Month: January 2008

Well, thats kind of scary

Sentient Developments: Odds of Mars getting plastered by an asteroid lifted to 1 in 25

Asteroid 2007 WD5 was only discovered 2 months ago. Had it been heading towards Earth, we would have been utterly helpless to respond.

On January 30th, there is a 3.9% chance that a 160-foot-diameter asteroid will smash into Mars, possibly creating a crater about a kilometer wide.  While this is incredibly cool for scientists, and on some level for the rest of us, it’s also a little terrifying.  If something like that were headed for, say, Washington, DC, things would be a little more interesting to the average American.

I don’t know how big an area we’d have to evacuate if one was heading for us.

The uncertainty region during the Mars encounter now extends over 400,000 km along a very narrow ellipsoid that is only 600 km wide.

Since 400,000 km is much more than the diameter of Mars, that region must extend well into space.  So I don’t really know how big a spot on Mars is actually in danger of being hit, or how far away one would have to be to avoid it (Assuming one could survive on Mars otherwise).

In any event, I hope we have something taking video of Mars when it happens.  That would be pretty sweet.

Is this legal?

alli –weight loss program for healthy weight loss

Take a look at the link above.  I keep seeing this commercial while the wife watches various Law and Order marathons while she pretends she’s doing work.

The first thing I thought when I saw the logo was “Google”.  I imagine that was intentional, and I imagine their lawyers have determined that they haven’t crossed any lines, but it seems like they must have come pretty close.

Not only that, but their red-blue-yellow-green letters mirror eBay’s, too.

Now, eBay doesn’t have much of a sense of humor, so I imagine if they determine they don’t have a case, they’ll let it go, just mutter to each other at the corporate office.

Google, however, ought to send a nice little note to GlaxoSmithKline, makers of Alli, and tell them in no uncertain terms that they’re a bunch of dicks.  They probably won’t, but it would be cool.

Where do you draw the line between a similar logo and an attempt to piggyback on the good name of another company?  Alli is really, really close to that line if they haven’t actually crossed it.  They aren’t competing with eBay or Google, but that’s not really the issue.

Happy New Year!

So, it’s 2008. The wife and I are enjoying the day off. Well, I am, at least – she has work to do. I think I’m going to bake some bread (Still trying to get a loaf of whole wheat to turn out as nicely as the white loaf did).  And I’ll probably play around on the computer.  Maybe even do something constructive. I don’t have any big resolutions. I’m trying to be more organized and motivated, get more done, and that sort of thing.

The tv is on, and there was just a commercial for a toilet cleaner that kills 99.9% of germs deep down into your toilet.  The commercial ends with a mom walking out after cleaning the toilet, patting her young son on the head as he goes to use it.

I have a better idea when it comes to protecting your kids from germs in the toilet – tell them not to stick their hands in it.  I mean, come on.  Cleaning is great, but toilets are dirty.  You know what we put in there, right?

Anyway, I resolve to be less annoyed by stupid things like that.  I’ll probably still write about them sometimes, though.