The Bicycle Forest

The Bicycle Forest

Interesting site. Click on the Home Builder's Gallery or Frame Design at the bottom of the page.

Home Builder's Gallery is a bunch of very interesting, home brew bicycles (or human powered vehicles with wheels.

Frame Design has links for a bunch of independent bicycle frame shops and designers.

Money 101

CNN/Money: Money 101

This is a series of 23 articles on various financial topics from making a budget to Life Insurance and 401K's. All the topics I reviewed were very useful, if only as a starting point on topics that most people ignore.

Do you want a budweiser.com e-mail address?

MyBudweiser.com

A Budweiser e-mail address.

Do I need it? No.
Do I even like Budweiser? No. (I like their dark beers).
Why? Well, maybe just to convince me that GMail is the best.

DirecTV 6.2 TiVo Software Upgrade

DirecTV 6.2 TiVo Software Upgrade | PVRblog

Barb noticed it first because the schedule was not displayed. You have to reset your Favorites after the upgrade.

The DirecTV release notes indicate the on-screen guide is faster and we can sort the recorded shows (Now Playing List) by alpha or date. There is also a folders feature to group similar programs into folders. This will help sort shows by owner (Dad) or type (animation).

Devolution - Why intelligent design isn’t.

The New Yorker: Fact

Good piece in the New Yorker Magazine on Intelligent Design versus Evolution.

15 Answers to Creationist Nonsense

Science & Technology at Scientific American.com: 15 Answers to Creationist Nonsense

Opponents of evolution want to make a place for creationism by tearing down real science, but their arguments don't hold up.

This is a very good article in Scientific American. I read SA as a kid and its one of the things that inspired me to become an engineer. Its good to see that they are defending scientific education in a coherent and reasonable fashion.

As I have said before, defending Darwin and evolution does not mean I am anti-religion. I believe that understanding science, physics and mathematics actually brings you closer to God. Nature and science is just to awesome to be left to chance and I believe that a Supreme Being had to have a hand in the overall development of such a perfect system.

I first heard this from a neighbor in Pennsauken, NJ. He was a biologist and I used to pick out slides and other interesting stuff from his trash. I didn't understand everything I read and some of the slides were crap, but it really accelerated my interest in science. One day we talked about his work. He said the longer he was a biologist, the more he believed in God based on the symmetry and perfection of things he saw every day on a molecular level.

Bill Moyers' speech to the National Conference for Media Reform

Free Press News : Bill Moyers' speech to the National Conference for Media Reform

This is one of the most pointed, emotional and powerful speeches I have read in a long time.

I have a deep respect for Bill Moyers developed over years of watching and listening to him on various PBS programs.

I trust Bill Moyers.
I like Bill Moyers.
Bill Moyers reflects many of the values I hold, values I want my children to have. Values I think are important for the future success of the United States.

Given this, I read his speech several times. Its deeply disturbing. Its even more disturbing that it was not carried in the newspapers, radio or television.

Read, listen or watch his speech and draw your own conclusions. I recommend reading it once or twice first.

Intellictual Property Justice League

The IP Justice League of America. This site is just too cool to not post.

http://ipjusticeleague.com/

This American Life

From WBEZ in Chicago | This American Life

TAL or This American Life is a delightful program that Barb and I listen to while we wait in the car for the kids each Sunday. They are available via RealPlayer as well as for purchase on CD.

Welcome to Plogress.com!

Welcome to Plogress.com!

This is a very interesting site. It has summaries of legislative activity for each member of Congress and the Senate available as RSS feeds.

They also have links to find your legislators by nine digit zip code (but you already know who your representatives are, right?).

The RSS feed link is at the bottom of the page for each representative.

Movies that have been considered the greatest ever

Movies that have been considered the greatest ever - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

I like this list. There are tons of others, but the movies they highlist are very close to my taste and the links are very useful as well.

'This is how science is done'

Guardian Unlimited | Life | 'This is how science is done'

This is an article by Michelle Feynman, Physicist Richard Feynman's daughter. Her exerpts of her father's letters are a wonderful insight into the personality of one of the brightest minds of our generation.

