Cubscout waterfight

Cubscout waterfight
Originally uploaded by kcsporttour

-- Sent from my Palm Pre

Filling watergund at cub day camp

Filling watergund at cub day camp
Originally uploaded by kcsporttour

-- Sent from my Palm Pre

Cat and chimena on a Sunday Morning

Cat and chimena on a Sunday Morning
Originally uploaded by kcsporttour

Lazy sunday morning. Click in for the photo.

-- Sent from my Palm Pre

Overland Park street festival

Overland Park street festival
Originally uploaded by kcsporttour

-- Sent from my Palm Pre

Nice night for a walk

Nice night for a walk
Originally uploaded by kcsporttour

And what a good dog to pose for me!
Sent on the Sprint® Now Network from my BlackBerry®

Calm is good

Calm is good
Originally uploaded by kcsporttour

Sent on the Sprint® Now Network from my BlackBerry®

Uh

Uh
Originally uploaded by kcsporttour

Test from bb photo by email
Sent on the Sprint® Now Network from my BlackBerry®

Labette Count School Super is out to lunch

"Superintendent Stockton said parents should check with school administration before allowing their child to change their appearance."
From: Kansas Parents Furious After School Faculty Cuts Son's Hair - WDAF

More:

• Video from WIBW
• KMBC video
• USD 506 District Homepage
  

What business people don't want to hear

acleareye.com: We read too many business books.: "Control destroys relationships. Control blinds you to opportunities. Control shuts down your inner voice. Control is driven by your ego's need to serve itself. Control is an illusion you cling to primarily to alleviate your fears"

TiddlyWiki - a reusable non-linear personal web notebook

TiddlyWiki - a reusable non-linear personal web notebook

Fancy.  Must play with.

Why should a Kid build a Catapult?

Why should a kid build a catapult? (Also known as backyard artillery!)

Because the world needs good engineers and scientists, and because the kids who will grow up to become engineers and scientists need a way to get hands-on experience with physics, math and engineering.

In this age of 200-plus channels of TV, the Internet and computer games, kids are also spending far less time building tree houses, tinkering with engines, or designing downhill racers. We believe those are important skills to have. They help form the basis for good problem solving skills and an innate understanding of the real, physical world that you just can't get from a computer game, no matter how good its physics simulation software is.

Ballistic motion was one of the key players in the development of the science of physics. The word "engineer" even originated as the builders and designer of Siege Engines

Why is a budding engineering student expected to take a year or two of calculus in high school, but she isn't expected to have any real-world experience in building or working with machines and materials? Pencil and paper (or computer screens) are only one part of the learning experience. Where will she apply all of the stuff she learned in geometry and trig? Without physical projects to touch, feel and see, the lessons become abstract, their utility questionable.

A catapult project gives students a chance to see that science and engineering really can be fun, and it's a lot more than just numbers on paper. The real payoff for an engineer is in the field, where she can see and enjoy the results of her ingenuity. And it may seem counterintuitive, but engineering projects not only help kids learn math and science, they are also great at getting kids back outdoors, away from the massive over-exposure to video games, TV and the Internet.

Why all this interest in getting kids to study science and engineering? Because it's important to our society, and it's great mental cross training regardless of what field of work the kids eventually go into. Most people develop a sense for what they want to do in life while they are still in high school or even earlier. A catapult project is fun and interesting enough to inspire some kids to study the science behind how they work, and then go on to become the engineers and scientists of tomorrow.

From CatapultKits.com

I seem to recall building matchstick rockets, then model rockets, then Chinese rockets and learning about force, thrust, motion, weight and more. This is too cool!

Teach Yourself Graphic Design: A Self-Study Course Outline - Psdtuts

Teach Yourself Graphic Design: A Self-Study Course Outline - Psdtuts:

"Fortunately, it isn't required to go to design school in order to be a graphic designer. A good foundation in graphic design history, theory, and practical application will help you hit the ground running. There are plenty of resources available in which you can learn graphic design on your own. Don't set your expectations to high at first, as it will take enthusiastic study for years to become great. You can do it though!

If you would like to learn graphic design from the ground up, through self directed study, then this article lists some great resources that will get you started with your design education. Also, even if you do go to design school, at least three-fifths of your education will be through self directed study anyway. Let's get to it!"

Alec on a pony

Alec on a pony
Originally uploaded by kcsporttour

At the Merriam Turkey Festival

Alec in the paper

Alec in the paper
Originally uploaded by kcsporttour

Alec made the front page of the Community section of the Liberty Tribune. (he's in grey leaned over) fron the April Science Club at HMS Beagle in Parkville, MO

Un der Chickie en der yard, um, good!

