First day at Wired.com: I survived

All a twitter with excitement, I lived through my first day at Wired.com, in spite of the jitters. What for me was a momentous day, was routine for everyone there. Interns, I gather, cycle pretty regularly through the offices -- we're a cheap and eager source of labor. But for us, it's a step in the direction of our aspirations. It doesn't matter that we're a dime a dozen. It is *our* dime that is in the pot of change.

To my editor's credit, she gave me an easy assignment and a early deadline immediately. So, prior to lunch on my first day, I already had my first bylined piece on the site. Read it here or see it below!




The Earth-orbiting satellite Hinode caught this stunning video of the annular solar eclipse Jan. 4.

An annular eclipse occurs when the moon is slightly farther from Earth than usual and appears slightly smaller. When it moves between the Earth and sun, it covers the center of the sun, leaving a bright, fiery ring, or annulus, at the edge.

Hinode, a Japanese mission, studies the sun’s magnetic fields and surface eruptions. The satellite carries three NASA-developed telescopes that capture different types of light:

• The optical telescope sees visible light.
• The X-ray telescope, which took the video above, can see deep inside the corona.
• The ultraviolet-light telescope reveals the deep, high-temperature processes that heat the sun’s corona.

This will be a good year for eclipse fans. With four partial-solar and two total-lunar eclipses upcoming, watch for more sun shots.
Video: Hinode/XRT
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Happily, I'll be living in San Francisco for the weekends for a little while, at least for this month. I adore this city. I'm working in a cafe called "Nervous Dog Coffee" (doggy treats in a jar by the door), munching on an outrageously delicious Mediterranean turnover, CoCo Rosie is playing on the sound system, and the name of the woman's dog next to me is "Chomsky." It's a quintessential SF moment.