[donspatch] 2009-05-15

#117  May 15, 2009  from http://www.don-guitar.com

Online version:  http://www.don-guitar.com/currentissue.html

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First word, from Don:



It's been a while since I wasn't able to post the mid-month
issue on the evening before it's due but we've been busy
lately.  We're marshaling our resources and preparing to
buy a house.  The real estate market is 'in the toilet'
but that makes this the best of all possible times to
buy a house.  Of course that's only true if one is very
cautious about financing and interest rates.  Plenty of
knowledgeable folks are predicting that the economy is
going to get a lot worse before it gets better and,
however it goes, we'll have to continue making the monthly
payments.  Buying a house always requires establishing
a careful balance between what you want and what you can
afford but finding that balance in this economy is like
tap dancing in golf shoes on thin ice.  Still, we want
stability in our lives and that requires us to find a
place to live for the rest of our lives.  More importantly,
a place we can afford despite how bad the economy becomes.
I don't like gambling but, when you get down to it, life
is a gamble.  We have to take our chances, like
everybody else.  *sigh*  Life gets tedious, don't it?

*grin*

See you next time,

Don





Our feedback form and contact info:
http://www.don-guitar.com/contactme.html



Don at myspace.com http://www.myspace.com/donguitar

Don's blog.
http://don-guitar.blogspot.com/

Lisa at myspace.com.  http://www.myspace.com/81825549

Lisa's blog.
http://thedirtgoddess.blogspot.com/





Section One by Don.



When dealing with pets, keep in mind their limitation.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sNtdus5AXK8

Hope for self starters who're seeking higher education.
http://www.freeopenu.org/

Resources for human rights professionals.
http://humanrightstools.org/

It's nowhere near yet but as soon as ReactOS
gets to 1.0 I will become a happy user.
http://www.reactos.org/en/index.html

If you're multilingual this site may offer you some
fun.   http://www.tofulator.com/

If you have a website and wish to produce your own
ezine here's a good way to get the job done.
http://dadamailproject.com/

A potentially interesting business search resource.
http://virtualpet.com/industry/

Science search.   http://www.scirus.com/

All sorts of online conversions.
http://www.onlineconversion.com/

Ask a world leader.
http://moderator.appspot.com/#16/e=cc

Ask a Google engineer.
http://moderator.appspot.com/#16/e=c9

The quick and dirty lowdown on the  Emmy-winning
science-fiction TV show Firefly and its movie
sequel, Serenity.   http://www.serenityfireflyfaq.com/

Networked resources on Art and Architecture.
http://www.ilpi.com/artsource/

An archive of book cover designs and designers.
http://bookcoverarchive.com/

Wanna fly for less?   http://www.cheapflights.com/

Seeking a career in education?
http://theeducationprofessionals.com/

1742 e-books in 391 categories.
http://www.e-booksdirectory.com/

eLearning Africa.   http://www.elearning-africa.com/

Former FDA commissioner David Kessler wants
to change some of our perceptions about food.
http://npr-freeshair-dkessler.notlong.com
If you've never listened to Fresh Air, you
might also enjoy other episodes.
http://www.npr.org/templates/rundowns/rundown.php?prgId=13

End of Section One.





This publication is only mailed to verified

double opt-in subscribers, and is brought

to you by me, Don Crowder, my wife,

Lisa Miller, and http://www.freelists.org





Section Two by Lisa



Drive free, retire rich.  Too good to be true?
http://www.daveramsey.com/etc/lms/drive_free/player.cfm

This commercial site has some good ideas.
http://www.thehealthiesthome.com/default.asp

A gift for Richard Attenborough.
http://www.agiftfordickie.com/

Create and share interactive floor plans.
http://www.floorplanner.com/

This product is a neat idea.
http://www.all-ett.com/default.asp

Compare your salary with others'.
http://www.payscale.com/

Why food still matters.
http://foodmatters.notlong.com

7 reasons the 21st Century is making you
miserable.   http://www.mizrbl.notlong.com

The history of those cool Russian dolls.
http://russian-crafts.com/nesting-dolls/history.html

I made home made liquid hand soap because several
bars of our favorite soap broke into little pieces.
Then I realized this might be a great alternative
to buying refill bottles of liquid hand soap; I
hate buying plastic bottles and then tossing them.
It worked just great and I made shampoo, too.
http://handsoap.notlong.com

Living better for less.  And an easier way to clean
those icky mini-blinds.
http://www.stretcher.com/index.cfm
http://www.stretcher.com/stories/990322b.cfm

Children's online music tools.
http://www.creatingmusic.com/


End of Section Two.





