Plugged-In Flights

Plugged-In Flights - New York Times

I can hardly wait to find this airplane. I hope there is more than one.

Just Filtering MAC addresses isn't enough

Just Filtering Your MAC Won't Do Jack: "If you set up MAC filtering on a home wireless network without enabling WEP or WPA, wouldn't that be sufficient to protect the network from unauthorized access? "

short answer -- safe, but it is easy to circumvent, so it's only a deterrent for elss sophisticated users.

The Blind Man Knows All!

A woman goes into Wal-Mart to buy a rod and reel for her grandson's birthday.

She doesn't know which one to get so she just grabs one and goes over to the counter.

A Wal-Mart associate is standing there wearing dark shades. She says, "Excuse me, sir. Can you tell me anything about this rod and reel?"

He says ,"Ma'am, I'm completely blind; but if you'll drop it on the counter, I can tell you everything you need to know about it from the sound it makes."

She doesn't believe him but drops it on the counter anyway.

He says, "That's a six-foot Shakespeare graphite rod with a Zebco 404 reel and 10-LB.Test line. It's a good all around combination; and it's on sale this week for only $20.00."

She says, "It's amazing that you can tell all that just by the sound of it dropping on the counter. I'll take it!" As she opens her purse, her credit card drops on the floor.

"Oh, that sounds like a Visa card," he says.

She bends down to pick it up and accidentally breaks wind. At first she is really embarrassed, but then realizes there is no way the blind clerk could tell it was she who farted. Being blind, he wouldn't know that she was the only person around.

The man rings up the sale and says, "That'll be $34.50 please."

The woman is totally confused by this and asks, "Didn't you tell me it was on sale for $20.00? How did you get $34.50?"

He replies, "Yes, Ma'am. The rod and reel is $20.00, but the Duck Call is $11.00 and the Catfish Bait is $3.50.

6 dumb things mothers do

Louisiana Weekly - The Six Dumbest Things Mom Do: My Mom sent this article (from the Lamberton paper) to me recently, here it is for all to read.

Calibrating your TV

Lots of good advice here, but be prepared for a couple of hours to do this.

For a Just-So Picture, Today's Knob Twisters Call It Calibration - New York Times

stupid criminal story

In the category of "stupid criminals"--Reuters.co.uk: "police caught a burglar after he answered a phone he had just stolen and did not hang up, letting them eavesdrop on his getaway ride in a taxi."    

Wireless in the bathroom?

wamu.org : Programs : The Kojo Nnamdi Show : The Computer Guys: "The most recent Internet Report published by The Center for the Digital Future at the University of Southern California's (USC) Annenberg School reveals that more than 50% of home wireless users have used it from the bathroom.

Have you ever used a wireless notebook computer in a bathroom?"

32% Yes. After all, magazine, sports section, laptop computer...what's the difference?
1% Yes, but only in the bathtub, never while...well...you know.
18% I'd never admit it, just like I'll never admit that I've used my cellphone in the bathroom.
49% No -- I've never done it, and I don't even want to talk about it.

Remember when downtown Sanborn bustled

By Ken Posz
The Sanborn Sentinel - Dec 1, 2005

When I walk to the post office from my place I usually have to stop and rest at the locker plant where they have benches to sit on.

The other day as I was sitting there I started reminiscing about how Main Street looked many years ago.

Across the street on the corner of the block stood a house belonging to Harry Brazle. Next to the north was Ada Otto's house. Then north of her house was a long narrow building that Minnie Haak lived in. Her husband had a shoe repair business in front. Next was a service station with gas pumps and later turned out to be a produce that Herb Zimmerman ran. Later Armin Robinson ran it. Then came the post office with the south half of the building being a barber shop run by E. J. Kilpatrick. Then came the City Cafe on the corner.

Across the street on the corner was a gas station run by Harry Brazle. Then came a pool hall that Moe Stock ran and later Mike Becker. Next was Bert Peake's grocery store. Then came Yaeger Pharmacy. John Yaeger worked for Erwin Yaeger and Erwin had a soda fountain in front, and we boys would make different ice cream dishes. Then came the Dietz Fairway Store grocery and dry goods. Then came John Hageman's harness shop, a place for farmers to come in and shoot the bull. Then came Posz Hardware, a place for lots of loafers to hang out. Then the garage run by Eddie Graff. Then the Becker-Shonka Meat Market. You could go in and get four wieners for a nickel when you went to the river for a cookout. Either the wieners were cheap or they had a soft spot in their heart for us kids.

Then Streich Hardware and Implement in two buildings. Across the alley was Duley Implement with their house to the north. Next to the railroad track was the stockyard where fanners could bring in live-stock for shipping by rail.

Across the tracks was a gas station run by Ray Kansanback.

On the west side of the street south of the railroad tracks was the Farmers Elevator. South of the elevator was Lampert Lumber Yard. Across the street to the south was the Dine-a-Mite Cafe. Then came Hornick Hardware. A small building for a grocery store and later the Arnold Code Barbershop. Then the Farmers Bank. Later after it closed, Floyd Simpson turned it into a liquor store. Across the alley was Ted Hensch's grocery store, which in the 1930's burned down. He built the present building with the fire insurance; John Leopold used the building as a bakery. That went up in smoke also.

Then came the Sanborn State Bank. With a liquor store on the corner and Eat-a-Bite across the street to the south was a big Buick building. The Nu Way Grocery run by Bob Hageman in the south half of the building was the Sanborn Sentinel and a barber shop run by Dubby Yackel. Then a garage run by Pete Pint. Next a blacksmith shop and then a house owned by Charley Gumto who had a shoe repair shop and gas pumps in front. Then the Steinberg Creamery and finally the opera house where the school had plays and graduation. The Legion put on plays. There were dances and Bob Hageman had silent movies. There were meeting rooms upstairs used by the Legion and Masons. Later Pete Bassett bought it and made a locker plant out of it.

When I come down Saturday morning and see so few cars on Main Street, it makes me sick. Saturday was our busy day.

science-fiction nonsense

Insider - [TV Guide Online]: "Obviously, we'll see advances in technology. TiVo, iPods, streaming video - the way we watch TV is changing dramatically. It's on our phones, in our cars - even projected on specialized eyeglasses. But don't listen to the talk about having shows beamed directly into your brain. That's science-fiction nonsense. Shows will be stored in the pancreas and will enter the brain through the bloodstream after being downloaded into your iHole."

Joss Whedon, creator of Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Firefly.