Million Dollar Idea

This guy had a great Idea
Wish that I would have thought of it.

Airliner of the month

My favorite Airplane the Boeing 747

I don't know for sure, but I think that it has some serious competition by the new Airbus A380.

One thing I just found out is that the Airbus 380 has Aluminum wiring.
I know that it's all for weight savings, but I wonder just how safe that is?

Lake of the Month

Lake Baikal
Worlds Largest freshwater Lake
All of the Great lakes could fill it.
The water is so pure that you can drink it without any filtering.
It has Freshwater seals too called Nerpas.

If it's 85° outside, it must be Christmas.

I'ts Beautiful out today.
You can see a long way although the pictures don't do it justice.
Me and the boys walked to the park.
Forgot the camera again.

Those peaks are around 26 miles away.

Great Do it yourself projects

This Cue stick allignment laser is sold commercially, but could probably be hacked pretty easily.
Makezine.com has a whole bunch of cool projects.
They seem to be preoccupied with Ipods though.

Corona Airport

Here is a photo of the Corona Airport near my house.
It got flooded out last Winter when we got some heavy rains.
Well it is in a flood basin.
There is a cool video of it on this page.

Hooray Arnold

Last week our famous governer had to make a decision on whether or not to grant clemency to a convicted murderer in California.
Well some city councilmen from his home town in Austria didn't agree with his decision, and made a big stink and demanded that his name be removed from the local sports stadium.

I like what he did next. He turned the tables on them and demanded that they discontinue using his name on the stadium.
He also insisted that they not use his name or likeness for any other reason in promoting their city.
I like the fact that the governor of my home state doesn't let any group (especially one from outside of the country) influence his decissions.

Newport Bay

Angela had to wrap some presents, so I took the boys down to Newport for the day. We took the Balboa Island Ferry over to the strand. We rented a Duffy for an hour and cruised the harbor.
It was awesome out there.
I forgot the camera dagnabbit.
The wintertime is definitely when it would be nice to live down by the ocean.
It's a madhouse in Summer, but today it was just gorgeous and nobody was there.

Airplane Pictures

Airliners.net Has some very cool pictures.
One of my favorites is the Airliner coming in over the beach.

Optical Illusions

You have to Click on the Photo to get the effect.
This Website has lots of 'em.

Space Stuff

Lots of Cool stuff on the StarDate.org website.
I like the Moon Phase Calendar.

Picassa

Have you tried Picassa?


It's pretty cool for images.

Picasa is software that helps you instantly find, edit and share all the pictures on your PC. Every time you open Picasa, it automatically locates all your pictures (even ones you forgot you had) and sorts them into visual albums organized by date with folder names you will recognize. You can drag and drop to arrange your albums and make labels to create new groups. Picasa makes sure your pictures are always organized.

I like Free things.
Especially if it's related to Google.

Crank It Up

This Cool and innovative bicycle crank made in Spain eliminates the "Dead Zone" when pedaling.

I wonder if it will be the new standard, or go the way of the oval shaped sprocket?

Surf's Up Dude

Royal Caribean has a new Ship coming out next year that is going to have the coolest thing.
The Ship is called the Freedom of the Seas.
The ride is called Flowrider, and it is a wave machine mounted right on the ship.

Why 11:00 P.M. isn't so dreaded in the UK anymore.

So now you now don't have to tip 'em back at 11:00 in your local pub.
I guess they are selling 24 hour licenses in some pubs in the England and Wales.
According to the article the 11:00 curfew has been in effect since WWI.
Around here, the bars close at 2:00 a.m. Seems late enough for me?

Chinese Motorcycles

On my recent trip to southern China, I was astounded by the amount of Chinese motorcycles on the road
They seemed to mostly be Japanese knockoffs, with quite a few genuine Honda, and Suzukis.










I also saw alot like this.
I didn't see too many Yamahas.
I didn't see anything but 125cc.
This guy went to Bejing, and I guess he saw some higher displacement engines.