At the time this issue was posted,

the current subscriber count for

this publication was 377.





This issue's collection of online news, blogs,

magazines, videos  and/or other informational
sites.  These are chosen for maximum diversity
regardless of 'spin' and in some cases may
have offensive or questionable content.

http://digitalresearchtools.pbworks.com/
http://www.dlib.org/
http://gopubmed.org/
http://www.information-age.com/
http://search.theeuropeanlibrary.org/portal/en/
http://www.thenewatlantis.com/
http://www.thebookcalendar.com/
http://scienceoftheinvisible.blogspot.com/
http://robotlibrarian.billdueber.com/
http://childfreelife.wordpress.com/
http://jilltxt.net/
http://steve-wheeler.blogspot.com/
http://blog.cathy-moore.com/
http://mscofino.edublogs.org/
http://humortown.blogspot.com/
http://ramblin-phyl.livejournal.com/
http://www.themorningnews.org/
http://www.nwaonline.net/
http://www.nuttynewstoday.com/
http://www.nutty-news.com/
http://www.greenbutgame.org/
http://www.peanutallergykid.com/
http://www.zap2it.com/
http://www.e-gracenotes.org/index.php
http://www.blueskystudios.com/content/index.php
http://www.kidsnuttynews.com/
http://triphow.com/
http://www.sland3r.com/
http://www.romereview.com/?home
http://www.crookedbrains.net/
http://chameleonnews.com/
http://mountainrunner.us/
http://www.designmom.com/
http://www.techcrunch.com/
http://www.am-news.com/http://www.scnow.com/
http://www.chezpim.com/blogs/
http://pzrservices.typepad.com/vintageadvertising/
http://www.zeigermann.com/cartoonist/
http://www.belch.com/




Jo-Ann Burton is a wonderful friend.  We didn't

grow up together, and we've never met in person

but she's my sister.  I harvest links that she

posts to her Yahoo group (to which I belong)
and once in a while, when Lisa and I are short
on links, I put together an entire section from
her posts.  To give you an idea of how prolific
she is, I take the digest version of her list
and the following links were gathered from
digests 2334 through 2339 which were posted
in November and December of 2007 (yeah, I know,
I'll never catch up with her).

Section Three by Jo-Ann Burton.

Adopt a grape vine, olive tree, or sheep.
http://eternallycool.net/?p=829
http://eternallycool.net/?p=662
http://eternallycool.net/?p=825
It's about Rome.   http://eternallycool.net/

Best of the web.   http://www.webbyawards.com

The 300 minute egg.
http://fxcuisine.com/default.asp?Display=64
More where that came from.   http://fxcuisine.com/

Coolness from an Australian perspective.
http://www.thecoolhunter.com.au/

There plenty to explore here...  http://geology.com/
...like, for example, the sliding rocks of
Racetrack Playa.   http://snipurl.com/i2a45

The college of cook book knowledge.
http://www.cookbkjj.com/college/cframes.htm

If I'm not mistaken, these are the web's answer
to paper dolls.   http://www.cartoondollemporium.com/

Finding lost objects and other interesting things.
http://www.professorsolomon.com/12principles.html

Curious and interesting.   http://curiousexpeditions.org/

This site calls itself a reality TV news digest.
http://www.realityblurred.com/realitytv/

The daily coyote.   http://www.dailycoyote.net/

Hope for anyone in Pitsburg who's lost a glove.
http://www.onecoldhand.com/

A corporate sort of blog thing.
http://www.unboundedition.com/

Not so corporate and sometimes humorous.
http://bitsandpieces.us/

Supporting the notion that it's a small world.
http://www.minuscule.tv/

Cat wigs.   http://kittywigs.com/wigindex.html

A couple of hours and $20 can get you an interesting
new wallet.   http://www.moneywallet.org/

Brief history of crossword puzzles.
http://www.crosswordtournament.com/more/wynne.html

Family, health, home and lifestyles.
http://www.blisstree.com/

Jo-Ann's Yahoo group.

