Out of the Woods

http://view.break.com/534959 - Watch more free videos

My jaw dropped when I saw this one. Just way too funny. More details about how it happened and the results can be found here.

Posted by Ken at 11:02 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

As most people with busy families, I rely on my calendar to try to make sense of all of our daily activities. I used to keep everything in a single Outlook calendar on my work laptop, but if I wanted to quickly check a date while at home and the computer was off, it was most inconvenient, to say the least.

Then I changed jobs and the laptop went away. That's when I started using Google Calendar in a big way. Now I use it for everything, and create separate calendars for different types of activities. For example, I've created public calendars for the UConn men's and women's basketball schedules, the upcoming Stafford Motor Speedway racing season, and even my son's Boy Scout troop and daughter's Venturing crew. Since they are public, others can benefit by including them in their own calendar display.

So it was with mixed feelings that I saw the announcement that Google Calendar could finally be synced with Outlook. It's something I would have killed for about six months ago, but now that I've weaned off Outlook, it's something I'm not particularly excited about. I toyed around with using Plaxo to sync Google Calendar, Outlook, and Thunderbird, but as the various pieces have evolved over the past few months, Plaxo has been getting more and more broken.

I'll probably give it a shot, because I'm now using Outlook 2007 on my new laptop, but I'm not straying far from the basic Google Calendar interface. What I really want is two-way syncing between Thunderbird and Gmail contacts. Oh well...

Posted by Ken at 12:57 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Hurray! A Hartford Superior Court judge sided with AT&T last week, overturning a DPUC ruling that U-Verse is a cable service and therefore needs a cable franchise license. This is good news for those of us who want an alternative to Comcast that doesn't involved putting up a satellite dish. I wrote last December that I was looking forward to having service in our area, and I'm still waiting anxiously. VRADs are popping up all over Manchester, and I'm hoping they continue to move eastward toward Tolland. Fortunately, it doesn't look like our attorney general is going to appeal the ruling, so we may be out of the woods.

Posted by Ken at 8:05 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I wrote a blog entry a while ago about a USB thumb drive that can be worn as a bracelet. Skullcandy does this one better with their Bully watch. This thing has a built-in 1-GB MP3 player. It's even durable and attractive. I still prefer to use my phone for my podcast listening, but it's nice to see some alternatives out there.

Posted by Ken at 2:31 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Here is a wonderful essay detailing the first-hand experience of a person observing Tisha B'Av with the traditional walk around the walls of the Old City in Jerusalem. The Tisha B'Av commemorates the destruction of the first and second temples on the Temple Mount. As you might expect, the Jerusalem chief of police announced several days ago that the Temple Mount would be closed to all non-Muslims as well as Muslim males under the age of 45 on Tisha B'Av. It was a visit by Ariel Sharon to the Temple Mount back in 2000 that is often cited as the straw that broke the camel's back in starting the current intifada.

Having spent 10 days in Israel in December 1999, I could picture the procession and its sights in my mind as I read Judy's wonderful prose. The event so typifies the Jewish mentality I experienced while in Israel. Peaceful observation of holy days by huge numbers of people who just want to be left alone to live their lives according to the laws set forth by God. No rowdy chants, flag burnings, rock throwing, or other civil disobedience. I have never understood the centuries-old persecution of the Jewish people. Why can't people just let them live in peace?

Posted by Ken at 11:25 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Here’s a post about some nice tools for geotagging photos and for linking Google Earth to geotagged photos. A geotagged photo has latitude and longitude coordinates of exactly where it was taken attached to it. Until we have digital cameras with built-in GPS receivers, we have to take a few extra steps to do the tagging, but the latest round of tools is making that process a bit easier.

Posted by Ken at 11:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Yes, I stole the title from the Genealogue blog, but the title made me laugh as much as the photo. Kinda looks like a Capital One commercial. Haven't you always wondered if this sort of thing really could happen?

Posted by Ken at 10:45 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

This is why I love blogs and the Internet so much. Where else could you read about and see pictures of such a freak accident? Check out how this guy was nearly killed by his stupid apartment neighbor.

Posted by Ken at 5:41 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Everyone seems to have a tiny flash drive these days. They can be worn like a necklace, and some can even double as an MP3 player. Imation decided to combine the latest craze in plastic wristbands with the flash drive craze and came up with a drive that you wear on your wrist or backpack. Fun stuff.

Posted by Ken at 11:19 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

The future of home entertainment is fully connected devices. You’ll be able to retrieve any type of content (music, photos, and video) from anywhere in the house using an array of networked devices. While most of today’s TV activity focuses on the set-top box, there is a new breed of television starting to appear that has this connectivity built in. Check out HP’s newest offering, the SLC3760N, that includes wired and wireless network connections and can stream content from an in-house server in addition to sources on the Internet.

