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Book Referral

My brother-in-law gives a high recommendation to Designing With Web Standards by Jeffery Zeldman

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Wahoo! Thanks Microsoft!


I swear as I was taking the kids to school today I said “I’m a Microsoft Partner. I need to see if they can provide me a CD with the security updates so that I can fix my friend’s computer.” That would be the friend with a dialup connection in the country that pays per minute to use AOL.

So, thanks SlickDeals.net!


Free Windows Security Update CD from Microsoft. Good for those still on the 56k modem.

The Windows Security Update CD will be shipped to you free of charge. This CD includes Microsoft critical updates released through October 2003 and information to help you protect your PC. In addition, you will also receive free antivirus and firewall trial software.

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Special moments with a baby

What a pleasure it is to have a little person have a serious talk with you! My baby was chatty this morning. Granted, only 40% or less of her speech makes sense but today she was talking with long sentences and sometimes serious subjects. She would yammer on and on with these happy eyes and jovial looks then suddenly for just a sentence or two her brow would furrow and her tone would change then she’d continue with the happier parts of the story. There is no better conversation!

The convseration can be frustrating also. At one moment this morning, the 20 mth old really wanted me to understand what she was saying. She made perfect eye contact and repeated her sentence over and over. I just could not make it out. She obviously did not have signs for it either because she didn’t use her hands to help. I really wanted to understand her.

Here’s a thought for you non-parents. How does toilet training begin? This will make your head reel. The word is modeling. Let me tell you! A dog growling at you during a special moment is nothing as disturbing as a toddler handing you toilet paper!

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News of the Wierd

disclaimer: believe none of what you hear, only half of what you see, and nothing from the Internet; no sources confirmed

Magazine offers jungle holiday – with cannibals

A magazine is offering readers the chance to win a holiday with a tribe of cannibals in Papua New Guinea. …

…Mr Barker appealed for members of the public to pay £2,000 to join him on the trip after his wife had second thoughts.

…The pair will have no maps or phones and the winner will be completely at the mercy of the tribesmen.

…they haven’t eaten a Westerner for forty years,” he said.

Juggler’s thoughts: “Special dinner arranged with the winner!”

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Cool, brisk, foggy morning. 6:30-6:50: The 7 yr…

Cool, brisk, foggy morning.

6:30-6:50: The 7 yr old requested milk so I ran to the corner convenience store. The radio djs were talking about a letter to the editor that got my goat the other day. They read this lady’s words that said she had to quit her job as a courier because the law enforcement in Knoxville refused to ticket speeders particularly through construction zones. I missed the phone number or I would have called in. Perhaps it is time for me to write another letter to the editor myself. See. I believe what makes our roads safe is predictability. Predictable driving comes from when everyone obeys the same rules. Everyone obeys the same rules when we have good teaching. Speed trapping causes unpredictable driving. I contend that if everyone is speeding but going basically the same rate, particularly on the Interstate, then nothing is wrong. When someone sees a patrol car and slams on their brakes, an unpredictable change has occurred and the roads have become dangerous.

I was once on the Florida turnpike in a perfect straight stretch of road with miles of visibility. The group of cars were all doing the posted speed limit. We come across a couple of patrol cars and the car in front of me slams on his brakes dropping to 10 miles an hour below the speed limit in a very short distance. I almost tailended him and had to do evasive maneuvers to avoid having an accident. I half expected to get pulled over for wreckless driving.

I’m all for pulling over wreckless drivers. But let’s not arbitrarily say that because someone is driving faster than some posted figure that they are being “wreckless.” Let’s determine wrecklessness by the actions of the driver, the swerving, or the dramatic speed difference compared to the flow of traffic. A person zigzaging in and out of traffic is being wreckless and a person on the Interstate driving below the speed of traffic in the left hand lane is being wreckless as that person causes unpredictable behavior when people are forced to pass on the right.

Just teach people to drive.

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Useless Information for Today


Let’s not forget Britney’s Guide to Semiconductor Physics


I started writing these pages to help me consolidate some of the information I had been reading while studying for my MSD. …

… I would like it to be a useful reference to anyone that wants to know about semiconductor physics of lasers and VCSELs. The strange addition of Britney Spears to the guide has made the web site stand out from the crowd. I hope that Britney does not mind being an ambassador of science and that the fan part of the site promotes her every endeavour in the future .