Arizona Webcam Album

Arizona Webcam Album

Very neat collection of webcam shots. They take pictures every four minutes and have collected some sequences into mini-movies available for download. It would be interesting to set this up for our back yard. It would be most interesting in the winter.

Our PC's are idle most of the time and disk space is cheap. It would make an interesting time lapse record of our neighborhood.

The 30-Second Skip

hacks.oreilly.com: The 30-Second Skip [Aug. 22, 2003]

I might just create a tivo.paulbegley.com site.

Hitting the Sweet Spot

Wired 11.11: Hitting the Sweet Spot

Good article on sugar substitutes. Test in coffee for one week, then test with cooking (cake or brownies).

Ambient Design Ltd.

Ambient Design Ltd.

Download and install on Megan's PC. Test with Aiptek tablet.

Microsoft Exchange Server: Client Network Traffic with Exchange 2003

Microsoft Exchange Server: Client Network Traffic with Exchange 2003

The 213 Things Skippy is No Longer Allowed to Do in the U.S. Army

Avalanche Company: The 213 Things Skippy is No Longer Allowed to Do in the U.S. Army

I like Specialist Schwarz.
It appears he is what I would have become if I had joined ROTC.
I think I was Specialist Schwarz in another life.
I want Specialist Schwarz to stay away from my daughters.

I think I wet my pants. I was having a "not so good week" this week. But this site put a smile on my face, and I now vow to have a better week.

Take a quick read. My favorites are below:

My proper military title is 'Specialist Schwarz' not 'Princess Anastasia'.
Not allowed to get silicone breast implants.
Must not taunt the French any more.
The Irish MPs are not after 'Me frosted lucky charms'.
Not allowed to chew gum at formation even if I *did* bring enough for everybody.
I do not have super-powers.
There are no evil clowns living under my bed.
Claymore mines are not filled with yummy candy, and it is wrong to tell new soldiers that they are.
We do not 'charge into battle, naked, like the Celts'.
On Army documents, my race is not 'Other'.
Our Humvees cannot be assembled into a giant battle-robot.
Despite the confusing similarity in the names, the "Safety Dance" and the "Safety Briefing" are never to be combined.
NEVER nail a stuffed bunny to a cross and put it up in front of the Battalion Headquarters sign as an "Easter Desecration."

Seed Savers

Seed Savers

Time to plant a garden. Review some of the heirloom tomato, potato and corn seeds with the girls.

100 Most Often Mispronounced Words

100 Most Often Mispronounced Words

I'm pretty good on the pronounciation side, but spelling is my downfall.

The compliment to this is 100 Most Often Misspelled Words and Phrases in English

Moleskine Pens?

moleskinerie: Moleskine Pens?

Interesting thread about the best pen to use for your Moleskine diary/notebook.

Friday Five

Friday Five

If you...

1. ...owned a restaurant, what kind of food would you serve?

Breakfast, just the basics, but with really good coffee, home made bread and fresh eggs and produce from local farmers. It would be an excuse to get a good espresso machine.

2. ...owned a small store, what kind of merchandise would you sell?

Books, speciality tools or custom computers.

3. ...wrote a book, what genre would it be?

Technical - possibly a science or mathmatics text for high school.

4. ...ran a school, what would you teach?

Science and math for secondary students.

5. ...recorded an album, what kind of music would be on it?

I can't sing, so it would be instrumental. Classic guitar (classical gas?) or polyphonic Gregorian type music (with other people singing). I was sick for the last Anonymous Four concert in Philadelphia last year (boo!).

Penn Relays 2004 Schedule

Penn Relays 2004 Schedule ::

The Penn Relays are a Spring tradition. I will check with the girls to see if anyone wants to go with me. If not, maybe I will go after work during the week (Thursday night Steeplechase, 5K and 10K!).

Trickin' Out the Treo 600

Popular Science | Trickin' Out the Treo 600

Note to Sarah - you get my StarTAC as soon as I upgrade to a Treo or SmartPhone 2003

Little pc

Little pc provides small pc, small computer, mini pc, micro pc systems for limited space applications

Just what it says. They are not cheap, but they are little.

I would like to get my hands on one to evaluate it, but the fanless model, in particular, would be neat for home use. Lots of offices could use these with flat panel screens. Doctors, dentists, banks...

Happy Saint Patrick's Day

Happy Saint Patrick's Day

This is not a holiday for drunken celebration, its a family holiday in Ireland.

''St. Patrick's Day is an enchanted time--a day to begin
transforming winter's dreams into summer's magic.'' - Adrienne
Cook

Geek Test

Geek Test

Sorry to disappoint, but I only rated a Major Geek (38.85602%).

