2007 Holiday Gift Guide - 50 possible gifts for giving!

Time to find the perfect gift for that special person or persons. You might be able to find that gift in this listing. Take a gander, and check out the Bust of Elvis that speaks and sings. It is kinda scary, to me. It is called the Alive Elvis from WowWee Inc. Seems that Alive Elvis can communicate with you, and he has sensory equipment to keep his eyes on you. Yikes!

But my favorite one is the NEW USB Doomsday Device Hub. It looks like the device used to launch thermonuclear war. Gotta have it!

Vick's VapoRub on the FEET?

Ever hear of putting Vicks Vapor rub on your feet to cure or at least stem a cough? I got this from a friend and reader, then my wife said she had some friends who have tried it. News is, it works. Hard to imagine, seems weird, but if it works, why not. I have been down with a cold the last few days, and next coughing spell, I am gonna try it!

Some of us have used Vicks Vaporub for years for everything from chapped lips to sore toes and many body parts in between. But I've never heard of this. And don't laugh, it works 100% of the time although the scientists at the Canada Research council (who discovered it) aren't sure why. To stop night time coughing in a child (or adult as we found out personally), put Vicks Vaporub generously on the bottom of the feet at bedtime, then cover with socks. Even persistent, heavy, deep coughing will stop in about 5 minutes and stay stopped for many , many hours of relief. Works 100% of the time and is more effective in children than even very strong prescription cough medicines. In addition, it is extremely soothing and comforting and they will sleep soundly. I heard the head of the Canada Research Council describe these findings on the part of their scientists when they were investigating the effectiveness and usage of prescription cough medicines in children as compared to alternative therapies like acupressure. Just happened to tune in A.M.Radio and picked up this guy talking about why cough medicines in kids often do more harm than good due to the chemical makeup of these strong drugs, so I listened. It was a surprise finding and found to be more effective than prescribed medicines for children at bedtime, in addition to have a soothing and calming effect on sick children who then went on to sleep soundly. A friend tried it on herself when she had a very deep constant and persistent cough a few weeks ago and it worked 100%! She said that it felt like a warm blanket had enveloped her, coughing stopped in a few minutes and believe me, this was a deep, (incredibly annoying!) every few seconds uncontrollable cough, and she slept cough-free for hours every night that she used it. If you have grandchildren, pass it on. If you end up sick, try it yourself and you will be absolutely amazed by the effect.

Why are Macs More Costly, or Are They?

Lockergnome has a nice article on comparisons of the cost of a leading brand PC to the Mac Pro. The comparisons are to HP and Dell systems. Mac Pro is the high end Apple offering.

Now that you see the reason of Apple’s pricing, let’s move onto ownership. One big difference between a Mac and PC is the life they have during ownership. After you get a Mac, you might start realizing that the cost you paid for it will soon save you much in your wallet. The first thing you will come to notice is the software. Software on the Mac side is normally cheaper. I believe that the amount of software you buy for your computer can eventually equal or surpass the cost of the computer. Well this is just one reason why a Mac can save you money.

Interesting discussion on cost of ownership. Might be worth a thought when you are ready to purchase a new system this holiday season.

Wow, another Mac Leopard problem!

I see a new Leopard problem just about once every 2 days. This is a big one in my mind. Makes me glad I didn't upgrade to 10.5. As I stated earlier in a few posts, Leopard has had way too many issues. At that time there were 15 or so, now there has to be 20. Apple MUST correct these issues, and has tried with their latest patch to 10.5.1. But they are beginning to learn the pains of being successful. The more who use Apple computers, the more people who will be vocal and speak out. Oh and take their new OS through paces that Apple can not do themselves. I welcome Apple as a true contended to the Windows dominance. They still have a few things to augment. They need to lower the price of their computers, especially to grasp PC switchers. Perhaps they should market their low end iMacs as an alternative to the low end PC. Or better market the mac Mini as a direct PC replacement. For instance, add the stupid keyboard and mouse, and market it to supplant the PC box in a 30 day challenge promo. I just don't think they have done a very good job in this area. Marketing is good at Apple, as far as getting the word out about iPods. But they need a little more effort in the desktop area.


I think it is time for Apple to allow Mac OS X the ability to run on any PC platform. Windows dominance has been done with applications on top of their Windows operating system. Apple could do the same thing, especially since the iPod is the major stock pusher, not the Mac hardware. Still I do understand that Apple makes a double sell on the OS and the hardware when someone purchases an Apple computer. Perhaps they could ramp up the price of the OS, maybe double it, for the run anywhere version. I think this move has come and the time is right while Vista flounders. It will not be long before Microsoft gets their act together and fixes Vista. Once they do that, their 90 percent coverage advantage in the desktop software will really shine.

Dell XPS ONE, kinda like iMac, but BETTER!

Yeah, I am an Apple iMac guy right now, but this computer from Dell is a winner! It offers many features that the iMac does, integrated speakers, built in webcam, all in one design, one cord, wireless internet. But this new PC offers something the iMac lacks! Wow, a TV Tuner! It has a glass base, and is black. Looks great, has FULL feature remote, not just a one button remote like the iMac. It has the same Intel Core Duo 2 (Extreme version), 2 gig of memory... on and on. Did I mention the 8 slot memory card reader and USB slots on back and side. This is simply awesome! It really is a pound for pound winner when placed against the iMac. Only problem, it doesn't run Apple OS X. You gotta stick with Windows. But if you like Windows or have to use it, and don't want to switch to Apple, then this is my candidate for "Weblinksnewsletter Must Have". Dell has outdone itself, taken Apple's idea and made it even better. I want one for sure!

Star Trek Movie Room

This is a fun movie theater room. I would love to do this one day, make my movie theater room into the set of a Star Trek TV show. Thats what this home owner did. You can note the Trek-like seating and the bar off to the side, complete with Trek lighting techniques.

Vista Death - Mac OS X Glut!

Lockergnome hooked me up with a very interesting article from John C. Dvorak (as I have said in the past, one of my fav tech writers). Johns says that we are experiencing a Vista Death watch. He explains that Vista is nowhere near as popular as the installed base of Mac OS X users, and is a mere sliver of the installed base of Windows XP users. XP users are so fed up with Vista that they are moving back to XP. Windows just seems unable or unwilling to concentrate on their "core" software business. Vista is a gluttonous OS, and this should be expected, it is huge, has too much eye candy, and is expensive.

Now, I have been a Mac user for a few years now, so that qualifies me as being an advanced user, based on my system admin background in the PC world. Mac OS X for once, has followed in Microsoft's footsteps. They have placed all kinds of eye candy in OS X 10.5 Leopard, that the advanced user sees the functions as getting in the way. This software feature glut, I call it, has crept into the Mac OS. It was always standard with Windows.

Ok point: Apple has taken an incorrect detour with this last iteration of Mac OS X Leopard. They have decided that features and eye candy are more important than stability and bug fixes. Don't believe me? Take a look at the RSS feed (feed://docs.info.apple.com/rss/macosx.rss) from Apple on the sheer volume of bugs in 10.5. Not to forget that complaints on the semi-transparent menu bar, and the Dock. Oh Spaces, the virtual screen manager has many people worked up too, and Time machine is a little buggy, even if it is kool.

Apple should never follow Microsoft, but Apple should listen to us. I would prefer to see these cool new features have an ability to be toggled off. Mac OS X Tiger is sturdy, fast efficient, and gets the work done. Leopard is eye candy, and chock full of extras. I don't mean to be rude, but 10.5 should have been a 10.4 feature pack. Thats all it really is.

I see both Microsoft and Apple in trouble on this war to settle the eye candy debate. Vista is indeed so plum full of eye candy that gets in the way of doing work, email and web browsing, that many just can not take it anymore, and are dropping it for XP. I opted to pass on Leopard because of the same reasons. It didn't offer me a single thing I needed. Not one thing! Sure, it looks cool, and has many new tools and features, but nothing I can not life without. I would love a new iMac, but would load 10.4 on it if it would allow me, and I suspect it would.

Both of these companies have upped the ante. Not long ago, within the last 2 years, Apple always sold their OS based on speed, efficiency, and user experience. However Leopard took some of that away. They decided to please some, instead of everyone. Why not release each program as a small iTunes download?

Why not be able to purchase just Time Machine? If thats all one needs, sounds viable to me. How about Bootcamp, I want that as an extra, but don't need it, since I run Parallels. Let me but it for $20.00 if I want it. Or maybe give me a "triple choice". Buy any three software packages for a reasonable price, maybe $30.00.

Both companies are still entrenched in the old way of doing business, even though Apple is somewhat ahead in the Music category, they lack in many other places.

