Number 13

Testing BlogPress from iPhone

2010-02-04T01:54:00.000-05:00

OK, I give up. What is it then?

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Say "Hello" to My Little Friends

2009-08-17T12:00:00.000-05:00

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

2009-08-15T15:16:00.006-05:00

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

2009-08-13T07:04:00.005-05:00

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?

2009-07-31T08:05:00.003-05:00

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

2009-07-30T08:17:00.006-05:00

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

One of My Favorite Photos

2009-07-27T18:17:00.003-05:00

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

2009-07-27T15:13:00.002-05:00

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 ...

Orange Harley

2009-07-26T08:48:00.006-05:00

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

2009-07-25T10:44:00.003-05:00

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

2009-07-22T08:22:00.002-05:00

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

2009-07-13T10:24:00.003-05:00

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

2009-07-13T09:15:00.001-05:00

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.

Topsy-Turvy Tomato Update

2009-07-12T08:54:00.003-05:00

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

2009-07-10T08:08:00.002-05:00

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

2009-07-04T14:52:00.000-05:00

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

2009-07-02T09:30:00.003-05:00

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

2009-06-20T13:56:00.007-05:00

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

2009-06-18T13:55:00.002-05:00

Three is a magic number,
Yes it is, it's a magic number.

Somewhere in the ancient, mystic trinity
You get three as a magic number.
The past and the present and the future.
Faith and Hope and Charity,

The heart and the brain and the body
Give you three as a magic number.
It takes three legs to make a tri-pod
Or to make a table stand.

It takes three wheels to make a vehicle
Called a tricycle.
Every triangle has three corners,
Every triangle has three sides,
No more, no less.

You don't have to guess.
When it's three you can see
It's a magic number.

A man and a woman had a little baby,
Yes, they did.
They had three in the family,
And that's a magic number.

3-6-9, 12-15-18, 21-24-27, 30.
3-6-9, 12-15-18, 21-24-27, 30.

Multiply backwards from three times ten:
Three time ten is (30), three times nine is (27),
Three times eight is (24), three times seven is (21),
Three times six is (18), three times five is (15),
Three times four is twelve,
And three times three is nine, and three times two is six,
And three times one is three of course.

Now take the pattern once more:
Three! . . .3-6-9
Twelve! . . .12-15-18
Twenty-one!. . .21-24-27. . .30

Now multiply from 10 backwards:
Three time ten is (30 - Keep going), three times nine is (27),
Three times eight is (24), three times seven is (21),
Three times six is (18), three times five is (15),
Three times four is twelve,
And three times three is nine, and three times two is six,
And three times one...
What is it?!
Three!

Yeah, That's a magic number.
A man and a woman had a little baby.
Yes, they did.
They had three in the family.
That's a magic number.

Three is a Magic Number | Music, lyrics, performance by Bob Dorough | First aired on Schoolhouse Rock in 1973 | Watch the video on YouTube

Thanks to Orla Hegarty

Flag Day 2009

2009-06-14T10:39:00.005-05:00

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.

City of Champions

2009-06-13T09:59:00.003-05:00

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 ...

2009-06-10T16:07:00.001-05:00

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

Leave Nothing Behind

2009-06-10T13:37:00.005-05:00

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.

More from WW2 Weekend

2009-06-09T09:02:00.003-05:00

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

2009-06-07T19:24:00.006-05:00

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.

One, to Go, Please!

2009-06-04T12:59:00.003-05:00

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!

2009-05-30T12:23:00.004-05:00

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?

2009-05-29T19:10:00.001-05:00

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

Supermind er 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!

2009-05-21T13:45:00.002-05:00

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

Tomato Plant Update

2009-05-10T12:47:00.003-05:00

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

I Got Another Pair Just Like 'Em

2009-05-09T16:41:00.003-05:00

About a block and a half away from home, I had a feeling something wasn't quite right at the bottom end of my legs.

Nothing wrong with my mind, huh? Give me the nuclear trigger!

