Why I am an Optimist

GivesMeHope - Like FML, but for optimists!

I offer the link above as an example of a useful Blog. Here folks like you and I can post messages of time you were given hope in this world. What a wonderful way to use computers.

Believe me I have plenty of opportunities to feel things are hopeless, but remembering these things help me keep them in perspective.

Hope you enjoy it too.

Good Grief! UK being PC...

Ex-soldier faces jail for handing in gun

Ex-soldier faces jail for handing in gun
Tuesday, November 17, 2009, 12:15

A former soldier who handed a discarded shotgun in to police faces at least five years imprisonment for "doing his duty".

Paul Clarke, 27, was found guilty of possessing a firearm at Guildford Crown Court on Tuesday – after finding the gun and handing it personally to police officers on March 20 this year.

The jury took 20 minutes to make its conviction, and Mr Clarke now faces a minimum of five year's imprisonment for handing in the weapon.

To my friends who believe the 'Liberal Media' never reports good news...

Armed Robbers Apologize to Army Reserve Victim - ABC News

The 21-year-old University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee sophomore, who joined the Army Reserve a year ago, said he was walking home from work early Tuesday morning when four masked men forced him into an alley at gunpoint.

After ordering him to the ground, the reservist said the men took his wallet, keys, cell phone, and even an energy bar wrapper from his pants pockets.

But when one of the robbers started going through the wallet, the reservist said the hostilities immediately ceased.

"They found my military ID which stopped them dead in their tracks," the student, who asked not to be identified, told WTMJ-TV. "What I presume to be the leader said, 'We can't do this. We've got to give him his stuff back.'"

Google Translate Upgrade

Google Translate

I happened to use Google Translate recently and realized they have changed its face since my last visit. If you don't know about this service visit the link. When you visit a website in a language you can't read just visit this site and put the link in the form.

If you have Google Toolbar installed it can have a button or right click link to automatically open the translated page.

I don't use it often, but each time I am reminded how limited I am knowing only one language well. I am grateful for my family's effort to have tried to teach me French as a child and for my father's teaching me to understand etimology listings in Webster's Dictionary for each definition. We red necks don't consider how much of our American 'English' is based on other languages.

A Word About Facebook and Security

10 Solid Tips to Safeguard Your Facebook Privacy

This link above leads to an excellent article on a topic I discuss periodically. I am not paranoid, folks are really out to get us!  :)

Aside from the time we waste on Facebook there can be a real security problem. If you write things you shouldn't have co-workers or bosses see then you may just be foolish. But many of the more innocent things we post would pass muster if they were just not brought to the attention of these folks.

The default starting point in Facebook is for all your friends to be treated equally. Maybe this is dangerous, but its what it is. So what the linked article describes is how to create Friends Lists, and then make posts viewable just by the right lists and further how to hide information from searches.

It's a good read. Could save some trouble down the road and still let you enjoy the benefits of using Facebook.

Enjoy!
-=Lare=-

Seal teaches photographer!

I think this is amazing, have a watch!

Violinist in the Metro

Violinist in the Metro - Interesting Discoveries - Ego Dialogues

This is an incredibly sad story which gave me chills. It is a social experiment about perception, taste and priorities of people.

A man sat at a metro station in Washington DC and started to play the violin; it was a cold January morning.
He played six Bach pieces for about 45 minutes. During that time, since it was rush hour, it was calculated that thousands of people went through the station, most of them on their way to work.

How attentive to real life are we? Am I so wrapped up in my own thoughts that my senses can't notice all that is right here with me now? Am I really this way?

Sigh...

Yes.

Solar Powered Airplane

Solar Powered hybrid aircraft - Sunseeker II


It's just a beginning, but here is a working aircraft powered by sunlight. I love it!

The Beautiful Oregon Coast

We haven't been travelling much at all lately. But for Valentine's Day we went to the Oregon Coast at Florence and its South Jetty with the dogs. They loved it and so did we. The ocean here is always powerful, big waves, many birds, sea lions, sea shells and logs that make this a unique, beautiful place to experience.

There is nothing like it.

Wish you were here.

The Future of the Auto Kind

Exclusive: Aptera 2e- Yahoo! Autos Article Page



Why am I optimistic about our future? Because we can barely imagine how great the improvements in our future will be over our current way of running our part of the earth. And I think this car is a great example of our future and I like it.

Many thanks to my friend Daryl for showing me this item.

LIFE Photo Archive available though Google

Official Google Blog: LIFE Photo Archive available on Google Image Search














From Google Blog:

We're excited to announce the availability of never-before-seen images from the LIFE photo archive. This effort to bring offline images online was inspired by our mission to organize all the world's information and make it universally accessible and useful. This collection of newly-digitized images includes photos and etchings produced and owned by LIFE dating all the way back to the 1750s.

This is an impressive deed by Google. I am really looking forward to seeing what they can do to capitalize on this and make it pay for itself. Can it be done?

Ode To Joy

Happy New Year!
Let's start 2009 with a moment of the Muppets