SpaceX is targeting return to flight from Vandenberg’s Space Launch Complex 4E (SLC-4E) with the Iridium NEXT launch on January 8. SpaceX greatly appreciates the support of our customers and partners throughout this process, and we look forward to fulfilling our manifest in 2017 and beyond.
In preparation for the next launch, we present for your enjoyment and enlightenment a series of videos summarizing the five year history of SpaceX Falcon 9 reusability.
Enjoy …
I never get tired of watching this. It 60s Sci-Fi realized at last.
When I told him I was looking for a CHEMEX coffee carafe, my friend in Florida told me I could probably find a used one much cheaper than a new one. He also told me one can frequently find a used one at significantly cheaper cost (than on Amazon) by visiting thrift shops, eBay, etc. He sent me several links.
Days (weeks?) later he told me that while rummaging around in his house he found one. Knowing my friend this is entirely believable. You would have to see his place …
The unboxing
The outer box
The inner box
The carafe
Digging out the packing peanuts – like digging out rice cakes
Luckily my iPad has a cellular data connection or I could not post this. After noticing that webpages failed to load, I attempted a speed test. FAIL
So I unplugged my modem/router/wifi box and waited “long enough” then plugged it back in. Still no Internet access via WiFi.
Called my big name cable TV and internet service provider. “There is an outage in your area,” an automated voice announced. “Service is expected to be back … blah blah blah (whenever)”
OK Internet is back up BUT download speed is terrible. Call them back.
Now I am on hold with a human agent as they check my system (7:56 PM CST) …
There still appears to be “partial outage” in the network the will be corrected by 8:45 PM CST.
Now it is 8:49 PM. I unplugged my modem/router/wifi box and waited “long enough” then plugged it back in.
Download speed is about 25% of what it should be. Upload speed is normal.
All of my cats have hair, a long top layer and an almost downy under layer. I don’t comb them enough. They can’t … be …combed enough. When I finally notice the matty mat mats it’s too late. Combing yields at least an extra cat full of hair, maybe more. Hillary and Pickles are forgiving. Patches not so much. They get shaved in the summer at the vet, but it is too cold to shave them in the winter. (As cold as we run the AC in the summer I even hate to shave them then.)
Don’t get me wrong. I don’t let them get as matted as some of the horror stories you see on the Internet, but a little matting goes a long way and takes a long time to get out.
I have a Roomba 980 and EVERY time it runs it fills up with hair. I could show you pictures, but just imagine a large cat without the actual cat. If you have long haired cats you know what I mean.
I mention this because I noticed that Hillary was getting just a little matted and when I had finished combing him out I had an extra cat and he didn’t look any skinnier.
It’s always wise to test what you are about to do – in advance. If you want want to live on Mars, isolated, create some kind of HAB module on Earth. Test that in advance. ~ Neil Degrasse Tyson, Mars, Episode 5 / Season 1 (13:20)
Comcast Internet tech came to house. Richard was very diligent. Comcast staff, not contractor. Spent much time monitoring signal. Identified spurious transmission errors. Determined that I was the only one of four on the “node” – good news. Bad news – the other three connections were “unterminated”. Richard terminated them. He also replaced the cable from the house to the node. Problems “appear” fixed.
…
Got email from Apple from AppStore Re: purchase of Burley Men at Sea
WTF????? – I didn’t buy this.
Hours on chat / phone / website to Apple. AppleID compromised. Got a refund. Changed my password.
Filed from http://www.ephesusgrill.com/ Katy TX PS … I ordered a $40 bottle of Turkish wine with the intent of having some and bringing it home. Ha ha – I drank it all. Safely home now.
So … today I decided to run speed tests on my Internet again …
There are two sets of numbers for December 10 (alternating) … 150+ / 11+ and 70+ / 1+
The faster numbers on December 10 are for the 5 Ghz Wi-Fi channel and the slower for the 2.4 GHz Wi-Fi channel. The 5 Ghz Wi-Fi channel is fast enough to keep up with the native cable modem speed, the 2.4 GHz channel … not so much. I think I knew that, but had not paid attention as I always connect via the 5 GHz channel.