Posted by Ken at 11:19 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Oh, this is so cool. Chip PC has announced a new thin-client PC that resides inside a standard dual-gang outlet box. Plug a monitor, keyboard, and mouse into the JackPC, and you have a complete networked PC. The company has a standard wall box that has contacts on the upper inside edge. You run network cable (which also handles power) to this box when you install it, and put a blank cover over it until it’s time to use it. When you want to install a PC, it simply slides into the box, making contact with the connector inside. There is also a wifi access point that can be installed in the same box instead of the PC. If you simply need network connectivity, there is a slide-in module that gives you that as well.

Imagine installing these boxes all over the house or other building during construction as you might install ordinary network jacks. When you need a PC at some location, simply slide it into the box and you’re done. Very nice.

Posted by Ken at 8:54 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

When I hear the Kurzweil name, I always think of the wonderfully advanced voice recognition and OCR systems from the 1980s and 1990s. The company continues its cutting edge technology march, and at its helm, founder Ray Kurzweil continues his forward thinking. In this essay I found, he looks at how technology has progressed over the past century and, given its exponential growth, where it could go in just the next few decades. Fascinating and exciting stuff.

Posted by Ken at 10:06 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Wow. Here’s a new twist. When Connecticut’s Episcopal bishop Drew Smith took over St. John’s Bristol claiming that their rector had abandoned the parish, he also dissolved the sitting vestry and assigned a new rector. The die-hard members of St. John’s started calling themselves “St. John’s in Exile” and are worshipping at nearby Trinity Bristol. When members of the “Connecticut Six” filed a lawsuit against Drew, the diocese, and the state, members of St. John’s in Exile were listed among the plaintiffs.

Now, the members of St. John’s who stayed behind have elected a new vestry that canonically speaks for the parish of St. John’s in all day-to-day matters. They have officially withdrawn from the AAC and the Anglican Communion Network, and have distanced themselves from the lawsuit. It should be interesting to see what happens now that you have two disparate groups claiming to represent the same parish. Many have claimed that Drew overstepped his authority in taking control of St. John’s. I’m sure similar charges will be levied claiming that he put a “puppet” vestry in place to do his bidding. I’m anxious to see what a court has to say.

Posted by Ken at 5:10 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Have you ever wondered just how much money you’re missing out on by not acting on all those hot stock tips you receive in your e-mail inbox? Someone decided to find out. He started tracking what he’d spend if he purchased 1000 shares of every stock recommended by incoming spam, then how much he’d make or lose on that stock over time. I thought about doing this myself a few times, but he was able to automate it so anybody can check it in nearly real time. The results are just about as you’d expect.

Posted by Ken at 3:51 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I am subscribed to a whole bunch of e-mail lists. They are all on subjects that I'm interested in, but I don't always have time to read everything that comes along. Once in a while, though, I force myself to read through a few, and it seems I always come away with a few gems.

I came across the transcript of a keynote given at the Spring 2005 Embedded Systems Conference in San Francisco that really hits home. Given by the CEO and chairman of Wind River, Ken Klein makes a lot of good points. I know I'm going to take to heart much of what he says. Check it out.

Posted by Ken at 9:37 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

It's ironic that just last night I was talking with another Cub Scout parent who had his wallet picked at the Mohegan Sun casino, then this morning I came across this good information. I made a list of credit card phone numbers several years ago, but it's time to update that. The credit reporting agency phone numbers are also priceless.

Posted by Ken at 9:39 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I carry a bundle of little barcoded store cards on a keychain in my pocket. Cards for area grocery stores, pharmacies, and other specialty stores. For me, the discounts outweigh privacy concerns. I also have a Mobil Speedpass on the same keychain, making it a snap to pay for gas or convenience store items. I never thought I'd see the day that I could put a credit card on that same chain.

Visa is introducing a mini version of their card in Australia and some asian markets. It makes a lot of sense. Gone are the days of manual imprints, so having large raised numbers is much less important. What really counts is the mag stripe on the back, and you don't need a full-size card for that. It can only be used in places where you manually swipe the card through a slot, but those readers are used in more than half the places I use my card, so it could be fun to try. They include a companion regular card that you can dig out when the mini won't work. Apparently Visa has distributed 11 million of these things in the U.S., but I have yet to see one.

Posted by Ken at 11:04 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

What's a Super Bowl without the ads? Lots of people watch it for the ads. AdJab looks at this year's crop and makes their picks. I agree with most of their conclusions, though I thought the FedEx commercial with Burt Reynolds was just plain stupid. Hats off to the guy holding the cat over the spilled pot of spaghetti sauce.

