Tuesday, February 4, 2014

IWSG, CassaFire Special, The North Star, Best Super Bowl Commercial

IWSG: Just started a new job today. You never know what it’s going to be like and those nervous bitterflies can mess with your sleep the night before. But all is well as I love this job. The hours are perfect. The drive is not bad at all. And I have lots of time to phase into the promotional stage of my book.
CassaFire Special: Alex Cavanaugh has his book CassaFire available for download for $0.99 (is he out of his mind???) Most already have theirs. But you can help spread the good word by stopping by. Stop by Alex’s Blog and copy and pasting some of his pre-written Tweets into your Twitter account. The promotion runs February 4 – 10.
 
Did You Know: The North Star is getting brighter. That’s right. After dimming over the past few decades, the star named Polaris that has helped people navigate for thousands of years is now growing quite bright.
 
Polaris belongs to a class of Cephiad Stars, or variable stars. A star is considered variable if its apparent magnitude (brightness) is altered in any way from our perspective on the Earth's surface.
 
Our sun is a variable star.
 
Polaris had different meanings to different cultures over time, but it basically means “something that serves to guide". 
 
Fun Fact: The reason Polaris is so important is because the axis of Earth is pointed almost directly at it. During the course of the night, Polaris does not rise or set, but remains in very nearly the same spot above the northern horizon year-round while the other stars circle around it. Reference
 
Steve’s Science And Other Fun Stuff: Be sure to stop by the Blogging A to Z Challenge this Thursday as I will have my semi-monthly post there.
 
Weekend Follies: And don’t forget, the Weekend Follies are back. Bigger, better, and follier than ever!
 
Best Super Bowl Commercial: As always, there are some amazing, heart touching, hilarious, and bizarre commercials aired during the Super Bowl. This year was no different. My top pick is the Radio Shack commercial as the 80s wants their store back.
 

31 comments:

  1. Thanks for sharing your interesting facts Steve. And congrats to Alex on his giveaway and new release. You're so involved its almost as if you have clones of your own . .

    ........dhole

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    1. Donna, I borrowed some of Al Diaz's dwarves to help. Of course, that can be counterproductive too.

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  2. Congratulations on the job. And thanks for sharing the advert - I've always heard about these mythical 'superbowl adverts' and wondered whether they were special one-offs, with extra budget etc?

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  3. Good luck with the new job!

    Yes, I liked that 80s commercial, too. :) Then I heard on the news last night that RadioShack is closing hundreds of stores?! Wonder if they spent too much on advertising...

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  4. Hi Stephen .. hope the job continues on well - yes starting again is always a challenge with goosebumps ... so good luck. Loved the commercial ... we eventually see them here ... we saw the Scarlett Johannsson soda stream one .. because of her leaving her ambassadorial role with Oxfam ...

    Love reading the science bits ... and interesting about the brightness of the Polar Star ... I saw a tv programme on solar storms last night that was very interesting ..

    Have a good week - keep on enjoying that job and preparing for your marketing phase .. cheers Hilary

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  5. Congrats on your new job. I'll hopefully be going through the same thing later this year after I get laid off as part of my company closing. Right now someone else just got laid off and I got some of his messy cases. It's stress city. Let me know if you have any tips on finding a job. I haven't looked for one in over 25 years.

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    1. Natalie, I found this on Craigslist under jobs. Find your local area, find jobs you like, then click APPLY. Your email opens up ready to go. Just copy and paste your cover letter into the body of the email, attach your resume, and send. Couldn't be easier.

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  6. Congratulations on the new job! It will go fine today.
    Thanks for mentioning my book's sale. Hopefully my publisher wasn't the one losing the mind.
    Polaris getting brighter? If it ever stops raining, I'll check it out.
    And that was a good Super Bowl ad. I remember the 80's all too well.

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  7. The new job has been a real Godsend. A great group of people to work with too.

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  8. Congratulations on your new job! It sounds perfect, what with good hours, not a bad drive, and the fact that you already love it ;-)
    I did not know that about the North Star...

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  9. The job sounds great. I'm hoping you settle in and really enjoy yourself there.

    Polaris is getting brighter? That's crazy. Makes me wonder how much brighter...

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    1. Crystal, I was amazed to find out stars can grow and dim in brightness in a matter of a decade. I wonder if this could help explain global warming if our sun is becoming brighter and perhaps a bit hotter.

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  10. Congrats on the new job. Glad to hear you're loving it.

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  11. That was a funny commercial!
    You're one lucky guy for being in a job you love. I am sure you'll do well. Congratulations!

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  12. I always wondered why Polaris is so constant.

    Love the ad. :-D

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  13. Lots going on in that video. Watched it again and saw DEVO running around in the background.

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  14. Good luck with your new job Stephen. Already downloaded Alex' book and read a few pages.

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  15. I always wondered why the North Star was always north.

    And yes, March 21st is good, Stephen.

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  16. Oh, I loved that '80s Radio Shack commercial! Too funny.

    Good luck with the new job!

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  17. That's so cool that Polaris is getting brighter! We need that with all our lights at night. Loved that commercial, although the Turbo Tax or another website one (something that kind of made fun of facebook - wish I could remember what it was) were my faves.
    Best wishes with your new job!!!

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    1. Tyrean, I must have missed that one. I'll go to YouTube and check it out.

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  18. Congrats on the new job! Lots of interesting stuff about Polaris - I love looking up at the stars in the evening. Nice to learn a bit more about them here today.

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  19. Congratulations on the new job, hope it all continues to go well.

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  20. It's fun looking up to the night sky and recognizing something up there, and understand a little about it. Hopefully these tidbits help.

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  21. I'm glad you're enjoying the new job. I ordered a copy of CassaFire and look forward to reading it. Love the information about Polaris. When I was teaching 5th grade science the stars and solar system was one of my favorite topics. Have a great day.

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    1. Hi Beverly, long time no see. Thanks for stopping by and saying hi!

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  22. I could watch that commercial over and over again. So funny.

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  23. I didn't know that about Polaris, thanks for sharing! I got myself a copy of CassaFire on Tuesday, what a bargain! I can't wait to read it.

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  24. I loved that commercial too! And for some reason it warms my heart to know Polaris is getting brighter. :)

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  25. I had no idea that was the location of Polaris. Now it makes sense why it doesn't move! I'm glad you're liking the new job and the people you work with. That's always a plus!

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  26. It is nerve wracking to start a new job. I wish you the best! I started a new one in January, but it's more like a temporary job that I'm only keeping until I go to grad school :)

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