What is going on here?

Reid's Government-Run Health Plan Requires Monthly Abortion Fee...
Obama rewards big donors with plum jobs overseas...
'Climate change pushes poor women to prostitution'...
CALIFORNIA ON THE BRINK? UCLA students protests 32% tuition hike...  
CONGRESSMAN PUSHES 'DAY WITHOUT COMPLAINING' RESOLUTION...
Arkansas cop tasers 10-year-old girl--at mother's direction...
Climatologists Baffled by Global Warming Time-Out...

Is Global Warming happening?

Heavy snow expected in PA...
Chicago record breaking cold continues...
Montana records fall...
CHILL MAP...
FORECASTS BLOWN: '09 Atlantic hurricane season quietest in decade... 

I don't think so.

Interesting connections.

I got an email from a friend who saw my face posted in the Fans section on FaceBook's FarmVille fan page.  The funny thing about this is that this friend of mine and I have never met face to face.  He lives in the state north of the one I live in and is 15 years younger than me.  So how are we friends and why on earth are we even emailing each other and sending video messages through Tokbox?  It's a fun little story.

Back in 2005 (I think) I discovered the world of MMORPGs through my brother-in-law MaTT.  He said that he had some friends on there who played and they would all help me level my character quickly so we could all do some dungeon parties together.  Lineage II was the game and i got sucked in fast and hard.  Anyway, we all had TeamSpeak connections so we were talking while playing.  So for about a year there were just the four of us; MaTT, BD, Ian and me.

Then BD discovered a new game called Rappelz and so we started playing that.  Then I got my brother "Tweeter" hooked.  Soon there were about 8 of us playing but I had only met in real life 2 of them because I was related to them.  Anyway, when we were 8 members strong I was introduced to John.  I liked John from day one.  Even though we were on TeamSpeak and I could only hear him I could tell he was a laid back/fun loving kind of guy.  And he always laughed and made the rest of us laugh.

Now John wasn't the only person that I met through this group that I still keep in touch with.  In fact I am friends with John, MaTT and another (Alex) through FaceBook as well.

Anyway, Rappelz didn't last long enough.  Some of the group had to go back to school (college with 1 high school) so the attendance got thin and soon there were only a few of us playing daily.

For some reason we have all stayed in contact even though we rarely (if at all) play together any more.  In fact John says he's not even playing games at all and has taken up fly fishing and focusing on his new marriage.  Admirable!!  We still share, through emails, links and update each other on what's going on in our lives.  It's very cool I think.  I just wished we all lived closer so we could hang out more.

It's very interesting how life and people can bring new people into your life.  Had I not spent too much time playing Lineage II I would not have met these good men.  Men that I wish I could hang out with even though I've never actually met them.

2009 Winter "could" be the coldest one of the decade.

I'm posting this because I love to see where scientists end up wrong.  I've always had an innate disbelief in scientists.  I think it comes from my faith in God and not man.  I know being wrong is part of learning but I just have a hard time with predictions they make based on their mortal knowledge.

Northeast U.S. May Experience 'Coldest Winter in Decade'...

“It could be one of the coldest winters, or the coldest, winter of the decade,” Rogers said.


Now, I'm hoping to remember this post in about 6 - 8 months to see if it really was the coldest winter or if the season isn't as strong as predicted.  We shall see.

Are personal blogs a thing of the past?

As you may or may not know I used to post a lot of articles here. It was great for a while. I could link to other sites that I thought were cool or important and hope that some people would check it out and comment. The problem with that is that you can't really MAKE people took at your stuff. This results in low hit counts to my blog which effect self esteem.

Then I got on Facebook and kind of forgot about my blog.

Facebook is great to share information, thoughts, feelings and links because it broadcasts to all your friends as opposed to a blog where people decide if they want to spend the time at your site. I think this has had an incredible effect on the personal blogosphere. I know that my wife's personal blog has not seen a new post in months. I've not posted a whole lot here in the last year compared with previous years. It's just easier to keep current in one place.

So have you seen a decrease in your personal blog visits and activities due to Facebook or MySpace or even Twitter?

