28 MARCH 8:30PM – PARTY LIKE IT’S 2009

Earth HourLet’s celebrate!

At 8:30PM tonight, make sure you turn all your lights on, power up your TVs and stereos, and celebrate the Technological Achievements of Humanity.  Get in your cars and drive somewhere, just for the sake of it, and just for fun.  Raise and lower your garage doors, and run your washing machines.  Run the dryer without anything in it.  Got a power mower? Crank it up.  Heat up your cat’s food  in the microwave.  Take your dog out to Burger King.  Make as many long distance telephone calls as you can.  Run your dishwasher with half of the normal load, and run the other half separately.  Open up your refrigerator door, and look without removing anything to eat.  Do it again.  Download updates for all your computer programs and email them to all your friends.

LET’S CELEBRATE AMAZING ACHIEVEMENTS FOR A CHANGE!

“But why should I do that?” you ask.  I’ll tell you.

We’re fighting Global Cooling.  Mostly we’re fighting Global Idiocy, but let’s call it Global Cooling for now.  The feel-good crowd will never know the difference anyway.

Those folks who think that turning their electricity off for an hour will “save the planet” (or “send a message” to someone or something) are the same folks who stood outside their homes a couple of years ago with candle wax dripping over their fingers, believing that the space shuttle was gonna zoom by and take a photo of the earth lit up with peace candles.  My message is:

PUT YOUR LIGHTS ON!

YAY

raccoon2

Coupla things made my day recently.  Two weeks ago my home computer incompletely crashed due to an incomplete installation of a WidNows update.  Undoing the installation didn’t help, neither did rebooting in safe mode to run the ineffectual WidNows reset program.  Manually uninstalling the corrupt update changed nothing and I was left with a crawling computer… but at least it could still access the internest.

Avanquest’s Fix-It Utilities saved me by allowing me to bypass WidNows and undo what WidNows wouldn’t.  After trying a variety of combinations, SOMETHING GOT FIXED!  I highly recommend Fix-It Utilities for emergency repairs.  Honest unpaid testimony.

But my HP scanner still wouldn’t work, due to a corrupted WidNows install file.  Reinstalling the driver didn’t take, even in Safe Mode.  Uninstalling and reinstalling twice, did.  I’m mystified, but happy.

BUT THAT’S NOT THE BEST NEWS.   I beat the traffic caused by Obama’s motorcade (with a half dozen military helicoptor escort) in time to find out that I won a cool caption contest prize from Reforming Geek.

Made my day.

HOT NEWS FLASH: Global Warming Was Stopped In Its Slimy Little Tracks in 1998

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Washington D.C. (Strutts News Services) – Global warming came to a screeching halt for the sweaty huddling masses that converged upon our nation’s capitol on Wednesday, 4 March 2009 (ironically a day after Microsoft issued its Service Pack 3 update that froze the computers here at TR HQ).

According to one source found via Drudge:

“Global warming activists stormed Washington Monday for what was billed as the nation’s largest act of civil disobedience to fight climate change — only to see the nation’s capital virtually shut down by a major winter storm.

Schools and businesses were shuttered, lawmakers cancelled numerous appearances and the city came to a virtual standstill as Washington was blasted with its heaviest snowfall of the winter.

It spelled about six inches of trouble for global warming activists who had hoped to swarm the Capitol by the thousands in an effort to force the government to close the Capitol Power Plant, which heats and cools a number of government buildings, including the Supreme Court and the Capitol.

The snowy scene, with temperatures in the mid-20s, was reminiscent of a day in January 2004, when Al Gore made a major address on global warming in New York — on one of the coldest days in the city’s history.

Protest organizers said about 2,500 people braved the blizzard to oppose greenhouse gas emissions, but the shroud of snow wasn’t the only wet blanket in the nation’s capital Monday.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, who called on the architect of the Capitol to stop burning coal at the power plant last week, cancelled her appearance at the rally because her flight to Washington was cancelled.

Michelle Obama canned a public “Read Across America” event and HUD Secretary Shaun Donovan canceled a meeting with the Democratic Caucus because the members of Congress couldn’t get to D.C. An honor cordon at the Pentagon for Afghanistan’s defense minister also had to be called off.

Some protesters couldn’t make it as dozens of flights in the area were delayed or called off, and some couldn’t face the dangerous roads or blustery weather, leaving hundreds safe, if sorry, back at home.”

