"Murphy was an optimist!"
Rayovac discontinued their Hybrid NiMH December 10, 2010 11:02 am
Posted by Doug McCaughan in : Of Interest, TechnologyYears ago I decided to quit using Alkaline batteries and instead move to rechargeable. Of course, old nickle cadium (NiCd) batteries were horrible. They were prone to "memory" problems where a the recharging/discharging cycle could result in a loss of capacity. NiCDs also discharged quickly and just could not power some higher demand devices like today’s digital cameras.
I initially bought name brand but the Energizer NiMH were weak. Their D cell rechargeable batteries turned out to be spacers to fill the size of a D but with only a AA inside which I supposed doesn’t really matter except that "D cells are typically used in high current drain applications" [Source, Wikipedia, D battery] Duracell rechargeable batteries were equally disappointing. Now for years I chose Rayovac alkaline AA batteries for most applications and Energizer Max AAs for digital cameras. One day in Target, hidden toward the bottom of the batteries and off to the side, I found a package of generic looking rechargeable batteries labeled "Hybrid." I pleasantly discovered this was a Rayovac product and it rocked! In addition to being a great battery, Rayovac didn’t require a Rayovac charger.
Eventually Rayovac switched to a green label and then a blue label. It felt like the redheaded stepchild of rechargeable batteries but I loved the performance. Over time a cell or two died but I didn’t have the knowledge for using my multimeter to determine a good cell from bad. We just bought more batteries and soon our house had enough rechargeable batteries that we rarely use alkaline batteries anymore. Eventually I discovered the Ansmann 5207123 Energy 16 Charger
So today I was reading a review of the new hotness, nickle zinc (NiZn) batteries. Despite the good words about PowerGenix’s Nickel Zinc AA
In the review, I discovered that Rayovac has discontinued their Hybrid AA/AAAs! Turns out, Hybrid is from 2007; it was rebranded to a blue wrapper in 2009 and is now (2010) called Rayovac Platinum Pre-Charged
We now use the Rayovac batteries in all the kids toys and our various electronic devices. For Cathy’s digital camera, we use Sanyo Eneloop
Do your holiday shopping with Amazon! December 9, 2010 12:39 pm
Posted by Doug McCaughan in : Announcements, Holiday, Of InterestThis year we are striving to do most of our shopping online. I know it goes against "buy local" but if buy local means fighting crowds in a big chain store that isn’t locally owned then I’d rather shop in my pajamas through Amazon. I participate in Amazon’s affiliate program. When I refer people to Amazon, I get rewarded by Amazon. It does not raise the price of the person referred nor cost them in any way. So, if you are inclined to do your shopping online and do not participate in the affiliate program yourself, please consider getting to Amazon by using the link http://amazon.djuggler.net/ which simply goes to http://www.amazon.com/?linkCode=shr&camp=213733&creative=393193&tag=sidesigns-20. Much obliged!
add a commentDeep Thoughts December 8, 2010 2:58 pm
Posted by Doug McCaughan in : Deep Thoughts, PhilosophyJust because you’re an asshole doesn’t mean you have to act like an asshole.
add a commentSnot, Wet Wipes and Frost December 8, 2010 9:27 am
Posted by Doug McCaughan in : Daily Life, Evan, Family, Of Being DadWhen you are pulling into the carpool line as your child is supposed to be entering the building to avoid a tardy, it is not a good time to look over your shoulder and discover that last night he invoked his super powers and is still wearing his secret identity of Booger Boy! It is a worse time to realize that leaving a package of wet wipes
The Internet’s Lowest Common Denominator December 7, 2010 2:09 pm
Posted by Doug McCaughan in : Announcements, Communications, Of Interest, TechnologyI have reduced the Internet!
