BHO is getting more
'unpopular' with every poll...
Americans are far less approving of President Obama's
handling of the situation in Afghanistan than they have been
in recent months, with 35% currently approving, down from
49% in September and 56% in July.
MORE:
http://www.gallup.com/poll/124610/Brief-Uptick-Obama-Approval-Slips.aspx
The tech story of 2009?
Social networking went mainstream.
As
2009 draws to a close, it's clear that the year was a
watershed for social networks and the firms that own them.
The year saw major changes at sites like Facebook and
Twitter as millions of non-technical users became regular
users of social net.
In 2009, social networks no
longer featured posts with reams and reams of drivel -- like
telling people what kind of sandwich you had for lunch or
about the great parking space you grabbed near the gym.
Instead, they were used far more to let the world learn
about everything from political unrest to plane crashes to
political events in real time.
The user base of
social networks this year expanded greatly from the
traditional teenage and college student set. It now includes
many of their parents and even grandparents who now use the
technology as a primary mode of communication. While it's
been a bit embarrassing for the kids involved to have their
Uncle Fred befriend them on Facebook, the broader audience
has been a boon to social networking companies.
MORE:
http://www.pcworld.com/article/185205/2009_year_of_the_social_network.html
I guess I'm above
average...
How
much time do you spend online each week? If you're an
average Net user, a new poll shows, it's around 13
hours--excluding e-mail.
The Harris Interactive
poll, released Wednesday, found that 80 percent of U.S.
adults go online, whether at home, work, or elsewhere. Those
who surf the Net spend an average of 13 hours per week
online, but that figure varies widely. Twenty percent are
online for two hours or less a week, while 14 percent are
there for 24 hours or more.
The average number of
hours that people spend online each week has grown over the
years, hovering at 7 hours from 1999 through 2002, 8 or 9
hours from 2003 through 2006, and 11 hours in 2007. The
level hit its peak at 14 hours in October 2008--after the
global recession had set in and just before the U.S.
presidential election.
The jump in time spent in
cyberspace likely stems from a few factors, according to
Harris. More people are comfortable using the Internet. More
of them are shopping and watching TV online. In addition,
the number of Web sites and online applications has
increased. Harris adds that the recession may also play a
role since surfing the Net at home is free (after paying
monthly access fees), while going out means spending money.
The age group that spent the most time online per week:
30- to 39-year-olds, at 18 hours.
MORE:
http://news.cnet.com/8301-1023_3-10421016-93.html
Spirit still stuck... but
still 'alive'
This blink comparison aids evaluation of a drive by
NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Spirit during the rover's
2,099th Martian day, or sol (Nov. 28, 2009). A stall by the
right-rear wheel ended the drive after the first 1.4 meters
(4.6 feet) of wheel movement in a two-step drive that had
been planned to include a totla of 5 meters (16.4 feet) of
wheel movement. As anticipated, nearly all of the wheel
movement was slippage.
The two wide-angle views
shown one after the other in this comparison come from the
right-side eye of Spirit's front hazard-avoidance camera,
one taken on Sol 2095 (Nov. 24) after the last drive prior
to Sol 2099, and the other taken after the drive on Sol
2099. The most obvious change is in the position of the
shadow of the rover arm, a change unrelated to the rover's
movement during the drive. The shadow is farther to the
right in the "before" (Sol 2095) image than on the "after"
(Sol 2099) image.
The view is looking northward. In
the "after" image, the near face of a mound of sand in front
of Spirit's left-front wheel has eroded slightly northward.
Analysis of data from the drive indicates that the center of
the rover moved 0.5 millimeters (0.02 inch) forward, 0.25
millimeters (0.01 inch) to the left and 0.5 millimeters
(0.02 inch) downward.
The rover team began commanding extrication drives in
November after months of Earthbound testing and analysis to
develop a strategy for attempting to drive Spirit out of
this soft-soil site, called "Troy." The extrication drives
are expected to make slow, if any, progress in coming weeks,
and the probability of success in escaping from Troy is
uncertain.
