Fourth of Six

Find a Pro-Life doctor

2010-09-12T11:26:00.002-04:00

I understand not wanting to see an obstetrician or gynecologist who does abortions. I don't even want to see a doctor if he is a partner with or shares a practice with someone who does abortions. If you're looking for a pro-life OB/GYN, check for membership in the American Association of Pro-life Obstetricians & Gynecologists.

There are folks who are so principled against family planning that they won't see a doctor who provides it. There is a list of no-family-planning doctors of all specialties on the One More Soul blog. NFP doctors don't provide contraception of any kind.

Then there are folks who hope to avoid using any of the products or by-products of abortion in their medicine. Cog for Life has a list of pro-life doctors "willing to provide ethical alternatives to aborted fetal cell line vaccines."

Dreams and memory

2010-08-30T13:03:00.004-04:00

Dreams happen when brains are running like computers without a display or memory, just a processor only, no hard drive. Nothing is stored. The reason we can't remember much when we wake up is that the moment we open our eyes, it's like turning on the screen right at the moment of a power failure. Our last glimpse of what's on the screen of our dreaming mind is all we have before it crashes. Reality causes our brains to load everything into RAM, constantly swapping out old information to be replaced with new. Everything is in short term memory until it is swapped out or stored in a long term file. Perception is impossible without memory.

I read an article recently that posited the theory that time perception is related to memory formation. Your perception of the passage of time is directly related to the new-memory density of the time which passed. The older you are, the more you've been there, done that, so fewer things are recognized as new information requiring storage and retrieval.

Neuroscientist David Eagleman of Baylor College of Medicine says that when you recall your first kisses, early birthdays, your earliest summer vacations, they seem to be in slow motion? "I know when I look back on a childhood summer, it seems to have lasted forever," he says.

That's because when it's the "first", there are so many things to remember. The list of encoded memories is so dense, reading them back gives you a feeling that they must have taken forever. But that's an illusion. "It's a construction of the brain," says Eagleman. "The more memory you have of something, you think, 'Wow, that really took a long time!'

"Of course, you can see this in everyday life," says Eagleman, "when you drive to your new workplace for the first time and it seems to take a really long time to get there. But when you drive back and forth to your work every day after that, it takes no time at all, because you're not really writing it down anymore. There's nothing novel about it."

Shocking bed story

2010-08-11T14:23:00.006-04:00

I was playing with my biggest dog the other day. We were on the bed together, and his head was dangling over the side. Suddenly, he yelped and scrambled to escape. The bed had given him a shock! I figured the culprit was his Invisible Fence® Brand collar. He has it on all the time, because if he doesn't, I forget to put it on him before he leaves the house, and then he runs away. I took off his collar and held it close to the bed until it gave off the warning beep. It beeped whenever it was close to the wire running around the edges of the mattress. I guess that wire conducts the Invisible Fence® signal. Now I take care to keep him away from the bed.

I highly recommend the Invisible Fence® for dogs who run away, or yards without a traditional fence. You might need it even if you already have a fence. I have a four-foot chain-link fence, but my dogs are able to climb right over it, so I got estimates on installing a taller fence. I decided on the Invisible Fence®, because it was much cheaper, and could be installed inside the perimeter of the chain-link fence.

The way it works is the dogs wear a collar which signals them with a warning beep to retreat from the boundary. Training is the key. If they cross the boundary, they get a shock. If you don't train them to retreat when they hear the beep, they will go through and get shocked and keep going. I've heard folks complain that the Invisible Fence® didn't work for their dog, but then they admit they failed to train the dog properly. It's 90% training. Don't buy one unless you are prepared to spend about 15 minutes, three times a day, for a month, on training.

I don't make any money from this product endorsement. There are other brands of electronic fences for animals that work just as well, as long as you train your dog. The only difference between providers, in my opinion, is warranty or customer service. The bulk of the expense is the labor involved in installing the fence. You can buy your own and install it yourself, for 10% of the cost, but the labor would be about 50 hours, if you do it with a spade, unless you rent a machine that lays the wire for you. That method takes only an hour.

Is Picky Eating a Medical Condition That Should Be Covered by Insurance? - ABC News

2010-08-11T14:17:00.002-04:00

Duke University is doing an online study of picky eaters to see if Picky Eating a Medical Condition That Should Be Covered by Insurance. I wonder if any of my family will sign up for it?

Mom prides herself on not raising (m)any picky eaters.

Baseball blips

2010-08-02T21:38:00.007-04:00

I go to about one baseball game a year, usually when a friend has free tickets. I used to go more when the nephews were younger. I went last Saturday, and I was greatly amused by the sound effects played. You know the stuff: breaking glass when the ball goes over the wall, the Drifters' "Up On The Roof" for foul balls that go, well, you know where, etc. So I went looking online for a compilation, just for kicks.

Instead, I found a great page of links to sources. Some of the links contain links to stuff that's NSFW.

21 Things You Should Never Buy New - Yahoo! News

2010-06-30T10:43:00.000-04:00

I hope you know everything on this list: 21 Things You Should Never Buy New

21 Things You Should Never Buy New - Yahoo! News

2010-06-30T10:42:00.000-04:00

I hope you know everything on this list: 21 Things You Should Never Buy New

Best towel

2010-06-27T21:14:00.004-04:00

This towel is $26.50 at REI, and $15.99 at Rothco. I found it at Delk's for $12.50. Should have bought all that Delk's had. Best towel EVER.

