Help Name the Next Space Station Module
NASA is having a contest to name the new Node 2 of the International Space Station. If you have kids you might want to print this out for their teacher.
The International Space Station is growing, and NASA's Node 2 is the next U.S. pressurized module scheduled for installation on the orbiting laboratory. The node will provide more room for station crews to live and work, but it needs a name.
Students in kindergarten through grade 12 attending U.S. schools and children of American personnel overseas are being asked to help NASA name the module and become part of the history of the station. The module is at NASA's Kennedy Space Center, Fla., and is targeted for launch in late 2007. The node will be a connecting port and passageway to additional international science labs and space supply vehicles. It also will be a work platform for the station's robotic arm.
Name the International Space Station Node 2 Challenge requires students to work together as a class or school to create their own Node 2 model. Students will name their node, write a brief description explaining the choice and take digital pictures to send to NASA.
The submitted image of the model will not be judged, but it will be the ticket to enter the name challenge. Submissions will be reviewed by a panel of NASA scientists, engineers and educators. The deadline to submit model images and names is Dec. 1. The winning entry will be announced in early 2007. To register a school or class, teachers or administrators should send an email to: NASA-ESC@nasa.gov. For information about Node 2, visit: http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/structure/elements/node2.html
For additional information about the Space Station Node 2 Challenge,
visit: http://esc.nasa.gov
Tags: nasa, node 2, ISS, Space Station
Google has acquired JotSpot
Google gets into the Wiki game by acquiring Jotspot. Very interesting.
More on the news:
FAQ about acquisition
Inside Google
Micro Persuasion
Tags: google, jotspot, wiki
[via:Rss Blog]
Windows Media Player 11 for Windows XP Now Available
You can now get Windows Media Player 11 for XP. Also available, skins, visualizations and plug-ins.
Tags: microsoft, winsows, media player, skins, visualizations, plug ins
Links for 2006-10-29 [del.icio.us]
- E18 quick fix - CNET Digital cameras Forums
Handy fixes for if you get the dread E18 error on your Canon PowerShot
Tags: canon, powershot, e18, error
Apple Posts Fix For MacBook Sudden Shutdowns
InformationWeek: Apple released a firmware update and recommends all users install it, after hundreds of users reported sudden shutdowns, without warning, to their MacBooks and had to ship the computers to Apple for repair.
The firmware update can be downloaded from the Apple support site; users running Mac OS X 10.4.6 or earlier must update to 10.4.8 before applying the update.
Tags: apple, shutdown, firmware, macbook, osx, os x, update
Skype founders plan Web based TV service
BroadbandReports: Project "Venice" is a new web based TV service in the works from the founders of Skype.
Tags: skybe, broadband, tv, venice
Chipotle Commercial on YouTube
A friend of ours has a daughter at Southern Methodist University. She is taking part in an advertising contest for Chipotle. Here she is in the commercial on YouTube. I think part of the contest is the number of views so hit replay a couple times :)
You can vote if you want at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_WEAnSTJ7gQ
Tags: youtube, chipotle, advertising, contest, smu
Quote of the day
“GoDaddy the AOL Disk of the Internet?”
- Eric Rice
Understanding Auto Discovery
The RSS Blog has some good information on auto discovery of RSS feeds. If you blog or have any kind of site
Also included is info on auto discovery of OPML reading lists as well. I hadn't really thought of that before but it's a cool idea if you have a nice list and you want to make it easy for people to find.
Tags: rss, opml, auto discovery, feeds, xml, blogging, reading lists
NASA Launches Satellites to Study Solar Storms Reaching Earth
Bloomberg: A rocket carrying the satellites, known as the Solar Terrestrial Relations Observatory, or STEREO, was launched from Cape Canaveral in Florida at 8:52 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time yesterday, NASA said on its Web site. One satellite will orbit ahead of Earth and the other behind.
Tags: nasa, stereo, solar, terrestrial, relations, observatory
consumer electronics devices geared for emerging markets.Links for 2006-10-23 [del.icio.us]
- Technorati: how to get your posts indexed; www blogs bug fixed
I'm still having a heck of a time with Technorati. According to this post, seems Technorati likes full feeds in Atom format. Lots of details here.
