Monthly Archives: May 2006

Back Up servers are a good thing…

ServerOf course, my server dies while I’m not able to get to it. Still no idea what’s going on, but in the mean time, I’m on my back up server. Very
Odd.

This is yet one of the reasons why people should:

  1. Backup regularly
  2. Keep a server active as a “Hot spare”
  3. Control your own DNS

All of the above allow me to “Fix” the problem by dropping out the bad server and replacing it with the new. Hope it’s not a Hardware problem…


Music I’m listening to right Now
:
On her Mind” by Duncan Sheik from his Daylight” Album.

Crazy Gas prices and other things

Gas Gage Heard the President on the News this morning for the Today show. It was during his photo Op in a Dune Buggy .  Among other things He seems to think that the Economy is doing fine. 

He must have a different idea of what "Fine" is then I do. The Consumer Price Index is up , Gasoline prices are out of control, and the Stock market has taken a Dive  for three days this week. Both Congress and the President have made the usual noise about "Price Gouging". I just paid over $52 dollars to fill a 17 gallon tank. Oil corporations are making record profits (After they cook the books no less!) and the politicians do nothing.

Normally, when a President presides over such an unhappy population (Think he can go below 25% Approval rating?) , his party is in big trouble come midterm elections. 

Here is what I think will happen:

  • The GOP will again attempt make "National Security" the Buzzword of the midterm elections. The so called "Liberal Media" will help paint the Democrats as "Weak" on National Security by repeating the same thing. (Face it: Both Parties take the same stand on "National Security")
  • The GOP will go on to "Defend" Marriage with this B/S "Marriage Amendment". For a party that once claimed to "Keep out of the Bedroom" they sure like to get in it.
  • The GOP will continue to make "Tax Breaks" for rich people. In the last 5 Years, My Tax burden has been pretty much the same. In fact, I can't think of anyone I know who has personally benefited from these so called "Tax Breaks". I must not know the right people.
  • The GOP will continue to Balk at the Presidents Agenda since he's approaching the point where he will be the most unpopular President in the last 50 years.
  • The President will not make many campaign appearances due to his popularity.

The Democrats could possible take back the House and the Senate, but I'm confidant that they will screw it up. I hope they do take the Senate and House, but I'm not betting on it. At the least, it would make the President nervous which has it's own entertainment value. People think that the President would be impeached, but I doubt it. If he was Impeached, Vice President "Shoot First" Cheney would become President (ignoring the joke about him running the White House anyway).

The House and Senate seem to bark at all the right times, but their bite is somewhat lacking. They all Bark about how bad it is to spy on US Citizens in the 50 States, but do Nothing when it comes time to exercise any over site. One of the strengths of our form of Government is checks and Balances. Under this administration, there doesn't seem to be any.

IMO, This current class in the Senate and House are scared that they will look weak on "National Security". Sen. Arlen Spector is, IMO, the worst one. He's really good at making statements questioning the NSA Domestic Surveillance program, not so good at follow up on it. 

Music I'm listening to now:
"My Own Worst Enemy" by Lit from "A Place in the Sun " album.

 

Flickr Beta is no more, Long Live Flickr Gamma

Gamma Apparently Flickr has entered into "Gamma" release.
Other than the Look and Feel, it seems pretty simular.

Update:  The Post Upload page via Firefox is a little Screwed up. Flickr is aware of it. See it after the break.

Update: They Fixed it. 

 

Music I'm listening to now:
"Everything in Its Time" by Corrinne May
from her "Safe in a Crazy World" album.

 

Continue reading

Weekend Work

Archimedes used to say : "Give me a place to stand and with a lever I will move the whole world."

My backyard has a slab of concrete that is 5 1/2 feet by 3 1/2 feet by 6 inches. With out a real plan, I decided to get rid of it as it stuck into the lawn like a sore thumb. Both my wife and I  got tired of it a while ago. Removing it seemed simple enough, dig under it, stick a 2 by 4 under it as a lever and move it out. Great plan, right?

From what I can find out (After the Fact), concrete is at least 94 pounds per cubic foot.  If my math is correct, I levered up a slab of concrete weighing more than 700 pounds. Once I got it lifted up, I couldn't move it an inch! No problem I thought, I have a sledge hammer! Yet Another great plan, right? No…

A few  hours later, I had the slab in manageable sized pieces. The next problem, what to do with this pile of rubble and this hole in my lawn? Well, I got my Shovel and dug a 5 1/2 feet by 3 1/2 feet by 18 to 20 inches hole.  The Slab is mostly still there, just 18 inches under. I should of taken a photo, but After several scrapes and bruises I just wasn't up for it.

