I got a new Honda Element on Monday (pictures to come) and need to make up my mind on a license plate. So, I’ve narrowed down my favorites to these & I’m putting it to a vote*. Which one do you guys like? Leave me a comment.
Disclaimers:
*By “vote” I really mean, “input which I can ignore”
Two days ago I posted “Desktop Potential” bragging on Google’s new desktop search technologies, but I was unable to express all the joy this little program brings.
While data searching has been available for some time, Google’s utility does more than look for key words on a hard drive. Rather, it pulls together information which before had no logical order or recall-ability. In my case, the files on my hard drive chronicle virtually every part of my life. Whereas I am probably more digitized than the average computer user, the revolution of desktop search will effect all of us.
After my posting the other day, I remembered hearing a radio spot on The Engines of Our Ingenuity which addressed the importance of the information age.
In 1945 Vannevar Bush, a futurist, saw that our present day breakthroughs with stunning clarity. He predicted the information age would be the event that moved humanity forward, not the travel or power production which others were predicting.
Keep in mind it was 1945 when Bush said,
[Man] has built a civilization so complex that he needs to mechanize his records more fully if he is to push his experiment to its logical conclusion [without being bogged down by] his limited memory. [He must] reacquire the privilege of forgetting [all the] things he does not need …, with some assurance that he can find them again if they prove important.
Google didn’t invent data searching, neither is it alone in providing desktop search utilities. But in my testing, Google’s utility is the first to cleanly pull everything together. Their utility brings the promise of the information age to our milieu; i.e. our emails, photos, journals, research papers, schedules, task lists, eBooks, and even scanned documents are now indexed and at our fingertips.
I’ve been geeked-out all week!
So, kudos to you, Google, for your part in moving humanity forward.
My desktop computer has finally lived up to its potential: Introducing Google Desktop with the new Sidebar.
23,000 Superdome refugees boarding buses for Astrodome
By CLAY ROBISON
Copyright 2005 Houston Chronicle
HURRICANE KATRINANEW ORLEANS â?? Up to 23,000 refugees from New Orleans’ Superdome will board buses and head to Houston’s Astrodome, leaving behind a city that’s deteriorating by the hour.
Hurricane refugees trapped in the Superdome will come to the 40-year-old Astrodome in over 500 buses under plans being put together by state and local officials.
“It will be a noble calling for the grand lady at this time in her career,” said Harris County Judge Robert Eckels. “We’ll have a group of people who are tired, who are frustrated, who are scared and who have been through a tremendous tragedy.”
Eckels said officials are not expecting to keep refugees from Hurricane Katrina in the stadium very long.
“I’m thinking in terms of days, maybe weeks,” he said.
“The Dome is not suited well for this kind of a crowd for a long term,” Eckels said. “The problem when you get 20,000 or 30,000 people in a single place, you have problems with privacy. These people have been without food, without water, without sanitary sewer, without the ability to take a shower for three or four days. They are not happy, and we are cognizant of that. We will provide a place for as long as necessary.”
Louisiana Gov. Kathleen Blanco said the evacuation to Houston is to begin right away, with the first refugees arriving as early as tonight and the last within 48 hours. The Superdome, however, is surrounded by about 4 feet of water, making the transfer from dome to bus tricky.
…
Texas Gov. Rick Perry said today it was important for Texas to be available to Louisiana’s needy residents.
“We realize, but for the grace of God, we could be the ones who have this extraordinary need. These are our neighbors. These people are in need,” Perry said.
One challenge will be to provide schooling for thousands of children expected to arrive in the Astrodome.
Perry said Texas’ public schools will open their doors to any student displaced by the hurricane. He said the Texas Education Agency will work with school districts to provide additional textbooks and funds for transportation and meals as they “take on this additional pressure.”
…
Many Houstonians are sentimentally attached to the building, which was the world’s first domed stadium. But it is expensive to maintain. The county has been spending about $1.5 million annually to host a few events there. Even if it were mothballed, maintenance would cost $500,000 annually on basic operations.
(more)
My website has been giving me trouble lately. But it would appear the problem has been fixed.
More mind-numming information will be posted shortly.
Isn’t it fantastic that when referring to Lance Armstrong sports journalists still bring up the Lone Star State?
Lance Armstrong took a decisive step Tuesday toward a seventh consecutive Tour de France title, blowing away his main rivals in the first Alpine stage to regain the overall lead.
… Valverde and Armstrong finished the 110.9-mile stage in 4 hours, 50 minutes, 35 seconds.
Mickael Rasmussen is second in the overall standings, 38 seconds behind Armstrong. Ivan Basso, among the main challengers left behind by Armstrong on Tuesday, is third overall — 2:40 behind the Texan.
I love this stuff.
[The mission is to] find clues to the formation of the solar system and more about the structure and composition of comets by making a deep crater in Comet Tempel 1.
The crater formed by the encounter is expected to be up to the length of a football stadium and several stories deep.
I see Atari Generation is finally making decisions at NASA.
Ya ya ya, you’ve heard that Lance Armstrong is a super human, but those of use who have done a little cycling know just how impressive he is.
DO THE MATH - Lance Armstrong averaged over 35mph on a bike, for this time trial.
On flat ground, the fastest average I ever got to was 21-22mph.
BLOIS, France - Lance Armstrong’s Discovery Channel squad won the team time trial at the Tour de France today, handing the six-time champion the yellow jersey as overall race leader.
The 33-year-old Texan led his squad to victory for the third straight year in the time trial, clocking 1 hour, 10 minutes, 39 seconds for the 41.85-mile trek from Tours to Blois. Team CSC was second.
“It’s always nice to be in yellow,” Armstrong said. “There are three or four flat stages coming, so it will not be easy to defend the jersey.”
This makes me happy.
Key Quotes:
“The Ten Commandments monument was on the grounds of the Texas state Capitol and it is part of a larger display commemorating state history and culture. And the court agreed that it is consistent with the First Amendment.” (White House press secretary Scott McClellan)
[snip]
… a 6-foot-granite monument on the grounds of the Texas Capitol â?? one of 17 historical displays on the 22-acre lot â?? was determined to be a legitimate tribute to the nation’s legal and religious history.
“Of course, the Ten Commandments are religious â?? they were so viewed at their inception and so remain. The monument therefore has religious significance,” Chief Justice William H. Rehnquist wrote for the majority in the case involving the display outside the Texas Capitol.
“Simply having religious content or promoting a message consistent with a religious doctrine does not run afoul of the Establishment clause,” he said.
Rehnquist was joined in his opinion by Scalia, and Justices Anthony Kennedy and Clarence Thomas. Justice Stephen G. Breyer filed a separate opinion concurring in the result.
Well the jury has spoken, and Michael Jackson is “not guilty.” I’d like to trust that the judicial system hasn’t failed us, but the trend of evidence leads me to believe that Mr Jackson has purchased his freedom.
Now that he has avoided prison, I hope he can live his high ideals:
I’m Starting With The Man In The Mirror
I’m Asking Him To Change His Ways
And No Message Could Have
Been Any ClearerIf You Wanna Make The World A Better Place
Take A Look At Yourself, And Then Make A Change