14-year-old set to become youngest person to sail solo across the Atlantic - AMAZING!!!

Another great example of a young over-achiever breaking a new barrier. It is amazing that a 14 year old would even contemplate crossing the ocean on their own. Take a minute and read the story.

Stories like this have got to give you hope about the next generation that is up and coming!

Douglas J. Reilly - RIP

Just heard Douglas Reilly lost his hard fought battle with cancer on December 23. John Jainschigg was kind enough to post a note on Dr. Dobb's. Here is the link:

http://www.ddj.com/blog/databaseblog/archives/2006/12/douglas_j_reill.html;jsessionid=UG2EGVB0SNLNUQSNDLRCKH0CJUNN2JVN

Here is Doug's link to his primary site:

http://www.accessmicrosystems.com/

Most of his blogging links seem to be gone now...kind of a shame. You would think they would be moved and kept as some part of an archive. I think it has been a little over a year since he blogged actively. He is part of the family of software guys that were first gen microcomputer developers - boy things have changed. I definitely shared his passion about Delphi and we both gave in eventually to the .NET framework and Microsoft tools.

RIP Doug hope you can blog in the afterlife!

Space telescope to hunt planets

The French have launched their planet hunter space telescope (Corot) from Kazakhstan. Their quest to monitor 120,000 stars and to find and document planets orbiting those stars.

Until now the smallest planet we have been able to detect is about 5 times the size of earth. The Corot can detect planets as small as twice our size...not perfect but a move in the right direction. Once we have a space telescope that can detect planets of our size and class I think some big things are going to happen.

It truly is only a matter of time now before we determine there is intelligent life on other planets. Given all the insanity on our blue marble I am looking forward to vacationing on a more sane piece of rock!

It is a multi-national effort but the French have taken the lead on getting this done.

This link takes you to the mission guide for the Corot telescope:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/6213150.stm

TEEN GOES NUCLEAR: He creates fusion in his Oakland Township home

This is somewhat old news...but amazing nonetheless.

This is a story of a 17 year old who achieved nuclear fusion in his basement in the suburbs of Detroit.

He is ranked as the 18th amateur in the world to create nuclear fusion - holy grail of physics. Similar to the reaction that is continually occurring on the sun.

Take a minute and read the article. You will also find interesting information at www.fusor.net (thanks Paul!). The site is somewhat confusing to navigate and find things but amazing to see this amateur community on the web all working toward nuclear fusion.

I just can't help but wonder why we don't have nuclear fusion commercialized at this point. It really could solve a lot of problems and anything we do to move us off our dependence on Middle East oil is a step in the right direction.

PARENT ALERT - Using Google to View MySpace or Any Restricted Site

This post is about a loop hole inadvertinely created by Google Translate. The main focus of the article is how this can be used to subvert protections put in place at businesses.

However, I feel this information is very important for parents as their children can use the Google Translate feature to access literally any site they want to.

If you are not monitoring what your children are doing on the net - you need to be.

Science of Santa Claus: Jolly Old Elf Really Can Deliver Presents in One Night, Says NC State Engineer

Finally someone has taken the time to realistically answer the biggest question about Good Ole St. Nick!

Dr. Larry Silverberg, professor of mechanical and aerospace engineering can explain the plausable science behind whether Santa could deliver all of the gifts in one night.

Finally we can tell our children the truth about Santa when they ask that dreadful question: "But dad, how does he visit millions of homes in one night?"

So I definitely suggest you take the time to read the article and equip yourself with answers for your children - I think we all deserve a portion of our childhild devoted to believing in Santa Claus!

Now if we could only do this for the Easter Bunny as well!

Merry Christimas Everyone!

BTW if you want to track Santa's progress you can do that here:

http://www.noradsanta.org/en/map/index.php#

Enraged locals drive blogger from Barrow-n-Furness

There is an article on the register today written by Lester Haines discussing how locals were enraged by comments a blogger made on his Myspace account. The blogger a manager for a chocolate company transplanted into the town to open up a new chocolate shop.

It seems the new store location was having some problems before it opened and the manager really needed to vent. He posted his unsavory comments on his Myspace blog and a local newspaper got wind of it and published his comments. The finally had to call the police because so many people were entering the store and telling the manager he should go somewhere else if he didn't like it there.

I believe this guy was really over-stressed, in his Myspace comments he stated that local vandals had smashed the front window of the new store and helped themselves to over a grand worth of chocolate. Additionally I guess he didn't like the local hotel he was staying.

The chocolate company removed him as the manager of the new location and offered free chocolate to any that stopped by their new location before December 25th. I wonder if the vandals came back to get the free stuff too? I wonder where he is working now?

The manager's comments on Myspace have been removed. To read more of the story check out the link below.

Here is the link to the original article:
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2006/12/22/chocolate_shop_blogger/

How did I get talked into this?

Joe Hunkins A.K.A. Joe Duck over at:

http://joeduck.wordpress.com/

convinced me that I needed to start to blog. Let's see where this journey takes us.

Joe has shown me the real power of the blog during the James Kim search effort in Josephine County, Oregon. Joe really deserves a lot of credit for assembling a thoughtful group of people who are now embarking on an effort trying to improve the process involving search efforts by coordinating volunteers on the internet and analyzing data. Nice job Joe!

Thanks Joe (I think!).

You should definitely check out his blog it really rocks.

Some gift ideas...

Just a couple of more days until Christmas is here! I found a couple of links to aid in the shopping frenzy. There is still time left to get those gifts under the tree!

For those of you that celebrate Christmas - I wish you a very merry one!

Here are the links:

http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/88519/top_ten_gift_ideas_for_girls_ages_35.html

http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/93949/a_guide_to_shopping_for_a_diamond_on.html