My son confirms that direct wired connection is running at full speed as well.
I am definitely getting a “performance discrepancy” with Comcast that varies throughout the day. Does this reflect bandwidth congestion from other users? Probably.
Are you Internet tech savvy? Look at the following and tell me what you see …
After watching the video in the previous post, Brothers, I felt that the video was a bit blurry and decided to upload an HD version of the video. What follows is a classic case of when you’re up to your neck in alligators, it’s easy to forget that the initial objective was to drain the swamp.
The upload to YouTube for the HD version from my iPad was taking forever. WTF?
…
It all started two weeks ago (cue music from Alice’s Restaurant) when number two son got a message on his upstairs TV that we had to upgrade his cable box from Xfinity/Comcast. So I asked him to investigate and it turned out that we needed to collect our Internet cable modem and two cable TV boxes and take them to Comcast to exchange for newer models. He brought down his box and I got the downstairs box and modem and the very next day I took them to Comcast to swap them out.
The next day I got a new cable modem, a master cable TV box and a secondary cable TV box and brought them home. Number two son took over the job of hooking up the new modem and master TV box downstairs and after at least an hour on the phone got the downstairs TV and modem working. However when he tried to get the secondary box connected to the upstairs TV it did not work. After additional communications with Comcast he determined that he needed another master box for his TV.
Days later it arrived and when he hooked it up to his TV he still could not get reception. After another session on the phone to Comcast, it was determined that a technician needed to come out to the house.
Last Tuesday said technician (an independent contractor for Comcast) spent the entire afternoon running new cable, splitters, and installing a signal booster (a powered amplifier) in order to get a TV signal upstairs. As he was getting ready to leave I cornered him and asked him what he did (see previous sentence). He also told me that our Internet performance was poor and that there was nothing he could do on my end. He said he would put in a support ticket for Comcast to investigate on their end.
On Thursday (December 8th) I called Comcast to follow up and was told they had no record of any problem being reported. While on the phone I ran a speed test (see image above for December 8) and told them that I was getting about 160 download and 12 upload. I was told that my service level was for 100-150 download and 10 upload … the best available. My value of 160/12 was certainly better than 150/10, so all was good. I left it at that.
So tonight (December 9th) I tried to upload an HD version of the Brothers video (remember the Brothers video?). We’ll just wait for it to come around on the guitar. It was taking forever to upload. So I called Comcast to complain. The first thing we did was a speed test. My numbers were 107/0.9. Then 67/0.3. That is … 0.3 vs 10 … for upload. “How far away from the modem are you?” Comcast guy asks. A reasonable troubleshooting question as walls and pipes can interefere and slow Wi-Fi speed. I am already on the move with iPad and iPhone to the room with the cable modem/Wi-Fi. “I am two meters away from the modem with clear line of sight,” I tell him. “71/0.28 – my Internet sucks,” I continue. “Do you have a computer connected directly via Ethernet?” Comcast guy asks. I Skype number two son upstairs. His numbers are WORSE than mine on Wi-Fi. (WTF x2) Comcast guy asks to reset the modem. OK. No improvement. I tell him that number two son has been complaining about poor performance. “How long?” Comcast guy asks. “How long?” I text number two son. “Two weeks, maybe, since we got the new modem.” Comcast guy says he needs to send out another technician to look at our Internet. “Sunday afternoon is our first availablity.” Sigh … OK.
