The CXV -- Crew Transfer Vehicle -- being developed by tSpace could provide an alternative platform for manned spaceflight, and would be useful both for private missions as well as a tool for NASA should its primary launch system be offline for years on end (as has happened twice with the space shuttle). Read the full story.

I make good on my book review promise, and take a look at Orson Scott Card's Ender's Shadow. There's also some thoughts on toddlers and Star Wars, news about the extension of the Atomic Swindlers CD giveaway, and a plug for the new scifi magazine podcast, Escape Pod.

Getting the Podcast

You can get the podcast in two ways:

• Download the MP3 directly
• Subscribe to the podcast rss feed using an aggregator (you only need to do this once; subsequent shows should download automatically)

For the last two weeks, I've been living in the past, accessing the Web and e-mail through a dial-up connection over a hardwired network. No cable modem. No DSL. No wireless. Just a low-speed 33kps modem connection that drops out every 20 minutes or so.

An independent review panel says that NASA hasn't met the all of the 'return to space' recommendations that it agreed to. Read the full story.

A constitutional amendment to prevent flag burning would destroy exactly the sort of freedoms the American flag is supposed to represent. Read the full story.

It's time for the global warming true belivers to pony up and start making wagers on exactly how much warming we're going to experience. Read the full story.

An e-mail claims that you can get your keys out of a locked car if you a) have keyless entry b) a friend has another set of keys for your car c) you both have cell phones and d) your friend triggers your remote set of keys while your on the phone with them. On problem with this brilliant scheme: it doesn't work. Read the full story.

Neil Gorman continues history of the comics industry in this podcast, and plugs a bunch of new podcast (including our own Radio Active ... thanks Neil!) Read the full story.

Why are Democrats supporting a system that -- at its core -- works against their own ideals? Read the full story.

The planet is seven times the size of the Earth, but its lack of a think gaseous atmosphere (which may have been burned away by its very close-by star) make it a terrestrial world. Read the full story.