Say "Hello" to My Little Friends

My little friends are small Mac and Windows freeware apps without whom my life would be much less efficient. Most of these apps have been long-time buddies in good standing, having been culled from numerous trial relationships with a large number of wannabee friends.

My Little Mac Friends. (I'm a Mac user by choice.)

Skitch is a free screen capture and markup tool. You can capture the full screen, a selected region, or an iSight camera shot then use Skitch's markup tools to annotate the image. You can drag the capture onto the desktop or upload the capture to skitch.com or other image host.

RapidoWrite makes it easy to type full sentences or paragraphs using abbreviations. This is great for signing your emails with a signature, inserting your address into a form, or typing a long, easy-to-misspell word. Simply type the abbreviation you chose and RapidoWrite expands into the full text.

ClipMenu can manage clipboard history. You can record 8 clipboard types, from plain text to image. To paste a recorded item, you just pop up the menu by invoking the shortcut key or toolbar icon, and select an item from the menu. You can also register texts you frequently use, like e-mail addresses, user IDs and so on, as snippets which you can then paste from the menu, too.
Jumpcut ia another clipboard manager that works almost identically to ClipMenu without the Snippet feature.

Google QuickSearch Box can be used to find the following: programs and files on your computer, search results on Google, bookmarks and websites, calculations, site-specific results, weather and definitions, and contacts. You can even post to Twitter.

Magic Pen is a simple application that gives you the power of an interactive whiteboard to draw on top of content displaying on your screen.

My Little Windows Friends. (I'm a Windows user by necessity. Some of these apps are tools to supplement the functionality which is native on a Mac but missing from XP.)

Easy Capture is a powerful and easy-to-use free screen capture software. It allows you to capture screen shots, including windows captures, scrolling windows, and selected-regions. It also allows you to edit and markup the screen captures.

Texter saves you countless keystrokes by replacing abbreviations with commonly used phrases you define.

xNeat Clipboard Manager is handy and very simple to use. It captures clipboard items as they are copied to the Windows Clipboard, and you can simply bring up a menu containing all the previously copied items and select the item you want to paste. For regularly used text you can make it permanent in xNeat Clipboard Manager's menu by right clicking on it, then select Make Sticky.

EditPad Lite is a general-purpose text editor, designed to be small and compact, yet offer all the functionality you expect from a basic text editor. EditPad Lite's features include opening multiple documents in tabs, unlimited undo/redo, reopen recent files, highly configurable, and much more.

ScreenMarker is an application used for drawing on the current screen using a variety of tools. It gives you the functionality to draw on the screen to highlight existing or provide further information to all those viewing. Screen Marker provides some of the features of an interactive whiteboard without having one.

QuickMonth Calendar adds a tiny calendar pop-up to the clock icon in your Windows XP tray. Just hover your mouse over the clock and up it pops, ready to serve. That's it. Nothing more dramatic. But definitely a bit useful.

Launchy is a free windows utility designed to help you forget about your start menu, the icons on your desktop, and even your file manager. Launchy indexes the programs in your start menu and can launch your documents, project files, folders, and bookmarks with just a few keystrokes!

SumatraPDF is a slim, free, open-source PDF viewer for Windows. Portable out of the box. Sumatra has a minimalistic design. Simplicity has a higher priority than a lot of features. It's small and starts up very fast.
FoxIt Reader is a free PDF document viewer, with incredible small size, breezing-fast launch speed and rich feature set. Foxit Reader currently has over 50 million users all around the world.

PrimoPDF is a completely free PDF creator. Create PDF files from 300+ file types. Make 100% industry-standard PDF from virtually any files that print. Create PDF files optimized for print, screen, ebook, or prepress.

DIY Charging Station

Last night, I finally got tired of having things charging in every room of the house (except the bathroom). I decided to do something about it and paid a visit to the local Home Depot this afternoon. This convenient kitchen DIY charging station is the result.

