“I’m writing to you because it has been a while since your last order. We fondly remember that day. You completed your order and we all started cheering. We printed your order, placed it on our velvet red pillow reserved for special customer orders. Quickly, yet carefully, we carried your order out into our distribution center. Our staff looked up, smiled in unison and then broke out in applause.

Your items were picked carefully from their respective locations. Hundreds of potential boxes were considered for your order and we settled on the best possible one to use. I can recall the look and feel of that beautiful corrugated box. I still feel the butterflies in my stomach as the shipping label was placed on the box. We all gathered around as your order was tenderly loaded onto the delivery truck so that it could begin its journey to your door. Man, what a great day that was.”

When they put a video of this up on Youtube, I’ll place another order. (I like the site, but I don’t need anything right now… but I could be persuaded for a video.)

*I am mostly happy with the original version. I don’t like the new browser button they’re beta testing. I also sometimes have to resort to using Amazon’s universal wishlist when Kaboodle has blocked a site.

Once, I wrote to a site Kaboodle had blocked adding items from. They said they never asked to be blocked, so Kaboodle must have blocked them. I contacted Kaboodle and asked why the site was blocked and they never replied.

Do you know how many times my friend (who’d had a broken leg after a car accident) and I would be walking around a store, and she’d get tired and sore and I’d have to go back to the front of the store and get her a Mart Cart? I had to leave her where she was because it hurt too much to walk all the way back.

Did I “look” like there was anything wrong with me when my ankle was injured in the same accident and I used one for a couple of weeks? How about the time I dropped the bowling ball on my foot and rode one around?

People, you can’t always tell if someone is disabled by looking at them. My friend can now sometimes walk without a limp, but she’s still often in a lot of pain.

The little girl began playing with YMCA Lady’s necklace. YMCA Lady shoved her hand away and said, “That’s mine, leave it alone, it’s older than you.” Umm, a. she’s just doing what babies do – explore; b. she’s too young to understand “it’s older than you,” and c. perhaps if you don’t want to risk babies playing with your precious antique necklace, you shouldn’t be wearing it?

YMCA Lady and Friend go back to talking. Meanwhile, a little boy, perhaps 3 or 4, crawls up to me while pushing a firetruck and said, “hi!” I said “Hi!” He said, “Look at this firetruck!” I said, “I see!” Him: “It’s got a ladder!” Me: “That’s a big ladder!” Him: “It’s got lights too!” *showing me lights* Me: “Wow, that’s neat!” Little boy wanders off and continues playing.

Around this time Friend turns to me and I said, “That little guy was just showing me his firetruck.” YMCA Lady: “That’s OUR firetruck.” Uhh, okay lady, it’s not like the kid could hear me, and I’m sure he either knows the toy has to stay or Mommy or Daddy will explain it to him. Jeez.

I am not sure if she would be my boss or not if I got a job there, but I don’t think I could stand to work with her if she’s like that all the time.

Too cute! I love gaming-related shirts!

I think I’m going to die of cuteness.

Honestly, I want to buy out half of Sugarraindrops’ shop on Etsy!

A recent study shows that a texting driver is 23 times more likely to be in an accident. No one needs those odds, but teenagers or novice drivers especially don’t need additional distractions behind the wheel.

As teenagers gain confidence driving, they may feel like they can handle the multitasking, but it only takes a split second of inattention to seriously injure or kill someone.

I am in favor of all drivers seeing this video. If it can make them feel even a tiny bit of what I felt as an accident victim, then maybe it can save lives. Parents may say it is too graphic. Think how your child will feel if he/she is ever really in this situation, and turns to see his/her friend(s) severely injured or dead in the next seat. You may think it’s a horrible video, but it’s even more horrible to see your injuries and those of your passengers, to be cut out of your car using the jaws of life, placed on a backboard and taken to the hospital in an ambulance, and listen to your family – parents, spouse, children – cry on the phone when you call them.

Bottom line: If you’re old enough to drive, you’re old enough to see the potential consequences that may arise should you make bad choices while you drive.