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/sharinglinks2/

End of Section Three (thank you Jo).





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Section Four by Lisa.



14 great ways to be miserable.
http://bemiserbl.notlong.com

Attractions and landmarks all over the world.
http://www.everysingleplace.com/

Quotes by everybody.
http://www.famousquotesandauthors.com/

The names of everyplace.
http://www.geonames.org/

Find funding for your project or cause.
http://www.grantnet.com/

A patent search engine.
http://www.intellogist.com/wiki/Main_Page

For those of us to whom learning is
not a chore; it's a blast.
http://www.play-hookey.com/

Written for people who are learning to speak English,
these lessons and practice are useful for anyone.
http://www.better-english.com/

An IT Director with an interesting blog.
http://www.e-gineer.com/v2/blog/

I was interested in low- or no-VOC primer and
paint and found that the Original Kilz Formula
is low-VOC.
http://www.kilz.com/pages/default.aspx?NavID=1

The guide to highly efficient things.
http://www.metaefficient.com/

A little information about a lot of stuff.
http://www.pondered.org/

A search engine to help you navigate the Web.
http://www.qsensei.com/


End of Section Four.





We welcome all comments, suggestions, or
criticism.  The form doesn't access your
email client (it's a CGI form), so your
privacy is assured.  If you know of a
website that would be a good candidate
for this ezine, please pass it on via
our online feedback form.
http://www.don-guitar.com/contactme.html




Section Five by Don.



No, it's not about the dog.   http://www.chow.com/

Thousands of Windows, Mac and Linux users have
discovered the power of Open Office.
http://www.openoffice.org/
To me, one of the best things about Open Source
applications is that anyone who wants to is free
to reinterpret them.  Here's another take on
Open Office.   http://go-oo.org/

I'm pretty sure that sodahead is a niche social
network but I'm darned if I can name the niche.
http://www.sodahead.com/

'Taking Your Talent to the Web' is a potentially
interesting eBook from Jeffrey Zeldman.
http://linkasa.com/me1

This app may be of use to Firefox, Thunderbird and/or
Songbird users.   http://tn123.ath.cx/mintrayr/

Open Source magazine.   http://opensource.sys-con.com/

The art and science of baby names.
http://www.babynamewizard.com/

Why not change your mind?   http://changingminds.org/

Twinfluence is a sort of twitter ranking engine (you
don't have to give your twitter password to see the
results).   http://twinfluence.com/
I find that I'm decidedly 'small time' on twitter
(suits me :).   http://twinfluence.com/?u=eldergeek

Are you a gadget junky?  Do you have boxes stuffed with
old no-longer-used gadgets?  Maybe you can sell a few
of them to get money for new gadgets (what a concept!).
http://www.nextworth.com/

Lotsa geeky stuff at Physics 2000.
http://www.colorado.edu/physics/2000/index.pl?Type=TOC

More physics from the teaching staff at
Glenbrook South (High School) in Glenview, IL.
http://www.glenbrook.k12.il.us/gbssci/phys/phys.html

Still more from the Department of Physics
and Astronomy at Georgia State University.
http://hyperphysics.phy-astr.gsu.edu/Hbase/hframe.html
(Main site).   http://www.phy-astr.gsu.edu/

How to succeed through creative learning.
http://www.intuitor.com/

MIT Resonance is a pretty cool a cappella group.
http://resonance.mit.edu/
http://www.myspace.com/mitresonance

Very cool music videos and mp3 files for jazz lovers.
http://www.resonancerecords.org/
http://www.resonancerecords.org/downloads/



End of Section Five.





Archives for this ezine are available online here:

http://www.freelists.org/archives/donspatch/



The current issue is also available on our website.

http://www.don-guitar.com/currentissue.html



RSS feed is available via this link.

http://www.freelists.org/archives/donspatch/feed.rss





Section Six by Lisa.