To consume all knowledge on the Internet, you only need four sites:
That’s all you need! Granted, there are some sites that make the Internet a little more fun. Hundreds. For instance, Facebook has some value in that, "don’t make me think" kind of prime time comedy hour thing. Seesmic is a great aggregator for viewing your social networks in a single place. For getting links and news, the only aggregator ever needed (and this is huge geek crack so if you have no self-control stay away from it!) is Popurls. That’s about it. Sure, you should look in on Flickr once in a while but nothing else is really needed. Of course, there’s some utilitarian stuff like banking and travel sites but really…the Internet has come down to 4 sites. You’re welcome.
add a commentHow children make us stronger adults December 7, 2010 8:49 am
Posted by Doug McCaughan in : Amy, Cathy, Daily Life, Family, From the mouths of babes, Of Being DadIt’s a beautiful day. Snow has blanketed the landscape. The roads are solid white but schools are not canceled. I’ve been fighting insomnia for the past two nights and I am weary. If I can only get the children to school, I can rest my head a bit and still put in enough hours for my clients today. I drag myself upstairs to find my adorable little girl in the hallway, "good morning!" "Dad, I threw up."
She was good to me and made it to the bathroom so clean up consisted of a flush and a mouth washing. I settle her into our bed where mom can protect her and I take the five year old boy to school all the while covering up my thoughts of lazily sleeping in with the deception of being a good dad offering comfort to the sick child, "Mom and I will lay here and keep you safe." Integrity traded for another half hour of hiding under the covers! But alas…
Upon my return, my groggy wife is upstairs. "Your daughter threw up in our bed." My first thought, "oh poor child!" My second thought, "Wife is upstairs. Maybe her side of the bed is still clean." But no, by my daughter’s special encouragement, I remain a responsible, awake adult and head off to my client’s office [to sleep under the desk].
add a commentLet the really kinky sex begin! December 5, 2010 8:38 pm
Posted by Doug McCaughan in : Daily Life, Family, House, Of Being DadAfter a full decade and several nearly awkward moments with the children, our bedroom door finally has a lock!
add a commentEnter the Haggis December 3, 2010 8:47 pm
Posted by Doug McCaughan in : Music, Of InterestOy vey! My daughter is Jewish! December 2, 2010 12:24 pm
Posted by Doug McCaughan in : Daily Life, Family, Hanukkah, Holiday, Of Being Dad, SarahDespite her grandparents regularly taking her to a Baptist church on Sundays and her boyfriend introducing her to the Methodist church which they regularly attended on Wednesdays, I’ve just realized that my eldest daughter is Jewish. See, she drives a car that burns oil, feh!, and I’m quite certain that it ran out weeks ago…yet it still runs!
Happy Hanukkah! Shalom.
3commentsOf Being Dad December 2, 2010 8:20 am
Posted by Doug McCaughan in : Amy, Daily Life, Evan, Family, Of Being DadNo one said it would be easy. Being a father is a fantastic thing. One of my best friends once told me, "you’re not a real man until you have children" and I, childless at the time, thought he was being a little to narrow in his definition. I get what he was saying now. I could write a dissertation off his simple statement. However, for the moment, suffice it to say that children grow you as a person. Unfortunately, it seems this growth takes about 20 years which is probably part of why grandparents are so much better with children than parents; aside from the fact that "the kids go home."
Sometimes, your word choices don’t match your actions. You feel stupid as you lose your temper with a child and shout, "quit being so angry!" or something akin to that. But it happens. And you paint yourself into a corner. You start down a path and almost as the words roll off your tongue your argument with/discipline of the child becomes about "how do I back out of this?!" Words can be like knives. Word choices can inflict as much pain and damage as physical abuse. As parents, it is important that we truly think before we speak or act. And perhaps, before giving that child a timeout, we should give ourselves one first. This morning, overtired and with a head cold but without an excuse, I should have given myself a timeout and didn’t.
add a commentFrom the mouths of babes December 1, 2010 10:19 am
Posted by Doug McCaughan in : Daily Life, Family, From the mouths of babes, Of Being Dad, SarahSarah, entering college in January: "Dad, can I have $1000 tomorrow? Oh, and I’ll need $17,000 in six weeks."
add a commentThink Before You Kill Julian Assange November 30, 2010 8:35 am
Posted by Doug McCaughan in : Activism, Politics, Touchy SubjectsMany people are in a uproar over the Wikileaks release of 251,287 United States embassy cables "the largest set of confidential documents ever to be released into the public domain." Reaction has included suggestions of naming Wikileaks as a terrorist organization. Some people have called for the execution of Julian Assange as a traitor. Proceed with caution! I’d like to take a moment to point out that history is repeating itself. Recall the Pentagon Papers during the Vietnam War. This exact situation was tried in 1971 in New York Times Co. v. United States with the outcome being the release of the documents is protected by the First Amendment.
