Do you have a Google HomePage?

I believe I've mentioned this before, but Google has a neat tool that will create a Home Page with the news you'd like. You can find it at the Google Labs page.

Photo of the Day
sumac or sumach (shu-'ma(k, su-'–) , common name for some members of the Anacardiaceae, a family of trees and shrubs native chiefly to the tropics but ranging into north temperate regions and characterized by resinous, often acrid, sap. The sap of certain of these plants—especially poison ivy and related species of the New World genus Toxicodendron—contains an essential oil that can cause dermatitis.

The fruit form dense clusters of reddish drupes.

The hairy covering of the drupes is harvested and used as a spice in some Middle-Eastern countries. In North America, the smooth sumac, Rhus glabra, and the staghorn sumac, Rhus typhina, are sometimes used to make a beverage, termed "sumac-ade" or "Indian lemonade" or "rhus juice". This drink is made by soaking the drupes in cool water, rubbing the active principle off the drupes, then straining the liquid through a cotton cloth and sweetening it. Click on photo for full sized image.

Quote of the Day
Mitch Hedberg - I was walking down the street with my friend and he said "I hear music." As though there's any other way to take it in. You're not special. That's how I receive it too. I tried to taste it, but it did not work.

Over There

Over There premieres tonight at 10 pm Eastern on the FX Channel - Steven Bocho' s take on the war in Iraq.

Software
Konfabulator has been purchased by Yahoo. And it's now free - so check it out and have a few useful Widgets decorating your desktop. Don't know what I'm talking about? Click on the link. You can have the weather, stocks, clocks,search engines floating on your desktop and constantly updated - nice tool - all the rage now, as you can create your own as well. But all is not perfect - there are some negatives . It's up to you (and your memory) as to whether it's worth it.

Quote of the Day
Mitch Hedberg - I've had the AIDS test four times. And that shit is scary, doesn't matter what you've been doing. So I don't get the regular AIDS test anymore, I get the roundabout AIDS test. I call up my friend Brian and say "Brian, do you know anyone that has AIDS?" "No." "Cool, cause you know me."

Benefits of the Space Program

I had a friend question me on the benefits of the Space Program, wondering if the expense was worth it when we have starving people here at home. Of course, I knew the space program had provided many technological advances here on earth, but I must admit they weren't flowing off my tongue. That made me curious, so I went in search of the answers. This link provides some of the answers and the web page of the Ethical Atheist provides us with many more. This article on Health from CNN provides us with some of the breakthroughs of medicine gained by utilizing technology from space exploration.

Did you know the following? - Out of a $2.4 trillion budget, less than 0.8% is spent on the entire space program! That's less than 1 penny for every dollar spent. The average American spends more of their budget on their cable bill, eating out or entertainment than this yet the benefits of space flight are remarkable. It has been conservatively estimated by U.S. space experts that for every dollar the U.S. spends on R and D in the space program, it receives $7 back in the form of corporate and personal income taxes from increased jobs and economic growth. Besides the obvious jobs created in the aerospace industry, thousands more are created by many other companies applying NASA technology in nonspace related areas that affect us daily. One cannot even begin to place a dollar value on the lives saved and improved lifestyles of the less fortunate. Space technology benefits everyone and a rising technological tide does raise all boats.

Much of this can be found by doing a Google for "Benefits of the Space Program". Do these advantages make the program worth it? Feel free to comment below. If you've followed the links, hopefully now you have a bit better idea of what some of these benefits are.

Bloody Hell - It's HOT,HOT,HOT!

Why does my AC have to break when it is pushing past 90? And then some bozo repairman sits on it for a week before he admits he's an idiot and doesn't know what to do with it and then suggests that if I could pony up $150, he can work on it. No thanks - hell, a new one only costs $195! Just another case of impeccable service. I should go strap the dude in my recliner and make him sweat.

Links
I'm not seeing many folks click on the links inside the posts - how ya going learn anything if you don't click the links? Man, it must be HOT, cause I'm getting cranky. Figure I'll have a few more moments before my Intel Temp Warning system starts beeping insanely and telling me that the insides of my computer are cooking their brains out. Goes off every day without an AC unit running. And how come my Trillian Messenger tells me the outside humidity is 38% when inside this house it registers 80%? You may comment below on that phenomenon.

Space Mission
Before I got all cranky, I had the chance to watch Discovery blast off - a thing of beauty. Perfect takeoff. Some very neat pictures from the craft that we've never seen before. Miles O'Brien at CNN has a blastoff blog - he's a true space nut, so he's the guy to watch.

Health
You might just want to consider letting your doc know what pills you're taking that he doesn't know about - The big man was slumped over his breakfast tray, face cradled in a bran muffin, silent and blue Geez.