Anyone can call or text your GV number, but for outbound calls and texts it displays your real cell phone number instead. (It seems that if you reply to a text sent to your GV number, it will return through GV, but not if you initiate a new text from your phone to theirs.)

Now I know there is a workaround to make voice calls use your GV number as outgoing caller ID, but it’s a real pain. You dial your own GV number, then dial 2 and the number you want to call. (I am disregarding the other 2 workarounds because of inconvenience and expense; those workarounds include buying a smartphone that supports a GV app/site, or making phone calls/texts from your computer using the GV website.)

This is not only a nuisance – having to explain to non-technical people why a different number will show on their caller ID when you’ve already told them you have a new single number – it’s also a privacy issue for some people. Part of the benefit of Google Voice is the ability to block callers or mark them as spam. However, if you at some point forget to call or text them using the GV interface, they will have your other phone numbers and will be able to bypass your block.

Maybe some day I’ll have a smartphone that can use a GV app to get around this, but in the meantime I am not sure about switching over and having to explain to anyone new that I text that texts may come from a separate phone number.

Gizmodiva has posted about larger seats being installed on a train. They use such hateful words as…well, read it for yourself:

We know that the world is slowly turning grotesquely fat, what with all the Mcdonalds and other fast food chains and their up-sizing around. It’s quite a painful experience to watch fat people squeeze into seats with half of their body spilling out! Thankfully, they don’t have to endure the tiny cramped seats anymore as special chairs have been installed on trains to cope with rising obesity rates. I’m not sure I like this, because it only gives them lesser motivation to shed all those excess pounds. So instead of catering to them, we need to tell them to get up and exercise a bit. That’s the only way the obesity problem will come to a halt. What do you think?

First of all, what makes you think it’s your place, a stranger, to tell someone to get up and exercise? How would you feel if I came up to you and said, “You’re too skinny, you need to put on about 20 pounds.” Or, “You’re grotesquely ugly, you should have plastic surgery.” Don’t you think you’d feel a little bit embarrassed, and angry? Wouldn’t you yell at me and tell me to mind my own business? How do you expect a person to respond? “Oh my gosh, I had no idea I’m overweight, thanks for the insight!”

I’ve already left a comment but it hasn’t shown up yet, so who knows if it will be approved. I’d like to direct you all to Kate Harding’s Shapely Prose, specifically this page, and specifically points 7, 8, and 9.

“7. Human beings deserve to be treated with dignity and respect. Fat people are human beings.

8. Even fat people who are unhealthy still deserve dignity and respect. Still human beings. See how that works?

9. In any case, shaming teh fatties for being “unhealthy” doesn’t f***ing help. If shame made people thin, there wouldn’t be a fat person in this country, trust me. I wish I could remember who said this, ’cause it’s one of my favorite quotes of all time: ‘You cannot hate people for their own good.’”

I think So Long Suckers is my favorite…

Game over! Cure even the ouchiest of owies with one of these uber cool retro Pac-Man Bandages. Featuring three retro Pac-Man graphics so you can pick your favorite one to help heal your owie. Each tin contains 15 bandages in the three different graphics. $3.99.

My mom doesn’t even know this woman’s name, but she mentioned she was just home from basic training and going to be deployed soon, although she didn’t mention where to. I know we don’t all have the same beliefs, but if you see this post, please say a prayer or a thought to keep this woman safe on her tour.

It’s run by the Thoughts from the Sidelines blog. Now you might think a gadget blog is a gadget blog, and you’ve got your Gizmodo or your Engadget, but this site has a more intimate feel that those behemoths are missing, and not just because it’s smaller. The clean layout of the site is so refreshing, and because they post less, each post is more important and better quality… you don’t have posts getting lost in the shuffle.

So shout me out over there – I’m KatGamer!

