Neat-o!

I missed the live coverage of the launch of the SpaceX Falcon 9 yesterday, but the video coverage I watched this morning was the next best thing (mostly because (a) I picked up some industry terminology and (b) I could skip to the good parts and not have to listen to a a lot of prattle about this and that in the runup to liftoff).

Now, it's likely that 100 years from now (and probably much sooner) nobody will recall this flight as the first time a rocket successfully lofted a payload and then returned to the ground to land vertically (almost as in some old-time science fiction films, such as Destination Moon, if memory serves).

But it's big news today—the kind that doesn't rate screamingly tall headlines, true, but big nevertheless.

Being able to recover rockets for reuse is a big win for the space industry. And though there will undoubtedly be hurdles to overcome along the way, making rockets reusable will cut the cost of getting into space, which is where I believe the future lies for us Earthlings.

Cheers...

Dear Microsoft...

I nether wish to "See what's new" nor "Update Office" right now.

Neither do I really wish to keep closing the annoying notification to "GET THE NEW OFFICE" that appears—Providence preserve us—at the top of every file I open.

I suppose I could just make up my mind to just tolerate this annoyance, but for three little factors:

(1) There is no such thing as "too much screen real estate." That which steals display area for no good reason offends me, especially when I am working to deadline.

(2) Surely a company with such a wide and deep pool of programming talent ought to be able to come up with a way to offer customers—you know, those people who have sort of a direct effect on your bottom line?—a third option, perhaps something along the lines of "Stop bugging me!"

(3) I'm already a customer and will probably get around to checking out what's new eventually. In the meantime, why should I have to tolerate what amounts to work-disrupting spam from a company I buy stuff from?

I understand you want to get the word out. I get it, I really do. But really, showing this message in every farblegargling file? Ugh!

Personally, I wouldn't mind having to dismiss your annoying message bar, say, once a day until I get good and ready to either "See what's new" or "Upgrade Office." Until then (or thereabouts), consider me an annoyed customer.

I remain... etc.

An inspiring story...

Today, I ran across the story of a U.S. Army Master Sergeant who, late in January 1945, while a recently captured German prisoner-of-war at Stalag IX-A, ordered all of the nearly 1,300 prisoners-of-war under his command to fall out when the Germans ordered only Jewish POWs to do so on the prisoners' first morning at the POW camp.

From the article:

"We're not going to do that," Edmonds told his men, some of them still remember 70 years later. "Geneva Convention affords only name, rank and serial number, and so that's what we're going to do. All of us are falling out."

[...]

Edmonds, a Christian, was true to his word. The next morning, all 1,275 soldiers stood at attention in front of their barracks. The commander of the camp was furious, storming up to Edmonds and shouting, "All of you can't be Jewish?!"

"We are all Jews here," Edmonds responded.

[...]

"I'm commanding you to have your Jewish men step forward," the camp commander barked at Edmonds. Edmonds reminded the commander of the Geneva Conventions, telling him that he was entitled only to his prisoners' names, ranks and serial numbers.

The commander pulled out his gun and pressed it into Edmonds' forehead [...] "You will have your Jewish men step forward or I will shoot you on the spot."

[...] Edmonds' reply: "If you shoot, you'll have to kill all of us, and you will have to stand for war crimes after we win this war."

The major turned red, furious that a POW was challenging him, but he put his gun in his holster and walked away.

And wouldn't you know it, after the war, Roddie Edmonds never shared his story, not even with his family.

A very inspiring story, indeed.

Cheers...