Ah, Spitzer, how I love you.
NASA's Image of the Day has released a new image from the Spitzer Space Telescope, this time with a view of the Orion Nebula. This area of the nebula is filled with budding stars and what we can interpret as growing solar systems. Perhaps one of those stars will allow of the creation of a planet similar to ours and a millenia from now they will be looking up into the heavens with their own Spitzer, trying to unravel the mysteries of space.
Isn't it just amazing?
For a hilarious, yet informative, look at the Spitzer Space Telescope check this video starring Felicia Day.
YouTube has been called a pioneer in development of online video as a new visual medium.It serves to entertain, inform and is supportive of both the creative process and it's own growing community. Millions of users watch thousands of user creative videos each day ranging from news stories to vlogs and and from how-to videos to musical parodies. When it comes to online video, YouTube is the place to go.
So that begs the question, is online user generated content the way of the future? PhillyD's online news show has over 1 million subscribers and is now downloadable as a podcast on iTunes, making it one of the largest sources of online news in the world. Other shows such as The Guild and Jake & Amir growing daily, the belief that non-traditional, non-Hollywood programming can succeeed becomes more and more powerful. But then again, it could just be a fad like the internet...
Do you think YouTube is the way of the future?
Josh and I recently decided to use some of our vacation time this year to make ourselves a bit of a long weekend in July and possibly get away. We realized the last time we had gotten away was back in 2006 when we went to visit Heather in Montreal. We considered flying somewhere, but then recalled that I had not yet got my passport...and so the decision was made to drive up to Gimli for the weekend.
We packed ourselves up and left early Saturday morning. Our route there was a little round-about, taking us through some small towns and on some majorly slow highways. At one point traffic came to a complete stop, and as we wondered why we noticed a turkey standing on the side of the road, staring up at traffic. I was so stunned I completely forgot to grab my camera and snap a picture. After our wildlife encounter we made our way to Winnipeg Beach for their Boardwalk Days. We checked out some of the merchants and little shops and Josh reminisced about the little town where he spent most of his summers as a kid.
We got to Gimli by about noon and decided to wander the town. We grabbed some food and ended up meeting up with Michelle and her family who had come to Gimli for the day. Michelle's uncle has an adorable Jack Russel tarrier named Daisy who we got to spend some time with - she even got Josh to carry her for a bit. She's an awfully cute dog, but damn is she spoiled! Later on we checked in, enjoyed the beach for a little bit and got ourselves some dinner.
Our room was pretty nice. We had a balcony with a view of the beach, a nice little kitchenette and had a separate livingroom. It was a nice area to lounge around in after another walk around town and some swimming that first evening.
Day Two was packed to the brim with activities...and while awesome, was completely exhausting. We started our day with breakfast (there was an amazing bakery in town with everything from breads to cakes, cookies and éclairs. Mmmmmmmm!) and then went out to enjoy the sunshine on the beach. Seagulls had claimed the beach-front early in the morning, but were slowly driven away by tourists coming to enjoy the sand and sun. We lounged in the sun for a while and eventually decided to rent some kayaks and go out onto the lake. Man did I wish my camera was waterproof!
Paddling around the lake was a lot of fun and I think both Josh and I want to do that again. I haven't been canoeing in ages, and this totally reminded me of that. Next time I'll bring a water safe camera, I promise. :-) With our kayaking adventure behind us, we grabbed some lunch and went for a hike.
Disaster. 100%. Before leaving on our trip we had looked up some hiking trails nearby, unfortunately researching did not prepare us for the horrors that we would encounter. Armed with bug spray and sunscreen, we went on our merry way, only to find the trails flooded and filled with mud. Not only that, but most of the hiking trails we came across were overgrown and scary looking. At one point we even reached a dead end...the trail just stopped. WTF?
We tried hiking on two trails around Camp Morton, an old Catholic camp built in the 1920's and 30's. The grounds around the camp were well maintained and we checked out a few of the structures (including a water-tower which Josh attempted to lift and take home with us). While the camp was nice, the trails surrounding it were complete and epic fail.
