Long month

Yet, as days slip by, one has to acknowledge that life ain't getting any longer.

Or is it? According to Some Smarties at Harvard, Teleomerase production really does make a difference in mice. That had been artificially impared, but still.

Reproduction is the usual method for longevity of kind, at least until immortality becomes de rigeur. One has to wonder how much the effort takes off our mortal lifespan, as listening to Gabe's constant screaming probably lopped a good year off me this month. Hopefully the research will catch up around the time he gets a job.

It's been a chinese interesting month, after the wonderful holiday (tinted with the abject failure of STS 133 to launch). A possible change of focus of work, mid life crises abound, yet another bloody cold upon cold upon sickness. I went through a spate of crazy good ideas (if only I had a replicator/manufactory, I'd be halfway to rich by now - for prior art, picture gesture-to-text using rings and local positioning, no more typing or even swiping on devices, just wriggle your fingers) along with all the crazy AR stuff I've been blabbing about for years. I have a feeling that the RnD folks at work will crack some of that stuff, especially the AR world-geo overlay, just as soon as we get comfortable with the gyros in the latest handhelds. Tangent, but in a few years everyone will wonder just how the hell they ever managed without being able to sweep their mobile across a view and see - their friends (and their friends mood / bank account / waiting time ), their nearest cashpoint, the bus turning the corner 10 streets away, the nearest taxi/burger king/police station.

The other interesting idea I had tonight was consensual observation/reporting. I saw some dude tagging a window with spray paint, but was not in the mood to stop and challenge. If I had a mobile - that had video recording and geotagging - and if I could press a "tape this shit and send it to the rozzers" button - would that change society? "I'm observing you, dude. No point giving me grief, it's already on tape." We're nearly there with all the video capture that happens, but the leap to realtime is the discriminator. Think video 911 in reverse. Add another person (or two, or ten) and you've got some pretty compelling evidence right there, probably with enough capture to synth the whole scene back out again.

Corner cases and the opposite perspective are a goldmine, by the way. Think of every problem you ever bitched about and turn it on it's head - there's your opportunity.

The other dweller has been the constant niggle that capitalism really is crappy at resource allocation, regardless of the plethora of hype to the contrary. Surely it would be more efficient for society if people in their cars just gave folks a lift? Technology is certainly an enabler for that, as soon as we stray into AR, trust ratings (visible over your head, natch) and groupthink access to your public dataset. Yes, I would like a lift into the town centre. I'm not a crazy, and I might even be your new friend.

Saving up for Virgin, then.

This week has been a total rollercoaster - every day we've been planning to go the next day and watch the shuttle launch, each day edging slightly closer. Yesterday we were up at 4am in a huge thunderstorm, knowing our chances of seeing a launch that day were around 10%. Today we were up at 4.30am, with hopes of seeing a launch much higher - odds were looking to be about 60% that the wind and weather would allow a launch, without any other mechanical problems.

Sadly, the problems reared their heads just as we arrived at KSC on the coach, around 8.15am this morning. After a bit more analysis, it's been confirmed that the earliest the shuttle will launch is now November 30th. We'll be out of the country much sooner than that.

Still, unless you take a chance you're never get to see the cool stuffs.

God speed, Discovery.

Preparations

Packing in progress. hopes high. Fingers crossed that american engineering is all it's cracked up to be.

Just causeway

Nic managed to snag us causeway tickets for STS-133. If all the heavens align correctly, we are going to be treated to a view of the shuttle launching from around 6 miles away. Fingers crossed everything goes to plan!

Gabe says ...

Ahhhhh ahhh waaaaaahh

Ahhhhh waaaaahhh ehhhhh waaaahhh ehhhhhh

hopefully shortly he'll be saying zzzzzzzzzz. Until that time, adieu.

The answer to life, the universe and everything

is 42.

Today, if one arbitrarily takes the Y/M/D digits as 101010 deserves to be known as Douglas Adams day, in my humble opinion.

and the question - well, that's the hard bit, isn't it?

I've been pondering this (for the majority of my life, as always) and I'm wondering if it's really as simple as ticking boxes on a list. For some people, it's travelling, food, company. For some people it's experience, music, adrenaline. For some it's solitude, peace, contemplation. Many things overlap, many things are mutually exclusive. Most people have different definitions of the things that go together to define their place in life, their destiny.

For me - adrenaline is high up there. Laddering in SC2 over the last month has been an experience like no other, although I'm not sure I actually enjoy it! Travelling is actually something I'm not hugely fond of, but arriving in new places is something I love. All things technological is definitely a defining part of the human experience for me, so watching the shuttle go up (fingers crossed) could well be one of my defining moments.

Next month is going to be cool as hell, that's for sure ;)

Teething trouble

I think we got off lightly the first couple of teeth - Gabe's been in a stinking mood for days now, crying and straining constantly.

Here's hoping his teeth arrive soon.