Whomever laid that slab did a great job as it was solid as hell! I'm just glad they didn't put Steel rebar in it as I'd NEVER get it in pieces, even with a sledge hammer.

As it stands, I'm really exhausted. The perils of being a home owner. 

Music I'm listening to now:
"In my life" by The Beatles from the "Rubber Soul" album.  

  

LivePreview 1.0 by Arvind Satyanarayan from Movalog

Movalog


Every now and again I visit Arvind Satyanarayan's blog just to see what latest goodies he has come up with. After using EnhancedEntryEditing and SCode, He now has LivePreview. You can read about it here .

The long and short of it: It allows you to preview the Entry Prior to publishing. This saves a lot of time and effort. Like his other plugins, fairly straight forward to set up.

Music I'm listening to now:
"Wisemen" by Jame Blunt from his "Back to Bedlam " album.

 

MG Gyan

mg-gyanOk, I’m *trying* to save money but Bandai is NOT making it easy.

Danny Choo was nice enough to scan images from Hobby Japan and Dengeki Hobby on his Web Site. It’s looking like areally good kit and looks incredibly posable. I have quite a queue of models waiting to be assembled and painted, but this is VERY tempting to get.

Music I’m listening to now:
All These Things That I’ve Done” by The Killers from his “All These Things That I’ve Done” album.

Image from www.dannychoo.com

Wow, that worked out faster than I thought it would

MaineThe lawsuit against Lance Dutson has been dropped. Apparently, depite not being the brightest lights on Broadway, the Advertising Agency withdrew the lawsuit. You could read about it here. I wonder if they still have a Contract with the Maine Office of Tourism? 

I'm amazed that it took so much negative publicity for them to get a clue.  

Music I'm listening to now:
"Bounce Right Back" by Howard Jones from his "Dream Into Action" album. 

 

IMO, The Gov’t of Maine has crazy companies Sub Contracting for it

 Maine Web Report is being sued by an Advertising Agency in the employ of the Maine Office or Tourism (MOT).

The long and short of it is this: Lance Dutson operates the Maine Web Report and has been critical of MOT. He pointed out some rather embarrassing things about the MOT Web site (loved the Visit Maine graphic with the 800 "Chat" Number on it!), some Odd testimony about Not being able to track where people go from the VisitMaine.com Site (Not quite true) and other irregularities.

This is an Odd situation. One would think an Advertising agency would be a little better equipped to handle a disagreement than this. Go read about it on Maine Web Report site. I first read about this on Crooks and Liars Site. 

Want to help? 

  • To start with: Email the Gov't of Maine. Start with the Governor, Be Polite and respectful (Seriously!). I'd post the Email here but some SPAMERS would pick it up. Look up the site on the Web, get the EMail address and POLITELY speak your mind. It might not be read, but if enough people hit One Email Address, it will get attention. 
  • Look up the MOT 800 Number and Call them. Again, be polite, the person on the other end is NOT responsible and, just like you and me,  is earning a living. If the person is short with you, keep in mind that he/she probably has fielded a lot of phone calls and might be a little tired. Ask to speak to someone about this situation or what MOT's "position" on this is. Do they normally employ Agencies that sue their Citizens?
  • Tell people about this. No, I don't mean Mass Email all your friends. Just Talk about it. You'd be surprised how news media will pick up on things just via conversation.
  • Post a Blog entry and ping Technorati.  At this writing, 230 Blogs reference "Lance Dutson"

Music I'm listening to now:
"Everything in Its Time" by Corrinne May from her "Safe in a Crazy World " album.

Athena Up close




Athena Up close

Originally uploaded by S.D..

I'm Really liking my new lens that my wife got me! The Nikon 18-200 DX VR lens is working very well. The Image on the right is an image of Athena 16 Stories up. I took this image free hand from accross the street at full extension (200mm).

Normally, a shot like this is is impossible for me without a Tripod. With the Vibration Reduction in play, I was able to do it in Normal Program mode.

Music I'm listening to now:
"Walk Away" by Kelly Clarkson
from her "Breakaway" album.