You Say Tomato ...

2009-05-06T11:49:00.003-05:00

In the spring of 2008, I saw the TV ad for the TopsyTurvy tomato planter. I am not one to buy the wacky things from TV ads, but I thought I saw some potential here for some good eatin'!

Anyway, it took a really long time to get the planter. The seller claimed overwhelming demand, and it was the end of June before I got it. So, I put it away fro this spring.

Last week, I stopped by a greenhouse and picked up four tomato plants (They wouldn't sell fewer). Today I set the thing up with two plants, as the directions said either one or two plants would be fine. I gave the other two to a neighbor who is also trying this thing out.

I'll try to keep you posted on the results as the summer progresses and, hopefully, my tomato crop explodes.

FaceBook on Wheels?

2009-05-03T10:45:00.003-05:00

It's nice to share your positions.

Bad Einstein

2009-05-02T09:43:00.005-05:00

I created this image at Hetemeel.com. You can change the text on this image to whatever you like.

Simply change the text in a form text box, then click on "preview image". The text in the image will change accordingly.

There are links to other similar dynamic images, as well.

The Pepto-mobile

2009-04-23T16:13:00.003-05:00

This is my second sighting of this bizarrely painted Toyota Prius, or what I like to refer to as the Pepto-mobile.

It's Wabbit Season!

2009-04-11T19:25:00.005-05:00

I snapped these bunny-eared Easter celebrants enjoying themselves in the local Panera Bread store.

Soul Wow with Father Vic

2009-04-11T12:41:00.001-05:00

I saw this on Good Morning America today and felt compelled to share it.

Father Vic and Soul Wow ...

Sign for the Times

2009-04-10T14:42:00.003-05:00

I spotted this realtor's sign lying at the bottom of a small stream near my home. It appears that it was a victim of a recent wind storm. It seemed, however, a timely and poignant indicator of the times.

A Tragedy in the Neighborhood

2009-04-09T13:34:00.003-05:00

I shot these pictures at the 58th Street Subway, the seen of a deadly shooting Monday afternoon. The store is only 6 or 8 blocks from my home and I was an occasional customer. As you can see, the shop is closed temporarily and there have been makeshift memorials placed in front of the store.

Villanova vs Pittsburgh - A Classic

2009-03-29T10:25:00.005-05:00

Image via Wikipedia

Last night I had the opportunity to enjoy one of the most intensely exciting college basketball games of all time. East region top-seed Pittsburgh and three-seed Villanova squared off in Boston for a berth in the 2009 NCAA® Final Four.

I've seen thousands of games in my lifetime and this is without question one of the best ever. Being from western Pennsylvania and having chosen Pitt as one of the final teams in my bracket, I was cheering on the Panthers. From that perspective, unfortunately, the last second heroics of 'Nova's Scottie Reynolds sent the Panthers home on the short end of a 78-67 score.

It is one of those games about which you'll hear the cliche, "It's too bad somebody had to lose." That, however, is truly the case here. I have seldom seen both teams in any contest play with such intensity and with such abandon. Bodies soared through the air, crashed to the floor, collided with each other. The pace of the game was exhausting just to watch. Neither team left anything on the court.

I want to thank all those players, coaches, and officials for staging a contest that will long be remembered by those of us lucky enough to have seen it.

Oh, 'Nova you didn't! This was an ending for the ages
By Mike Freeman, CBSSports.com National Columnist

Tom Lehrer

2009-03-27T13:42:00.003-05:00

Tom Lehrer is best known for the funny, satirical songs he wrote and performed in the 1950s and 60s. He was a student of mathematics at Harvard (He earned his BA in 1947 at the age of 18.) where he began writing humorous songs to entertain his friends. His songs were often parodies of popular songs such as in "The Elements", where he sets the names of the chemical elements to the tune of the "Major-General's Song" from Gilbert and Sullivan's Pirates of Penzance.

