"It's going to be a good day, Tater"
"Abu Musab al-Zarqawi Killed in Bombing Raid" I wonder if the F-16 pilot who dropped the Zarqawi-killing bombs gets to collect the $25 million bounty. That would be a nice retirement package.
Fourteen
About this time fourteen years ago, my beloved and I were dancing our first dance, or cutting the cake, or visiting with the numerous friends and family members who were generous enough with their time to spend it in celebration with us. A lot has changed in the world in fourteen years. A lot has changed within each of us. If you had told me fourteen years ago how our lives would be today, I would have thought you insane. Yet we have a really great life. Sure, there are a few things I wish could be better. I wish my mother-in-law would have had more than nine months with her only grandchild. I wish my Granddaddy would have been around to see his first great-grandchild, and my Pappaw would have seen his tenth or eleventh. (There are so many great-grandchildren on that side of the family, it's hard to keep track.) We've had our ups and downs, but all of that plays in to shaping the kind of people we are today, and the life we have together. I wouldn't trade it for the world. I love you, Kelly. Happy Anniversary.
Never forget
I don't need anything else special to remember my wedding anniversary. Circumstances of life dictated that forever shall the day of our wedding be shared with that of the invasion of Normandy, and the enormous sacrifice made there by so many. Yesterday marked the second anniversary of President Reagan's passing, I can think of no better words to remember D-Day, than those spoken by him on the fortieth anniversary of the invasion:
Forty summers have passed since the battle that you fought here. You were young that day and you took these cliffs; some of you were hardly more than boys, with the deepest joys of life before you. Yet, you risked everything here. Why? Why did you do it? What impelled you to put aside the instinct for self-preservation and risk your lives to take these cliffs? What inspired all the men of the armies that met here?
We look at you, and somehow we know the answer. It was faith and belief; it was loyalty and love. The men of Normandy had faith that what they were doing was right, faith that they fought for all humanity, faith that a just God would grant them mercy on this beachhead or on the next. It was the deep knowledge--and pray God we have not lost it--that there is a profound moral difference between the use of force of liberation and the use of force for conquest. You were here to liberate, not to conquer... You all knew that some things are worth dying for.
On the Horizon at Panera
As if the free wifi at Panera Bread wasn't enough of a reason to frequent the joint--that is, beyond the yummy food--the little phisch and I learned today they now carry Horizon Organic single-serving milk boxes, and Yogurt Tubes in place of chips, for the Panera Kids meals. Kudos, Panera!
On Corporate America's sad view of the family
My father taught me to never raise my hand to a woman. But if I had been the one sitting across from the female HR person who told a mom she had "wasted" the past 19 years of her life raising her three children, I could very well have forgotten those lessons from my father. Outrageous.
Holy Smoke Resignation, Bertman!
After taking over from the legendary Skip Bertman, LSU baseball coach Raymond "Smoke" Laval has resigned after five years at the head of the program. Under Smoke's leadership, the Tigers amassed a record of 210-109-1, 88-60-1 in the SEC. LSU won the SEC Championship in 2003, and played in the College World Series twice, in 2003 and 2004, out of four NCAA Tournament appearances.
Lest anyone think this was about LSU not making the NCAA Tournament for the first time in, well, a long while, this is what Skip had to say about his friend, and the search ahead:
“I think hiring a new coach is not as easy as people might think. The coach that resigned had the most wins in the Southeastern Conference in the last five years, more than any of the other 11 coaches. He had the most wins totally in the last five years over every coach except for the coach at South Carolina. He’s the only coach besides the South Carolina coach who has been to the College World Series more than once. No other coach has won the conference more than one time in the last five years. I think that’s a lot of pressure. The standards here are high and the pressure is great.” It would be tough on any coach having to step in to the incredibly big shoes left behind by Skip Bertman, and Coach Laval has done the best job he can. We wish him well in his future endeavors, and will always consider him one of our own. Thanks, Smoke!
Miscellany
O'Reilly has a web site devoted to Lightroom. [Via John.]
Though I do not speak, read, or write either, I still think it very cool that Gmail now supports Arabic and Hebrew.
The World eBook Fair is a month away. [Via AWAD.]
