Archive for April, 2006

Liquid Gold

Friday, April 28th, 2006

California made history as the gold rush state and now we’re making history for having the most expensive liquid gold, aka gasoline, as you can easily see on the USA National Gas Temperature Map:

Gas Map

Amazon Associates Product Preview

Thursday, April 27th, 2006

Product Preview allows associates to add javascript code to the bottom of their pages that makes any text links to Amazon products open up small windows when readers move their cursor over the link.

Dear Associate,

Thank you for your ongoing participation in the Amazon Associates Product Preview Beta. Your feedback is quite valuable as we continue to invest and improve the program. We’re excited about the potential benefits that product previews can offer to Associates.

Although the beta is still active, we’ve identified the first 500 Associates who referred a qualifying sale through a product preview enhanced link. Congratulations – you are in this group!

Thanks for the token gift certificate.

Professional Photography with Windows XP

Wednesday, April 26th, 2006

Microsoft offers photography-related PowerToys for Windows XP.

Microsoft RAW Image Thumbnailer and Viewer for Windows XP offers extensive support for most Canon and Nikon RAW images.
Microsoft Color Control Panel Applet for Windows XP tool helps you manage Windows color settings in one place.
SyncToy is a free PowerToy that makes synchronization a snap. Copy, move, rename, and delete files between folders and computers.

cactus flower

Tuesday, April 25th, 2006

a brief bloom in the garden

Open Access for the Net Generation?

Monday, April 24th, 2006

Decide for yourself whether or not you agree with the philosophy regarding internet age restrictions from PeaceFire and using circumventor to get around Web-blocking software (filtering programs designed to reject Web sites not suited for children.) If you are a parent, you should be aware that these instructions exist.

Earth Day 2006

Saturday, April 22nd, 2006

Flourescent lamps may contain mercury. Recently I had a flourescent bulb burn out. It has been some time since I had bought any flourescent bulbs. As I was looking at the package I noticed the label that stated “Contains mercury. Dispose according to local, state or federal laws”. So my question was, where do you dispose of the burned out lamp?

Protecting our nation’s environment is of paramount concern to all Americans, as reflected in national polling results that consistently rank the environment as one of the top three priorities among consumers.

Through a single toll-free phone call to 1-800-CLEANUP or the use of the Earth 911 Web site, you can access several sections of community-specific environmental information at no cost to the user or taxpayer.

Entering in your zip code on the Earth 911 Web site will generate a list of recyclers in your vicinity that will take lamps that contains mercury.

Older Hardware and Puppy Linux

Friday, April 21st, 2006

Are you trying to coax more life from aging hardware? I suggest taking a look at one of the smaller Linux distributions. They work well in lower-powered, smaller, older systems, and at the same time, are technologically up to date. And they are FREE!

For example there is the Puppy Linux distro, perfect for enabling the continued use of older, slower hardware. As one satisfied user commented:

Just letting you know you have saved three old computers at my home …your Puppy wokeup the unwakeable. Thank you. We now have a totally Bill Gates free house, and my young ones take pride on that fact.

Puppy Linux is fast, powerful and tiny and it is easy to get running, and has excellent hardware-detection routines. If your goal is to keep older hardware useful in today’s world, then something like Puppy Linux is an awesome little distribution.