Download Firefox 3.5

Mozilla Has Announced The Release Of Firefox 3.5. View The Video To Know Whats New In Firefox 3.5.

See What Firefox Team Has To Say On It

Things move quickly online, and we’ve beefed up the engine that runs Firefox to make sure you can keep up: Firefox 3.5 is more than twice as fast as Firefox 3, and ten times as fast as Firefox 2.^* As a result, Web applications like email, photo sites and your favorite social networks will feel snappier and more responsive.

View Performance Features

source: firefox.com

alsoread: speedup firefox

Blog Readers Urge the White House to the Moon, Mars and Space-Based Solar Power!

The nearly 500 readers of the Spaceports blog have voted to advise the White House on how to to prioritize the mission of the American space agency over the next several years; and the moon seems to be the one.

A 45% plurality of the poll participants urge that the NASA human program return humans to the Moon and build a lunar base while 28% of the survey respondents urge NASA to seek to place the first humans on Mars. Rounding out the double-digit input was 13% responding favorably to chat NASA's mission to build the first space-based solar power stations.

Fewer participants urged a human survey of the asteriods (5%) and fewer suggested continuation of a priority of sending human expeditions to the International Space Station (2%). Meanwhile a mere 5% suggested halting the human program and going exclusively with unmanned probes throughout the solar system.

Four hundred and eighty four participated in the on-line survey the past few weeks. The results will be reported to the presidential commission now reviewing the NASA's future direction.

Key Questions: Where to Go? What to Fly?

The debate over the type of vehicle to be used to take American humans to space is underway in Washington today. Decisions must be made as to the direction of space science in the nation. New recommendations are to be made during the summer as a new NASA administrator and deputy administrator are to be confirmed by the United States Senate.

America's international partners are focused on exploration of the Moon and building new cargo vehicles to resupply the international space station. The Russians continue to provide a pathway to space for NASA astronauts and private citizens. The Chinese have demonstrated orbital capability and India will soon prove itself a human space pioneer in the next five years. And, the Europeans are in contemplation of various human spaceflight options as well.

But it is the United States that remains the leader in space today but Americans stand at a crossroads and it must act today to achieve the future. It is time to be decisive in policymaking or waste billions of dollars and loose the chance to continue to technologlogical leadership in space exploration to the Moon, Mars and Beyond. With the dawn of a new presidential administration there is a focus on leadership and direction. The President must have sound counsel and the wisdom to make the correct decisions if the nation is to have the spirit of exploration and renew of the spirit of a federal space agency that sometimes appears to have too frequently lost the 'can-do' mantra.

The critical decision before the United States is where it wishes to focus human space exploration: the Moon, Mars, or the asteroids. Moreover, the decision of what booster is to be designed or what off-the-shelf rocket technologies are to be incorporation into the journey ahead. The two decisions are essential if Americans are to make footprints into the history of our species in the 21st Century. Let us make the right decisions once again.

This week renewed options of a Shuttle-derived Sidemount Heavy Launch Vehicle [video] was proposed as an alternative to the Constellation Ares I and Ares V were made. There are also options of human-rating more traditional Delta IV or Atlas V boosters used by the military. The decisions involve mission, cost, quality, and payload capacity. Plans abound with the most recent offered by Apollo 11 moonwalker Buzz Aldrin.

Dirt Turned for New Virginia Launch Pad

U.S. Sen. Barbara Mikulski (D-Md.) told over 100 attending the new Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport launch pad groundbreaking Monday on Wallops Island, Virginia that the event marked “another era of discovery” similar to when Capt. John Smith first set foot on the Eastern Shore four centuries ago. Here on the Eastern Shore, people used to earn their living off the land or off the water...Now they are also going to earn their living off of space."

Mikulski called the Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport at Wallops “a global center...an international center for research and discovery.” MORE from WMDT-TV and DelMarVa.com.

The ceremony included remarks from Mikulski, NASA Acting Administrator Christopher J. Scolese, Virginia Assistant Secretary of Commerce and Transportation David W. Smith, Orbital Chairman and Chief Executive Officer David W. Thompson, Goddard Space Flight Center Director Robert D. Strain and Virginia Space Flight Authority Chairman Vincent Boles. Several other state and local elected officials were in attendance as well.

New Gitche Gumee Lectures

I have spent the past 3 weeks conducting research and creating a Power Point Presentation on GITCHE GUMEE GEOLOGY. The complexity of the Lake Superior basin made it a challenge to develop a presentation that effectively communicates what has happened in this region during the last several billion years. As many of you know, I also have a presentation on UNDERSTANDING AND FINDING AGATES.