Booker T Joins TNA Pro Wrestling - Leaves WWE

This is a huge acquisition for TNA Pro Wrestling. One of my all time favorite in ring performers, as well as one of my favorite mic workers, Booker T, has jumped from WWE to join TNA. Booker T is a highly decorated and well respected pro wrestler, who was part of the old WCW, many Independent circuits, and lastly lately WWF/WWE. WWE talent seems to be very interested in TNA options, one of which is less travel and equal pay to what the famed WWE often pays performers.



One of the best things that has happened to pro wrestling, is this new competition. It gives wrestlers a real bargaining chip, it gives them more leverage for less travel and better working conditions. And since I am really into TNA right now, this will make it much more fun, watching Christian Cage, Kurt Angle and Booker T. WWE has to be concerned. All TNA needs now is Kane and Shawn Michaels. May never happen, but we can dream.

Global Warming Greatest Scam in HISTORY!

Straight from the ICECAP Blog from the Founder of the Weather Channel. Reposted here for record:

By John Coleman
"It is the greatest scam in history. I am amazed, appalled and highly offended by it. Global Warming; It is a SCAM. Some dastardly scientists with environmental and political motives manipulated long term scientific data to create an illusion of rapid global warming. Other scientists of the same environmental whacko type jumped into the circle to support and broaden the “research” to further enhance the totally slanted, bogus global warming claims. Their friends in government steered huge research grants their way to keep the movement going. Soon they claimed to be a consensus.

Environmental extremists, notable politicians among them, then teamed up with movie, media and other liberal, environmentalist journalists to create this wild “scientific” scenario of the civilization threatening environmental consequences from Global Warming unless we adhere to their radical agenda. Now their ridiculous manipulated science has been accepted as fact and become a cornerstone issue for CNN, CBS, NBC, the Democratic Political Party, the Governor of California, school teachers and, in many cases, well informed but very gullible environmentally conscientious citizens. Only one reporter at ABC has been allowed to counter the Global Warming frenzy with one 15 minute documentary segment.

I do not oppose environmentalism. I do not oppose the political positions of either party. However, Global Warming, i.e. Climate Change, is not about environmentalism or politics. It is not a religion. It is not something you “believe in.” It is science; the science of meteorology. This is my field of life-long expertise. And I am telling you Global Warming is a non-event, a manufactured crisis and a total scam. I say this knowing you probably won’t believe a me, a mere TV weatherman, challenging a Nobel Prize, Academy Award and Emmy Award winning former Vice President of United States. So be it.

I have read dozens of scientific papers. I have talked with numerous scientists. I have studied. I have thought about it. I know I am correct. There is no run away climate change. The impact of humans on climate is not catastrophic. Our planet is not in peril. I am incensed by the incredible media glamour, the politically correct silliness and rude dismissal of counter arguments by the high priest of Global Warming.

In time, a decade or two, the outrageous scam will be obvious. As the temperature rises, polar ice cap melting, coastal flooding and super storm pattern all fail to occur as predicted everyone will come to realize we have been duped. The sky is not falling. And, natural cycles and drifts in climate are as much if not more responsible for any climate changes underway. I strongly believe that the next twenty years are equally as likely to see a cooling trend as they are to see a warming trend. See John’s full blog story here.. See John’s forecast blog on the KUSI site here."

Baltimore Votes Democrats As Usual

The Democrats won unanimously, as well as Dixon, Democratic Incumbent for Baltimore Mayor. Seems that Baltimore is just thrilled with the crime, death toll, murder rate, and budget crisis. Baltimore will not improve until party lines are crossed and business friendly leadership comes to Baltimore. The results from the voters, rolled over to Democrats as usual, even though under Democratic rule over the last 35 years, nothing has really improved for the impoverished and the poor. Guess we will have plenty more of the same for the next many years to come. Oh well, it is no wonder Baltimore is crumbling from within. The last mayor who actually did good for Baltimore was Schaefer.

New iMac is WOW! Georgeous!

I must say that I have been very critical of new Leopard Mac OS X and the new iMac keyboard, but here are some very positive views abut the new iMac itself. I took some quality time out today to really check over the new iMac at COMP USA who had an older one and a new one on display, so I could analyze them side by side. I must admit that the new iMac is gorgeous. The screen resolution is the sharpest and clearest computer screen I have ever seen. The older Intel iMac is nice, but not even close to the fine dot pitch and clarity that the new aluminum Intel iMac has to offer. It is thinner, sleeker, and really looks good. It also seems to run a bit faster and smoother. I have to highly recommend the new iMac, even if I choose to swap out the keyboard and mouse.

Mac OS X 10.5 = BUGGY!

I have been keeping an eye on the bug reports straight from Apple's RSS Feed, and I am really sort of surprised that so many BUGS and problems are already popping up. Seems to be at least one or two a day. It is a safe bet to hold off for a few months until they all get worked out!

The problems range from hung systems at login, permission issues, account permission issues, invisible backup sets, inability to backup, and even a BLUE SCREEN after reboot. Yes the dreaded Blue Screen of Death, which is well known to Windows users. I see 12 problems listed over the last week. Thats just the ones that Apple has announced, and are able to correct. There are more than likely many more yet undocumented or misdiagnosed issues.

feed://docs.info.apple.com/rss/macosx.rss

Inspirational Young Man and his Dad!

Born without eyes, this young man is in a marching band and a musical genius. What an inspirational story, and proof that we can do anything. This young man brought tears to my eyes, as well as the actions of his dad! May god bless them both.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-qTiYA1WiY8

Mac OS X Upgrade Leopard - Maybe, But NOT Now.

Hi gang, I have been mulling over the new Mac OS X Upgrade called Leopard from Apple. Sure, it is feature packed, and many of the items are fancy eye candy, and fancy fun applications. Take a look at the very cool Chat program that comes with it, in which you can use any "Weather man" effect and place a scene behind you while chatting. Only thing is that I have been unable to video chat anyone since I went to the mac. It just doesn't work for me. How about the new Finder Bar, has reflective shadows, ohh ahh. I actually like the changes in mail, with the ability to track and enter sticky notes and calendar reminders from mail. But it is not that hard to simply open iCal and enter an appointment. TimeMachine is their cool backup utility, but I already backup my data to an external drive. I just copy what I need, simple! "Spaces" is their multi desktop virtual server, so you can have 4 or many more desktops. Cool, but I never really liked multiple desktops. They are hard to keep track of for me. I can just shrink work and expand what I want in the same window, it is easier. Pound for pound every cool feature is something I really don't need. But here is the kicker! No where did Apple claim that Mac OS X Leopard is gonna run faster. For those of us with slower Macs, even those of you with G5 and G4 Macs, the obvious answer has to be a Big NO! I am sure Leopard will be kool, but unless it makes my computer faster, I don't want any part of it. If you have an old Mac, you may be better off buying a new one with the new OS pre-loaded. I don't like the new iMac as much as my current one. So sadly this user fell off the upgrade train on this one.

Rush Limbaugh Announces eBay Charity Auction

Complete Idiot Harry Reid, and 40 other buffoons from Congress actually signed a letter addressed to Clear Channel Radio, asking for censure of Rush Limbaugh. The Federal Government has NO authority to apply censorship to private citizens for speaking out in a political manner. This is real red Socialism going on, and you bare witness to a sad thing in America. However, Rush always wanting to do something positive for troops and their families, has placed this letter on eBay for auction. The proceeds from this charity fund raiser will goto the Marine Corps-Law Enforcement Foundation, who provides college for kids who have lost their parents in Iraq.

Take a look at the actual letter and see which Congressional Idiots want to be censorship hounds.

See the Inside of the Intel iMac

This is a pretty cool site. Basically this person has looked into a bunch of Apple products, iMacs, Powerbooks, ibooks, etc. This is a view of the iMac computer, taken apart, that not many of us experience, due to the fancy way the cases are fastened together, and also due to the fact many times the computers don't have upgradable parts or pieces that we can swap easily. That doesn't stop Kodawarisan though. Yup Kodawarisan is japanese for Kodawarisan, what else did ya think his handle meant, "great computer disassembler"?

American Leftists Attack Talk Radio

Dr. Walter Williams has an Op-Ed that is a must read for those interested in private property, rule of law and limited government. This editorial comes from a truly brilliant man, with high credentials, a professor of economics at George Mason University, and interested in founding principles of this nation. Oh and he is a BLACK Conservative. Ya gotta love that! The LIBS hate it.

See the Article.

11 Lies in Al Gore's Movie "Inconvenient Truth"

Leave it to the Doctor of Democracy to bring this story from the dark corners of the Media cover up machine. A British Judge has ordered that if schools show this fantasy movie to students, it must cite the truth on 11 major points of the movie. Woa, so the movie is misleading, what a surprise!

See a link to the info from Rush Limbaugh's Page.