…
Where was I? Oh yeah, guess I will wait until Sunday or Monday to try to upload the HD version of the Brothers video. Or maybe I won’t …
So I’m sitting in the bedroom next to the bed surfing the web on my iPad when I notice Pickles and Hillary across from me “interacting”. This is too cute. I take some photos and then a video. Enjoy …
Though you may not know his name, I can almost guarantee you know his greatest invention – the Chemex coffee maker. The creation is part chemist’s funnel, part Erlenmeyer flask, with a blond leather band in the middle corseting its hourglass curves. It is an iconic symbol of German modernism and simple, functional Bauhaus style. Its success launched its inventor, Dr. Peter Schlumbohm (1896-1962), into the arms of the design establishment (the coffee maker has been a part of the MOMA’s design collection since 1944, just three years after Schlumbohm patented it), and in the early years of World War II, it was considered a patriotic alternative to products made from metals and plastics (which were essential to the war effort). A Time Magazine article from November 1946 quotes the ebullient inventor as saying, “with the Chemex, even a moron can make…
Note in the above Company Overview that BWTX is the exclusive sole supplier of reactors and reactor services for the US Navy. (This is kind of a big deal)
Unless you absolutely HATE Sci-Fi, you owe it to yourself to see this movie … as many times as necessary to understand it. Absolutely worth seeing in a theater.
This is drama, a love story, a study in inter-species communication, a triumph of problem solving. It has humor and joy and sadness.
It is awesome and awe inspiring.
If you only see one movie at the theater this year – see this movie.
PS: I was not kidding when I said “as many times as necessary to understand it”, although I could have said “as many times as necessary to catch all of the foreshadowing, hints, clues, and twists.” This is a complex movie.
Energy Multiplier Module | A Small Modular Reactor
A reactor compact enough that it could be shipped on a truck on the US highway system.
A reactor that could burn for decades without refueling.
We don’t have to reshuffle fuel. Once you put it in there it’ll burn … and it’ll burn uniformly.
We don’t touch the core. We can seal the core.
You have a fuel that is in a reactor for decades, one core that’s burning for thirty years. In that same amount of time a Light Water Reactor will have changed its core seven times.
The laws of physics tell you what to do, and you know, relying on the laws of physics is a pretty good bet.
The energy density of fissionable uranium in megajoules/kilogram is 1.7 million times that of gasoline. This one of the reasons for why we cannot choose to ignore nuclear power in our energy mix.
The number of deaths, injured, or sickened from the combined nuclear incidents of Three Mile Island, Chernobyl, and Fukushima is less than the annual deaths, injured, or sickened in the coal, oil, solar, or wind industries. The global push to decommission nuclear power plants in wake of Fukushima is driven by baseless fear and media hype.
I used to buy copies (fourty years ago) and give them to folks to read. Not much has changed. Mining, refining, pollution kills real people every day, every week, every month, every year.
But if you try, sometime you just might find, you get what you need
The revolution WAS televised.
BBC live coverage “No one saw this coming” (Yoo-hoo … BREXIT?)
Many of you reading this will turn off now – but if you have not already watched it – please watch Donald Trump’s acceptance video below. This is not the Trump on the campaign trail. This is a very presidential Donald Trump.
The Twitter-verse is awash with angry women and minorities both here and across the world, taking all of this very personally. I have friends and relatives who are very angry now. I have other friends and neighbors here in Texas who never thought this would happen but are relieved and pleased that it did. This was not merely an election – it was a revolution.
Just remember that pre-election rhetoric is just that. What matters now is deeds. I do so hope that Trump can live up to his acceptance speech.
My old time followers will recall my serialized novel “The Nudist War” where the infected tend to be naked for a variety of reasons that should be readily apparent given any amount of thought. I have been dealing with an excess of “life” lately and it sits unfinished.
That having been said, I am not a naturist or nudist (at least not in public), yet I think that society is too hung up on body image and nudity. I found this article worth sharing.
Yes this post is my opinion as to why every beach should have a clothing optional section but my reasons for this are probably not what you would think. Follow me and see if you agree. /Cover photo from PeterGreenberg.com
There is nothing real about the Kardashians yet they are role models to many young women and men.
Nothing about the Kardashian family and their “reality” is real. Yet they are undeniably the hottest thing in Hollywood and are role models (dear God did I just write that?) to countless fans including many young women. Their fashion, their product endorsements and their bodies sell.
While I disagree with a lot about what the Kardashian sisters represent, it’s their bodies that I have the most trouble with and why I wrote this post. I know you’re asking, “What do the Kardashians have to do with promoting access to clothing optional/nude beaches…
Seriously – whatever your current attitude or belief system, whether you are conservative, liberal, republican, or democrat – watch this first. Then decide.
