Tootfinder

While preparing #ArtemisII for flight, NASA engineers are reviewing data after a confidence test Feb. 12, in which operators partially filled the SLS (Space Launch System) core stage liquid hydrogen tank to assess newly replaced seals in an area used to fill the rocket with propellant: https://www.nasa.gov/blogs/missions/2026/02/13/following-confidence-test-nasa-continues-artemis-ii-data-review/ - during the test, "teams encountered an issue with ground support equipment that reduced the flow of liquid hydrogen into the rocket. [...] Engineers will examine findings before setting a timeline for the next test, a second wet dress rehearsal this month. March remains the earliest potential launch window for Artemis II."

California Gov. Gavin Newsom
has scheduled the special election to fill the House seat vacated by
Rep. Eric Swalwell, who resigned from Congress following sexual assault allegations.
The special election is set for
👉Aug. 18.
Newsom issued a proclamation on Tuesday to start the process for the election

Newsom sets date for special election to fill Swalwell’s House seat
Eric Swalwell resigned at 2 p.m. Tuesday, days after he was first accused of sexually assaulting a former staffer.

#valentinesday #StarTrek

One of my VR Lighthouses died last month. These things are gyroscopically spinning 24 hours a day for, what, a decade now? Nearly.
No wonder. Mostly the industry seems to be settling on using head-mounted cameras rather than sweeping infra-red beams and receptors on the head anyway.
It is true that lighthouses give accurate positioning, but means I can't easily take the headset next door, say. Or to a party.
So inside-out, as they call it, is fine for the headset now and mostly okay for the hand-controllers.
But it offers no solution at all for the foot-trackers and hip-tracker that I need for puppetting the characters in the #vr #slimeVR #trackers

Opponents of VA Redistricting Amendment Send Out Mailer/Text Falsely
-- and Offensively!
Claiming That Fighting Trump’s Assault on Our Democracy Is
“Just Like Jim Crow”
Note that many of the most prominent supporters of this amendment
- Barack Obama, Louise Lucas, Don Scott, etc.
- are African American

Opponents of VA Redistricting Amendment Send Out Mailer/Text Falsely (and Offensively!) Claiming That Fighting Trump's Assault on Our Democracy Is "Just Like Jim Crow" - Blue Virginia
See below for what’s hitting Virginia’s mailboxes and smartphones (via text) today; a group called “Democracy and Justice PAC” – nothing popping up in Google about it, but the mailing address is listed as 123 Bulifants Blvd in Williamsburg, VA (same address as “Campaign Compliance Center“) – sent out the following. The problems with these […]

And speaking of @… , send an email to their president robin.sparkman@propublica.org with text similar to the following:
Dear Robin Sparkman,
I am writing to you in solidarity with the ProPublica Guild. It is past time that you agree to a fair contract, complete with the protections these workers need to continue producing award-winning journalism…

Finally an #ArtemisII update on https://www.nasa.gov/blogs/missions/2026/02/08/nasa-conducts-repairs-analysis-ahead-of-next-artemis-ii-fueling-test/ - "technicians have replaced two seals in an area where operators saw higher than allowable hydrogen gas concentrations during the test. Engineers are analyzing the removed seals and developing plans to address all issues ahead of the next rehearsal." No date for that new wet dress rehearsal has been set, and a launch date will be determined only after it is over.

Google the price of oil, and you’ll most likely find two widely quoted prices for the commodity, one in the United States, the other in Europe.
These prices, which are constantly changing on electronic markets, suggest that although the war with Iran has made energy a lot more expensive, things are not nearly as bad as they were four years ago, after Russia invaded Ukraine.
But if you needed an actual tanker full of oil — and quickly — it would cost you dearly.
On Tuesday, …

Iran War Drives Deeper Oil Shock Than Prices Reveal
The war with Iran is preventing huge amounts of oil from flowing out of the Persian Gulf, but the prices that many people track don’t fully capture the scale of the disruption.

NASA began a two-day practice countdown Saturday
leading up to the fueling of its new moon rocket,
a crucial test that will determine when four astronauts blast off on a lunar flyby.
Already in quarantine to avoid germs,
Commander Reid Wiseman and his crew will be the first people to launch to the moon since 1972.
They will monitor the dress rehearsal from their Houston base before flying to Kennedy Space Center once the rocket is cleared for flight.
The 3…

NASA begins a practice countdown for its first moonshot with astronauts in more than 50 years
NASA has begun a two-day practice countdown for its first moonshot with astronauts in 53 years