Gateway Arch

I haven't been in the Arch in years, but it is something that you always remember.

It's actually called the Jefferson National Expansion Memorial

The tram way up to the top has cars that rotate similar to that of a ferris wheel gondola.

The Oracle of Bacon

You know the Six degrees of separation theory that anyone on earth can be connected to any other person on the planet through a chain of acquaintances that has no more than five intermediaries.
Well The University of Virginia has created an Oracle Database that is pretty cool.

It's called the Oracle of Bacon.
You can find an Actors Bacon number here.

PLCS.NET Blog: China

PLCS.NET Blog: China

NES Hack

Update!
Heres another Controller made into an MP3 player.











I keep finding stories like this.
I like to read about how the people building the project achieved their success.

Remember Rotary Phones

These guys will build you a portable one that you can put your own Sim card into.









I love the DImensions...
Dimensions: About the size of a rotary phone...

Nasa Pictures

It's amazing how when you look at the Far side of the moon, it looks completely alien.

Lot's more cool Nasa Pictures Here.

JibJab

JibJab has a good cartoon regarding Big Box stores.
Made me smile :-)

Christmas Lights

So I'm thinking of converting to LED lights this season for the house.
Actually I threw out some worn out Icicle lights that I had from last season.
The thing that bothers me is that the price for the LED style is still too high.
I am going to keep searching the net for good deals.

May the Force be with you

I'm not really a Star wars geek, (I guess it depends on who you talk to) but I did like the first three, and the last episode that came out.
Here's a really cool article on How the Death star works.

Scary Goblins

Well being stuck here passing out candy.
I figured that I would log in how many trick or Treaters we got.
66 gouls and goblins, princesses, ninjas, firefighters & cowboys rang the doorbell between 6:00 and 8:00.

Most of them were too cute.
There were only a few teenagers that should have stayed home to pass out candy.
I didn't have to give out any tootsie rolls.

Edit: We got around 7 more between 8:00 and 8:30.
HAppy Halloween.

Grand Canyon Bridge

The Grand Canyon bridge looks like that may be a good place to get vertigo.
I guess it's supposed to open early next year.

Airport Monitor

Here is a page where you can click and see real time (well I think it's delayed 10 minutes for security) images of Airplanes flying overhead.
You have to click on the Continue to AirportMonitor link.
Cool Huh.

Here's LAX


Here's a Movie showing all U.S. flights during a 24 hour time period.
From this site.

Apollo !!

This Site Has some really cool information on the Apollo missions.


And This Site has some ver good images.

The achievement of landing men on the moon and bringing them back is sorely underappreciated by society at large.

I am impressed though.

Horse Racing

Angela and I won some tickets to get into the Turf Club at Santa Anita Park.
Actually we won them at a silent auction fundraiser.
I guess that they are having Oak Tree Racing there now.
I haven't been to the Race track in a long time, and I have never been to the Turf club.
We are gonna go on Friday with some friends.
Now I'm a T-Shirt and Jeans kinda guy. I don't usually wear a coat and tie, so I am a little aprehensive about the dress code.
I think that I'll just wear some dress slacks and a collared shirt I don't know.
I'm sure to bet on the hose with the most techie sounding name.
Two dollars on "Firewire" to Win. Go Baby Go!
Wish me Luck.

Balancing Rocks

This Site has some cool photos of Rocks being balanced.
My favorites are the natural ones.
Check out the Balancing Point videos here.

Things to do when the internet is down

Sitting in your chair hold your leg out straight and rotate your right foot in circular motion.









Now with your right hand draw the number 6 in the air like your writing on a chalkboard.









:-)

Happy Halloween

Check out Norm's Jack-O-Lance

Yea. I know it was probably five years ago, but it's still Too Cool!

RF Cafe

Even though I am not an RF Engineer and I don't pretend to be, I really like this site Rf Cafe

Chevy Cobalt

In August when I had to go to Abilene, I rented a Chevy Cobalt from Avis.
I really liked that car.
Then Last month I had to rent one again but I got the 4 door.
Still a great car.
Although a good portion of the assembly may be in Canada, I think it has like 75% U.S./Canadian components.