Overland Park Code, 18.370.020 para. L says I have to have a special use permit to keep chickens. Shazbot. But fortunately, there's a Chicken Movment taking place:

http://www.kansascity.com/105/story/1189350.html


And it's spreading to OP:

http://www.kansascity.com/news/local/story/1191585.html

Bork Bork Bork!

Videos Of Barack Obama’s Comedy Routine At White House Correspondents’ Dinner | The Moderate Voice

Videos Of Barack Obama’s Comedy Routine At White House Correspondents’ Dinner | The Moderate Voice -- I'm not a big fan of all his policies, but WOW - this was outstanding.  

Update!  Full Text of the comments is available from WBS Radio!

Excess Death: Risk Threats

Just poking around some numbers.

Coal fired power plants cause upwards of 24,000 excess deaths from pollution, radiation, etc. each year. Assuming we've had 70 years of serious coal fired power plants, thats 280,000 excess deaths.

Nuclear power plants caused between 0 and 19 excess deaths in that same time frame in the US; up to 4,000 worldwide including the Chernobyl foulup.

(The 19 comes from a vociferous anti-nuclear group. (or another, quoting 'just borderline statisticaly significant [deaths]') - the 4,000 is from Greenpeace, who'd be happiest if we weren't here.) The zero comes from everywhere else. Further reading:

http://www.cancer.gov/cancertopics/factsheet/Risk/nuclear-facilities )

What's that Opt Out clause in my kids school packet?

Ever wonder what that Opt Out clause was in your kids school packet when you enrolled them? Or did you even read it? "Percent of schools receiving No Child Left Behind Act funding that must give personal student information to the military unless student opts out: 100%" . . . (from arse poetica)

Magic and the Brain: Teller Reveals the Neuroscience of Illusion

Magic and the Brain: Teller Reveals the Neuroscience of Illusion: "'Reality seems so simple. We just open our eyes and there it is. But that doesn't mean it is simple.'"

2008 Riding Map

The Montana destination was a one-way trip on the bike. Sigh. Zoom out for the whole view.


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2007 Riding Map

Big stretch of country. Again, zoom out to see the whole deal.


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2006 Riding Map

Got more of the South West in 2006. Zoom out for the view:


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2005 Riding Map

Man, I went all over the country in 2005. Zoom out to see everything...

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2004 Riding Map

Near as I can recall, this was the last year before the divorce; I was trying to stay local and do family things to save what was left of the marriage.  (didn't work).  Two trips to Cassoday First Sunday breakfast, a weekend in Arkansas with +Nathan Morton and crew.  Interesting trip.



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Alec leading Cub Scouts

Alec leading Cub Scouts
Originally uploaded by kcsporttour

Alec led the flag ceremony tonight

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2003 Riding Map

2003: New bike; bought a 1997 Honda ST1100 for 2-up touring and more Ironbutt class riding. Did a ton of IBA class stuff on that, ran 50,000 miles in 5 years before I wadded it.  But in 2003, I was just learning this huge heavy thing.  More local loop riding in Kansas and NW Arkansas.  Trip to see a Post in a Field (6th Principle Meridian) with +Jeff Schneider.



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When is the flu not the flu?

CTV.ca | If you're vomiting, it's not flu, say experts: "When is the flu not the flu? When you are vomiting.

That's right. If you are nauseated, throwing up or chained to your bathroom with a bad case of the trots, you do not have the flu. (Young children are an exception to the rule, but more on that later.)

You may have food poisoning. You may have Norwalk virus or one of any number of other nasty gastrointestinal bugs. But you don't have the flu. And you don't even have 'a stomach flu' -- a nonsense phrase that makes infectious disease specialists see red."

2002 Riding Map

2002 - my first big year of riding. Forgot about 2002; that was when things got weird with my now ex-wife.  Bought a 1997 VFR in Wichita, KS and rode it to Cassoday a few times, on the Baseball Grand Tour, and did a SaddleSore 1K in May of 2002 to Chicago and back.  Good year for riding; almost 10,000 miles (not all shown on the map).



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2 Swine Flu Cases Confirmed in Kansas - NBC Action News KSHB-TV 41

2 Swine Flu Cases Confirmed in Kansas - NBC Action News KSHB-TV 41: "The Kansas Department of Health and Environment has confirmed two cases of swine flu in the state involving two adults residing in the same household in Dickinson County.

Neither of the patients was hospitalized. One is ill and being treated while the other one is recovering, according to the KDHE.