The plan is to hold lectures in the building behind the museum three days a week. Thanks to Kathy and Steve Correll, we have cleaned out the old garage. Axel and his family never threw anything out, so that created another challenge. However, the building is now cleaned out. We used all of the old lumbering, fishing, and other artifacts as decorations. Thanks to my sister, Diana, I was able to acquire a Power Point Projector. So the show begins on July 2nd.

I am still finalizing the schedule, but i think the Gitche Gumee Lectures will be on:
Tuesdays, Thursday, and Saturdays in July and August at 6:30 pm -- when I am in town. I'll post a detailed schedule when it is finalized.

The lectures will last around an hour, which will include time for questions. I'll start with a donation only charge and see how it goes. I'll also start by letting those who show up vote on whether they would like to hear the agate talk, or the geology talk. At some point in the future, I'll develop more presentations and also arrange for guest speakers.

Hope to see you at a Gitche Gumee Lecture!

Grand Marais Garden Tour

The Grand Marais Garden Tour took place yesterday. Since I decided to open the museum for the tour, I did not get a chance to see the beautiful gardens around town. Before I openened the museum, though, I went around the corner to see my friend, Kim's new art studio. She is a multi-media artist with a lot of interesting gift items. Many of you who have been in the museum have met Kim. She has been helping out the past couple of years. She is still deciding on her hours, but if you come by the museum -- walk west and then south around the corner to see her studio/gift shop.

Virginia Spaceport Linked to Energy Plans

Virginia's two candidates for governor this coming November have linked the Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport to the state's energy development plans suggesting that Democrat Creigh Deeds and Republican Robert McDonnell may have a vision for space-based solar power development in the years ahead [video].

Deeds, speaking to a Energy Technology Summit is southwestern Virginia in April, suggested that the Virginia spaceport become a part of a larger energy technology plan for Virginia [video] while McDonnell speaking this month to a conference of young men spoke of the essentials of coal, nuclear energy and the spaceport as keys to the state's energy potential [video].

While neither candidate for Virginia's executive mansion has directly linked the spaceport's future to space-based solar power, there is a growing nexus between the spaceport and energy that would lead to a conclusion that the two candidates have a vision that would use space-based technologies for future electric power production in Virginia [video].

Virginia hosts all the essential assets: space-based solar power knowledge (Ashburn-based John C. Mankins); one of the nation's largest power producers (Richmond-based Dominion Resources); one of the commercial space launch providers (Dulles-based Orbital Sciences Corporation); one of the nation's viable commercial spaceports (Wallops Island-based Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport); and, real estate for power receivers in southwestern Virginia's coalfields of the Central Appalachian Mountains with proposed development of a electric smart grid to support a new coal-fired power plant and hundreds of wind turbines bring brought on-line within the next decade.

US men's soccer team surprises all!

congratulations to the US men's national soccer team, who have made it into their first ever FIFA international tournament final!! the confederations cup is currently happening in south africa in preparation for next year's world cup! the US succeeded in pulling off one of the most incredible upsets in recent history by defeating the current european champions, spain, 2-0 in the semi-final wednesday night! as you can imagine - i'm thrilled!!

there has been some controversy about holding the world cup in south africa: doubt as to whether they could construct all the necessary stadiums, handle the massive number of people who will come to watch the games, manage the violence reported around the region, etc... but it seems at this point as though everything is coming together successfully!

the big picture has a nice series of photos from south africa over the recent weeks in honor of the confederations cup!




the final of the confederations cup will be played this sunday: the US against Brasil!!!

a quote for today

“the art of living does not consist in preserving and clinging to a particular mood of happiness, but in allowing happiness to change its form without being disappointed by the change, for happiness, like a child, must be allowed to grow up.”

- charles morgan

HTC Hero - Have A Look

image source

HTC Hero Is A New Handset From HTC Which Is Powered By Android Operating System. Watch This First Look Video Of HTC Hero.

HTC Hero Is A Fully Touch Screen Device That Features A 3.2 Inch TFT-LCD Display With A 320 x 480 Resolution, 5 Mega px Auto Focus Camera, And A Custom Build HTC User Interface.
Click Here To Read More On Specifications...
also read: Recommended Mobile Browser

jupiter and the speed of light

in this sixty symbols video about jupiter, professor mike merrifield and i talk about how the first measurement of the speed of light were taken using jupiter's moons, how to remember the names of the galilean moons, the crashing of comet shoemaker-levy 9 into jupiter, and more!

Generate Your Own Animated Wallpapers

Now You Can Make Your Own Custom Mobile Animated Wallpapers Or Screensavers Within A Few Clicks With The help Of RedDodo.