Right Wingers

Any man who is not a socialist at age 20 has no heart. Any man who is still a socialist at age 40 has no head.

You know the older I get the more I find these guys make some sense.
Well here's one for example.

Yesterland

This is a cool Site where I like to go and Reminisce
http://www.yesterland.com/

Very Cool Photography

This site has some really cool pictures.
http://www.gigapxl.org

Stole this from Darrels Blog. Thought that it was cute

The European Commission has just announced an agreement whereby English will be the official language of the European Union rather than German, which was the other possibility.

As part of the negotiations, the British Government conceded that English spelling had some room for improvement and has accepted a 5-Year phase-in plan that would become known as "Euro-English".

In the first year, "s" will replace the soft "c". Sertainly, this will make the sivil servants jump with joy.

The hard "c" will be dropped in favour of "k". This should klear up konfusion, and keyboards have one less letter.

There will be growing publik enthusiasm in the sekond year when the troublesome "ph" will be replaced with "f". This will make words like fotograf 20% shorter.

In the 3rd year, publik akseptanse of the new spelling be expected to reach the stage where more komplikated changes are possible.

Governments will enkourage the removal of double letters, which have always ben a deterent to akurate speling.

Also, al wil agre that the horibl mes of the silent "e" in the language is disgrasful and it should go away.

By the 4th yer people wil be reseptiv to steps such as replasing "th" with "z" and "w" with "v".

During ze fifz yer, ze unesesary "o" kan be dropd from vords Containing "ou" and after ziz fifz yer, ve vil hav a reil sensibl riten styl.

Zer vil be no mor trubl or difikultis and evrivun vil find it ezi tu understand ech oza. Ze drem of a united urop vil finali kum tru.

Und efter ze fifz yer, ve vil al be speking German like zey vunted in ze forst plas.

Wasting time

Want to waste time stealing letters from others.
Go Here
Last week I spent about 10 minutes preventing some yahoo who was trying to spell out obscenities.
He was pretty persistant.
I Finally gave up

Down by the water

Angela took the boys to the beach last week.
It's not so crowded now that Summer is over.

Water Car

Just got the new issue of Popular Mechanics.

They had a cool car in there that will do 50 MPH on the water.
Very Cool!

Tripple C's Rock! Why?

Chocolate Chip Cookies Rock!
What a profound statement. (well maybe not)
Actually I think that I have liked chocolate chip cookies for as long as I can remember.
Home made are the best.
Yes I actually bake them myself sometimes.
You haven't enjoyed life untill you've had three boys under 10 help you bake cookies in the kitchen.
Macadamia nuts make a good cookie better.
They gotta be made with real sugar, real brown sugar, and fresh flour, otherwise you can taste it in the final product.

Chocolate chip cookies are best fresh out of the oven.
I like to freeze the rest of cookies after they are baked, then you can put one or two in a toaster oven to warm them up for a late night snack.... NICE


I don't care for store bought cookies.
Never buy them.
I've tried the pre-made dough, and while it's nowhere close to the real thing, it will do in a pinch.

New Orleans

Here is a very good Quicktime VR
That shows the flooding in New Orleans.

Vegetarians

I'm not a Vegetarian.
I don't think that we would have evolved this far if we were all Vegetarians.



The only thing that bugs me more than Vegetarians are Vegans.
I mean how rediculous is that! No milk, No Cheese, No Eggs.
I once went to a wedding where the dinner was Vegan.
They had Fake Cheese on the sandwiches. ... iick!

Actually if you don't want to eat meat that's your business, but don't tell me not to.
I do like Vegetarian Pizza though. :-)

Concerts

List of Concerts that I have attended
In no particular order.

