High security surrounds the next shuttle flight, scheduled for November 29th. Two F-15s accompanied Endeavor’s move to the launch pad, and viewing of the launch from within Kennedy Space Center has been tightly restricted. The shuttle will carry the badges of all 23 New York City police officers killed on Sept. 11 and 6,000 small U.S. flags that will be distributed to the families of those killed.

I once worked with someone who would dress up the concrete goose ornament she had on her front porch. It had a little yellow slicker and hat for rainy days, Halloween stuff in October, Santa clothes for Christmas. You get the picture. I thought she was unique, but it turns out that the Yahoo category for lawn geese is entirely filled with sites that sell clothing for lawn geese. As one item says “everyday, holiday, and special occasion outfits for the fashionable goose.” A-yup.

What’s the most economical living situation? Subletting your rent-controlled apartment and never having to pay rent. Renters who are allowed to sublease their low-rent apartments can profit from the high cost of housing in the San Francisco area. Some earn extra sums of money, but the woman profiled in the article says she only rents out at her cost (leaving herself rent free). And the best part is that she uses the freedom this odd combination of capitalism + government control gives her to do good for the world as an environmental educator. I like that.

The new dueling game systems are also dueling on the traveling demo scene. The Xbox contingent is traveling to 33 cities with two 53-foot semi’s and a “humongous inflated dome”. Nintendo’s GameCube is playing up an exclusive elite angle with their Cube Clubs. GameCube launch: November 18th. Xbox: November 15th. I think I’ll go find something that plays Pong. Just Pong.

Ahhhh, 600 toy balloons filled with helium take a man 11,000 feet up. But, I wonder, where are the balloons now?

The NY Times has an update on the relocation of TV broadcast antennas since the collapse of the twin towers. Some stations had already installed expensive digital TV equipment at the WTC, which is, of course, now gone. And audience share is being lost, especially at WNET, the city’s public television station. They have halted on-the-air fundraising since one-third of their audience can no longer receive their signal. Stations have formed a coalition to find alternatives. The best solution would be to build a new standalone antenna tower and locations are being discussed. Empire State Building executives are working quickly to give broadcasters an alternative. Meanwhile, my parents are getting used to their limited choice of CBS or CPTV.

Inspired by Iron Chef? Try out some Reverse-Engineered Iron Chef recipes (via Backup Brain)

Microsoft’s store in Sony’s San Francisco Metreon complex is closing and will be replaced by a non-Microsoft-centric tech emporium. One article says the reason for the closure was lack of business, with both companies deciding it wasn’t worthwhile continuing the endeavor. Another hints that Microsoft’s upcoming release of the Xbox entertainment console, a direct competitor to Sony’s Playstation line, had a lot to do with the agreement that the store “sort of became not-a-fit anymore.”

Panasonic’s new line of PianoDesk pianos have some interesting gimmicks: a slide-out keyboard which saves space, the ability to record to popular music file formats, a USB port, and “give an e-mail recital” (which appears to be marketing-speak for “send the recorded files to your friends and family”). I’ve seriously considered getting a Yamaha Silent Violin so that I can practice without disturbing anyone (actually it’s less disturbing to me when I know no one is listening!). I don’t have room for even a space saving piano, though.

Interesting music news: the NY Times is reporting that James Levine will be taking over the Boston Symphony Orchestra after Seiji Ozawa steps down. Levine is familiar to most from his very visible post as artistic director of the Metropolitan Opera. He is going to have a very busy schedule as he will continue in all his Met duties and take on the BSO and summers at Tanglewood. But it looks like he won’t have to travel abroad as much to get those other prestigious conducting opportunities.