Towel absorbs up to 8 times its weight in liquid, yet 90% of the liquid can be easily wrung out to speed drying time

Ultrasoft synthetic fabric is very light and compact, taking up very little space in your backpack or bag

Quick-attach loop makes it easy to hang towel to dry

Machine washable, antimicrobial fabric remains odor free

I'm guessing the same folks make the towel for both REI and Rothco. They are nearly indistinguishable to me.

The Ballad of Big Mike

2010-04-07T10:54:00.003-04:00

Michael Oher is an amazing, inspiring modern rags-to-riches story. I loved the movie about his life which is based on the book Blind Side, so now that I've read this article, I'm going to have to read the book too. It sounds like a fairy tale, but it is really a story of a kid working amazingly hard to please the only folks who loved him, and they loved him because as Christians, it was what God asked them to do.

Michael Oher's story demonstrates many truths that are being rejected by today's society. A stable, two-parent family is essential to a child's success. Hard work pays off. A Christian school turned his life around, not government schools. It was Christian people who took him in and loved him. God had a plan for this boy, down to the design of his body and soul, which came to fruition through the obedience of His servants.

Badinfo Detection 101

2010-03-26T14:53:00.002-04:00

We are indeed inundated by online noise pollution, but the problem is soluble. The good stuff is out there if you know how to find and verify it. Basic information literacy, widely distributed, is the best protection for the knowledge commons: A sufficient portion of critical consumers among the online population can become a strong defense against the noise-death of the Internet.

Howard Rheingold

Nostalgia for shoes

2010-03-24T14:57:00.001-04:00

I never played baseball in a sandlot, but looking at these shoes makes me feel like I did. I used to wish for a pair of shoes like these: Sandlot Shoes: PF Flyers Center High Tops Black

Zombie bite survival quiz

2010-03-20T23:44:00.000-04:00

Created by Oatmeal

Nuanced

2010-03-15T14:55:00.003-04:00

I'm getting fed up with liberals and media using the word "nuanced". Nuance means subtlety, shades of meaning, but when used by liberals, it means they're going to lie to you. Liberals say we conservatives see things as black and white, when the truth supposedly lies somewhere in between, in the gray area. Liberals are very patronizing toward conservatives, accusing us of not being sophisticated enough to hold contradictory ideas in our minds, of being uncomfortable with cognitive dissonance and forced to simplify things, like children. It's a sign of immaturity to believe in absolutes, right and wrong, good and evil.

So when a liberal says he is going to tell a more "nuanced" version of history, what he really means is that he's telling a revisionist version of history which paints the good guys as the bad guys, and the bad guys as "complicated."

When the president says an issue is more "nuanced" than the conservatives say, he means it's so complicated that we can't understand it, but he knows what's best for us and we must trust him with the details.

Not just another "bunks for drunks" place

2009-11-16T19:22:00.003-05:00

I am inspired by this place called Step 13, in Denver, Colorado, which has a free market approach to helping the homeless addicts and alcoholics. They require their residents to work, to stay sober, and to pay rent. Step 13 doesn't take any money from the government. It is supported by it's own work, and private charity.

How to survive Hyperinflation

2009-10-22T08:49:00.005-04:00

I've blogged before about Zimbabwe's hyperinflation, which is in the millions. We are headed for that here in America, because the Treasury is printing Monopoly money in the name of economic stimulus. Our national debt is going to equal our gross domestic product in just a few years. That's when our debt equals our total output for the whole country. That's like when your personal debt is equal to your income. When the German government created hyperinflation after World War I, a loaf of bread went from a few cents to billions of dollars. You know what came next. Hitler.

Here are some tips for how to survive. The two keys seem to be investing in stocks and non-perishable foods. Ironically, folks in debt benefit the most. So I'm in good shape.

Greensboro Men fourth ugliest

2009-10-22T08:41:00.003-04:00

I reckon that means the women are probably not too hot, either. According to TotalBeauty.com, using various stats, calculates that Greensboro is fourth on the list of cities having the ugliest men. El Paso is first.

Hand-me-down bike

2009-09-21T18:44:00.002-04:00

My nephew Josh inherited this bike from his dad, who bought it from me back in '98. I bought it in '92 and rode it in the Tour to Tanglewood. I'm amazed it's still in such good shape. He's using it at school, to ride to and from the parking lot where his car stays. He's a freshman in college.

No assisted living for this lady

2009-09-09T13:25:00.003-04:00

This 92-year-old woman in Pennsylvania is not only living alone, she is living without electricity or running water. I doubt I would have her energy or strength when I get to be her age, but sure hope I have her attitude. She threatens the power company with a crowbar if they come around trying to hook up electricity!

She says "I say what I think...I don't pull any punches."

How to be a computer guru

2009-08-24T22:43:00.003-04:00

xkcd - A Webcomic - Tech Support Cheat Sheet

Negatives of obesity not based on science, but rather social stigma, prejudices, and stereotypes

2009-07-14T16:17:00.006-04:00

From the Junk Food Science blog:

Fat people are blamed for “overeating,” eating “unhealthy” foods (defined a myriad of ways), or being sedentary, despite the fact that a “tremendous body of research employing a great variety of methodologies that has failed to yield any meaningful or replicable differences in the caloric intake or eating patterns of the obese compared to the nonobese,” found Garner and Wooley. Convinced that obesity is caused by food, fat people are accused of having emotional “issues” with food and repeatedly told that they must be overeating, despite the fact they eat no differently than thin people to explain their size.

...

