Tadych.us

Good news, bad news day

Good news:

iPad 2 would have bested 1990s-era supercomputers

And, in Bad news:

Microsoft’s acquisition of Skype for $8.5 billion becomes official

Space Shuttle Announcement Today

Today, on the 30th annniversary of the first shuttle launch (and 50th anniversary of the first man in space), NASA will announce what museums will get the Space Shuttles after they are decommissioned.

Three space flying shuttles exist. Discovery, the work horse of the fleet and the one that I was able to see launch last April, will probably go and replace Enterprise at the Smithsonian in DC. Enterprise never flew in space, but was used for early drop tests from a NASA 747 and other test programs, and will move to a new home also. Parts of Enterprise were also used when NASA tested it’s theory about insulation foam from the orange tank breaking off, and punching a hole in the wing of Columbia, which was destroyed upon reentry in 2003.

Atlantis (last mission scheduled for June 28) and Endeavor (on the launch pad right now, planning a April 29 launch) will go to other museums. One will probably head to the West Coast, so that this historic fleet will be accessible to everyone in the country. Most of the museums that applied to get a shuttle (and I think there were over 2 dozen) can list some significance to why they should get one, and it often is that a part of the shuttle was created/tested/designed near them. I don’t expect a shuttle to come to the MidWest, and I don’t even know if any museums near or in Wisconsin applied to get a shuttle.

The announcement starts at noon (you may have to check what time zone ‘noon’ is because I am not sure myself) and will be aired live on NASA TV. I may have to take my iPad and find a wi-fi hotspot to watch!

There’s an App for that

This post is the first post I am doing with the App for WordPress on my iPad. From what I can tell, the App works pretty slick, much smoother than I expected.

I have downloaded a bunch of apps, and a bunch of games also. Some of them I like best are:
* Dropbox – let’s me get at my files that are on my PC
* Documents to go premiere – now I can edit files, and syncs to Dropbox
* AppStart – a useful tool to find even more apps
* Planets – a free Solar System app.
* Harbor Master – a fun game where you have to guide ships (does multiplayer)
* TowerMadness – save the sheep from the aliens, and split the screen for two players
* The Weather Channel – pops up notices for severe storms

I could go on and on, but hopefully the ones mentioned above are a look at some of the more non-obvious ones.

When you get your iPad, feel feee to send me a note and we can trade our app ideas.

Avoiding HFCS

HFCS? That is High Fructose Corn Syrup. I would have put it in the title of this post, but I didn’t want to make the ingredient list too-oo long.

So, for Lent us occasional Roman Catholics occasionally give up something that is valuable to us. The idea of fasting, on a different type of scale. You have to lose the meat on Fridays (whoops) and my brother gives up soda, or is it caffeine, for the past several Lents (he really needs to try something different one of these times).

I thought I would try and give up High Fructose Corn Syrup this year for Lent. I am doing it for several reasons. One is to follow my occasional Catholic thoughts. Another reason is for the health benefits (natural versus un-natural consumption of food). The final reason is for the challenge of it, and as you can guess, it is a bit of a challenge.

So, no soda? I thought yes, except for Sierra Mist, which I think is always ‘natural’ now. But my wonderful Melody bought me Mountain Dew Throwback and Pepsi Throwback, which are both made with sugar instead of HFCS. A little different taste (I prefer the HFCS version) but mostly the same.

But no normal ketchup. That means no fast food sandwiches. Except for the Fish sandwich. I thought I was safe here, after checking the ingredient list of tartar sauce. However, Melody told me to check the bun, and sure enough, there is HFCS in the bun! Why? They already put sugar in, couldn’t just a little more sugar be added? I guess not. So, my normal fast food intake has been greatly reduced the past few weeks (darn those online menus and ingredient lists).

Some foods are just impossible to know, like if I go to a Supper Club type of place and order some food. I stay away from the burgers (ketchup, barbecue sauce), but I can get a hot dog with mustard, and I can get my steak with A1 (the A1 is key, ’cause that is how I eat my burgers at home, with mustard and A1, since I was old enough to make my own burgers).

The challenge continues. Luckily, I haven’t found any alcohol with HFCS yet!