[donspatch] 2009-12-15
- From: Don Crowder <dondashguitar@xxxxxxxxx>
- To: Donspatch <Donspatch@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Tue, 15 Dec 2009 02:32:10 -0600
#131 December 15, 2009 from http://www.don-guitar.com
Online version: http://www.don-guitar.com/currentissue.html
Archives: //www.freelists.org/archives/donspatch/
First word, from Don:
I'm wearing the strings off my guitar this year. The music bidnez is
very good for a change. I'm not sure what that means; either I'm
finally getting to be good enough to attract the interest of other
musicians or the economy is beginning to recover. *shrug*
I'm just glad it's happening. I need the work.
Lisa's in growth mode and she's going in all sorts of directions
learning about things-Google, fancy tambourines, tricked-out
washboards, other exotic percussion instruments and the
countless wonders of PCLinuxOS 2009.1.
Actually, I'm having fun learning about that last one myself. I'm
typing this on my relatively new-to-me PCLinuxOS machine.
I've been using it full-time for about three days and things are
just starting to make a little sense to me. One Linux distro
(short for distribution and a 'distribution' is just a particular
version of Linux) is supposed to be pretty much like another
and that's true in general terms, but there are lots of little
nuances in the specifics and they can be fairly confusing
though I've got to add that there's a great deal more
confusion between Windows XP and Windows 7 (and my
testimony is based on first-hand experience).
Let me remind you again that as a Christmas gift to ourselves
we're looking forward to telephoning any of our readers, anywhere
in the world, who're interested in receiving the call. If you'd like
to hear from us, just send us your telephone number and tell us
what days and times would be good to call. Don't forget to
include enough information (zip, postal code, city, state (where
applicable) and country for us to determine and allow for any
time differences which exist between us.
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.
A young man asked me about costless web hosting.
I tracked down and updated a listing from
issue #48 (June 15, 2006). I'm sure I could find
a few more if I tried but these are still good.
http://www.doteasy.com/Services/WebHosting/
http://www.gigahive.com/
http://www.domaindlx.com/
http://www.propercomfy.co.uk/
http://www.awardspace.com/web-hosting/free-shared-hosting
http://www.50megs.com/
In an email conversation with Dee Hughes, of Freeware
Home... http://freewarehome.com/ ...we discussed
the most popular free-for-personal-use anti-virus
applications. She and her husband prefer AVG while
I prefer Comodo, at least for WinXP because you can
install both AV and Firewall making it a more user
friendly way to get the protection required by all
Windows computers on a fast connection.
http://personalfirewall.comodo.com/
With stand-alone anti-virus apps like AVG...
http://free.avg.com/us-en/homepage
Avira...
http://snipurl.com/tn5fc [download_cnet_com]
or Avast...
http://www.avast.com/eng/download-avast-home.html
XP (and possibly Vista) users should install
the free version of Zone Alarm...
http://snipurl.com/tn5yy [www_zonealarm_com]
...and turn off the built-in firewall. Of course
there are many other applications available.
On the Freeware Home site Dee lists AV options
under the general category of 'Security':
http://snipurl.com/tn655 [freewarehome_com]
The Freebtyte site also lists a collection
of costless AV...
http://www.freebyte.com/antivirus/
...and AS...applications.
http://www.freebyte.com/anti-spyware/
When it comes to software, of any variety, there
are so many choices that it's really tough to decide
which one to try. Dee and I talked about the best
places to find meaningful reviews of software
products and she suggested these two sites...
http://fileforum.betanews.com/browse
http://download.cnet.com/windows/
...and I agree with her choices though there's
a couple more sites I'll add.
http://www.software.com/
http://www.tucows.com/
Lee Parmeter, the resident Linux guru of the Highland
Lakes Linux Users Group, recently had some password
troubles with a Vista machine. Here's an excerpt of
what he posted to the HLLUG email list:
~~~
'MicroSoft locks you out of your Vista login account if
the password is mistyped 4 or 5 times. So, now what?
If my friend had made a Password Reset Disk,
http://www.vista4beginners.com/How-to-reset-your-password
I could have used it to reset the password. But No... oh!
You can buy a utility to unlock your account; I found
several on the Internet for $39 or more. Looking a little
more I found an open source solution called the
'Offline NT Password and Registry Editor'.
http://pogostick.net/~pnh/ntpasswd/
Here you can download and burn a bootable CD with which
you can reset the password or just reset the lock. There
are walk-through instructions too to make this job a snap!
