Author: John

Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith

Revenge of the Sith
But before I go, a short review of Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith…

I thought the film was pretty good. I fully enjoyed myself during the entire thing. But the
it was not without its problems… The dialog was… bad in most parts.
The lines reminded me of something you might hear in a Saturday morning
movie serial from the ’40s. Lucas might have been shooting for that as he is
a great fan of those kinds of films (the original Star Wars was supposed to
be more like a serial than a movie). Many scenes, to me anyway, left me
feeling disjointed once the transition to the next scene occurred. It’s as
it something had been missed in the pervious scene or it had been shortened
so they could put in more fight scenes. It got better once Anakin started to
get his full Sith on. I guess that Steven Spielberg directed one of the Jedi
fight scenes so he had his ‘in your face, the camera is far too close for
you to figure out what is going on’ thing for a while. I suspect it will
look fine if you see it on a smaller screen in your own home.
All in all I’d say that this is by far the best prequel he has done.

Ariston Point-Of-Use Hot Water Heaters

Poof

Once I buy a home or condo I think I’ll get a few of these.

Designed and made in Italy, Ariston hot water heaters have a lot going for them. They install directly under the sink or wherever you want hot water. They produce hot water instantly – you don’t have to wait for the water to get hot (80 billon gallons of water is wasted in the U.S. this way). The hot water doesn’t lose heat as it travels through pipes from a distant heater. The tanks are well insulated with glass so there is little heat lost. Hey, they aren’t the most efficient hot water system out there – solar and tankless water heaters still beat them -but for a easy retrofit these aren’t a bad choice. They range in price from $139 to $169

Treehugger: Ariston Point-Of-Use Hot Water Heaters
green, water, heater, instant

Hot Probe On Probe Action

Look sir, probes

Too cool! I love space stuff.

Photographs from NASA’s Mars Global Surveyor spacecraft released today are the first pictures ever taken of a spacecraft orbiting a foreign planet by another spacecraft orbiting that planet.

The new images of the European Space Agency’s Mars Express and NASA’s Mars Odyssey are available on the Internet from NASA at http://www.nasa.gov/vision/universe/solarsystem/mgs-images.html and from Malin Space Science Systems, the San Diego company that built and operates the camera, at http://www.msss.com/mars_images/moc/2005/05/19/index.html .

Mars Global Surveyor has been orbiting Mars since 1997, Mars Odyssey since 2001. Both are managed for NASA by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, Calif. Mars Express has been in orbit since late 2003.

Mars Express was passing about 155 miles away when the Mars Orbiter Camera on Mars Global Surveyor photographed it on April 20. The next day, the camera caught Mars Odyssey passing 56 to 84 miles away.

All three spacecraft are moving at almost 7,000 miles per hour, and at 62 miles distance the field-of-view of the Mars Orbiter Camera is only 830 yards across. If timing had been off by only a few seconds, the images would have been blank.

Mars Global Surveyor MOC2-1096 Release
mars, NASA, orbiter, probe