Let’s sum this up:

Due to the freezing temperatures, civil disobediancers could not be civilly disobedient;  Vandals weren’t able to vandalize the HVAC systems serving many buildings employing thousands of people; Members of congress suddenly became invisible; Nancy Pelosi thinks the Architect of the Capitol shovels coal; Michelle Obama couldn’t read due to the cold; HUD couldn’t formulate more plans for taxpayer-funded housing, and Afganistan’s defense minister is all humpy because he was snubbed.

Meanwhile Al Gore reluctantly admitted that meteorologists and other climate scientists are not credible on the topic of global warming, as none of the nay-sayers have government research funding, and none have served as vice president in any country, province or protectorate.

Pheew.

[Image from here. Related globaloids and stuff here.]

Decaying Orbit Dooms Space Station

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Randolph WI (Strutts News Services) –  All orbits decay over time, which means that satellites can fall, and France’s  Maison de L’orbite space station is no exception.

The experimental prototype, built in the early 1960’s and launched last April, officially brought France into the Space Age with little fanfare.  Presently orbiting at 500 feet, it’s orbit is decaying at the rate of 2.7 inches per day, and is expected to return to earth sometime in 2015.

[Image from here via here.]

Mad Rectangular Prism Hornets

bzzzt

YouTomb is a MIT project that tracks deleted YouTube videos and lists the companies that deleted them. [Via Cool Aggregator.]

The Godfather.  Script here.

“Are we there yet?” [Via Woosk.]

Manual of Traffic Signs: W16 Series.

Blatent advertisment:
Need a sexy voice for ads?  Check out Mrs. Strutts’ ex-sister-in-law’s website.

Speaking of voices, Paul Harvey is an American treasure.  I wasn’t aware that he was still broadcasting until Strider found these links.

Very cool collection of photos of ospreys fishing here.

Wanna play with a spider?  Go on and click.

Crooked Brains has lots of cool zippers.

Proud of your handwriting? Turn it into a Font! [via RGF.]

Mira a Pegajoso Mapaches.  Es un sitio web  excelente.

Mad Rectangular Prism Hornets.  Greatest phrase ever coined.

Obama’s Army

APTOPIX India Obama Inauguration Global Reax

We want the world and we want it now.  More globes, please.

[Image from VE.]

Bonus Video: The Big Hole

Some time ago, Aussie Phil requested more funny videos.  I didn’t mean to ignore him, I just didn’t find much to laugh about after the U.S.S.A. U.S. Senate legalized Grand Theft approved taxpayer extortion the largest redistribution of wealth in the history of  this great country the “Stimulus Package.”  So here you go, bro.

Self Explanatory.

clowns

[From here.]

Growing Dogs: Part 1 – Planting

Pisgah, Ohio (Strutts News Services) – Anyone who has tried to raise big dogs in the city understands the difficulties involved.  One authority, Ms. Tooncie Crumbler, has beat the odds and raised several healthy crops of Retrievers Golden outside her flat in downtown Pisgah.

“Assuming you start with good stock, all it takes are a few clippings, good soil, and bone meal mulch to get ’em to take root and prosper,” said Ms. Crumbler, 78.  “Then you have to keep them watered.  They do better in the shade, otherwise they tend to wither, and you have to crop ’em back occasionally.”

When asked about the sprouts observed outside of the planters, Ms. Crumbler initially denied their existence, but admitted that she was embarrassed for not having weeded the strays as often as she’d like.

“Once I get me some more planters, I’ll dig ’em up and pot ’em. Until then, they’re just weeds to me.”

[Related posts here. Image from here.]

Another Great Gift Idea: Etch-A-Line

etch-a-line

Bryan, OH (Strutts News Services) – Etch-A-Line-X from Ohio Art promises to be a big seller this season, second only to Etch-A-Dot.  This excellent version allows children with Y-Y comprehension problems to ignore the difficulties inherent in the original product. Etch-A-Line-Y, the companion toy, allows children to explore the Y-Y axis by scrolling the “etch” vertically on the screen, i.e., up and down.

For those children who might be uncomfortable with two dimensions, Ohio Art has the Etch-A-Dot, which cleverly replaces the non-user-friendly single rolling knob with a red “Press This Button” activation device.  Press the Red Button, and you’ve got a dot.  The “Dot” provides instant gratification, a minimalist work of art, and it’s clever as well, since the “dot” is ALWAYS at the precise center of the screen.

What the Future Holds:  Production of the fourth companion product, (Etch-A-Line-Z) is on hold for now.  Preliminary evaluations resulted in the temporary blindness of a substantial number of volunteers. Prototype Z is being re-evaluated for distribution in late August of the year after next before this one.

[From here. Nice archive of other excellent gift ideas here.]