We just bought a Mitsubishi i-MiEV electric car and boy-oh-boy is it fun! This little gem drives “just like a car,” costs about 3 cents per mile to run, has four doors (plus a hatchback), and is surprisingly spacious. Believe it or not, the Mitsubishi i-MiEV is the “big” car in our family, being 10 […]
A Graceful Exit from the Syria Trap
President Obama is in a tight spot. On the one hand, he wants to appear strong and follow through on his “red line” statement. On the other hand, he wants to appear strong and not knuckle under to Congress’ disapproval of military action in Syria. The only choices being discussed are: a) Attack Syria, or […]
Just Ordered My WordPress 10th Anniversary T-Shirt
It’s hard to believe that I have been writing this blog for almost eight years and that WordPress (the software which drives this web site) is going on ten years old. To celebrate both, I just ordered my WordPress 10th Anniversary T-Shirt.
$76 Media Center
Several years ago, we got a Sony PlayStation 3 as a home theater PC and it has been a fantastic way to watch Blu-ray discs, Netflix, etc. It has not been a good way to listen to music for two reasons. First, listening to music requires me to turn on the home theater projector, since we […]
You want me to register my WHAT?
To operate an automobile, I have to register the vehicle with the state government. I also have to register myself, demonstrate that I have been trained in the safe operation of the vehicle, and maintain a government issued license for vehicle operations. I am limited in the types of vehicles that I may own and […]
I Love Great Customer Service
Receiving fantastic customer service always makes me smile. Not only do I appreciate getting what I want, I love the feeling that a live human being paid attention to what I said. This happened to me twice in the last few days so let me share both stories with you. I sent an email to […]
Nut Starter Tool
One of the opportunities challenges of assembling my airplane has been starting nuts in hard impossible to reach places. Two of the nuts are in a position that is even difficult to reach with needle nose pliers. I remembered seeing a flat nut starter tool years ago which would be perfect for these nuts so […]
Heads Up, Doc!
Added November 6, 2011: Since sending a copy of this letter to the doctor, I spoke with his office manager and him, receiving both a good explanation and sincere apologies. I have returned to his office for my FAA medical exam and had a delightful experience with everything running on time and like clockwork. Dear […]
An Open Letter to Netflix: Don’t Separate Netflix.com and Qwikster.com
Reed, Thank you for the explanation. I have been a Netflix subscriber since June 2002 and I did feel offended by the large price jump in my plan (2 Blu-Ray discs + streaming) I believe that you are making a mistake in dis-integrating the Qwikster.com and Netflix.com sites. My family receives great value from the […]
Bad Policy: Forbidding Social Network Contact Between Teachers and Students
Missouri is in the process of implementing a particularly bad law, forbidding contact on social networks between teachers and students. Formally, this is Missouri Senate Bill 54, the Amy Hestir Student Protection Act. The aim is laudable: protect vulnerable kids from predacious educators. Unfortunately, the law as written, and as being implemented by the school districts, […]
Last Shuttle Launch
Robert Scoble got a beautiful photo of Atlantis’ final launch, STS-135 I am very proud of what we have done and sad to reach the end of this era.
FIAT 500 Joins Our Family
A feisty yellow FIAT 500 Sport joined our family on Friday. 🙂 I picked it up from FIAT of Salt Lake City after an on-line chat with Shane revealed a car on their lot configured just like Candy and I had been prepared to special order. After a tough week at work, I had the “chore” of […]
Ban the Bikes!
St. Charles County, MO, will try to ban bicyclists from using some state highways, as reported in the Suburban Journals, Bill would ban bicycles from some highways in St. Charles County. How wrong can you get? In the year 2010, amidst all the hue and cry about poor health, obesity, and greenhouse gases from automobiles, Councilman […]
Copyright Madness
You may not be aware of some of the insanity which current copyright laws create in many countries, not just the United States. Here are two songs which you may think are free and clear but which are, in fact, copyrighted and subject to royalty payments: Happy Birthday to You The Chicago-based music publisher Clayton […]
Death of St. Charles Municipal Airport
This has got to be the coldest, most insensitive obituary ever written: !STL 06/424 3SQ AD CLSD WEF 1006300501 In English, this NOTAM (federal NOTice to AirMen) says that the St. Charles Municipal Airport will close at 12:01am CDT, Wednesday, June 30, 2010. After 67 years of service, the owner will shut it down forever. […]
USPTO Grants Patent On ’60s Era Billing Method
Back in the Old Days, I had to pay for computer time on Michigan Terminal System (MTS) at the University of Michigan. It was a simple system: the more you used, the more you paid. MTS charged for CPU time, RAM used while your program was running, disk space used to store your files, I/O […]
Facebook’s Last Straw
Facebook added the proverbial last straw with its latest privacy faux pas. It has demonstrated, yet again, that in pursuing it’s goal of selling advertising, Facebook places very little importance on our personal privacy. Remember that, while Facebook ostensibly is a web site designed to help people connect with like-minded people, in fact Facebook is […]
Shopping for a Refrigerator
Candy and I are shopping for a new refrigerator. The good news is that we don’t need to spend as much as I feared we would. The bad news is that shopping for a fridge is worse than choosing a breakfast cereal. The manufacturers and stores seem to create as many models as possible just […]
English Language Pet Peeves
Quick rant on misuse of the English language. Neither “incent” nor “incentivise” are words. “Motivate” is a word. There is no verb form of “incentive.”
Garmin & XM Radio: The Best & The Worst in Customer Service
We have many opportunities to experience both good and bad customer service. Rarely, though, do we bump into extremes at both ends of the spectrum in the course of one technical support issue. Doing so makes both experiences all the more poignant. I use a Garmin GPSmap 396 coupled with a hockey puck sized XM […]
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