happening. On the same page as that story, were stories about the accelerating erosion of one of the largest glaciers in the world due to climate change, the Great Lakes in danger, and the United States refusing to join the world in reducing global-warming gas emission. ...

It had been so many weeks since Slashdot had chosen me to be a moderator. Was I not compulsively refreshing the page enough? Were they mad at me for becoming a Digger? There were so many articles I was saying to myself - oh, if only I could moderate these. And now I can. I feel obscurely happy. Off to moderate! Back! Miss me? I moderated an article about Search Engine Optimization! Now, the horrid waiting on the edge of my hard wooden chair for the next chance to moderate. ...

Bali sent a proposal for a tag to be sewn inside (or outside, nobody is quite sure) of our jeans. The sales manager wanted to keep the hearts, but make the label more ornate. The final result is on the bottom.

The ‘Today Show’ shows that a little celebrity goes a long way in its recipe search.

Next big thing? I’m betting it’s electronic paper. The time to start thinking about how this can be used innovatively is now - and no better time, since E Ink is offering a developer’s kit fo $3000. They give you all you need to integrate their display into your own device, or explore options with it. How about combining it with a GPS device to make a portable map? Maybe it could also show some additional information about where you are. I dunno. ...

In the beginning, there was Slashdot, “News for Nerds”. I posted replies now and again, and eventually, they started giving me moderator points - the ability to push posts up and down in the ranking. And then they started letting me META-moderate posts - grading the moderators. Can I use this on my resume? Who moderates the meta-moderators? Who watches the Watchmen?

I do have a life outside RPGs. My real work sometimes includes some illustration; here’s a project I did recently. All these images are copyright (c) 2005 by Surya, Inc. We’re launching a new line in Haven Bleu, “616” (it’s a date). So I was asked to come up with a new hang tag to be attached to the 616 clothes. This is our current hang tag. It’s nice and clean with a pretty font (Century Gothic, it turns out). But they said, play with the fonts some. ...

Today’s news is from Harry Chapin’s “The Was Only One Choice”: There’s a kid out on my corner, hear him strumming like a fool Shivering in his dungerees, but still he’s going to school His cheeks are made of peach fuzz – his hopes may be the same But he’s signed up as a soldier out to play the music game There are fake patches on his jacket – he’s used bleach to fade his jeans ...

This poem reminds me of my father, who is sick with a brain tumour that makes it difficult for him to speak. I love him so much. Dylan Thomas has the words… Do not go gentle into that good night, Old age should burn and rave at close of day; Rage, rage against the dying of the light. Though wise men at their end know dark is right, Because their words had forked no lightning they ...