McCain is almost as bad as Bush to watch giving speeches, but this has to be one of the best stump speeches I’ve read. I still have my reservations about McCain, and I think Romney would have been the better candidate, but if McCain makes this the centerpiece of his campaign, I think I’ll won’t feel quite so bad casting a vote for him. (more…)
Found at http://www.rose-hulman.edu/~zeigleem/potatoes.htm
An old man lived alone in the country. He wanted to dig his potato garden but it was very hard work as the ground was hard. His only son Fred, who used to help him, was in prison. The old man wrote a letter to his son and described his predicament.
Dear Fred,
I am feeling pretty bad because it looks like I won't be able to plant my potato garden this year. I'm just getting too old to be digging up a garden plot. If you were here, all my troubles would be over I know you would dig the plot for me.
Love,
Dad
A few days later he received a letter from his son.
Dear Dad,
For heaven's sake, don't dig up that garden! That's where I buried the BODIES!
Love,
Fred
At 4am the next morning, FBI agents and local police arrived and dug up the entire area without finding any bodies. They apologized to the old man and left. That same day the old man received another letter from his son.
Dear Dad,
Go ahead and plant the potatoes now. That's the best I could do under the circumstances.
Love,
Fred
I just spent the last 4 hours ripping apart my entertainment center, tearing out obsolete wire runs, re-running wires I realized were originally poorly run, and running new lines. Originally, the entertainment center was pretty well designed, but where I thought the configuration was going to last 5 or more years, at least, ended up lasting less than 3 years. I’ve just replaced everything other than the Tivo and the TV, with the upgrade to the receiver, replacing my Pioneer VSX-516 with an Onkyo TX-SR606. It cost more than I spent on the Pioneer, but at under $400, shipped, I think it was a good deal – especially considering that it takes 4 HDMI signals and does 720p upconversion.
HDMI is the way to go, I’ve come to realize. It cuts the number of wires needed to run by at least 1/2, as you get a digital video AND audio signal along a single wire. Now I have my HTPC and my PS3 both going into the receiver, and an S-Video signal from the Tivo getting upconverted to 720p, and all sent to the TV via a single HDMI cable, as well as having the 5.1 speakers available.
I did encounter a problem with one of the speakers, who’s wall mounting came loose. Unfortunately, it didn’t want to cooperate and now there is a sizeable hole in the wall. My father thinks a longer screw could reach the wall in the back and would make a suitable mounting point, so hopefully it won’t turn into too much of a disaster.
Messing around with the speaker took at least half an hour, and by the time I had finished cleaning up, I was too tired to actually turn anything on and do any configuration. I guess that’s the task for tomorrow. Thank goodness for Logitech’s Harmony – should make the whole process easier. Can’t wait to give the whole thing a go.
I’ve encountered a number of computers recently that have had their Internet connect stop working recently. I tracked the problem down to ZoneAlarm, but when one of the computers at work also broke due to ZoneAlarm, I looked a little bit deeper. It turns out that a Microsoft Update pushed in mid-July that was designed to fix a DNS exploit is the culprit. The ZoneAlarm folks turned out an updated version pretty quickly, and all is well with your high-security settings again.
It seems to have been a bad year for losing people who make the usually crass world of politics operate at a higher, more civil level. First William F. Buckley, then Tim Russert, and now Tony Snow. Tony was both a conservative and a reporter, always had the ability to make politic arguments a bit lighter and more enjoyable. He was one of the best White House spokesmen, and did a fantastic job of restoring amiable relations between the White House and the reporter corp after the tedious and frustrating tenure of Scott McClellan.
Because he had started Fox News Sunday, they had a special tribute to him today. A very touching story was about why he left the White House a year ago. He had been diagnosed a while back with cancer, and even though it was in remission at the time, it obviously wasn’t gone and he hair had turned white and thinned considerably. Even in that condition, he took a pay cut and more stress by taking the position of White House Press Secretary. And he did, by all accounts, a fantastic job.
It became evident, however, that while perhaps the cancer wasn’t spreading, it wasn’t going away, and he didn’t know how long he had left. So he retired from the White House in a bitter-sweet moment as the entire White House turned out to give him a standing ovation as he walked away for the last time. He was leaving because he wanted to earn more money on the lecture circuit. For almost anyone else this would have sounded selfish, but Tony realized he probably would not have a chance to enjoy his earnings – he wanted to make sure that when he was gone his family would be provided for.
He had spent a year sacrificing his health and fortune for his country. He then spent the last year of his life for his family. Tony Snow – Rest in Peace.