One of the patients had recently traveled to Mexico, flying in and out of Wichita. Both persons work in Saline County and became ill with the same unique (H1N1) strain of swine flu that has been identified in Mexico, California and Texas"

Everyone does everything right, and it actually made the news!

Public safety news in brief | Youngster brings nonfunctioning gun aboard school bus - Kansas City Star:

"An 8-year-old boy showed friends a gun on the school bus. They told the principal.

Not your typical show-and-tell, but it happened Friday morning.

The boy’s family apparently found the gun in his grandfather’s house after his grandfather died.

After the bus arrived at the Longan French Magnet School near 34th and Cherry streets, the principal took the gun, which was missing its firing pin, and called security. A police officer interviewed the boy and his mother after school.

Since the gun didn’t work and the boy had not threatened anyone, police returned the gun to the mother. School officials said they were handling the matter under code of conduct guidelines."

No lockdown - no SWAT teams called - no automatic weapons pointed at the kids, no command posts set up. The kid screwed up, check. The other kids told an adult, check. The adult took the right measures. And most surprising, it made the news - granted a mini-blurb back on page A-22...

Alec walking Sam

Alec walking Sam
Originally uploaded by kcsporttour

I Like Lines. And Graphs.

Pretty lines. Wonder what it's all about?

Me, being an asshat

"DHS encourages recipients of this document to report information concerning suspicious or criminal activity to DHS and the FBI. The DHS National Operations Center (NOC) can be reached by telephone at 202-282-9685 or by e-mail at NOC.Fusion@dhs.gov. For information affecting the private sector and critical infrastructure, contact the National Infrastructure Coordinating Center (NICC), a sub-element of the NOC. The NICC can be reached by telephone at 202-282-9201 or by e-mail at NICC@dhs.gov. "

And, there's the document you're receiving. (PDF Link) (backup PDF link)

Just doing my part as a good Right Wing Extremist!

Found another document you are receiving. (PDF link), (backup PDF Link) Interesting to compare and contrast the two.

The More Things Change . . .

A few years ago (well, some 2,900 years ago), a new leader was risen up to the people.  He was young and powerful and glorious, and he was tasked to find his way as a leader. The people, fearing that he would continue to tax them as heavily as had his father, promised their loyalty in return for a lighter burden.

 "And the young men that were grown up with him spake unto him, saying, Thus shalt thou speak unto this people that spake unto thee, saying, Thy father made our yoke heavy, but make thou it lighter unto us; thus shalt thou say unto them, My little finger shall be thicker than my father's loins.

11And now whereas my father did lade you with a heavy yoke, I will add to your yoke: my father hath chastised you with whips, but I will chastise you with scorpions." (KJV, 1-Kings-12)

Hmm.  King Rehoboam didn't have a great ending. Wonder how our story will come out?   Who will be our Rehoboam? 

(Side note - this bible study stuff is as addictive as constitutional law.  I have no life.)

US Gov't targeting conservatives

First Misouri, then Virginia, now the Federal Government. It's a bad time to think limited government and low taxes are a good thing. Now we can see all the powers set up by Bush & Co turned toward, well, the people that supported Bush & Co. Nice. Report: US is ripe for recruiting by extremists - Kansas City Star: "Homeland Security officials are warning that right-wing extremists could use the bad state of the U.S. economy and the election of the country's first black president to recruit members to their cause."

You needn't be driving to be guilty of DWI

You needn't be driving to be guilty of DWI: "[MN} State law says that any person who drives, operates or is in 'physical control' of a motor vehicle with a blood-alcohol concentration of more than 0.08 percent is guilty of a crime. Testing of Fleck showed an alcohol concentration of 0.18 percent, the court said.

The court cited a 1992 ruling saying that 'physical control' includes situations where a drunk person is found in a parked vehicle that might be started and driven."

Cubscouts at the VFW

Cubscouts at the VFW
Originally uploaded by kcsporttour

The VFW post volunteered to show the boys about the American Flag

Investigative journalism under threat from new regulations

The Guardian, a UK Newspaper, has an interesting article about the new regulations in Britain that require telecom companies to keep a permanent log of every call, text email sent or website visited on your mobile phone or wired internet connection.

Investigative journalism under threat from new regulations :

"The concern is that if someone gets in touch with a journalist, who then writes a story based on that information, the new regulations mean that the police - or intelligence services or local council - can work back from the database of all the contacts made to the journalist and figure out who the whistleblower is. It blows a huge hole in the journalist's legal defence under section 10 of the Contempt of Court Act of 1981 that sources can stay secret unless 'the court is satisfied disclosure is necessary in the interests of justice or national security or for the prevention of disorder or crime'. Join the communications dots, and a suspect is fingered.