This CD is one to put in your own personal bag of tricks!'
~~~
Right on Lee, not only do I have one of these, it's saved
me a lot of grief on a few occasions. I always forget
about this until I really need it, then I can't find my
CD so I've got to go download the file and burn a new one.
The last time I went looking for it online I couldn't
remember what it was called and found several other
apps that should also be in a geeky Windows user's toolbox.
http://ophcrack.sourceforge.net/
http://www.sysresccd.org/Main_Page
http://cdlinux.info/wiki/doku.php/
Web sibling Vicki Hartsfield complained that her typing
speed is just too slow and the tutorial software she
has isn't very user friendly. I found her some online
typing resources which may be more user friendly.
http://www.learn2type.com/
http://www.typingweb.com/
http://www.sense-lang.org/typing/
http://www.freetypinggame.net/
http://www.learntotype.org/
http://www.goodtyping.com/
http://www.powertyping.com/
http://www.typing-lessons.org/
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 //www.freelists.org
Section Two by Lisa
'Tis the season, so here are some holiday links to
inspire and cheer.
http://snipurl.com/toxvl [www_dumblittleman_com]
http://www.santas.net/aroundtheworld.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Christmas_dishes
http://snipurl.com/tox1h [feelslikechristmas_com]
Three from Noupe.com.
Powerful pictures.
http://snipurl.com/tox2q [www_noupe_com]
Splash sculptures.
http://snipurl.com/tox2q [www_noupe_com]
Wall art.
http://snipurl.com/tox2q [www_noupe_com]
Make a nice slideshow from your Flickr photos
http://www.slideoo.com/
Everything you need to learn and play guitar.
http://www.fretplay.com/
Want to get better results from Craigslist?
http://snipurl.com/towzn [www_getrichslowly_org]
A site that makes sociology interesting
and relevant. http://contexts.org/
Get in on some New Music.
http://www.otherminds.org/
How about an Artist-A-Day?
http://www.artistaday.com/
End of Section Two.
At the time this issue was posted,
the current subscriber count for
this publication was 375.
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://surewhynotnow.blogspot.com/
http://www.whynotrachel.com/
http://publishing2.com/
http://www.whynotright.com/
http://crookedtimber.org/
http://www.counterpunch.org/
http://www.ourfuture.org/
http://ireadbannedbooks.net/
http://www.economist.com/
http://www.27bslash6.com/blockbuster.html
http://thebroadcast.us/http://thebroadcast.us/
http://alimilner.com/
http://www.blogflux.com/
http://www.bizjournals.com/
http://www.iaplay.com/
http://www.currybet.net/
http://nancydaviskho.blogspot.com/
http://web.vivavip.com/forum/LiveWire/
Section Three by Don.
A fiendish online puzzle game. http://www.alientiles.com/
Backword is a group of self-published authors.
http://www.backwordbooks.com/about/
Extreme science. http://www.extremescience.com/
'shopped' images. http://www.photoshoppix.com/
Weirdness. http://sprott.physics.wisc.edu/Pickover/pc/boy.html
more weirdness....
http://sprott.physics.wisc.edu/pickover/pc/redbut.html
...still more.
http://sprott.physics.wisc.edu/Pickover/pc/realitycarnival.html
Artists networking. http://www.redbubble.com/
Ghosts and other weirdness. http://theshadowlands.net/
Idea exchange. http://www.whynot.net/
U.S. healthcare data. http://www.whynotthebest.org/
Project Learn: Cycles of the Earth and Atmosphere.
http://www.ucar.edu/learn/index.htm
An alternative to the copywrite. http://creativecommons.org/
G'head, ask me a question. http://www.formspring.me/eldergeek
Who remembers Linda Lavin? [3 part video presentation]
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5ItiBphSXlk
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JrsE2jYVaNg
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5ItiBphSXlk
One very talented 11 year old girl.
http://www.flixxy.com/bianca-ryan.htm
Videos, videos and, after that, more videos.
http://www.flixxy.com/
My favorite mis-heard song lyric is in the Jimi Hendrix tune
Purple Haze where millions of people thought he sang
'scuse me while I kiss this guy' though he actually sang
'scuse me while I kiss the sky'. Now I've learned that
there's a name for misheard words (or lyrics).
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mondegreen
End of Section Three.