It's rumored he invented the J-ello shot during his time in the Army working at the NSA in the mid-1950s. Lehrer taught his last math class at the University of California at Santa Cruz in 2001.

Link to my YouTube Tom Lehrer playlist

No, I Really Don't Want to Buy Your Product

2009-03-23T16:00:00.003-05:00

This past weekend, I spent far too much time watching the first two rounds of the NCAA men's basketball tournament. I love it, though, and look forward to the big dance from the first tip of the season.

One really troublesome consequence of watching all this hoop action is that I tend to see the same commercials over and over. Some are good and I don't mind, the Pacific Life "whales" ad, for example. Unfortunately, many are annoying and that is only exacerbated through repetition.

Here are some of those I find most irksome ...

the Chevy truck "man step" ad with Howie Long
the Fidelity "green line" ads
the Charles Schwab ads which are posterized
any Lexus ad
the Sonic "basketball injury" ad
the Enterprise "grandma" ad
the Burger King breakfast shots ad

I suppose irritating potential customers is a sound marketing strategy during tough economic times. What do I know?

It's Duck Season! It's Wabbit Season!

2009-03-22T12:47:00.001-05:00

Another sign of spring in the neighborhood!

NCAA® March Madness® on Demand

2009-03-16T15:27:00.002-05:00

Watch live games from the NCAA® Championship! Live Online | 100% Free

Click Here

Spring is on Its Way

2009-03-16T08:16:00.004-05:00

I snapped these outside my window this morning. The little guy wouldn't cooperate and look in my direction ...

2009-03-15T10:24:00.002-05:00

Image via Wikipedia

I saw on the news this morning that AIG was insisting they still needed to pay their executive bonuses for a variety of reasons. One was that the bonuses were parts of previously negotiated contracts. If they were not paid, they might be sued and the legal expenses would exceed the bonus amounts. I can sort of give them that.

But, another was that they might lose these executives to competitors if the bonuses were not honored. I suppose it would be tragic to lose the executives responsible for guiding your firm to financial catastrophe to your competition. To use a sports analogy, you would really hate to lose the coach who led your team to a 2-28 record to another team in your conference.

Spring Fever Stimulus

2009-03-06T16:25:00.004-05:00

Honda Rube Goldberg-esque TV Ad

2009-03-01T11:09:00.002-05:00

It is my understanding that there are no computer graphics or digital tricks in this Honda TV ad. Everything that you see happened in real time exactly as you see it.

Reportedly, the recording required 606 takes, and in the first 605 there always was something, usually of minor importance, that didn't work. Itwas necessary for the production team to install the set-up time after time. The recording cost $6 million and took 3 months to finish, including the engineering design of the sequence.

BTW, the voice over at the end is Garrison Keillor of NPR's Prarie Home Companion.

Lost Generation - YouTube Video

2009-02-25T08:56:00.003-05:00

This video came to me in my iLearn Technology RSS feed. I very much want to share it. The message of the piece is fantastic and the clever presentation is stunning.

Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde

2009-02-24T07:00:00.001-05:00

Image via Wikipedia

Turner Classic Movies recently showed two versions of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, the 1931 film which starred Fredric March and the 1941 version starring Spencer Tracy. I DVR-ed them and watched each on consecutive nights. The storylines were very similar, but I rather prefered the Fredric March version to the Spencer Tracy edition.

I could never really buy into Ingrid Bergman as the dance hall girl, Ivy. Miriam Hopkins was superlative in that role in the earlier movie. Also, the Jekyll-Hyde transition effects in both films were crude by modern standards, however, I thought the 1931 provided a more convincing changeover. I did feel that Spencer Tracy's Hyde character was more believable than March's.

As I had enjoyed watching both films, I chose to download and read the Robert Louis Stevenson novel The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde from Project Gutenberg. I was quite surprised to find that the story told in the 1888 novel was very different from that presented in the films. The relationships between Hyde and Ivy and between Jekyll and his fiance (Muriel Carew in 1931, Beatrix Emery in 1941) were central to the films' storylines. In the novel, neither Ivy nor Muriel/Beatrix ever existed.