Carter Calls Cheney a Disaster?

No way, former President Carter actually had the gall to call VP Cheney a Disaster? One of the worst presidents of the 20th century, and a failure himself, in economic, defense, and policies... Now thats calling the kettle black, what a guy! Carter is responsible for Iran and the troubles it is causing today!

My New iMac Keyboard Replacement

I recently had to purchase a new keyboard for my iMac. The keys were getting sticky, and were less responsive. I type alot on the keyboard, and expect a fluid soft touch that reacts to the touch. My new keyboard is exactly like the old one, but works better. I have had the keyboard for over a year, so warranty was out, of course. But I have had keyboards from cheap PC manufacturers last for 3-4 years. Not a huge big deal, but I would expect it to last a bit longer since Apple hardware comes at a premium price. Of course, maybe I just over work the keys. I don't have a very soft touch, but don't bang on it either.
Anyway, at least I was able to get one of the older style keyboards, that match my iMac, I really dislike the new aluminum cased flat keyboard.

WSJ: O'Malley an idiot!

From the Wall Street Journal!

Subject: FW: Wall Street Journal O'Malley, who will admit to voting for this idiot???

REVIEW & OUTLOOK:
Tax 'Fairness' in Action
October 1, 2007; Page A22

Every state has its problems, but we're especially glad this month that we don't live in Maryland , where Governor Martin O'Malley has been undertaking something close to a tax-increase-a-day tour.

In Ellicott City he proposed raising the sales tax to a rate of 6% from a nickel. The next day in suburban Baltimore he unveiled his plan to raise the top income tax rate to 6.5% from 4.75%. Last Wednesday in Landover he called for a doubling of the cigarette tax to $2 a pack. He has also endorsed a one percentage point hike in the state corporate income tax to 8%, new commercial real estate taxes, and a 12 cent hike in the gasoline tax to 35.5 cents a gallon. The Tax Foundation says Maryland already has the 23rd highest tax burden among the 50 states, but the Governor seems to be aiming for the top 10.

In all, Mr. O'Malley hopes to wrench $2 billion a year from Maryland workers -- in the name of filling a $1.5 billion gap in the state's $30 billion budget. The extra $500 million will finance new spending. "This is the biggest tax increase in Maryland history, by far," says Christopher Summers, president of the Maryland Public Policy Institute. But like a dentist with a drill in his hand, Mr. O'Malley says this won't hurt a bit. He claims his "reforms" will reduce the tax burden on 95% of state taxpayers, thanks to a lower tax rate on incomes below $15,000 and some tax credits. But of course everyone will pay the higher sales tax, unless they decide to shop in neighboring Delaware , which has no sales levy.

Mr. O'Malley's income tax plan is consistent with the Democratic Party's nationwide revival of its New Deal theme of the tax code as a tool for income redistribution. While nations over the globe move to flatter, simpler, pro-growth tax systems, the Governor is selling his proposal as a pain-free whack at the rich.

Trouble is, there aren't enough truly rich to finance his spending goals, so his real target is the not-so-upper middle class. His two new tax brackets of 6% and 6.5% will kick in at incomes of $200,000 and $500,000, respectively, for couples. We doubt many families in suburbs like Bethesda or Towson think an income of $200,000 makes them "rich."

The Governor also fails to mention that about two-thirds of the people he wants to hammer are small business owners -- the major employers in the state. He might acquaint himself with a new study by Barry Poulson of the University of Colorado which finds that states with either no income tax, or low flat-rate structures, have significantly higher income growth rates than states with steeply progressive tax rates.

It's a testament to Maryland 's spendthrift ways that Mr. O'Malley is doing this in the sixth year of a national economic expansion. Most states have budget surpluses, and two years ago under Republican Governor Robert Ehrlich even Annapolis was $1 billion in the black. But state spending has since exploded by nearly 18%, according to figures from the Maryland Taxpayers Association. Maryland spends $11,000 per student in the public schools, and $13,000 in the woeful Baltimore
school district. In five years the legislature has fattened school budgets by 59%, yet Mr. O'Malley and the education lobby are claiming poverty if taxes aren't raised.

Mr. O'Malley's fellow Democrats dominate the Legislature, so there isn't much doubt most of this will pass. The losers will be Maryland citizens, unless they move to another state, which we'd guess some of them will.

I voted for Ehrlich, I voted for a sound budget and less taxes, MD gets what it deserves!

Re: Bionic Woman Premiere Stunk!

“Bionic Woman” fell 30 percent during its second episode to a 4.0. No surprise here.

21 Foot Long X-Wing can FLY!

From the department of "Too Much Time/Money on your Hands" this admittedly cool X-Wing, which is life size, is awe inspiring when you just look at it. But factor in the idea that they say it can really fly, and we find yet again Science Fiction is way ahead of reality! Check out the images and the article here at Gizmodo.

New iMac NOT all that Stellar!

I converted from PC to Mac several years ago. Used to be a System Admin working IT in government. I decided to convert based on a challenge by a pal. 30 days later I was hooked. But this new iMac, the shiny silver unit with a black border, seems less polished (even though the aluminum allows for more actual polishing). The keyboard left me shaking my head. The flat keys are not comfortable, and the letters were not placed in the same place on each key. Unlike my current keyboard, where the letters are placed on the lower left corner of each key. They seemed to attempt to center the letter on each key, but some were off center. Doesn't look like a professional product to me.

Don't get me wrong, I love the iMac. I prefer an all in one computer, regardless of maker. My current Intel iMac is fantastic, and looks so much better than this "new" iMac. It just seems like a better appliance, and fits better into the family room or kitchen.

Apple is too concerned about catering to environmental wackos, who insist it be made of materials that are recyclable. Shame that Apple has decided to create something to appease, versus something that inspires.

Harry Reid Wrongly Attacking Rush Limbaugh

Thats right, the Senator Harry Reid has chosen to attack Rush Limbaugh. The charge is that Rush is calling the troops Phony. In the last few years I have listened to Rush he has only supported the troops. Know what? Reid has not been supporting the troops. BUT if you don't believe me, check out the Rush site.

I have been waiting for Rush to take an all out assault on these lying Dems, and looks like the planned attack on Rush could backfire. The Congressional Dems want Limbaugh removed from Armed Forces Radio (ala government censorship). But the backfire could be giving Rush a larger stage to rip the lying leadership in Congress a new poo poo.

All one needs to do is simply listen to Rush for a week, and you realize he is only speaking the truth, even when it goes against the Republican party. Refreshing!

Bionic Woman Premiere Stunk!

Right here I told you about the upcoming Bionic Woman series from NBC. I was looking forward to it. But to my dismay, it stunk! Obviously since Battlestar Galactica closed down, the reject actors and director has been given a chance to inflict harm on Bionic Woman. The camera work is all wrong. There are too many flash backs to things that are hazy and not a part of the original story line, as told from the beginning of the premiere. They are placing way too many hooks for future flashbacks and story lines in there. Just tell the story! They should have shown us from beginning to end how the Bionic Woman happened, not skip large parts of her rehab and experiences for SciFi flashy scene opportunities. It was way too over the top, and the story writers for the premiere must have been drunk, or absent on the last meeting to get the final story down. I like the main character, and she and the show had promise, but 2-3 more of these and the show will be cancelled. Just tell us a story, and ACT! Why does every scene have to have hidden meanings or secret plot loops? Blah!

O'Malley called Hillary Clinton in Drag!

Maryland Governor Martin O'Malley has been called Hillary in Drag. It is no wonder, since Bill Clinton, and Hillary Clinton have the very same ideals as O'Malley. Tax, tax, tax!

But that was not nearly enough for the Teflon Leprechan, whose inaugural address was filled with 1930s-era class warfare talk about the undeserving rich in the state, the haves and have-nots, the evils of corporations, bla, bla, bla. And all of a sudden, out of the blue, the state bureaucracy announced that, lo and behold, they are "projecting" a $1.7 billion budget deficit. "Huh? Where did that come from?", was the initial response of almost everyone.

It came from "projected" massive spending increases on the black hole of government-run school monopolies, which is essentially a giant payoff to the teachers’ unions that were instrumental in getting O’Malley elected and has nothing to do with "education" per se. Like all other states, the more Maryland spends on its rotten government schools, the worse they get in terms of student performance.

So in order to pay off his campaign debts with taxpayers’ money, O’Malley has proposed a surge of tax increases. His major objective, besides raising money, seems to be to incite envy and class warfare. With stern talk about the "unfairness" of "the rich" residing in the state, he has proposed increasing the state income tax rate from a flat 4.75% to 6% for families with incomes over around $200,000 per year and 6.5% for those with incomes above $500,000. In Maryland there is a state income tax and a local "piggyback" tax (isn’t that a cute and cuddly name for a tax?). The latter averages about 2.5%, which means that, for the families or small business owners with $200,000 in income, their tax rate will be 8.5%, much higher than in any of the surrounding states.

