Deep Space MP3

The Beatles are expanding their listening audience…by about 431 light years. NASA will be beaming their song “Across the Universe” in celebration of several anniversaries. The song itself is 40 years old, the Deep Space Network has been around for 45 years, and NASA is having it’s 50th birthday this year. Since Polaris is 431 light years away, it will take the song 431 years to reach it. Perhaps there will be an alien with an ear to the sky who will hear the song in the year 2439.

Thin Air

Apple just revealed their new laptop this week at Macworld. It’s called the MacBook Air and when you see it you’ll know why the name fits. It’s less than an inch thick, weighs only 3 pounds, and will come with an 80 GB hard drive. I have to admit it’s pretty cool looking, and I know that for the Mac fan boys out there today is a good day in the Mac-iverse. My personal preference would be to have a bigger screen than the 13.3 inch that comes with it, but I like being able to have several windows open at a time if needed. It does have a glossy screen so those 13.3 inches will have that squeaky clean goodness that I love about glossy monitors. I’ll probably stop in the Apple Store next time I’m in San Antonio just to give it a whirl but I doubt I’ll be getting one anytime soon. I still like my Vista.

Santa Isn’t The Only One Who Loves Cookies

For those who don’t know me that well and only know that I work with computers for a living would probably think that I enjoy giving techy and geeky presents to friends and family. With all the electronics out there I have to say that the gifts I enjoy giving the most are the ones that come out of my kitchen. The most technology that gets used is the oven and the FoodNetwork searches that I do for new recipes (and my Kitchenaid stand mixer which is one of the best things anyone could have invented). It seems like homemade things are getting harder and harder to find. A good example is the marshmallows I made this year. Yes people, I made marshmallows. The usual response I got of “Why on earth would you MAKE marshmallows?!” when I handed them out with my hot cocoa mix. I know I could buy them but they are just so much better when you make them from scratch. Fun too, actually. It’s really cool to see what sugar does when you cook it to different temperatures. Point being, if you’re having a hard time finding that perfect present this year and Best Buy just isn’t doing it for you, try your hand in the kitchen. It doesn’t have to be something as intricate as marshmallows. Even the recipe on the back of the chocolate chip bag would work, especially if you wrap them in some pretty cellophane with some nice ribbon. If you take some time to make something from the heart I think people will appreciate it more than even a really cool gadget (unless it can enable you to time travel…nothing would beat that!).

Have a Merry Christmas!

PS – Despite the reaction, no one turned down eating the marshmallows. :)

Virtual Dollar Store

It seems even gifts are going the way of the digital revolution in a whole new way. I recently read an article about how popular virtual gifts are becoming. Yep, people are paying money (real money at that, not the virtual kind) to buy things like $1 gifts on Facebook. These gifts include virtual shoes, beer, and accessories…intangible items that you display on your webpage. In less than a year people have bought more than 24 million of these dollar items for their friends and family on Facebook alone (talk about money that could go to charity!). Some gifts on other sites go for $2 or $3. I kind of wonder about these since it seems kind of impersonal to give someone something like this for a big event like a birthday, anniversary, or even Christmas. Webpages come and go, and people go in and out of phases too so there’s no telling if that person will have their webpage in another year or two. I guess coming from someone frugal, spending a dollar or two on a little gif for someone’s Facebook page seems a bit silly when you could spend that same money on something small, or even a cup of coffee at the local coffee shop and spend a few minutes with that person. As virtual gifts become more and more popular, I have the hope that people won’t forget the personal touch when it comes to gift giving.