If you'd like to help promote this
non-commercial publication,
please forward this ezine to
anyone you know who might
appreciate it. To spare them
the forwarding carets (>> these
things) I suggest you copy/paste
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If you've received this publication
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//www.freelists.org/list/donspatch
Section Four by Lisa.
Google is your friend (or all things Google).
I've been on a mission lately to simplify as much of my
life as possible. One of the things that seemed to make
sense was to make reading and processing email faster
and more efficient. Last issue I said I was going to
try a concept called Inbox Heaven and report back how
it went. This article walks you through it step-by-step.
http://putthingsoff.com/articles/inbox-heaven/#
Folks, it works! The method begins by getting a Gmail
account and directing all your mail to that one account.
Be advised, though, that you cannot direct other Gmail
accounts to that one so if you already have one, keep
it. It's been a bit different for me to use
browser-based email but now I like it, especially
since I worked hard to update all my Contacts.
There are side benefits to doing this, more in a moment.
We've been using Google Voice, which gives us free
long-distance calling for all 50 US States and Canada
and extremely low international rates. When you use
Google Voice and Gmail, your Contacts are automatically
transferred and updated between the programs.
Incidentally, we haven't received invites to give away
but if you think you might be interested, go here to
request an invite. We received ours in about 3 weeks,
a friend got hers in about a week and others have
waited months, there's no telling.
https://services.google.com/fb/forms/googlevoiceinvite/
Then I got interested in Google Calendar. We now have
efficient calendars that we share. Either of our Google
accounts can access the calendar on any computer with
Internet access. One neat new feature is that when
you put your Contact's birthday in the Contact list
in Gmail or Google Voice, your Calendar shows the
person's birthday in the appropriate date.
http://www.google.com/calendar/
Google Reader is an RSS feed that works more intuitively
than most, so instead of getting several newsletters a
day by email, I unsubscribed and subscribed to them
by RSS feed.
http://www.google.com/reader/
Looking for more Google apps that would interest us and
be useful to our readers, I found that the iGoogle page
provides a customized homepage of your most used
applications. To find it, look in the upper right-hand
corner of the default Google page and click on it.
If you have a Google or Gmail account you will be
directed to a page where you can start building your
iGoogle page. If you don't currently have a Google
or Gmail account you'll be invited to get one.
You can place a widget with your Calendar, which
updates in realtime, right on your page. There are
hundreds of widgets, one of my favorites is one that
places your RSS feed on the page. There's lots more,
so go exploring, it's fun!
If you've been picking up your mail online with Gmail,
you'll see a chat window in the lower left-hand corner
labeled 'chat'. It lists the people in your Contacts
who have Gmail accounts. From this window you can
initiate a chat with any user who has a 'green light'
next to their name; it means they're online and have
Gmail open. This is Google Talk.
http://www.google.com/talk/index.html
You can click on their name and a small chat
window will open allowing you to start a conversation
with them. Windows and Mac users can also install a
stand-alone Google Talk client. Or anyone can do as
we have done and install Pidgin, a multi-platform IM
client and use the one software for IM conversations
on Google, Yahoo, AIM, MSN, ICQ, or any of several other
chat services (though you do need a separate account
with each of the other services you intend to use).
We found Pidgin to be very easy to use as a multi-service
chat client if you have multiple accounts.
Google Docs is a full-featured word processor with
almost unlimited functionality. Your documents are
stored securely online, with the ability to share, edit,
collaborate and publish online. The files can be
downloaded to your computer in a variety of formats.
Besides the help files, here are some cool things
you can do with Docs.
http://snipurl.com/toysl [www_labnol_org]
Patrick Barden has been helping me become more familiar
with Google Wave. As mentioned before, it's still in
beta and has a way to go before becoming really
functional, but there are thousands of public waves
that I can see and Wave with should I choose, so the
phenomenon is hot, really hot. Apparently because I've
been using it, I now have 25 invites to give out. Like
Patrick, I'd like to give them out to people who would
really use it, so check out some of the reviews and ideas
and let me know why you'd like to have one and how you
might use it. It's not a test, just send me a little note.
http://www.don-guitar.com/contactme.html
Here are more links about Google Wave I found useful.
http://lifehacker.com/5370738/google-wave-first-look
http://snipurl.com/tozaa [www_asktheadmin_com]
http://snipurl.com/tozbo [www_chaaps_com]
http://snipurl.com/tozcs [www_bizzntech_com]
Now, here's the thing, the big question; Is there any
reason to be afraid of Google? There's a lot of
googlephobia making the rounds and people ask us how
dangerous the Internet is in general. We can only reply
that the Internet has been very, very good to us and so
far, with all the resources that Google has, they
haven't even given a hint of any nefarious activities
and believe this, they're constantly under a microscope.
