Normallacy should resume shortly

Today should finish the edits on the thesis (that would have been completed last week if I wasn't brain-fried from working on it constantly, resulting in my taking some "mental health" days). It now goes to my supervisor for review and, assuming few to no more edits, to the printers for copying and binding, then on to Graduate Studies to archive as they see fit. At that point, my work is done and I just wait for them to mail the diploma (No ceremony for me. Even if I had wanted to attend, and I don't, I will be in Seattle that day presenting at a conference).

Tech posts will resume either this weekend or next week, whenever I am not sick of staring at a computer screen.

Meanwhile, I have chainmail to work on in the Real World(tm).


Final news... Arthur C. Clarke died yesterday at the age of 90. Just so that you can see that I'm actually reading the news occasionally.

Assorted news

Crucifixion is bad for you - Really, it's true. So warns the RC Church when dozens of people go to the Philippines to get nailed to the cross. So remember kids, don't try this at home, or anywhere else for that matter. Found on Rick Mercer's blog.

There's nothing sinister about Mr. Dextre -  Although Canadian media has been pretty low-key about our putting another robotic marvel into space, the U.S. media are crowing about Canada's giant space robot. Now consider... we have space lasers (to scan the space shuttle), robot arms, and now a robot minion. Canada is now poised for conquest. If people wouldn't mind, that is. Found on Rick Mercer's blog.

Canada uses legal loophole to squirm it's way out of combating global warming - According to the Conservative government, the reason we aren't even trying to meet our Kyoto emission targets because federal lawyers say the Kyoto Protocol, as written, has no legal consequences for non-compliance. Mind you, this ignores the political consequences for being a non-complying signatory. Also found on Rick Mercer's blog.

Saturn's rings due to vanish - at least from our perspective. Every 14 to 15 years the planet's wobble makes it turn its rings edge on to us. They should completely disappear, briefly, on 4 September 2009.

An earth-sized planet hidden on our solar system - according to Japanese researchers, models of current planetary motions seems to indicate not only that there should be a planet roughly the size of Earth somewhere past Pluto, but approximately where it should be located. The planet is believed to orbit at between 20 and 40 degrees off the ecliptic plane so would not be found where we would expect to look. The planet would be composed mostly of ice over a small rocky core and would orbit the sun once every thousand years.