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March 19, 2008
Dryden Aircraft Photo Collection

This is a way cool aircraft photo collection.  It includes my all-time favorite plane, the SR-71 Blackbird.  Here's the link: http://www.dfrc.nasa.gov/gallery/photo/index.html check it out!

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Posted by David at 04:31 AM | Permalink | Tickle me | Categorized under: Flying, Follow me...
October 28, 2007
Real Time Weather For Google Earth

I found the coolest site this afternoon: http://www.guiweather.com/

Among the many way cool features are a number of KML files for Google Earth.  My favorite is the Level II Radar that can display the latest static radar map or a loop automatically updated every five minutes.  To install it, with Google Earth open, all you have to do is click on this link.

Another source of weather data including Nexrad Radar and Airport Weather Observations (METARS) is http://earthnc.com/  They also offer all sorts of boating related overlays if your interests sway more to the nautical.  In order to access the features you need to register, but registration is quick, easy and free.

Another site with some interesting KMLs is http://www.weatherstationmaps.info/weather/radar/googleEarth.jsp, which is also a cool weather site in its own right.

Finally, one more site with interesting KMLs is http://wdssii.nssl.noaa.gov/geotiff_new/index.html.  I particularly like their regional loops, which seem to have better resolution than some of the other sites'.

I could burn lots more time playing with this as Google returned 288,000 hits from a search string of:

Google Earth Weather with online RADAR overlay

but I should go do something more productive.

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Posted by David at 04:41 PM | Permalink | Tickle me | Categorized under: Flying, Follow me..., Reference
October 06, 2007
Ben & Jerry’s Crème Brûlée

I generally prefer my ice cream "sans crunchies," but, oh my goodness, eating Ben & Jerry’s Crème Brûlée ice cream is like putting a cool little blob of heaven in your mouth.

I don't quite know how they keep the caramelized sugar swirl crunchy, but between it and the custard ice cream base, they have absolutely captured the essence of Crème Brûlée.

And, if you're not into Crème Brûlée, the new Cinnamon Buns flavor is pretty amazing too.

Just don't bother reading the nutritional information... you don't want to know.

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Posted by David at 03:25 PM | Permalink | Tickle me | Categorized under: Follow me...
October 03, 2007
New Electric Kettle

Well, sorta new...

It is new in that we just purchased it, but it isn't really new in that it is an exact replacement of our old kettle.  Technically, it is a replacement of a replacement of a warranty exchange of the kettle we purchased at least six years ago.

I am guessing that this one will last longer than the previous ones have because I think I've finally figured out what was causing the major reason that we would get a new one - slight leaking at the base.  My belief is that we were contributing to the problem by leaving water in the kettle most of the time.

We had looked at kettles costing twice as much as our Wal-Mart G.E. Chrome Electric Kettle 168950, but after reading reviews on many different models on-line, it didn't appear that any of the more expensive kettles functioned any better or lasted any longer, and some had serious design defects.  The way I look at it, we like the features, and even if (although it is unlikely) we had to replace it twice as often as a more expensive model, we'd still be better off after taking time value of money into account.

Speaking of on-line reviews, I added another first to my list today - my very own (other than on Blogdom) first on-line review.  You can read it here.

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Posted by David at 07:01 PM | Permalink | Tickle me | Categorized under: A day in the life, Follow me..., Reference
December 03, 2006
Speaking Of Shopping

When you think of online places to buy stuff, do you think of eBayonly when you think of online auctions and collectables?

If so, you are potentially missing a great place to buy everyday items at great prices.

For example, yesterday, I needed a new battery for the remote for my Canon G3 PowerShot camera.  It takes a CR2025 coin cell. 

You can get one of these for a few dollars at your local Walmart or Target.  But, you have to drive there, and you will (most likely) have to pay sales tax, and you'll end up buying a lot of other stuff you really didn't need.

Or, you could, as I did, jump onto eBay, and get 10 - buy it now - for $4 shipped!  What, you may ask, do I need 10 for?  I don't know, but when I can get 10 for about what I'd pay for 1, and never have to leave my house, why not?!

I've found eBay is great for typical things like batteries and cell phone accessories, and well as for more obscure things like a wheel cover for a 1992 Dodge Stealth or wooden Q-Tips (which are no longer available in stores).  Of course it's also great for coins, stamps, or that one last action figure you need to complete your set.

Happy eBaying!

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Posted by David at 01:55 PM | Permalink | Tickle me | Categorized under: Follow me...
Help Support Blogdom

So, you're going to do some online shopping and you know where you want to make the purchase from.  Before just typing in the url, why not go to Dealdom and see if there is a link to your vendor of choice.

It costs you nothing.  It is safe - it's just a link, no personal information is gathered by Dealdom.  And, Blogdom, via its association with Dealdom, gets a (very) little commission.

Everyone wins, right?

Happy Holidays.

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Posted by David at 08:50 AM | Permalink | Tickle me | Categorized under: Follow me...
November 30, 2006
Social Bookmarking

I guess I've been living under a rock for a while, or maybe this is an indication that I'm getting old and am no longer "with it..."