Maryland gets what it deserves! The idiots who voted for him won't have anything better in the near future, won't enjoy prosperity, and will not have a better life. They never have under a Democratic administration. They have been struggling through promises for over 35 years that government would help the little guy, and not one of the promises have come true.

Read the entire article at LewRockwell.com

Pixelmator Image Editor for Mac, Looks Promising!

Every once in a while an interesting piece of software is released, that might change the way we do business. Apple has been doing this for some time, but this gem is from another company, one that is not afraid to step on the toes of Photoshop. The Pixelmator has been released, and this looks very interesting. Download the demo Mac users, to see if you like it. If so, the $59 price tag won't break your bank!

Wacky Clown Dude - Erik D. Clown

This is a video of a guy my wife works with, who was supporting an employee appreciation day at work.

iMovie 08 Stinks!

Ok, so I have a small MOV file from a Sony digital camera, who cares what model, people always ask what model. It is a newer camera! I want to drop the MOV file into iMovie 08, but can not. I am also unable to import this movie. It is grayed out. So I goto my Movie folder, and only 1/3 of the Quicktime MOV files are not grayed out, and can be imported. It seems to only want to import the high quality files. Now I didn't see any warning or errors stating the files were low quality, even though I know they are. But I don't care, the files are from my archive, and keepers. I then proceed to search onto Apple's site (by the way the help files are more worthless than Microsoft's help files). Seems many people are having troubles just like me. But since Apple software is so easy to use, there is no advanced information on this problem from Apple. Some users claim that they have to export their MOV files to another format? Why, isn't MOV Apples format? Doesn't make any sense to me. So I expert to DV using Quicktime Pro, it then imports. BUT I have no sound. iMovie 08 just blew the doors off ease of use, and compatibility for me. Stay clear folks, iMovie 08 was not fully tested in the lab, and rushed to marked to justify the upgrade. I will contact Apple to see what the deal is, but I am NOT thrilled with this so called upgrade!

iMovie 06 just worked so much better, and could be relied upon. This new kludgy program can not. No amount of cool fades and transparent windows can justify this kind of nonsense.

Read some more from the Apple Blog

TNA Wrestling to 2 Hours!

TNA Wrestling is going to enhance the weekly Thursday night show from 1 to 2 hours. Dixie Carter, interviewed here, who is the TNA owner and President has made HUGE inroads into the Commercial Pro Wrestling World.

Fred Thompson 2008

Wow, Fred Thompson announced his candidacy for President. I just listened to his Official Announcement at his site, and everything he said, is exactly how I feel. This looks like a great candidate, and thankfully someone real we can think of voting for. Check him out for yourself!

Whoopi Defends Vick on Dog Mutilations!

Great liberal goddess Whoopi Goldberg defended low life Michael Vick on the Dog mutilations, fighting and murdering rampages that took place in his Virginia home. Whoopi claims that souther people think this kind of craziness is ok in their minds, to kill dogs, so he didn't know he was doing any wrong. So when that Rapist commits his crime against a female, since he doesn't know it was a bad thing, he should get let free huh? BUZZ, wrong answer!

Where Is the MEDIA and Politicians? The Jena Six Need Help!

It is truly a shame that race baiting and hatred still consumes so many people today. We have come a long way, but still have a long way to go. Check out this blog-cast and listen to how liberty and justice for all, is being ignored. Equality means equality for all. Not special rights for a color or creed. This crazy stuff should not be happening in todays free world... Not in America! This is the result of race baiters who use racism to get elected to office, and who use race to collect money and advantage at the expense of all of us. Yes, the liberal leaders who claim to champion the little guy, yet trample on the flag and our Constitution. Where are they now? They are silent!

Future Office At Home

From ABC News, the Future Office Space could be at home. I love it! I would love to avoid a commute, even a few days a week.

Imagine a work world with no commute, no corporate headquarters and perhaps not even an office in the physical world at all.

French President Talks About Bombing IRAN!

Thats right my friends, of all the countries of the world (France was not on my list for this announcement) the President of France announced diplomacy is in high gear. Bombing Iran would be the alternative if diplomacy fails. It is really good to hear a President other than American go after the terrorist run country of Iran. So often America is painted as a lone opposition to terrorism. Welcome to World politics France, great to see you taking strong action. Like you I hope the diplomacy works, but if not, we gotta do what we gotta do!

iMovie 08 Disappointing Many Mac Faithful

Just a few weeks ago Apple introduced iLife 08, a suite of products that supplant the older iLife 06 version. In it are updates to Garageband, iWeb, iPhoto and iMovie. iMovie seems to b e causing quite a stir. The latest iMovie 08 version is actually a smaller less featured program, a whole new program that replaces iMovie 06. The reviews have been mixed, but many who came to rely on iMovie 06, like I have at work, are very disappointed. I grabbed the newer version for home use, but have been warned about lack of backwards compatibility and the loss of more powerful features.

Take a look at the article by David Pogue, a New York Times Writer, who is not very excited about this new version.

Here is a Blogger that actually did a comparison, then decided to compare, and actually preferred iMovie 08 for time savings! But on both posts read the responses, interesting!

Vista has replaced XP's quick reaction time with molasses.

This has to be one of the funniest quotes from a PC guru, Jim Louderback over at PC Magazine. Read his article and if what he says is true, and I expect that it is, Vista could be the camel that breaks the stick. Hahaha.

With XP, wireless network connectivity out of sleep mode was virtually instantaneous. Now it can take up to 30 seconds to reconnect, even when my systems do wake up. That's in a trusted network, a trusted zone, and a trusted system. And why does it take so long for the dialog box to pop up after I right-click on the network tray icon? Vista has replaced XP's quick reaction time with molasses. I'm always wondering if something's wrong.

News Flash - Melissa Ethridge is Gay!

At the Human Rights Campaign, we found out that Melissa Ethridge was Gay! Yikes I never knew that. Why? BECAUSE I just don't really care! It has only been 14 years, I am told, when she came out. Special interest groups like hers whine and cry about being separate and NOT included in the great society, but it is they who single themselves out. Why do Democratic Candidates have to sit in on a special debate for Gay and Lesbian pandering? Gotta be the money.

I don't really give a hoot who is or isn't gay, black, jewish, or whatever. We are Americans, and you have the right to be whatever you want to be. BUT don't cram your new found rights down my throat!

Big Question of the day, Gay Marriage, support or against? I am Against. Sorry dudes. Marriage is a religious ceremony, and gay marriage is prohibited under Marriage tradition. Now if you want a legal union, thats cool, but don't use the term Marriage. You are forcing age old traditions to change and be forced into your little world.

Is being gay a choice? I say YES it is. But heck, who cares, do what ya want to do. If you think God made you Gay, cool by me. I am not God. Believe what ya like just stop forcing me to accept something I don't care about. Do your thing and leave me out of it.

Coal is Essential!

Robert Murray (chairman Murray Energy Corp) was asked a question about the miners who were recently trapped in the mine cave in... Why they were doing this dangerous job?

The Media morons fail Economics 101, as well as Americanism 101, oh and Survival 101. How can these idiots even think that Coal is not essential or ask why men would risk their lives to do this job? The "Journalists" supposedly went to college, what did they learn, anyway? Didn't anyone teach them economics of scale? Didn't anyone explain to them that to feed and cloth and support Billions of people, you need a huge infrastructure. Electricity is the backbone of our survival and current standard of living. What are these "Journalists" gonna do, ride a bike tied to a vine to wash clothes, like on Gilligan's Island?

Not sure why I have to place this in the Blog, but on the off chance you don't realize this fact, or have allowed media non sense to permeate the gray matter, here is the quote from Murray.

Without coal to manufacture our electricity, our products will not compete in the global marketplace against foreign countries because our manufacturers depend on coal for low-cost electricity, and people on fixed incomes will not be able to pay for electric bills. And every one of these global warming bills that has been introduced in Congress today will eliminate the coal industry and increase your electric rates four to five fold. So we are an essential industry.

Also read the success story about how Murray struggled and started his own mining business.

China Threatens US Dollar

I hate to say I told you so, well actually I kind of enjoy it... I have been against allowing the Chinese to have most favored nation status for years. This terms equates to, simply, noting that everything is made in China and US dollars going abroad to Chinese workers and factories (thus the Chinese government). The Chinese have called their trump card and threatened the US politically and financially, by saying it could force the dollar to crash if it releases the stockpiles of US treasury notes and finances invested in our treasury system. This amounts to about 1.33 Trillion in reserves. Our new enemy, who we thought was a friend, has shown us our folly in placing too much trust in economic might, where we should have placed it into military might.

