So I haven't read anything to this effect, but from last Saturday through this Tuesday there are seven astronauts on the Endeavour Shuttle, three in the International Space Station, and three in the Soyuz capsule. I don't know this for a fact, but it seems likely to me that thirteen people is the highest number ever in space at the same time (alien abductions notwithstanding ).

Can anyone corroborate this? I'm surprised that in a society that keeps track of the most trivial sporting statistics, this kind of record could go unnoticed.

"A good engineer will go to any amount of effort to avoid extra effort."

So as I was discussing in an earlier post about Christa McAuliffe's inadvertant role in the Challenger Disaster, it's becoming clear how 'space tourist' Dennis Tito's trip to the International Space Station could result in a disaster having nothing to do with his experience, training, or lack thereof.

I hadn't expected the departure from standard operating procedure to be so similar to Challenger, but there it is. Tito's Soyuz craft took off this morning for the space station, over NASA's objections, as the Endeavour is still docked to the station, pending repair of its computers.

Endeavour is expected to leave on Sunday, but this is by no means a certainty. The Soyuz ship plans to dock with the Station on Monday. Because of the high profile of this mission, and the Russians' need to demonstrate that they have some measure of control, instead of simply taking directives from NASA, they refused to delay the launch by a day or two, to ensure Endeavour's departure.

If Endeavour is still there on Monday, the Russian Space Agency has implied that they'll dock anyhow (the station has more than one docking port). This hasn't been adequately prepared or trained for, and there's a possibility of shearing problems, as you have three very heavy bodies all connected by two relatively small sealed joints (the docking connectors and airlocks).

If I could tell you what could go wrong, it probably wouldn't be a problem, but there are just too many unknowns. In addition, astronauts spent the last few days 'tourist-proofing' the station, an unplanned act that all by itself could initiate a critical unexpected problem.

And of course, the irony is again that if so much pressure hadn't been centered around Tito's 'mission' then there would be a far less likely chance of disaster than there is with all the minor and major changes taking place at the same time in order to accomodate the mission.

Just a small tweak to my earlier predictions: I still think the iPad will resemble what I detailed below, but it may not be released until Macworld Expo New York, in July. The new iBook is a certainty though, and from all accounts it's not going to resemble the existing iBook at all (which is good, like the design or hate it, it's still an awfully big oyster to shlep around town/campus/playground).

So, for Tuesday, think iBook, and possibly iPhoto. For July, think iPad and new, most likely LCD-based, iMacs.

Hey! Congrats! You're reading Fury on the new server! I'm still working out a few kinks. If you notice something that you think's not working, please let me know!

I'll be surprised if this went off without a(nother) hitch, so please be vocal about anything that's broken!

Happy weekend...

Not a month goes by that you don't hear about this group or that group decrying the evils of sex and violence on TV and movies, and how they're desensitizing our youth to sex and violence, making them more likely to hurt other people or lessening their sexual ethics.

My feelings of the validity of these points notwithstanding, I find it interesting that they always focus on R-rated movies, violent cop shows, and morally loose situational comedies as the perpetuators of this evil, and children as the victims.

What is surprising to me is that nobody seems to consider the daytime soap as harmful, despite the fact that daytime soaps subsist on a steady stream of lies, deception, sexual promiscuity based on the intent to lie or deceive, kill, maim, or otherwise create false drama on a daily, if not hourly basis. Of course the quick answer is that the 'victims,' that is to say, children, aren't home to watch daytime soaps, so they can't have an impact. But what if they're not the only victims?

What if, through daytime TV, we're raising a generation of adults who are just as desensitized to the kinds of acts portrayed on daytime TV, and though more mature, may be just as susceptible to this desensitization because it's packaged in a more 'realistic' and serialized format which sucks people in to such a degree, that for many avid viewers, the characters become a part of their life?

In short, I wonder how many of those protesting against violence on television are closet soap addicts...

Since every email address that ends in '.fury.com' goes to me (but not for much longer. Check for an announcement in the next couple hours), I get dozens of emails each day from spammers, mailing lists, and other email broadcasters to random email addresses @fury.com.

One or two each day are from an MSN community someone signed up for with a fury.com address. It's the 'X-Men Hangout' and after reading a few of the messages I get from there, I see now that I was clearly wrong when I said that daytime soaps might be the root of TV evil. I understand now that it's animated cartoons.

It would be easy for me to fix the mistake and unsubscribe the address from the list, but I just can't bring myself to do it, when insights into humanity (and I use the word in its loosest possible fashion) like this one from 'Drak_Vampiella' make it to my inbox:

"My ideal man would be like doom powerful... ice man and gohan look after me but i want proper love... my pic... Please help me. I WANT SINGLE EVIL MEN LIKE DOOM OR SOMEONE LIKE THAT."