The most harmful stereotype of obesity is that their size is dangerous and deadly. But this conclusion “represents a selective review of the data,” found Garner and Wooley. In fact, examinations of actual mortality data makes it clear that across studies there is no reliable pattern of association between premature death and relative weight, they said. Dr. Paul Ernsberger and Paul Haskew in their comprehensive review of more than 400 papers published in The Journal of Obesity and Weight Regulations, for example, found that “the preponderance of evidence fails to support the contention that obesity is associated with an elevated mortality risk,” said Garner and Wooley. “Neither coronary heart disease nor cancer, the two leading causes of death, was significantly associated with BMI.”

...

According to Dr. Wooley, “fatness is an ethical, political problem more than a medical, psychiatric or behavioral problem.” There is a need for drastically revised attitudes toward obesity, she urged.

Progressing away from God

2009-06-26T08:49:00.003-04:00

"Progressive believers" encourage "New Atheists" that they are really on the same side against Christians, and should join forces:

Progressive believers, on the other hand, demonstrate that faith and reason can coexist peacefully in modern societies; that is something the New Atheists do not want to admit, as it denies them the moral high ground and turns their case against God into an intellectual argument with little social or political significance.

Instead of attacking religious progressives, the New Atheists should seek ways to cooperate with them in order to advance science, reason, and progressive values.

via Religion Dispatches

What do unions do?

2009-06-24T16:10:00.002-04:00

This article about the research that has been done to examine whether unions really protect jobs, increase wages, etc is a long one, but well worth reading. Talking points from the article:

• Unions function as labor cartels, restricting
the number of workers in a company or
industry to drive up the remaining workers’
wages just as OPEC attempts to cut the supply
of oil to raise its price.
• Unions benefit their members but hurt consumers
generally, and especially workers
who are denied job opportunities.
• Unions decrease the number of jobs available
in the economy. The vast majority of manufacturing
jobs lost over the past three decades
have been among union members; nonunion
manufacturing employment has risen.
• On balance, unionizing raises wages between
0 percent and 10 percent, but at a steep economic
cost. Unions have the same effect on
business investment as does a 33 percentage
point corporate income tax increase.
• Congress should remember that union cartels
retard economic growth and delay recovery
when considering legislation, such as EFCA,
that would force workers to join unions.

via Heritage.org

Up, up, and away

2009-06-17T08:33:00.003-04:00

NINA SHEN RASTOGI of SLATE.COM asks "How many balloons would lift a house?"

Answer: a lot more than Carl used.

These figures all assume that Carl's house is simply being lifted off the ground. In the movie, however, Carl's house rips free from its foundation, which would likely require a dramatic increase in the number of balloons needed. (Consider that in a storm situation, shifting a house clean off its foundation requires wind speeds of around 190 km/h, which is what you'd find in a Category 3 hurricane.)

Plus, if the cluster were big enough to have that much lifting force, the house wouldn't leisurely float away after being unmoored, as it does in the film – it would shoot off like a rocket.

via TheStar.com

Hyper-inflation like Zimbabwe's

2009-06-16T13:18:00.003-04:00

This is scary:

"Investor Marc Faber said on May 27 he was “100 percent sure” that U.S. prices may increase at rates “close to” Zimbabwe’s gains, and the U.S. economy will enter “hyperinflation” because the Federal Reserve will be reluctant to raise interest rates. Zimbabwe’s inflation rate reached 231 million percent in July, the last annual rate published by the statistics office."

You should read the article in Bloomberg. NOW is the time to buy stocks, bonds, and currencies, while they're still cheap.

Another proof of God

2009-06-16T13:10:00.003-04:00

I like this proof of God. It uses logic and science.

If God had texted the 10 Commandments

2009-06-07T21:12:00.000-04:00

Jamie Quatro on McSweeney's writes the ten commandments in a text-messaging style:

1. no1 b4 me. srsly
2. dnt wrshp pix/idols
3. no omg's

etc.

Bitterness, a new mental illness?

2009-05-27T08:26:00.002-04:00

Now psychiatrists want to label bitterness as a mental illness in the DSM (Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders). Their description of bitterness and the extensive damage it does is pretty accurate. It took them long enough. They would have come to the same conclusion a long time ago, and saved themselves a lot of time and effort, if they had started with the Bible:

Hebrews 12:15 (New Living Translation)
15 Look after each other so that none of you fails to receive the grace of God. Watch out that no poisonous root of bitterness grows up to trouble you, corrupting many.

Obama's court jester

2009-05-26T10:41:00.002-04:00

You know how the Democrats deny that they use the courts to make laws, rather than interpret them, as they are supposed to? You know how the Republicans complain about Liberal Activist Judges, and the Democrats scoff, like conservatives are just being paranoid? See Obama's Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor give it away here:

Bill of Federalism

2009-05-22T13:04:00.001-04:00

I'm all for this: "A Bill of Federalism: A detailed proposal to redress the imbalance between state and federal power, by Randy E. Barnett"

via Forbes.com

Down's Syndrome might prevent cancer

2009-05-22T08:25:00.003-04:00

Evolution, and the survival of the fittest, if true, would have killed off the Down's Syndrome gene long ago. God, in His wisdom, has created us to be compassionate toward those who are weaker than we are. As it happens, folks with Down's are far less likely to have cancer, and the extra chromosome they possess may hold the key to preventing cancer in everyone else.

Slackers live longer

2009-05-21T17:48:00.002-04:00

Psychology has good news for slackers: perfectionism is bad for you. Being tense is bad for you.