The shelf has room enough for both my 13" MacBook, my 10" Toshiba netbook, and a couple of smaller devices such as my iPod Touch and my phone. The two hanging baskets below the shelf, which are the key feature to me, accommodate the AC adapters for both laptops, the iPod charger, the phone's AC adapter, a camera battery charger, and a charger for AA/AAA batteries with space to spare. If necessary, a couple more baskets could easily be added. A couple mini hair clips help with cord management.

The shelf unit is Closet Maid item 8279, $15.76, all hardware included. The two baskets are Closet Maid item 3937 at $3.67 each. The hair clips were locally appropriated at no cost to me. Total (with tax of course) was $24.48. Labor, about a half hour. Degree of difficulty, a caveman could do it.

I'm No Longer LOST

I've just started watching the hit ABC TV show LOST from the beginning on Netflix Instant. I now understand why so many of you really like that show. In the past week, I've seen about half a dozen episodes. I just watched the one where Jack goes into the jungle looking for his dead father.

Because LOST was so popular among both my real-life and online friends, I twice tried to jump in and watch episodes on TV, but I didn't understand what was going on and gave up. Now that I'm watching from the beginning, I am hooked! I even find myself talking to the characters as I watch.

It's more like seeing a movie than TV. And not only is it a good story, it's visually stunning as well.

Lucky Numbers?

I've had two bizarre numerical coincidences occur in the last few days. Being a mathematician I tend to notice these kinds of things.

Tuesday, I had breakfast at Eat-N-Park. I planned on using a $3 off coupon and the remains of a gift card, $3.58, to pay most of the check. Amazingly, the check came to exactly $6.58!

This morning, I entered yesterday's receipt from Weis in my checking account register, $17.58. My last receipt from Weis five days ago, for completely different items, was remarkably $17.58!

Not to mention the dollar amounts in all these all contained 58¢! What does this mean? Should I but a lottery ticket, 0-5-8? Hmmm ...

Redefining a Fire Sale in Pittsburgh

No comment is necessary. The following facts speak for themselves. Of the nine starters for the Pirates on Opening Day 2008, only one remains with the team one season and 100 games later.

Pittsburgh Pirates 2008 Opening Day Lineup

• CF Nate McLouth - traded to Braves, 7/3/2009
  
• 2B Freddy Sanchez - traded to Giants, 7/29/09
  
• LF Jason Bay - traded to Red Sox, 7/31/2008
  
• 1B Adam LaRoche - traded to Red Sox, 7/22/2009
• RF Xavier Nady - traded to Yankees, 7/26/2008
• C Ryan Doumit
• 3B Jose Bautista - traded to Blue Jays, 8/28/2008
  
• SS Jack Wilson - traded to Mariners, 7/29/09
• P Ian Snell - traded to Mariners, 7/29/09

Pittsburgh Pirates 2009 Opening Day Lineup

• LF Nyjer Morgan - traded to Nationals, 6/30/2009
• 2B Freddy Sanchez - traded to Giants, 7/29/09
• CF Nate McLouth - traded to braves, 7/3/2009
• C Ryan Doumit
• 1B Adam LaRoche - traded to Red Sox, 7/22/2009
• 3B Andy LaRoche
• RF Brandon Moss
• SS Jack Wilson - traded to Mariners, 7/29/2009
  
• P Paul Maholm

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One of My Favorite Photos

Not to ring my own bell, but I really like this picture I took this afternoon at the Ft Roberdeau historic site in Blair County, Pennsylvania. I haven't touched it at all. This is just as it came from the camera. Click it to see a larger image.

From FortRob

Topsy-Turvy Tomato Update

A dramatic turn, literally. The part of the plant bearing the actual tomato has, as you can see, begun to invert itself as I understood it should have been doing all along. The single lone tomato is now about the size of a ping-pong ball.

Many of my friends have lost their tomato plants to some sort of blight that's going around. But if they think I'm gonna share this little gem with them, well ...

