Monday, October 31, 2005

Any trick or treaters dressed as Bloggers ? Allegedly thats a 21st century costume.
"Pajamas, a laptop, and no shower are all you need to complete the look..." — and this link, of course.

Friday, October 28, 2005

Goodwrench or Rookiewrench

Goodwrench ??- In Houston, TX at my Pontiac, Buick,
Cadillar, Hummer Dealer they have Mr. Rookiewrench, at usual outrageous
dealer pricing. I do my own service work, and get it right.

On a 2005 Vibe, they were prepared to install the wrong oil filter, the
wrong oil, and the WRONG transmission fluid. The Service Manager had no
clue. I had to teach him to read an owners manual.

And then GM ignores this complaint, and wonders why it continues to lose sales to Japanese companies.

Thursday, October 27, 2005

Great New York City street vendor Hotdogs now available in Houston, TX An upscale supermarket - Central Market is now carrying Sabrett brand products. YUM! Skinless Beef Hot Dogs, and condiments: Onions in Sauce (Pushcart Style), Sweet Relish, and Spicy Brown Mustard. It's almost 1968 again on 45th street and 6th Avenue. And this (and more) could even all be ordered over the web.

Wednesday, October 26, 2005

GLOBAL WARMING:

We know that in recent Geologic History the climate has changed to far greater degrees than we have measured in last 200 years. Witness 4 "Ice Ages" in the Pleistocene, and higher sea levels in the past as evidenced by Gravel Terraces throught the world.

So while current climate change is a concern, it is the height of human arrogance to assume that "man" has caused it all, when we KNOW of a greater range of climatic change before humankind was a factor. With 80 % of the Earth covered by Oceans, that water absorbs more Carbon Dioxide than we can ever calculate, and the Carbon Dioxide becomes part of Calcium Carbonate in skeletons of micro and macro creatures, settling to the ocean floor and forming beds of limestone, freeing the oceans to absorb ever more Carbon Dioxide as it has throughout Geologic History, i.e. Chalk of Dover

Geologists and Paleontologists have used the remains in such Limestone beds to track the evolution of life in the past Billion years, and such evidence provides part of the proof that gives the lie to "Creationism".

Tuesday, October 25, 2005

Watch what you print, the government is now watching you. Can one partially get around this by buying anonymously with cash, and not registering their printer with manufacturer?

Sunday, October 09, 2005

Save on an HDTV Apparently incentives given to managers at BestBuy to move high margin accesories can distort the buying process, and an astute buyer can use that to their advantage. Read about it here.

Saturday, October 08, 2005

Attracting Tourists Apparently most California political entities don't do a very good job. I'm about to visit my son in Los Angeles. So 2 weeks ago, I filled out web forms to receive "tourist" information. They ought to jump on such live prospects, and send out mail immediately. Not so. It two weeks to receive my first tiny brochure. It was from Redondo Beach. Of course the brochure points to a dead "url" www.visitredondo.com/passport, when apparently its been changed to here.

Friday, October 07, 2005

A DirecTv HDTV Receiver with Tivo (HR10-250) runs on Linux, and as such can have software added to it to increase its' capabilities, like controlling it over the web. It's by now a well documented process, here, here, and here. That's just the tip of the iceberg of what can quickly be found with Google.

Thursday, October 06, 2005

Yale Law School and Audio CD copy Protection: What they have to say is here

Wednesday, October 05, 2005

City of Houston misplaced priorities: Come to find out today that the City has secretly cancelled it's recycling program so it can devote more people and trucks to picking up Hurricane Rita debris. Some points:

1. Shouldn't the city be getting money from FEMA to cover overtime for Rita ?
2. Since when does the needs of the few (Rita trash holders) outweigh the needs of the many (every resident should have recycling).
3. Shouldn't picking up nonbiodegradable plastic (which the city sells) be a higher priority than biodegradable tree branches?

Monday, October 03, 2005

OUCH ! Just got my 2005-2006 Flu shot today, first day they were available. Just in case there's any problems this year I'm covered. This years' flu shot protects against:
  • A/New Caledonia/20/99-like (H1N1),
  • A/California/7/2004-like (H3N2), and
  • B/Shanghai/361/2002-like viruses.
Thus any other type of flu outbreak isn't covered.

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As the Jewish holy days now unfold, in this season of repentance, let me ask for your forgiveness for my (blogging) sins (both commission and omission).