Final Launch of the Space Shuttle Discovery

This is the last time you will see Discovery rise for the stars and this is how it does it:
44,000,000 Horsepower
12,500,000 newtons produced and for 124 seconds
2,800,000 pounds of force per rocket booster

Another view:  http://gizmodo.com/#!5769527/this-is-the-last-launch-of-the-space-shuttle-discovery

Windows 7 God Mode

Interested in having every Windows 7 operating system control at your fingertips in one folder?  I am and this is a great tweak for Windows 7.  It is called God Mode.  It was discovered a while ago and is a cool option to have.  By creating a folder on your desktop (or anywhere for that matter) and renaming with a certain text string, you can have a single point of contact to change anything and everything on your computer.  Here is how to do it:

• Create a folder on your desktop (or wherever).
• right click, choose New, choose Folder
• When available to name it, put the following string in:
• GodMode.{ED7BA470-8E54-465E-825C-99712043E01C}
• When you hit Enter it will name the folder God Mode and change the icon to a Control Panel icon.
• Done.  Open it up and every Control Panel option for Windows 7 is at your fingertips.

Enjoy.

Shuttle Challenger - 25 Years Ago Today

President Ronald Regan's Memorable Speech

Text of President Ronald Reagan's address to the nation after the explosion of the space shuttle Challenger, which killed seven astronauts. It was delivered from the Oval Office of the White House at 5 p.m. EST on Jan. 28, 1986.

Ladies and gentlemen, I'd planned to speak to you tonight to report on the state of the Union, but the events of earlier today have led me to change those plans. Today is a day for mourning and remembering. Nancy and I are pained to the core by the tragedy of the shuttle Challenger. We know we share this pain with all of the people of our country. This is truly a national loss. Nineteen years ago, almost to the day, we lost three astronauts in a terrible accident on the ground. But we've never lost an astronaut in flight; we've never had a tragedy like this. And perhaps we've forgotten the courage it took for the crew of the shuttle. But they, the Challenger Seven, were aware of the dangers, but overcame them and did their jobs brilliantly. We mourn seven heroes: Michael Smith, Dick Scobee, Judith Resnik, Ronald McNair, Ellison Onizuka, Gregory Jarvis, and Christa McAuliffe. We mourn their loss as a nation together.

For the families of the seven, we cannot bear, as you do, the full impact of this tragedy. But we feel the loss, and we're thinking about you so very much. Your loved ones were daring and brave, and they had that special grace, that special spirit that says, "Give me a challenge, and I'll meet it with joy." They had a hunger to explore the universe and discover its truths. They wished to serve, and they did. They served all of us. We've grown used to wonders in this century. It's hard to dazzle us. But for 25 years the United States space program has been doing just that. We've grown used to the idea of space, and perhaps we forget that we've only just begun. We're still pioneers. They, the members of the Challenger crew, were pioneers.

And I want to say something to the schoolchildren of America who were watching the live coverage of the shuttle's takeoff. I know it is hard to understand, but sometimes painful things like this happen. It's all part of the process of exploration and discovery. It's all part of taking a chance and expanding man's horizons. The future doesn't belong to the fainthearted; it belongs to the brave. The Challenger crew was pulling us into the future, and we'll continue to follow them.

I've always had great faith in and respect for our space program, and what happened today does nothing to diminish it. We don't hide our space program. We don't keep secrets and cover things up. We do it all up front and in public. That's the way freedom is, and we wouldn't change it for a minute. We'll continue our quest in space. There will be more shuttle flights and more shuttle crews and, yes, more volunteers, more civilians, more teachers in space. Nothing ends here; our hopes and our journeys continue. I want to add that I wish I could talk to every man and woman who works for NASA or who worked on this mission and tell them: "Your dedication and professionalism have moved and impressed us for decades. And we know of your anguish. We share it."

There's a coincidence today. On this day 390 years ago, the great explorer Sir Francis Drake died aboard ship off the coast of Panama. In his lifetime the great frontiers were the oceans, and an historian later said, "He lived by the sea, died on it, and was buried in it." Well, today we can say of the Challenger crew: Their dedication was, like Drake's, complete.

The crew of the space shuttle Challenger honored us by the manner in which they lived their lives. We will never forget them, nor the last time we saw them, this morning, as they prepared for their journey and waved goodbye and "slipped the surly bonds of earth" to "touch the face of God."

Darkest Day in 372 Years

The lunar eclipse will happen Tuesday morning at 12:33am Central Time (tomorrow). The full process will take about 4 hours and should end around 4am Central Time.  So why is this the Darkest Day in 372 Years?  The last eclipse to fall on the Winter Solstice (which this is and which is also the shortest day of the year) was in 1638.  I am not sure but I doubt many of you were around to see that one so this is a bit of history for us all.

Things to accomplish during this time:

1. Locate the moon (hint: it's in the sky above you)
2. Around 1:41am the whole moon should be covered.
3. Now is the time to start your freakish rituals and consume...well...what you need to consume.
4. Dress like Barney the dinosaur and call yourself pretty in purple.
5. Violent rituals have also taken place during lunar eclipses.  Do what you will but I do not recommend it.

So around 4am you should be completely spent after all the fun you have had torturing small animals or dressing as your favorite cartoon character to appease the gods (gods of what I am not quite sure).

Enjoy.

Body Browser by Google

Google has release Body Browser. Sounds a little dirty but it is really a cool application. You will need Google's new Chrome Beta installed to use it but I think it is worth it. You can view the skeletal, endocrine, cardiovascular and other systems of the body with this tool. Below is an image of the skeletal system.

Along with this you can move the image, resize it  and phase in different systems all at the same time.  Clicking on a bone or a system part will bring up a tool tip showing what that system part is called.

At this time I cannot seem to find any detailed information about each body part but I think it is pretty new so I am sure that will come with time.

Have fun and enjoy this application by Google.

Link:  Body Browser