Tags: technorati
Blog Advertising with Performancing Partners
Performancing (yes, the same guys that brought you the Firefox plug-in for
The idea seems interesting to me so I thought I'd check it out. If you are interested you'll see a link in the right hand column on my blog.
Tags: performancing, blogging, blog, advertising, monetize
YouTube nukes 30,000 videos
arstechnica: In the first major mass removal of content in its history, YouTube 
Tags: google, youtube, japan, jasrac
Microsoft opens up Virtual PC hard drive format
arstechnica: Microsoft has announced that they will be opening up the Virtual Hard Disk (VHD) format used by Virtual PC, making it freely available in perpetuity under their Open Specification Promise (OSP). The OSP not only allows anyone to create an implementation under a given format with no need for a license, but also includes an irrevocable promise that Microsoft will never take legal action against anyone who creates such an implementation.
Tags: microsoft, vhd, osp, open source, virtual pc
Microsoft releases details on 'Crossbow'
cdrinfo: The updated Windows Mobile, expected to be highlighted at the 
Tags: microsoft, mobile, crossbow, windows, vista
Web site thumbnail bookmarklet
Earlier I reported on the new tool from Websnapr that lets you create thumbnails of web pages. While it's cool, I'll never remember the url for how to do use it. It's just the way these things go.
So I hacked up a bookmarklet to make it much easier. To install the bookmarklet, just drag the following "Create Thumbnail" link to your bookmarks toolbar. When you click on the link once installed, it will open up the current page in Websnapr and begin the thumbnail creation process.
Create Thumbnail
Note: Between Lifehacker, Digg and others, Websnapr is getting slammed. You're image will be in the queue and you'll have to refresh the page after a few minutes to see if it has been created yet.
Edit: Updated the bookmarklet because it wasn't working right on long urls.
Tags: websnapr, bookmarklet, javascript, hack, tool, utility
Web site thumbnails in a Snap
This is pretty cool! Lifehacker points to a tool called WebSnapr that lets you create instant thumbnails of web sites. You just put in http://images.websnapr.com/?url=MYURL where MYURL is the URL you want a snap of an presto!
It's really cool with Qumana because you just use the image tool and enter the whole special URL and you'll end up with a nice image. Then use the URL tool and make it clickable like this:
Tags: Tags: lifehacker, websnapr, image, thumbnail, webpage, html, cool, hack, qumana
Apple To Back Blu-ray and HD-DVD?
Mac Rumors: ThinkSecret claims to have uncovered documents that indicate that Apple may support both the Blu-ray and HD-DVD next-generation high definition DVD formats.
Tags: mac, rumor, hd-dvd, blu-ray, dvd
Search with Ms Dewey
She's prettier than Google but definitely not as fast. Have a look:
msdewey.com
Tags: pagerank, search, search engine, sem, seo, ses, msdewey
[via: Chris Pirillo]
Scientists discover new element
MecuryNews: By firing atoms of metal at another metal, Russian and American scientists have discovered a new element -- No. 118 on the Periodic Table -- that is the heaviest substance known and probably hasn't existed since the universe was in its infancy.
They're calling it Ununoctium. Time to update your charts boys n girls.
Tags: element, 118, ununoctium
Windows Vista Beta 2 Migration Step by Step Guide
Windows Vista Beta 2 Migration Step by Step Guide (152 KB) Microsoft Windows Vista introduces new setup methods and processes, based on the new image-based setup feature of Windows Vista. This document describes how to upgrade a computer and how to migrate existing files and settings from Windows XP Professional or Windows XP Home Edition to Windows Vista.
Tags: microsoft, windows, vista, guide, how to, migration, upgrade
Apple seeks rights to iPhone trademark
AppleInsider: Apple Computer has filed for a trademark on the term iPhone, suggesting the company plans to use the moniker, recently popularized amongst the analyst and blogging communities, as the official name for its highly-anticipated iPod cell phone.
Tags: apple, iphone, computer, trademark
Links for 2006-10-14 [del.icio.us]
Microsoft Warns of PowerPoint Attack
security.itworld: Just days after patching four bugs in PowerPoint, Microsoft Corp. is warning of a new attack targeting its presentation software.
