Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas everyone!

Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas everyone!

Windows Advice

I have learned one important thing about Windows 7 in my time using it. I recently upgraded my laptop from Vista Home to 7 Professional. I own a license to install the program, but I have not been able to find the receipt for purchasing, which also contains the key. I installed the OS anyway, just as a trial version, hoping to find the key in the meantime. I found a trick online to reset the 30 day activation time window, so whenever I thought of it, I would reset the time, so that I would always be within the window.

Apparently it is only possible to reset that counter 3 times, giving you 120 days to activate the program. I did not realize that it had a finite number of times. I found the part in the registry where that counter is saved and changed the value in hopes of being able to reset again. That worked, in the sense that it no longer asks me to activate. I failed miserably in that Windows now thinks that it is counterfeit and constantly has to remind me of the benefits of purchasing legal software and that I might be a victim of software piracy.

So the lesson in all of this is simple: Don't lose your Windows CD key.

Random Fact of the Day

The five-trillionth digit of pi is 2.

Ouch

Dow down almost 800 points this morning on news that Greek government employees are violently rioting at the prospect of taking pay cuts and get a week or two less paid vacation per year.

More Global WarmingCooling

Winter storm warning and heightened avalanche risks sound pretty usual around here during the winter, but not in May. High temperatures in the 40s, snow in the passes, and gusts of wind creating blizzard-like conditions are a little unusual for the middle of spring. It must be global warming. If Al Gore would unleash his warming invention on this area we might be able to enjoy some spring weather.

Fire Rainbow

Fire rainbows, also called circumhorizontal arcs, are quite rare and very cool looking. Here are a handful of images I've found, clicking on them will take you to the sites I harvested them from.













I have no memory of seeing one of these myself, but if I ever get a picture of one it will be posted here as well.

Fun Banner Ads

I was browsing through the past posts made on this blog trying to remember what all was there when I saw on ad at the top that stood out to me. Basically crude drawing with the caption something like "Use one weird old tip to shrink your belly a little every day." I wasn't going to click on the ad to see exactly what they were trying to sell me, but I guess it costs much more than someone like me has to spend. If someone eats less junk and exercises more I see no reason why they shouldn't be able to "shrink their belly."

TBQ Update

There are now 4 days until District Finals at Northwest University. Make good use of the remaining days in order to do your best at the last meet of the year.

National Tax Freedom Day

Happy Tax Freedom Day to everyone. According to the Tax Foundation the average American pays 26.89% of their income in taxes. This naturally means that 26.89% of the year is spent earning money for the government rather than yourself. At 3:34AM this morning 26.89% of the year has passed, so assuming the government took all of your taxes at the beginning of the year, today would be the day that you are able to start keeping your wages for yourself. Those living in Alaska get to celebrate Tax Freedom Day early, as the lower state taxes allow them to celebrate on March 26. Connecticut residents have higher taxes and therefore cannot celebrate until April 27. See information for all 50 states at the TaxFoundation.org site.

TBQ Update

There are now 11 days until District Finals at Northwest University. Study hard and keep up the good work.

Peeps

What do you do with all of those Peeps that are on sale now that Easter is over. Some people like to eat them, most of us can’t stand them. So some make elaborate sculptures with them. The Washington Post hosts a sculpture competition every year and posted the 38 top entries. Why 38? Maybe they had 38 entries and didn’t want anyone to feel left out; maybe 38 entries were worth viewing and therefore all of those were shared. See the top entrants at the Washington Post site here.

An Alligator Ate Your Order

This is what one man was told when he called Amazon wondering why his package hadn’t arrived by the projected delivery date. The rep on the phone said it may have been eaten by another animal, but was sure that it was eaten en route and would therefore never be delivered. This was news to the shipping company which tracked the package to a delivery truck that was on its way to deliver the package. Read the full account here.

TBQ Update

There are now 18 days until District Finals at Northwest University. Study hard and keep up the good work.

Waiting For The Rest of the Story

The government has a new definition for WMD. This now includes "improvised explosive devices with explosive formed projectiles." If this is indeed the case, those who claim there aren’t, nor ever were, weapons of mass destruction in Iraq are full of crap. Afghanistan also has a bunch there too.

This topic came up because a group of guys out east are charged with terrorist plots of trying to kill police officers. If this story is indeed true, these guys need to be locked up, but since the police kept changing their story when sending in a full strike team to arrest these guys, I have no reason to believe their story. A neighbor said, "Helicopters and planes in the air, and guns drawn everywhere. At first, they said it was meth, then guns, then bombs." All three are different, I don’t see how they could be confused with each other, and if the officers on the scene honestly did not know why they were there, they probably should not have been there.

If the official story given is indeed true, these guys are scum who need to be locked up. Read the full story here on the Chicago CBS site.

Weird Weather

So far today we've had rain, lightning and thunder, hail, and strong winds. The temperatures are quite a bit cooler than normal, the day is wetter than usual, and the global warming nuts still believe that we're going to roast to death.

Unofficial League IV Scores

Devon - 170 - Championship
Phillip - 75 - Challenger
Iva - 30 - Challenger
Melissa - 15 - Championship
Stuart - 10 - Championship
Liana - 5 - Challenger
Elizabeth - 0 - Challenger

I'll make any updates or corrections needed when I actually get the official results.

Earth Hour?

Did anyone celebrate earth hour this year? Yeah, me neither.

Congrats to the TBQ Teams

Good job today everyone. Your hard work is paying off. We have some work to do for the District meet on the 17th, but it is mostly review for all of you. I should have scores posted here soon.

Gov. Gregoire Threatens a 20% Cut

On Wednesday, Gregoire threatened the state congress that if they could not come up with a plan to raise enough taxes to cover the projected $2.8 billion budget shortfall, she would start cutting state programs by 20%. Read the full story here on the KOMO site. If you read most of the comments on the article, most people seem to like the 20% cut idea. I consider that 20% cut a step in the right direction, which should be follows very quickly with another 20% cut. Unfortunately, she is only threatening to cut pet projects in order to scare the congressmen, there is little chance of actually adopting any form of fiscal responsibility on her part.