The Patent Dragon's Zone of Soul Retraction

I was overjoyed to have the chance to see something awe-inspiring and historical today. I had come to thinking that maybe humanity was no longer capable of such things, but Felix Baumgartner proved me wrong.

Spectacularly.



Highest balloon flight ever. A 128,000 feet, supersonic free-fall. The only reason he didn't get the longest sky-dive record was because of the momentum generated by his colossal balls of carbon-steel.

I salute you, sir.

Meanwhile... Screw it. I went and bought the Atrox Carrier in Star Trek Online, 603 Zen short of my target. I still have heaps of Dilithium to process, and earning enough to pay off the debt to the other characters' Zen pool shouldn't be too hard - but at least I can have a bunch more fun earning it!

"My, President Obama, what an unexpected present..."

US forces kill Osama Bin Laden in Pakistan

I'm sure people will be outraged about his burial at sea, but it'll be really hard for wannabe terrorists to make a pilgrimage to the bottom of the sea, and what would people rather see? His body turned into a public pinata in Times Square...?

The conspiracy freaks are causing the internet to explode right now, with their wacky ideas. Yes, we do need to see evidence that they got him, and I'm sure that'll be forthcoming, if Obama has any sense, and so far, he's certainly shown he has plenty of that. Oh, and he made good on an election pledge - any chance I can vote for him on Thursday?

Meanwhile, on birthday... day... Not "pushing the boat out", but I am getting a VIP seat for THOR tonight. Yup, I'm going to see a movie on the big screen twice for the first time since X-Men, and I only did that 'cause I missed the very start on the first viewing.

Development News... I'm not currently doing any serious work on anything, but I am doing some pre-writing development, sketching out some of the faces and events that will shape things to come - and I may just have the perfect "new recruit". It's time for Dominion to stand on her own two feet...

Sometimes, history just creeps up on you.

I was having a bath when the news came in that in Egypt, Mubarak has stepped down, after 18 days of popular protest - and peaceful protest at that. It would be wonderful for one of these Middle Eastern countries to produce "the perfect government", a model for the world to emulate, after such upheaval - but that's hardly likely, is it? I can almost hear the religious groups sharpening their various implements of oppression, eager to pounce on whatever scraps of power they can get... and that's where the trouble starts. *sighs* Good luck, Egypt...

Development News... Chapter 1 of TDD-610 ...Third Movement is underway! Ground is most definitely broken, as a quite unlikely team-up takes centre-stage...

Meanwhile... Ugh - been busy assigning code-numbers to a new batch of dolphin deterrent gear for most of the morning, and inhaling waterproof marker vapours. Cue headache, and a need for some fresh air - but the rest of the day was without discomfort, and the rest of the code-marking can be sensibly spread out over Monday. This, I should say, is about as dangerous as my work gets.

More on Egypt... It does appear that the nature of this protest has made it very hard for the forces in power to do anything about it - there's been no leaders to arrest, or bribe, probably because of the involvement of social network technology, which the authorities were very quick to try and silence. Unfortunately for them, Egypt has been... shall we say a couple of steps behind on the technological front, and people still had dial-up 'net equipment, and short-wave radios, and the peoples' voice just couldn't be silenced. I just hope the military prove to be the heroes the people see them to be, and not just the "next generation" of tyrants.

And so, the sun sets on a changed world. Changed for the better, I very much hope.

Guess we saved up all our hassle for the last day. I mean we had an exam with an error that, when we enquired about it, was corrected by the department, then there was a correction to the correction - I mean, couldn't you just die...?

Anyway, that's the first Slot of the year dealt with, and it went well, with some good writing done, hopefully paving the way to the much-promised conclusion of the currently "in development" Mane-of-Night story, by the end of the week - in time for the full start-up of this year's publishing schedule...

Now hold on... didn't something else happen today? Something about a president?

Nah, joking there. Today saw a real moment of history; the first black President of The US - and for the first time in too long, a US president made a speech, and we didn't have to dread every word, waiting for the latest "Bushism". Is Barrack Obama the "Man With The Plan"? I certainly hope so, and Barrack will be the biggest "lame duck" if he doesn't start delivering on his policies pretty damn sharpish.

And finally... See that prick who hacked into the US defence computers, and now faces extradition to the States? Let him swing. Fuck 'em all.

Correction... Ooops! I originally typo'd President Obama as "The Mane With The Plan" - sorry, but that is someone else entirely...