OK, if you know me well, would you say I'm a perfectionist? Do you think I'm often tense?

Mountains under the ice

2009-02-25T08:52:00.004-05:00

Experts have mapped the mountains under the Antarctic ice cap and determined that they are as large as the Alps.

"The surprising thing was that not only is this mountain range the size of the Alps, but it looks quite similar to the (European) Alps, with high peaks and valleys," said Fausto Ferraccioli, a geophysicist at the British Antarctic Survey who took part in the research.
He told Reuters that the mountains would probably have been ground down almost flat if the ice sheet had formed slowly. But the presence of jagged peaks might mean the ice formed quickly, burying a landscape under up to 4 km (2.5 miles) of ice."[emphasis mine]

How much ice is that?

"Antarctica, bigger than the United States...contains enough of it to raise world sea levels by about 57 metres (187 feet) if it ever all melted."

Does this mean that there could have been a world-wide flood at some point? That the earth could have been much warmer, and rapidly cooled? That there was some kind of event which caused all this to happen suddenly?

What if "the springs of the great deep burst forth, and the floodgates of the heavens were opened. And rain fell on the earth forty days and forty nights."? Genesis 7:11-12

Fourth emptiest city

2009-02-22T18:43:00.002-05:00

I was shocked to see Greensboro come in fourth on the list of America's Top 15 Emptiest Cities, according to rental and homeowner vacancies. I think, in our case, it's because of a new construction boom which speculators engaged in, right before the housing bubble burst. Or it could be because of the corruption and incompetence of our local government and police force.

It's funny to see us on the same list as Las Vegas, Detroit, Dayton and Atlanta.

Full-sized laptop for under $300

2009-02-16T13:55:00.004-05:00

I never thought I'd see the day when a full-sized laptop would sell for under $300, new. The catch is that there is no meaningful operating system. The version of Linpus which comes installed on this one does not have a graphical user interface. It has decent specifications for a beginner, but the speakers are weak, and it's a little on the heavy side. I have it running Linux Mint, but I might make it a Hackintosh someday. It took me 12 days to get the Wi-Fi to work on it, so I need a rest before I wrestle with anything like Kalyway Leopard.

Acer eMachines LXN070C008 Notebook:
Intel Celeron 2.00GHz processor
Wi-fi
1GB RAM
15.4-inch widescreen LCD
120GB hard drive (mine has 160GB)
8X DVD-Super Multi double-layer drive
Lithium-Ion 6 cell battery
Weight: 6.17 lb
Integrated webcam
Built-in microphone

Designed to believe in God

2009-02-06T11:04:00.004-05:00

The UK Daily Mail Online has an article that quotes this week's issue of New Scientist as reporting that human brains are "hard wired to believe in God." We are biologically engineered to believe that things have a design and purpose, and to believe that our minds are separate from our bodies.

Now, what evolutionary purpose would that serve?

Even scientists can stumble on Truth now and then. The Bible says "...the work of the law is written on their hearts, while their conscience also bears witness..." Romans 2:15 ESV

How long before that credit card is paid off?

2009-01-28T09:25:00.003-05:00

John Maeda hosts a handy online credit card calculator you can use to figure how long it will take to pay off your credit card if you make only the minimum payment (answer: forever). If you make only the minimum payment, you could end up paying double what you borrowed. You can experiment by plugging in different payment amounts to see how they affect how much interest you end up paying.

Morse code translator

2009-01-26T08:25:00.003-05:00

If you ever wanted to learn Morse code, which can be useful in an emergency (ie: SOS is ...---...), Stephen Phillips has hosted a Java Morse Code translator on his personal Web site, along with a Morse code alphabet, and FAQ. His CGI translator will play the sounds of the Morse code, too.

Regarding dog food

2009-01-08T14:19:00.004-05:00

I have observed a shortage in the cheapest brands of dog food. I buy the only dry dog food sold at Aldi, but last week and this week, both the Aldi in Greensboro (High Point Rd) and the one in Kernersville were out of it. I asked the cashier and she said they expected to get more, but couldn't say when. I went to Wal*Mart (Wendover Ave) to buy a bag of their basic Ol' Roy brand of "premium dog food", which is the cheapest they sell, and the 22 lb bags were sold out. I bought the 44 lb bag. The 44 lb bag of Ol' Roy is $15.98, compared to an 8 lb bag of Beneful, at $11.98. I use about .5 lbs per day to feed two dogs.

There is much controversy among dog owners and "experts" regarding what constitutes healthy dog food. Some say to feed your dog only fresh vegetables, certain grains and meat. My veterinarian says no "people food", but doesn't express a preference in dog food. The purists feed their dogs such "healthy" foods that they brag a human could eat it too! My dogs have been eating Ol' Roy or Aldi brand for as long as I've owned them (six years for one, and two for the other), and my vet says they are in excellent health.

Apparently, the folks who tout the expensive dog foods turn into hypocrites and switch to the cheapest dog foods when the budget demands.

It's ridiculous that folks in America are fighting over what to feed their dogs, when they are fed better even on Ol' Roy than the poor, starving humans in Haiti, who eat mud. The millions of domesticated household pets in America are a sign of our great wealth and privilege. We should be aware that our nation, our economy, could collapse, and leave us all so poor, that instead of worrying about what our dogs are eating, we may be eating our dogs.

The Lure of the Open Road

2008-12-28T12:01:00.001-05:00

This guy's grandma traveled from New York to New Orleans by bicycle and riverboat, at the age of 21. During World War II.

Read their book for free online at The Lure of the Open Road.