If I were to quantify the degree of similarity on a scale from 0 (virtually nothing in common) to 5 (nearly identical), the similarity factor of the two films would be 4. The similarity of the novel with either film, I'd rate as a 2.

The next theatrical version written by, directed by, and starring Mark Redfield was released in 2002. I have not seen this version, but I feel it might be interesting to take a look at it some time soon.

Tweet, Twit, Twitter

2009-02-22T11:35:00.003-05:00

I've finally gotten Twitter to the point where it has become a useful tool and not simply a recreational social network. It took a while to find the people I wanted to follow, but I have garnered so much good stuff from those people that the development process has been decidedly worth it.

During that process, I've drawn some conclusions about what constitutes a good member of the Twitter community.

You should bring something to the party which adds value to the network. Share. If you've found a good web site or interesting video, share a link to it.
Provide a little description of what you are linking to. Tweets like this, "Take a look at this http://www.####.com" are often going to be ignored.
If you get something good from a post, don't tweet it as if you found it yourself, retweet (RT) the original post. Give credit where it's due.
Avoid serial tweets. If you need more than two or three tweets to get your message across, use something like TinyPaste to enclose your message in a single post.
Don't carry on protracted personal conversations as if Twitter were an IM service. There are better, more appropriate tools for this.
Use direct messages (DM) for personal posts (using d + username + message).
Thank people for following you. They don't have to you know.
Please don't be a persistent whiner or complainer. If 2 out of every 3 tweets you post is a complaint, you won't stay on follow lists too long.
If you post a tweet that solicits responses, acknowledge those responses with a DM.

I know I've broken every one of these rules at least once, but by trying to follow these principles as much as possible, I hope to be good, valued member of my Twitter community.

One final thought, beware of people whose number of followers is far greater than the number they follow.

We're Off to See the Wizard ...

2009-02-12T08:24:00.002-05:00

The wind is howling like an angry monkey! Gusts up to 60 mph. If you go out better put some rocks in your pockets!

Free Grand Slams at Denny's

2009-02-03T11:24:00.003-05:00

Slideshow of images from the Grand Slam giveaway at Denny's in Altoona, PA, 3 Feb 2009

Watch the Super Bowl Ads via Hulu

2009-02-02T09:40:00.002-05:00

Closed for the Super Bowl

2009-02-01T14:50:00.002-05:00

Apart from bars and restaurants with big screen TV, this sign pretty much typifies Super Sunday in Steeler country ...

Super Bowl XLIII Prop Bets

2009-02-01T08:41:00.005-05:00

The term prop bet is short for proposition bet, and this type of betting involves wagering on certain details of the game, such as which team will win the coin toss, which team will score the first touchdown, or many more arcane events.

Prop bets can be a terrific way to be generate interest in every aspect of the Super Bowl. They can also give you a better chance of taking away some winnings.

Here are some examples of current prop bets on this year's Super Bowl ...

Which team will win the coin toss?
Who will be named MVP?
Will Kurt Warner break Joe Montana's career Super Bowl passing record?
Will Limas Swede or Jerheme Urban have more receptions?
Will Hines Ward or Santonio Holmes catch a pass first?
Will Larry Fitzgerald or Anquan Boldin catch a pass first?
Will Kurt Warner throw a TD or an INT first?
How many yards will Edgerrin James have on his first carry?
Will Kurt Warner's first pass be complete, incomplete, or intercepted?
Will Willie Parker or Larry Fitzgerald score a TD first?
Nate Washington's first reception will be how many total yards?
Will Willie Parker's total rushing yards be an odd or an even number?
Will Alex Ovechkin have more points than Willie Parker has receptions?
Which team will score last in the first half?
Wll the team that scores first win the game?

How Super Bowl Footballs are Made

2009-01-24T10:13:00.003-05:00

This video essay by AP Photographer Amy Sancetta shows how Wilson is making the balls for Super Bowl XLIII.

