Spring magnolia

The magnolia trees in my yard represent a triumph of hope over experience:  I'm far enough north that the blossoms typically begin flowering just in time to get zapped by the season’s last frost.  But about one year out of every four, nature gets fooled, and I get...


Below the break, a closer look.
more...

Posted by: Old Grouch in Dear Diary... at 15:32:17 GMT | No Comments | Add Comment
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While I was looking the other way...

Meryl acquired a kitten!  Hurrah!

(Sunday’s report.)


Previously (and here).

Posted by: Old Grouch in Linkage at 23:39:21 GMT | No Comments | Add Comment
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Whoops, again!

Dang, just can’t get away with anything!

About one percent of the Web pages being delivered on the Internet are being changed in transit... according to researchers at the University of Washington.
...
In July and August they tested data sent to about 50,000 computers and discovered that a small number of Internet service providers (ISPs) were injecting ads into Web pages on their networks....
...
[Quoting Charles Reis, UofW PhD candidate and study co-author] "We're confirming some rumors that had been in the news last summer, that ISPs had been injecting these ads."

Hello, FCC???


Previously:

Posted by: Old Grouch in Linkage at 20:19:58 GMT | No Comments | Add Comment
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“Can’t anybody here run this project?”

From the New York Post:

Two sets of confidential blueprints for the planned Freedom Tower, which is set to rise at Ground Zero, were carelessly dumped in a city garbage can on the corner of West Houston and Sullivan streets...

...where they were found by a homeless man.

It’s a security breach...

[The documents] contain details such as plans for each floor, the thickness of the concrete-core wall and the location of air ducts, elevators, electrical systems and support columns.

...although I’m inclined to agree with the commenters at Althouse...

The guys that did [the 9/11] attacks on the WTC didn't need no stinking plans.

Even so, somebody’s carelessness has gifted New York with a two-fer: Another embarrassment for the Port Authority, and another opportunity for the press to hammer it.

Posted by: Old Grouch in In Passing at 17:40:47 GMT | No Comments | Add Comment
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Whoops!

Don’t-cha hate it when they find out?

A Swedish policeman who helped investigate The Pirate Bay is now working for Warners Brothers, one of the big-name film companies that helped drive the investigation... - The Register

Posted by: Old Grouch in Linkage at 00:01:25 GMT | No Comments | Add Comment
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What's so special...

Posted by: Old Grouch in Linkage at 23:44:29 GMT | No Comments | Add Comment
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Oldham Council spent £100,000 for a new logo...

Replacing this...

with this...


I wonder...
more...

Posted by: Old Grouch in In Passing at 23:13:58 GMT | No Comments | Add Comment
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Yeah, it rattled here, too

Shortly after 5:30, the cat woke me up.  Don’t know if he sensed something, or if it was his usual “Hey, the sky is getting light and I’m awake, so you should wake up, too, and pet me!” routine.  Most likely the latter.

Anyway, at 5:38 things started vibrating, which continued for 20 seconds or so.  Recognized what it was immediately.  After the shaking stopped, wandered down stairs and flipped on the TV– the local newsies were taking phone calls and marveling about how the quake had rattled the lights on their set.

In Wisconsin, folks were calling 911:

The transcripts of the calls were just released.  Two dozen nearly identical exchanges along these lines:

911 Operator:  Ja?  What seems to be the problem?

Caller:  Say we just woke up with the room shaking. It's probably nothing, but the missus thought I should call it in.  So I called it in.  End of story.

911 Operator:  Well thanks a bunch.  You're right, it's probably nothing, but thanks for calling her in.

Caller:  Looks like she's gonna turn cold tomorrow.

911 Operator:  Oh ja, they say a fronts comming in.

Caller:  You got that right.

Meanwhile, Republicans were immediately held responsible:

1. If it wasn’t for President Bush’s No Child Left Behind Act, his “tax cuts for the rich” and his Global War on Terror, adequate funds would have been available to fund successful earthquake prevention research at the U.S. Geological Survey;

2. The earthquake occurred as a result of non-union labor being involved in the earth’s construction process...

(...you get the idea.)

Oh, and go buy a T-Shirt.  (Ain’t capitalism wonderful!)

And there was an aftershock, around 11:14.  Missed that one.

Posted by: Old Grouch in In Passing at 22:26:34 GMT | No Comments | Add Comment
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When crossbows are outlawed...

“Come back here, you dirty Robbing Hood!”

A Teesside shopkeeper chased away an armed robber who burst into his store and shot a crossbow at him.

Mohammed Razaq was resting at his home, which adjoins his Stockton [UK] convenience store, when he spotted the raider on his CCTV monitor.

The 37-year-old ran into the shop, then ducked out of the way when the robber shot a crossbow bolt, which missed.

He then chased the attacker out of the store before he could reload the weapon during the incident on Saturday

From the BBC, who have a video.

Posted by: Old Grouch in In Passing at 16:45:46 GMT | No Comments | Add Comment
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And just wait until the RIAA finds out

Sales manager’s nightmare!

Intempo’s Rebel radio records all your favourite FM stations and cuts out all the DJ drivel and adverts.

In a compact glossy package - it measures 195 x 80 x 70mm and weighs in at 1kg - the Rebel is a standard FM radio, but with the added twist of recording the most-played tracks on a given station. It then makes them available for transfer to an SD card, Memory Stick or MP3 player, as 192Kb/s MP3 files - all for free. - from The Register’s review

I’d love to play with this.  They say it uses Swedish-developed technology plus an Analog Devices processor to “filter the broadcast stream for unwanted promotional messages and verbiage,” and automatically replace initial recordings with later, “less disrupted versions.”  All for £69.99.

Posted by: Old Grouch in Radio at 16:05:42 GMT | No Comments | Add Comment
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