I entered my
Cougar into AutoRama this year. So far it's been pretty exciting. I managed to get my new ground effects installed, underbody neon fixed, and a new windshield banner during the show. Lots of people stopping by and asking how I managed to supercharge a Cougar. I answer all of them with "midgets." Here are photos
A pipe erupted in my utility room, spewing water into my kitchen, living room, and flooding down into the basement. It burst Friday after I left and flooded all day into Saturday, and then into Sunday morning when I got home at 1:00pm and found the water shutoff. Fortunately nothing major got destroyed yet, but I'm still checking. Wish me luck on my cleanup effort.
Installed Blacknova Traders on the server today. It's a web-based clone of the old TradeWars 2002 game I used to play on BBS's. Not the same, but close. Installed by request of Enorym and Internet Menace.
On my way back from school, I saw a bumper sticker that said: "Don't hold strong opinions about things you don't understand"
In light of the recent Columbia tragedy, I think the general public, and especially the media need to read that bumper sticker. Saying "Space isn't safe" and "NASA screwed up" is irresponsible without weighing in all the facts. Of course, it's easier to just make a blanket judgement, and unfortunately that's the choice many people make.
Since I'm recieving a rather large tax return, I decided to splurge on a high-tech toy. Without a doubt, the Roomba is the coolest gadget available right now. It also has the distinct advantage of appearing to be useful (vaccuum). After forking over the $200 I brought it home and admired it. I had 12 hours to admire it because the first charge takes that long. I'd like to say I was excited enough to wake up exactly 12 hours later (4:00am) but instead waited till I was late for work to start playing with it. First, I made the room "Roomba Friendly" by blocking off loose wires, carpet tassles, and anything else that might jam up in the brushes. Then, I set it in the middle of the room, turned it on, and hit the SMALL button. I'm sure the manual says the approximate size each represents, but I guessed SMALL and let it rip. It starts out doing circles till it hits something, then crawls along that wall to the end. After that I think it uses such a complex algorithim that no human can understand it (random). Unfortunately I didn't have enough time to let it finish, but in 10 minutes it had covered at least 90% of the carpet. I picked it up by the handle (to which it let out an unsatisfied tune) and turned it off. The dirt bin had all kinds of debris (mostly cat hair) and the carpet looked much better, so it definately does it's job as a vaccuum. I was entertained enough to be half an hour late for work, so it also meets the entertainment quota. All in all, $200 well spent.
I created the AutoSurvey for my work, but thought it was such a good idea I'd use it at home as well. So far, Internet Menace and I have created the Myroneware Satisfaction Survey and the Cartoon Survey. Feel free to create your own. The application walks you through the process.
Lastnight we had a blast at cosmic bowling. The first few photos are ones I already had on the camera, but seem to fit in well anyways.
My fears that the media would start claiming "space is unsafe" have so far not become reality. They are instead questioning the vision of NASA, agreeing with the president that NASA must continue to exist and explore. Since the media operates on profits from unfounded speculation, I'm thankful they targeted NASA's vision instead of their integrity. Unfortunately NASA's budget does not allow for the grand vision it once had of landing humans on mars. The ISS was barely given enough funding to be completed and even that was underestimated to get it past congress. I see people becoming aware of their space program, and hopefully this will lead to more funding. It is unfortunate that a disaster like this had to happen to get the spotlight on NASA, but now that it is I hope the end result is positive, and results in more funding.