Inaugural Address Word Clouds

2009-01-21T09:10:00.004-05:00

Word clouds of the inaugural addresses of George W. Bush and Barack H. Obama

First George Bush address 2001

Second George Bush address 2005

Barack Obama address 2009

Made with Wordle

Pres. Obama's Inaugural Speech in Wordle

2009-01-20T13:48:00.003-05:00

Wordle of President Obama's inauguration speech ...

Now It's Buy.com's Turn to **** Me!

2009-01-18T12:51:00.004-05:00

Since my last post on this issue, I was finally able to reach Buy.com customer service. I had to do a Google to find their CS number which appears nowhere on their website (That's not a good sign!).

Foolishly I thought that since they were the merchant who took my money, they might be interested in helping me resolve my issue with Westinghouse Digital. Ha!

Buy.com told me that the defective TV had to be returned to the manufacturer. Now they tell me that since I returned it to the manufacturer instead of to Buy.com, they can't help me.

Buy.com has my money. Westinghouse Digital has the TV. I have nothing but annoyance, frustration, and aggravation!

Next stop, my credit card company.

Video of US Airways 1549 Landing in the Hudson

2009-01-18T07:35:00.004-05:00

The Coast Guard and National Transportation Safety Board has posted a remarkable video to its YouTube channel showing the emergency landing of US Airways flight 1549 in the Hudson River on January 15. Be patient, the plane comes into view from the left about 2 minutes into the recording, then it zooms in.

No Joy from Westinghouse Digital

2009-01-17T13:57:00.003-05:00

In a recent post I described my battle with Westinghouse Digital regarding my attempt to exchange a defective TV.

After waiting about two more days from that time, I again called Westinghouse Digital "customer service." They still claimed the returned TV was not in their system, whatever that means. I reminded them I have delivery verification. If they don't know where it is, that's their problem, not mine.

I suggested they just grab another TV, put a shipping label on it, and send it on its merry way. Then they can worry about locating the returned TV. Of course, "We can't do that." They say they can't send out a replacement until they locate the return. Does this mean that if they can never locate it, I'll never get a new TV?

I asked to speak to a supervisor, but the was "no supervisor available." The rep said a supervisor would call me within 24 to 48 hours. We'll see.

Stay tuned, no pun intended.

Circuit City Closing

2009-01-17T13:37:00.003-05:00

Pictures from the first day of Circuit City's liquidation ...

Another Myth Dispelled

2009-01-15T17:39:00.003-05:00

"It's really tough to beat a team three times in one year!" A myth as seen in this shot of a Jim Rome interview with Steelers corner Ike Taylor ...GO, STEELERS!

After the Storm

2009-01-15T15:07:00.002-05:00

A short walk through the neighborhood this morning following last night's snowfall ...

After the Storm from Thomas Boito on Vimeo.

I am Being Screwed by WESTINGHOUSE DIGITAL

2009-01-14T18:31:00.002-05:00

I bought a Westinghouse LCD HDTV from Buy.com in late November. It proved to be defective and it was necessary to return it to WESTINGHOUSE DIGITAL for exchange.
I shipped it by UPS back to WESTINGHOUSE DIGITAL on Dec 22, at MY OWN EXPENSE. It was signed for at WESTINGHOUSE DIGITAL's El Paso facility just before 11 am, Dec 30. I have called WESTINGHOUSE DIGITAL "customer service" at least three times since for a status report, most recently this afternoon. I CANNOT get ANY information as to what's going on. WESTINGHOUSE DIGITAL doesn't even acknowledge that they have received the TV.

I told WESTINGHOUSE DIGITAL that I would call back in a day or two and if I was not satisfied with the situation I wanted my money back. WESTINGHOUSE DIGITAL said they couldn't do that since I purchased from Buy.com, not directly from WESTINGHOUSE DIGITAL. I will contact Buy.com and if they're no help, I will try working through my credit card company.

