2007

Over the last decade the US government has provided $165 billion in subsidies to the largest 20% of farms. These farms grow lots of what we eat in a mass produce fashion. What if some of that money had been used to get small local organic farms up and running? We could [...]

What is it about goats? They have a reputation for eating everything. Have you ever been to a county fair and gone in the ever-present petting zoo? Usually there are a bunch of little goats in there you can buy a cup of pellets to feed, or a bottle, etc. During [...]

I really should give equal time. I was curious about what Google Earth would do with Beijing, given my experience with MS maps. Well, Google has better pictures, but when you get closer to objects, we go to “cartoon” land and nothing is legible. MS must have decided to just give up [...]

I realize that MS Live Maps is only as good as its imagery. I was messing around with it; it’s still pretty cool! I have a question, though. How come I can zoom in to within 30 yards at Virginia Beach, VA (naval and air bases and all) and only one mile [...]

I have been in the computing / development business for a few years now. I have a pretty diverse background, from PL/I, IBM 3090 mainframes, to embedded applications on hand-held devices and proprietary radios. I have programmed in C, C++, C#, java, blah, blah blah. One thing I was late with was [...]

We have a little space where I live. We have some chickens, cows, dogs, cats, rabbits, a frog and hermit crabs. Not all of these coexist, especially one of the dogs and the chickens, each has its place. We were given a rabbit, I suppose this happens often. The kids named [...]

Google Earth is now providing Sky. It’s a view into space of over 100 million stars and 200 million galaxies. Wow. Users will be able to float and zoom in to stars. Nebulae are visible as well. Just image the possibilities; maybe we could create virtual space journeys - the [...]

I just read that the guy who caught Barry Bonds’ home run, record-breaking ball is going to have to sell it to pay taxes on its estimated worth. Not that I am an IRS law guru or anything, but what the heck? The guy, Matt Murphy, really seems like he would like [...]

It should come as no surprise that two thirds of US adults admit to being in the dark about world politics and only a third consider themselves knowledgeable about US politics. A recent poll has provided these results. Almost sixty percent of those asked said they do not like learning about other countries’ [...]

The FCC has revised the 700MHz wireless band. Oooh, what’s this mean for us? It means that it is planning to open up portions of the band to facilitate consumer broadband offerings. One might ask why is this a big deal; doesn’t everyone have broadband capability? Well, the answer is no. [...]