Potpourri CXX

Blogger's cut and paste function is working again. Huzzah!

Some of you might notice that Amazon.com purchase windows now appear on this blog. The reason for that is simple: I have been deemed suitable to become an Amazon Affiliate, and thus can start making some modest money from this site after 3 years. The way the system works is that I post my reviews along with the Amazon app. If my review so moves you, click on the purchase button on the Amazon app, and I get some (not a LOT of) money for your purchase. Buy early! Buy often! I have vacations to take! :-)

NASA adds Israeli technical expertise to lunar science research at Ames…

Still doing research for the novel. One tool that would be supremely useful for any long-term settlement on Mars (or the Moon, for that matter) is a rapid prototyping machine, which allows you to build a part--assuming you have a complete 3D computer model of it--and build it up layer by layer by some once-classified process. There are a couple of different rapid prototyping techniques, including selective laser sintering and stereolithography.

Here's a book a customer referred me to: How NASA Builds Teams. I've only just started it, so a review is awhile away yet, but one thing the book itself promotes pretty heavily--and which is interfering with my enjoyment of the reading, quite frankly--is the heavy-handed and relentless marketing of the author's online consulting resources. For example, even something simple like a personality test (which I don't really need--I recognize their take on things from Disney and know myself well enough to know where I fit on their 2X2 grid) requires that you submit the names of five other people to get the results so he can start peddling his wares to even more people. Annoying.

The new toy from Apple is finally out there. Here's Apple's site and a Fox News article on the iPad.

Speaking of NASA, Hu forwarded a blog from CNN, which in turn quoted an Orlando Sentinel article stating that the Constellation Program budget will be slashed. And along those same lines, my libertarian pals at the Space Frontier Foundation posted a news release praising the "death sentence for Ares." Sorry, guys. This ain't over.

On a happier space note, the Huntsville Alabama L5 Society is getting started on this year's Yuri's Night event. More details coming soon, to the YN site and this blog, as appropriate!

Need to make a choice between multiple alternatives, not sure how to prioritize them? Consider this site, sent to me by the amazing Dr. OZMG.

Speaking of OZMG, I sent her this little moment of funny from John Cleese (via Joanne Manaster) on how the brain works. Kinda reminds me of how some of my science classes have gone.

And lastly, from Father Dan, a Virtual Wall--an electronic version of the Vietnam Veterans War Memorial--that lets you locate and link to names of people you know.

And that will do for now. I might, with a little luck, get 8 hours or more of sleep tonight, which is brilliant.