The Autonomous Modular Scanner carried aboard NASA's Ikhana unmanned aircraft captured this image of the Gap Fire in Santa Barbara County, Calif., on July, 8 2008, at 3:45 p.m. Pacific Daylight Time. The yellow areas depict actively burning areas. The red, pink and blue tones map out burned areas. Multiple Calif. state agencies distributed the information to fire officials minutes after collection for analysis of new fire locations and fire size.

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For homeowners in many California counties this summer, wildfires have been a personal menace. At one point this month, more than 1700 fires were burning threatening huge swaths of the Golden State. Thankfully, almost every fire has been extinguished with the remaining few dozen under the control of firefighters.

Though little can be done to prevent these types of forest fires (lightening has been blamed in almost all cases) there is some sky high assistance fire personnel are receiving thanks to NASA.

NASA is doing its part to help fight California wildfires through satellites, aircraft, and research experience which, together, have created an abundance of leading edge tools to assist firefighters win the battle. These same tools have also helped scientists understand the impact that fires and smoke have on Earth’s climate and ecosystems. To further the effort, an all-new NASA Web site brings to the public and journalists the latest information about this work.

The NASA “Fire and Smoke” website made its debut last week and includes regular updates of NASA images of fires and their associated smoke plumes in the US and around the globe. The site also features articles on the latest research results and multimedia resources from across NASA.

The site is updated regularly with new images from NASA’s suite of Earth-observing satellites and airborne observatories, including the unmanned Ikhana aircraft that recently pinpointed wildfire hotspots across California. NASA’s investment in these observational resources, and the research and development to transform them into practical tools for operational agencies, supports ongoing nationwide efforts to fight wildfires.

For homeowners concerned about their property, valuables, pets, and livestock, the NASA wildfire site can help pinpoint how fires are being fought and the work being done to contain them. Earlier this month California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger received a behind-the-scenes tour of NASA’s Ames Research Center in San Jose to learn more about the agency’s help in fighting wildfires.

The Web site is available at http://www.nasa.gov/fires

(Source: NASA)

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Tags: Ames Research Center, California, Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, NASA, wildfires

Travel Tip

Summer time in Maine.  Who would think it.  But you will find splendid afternoons and cool evening strolling along the beach:

visit Maine
Maine tourism association

Home Improvement Tip

School is about to begin. It’s a good time to spruce up the kid’s room with new furniture ideas and a study desk area. This will excite your children about the new school year plus motivate them to jump into the studies using their personal desk, chair, and perhaps a computer.

You can find ideas in our child bedroom area| library office setup | home remodeling checklist

Consumer Financing Tip

Don’t become part of the mortgage crisis. Do what you can to get your mortgage loan paid off or reduced. View our quick mortgage payoff plan:

mortgage payoff module

Credit Card Tip: Reduce Your Gas Costs

College Planning Tip

Monthly Checklist for July 27

see our BLOG:
campus life for planning tips and other campus gossip

Tags: weekly tip, Weekly Tips

BLOG postings: (link to Achieving Success BLOG for all posts and PDF downloads)

Discipline to Success:

The Social Attribute

The only thing we have to fear is fear itself.
Franklin Delano Roosevelt

continuation from BLOG posting: see list

You are inching quickly up the inverse pyramid scale, now developing the fourth of five attributes for a well-rounded character. The last two attributes — social and spiritual — are mostly internal changes to your character that require more energy and commitment than the other three attributes.

Make sure that you are developing the first three attributes before proceeding with these final two. The strength obtained by successfully changing your physical, physical temperance and education attributes will help you develop and strengthen the social and spiritual attributes.

What is social development? That depends on how you define the term social. Without delving into different behavioral viewpoints, I will use the following terms to define sociality.

First Definition: Socially developed people finds themselves accepted and liked by their peers and family. They possess a good or benevolent nature. They are considerate and helpful to others, giving of their service and friendship to all regardless of race, religion or economic status. • they make friends easily. • they force others upon themselves. • they have leadership and follower qualities. • they like who they are. Second Definition: Social Development is maintaining a balance between introversion and extroversion tendencies and activities.

Next Time: we’ll jump into the first definition of social development. In the meantime, continue to develop your physical, physical temperance and education attributes.

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Tags: Achieving Success, success building tips