The Police Synchronicity
Sparks New wave 80's band
Thompson Twins New wave 80's band
Sammy Hagar Red Rocker
AC/DC Who made who?
The Monkees They made a comeback in the middle 80's
Kenny G Worst concert I have ever been to
REM Those guys rocked!
Carlos Santana 2nd Worst concert I have ever been to
Reba McEntire Sometimes good sometimes not so good
Brooks & Dunn Always good
Colin Raye Excellent Concert
Alan Jackson Excellent
Martina McBride She's good
Clint Black First date My wife and I went on Black&Wy tour
Wynona Judd First date My wife and I went on Black&Wy tour
Travis Tritt I think he opened for Reba very good
The Eagles Ten Years later tour Awsome!
Celine Dion Wife dragged me to this While we were dating Celine was very good.
Michael Bolton Wife dragged me to this While we were dating... well at least Celine was very good.

Penguins Batted by a Yeti

Ridiculous little Macromedia game.
My highest score 317.2

GoogleBombs

So I was scanning another message board, and a regular was asking where he could learn HTML.
SO I googled (Verb) "I'd like to learn HTML"
The first entry was International Talk Like A Pirate Day
Now How did that Happen?

This article explains what a Google Bomb is.
Anyhow, now I can talk like a Pirate even if I am two days late.

How Much beer is in a Keg?

I've always wanted to know how much Beer is in a keg.
Thankfully this guy investigated it for me.

Wireless Access

Why is it that wireless access to the internet is getting harder to find?
It seems that too many airports have figured that customers will pay for Online access.
I really don't mind paying for access at home, but it irks me when I see the rediculously high rates that they want in some airports.
If you can get DSL at home for less than a dollar a day, Why does it cost $6.00 an hour at the airport?
I'll tell you why. because they are gouging a captive audience.

Long Beach airport in California has free internet access.
Dallas Fort Worth does not. grrr grrr

This website lists airports with free online access.

AYSO

My son's soccer team won today.
The Rebels beat the eXtreme 5-3.

Boy when the game was ready to start I didn't know if we had a chance.
The opposing team players all had head bands on.
Even the coach had one on.
Before the game their calistentic routines were almost like the military.

They reminded me of the kids in the do jo from the movie The Karate kid.
These kids are all under 10 years old.
They should be out there having fun, but there coach was yelling and screaming at them like they were in High school.
I wouldn't let my kids coach behave that way.
I firmly believe in competition, but win at all costs, is not at all appropriate at this age level.

Anyhow, we spotted them 2 goals within the first five minutes.
Later in the first half we scored on them, and I think that shook their confidence.
We were up 4-2 at half time.
Austin plays defense mostly , so he diidn't score any goals.
We have one kid on our team Tristan who is a fantastic player. He scored three of our five goals.

911

I was reading a post about Flight 93 and it got me thinking.
I am not a Military guy, but I think that the Pentagon is doing the the right thing in Arlington.
They are just rebuilding the Pentagon the way it was. Probably a little better, and maybe one of the cornerstones will have a plaque or something.
The Entire building will not be changed with some awful memorial though.
In New York City they are still trying to decide on what designs will memorilize the victims better.
I heard Rush say the other day that they should just rebuild the Twin towers the same height, maybe one foot taller and be done with it.
What better way is there to say to the terrorists "you aren't gonna stick it to us".

Angels Baseball again

Well they haven't been doing so well lately.
They are bound to improve though.

Angels Baseball

Well the Angels have taken two so far against Chicago.
Hopefully they can Sweep.

Los Angeles is a Spanish phrase originally named for the area.
They named the basin this becaus of the natural haze that hung over the basin back 200 years ag0.
Now we get Smog instead of Haze.
The name litterally translates to "The Angels"

So... the official name of the Angels baseball team is
"The Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim."
so if you translate it, it comes out as...

"The The Angels Angels of Anaheim."

Pretty stupid Huh.

Beginning of a completely harmless waste of time

Listing of Favorite Blogs:

J-Walk.com Way too Liberal, but interesting.

Marshall Brain's Blog

Favorite Forums:
PLCS.net
Patchn.com

Favorite Sites:

MiceAge