Really Rocket Science

“Beware the Ides of March,” they told Caesar. Lightsquared is facing a milestone date on 15 March 2012 in their agreement with Sprint. According to Bloomberg, the part of Brutus will be played by Dan Hesse, CEO of Sprint…

Sprint Nextel Corp. plans to end a network-sharing agreement with billionaire Philip Falcone’s LightSquared Inc. wireless venture as early as next week, according to two people familiar with the matter.

Sprint is preparing to take the step as LightSquared approaches a March 15 deadline to meet certain conditions under the agreement, said the people, who wouldn’t be identified because the information isn’t public. Sprint and LightSquared struck an 11-year deal to share network expansion costs and equipment in June provided LightSquared secure regulatory approvals for its wireless service by December. Though Sprint pushed the deadline back, it doesn’t plan more extensions, the people said.

The loss of Sprint would fuel concerns about the viability of LightSquared and mark another setback for Falcone. The hedge fund manager has invested about $3 billion from his Harbinger Capital Partners in LightSquared in an effort to create a national wireless carrier to compete against AT&T Inc. and Verizon Wireless.

Playing the part of Julius Ceasar will be Philip Falcone.

Of all the countries of the world, I always thought the Kingdom of Norway would be a great place to live. As long as you can deal with the long winters, pretty much all else is taken care of. With the highest per capital oil production of any country outside the Middle East, your cost for education is zero. Gasoline prices are pretty high — to keep consumption down. Why go anywhere by car when you could walk, bike or sled?

In the northern parts, particularly Tromsø (“the capital of the Arctic” — tourist site offers only summer pics), the Northern Lights provide enough entertainment to last a lifetime. No need for a telescope here — low light pollution and the most spectacular visuals.

Today’s APOD by Ole Christian Salomonsen is just that: spectacular!

Explanation: It was one of the most memorable auroras of the season. There was green light, red light, and sometimes a mixture of the two. There were multiple rays, distinct curtains, and even an auroral corona. It took up so much of the sky. In the background were stars too numerous to count, in the foreground a friend trying to image the same sight. The scene was captured with a fisheye lens around and above Tromsø, Norway, last month. With the Sun becoming more active, next year might bring even more spectacular aurora.

One of these days, a vacation in Norway awaits.