Rest in Peace Carl Sagan

To honour the tenth anniversary of Carl Sagan's passing, Joel Schlosberg has been promoting a Carl Sagan memorial blog-a-thon. Thought I'd take a moment to commemorate Mr. Sagan, and the impact he had on me as a young lad.

Say what you may about Sagan as a scientist, his role as a popularizer of science is indisputable. His book "Dragons of Eden" cracked my skull open to a world of ideas that school and parents had yet to offer up with any endearing perspective. The TV series "Cosmos" was one of the first shows I remember being nearly-addicted to. His passion for the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence got me hooked on radio astronomy and has kept me running SETI@Home until this very day.

Mr. Sagan, rest in peace, and thanks for the inspiration.

Blog-Tag

Fellow 15poster Vanessa recently dubbed me "it" in the game of Blog-Tag. Kicked off by Jeff Pulver, the rules are simple: post 5 things most people don't know about you, and then tag others to do the same. Since I don't run a personal blog of my own, 15posts.com will have to be my soapbox:

• My middle name is Paul. My father's middle name is Paul. His father's middle name was Paul. The name honours my great grandmother, Millie Paul, daughter of William James Paul, MP
• In the 1980's I appeared in the Doug Cameron video for "Mona With The Children". I have not thought of this in years ... and was amazed to find it on YouTube.
• If I didn't live in Toronto, Canada I would choose to live in Hay-On-Wye, Wales.
• I've wanted to be a part of the first wave of Mars colonists for as long as I can remember.
• I started saving for a trip into space the moment I heard space tourism was becoming practical.

OK 15posters ... tag, you're it.

Presenting my second life in Second Life

Chad Huffhines (aka Doug Walker) of Second Life presented at the first ever Second Life CaseCamp. It was definitely one of the odder experiences of recent years.

I am no SL veteran, so upon being asked up to the stage, my first step was to cleverly fall in the moat that surrounds the stage then fly up and ram into the presentation screens, plummeting to the ground like a swallow tied to a coconut. After some recovery, I started to get into the groove and spoke about the idea, the journey, the audience, the results and the challenge that faces the World RPS Society.

The crowd seemed to like it, but I certainly felt the disconnect of being in my home speaking to my computer, but actually addressing 50+ people from around the world. It is very hard to get any real feedback from a virtual audience until it is all over and people start clapping and chatting again.
Overall though it was a great and unique experience and I thoroughly enjoyed Michael Seaton, Eli, and John's presentations as well. I would really like to thank the organizers of the event, specifically CC Chapman, Kate Trgovac, and Lynette (although I am sure there are many more involved who I wasn't in contact with). The Crayonville Venue in Second Life was well-suited to the purpose (except for that cursed moat).

glimmers of hope in the absence of responsibility

Several green(er) technologies have been announced recently that deserve some attention and praise:

40.7% efficient solar cell
The SAX-40 blended wing plane
TX Active smog-eating cement

Surface water on Mars?

Today, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration's Mars Exploration Program made an announcement I've waited most of my life to hear: water may occasionally flow on the surface of Mars.