Exciting times at NASA!

Looks like it's gonna be an exciting time to be a part of NASA. Over the next 10 days, 2 significant missions will come to fruition.

First, the Phoenix Lander Mission will have it's landing tomorrow. It is significant in the fact that it is an attempt a landing without the benefit of cushioning devices as on the earlier Mars missions. Think of it as an Apollo landing, with no pilots and an 8 minute lag between mission controllers and the spacecraft.

Follow that mission & it's related activities via NASA's Phoenix Mars Lander blog.

The next mission, a week from tomorrow & the one that I am most excited about is STS-124. It is a Shuttle mission being flown to the International Space Station by the orbiter Discovery. It will be a mission to deliver the JPM module of Japan's Kibo module. The mission is scheduled for the 31st of May at 5:02 PM from Kennedy Space Center. I've got my fingers crossed that nothing will interrupt this, as I plan on being there.

If all goes well, a few (hopefully good) shots should make their way here :)

Catchin' up on Talk

The Google Talk team finally released a desktop installer for the online talk gadget - Google Talk Labs Edition.

Basically what's happened is that the web client has always been ahead in terms of development and functionality and the desktop client, well...neglected.

This release is basically provides an installer for the talk gadget that some of us are used to, so we can have the same experience as the gadget on the desktop. You get your calendar notifications, mail notifications and the graphic smilies as well.

I'm glad it's here and do enjoy using the functionality outside the browser, cuz some of us do actually close down our browers...sometimes :)

Rice, it's the new Crude!

That's all for now, more later.

Jump back in time

Ever wish you could've finished that assignment before midnight and emailed it in on time
OR
Forgotten a birthday and wanted send an email before midnight rolled over.

Gmail has your answer: Gmail Custom Time!
But be careful how you use Gmail Custom Time, you get only 10 custom time's a year.

(This is a April Fools joke btw)

Gonna be a while

Gary Gygax, the co-creator of Dungeons & Dragons passed away earlier this week at 69 and everyone's been doing their tributes & memories. I've read a few, but this one is my favorite:

xkcd comes through again!

Lapfix

A couple of months ago the DC jack on my Dell Inspiron 9300 began to show signs of impending failure. This was expected and I soon began to scour the internet for methods to fix the problem.

My first discovery was a bunch of mail-in places (via google and ebay) that would for a flat fee diagnose and repair the DC jack. My buddy had used one of these places in California in the summer and after 2 months was mailed back his non-charging laptop, which he ended up selling for parts (for $25 nonetheless).

Second was the big guy brick and mortar stores like Best Buy, Compusa, Circuit City and the likes. After reading the horror stories about their in-house tech departments on the Consumerist, I wasn't gonna go that route either.

Finally I decided to try out my favorite place of all, Craigslist! Initially I started looking on there for someone who'd be able to solder on a replacement jack that I had bought on ebay (the "free" instructions turned out to be not enough for my n00b skills!). Finally I just decided to search for "laptop dc jack" and came across a posting for Lapfix.

I decided to call the place up even though it was a saturday. A guy picked up the phone almost immediately and after listening to my problem, explained how their service policy worked ($110 total when problem is fixed only). I took the hard drive out and headed to Falls Church. They are located in a small building has a couple other small computer outfits like theirs. The guy there (Karim) tested it out and told me he would call me the next day when it was done!!

Got a call the next day and went picked it up, it had some problems with charging, brought it home and tried with another power brick and charged up just fine!

Overall I was very satisfied with the work and customer service, which is why I decided to write this post, just in case it helps someone else like me out there who's looking for a review of their work.

PS: If you still had any doubts, no, I am not affiliated with them!

Blog like Kuvempu!

Blogger's latest updates bring me a pleasant surprise. No that line below this paragraph is not a bug, it's a feature. I can now transliterate from en into a language I've know for most of my life: Kannada

ನಮಸ್ತೆ, ರೋವನ್.ಜೋಹ್ನಸ್.ಕಂ'ಗೆ ನಿಮಗೆ ಸುಸ್ವಾಗತ!
I have no idea if the text above transliterated perfectly, but it's good enough for me (It says welcome to rowan.johnas.com) to understand!

As I've said before about transliteration, the best part is that you don't have to learn to re-type on a native keyboard, a regular qwerty will work just fine :-)

ಓ ನನ್ನ ಚೇತನ, ಆಗು ನೀ ಅನಿಕೇತನ! - Kuvempu
(Be unhoused o my soul, only the infinite is your goal)

Dell's moving to Tablets

No, not the kind Moses brought down from the mountain with the 10 commandments, the notebook computer kind.

Just got an email from Dell about their exciting new product:

Introducing the Dell Latitude XT
Small tablet, big options.
Experience the first tablet PC from Dell. Your business will never be the
same.Specifically designed to take advantage of Genuine Windows Vista® graphics
and functionality, the NEW Dell Latitude™ XT™ tablet PC allows you to take work
away from the desk.

Easy to Carry
One of the thinnest and lightest 12.1"
convertible tablets on the market
12.1" display with industry-best touch
technology
Easy to Use
Battery-free pen with selectable user tips for a
customized writing experience

Dual-input design (pen and touch) with palm
rejection technology
Backed by Dell
3-Year Limited Warranty* (1-Year
Limited Warranty for pen)
Around-the-clock support via phone, e-mail and
online chat

The Law of Diminishing Returns

HSBC on January 29th:

HSBC Direct has adjusted your Online Savings Account rate to 3.80% APY

HSBC today:

HSBC Direct has adjusted your Online Savings Account rate to 3.55% APY

Time to put my money in?

(Wikipedia: The Law_of_Diminishing_Returns)

Feels like 56k?

If you are one of the lucky 75 million worldwide feeling like you are back in 1998 with your beloved chirpy dialup modem, here's why

A clumsy ship in the mediterranean dragged their anchor into one of the submarine cables that keeps you connected with the rest of the world, breaking it.

Here's an article about it from The Guardian (via slashdot.org)

Also, if you've been wondering why Iran's President Ahmadinjad hasn't updated his MySpace, here's why. If my interpretation of what Traffic Reports is showing, Iran's internet is completely down (100% packet loss).