I think my downfall was playing few games, not watching geek TV or sci-fi.

So it goes.

Friday Five

Friday Five


1. What was the last song you heard?

Apostrophe - Frank Zappa on the van cd player while I was picking up my daughter.

2. What were the last two movies you saw?

Lord of the Rings
Master and Commander

3. What were the last three things you purchased?

A set of dead bolt locks for our exterior doors and a replacement mop head.
Coffee at Starbucks
Daytimer refill


4. What four things do you need to do this weekend?

Sort out financial aide for Georgia Tech or Drexel for Sarah
Finish build of PC in basement
Collect tax records
Paint the hall bathroom

5. Who are the last five people you talked to?

Larry and Margo
Megan's basketball team
Family
Frank at Lowe's
Karen and Bob (Georgia Tech friends)

Madrid

Pray for Madrid and Spain.

Comparison of Pocket PC, Phone Edition and SmartPhone

Microsoft Office Assistance: Fly me to the moon: Go mobile with Office

Good overview of device features. I would like a SmartPhone with a touch screen.

What do you mean I can't have one??

Our whole family is still using StarTAC phones, thank you very much. Sarah has some problems with reception that I want to look into, but I don't see myself upgrading until I can get a PDA (Palm or PocketPC functionality) integrated.

I don't want a camera.
I could use a voice recorder if it duplicates the functionality and fidelity of my Olympus DS-150.
I don't need another MP3 player (well, I would probably use it...)

Great story

Forwarded from sales at work:

=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
A very attractive lady goes up to the bar in a quiet rural pub. She
gestures alluringly to the bartender, who comes over immediately.

When he arrives, she seductively signals that he should bring his
face closer to hers. When he does she begins to gently caress his full
beard.

"Are you the manager?" she asks, softly stroking his face with both
hands.

"Actually, no," the man replies.

"Can you get him for me? I need to speak to him" she says, running
her hands beyond his beard and into his hair.

"I'm afraid I can't," breathes the bartender. "Is there anything I
can do?"

"Yes, there is. I need you to give him a message," she continues,
running her forefinger across the bartender's lips and slyly popping
a couple of her fingers into his mouth and allowing him to suck them
gently.

"What should I tell him?" the bartender manages to ask.

"Tell him," she whispers, "there is no toilet paper, hand soap, or
paper towels in the ladies room.

Georgia Tech logos

I'm just looking for some interesting graphics.

Sarah accepted to Georgia Tech

Sarah got her letter of acceptance from Tech yesterday! We are all thrilled. More info soon.

The 46 Best-ever Freeware Utilities

The 46 Best-ever Freeware Utilities

I always like looking at editors and utilities. The DeadLink utility is worth a look at the list.

Why Nerds are Unpopular

Why Nerds are Unpopular

I don't agree with everything in his essay, but Graham is a very smart LISP developer and he makes some good points.

I didn't particularly like high school, but I think that if they have a supportative family, the smarter kids look beyond high school when they will have the freedom to pursue what is important to them and find their niche.

Amazon RSS Feeds

Amazon.com Syndicated Content

This is very, very cool. Amazon has RSS feeds.

RSS = Real Simple Syndication - its a way to keep

Why, you ask? Well, I'm shopping for a scanner and printer to Sarah can take ours to college. The feeds are not reviews, but they include the full product name and model information and price with a link to Amazon.

Traffic appears to be 10 or so items a day. I see myself subscribing for a week or so at a time to various feeds as our needs change.

First Change for Nickel in 66 Years

The United States Mint Pressroom

I stopped updating my coin collection in the 80's. Maybe its time to get caught up and maybe my daughters will be interested.

Document shows SCO prepped lawsuit against BofA

Document shows SCO prepped lawsuit against BofA | CNET News.com

I'm loving this. The lawyers were not sophisticated enough to know that Word saves metadata and revisions. They make fun of engineers, but they are too stupid to understand the tools they use on a daily basis. Ha!

Microsoft even has a tool to remove metadata.

Cannondale Bikes

Cannondale Bikes - RT1000

Specs for Cannondale Tandem - compare Jumbo/Large to Bob Jackson dimensions. Can Megan fit on Bob Jackson?

Decagon

Recent Experiments

I thought this was pretty neat. Megan's homework included providing examples for geometric shapes, including a decagon. I googled and found this (below).

Joe Schwarcz, professor of chemistry, McGill University

Best Practices Conference -- Joe Schwarcz, professor of chemistry and director of the Office of Chemistry and Society, McGill University

This is an abstract of a talk Joe Schwarcz gave. He makes some great points about bogus science in a very clear manner.