Once again I was warmly hosted in Idaho by Dave and Lisa Adlard. Couldn’t seem to leave. … Thanks zillions.
Connor, Chloe and Dave
In the “things getting better” category, check this out. You can borrow a life jacket FREE at the Idaho State Park near their home.
If an honour system like this works, my faith in human nature is restored.
At Gymnastics Camp in Idaho the kids came dressed as a “famous person”.
We had 1 Gaga. 2 Beibers. … And these good looking dudes …
From the Facebook album: HPTC by Heather Fidyk
more photos on HPTCamp.com
Of all the idiot right-wing American talk show nuts, Dr. Laura Schlesinger is worst.
That’s saying a lot.
This comic open letter to Dr. Laura is an oldie, but a goodie. It still makes me laugh.
In her radio show, Dr Laura Schlesinger said that, as an observant Orthodox Jew, homosexuality is an abomination according to Leviticus 18:22, and cannot be condoned under any circumstance. The following response is an open letter to Dr. Laura …
Dear Dr. Laura: Thank you for doing so much to educate people regarding God’s Law. I have learned a great deal from your show, and try to share that knowledge with as many people as I can. When someone tries to defend the homosexual lifestyle, for example, I simply remind them that Leviticus 18:22 clearly states it to be an abomination … End of debate.
I do need some advice from you, however, regarding some other elements of God’s Laws and how to follow them.
1. Leviticus 25:44 states that I may possess slaves, both male and female, provided they are purchased from neighboring nations. A friend of mine claims that this applies to Mexicans, but not Canadians. Can you clarify? Why can’t I own Canadians?
2. I would like to sell my daughter into slavery, as sanctioned in Exodus 21:7. In this day and age, what do you think would be a fair price for her?
3. I know that I am allowed no contact with a woman while she is in her period of Menstrual uncleanliness – Lev.15: 19-24. The problem is how do I tell? I have tried asking, but most women take offense.
4. When I burn a bull on the altar as a sacrifice, I know it creates a pleasing odor for the Lord – Lev.1:9. The problem is my neighbors. They claim the odor is not pleasing to them. Should I smite them?
5. I have a neighbor who insists on working on the Sabbath. Exodus 35:2 clearly states he should be put to death. Am I morally obligated to kill him myself, or should I ask the police to do it?
6. A friend of mine feels that even though eating shellfish is an abomination, Lev. 11:10, it is a lesser abomination than homosexuality. I don’t agree. Can you settle this? Are there ‘degrees’ of abomination?
7. Lev. 21:20 states that I may not approach the altar of God if I have a defect in my sight. I have to admit that I wear reading glasses. Does my vision have to be 20/20, or is there some wiggle-room here?
8. Most of my male friends get their hair trimmed, including the hair around their temples, even though this is expressly forbidden by Lev. 19:27. How should they die?
9. I know from Lev. 11:6-8 that touching the skin of a dead pig makes me unclean, but may I still play football if I wear gloves?
10. My uncle has a farm. He violates Lev.19:19 by planting two different crops in the same field, as does his wife by wearing garments made of two different kinds of thread (cotton/polyester blend). He also tends to curse and blaspheme a lot. Is it really necessary that we go to all the trouble of getting the whole town together to stone them? Lev.24:10-16. Couldn’t we just burn them to death at a private family affair, like we do with people who sleep with their in-laws? (Lev. 20:14)
I know you have studied these things extensively and thus enjoy considerable expertise in such matters, so I’m confident you can help. Thank you again for reminding us that God’s word is eternal and unchanging.
Your adoring fan.
James M. Kauffman of the University of Virginia did not write this, however.
“The malaria parasite has been responsible for half of all human deaths since the Stone Age” is the quote that jumped off the page in a recent article by Sonia Shah in the Wall Street Journal.
Sonia Shah is author of The Fever: How Malaria Has Ruled Humankind for 500,000 Years.
I saw this linked from LongNow.org blog dedicated to important news. They don’t cover Justin Beiber.
The same day I read a related article on BBC:
Scientists in the US have succeeded in genetically engineering a malaria-resistant mosquito.
The researchers, from the University of Arizona, introduced a gene that affected the insect’s gut, meaning the malaria parasite could not develop.
They report the advance, which also reduced the insects’ lifespan, in the journal PLoS Pathogens.
They say that the ultimate goal is to introduce malaria-resistant mosquitoes into the environment. …
I know what you’re thinking … Man playing God. … It will inevitably end like a Michael Crichton novel.
Who knew …
Only those of us who live in tents and don’t drive vehicles can righteously criticize the Alberta oilsands.
… Oops. Actually I own a vehicle now. Therefore I support the oilsands.
Garth linked to an article in the Montreal Gazette criticizing their own Premier and other politicians for disingenuous grandstanding:
Oil patch reeling from unfair attacks
Alberta is being slagged by anti-oilsands ads and criticized by eastern premiers and politicians
… the oilsands, ominously labelled the tarsands, is compared to the worst environmental disaster in American history, which has for three months been spewing millions of barrels of oil into the Gulf of Mexico, posing a major threat to the economy and environment of five states from Texas to Florida. And the companies extracting oil out of bitumen in Fort McMurray are compared to BP.
