Beam Me up blog is the sister/support site For the Beam Me Up podcast. It contains links, discussion and material that might be or have been discussed on the show. Also links to new show listings and material. Be sure to check out the live stream every Saturday at 4pm eastern at http://www.wrfr.org/links.html and select stream
Fox will post the pilot episode of Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles exclusively on Yahoo! for 24 hours beginning Jan. 4 at 12 a.m. ET. The premiere features an introduction by star Lena Headey (Sarah Connor) and will be commercial-free.
The series officially debuts on Fox over two nights: Jan. 13th and 14th.
cool
ScienceDaily reports that Astronomers have found the first indications of highly complex organic molecules in the disk of red dust surrounding a distant star. The eight-million-year-old star, known as HR 4796A, is thought to be in the late stages of planet formation, suggesting that the basic building blocks of life may be common in planetary systems. These observations were taken with the Near-Infrared Multi-Object Spectrometer aboard the Hubble Space Telescope. Researchers found that the spectrum of visible and infrared light scattered by the star's dust disk looks very red, the color produced by large organic carbon molecules called tholins. The spectrum does not match those of other red substances, such as iron oxide. Tholins are hypothesized to have existed on the primitive Earth billions of years ago and may have been precursors to the biomolecules that make up living organisms. Tholins have been detected elsewhere in the solar system, such as in comets and on Saturn's moon Titan, where they give the atmosphere a red tinge. This study is the first report of tholins outside the solar system.
Oh I love this! lol By now, unless you live in a cave, you know that the FCC is closing the analog band of frequencies now being used by broadcasters and making it mandatory for all broadcasters to begin broadcasting their signal in the new digital format. This change over has to be complete by February of 2009. Consumers that receive their signals over the air can petition the US government for a small converter that will allow them to continue to use their existing television equipment. The government will provide you with a coupon worth $40 to be used toward the purchase of said converter box. All well and good. Follow so far? Goooooood. Well I though, hey I will check out the site to see what's up. I logged to this site https://www.dtv2009.gov./Default.aspx a government site mind you and the first thing I found is that the security certificate for the site is invalid...ok, its the second of the year....so I click to apply for the certificate for the converter.... what happens? it fails.....times out..... sends you back to the start... sigh... I just shook my head and walked away....
