By Jove!

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The planet Jupiter may have formed faster than we thought; possibly within centuries rather than eons. This article also has some other interesting tidbits on the origin of the solar system; among them the possibility that our own solar system may not be as run-of-the-mill as we originally thought, considering that other extrasolar star systems observed seem to exhibit far more erratic patterns of behavior.

Until recently, our solar system was thought to be typical. “Astronomers have been raised since babies on the cosmological principle that our solar system is not a special place in the universe,” said Levison. “Now we’re finding that that may not be true and we may have to abandon that principle. It may be that only one in a thousand stars may be capable of sustaining solar systems like ours, where Earth-like worlds capable of sustaining complex life are possible.”

Now we’re finding that maybe, just maybe, our home system is unique, with its relatively stable structure and friendly orbits. Not meaning to be a Creationism Sensationalist, but isn’t it possible that our solar system’s uniqueness of stability — as compared to the wildly erratic extrasolar planets we’ve seen so far — could be more than just fortuitous circumstance? Could it indicate the cosmic craft of a careful planner? Perhaps even, *gasp!*, a loving Creator?

Just some ruminations from an awed old-earth Creationist. ;)

“You are beautiful beyond description

Too marvelous for words.

Too wonderful for comprehension

Like nothing ever seen or heard.

“Who can grasp Your infinite wisdom?

Who can fathom the depth of Your love?

You are beautiful beyond description

Majesty enthroned above.

“And I stand, I stand in awe of You

I stand, I stand in awe of You

Holy God to whom all praise is due

I stand in awe of You.”

Star Trek: Frontier

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Okay, here’s the latest scoop I’ve dug up on the new Star Trek series.

It’s going to be called Star Trek: Frontier. The very first episode starts with a monumental event: the death of Captain Picard, when he sacrifices his life to change the dilithium crystals of the heavily damaged Enterprise. Fortunately, he is able to use heretofore unknown powers to transfer his living spirit to Commander Data, who is then trapped on an unstable planet with a group of hostile Klingons. The Enterprise, Deep Space Nine, and Voyager crews must join forces through a three-episode adventure. Captain Riker and Counselor Troi both die near the beginning, so command is taken by Commander Geordi La Forge. They must break Starfleet regulations, hijack the Enterprise to rescue Data, and bring him with Picard to Vulcan, where he is restored by a mind-meld, only to discover that he has become a Q-entity. From then on, Picard will be limited to cameo roles with Q, still played by John de Lancie, while the command is taken by Captain La Forge, with Worf as his First Officer on the new Enterprise-F.

Calm down. I’m just kidding.

The new show will be called Star Trek: Enterprise, and it will be set in the 22nd century as a prequel series, with Scott Bakula as Captain Jon Archer. More info here. The new movie, Star Trek X, is also in the works.

Seventeen, Eighteen

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The 17th and 18th blog pages are up. Index 18 features a picture of the Magallanes MRT station. Bet you’re wondering how I was able to take a photo from the tracks below the station platform, eh? Se-ecre-et!!! And if you go to the pictures page and look at the original MRT photo, you might notice a few differences. Can you spot them? Ah, I love Photoshop.

I was on a roll today, mainly because there’s nothing happening in the office. But since we might have projects coming in next week, my design churn-out rate may slow down. Still, I’m aiming to have twenty blog pages by Sunday.

Keren! Ritchie!

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Say hello to Keren, who has created a cute personal site with generous servings of orange; and Ritchie, who has some rather entertaining “cam” shots.

Kaycee Nicole Dies

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I was caught a bit by surprise to see this linked from the Blogger page. The first thing I wondered was, what happened to her? How did she die? After some hunting, I found her about page and read it for some background.

I never knew her.

But my eyes filled with tears anyway.

Godspeed, Kaycee Nicole.

Grrr. It’s hot again.

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Grrr. It’s hot again. And nothing’s happening at work, so I’m just making more blog layouts while I listen to music by Kuhlau and Reinecke on Tiff’s program. I’ve been wanting to use my photo of an ostrich for a blog index page. So I did.

Want to play a Nokia-style game of Snake?

Enterprise?

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The new Star Trek series, starring Quantum Leap‘s Scott Bakula as Captain Jonathan Archer. Now I’m excited. (In case I haven’t told you, I’m a major original-series Trekker.)

So I Voted.

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So I voted yesterday. The process was a bit faster than I expected, but the lack of a well-organized system would have been maddening had I not known my precinct before hand. Here’s how voting in the Philippines works…

1. Go to the voting center, usually a school. This entails fighting your way through a horde of kids and workers paid to distribute sample ballots outside — and sometimes even inside — the voting center.

2. Inside, go to the Voter Assistance Desk and find your name in the printed Voter’s List. This is quite possibly the most tedious part of the process, because the list is divided into several small alphabetical sublists by precinct, and you have to go pore over the pages for EACH precinct looking for your name. My district probably had about twenty precincts, divided not by location or by date of registration, but by pure arbitrariness. Fortunately, Mom had found my name already, and texted me in advance to let me know what my precinct was.

3. Go to the desk for your precinct and leave your signature and right thumbmark on the registration form. Then get your ballot.

4. Bring the ballot to the voting “booth.” Actually, it’s just a schooldesk with a folder propped up for “privacy.” Sweep the inch-thick layer of sample ballots and campaign materials off the table and sit down to fill in your ballot. Positions to fill in: Senators, Congressman, Mayor, Vice-Mayor, and Councilors. I voted straight party ticket, PPC for all positions, except Congressman, where I abstained. (Between Ronny Zamora the Crony and Jose Mari Gonzales the Slapper, there isn’t much of a choice, is there?)

5. Drop the ballot in the ballot box and get your finger marked with “indelible” ink. That way, if you try to vote again, they can look at your finger and say you voted already. But the ink is alcohol-soluble.

That’s it. I spent the rest of day at home with the family, watching Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (wow!), playing with the dog, and generally being lazy.