I will NEVER buy another WESTINGHOUSE DIGITAL product. I will NEVER recommend a WESTINGHOUSE DIGITAL product to anyone I know.

Let It Snow

2009-01-08T08:39:00.002-05:00

The snow can be really pretty so long as I don't have to go out and drive in it ...

The view from my kitchen window on the morning of Jan 8, 2009.

Saving Money in Plain English

2009-01-07T13:28:00.002-05:00

Saving is becoming cool again. Over-spending is so passé.

Saving Money in Plain English is another excellent video from Lee LeFever and the good folks at Common Craft. It's an introduction to the magic of compound interest and how it helps money grow over time.

Sittin' by the Fire

2009-01-05T11:20:00.001-05:00

First time I ever got the fireplace table at Panera. So cool!

So comfy, cozy ...

Public Wi-Fi Hotspots in Altoona

2008-12-30T17:44:00.001-05:00

Updated map of public wi-fi hotspots in Altoona, PA

View Larger Map

Shiny and New for Christmas

2008-12-24T09:42:00.001-05:00

Christmas Eve freezing rain

Do Ya Feel Lucky?

2008-12-19T10:26:00.001-05:00

If it were just 2 degrees colder we'd be a lot of trouble here!

The Twelve Days of Christmas Wordled

2008-12-18T09:15:00.004-05:00

The Twelve Days of Christmas
Click the image to see full size

Made with Wordle

Twitter Why, Twitter How

2008-12-13T15:58:00.001-05:00

SlideShare Presentation: Why you should use Twitter, and how best to use it.

Why you should use Twitter, and how best to use it.

View SlideShare presentation or Upload your own. (tags: twitter convince)

Send Free Faxes Online

2008-12-11T13:12:00.003-05:00

FaxZero gives you two free faxes of up to 3 pages each per day, and if, like me, you are a very infrequent faxer then that's probably all you need. Save the document you're faxing on your hard drive somewhere, provide the fax number and company information, and send the file. You'll first get a confirmation email to which you must respond before the fax will be sent. You will then receive a delivery (or failure) notification in your email inbox within about 20 minutes.

I think I really need a new washer

2008-12-11T09:54:00.004-05:00

Danish commercial (NSFW-nudity) for a Siemans washing machine ...

Link:

Uploaded by uberlinkert

All I Want for Christmas is ...

2008-12-09T11:30:00.002-05:00

From Saturday Night Live: Calculator - Two brothers with a single Christmas wish

Better Living Through Chemistry

2008-12-08T13:57:00.005-05:00

You may think this is snow on the parking lot, but it isn't. You think that maybe someone got a little carried away with the anti-icing chemicals?

Daily Video #14 - Oh Christmas Tree

2008-12-01T12:48:00.003-05:00

The Logan Valley Mall Christmas tree

I have one more day of the planned 15 consecutive days of Flip mini-video clips. I haven't posted some of them. They were even more mundane than the ones I have put up. I think my goal was achieved though. I am now more attuned to looking for opportunities to shoot.

Netflix Watch Instantly Revisited

2008-12-01T12:08:00.003-05:00

Image by via CrunchBaseA couple of weeks ago I posted a piece about Netflix Watch Instantly becoming available to Mac users like myself. After having had some time to play with it, I'm more convinced than ever that this is a really good thing. I've had a chance to browse the available titles. There is a lot of TV as well as theatrical films. I don't know the total number of available selections, but I'm pretty sure you'll have no trouble finding something you like.

As a fan of British TV, I was pleased to find a fairly respectable catalog of comedies and dramas, including a large selection of Dr. Who episodes. The quality is reasonably good, even in full screen. The load time is quite short. In a few minutes you'll be watching your selection.

I don't think you can watch part of a movie now and pick it up where you left off later. I need to experiment with that some more. I do like that you'll get a tip when a movie in your rental queue is available for instant viewing.

I am very pleased so far, now I need to get the mindset that I can watch movies any time I want to.

