XenviK's Year In Review - Part Two

And welcome back! Without further ado it's time for the second part of my year in review posts.

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Heartwarming Moment Award - President Michael D. Higgins



This year's Irish presidential campaign seemed to go on forever, descending in to a bit of a circus it must be said. Candidates were in, out, in again and rumored then maybed before denying. Slogan 'synergy', mud raking and far too many debates in no way made the whole thing a pleasant experience either.

However in the end one man stood the victor, having remained largely untouched by the campaign furore. So when Michael D. Higgins was declared the winner there was most certainly a great sense of relief at the whole thing being over and done with, but also a cause for minor celebration at the best candidate coming out on top.

This feeling was best encapsulated at Dublin Castle post-speech Michael D. and his wife Sabina embraced on stage. One couldn't help but smile!

In Memoriam - Steve Jobs



What can be said without sounding trite or hyperbolic? A true visionary, it's safe to say that many of his ideas forever changed the face of consumer electronics as we know it, with Apple certainly not being the force it is today without his guidance. Apple, America and indeed the world is certainly the poorer without him.

Recognition of the End of an Era - The Space Shuttle Programme



On July 21 the Space Shuttle Atlantis landed safely at Kennedy Space Centre for the last time, bringing and end to NASA's long-running shuttle programme.

With no clear successor at present it looks likely that NASA's focus will shift towards more unmanned missions to Mars and other surveyings of space, leaving the way clear for Russia and China to carry the torch of manned space flight.

One would hope that a new NASA space flight project will be rolled out at some point... and it better involve nothing less than Battlestars.

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Thus concludes part two of this look back at the year's events. Tomorrow shall most likely see the posting of part three, and I shall keep cranking these out depending upon the strength of my memory. Or I'll just Google some shit, y'know.