FROM NASA
SPIRIT OF DISCOVERY
Homer's Iliad tells the story of Troy, a city besieged by
the Greeks in the Trojan War. Today, a lone robot sits
besieged in the sands of Troy while engineers and scientists
plot its escape.
Welcome to "Troy" – Mars style. NASA's robotic rover Spirit
is bogged down on the Red Planet in a place the rover team
named after the ancient city.
So why aren't scientists lamenting?
"The rover's spinning wheels have broken through a crust,
and we've found something supremely interesting in the
disturbed soil," says Ray Arvidson of the Washington
University in St. Louis.
Spirit,
like its twin rover Opportunity, has roamed the Red Planet
for nearly 6 years. During that time, the rover has had some
close calls and come out fighting from each. In fact, it's
been driving backwards since one of its wheels jammed in
2006.
Right: Spirit surveys its own predicament.
The bright soil pictured left is loose, fluffy material
churned by the rover's left-front wheel as Spirit, driving
backwards, broke through a darker, crusty surface. At right
is the least-embedded of the rover's six wheels.
From the beginning, the rovers' motto has been "follow the
water." Both rovers have been searching Mars for minerals
formed in the presence of H2O. Mars appears dry
today, but minerals can provide clues that water was once
there.
"It's been easy for Opportunity to find such minerals,"
explains Arvidson. "Opportunity landed in an ancient lake
bed. Spirit has had to work much harder. Spirit landed in
basaltic plains formed by lava flows chewed up by repeated
meteoroid impacts. There's been little evidence of anything
that was ever very wet."
But when Spirit reached an area of Mars called the "Columbia
Hills," the whole complexion of the mission changed. "Spirit
came across iron hydroxide, a mineral that forms in the
presence of water. That alerted us to the change. We started
coming across more and more rocks formed in the presence of
water."
Then Spirit got stuck in a patch of loose soil on the edge
of a small crater. Heavy sigh. Stuck again.
But wait!
"Spirit had to get stuck to make its next
discovery," says Arvidson.
As the rover tried to break free, its wheels began to churn
up the soil, uncovering sulfates underneath.
"Sulfates are minerals just beneath the surface that shout
to us that they were formed in steam vents, since steam has
sulfur in it. Steam is associated with hydrothermal activity
– evidence of water-charged explosive volcanism. Such areas
could have once supported life."
"And most amazingly, the boundary between the sulfate-rich
soil and the soil with just the generic concentration of
sulfates runs right down the middle of the stranded rover.
Spirit is lodged on the edge of a crater -- sitting astride
the boundary!"
Above: A topographic map of Spirit's
surroundings at Troy. Spirit is straddling the edge of a
small crater. Sulfate materials are located in the crater
(from the middle of the rover and extending to the left).
The topo map was generated from stereo images taken by
Spirit's navigation camera when it was approaching the area
in April 7, 2009.
"Also, the robot found that the top of the sulfate material
is crusty. Ancient sulfates probably formed this crust as
they were processed by variations in climate associated with
changes in Mars' orbit over millions of years."
Here's what the scientists think: When a Martian pole faces
the sun in Martian summer, it gets warmer at that pole and
the water ice shifts to the equator. It even snows there!
Warm dark soil under the snow causes the bottom layer of
snow to melt. The water trickles into the sulfates,
dissolving the water-soluble iron sulfates and forming a
crust with the calcium sulfates remaining.
"By being stuck at Troy, Spirit has been able to teach us
about the modern water cycle on Mars." Indeed, Spirit's saga
at Troy has given scientists material evidence of past water
on Mars on two time scales: ancient volcanic times, and
cycles ongoing to the present day.
"We've sat here for more than 6 months. That's a long time
to take measurements. We've learned a lot. Troy is a good
place to be under siege, but we’re ready to leave."
FROM NASA
and this is why I'd never
look (if I were adopted, that is)
Greetings!