How do you counter that risk? 'Step down a couple of technological rungs,' says David Leigh, the Guardian's investigations editor. 'Just send a letter - you know, snail mail.' He adds: 'When I've dealt with secret sources they take very great care not to communicate on any electronic medium.'

The next step, says Campbell, is to do what drug dealers and terrorists do: use pay-as-you-go phones and unregistered sim cards, bought with cash. Such closed rings are almost unbreakable - once you've met to swap numbers.

But must journalists and sources really use the same tactics as terrorists and drug dealers?"

Click the link above to read more from The Guardian...

Family Archive Podcast

After ignoring chores for the past couple of hours, I've sorted out how to run a Podcast from Blogger. We'll be publishing weekly updates from the tape archive. Today's episode:

Family Archive Podcast: 1959: Robert K. Dean speaking about his son graduating from Kindergarten

You can subscribe to this RSS feed in iTunes for the full experience - including album artwork, image clips and more.


----
Tech Note: I used the An-Archos Javascript widget to automatically embed the m4a file in this blog post. Made my life a lot easier it did.

Morse Code Translator

Morse Code Translator: "Morse Code Translator"

This is what a bad riding day looks like

Also known as 'When NOT to go to Arkansas'

A Good Day for a Ride

A Good Day for a Ride
Originally uploaded by kcsporttour

Sunny, cool, nice day for a lap around Truman Lake. Nothing unusual or interesting to report - just good riding. I did find the intersection of C, U and ZZ roads - CUZZ! Down deep in the hills of Central MO.

Learning The Wrong Lessons

Learning The Wrong Lessons from Sandra Cantu’s Death-- FreeRangeKids:

"The chances of being abducted and killed by a stranger stand at 1,500,000 to one, according to the Crimes Against Children Research Center. This is a number that does not go up or down a lot year to year. To keep your children inside or guarded at all times because of chances like that would make sense only if you also vowed never to take your children in a car, considering the odds of them dying in an accident are 40 times greater.
And yet, even though five child passengers are killed each day, you never see parents vowing, “I used to let my kids come with me in the car. But after this, there will be no more driving. This is a long-term change.”"

It has frozen over!

Satan rejoins Penguins for Hockey playoffs - Kansas City Star

Sorry - just caught me funny. :-)

Change?

In Warrantless Wiretapping Case, Obama DOJ's New Arguments Are Worse Than Bush's | Electronic Frontier Foundation:

"the gulf between Candidate Obama and President Obama is striking. As a candidate, Obama ran promising a new era of government transparency and accountability, an end to the Bush DOJ's radical theories of executive power, and reform of the PATRIOT Act. But, this week, Obama's own Department Of Justice has argued that, under the PATRIOT Act, the government shall be entirely unaccountable for surveilling Americans in violation of its own laws.

This isn't change we can believe in. This is change for the worse."

For what it's worth, this is from the left-wing group Electronic Freedom Frontier - not some NeoCon right wing team.

US Economic Crisis - Perspective from the IMF

The Atlantic Online | May 2009 | The Quiet Coup | Simon Johnson:

"In its depth and suddenness, the U.S. economic and financial crisis is shockingly reminiscent of moments we have recently seen in emerging markets (and only in emerging markets): South Korea (1997), Malaysia (1998), Russia and Argentina (time and again)."

How to change 1990 Ducati ST2 Fuel Filter

This PDF file shows how to change 1990 Ducati ST2 Fuel Filter -- also known as 'call the dealer'

Sheesh. They don't make things easy do they? The more I learn about my Ducati, the more I miss my Honda ST1100. You could nearly change that fuel filter while riding.

Who Is Arming the Mexican Drug Cartels? by Michael Gaddy

Who Is Arming the Mexican Drug Cartels? by Michael Gaddy:

"This week, Secretary of Homeland Defense, Janet Napolitano, announced a new plan to curb the alleged flow of weapons from the US into Mexico. This program, which will cost the overwhelmed US Taxpayer another 700 million dollars plus, includes machines that employ what is referred to as 'virtual strip search.' This plan will supposedly slow down the number of guns traveling south from the US to the drug cartels in Mexico. If this program has the same success rate as the government’s efforts at stopping the flow of contraband north into the US, the Mexican drug cartels will have nuclear weapons by the end of April!"

Airport Extreme error (-5) after firmware upgrade

I upgraded my Airport Extreme to 7.4.1 (74100.25) firmware and immediately after the upgrade Airport Utility reported "An error occurred while reading the configuration. Make sure your Apple wireless device is plugged in and in range of your computer or connected via Ethernet and try again. (-5)"

Additionally the wireless would not assign a valid IP address to my MacBook Pro.