I just discovered the phenomena of Social Bookmarking.  I guess this is somehow related to Social Networking, which I also don't understand.

Anyway, there are loads of sites that focus on this including: 

http://www.blinkbits.com
http://www.blinklist.com
http://blogmarks.net
http://co.mments.com
http://www.connotea.org
http://del.icio.us
http://de.lirio.us
http://digg.com
http://cgi.fark.com
http://feedmelinks.com
http://www.furl.net
http://www.linkagogo.com
http://ma.gnolia.com
http://www.newsvine.com
http://www.netvouz.com
http://www.rawsugar.com
http://reddit.com
http://www.scuttle.org
http://www.shadows.com
http://www.simpy.com
http://smarking.com
http://www.spurl.net
http://tailrank.com
http://wists.com
http://myweb2.search.yahoo.com

WLW, in its most recent beta, has added support for tagging, which should help more easily integrate social bookmarking into more blogs.  I think I'll have to spend some more time playing with the feature, as I'd like to be able to automatically insert multiple tags as illustrated by This post on GeekCapital.com, but for a start, here's one: 



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Posted by David at 10:21 AM | Permalink | Tickle me | Categorized under: Blog tips, Follow me..., Reference
Another Internet Search Option

I just found another interesting option for performing Internet searches: SearchWeaver.  With SearchWeaver, you can

1. Search Multiple Websites

  • You can select multiple websites/search engines to search from each category.
  • After selecting the website(s), you have the option to set it as the default selected websites for that category.

2. Search Multiple Keywords

  • After selecting the website(s) to search, you have the option to search up to ten (10) keywords at a time.

3. Show Results in Tabs

  • Most search results can be shown in tabs for easy and fast access to different websites. It also includes the option to re-search keywords.

Pretty cool... check it out.

PS. The numbered, bulleted list above was copy/pasted directly from the SearchWeaver web site into this entry - yet another way cool feature of Windows Live Writer.

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Posted by David at 08:47 AM | Permalink | Tickle me | Categorized under: Follow me..., Reference
November 28, 2006
Windows Live Writer Update

I have continued to play with Windows Live Writer, and I must say, the more I use it, the more impressed I am.

The major new "feature" I discovered?

When you modify an entry which has already been saved and published, and then (re)publish it, WLW updates the entry in Movable Type.  With SharpMT, editing an entry and posting it results in a second entry being added to the blog.

I did also notice that the last entry did not have a Trackback link.  I don't know if that is because I reconfigured the default in MT to turn Trackback off - no one ever used the feature for anything other than spam - or if because it is another MT unique feature and therefore not supported by WLW.  I am going to set the Trackback in the Properties tab to "Allow" to see what happens with this post...

I am not putting SharpMT down - it still has a lot going for it, especially the full support of all of the unique features of Movable Type, but, I am impressed with WLW.  If only it supported Extended Entry...

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Posted by David at 02:01 PM | Permalink | TrackBack (0) | (1) Tickle | Categorized under: Follow me..., My blog, Reference

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November 27, 2006
Windows Live Writer

I had a "to-do" to upgrade my SharpMT to version 3.3, so I went to the site to grab the download.  While I was there, I read a post from Randy on Windows Live Writer, so I decided to download it as well and give it a try.

The WYSIWYG editing mode is pretty cool.  So are some of the formatting features like

Bold Italic Underline Strikethrough Color

Right

Center

and Left alignment

  1. Numbered
  2. Lists
  • Bulleted
  • Lists

And Block Quotes

It also appears to have good support for inserting pictures and Windows Live Maps.

What doesn't it have?

Support for tables... wait

I wandered over to the Windows Live Gallery and guess what I found

 A  Table
 Plug-in  !

, or support for the extended entry feature of MT.

That last omission is most likely a deal killer for me, so I'll probably continue to stick with SharpMT.

Well...

I just browsed some more of the plug-ins, and there are some really cool ones including

 

Display HTML code for example: <a href="http://www.blogdom.org">Blogdom</a>

 Insert symbols like ° or ½


And I don't know when I'd really use it, but insert Live Spaces emoticons like airplane or smile_nerd


So, maybe I'll play with this a bit more...

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Posted by David at 11:00 AM | Permalink | Tickle me | Categorized under: Follow me...
November 21, 2006
Live365

Among my fairly eclectic music tastes, I enjoy barbershop quartet music. Unfortunately, it is not the easiest thing to find... unless, that is, you check out Live365, Internet radio, which has thousands of stations to listen to, including a few featuring barbershop.

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Posted by David at 03:15 PM | Permalink | TrackBack (0) | Tickle me | Categorized under: Follow me...
November 20, 2006
Incredibly Cool Site Of The Day

I was playing with the Google personalized page - as opposed to the classic Google page - and stumbled on this really cool site, Mighty Optical Illusions. Check it out - way cool!

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Posted by David at 11:37 AM | Permalink | TrackBack (0) | Tickle me | Categorized under: Follow me...
July 27, 2005
Our So-Called Digital Life

Thanks to my friend Andy for passing this along. As he said, this is funny and all too true.

