NASA's mission site gives no clues - business as usual

I decided to have a look at the mission site this morning to see what NASA was saying about Endeavor and possible damage to it's underbelly. Nothing too revealing there, according to the site Endeavor's crew is preparing for a scheduled space walk with a number of goals in mind, all related to the International Space Station. The only clue that there might be concern is in the following statement: "Meanwhile, the Station-to-Shuttle Power Transfer System, which was activated after Friday’s docking, will be shut down during the spacewalk. The transfer system may allow Space Shuttle Endeavour and the STS-118 crew to stay at the station longer. A decision on a possible mission extension is expected to be made Sunday."

Image of astronauts preparing for space walk.
Check out NASA TV (Yahoo!) for space walk coverage.

SpiralFrog taking it's acts on the road

A music downloading service that opened in Canada earlier this year is now hitting the road to offer its music in the U.S. The ad supported service, SpiralFrog, features more than 700,000 tracks mostly from Universal music and independent labels. There is a download manager which is not compatible with iTunes, and users are required to keep their membership current or they are cut off from the service. If a membership is not renewed within 30 days, download privileges are cut off and after 60 days the songs will no longer play. Membership is free and completely supported by ads. CBC Story here. To be honest, I haven't tried the service so I'll have to reserve judgment. The titles seem a little limited but then again so are Amie Street's and I'm liking that service.

There are more than one way to catch a criminal

The Globe and Mail has an interesting tale of a Colombian drug lord who constantly had his facial features altered by plastic surgery to avoid capture. In the end he was undone by his voice! the US Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) aided Brazilian authorities in tracking down Juan Carlos Ramirez Abadia through the use of voice recognition software. “The way you use your voice is as individual as fingerprints,” said Jim Hunter, a partner in Sao Paulo security company. “If they have a sample of a known voice and they get an unknown sample of sufficient length, they then test the unknown against the known.”

CNN reporting possible shuttle damage

Endeavor astronauts have discovered a possibly worrisome gouge in the under belly of the space shuttle. Endeavor is currently docked with the International Space Station and it's crew will use the Canadarm to have a closer look at the damage on Sunday. NASA says a space walk could be used to repair damage but it is not yet known what the extent is. CNN story here and video here.

iPhone dead zone - rotten Apple?

The Apple Insider is reporting an iPhone issue that affects the touch screen of some machines. Users are saying their iPhones are developing a dead zone on "a half-inch strip of the screen that spans the width of the device when held vertically." The repair is taking Apple 3 days on average and users are being offered a rental unit for $29 during the repair! I find this a little hard to fathom, you mean to tell me that after laying down $500 or more for a machine, that breaks within the first month, I'm going to have to pay you ~6% of the purchase price to rent a loaner! Unbelievable... tell me it ain't so Steve! For the first time since it's release, I'm happy that it's not available here in Canada yet.

Got questions? Ask a Ninja!

Ask a Ninja has been a favorite of mine, for a very long time, and I thought it was high time I let you all in on the secret. You may already be aware of the site, if so go there again you won't be dissapointed. It's a classic, and well worth a look if you are seeking a few chuckles or some gripping advice from a stealthy warrior in black. But be careful, the self proclaimed "deadliest thing on the webernet" looks forward to killing you soon!

Timex chimes in with it's iPod controlling watch

Business Week has a product review of the new Timex Ironman iControl watch. The device which acts as a remote control for your 5th gen iPod is reported to preform well, and is simple to operate, although the reviewer found it a tad bulky and perhaps over priced at $125 US. My iPod resides permanently within the upper pocket of my SCOTTEVEST, so while it is easily accessible I can see the merit in having an external device capable of navigating through my play list. I tend to agree on the price issue though, perhaps it will fall given time.

Universal to test DRM free music sales

BBC is reporting that Universal Music will try DRM (digital rights management) free music sales from August to January "and analyze such factors as consumer demand, price sensitivity and piracy in regards to the availability of open MP3s." This is certainly an about face for the music industry and hopefully a step in the right direction. Perhaps the music industry is finally getting it! 50 Cent, the Black Eyed Peas, and Amy Winehouse are all artists signed to the Universal label. Google, Wal-Mart, and Amazon.com are said to be participating in the experiment.

IBM to help pharmaceutical industry in fight against couterfeiters

We've all received the annoying e-mail spam offering cheap pain relievers or erectile dysfunction drugs, and in many cases what you'd receive, if you actually fell for it, is counterfeit medication. IBM has created a system that it calls "ePedegree" to track medications from the manufacturer, to the pharmacy, and all points in between. Using RFID (radio-frequency identification) tags similar to those already employed in the retail industry, the system allows the drug companies to create electronic certificates of authenticity for medications. It's a cat and mouse game however, as other measures have already been employed only to be faked within a few months. IBM says the system has other uses "for keeping track of expiration dates, batch numbers in case a drug is recalled, and so on." Globe and Mail story here.

Halo 3 reaches 1 million preorder milestone

Microsoft has announced that North American preorders of the highly anticipated Halo 3 title, exclusive to the Xbox 360, have surpassed the 1 million mark. According to the press release "demand has been so strong for the Legendary Edition of the game that it is expected to be sold out by the time the game launches on Sept. 25." The landmark is, at least partially, contributed to the support of major brands like Mountain Dew and 7 - Eleven. "For the first time in video game history and on par with the scope of major movie releases, some of the world’s biggest consumer brands have aligned to support the launch. Many plan to offer a variety of promotions that give consumers the opportunity to obtain unique “Halo 3”-branded products and prizes and participate in one-of-a-kind “Halo 3”-themed events." We've been contemplating getting our preorder for some time now, I guess we'd better stop procrastinating... it's not like we're not going to get it! It's Halo 3!