Though inconvenient for officials, the revelation of information contained in any of the WikiLeaks files, much like the Pentagon Papers amid the Vietnam war, is protected by the First Amendment — a point made by the US Supreme Court in New York Times Co. v. United States in 1971.
[Source, The Raw Story, GOP Rep. asks Clinton to declare WikiLeaks a ‘foreign terrorist organization’]
In all that I have read, and in all the news commentary I have watched on television and online, nothing has been as notable and as important as the next three paragraphs of The Raw Story’s article.
"In seeking injunctions against these newspapers and in its presentation to the Court, the Executive Branch seems to have forgotten the essential purpose and history of the First Amendment," Justices Hugo Black and William Douglas wrote, taking the side of the Times, which had recently published what was then considered the largest cache of secret military information in US history.
[Source, The Raw Story, GOP Rep. asks Clinton to declare WikiLeaks a ‘foreign terrorist organization’ emphasis added]
Read this next paragraph twice. This paragraph notes where main stream media is failing in its job in the name of page views, popularity and ad sales rather than serving the governed. Wikileaks has stepped up to do the job that our press corp has quit.
"In the First Amendment the Founding Fathers gave the free press the protection it must have to fulfill its essential role in our democracy," they continued. "The press was to serve the governed, not the governors. The Government’s power to censor the press was abolished so that the press would remain forever free to censure the Government. The press was protected so that it could bare the secrets of government and inform the people. Only a free and unrestrained press can effectively expose deception in government."
[Source, The Raw Story, GOP Rep. asks Clinton to declare WikiLeaks a ‘foreign terrorist organization’ emphasis added]
In conclusion, before passing negative judgment against Julian Assange and Wikileaks, read the words of Justices Black and Douglas in regard to the Pentagon Papers.
After the release of the Pentagon Papers, Justices Black and Douglas opined that "newspapers nobly did precisely that which the Founders hoped and trusted they would do."
[Source, The Raw Story, GOP Rep. asks Clinton to declare WikiLeaks a ‘foreign terrorist organization’ emphasis added]
Please go to The Raw Story and read the entire article titled GOP Rep. asks Clinton to declare WikiLeaks a ‘foreign terrorist organization’. Take note that the people wanting to declare Wikileaks a terrorist organization and suppress information keeping you, the citizenry, in the dark are the exact same people embarrassed, or in a position of having their careers ended, by the release of these documents, like Hillary Clinton.
To close, one more quote from The Raw Story. Justice Potter Stewart’s comment.
6commentsJustice Potter Stewart added: "In the absence of the governmental checks and balances present in other areas of our national life, the only effective restraint upon executive policy and power in the areas of national defense and international affairs may lie in an enlightened citizenry – in an informed and critical public opinion which alone can here protect the values of democratic government. For this reason, it is perhaps here that a press that is alert, aware, and free most vitally serves the basic purpose of the First Amendment. For without an informed and free press there cannot be an enlightened people."
[Source, The Raw Story, GOP Rep. asks Clinton to declare WikiLeaks a ‘foreign terrorist organization’ emphasis added]
E-clutter November 27, 2010 3:00 pm
Posted by Doug McCaughan in : Daily LifeToday I have decided to get rid of all printers in the house but one, getting rid of the fax machine, and all currently unused CRTs but one. I thinking about taking that purple iMac to the genius bar and complaining that I cannot get it to work.
add a commentState of Me – Happy November 27, 2010 10:31 am
Posted by Doug McCaughan in : Daily Life, Family, Holiday, ThanksgivingI was able to budget some time this weekend to work on the club house, hang a television on the wall (a project that was looong overdue), and we dug out the Christmas tree and much of the holiday decorations. I was able to participate in a Thanksgiving Day sweat lodge and came out of it absolutely renewed. And we feasted with family. This weekend has felt much less stressful than Thanksgivings past.
add a commentAngry Birds Peace Treaty November 22, 2010 12:11 pm
Posted by Doug McCaughan in : Humor, Videoadd a commentA historic moment for birds and pigs everywhere.
