Joe Kittinger set the record for the highest jump in 1960, when he dropped from a helium balloon at an altitude of 31 kilometers.

I have never heard of Felix Baumgartner.  Have you? He’s apparently crazy. Crazy like a fox crazy? I’m not so sure. Mr. Felix Baumgartner plans to ride a pressurized capsule connected to a helium balloon, to the height of 36,575 kilometers (equivalent to 22 miles), and jump out. Can you imagine that? Attempting to go faster than sound, with nothing between you and the atmosphere, except a suit and mask?

Why the suit and mask? I read original the article over at New Scientist. In order to reach supersonic speeds in freefall, a diver has to start at a very high altitude of over 31 kilometers. At that altitude, without a pressurized suit and mask/helmet, the atmospheric pressure will cause the gases in your blood to boil out. That’s sick. What is the shock wave going to do to him?

I was wondering how this guy could afford all this. The hot helium balloon, the pressurized capsule, the practice flights, the wind tunnel test runs. Red Bull is sponsoring him. Geez, why am I not surprised?

I decided to look back to the one and only time that I went skydiving back on Aug 6 2004. For many, many years, I dreamed of going skydiving. Short of going into space, it was the ultimate type of event. After I did it, I felt good about it, but that was it for me. I got it out of my system. What is unexplainable is that I have no interest in doing it again. Strange, no? I didn’t have a bad experience, and I was only a little afraid while going up. I’m glad I finally did it.

Here’s the odd part. Still this day, I don’t know why I don’t feel a need to do it again. It was cool to do it, but freefall wasn’t this astounding experience. It was falling with the wind in your face. That’s probably what is holding me back. It was a cool thing to do, but it didn’t change my life. I’d do it again if Red Bull gave me money. Hell yeah!

Last year, my wife introduced Joshua (and Lily via the trickle-down effect) to yoga for kids. Before I had even tried yoga myself, she bought this yoga-for-kids DVD set, featuring yoga instructor Marsha Wenig.  Joshua enjoys it a lot, and has his own yoga mat to along with my wife’s. Lily likes to participate too, but she’s basically hanging around.

Turns out that more parents are trying out yoga for the kids. According to CNN’s article, “Yoga helps even little ones channel energy, emotion“, hundreds of studios across country teach yoga to children. Wow, I had no idea.

When I first changed my major in college back in 1997, I was desperate to find a good job in the technology space. I was starting from square numero uno, with no real world experience in IT, apart from a semester running the computer labs at Univ@ Albany for a semester (as part of a class), and while at a small college near my parents house in the spring of 1997. 

I attended summer classes at Pace University, registered at the Pace Co-op program office for internships, brushed up my resume, and interviewed one location after another. IBM’s TJ Watson center, Avon, and finally Reader’s Digest. Of all my choices, I accepted the position at RDA in their Help Desk initially doing analysis work for the first semester. After a regular help desk employee moved on, I jumped at the chance to take her place on the phones. I spent the next eight months providing level 1 support, including the occasional office visit.

It was an interesting experience, and I truly loved the people I worked with. Some really nice people over there, but RDA was just beginning to experience troubles.  That same year, I witnessed my first layoff, as one day, the halls were empty, and middle management was gone. The stock was in bad shape, and the old timers were grumbling about retirement.

By August 1997, they offered me any open internship position within the firm if I would stay, but I wanted to try another company, so I parted with a heavy heart, and moved to another intership with Kraft in their Coffees & Cereals division. People have come and gone, and I went to a few get-togethers of RDA staff in the late 90’s, but life went on for me after I graduated and started working full time.

I just read an article in the NY Times about RDA’s current woes, and it saddens me. The article, A Reader’s Digest That Grandma Never Dreamed Of, states that the company has moved out of the beautiful Pleasantville/Chappaqua campus. More people have been laid off, artwork sold, brands have suffered. I hope the management team is able to pull it together to save the company and the brand, even though it’s saddled with onerous debt.

This is pretty amazing.  A pregnant mother in Colorado went into labor, but she and the baby seemingly died.  Later after the baby was born via C-section, she revived.  Furthermore, the doctors were able to revive the baby too. Crazy.

Tavern on the Green is closing on Dec 31st? It’s world-famous, and yet I’ve never eaten there. That sucks.

Read about this a while back. Pretty neat accident, but I think there’s a market for security robots in the home. In Israel, a couple came home to find that their Roomba had killed a venomous snake that snuck into their house.

…one of the autonomous vacuum cleaners took down a certain Vipera palaestinae (a venomous snake found in the Middle East). Considered a leading cause of snakebites within its geographic range, the snake was found mangled ’round one of the robot’s rotating brushes when Eli and Efi Frida returned to their home in Galilee, which they share with their two children, aged four and seven (as well as several cats and dogs).

We’re expecting the first big snowstorm of the season this weekend. Looks pretty bad — 12 inches of snow. I can tell, because we’re in the purple portion of the map illustrating NJ below. Normally, I’d be more excited, but we’re supposed to be at a Secret Santa party among friends on Saturday.  I’m just not sure about all this. I hope everything works out okay.

First storm of the season for us. Looks like a lot of snow is coming our way.

Uh, hello, fellow Facebook members. Do you remember how Facebook rolled out the new privacy changes earlier this month? Do you know why?  Facebook has completed distribution deals with both Google and Microsoft to distribute your FB data (wall postings, etc.) Don’t believe me?  It’s true.  Is it interesting that FB’s new default privacy settings allow the less restrictive access (everyone) for its 350 million users?

Read more in Wall Street Journal writer Julia Angwin’s article How Facebook Is Making Friending Obsolete. You know, the common advice is that one should be careful what you post on FB and other social networking sites (and blogs.) You never know who is reading it, even among your friends.  If your data is now discoverable via search engine, it’s even more out there.

Well, this is interesting. Last Saturday, UNC Coach Roy Williams had a fan escorted out of the arena for cheering for the competition during a game against Presbyterian College. I’m not a fan of hecklers, nor could I hear what this particular individual in the stands was saying, but….. aren’t you allowed to not be a fan of any particular team?  I don’t think we have enough information here on the heckler, but I’m generally surprised that the guy was escorted out.

I read on Engadget today about Autonet Mobile, and how GM will be rolling it out as an option this year on seven Chevy models — the Equinox, Traverse, Silverado, Tahoe, Suburban, Avalanche and Express.  This is the first time I’ve heard of it. I checked the Autonet Mobile online, and it promises you Wi-Fi in the car. You have to pay to get the wireless router installed in your vehicle, and pay a monthly fee (starting at $29), but it’s Wi-Fi. 

Wondering how they were providing Internet on the go, I looked into it more, and now I’m less impressed. It’s just a service using 3G and 2.5G cellular service.  You don’t use a Verizon or AT&T — Autonet Mobile is your Internet service provider. Cellular service?  Besides basic Internet web surfing or chatting, you definitely would be inhibited by the 3G or 2.5G bandwidth. 

Over the 3G network, download speeds average from 400kps-800kps. Upload ranges from 128kps-300kps.  When not on 3G the average download is 120kps-200kps and 50kps-100kps for upload.

Are they kidding? Don’t try to watch a movie!.  Also, I hope the data throughput isn’t be shared by multiple passengers in the car.