I resolved this by connecting to the Airport Extreme via ethernet. Then I launched Airport Utility and chose File - Configure Other. I entered the IP address (10.0.1.1) of the device and my password. This brought up the configuration options. I chose from the menu "Base Station", Upload Firmware. This presented a list of firmware choices and I chose 7.3.2. The downgrade completed and I was able to use the wireless again as well as normally configure the Airport Extreme via wireless or ethernet. No more Error -5.

I found this information in the Apple Discussions forum.

True Colors

British government environmental ministers are showing their true colors, aping the Earth First line that people are a parasite on the planet, and the population must be reduced. (link to google search; work firewall won't let me view their site)

How much? 30,000,000 people in Britain alone - about 50% of the population. Assuming you extrapolate that out, that's around 3,000,000,000 'excess population' that needs to be removed to match the planets carrying capacity.

Stalin would be proud.

Oh - sorry - we can't "treat the world’s population as a homogenous unit, as deep ecologists so often do." Only the industrially developed nations need to be de-populated, in order to match the carrying capacity of the planet.

Any volunteers for depopulation?

---

OK, this really isn't news, it's been bandied about by Malthusian and growth sides, as well as the NWO tinfoil hat crowd for years. The interesting bit is that it's an official government position statement, rather than tweedy academics or gun-toting art-bell-listening tweakers bringing it up.

EPA takes first step

EPA Takes first step toward outlawing deadly carbon dioxide dumping; setting it's sites on even more dangerous Dihydrogen Monoxide.

Land Hurricaine?

No, just a wicked low pressure front. But wow - what a cool radar image! Snagged at 7:15 PM from weather.gov

Er, make that under the bed

Er, make that under the bed
Originally uploaded by kcsporttour

Sam the Dog, sleeping and hiding from the wind

Sleepy day

Sleepy day
Originally uploaded by kcsporttour

Alec is off school today, i am working from home. Alec is sleeping on the bed in the office, Random the Cat is under his arm, and Sam the Dog is asleep on the floor.

The Big Takeover : Rolling Stone

Matt Taibbi writes this excellent article clearly explaining the basics of what the hell just happened: The Big Takeover : Rolling Stone

Twheel

Fancy. Getting closer to the crazy AI powered wheels from Heavy Weather

Tiny microphone for iPod Touch

Switcheasy announces thumbtack-size iPod mic | Accessories | Playlist | Macworld: "The microphone plugs directly into the headphone jack of compatible iPods, letting you record audio using either the iPod’s built-in voice-recording feature or, in the case of the iPod touch, third-party software."

Yeah, but will it work for using the Touch as a VOIP phone?

National Pi Day

National Pi Day? Congress makes it official | Politics and Law - CNET News

: "Washington politicians took time from bailouts and earmark-laden spending packages on Wednesday for what might seem like an unusual act: officially designating a National Pi Day.
That's Pi as in ratio-of-a-circle's-circumference-to-diameter, better known as the mathematical constant beginning with 3.14159.
The U.S. House of Representatives on Wednesday approved a resolution introduced two days earlier that designates March 14, 2009 (3/14, get it?) as National Pi Day. It urges schools to take the opportunity to teach their students about Pi and 'engage them about the study of mathematics.'"

Sam and Snowball

Sam and Snowball
Originally uploaded by kcsporttour

Yaesu VX-8R and Motorcycles

At first glance, the new Yaesu VX-8R Ham radio looks like it's perfect for motorcycle use. Waterproof, receives DC to light (530khz to 999mhz) APRS built in, etc. But one problem - in order to use the APRS, you have to either plug the GPS puck into the microphone jack, or use an external speaker mic with a slot for the GPS puck. In order to use the HT with external mic and speakers (like hooked to an Autocom) you have to hook an adapter dongle to the microphone jack.

The adapter dongle doesn't have a provision for the GPS puck - so no dice running APRS and using it with your Autocom.

Now it does have a Bluetooth option coming out, so it may be possible to use Bluetooth for audio and transmit, while having the GPS puck attached to the radio. We'll see . . .

Sam the Dog Howling

Got lucky today and Sam was howling on the deck while I was sitting here with the camera ready.

New Photos Up

Finally got around to copying the photos from the camera and uploading them to Mylanders. Below are links to the new albums - click the photo to check out the rest of the pictures!