Steps For Making An Animated Screen Saver Or Wallpaper:-
* Go To Reddodo
* Select A Screen Saver Model, Then Provide Your Handset Info.
* Then Enter Your Text In The Box Provided And Click Refresh Preview, It Will Allow You To Have An Instant Preview Of Your Screen Saver.
* Then Right Click On The Image And Click Save As For Saving The Image On Your PC, After That Your Can Move It To Your Device By Data Cable, Card Reader Or Any Method.
The Website Also Generates A Wap Link For Downloading The Image Directly From Your Mobile Device.

also read: Online Nokia Theme Generator

what did you have for breakfast?

the US supplies all sorts of silly types of cereal: lucky charms, cinnamon toast crunch, count chocula, etc... most of these cereals have a ridiculous amount of sugar in them, but i got reminiscent the other day thinking about them.

then i received this video from brady, the guy making the sixty symbols videos, and i realize that a lot of scientists in nottingham eat corn flakes for breakfast!?



today i had strawberries and a piece of toast. what did you have for breakfast?

carnival of space #108

head over to starts with a bang for this week's plethora of space reading at the 108th carnival of space!!

Read News On Your Mobile In Your Language

Now You Can Read News On Your Mobile In Your Language, This Service Works With The Help Of GPRS, Wlan, Edge etc...
For Getting Started You Just Need To Visit NewsHunt And Have To Select Your Handset Model And Download An Application Then Install It On Your Device.
You Are Done...
link: http://newshunt.com

Wierd Agate

While at Muskallonge, a couple of people headed over from the museum to show me this wierd agate. The variety in the banding beats any agate I've ever seen. One of the other vendors thinks it is man-made. I'm not sure that I agree. Although I didn't take a picture of the top of the specimen, it appears to have matrix. Also, some of the bands are clearly translucent chalcedony, while others are macro quartz. My guess is that this is a natural specimen formed in a marine environment, probably in a sedimentary rock seam.

Have any of you ever seen a rock like this? Any ideas or opinions?

burning bananas

from the test tube video series comes a very interesting short video about research being conducted on bananas! there's an excess of banana peels available in several african countries that are just going to waste. could these banana peels be used as an efficient energy source when burned?

State Park 90th Anniversary

This past weekend I exhibited and spoke at the local celebration for the 90th anniversary for Michigan State Parks. The event was held at Muskallonge Lake State Park, which is located 20 miles east of Grand Marais. There were civil war reenactments, sled dog information, fly tying and casting demonstrations, and agate vendors. I would like to thank my agate friends, Gerald and Jill, for helping me out with the booth. Although I only agate hunted for a little while, in that I was busy with the booth, Gerald and Jill were able to spend more time on the local beach and found a few good agates. The weather didn't cooperate on Saturday: it was foggy and chilly most of the day, but fun was had by all. Pictured below are some of the agates that were for sale or on display, as well as some photos from the event.

long days and short nights

england is known for its rainy weather and dreary days, but one thing i forgot to consider before i moved here is just how far north it lies on the earth! nottingham sits at a latitude of almost 53° north of the equator. due to the tilt of earth on its axis, when the north pole is facing towards the sun (summer in the northern hemisphere), the sky doesnt really get dark until well after 10pm and the begins to get light again before 4am!



i realize places even farther north get less, or no dark time, but i've never lived in a place where i experience this and i have to say - it's weird! when i wake up and feel light pouring in my system and think to myself - oh, it must be about time to wake up - but then open my eyes and see that's its only 4:30 am!?! maybe it should make me happy that i have so many more hours to continue sleeping, but i've been having a hard time getting back to sleep in such brightness (even with my eye cover, but that does help).

anyway, all this complaining is mostly to say that i'm very excited to celebrate the solstice tonight because that means the nights will start getting longer again in the northern hemisphere. yay!!

some friends are having a party and our goal is to watch the sun sloooowly set and then stay awake to watch it rise again!

happy solstice!

iPhone 3GS Contest For US Twitter Users

image source: resource mommy

You Could Win A New iPhone 3GS With A Tweet On Twitter, The Contest Starts On Monday 22, June And Will End On 27 June.
What Should You Have To Do??
You Just Need To Tweet On Your Twitter Profile With The Hashtag #HouseofGems between 12:00 noon eastern Monday, June 22nd and noon eastern Saturday, June 27th.
You Must Be A US Residential And 18 Year Or Above. Winners Will Be Announced During The Site Warming Party, On Saturday June 27 At 9PM Eastern.
This Contest Is Sponsored By House Of Gems And Bought To You By Momfluence.