Politics
Darfur? What's that? According to monitoring by the Tyndall Report, ABC News had a total of 18 minutes of the Darfur genocide in its nightly newscasts all last year - and that turns out to be a credit to Peter Jennings. NBC had only 5 minutes of coverage all last year, and CBS only 3 minutes - about a minute of coverage for every 100,000 deaths. In contrast, Martha Stewart received 130 minutes of coverage by the three networks. Well what did we expect from a nation of sitcom watchers? Damn, it's HOT!

Quote of the Day
Mitch Hedberg - I went to the store to buy eight apples and the clerk said "Do you want me to put 'em in a bag?" and I said "Oh no, man, I juggle. But I can only juggle eight, if I'm ever here to buy nine apples, fucking bag em up!"

Anthony Bourdain on the Travel Channel tonight

If you happened to read or listen to the book "Kitchen Confidential" (a great listen, as the author reads the book), then you will know that Anthony is one wild and crazy guy (language would be x-rated in his kitchen). He's got his own series on TV starting tonight at 10 p.m. Eastern on the Travel Channel. That's 277 if you have DirectTV, if not then you will have to look that one up in your cable guide. Just thought I'd pass that along - I'll be tuning in to see if it is as good as his book. Will no doubt be a bit strange. A preview of the show appeared in the NY Times today. You can read it here

Computer Tips

If you need an easy to run and free Anti-Spyware tool, you might try Microsoft's which has had good reviews. I installed it and ran it and it found a few items I didn't realize I had and that were undetected by Search and Destroy. You can download and read about it here - Microsoft Windows Anti-Spyware (beta) It will remain free through the end of the year and then I don't know for sure what their plans are - we shall see. In the meantime, it never hurts to have an additional spyware program onboard.

Updates for Computer programs

It's always hard to keep up with what is the latest version of software you're running. You might want to go to File Hippo and there you will find a page with tons of updates and the links to them. Quite helpful. Tip of the hat to Signpunk who passed that site on to me.

Shuttle Launch
Discovery is set to go off at 10:39 am Eastern, not 10:30 as I reported yesterday. (Hey, where are all my fact checkers !?!?)

Quote of the Day
Mitch Hedberg - A waffle is like a pancake with syrup traps

Discovery back on schedule?

NASA managers today cleared the shuttle Discovery for another launch try Tuesday, weather permitting, on a critical flight to service and resupply the international space station. The decision came after senior managers agreed on a strategy that would permit blastoff even if - and only if - the shuttle experiences a fuel sensor problem like the one that grounded the ship July 13 .

Blast off is set for 10:30 a.m. with a 5 minute window. Let's hope this goes off without a hitch. To keep up on the status of the flight, follow along at SpaceFlight Now

Lance says Goodbye

Lance Armstrong cruised to a 7th Tour de France victory today. No matter what you think of the guy personally, his accomplishments, (considering his fight against testicular cancer that spread to the brain), are astounding. And he did it drug free, something other athletes should make note of. If you have satellite or cable TV, you might check to see if you get the OLN (Outdoor Life Network). Most likely, they'll be showing a repeat of the final leg tonight.

Photo of the Day

The flower-flies or hover-flies are a family of flies (Diptera), scientifically termed "Syrphidae".

As one of their names suggests, they are most often seen around flowers; the adults feed mainly on nectar and pollen, while the larvae (maggots) eat a wide range of foods. In some species, the larvae are saprophytes, eating decaying plant and animal matter in the soil or in ponds and streams. In other species, the larvae are insectivores and prey on aphids, thrips, and other plant-sucking insects. Aphids alone cause tens of millions of dollars of damage to crops worldwide every year, and so aphid-feeding hover-flies are being recognised as important natural enemies of pests, and potential agents for use in biological control.

Some syrphids mimic bees or wasps in appearance, in some cases bearing an alarming resemblance, both in shape and coloration. It is thought that this mimicry protects hover-flies against falling prey to birds and other insectivores which avoid eating true wasps because of their sting. Adult syrphid flies are important pollinators. Canon 20D, 100mm EF 2.8 Macro USM, ISO 400, 1/20th@f5.6 - tripod

Some words from Molly

The U.S. is over $7 trillion in debt (no problem); China buys $1 billion worth of U.S. treasury bills a day (thanks for floating us); Americans love the prices at Wal-Mart (made in China, cute!); the Chinese save 50 percent of their domestic product; the average American has $9,000 on his credit cards; our economy is fueled by a fragile housing bubble; the minimum wage is $5.15 per hour ... ; taxpayers who earn over $1 million saved $30K under Bush tax cuts; the war in Iraq costs $9 billion a month; by 2040, our kids will be unable to do more than pay the interest on the national debt ... ; bankruptcy reform makes it impossible to escape your debts; in Darfur [Sudan], people earn $1.25 a day. .....

