Amazing video from NASA of the Auroras as seen from the International Space Station.
Shimmering rivers of green and purple light pass underfoot for the astronauts on the ISS. Some amazing footage and good explanations of the science behind the Northern and Southern Lights.
Bill Nye, The Science Guy, talks to an alien. He asks a few important questions. But the real questions are:
This post was written entirely on the Barnes and Noble Nook Color Android powered reader tablet. While the tiny touch keyboard may not be conducive to writing long posts, it is helpful to be able to check in on your WordPress site using just an Android device. With the WordPress for Nook app, you can create and edit posts, add photos or videos and check the stats of your WP site. To check the stats of your self-hosted site, you’ll have to be connected to WP Jetpack and use your main WP login on the WP App. The WordPress for Nook App is free and available in the Nook App store. Thanks to the WP development team for adding the Nook Color to the list of devices supporting the WordPress App!
Know the difference between “Fibre” vs. “fiber” in connectivity hardware.
References to Fibre Channel can be confusing partly due to the use of the words “fibre” and “fiber” interchangeably.
Both spellings mean essentially the same thing, but have evolved with the technology to be used for more specific aspects of the architecture or hardware.
“Fibre” is used in non-US international English, and the spelling “fiber” is primarily used in US English. The official spelling of the FC technology is “Fibre Channel”. The word “fiber” is generally used more often when referring to the actual optical glass fiber cables used to facilitate high speed communication over long distances.
Now you know the common usage of the terms fibre vs fiber. Though making it all work together is a whole different matter which will be covered on this site soon.
Google leaps into leap day with another doodle. This time celebrating the birthday of Italian composer Gioachino Antonio Rossini as well as leap day with a group of musical frogs. Spring is on it’s way and soon frogs will be heard chirping in ponds and marshes. Especially after the rains that are moving in to Silicon Valley tonight. Enjoy the Google Leap Day Logo. Happy Leap Day!
After the storm clears look for snow on the peaks and traffic heading to the slopes.
Look up in the western sky as the sun goes down these next few nights and catch of a glimpse of the celestial mechanics of our solar system. You’ll see Jupiter and Venus in conjunction with the crescent moon. The planetary alignment will be visible all around the world as long as the skies are clear at sunset.
March 17th 2012: Updated photo of the Jupiter Venus Conjunction! Image taken from the Onizuka Center for International Astronomy Visitor Information Station on Mauna Kea. Located at 9,300 feet (2,800 meters) above sea level, this visitor center offers prime dark sky viewing conditions.
Updated photos from Saturday, 25 Feb at end of post!
Tomorrow night, Saturday February 25th, the Jupiter Venus Conjunction will form a triangle in the sky with the crescent Moon, creating a stunning celestial display against the backdrop of a glowing sunset.
Go outside just before sunset in your area and enjoy the Jupiter Venus conjunction show!
Updated photo of the Jupiter Venus Conjunction with the crescent moon taken February 25th 2012:
And an updated Android 4.0 Nexus Galaxy screenshot below of the Google Sky Map rendition of the conjunction. Of course Jupiter has much more detail in the Google Sky app than you can see in with the naked eye.
The giant super collider that sits on the border of Switzerland and France released findings that supposedly showed particles travelling faster than light, proving Einstein’s General Theory of Relativity wrong. It turns out that their fiber optic cable connected to the GPS timing signal was loose, providing data errant enough for CERN to prove Einstein wrong.
So always check your data and check your cables before you go public with an earth shaking report.
We all know that the only things that travel faster than the speed of light are fear and bad rumors.
An OTA update to the Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich OS is starting to be pushed to Verizon Samsung Nexus smart phones. Previously my Samsung Nexus was running Android version 4.0.2. Guess I skipped Android 4.0.3.
Google is celebrating the birthday of Heinrich Rudolf Hertz with today’s doodle. The animated GIF image represents an electromagnetic wave in the bright primary colors of the Google logo.
Heinrich Rudolf Hertz was born 155 years ago on February 22, 1857 and is considered the first person to successfully broadcast and receive radio waves.
Though he died at the young age of 36, his research into electromagnetic wave behavior helped pave the way for the amazing array of wireless devices we have today. Though he did not foresee the impact his work would have on future tech, it helped to make our world as connected as it is now. Typing this post on a device that is not connected to any physical wires would not be possible without the work of network engineers who understand the properties of the electromagnetic spectrum.
How many of us will affect the world as much by the age of 36? His name became forever part of our electromagnetic terminology when “Hz” became a standard IEC (International Electrotechnical Commission) unit in 1930. The “Hz” unit represents frequency in cycles per second.
Gas in Silicon Valley and the Bay Area has already shot up to over $4 a gallon and is expected to top $5 by the summer or maybe even earlier. As gas here in the US creeps closer to what Europe has already been paying for years, will we see a bigger shift toward diesel and smaller cars? Will a summer hurricane put pressure on the oil mkt, causing 6 dollar gas to be the norm?
What options do you have to avoid the “commuter tax”?
Here’s a couple, but they both come with their own steep price tags.
