I have just witnessed quite the spectacle. About 15 minutes ago, I saw something strange outside of the Encinitas Ca Starbucks on the 101. In the twilight sky over the vast Pacific a UFO appeared. Screaming up from the horizon the strange object slowed abruptly and than continued on it's path South-Southeast. At the place where it slowed a large smoke plume appeared which seemed to get brighter as the sky darkened. Fortunately I had my new W600i camera phone. I snapped 8 pics and used the phones wireless modem feature to link up to the EDGE network and send them to Flickr.

I watched as the object seemed to emit some type of vapor sporadically as it trailed off. This was definitely not a comet and had to have been something engineered... upon further review it must have been a satellite being launched from somewhere in the Pacific I'm very curious to see if there were any other sightings. As far as the validity of these photos go, I know the quality is poor but check out the upload timestamps on Flickr. If there were other sightings, this could easily be verified. Crazy stuff.

Update

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It is now confirmed that this was no UFO, nay it was a Delta IV rocket launching a NROL-22 reconnaissance satellite into orbit. Here's the press release.

It was launched from Vandenburg AFB just north of Santa Barbara. I'm glad it wasn't aliens or the Koreans...

I was browsing around today, and I found an interesting article on slashdot. It had to do with third party uses of google maps, and google cutting down on them. There turns out to be some amazing stuff being done google maps and third party software. As mentioned earlier, there was the gps in the car use but these applications are just too cool. My favorite was a tool that took craigslist rental listings and displayed them in your area dependent upon price. There is also a site that points out sites to see from the satellite imagery.

In order of coolnees:

• Housing Maps
• Google Siteseeing
• Chicago Crime
• Cheap Gas

Who knows what will pop up next???

I found this article in slashdot about wifi in your car. In all actuality I'm writing this article on the 28th, but I've been thinking about this idea for a while and it needs to be written down. I was un-aware of the ability to supply WiFi over the cell network at high speeds and a reasonable price until this was brought to my attention. Tor Amundson has a site detailing the process of creating a WiFi access point for your car using an EVDO pcmcia card. EVDO can deliver around 300kbs in it's major supported areas (big cities), 100kbs in normal digital service areas (smaller cities), and 5kbs in remote areas (the sticks). The best part is, it is a flat fee of $80 a month for unlimited access. Tor uses his device for some pretty cool stuff. He hooked up a GPS unit to the router and it syncs with Google Maps Standalone on a server else where. This allows for a web application that displays the exact location of a given vehicle as long as it has Internet. The cellphone networks are key here. There is Internet offered via satellite, but the satellites are too small a target to hit in motion. The first application of this that came to mind was in the RV market. Because my father deals allot with RV's, and I generally deal with the technical end, I saw this as a great fit. Imagine the possibilities. Anyone in the coach could hook up to the WiFi and be surfing the net, going down the road. The server could be synced with the coach systems. In particular the engine heater and thermometers so you could check the temp of the coach from your house, or Japan for that matter. Security is also a big plus in this area. You could have web cams and the works, right there at your finger tips. Beyond the RV market, my next thought was Emergency Vehicles. The possibilities are endless. You have the Internet in your vehicle now, out of this world. I hope to be thinking about this idea further and hopefully applying it soon. I should be moving back to Iowa mid summer. I will soon be immersed once again in the RV world. Look out world, here comes the Internet!