It is a curious thing that as the disadvantages and, indeed, perils of globalization become clearer and the subject of ever-more worried books by respected economists, the mainstream media keep treating the whole problem as though it were about a bunch of protesters in turtle costumes at the G8 summit. If it were not for Lou Dobbs on CNN, one would never even hear it mentioned on television.

Sounds like a promising future, eh?

Molly Ivins article

Quote of the Day
Mitch Hedberg - "I tried to walk into Target, but I missed. Damn. I think that the entrance to Target should have people splattered all around, then when I finally make it in the guy will say "can I help you sir" and I'll say "Just practicing"

A bit of humor

Noticed this quote on Jeff Kimmel's blog and thought it was too funny. From the late comedian Mitch Hedberg -

When you go to a restaurant on the weekends and it’s busy they start a waiting list. They start calling out names, they say “Dufrane, party of two. Dufrane, party of two.” And if no one answers they’ll say their name again. “Dufrane, party of two, Dufrane, party of two.” But then if no one answers they’ll just go right on to the next name. “Bush, party of three.” Yeah, but what happened to the Dufranes? No one seems to give a shit. Who can eat at a time like this - people are missing. You fuckers are selfish… the Dufranes are in someone’s trunk right now, with duct tape over their mouths. And they’re hungry! That’s a double whammy. We need help. Bush, search party of three! You can eat when you find the Dufranes.

A few other good oneliners from MItch - "Tortillas are sleeping bags for ground beef." -

"You know they call corn on the cob, corn on the cob, but that's how it comes out of the ground, man. They should call that corn, they should call every other version corn off the cob. It's not like if you cut off my arm you would call it Mitch. Then reattach it and call me Mitch-all-together..."

"Once I saw this wino who was eating grapes, and I said, "Dude, you have to wait".

"Mr. Pibb is a replica of Dr. Pepper, but it's a bullshit replica, 'cuz the dude didn't even get his degree. Alright."

"You know that Pepperidge Farm bread, that stuff is fancy. That stuff is wrapped twice. You open it, and it still ain't open. That's why I don't buy it, I don't need another step between me and toast."

"I make instant oatmeal in the morning then I don't do shit for an hour. Makes me wonder why I need the instant oatmeal, I could make the regular oatmeal and feel productive."

"I wanna hang a map of the world in my house. Then I'm gonna put pins into all the locations that I've travelled to. But first, I'm gonna have to travel to the top two corners of the map so that the map will not fall down."

Mitch is my kind of guy. :) I'll send you a few more of his one-liners in the days to come.

Phishing, Podcasting, RSS - huh??

Lee Rainie from the Pew Internet and American Life Project sends word of new survey results that he calls a "sobering reminder that internet users aren't as steeped in new internet phenomena as the people who work in IT-related industries or cover technology news."
According to Pew's data, only 29 percent of American have a good idea what phishing is; the numbers are lower (13 percent) for podcasting , and RSS feeds (nine percent).

Not very surprising - most folks barely know how to browse the Net, let alone send an email. I guess they must have a life, unlike myself and apparently YOU, who are reading this at the moment. LOL

Photo of the Day
I must be into flowers lately. Actually, it is so bloody hot, I have little desire to go further out into nature, other than a stroll in to the Gardens here at the Fox Hill Inn As with all these photos, a click on the picture here leads to the full sized image with greater detail. Canon 20D; 100mm EF2.8 Macro USM lens - 1/60th@f5.6 ISO 200

Picture of the Day

The Hollyhocks are shooting up there this time of year. A good 6-7' tall now. This one's blossom hasn't gotten attacked by bugs yet. And believe me, the bugs love these plants. Click on the picture for larger and more detailed view. Taken with Canon 20D, 100mm EF2.8Macro USM lens.


A tall plant (Alcea rosea) native to the Middle East and widely cultivated for its showy clusters of very large, variously colored flowers. Also called althea.

[Middle English holihocke, marsh mallow : holi, holy; see holy + hoc, mallow (from Old English).]

Ebay Stock Rocks!

On the back of big earnings, Ebay's stock is soaring today some 20%. Whew! Wish I had bought that puppy.

Computers
Firefox updates to 1.06 to fix the things it screwed up with its 1.05 release a few days ago. You can get it here . If you use Roboform, you should go read the instructions for installing the Netscape Adapter for Roboform. (you need to remove the current one you have installed via Control Panel / Add/Remove Software and then follow the instructions to install the Firefox Roboform extension ).