More info on MS Security Response Center Blog
Tags: microsoft, powerpoint, flaw, security, exploit
Install Wikipedia to your iPod's Notes folder
Another reason to keep them out of the class room...
BoingBoing: Wikipod installs a user-selectable portion -- or maybe all -- of Wikipedia into the Notes folder on any recent iPod; it does not require any new software (e.g. ipodlinux) to be installed!
Check out Wikipod.
Tags: wikipod, wikipedia, ipod, notes, how to
China Unblocks Wikipedia
Editor & Publisher: Wikipedia reported on its site that it had received word from multiple users in the country on Chinese-forums.com that the site had been restored, as first pointed out by the Flumesday blog on Tuesday. The most recent blocking was the third such outage reported by Wikipedia.
Tags: wikipedia, china, blocking, censor
Google Docs
eWeek: Google will announce tomorrow at the Office 2.0 conference a new product called Google Docs, which will merge Writely and Google Spreadsheets into a collaboration and document management solution, according to sources.
It will be at: docs.google.com (returning 404 at the moment)
Tags: google, office, writely, spreadsheets, ajax
[via: Meta-Google]
Air Force Testing Synthetic Fuel in Ground Vehicles
TechNews: The Air Force Advanced Power Technology Office is now conducting research on synthetic fuel for use in a ground environment.
They are experimenting in case the oil supply gets cut off for some reason. Currently they have ground vehicles running 100% synth and aircraft running a 50/50 mix of synth and regular fuel.
Tags: air force, synthetic, fuel, s8 ft
No longer the MySpace of your youth
Globe and Mail: It's not all youths on MySpace. Half of the site's users are 35 or older, according to comScore Media Metrix's analysis of its U.S. Internet traffic measurements. Only 30 per cent are under 25.
Tags: myspace
Links for 2006-10-06 [del.icio.us]
- How to fix MS Word normal.dot
Normal.dot is the main default template file in Microsoft Word. Because it contains a lot of customization settings, it is prone to corruption. - Google Code Search
Google Code Search helps you find function definitions and sample code by giving you one place to search publicly accessible source code hosted on the Internet.
Tags: word, google, code, search, microsoft
Google has added pinging
If you post to a blog you can now set your software up to ping Google's Blog Search.
This is all really easy with Qumana 3. Go to the Edit - Preferences menu and find the 'Ping' tab. Check the box that says "Ping the following URLs when a post is published". Then click add and put in http://blogsearch.google.com/ping/RPC2. Simple.
I also ping:
* Technorati - http://rpc.technorati.com/rpc/ping
* Ice Rocket - http://rpc.icerocket.com:10080
* Feedburner - http://ping.feedburner.com
Tags: google, blog, search, seo, ping, xml, rss, prc, how-to
[via]
Google in talks to buy YouTube
Slashdot: The Wall Street Journal is reporting that Google is in talks to buy YouTube for about $1.6 billion.
Yahoo: Google Said in Talks to Buy YouTube
Tags: google, youtube, wsj, wall street journal, slashdot, video
The Levelator - a pro audio tool anyone can use
Last week at the Portable Media Expo, during a recording of TWiT, Doug Kaye of Gigavox Media announced a product that they have available for free called The Levelator. The Levelator is a llittle Java program that works on Windows and Mac and is currently in early beta.
So what is The Levelator? It's software that runs on Windows or OS X (universal binary) that adjusts the audio levels within your podcast or other audio file for variations from one speaker to the next, for example. It's not a compressor, normalizer or limiter although it contains all three. It's much more than those tools, and it's much simpler to use. The UI is dirt-simple: Drag-and-drop any WAV or AIFF file onto The Leveler's application window, and a few moments later you'll find a new version which just sounds better.
Very cool. I was recently at a conference where I wanted to record the closing speaker. I didn't hold much hope for my little Archos 402 on the table using it's internal mic and recording from the house speakers. I used Audacity to clip out the bits at the beginning and end that I didn't want, saved it as a WAV and then ran it the The Levelator. Turned out great!
Tags: audio, podcast, level, levelator, twit, gigavox
Host Overflow Application eXception
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