Death from above.

Conditions: Muggy. With actual mugs.



Asteroids do not wait for budget meetings.

If you walked into Nasa headquarters and asked a passing technician how things were going re the pesky swarm of killer rocks orbiting our solar system, odds are he would have to say "Bad. Flee the planet." From Huffpost:

The cost to find at least 90 percent of the 20,000 potentially hazardous asteroids and comets by 2020 would be about $1 billion, according to a report NASA will release later this week. The report was previewed Monday at a Planetary Defense Conference in Washington.

Congress in 2005 asked NASA to come up with a plan to track most killer asteroids and propose how to deflect the potentially catastrophic ones.

"We know what to do, we just don't have the money," said Simon "Pete" Worden, director of NASA's Ames Research Center.

These are asteroids that are bigger than 460 feet in diameter _ slightly smaller than the Superdome in New Orleans. They are a threat even if they don't hit Earth because if they explode while close enough _ an event caused by heating in both the rock and the atmosphere _ the devastation from the shockwaves is still immense. The explosion alone could have with the power of 100 million tons of dynamite, enough to devastate an entire state, such as Maryland, they said.

This is a project that, quite simply, should be at the top of everyone's 'todo' list. Congress should be bending over backwards to give Nasa everything it needs to search the skies for rocks. They should be flying planes of money to Houston, instead of Iraq.

The agency is already tracking bigger objects, at least 3,300 feet in diameter, that could wipe out most life on Earth, much like what is theorized to have happened to dinosaurs 65 million years ago. But even that search, which has spotted 769 asteroids and comets _ none of which is on course to hit Earth _ is behind schedule. It's supposed to be complete by the end of next year.

The fact that humans in the 21st century can't organise a proper search for the most likely thing that could end life on Earth, is a sad testimoney to how stupid we as a species all are. I can imagine green aliens out on another world somewhere, laughing their asses off, or equivalent, at how ridiculous this is.


Mayan Armageddon Clock Deathwatch

Culmination: Winter solstice, December 21, 2012 AD.
Currently: Autumn equinox, March 12, 2007 AD.

Giving us: Five and a half years to go until the End of Time. Here's Tom with the weather.


Microsoft get angry, belligerent.

From Yahoo:

In prepared remarks to be delivered to the Association of American Publishers, Microsoft Associate General Counsel Thomas Rubin argues that Google's move into new media markets has come at the expense of publishers of books, videos and software.

The Microsoft attorney's comments echo arguments at the heart of a 16-month-old copyright lawsuit against Google brought by five major book publishers and organized by the Association of American Publishers, an industry trade group.

"Companies that create no content of their own, and make money solely on the backs of other people's content, are raking in billions through advertising revenue and IPOs," says Rubin, who oversees copyright and trade secret law at Microsoft.

"Google takes the position that everything may be freely copied unless the copyright owner notifies Google and tells it to stop," said Rubin, noting that Microsoft takes the position of seeking the copyright owner's consent before they copy.

I have to say, I can see where Microsoft is coming from here. Google seem to be taking liberties with what they can make public and online. Of course, I'm sure that Google's recent expansion into providing business software has nothing to do with Microsoft's anger....


Here come the R's



Chud.com has an article regarding the fantastic opening weekend 300 had, which is an R-rated film made on a small budget. This could mean good things for those of us who miss the old days of quirky, violent fun films that didn't have to pander to the 13 year olds in order to make up insanely huge budgets.




Peace out.