Our lives are more organized, streamlined, safer, and
more interesting than ever before.
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.
U.S. military aircraft database.
http://www.designation-systems.net/
An extensive web portal for the construction bidnez.
http://www.constructionweblinks.com/index.html
The U. S. government's official web portal.
http://www.usa.gov/
A resource for lovers of mystery, crime, thriller, spy, and suspense
books. http://www.stopyourekillingme.com/
A search engine for social media. http://www.samepoint.com/
A site where craft junkies (like our web-sibling Vinette DePhillippe)
can sell their hand-made stuff to folks like you and me.
http://www.etsy.com/
A virtual Canadian museum. http://www.museevirtuel-virtualmuseum.ca/
I spotted a twitter post about an unusual African drum that's called a
Gome (pronounced go' may) and was intrigued enough to find videos.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kjEx5IlrPtQ
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9lIoSn4oac8
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PqGap02On2w
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=01_v9GnwKw4
Talk about getting lost in lala-land. http://www.lala.com/
If your web connection is fast enough to handle it (ours isn't darn it)
give a listen to Joani Taylor's music vids.
http://www.joanitaylor.com/index2.html
Here's a URL shortening service that's very popular on Twitter.
http://bit.ly/
I believe I've mentioned before than I love Abiword...
http://www.abisource.com/
...because it's multi-platform (Windows, Mac or Linux) smaller and faster
than Open Office Writer and still has enough features to be a very good
word processor. I've been using abi since version 0.7 (the current
version is 2.8.1). Now there's a really cool way to collaborate on
Abiword documents. https://abicollab.net/
I love acapella singing groups and here's one that's awesome.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N6EYrqIn0yI
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jSf3KRlkdV0
Another acapella singing group that's been around for
a very long time are the Yale Wiffenpoofs.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FBBBwgK6gHI
Here they are again, singing their 'title' song.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jl26cvuuXC8
But here's another version, by different artists that's more fun.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m4_gf68n_30
It's hunting season in Texas and someone asked me how to sight in
his rifle scope. http://www.abousainc.com/SightIn.htm
Historical societies of...
Montana. http://www.his.state.mt.us/
Massachusetts. http://www.masshist.org/index.php
New Hampshire. http://www.nhhistory.org/
Halls of fame (continued).
Van Heusen (pro football). http://www.fanschoice.com/
Environmental. http://www.environmentalfame.com/
NFF. http://www.footballfoundation.org/
Women in poker. http://www.womenspokerhalloffame.com/
Energizer Bunny. http://www.energizerkeepgoinghalloffame.com/
Oregon music. http://www.omhof.org/
(to be continued)
A few interesting videos.
http://www.youtube.com/user/agreggofsociety
http://www.youtube.com/user/banjofolk
http://www.youtube.com/user/NettwerkMusic
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7MR2G1tVcLY (the good stuff
starts at 2 minutes and 40 seconds)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ofhjruA7iKU
End of Section Five.
Archives for this ezine are available online here:
//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.
//www.freelists.org/archives/donspatch/feed.rss
Section Six by Lisa.
Slate Magazine-politics, news, and culture.
http://www.slate.com/
I've been waiting to try Google Chrome. It's out
in beta for Linux and Mac, but I'll wait a bit.
http://snipurl.com/toxqs [lifehacker_com]
The National Postal Museum at the Smithsonian.
http://www.postalmuseum.si.edu/
Resources for Web designers and developers.
http://www.smashingmagazine.com/
How to find your cell phone's IMEI number, it
could come in handy someday.
http://snipurl.com/toxwl [howto_wired_com]
Lists about lots of stuff.
http://www.listable.org/
At one time or another, we've all needed Algebra help.
http://www.algebrahelp.com/
I've become very interested in alternative
percussion instruments, much to Don's delight.
Here are the cajon, the riq, and darbuka.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uKVJjMBG7iY
http://snipurl.com/tozi0 [www_youtube_com]
http://snipurl.com/toznj [www_youtube_com]
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H3kcD5KWT_Q
For adults with ADD, money management is another
challenge. Here are some strategies for coping.
http://addfinances.blogs.com/blog/
End of Section Six.
