NASA Unveils Cosmic Images Book in Braille for Blind Readers

I was recently made aware of an article posted on the HubbleSite entitled "NASA Unveils Cosmic Images Book in Braille for Blind Readers" regarding the release of the book "Touch the Invisible Sky" which is an astronomy book for the blind and visually impaired.

I want to write more about this, but I am running a little late so I will follow up in a few days or so, but here are a few more links regarding the book:

NASA:
http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2008/15jan_touch.htm

Bad Astronomy:
http://www.badastronomy.com/bablog/2008/01/15/touch-the-invisible-universe/

Space.com:
http://www.space.com/entertainment/080118-entertainment-invisible-sky.html

Please fee free to comment regarding this great new book for blind and visually impaired astronomers.

Regards!

Jim

Updating the look of the blog.

Just a brief note to say that I am in the process of updating the blog, and adding some new features.

First off I changed the blog template because I felt the original was just a little too cluttered for my taste. I also set a common font for all the text, and changed the color scheme.

Now I may have defeated the de-cluttering by adding some RSS feeds, but I think they will add to the blog. I added feeds for "Are We Alone?" from the SETI Institute, Planet Pride which is a blog on MySpace dedicated to minor planets, and Science News from NASA.

If you happen to read this blog on a regular basis, drop me a line and let me know what you think.

Cheers!

Jim

"Spacecraft chases highest clouds" and other links!

There was an interesting article posted by the BBC regarding the AIM Space Craft and it's observations of noctilucent clouds. Below is the URL for the article:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/7137905.stm

Here are a few a few other links I plan to add the to the Cloudymidnights site in the near future:

"Are We Alone?" the SETI science radio show at: http://radio.seti.org/

"Planet Pride" which is an excellent blog on MySpace with a focus on small/minor planets:
http://blog.myspace.com/dwarfplanetpride

As for this blog and the Cloudymidnights site, both which I have been neglecting for way too long, I am going to be making a serious effort to keep the sites up to date. The only major news right now for the Cloudymidnight site is that I have changed hosting providers, twice in the last 3 months. It now looks like I found the perfect provider, so hopefully I can focus on building the site, and you should expect to see a lot more news articles posted to this blog.

Need to get going again.

Sorry I haven't updated the site or even posted to this blog for so long. I've been in "death march" mode at work since September and haven't had time to work on the site.

I need to think how I can develop the site and make it better. Instead of fretting over it, I may just let it evolve and see where it takes me.

Right now, the skies here in the Seattle area have not been all that great and I am not able to try and find Comet McNaught.

I haven't looked into the SEE Project lately or other sites for the visually impaired. I am still looking for ideas or input, so if you read this blog and have some comments, please post them or drop me a line.

I need to get cracking.

I've been sidedtracked with both work and other projects, but I plan to pick up the pace with regards to developing the Cloudymidnights site.

I have a few additional links I will be adding shortly. Right now, my focus for the site will be creating a better layout.

That's it for now.

News and such for 06/10/06

Well it's been almost a month since the last update. So much for progress. I've been busy with some other issues and haven't done much with the site since the last update.

The one important bit of update information for the site is that I did add a link to cloudynights.com

I was unaware of the existance of this site and one day someone on the NW Astronomers List posted a note about the site being a good resource for reviews of telescopes and accessories. I added a link and a note to avoid any confusion for those looking for cloudynights.com

It does look like a good site for reivews of telescopes and accessories, so check it out.

Site Update and News 05/15/2006

I just started the Google Pages version of Cloudy Midnights. Actually Google Pages is quite easy to use and I hope Google expands the project.

I also added a link on each of the tribute pags for the cats to the Angel On My Shoulders list on Yahoo. This list has been very supportive of me and has helped me move on and get the Cloudymidnights site up and running.

I am also toying with the idea of startnig up with AdSense to possibly generate some revenue to help pay the costs of the site. I still have to think on this, because I am not sure about it.