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Good weekend for space: the Chinese conducted their first space walk, and now a private company has sent a rocket into space.

Wired: SpaceX Did It — Falcon 1 Made it to Space

SpaceX has made history. Its privately developed rocket has made it into space.

After three failed launches, the company founded by Elon Musk worked all of the bugs out of their Falcon 1 launch vehicles.

The entire spectacle was broadcast live from Kwajalein Atoll in the South Pacific. Cameras mounted on the spacecraft showed our planet shrinking in the distance and the empty first stage engine falling back to Earth.

As the rocket ascended, cheers rang out during every crucial step of the launch sequence, and at the final stage their headquarters in Hawthorne, California erupted in excitement. (Wired.com viewed the launch over the Internet on SpaceX’s live webcast.)

The tensest moment came just before stage separation. At that critical juncture, the third launch attempt had failed. This time, it worked out perfectly.

Eight minutes after leaving the ground, Falcon 1 reached a speed of 5200 meters per second and passed above the International Space Station.

Here’s the video of the flight:

Granted, the price was only $13, but I’d almost be willing to pay the extra $7 for some better writing and editing. On top of the poor writing, organization, and redundancy, they’ve decided to embed a bunch of trivia in their paragraphs. Some kind of crude copy-protection scheme?

Washington Mutual died on its 119th birthday.

Reuters: WaMu is largest U.S. bank failure

Washington Mutual Inc was closed by the U.S. government in by far the largest failure of a U.S. bank, and its banking assets were sold to JPMorgan Chase & Co for $1.9 billion.

Thursday’s seizure and sale is the latest historic step in U.S. government attempts to clean up a banking industry littered with toxic mortgage debt. Negotiations over a $700 billion bailout of the entire financial system stalled in Washington on Thursday.

…

119-YEAR HISTORY

The transaction ends exactly 119 years of independence for Washington Mutual, whose predecessor was incorporated on September 25, 1889, “to offer its stockholders a safe and profitable vehicle for investing and lending,” according to the thrift’s website. This helped Seattle residents rebuild after a fire torched the city’s downtown.

Maybe I should have deposited that check this morning.

I had nothing to do with this, but MySpace just re-launched their music site in the US with lots more music from major label artists.

It’s actually pretty cool to be able to listen to all this stuff for free and compile playlists. The product itself is definitely rough around the edges, but overall it’s not bad.

It’s been a while since I’ve come across any new music I liked. If you’ve got any recommendations, feel free to throw in their MySpace URLs in the comments.

A while back I wrote about Kiva, the non-profit that facilitates the practice of micro-lending by matching up lenders with entrepreneurs in developing nations who need small loans to raise ducks or sell gin.

It turns out they’re one of 25 finalists in the Members Project from American Express. If Kiva is selected as the winner, they’ll get a million or two from American Express. Kiva makes no money off the micro-loans, so a windfall like this would go a long way toward paying the rent, doing the legwork with micro-lending institutions in developing countries, and helping a bunch of do-gooders get their paychecks. $1.5 million translates into 60,000 $25 micro-loans!

If you have an American Express card, go vote for Kiva’s entry, Loans That Change Lives, at the Members Project.

Oh, and in case you’re wondering, both Dorcas and Lan Thi are repaying their loans.

Heard this on NPR today:

Day to Day, September 23, 2008: TransUnion Deal Includes Free Credit Monitoring

TransUnion Corp. is offering free credit-monitoring services as part of a settlement over allegations that it improperly sold consumers’ personal data.

Here’s where to register:

https://www.listclassaction.com/

1. Sign up for auto-pay whenever possible
2. Set up Google/Yahoo Calendar reminders around the statement issue and due dates