On June 21st of this year, Scaled Composites plans to launch the first privately funded passenger carrying craft to enter “space”. The ship, named SpaceShipOne, will climb to an altitude of 100 km (62 miles), the official boundary where “space” begins. For the first time, someone outside the circles of large, government funded projects will be able to call themselves an astronaut. (more…)
I just returned from a business trip to the U.S.. It was a tiring affair, but so far as business travel goes, I guess it was about as good as can be expected.
That said, this was my first major trip since about 2000. I had read about but hadn’t experienced first-hand the post WTC security precautions when crossing the border, and I have to say that they are … odd. (more…)
Popular Science has an article regarding various weapons platforms being considered for the future. Most of them are old hat: rail guns, laser cannons, that kind of thing. But one sort of got my attention: a million round per minute machine cannon. (more…)
This site was down most of today. I apologize for that. I spent most of today, probably 6 or more hours, fixing up this server after one of my web sites here was “hacked”.
The hacking itself was pretty minor- someone just altered the contents of a couple of pages to include their names and indicate their amazing credentials. The way they did it was also fairly simple- they took advantage of a known flaw in some software I was running. (more…)
Its nearly 2:00 am, and I’m sitting here in front of the computer. I have a cup of Neo Citran in one hand, and a tissue in the other. Occasionally I put them down so I can type. I have a cold, and its keeping me awake. (more…)
Its spring here. Actually, its been spring for quite a while, but I think my brain just caught up with that fact. I realized it was spring today when I went outside to have a cup of coffee on our patio. It felt nice to have the sun shining on me, so I came back and set up a lounge chair thing. Then I fell asleep outside on the patio…for about an hour. (more…)
Regulars here will remember last year when I got my new Acura TSX. I was very happy with that car, and with the friendly service I received from my Acura dealer.
But...when I bought my TSX, I really wanted a GPS navigation system. That feature wasn't available in Canada last year, so I went without it. Well, this year Acura released their new model TL, which now includes a Canadianized GPS navigation system. I made the mistake of looking at one...and did something kinda stupid... Say hello to my new car: a 2004 Acura TL. My TSX now graces my dealer's lot, awaiting a new home.
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I have often pondered why most of my website’s pages don’t show up in Google searches. I thought it must have something to do with using a content management portal (PHPNuke), and/or with how the URLs are formed. Well, I was right… (more…)
I completed my 2004 computer upgrade last weekend, and finally got around to documenting it all. You may enjoy reading my "journal" of the process and the results.