The Linux Corner.
Who'd have expected Linux to become such a strong contender in the
cellphone wars? http://mybroadband.co.za/news/Cellular/10817.html
This is a poorly made video but its point is totally valid.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yZIs8lCzk5k
A Little Humor.
From reader Elizabeth Bodnar (sorry it took me so long
to use it, I tend to let my inbox get out of hand):
Conditions were perfect.12 below, no feeling in the toes,
basic numbness all over.the 'Tell me when we're having
fun' kind of day.
One of the women in the group complained to her husband
that she was in dire need of a rest room. He told her
not to worry, that he was sure there was relief waiting
at the top of the lift in the form of a powder room for
female skiers in distress. He was wrong, of course, and
the pain did not go away. If you've ever had nature hit
its panic button in you, then you know that a temperature
of 12 below doesn't help matters. With time running out,
the woman weighed her options. Her husband, picking up
on the intensity of the pain, suggested that since she
was wearing an all-white ski outfit, she should go off
in the woods and no one would even notice. He assured
her, 'The white will provide more than adequate
camouflage.'
So she headed for the tree line, began lowering her
ski pants and proceeded to do her thing. If you've
ever parked on the side of a slope, then you know
there is a right way and wrong way to set your skis
so you don't move. Yup, you got it! She had them
positioned the wrong way. Steep slopes are not
forgiving.even during the most embarrassing moments.
Without warning, the woman found herself skiing
backward, out-of-control, racing through the trees,
somehow missing all of them and onto another slope.
Her derrière and the reverse side were still bare,
her pants down around her knees, and she was picking
up speed all the while. She continued backwards,
totally out-of-control, creating an unusual vista
for the other skiers. The woman skied back under
the lift and finally collided violently with a pylon.
The bad news was that she broke her arm and was unable
to pull up her ski pants. At long last her husband
arrived, putting an end to her nudie show, then
summoned the ski patrol. They transported her to
a hospital.
While in the emergency room, a man with an obviously
broken leg was put in the bed next to hers. 'So,
how'd you break your leg?' she asked, making small
talk. 'It was the stupidest thing you ever saw,' he
said. 'I was riding up this ski lift and suddenly,
I couldn't believe my eyes! There was this crazy
woman skiing backward, out-of-control, down the
mountain, with her bare bottom hanging out of her
pants. I leaned over to get a better look and fell
out of the lift.' . 'So, how'd you break your arm?'
~~~
From reader and web sibling Irving Stein.
It's just Texas:
Pep, Texas 79353
Smiley, Texas 78159
Paradise, Texas 76073
Rainbow, Texas 76077
Sweet Home, Texas 77987
Comfort, Texas 78013
Friendship, Texas 76530
Love the Sun?
Sun City , Texas 78628
Sunrise , Texas 76661
Sunset, Texas 76270
Sundown, Texas 79372
Sunray , Texas 79086
Sunny Side , Texas 77423
Want something to eat?
Bacon , Texas 76301
Noodle , Texas 79536
Oatmeal , Texas 78605
Turkey , Texas 79261
Trout , Texas 75789
Sugar Land , Texas 77479
Salty, Texas 76567
Rice , Texas 75155
Pearland , Texas 77581
Orange , Texas 77630
And top it off with:
Sweetwater , Texas 79556
Why travel to other cities? Texas has them all!
Detroit , Texas 75436
Cleveland , Texas 75436
Colorado City , Texas 79512
Denver City , Texas 79323
Klondike , Texas 75448
Nevada , Texas 75173
Memphis , Texas 79245
Miami , Texas 79059
Boston , Texas 75570
Santa Fe , Texas 77517
Tennessee Colony , Texas 75861
Reno , Texas 75462
Pasadena , Texas 77506
Columbus , Texas 78934
Feel like traveling outside the country?
Don't bother buying a plane ticket!
Athens , Texas 75751
Canadian, Texas 79014
China , Texas 77613
Egypt , Texas 77436
Ireland , Texas 76538
Italy , Texas 76538
Turkey , Texas 79261
London , Texas 76854
New London , Texas 75682
Paris , Texas 75460
Palestine , Texas 75801
No need to travel to Washington D.C.
Whitehouse , Texas 75791
There's even a city named after our planet.
Earth , Texas 79031
And a city named after the state.