ATPM 12.06
The June issue of About This Particular Macintosh is now available. Mirko von Berner celebrates the new MacBook in this month's cover art. Wes Meltzer waxes nostalgic on the Mac blogosphere's round-up of the MacBook, as well as noting Apple's new commercials, Microsoft Vista delays, and other blog posts of interest to Mac users. Mark Tennent has a triple dose of MacMuser for us this month: Mac vs Windows network printing; the value of iDisk; and how black is the new black. In this issue's FileMaking, Chuck devles in to FileMaker scripting. Sylvester ponders the modern technological conundrum of the digital lifestyle not always being all it's cracked up to be. Chris Lawson offers us another dose of photos from last year's Oshkosh AirVenture event for this month's desktop pictures section. This set features some of my favorite prop planes: the P-51 Mustang, aptly named "Gunfighter"; the P-40 Warhawk, defender of Chinese airspace in the days before the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor; the P-47 Thunderbolt; Supermarine's Spitfire, defender of Britian's skies; and the venerable DC-3. In this month's Cortland, Todd lands a date and a job interview on the same night, but neither is what it seems. Plus, Chad is taken down a notch by the Boss Control Squad. Paul reviews photo manipulation newcomer PhotoComplete, while Wes has a double-shot look at products from Waterfield Design. If you're not a briefcase type, such as moi, you may want to give the Racer-X a look; it could change your feelings about briefcases. But if you go with the Racer-X, or any of Waterfield's other cases, you'll want to use their SleeveCase in conjunction with the larger bag. My PowerBook rides in a SleeveCase, no matter what other bag I use, and I second Wes's recommendation, though unlike our Mr. Metlzer, I prefer the full flap on the SleeveCase. What happens when worms gear up with mil-spec hardware and wage war? Worms 3D, of course, which our Matthew Glidden puts through its paces. Eric runs Yojimbo through the wringer to close out the June issue, available any way you like.
Remember
It says a lot about our nation in that too few of us think about those who have given their lives in military service, much less participate in events to commemorate them, on Memorial Day. This was what ran through my head as we drove the Maine coastline today, noting the hundreds, perhaps thousands, on the beaches of York. To honor those who have made the ultimate sacrifice, I humbly offer these words from one of our greatest Presidents:
Four score and seven years ago our fathers brought forth on this continent a new nation, conceived in liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal.
Now we are engaged in a great civil war, testing whether that nation, or any nation so conceived and so dedicated, can long endure. We are met on a great battlefield of that war. We have come to dedicate a portion of that field as a final resting-place for those who here gave their lives that this nation might live. It is altogether fitting and proper that we should do this.
But, in a larger sense, we cannot dedicate, we cannot consecrate, we cannot hallow, this ground. The brave men, living and dead, who struggled here, have consecrated it far above our poor power to add or detract. The world will little note nor long remember what we say here, but it can never forget what they did here. It is for us, the living, rather, to be dedicated here to the unfinished work which they who fought here have thus far so nobly advanced. It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us--that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion--that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain, that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom, and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth." [With thanks to KnowledgeNews for the text of the Gettysburg Address.]
Earthquake relief
World Vision is one of many non-government organizations (NGOs) providing emergency survival kits in Indonesia, as a result of the recent earthquake there. World Vision's kits include blankets, temporary shelter, medicine and clothing. If you're seeking to help out with relief efforts there, please consider a donation to World Vision.
Miscellany
Leave it to a bunch of Brits to play football with automobiles. In this case, a small fleet of Toyota's Aygos. There was plenty of rubbin' going on, and as we all know, "Rubbin's racin'." [Via Autoblog, video requires Windows Media Player.]
When you go to see X3, sit through the credits.
It is amazingly quiet in my study when my wife's Windows PC is powered off. My iMac Core Duo, PowerBook, external hard drive, and HP OfficeJet AIO (when it's not actually printing) are all near-silent. When I walked in a moment ago, and registered the quiet, being so used to the fans of the PC, I had a momentary thought of "What's wrong?"
The psychology of milk
My bride and I have noticed a quirk of psychology regarding the consumption of milk in our abode. Based on the recommendation of friends a couple of years ago, we prefer Horizon Organic milk, and originally bought it in half-gallon cartons, since this seemed to be the largest size the stores that carried the brand would stock. At some point, gallon sizes appeared, and we began purchasing the larger size. This is when the quirk began: We drank less milk when we had the gallon container than when we had two half-gallon containers. I'm still trying to figure out why this is so. As a result of our not drinking as much milk, we found ourselves reaching and going beyond the expiration dates on the gallon-sized milk, something we'd never done with the half-gallon containers. (It should be noted that milk in cartons often have farther-out expiration dates than milk in semi-transparent jugs.) Switching back to half-gallon containers, we're back to drinking more milk than when we purchased the gallon sizes. I'm somewhat baffled. Amateur shrinks, have at it.
Miscellany
The iPatch.
This likely has made its rounds through the blogosphere already, but I just read in the latest dead-tree edition of Wired that Choose Your Own Adventure books are getting republished, updated for the 21st century. Though he's not old enough yet to read on his own and appreciate them, I may have to pick up these titles for my little phisch. I had a great time with them when I was eleven, though I don't believe I was ever able to successfully navigate The Abominable Snowman without "cheating".
