Tempus Fugit

Latin (tem-pu̇s-ˈfü-git): Time Flies

Category: Technology

  • Rational Rain Storm

    Well the preconfernece day has ended with the traditional poolside reception. I arrived for the opening at 6pm, had something to eat and drink and then is started to rain. and not just a little bit, but a full out thunderstorm with heavy rain. I think the late comers will be out of luck and who knows how they will move the party for a couple of thousand people to another venue. I’d say the food would be soaked before they could put it away.

     Right now I’m hanging around a kiosk waiting for it to let up before I head out to the car. At least I’m not hungry. 🙂

    Speaking of food, bad marks for the fodd so far. Hotdogs & Hamburgers for a fancy party reception really doesn’t cut it. It seems that the conference glory days of the 2000 era are gone and cutbacks are in effect. Funny, they didn’t make the conference any less expensive.

  • Kennedy Space Center

    I spent Saturday at the Kennedy Space Center and enjoyed the day. I thought I’d get up rarely early an hit Cocoa Beach first, but I slept in a bit too much so I went straight to KSC and got there shortly after 9am and caught the first tour.  


    Kennedy Space Center
    Originally uploaded by Big Dadoo.

    What a great day! The tour was very informative and it’s amazing to see where the space program has come over the last 30 years. We take everything so much for granted now that we don’t even notice when a shuttle goes up any more, only when things go very wrong do we pay attention. I was amazed to learn that the International Space Station has been continuously manned and worked on for over 3 years. And, as the shuttle returns to space on July 1 to continue building the ISS. If you’re interested, have a look at my Flickr photos

    Two of the many attractions were the IMAX 3D movies, Magnificent Desolation with Tom Hanks and Space Station with Tom Cruise. Wow, 3D has come a long way and even though you still need the glasses, the effect is great. Of the two films, by far the Space station one was incredible. I saw it late in the day and was a little tired and had closed my eyes a couple of times in Magnificent Desolation but not so with this one. The footage was exceptional and riveting. It’s totally amazing what is being built high above the earth and it was especially interesting after touring the clean room area where the next 3 actual  modules were being prepped for delivery to the station. I think I’ll be tracking the launch and progress of STS-121 Discovery for sure.

    The KSC was worth the trip and deserves the entire day is you at all interested in the space program and it’s history.

    NASA – Kennedy Space Center – America’s Spaceport

    Where else in the world do history and the future, nature and technology, young and old meet for an unforgettable and inspirational journey through space and time? The Kennedy Space Center has hosted millions of guests from around the world for more than 30 years — telling the story of how the United States built a space program that launched men to the Moon, orbited satellites that have improved our lives, and sent probes into distant space to solve the mysteries of the cosmos.

  • Microsoft Vista: Not People Ready

    Talk about getting slammed in the press. You’d think by now everyone would be very used to Microsoft missing a product ship date by a year ot two. Since I’m a bit of an IBM fan, I especially liked this part.

    No one mentioned the fact that in 1997, Microsoft held a similar event in New York City to declare that IBM’s “big iron” was dead, because Windows NT–remember Windows NT?–was going to “scale up” and replace the mainframe. I wonder if Ballmer ever feels like the guy in Groundhog Day, reliving the same press conference, over and over. I know I do.: “Microsoft Vista: Not ‘People Ready’ – Forbes.com”