The NEW iphone

AT&T released a list of upcoming iPhone softwares updates coming in
the future. I found this one most impressive,

"While at work, he continued, the iPhone will orchestrate a conference
call with two potential clients in the Far East. You speak English,
they speak Japanese. That's not a problem, however, because the iPhone
will handle the automatic translations in real time."

Gotta love Apple (AT&T is only cool by association)

Full text: http://www.appleinsider.com/articles/08/11/07/att_chief_lays_out_futuristic_vision_for_the_iphone.html

And people wonder why I don't like professional sports...

Professional sports are bad... but apparently college sports are not a
whole lot better:

My Review of Marmot Zeus Down Jacket - Men's

Originally submitted at REI

The slim Zeus jacket from Marmot offers highly compressible, down-filled warmth.

Marmot Zeus Down Jacket - Men's

Nice... if your fat

By Jerry the Rocket Scientist from Houghton, MI on 10/14/2008

 

2out of 5

Gift: No

Fit: Feels too big

Sleeve Length: Feels too long

Chest Size: Feels too big

Pros: Breathable, Lightweight, Comfortable, Warm, Durable

Cons: Not an Athletic Fit

Best Uses: Casual Wear, Hiking and Camping, Cold Weather

Describe Yourself: Avid Adventurer

This jacket is nearly identical to the Patagonia Down Sweater, which I tried on, but I order the Zeus online because it was a better value. The major difference is that the Patagonia jacket is an athletic cut, whereas the Marmot is a Beer Gut cut. There is considerable amount of extra fabric around the stomach. Walking around, I feel like Santa Clause. When you sit down, the jacket creates a large fold in front of you due to the extra material. I've never seen anything like it before. It is not made for a healthy/normal shaped male. I am 6' 180 lbs. I am returning it.

Marmot Zeus with Extra Poof

Tags: Made with Product, Using Product, Picture of Product

(legalese)

Liquid Telescope on the Moon

Fascinating stuff. If you spin a container shallowly filled with
water the surface will become parabolic. The exact optical shape
necessary for telescopes. These liquid lenses can be expanded to a
nearly limitless diameter. See this article http://spacefellowship.com/News/?p=6927

The Price of a Life

The age old question: How much is a Life worth.  Clearly such a value exists since the military offers up their soldiers for sacrifice on a daily basis.  But there in lies the illusion.  It's not a sacrifice if there is the possibility of survival.  it's a probability game, and the US puts an extraordinary weight behind even a sliver of hope of survival.  In other words, 1 kamikaze bomber is unacceptable to us, but 16 fully manned bombers sent on a Doolittle Raid is perfectly acceptable.  It seems that "we" can't handle the idea of certain death.  There has to be some probability of survival, no matter how remote.  I would argue that we spend more lives than necessary because of this.  "Leave no man behind!"  ... perfect, lets go back and get him and make sure we add 3 other bodies right next to him..

Why "we" operate under these guidelines is the first question.  The second is: who is "we"?  Is it our country, our religion, our western culture?  Which facet of our lives has the insurmountable distaste for suicide missions?  Did you know that we could put a man on mars right now!  Could launch tomorrow (well thats a slight exaggeration) but the point is that there are dozens of astronauts that would sign up for that one-way flight in a heartbeat.  To have that opportunity to be among the first men/women on mars.  So why haven't we launched?  Because we haven't figured out how to make it a TWO-way mission.  We can get them there, but we can't get them back.  And although the astronauts themselves consider the trade MORE than adequate, the american populace has determined it to be morally unjust.  

New Post!

hmm.. my title is rather misleading.  I'm posting to tell you that i've posted elsewhere... does that count?
Awhile back I started a Jerry's Questions http://jerrysquestions.blogspot.com for all the random questions that i've asked Google about and haven't received answers in a timely fashion.  Some of the solutions took me weeks, even months to stumble upon.  Now the majority of the topics are of little interested to most people, but the most recent entry regards the proper use of words 'that' and 'which'.  I thought you might be interested.

My eye!

Its all fun and games until someone looses an eye. Couple weeks back
I was driving a drunken friend home, and during an especially animated
story, I got punched in the eye (by an engagement ring nonetheless).
Too crazy to be true? Believe it. I have 5 lacerations on my eye,
and of course they didn't heal properly so now I have to have Lasik
surgery to fix it. Which may or may not make things worse the doctor
tells me. :( I go under the knife Turkey Eve. Prayers for me and
inappropriate remarks towards her are appreciated. (actually she
feels horrible about the whole thing). I'll be in Romeo for turkey
week, so give me a call if you're in town.