This search engine uses 'weighted' search terms to
help you control the priority of search terms.
http://searchcloud.net/

A new way to search.
http://www.leapfish.com/

Real life Twitter?  Don't try this at home.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tTN9We8unmU

Be afraid. Be very afraid.
http://huluplot.notlong.com

A beautiful food blog.
http://www.101cookbooks.com/

A Yiddish grandma shows you how to
cook kosher food.  Yum!
http://www.feedmebubbe.com/

Millions of books and manuals in PDF form.
http://search-pdf-books.com/

Yet more wierd album covers.
http://www.thriftstoreart.com/album_/album1.htm

A power supply calculator for over-the-top
computer geeks (like you-know-who).
http://supplycalc.notlong.com

Internet trends and web culture.
http://www.urlesque.com/



End of Section Six.





The Linux Corner.



Wordpress Blogs about Distro Reviews.
http://en.wordpress.com/tag/distro-reviews/

Blogged.com blogs about Linux Distro Reviews.
http://www.blogged.com/about/linux-distro-reviews/

OSNews isn't OS specific but is very interesting.
http://www.osnews.com/

Linux hardcore.  http://linux-hardcore.com/

Linux-specific resources and distribution reviews.
http://librenix.com/linux/

Linux help for beginners.  http://www.newlinuxuser.net/

LWN.net is a reader-supported news site.   http://lwn.net/



A Little Humor.


From our other-brother Bill (Beeyil) Lanoue:

Here are the winners of this year's Washington Post's
Mensa Invitational which asked readers to take any word
from the dictionary, alter it by adding, subtracting,
or changing one letter, and supply a new definition:

1. Cashtration (n.): The act of buying a house,
which renders the subject financially impotent
for an indefinite period of time.

2. Ignoranus: A person who is both stupid and an #%$hole.

3. Intaxication: Euphoria at getting a tax
refund, which lasts until you realize it
was your money to start with.

4. Reintarnation: Coming back to life as a hillbilly.

5. Bozone (n.): The  substance surrounding stupid
people that stops bright ideas from penetrating.
The bozone layer unfortunately, shows little
sign of breaking down in the near future.

6. Giraffiti: Vandalism spray-painted very, very high.

7. Sarchasm: The gulf between the author of sarcastic
wit and the person who doesn't get it.

8. Inoculatte: To take coffee intravenously
when you are running late.

9. Osteopornosis: A degenerate disease.

10. Karmageddon: It's like, when everybody is sending
off all these really bad vibes, right? And then, like,
the Earth explodes and it's like, a serious bummer.

11.  Decafalon (n.): The grueling event of
getting through the day consuming only
things that are good for you.

12. Glibido: All talk and no action.

13. Dopeler Effect: The tendency of stupid ideas
to seem smarter when they come at you rapidly.

14. Arachnoleptic Fit (n.): The frantic dance
performed just after you've accidentally walked
through a spider web.

15. Beelzebug (n.): Satan in the form of a mosquito,
that gets in your bedroom at three in the morning
and cannot be cast out.

16.  Caterpallor (n.): The color you turn after
finding half a worm in the fruit you're eating.

The Washington Post has also published the winning
submissions to its yearly contest in which readers
are asked to  supply alternate meanings for common
words. And the winners  are:

1. Coffee, n. The person upon whom one coughs.

2. Flabbergasted, adj. Appalled by discovering
how much weight one has  gained.

3. Abdicate, v. To give up all hope
of ever having a flat stomach.

4. Esplanade, v. To attempt an explanation while drunk.

5. Willy-nilly, adj. Impotent.

6. Negligent, adj.. Absentmindedly answering
the door when wearing only a nightgown.

7. Lymph, v. To walk with a lisp.

8. Gargoyle, n. Olive-flavored mouthwash.

9. Flatulence, n.. Emergency vehicle that picks up
someone who has been run over by a steamroller.

10. Balderdash, n. A rapidly receding hairline.

11. Testicle n. A humorous question on an exam.

12. Rectitude, n. The formal, dignified
bearing adopted by proctologists.

13. Pokemon, n. A Rastafarian proctologist.

14. Oyster, n. A person who sprinkles
his conversation with yiddishisms.

15. Frisbeetarianism, n. The belief that, after death,
the soul flies up onto the roof and gets stuck there.

16. Circumvent, n. An opening in the front
of boxer shorts worn by Jewish men.

Editor's Note:  This was the last joke in my files.
Of course I can always find some with google but
it's nice to have some reader input too.  So, if
you run across a 'good one' I hope you'll pass it on.