Texas City , Texas 77590
Exhausted?
Energy , Texas 76452
Cold?
Blanket , Texas 76432
Winters, Texas
Like to read about History?
Santa Anna , Texas
Goliad , Texas
Alamo , Texas
Gun Barrel City , Texas
Robert Lee, Texas
Need Office Supplies?
Staples, Texas 78670
Want to go into outer space?
Venus , Texas 76084
Mars , Texas 79062
You guessed it. It's on the state line.
Texline , Texas 79087
For the kids...
Kermit , Texas 79745
Elmo , Texas 75118
Nemo , Texas 76070
Tarzan , Texas 79783
Winnie , Texas 77665
Sylvester , Texas 79560
Other city names in Texas, to make you smile:
Frognot , Texas 75424
Bigfoot , Texas 78005
Hogeye , Texas 75423
Cactus , Texas 79013
Notrees , Texas 79759
Best, Texas 76932
Veribest , Texas 76886
Kickapoo , Texas 75763
Dime Box , Texas 77853
Old Dime Box , Texas 77853
Telephone , Texas 75488
Telegraph , Texas 76883
Whiteface , Texas 79379
Twitty, Texas 79079
The Anti-Al Gore city.
Kilgore , Texas 75662
Other favorites.
Cut n Shoot, Texas
Gun Barrel City , Texas
Hoop And Holler, Texas
Ding Dong, Texas and, of course,
Muleshoe , Texas
Here is what Jeff Foxworthy has to say about folks from
Texas:
If someone in a Lowe's store offers you assistance and they
don't work there, you may live in Texas.
If you've worn shorts and a parka at the same time, you
may live in Texas.
If you've had a lengthy telephone conversation with someone
who dialed a wrong number, you may live in Texas.
If 'Vacation' means going anywhere south of Dallas for
the weekend, you may live in Texas.
If you measure distance in hours, you may live in Texas.
If you know several people who have hit a deer more than
once, you may live in Texas.
If you install security lights on your house and garage,
but leave both unlocked, you may live in Texas.
If you carry jumper cables in your car and your wife
knows how to use them, you may live in Texas.
If the speed limit on the highway is 55 mph,
you're going 80 and everybody's passing you,
you may live in Texas.
If you find 60 degrees 'a little chilly,'
you may live in Texas.
Here are some little known, very
interesting facts about Texas .
Beaumont to El Paso : 742 miles
Beaumont to Chicago : 770 miles
El Paso is closer to California than to Dallas.
World's first rodeo was in Pecos , July 4, 1883.
The Flagship Hotel in Galveston is the only
hotel in North America built over water.
The Heisman Trophy was named after John William
Heisman who was the first full-time coach at Rice
University in Houston .
Brazoria County has more species of birds than
any other area in North America.
Aransas Wildlife Refuge is the winter home of North
America's only remaining flock of whooping cranes.
Jalapeno jelly originated in Lake Jackson in 1978.
The worst natural disaster in U.S. history was in
1900, caused by a hurricane, in which over 8,000
lives were lost on Galveston Island .
The first word spoken from the moon, July 20,1969,
was 'Houston' but the space center was actually
in Clear Lake City at the time.
King Ranch in South Texas is larger than Rhode Island.
Tropical Storm Claudette brought a U.S. rainfall record
of 43' in 24 hours in and around Alvin in July of 1979.
Texas is the only state to enter the U.S. by treaty,
(known as the Constitution of 1845 by the Republic of
Texas to enter the Union ) instead of by annexation.
This allows the Texas Flag to fly at the same height
as the U.S. Flag, and may divide into 5 states. Also,
can secede from the union at our discretion...which
we may do in short order if things in Washington
don't change soon!
A Live Oak tree near Fulton is
estimated to be 1500 years old.
Caddo Lake is the only natural lake in the state.
Dr Pepper was invented in Waco in 1885.
There is no period in Dr Pepper.
Texas has had six capital cities:
Washington-on-the-Brazos, Harrisburg, Galveston,
Velasco, West Columbia and Austin.
The Capitol Dome in Austin is the only dome in the
U.S. which is taller than the Capitol Building in
Washington DC (by 7 feet).
The San Jacinto Monument is the tallest free
standing monument in the world and it is taller
than the Washington monument.
The name 'Texas' comes from the Hasini Indian word
'tejas' meaning friends. Tejas is not Spanish for Texas.
