A geomagnetic storm is underway on Thursday, May 23rd, after a coronal mass ejection struck Earth's magnetic field earlier and with greater energy than anticipated. Sky watchers, especially those at high latitudes, should be alert for auroras after local nightfall on Thursday. Observers in, e.g., northern Europe, Canada and across the northern tier of US states are favored, but mid-latitude observers might spot something, too, if the storm continues and intensifies. Visit spaceweather.com for updates.
COME ON... ENTER THE COMET CONTEST: The Solar and Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO) is the most prolific comet-finder in the solar system. With the aid of amateur astronomers, who spot comets plunging past the Sun in SOHO coronagraph images, the satellite logs about 80 new comets per year -- a total of 442 since the mission began. Can you predict when SOHO's 500th comet will swing by the Sun? Enter your guess and (if it's right) win a prize!The prizes are neat ones!
Chinese Immigrants Swim Ashore in Orange County (CA) [OC Register Reports] Today a group of suspected illegal immigrants from China swam ashore on the beach near the El Morro Mobile Home Park south of Newport Beach at about 3:30 a.m. today and 10 suspects were placed in custody after a wide-ranging search, officials said. Police were alerted by residents to the landing and one man was taken into custody almost immediately, said Newport Beach Police Sgt. Steve Shulman. The suspects came ashore naked, carrying dry clothes in plastic bags, he said. They dressed in the dry clothes when they came ashore and scattered. Some were wearing baseball caps and business suits when apprehended. All were men.... The Coast Guard was checking the neighboring ships in the area...
"We're not sure if this was a smuggling network or whether these individuals just stowed away on a ship and jumped overboard when they approached shore," said Border Patrol Agent Ben Bauman. "Beach landings by illegal immigrants are uncommon."
Excuse me? May be I've been spending a little too much time reading Rantburg. But this is a good example of just how easily our shores could be penetrated. If these "visitors" were trained folks, this little swim would have been a cakewalk and started a heap of trouble.
ABC just reported Pro Golfer Sam Snead passed away today at age 89.
``I don't think there's ever been a golf swing as aesthetically pleasing as Sam Snead's,'' Phil Mickelson said from the Memorial Tournament today.
Sam was a gentlemen. Played the local PGA Tourney several times and was always a real nice guy who happened to play golf like it was nothing. This was a man where The Masters was easy for him.
[VentureReporter.net] reports Microsoft Ties Up with Verizon to Deliver MSN Services
Microsoft (Nasdaq: MSFT) and Verizon Wireless have formed a broad alliance to bring services and content from MSN, including instant messaging to Verizon's cell phone subscribers, reports News.com. Under their multimillion-dollar deal, the companies said the service, dubbed "VZW with MSN," will offer new and current customers who have Web-enabled Verizon Wireless digital phone access to MSN content, including MSN Hotmail, MSN Calendar and MSN Messenger, an instant-messaging service that will be available for the first time in the United States as a mobile service. Subscribers to the co-branded service will also have access to Microsoft .Net alerts as well as other MSN information, such as news, stocks, sports and weather. The service, which is expected to launch Friday, will be priced from $6.95 per month to $12.95, depending on how many alerts are sent. Over the longer term, they plan to co-develop smart phones, Pocket PCs and other mobile devices that run Windows, as well as wireless applications for corporations using the .NET Web services platform. Press release announcing the alliance.
Humor me, but wasn't Verizon doing the same thing with Yahoo? I sure don't want Microsoft taking care of my vtext.com email account. Anyone have a clue?
While Doc, David and everyone are doing the happy dance on LOC CARP Order. The reality check is: the party isn't over folks! CARP is not dead yet.
CARP is in the hands of the Registrar of the Library of Congress, Mary Beth Peters, and the IP lawyers of the LOC. Their mission is to use the "Wisdom of Solomon" and write a fair and reasonable version of what the webcasting rates should be.
Furthermore, I do hope Peters understood the webcaster's message at the Roundtable Meeting, and she is able to separate the passion from the potential compromise and solutions that were proposed, but sometimes were lost in the rhetoric of the day.
Should this new rate structure not be satisfactory to both RIAA/SoundExchange and the webcasters, it could all end up in the Washington, D.C. Court of Appeals for a long and expensive court battle.
I'm on the floor right next to Jen! Oh gawd! The Wedding Scene is priceless. Can't you see Halley and David watching this at a conference and TRYING to Blog?
The phone rang tonight after dinner. Nothing remarkable about that. However the reason for the call was. John Bloom, an old family friend had passes away today at the age of 96. To me John was a honest, hard working man who had lived life to its fullest and was always teaching me something. He was funny and wise.
He'd seen things I'd never seen.
But most of all he taught me to sit quietly and look deeper into the world I saw-- and how to mix cement.
John Bloom was one of the sole remaining students of Grant Woods. Yes Grant Wood, the visionary of the American Gothic Movement in art. During the heart of the depression, John who was a talented artist who had studied at the Art Institute in Chicago, was invited by Grant Wood to study at The Stone City Art Program. And while it was "tough times," as John would say, it became an opportunity that changed his life forever.