Feed the Hungry with Vocabulary Knowledge

There’s a website that I just found out about called FreeRice.com that will donate 10 grains of rice for every vocabulary word you can answer the meaning of correctly. Snopes has a verification page with more info about the site. The UN’s World Food Programme (WFP) donates the rice. It’s a good thing they don’t penalize you for getting the words wrong or I would have just cost them a lot of grains of rice. :)

Pzza Ordrs By Txt Msg

Papa John’s has started providing a new way to order your pizza at about 2700 locations. Instead of calling in for delivery, you can now send a text message using your cell phone. Even Domino’s is making sure that those customers with mobile devices on the internet can place the order through their browser. Ok, I admit they would have to come up with some better abbreviations than I did for this kind of thing. Papa John’s has already thought of that. You can enter “FAV1,” “FAV2,” “FAV3,” or “FAV4” in the message depending on what you saved in each of these names. You can also save your payment and address information. It seems that this is just one more step towards less and less human contact in a way. However, this will definitely appeal to the younger crowd and will probably create a big benefit for the consumer and the company.

Study Shows That Most Parents Aren’t Into Gaming

One of the latest polls says that parents and gaming isn’t the best relationship out there. It seems the majority of parents never or very rarely join their kids in playing games. I can understand how parents want to limit their child’s time gaming. I mean, there is such a thing as the real world and kids need to get out and run around a bit. However, I think that if they’re going to allow the kids to game they should join right in. I have to think that when my husband and I have kids, we’ll be playing right alongside them (or against them, whichever works). A little gaming, whether it is Halo or Wii Sports, can be a good stress reliever after a long day. It’s nice to go home and just do some fun for a little bit. We usually appreciate the graphics and the beauty that the games offer, as well as the storylines and over all fun factor. A friend of mine recently told me that she played Halo with her 17 year old son and really had a blast. She never really plays the Xbox but she still enjoyed it. So parents, if you’ve never tried it give gaming with your child a shot (no pun intended). You might end up liking it.

Google Your Gas Pump

Google is planning to incorporate their maps and driving directions into gas pumps starting soon. I can already think of a few trips where this would have come in handy. The new gas pumps will have an Internet connection so that lost drivers can check directions while filling up their gas tanks. The service will include categories such as hotels, restaurants, and hospitals for you to choose from to show what’s available in your area. From the sounds of it, it will be very similar to what you get when you visit Google Maps on your PC. You can even print out your directions (very handy!). The gas pump service will be free to drivers, but unlike most Google services, this service will not use ads for income.

Comet Holmes Makes It’s Appearance

I found out today that you can see a naked eye comet in the constellation of Perseus. On October 24th comet Holmes erupted and brightened almost a million times, taking it from magnitude 17 to 2.5 (the smaller the number, the brighter the object). Comet Holmes is a periodic comet that was discovered in 1892 by Edwin Holmes during another such eruption. You can find where to see the comet with this map. I went out tonight and took a peek with binoculars. It looks like a fuzzy circle, not your typical comet shape, but very cool nonetheless. The reason we don’t see the tail is that it is in the line of sight with the Earth, so we’re looking down the length of the tail. If you have a pair of binoculars or a telescope, it would be worth pulling them out and taking a look. You should be able to see the comet at least through the middle of the month, at which time the moon returns and will light up the sky. Right now the comet is just beyond the orbit of Mars and appears to be about the size of a third of the full moon.

Sony Announces a New PS3

Sony is going to give gamers a Merry Christmas this year. The PS3 lineup will have a few changes for the upcoming holiday shopping season. For starters, Sony has announced that it will be dropping the price of the current 80GB PS3 to $499 (down $100). They will also release a new PS3 to the US for $399 with 40GB of storage. The 40GB model has already debuted in Japan and Europe, and the introduction to the US market is probably to help boost sales here. The Wii has sold 9 million units since its release, while by comparison the PS3 has only sold 5 million. (By the way, if you haven’t played the Wii, get your tushy down the nearest game store that has one and try it out.) The new PS3 will not be able to play PS2 games as the current models do so that Sony can concentrate on providing new games for their new platform. The new model will still be the most expensive of the three major consoles, but the new price tag should look a bit more appealing than the current models for those gamers on a budget.