Ridiculously easy RSS feeds

If you use the Firefox browser, check out Live Bookmarks. I've tried configuring and using RSS aggregators before, but it seems to be more trouble than its worth, but Firefox makes it as simple as adding an entry to your collection of bookmarks. I just look for the little icon in the lower right, and I can add topical indexes from all my favorite blogs, and then tell at a glance if they've been updated. I can't explain the technique much better than Firefox does on their instruction page, so follow the link and give it a try. You can "Live Bookmark" this blog right now.

Categories: technology

One Star Reviews from Amazon.com

This is amusing. A collection of one star reader reviews of Time Magazine's 100 best novels of all time. as compiled by Matthew Baldwin of The Morning News.

for example:

"Lord of the Flies (1955) Author: William Golding

“I am obsessed with Survivor, so I thought it would be fun. WRONG!!! It is incredibly boring and disgusting. I was very much disturbed when I found young children killing each other. I think that anyone with a conscience would agree with me.�"

Categories: humor

Kitchen before and after

I didn't plan this, but I found an old photo of the pre-remodeled counter and range, and shot a matching photo from the same location that shows the new island.

Here's a javascript page that toggles between the two shots....it works better in MS Explorer because it uses a blendtrans filter that is only supported by MS. There are CSS techniques to accomplish the same thing in the Firefox browser, but I fiddled with it for about and hour and finally gave up.

Categories: family news

Hurricane Wilma

It's a "florida snow day". Schools are closed and we'll spend the day at home waiting for the storm to pass. We got lucky here in Central Florida on this one.

Categories: family news

powerpoint techniques

I'm at a conference this week and seeing a lot of powerpoint presentations. Coincidently, I came across some blog discussion last week about new presentation concepts, some specifically drawn from a book and blog titled "beyond bullets"

The idea is that it is deadly to write a powerpoint that is essentially a set of speakers notes. Instead, rely on the power of oration and use the visual powerpoint platform to illustrate and provide emphasis.

There's a wonderful example here that runs about 15 minutes. You may not be as interested in the presentation topic as I am (about digital identity and authentication), but look at the presentation technique this guy uses.

I'm going to try and incorporate some of these ideas into my next presentation. Interestingly, Gina already grasps this and uses it in her middle school powerpoint class projects.

Categories: technology

Pedometer calculation with google maps

http://www.sueandpaul.com/gmapPedometer/
This is very useful. Its an integrated tool which calls up google maps, then allows you to chart a course by doubleclicking at the waypoints, all the while auto calculating your mileage, and placing mileage markers on your route!

I found that it is almost exactly 1 mile from my house to Cady Way pool.

Here's a link to get started in Winter Park instead of New York.
Here's a 3 mile loop near my house.
Two mile loop
Better two mile loop

1.35 mile walk from office to campus

1 mile walk to campus via dirt shortcut

Categories: recreation

Blue Springs camping

Hunsickers, Reeds and Issens
Here's a similar snapshot from 2002
and another from 2001

We're just back from two nights camping at Blue Springs state park, with great snorkeling, swimming and canoeing. This picture below gina took from the canoe...more media to come.

Categories: recreation

Golf Cart

I picked up a trailer and went to Kissimmee to fetch the 'Club Car'.
Millie is delighted and hasn't had any trouble with the driving. Seymour and Gina do just fine also. Gina helped me deliver it and took a couple spins around the grounds.

Categories: family news

How many Bush Administration officials does it take to screw in a light bulb?

A: None. There is nothing wrong with the light bulb; its conditions are improving every day. Any reports of its lack of incandescence are a delusional spin from the liberal media. That light bulb has served honorably, and anything you say undermines the lighting effect. Why do you hate freedom?

Categories: humor

Home Computers

I just took delivery on a new PC. Its a Dell Dimension 5100 pentium 4 3.0 Mhz, with souped up video and audio cards, and a 160MB harddrive. I bought it from Dell's outlet store, which features factory reconditions with full warranty -- its worked well for me in the past.

The industry rule of thumb is that PC's should be replaced about every 3 years due to technology obsolesence and software bloat improvements.

Here's a history of my home computer purchases:

• 1986 private label PC XT, monochrome monitor (local retailer, $1,900)
  
• 1989 private label 386SX, with CGA color display (local retailer, ~$1,600)
• 1995 Acer pentium 90 mhz (From Best Buy, $1,600) First windows computer, first internet access computer. Ran Gina's game software "Can I interest you in a hot cup of tea?"
  
• 1998, private label AMD K5 (local repair shop, $350) used/reconditioned, to replace lightning damaged Acer. Insurance covered this and it worked well.
  
• 2001 Dell PIII 866mhz (Dell reconditioned, $1,100), this was for my grad studies program and upgraded for video editing. Its served me well...over time I upgraded it with a network card, a video card, a firewire card, a 19" monitor, DVD burner, additional harddrive, and a new power supply.
  
• 2003 Dell PIII 500mhz (eBay used $350) this one never worked too well
  
• 2004 Gateway Profile 4 for Gina (Gateway reconditioned, $700) this is a sexy looking PC, but it's a little buggy.
  
• 2005 Dell 5100 P4 3.0Mhz (Dell reconditioned $700) my new hot rod.
  

Categories: technology

hindsight

Lessons learned from our remodeling:

• Be sure to draw a scaled floor plan to evaluate traffic clearances and placement of seating and waste baskets. The contractor provided only elevation drawings of the cabinetry, but I could have easily done a floor plan myself and improved the layout. duh!
  
• Be precise and put in writing plans and expectations for placement of fixtures. We had ceiling lamps moved twice. The drawing here was the subject of dispute.
• When extending tile flooring, make absolutely sure new tiles are of identical sizing to the old! This is more important than color matching.
  
• When extending tile, lay all the tile in place before applying glue! This one the contractor should have known about. She knew there would be fit problems, but went ahead and started glueing down tiles. Our 16X16" tile bought for extending the floor is not the same size as the existing tile and the layout was torn up twice in redesign.
• Organize kitchen gear and pantry supplies for temporary use. Pack it up like for a camping trip, and then organize the remaining supplies in some manner for retrieval.
  
• Avoid hiring a contractor with back problems.
• Don't bother dusting or cleaning up until the contractor has left the building.
• Don't assume the contractor will make good choices for cabinet configuration. Ours planned to put the microwave in a cabinet but behind a cabinet door (we interceded). She put several inefficient drawer pullouts behind cabinet doors. We have no tall open cabinents (for cooking sheets, cutting boards or waste baskets), and too few drawers.
• Have your contractor include ALL materials cost in their bid and contract. Our contract was "plus materials" and consequently the Home Depot purchases were not as frugal as they might have been and we were left with lots of leftover building supplies and the tab for them.
  

10/10 Update: I removed two pullout drawers from a narrow cabinet, so now we have cookie sheet storage about the size of the photo here. The now-surplus drawers are long and narrow boxes, good for ????

Categories: family news