The State Mascot is the Armadillo (an interesting bit
of trivia about the armadillo is they always have four
babies. They have one egg, which splits into four,
and they either have four males or four females).
The first domed stadium in the
U.S. was the Astrodome in Houston .
Tips for This Issue.
Cyber Security Tips. http://www.us-cert.gov/cas/tips/
Having no aptitude for technology is no excuse for knowing
nothing about your computer. Here's a well written, concise
synapsis of things you should know at least a little about.
http://maxsystems.com/computertips.html
A plentitude of information. http://www.helpwithpcs.com/
Lots of security related info. http://www.onguardonline.gov/
Computer forums for educated geeks.
http://www.tek-tips.com/
Photoshop tutorials (which astute users can, in some cases
adapt for PSP or the Gimp). http://psd.tutsplus.com/
The U. S. Navy wants you to be safe.
http://safetycenter.navy.mil/safetips/default.htm
Windows tips. No, really.
http://www.simonton.com/Information/Tips/
It's about search engines.
http://www.monash.com/spidap.html
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://lookeewhatifound.blogspot.com/ )
If you love Christmas music there's still a few
days left on this cool offer from Amazon.
http://snipurl.com/tp1td [www_amazon_com]
I guess you can do just about anything 'virtually', even
reading to your kids. http://www.astorybeforebed.com/
A few seasonal things from our web-sibling Jo-Ann (Jo) Burton:
( Jo's site: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/sharinglinks2/ )
Elf attack. http://www.elfattack.com/
Christmas run. http://www.fingertime.com/christmastime.php
Christmas bells. http://www.ferryhalim.com/orisinal/g3/bells.htm
Simon sez Santa. http://www.simonsezsanta.com/index.php
Fat Santa. http://www.ugoplayer.com/games/fatsanta.html
Snow drift. http://www.nitrome.com/games/snowdrift/
Cats Christmas card.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Gv4bswazYA
DIY greetings. http://phreetings.com/?d=phreetings
Real tree or fake? Dated but valid.
http://www.slate.com/id/2180086/nav/tap3/
You think you got winter?
http://tc.gov.yk.ca/archives/winter/
Old Soviet Christmas cards.
http://www.mazaika.com/postcard/aerospace0.htm
A little humor.
http://www.militantplatypus.com/blog/884/holiday-funny
A crafter's bonus.
http://weloveholidaysweaters.wehatesheep.com/
Web-sibling Herb Cee insists that there's a techno-cat-ic solution to
printer problems. http://www.flixxy.com/laser-printer-problem.htm
Our ever crafty web-sibling Vinette DePhillipe offers this fast and easy
DIY Christmas gift. http://www.bellaonline.com/articles/art1481.asp/zzz
Our Danish-Canadian web-sibling Peter Ekkerman says
'Who wants to double their computer?'
http://www2.userful.com/products/downloads/free-2-user
In the middle of winter our web-sibling Jerry Fox is thinking about
warm days and boating. Check out the 'One Wicked Run'.
http://www.oregonjetsprint.com/Pics.html
Our good friend Cranz Nichols, who's a Linux enthusiast and ham
radio operator, informed us (via our LUG's mailing list) that Linux
Journal magazine is doing a special issue on ham radio.
http://www.arrl.org/news/features/2009/12/09/11239/?nc=1
Thank you Patrick, Jo, Herb, Vi, Peter, Jerry and Cranz.
Last word, from Lisa:
Lately I've been in 'learning mode', surfing the 'Net
looking for cool fun stuff to add to my repertoire of
skills. There's something about the onset of winter that
seems to make this a seasonal thing for me. Any of you
out there do the same thing? Wonder if it's a biological
necessity? Whatever, it's a lot like being in love; my
brain's on fire, it's hard to get to sleep and I seem
to be happy all the time. It can't be a bad thing.
It's the holiday season and we hope that your
Christmas, Chanukah, Kwanzaa or any and all holidays
of your choice and persuasion are wonderful. Please
send a note if you would like a call from us this year.
We had a wonderful time year-before-last calling
some of our readers and, now that it costs us little
or nothing (because we have Google Voice) we
want to do it again. Hope you'd like to talk to us, too.
'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
Tuesday, December 15, 2009
2:30 AM CST - Buchanan Lake Village, Texas, USA
Served by the U.S. Post Office
in Tow (rhymes-with-cow), Texas
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A bit of advice from Internet veteran Bayard J. Fox:
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