Get ready for your moon adventure. Companies are actively working to further technology and vehicles that can take us to the moon. In the show today we will hear about Jeff Bezos’s proposal to NASA and the White House about a craft that can take supplies to the moon in about 10 years. Also, we will talk about what’s new at Facebook and BlackBerry. 

Show Notes

 

Return to the Moon

It looks like we have to wait a little longer to send humans to Mars. But, plans are in motion to create a permanent settlement on the moon instead.  

Due to NASA's plans to return to the moon and the anticipated support of the Trump administration a few companies are excited to support travel to the moon with new technology and spacecraft. 

One of the companies that made a proposal is Blue Origin, a space company owned by Jeff Bezos, founder of Amazon. In a seven-page white paper to NASA and President Trump's transition team the company highlighted its interest in developing a lunar spacecraft. 

This service would deliver gear for experiments and cargo by mid-2020 but doesn’t involve flying humans. It’s focus is on just cargo missions to help establish a human colony on the moon. 

“It is time for America to return to the Moon — this time to stay,” Bezos said 

Bezos announcement came on the heels of SpaceX’s founder Elon Musk who made an announcement earlier in the week that his company planned to fly two private citizens on a tourist trip around the moon by next year.

NASA also announced it is considering adding astronauts to the first flight of its Space Launch System rocket and Orion crew capsule. 

Robert Bigelow, the founder of Bigelow Aerospace, said his company could create a depot that could orbit the moon by 2020, housing supplies and medical facilities, as well as humans. He is glad that the administration seems to be refocusing on the moon. “Mars is premature at this time. The moon is not,”

 

City Guides

Facebook recently began rolling out feature called "City Guides" to its iOS app. City Guides gives users a list of cities visited by their friends and along with recommendations on places to eat, where to visit, and where you can stay on a future trip.

So now, your friends can know all about that secret get away trip you took last month when you said you were sick.

This feature can be found in the Explore tab of the app. After tapping on a city, the app provides a list of friends who have been to the location along with the places they checked into while they were there. 

So, if you're looking for restaurant or hotel suggestions, it's easy to bookmark the spot right in the app and then send a message to that friend to see what he or she thinks about it.  

Other parts of this upgrade include a “Places The Locals Go" section that lists popular spots based on each location's Facebook page rating, an upcoming events list in each city and a list of popular attractions. 

The next time you’re planning a trip, check out this feature as it should make your trip a whole lot more enjoyable, visiting, eating and doing things that have recommended by people you know.

 

BlackBerry’s new approach

Nestor Arellano shared some information about chat with BlackBerry’s chief operating officer Marty Beard about the new direction that the company is headed in.

BlackBerry’s grand plan is a comprehensive native approach to provide government and enterprise customers with security products and services.

It covers five key areas: 

• •              Unified endpoint management (you know mobile device management and BES and the like
• •              Embedded software: Think BlackBerry software inside any IoT device from medical instruments to BlackBerry radar for trucks and QNX software for driverless cars
• •              Network: Think messages being served up securely through the BlackBerry NOC
• •              Communications: That will be facilitating more secure messaging and alerts for enterprise and government users
• •              Applications: All about developing app services, software development kits