The heroes this week are those involved with the space station Genesis I, a private venture:

A prototype module for a private space station has passed an orbital milestone after completing its 10,000th trip around the Earth.

Genesis 1, an inflatable module built by the Las Vegas, Nev.-based firm Bigelow Aerospace, passed the 10,000-orbit mark as it nears the beginning of its third year of unmanned operations, its builders announced late Thursday.

Bigelow Aerospace launched Genesis 1 atop a converted intercontinental ballistic missile on July 12, 2006 to test its ability to self-inflate and operate in Earth orbit.

Now, more 660 days later, the spacecraft's exterior cameras have taken some 14,000 images that include snapshots of all seven of Earth's continents. Its solar panels have also continuously powered electrical systems for about 15,840 hours, Bigelow Aerospace officials said.

Pretty cool, huh?

My hack this week is the military junta in Burma:

BANGKOK — The United Nations suspended relief supplies to Myanmar on Friday after the military government seized the food and equipment it had already sent into the country but said it would resume the aid flights on Saturday.

The United Nations World Food Program said it would send in two relief flights as planned on Saturday, while negotiations continued with the government about the distribution of supplies.

Earlier, in a statement, Myanmar’s military junta said it was willing to receive disaster relief from the outside world but would not welcome outside relief workers, a key demand of aid agencies who want to coordinate and control their own aid.

So wrapped up in trying to stay in power that they let their own people suffer. Horrible.

Labels: Hero/Hack, Space

Posted by Ryan S. at 12:04 PM | Permalink | |

John McCain's advisor, Mark Salter, attacked Barack Obama today. Take a look:

First, let us be clear about the nature of Senator Obama’s attack today: He used the words ‘losing his bearings’ intentionally, a not particularly clever way of raising John McCain’s age as an issue. This is typical of the Obama style of campaigning.

We have all become familiar with Senator Obama’s new brand of politics. First, you demand civility from your opponent, then you attack him, distort his record and send out surrogates to question his integrity. It is called hypocrisy, and it is the oldest kind of politics there is.

It is important to focus on what Senator Obama is attempting to do here: He is trying desperately to delegitimize the discussion of issues that raise legitimate questions about his judgment and preparedness to be President of the United States.

Read more here.

Let's get this general election started already... 180 days until the "real" voting begins!

Labels: Barack Obama, McCain, Pinstripe Politics

Posted by Gary at 9:39 PM | Permalink | |

Tim Russert proclaim's Obama the nominee:


Is the media stepping in and declaring the race over?

To me it's been "inevitable" that Obama was going to be the nominee for months now, but it seems to me that the media is trying to push this contest to an end.

Labels: 2008 Watch, Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton

Posted by Ryan S. at 12:28 PM | Permalink | |

While it seems that all conventional wisdom points to a Barack Obama Democratic nomination, the real trouble exists in the exit polls:

To Clinton voters: Would you support Obama in November?
Indiana: Yes– 48%, Vote for McCain– 33%, No vote– 17%
North Carolina: Yes– 45%, Vote for McCain– 38%, No vote– 12%

To Obama voters: Would you support Clinton in November?
Indiana: Yes– 59%, Vote for McCain– 21%, No vote– 17%
North Carolina: Yes– 70%, No vote– 14%, McCain 12%

This could mean that a substantial portion of Clinton support is anti-Obama more than pro-Clinton.

All in all, tonight means the Clinton's live to fight another day. Look for more emphasis on Florida and Michigan delegates in the coming days.

Labels: Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton, Pinstripe Politics

Posted by Gary at 10:19 PM | Permalink | |

The College Republicans and the College Democrats will be debating tomorrow at 7:00 PM in Purnell Hall room 115.

There are four general topics with two questions in each section. Four students from each group will be debating questions within the topics of: Immigration, the economy, healthcare and foreign affairs. Come support your party, political views or just come watch your friends!

FREE refreshments will be provided after the debate.

Yours truly will be debating the Foreign Affairs topic, which includes a question on Iraq, and one on the environment centered around the Kyoto Protocol. Should be a good time.

Labels: college, University of Delaware

Posted by Ryan S. at 5:04 PM | Permalink | |

Trent Reznor, aka Nine Inch Nails, released a new album for FREE on the NIN website. Available in multiple formats.

My thoughts:
After playing "The Hand That Feeds" on Rock Band, I've started to be more and more intrigued by NIN. I guess I never really knew what kind of band NIN was before, possibly mistaking alternative-industrial with some form of heavy metal that involved screaming, the the beheading of small animals, and Norway.

Anyway, this being my first listen to a full NIN release, I'm satisfied, and will be somehow sending Reznor some money. Check it out. Risk-free!

Labels: Music

Posted by Ryan S. at 4:41 PM | Permalink | |

Just to let you guys know, I'm graduating at the end of the month (still job-hunting!), and in accordance with that, there are going to be some big changes around here.

Posted by Ryan S. at 2:40 PM | Permalink | |

Probably not a good idea:

U.S. Senate hopeful Murray Sabrin burned through $1,050 of his campaign cash Saturday on a Kentucky Derby long-shot.
Sabrin, a Ramapo College professor, announced the bet during a press conference Friday in Atlantic City. Sabrin’s wager, which is apparently legal under federal elections laws, aimed to highlight his promise to legalize sports betting at casinos.
Sabrin himself is a long shot to win the Republican nomination for the Senate in the June primary. He is running a distant third, according to a recent poll.
"Cowboy Cal may have finished in ninth, but Murray Sabrin will finish first on June 3," said George Ajjan, a spokesman for Sabrin.
Ajjan said that he heard odds on the horse had reached 41-to-1 when Sabrin placed his bet at Monmouth Park. At those odds, a win by Cowboy Cal would have raised more than $40,000 for the campaign.

Labels: Random

Posted by Gary at 2:55 AM | Permalink | |

A couple friends and I kicked off the summer movie season a day early last night, catching a 9:00 showing of Iron Man.

Iron Man completely overpowered my expectations. I've always been more of a DC than a Marvel guy, so I haven't read that many Iron Man comics, but I'm familiar with Tony Stark, the origin story, and what role he's been playing in the Marvelverse recently. So when I heard that an Iron Man movie was in production, I was skeptical that a good superhero movie could be made about a guy with a heart condition.

Boy was I wrong. This is one hell of a movie. It happily forgoes being too heavy handed (though the first 20 minutes, setting up Tony Stark's playboy image is a little much at points) and revels in being a comic book movie.

There isn't a great ton of action, but this is a comic book movie with character development (gasp!). The choice of villain was superb, and the performances are top-notch all around, including the usually-annoying Gwyneth Paltrow.

This is a the best superhero movie since Batman Begins, and I want to see the sequel right now.

Also, make sure you stay through the whole credits for an interesting surprise.

Labels: Comic Books, Movies

Posted by Ryan S. at 9:33 AM | Permalink | |

I just finished watching the second part of the Hillary Clinton interview on The O'Reilly Factor, which is aired on Fox News Channel. I thought that this interview was fine, nothing groundbreaking, but Bill O'Reilly really pissed me off. He basically used his last question to Hillary Clinton as a way to say how great he is... and as if that wasn't enough, the next few pundits that came on the show to talk about the interview basically only said what a great interview it was and how O'Reilly did a wonderful job. Seems like O'Reilly isn't the only one with "talking points" tonight.

I guess there's nothing like shameless self-promotion.

Labels: Hillary Clinton, Pinstripe Politics

Posted by Gary at 8:41 PM | Permalink | |