Posted by Ken at 4:05 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I've used Quicken off and on for years now. However, the effort required to keep up with the raw data entry always got the better of me, and I'd end up falling behind, making the program pretty useless. A few months later I'd start fresh with renewed resolve to keep up, only to fall behind again after a few months.

When we switched banks about two years ago, our new bank supported Web download of data into Quicken (using OFX format rather than the older and less useful QIF). At about the same time I had the chance to beta test Quicken 2004. Being able to download the data into the program made keeping up easy, and I came to rely on the program more and more. When the chance came to beta test Quicken 2005, I jumped at it.

Then our bank merged this past fall with two other banks, and the Quicken OFX support went away. Intuit apparently extorts money from banks that want to support OFX transfer into Quicken, and many banks aren't willing to pony up the cash. Microsoft Money also supports OFX, and most banks will happily send the data in that format. The trouble is, Quicken must go on-line to check something (God knows what) before it will import the data. The data is all there, Quicken just refuses to look at it. Since Quicken 2005 no longer allows importing QIF data for bank accounts, I'm plain out of luck when it comes to importing my bank data. My options are to switch banks (not going to happen), enter data by hand (again, not going to happen), or find another program.

Now Intuit is taking things one step further and is eliminating on-line banking support for Quicken 2002 and older. Ed Foster, who used to write a consumer advocacy column for Infoworld, writes about the situation in his latest gripe newsletter. Intuit is trying to mold the personal banking industry to its own image, and the banks are starting to push bank, leaving the consumer stuck in the middle. It's sad when politics and greed get in the way of technology and productivity. We should be moving forward, making financial information more available to consumers and making it easier to manage their money. Instead, we're taking giant steps backwards.

After the fiasco several years ago with Intuit's TurboTax product activation scheme, I vowed never to use that product again. I found the free TaxAct program and will never go back. It's every bit as powerful as TurboTax and can be downloaded and used at no charge. Unfortunately, there doesn't appear to be many Quicken alternatives. You can take the money from one customer-hostile monopoly and send it to another by switching to Microsoft Money, but the reviews I've seen for it don't put it in any better standing than Quicken. If anybody has any ideas, I'd be happy to hear them.

I wish a state attorney general would step in and charge Intuit with some kind of unfair practices violation. Something has to be done about these people.

Posted by Ken at 3:52 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Here's a neat link. Newspaper front pages from all over the world. You can even view them up close as PDFs. Now if we could just look at the rest of each paper, that would be cool.

Posted by Ken at 11:28 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

One of the side effects of the growth of my spiritual faith over the past 15 years has been an increasing frustration with the secular world and its constant sanitizing of anything religious. Christmas is a glowing example.

Remember when we used to have Christmas parties and people wished you a Merry Christmas when greeting you? Now we have holiday parties and are encouraged to have happy holidays. Who are we trying to protect? Christians celebrate the birth of Christ at Christmas. If you're not a Christian, you have your own holy celebrations. I take no offense at seeing references to Yom Kippur when that Jewish holiday rolls around, so why should anybody take offense to my reference to Christmas?

People argue that we need to be inclusive and be sensitive to other's beliefs. I'm not suggesting we exclude anybody, but if you don't believe in Christ, why would you want to be included in celebrating His birth in the first place? I have no interest in being dragged into a celebration of Mohammad's birthday. Of course, there's also no money for the big corporations associated with Mohammad's birth.

I keep track of when I see the first Christmas TV commercial each year. This year it was on November 1. At least they waited until Halloween was out of the way. Federated Department Stores (owner of Macy's and other large stores) has dictated to its retail outlets that the term "Merry Christmas" is not to be used in advertising, promotions, or decorations. Terms such as "Season's Greetings" and "Happy Holidays" are to be used instead. Look around and you'll see many other commercial outlets following suit, hoping to cash in on the Christmas season by targeting more than just Christians. Check out the Save Merry Christmas site for more details.

This country has deep religious roots, and no society can survive without some kind of faith. We were in Israel during Hanukkah in 1999. When we were at the airport waiting for our flight, a group of young men was going from counter to counter lighting menorahs and singing traditional Jewish songs. It was beautiful. Now obviously Judaism is the national religion of Israel, and the Constitution forbids the establishment of a state religion here, but nowhere does it deny religion as so many would have you believe.

Every person is free to worship as he pleases, or to not worship at all. I won't bother you during Kwanzaa. Just leave my Christmas alone.

Update: The Hartford Courant has an excellent op-ed piece that reinforces my argument.

Update: Bravo, too, to Fox News Channel. They have a number of stories discussing the sad state of affairs in this country when the politically correct zealots try to take Christ out of Christmas.