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Orange Harley

I spent some time last evening and more this morning extracting this great looking motorcycle from its original background using the GIMP. I enjoy doing this kind of thing and find it sort of therapeutic.

This is what my original photo of a neighbor's bike was before I went to work on it.

Canoe Creek Photos

I have finally finished processing all the photos I shot at Canoe Creek State Park on July 12.



Some I am very proud of, some not so much.

Thunderstorm Video

I captured a bit of video of last night's (Jul 21) thunderstorm. The Weather Channel predicted the storm would hit about 8:40 pm and they were spot on!

Out to Pasture

I snapped these photos of grazing horses in Scotch Valley yesterday just before I got to Canoe Creek State Park



Some I think turned out quite nicely. More pictures from the park will be coming.

Computer History Museum: A Video Tour Plus

Located in Mountain View, CA, the Computer History Museum offers visitors the opportunity to see and experience one of the world's largest collections of computing artifacts. Their exhibits allow you to explore the computer revolution and its impact on the human experience.



The Commodore 64 is an 8-bit home computer released by Commodore International in August, 1982, at a price of $595 (US) with 64K of RAM and a 1Mhz processor. The C-64 is the all-time best selling single personal computer.

The Johnniac was an early computer manufactured in the early 1950's by the Rand Corporation in California. It was one of several computers inspired by the IAS computer designed by noted mathematician John von Neumann (after whom it was named) at Princeton's Institute for Advanced Study. It was removed from service in February 1966.

In 1956, the first IBM 305 RAMAC was shipped. The RAMAC was the first commercial computer that used a moving-head hard disk drive for storage rather than magnetic tape. More than 1000 systems were built before production ceased in 1961. Weighing more than a ton, it had a storage capacity of 5 megabytes.

IBM promotional video for the 305 RAMAC...


The SAGE system was developed by MIT in the late '50s with Air Force sponsorship to counter the threat of a manned bomber attack by the Soviets. It became operational by 1963 and remained in service until 1983. The project required over 800 programmers and the technical resources of some of America's largest corporations. With 60,000 vacuum tubes and weighing in at 250 tons, the SAGE system was the largest, heaviest and most expensive computer system ever built.

An Enigma machine is any of a number of advanced electro-mechanical rotor machines used for the encryption and decryption of secret messages. Several types of the Enigma machine were developed before and during World War 2. The most complex Enigma type was used by the German Navy. The machine has become well-known because Allied codebreakers were able to decrypt a huge number of messages which had been enciphered using the Enigma. The information gathered from this source was a substantial aid to the Allied war effort.

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Topsy-Turvy Tomato Update

As we approach mid-July, I am very disappointed in how my hanging tomato experiment has progressed (or not).

As you can see, the plant is desperate to grow vertically. I have seen some plants around the neighborhood that look exactly the way they're supposed to look, but not this one. I think the real problem is that I have no location where the tomato plant can get adequate sunlight. I do have a single tomato developing, however! Could be some good eatin'!

Breaking News: MJ & Elvis Sighted

Breaking News: Michael Jackson and Elvis Presley were seen together last night at a Dallas area Chuck E. Cheese as shown in this photo ...

July 4th Photos

This huge dog mural is located in the historic district of Hollidaysburg, PA.


This flag flies over the James E. Van Zandt VA Hospital in Altoona, PA.

This little buddy is hanging out in my backyard.

Learn How To Use Google Voice

Google Voice gives you one phone number for all your phones, voicemail as easy as email, and many calling features for free. I got my invitation last weekend and have been exploring its features for a few days. I've collected several mini-tutorial videos on many of the Google Voice features. Links to these short (60 sec or less) videos follow this brief overview of the service.


How To Use Google Voice

Placing Calls
Google Voice calls you on your phone and connects you to any US number for free. Call directly from your contacts list.