Been a while

Bored with the Blog thing. Facebook is better. I've got some thoughts on blogs but I can deal with that later.

In the meantime I see interesting headlines on Drudgereport.com. This week we are hosting the G20 joke and there also happens to be some serious arrests involving terror plots.

Bin Laden demands Europe withdraw Afghanistan troops...
FBI arrests Jordanian for downtown Dallas bomb plot...
Illinois man charged in plot to bomb federal offices...
Terror suspects accused of targeting Marine base in Quantico...
Men vanish after taking photos of Philly subway system...

And how do things like these happen??

Administration to Cut 384 Agents from Mexican Border...

Report: Obama told Petraeus and McChrystal to 'scrub' assessments... Just some thoughts.

Solar power toy shows us the way to the moon.

This new little gadget is six toys in one.

From the sales website:

This ‘do it yourself kit’ is a great beginners introduction to solar power technology and the end result is your very own little robot. There are 6 different ways to build it, so you could have a robot dog one minute, or a boat for your bath the next! If either of those don’t do anything for you then why not build your own little plane (moving or still), windmill or solar powered car!

The good news is that you don’t need a degree in robotics to start with, or have to try and figure out which screw is A678b and how part D456 slots into F9097a!! The diagrams are big and very easy to follow, there are only 25 parts and no screws are involved!

Sounds great so far, but what if you live in the UK, like us, which hardly ever see’s the sun? Well, this eco friendly robot can also be powered by a 50 halogen bulb (or brighter).

You can build:

1 - Robotic Dog

2 - Boat

3 - Moving Plane

4 - Car

5 - Windmill

6 - Desktop Plane

This just helps prove my point that it's possible to have a rover that can be more than one thing. There's no reason why a robot can't be programmed to attach simple connections and such.

My isues with Peek.

For those of you who don't know what a Peek it you can find out here.

I got the Peek because I wanted to connect to my email accounts and replace my cell texting all for the monthly price of $20. At first I liked it. It was new and exciting. I got on the message boards and learned a lot about it and some things it can do. For example I can update my Twitter AND Facebook status at the same time if I send a message to Ping.fm.

Basically, i never sent it in to get the latest firmware update from 1.04 to 1.08. I just didn't want to be without it for a week while it was in New York. I also didn't want to pay for shipping.

Then the outages came. You see, once you set up your accounts in your Peek, Peek Corporate acts as a middleman. They monitor or ping your email accounts (with version 1.04) every 5 minutes, grab the emails and send them to your Peek. Version 1.08 is supposed to have PUSH technology and be much more "instant". Well the servers went down and people weren't getting upset that they weren't getting their info. This is the main, if not only, reason I didn't want to get a Blackberry.

This is the straw the broke the camel's back. I get an email from my wife at 3 pm in my gmail account. Since I'm at my desk all day I read sent email, reply and forget about it. At 4:13 pm my Peek beeps informing me I have new emails. I'll give you ONE guess concerning which emails I get. Gold star for you!! The exact emails I got from my wife over AN HOUR AGO.

Version 1.08, or Pronto as they call it, is supposed to let me see attached jpgs and PDFs and such but is it really worth it?? I don't think so. PLUS, now I have to carry around TWO gadgets instead of a single cell phone. I think I'm gonna sell my Peek on eBay and go back to cell texting.

End of rant.

Mars rover is stuck...

http://gizmodo.com/5264223/fellow-robots-trying-to-help-stuck-mars-spirit

This is another reason why sending more than one of something is a better idea. If one of my rovers got stuck it could be rescued by other rovers. 2 heads are better than one.

Transmitting power without wires!

My best friend (after my wife of course) MaTT just found a GREAT treasure on Thinkgeek.com.

http://www.thinkgeek.com/stuff/41/wec.shtm

From ThinkGeek:

Just plug the Wireless Extension Cord (WEC) base unit into a standard wall outlet, and plug whatever you need into the satellite unit. The WEC uses microwaves in the 7.2GHz range, so it won't interfere with wireless networks, Bluetooth components, etc. Now, all you need to do is adjust the antennae on the two units so they are aimed at each other. Turn everything on and you have the power! The distance the WEC units can broadcast differs from situation to situation (due to interference of such things as walls, power lines, and microwave ovens), but we've beamed power over 300 feet! The future is wireless - and the WEC's are your ticket to the future.

