Stormy's Corner

Grandmas

From Grandparent Quotes:

Grandmas are moms with lots of frosting.  ~Author Unknown

NY subway perv busted by mobe snap | The Register

They got the NY subway pervert whose picture was published online.

NY subway perv busted by mobe snap | The Register.

$4/gallon for gas

At least one person is predicting $4/gallon soon:

Consumers can expect retail gas prices to rise to $4 a gallon in the near future, Ben Brockwell, director of pricing at the Oil Price Information Service, said Wednesday. "There's no question gas will hit $4 a gallon," he said. "The question is how high will it go and how long will it last?"

CNN.com - Conditions deteriorate in Katrina's wake - Aug 31, 2005

Blatantly Biased Reporting

I know it's an editorial, but what are they trying to imply?  That President Bush shouldn't take vacations?  Is the middle of an article about the New Orleans disaster the right place to put this type of commentary?

or even to point out that it took what may become the worst natural disaster in American history to pry President Bush out of his vacation.

New Orleans in Peril - New York Times

Go for Satisfaction, not Happiness

I read a really interesting article about Gregory Berns's book, Satisfaction: The Science of Finding True Fulfillment, that says that humans really want satisfaction, not pleasure.  We want challenges and experiences that give us a feeling of satisfaction, not easy experiences that are just pleasurable.  It was interesting to think about.

If you do something at which you are highly practiced, then you have little opportunity to encounter something novel or unexpected, so dopamine and satisfaction may be low. But when you do something that takes you beyond what you have done before, you are in unknown territory and novel information will flow into your striatum, pumping out dopamine, which in turn forces you to act on the information. The release of dopamine in response to the novel information is the essence of a satisfying experience.

So what was his advice?

I would say stop pursuing happiness and pursue satisfaction. One should be concentrating on things that give you a sense of commitment and achievement. Seek new experiences.

That might explain why I like traveling, taking classes and trying different volunteer jobs!

False phone bill taxes

Ever wondered about all those taxes on your phone bill that you've never heard of? Turns out they are not taxes at all.

"Property tax allotment" charge, for instance, is nothing more than the property taxes that the carrier pays. The "carrier cost recovery fee" is a catch-all for many kinds of operating expenses; the "single bill fee" charges subscribers who want a single bill for wireless and landline phone service.

A Monthly Mystery - New York Times

Our Debt

This article,  Experts Warn Debt May Threaten Economy - Yahoo! News, did a good job of explaining our current debt situation and how our attitude and habits contribute to it.   I particularly resonated with this quote:

"I see people younger than me with comparable jobs that drive new vehicles and have a boat and mortgage and things," says Canelon, who responded to the AP/Ipsos poll. "And I just wonder about their debt."

We were camping at the lake a few weeks ago and even with our truck, camper, convertible and boat, we were way outdone by the young couples all around us.  They had brand new trucks, 5th wheels that cost as much as houses and boats.  We just kept saying, "they are in debt!"

Catching perverts online

A photo of an alleged flasher was posted on Flickr.  Now the New York City Flickr community can help identify him.  (This is similar to the story of a woman who didn't pick up her dog's poop in Asia and her photo was shown all over the internet.)  I think it's a really cool idea to solicit help from all concerned citizens to catch criminals.  (And if he's not a criminal, hopefully he can come forward and explain his part in the story.)  However, what really surprised me was some of the comments on the Flickr page.  Lots of comments were supportive but many were of the "what's the problem" tone.  I didn't have a problem with people questioning the authenticity of the post, but to say that masturbating in front of someone who doesn't want to see it, in a public place, isn't an issue ...

pervert081805thumbnail on Flickr - Photo Sharing!.

Tipping: what's appropriate

Ever wondered what to tip?  I found a good guide at Tipping Etiquette Guide at FindaLink.net.

Asians and Americans see different things in the same picture

Asians and Americans see different things in the same picture.  When shown a picture of fish swimming, Japanese subjects described the stream, the rocks and then the fish.  Americans described the fish first.  Americans looked at the fish first and spent more time looking at them.  Japanese looked at the whole scene and then the fish.

