To boldly go

I never knew space could be so much fun. Or Twitter. Or following tweets from space.

Even William Shatner can’t resist.

Here’s his exchange yesterday with Chris Hadfield, currently in orbit on the International Space Station:

From @WilliamShatner: "@Cmdr_Hadfield Are you tweeting from space? MBB"
‏From @Cmdr_Hadfield: "@WilliamShatner Yes, Standard Orbit, Captain. And we're detecting signs of life on the surface."

Within 24 hours, that exchange was retweeted 4,191 times.

Even more amazing than this life-imitating-art-imitating life scenario between Star Trek’s Captain Kirk and the soon-to-be Commander of Expedition 35 are the photos Hadfield posts to Twitter from 240 miles above earth.

Here are a few of my faves:

• "These mountains near Sochi, Russia remind me somehow of corduroy pillows." pic.twitter.com/O6s2KRzZ 
• "Great Belt Bridge, Denmark, connecting Zealand and Fyn. Straight lines stand out against nature when viewed from space." pic.twitter.com/PyCYt2jp 
• "Like a Hole Punch - confetti of farms using central irrigation in the American Southwest. Jan 2, 2013." pic.twitter.com/LRB9KI6T 
• "Mojave Desert and the lake beds of Edwards AFB where I attended test Pilot School, and where the Shuttle first landed." pic.twitter.com/KCqt6iIn 
• "A view of the Suez Canal, as it opens into the Mediterranean. A great mix of nature and powerful human engineering." pic.twitter.com/asqfHKkn

There’s much more to see and read on Twitter.com/Cmdr_Hadfield

Or on the NASA/ISS or Canadian Space Agency sites.

If you aren't able "To boldly go where no man has gone before," as least you can read the tweets.

Filling the Gap

The Gap is creating quite a stir with its logo, and I'm still scratching my head. Not about its decision to scrap the old logo. Or the choice of its new logo. I just can't figure out why people seem to really care.

Now it's gone viral.

Fast Company has posted an exclusive interview with NewLogo, in which it whines, "...I have feelings! I have a friggin Twitter account! The only way to deal with the pain is comfort eating. Pretty soon I'll be type set in Helvetica Neue Black." (@gaplogo)


Not to be outdone, OldLogo is also tweeting, @OldGapLogo.

Yes, I realize it's all good fun. And I'm sure this will become another success story for the power of social networks.

But the real winner? The Gap, natch. It doesn't matter if people love or hate the logo, as long as they keep talking about the Gap. And the value of all this exposure? Priceless.

UPDATED Oct. 12, 2010: Gap ditched its new logo mere days after this post. (I claim no responsibility.) Responds NewLogo on Twitter: "I HAD feelings. Jerks. Now I'm just numb – I don't know who I am anymore!" And from OldGapLogo: "Well...looks like my work here is done. Peace. I'm out."