Everyone likes ducks. But more of them apparently die from flying into wind power turbines than from being soaked in tailing ponds in the oilsands.
Enough already, say Albertans. They are still shaking their heads at the performance of Quebec Premier Jean Charest, Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty, and Toronto Mayor David Miller, trashing the oilsands on the world stage at the Copenhagen conference on climate change last December.
Since then, Albertans have started pointing out that Ontario and Quebec are beneficiary provinces of equalization, paid for by four donor provinces led by Alberta. Cheap tuition at universities, private high schools half-funded by Quebec, $7-a-day child care and now, in-vitro fertilization treatments in public health care, are all partly supported by Alberta tax dollars. This is what happens when politicians play a short game for easy headlines, rather than the long game that serves everyone’s interests.
And it wasn’t a good day for Michael Ignatieff when the Liberal leader said he wouldn’t permit trans-Pacific shipment of oil on tankers from the coast of northern British Columbia. The next time Iggy goes to China, they’ll want to talk to him about that, because they’ll buy as much product from the oilsands as Alberta is not shipping to the United States. In the oilpatch and pipeline industry, they’re simply gob-smacked by the stupidity of Ignatieff being in favour of the oilsands on the one hand, but against building a northern pipeline and shipping it overseas on the other. …
If you don’t drive a motor vehicle, climb on your high horse and criticize the Petro-toxin industry. I’ll applaud you.
Otherwise, don’t you feel a bit sheepish gassing up your vehicle with that “Alberta has the dirtiest oil in the world” bumper sticker.
This Matt Damon Hollywood blockbuster The Green Zone brings Iraq back to public interest. It details blunders made and deliberate lies told by some in the U.S. Government.
Iraq’s been largely forgotten, I feel, as attention shifted to Afghanistan. This movie is timely.
… The film was inspired by the non-fiction 2006 book Imperial Life in the Emerald City by journalist Rajiv Chandrasekaran, which documented life in the Green Zone, Baghdad …
Click PLAY or watch the trailer on YouTube.
It’s a work of fiction, based loosely on fact. That seems a misrepresentation of history to many critics.
Personally I thought Green Zone a very compelling movie. Not Bourne compelling, but strong.
The only downside is that the plot hinges on WMDs (Weapons of Mass Destruction).
There are many reasons why the American led invasion of Iraq will go down in history as a mistake as colossal as Vietnam. Lies told about WMDs are one of the lesser reasons.
Ironically, I feel that George H. Bush did the right thing in Desert Storm (1991). An awesome, strategic air strike. And then withdrawal as quickly as possible.
If you threaten the USA, expect the bombers and drones over your capital city within weeks.
I wish George W. had done the same.
I’m computer savvy, but have never been careful about passwords.
Until now.
I finally downloaded the FREE LastPass plugin for FireFox (Mac). And Safari (Mac). … It’s available for most other browsers, including Windows, too.
Click PLAY or watch a short tutorial on how it works on Vimeo.
Zero hassles. I only need to remember ONE password, the one for LastPass. It does the rest very securely.
Even better is the form filler outer, much more powerful than the browser default.
This product is highly recommended by Leo Laporte and Steve Gibson of the Security Now podcast on TWIT.
One question … What happens when I want to log in from another computer?
Do I go to LastPass.com and log-in?
The wisdom of Ron Shewchuk:
… So you’ve decided to switch from beer to vodka. Congrats on making the healthy choice. I have existed on not much more than pork fat and vitamin V for the last 10 years or so, and it has reversed the aging process for me. Thanks to Brother Smirnoff I am now 34 years old.
But seriously, good vodka is much better for one’s health than most alcoholic beverages because it is free of impurities. Unless one considers ethyl alcohol an impurity.
As for which brand of vodka I would recommend, it depends how you intend to drink it. If you are going to be mixing it with anything, then your best bets are brands like …
UPDATE: I eventually paid $69 for SnapZ Pro X, excellent, though pricey.
… Later somebody sent me a link for a $30 competitor, Voila. … Looks great.
_____
Original post:
I need to quickly capture video from my computer. There are still no ideal solutions, as far as I’m concerned.
• Jing FREE … 5min maximum, no audio, saves to crappy .SWF (flash) format
• Jing PRO $15 … 5min maximum, no audio
• Camtasia $99 … complicated, slow, has features I don’t need
• Screenflow $99 … getting good reviews, but I find it even more complicated than Camtasia, slow, has features I don’t need
Screenflow also seemed to bomb the Finder on my Mac. The free trial version was first to be deleted.
• SnapZ Pro X is the best I’ve tried. But it’s $69.
I wish there was an open source, free alternative.
Apple Quicktime 10 is free on the most recent version of their operating system, Snow Leopard 10.6. It provides basic video screen grabs with audio. That’s only a CAD$35 upgrade for me.
I think I’ll try that.
Rick McCharles 