The Alpine Education Association's Retirement Banquet was held at UVU yesterday evening. I was there along with several of the Space Center's oldest and most faithful staff. We had a good time celebrating our combined achievements over the last 23 years.
I'm glad I only have to do this retirement thing once. I'm tired of wearing my suit. I'm tired of wearing a long sleeve white shirt. I'm tired of wearing a tie.
For Example....
Just before the dinner started, I made a quick trip to the rest room. I decided to adjust my tie a bit after washing my hands. Fiddling with my tie lead to pulling on the collar to 'stretch' it out. The stretching was more than my top button could stand. It popped off my shirt.
The Good News...
There was good news - my eating disorder was held in check throughout the dinner. I DIDN'T SPILL ON MY TIE! I always spill something on my tie during meals like this. In fact, it took me awhile just to find an unstained tie in the closet for tonight's event. My doctor tells me that people with my disorder cope by stuffing their cloth napkins in their shirt collars instead of across their laps - done to protect their ties and shirts. That may work at home, but not at a formal banquet, especially when I don't have a top button to hold the napkin in place.
All in all, it was a fun evening. I have two more events to survive - an retirement open house for me at Central and another at Stone Gate later this month. More information on both will be forthcoming.
Farpoint's First Class Starts Tomorrow
I'm sitting in Renaissance Academy's small faculty room waiting to meet our Space EdVentures Foundation's Professor of the Computing Arts. Brent Anderson earned the title from the years he spent leading our Programming Guild at the Space Center. He has since moved on with life, thinking all things Space Center were firmly in his rear view mirror, that is until I enforced the Space Center's reactivation clause (printed in the smallest font at the bottom of the last page of the volunteer / employment contract all children sign when they start at the Space Center). Last October, Brent received my letter revoking his reserve status. The letter told him to report immediately for duty. Brent honored the call, and made himself available for "Duties as Needed". One of those duties starts tomorrow. Brent will be teaching Farpoint's first web development class.
I've a feeling Fortuna's creed "no good deed shall go unpunished" may bring our temptress on a quest to see what the old Space Center gang are up to when she notices my Battlestar parked in the Renaissance parking lot at 9:30 A.M. on a Saturday morning. Fortuna, the Goddess of Fortuna, toys with us like a cat with a crippled mouse. She darkens the air with a misfortune spell, then enjoys watching the aftermath as we struggle to remain afloat in a turbulent ocean of chaos.
I'm determined to thwart her desires by using one of our time tested incantations to counter her spell, "Prepare, for whatever can go wrong, will go wrong". Brent and I are meeting, wands drawn, to do the "preparation". If we do our job right, any misfortune spell Fortuna casts will be met with one of our preparation charms. The darkness of misfortune will collide with the light of preparation in a tremendous atmospheric vortex , leaving the class oblivious to the titanic struggle of spells and intentions which I'm predicting will explode over the school from 10:00 to 11:30 tomorrow morning.
By the way, the class is full for this go around. It will be taught again in the fall if you're interested.
Space and Science News
Are We Living in a Computer Generated Reality?
Science fiction has a way of pushing scientific thought to new and bizarre realms. One such idea was brought up by the Matrix – you know, the idea that humanity is living in a computer simulation. Of course, whenever someone comes up with a crazy idea about reality, someone else is asking the question “can I test that?” Turns out, for this version of reality, we can.
Silas Beane, one of the lead scientists on the project, says a virtual reality would have limitations and constraints, in spite of the computing power allotted for the simulation. These limitations are observable by people who live within the virtual reality. Of course, if you’re ‘on the inside looking out’ it’s important to be able to identify these constraints. You do that by building your own computer simulated universe (that is irony). Read On
Cleveland Clinic's If We Could See Inside Other People's Hearts.
Please watch. It will be the best 4 minutes of your day. I promise.
The Imaginarium
Where making the extraordinary from the ordinary is required.
Who wouldn't buy one of these?
The Things that Drive People Like Me Crazy.
Bad Bad things for compulsive people
Creative make up can do wonders.
A perfect illustration of Natural Selection
The Coop's Godfather
The Master of Balance
No, I don't think you are
Cheaters get better every year
The iFlush
The Way it Should Be
Just because its clever and imaginative doesn't mean its good
What a depressing way to great guests
This is what Payday feels like
A college student's piggy bank
Inflatable lawn tent
How many animals can you find?
Ice Cream, My definition of happiness
A real translation problem