Scrapbook adds a beta to it's already fabulous extension for Firefox. Pick it up at this Scrapbook beta site . It and Answers.com make using the Net a worthwhile endeavor.

Spotlight of the Day
John Scopes was found guilty of teaching Darwinism, Charles Darwin's theory of evolution, in a Tennessee high school on this date in 1925. Though Scopes was fined $100, the Tennessee Supreme Court overturned the verdict on a technicality. The trial, which became known as the Scopes Monkey Trial , was tried by two very famous lawyers, Clarence Darrow for the defense and prosecutor William Jennings Bryan. It was only in 1968 that the US Supreme Court overturned a similar law in Arkansas. Source - Answers.com

Quote of the Day
Just think of the tragedy of teaching children not to doubt - Clarence Darrow

Hot and Humid Baby

Boy, when is this humidity gonna break? Took a trip to Winston Salem today - think this was a big mistake. Temps in the mid 90's and I 'd swear the humidity is over 100%. AT 7:40 p.m the temp is 90 with the heat index 96 - welcome to the South - ugh. Reminds me of my days in Atlanta. Nice to drag my laptop along and sit in an air-conditioned Panera Bread store and update all the programs I have that always require big downloads. Takes seconds and with JiWire's Spotlock security system ($5/month), I feel a lot more secure than before with no security.

Photo of the Day
These little fellas are the bane of all gardeners (not that I'm a gardener!). They sure love these shasta daisys. Tried to shoot this critter using my tripod, but too hard to maneuver it around and finally gave up. Bumped up the ISO to 800 so that I could shoot at faster shutter speed (slight breeze blowing) and took the best depth of field I could. Click on the photo for the full sized image

Freedom over money?

It's the freest lifestyle I've ever known. There's not a lot of money in it, but I do all right. It's a tradeoff…freedom or money, freedom or money…I'll take the freedom.

- Dick Grayson, New Orleans street musician

I woke up this morning, turned on the tube, and enjoyed a good hour of street music from LA, New Orleans, and NYC. If you get the Sundance channel, check out the movie Playing for Change . Some of the best music comes from street musicians. I still remember the group from Peru playing on a street corner in Portland, OR - turned me on to the music of the Andes and those incredible pan flutes. If you're in NYC, just traveling the subways introduces you to an incredible variety of acts (those folks you see playing in the subways and performing their art have to audition for those spots!). Worth a look (and a listen).

Tiger Cruises to Another Major win

Tiger made it look easy yesterday. Monty gave him a bit of a run, much to the excitement of the flag waving Scots, but it wasn't one of those William Wallace days (Braveheart) and he faded over the last 9 holes. Tiger must be getting a chuckle out of those doubters over the past few years who thought he had lost his touch. 2 Majors already this year with another coming up. Can he win a 3rd? (PGA Championship Aug 11th-14th) He's already 2 ahead of Jack's record of 18 when Jack was Tiger's age. There aren't many who can match Tiger's intensity and focus - in other sports, Roger Fedderer (Tennis) and Lance Armstrong (bicyling) come to mind. But has Tiger won the hearts of sports fans like Arnold Palmer did? Some don't think so .

Mozilla/Firefox Adapter for Roboform Released

I have to give credit to Roboform. After Firefox suddenly released version 1.05 and users of Roboform found that it would crash every time they ran the two together, Roboform tech guys jumped on it and in little over a day, came up with a fix. So if you use Roboform and Firefox, then head here for version 6.3.7 of the adapter.

Golf
If you're into Golf, then tomorrow is your day. Tune in at 8 a.m. Eastern on ABC to see the final round of the British Open. Tiger has a 2 shot lead over Jose Maria Olazabal with Montgomerie and Goosen 3 back and Faxon and Garcia 4 back. Should be a great event.

Anthony Bourdain

Anthony Bourdain, of Kitchen Confidential fame, will have his own show (Anthony Bourdain, No Reservations) on the Travel Channel . Look for it starting July 25th at 10 p.m ET/ PT. (if you use Firefox, add it to your DoMe plugin task list). I listened to him read his book (Kitchen Confidential) through a digital download on Audible.com. That was an experience! He is one off the wall chef! I learned a lot about running a busy NYC restaurant though and if you don't mind a bit of profanity (understatement), you'll find this a great read.

Firefox 1.05 and Roboform Incompatibility

I posted yesterday that Firefox 1.05 is now out, but you shouldn't install it yet if you use Roboform. It will crash Firefox every time. I'll update this when I see a fix. (apparently Roboform got zero information from Mozilla that they were coming out with 1.05, so it will take Roboform about a week to fix this problem - hopefully sooner).