Update

Very briefly:
- The diploma should have been signed on Friday, but until it arrives in the mail (I'm not attending the convocation... I'll be in Seattle) it still doesn't quite exist in my mind
- Why, after telling Carleton online and in person that I will not be attending the convocation do they still send me details on what will need to do when I go to the convocation. What is the point of telling them if they ignore it?
- My 2-year contract with NRC has been signed. I have also started on my first project which should keep me fairly busy for the next few months. No, I can't say what it is, but statistics figure largely.
- Headed to Seattle for 4 days next week to present at a conference. By now the presentation is getting to be old-hat, but at least this will be the last time I will have to present it.
- We are now looking for a house (freehold or condo) near NRC (hence the occasional post to that regard). It appears to be a buyer's market with housing prices dropping as the spring wears on. So far I have two agents courting us with offers, but we're not in a rush.

Tech stories

Make my mirror from moon dust - NASA scientists have come up with a plan to build giant mirrors for a moon-based telescope by mixing small amounts of carbon nanotubes and epoxies together with moon dust. Experiments on Earth seem to indicate that the combination could be used to make a reasonably good substitute for the glass used in mirrors here on Earth. The figure they could make a mirror 50 meters in diameter, dwarfing the largest mirror on Earth (10.4 meters).  The material could also be used to build habitats for astronauts staying on the moon.

Teens bare more than their sole on their cell phones - 18 Colorado teens were caught passing around nude pictures of themselves taken on their cell phones, but similar stories have been emerging from around the US. In one case, a 17-year-old now faces charges of distributing child pornography for posting pictures of his 16-year-old ex-girlfriend on his MySpace page, but he is not alone in discovering that what he was doing is illegal. It appears that hormones and cellphone cameras don't mix well.

Bananas facing extinction - Panama disease, a fungal blight that first drove the Gros Michel banana into near-extinction in the 1960s, is now affecting the Cavendish that we currently enjoy. There is currently no cure for the disease so enjoy those bananas while you can: it's only a matter of time before it crosses the Pacific to hit the Latin American crops.

Big Brother takes to the sky - The European Union is proposing installing a camera in the back of every seat to analyze your face for signs of air-rage or potential terrorist activity. Certain combinations of activity would trigger an alert to the crew who would then check things out.

IEEE does a special issue on the technological singularity - I just finished reading the print version., which is a series of essays by a variety of people with different views on the supposed coming singularity in which, it is envisioned, thinking machines will change the world in ways we can't now conceive including, according to some, allowing us to upload our personalities into silicon. Whichever side of the argument you fall on, the articles are at least insightful and thought-provoking.