Sam the Dog

Alec and Peridot in Winfield

Alec's 8th Birthday Party

Feb Visit to Nature Center with Alec

Alec's Winter School Music Program

Bowling!

Bowling!
Originally uploaded by kcsporttour

Alec on a coin-op toy

Alec on a coin-op toy
Originally uploaded by kcsporttour

Charging System- Ducati Up North

Charging System- Ducati Up North:

"Ducati Charging System Failures

There's been a number of questions posted recently about charging system problems. This write-up is geared towards superbikes but has general application to all late-model Ducatis. It's probably more than you wanted to know, but save it, it may come in handy ...

Ducati charging system components, are prone to failure,"

No, really? Good information in the article though including a nice chart of power draw from various components. Note to self: need to get bike into Letko...

Skyline Rd and Missle Base Rd, Wabunsee Co. Ks

Skyline Rd and Missle Base Rd, Wabunsee Co. Ks
Originally uploaded by kcsporttour

Finding stuff in Unixland with Grep or Find

Sometimes you need to find something somewhere in your filesystem. Forget where thought. You remember it was in a PHP file somewhere, though.

The classic way I was taught was with a find -exec {} command:

find . -name "*.php" -exec grep -H "title phonetitle" {} \;

But, in reading the man page for grep, I see it has a -R option, for recursive. So, which is faster? Find or grep?

First, the classic find -exec command. I've suppressed the output from grep for clarity:


[buzzaboutwireless@ad cms]$ time find . -name "*.php" -exec grep -q "title phonetitle" {} \;

real 0m0.657s
user 0m0.182s
sys 0m0.487s


Now, for the recursive grep:


[buzzaboutwireless@ad cms]$ time grep -Rq "title phonetitle" .

real 0m0.251s
user 0m0.083s
sys 0m0.165s


Way faster. Neat. Less typing too.


Next: To prove black is white. I'll just remember to watch out for the zebra crossings.

Alecs birthday presents

Alecs birthday presents
Originally uploaded by kcsporttour

Stop Foreclosure Scam

Two men convicted in Kansas foreclosure scam - Kansas City Star:

"The government accused the men of persuading people behind in mortgage payments to pay a monthly fee to stop foreclosure proceedings.

Under federal law, a bankruptcy filing triggers an automatic freeze on foreclosure sales."

Always wondered how many of those ads you saw were just wrappers around a bankruptcy filing. Now we know at least one was...

Heck of a Good Deal!

Got an offer in the mail today where I could earn up to $200 a year back on my purchases.  Pretty good deal - and as an incentive, they gave me two checks for $5.00 each - so up to $210 the first year, and I'm $10 up right out the gate!  Nice deal!

Check the fine print though - by cashing the checks, you agree to be enrolled in two different 'savings' programs, at an annual cost of $120 per year, per program.

So, the net savings by enrolling is this great deal?

$100 savings, program 1

$100 savings, program 2

-$240 membership fees

--------

-$40 cost out of my pocket, just so I can 'save' some money.

Oh, I forgot to mention the free week of Jazzercise lessons they'll throw in.

Seriously.

Reading the fine-fine print, turns out to get this $200 back, you have to save all your purchase receipts, and mail them into a special PO box one time per year.    Very nice.  How kind of them to only require a single mailing per year of receipts.

So, just for some Googlefodder:  Buyers Advantage is a SCAM.  Just for Me is a SCAM. Ripoff.  Complaint.  HSBC.  M. Tremaglio. 

Izza Dog!

Saturday night, Alec and I went to see Marley and Me - a movie about the worlds worst dog. Last week, we had decided that we didn't want to get a dog right now. Ok, well, I decided.

After seeing the movie - what'd we decide to do? Get a dog. Went to The Pet Connection in Mission KS to see who was there and they had a pair of 7 month old black lab mix puppies. One of them is home with us now.

His name is either 'Sam' or 'Doc'. He came from the shelter as Sam, and for a couple of hours we tried out Doc. Doc is too close to Dog, though...

Bizzare situation - they were raised in Osceola, MO at the shelter. Dropped there as 8 week pups. How they could fail to adopt a lab puppies I don't know, but my good fortune (?). So, Sam (or Doc) is effectively a blank slate. No bad experiences, no real training either. And he's never seen stairs. Will not go up or down the stairs in the house for love or treats. Sigh.

Should be an interesting time. He does sleep well in his kennel fortunately. And the cats are doing just as I hoped they would - Kiki is hiding all day and Random just looks at the dog like a disease. Sam looks at the cats no differently than furniture, so that's good so far. Not letting him roam alone in the house for a few months though.