Taking Calls
Decide what phones ring and whether you answer when your Google number is called.

Call Screening
Know who's calling and screen unknown callers before you answer.

ListenIn
Hear why someone is calling before you decide whether to take the call.

Voicemail Transcripts
Voicemails are automatically transcribed to text and stored in your inbox. You can also have them sent to you via email and/or SMS.

Listen to or Read Voicemail
Voicemail as easy as email. View and listen to voicemail online or from your phone.

Share Voicemail
Forward a voicemail via email, embed it in a website, or download a copy to your computer.

SMS Messages
Receive and send SMS and store a copy of all your SMS in your online inbox.

Conference Calling
Join multiple people into a single conference call.

Phone Switching
Switch phones in the middle of a call.

Assigning Phones
Add and update the phones that ring when your Google number is called.

Phone Routing
Have all, some or none of your phones ring depending on who calls your Google number.

Managing Groups
Add individuals to groups and set call preferences by group.

GOOG-411
Connect to GOOG-411 directory assistance by calling your own Google number and choosing option 5.

Call Recording
Record whole or parts of calls on the fly and access recordings online.

Block Calls
Unwanted callers wont be able to reach you anymore.

The Charge of the Light Brigade

HI very much like a movie that inspires me to want to learn more about an event. Last night I watched the 1968 version of the film The Charge of the Light Brigade starring David Hemmings and Trevor Howard, directed by Tony Richardson. The movie is a reasonably accurate depiction of the tragic 1854 British cavalry charge led by Lord Cardigan (Howard) against the Russians during the Battle of Balaclava in the Crimean War.

Watch the trailer ...


Prior to this I had only a sketchy knowledge of this event derived mostly from the epic poem by Alfred, Lord Tennyson. Consequently, I wanted to know more about this incident in history.

Of the more than 600 cavalry troops who rode into the "Valley of Death" that day about half were killed, wounded, or captured. The brigade, led by Lord Cardigan at the front, displayed great courage in the face of overwhelming fire raining down from three sides. However, the charge violated sound military principles and was destined to catastrophic failure by incompetent leadership and petty jealousies and rivalries at the command level.

An interesting fact I learned from the film is that officers' wives traveled with the troops. But not all wives. According to the movie, only one in six wives were permitted to make the journey with their husbands.

Made at a time when when the Vietnam War was raging in southeast Asia the film includes themes such as class distinctions in Britain, racial and social prejudice, and the glorification of war.

Read the Wikipedia entry for The Charge of the Light Brigade.

Read an eyewitness account by London Times correspondent William Howard Russell

See a virtual movie of Tennyson reading his poem on YouTube
See a copy of the poem hand-written by Tennyson

Three is a Magic Number

Flag Day 2009

Flags being displayed in the neighborhood on this Flag Day, June 14.



Flag Day commemorates the adoption of the United States flag on this day in 1777. Pres. Woodrow Wilson issued a proclamation in 1916, that officially established June 14 as Flag Day. In August 1949, National Flag Day was established by an Act of Congress, though Flag Day is not an official federal holiday. However, on June 14, 1937, Pennsylvania became the first (and only) U.S. state to celebrate Flag Day as a state holiday.

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City of Champions

From Blogger Pictures

I put this together Saturday morning to celebrate the winning of two major championships, the Super Bowl and the Stanley Cup, in one city, Pittsburgh.

And the thunder rolled ...

Sometimes, I like this sort of a storm. It seems to cleanse the air and freshen everything.

Leave Nothing Behind

I think this is a great shot by Harry How (Getty Images) of the Pittsburgh Penguins' Tyler Kennedy giving everything he has in last night's Game 6 of the Stanley Cup Finals. The Pens managed a 2-1 victory over the Red Wings to send the series to game 7 Friday night in Detroit.

I heard on Mike and Mike this morning that this is the fifth NHL final to go seven games this decade while the NBA and MLB together have only gone seven three times.

