2002.11.10
Yikes, among the recent news stories to be neurotic about, this one pegs the meter...how a measured weakening in the Earth's magnetic poles may cause 'em to flip, and in the meantime, the stuff that protects us from the solar wind may be MIA. In the slashdot discussion I got this from, they point out that it could be happening "in the next 1000 years or so", but still...the number of things like global warming, pollution, and nuclear terrorism that make me not want to worry about longevity treatments or bother with cyrogenics...or want to hesitate before having kids...keeps going up.
Funny of the Moment
The Brunching Shuttlecocks responses to the Purity Test are funny, especially if you're familiar with these from way back (I'll let you do the googling, there are a couple different flavors with different amounts of questions to determine how "pure" you are.)
Software of the Moment
Speaking of things concerning our solar system, Celestia is a cool little simulation that lets you zoom through the solar system and the rest of the Galaxy. The interface isn't the most obvious, however. I recommend going to
ZZZ Tech, where I found the link and where they talk about getting around a bit, or going to the Help menu and clicking on Demo. (That's where I started from to get this shot of the moon with the Earth in the background.)
Pop Culture of the Moment
Washington Post piece on Wonder Woman...looks at her place as an icon from a few different angles.