Update - today Michelle was interviewedby Renee Montagne on NPR.

Consumer Note - we changed our phone provider

Not a big deal, but I thought its something we all face on a regular basis. I'm not a cantidate to drop our land lines and go wireless. Its not cost effective, I'm concerned about the loss of our land phone number and its not worth the hassle.

What prompted the change? A number of things.

First, for some magic reason, we can get DSLnow. I think we are still 17000 to 18000 feet from the Marlton and Moorestown CO's, but something changed in Mount Laurel and I'm liking it.

Next, I had AT&T as our long distance carrier. Last time I checked, they had the best International plan and fewer billing issues than MCI and others. I was wrong. Billing is months behind and, to top it off, time for each call is off by a factor of 10. In other words, when I make a five minute phone call, it shows up as 50 minutes. Also, calls within NJ and to Philadelphia are $.20/min. The big reason I had AT&T was international calling. For $3/month, we can call Ireland and England for 11 cents and 9 cents a minute respectively. Prior to my AT&T contract, it appears I was slammed and didn't have a default long distance carrier. In this situation, your randomly assigned a LD carrier and you have no default plan. I paid something like $1/min for a call to Ireland. This made my head hurt and I vowed to never, ever let this happen again.

Last, we have Verizon DSL. Combining voice and data gave

Arrested Development's Coming Back!

TV Squad

Thank goodness someone at Fox has the sense to keep Arrested Development.

It almost seems like there's a plot to cancel every show my wife and I think is well written.

What Color Eyes Would Your Children Have?

What Color Eyes Would Your Children Have?

Interesting site and very educational. Its been years (don't ask) since I had Biology, but this brought back some nightmares.

Its a very accurate site and it even gives the breakdown based on the basic genetic maps of two generations (your parents/in-laws, you and your spouse).

The Mermaid by Heinz Insu Fenkl

The Mermaid by Heinz Insu Fenkl -- The Endicott Studio Journal of Mythic Arts, Summer 2003

The origins of the Starbucks logo. Is it a mermaid or Siren?

'This is how science is done'

Guardian Unlimited | Life | 'This is how science is done'

This is an article by Michelle Feynman, Physicist Richard Feynman's daughter. Her exerpts of her father's letters are a wonderful insight into the personality of one of the brightest minds of our generation.

Select few redefine human abilities

CNN.com - Select few redefine human abilities - May 3, 2004

Very good article in CNN about people who have extraordinary physical abilities such as greater than normal lung volume or capacity and muscular strength. One woman, a champion free diver, has the ability to survive very low oxygen levels in her blood (a normal lower limit is 70%, she goes under 50%). As a result, she can old her breath for over six minutes.

I'm in awe. With training, and in my 20's, I could hold my breath for two minutes. Most couch potatoes can't manage one minute!

Free Online Graph Paper / Grid Paper PDFs

Free Online Graph Paper / Grid Paper PDFs

I (finally) ran out of graph paper that I had left over from college. I didn't want to take the time to drive in to Philly to the Drexel book store and it seemed a bit absurd to buy graph paper when I have a powerful desktop computer and high resolution monochrome laser printer.

This site fit the bill. They don't offer log/log or semi-log graph paper, but I really don't need it now. If anyone knows where I can get PDF files of log graph paper, let me know.

The Keep-It-Clean Plan

Real Simple | Cleaning | The Keep-It-Clean Plan

My daughters don't realize it, but they will be starting the 19 minute daily clean-up plan.

Who wants to break the news to the girls?

Consumer Groups Hail Lowering of the "Broadcast Flag"

Consumer Groups Hail Lowering of the "Broadcast Flag"

I'm delighted that the Court of Appeals overturned the FCC Broadcast Flag rule.

The Pseudoscience of Intelligent Design

The Pseudoscience of Intelligent Design || kuro5hin.org

Great article about Intelligent Design. Not only because it supports my opinion that Intelligent Design is not science, but because it methodically picks apart the ID 'foundations'.