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Posted by David at 05:53 PM | Permalink | Tickle me | Categorized under: Follow me...
October 28, 2004
At Least The Election Has Some Entertainment Value...

Thank God for Tivo, or my head would otherwise explode, given the seemly nonestop political commercials. While the commercials are enough to make me scream, this and these are enough to make me laugh out loud.

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Posted by David at 02:22 PM | Permalink | Tickle me | Categorized under: Follow me...
May 26, 2004
Way Cool Site Of The Day

I stumbled onto this site today, way cool! If I were home, I'd definitely blogroll it.

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Posted by David at 09:18 PM | Permalink | Tickle me | Categorized under: Follow me...
May 21, 2004
Demotivators

If you are feeling really optimistic and chipper today, here's a site to help bring you back into balance: http://www.despair.com/

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Posted by David at 10:09 AM | Permalink | Tickle me | Categorized under: Follow me...
February 15, 2004
Color Test

This "Color Test" is a hoot, and harder than it sounds. Took me two tries to get 100% (first try was 88% - I was too slow picking a button). As an fyi, the average tries to get 100% is 5. Give it a try, it's fun, and it takes less than a minute.

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Posted by David at 10:16 PM | Permalink | Tickle me | Categorized under: Follow me...
August 08, 2003
An Amusing Diversion

I thought for sure I had posted this before, but multiple searches on the site yielded nothing so...

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Posted by David at 06:22 AM | Permalink | Tickle me | Categorized under: Follow me...
July 24, 2003
So cool!

Check this out - it is so cool:

http://www.ntv.co.jp/channel/asx/hkzkt10.asx

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Posted by David at 05:49 AM | Permalink | Tickle me | Categorized under: Follow me...
April 08, 2003
Mind Reader

My niece sent this link to me - it is very cool - have fun being amazed!

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Posted by David at 04:27 PM | Permalink | Tickle me | Categorized under: Follow me...
March 21, 2003
Thoughts For The Day

My son sent these to me. They are worth taking a moment to read and reflect on...

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Posted by David at 10:49 AM | Permalink | Tickle me | Categorized under: Follow me...
March 16, 2003
Gridlock

I found this via a comment to an old entry that was recently entered. I agree, it is quite addictive.

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Posted by David at 01:22 PM | Permalink | Tickle me | Categorized under: Follow me...
February 22, 2003
Slogans from the peace rally

Here are a bunch of slogans that were on signs in Washington during the peace march January 18th. I post these not as a political statement, but more in the spirit of a sociological reference, and because I thought some of them were quite clever.

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Posted by David at 10:13 AM | Permalink | Tickle me | Categorized under: Follow me...
DuctTapeForPeace.org

This site was created by one of the most intelligent people I have ever known. Before you just dismiss his views as some sissy liberal flake, please know that he is an American, born and raised, a veteran, a father, husband and as big a patriot as you can get.

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Posted by David at 09:47 AM | Permalink | Tickle me | Categorized under: Follow me...
February 09, 2003
Especially for BOFers

Just in case you weren't feeling very old today, this may change things.

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Posted by David at 09:49 AM | Permalink | Tickle me | Categorized under: Follow me...
December 01, 2002
The Christmas Guest

The first time I ever heard this was many years ago. It was the week of Christmas, it was fairly late in the evening, and I was driving home from a customer site.

It so touched me, that I just sat there driving, tears streaming down my face.

I never heard it again, and could never find the name of the performer.

Today, on a whim, I did a Google search. I'm not sure what inspired me. Maybe it was Jamie and Jeanie trimming the tree. I didn't find it on the first try, or the second, or even the third. But eventually, I did find that it was a poem written by Helen Steiner Rice, performed by Reba McEntire.

I share it here, in the hope that you find joy in it as well.

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Posted by David at 07:51 PM | Permalink | (2) Tickles | Categorized under: Follow me...

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October 11, 2002
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow - The Village Blacksmith

The Village Blacksmith - Poem by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

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Posted by David at 07:33 PM | Permalink | (3) Tickles | Categorized under: Follow me...

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September 12, 2002
Please help save Farscape

I don't know how exactly I ended up looking at this site, kellycaldwell.com, much less this entry, but thank goodness I did!

Could it be true?

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Posted by David at 12:55 PM | Permalink | (1) Tickle | Categorized under: Follow me...

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September 07, 2002
Rebate slut

I admit it. I am a rebate slut. Show me a product that is free after rebate, and chances are good that I'll be all over it.

I spent this morning filling out, scanning, and mailing rebate forms for my latest purchases which included 100 32X CD-R's, 10 3 1/2" diskettes, a power strip, a PC microphone, and a caller ID unit.

Total cost to me after rebate?

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Posted by David at 05:44 PM | Permalink | (1) Tickle | Categorized under: Follow me...

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September 04, 2002
What a mug!

Coffee mug that is.

Promoguy turned me on to this...

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Posted by David at 06:11 PM | Permalink | Tickle me | Categorized under: Follow me...