Saturday 7 June 2003

Cartoon characters adorn NASA mission patches As NASA gets ready to launch the first of its two probes to Mars tomorrow, Warner Brothers has released details of the official 1st Space Launch Squadron mission patches. 1SSL is responsible for launch operations of the Department of Defense Delta II rocket at Cape Canaveral but also supports other launches. The patches will be worn by membes of the squadron and also by NASA, and Boeing staff working on the project. They will also be displayed in the mission control booth and at the Air Force 1SLS launch pad, and will be carried on mission control and launch pad crew suits, jackets and mugs. Meanwhile, NASA has said that the official names of the two rovers, which are due to land on the Red Understated Fiery Umber Planet in January, will be announced tomorrow at 3pm Irish time. The names were chosen from over 10,000 entries submitted by elementary school students from all over America. The winning names will be announced by NASA Administrator Sean O'Keefe, Lego Senior Vice President Brad Justus, and the elementary school student who submitted the rovers' names. What they're not announcing is where can I get my mission patch. 2:00:34 PM    comment []  Google It!

Brits pick 50 worst books of all time Mark Frauenfelder, he of the Apple switch ad, notes the choice of Lord of the Rings as Worst Book Ever in a British survey. Well-known Brits talk about the books they hate. Worst of the worst is the Lord of the Rings. There have been many contenders, but for inspiring life-long loathing and contempt, nothing beats The Lord of the Rings. The childish storytelling, the valetudinarian mythologising, Tolkien's lack of any feel for language, description, landscape, emotion or confrontation, the desire to garotte Pippin and Merry in a dark alley - how can so many readers have put up with such codswallop for so long? -- John Walsh: Author and Independent columnist I've never understood the point. It's strange, weird and frightening, and makes me feel like I'm on the sidelines of a joke I don't understand. -- Alain De Botton: Author and philosopher Anything about Gandalf, and those little things with hair between their toes. I hate that sort of portentous, phoney, medieval-magical way of writing. -- Sir John Mortimer: Author and creator of Rumpole Link [Boing Boing Blog] 1:28:22 PM    comment []  Google It!

Gag Rules? Bloggers Report Anyway There has been a lot of talk about 'bloggers versus journalists. That's why this story from Wired News caught my eye. Journalists at a conference organised by the Wall Street Journal were told that anything they heard at panel sessions was off the record. However, audience members weren't with the result that two of the attendess posted reports on their 'blogs. The WSJ is now talking about making its conferences 'on the record.' Ben Hammersly disagrees with the idea that the Chatham house rule is unenforcable in an era of 'blogs and suggest the WSJ goes the other direction and make it clear to all participants that discussions are off the record. 2:33:42 AM    comment []  Google It!

© Copyright 2003 David Stewart. Last update: 01/07/2003; 17:49:51.