Be Happy

From a Slashdot post of all places:

One of the best and most lasting ways of becoming happy is to surround oneself with people that makes you feel happy. If the people around you do not make you happy, it's not their fault. You're responsible for your own happiness. You choose them. Choose people that makes you feel happy.

Fail

 New year, time to check the finances. Epic Fail.   I've seen worse, but not by much.

The Generator that Could

Neon’s Glow - The Blog of John DeArmond � The Generator that Could

$700 for a Honda?

$600 for a Yamaha?

Or $100 for a Chinese generator?  Read above.

Lenovo Ideapad S10 2 GB RAM and 6-cell battery upgrade

Lenovo Ideapad S10 2 GB RAM and 6-cell battery upgrade:

"For the Lenovo S10 you need a DDR2 PC5300 SODIMM (this will not fit into a standard SDRAM SODIMM socket). A SODIMM, or small outline dual in-line memory module, is a smaller alternative to a DIMM, being roughly half the size of regular DIMMs. SODIMMS are often used in systems which have space restrictions such as notebooks and netbooks.

Lenovo's IdeaPad S10 netbook is easy to upgrade. The S10 has 512MB soldered onto the motherboard and only one SODIMM slot. If your S10 comes with more than 512MB preinstalled, than there's already a SODIMM in the slot and you will have to remove it first. The motherboard also cannot recognize more than 2GB in total, including the built-in 512 MB. A 2 GB DIMM will give you 2 GB, not 2.5 GB, because the last 512 MB will be ignored"

Click the link above to get linkies to ram, batteries.  Or just search Amazon.  Sweet.  

Now to decide 'tween Dell Mini 9 and Lenovo S10.

Mac OS X Netbook Compatibility Chart from Boing Boing Gadgets

Mac OS X Netbook Compatibility Chart (updated) - Boing Boing Gadgets: Got a Netbook for Christmas?  Want to make it an hackintosh?

The linked page has all the dope.  Their summary?  "get an MSI Wind or Dell Mini 9."

party! (video) - December 25, 2008, 12:01 PM

Merry Christmas from Alec and the crew!

Doh!

Doh!
Originally uploaded by kcsporttour

Posted without comment.

Update 6:45 PM:
Everyone is OK; Carol's car is not. Just the fender damage but I'll assume the insurance will total it out one way or another. (91 honda, 200K miles . . .)

More photos from the scene:

Signs

Took Alec and his mom to Kaleidoscope today. Alec had fun. I was a touch bored. Till I saw the sign board. Then I wasn't bored - I had a board!

signs 1 -:- signs 2 -:- signs 3 -:- signs 4

signs 5 -:- signs 6 -:- signs 7

Then leaving, I see someone else had a sign.


Update: Made a playlist (channel) page for this. View all current and future 'signs' videos from one place.

Alec and Mom at Kaleidoscope

Alec and Mom at Kaleidoscope
Originally uploaded by kcsporttour

--
Will England, 'travellin with the touch pro'
wengland@gmail.com

Alec at Crayola Store

Alec at Crayola Store
Originally uploaded by kcsporttour

--
Will England, 'travellin with the touch pro'
wengland@gmail.com

Nuts about Nuts?

BBC NEWS | Health | Warning of nut allergy 'hysteria':

"Measures to protect children with nut allergies are becoming increasingly absurd and hysterical, say experts.
A peanut on the floor of a US school bus recently led to evacuation and decontamination for fear it might have affected the 10-year-old passengers."

Facts: there are 2,000 hospitalizations a year (out of 30,000,000 total) for all allergic reactions.  Just 150 people a year die from food allergies.

Professor Nicolas Christakis, a professor of medical sociology at Harvard Medical School, notes that the hysteria about nut contamination looks more like mass psychogenic illness. (See: Salem Witch Trials, etc.)

Are we Nuts about Nuts?  Yup.  

Interesting article about The Role of the Media and Media Hypes from Johns Hopkins. 

Tree is up

Tree is up
Originally uploaded by kcsporttour

--
Will England, 'travellin with the touch pro'
wengland@gmail.com

Accuracy vs Precision

Fiddling with new toys - got a $5 oven thermometer and a $40 meat thermometer.  Set the oven to 350 - nice digital display, so it *should* be accurate and precise.

Testing that theory.  The $5 oven thermometer reads precisely 10 degrees low - the oven claims it's at 350 degrees; the thermometer reads 340.  The $40 meat thermometer shows the initial warmup overshot to 375 degrees, then cooled to 365, even after opening the oven several times to check the $5 thermometer.