During our journey into untamed woods, Josh began to hone his tracking skills. He sensed nearby prey and began to lock in on his target. We found some pretty cool looking deer tracks along the trail, in the tiny portion that wasn't completely made out of mud and knee high grass. I definitely was not made for country life.
After some icecream and another refreshing swim we went and grabbed dinner. The rest of the day was spent wandering the town and taking photographs, relaxing in the hotel room and watching some movies. By the time night rolled around we were both exhausted. Despite the fact that I'm still sick and coughing, sleep certainly came easily Sunday night. Zzzzzzzzz....
The next morning saw another delicious pastry filled breakfast, a visit to a tea shop and our journey home. We managed to make it home in about half the time that it took to get to Gimli and came home and basically crashed. Josh, Michelle and I all set up Diablo II on our computers and just vegged out for the evening. All in all I must say I had a pretty awesome and relaxing long weekend. Great weather and great company - who could ask for more? :-)
I've owned my house for 2 years now, and just as I begin to feel reasonably settled the rug gets pulled out from under me once again. Anyone who has sen my place can attest to the fact that when I lived alone the place was much too massive for me alone. For the past 2 years I've been living in a 5 bedroom house, with over half of the house never even being touched. I would generally only ever venture into the basement when I would have to do laundry once a week and even to this day one of the bedrooms is just a storage room...
Luckily all of that began to change once Josh and Michelle moved in a few weeks ago. With Michelle living in the basement I find myself travelling down there more often to visit her in her cave, and just to hang out in the rec room. Last night I was headed down into the laundry room with Josh (to do laundry of course) to find the floor covered in water.
Yep, that's right, my hot water tank has died...
I knew when I got the place that the hot water tank wasn't brand new, but I was hoping it wouldn't go just yet. We were just fortunate that we happened to go downstairs and discover it before any major damage was done. We've booked someone today to come replace the tank, and the water (and gas) have both been shut down. Yay for no water damage!
Unfortunately it ended up making a total mess of my plans for the evening. I'm just grateful nothing was damaged or destroyed by the biblical flooding in the basement. I just feel awful that Michelle and Josh have been here less than a month, and they already get to join in on the joys of home owning. At least now I won't have to worry about replacing the hot water tank for a long time. :)
Yesterday, Josh and I pre-ordered our copies of the much anticipated Starcraft II: Wings of Liberty. I've been a fan of the Starcraft universe for years and while I am still secretly hoping that Blizzard has Starcraft: Ghost hiding somewhere, I know that this will just have to satisfy my needs. (Ghost, sadly will be lost to the void forever). Starcraft comes out July 27th, and unfortunately I don't have any vacation time to take around then, but oh well, I'll make the best out of the time I have. While I can't say that Starcraft is my favourite game of all time it is certainly high on the list. So, what is your favourite videogame of all time, and why?
Josh, Michelle and I were on our way home yesterday and ran into a flock of Canadian Geese! At first we thought it was just a few but they just kept coming. In total we saw a group of 3 or 4 dozen geese climb out of a nearby ditch, cross the road and make their way to a nearby median while looking for food. They were quite cute and I couldn't resist snapping a picture.
Click to see the full-sized image.
Each science fiction novel/show/film has it's own way of allowing it's characters to get from point A to point B in a reasonable time-frame. We generally call any form of travel such as this Faster Than Light (FTL). Some of the most common forms of FTL transportation include:
1) Warp Drive (Star Trek, Starcraft) 2) Jump Drive (Battlestar Galactica, Wing Commander, Dune) 3) Hyperdrive (Star Wars, Andromeda, Babylon 5, Stargate) 4) Wormholes (Farscape, Stargate, Star Trek)
While we are many decades, if not centuries away from being able to travel at or beyond the speed of light, it is nice to dream. So, which of these forms of FTL space travel to you feel is the most plausible, or what other alternative do you believe man-kind will one day possess?