Daily Video #11 - Cheap Gas!!!

2008-11-30T09:05:00.001-05:00

To the best of my recollection, this is the lowest price for gas locally since I moved here 4 years ago.

Daily Video #9 - All I Wanted Was the Hard Drive

2008-11-27T12:04:00.002-05:00

Don't ever think you'll open up an iBook to pull out the hard drive and then put it back together. What an adventure! Thank goodness for the interwebs. I'd have never figured this out on my own. I thought it was just going to be "pop off the enclosure, pull out the HD, put it back together". Oh, no! This monkey is not going to be reassembled, at least not by this guy.

You'll find it on eBay being sold for parts. However, I did get a nice little USB external hard drive as originally planned. It was a learning experience.

Daily Video #8 - Nothing Like a Tightly Run Operation

2008-11-26T16:10:00.003-05:00

This sign is in a sandwich shop/convenience store in Bellwood, PA. It's funny, but some businesses (not this one) are run this way.

You'll have to use Pause to read it all.

Daily Video #7 - BK Freezy

2008-11-24T18:19:00.003-05:00

Waiting at the BK drive thru in freezing rain ...

This is my first video embed from a site I just discovered, MotionBox.

Daily Video #4 - Less than Two Bucks

2008-11-21T14:26:00.002-05:00

This is a very short clip celebrating the price of gasoline dipping below $2 a gallon for the first time since who knows when!

This is at the GetGo in Logantowne Centre, Altoona, PA

Daily Video #3 - Muddy Waters

2008-11-20T13:51:00.004-05:00

This is the third in a series of quick daily videos. My plan is to do a video each day for 15 days to help develop more of a "shoot anything" mindset.

This is a muddy flood behind my building, apparently from a water main break.

Pay It Backwards?

2008-11-18T18:56:00.004-05:00

Driving home this afternoon, I heard a genuinely nice story on CNN Headline News. It seems that at a certain Colorado Starbucks, people are paying for the next person in line behind them. At a local grocery store, a man paid $20 toward the next person's bill.

This is beautiful! Maybe we're giving up on greed and selfishness. Could this be the dawn of a new era of community spirit, shared responsibility, and mutual respect in America? Wouldn't that be something!

I can't wait to do this myself. Who knows, maybe it'll catch on.

Good Morning Central Pennsylvania

2008-11-18T10:04:00.001-05:00

In my tightly budgeted morning routine, I left no time for this frosty surprise ...

Great Interception by Steeler Troy Polamalu

2008-11-17T16:44:00.002-05:00

Pittsburgh Steeler star Troy Polamalu makes one of the most amazing interceptions I've ever seen ...

Who'll Start the Rain?

2008-11-11T16:56:00.003-05:00

I captured this short video this afternoon at the Bellwood Reservoir which is part of the Altoona City Authority water system. For the past 5 years, I have driven past this reservoir several times a week. I have never seen it as low as this. We really need to get some rain into here before it turns into real winter.

NetFlix Watch Instantly For Mac

2008-11-08T19:55:00.004-05:00

I was delighted to see earlier in the week that after a very long wait, NetFlix instant movies had finally come to the Mac community. It does requires a download and install of Microsoft Silverlight before you can watch.

I grabbed a BBC import and started watching in less than a minute. No ads. Reasonably good full screen quality on a 17" iMac. There were two brief periods where the video was choppy and in the second half the audio and video got out of sync. But, it is a beta app with expectation for improvement.

There's no limit to how many instant movies you can view as part of your existing subscription. I haven't yet look at how many instantly viewable movies are currently available. It's not the entire NetFlix library.

All in all, it seems the wait may have been worth it.

Posted with LifeCast

America's New Beginning

2008-11-05T06:37:00.001-05:00

On this morning as a new era begins in this country, I have never been prouder of the United States of America or happier to live here. But, the real change, the hard work is just beginning. Let's hope we can earn the new America that we have a chance to build.