This could be VERY handy on a rover. I would put on one each rover in case it gets stuck or too far from a charging station. It sends out a signal of where it is and that is needs power. Charging station can locate the rover and adjust the sending panel and transmit power to the power hungry rover.

MaTT was also the man to bring the Powerpad to my attention. This is the actual site he gave me... http://www.powermatusa.com/. See how the technology works here.

Rover recharging.

I found this article while trying to find a site that I found the other day. Powerpad could be used to recharge rovers.

An early design of the technology resembles a thick rubber place mat. Metal "connectivity points" span the pad's surface and deliver power to the charging contacts on a compatible notebook, cell phone, or other device that is laid on the surface. A single pad can power or recharge various compatible devices at once, accommodating as many as will fit on the pad, according to company representatives. Each unit will contain the intelligence to identify itself and its specs to the pad.

This could EASILY be modified to charge dying batteries for my rovers. Using this method of charging alleviates the need to be very precise when connecting to a charge station.

According to the article this was made to be released in 2003 so I'm sure there have been some advances in this technology.

Battery powered motorcycle made from junk!

This guy got laid off from work and decided to build a motorcycle from junk he found to run on batteries.

You can watch the video here... http://blog.makezine.com
or visit his website here... http://www.firstontop.com/electragreen.htm

The point to this post is to show that if some random person in Nebraska can build a motorcycle (from junk) to run from batteries and be charged with solar (from junk) or wind (from junk) with NO foreknowledge about how to build these things (from junk) then NASA should be able to do the same thing but about 100x more efficient.

Here is a picture of the bike with wind generator and solar panel.

I should get a basic parts list of what it could take to get one of my rovers built. I bet it's well under $2,000. Wonder what a single Spider-bot would cost.

Rovers: the technology is available.

I found this article today about a guy who designed "a mobile robotic platform, started more than a year ago. Desktop software (originally created in .NET C# and then ported to Flex/ActionScript) communicates with the mobile platform, can monitor its surroundings via a mounted webcam, operate it remotely and activate autonomous mode."

You can get more detailed information at the creator's web site.

This guy is on the right track. With this kind of technology there is no reason a lunar rover can't run on it's own to do simple tasks. Or complex ones. I say give this guy a job at NASA to help me get my rovers to the moon and beyond.

Where else could we send my rovers to explore? Make them wateproof and drop them in the ocean. Give them the ability to surface and recharge with solar panels. While it's surfaced transmit it's data back to base. The idea may be without limits.

Lunar Rover: more scenes.

Here we see an updated version of unloading materials and supplies.

Here are 2 rovers changing a tire on a third.

This is the VERY basic concept of the power connectors. The silver circles are the magnets to hold them in place. The brown circles are the connection points. It's very simple. The only thing that would interfere is dust. I've updated the main rover with a row of these along the long sides. You will see these in the 2 above pictures.

Click to enlarge.

Lunar Rover Updates.

I've redesigned the rover a little. I've decided that the simplest way to allow for multiple modules to be added and moved is to make the main floor out of bars. This correlates with my idea of adding "claws" to the bottoms of each module.


Here is an example "scene" of something that may happen. The smaller rover in the bottom left has been fitted with 2 HD cameras and a solar panel. This will allow the rover to basically roam wherever it wants to taking pictures. The main action here is the 3 larger rovers. The middle one is carrying 3 garden pods (containing lettuce) and is flanked by 2 other rovers who will be lifting each pod. The larger rover on the right has also been fitted with 2 solar panels to help charge it's batteries and help them last longer.

As you can see there are many scenarios where this method can be utilized. This is the main thought on my mind recently so there will be more updates on this.

One large hurdle to figure out is the universal connectors that should connect the modules sitting on the rover sled to the computer on the rover. I like the idea of the power connector on Macbooks. Magnetic and easy to connect and disconnect. I also like the concept of a USB plug and play method. More to come...