Posted by Ken at 2:07 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

The Lance Armstrong Foundation has created Live Strong, a resource for cancer survivors. They have teamed with Nike to launch the Wear Yellow Live Strong campaign to raise money for the cause. One of the items they sell is a yellow wristband with "LiveStrong" embossed it. I first saw one on my brother-in-law, who is an engineer at Cannondale and is obviously a cycling enthusiast. You've probably seen them on people's wrists in your travels.

Of course, there are people out there trying to make a quick buck by cashing in on illegal and unethical knockoffs. I saw a piece on the local news about counterfeit wristbands being sold at convenience stores that even come in other colors.

Please don't be taken in by these shysters. The only place to get official wristbands is directly from Live Strong. They cost exactly $1 each and come in packages of 10. If you pick one up the next time you're getting gas, your money is not going to help cancer survivors, no matter what the package says.

Posted by Ken at 11:27 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Even if you aren't a regular Jeopardy viewer, you must have heard about the months-long performance of Ken Jennings as the reigning champion. You may also have heard that he was finally defeated on Tuesday. Given how easy the Final Jeopardy question was that he flubbed, it has me wondering if he intentionally threw the game. It was his 75^th game, he'd won $2.5 million, and it aired on the last day of November. Everything is just too neat and tidy for it to have been chance. I can imagine he was starting to miss home and family and that the Hollywood life was starting to get old. Besides, $2.5 million is surely enough for one person, especially one as humble as he portrayed himself on the show.

Posted by Ken at 8:26 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

How cool was that?! I was heading out at about 9:15 to pick up Cindy from a mall shopping trip when an incredible shooting star appeared almost right in front of me. Bright and long, it streaked downward in the western sky about 45° above the horizon and subtended almost 10-15°. Beautiful evening.

Posted by Ken at 11:45 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Due in theaters May 19, 2005.

Posted by Ken at 10:33 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Here is the future of the U.S. given the latest election results:

Posted by Ken at 3:10 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I started saying this as soon as Tuesday's outcome was becoming clear. Now I need one of these shirts. Too bad they don't appear to have Connecticut yet.

Update: Yea! From David Shadle in reply to my request:

YOU GOT IT!! Believe it or not, the popularity of this has really taken off and I have simply not had enough time to get all states completed. I will get all states up this weekend and will send you and update once CONNECTICUT has been posted. Thanks for your support - please tell your friends. David

Update 2: Connecticut is now available!

Posted by Ken at 9:29 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Editing a magazine for 10 years gives one a new appreciation of the English language and how badly the general public mutilates it. Now, I don't claim to speak or even write perfect English, but at least I try. Joe Average American doesn't really seem to care if his language use makes him sound like an idiot.

Back in college, before the days of the Internet (at least, as we know it today), and even before dial-up BBSs became popular, we had an on-line message board on our IBM 370 mainframe. I loved to join in the various technical discussions with other students, both undergrad and graduate. It didn't take me long to notice that, regardless of what someone had to say, if their spelling, punctuation, and grammar were awful, they came across sounding like a fool. I spent lots of time looking things up as I wrote to make sure my presentation didn't get in the way of my message.

As a result of my having to deal with other peoples' writing, I have lots of pet peeves when it comes to language. This will be the start of a series of pontifications on the subject.

What's the purpose of an acronym? It's to shorten a sequence of words or phrase into a quick, easily recognized unit. If that's the case, why must people defeat its simplicity by repeating a portion of the acronym with the acronym itself?

For example, ATM. We all know and love this modern banking wonder when we run short on cash on Saturday night and we need to buy milk. Almost everyone also knows it stands for Automatic Teller Machine. Then why do people call it an ATM machine? There are large, professionally printed signs outside convenience stores boldly announcing that there is an ATM machine inside! Do they take us for idiots, or was it an idiot who made the sign?

Another is the standard college rite of passage, the Scholastic Aptitude Test, or SAT. I hear more often than not people talking about taking the SAT test. Argh!

Posted by Ken at 11:30 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

So I've entered the world of blogging. I've caught the feed aggregator bug and find myself looking for more and more newsfeeds to add to my list. It really is so much easier than trying to remember to check your favorite sites on a regular basis. I'm even unsubscribing from e-mail newsletters in favor of adding them to my feed list.

Speaking of aggregators, my favorite right now is Sage. It's a Firefox extension that lives in the sidebar to the left of the main browser screen. It needs some work, but it's also in its early stages. I'm thinking seriously of spending more time learning the bits and pieces of Mozilla programming to I can add to the development effort.

Posted by Ken at 6:25 PM | Permalink