Posted with LifeCast

The Verbosity of Joe Biden

2008-11-03T16:35:00.001-05:00

This is fantastic! Go, Joe!

Track the Polls

2008-11-02T10:22:00.004-05:00

As the campaign winds down and election day nears, here are some tools you can use to track opinion poll results ...

USAToday Presidential Poll Tracker - good trendline representation
ABC News Poll Tracker - shows poll results with demographic breakdowns you choose
Pollster.com - numerous results for a variety of races
TPM Election Central Poll Tracker - non-graphical presentation of results from numerous polls
Electoral-vote.com - downloadable poll results

Snowy Morning

2008-10-31T16:23:00.004-05:00

On the Way to Work Wednesday Morning

I Am Legend

2008-10-30T10:03:00.003-05:00

The 1954 novel I Am Legend by Scott Matheson has spawned three feature films ...

The Last Man on Earth (1964)
The Omega Man (1971)
I Am Legend (2007)

Preview the book, I Am Legend, at Google Books.

Last summer, I watched all three movies and, in my opinion, found the most recent iteration, Will Smith's 2007 film, I Am Legend, to be the best effort. Naturally, the effects were better, but I felt the story was more believable. I could better identify with the central character, Robert Neville. I hope to read the book this winter.

The King Of Dental Hygiene

2008-10-28T20:22:00.001-05:00

This afternoon, on my way home from work, I was stopped at a traffic light and glanced into my rearview mirror. The driver of the car behind me appeared to be chewing on a pen. However, as I watched him I realized that he was really brushing his teeth! He continued brushing for the duration of the light. As for spitting, I lost sight of him when the light changed so I don't know how he resolved that issue.

Posted with LifeCast

Mixed Messages

2008-10-23T18:03:00.004-05:00

I was struck by the rather curious juxtaposition of these two billboards on a local street.

First you see this ad for a nearby drugstore featuring two giant drug-filled capsules ...
... then, less than 100 yards farther along, you see this ad encouraging the public to report drug dealing.

Rationing in World War 2

2008-10-19T12:34:00.005-05:00

Recently my mother, who is now 76, came across a couple of her World War 2 ration books that she had as a young child. I was fascinated to see these artifacts which are still in very good condition despite being more than 60 years old. I wanted to share these rare items with you.

During World War 2, American citizens at home were asked to conserve everything. The government found it necessary to ration food, gasoline, rubber, and many more commodities, even clothing.

In the spring of 1942, the Food Rationing Program was introduced with the goals of preventing public pique at shortages and to preclude people with more means from acquiring an unfair portion of scarce goods.

Rationing controlled the amount of commodities that persons could buy. Not all items required rationing, however. All meats, butter, fat, and oils, and most cheese were regulated with "Red Stamp" rationing. Each individual was allowed a number of points weekly. "Blue Stamp" rationing controlled the distribution of canned, bottled, and frozen fruits and vegetables, plus juices and dry beans; and such processed foods as soups, baby food and ketchup.

Rationing also employed a point system. But many Americans grew frustrated and confused trying to decide what coupons went with which items, how many points they needed to purchase them, and that some coupons did not require points at all.

Rationing also controlled the distribution of clothing, shoes, coffee, gasoline, tires, and fuel oil. With each new coupon book came new rules and deadlines. Rationing of gas and tires depended on the distance to a person's job. X stickers on cars permitted their owners unlimited supplies and were obviously highly prized.

An unintended and serious side effect of the rationing programs was the rise of a "black market" dealing in the illicit sale of rationed goods at inflated prices. Meat, sugar, and gasoline were the staples of the black market trade in the US.

In 1944, ration coins were introduced. These pressed cardboard coin-like tokens allowed vendors to make change on purchases made with ration stamps.

For more images of World War 2 rationing items, visit this site World War II Rationing.

Listen to this article

Wooly Caterpillar

2008-10-12T16:41:00.002-05:00

A sure sign that autumn is approaching winter!