Earthquakes are not new to Oklahoma or the Midwest but earthquakes of this magnitude are rare. So rare in fact that this earthquake set a record for BIGGEST in Oklahoma’s recorded history.

This wasn’t even the 1st big one this weekend, just the biggest. Probably not the last for a few days too. I first saw the news of the quakes yesterday morning and then this morning was greeted by many Facebook posts from friends in Tulsa and Broken Arrow.

Doesn’t appear any lives were lost, but there were a few reported injuries. The news showed some home damage in Broken Arrow. Bricks that fell off homes and driveways with huge cracks. News also reported that some highways buckled from the earthquake. They’ll probably be finding damage for weeks.

As far as I can tell everyone I know is safe with little to no damage. Most importantly my dad and his wife are okay.

Here’s hoping that no one was killed or permanently injured and that any further quakes are the more typical micro quakes that Oklahoma has endured for generations.

I’m not the only one that has been moved, her video has already seen over 8 million views; and her original posting has already been copied to other YouTube accounts where hundreds of thousands of views have been logged. She has become an internet sensation. 

Ellen Dengeres obviously thought so and invited Ms. Churman to appear on her show not too long ago. Through the interview you learn a few things about Ms. Churman and her family. You learn that the procedure cost $30,000 per ear and isn’t covered by insurance. Ms. Churman and her husband couldn’t afford such an expensive surgery, much less two of them, so her mother-in-law cashed in a small retirement savings so that they could borrow the money for the 1st surgery.

Ellen apparently learned this in advance of the interview and through a little magic of her own worked with Envoy Medical, provider of this new ocular implant, to provide the next implant free. Ellen and Envoy didn’t stop there, they presented Ms. Churman and her family with a check for $30,000 to pay back Ms. Churman’s mother-in-law.

Both videos are below. If one doesn’t bring a little tear to your eye, then you need to go see a doctor yourself.

Meeting with Ellen on The Ellen DeGeneres Show

Her original video, with over 8 million views so far…

The video below was put together by CNN. It’s a wonderful walk down the public life of Steve Jobs. Many great moments that iPod, iPhone and iPad owners might just remember with great fondness.

(Direct Link to Story – Flash)

For some interesting facts and the story on Texas Stadium check the Texas Stadium’s wikipedia page, lots of really cool information on the former stadium.

Below check out this YouTube video of the implosion. Be sure to play this video right, click on play and then choose to go to Full Screen (assuming your hardware can handle it). You can choose up to 1080p HD. Now, it may bring a tear to your eye as Texas Stadium truly is gone with the wind.

httpvh://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ydZCjwQRuQk

Jupiter Comet Strike

Space.com recently reported that the Hubble Telescope took some very interesting photos of new found spot on Jupiter. It’s believed this spot was created by a recent comet strike on the big gas planet. The size of the spot is immense by Earth standards, the size of our Pacific Ocean. However, on the planet Jupiter it was by shear luck an amateur  astronomer, Anthony Wesley, discovered the spot on July 19th.

Due to the special nature of the 19 year old telescope it is able to get visible light photos of the event in a way no Earth bound telescope can. Apparently the plan is for Hubble to take more photos of this rare event in the coming days and who knows what scientists will learn.

It never ceases to amaze me what Hubble can tell us, and everytime I hear about one of these amazing finds I think what will it be like when Hubble is retired and replaced with smaller telescopes that reside in a lower orbit than Hubble. That’s an unfortunate side effect of the end of the U.S. Shuttle program next year.

You can find the link to the Space.com article HERE.

Weather hit Dallas hard last night, bringing the entire metroplex to a halt. Weather was so bad that many residents didn’t bother to even try and get on the roads. Those that did found travel to be extremely treacherous. Highways were rivers of ice, even after the roads were treated. Most drove carefully, but even the safest of drivers ran into problems. The photo attached could be one of the safe drivers, or one of the reckless; but never-the-less they found their SUV on top of the barrier. How that happened, is just beyond me. It is only one of many weird accidents due to the ice.

Mr. Murray Is Dead