Lunar robots: My idea.

I started by reading this: http://gizmodo.com/5252255/x-prize-team-to-send-swarm-of-spiders-to-the-moon

So I read an article yesterday about some Italian team creating spider-like robots to walk on the moon, take pictures and send them back to Earth. My first thought is, "how are you going to get them back? Or are you just going to leave your trash there?" Then I got to thinking that they are going about this all wrong. If you are going to send up a bunch of robots why not make them MUCH more worthwhile?

With today’s technology we could easily send up a couple of robots (or a million) and have them run around digging and whatnot. In fact, why not design them to complete advanced tasks such as assembling buildings and maintenance on each other? Here’s what I would do if I had NASA money…

· Build robots that can travel 50 miles using rechargeable batteries. Robots themselves can’t recharge. People are retrofitting their motor cycles to use batteries and can get 40 miles per charge and go 60 miles per hour.

· Send up payloads containing various modules.

o “GPS” stations to create grid for mapping and navigating. Solar powered.Antennas need to be set up to help robots triangulate their position on the planet.

o Charging stations for robots. Each charging station is portable and is self powered via solar panels. Hundreds of units can be set up to expand the range of each robot.

o Human base stations. Could be inflatable so all a robot has to do is roll it to where it’s needed and connect CO2 canister to inflate.

o Greenhouse. If we are planning on sending people there to live for a while why not get a greenhouse going BEFORE they get there?

o Extra parts for robot self repair. Why not? Why can’t a robot replace the battery on another robot? Robots can be fitted with interchangeable arms to perform various functions.

o Labs. Send up additional labs for robots to send samples for analysis.

· Shuttles aren’t needed. Only a rocket large enough to get the payload off the ground is needed.Payloads can vary from small to huge.

So basically you want to send up a couple robots, charging stations and the transmitting towers to get “the grid” started. Now there is a way for robots to triangulate their position and not get lost. Next, you can send up 50 bots and 100 charging stations. Have the bots set the charging stations all over the place to expand the area the bots can go. Send up a base for sending data back to Earth. This can also be linked to a lab where samples are taken for analysis.

All this can be done easily with NASA’s resources. Use the moon as a testing ground. Then start on mars.

Here are some very basic concepts. You can click on each image to enlarge it.

There are all kinds of sizes and variations that can be built with this system.

Example of a solar panel collecting power to charge rover batteries.

Basic rover with two arm modules. All components and modules could be "plug and play" for easy assembly.

Feedback is welcome. Note to NASA: if you want to know more of my ideas just ask. ;)

Getting bored with keeping everyone updated.

I'm on Twitter, Facebook and Blogger. I actively watch (stalk more like it) about 90 blogs to get my information fix. I just got a Peek so I can get all my emails and text messages wherever I am.

It was all fun at first but now I just have a feeling like I'm alone. I know I have a family and good friends but there's just some empty feeling I get after a while of Tweeting, status updating and blogging. Maybe it's just me.

So I may just stop updating this blog. Ferever. Still haven't made a decision. Just wanted to keep you all (about 67 unique visitors last month according to my statcounter account) informed.

WHERE IS ALL THE OUTRAGE??

HURRY, FELLAS, LET'S VOTE, I AM OFF TO ROME!

FINAL STIMULUS BILL BALLOONS TO 1,071 PAGES...

Dem Senator Predicts: None of His Colleagues 'Will Have Chance' to Read It...

Congressman: 'We all cast our votes with one hand and crossed our fingers with the other'... 

246-183: HOUSE PASSES OBAMA $787 BILLION 'STIMULUS'; NO GOP SUPPORT, 7 DEMS VOTE NO

VIDEO: 'NOT ONE MEMBER HAS READ THIS BILL'

CRAZED: Break Promise To Post Bill 48-Hour Before Vote...

This is absolutely insane.  Mark my words this will destroy this country!  And it will be on the heads of the Dems in control ie Obama and Palosi.  They've both been pushing for this "stimulus" bill to go through as fast as possible and NO ONE knows what's in this thing!