Is it just me (I doubt it) but the world sure seems against the US at every turn. But if there are troubles abroad, who gets pinged on first for help?

New iMacs Coming - Confirmed

See the images in this Engaget Blog, some great stuff at the Apple announcement today. Can't wait to see more and listen to the presentation itself.



Update: See the Keynote Address

Newt Gingrich - A Winning America

Take a listen to what problems really face America. Newt Gingrich speaks to us about government and why it fails, and what we have to do to be a huge success in the next 30 years and beyond. Download the 5 Part Podcast links and listen at your leisure.

Ethanol Hurts the Environment

Indeed, Ethanol is being touted as one of Americas crowning achievements. Only thing is we have not taken into account the collateral damage this product does to human life and property, as well as the planet. Read this article before you agree with enviro wackos that this is the product of choice for filling your gas tanks.

Maryland License Plates to be MADE in... New Jersey!

Funny, Maryland is now unable to produce their own license plates, in fact New Jersey is being contracted to help (the New Jersey prison system that is), and the Maryland MVA has issued a bulletin saying the tags may look a bit different from what you are used to. I guess they could have gone to China, or some other overseas location.



Here is the Official Bulletin:

Effective September 12, 2006, the State of Maryland will issue license plates manufactured by the State of New Jersey, in addition to the license plates manufactured in Maryland. The alpha and numeric configurations on these plates will have a slightly different look. Specifically the letters S & P & numbers 6 & 9 have a square dye cut vs a round cut.

This FALL - New Bionic Woman Series

I am very excited to bring this information to you. I was a huge fan of the Bionic Shows, The Six Million Dollar Man and the Bionic Woman, as well as the later feature movies for TV. Seems that NBC has decided the time is right for a NEW Bionic Woman Series. I couldn't agree more.

Looks like this new Bionic Woman has Steve Austin's Bionic eye, both legs and the famous Bionic Ear. This Jamie is a bartender? What happened to school teacher? I am sure we will be treated to some great special effects. Hope they keep the old Bionic Sound effects.

Check out the Video Clips on the website, they have a cool intro to the site which you will enjoy.


http://www.nbc.com/Bionic_Woman/

John C. Dvorak uses an iMac, and Likes it!

Woa, this is BIG NEWS! John has been a big Mac basher for years, at least as long as I can recall. In his latest column he states that he has been using an iMac by choice and likes it. Take a gander into his review after just a few months.

ACER Says Vista Stinks!

You knew it was coming... a pundit slamming Vista, saying it was junk. But when the 4th major PC manufacturer says it is Junk.. Well you have to think on that one.

>> PS Boy were they right!

Install Vista on your Mac w/ Bootcamp

CNET has a timely 5 minute video online that shows us how to install Vista on our Mac. I know, as a Mac dude you hate this, but this is one of the biggest and most important bites that Apple can take from competitors as well as spread Mac hardware and get newbies starting to use Mac OS X.


AND

http://www.cnettv.com/9710-1_53-28537.html

MacLife Claims NEW iMacs in August

This is exciting, new iMacs MAY be released in August. Quoted below...

New iMac launch date set? Rumor has it that August 7 - give or take a few days - is the date on or around which Apple plans to unveil its new line of Intel-based iMacs. The new Macs are said to sport a thinner metal enclosure, a sleeker but more powerful keyboard, and Intel's Core 2 Extreme mobile processor. The same rumor mill is churning out another tidbit: That the new video iPods will also be released on the same date. ThinkSecret adds that the new version of iLife may also appear on or around this rumored launch date.

Top Bloggers Top Money Makers

Hi Gang, back from Vacation, and boy did I have fun! I will say that I didn't do near as many things from my Vacation Guide, that I wanted to.

Anyway, here is a cool article that proves Blogging can be profitable. No, I am not on this list! But it is very interesting that some individuals can make up to tens of thousands of dollars each month! Amazing!

Here is a list of the Top Bloggers - according to BusinessWeek - bringing in top bucks. With these links they are sure to finally top one million once you all exhibit click crazy.

boingboing.net
icanhascheezburger.com
shoemoney.com
overheardinnewyork.com
kottke.org
talkingpointsmemo.com
perezhilton.com
gothamist.com
techcrunch.com
gofugyourself.typepad.com
mashable.com
problogger.net
michellemalkin.com and hotair.com

Bush Commutes Libby Prison Sentence

Before you get all hyped up with a media frenzy, lets take a good look at Clinton's pardons and his written reasons for them. This is a Presidential exclusivity, one that is very important to the fabric of justice and our way of life. This power is proper and should be continued, even if administered by a so called unpopular President like George Bush.

iMac Sound Pop Software Bug Fixed!

After I installed the latest patch to Tiger OS X on my iMac, I started getting a pop sound after every sound initialization on my external speakers. Funny, but my internal speakers worked fine when I unplugged them. I though the speakers were going up, but figured I would wait to be sure. Well Apple just put out a fix for the annoying sound/noise, and thanks so much! My iMac has been such a smooth running computer, that when the pop sound appeared I was puzzled and disappointed. They didn't waste much time, and got this fixed in a few days (no doubt after complaints).

Use Software Update to get the latest patch or go here to read more (About Audio Update 2007-001).

Weblinksnewsletter Summer Vacation Guide

With Summer around the corner, it is time to think of some fun for vacations. I have a list of things I wish to do, and if things are like last year, I won't do them all. Here is a list of favorite sites and places to visit in my area.


This place in Lancaster, PA, has a bunch of Caboose Motel rooms. Check out the history of the site and the images. This guy bought a bunch of relic Caboose cars as a dare, underbid the actual value and actually won the auction. Then he had to decide what to do with them. His idea, make a resort and Motel attraction out of them. It is very cool, and I hope to stay in one in a few weeks!

http://www.redcaboosemotel.com/


The Caboose Lodge sits right on the tracks of the historic Strasburg Railroad. You can ride an actual train from Lancaster to Paradise, PA. This is allot of fun, and kids love the trip. I have taken the train many times over the years and it is still loads of fun! Take the family for a day of train excitement, food on the train and just great fun.

http://www.strasburgrailroad.com/


Across the street from the Strasburg Railroad is the National Train Museum, where you can see many large trains from the last century. Great above ground steps where you can view the overall massive size of the inside train yard. Outside there are many under restoration, and remember to drop a few dollars in the bucket to help the cause. I really enjoy the museum, it is cool and comfortable too on a hot day.

http://www.nttmuseum.org/

Just down the street from all of this is the Choo Choo Barn. I remember going when I was a child, and it is almost like it was back then, but the sheer magnitude is amazing even today. A small house has a train layout to envy. It takes up the whole 1st floor, and you walk around the 4 foot high display watching all the movement and activities. The display goes from day to night, and the busy town is bustling. From a fire emergency with running water, to ice skaters on the pond, flying planes, baseball little league, you name it. You will surely miss something!

http://www.choochoobarn.com/


When you are ready for a real show checkout the Sight and Sound Theater. This attraction is a "Disney" scale production, with lifelike animals and critters, symphonic music, and singers, a real grand show. The current show is about Dinosaurs, a sure hit for the kids.

http://www.sight-sound.com/


Head to Virginia and you get to head underground in Luray caverns. This is always a treat in the summer time. It is cool and spooky.

http://www.luraycaverns.com/


While near Luray you can do some camping and outdoor water park adventures in Shenandoah valley.

http://www.campluray.com/


Shenandoah Caverns is also one of my favorites, which has a great cavern tour as well as the America on Parade exhibit (which are old floats from past parades as seen on TV). Last time I was there a storm had halted the elevator, se we got to take the very long stairway down. This was the old fashioned entry and exit point, and it felt very historic. This year the NEW Yellow Barn attraction is open, made with kids in mind!

http://www.shenandoahcaverns.com/


Don't miss Skyline Drive for probably the most scenic drive you will ever recall in a lifetime.

http://www.nps.gov/shen/


Close by is Monticello, Thomas Jefferson's estate. Take a look back into the times and life of our founders, and see why they loved the countryside so much.

http://www.monticello.org/


Closer to home, are the Baysox. This is a AA affiliate team for the Orioles, and what a great team and venue it is. There is of course baseball, but also rides for the smaller kids, and plenty of between innings activities and hijinks to keep you interested, even if you are not a true blue baseball fan. Go during one of the fireworks events (following the game) and you will be treated to fireworks that almost blow you out of your seat. This has to be the best venue for fireworks I have ever been to, considering the close proximity, the loud bang, and the large commercials colors and size of the fireworks themselves.