World's messiest car

2008-12-22T14:29:00.002-05:00

Can you guess who has the world's messiest car?

This is of interest mainly because it's NOT ME.

Geography Quiz

2008-12-22T14:15:00.000-05:00

I think I got two of these right.

10 of the World's Smallest Animals

2008-12-14T11:50:00.002-05:00

10 of the World's Smallest Animals

#4 is a horse which is smaller than my dog.
#5 is a cat which, full grown, fits in a drinking glass.
#9 is a cow. What would be the point of that?

via Oddee.com

Safe drugs in the Third World

2008-12-08T23:02:00.003-05:00

One of the great things about our country is that we have a stable and safe supply of reliable medications, regulated by the Food and Drug Administration. What do you do for people in countries without the infrastructure to regulate medicines? Who will protect them from counterfeit or low quality drugs?

Entrepeneurs Thompson and Sigworth have noticed this situation, and are developing a means for people in developing countries to authenticate the unregulated medicines they buy. I think this is great. I hope they succeed.

Sidebar: I babysat Taylor Thompson when he was a little boy. Link goes to a photo of him all grown up.

Radio Shack Catalogs

2008-12-08T15:54:00.000-05:00

Dude has created an online archive of Radio Shack Catalogs, starting in 1939.

This is of interest mainly because my brothers and father have experience and education in radio.

The Story about Ping

2008-12-07T23:57:00.005-05:00

I remember reading this precious little book when I was a girl, but I never got the same message from it that this reviewer on Amazon did: The Story About Ping

Hamlet (Facebook News feed edition)

2008-11-24T23:42:00.000-05:00

Lots of LOLs from McSweeney's

Kettering

2008-11-24T14:55:00.004-05:00

Charles Kettering invented the electric starter for the motor vehicle, saving many a thumb from being broken, and making it easier for women to drive cars. His company, the Dayton Engineering Laboratories Company (DELCO), is now part of General Motors. He started out working for the National Cash Register Company (NCR). He took over Orville Wright's plane factory, and made bombers during World War I. He had 300 patents, founded hospitals and schools, and has a town and three schools named after him. He was a genuine American genius.

Obama worship

2008-10-22T11:18:00.001-04:00

The Corner on National Review Online brings us a photo of a votive candle with a saintly-looking Obama on it.

Test your color IQ

2008-10-09T20:48:00.000-04:00

I have perfect color vision, or a good monitor and lots of patience, according to the X-Rite color IQ test, which tests how well you can distinguish subtle differences in hue.

CNET News

World's oldest pensioner dies

2008-08-20T11:45:00.001-04:00

The world's oldest man was retired at age 59 and received a government pension for 70 years. However, he went blind 50 years ago. He just died at age 129.

He was retired for more years than he worked!

101 picnic recipes: Ready in 20 minutes or less

2008-08-17T19:39:00.000-04:00

These picnic recipes sound so yummy! If only someone would make a picnic for me.

Why does the weasel go pop? - the secret meaning of our best-loved nursery rhymes | Mail Online

2008-08-16T10:28:00.000-04:00

Why does the weasel go pop? - the secret meaning of our best-loved nursery rhymes | Mail Online

The Dark Underside of Pooh

2008-08-12T11:16:00.000-04:00

Pathology in the Hundred Acre Wood: a neurodevelopmental perspective on A.A. Milne -- Shea et al. 163 (12): 1557 -- Canadian Medical Association Journal

Sales Tax Holidays

2008-07-31T10:48:00.000-04:00

Sales Tax Holidays lists the dates for every sales tax holiday in the U.S., by state. It lists what's included in the holiday, and a link to the states' Web sites for details. Ours in NC is August 1-3.

For Luddites with computers

2008-07-23T17:35:00.001-04:00

If you're a hybrid Luddite/geek, like one or two of my relatives (you know who you are), you can use these Printable Paper Productivity Tools to print yourself pocket calendars, organizers, etc, using some amazing templates. My favorite is the PocketMod, which I would use if I didn't already have a PDA which I lurve.

Independence Day Quiz

2008-07-21T16:36:00.000-04:00

A bit late for the occasion, but go ahead and take this Independence Day Quiz and let me know how you did. I scored 25.

See a man singing puppies to sleep

2008-07-17T19:09:00.000-04:00

And other cute Dog Videos.

Left brain dominant

2008-07-16T11:13:00.000-04:00

Brain Lateralization Test Results

Right Brain (36%) The right hemisphere is the visual, figurative, artistic, and intuitive side of the brain.
Left Brain (62%) The left hemisphere is the logical, articulate, assertive, and practical side of the brain

Are You Right or Left Brained?
personality tests by similarminds.com

Do you agree with the results of this test?

3-D Perspective Maze Game

2008-07-08T16:47:00.000-04:00

3-D Perspective Maze Game

Revenge of the Fly-over States

2008-06-13T10:17:00.000-04:00

The liberal Hollywood-types like to refer to those of us in Middle America as the "fly-over states", beneath consideration, even contemptible. The only opinions that "matter" are possessed by folks in New York or Los Angeles. Interesting that, according to MSNBC, not a single California or New York State community is in the Top 10 best places to live in the U.S.. All of the cities on the list are in Texas, Idaho, Iowa, Nebraska, Colorado, or (gasp!) North Carolina. Every one of them is a "red state."

Will Life Be Worth Living In 2,000AD?

2008-05-19T19:20:00.000-04:00

What life will be like in 2000 AD from the point of view of 1961.