Lying & Dating

'The best policy is always honesty' - Bullshit. Not when it comes
to dating. The trick to dating is to NEVER tell the truth. Now once
you are in a steady relationship the rules change, but as for
dating.. telling the truth will only send the other person packing.
I also don't mean to imply that it is a good idea to tell your date
that you've climbed Mt. Everest twice, or that you are an ex Navy
SEAL. These are factual lies. Validate-able, capable of being
referenced and proven in a court of law.. or a court of your peers.
These are NOT the lies to tell.

The lies I am suggesting are those of emotion. It is of the utmost
importance to NOT seem overly interested in the person you are dating
(even if you are). The truth of life is simple: People want what
they can't have. People desire challenges and whether it is notches
in a belt or on a bedpost, mentally everyone feels accomplished when
they get a date with someone of equal or higher rank on the invisible yet
ever present 'ladder'. What is this ladder i speak of? Well it is
the ladder of social hierarchy of course. It exists whether you like
to admit it or not, and everyone as a general sense as to where they,
and others, are standing on it. The way in which we act, more than
anything, defines where we stand on that ladder. The key to flirting
and dating is to, ever so humbly and kindly, yet distinctly act as
though you reside on a higher rung then then your opponent (your
date). This keeps the game going and the coveting elevated. If
any one side makes themselves TOO available or interested, the game is
no longer any fun.  Furthermore, such openness and vulnerability
silently affirms that the other person is of higher standing and
subsequently that you are at a lower standing which equals less
desirable.   

There are other lies that are necessary too, including any and all
questions about ex-girlfriends/boyfriends. A topic for another
discussion. However, a veteran of game will be smart enough NOT to
ask about ex's. Nothing good can ever come from this, and anything
pertinent will be offered up by the other party.

It's a strange game (dating), one as complicated and strategic as chess.  And like chess, it is something you get better at the more you play.  It fascinates me because it is more of an intuitive game than a purely logical one.  

The Recipe

The 'How to be Trendy in Music' Recipe:

Find an artist that is up and coming. Not too big yet, such that It
has become popular NOT to like them. You want someone that most of
your friends would recognize the name and maybe half could name one
song. THEN (extra trendy recipe secret) make sure you have a list of
3 or 4 of your favorite songs by the artist that are NOT the ones
getting publicity. In fact, if you can find ones that are not on CD
or live only thats perfect. Now you are cool!

Bibdesk or Bookends

I may or may not continue to blog.. but while I have something on my
mind:

I am a large proponent for Latex as a typesetting alternative to MS
word. In fact, with the exception of MS Excel, I have removed all
Microsoft programs from my system. I am currently using Bookends to
sort my PDF's (journal articles, conference papers, etc.) and to
create bibliographies for my publications. Bookends is NOT a free
program after 50 citations have been loaded. It will not be long
until I reach this point. Bibdesk, however, is free and appears to
have the same functionality. Does anyone out there have a preference??

Man Weekend

This years Man weekend was filled with all sorts of manly events, and I have the wounds and lack of hair to show for it. Manly men doing manly things such as dragging trees through the woods with an ATV, exploding substandard domestic beers in the firepit, and human flame retardant experiments with everclear (exhibit A to the right). Ah.. such a gratifying weekend. I think i'll go belch and scratch myself for awhile now.

Brian and Janet's Wedding

Brian and Janet's Wedding
Originally uploaded by jrossjr.

Two weekends ago Brian Tweddle married Janet Daig. I had the pleasure of playing the role of Best Man for the days festivities. There were some worries the night before at the rehearsal because the pastor could not remember Brian's first name, nor pronounce his last name. On top of that, he randomly inserted crass jokes such as "What are the two ingredients to a successful marriage? Good cooking, and good lingerie" Which isn't that bad I suppose, but they added up after awhile. For the actual ceremony he was much more professional, and I think everyone was relieved. My largest task was to keep control of the ring bearer during the service. Eventually I ended up making the executive decision to allow him to go back to his mom after standing still was no longer even plausible. :) He sprinted down the aisle to everyone's amusement.