What happened to all that wreckage from the Twin Towers after 9/11? Twenty-four tons of steel girders ended up in one of the Navy's latest ships.
Miscellany
Good tip, courtesy of TUAW, on pairing your Apple Remote with its intended system. Very useful in a mutliple Apple-Remote-Mac home. I went ahead and paired my iMac with its remote, even though it's the only such capable Mac we have. You never know what might be around the corner.
42 Climbers Reach Summit of Mount Everest. Note to self: "May is considered the best month to climb Everest. Climbers in Nepal have to complete their mission by May 31 before the weather deteriorates during monsoon season."
"Elvis impersonators can relax: No one's coming after their bespangled jumpsuits." Damn.
This story is encouraging me to let the little phisch have a cheap point-and-shoot digital in a few months. He loved using a Fujifilm disposable camera a couple of months back, and even framed a shot or two pretty well.
Listening to 300 years of history
A new auction record was set yesterday when a 300 year-old Stradivarius violin was sold for $3.54 million. The former owner loaned the instrument out to violinists, and it sounds as if the new owner will continue to do the same. Someone sign me up for those concerts.
More miscellany
Lee's a bit hot under the collar over Skype's new, supposedly free, SkypeOut plan, and understandably so. I'm not sure I get Skype's argument; I thought the whole point of their service was to be location free, to the extent of remaining within the borders of the U.S.
Something tells me my sister would really dig these lamps. [Wave of the phin to Firewheel Design.]
Congratulations to Aram Kudurshian, developer of High Priority, who has accepted a developer position with Apple.
Miscellany
As is so often the case with video or film, the music totally makes the FedEx pilots drive around thunderstorm short film.
I sincerely hope JPMorgan Chase & Co. realize they just flushed $150 million.
This may have been posited elsewhere, but I think when the Power Mac G5 replacement ships, it will simply be called "Mac Pro". You have the Pro designation separating the portable models, and they're not going to call a tower/desktop without a built-in monitor "iMac Pro". Apple will still want to differentiate the line from the consumer series, so it will just be Mac Pro.
MacBook
So it's all over the Mac blogosphere and online news world: the iBook replacement has been released, and as many reckoned, it is simply called MacBook. Available in the snow white we've all come to know and love, as well as in black-is-the-new-black black, the new MacBook features either a 1.83 or 2 GHz Intel Core Duo processor, up to 2 GB of RAM, starts with an 60 GB hard drive, going up to 120 GB, comes with the same MagSafe power adapter as the MacBook Pro, has a 13.3-inch screen with a 1280 x 800 resolution, and can be had with either a Combo optical drive, or the DVD-burning SuperDrive. The new MacBook has a built-in iSight, and features integrated Intel graphics which shares the system's main memory, a deal-killer for me personally. To the joy of a lot of Mac users, Apple has now released all of its products from mirroring-only on an external monitor, as the MacBook joins the Intel-based iMac in supporting extended desktop on an external display. The MacBook can drive up to a 23-inch display through it's Mini-DVI port, which requires an adapter for full DVI or VGA compatibility. One FireWire 400 port, two USB 2.0 ports, Gigabit Ethernet, Airport Extreme, and built-in Bluetooth round out the package. Just as with the MacBook Pro and iMac, a modem is now optional, external, and costs $49. It should be noted that the black MacBook is only available with the 2 GHz Core Duo, and features a $200 markup over its white brethren; this gets you a baseline 80 GB hard drive instead of a 60 GB model. Otherwise, you're paying extra for the alternative color. Still, I believe Apple is going to sell a ton of both, and will be hard pressed to keep black models in stock. Time will tell if the black cases are as susceptible to scratching as their similarly-colored iPod cousins. I'd love a black MacBook in the future, but I have a problem with integrated graphics and their sharing of the system memory. It may be an irrational dislike, but it keeps my eye on the 15-inch MacBook Pro, with hope that the new MacBook signals a 13.3-inch version in the Pro series.
Miscellany
Johnny Cash's Johnny Cash's American V: A Hundred Highways is scheduled for release in July. This album comprises the absolute last recordings Cash made before his death, part of his collaboration with Rick Rubin. [Wave of the phin to Prosthesis.]
Now all of my fellow Star Wars fans can decorate their walls with their favorite images from the movies. [Wave of the phin to Firewheel Design.]
Professional baseball is coming to Israel, with plans to apply to be in the 2009 World Baseball Classic. The history of baseball in the land of the Bible is astounding. [Via Newsvine.]