After about a 10 minute 'rest' -- long enough to type up this blog post - the $40 meat thermometer has dropped to 351 degrees.  I think the oven agrees - I just heard the relays kick on to re-energize the heating elements.  The $5 thermometer still shows low - 342 or thereabout.

After a 20 minute 'rest' and a full heat cycle the oven thermometer now shows 160, and the meat thermometer shows 165 degrees.

So, which is right?  I don't know.  They are all precise - same measurements every time.  But until I can find a definitive answer, I'm out of luck for accuracy.

Update: Thought of a new test. We know how hot boiling water is - 212 degrees at sea level. Well, I'm 1,000 feet above that, but I pulled a pan of hot water (less dissolved solids) and set it to a rolling boil. The meat thermometer registered 212 degrees. So it is accurate and precise.  The oven thermometer isn't submersible, so no way to test it - but comparing against the meat thermometer it appears to read within 10% or so, just slowly.

The good news is that the oven display is right on the money, at least good enough for home use.

Messy basement

Messy basement
Originally uploaded by kcsporttour

Took this with the panorama feature on the touch pro. Pretty dang fancy.

--
Will England, 'travellin with the touch pro'
wengland@gmail.com

CNN misses, Google Hits.

Earlier today (yesterday, now) nuclear armed India invaded nuclear armed Pakistan -- quick action by Pakistani air force jets headed off the attempted invasion.  Ok, the news calls it 'airspace violations'.  At least some of the news.  CNN - not so much.  A search at 10:00 PM CST, Dec 13 shows zero hits for Pakistan Airspace on CNN:

pakistan airspace - Search results for pakistan airspace - CNN.com

The same search on Google News turns up 539 hits. 

What's CNN up to?  Or are they just bound and determined to go tango-uniform?  (toes (tits) up - Dead)

Cue pirate with tourettes.  

Good day for a ride

Good day for a ride
Originally uploaded by kcsporttour

--
Will England, 'travellin with the touch pro'
wengland@gmail.com

Grandstand burgers

Grandstand burgers
Originally uploaded by kcsporttour

--
Will England, 'travellin with the touch pro'
wengland@gmail.com

Kansas City Lunch Spots - great website

Kansas City Lunch Spots   advertises that "It shouldn't be this hard to find someplace to eat lunch."

Nice web blog site with reviews and info on local joints for lunch.  On my Reader list...

Alec wins Pack 3094 Pinewood Derby

Alec's had a great time building, racing and winning with Pine Car Derby and Cub Scout Pack 3094 in Overland Park, KS.

First Place!

First Place!
Originally uploaded by kcsporttour

Track record all day!

--
Will England, 'travellin with the touch pro'
wengland@gmail.com

Alec at pinecar derby

Alec at pinecar derby
Originally uploaded by kcsporttour

--
Will England, 'travellin with the touch pro'
wengland@gmail.com

Tiny PCs, Full-Size Problems

Rob Pegoraro - Tiny PCs, Full-Size Problems: "What to get instead? If you're buying a netbook as your sole computer, knowing that you'll only use it on the Web, Acer offers the best bet for now. If, however, you're buying it as a third or fourth computer and are willing to tweak it to fit your own needs, look at the MSI.

But it might be better to wait. If these manufacturers have the good sense to steal each other's best ideas, we should see significantly better choices before long."

Basic Handwriting for Kids - Manuscript - Alphabets and Numbers

Basic Handwriting for Kids - Manuscript - Alphabets and Numbers: "Basic Handwriting for Kids"

Karate Tournament

Karate Tournament
Originally uploaded by kcsporttour

Vlog - overview of my HAM antennas

Magical thinking

Neat: Magical thinking - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia: "magical thinking is nonscientific causal reasoning that often includes such ideas as the ability of the mind to affect the physical world, correlation equaling causation, the law of contagion, the power of symbols, and the meaningfulness of synchronicity."

Presidential Transition Info

Presidential Transition Team: "this online directory will introduce you to the operation of the Federal government and the resources available to help you begin your service in the new Administration."

Ahh, fall

Ahh, fall
Originally uploaded by kcsporttour

Guess Mom's gettin a new mac

Netflix now offers their 'Watch Instantly' feature for the Macintosh, but it requires:

Netflix: Watch Instantly: "Mac
An Intel-based Mac with OS 10.4.8 or later
Safari 3 or higher; or Firefox 2 or higher
1 GB RAM"

Mom's still running a G5 iMac - the original 17" model.  She's also a big fan of Netflix.  Hmm.  New mac?  Or Rokku netflix box for streaming over the TV? (and wifi network and receiver and speakers for switching between cable, DVD and Netflix and . . .)