• Tanks in Red square as per Mandy’s request. I hope to have at least 1 picture (me foreground, tank background probably not actually in Red square, although me in tank would be cool too).
• My Bike, and the weather
• My plans for the future, to get feedback

That is probably enough for one sitting, while I could make a huge list, then it would become daunting and I’d never get to anything. How’s that for getting things done started!

Between this:

and this:

If you are reading this by RSS, then you’ll be the first to know I haven’t died, just sorta stopped writing here for a bit. This is usual for me, and my habitual waxing and waning of interest in things. If you aren’t reading this through an RSS reader then I’ve got 2 things for you: First, get an RSS reader!!! You don’t have to waste time going to all your regular websites that you must check everyday (excluding Facebook, etc). You can get news, blogs and updates from several sites all in one spot chronologically or semantically ordered! Second, I am thankful for friends like you who actually check up on me every so often, I hope this post is rewarding enough that you’ll continue to do so in the future (or better yet, get an RSS reader!)

Since I mainly write about my life and my interests here, I’ve removed most of the advertising junk from the page, and I hope it looks nicer and less busy now. I’d love to make money through a website, but I don’t think that this one is going to be it. There are lots of ‘personal’ blogs out there that are about how to make money, coincidentally, they all make money. It is sort of a pulling yourself up by the boot straps kind of thing. After the first 100 articles, there isn’t anything new, or the only new things are new gimmicks for making money. I don’t really want to sell myself out to that kind of blogging, even though it does make money. I’ve got other blogs for that.

Speaking of other ideas. I haven’t had a lot of them recently. Work is fairly regular and quite unproductively time consuming. I spend a few hours in the Moscow Metro everyday, and with all the transfers, noises, and cramped spaces, there isn’t much to to there but read. Yes, I do read. In fact, I finished my first short story in Russian without the help of any translator, dictionary, or friend. I know I didn’t understand every detail, but the plot was easy enough and I think I got a lot out of it. I have since gone back and looked up many words that I didn’t know, as to learn from my mistakes.

So here I am, without any inspirational ideas, or any motivation for the regular thoughts I do have. I’ve always got lots of projects, but lately I’ve not been a productive person. I only consume. I use stumbleupon far too much. I read and I watch and I listen, but I don’t write, think, or do. I’ve always had a thirst for entertaining new ideas, and the internet is full of them. I feel like I have an idea overload, so all the ideas don’t seem worth pursuing, and pursuing another idea that might be ‘worth it’ is a never ending task.

I’m pretty resigned to this state for the time being. I want to start several things, like building a fish tank and getting some plants, but I can’t because I’m about to leave Moscow for over a week and fish/plants would die in that time. So, I guess I’ve started making some ‘New Year’s Resolutions.’ Here is to hoping I keep them, and they are just a bunch of talk.

I may not be able to offer my readers reward for reading my blog regularly beyond the obvious rewards of the excellent content and writing that you can only get from bobg.net. What I can do is tell you about RSS feeds. Almost everyone has them, I do. John Chow does and even this guy.

RSS allows you to get all of your wonderful content from all over the internet in one place (such as google reader). RSS feeds are a relatively accurate way to judge the size of your reader base. While most people won’t sign up for this easy to read format, a certain percentage always do. The more you have, the more popular you are.

Which brings me to a great RSS popularity contest between John Chow dot Com and shoemoney.com. John wants to get more readers, and you want to read what he has to say! If you ever wanted to make money passively on your website, he knows every trick and tactic.

Now, you may not think that content is enough to sign up for daily news from any website. That is why John Chow is giving away tonnes of prizes to people who sign up for his full RSS feed now! So, if you haven’t ever tried RSS, or if my RSS feed (the green button on the right) isn’t enough for you, then now is the time, and the rewards are at their best. If you still don’t like RSS, but want to read about making money online with John Chow, you can go to his site and sign up for e-mail updates instead.

On October 4th 1957, the Soviets scored a crushing blow in the Cold War and opened up the space race. Not the complete and total victorious first step that the Communists touted it as, Sputnik was more luck than revolutionary engineering.

Sputnik (Спутник) means ‘fellow traveller’ or ’satellite’ in Russian (officially Простейший Спутник-1 or Elementary Satellite-1), and was how many future Russian satellites were named in the US. The first Sputnik weighed only 184 pounds and was a sphere with 3 arms extending backwards. It was launched on what might have been the most powerful rocket at the time, the R-7 rocket. The R-7 was actually an ICBM for an intended nuclear payload. With only the tiny Sputnik on board, the rocket had more than enough power to get into orbit.

Sputnik launched on Oct. 4th, scrubbing a launch on the 6th because of rumors that the US might send something up one day earlier on the 5th. If there had been more time, Sputnik might have been loaded with scientific instruments, but every new feature could have been one more chance at total failure.

There was no US launch on the 5th of October. In reality, the US didn’t get a satellite into orbit until the last day of January the next year (1958) called Explorer I. Explorer I, laden with instruments discovered the Van Allen radiation belts. Prior to Sputnik, the US program “Vanguard” had 2 failed attempts, but was very successful at scaring the Russians into working faster.

Sputnik was in orbit for about 2 weeks, sending out a beep that was monitored by amateur radio operators throughout the world. Anyone alive at the time probably remembers hearing the beeps being rebroadcast over the radio. Many people may claim to have seen the satellite in orbit, but recently it has been revealed that it was part of the booster rocket and not Sputnik itself.

Sputnik was only 50 years ago, and now we have the beginnings of private space flight and space recreation. Not to shabby for taking to the skies for the first time about 100 years ago.

[SFgate, Wikipedia, and AOL News]