In Norway, July 7, 1989 has been opened Atlantic road, consisting of several bridges, but one bridge is built a bit unusual, it Storseisundet Bridge. Bridge is the longest bridge of 8 “Atlantic Road”, its length is 260 meters. Bridge deviates into the sea at 23 meters. It was planned that he would be built horizontally, but for unknown reasons, has changed the original project. And now it looks like a roller coaster. Those who have not seen the bridge before, may be frightened, approaching close to him. After a certain angle, it seems that the bridge is not completed and looks like a ski jump, but do not be afraid, because the bridge is completely finished, but the architect who built this bridge explicitly humorous or loves to ride a roller coaster.
The Questar 3.5 telescope and I go back a long way … 62 years in fact.
The first Questar debuted in 1954, just months after I was born. I discovered it as a teenager interested in astronomy and all things aerospatial in the giddy years of the 1960s moon race. It has been an unrequited love affair ever since. I followed the Questar with great interest during the 60s, 70s, and 80s – sending in handwritten letters requesting their latest catalogs. In college, while other engineering students were thumbing through their Playboy and Penthouse magazines, I read and reread my Questar catalogs. My lust was every bit as real and unsatisfiable as theirs. (Not that I never read their magazines, but I read them solely for the interviews and journalistic content.)
Married in 76 with profession, mortgage, and children arriving on schedule like most other couples, my attention shifted elsewhere. With the arrival of the Internet I had instant access to better astrophotos than the best telescopes on earth much less any amateur telescope. In the late 90s my wife was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis. I tell people that I feel more comfortable in hospitals than any non-medical person has a right to feel. So with mortgage company, kids, doctors, hospitals, and big pharma all dependent on my salary – any telescope was out of my price range. Life went on …
Every so often I would google “Questar” just to see if they were even still in business. To my surprise they were. Even more interesting Company Seven had arrived on the scene. But as before, life went on …
Things have stabilized. My wife’s MS and other complications are manageable. I’m not rich, but I’m not broke (yet). In the past few weeks I have reacquainted myself with Company Seven and have been having a very enjoyable and elightening email dialog with Martin Cohen one of the cofounders of Company Seven. I can imagine how busy he must be so I feel honored that he has taken the time to answer my questions personally. Then again he may give all of his customers this personal touch, just one of the many reasons that makes Company Seven special. Company Seven provides a full range of products and services supporting the amateur astronomy community as well as government, security, and corporate customers. They are a fully authorized distributor for Questar (in fact the only one, I believe) and provide a full range of associated products and services. Their online library of current and historical literature is truly amazing.
Company Seven played a key role in the development of the “spectacles” used to correct design deficiencies in the focus of the Hubble Space Telescope primary mirror. They even used a variant of the Questar to quality check the calibration of the optics.
Trust me – if the general topic of telescopes, optics, accessories … and the history of the above interests you – then the Company Seven website will give you hours if not days of reading enjoyment.
Even more impressive (at least to me) is the level of Quality Assurance and Testing they give to each and every product they sell. Their webpage below on testing is both enlightening and entertaining. After reading it I am going to be purchasing ALL of my optical gear through Company Seven – especially my Questar.
Lest there be any doubt, please realize that the Questar is as much an objet d’art as it is a mere telescope. It is a handmade sculpture of engineering excellence. A future heirloom. A “bucket list” item. Proudly made entirely in the USA throughout its 62 year history.
On November 14, the National Geographic Channel will debut the the new mini-series MARS by executive producer Ron Howard. MARS is a novel alternation of fiction and documentary featuring commentary by Elon Musk, Andy Weir, Robert Zubrin, and other experts on Mars and space flight.
But why wait until November 14? You can stream the prequel BEFORE MARS and the first episode NOVO MUNDO right now (below). You can also watch THE MAKING OF MARS with Ron Howard and other short videos – behind the scenes and other related videos.
There is nothing real about the Kardashians yet they are role models to many young women and men. 
Contrafactual 