Why isn't there more outcry from over 300 MILLION American citizens??  I'm pissed beyond reason because I and my future generation will end up suffering financially for this for a very long time.

GRRRRRRR!!!!  I feel so helpless!!

More crap from George "Dishin out the crap" Lucas

PLEASE STOP THE REDICULOUS RELEASE OF STUPID CRAP ABOUT STAR WARS!!

Obama wants to let you slaughter the unborn!

http://www.reuters.com/article/topNews/idUSTRE50M3PQ20090123?feedType=RSS&feedName=topNews

"WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama on Friday will lift restrictions on U.S. government funding for groups that provide abortion services or counseling abroad, reversing a policy of his Republican predecessor George W. Bush, an administration official said.

"It will be today. He's going to make an executive order (lifting the global gag rule)," the official said.

The Democratic president's decision is a victory for advocates of abortion rights on an issue that has become a tit-for-tat policy change each time the White House shifts from one party to the other in recent years.

When the ban was in place, no U.S. government funding for family planning services could be given to clinics or groups that offer abortion services or counseling in other countries even if the funds for those activities come from non-U.S. government sources."

Need to vent...

I just lost two whole days worth of entered data in my Google Notebook.  I use said webware to journal everything that I do at work so I have a history of my awesomeness.  GRRRR.  Now I think I need to use something more reliable.

Just wanted to let you all know that Google can suck at times.

Other than this little mishap I've not had a single issue with Google.

Still kickin it

I got a PS3 for Christmas so I've been busy.

There.  You've been updated.

Out of sorts.

Sorry I've not posted for a while.  I don't have the motivation recently.  Posting, for me, comes in waves it seems.  I'm sure there's more posts coming from me.  Hang tight. ;)

Done with Bones

Last night my wife and I were watching one of our favorite shows.  I'll just jump to the issue.

Angela had a 1 year lesbian relationship.  In the real world I don't care who ppl screw (or whatever lesbians do) but I don't need it in my tv especially when it's not even needed in the plot anywhere.  I especially don't care to see them kiss.  That's just my personal opinion.  Homophobe?  Not really.  I see people in the mall kissing and holding hands.  I don't care.  But I don't care to bring into my house.  There are other shows to watch.

The geeky kid from the first season (or two) ended up being the serial killer they were "hunting".  WTH was THAT all about?!  I just thought that was a lame attempt to fire an actor.

Angela and Jack broke off their engagement for some jacked up reason.  I loved that they were in love and cared so much about each other.  It relieves some of the tention between Bones and Booth.

And now since Angela is not engaged she's going to have a lesbian fling with an old flame.  Lame.  Just for ratings.

It's going in a direction that I just don't care about.  Hence I'm leaving it.

Review: The Cure's new cd '4:13 Dream'.

I just listened to the audio clips of The Cure's new album '4:13 Dream' and I have to say that its a much needed trip back to the sound I fell in love with over 20 years ago.

I've been a life long fan and have stood by them through the Bloodflowers cd which I thought was complete trash even though it was critically praised and was nominated for a Grammy for Best Alternative Music Performance in 2001.

I first heard of The Cure in the mid 80's when I was a "skater" in high school back when skaters where not as accepted as they are today. The album was 'Standing on a Beach/Staring at the Sea: The Singles' and I loved it from first sound. I ran out and bought all the other albums I could find. I bought posters, t-shirts, patched and all the magazines I could get my hands on.

I stuck with them and boasted that they were (and still are) my all time favorite band. I still remember listening to 'Kiss Me, Kiss Me, Kiss Me' for the first time when it came out. I think a total of 2 songs were played on the radio from that album. 'Just Like Heaven' and 'Why Can't I Be you?'

My friend Kris (who was also a die-hard fan) and I would go to Karma records at least once a week to see if there were any good imported cds that we could add to our collection. Had to have it all.

Everything was going great...until Bloodflowers. I was SO excited to get a new cd from The Cure but I almost threw it out. It just didn't have that sound and flow of the band I had grown to love. To me all the songs had the same beat and complete lack of variation. They all sounded the same. I don't listen to it at all.