http://www.baysox.com/


And for you Beach Combers, I didn't forget you! I personally love Rehoboth Beach. It has much to do, eat and see. Great fun for the family. The shops are very diverse, from t-shirts to toys and beach collectibles, Candy Kitchen treats ( http://www.candykitchens.com/ ), and other shopping. The beach is clean and the water is fantastic!

http://www.rehoboth.com/
http://www.beach-net.com/TownsRB.html


While in Rehoboth (or PA), don't forget to eat, and eating is good at Grotto Pizza.

http://www.grottopizza.com/


Of course further down is Ocean City MD. This was a true teen hangout from what I recall from my graduation years. My favorite things to do back then was play Pac Man. But you should probably plan ahead and search through all the other more interesting activities, such as riding bikes, the tram, or walking the famed boardwalk, looking out at the water from the Inlet museum area, enjoying a ride or roller coaster, taking a ride through the spooky haunted house. maybe you will opt to just walk the beach.

http://www.ococean.com/

For Adult entertainment we travel to Dover DE, to Dover Downs Casino. It is a clean organized and fun place to gamble and enjoy the luck of the spin. They have a vehicle in the center which you could possibly win. They really do give them away too. I recall once they had 20 identical red Pontiac cars lined up outside which were planned for giveaways a year or so back.

http://www.doverdowns.com/


Midway slots has been renovated and they are placing an addition onto the main complex. The machines are modern and they have many smaller 1 cent and 5 cent machines. Though I prefer the high rollers myself. They also have live music!

http://www.midwayslots.com/


If you love Casino Buffets, ala Vegas style, you will simply love the best one I have ever been in! Charlestown Races has probably the best tasting and most elaborate Buffet area I have seen, even when compared to Vegas buffets. It is HUGE, spacious, the people are courteous, and the food is gourmet style. You must take a day trip out to Charlestown! Be a player!

http://www.ctownraces.com/site/

Whatever you choose to do this Summer Vacation, enjoy yourself, family, friends and food. And have a safe and happy 4th of July!

Science Against Global Warming & Gore

I love being right, and that happens most of the time. Especially in this subject. Seems that Scientists are refuting the assertions made by Al Gore about Global Warming. His feel good compassionate movie and book just didn't have scientific facts in there anywhere. It is purely his emotional assertions that he regurgitates on each of us. Fight the Enviro Wackos with all your might!

iPhone - Taken Apart for Curious Minds

The iPhone is out and here is a website that has already explored the most expensive alternative... To buy one, and take it apart to see how it works. So go here to see the insides of the iPhone.

If you want a more basic overview of the materials inside the box with the iPhone, try MacLife's article with commentary and pictures.

Re: Benoit - More Strange Stuff

What in the world is going on? Apparently Wikipedia was updated with Benoit's wife's death, 14 hours prior to authorities finding her body in the Benoit home. If this is true, there is a whole lot more, much more, going on behind the scenes than I first thought. This one is not as simple as it sounds. It has been a roller coaster of puzzles. From the wierd messages on the cell phones of Nancy and Chris Benoit (which have been removed from the WWE website), and now this Wikipedia posting. I am beginning to wonder if some foul play really was involved, I sure hope we find out the truth!

Lean by Pisa Tower Reversed (Some)!

This is quite interesting, the Leaning Tower of Pisa in Italy has been straightened some 18 inches. The balance mechanisms and weighted devices have saved the tower form collapse. The article goes on to explain that it had almost tipped when the engineers pulled the weights off, due to aesthetics, but they "quickly" put them back on averting disaster.

Re: Benoit - WWE Professional Wrestler Found Dead

I would like to follow up on my Blog entry from yesterday, for some reason apparently Chris Benoit, WWE Pro Wrestler, murdered his son and wife. I can not pretend to understand these events or actions, and will not be able to come to any conclusions, especially since I was not involved. But it would seem that the respect I offered Chris was premature. The demons that Chris was carrying were far too great apparently, and the sad demise of the Benoit family, though tragic, allows us to see how very fortunate and lucky each of us really are.

http://www.wwe.com/inside/news/chrisbenoittimeline

Benoit - WWE Professional Wrestler Found Dead

At 40 years old, Chris Benoit could be one of the most shocking deaths in Professional Wrestling in decades. He was billed as the "The Crippler" for his very tough and aggressive moves, by fans and opponents alike. Though Pro Wrestling is an entertainment venue, there is no doubt that physical endurance standards are high for in ring performance. Chris was one of the BEST, based on technical merit and work ethic.

I was not a huge fan of Benoit, and I feel a little guilty, but I always respected his good solid matches, and his ability to make lesser opponents look really good in the ring, and his physique.

Sadly he was found dead in is Atlanta home with his wife and youngest child. Right now the death is being billed a double murder suicide. So Long Chris, thanks for the memories!

TV Ratings Down This Season

No wonder. I can turn on the BOOB Tube anytime, and find terrible comedies, lack luster movies, and comedic drizzle, the likes I am astounded appear on the large 4 networks, ABC, Fox, CBS, NBC. So just how bad are the ratings, 2.5 Million Viewers opted out of the habit of sitting mindless in front of the BOOB Tube.

I can say that I rarely watch TV besides a few shows, WWE Raw on Mondays (not high brow but usually fun), American Idol on Tuesday when in season, and Trucks on the weekend. I also record Motorweek on PBS. Thats all. I can not stand the violence, I can see that if I visit Baltimore, and I hate the murder shows, again Baltimore. I dislike having queer and lesbian shows thrown at me like I am some backwards hateful gay basher. I just want to see interesting TV, like Discovery Channel has, some comedy thats funny, less sex, and alot less violence.

If the networks don't do these things now, the shock value of rapes and murders on TV will no longer garner ratings spikes, and the great volume of TV viewers, sick of this garbage, will go elsewhere for entertainment, like watching grass grow or paint dry.

I say the Big 4 should start playing old TV shows, heck, they are cheap and funny. I would rather see some Dean Martin Celebrity Roasts, over the current junk on today anytime.

Microsoft Surface - Interface Paradigm

This is a very exciting computing interface, which is basically a table top, and you use your hands versus a mouse. I can see this in everyones living room one day. But since they range about $5,000-$10,000 dollars, I bet you may want to wait a few years. The video link shows you how the interface works and the very cool way in which to sort and group your digital photos. Ya know, this interface looks alot like the interface to the iPhone. At least the way you navigate, with fingers.

Hummer Better Than Prius to Environment!

Thats right party people, I was as shocked as you are right now. From the Recorder Website, the article reads "Prius Outdoes Hummer in Environmental Damage". Classic, hilarious, and true. It just goes to show how we can all get wrapped up in group think, even before we know the facts and even before we make actual informed decisions.

Read this from the actual article:

Building a Toyota Prius causes more environmental damage than a Hummer that is on the road for three times longer than a Prius. As already noted, the Prius is partly driven by a battery which contains nickel. The nickel is mined and smelted at a plant in Sudbury, Ontario. This plant has caused so much environmental damage to the surrounding environment that NASA has used the ‘dead zone’ around the plant to test moon rovers. The area around the plant is devoid of any life for miles.

The plant is the source of all the nickel found in a Prius’ battery and Toyota purchases 1,000 tons annually. Dubbed the Superstack, the plague-factory has spread sulfur dioxide across northern Ontario, becoming every environmentalist’s nightmare.

“The acid rain around Sudbury was so bad it destroyed all the plants and the soil slid down off the hillside,” said Canadian Greenpeace energy-coordinator David Martin during an interview with Mail, a British-based newspaper.

Wow, amazing my friends, remember this when you have the urge to jump on the Global Warming bandwagon.

I Dropped Konfabulator!

It's true. I dropped Konfabulator, the now Yahoo Widget Engine. The reason is simple. When I use a Widget, I expect that it will remain in the same spot at each boot up. What happened, and I didn't expect was some of my favorite Widgets would move around after each boot up of my computer. In contrast I use the Dashboard Widgets which are combined under Mac OS X, and each time my system is turned on they are rock solid right where I left them, pixel for pixel. Kfab simply must get this fixed. It never used to do that, though it was sort of buggy in the early versions. Since Yahoo has purchased it, I believe that they have dumped all kinds of proprietary code into it, and have somehow mucked with the basic operation of the once cool program. Maybe I will try it again down the road, but for now, it has been removed from my system.

Under the next Mac OS X, Leopard, you can make your own Widgets anyway, so who needs another program eating resources from your computer system.

Apple Introduces NEW Mac OS X Leopard

Wow! What a change a few cool features make. Take a look at this keynote, watch the top 10 features in the new Mac OS X, and I challenge you not to upgrade to a Mac from a PC. Be careful, you have been warned!