Tips for This Issue.



Tech tips blog.   http://www.techtipsblog.com/

Computer tips and tricks from videojug.
http://www.videojug.com/interview/computer-tips-and-tricks-2

Computer tips.   http://www.computerfreetips.com/

20 useful CSS tips.
http://www.hongkiat.com/blog/20-useful-css-tips-for-beginners/

Barefoot Lass's Assorted hints and tips!
http://barefoot_lass.tripod.com/

A Windows resource.   http://www.activewin.com/



Contributions From Our Readers.
Links from readers are always
welcome and you can even write
your own link descriptions if you
like (just tell me when you send
them if that's what you intended).
Guidelines are available here:

http://www.don-guitar.com/descriptivetext.html


From our web-sibling Patrick Barden.

( http://rrwbushangel.blogspot.com/ )

Patrick highly recommends Angel Food to U.S.
residents.   http://www.angelfoodministries.com/

Experience Bram Stoker's Dracula in a new way.
http://dracula-feed.blogspot.com/

For chocolate lovers.   https://secure.realchocolate.com/

Does this mean we'll be going to the pharmacy for
breakfast?   http://linkasa.com/ne1


From our friend Lanny Booth, who's also one
of our favorite drummers (the Swingmeister).

Here's a very cool 1961 drum solo by Joe Morello.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tsKq3HD0EFc


From our good friend Linda Cartwright in Del Rio, TX.

Composite decking recalled.
http://www.cpsc.gov/cpscpub/prerel/prhtml09/09217.html


From our web-sibling Vinette (Vi) DePhillipe:

( Vi's site: http://360.yahoo.com/vinette1 )

The top 10 most common ingredients in fast food.
http://recipes.howstuffworks.com/10-ingredients-fast-food.htm


Our web-sibling Jerry Fox sent us a link to this youtube video
of Steve Eve's incredible 1:10 scale model Saturn V rocket.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bj4lj6YSwzg


Here's an interesting 'war story' sent in by our good friend
Dee Jordan.   http://www.snopes.com/military/charliebrown.asp


From our web-sibling John Lepse.

( John's blog: http://hucknjim.blogspot.com/ )

Great images in NASA.   http://grin.hq.nasa.gov/subject.html

The Hubblesite news center.
http://hubblesite.org/newscenter/

I really enjoyed this visual presentation of a popular
classical piece.   http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ipzR9bhei_o

There's no Klingon word for 'hello' (article).
http://www.slate.com/id/2217815/



Our good friend Lee Parmeter sent this link to the U.S. Social
Security Administration's list of popular baby names.
http://www.ssa.gov/OACT/babynames/


From our web-sibling Jon Reed.

Jon sent us links to two terrific video presentations.
They're so good, in fact, that each link is followed by a
link to its source in case you want more (like we did).
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NyluTTt9avA
Source: http://www.youtube.com/ytscreeningroom
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rTbKpiUqEHY
Source: http://www.youtube.com/user/montanaskies


Our friend Sherry Simpson is possessed of an almost
perverse sense of humor and we've come to expect an
occasional rare gem from her.  This video is one such.
http://www.elwp.com/Joe%20Cocker.html


Thank you Patrick, Lanny, Linda, Vi,
Jerry, Dee, John, Lee, Jon, and Sherry.



Last word, from Lisa:



We're getting interested in purchasing a home,
something that's exciting for many but honestly,
I'd rather have a lingering illness, followed by
months of careful recuperation and lots of hard,
stressful work.  Oh wait, that's the definition
of home buying!  What was I thinking?

Truly, it'll be fine, but it makes for some
long days and inspired whining *grin*.

As is usual with us, the adventure continues...

'Til next time,

Lisa



Our feedback form and contact info:
http://www.don-guitar.com/contactme.html



Lisa at myspace.com.  http://www.myspace.com/81825549

Lisa's blog.
http://thedirtgoddess.blogspot.com/

Don at myspace.com http://www.myspace.com/donguitar

Don's blog.
http://don-guitar.blogspot.com/




Don Crowder and Lisa Miller

Friday, May 15, 2009

7:00 PM CST - Buchanan Lake Village, Texas, USA

Served by the U.S. Post Office in Tow (rhymes-with-cow), Texas





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