America's Most Overrated Product: the Bachelor's Degree

2008-04-29T22:48:00.000-04:00

Marty Nemko writes, at the Chronicle of Higher Education, that some folks are not helped by a college degree. Universities aren't being held accountable for the job they do, and are turning out a bad "product": illiterate college graduates.

Unbelievably, according to the Spellings Report, which was released in 2006 by a federal commission that examined the future of American higher education, things are getting even worse: "Over the past decade, literacy among college graduates has actually declined. … According to the most recent National Assessment of Adult Literacy, for instance, the percentage of college graduates deemed proficient in prose literacy has actually declined from 40 to 31 percent in the past decade. … Employers report repeatedly that many new graduates they hire are not prepared to work, lacking the critical thinking, writing and problem-solving skills needed in today's workplaces."

Of course, his answer is more government regulation. But you as a consumer can do something to protect yourself: demand more information from the school before you attend, or let your child attend.

Under attack: The owner of a house struck five times by meteorites fears aliens are targeting him

2008-04-10T10:52:00.000-04:00

via the Daily Mail: "'The chance of being hit by a meteorite is so small that getting hit five times has to be deliberate.'"

Five times in one year. Perhaps God wants his attention. Mark 8:18 "Having eyes do you not see, and having ears do you not hear?"

I think they were all created at the same time and place and put into orbit at the same time, which is why they are hitting the guy's house in such a short span of time. They became separated over time as they moved through gravitational fields which altered their speed.

However, I'm not an astronomer, but there are 1700 astronomers in the U.S., making an average of $95,000/year, so perhaps one of them has an explanation.

The art of the doable to-do list

2008-03-26T10:27:00.001-04:00

Lifehacker has a great article about how to use a to-do list to keep yourself from being overwhelmed with all you have to do.

I keep my to-do list in a Notepad++ document. Using action verbs, all I have to do is change the tense, and my to-do list doubles as a done list. For example, Clean out desk drawer, becomes Cleaned out desk drawer, so I can show my boss (me) what I've accomplished.

'Believers are happier than atheists'

2008-03-20T09:37:00.000-04:00

A study in the Telegraph shows that believers are generally happier and better able to cope with life's setbacks, than atheists, and it gets better the more they pray and attend church.

Maternity units closed to mothers

2008-03-20T09:23:00.000-04:00

BBC NEWS says that pregnant women IN LABOR are being turned away from over-crowded maternity units. Magnificent socialized medicine in Britain is the envy of the world...not.

My new clothes washer

2008-03-13T08:19:00.003-04:00

I have been without a washer and dryer nearly my whole adult life. I've used friends' or parents' or the laundromat. Finally bought a brand new washer. You can see the exact model on the Frigidaire site. Mine is black. It's not part of a set. I bought a used Kenmore dryer separately. Both came from Wagner Appliance in Winston-Salem, at a very good price. Delivery and installation were free.

Since the washer is black and the dryer is white, my friend Rick says they are "yin and yang", which would make it a Chinese laundry room, reinforcing the old stereotype.

Love my Invisible Fence (r) Brand fence

2008-03-11T12:13:00.003-04:00

I just had an Invisible Fence installed, about a month ago. It took about an hour, and they were careful not to kill my rose bushes. Training is very important. It takes about four weeks for the dog to learn to retreat from the fence. If you don't train your dog properly, it doesn't work. If folks tell you that the Invisible Fence doesn't work, I bet you it's because they didn't follow the steps to fully train their dog. My dog is on stage four, when he can be outside off-leash, but I still have to watch him. I can't leave him alone until I see how he responds to greater temptations, like a live cat or rabbit.

Babies can cause 'momnesia' - USATODAY.com

2008-03-04T11:28:00.000-05:00

This is so true.

Via USATODAY.com

CAIR bears

2007-12-03T14:35:00.000-05:00

CAIR = Council on American-Islamic Relations

via The Rude News

Mac-on-a-Stick

2007-11-29T20:41:00.000-05:00

Run Mac OS 7.0.1 from a USB drive, using the instructions at minivmac [No Thick Manuals]

Delicious cake recipe

2007-11-20T12:04:00.000-05:00

Via boortz.com

Blogging granny a hit with surfers | Oddly Enough | Reuters

2007-11-05T19:02:00.000-05:00

Read about this 95 year old woman in Spain who is blogging.

"At first I thought a blog was just a type of paper notebook," said Lopez, a great grandmother.

"When I saw my grandson using the Internet, it caught my attention. I said to myself 'What's this? You can find out about anything. I want an Internet!'"

Via Reuters

William Tell Overture

2007-10-23T13:55:00.000-04:00

4 Simple Steps to Start the Exercise Habit | zen habits

2007-10-21T10:52:00.000-04:00

via zen habits
1. Easy, specific, measurable goal
2. log it
3. report it
4. add motivation

containerbay

2007-10-21T10:42:00.000-04:00

containerbay is an amazing collection of structures built from repurposed shipping containers. The containers are steel or aluminum, about 40'x8', designed to support heavy loads, can be had for about $1,500, and there is a huge surplus.

Global Portable Buildings sells one that is a one-bedroom, self-contained residence, with wiring, kitchen, bath, closets, insulation, etc. Requires no foundation. Solar powered optional.

Writing "wash me" is lame

2007-10-21T10:08:00.000-04:00

This guy Scott Wade makes real art on that dirty car!

People don’t have time for long emails

2007-10-08T19:06:00.000-04:00

...and they don’t have time to try to find out exactly what you want. You have to tell them, in as short an email as possible.