Interesting applications for all of life and in particular international business.

Asians, Americans Show Perceptual Divide - Yahoo! News.

Car split in two

If you needed a reason not to drink and drive, this picture of a car split in two ought to do it.  Both occupants died although the driver did make it to the hospital.  The Coloradoan: Crash splits vehicle.

Amazing pictures: Flickr: Explore!

If you want to see some truely amazing pictures, check out the Flickr: Explore! page.

On a different note, here are all the pictures taken of Windjammer cruises lately:

www.flickr.com

Economist.com's biased comments

The Economist.com is my favorite business/news/political magazine.  One of the reasons I like it is because it's not afraid to have an opinion and take a stance.  Unlike most newspapers that claim to be neutral and aren't, the Economist very openly takes a side.  They also report about topics of real interest to me and they somehow make topics I wouldn't normally find interesting very relevant to me. 

However, as I was reading last week's edition, I had to laugh out loud at the blatantly biased and gratuitous comments.  For example, in an article about how Bush works out a lot, "The jock-in-chief", they write:

For Democrats the main qualification for a top job is "intelligence" - hence their constant complaint that Republican presidents are too dumb for the job.  But for Republicans the most important qualification is "character" - by which they mean an ability to hit balls and bang heads.

Or how about this one about the mob, "Gotti go now?"

She and her mother, also called Victoria (they are not an imaginative family, names-wise), were both in court this week and on message.

No doubts about where they stand, I guess!

Latest Project: My Baby Book

I'm posting this not because I think I'm a supercute baby but because I wanted to show off my latest project: Stormy's Baby Book - a photoset on Flickr.  View it as a slideshow for best results.

I've been scanning in a lot of old photos and what amazes me is that there aren't more services available. I tried to get my grandmother's photos scanned in and they wanted $15/photo just to scan each one in!  Then to touch them up would be another $30-$150 depending on the photo.   I couldn't find anybody that advertised scanning in old photo albums like baby books.

Is it a business I should go into?  Would you be looking for a service like this?

Women continue to leave the tech field

Women continue to leave the technology fields and it's not just in the US.  According to this article, Women 'undervalued' in science, in The Register, it exists in the UK as well:

In June this year, the Scientific Women's Academic Network launched a six-point charter, aimed at changing the academic culture in the UK in a bid to stop so many women leaving the profession. The network said women often felt undervalued by colleagues and unsupported in their career progression.

LifeStraw: water purification cheap

LifeStraw is an entire purification system in what looks like a fat drinking straw.  It was designed by a Danish group to be produced for under $2 a straw in order to be marketable for the developing world where water borne diseases still kill thousands.

LifeStraw purifies water instantly for under $2 a year - Engadget - www.engadget.com.

Some Conversations are Just Hard to Have

Why are conversations about sex so hard to have?   (That's a rhetorical question, I think.) This article by a doctor about the conversations he has with his adolescent patients is funny, but it just illustrates how hard these conversations are to have.  It's Time for the Truth, When Body Clock Strikes 13 - New York Times.  It's sad as well as funny when a boy has to ask his doctor whether Mountain Dew kills sperm or not. 

Great Idea but Not Yet: Froogle Mobile

I can't tell you the number of times I've been in a store and wished I could get online for just a minute to do some price comparison or review shoppiong.   Froogle Mobile makes that possible from some cell phones.  Unfortunately, I don't think mine is one of them yet.

Need Help From Family!

scan50013,
originally uploaded by Storming.

I've been scanning in a lot of my Grandmother Price's pictures.  I need help from all family identifying who is in the pictures.  You can go to my Flickr page, see the "sets" on the left, explore any one of them, and add comments.

Chase after a long run down a dirt road

Chase,
originally uploaded by Storming.

Teddy after a weekend of camping and hiking

Teddy,
originally uploaded by Storming.

White River National Forest

www.flickr.com

Which do you like better?  I wish I knew how to make the top one bigger ...