Then again, I should use my powers for good. Maybe I should try to get Ms. Vampiella together with Sergeant First Class Bruner.

As if finishing the semester, getting ready for graduation, and fighting with my mother isn't enough, yesterday I had a midterm in MCB and I had to put up with this. The cause of the protest is irrelevant. That they actively tried to prohibit me and my 600 classmates from taking a test that had nothing to do with their issue shows just how misguided protests can get. It's just an opinion of one, but this one is now set against listening to their issue simply because of the inconsiderate and harmful manner in which they tried to 'educate' me (by stomping and yelling at the top of their lungs to disrupt the exam).

I find it wryly amusing that the police arrested people because they were interfering with students access to the building, but they didn't start making arrests until 4:30, after the demonstration had been in full swing for four hours, and classes were done for the day.

Now if only that were the worst of the issues I have to tackle today.

So Apple's planned a 'media event' for May 1st (yes, the aforementioned Beltane/Jury Duty/Term Paper day). People are speculating on new iBooks, new iMacs, a replacement cube, and all that. I have a slightly different view I'd like to put forth for consideration.

When Steve Jobs simplified the Apple product line into the 2x2 matrix of portable/desktop by consumer/professional, he made a bold statement about the direction of the company. Later, when he introduced the cube as a 'midrange' desktop, he left a hole in the matrix.

For months people have been speculating on the development of a midrange notebook to round out the 6-product line. Most speculation has gone towards a subnotebook. Something to replace the beloved Duo/2400 line.

The problem (if you can call it that) was that Apple managed to deliver a stunning TiBook in January which, while not a subnotebook, was thin, light, and inexpensive enough to seriously cut into the market such a machine would have. To differentiate a midrange notebook enough to carve a market would mean creating a subnotebook's subnotebook, a machine under 3 lbs. Even with Apple's newfound prowess for industrial and mechanical design, any such machine would take some serious hits in functionality.

I believe that Apple has hit upon a solution to this problem, creating a product which can differentiate itself from the iBook and TiBook enough to carve a healthy market, and moreover, create a machine that even current Mac owners with current equipment would want to compliment their existing machine.

The key isn't to fill the center spot. Apple's answer is to move the iBook into the midrange spot, and create a true consumer portable...

Tuesday, May 1st, Apple Computer will unveil the iPad:

• A tablet-based Macintosh, with no internal keyboard or trackpad.
• Dimensions: 11.5" x 9" x 0.7"
• Airport Standard
• One USB port
• Internal HD
• No media bay
• IrDA port
• Single PC-card slot
• Headphone jack and dual speakers
• 12.1", 1024x768 active-matrix touchscreen w/stylus (though a finger will work fine)
• Software-enabled softkeyboard for on-screen typing. Alternatively, the user can plug in a USB keyboard/mouse.
• 5 hour battery with docking charging stand
• Completely portable, intended to be used in the lap, on the table, in the kitchen, in front of the TV.
• Between 2 and 3 lbs.
• $999

The target user for this machine is the person who already has one or more macs, and has (or will purchase) an airport base, or other airport-equipped mac. This will be positioned as a value-add to their existing configuration. A web browser they'll actually take into the bedroom, family room, or bathroom, to surf the net, check and reply to email, or do any other light-duty work without being tied to the desk.

Away from the home, it's the perfect machine to take with you everywhere, without being concerned about an expensive 6 lb portable. With a merlin ricochet or CDPD card for the PC-Card slot, the iPad will be net-enabled nearly anywhere.

At the $999 price point, there will be a strong demand from people who already have a primary machine (even existing Powerbook owners). This is the machine you can take to your bedroom to use as an alarm clock, using your iTunes library (even your songs on another machine in the house), or a streaming mp3 station, to wake you up. When you cozy up to the TV, you can bring the iPad to continue that instant message conversation with a friend or loved one.

In short, use it for all the things you thought you'd use a powerbook for, before you got tired of balancing the pb on one hand, lugging it around, or opening it up in limited space.

Of course, with Airport, iPads could create a peer-to-peer environment on the fly, and at $1000 apiece, they're even more affordable for school environments.

In short, it's more than a PDA, less than an iBook, and every inch fitting Apple's vision of digital convergence, while at the same time leveraging off of an existing user base that's already wireless friendly to pull off what only Apple can at this point in time.

This is the next big thing...

My father and I are notorious punsters, but we make no pretense that our puns are any good.

Today though I saw a teriffic one. A company truck for a business called "Incahoots."

"So what" you ask? Well, I'll tell you: they're an importer of Peruvian Owls...