Thought Provoking Article

On Google news, I sumbled across this article:

Wild Kingdom

Talks about the relation of Old Testament stories to modern cultures.

I don't remember leaving my bike up there??

I don't remember leaving my bike up there??
Originally uploaded by jrossjr.

IMG_1275.JPG


This past weekend I was in Sacremento for the Joint Propulsion Conference where I presented my work on low specific impulse Hall thrusters. I had purposely delayed my flight back home by a few days so that I could tour Sacramento. Turns out, Sacremento is REALLY boring. So I hopped on the Amtrak towards San Francisco where I met up with Robin and Grant. When we 'attempted' to leave the San Francisco Brewery I found my bike had been elevated 8 feet by store gate that I had locked it to! It took me about 20 minutes to get it unlocked and lowered down (climbing skills put to good use). The back half of the kryptonite lock was the most difficult. The next day the three of us ate at a semi-traditional Indian restaurant. I'm generally partial to meat, but these guys can cook up some awesome vegetables. San Francisco was awesome, two thumbs up. As for Sacremento.. leave it to Schwarzenegger

Click on the picture to see others, including me trying to get the bike down.

Superman Returns ??

Anybody else seen this movie yet? I was appalled at the lack of morality in the choice of a plot for this film. The entire movie plays as soap opera episode. I'll try to speak in ambiguities to avoid ruining the film. The end of the flick was the only chance where the movie had the opportunity for damage control and tie up its scandalous loose ends but failed to do so, I presume, for the opportunity for a sequel. Superman is iconic representation of truth, justice and morality, and this film destroys his principles and makes him less honorable than the average person watching the movie!! Lois Lane isn't much better either. I'll cite specifics in the comments section and welcome you to do so as well.

Last Weekend

In an act of self punishment I ran an 8k race Saturday morning followed by a 30 mile roundtrip kayaking adventure on Lake Superior. I heard about the race Friday afternoon from my friend Kristina who coaxed me into it. Then she proceeded to destroy me with a time of 29'30+". I came in at 36'14" which is running 7 minute miles. I was actually pretty happy with that. I'm not sure if I even had a month of training that I could have gotten 6' miles.
Immediately after the race Adrian (who flew in from Stockholm last week) and I strapped all of our camping gear on to our kayaks and headed down the Portage towards Superior. At 9PM we found a sandy beach to dock at, ate, set up camp and passed out. The next day I awoke with an urge and realization that we didn't bring any toilet paper, papertowl or even kleenex. To the inexperienced/unprepared oatmeal packet wrappers are AMAZINGLY versatile. The paddle home left us with a sun branding that i'm still placating with aloe three days later.

Joke!

Little Mary Margaret was not the best student in Catholic School.
Usually she slept through the class.
One day her teacher, a Nun, called on her while she was sleeping.
"Tell me Mary Margaret, who created the universe?"
When Mary Margaret didn't stir, little Johnny who was her friend sitting
behind her, took his pencil and jabbed her in the rear.
"God Almighty!" shouted Mary Margaret.
The Nun said, "Very good" and continued teaching her class.
A little later the Nun asked Mary Margaret, "Who is our Lord and Savior?"
But Mary didn't stir from her slumber Once again, Johnny came
to her rescue and stuck Mary Margaret in the butt.
"Jesus Christ!!!" shouted Mary Margaret and the Nun once again
said, "Very good," and Mary Margaret fell back asleep.
The Nun asked her a third question..."What did Eve
say to Adam after she had her twenty-third child?"
Again, Johnny came to the rescue.
This time Mary Margaret jumped up and shouted, "If you stick
that damn thing in me one more time, I'll break it in half!"
The nun fainted...........

Skype

Skype has just announced that all phone calls in the US and Canada are now free. If anyone is unfamiliar with the program, head over to www.skype.com Many people (including me) believe that Skype and other VOIP services will replace all land lines in the near future. There are those who even believe that as wireless hot-spots increase, we could see the extinction of the cell phone as well. Personally I think the latter is far from fruition.

Whitewater

This past weekend the MTU Ultimate Frisbee team went to UW-Whitewater for a tournament. Unfortunately, we did not do very well, but that was expected for the most part. We did have a lot of fun though. On the way home I got bored and made a webpage for this tournament and one from last term. I may or may not update it in the future.

Click Here!

Intelligent Falling

Hilarious Onion story.

Link