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More from WW2 Weekend

This short clip shows some World War II era planes on the taxiway at Reading Regional Airport during the Mid-Atlantic Air Museum's World War II weekend.

Mid-Atlantic Air Museum World War II Weekend

On June 6, the 65th anniversary of D-Day, a friend and I visited the annual World War II weekend at the Mid-Atlantic Air Museum in Reading, PA. It was quite an interesting day. There were displays of all sorts of military personnel, equipment, and other paraphernalia. The stars of the show were the numerous military aircraft from the era which were on display, many of which were flying.

Nearly all the nationalities involved in the war were represented, American, Britons, Canadians, Germans, Japanese, and more. There were displays representing life on the home front as well as a mini French village. A highlight was the appearance of five of the actual men whose war experiences have been portrayed in the television series Band of Brothers.

I was surprised by the number and broad variety of people attending the event, small children, teens, young adults, all the way up to those who lived during the war years. There were so many visitors that traffic was backed up for miles. It took nearly an hour to travel the last two miles.

Unfortunately, heavy rains Friday caused some areas to turn into quagmires as you can see in one of my photos, so people had to tread through some very muddy conditions.

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One, to Go, Please!

I saw this walking through the supermarket this morning, and being me, I read it in a way that was not intended. In my mind it was not a package of six foot-long hot dog buns, it was six-foot-long hot dog buns. Which would require one heckuva hot dog to fill it. Just one, please!

It's a Van Thing!

I posted a photo of a well-stickered van a few weeks ago and I snapped this even more garishly decorated van this morning. It must be some kind of a van-owner thing I don't get.



Somebody should introduce these people to Twitter or Facebook.

What Was It I Needed to Do?

Sometimes you just need a little nudge to be reminded to get something done. Here are four online services that can help.

task.fm

What makes task.fm different is semantic or natural language input. That means that instead of having to manually enter a date, time and event - like other reminder apps - task.fm is smart enough to understand and process your language just like another human can. For example enter "meeting with Jack next Tuesday at noon" and task.fm will recognize the date, time, event and will remind you automatically. If you are having trouble getting task.fm to translate your reminder, you can use the "advanced reminder" option to manually enter the date and time.

Unlimited email reminders are free. Task.fm charges a fee for SMS and phone call messages. SMS and Voice reminders cost 1 credit. You may purchase 20 credits for $2.

Superminder

Superminder is an online micro-application that will make sure you don't forget. It was designed with simplicity as the main focus. It's uncomplicated and should not confuse you with options you don't need. It looks good with a friendly, stylish interface.

Superminder can remind you by email but you can take it a step further by enabling your cellphone to receive your reminders. There is a fee for this feature, however. SMS reminders cost 1 credit, 15 credits will cost you $4.

Wakerupper

Wakerupper is a service to schedule telephone reminders. You enter text messages up to 140 characters which are then converted and delivered as speech.

No signup is needed for basic service. You can direct as many reminders as you like to any US or Canadian phone number. Basic service is free, but there is a premium version offering added features.

Wakerupper also offers a slimmed down version for mobile devices at http://m.wakerupper.com

Remindr

This one is my favorite. From a remarkably simple interface, Remindr allows you to send reminders via Twitter, email, IM (Jabber or Gtalk), and/or cell phone.

It's totally free and no sign-up is needed. You can direct your reminder to any phone number or any email address so you can send reminders to others as well as yourself.

A couple of notes on Remindr: Time must be set in 24-hour format (2:30 PM = 14:30) and to get reminders via Twitter, you need to follow Remindr's bot.

So, don't forget to check out these handy services soon.

Smart Girl!

(For those of you who don't know, √(-1) = i)

Tomato Plant Update

Just snapped these images of the upside-down tomato planter I started Wednesday. The plants seem to be doing well. I find it interesting that they are trying to turn up toward the sun and grow in the normal way.

From Number 13

From Number 13