I debated even buying the next release entitleD 'The Cure'. This album brought the music back to a more familiar sound of The Cure. Even though I only enjoyed about half of the album I still feel it's a triumph over Bloodflowers and put Robert Smith back in good standing with me. I got the sense that he knew his previous cd wasn't up to par compared to his life's long work.

Now that you know where I'm coming from I can tell you that 4:13 Dream isn't the best cd they put out but it's better than the previous 2.

The cd starts with Under The Stars which is a slow song. You either like their slow songs or you don't. I tend to like most of them but why start a cd out with something slow?? The nest 3 songs (The Only One, The Reasons Why and Freakshow) are a more upbeat and have a more classic "The Cure" sound to them. Next is Sirensong, a slower song with the rolling guitar and great lyrics. The rest of the cd is pretty good. Upbeat, diversity, better.

I think I'll buy this cd. It was a much needed improvment over previous cds and gets things back to the way they were.

LEGO games. What would you like to see?

I love the LEGO games Star Wars and Indiana Jones.  LEGO Batman is all Iwant for Christmas this year.  A recent about LEGO games that will never happen started me thinking about what other genres might make for a good LEGO game.

There are pleny of characters and story lines in The Simpsons to make for a HUGE game.  Several Star Trek games could be made as well.  I could even think of enough things for a LEGO James Bond.

Please post your thoughts for a new LEGO game.

List of LEGO articels at Kotaku.com

Software for Starving Students is no more.

I was just reading through my blog history to find posts to add to the new list section for 'My Favorite Posts' and I found that Software for Starving Students is no more.  They suggest, however, that you take a look at OpenDisk for a replacement.

OpenDisk is basically an ISO to burn to cd packed with great freeware that is installed on your computer.  Here's their list.

If you are looking for a one-stop-shop for some great freeware whether you're a student or not it's worth a look.

Is there no end to the CRAP from George Lucas!?!?

Lucas, Stop Now: Darth Vader TV/DVD Has Lightsaber Remote

I'm so sick and tired of Star Wars being peddled to every single person on the planet. Star Wars used to be cool. Of course this was before the new episodes (I, II and III). I was even all jazzed about Episode I when it came out. Darth Maul was the bomb! Now let's look at what "cool" crap you can get in Star Wars version.

Bowling Balls

Hoodies

Clocks
http://gizmodo.com/5054306/3d-darth-vader-wall-clock-springs-into-action-when-the-lights-go-out
http://gizmodo.com/5045796/r2+d2-alarm-clock-requires-x+wing-bedsheets

Watch

Cell phone alerts

Emperor's Throne

Flashlights

RUBBER DUCKS!

So as you can see there are a lot of ways George has turned a great thing into a huge money machine with no bar too low.

The Eye.

I'm at work defragging half the fleet of pcs here and I have The Eye going on a second monitor. The Eye, a story of a blind girl (Jessica Alba) who gets a cornea transplant and starts seeing images of death and junk. This is basically a new version of Body Parts staring Jeff Fahey (one of the greatest B movie actor) who loses his arm in a car accident, receives a donor limb from a murderer who was served the death sentence.

I'm a sucker for these kind of creepy movies. The Grudge, The Eye, The Ring, One Missed Call, The Skeleton Key all good movies. The Grudge 2 sucked IMO. 1408 was a nightmare from Satan himself.

The problems I have with them, however, is that when they go to a hospital there's NO STAFF AT NIGHT. Ever been in a hospital over night? You can't get a moment's rest cause some nurse is checking vitals every 15 minutes.

The Eye isn't a bad movie, just full of cliche's.

My new Tech Blog

I started another blog that's just for IT and how I get things done at work.

http://appsbyaaronit.blogspot.com/

I'm going to focus on the things that happen at work and what tools I use to resolve them. The goal here is to hopefully help other people who are the only IT Guy in a small company. I don't have a million dollar budget so I have to use free tools as much as possible. Plus I'm cheap.

I hope it cathes on and I get a lot of visitors. Enjoy!