News and Views

As we were getting ready to go to Peru next week, I realized that our camcorder had died. I’ve got one closet shelf full of Hi-8 tapes, and another shelf full of MiniDV tapes. The only way I can view either of them is to play them through their respective camcorders, each of which is […]

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Today the Senate failed to pass, by one vote, the “Flag Desecration” amendment. Now I don’t like to see the flag burned, stepped on, or otherwise mistreated. It represents my country, and despite its faults I’ve traveled around the world enough to know that it’s not a bad place to live, and we should appreciate […]

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Loss of Wisdom Teeth, that is. Derek had his all yanked out today. He’s up in his room on Vicodin and Ibuprofen, holding an ice bag against his face with one hand, playing “World of Warcraft” with the other. He decided to do it without the sedation, just local anaesthetic. He was uncomfortable with the […]

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Here’s a story with photos about a laptop that burst into flames. Could be a problem if it were on your lap, especially if you were on a plane.

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See here for an interesting, interactive map of the world showing which points are exactly opposite each other. Could you get to China by digging a hole straight through the earth from the USA?

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I took Derek down to Tucson yesterday for a 3 day preview and orientation at the University of Arizona. I will pick him up tomorrow afternoon. I haven’t heard from him begging to come back home, so I assume he’s doing OK.

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I just got back from the airport, where Gisele left on a two-week trip to France. Most summers she goes for a month of intensive language instruction, but this year it’s a two week tour of the “Bourdeau” region, visiting castles (“Chateaus”), wineries and scenery. Derek and I are bach-ing it until she gets back.

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Strap on wings to use by the military to deposit soldiers well behind enemy lines. They can glide for miles, then open a parachute at the last minute to drop safely to the ground.

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Here’s an interesting set of puzzles. They come with no instructions; you have to figure out what to do, and how to do it. It’s a little like playing “Myst”. Experiment! The set of puzzles is called “ClickDragType”. There’s a clue right there. Find it here. Click on the link “Play This Game”. Note that […]

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