John was one of the student painters responsible for painting a majority of the painting (above) When Tillage Begins Other Arts Follow,Breaking the Prairie Sod, designed by Grant Wood. This painting hangs in the Park Library at Iowa State Univerity in Ames. John was the painter for Shucking Corn,in the DeWitt Post Office and The Cattle in the Tipton Post Office, as well as several other WPA Artists projects. These gigantic murals are National Treasures to the heritage of the Midwestern spirit. I had the pleasure of interviewing John for an Art History paper about the murals year ago and learned a lot about the process it took to create such large works of art.
While there at Stone City studing with Wood, John met Isabel his wife. Isabel Scherer Bloom is best known as Isabel Bloom, became world renown for her sculptures of children and animals. They had three kids and were married for nearly 64 years. I first met Isabel when she worked for my family doing television graphics and a childrens story program. It was through Isabel, my family met John and their family. My Dad and John loved to fish and so I tagged along.
For years after he and Isabel married, John worked "a real job" at the Rock Island Arsenal as a commerical artist for the Army Corp of Engineers, painted houses and did renovations to support the family. Isabel raised the kids and developed her talented cement sculptures. John only painted for pleasure on weekends and he loved the Mississippi River which was a short walk off the front porch. He had a wonderful eye for color.
Isabel and John's styles in art were nearly as different as day and night. John's style was very strong. His people were rich and scenes were either the river, prairie or nature. While Isabel's was soft and innocent, and completely cast in concrete. The only thing they ever did was a children's book called, “The Story of Little Cat," where Isabel did the story line and John did the illustrations. A autographed copy of the book is a treasured gift given to me for my birthday years ago. I understand there were only 1000 ever printed.
When John finally retired in about 1970, he began to thrive as an artist. It was like he was making up for nearly 35 years of lost time. While I was taking some design classes in college at the time, John at 60-something be began college classes back at the Art Institute, despite the fact he could teach most of his instructors a thing or two. "It never hurts to learn something new, or you'll grow old." He'd tell me with a wink. It was a life lesson I've never forgot.
Over the years John had come into his own. However the fuss many people made over him as a "famous artist" never set well with him. He became as famous as Isabel in the past 15 years. His drawing, cravings and prints began to grow in value that even surprised him. However despite all the fame, John still remained true to his very hardworking Midwestern roots, and was as much a good friend and neighbor as a famous artist. He and Isabel never forgot their friends and their friends never forgot them. Life was always busy for the two of them.
A couple years ago, when my father passed away a small Isabel Bloom figure of the "Angel of Peace" showed up at the funeral home with a yellow rose. The note attached read, "He's at peace, fishing with God. Be happy for him. Our sympathies to you. Love, Isabel and John." The piece, (and another one given to me by my family,) now sits on my desk as it has for two years, was personally signed by both of them. Yeah, these were good people who never forgot.
Isabel died a year ago at 93. It seem strange, but her studio and figures are more famous than ever. John had achieved success far beyond even his wildest dreams. Their kids had grown and are well respected people. John and Isabel had grown old together-- and from what I saw, they were pretty happy with the life they'd lived. And after 64 years together, I know John missed her. Today he died peacefully at home.
...And I know in this morning-- John and my Dad will be throwing a hook into the river-beyond catching up on old times and tying flys. And making sure I never forget.
A coronal mass ejection (CME) that billowed away from the Sun on May 22nd is heading toward Earth. The expanding cloud could trigger a geomagnetic storm at middle latitudes when it arrives on Thursday, May 23rd or (more likely) Friday, May 24th. Sky watchers should remain alert for auroras on both nights. Our planet will also encounter a solar wind stream flowing from a coronal hole during the days ahead. Solar wind gusts could stir up additional geomagnetic activity.
VENUS AND JUPITER: Look to the west as the Sun is setting and you'll spot two bright planets popping out of the twilight sky. They are Venus and Jupiter -- the remainder of a remarkable gathering of planets earlier this month. The pair are converging for a close encounter in early June. [Space Weather News]
Translation, this mean I'll be out somewhere in the dark desert playing with the telescopes and playing with the Voyager III software with the Skypilot telescope controls hooked up to the notebook over the holiday weekend. For those of you who like to know what you're looking at "up there" in the evening, or a kid who's asking you a lot of questions you can't answer-- Voyager III is the answer. They have a Windows and Mac versons and is an excellent, easy to use program that charts the stars, planets, the International Space Station and nearly anything else you want to know. With the Skypilot controls you can can hook up the notebook to a telescope via the serial cables and off you go! The demo while it limits the number of dbases it is a good representative of what the product will do. Hell it's the weekend. You need a hobby right? Go download the demo and see how it compares with your backyard, wherever that is! Let me know what you think?
CARP: It is Not Over Yet