Best Buy Online Magazine

I subscribe to the latest Best Buy news, and their latest BEST Magazine is out. It is an eZine, and with the help of Flash, they have brought multimedia content to a genre that not many were sure just what to do with it. best Buy got it right! This magazine is actually fun to browse. the TV ads have motion video and some of the ads actually talk and make sounds, etc. This is the future of magazine authoring. Now if they can just make a version you can cheaply carry around with you. Thats coming one day.

Safari Web Browser for the PC!

Awesome news, Apple has released a FREE version of Safari for Windows. I have been in awe over the very fast and well designed Safari Web browser, one of the best reasons for moving to Mac OS X a few years ago. I was thinking less than a few days ago, "It sure would be nice to run Safari on the PC" Really.. I wanted to squeeze every CPU cycle from my laptop, and Internet Explorer is simply bloatware. I switched to Opera a few days ago. Apple did it again, and has given us what we want! Go grab the BETA (not ready for full release yet) version.

How to Hire the BEST People

I simply love this article, and I can not agree more. Often times we associate a degree with success, but Marc Andreessen, one of the guys who started Netscape, and created the Web explosion with a web browser.... Has a differing opinion. He suggests that you hire the best, and he explains what the best means and is. It is NOT someone with a degree specifically, but may have one by chance.

He has 2 main criteria for hiring the best. I have worked for some bonehead managers in my career, so listen up boneheads. This is how the real experts and entrepreneurs get er done.

Hire the Best People!

2007 Hannity Freedom Concert

My friends, if you ask yourself, "How can I help people, how can I help the service men and women, and help do good for those who served, and gave all?" This is your chance! You can purchase tickets to attend this 2007 Freedom Concert, or you can simply choose to donate money. Either way, your contributions will goto the children of servicemen and women who have died while serving their country. The money will be used to put those kids through school/college. A mighty fine cause if you ask me.

Awesome Star Trek LCARS Screensaver

This is very cool, a nice Star Trek TNG Screen Saver, which emulates the famous computer screens seen on the Enterprise D Starship. If you even remotely like screen-savers and Star Trek, this one is definitely for you!

Memorial Day - What It Means!

Our Nation is in a War that is sometimes hard to comprehend, sometimes hard to fathom, sometimes hard to understand. We were attacked by a loose affiliation of terrorists, who used our free society against us. Now we fight in their land, taking it to them on our terms. Thats the way I prefer it, but sometimes we lose those most dear to us. I remember why you are there, I remember why you risk your life each day, and I remember why the terrorists must be taken out. I am very PROUD of each of you! On this Memorial Day, I honor those who have given their all, given their lives, and given their futures, so I can type this Blog, say my piece, and live free. What does Memorial Day mean to you?

See this YouTube video to see what it means to Lizzie Palmer.

This New Illegal Alien Amnesty BILL is Bad News!

Mark Levin had a terrific show surrounding the inane bill that the President and Congressional leaders are agreeing on. THIS BILL MUST NOT BECOME LAW. It is an amnesty bill for law breakers. Please listen to this Mark Levin show to hear much detail and in a style only Mark can provide.

Finally Scientists Are Making Sense - Global Warming Skeptics

A growing number of real scientists are becoming man-made Global Warming Skeptics. The actual scientists names and positions are shown and explained. This may be the first article I have seen with specific attributable information from actual named scientists.

See for yourself!

Congressional Approval BELOW Presidential Approval!

Well now, we seem to always hear that battle cry that the President's approval is down to 33%, or some other number forged to make you think Bush is incorrect in his national policies. We never hear about the approval rating of Congress, and I am just sure the media will NOT cover this one. But the Congress has an ultra low approval rating of 29%, lame! They are worse than the President, and they don't have anyone attempting to batter them down like the President does.

Skillpath Seminars - Great Deal!

Just completed a 2 day "Mastering Photoshop Seminar", and I have to tell you, it was fantastic! The location was Baltimore Maryland, at the St Paul Conference Center, with on site parking and a nice layer of security, marble entrance ways and nice people/greeters!

I have been using Photoshop since version 5.5, and CS3 was just released, some 4 versions and 6 or more years later. I am quite comfortable with Photoshop, but I found that there are always plenty of new things to learn. Among them, the under workings of Photoshop itself, how it applies filters (mathematically using curves), many shortcut keys, new uses for the Background Eraser, how to select using different color channels, and much more. The instructor, Todd Wolfe, was fantastic, funny, well spoken, clear and knowledgeable. Well worth the price of admission. Selecting colors using separate channels was enough for me. If you have an opportunity, I suggest you take one of their courses to see for yourself. There are opportunities to practice on a PC during the seminar.

Hilarious Apple Mac Ads

I am sure you have seen those very funny Apple computer ads on TV. This link gives you the chance to scroll through all of them, and boy are they funny! The latest one is a wheel of chance for an Upgrade to Vista.

Socialist TIME Magazine Omits President as Top 100 Influential

TIME Magazine has been called out my friends. With the constant punditry on how the President handles the IRAQ/Terrorist War, it is MIND NUMBING to even think that the President would be omitted from the TIME Magazine Top 100 Most Influential People. But it is true, the Socialist rag has proven to us that their colors do indeed run. Like Bush or hate him, the United States President is probably the TOP most influential person in the World, bar none. But TIME Magazine editorializes their opinion on how they think of your President, and the War on Terror, by omitting him. Don't think that they just excluded Politics all together. They Included Self Appointed Queen Pelosi, as well as Enviro-Religious Al Gore. It amazes me the short sighted vision that so called informed journalists have when it comes to the truth. I bet they all have College Edumacations. No wonder, TIME is partnered with CNN. CNN is probably the most one sided ilk of opinionated yap traps on television today.

Osama Bin Laden made the List, a freaking Terrorist who orchestrated mass murder. Believe me yet?

Mac OS X Keyboard Shortcuts

As a Windows user for some 15 years, one of the benefits of using windows was that there were well known keyboard shortcuts for just about any action or menu item. The shortcuts remained the same over many Windows versions. Mac OS X has this same feature set, a set of keyboard actions which allow you to release the mouse. For those Mac users, this list is simply essential and a must learn.

Chris Pirillo Gets A BLUE SCREEN OF DEATH in Vista!

Chris encountered a BLUE SCREEN OF DEATH in Windows Vista, which is supposedly now non existent, according to Microsoft. In his own way Chris takes you through the process of getting Vista back online, and WOW were there many steps! Also a few wacky laughs on the way. Consider this video podcast before you buy Vista. Hmmm.

President Bush Vetos Political Pork Bill from Congress

It was bound to happen, as well as expected. Congress sent an Emergency Funding Bill for our troops, to the President, with billions in PORK, and strict deadlines for troop surrender, err withdrawal, expecting to see it vetoed. I sometimes listen to the President's speeches and you know what, he really is a very smart man. Take a listen to his latest speech, and see for yourself. If you dislike Bush, pretend he is your favorite President, and consider the content of his speeches. You can hear and see them at this Official White House Link.

Intel Shows off V8 - 2 Quad Core Xeon Processors

Woa, the term V8 conjures up speed, fast, sporty, and aggression. I sure want to have a V8 in my rig. My truck has a V8 Hemi, so it is no wonder us geeks yearn for a V8 under the hood of our computer. My iMac could sure use a V8. Awesome! One day I am sure. For now we can gawk at the Intel creation that has 2 Quad Core Xeon processors on it, which adds up to 8 Cores. See for yourself some stats and the beast that a group of geeks put together with maxed memory to 4-Gig and a high end NVidia Graphics Card. itself!

Postage Rates to RISE May 14, 2007 to .41 cents

Postage rates will increase this May (May 14th 2007) from .39 cents for a standard letter to .41 cents. Still not a bad proposition to cheaply get a letter across the US in a few days. I am a bit more concerned about the other postage rates, which I was not able to locate information on.

My Take on Imus

If you are like me, you must think the media sure runs many things into the ground. Now that the Imus attack machine has completed its task, and he has been fired, seems the media helped in that one, I want to drop my small take on it. Imus said a deranged comment about a female basketball team, calling them "Nappy Headed Hoes". I don't care much for that statement, Imus or basketball. I don't really think I have any side at heart or vested interests in the issue. But I do have one MAJOR question. Where did Imus hear this remark to repeat it? It surely is not a normal "white" comment about any female. I have my doubts that he just came up with this on his own. So where did he hear it? I have been white for most of my life, and have NEVER heard a white person utter this statement. BUT I have heard these words stated by "hip" or hollywood savvy blacks, the above words spoken separately (Nappy and Hoes), if not all together. So who really is to blame for this statement? Should a man lose his job for a mistake? Were the words he uttered so blasphemous to warrant this barrage of attack in the media and by special interest groups? Why are Rap "artists" given a free pass anyway? They started this crap 15 years ago when they broke away from REAL Artists with positive messages like Run DMC and the Fat Boys, Kurtis Blow, and Eric B & Rakim. Now these were modern day urban Heros! I know, I used to listen to them in High School. They gave such a positive universal message, unlike the potty mouthed garbage todays rappers puke.



