Autumn in the North Cemetery.

Sixty miles west of Boston, Massachusetts there is the small New England town of Sturbridge. Located at the junction of I-90 (The Mass Pike), and I-84 it has become known as the "Crossroads of New England". The town was first settled over 300 years ago, and like other small New England towns it has grown just enough over the years to be in a difficult place today. How do we embrace the future without forgetting how we got to our present? How do we attract the right kind of growth, and maintain who we are? And, what about our culture out here in Central Massachusetts?



These pages will cause one to think about how to protect what we have, our future direction, and how to move on in the very best way.


Those thoughts, and other ramblings, will hopefully inspire more thought, conversation, action, and occasionally a smile...

...seems to be working so far

Monday, September 14, 2009

Sturbridge On The Map Again...err, Or Is It Off The Map?

The article below is from wired.com, Sept. 14, 2009--ed

DIY Pics From the Edge of Space for Just $150


"For $148 in off-the-shelf parts, two Massachusetts Institute of Technology students have taken pictures from the edge of space.

Justin Lee and Olivery Yeh’s DIY dirigible launched on September 2 from Sturbridge, Massachusetts and rose 18 miles before popping. It was recovered, photographs intact, upon landing in a nearby construction site.

To carry the camera, a second-hand Canon A470 running open-source software that shot every five seconds, the students used a $30 weather balloon filled with helium from a party favor store. A prepaid cell phone with enabled AccuTracking service sent GPS coordinates via text message. Protecting the apparatus from minus 50 degree Fahrenheit stratospheric chill was a styrofoam beer cooler and pocket hand warmers.

Photographs and a full parts list can be found on the students’ website."





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