Colorado Wildflowers

 

We saw fields full of beautiful wildflowers while hiking in the White River National Forest.

Time to check: Are you using the right blogging tool?

Anne pointed me to this article on blogs.  If you are new to blogs or just have a few questions, like what's "Trackback" mean, this article has a great overview.  There's even a chart comparing blogs.

Time to check: Are you using the right blogging tool?

Subscribing to Flickr via Bloglines

I just discovered that two of my favorite web tools work together.

I read all my news and blogs via Bloglines.  I share pictures with my friends via Flickr.  Both great tools.  Flickr in particular has a lot of potential.

Now, all my friends and family's new pictures show up every morning in Bloglines when I read the news!  So along with my daily news I also see the most recent pictures of my friends' trips to Oregon and my cousin's birthday party.

Here's how you do it:

1. You can go to any Flickr page (I went to "Photos from Friends and Family") and at the bottom right there is an RSS feed.  Copy that link.
2. Go to Bloglines, my feeds, and "Add a Feed", use the link where it asks for the RSS feed.
3. Then presto!  I can now see all the new pictures my friends add in Bloglines!

Way cool.

Women's Voices: Wife-Beatings in Africa - New York Times

What struck me most initially was that this women was speaking up even though she hasn't given up.  She is still married to the man who beat her 60 times in eight years and while she thinks the beatings are wrong, she still wants to be married to him.  Staying in a situation while publically committing to changing it is a very difficult situation to be in!  Most people condemn a situation after they leave it.  Sticking around to change it takes guts. 

I'm not saying she should stay and be beaten.  I'm just saying that not just walking (or running) away while being openly critical of the situation must take a very strong woman.

Entrenched Epidemic: Wife-Beatings in Africa - New York Times.

Man Dies Playing Computer Games - Yahoo! News

A man in South Korea died after playing computer games for 49 hours without stopping for sleep or food.  I've always said that I don't play computer games because they are too addictive.  I know too many people that have woken up with keyboard imprints on their faces.

Man Dies After 49 Hours of Computer Games - Yahoo! News.

But what do you do when computer games are how your friends socialize or network?  What if it's a world you want to be a part of?  How long do you think it will be before you can actually enter the game?  As opposed to participating through your keyboard?  And if you can actually "enter it" through some type of virtual reality (VR) like William Gibson's stories, do you think that people will start sleeping in VR?  No matter how exciting our daily lives get we usually manage a few hours of sleep a night and we definitely eat.

'You've got to find what you love,' Jobs says

Steve Jobs gave the commencement speech at Stanford this year and while his advise is hard to follow, it is inspirational.    He says:

And the only way to do great work is to love what you do. If you haven't found it yet, keep looking. Don't settle.

He says every morning you should ask yourself if what you plan to do today is what you'd do if you only had a day left to live.  If you answer "no" too many days in a row, you need to find something different to do.

Here's the whole talk: 'You've got to find what you love,' Jobs says.

Dog Beats Most in Swim From Alcatraz - Yahoo! News

A golden retriever swam the 1.2 miles from Alcatraz to San Francisco this year.  Dog Beats Most in Swim From Alcatraz - Yahoo! News.

Google Earth & Cool Apps

If you haven't yet downloaded Google Earth or been to Google Maps to find something, you are really missing out.  Here's a page that will show you some of the cool things you can do with it, Google Map Directory.  One that I like is Colorado Future, a listing of all homes for sale in Colorado with maps and satellite pictures of the house.

Used Book Business

I think owning a used bookstore would be awesome as used bookstores are one of my favorite places but I've never been able to figure out how you could make much of a living at it.  Used books just don't cost much.  This article in the New York Times, Reading Between the Lines of Used Book Sales, offers insight into the new versus used book markets.  It turns out that used books don't affect new book prices much - for every 10% more a new book cost, used book sales only go up by 1%.  So that means people are willing to pay a lot of a new book.

Why do so many people prefer to buy a new book to a used one?  Do they keep them all and so want the best copy possible?  Or do people that would probably buy a used book tend to frequent the library more?