Communicate clearly and concisely with the following rules:

1. Use the minimum amount of sentences.

2. State what you want right away.

3. Write about only one thing.

4. Leave out the humor and emotions.

5. Use “If … then” statements.

6. Review for ambiguity, clarity.

7. Revise for conciseness.

These rules are for business-related emails, but if you have business to conduct, like arranging a party, with friends and family, following these rules will get better results. Stolen from Web Worker Daily.

How to save photos forever

2007-09-18T17:18:00.000-04:00

Yahoo! has Preservation Tips for Digital Memories, which include: making multiple backups, especially in more than one physical location, don't trust your PC at home or at work, and periodically update your storage methods to the latest technology as old formats become obsolete.

24 Tips To Becoming An Early Riser

2007-09-03T01:13:00.000-04:00

"Waking up early is only a learned habit." This is so true!

#12 is the most effective for me:

"Be Consistent. Make sure that you go to bed and wake up every day at the same time. Consistency develops habits, and waking up early is only a habit."

I have to discipline myself to go to bed at the same time every night, even on vacations and weekends, or else I'm messed up.

If I can't sleep because I have too much to think about, #3 really helps:

"Plan your day the night before." This helps me to focus my thoughts and release my brain from thinking about tomorrow.

Which leads to #6: "Eliminate stress."

Reading the Bible and praying is how I deal with stress. I confess my sins, turn my loved ones and my plans over to the care of God, and then I can sleep easier.

100 things you can make yourself

2007-08-25T19:39:00.000-04:00

Simply Thrifty blog has a fascinating list of links to instructions for 100 things you can make yourself, to save money, of course.

NoScamNC

2007-08-20T11:49:00.000-04:00

NoScamNC is a Web site by the Attorney General's office where you go to find out what to do about Identity Theft in North Carolina. You can learn how to protect yourself, steps to take if your ID is stolen, links and resources, and real stories.

One way to protect yourself is to freeze your credit, which prevents everyone, including you, from getting new credit in your name. If you want to apply for a loan or a new credit card, you have to unfreeze your credit first, which is a great way to force yourself to cool down before making a big impulse purchase.

Flying Carpet

2007-08-06T09:45:00.000-04:00

The carpet on the pedestrian bridge which connects the Sacramento International Airpot terminal to the parking garage depicts an arial view of 50 miles of the Sacramento River. This time, the river is over the bridge. He he.

Designed by Seyed Alavi

Rugged Mini Computer System

2007-07-27T11:33:00.000-04:00

Victor Systems has engineered a ruggedized Apple Mac Mini Computer System for use where it's dusty, or rainy, or in other words, where you might be shot at.

I guess that hinged flap in front is a door to protect the optical drive.

This is what it looked like before conversion:

Phone Scoop

2007-07-24T18:35:00.000-04:00

Phone Scoop is a blog totally devoted to mobile phones. It contains a great search engine, called the "phone finder" which lets you plug in any number of features, like bluetooth, removable memory, or VGA camera, and it will show you your perfect phone.

Discover your learning style

2007-07-23T08:38:00.000-04:00

Take the DVC Learning Style Survey for College and discover the way you like to learn best.

To get you started thinking about your learning style, think about the way in which you remember a phone number. Do you see, in your mind's eye, how the numbers look on the phone? Or can you "see" the number on that piece of paper, picturing it exactly as you wrote it down? You might be a Visual Learner. Or, perhaps you can "hear" the number in the way that someone recited it to you. In this case, you might be an Auditory Learner. If you "let your fingers do the walking" on the phone, i.e. your fingers dial the number without looking at the phone, you may be a Tactile/ Kinesthetic Learner.

This way of looking at learning style uses the different channels of perception (seeing, hearing, touching/moving) as its model. This is a somewhat simplistic view of a very complicated subject (the human brain). However, looking at learning style from a perceptual point of view is a useful place to begin.

I'm a visual/verbal learner, which means I prefer to read the instructions first. To remember a word or number, I see it in my head. I learn best when presented with information visually and in a written language format, which is why I do well in a classroom setting.

Sinkhole in Greensboro--Wendover Ave closed

2007-07-19T08:20:00.000-04:00

Greensboro blogger Ed Cone has exceptional photos of a car in a sinkhole which opened up in eastbound Wendover Avenue.

If you're coming from Kernersville and you need to get to Moses Cone Hospital in a hurry, I recommend taking West Market Street all the way through downtown and then taking a left on Church St, rather than following the City's detour map. The City has set up a detour which takes you 30 minutes out of your way.

Controversy over letting your religion affect your finances

2007-07-16T09:54:00.000-04:00

This post about Why Religion is an Important Part of Personal Finance on the Get Rich Slowly blog raised alot of ire from the irreligious folks (see the comments), but the content of the post is absolutely true. The guy who wrote it is a Christian, and he posted quotes from the Bible.

Rebecca vs Becky

2007-07-08T17:16:00.000-04:00

People rate the name "Rebecca" as more intelligent, classier, and more mature-sounding than "Becky." Find out how your name rates.

Army Commissioned Officer Rank Insignia

2007-07-05T12:16:00.000-04:00

This guide to all the United States Armed Forces' Rank Insignia is useful for learning how to recognize a uniformed officer's rank so that you may address him properly.

Comes in handy when watching war movies, too.