Thanks To ResourcefulMommy For Informing On This iPhone Giveaway Contest.

if you think i'm cute....

i sent my niece a present recently ;)

the whirlpool galaxy in the far-infrared!

last month we watched the successful launch of the herschel and planck telescopes aboard an ariane 5 rocket! they have since been traveling to their destination at L2 orbit (about 4 times farther from the earth than the moon). while traveling, scientists have been remotely calibrating the various systems inside the telescopes, and today they released the "first light" image from Herschel!!

this is one of my favorite galaxies, the whirlpool galaxy (M51), seen in far infrared light (160 microns, 100 microns and 70 microns) at higher resolution than ever before!


at these wavelengths, we are looking at the radiation from warm and cold dust and gas that live in the galaxy. the redder regions show colder material. from this gas and dust, new stars will eventually form!!

click here to view a little movie that combines the optical and new far-infrared images of M51! its interesting to me that the central region glows so bright with stars in the optical, but is still unresolved in the far-infrared that only sees dust and gas.

Be Safe In Aeroplanes

image source: Desnoyers

Watch This Howcast Video On How To Survive An Airplane Crash, I Hope This Video Tutorial Will Help You A Lot..


alsoread: Protection From Email Spams

Article about the Gitche Gumee Museum

Last year I had a great visit with a high school classmate, Kath Usitalo. I just received an email from her today. She has posted a very nice article about our "reunion", and about the museum. You can view the article at:

http://greatlakesgazette.wordpress.com:80/

Google Acquires Zingku

Google Inc Has Acquired Zinku.com, Zinku.com Is A Useful SMS Blog Where You Can Store & Fetch Mobile Photos And Text Reminders With Alarms On Your Companion Mobile Website. There Are Lot More Services On This Site Beside What I Mentioned.

The Main Service Provided By This Site Is Mashup!, I One Which I Loved To Use, With This Feature You Could Get Fetched Updates From Any Blog Or Feed Links Directly To Your Mobile As An SMS.
Alsoread: Feeds To SMS

sarah jarosz

while living in austin, texas, the self proclaimed "live music capital of the world," i enjoyed quite a wide variety of bands in the plentiful venues around town and also at loads of great festivals!

one musician who i really enjoyed listening to over the years is sarah jarosz. i first heard her play the mandolin when she was maybe 12 or 13 years old and i was absolutely blown away! she always played at the local bluegrass/folk/americana festivals, both big and small, and managed to play as a guest with the biggest names headlining!

one of my favorite musical memories was at the 2004 old settler's music festival when i weasled my way to the front of the david grisman quintet show. to my delight, they invited sarah to play with them - some of the bluegrass greats!! pictured below from L to R are billy bright, david grisman, 13-year-old sarah, vassar clements, joe craven, and tim o'brien.



i mention this now because sarah just turned 18, graduated from high school, and released her first album with 11 original songs! i'm glad people didnt pressure her to rush into creating albums, because from the tracks i've heard so far, she's really matured into a fantastic song writer! i remember that her vocals many years ago were a little course and sounded... well... young! but her sound on these songs is really fantastic and i cant wait to hear them all!

you can listen to a brief interview with some live music in this NPR interview that aired this week!

i chose to highlight the video below from last year's OSMF which shows a trio of youngins, all teenagers, and all amazing musicians!! sarah jarosz on the mandolin, alex hargreaves on the fiddle, and samson grisman on the stand up bass (yes, he's david's son)... they look like they're having so much fun! enjoy!

angkor temples of cambodia

exploring the ancient temple complexes around angkor, cambodia was an amazing experience! angkor is said to be the largest religious monument/complex in the entire world as there are hundreds of temples surrounding angkor wat, covering something like 1000 square miles! the pictures i share here are spread throughout the temple complexes that we explored over three days!

the ankorian period of khmer rule started in the 9th century A.D. by the khmer hindu monarch, jayavarman II. the main temples began construction in the 1100's and the khmer ruled the region until the mid 1400's when the thai forces conquered, forcing the khmer to move their capitol to the present location of phnom pehn.

[sorry if this takes a while to load, i added the big pictures to show the details...]

must start the day with a solid cambodian breakfast!


the most famous temple of the bunch: angkor wat (with monks!).


a huge statue of buddha as you enter angkor wat.


monkey crossing.








the traditional peacock hats were fantastic!


the tourists were sometimes goofy ;)


conservationists have struggled to decide whether to restore all the temples to their original forms or let the trees continue to grow throughout. i'm glad they left some trees!






i love the details of the carvings, even though these structures are SO old!! i cant imagine what they looked like in their prime! the colors of the stones are amazing as well.




a decorated elephant!


some temples required serious(ly sweaty) climbs up steep stairs!




i loved the temple of faces, bayon!!









peace out!



more photos here!!