particlestorm.net

RPMs are now available from Gnome Blosxom through Dag’s RPM repository. For those who don’t know, Gnome Blosxom is my Gnome based program for posting to a Blosxom based blog. In fact, I am using it right now to post this entry. Special thanks to Dag for building the RPMs and putting Gnome Blosxom in his repository!

Yet another failure for a struggling NASA, whose scientists watched their 3 year, $264 million mission plunge from outer-space into the Utah desert. Yesterday, the Genesis project’s capsule was suppose to fall from space, deploy parachutes, and be snagged on giant hooks attached to stunt helicopters. But something malfunctioned on the craft, causing all primary and backup chutes not to deploy. With nothing to slow it down, the 420 pound craft plunged into the desert sand at more than 190 mph.

The Genesis project spent the last 3 years in space collecting samples of solar wind from the sun. The samples were expected to weigh less than 20 micrograms, equivalent of a couple grains of sand. NASA scientists are still hopeful that they can salvage some samples from the capsule, but with a crack in both the outer shell and inner sample canister, it looks unlikely. The wafers that held the micrograms of solar particles most likely shattered on impact and were exposed to dust particles from the Earth.

I am a big fan of space exploration and science in general, but something obviously needs to change inside NASA to make it more successful. Perhaps more privatization of the projects to private industry? Maybe NASA should just give out grants and become a clearing house from other scientist’s work? What do you think?

Articles about the failed mission and the recovery process are available here:
http://www.wired.com/news/space/0,2697,64880,00.html
http://www.wired.com/news/space/0,2697,64894,00.html

I just uploaded our wedding web site to the Internet! The site includes ceremony and reception information, our story, accommodations close to the reception spot, local area attractions, and our contact information. Everyone should check it out! It is at:

http://www.particlestorm.net/wedding/

Tell me what you think and what you would like added to it.

Last Saturday, Aliciana and I were in Sacramento and neighboring Davis to celebrate the marriage of Angela Lee and Durin Linderholm. It was a beautiful ceremony at St. Martin’s Episcopal Church in Davis. After the ceremony we headed off for the reception in Sacramento at the Sterling Hotel. The reception was quite a festive event, as is to be expected. We had a delicious lunch and got to catchup with some old college friends. But, I think the most memorable image that will stick in my head is the giant smiles on both Angela and Durin’s faces. They were happier than I have ever seen them and I hope they have many more happy days to come.

Seeing what a wonderful day their wedding was makes me long for my own wedding even more. Pictures from the wedding reception are now available in our photo album.

Today I finished the new Aona Systems web site and uploaded it to the server. For those who don’t know, Aona Systems is the software company I started. We currently sell 5 Palm OS based programs and have several more in development. So, for anyone who is interested, go to www.aonasystems.com and tell me what you think of the new site.

I just posted some new photos from our recent trip to Las Vegas. You can view them in the photo album section.

We ended up doing a lot on our short trip. Aliciana and I got to ride on the gondola in front of the Venetian Hotel for free. Thanks for hooking us up Courtney! It was a cool experience but there is no way it is worth $50. The ride was 10 minutes long and the gondolier sang us 2 songs. We even ended up getting the $15 photograph at the end for free because they forgot to take it at the beginning.

While we were in Las Vegas we also celebrated my mom’s 50th birthday. Congratulations for making it a half century mom! Overall it was a good trip, but it seemed short. Hopefully we can make it back to Las Vegas sometime in the next year. Aliciana started her new job last Monday, so we won’t be able to travel as much as we have been in the past.

Yesterday Aliciana and I drive to San Luis Obispo for the day to do some errands. We also got a chance to visit my Brother Nick, his main squeeze Jessie, their puppy Zeus, my best friend Aaron, his new fiance Melinda, and Kali the cat. We had a great time catching up with everyone. We ended up going and having a good Chinese food dinner and then dessert at TCBY. Even though I couldn’t eat dessert because of my diet, I still had a great time hanging out and talking. We will have to definitely make a trip to SLO a common occasion, maybe even a monthly event if Aliciana isn’t too busy being a full time worker.