Words and Phrases Coined by Shakespeare

2007-06-25T18:13:00.000-04:00

Words and Phrases Coined by Shakespeare: "Comparisons are odorous"

Why I rejected ‘theistic evolution’

2007-06-19T11:46:00.000-04:00

by Dr. David A. DeWitt, PhD:

"I grew up as a theistic evolutionist. I was interested in science, and was an undergraduate biochemistry major. I believed in God and heard that he was the Creator on Sunday, but heard evolution all the other days of the week. I did what seemed the only logical thing that I think so many Christians also do, and that is to try to blend the two together. So I combined them, thinking that evolution was simply the process that God used to create, but that is so wrong."

Continue reading Why I rejected ‘theistic evolution’ by Dr. David A. DeWitt, PhD

Nostalgia for old Communist car

2007-06-18T18:02:00.000-04:00

The Trabant at 50: "'You can't just sweep the past under a table,' said Roger Dietzel, 52, whose his family owns five Trabants. He recalls registering his name on a waiting list for a new Trabant in 1973 and never getting one. The wall fell, Germany was reunified and production of the Trabant ceased in 1991 before his car was ready.

While they view the cars as mainly a hobby, the Trabis are a link to the past and a gesture of defiance against the prosperity and plush living standards of reunified Germany."

Ignorant and biased journalists ignore great economic news

2007-06-14T19:24:00.000-04:00

from Investor's Business Daily: "In this exclusive 7-part series, IBD explores the reasons behind the great paradox of a boom now in its sixth year – that despite spectacular gains, most Americans think the economy’s in bad shape and headed for recession.

Media bias has been detected in other studies, but this series raises an additional possibility – media incompetence in analyzing and explaining how the economy and financial markets work.

Installments will cover how the media report on subjects like tax cuts, deficits, trade and stocks, creating myths – and unwarranted fear -- as they go along."

My Lucky Rock

2007-06-07T10:28:00.000-04:00

My Lucky Rock is a Christian Comedy and Political Podcast which I heard about through Stu Epperson's program, Truth Talk Live, which I listen to on the drive home on WTRU 830 AM . I like the name "My Lucky Rock", because of its significance. Some folks believe our planet is just a blindingly lucky random occurance, with life "just happening" to "evolve" without any intelligent intervention by the Creator.

Well, it would have to be pretty lucky, to be the only planet in the universe to have conditions perfect for intelligent, self-aware life. I believe our planet was created by an extravagantly generous, merciful, and good God who delights in showing off His power to His creatures, which is why such a vast universe was filled with beautiful things for us to enjoy.

Apple among The 100 Best Products of 2007

2007-05-29T16:22:00.000-04:00

Six products made by Apple are on PC World's list of The 100 Best Products of 2007:

Apple Mac OS X 10.4 "Tiger"
Apple TV
Apple iPod (80 Gb)
Apple iPod Nano (8 Gb)
Apple iTunes
Apple MacBook Pro

Birds

2007-05-16T15:55:00.000-04:00

I was spraying my shrubs with fungicide. Suddenly, a bird flew out of one of them. I looked and discovered a bird's nest in the shrub in front of my living room window. I was worried that I might have sprayed fungicide on it. I looked to see if the nest was empty. It had three little tiny chicks in it, which had just hatched moments before. One of them was still struggling to get out of its shell. I could tell they were alive because I could see their hearts beating through their delicate skin. They were pink and purple, with little bits of fluff attached, and their heads tucked underneath each other. I hope their Mama comes back to feed them. I hope the fungicide didn't hurt them.

Give a dog a bone

2007-05-16T15:49:00.000-04:00

I gave my big brown dog a little chicken thigh bone. He ate it. So I gave him another one. He buried the second one under the couch cushions.

Humans should take a lesson from that. You should always have something put aside for a rainy day.

National Day of Prayer

2007-05-03T09:06:00.000-04:00

It's good to promote prayer, but prayer is no good, just a waste of time, unless the Person you're praying to is real. The only effective prayer is to the One True God, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, the Father in Heaven who sent His only begotten Son Jesus to earth to reconcile us to Himself.

Psalm 115 (New International Version)
1 Not to us, O LORD, not to us
but to your name be the glory,
because of your love and faithfulness.

2 Why do the nations say,
"Where is their God?"

3 Our God is in heaven;
he does whatever pleases him.

4 But their idols are silver and gold,
made by the hands of men.

5 They have mouths, but cannot speak,
eyes, but they cannot see;

6 they have ears, but cannot hear,
noses, but they cannot smell;

7 they have hands, but cannot feel,
feet, but they cannot walk;
nor can they utter a sound with their throats.

8 Those who make them will be like them,
and so will all who trust in them.

9 O house of Israel, trust in the LORD—
he is their help and shield.

10 O house of Aaron, trust in the LORD—
he is their help and shield.

11 You who fear him, trust in the LORD—
he is their help and shield.

12 The LORD remembers us and will bless us:
He will bless the house of Israel,
he will bless the house of Aaron,

13 he will bless those who fear the LORD—
small and great alike.

14 May the LORD make you increase,
both you and your children.

15 May you be blessed by the LORD,
the Maker of heaven and earth.

16 The highest heavens belong to the LORD,
but the earth he has given to man.

17 It is not the dead who praise the LORD,
those who go down to silence;

18 it is we who extol the LORD,
both now and forevermore.
Praise the LORD.

New International Version (NIV)
Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society
Via Biblegateway

Ark replica in Netherlands

2007-04-28T18:16:00.000-04:00

CNN.com says creationist Johan Huibers made a 1/5 scale model replica of Noah's ark, and it's ready to sail