Hear my Podcast in MP3.

2008 Dodge Dakota Revealed

All I can say is awesome! This is a fine looking update to the Dakota. I am surprised that the Dakota has taken on so many mods while the RAM itself has only had a few small changes. I like the taller hood and more prominent look. I am not much of a fan of the overly chiseled look, but this Dakota smoothes some of that out for us.

As far as models of vehicles go, to save money the companies should stock load each model with all options across the board. This would save time from changing assembly line production, and allow for consumers to get more for their money. Thus buying more new cars and trucks.

The Art of LIFE!

This site was forwarded to me by a proud mother, and BOY does this lady actually have alot to be proud of. This is a genuine artistic site, one of which you really should check out. The most awesome part is that they paint urban landmarks with historical perspective. I hope to see the Gift Shop open soon for those of us who can not contract for building sized art. But I have been interested in getting a hand painted portrait of my wife and I. This could be the artistic team I need to contact. Maybe you too!

Maryland Tinkering with Electoral College Votes

Here in Maryland our state Senate is prepared to throw our votes away, and force our electoral votes to swing with the National Popular vote for President. They want to force our electoral votes to goto the President elect with a largest National Popular Vote. I say, what if MD voters didn't vote that way? They throw our votes out the window, disenfranchise a whole state of voters. I thought every vote counted? Not in Maryland they don't!

The move is sour grapes of Al Gore's loss to Bush in 2000. Gore lost. If he was that good of a candidate people would have supported him much more than they did and he would have won in a landslide. He didn't. To have Bush edge him out, under known Electoral College rules, enacted for over a hundred years, is something from a mental midget and crybaby. Other losers accepted the loss and moved on, but not Gore. He had to take it to court, and apparently while the Democrats are in power they see a chance to lean elections their way, due to the overwhelming popular vote that larger states pull, such as California and New York.

The Electoral College was enacted to give the smaller states a say, and keep from being railroaded in elections. If you think this is not important, then you don't know history. America went to war with itself, in the Civil War, over states rights. It will again if the larger populated states have more say than the more rural and sparse states.

I have no problem with Maryland insisting our votes must go to the one who wins popular vote in Maryland, but I am not going to allow my votes to goto a candidate California elects.

Circuit City FIRES Their BEST?

Yet another bean counter in charge, FIRED the top 8% earners in Circuit City's sales force. They plan to hire lower waged people in their place, and will hire the original workers back if they want to come back at low wages, but after 10 weeks have passed. Now, I ain't no brain surgeon (thank heaven) but would you want to fire those who actually bring in the most money for your company? Yes of course, fire the workers, hire homeless people who won't even be able to speak so management doesn't have any trouble makers to deal with.

Truth of the matter is that any boneheads who are going to FIRE their best and brightest deserve to fail! Bye bye Circuit City.

Home Made Lost In Space Robot

I just about stumbled onto this link of a guy who is going (or has gone) through the steps of making his own B9 Lost In Space Robot. He has some great step by step pictures, and what a nice job! This is one of those things that harkens one back to being a kid. It would be so much fun to have a B9 Robot standing next to me barking TV voices from the actual show. "Danger, Danger". Do check out this link, and if you decide to build one, I want pictures!

Final Word on Global Warming Bunk

My friends, this is my final word on just why Global Warming being caused by human activity is BUNK! I really insist you watch this serious UK documentary, no Michael Moore piece meal junk.

It is about an hour long.

Click here to goto Google Video to View it!

Vista? Did you do it?

  It has been several week now and the initial buzz about Microsoft Vista has all but diminished to a respectable hum. Many of the upgrade-itis users who adopted Vista quickly, had issues galore! From bugs to wholesale destruction of their data, Vista has proven to be much more than a simple version upgrade. Matter of fact, Vista was a wholesale shift in Microsoft strategy on the desktop.

  One issue I have had with Microsoft in the past, is how they institute feature creep. For each version they add ever more complex tricks and features, which doesn't really enhance the duties of an Operating system. Many are nice to have, but an Operating system is supposed to allow you to run your applications on a computer. Thats about it. But todays OS upgrades have to promise the kitchen sink, and eye candy to boot. The OS has become an application in, and of itself. It is no wonder so many bugs inhabited the final released Vista product. and make no mistake, they were under pressure to get it out the door. They have been touting its enhanced abilities for 2 years now. It was time to produce something tangible.

  Microsoft's shift is in the way they handle your data. It is no secret that Windows, since XP, has been ever more tied to the Internet. But an Internet OS is not necessarily a good thing. Especially when you have under the hood a decade old NT kernel architecture that is susceptible to worms, trojans and viruses if proper code is not placed in exactly the right areas. Yeah, they made some adjustments, but is it enough. Internet Explorer alone is one of the worst offenders at how it handles intrusions from unknown systems trying to hack and connect into your computer.

  Now all Operating systems are fair game when connected to the Internet, but it just seems Windows, any flavor, is a honey pot waiting for Pooh Bear.

  Pricing... Is it me or is Vista really expensive? Considering many of us may have several computers, why not just site license one copy to consumers? How about the different versions to add to the confusion. Why? I just feel like when I buy the cheaper version I am getting something crippled. I don't like that.

  Since moving to the Mac OS X over a year or more ago, I have had the pleasure of no such problems. OS X had a few bugs too now, but nothing in comparison to Windows. The upgrade process is easy too, very simple, no tiers or special requirements. Just, if you need an upgrade, it lets you get it. Simple, not tied to a browser, and not difficult to use. That is par the course for Apple's champion OS X.

  So my question. Did you do it? Did you upgrade to Vista? None of my close friends have even been talking about it. This is really a non event in my tech circle. Matter of fact, some friends I have been out of contact with for a while have followed suit, and gone Mac.

  Apple has a HUGE opportunity right now, to take the thunder from Microsoft and deliver a top of the line upgrade to OS X, one that will knock our socks off. All of the add ons to OS X are applications, not tightly intertwined libraries or bundled applications. I could remove iTunes if I wanted to. Or get rid of Safari if I cared to. On Windows, I am stuck with Internet Explorer, wether I use it or not.

  Microsoft will have to modernize their Operating System next time, to break it down into smaller chunks so that upgrades are easier, and the cost is lower. if they don't Apple could run away being the leading technology and software company of the next decade. They seem on track, while many of Microsoft's ventures start up to fanfare, and get cancelled or hobbled, months later. The Mac OS X is simply made up of applications, not mirrors and wires.

  Microsoft OneCare is a prime example, they ask you to subscribe to virus support, when the app itself is not debugged and deletes data along with the viruses. Alot of data! How can we expect the OS to function as it should.

  Now may be the best time to Go Mac, especially since it runs Windows and Mac OS X. Buy the hardware for the aesthetics, and get the functionality and flexibility of both platforms! Now thats an upgrade!

Happy St Patrick's Day - Green Gadgets

How about some real green! These green gadgets from PC Magazine are their top 10 green gadgets for St. Patricks Day. Not the Environmental green, but the one that counts, color green. Blarney is NOT spoken here!

Microsoft Spying on YOU!

Thats right, after years of denial, Microsoft finally decided to come clean, and has stated that Windows XP talks to the mother ship every single time it boots up! Scary! Angry? If you have Service Pack 2, and who doesn't, your Windows XP software is sending personal identifiable information back home to Redmond. Take a look at this page directly from Microsoft!

Read the entry stating "What information is collected from my computer?" near the bottom.

http://www.microsoft.com/genuine/downloads/FAQ.aspx?displaylang=en

Rush Limbaugh for President in 2008!

On the Rush Limbaugh Radio Show, his listeners have been asking him to do more for the Conservative movement. I dropped him a letter, and asked him to run for President. Only Rush Limbaugh can get America back on a Conservative track. He is the ONLY man that can fill the leadership void in the Conservative movement, and follow in the footsteps of the likes of Ronald Reagan. It is time to knock down the Liberals where they stand and openly lie and attack American values, time to push back the hoards of those who want to take away your freedoms and your money in taxes. It is time for a true outsider and TRUE change.

Rush Limbaugh for President!

Fruit Cake Lady Tribute

Time for a laugh, if you have ever seen the Fruit Cake Lady from Jay Leno's Tonight show, this is the ultimate tribute. Some great no holds barred comedy action!

Vista NOT Good Enough for Pirillo

Chris Pirillo explains why Vista is a no go for him. He goes in depth as to why he backed out of Vista, even though he likes it, he can not get specific work done.