Saturday, December 16, 2006

Go, Virginia!
Today a Minotaur rocket successfully lifted off from Wallops Island, Virginia, and successfully deployed its payload. Woohoo! For the full story, go here. Given the overall abysmal progress we as a species have made since abandoning the moon in the early 70s, I'll take any small accomplishment as a positive step.

Personally, I want to see more exploration of Near Earth Objects (NEOs: asteroids, burnt-out comets, etc.) from an exploitation perspective. What are these objects made of (carbon-rich materials, can water be extracted?, valuable metals, etc.) and what can we do with them? Can we develop automated factories that can mine the objects, refine the metal, form it, and sling it off to an orbit where we can retrieve it? If a particular object has sufficient water material contained within it, could we develop a factory to refine the water and store it in tanks to be used at a later date for refueling? Could we tow an object back to Earth-orbit for resource exploitation or as a base for manufacturing? Could we rendezvous a probe with an object that would then deploy a solar sail and, ever-so-slowly, steer it closer? An automated refinery/thruster that would first generate its own fuel, then use this fuel to move the object to Earth-orbit?

If we want to ensure the continuation of our species and elevate the standard of living of the destitute without destroying the planet in the process, we have to get out there. We have to explore, we have to develop new capabilities, and we have to harvest the resources available. If you want to read up on the subject, I suggest Robert Zubrin The Case for Mars and John S. Lewis Mining the Sky.

Friday, December 15, 2006

Somewhere, a Hispanic comic is laughing....
NPR reported today that a company that builds fences, including between the US and Mexico, was busted for employing illegal immigrants, not once but twice. Now some of the company's bigwigs may see jail time.

Many months ago, back when I had Comedy Central in the States, I saw an episode of Mind of Mencia wherein he joked about who was going to build the proposed border fence. How predictable, that he should prove correct on this. I remember his joke about the inspection, "it looks good from this side. Wait, how are we getting back? Awwww....." (Picture guys on the Mexican side appreciating their handiwork, only to discover they're on the wrong side.)

(I freely admit that I may be quoting the wrong Hispanic comic, but I think it was Mencia.)

Here's the link: http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=6626823

Monday, December 11, 2006

One down, three to go!
I received email from one of my professors today: one class down. *whew*

Today I have to send a recording to my Spanish professor and FTP my personal home page up to the college server. Tonight and tomorrow I'll wrap up the last bits of work before taking another two exams on Wednesday (web design class and intro-level IT class).

Wednesday afternoon, evening, and all day Thursday I'll work my way through more Spanish, then take an exam Friday. Well, that's the plan anyway. If all goes well, I'll take the Spanish final next Thursday or Friday, wrapping up that class at last.

I'll then have @ 5 weeks to wrap the two remaining classes, which shouldn't be too bad. In that same time frame, I also have to decide which, if any, classes I'm taking with NVCC next semester. I'll also continue to investigate other online options, such as WGU, Excelsior, and a bunch of others. I'm trying to get the most bang for my buck, including base cost, hassle factors, transfer credits, military credits, and work/certification credit.

Sunday, December 10, 2006

Alan Parsons Project - Live in Monterrey
Last night Emily and I went to see Alan Parsons Project. It was a good show. The band played a bunch of the old hit songs, with a couple I didn't know, at least one of which is from a new CD (A Valid Path) which was nominated for a Grammy (Best Surround Sound Album? I didn't know they had that category). I was disappointed not to hear one of my favorites: Days are Numbers (The Traveller). They did play my other favorite, Old and Wise, a song I always envision being used at a memorial service for someone who died tragically young. A few songs I didn't anticipate hearing, but did, include The Raven and (The System of) Dr. Tarr and Professor Fether. I guess I should have figured on it, though, since they "rock" a bit more than some of the other tunes.

If we had only known how lax things are here, we'd have taken our digital camera AND camcorder. I kid you not, we saw both in use, not to mention dozens and dozens of camera cell phones. At least then I'd have some royalty-free pictures to post!

The funniest thing was that Emily and I pegged the lead vocalist identically: he looked like he should be fronting for Guns N Roses! The drummer looked a bit hard-core for the band, too, and the bassist definitely looked a little on the young side. Then again, it's not like APP had a solid lineup through the years. A quick glance at the two-CD The Definitive Collection shows sixteen (16) different lead vocalists! Last night's singer had a few minor problems hitting the "quiet" voice often used in APP songs and definitely had a "rock" voice. He was dressed in tennis shoes, black leather pants, a flannel shirt, and a dew-rag. The guitarist, keyboard/synth guy, and, of course, Alan Parsons himself were all old enough to look as if they belonged in the band. Go here to see the band's bio. I did enjoy the fact that all six members of the band not only sang harmony parts, but each took lead on at least one song.

My only question is, what the heck were the locals chanting when they were trying to get the band out for an encore? I think it was, "Claro claro claro" over and over. That word is used widely for an affirmative "of course", "I understand", and "clear" so it makes some sense.

My only complaints were:
1) Cost. It was a fairly expensive show, particularly outside of the US & EU. There were quite a few empty seats. This did result in us getting "promoted" into better seats, along with many others. Can't complain about that.
2) Temperature. It was cold in that auditorium! My guess is that they generally don't need heat in there and so they never installed it. Given recent temps in the 40s here (unseasonably cold, we're assured), they need it now.