Post A-to-Z Road Trip Check-In

Well, hello there!  It's been awhile since we did a check-in on the Post A-to-Z Road Trip, but now that the holidays are past us (well, as much as holidays can be past us since we like to throw out holidays every month or so) this is as good a time as any to see how everyone's doing.

We're officially gearing up for the 2013 A-to-Z Challenge, so time is running out to catch up with all of last year's participants.  How far have you gotten?  Are you able to make any monthly progress?  Weekly?  Daily (you visiting fiend, you!)?

What's your plan of attack as you go through the list?  Do you find that you go in order, or do you randomly choose someone to visit?  Did you go through the Post A-to-Z Road Trip sign-up list first?

What I've found works best for me is to go down the list and open a series of blogs at once (usually ten at a time).  I visit those blogs, then if I find I have some more time I open ten more.  This helps me take little chunks at a time, and to feel like I've made progress.

Let us know how you're doing, whether you're still at it or have given up.  This isn't a competition, so don't feel pressured to have made progress.  Do you intend to keep going?  Were you able to visit everyone already?  If so, what was your secret, and what tips might you like to pass along?

Click here to access the 2012 A-to-Z sign-up list.

Cheers!

Shannon (The Warrior Muse) and Tina (Life is Good)

2013 A to Z Challenge Badge Debut and Upcoming Schedule

Badge debut

        Our A to Z Challenge technical guru and in-house art department, Jeremy Hawkins, is the creator of this years badge.   His array of A to Z badges for last year's challenge proved popular with many participants.  This year we'll keep things more simple with one primary design.  

        This badge in coded form which will direct clicks to the A to Z sign-up page will soon be available on the "Badges and Banners" page than can be accessed in the tabs below this page's header.  When adding the badge to your page, please use either the coded form or be sure to link your badge image to the A to Z Blog.  After all, displaying the badge not only shows that you are a participant in the Challenge, but also should direct others to the place where they too can sign up.

Banners, etc

         A banner similar to what is seen below will also be available on the "Badges and Banners" page.  Jeremy will be doing some adjustments on this soon and will be doing a post about putting the badges and banners on your own sites.    Animated versions of the badges and banners are also in the works for those that like that sort of thing.

Upcoming A to Z News

         Next Monday January 14th the new A to Z Team will be announced.   There will also be a new opportunity for more of you to participate in helping the A to Z Team.   I think some of you will find this to be very intriguing.

         On Wednesday January 30th the A to Z sign-up list will be made available.  Last year we had over 1700 participants on the list and fully expect more this year.   You will want to be sure to sign up right away if you want to be listed toward the top of the list.  But never fear, if you don't make it to the top we still have accommodations to be sure that your blog won't get overlooked even if you are somewhere in the high thousands.

        There will be later posts about sign ups and pre-challenge activities.   Be watching this blog (as we're sure you always do) to catch up on all the latest A to Z news.

Update!

The badge with code is at top of sidebar.  On Blogger Blogs you can copy the code and add it to the HTML gadget on your layout page.

The banner with code can be found at the bottom of the page.  This can be added to your page in the same manner as the badge using the long spaces at the top or bottom of your page.

More detailed instructions will be coming in a future post.

           

           

2012: An Amazing Look Back

Post from Stephen Tremp at Breakthrough Blogs

2012 brought us some of the most awesome breakthroughs and discoveries imaginable. Some could help humanity in the most amazing ways, while others are simply awe inspiring. Here are some of the highlights:

The Higgs Boson: a theoretical particle that is key to the scientific understanding of all matter, has been discovered (but still needs to be confirmed). In time, many physicists expect a new era in physics to open up, a gateway or a portal to a new era that could see humanity unlock some of the universe's great mysteries. Medicine and technology could benefit in awesome and amazing ways. It maybe possible to temporarily reduce the mass of an object. Amazing possibilities in space travel could open up. Check out my post from earlier this year: (CLICK HERE)

Junk DNA: Scientists had thought that a substantial portion of human DNA was junk and performs no function. But now they know that at least 80% of this junk has a function. In the next few years, this discovery will let us design new drugs and other ways of treating diseases.

Stay tuned as breakthroughs with DNA and genome sequencing will be coming at us fast and furious, for better or worse.

NASA’s Curiosity Rover: Landed on Mars in August and has a two-year mission (that has been extended) to investigate and asses Martian climate, geology, and past environmental conditions that may have been condusive for life while preparing for future human exploration.

SpaceX: Private firm Space Exploration Technologies Corporation, otherwise known as SpaceX, successfully transferred cargo to the International Space Station, proving that SpaceX was capable of bringing supplies and potentially U.S. astronauts to the ISS.

Hooray for privatizing space exploration! (Reference)

The Largest Black Hole Ever Seen: 250 million light years away in the constellation Perseus is a black hole that tips the scales at the mass equivalent of 17 billion Suns. It lies at the centre of the compact galaxy NGC 1277, whose diameter is only about one-quarter that of the Milky Way. The black hole is about 59% as massive as the galaxy’s central bulge of stars, a much higher percentage than expected. A supermassive black hole typically has about 0.1% the mass of its home galaxy’s stellar bulge. (Reference)

Who We Lost in 2012:

Neil Armstrong (1930 – 2012) American astronaut and first person to walk on the Moon. Armstrong served as an officer in the U.S. Navy and served in the Korean War. He was also an aerospace engineer, naval aviator, test pilot, and university professor.

Dr. Sally Ride (1951 – 2012) American physicist and the first female astronaut in space. She’s not the first woman in space. She was preceded by two Soviet women, Valentina Tereshkova in 1963 and Svetlana Savitskaya in 1982. Check out this post from last year on Dr. Sally Ride: CLICK HERE

Ray Bradbury (1920 – 2012) American writer of science fiction, fantasy, horror, and mystery fiction. His works have been translated into more than 40 languages while many have been adapted into television shows or films.

Stephen Tremp (no, we didn't lose him) is author of Breakthrough and Opening and blogs at Breakthrough Blogs. His third book Escalation is due for release Spring 2013!