Sign here

I Am a Constitution Voter

* I believe that no one — including the President — is above the law.
* I oppose all forms of torture, and I support both closing the Guantánamo Bay prison and ending indefinite detention.
* I oppose warrantless spying.
* I believe that government officials, no matter how high-ranking, should be held accountable for breaking the law and violating the Constitution.
* I believe that the Constitution protects every person’s rights equally — no matter what they believe, how they live, where or if they worship, and whom they love.
* I reject the notion that we have to tolerate violations of our most fundamental rights in the name of fighting terrorism.
* I am deeply committed to the Constitution and expect our country’s leaders to share and act on that commitment — every day, without fail.

We need to let our leaders know that when we step into the ballot box the Constitution will be the first thing on our minds.

Our goal is to sign up 300,000 Constitution Voters by October 15th to demonstrate our power.

I was never a talk show viewer, but my friend really loves Steve Wilkos and so we went to see a taping yesterday. (He used to work on, and guest hosted, the Jerry Springer show.) It was fun, but tiring. The taping started more than an hour late, and some people in the audience would not shut up and ended up getting kicked out. We didn’t have the best show… one of the guests on the show would not stop yelling and cursing, and she simply wouldn’t change her ways so Steve could help out. Our show also didn’t have the usual lie detector test, either. They did try to salvage it and think it will air in a couple of months. We have a phone number to call every Friday and wait until we hear when our taping will air.

Neat things about the taping:

The producers (mostly the executive producer, I think) don’t hesitate to pipe up during the show. When the one guest wouldn’t stop yelling, he first told Steve “you need to take control of this situation.” Later, the producer even yelled at her to shut up.

The stage manager (a great, friendly woman named Annette) told us ahead of time not to curse. I never heard anyone in the audience cursing (although admittedly it was very loud in there when we were applauding), but boy the guests did!

Steve is very friendly and seems to be just like he is on TV… very genuine. He answered questions before the taping and stuck around afterwards for pictures and autographs. Also, they do several tapings in one day.

The set looks a lot more orangey in person than it does on TV. I knew that most of it had a rust-colored look, but it never looked so vivid on TV as it did in person.

It was a neat experience to have. I’d love to go to a sitcom taping next.

If you travel outside the United States this summer, you can kiss your right to privacy, and perhaps your laptop, digital camera and cell phone, goodbye.

Did you know…

1. Border security can seize your laptop, cell phone or camera with no suspicion or explanation.

2. Many airports use scanners that conduct a virtual ” strip search” of passengers.

3. There are over one million names on the terrorist watch list.

4. The TSA recently expressed interest in having every airline passenger wear “electro-muscular disruption” bracelets that could be used to shock passengers into submission.

Traveling shouldn’t mean checking your rights when you’re checking your luggage. It’s time for some sanity when it comes to security.

I just asked my members of Congress to rein in travel abuses by the Department of Homeland Security. You can learn more about this and email your members of Congress here:

ACLU

Not Always Right
Customers Suck
Acts of Gord (an owner of a video game store)

I think if I were going to use candles to light a walkway, they’d have to be sheltered in some way, like placed inside small lanterns.

My 3 favorite bento blogs:

Bento Yum, with lots of great sets for beginners.
Adventures in Bentomaking
Lunch in a Box

Now, however, some e-tailers are offering that kind of guarantee as a checkout extra–a service that you pay for, like extended warranties. And like so many other services these days, it’s outsourced.

read more

1. We Shout – Tatu
2. I Want Someone To Love – Sailor Moon soundtrack
3. Hands – Jewel
4. I Can’t Stand It – Danielle Paris
5. Wild One – Faith Hill
6. YMCA – Village People
7. Never Get Over You – Expose
8. The Lover After Me – Savage Garden
9. Home Is In Your Heart – Care Bears
10. Fernando – Abba

Huh, I love dance music and not a single dance song came up in that list. Oh well, that’s randomness for you!

via UberReview

via Coolbuzz

Story on Eagle Tribune

Fifteen hundred people died the night the ship sank. That is half the number of people who died in the September 11th, 2001, terrorist attacks in New York. In 80 years, will there be banks and lamps that appear to be collapsing in a cloud of dust, modeled after the twin towers? With only a few people left alive who lived through the attacks, will it be seen as something to model art after?

I’m guessing if the Titanic had sunk in 2001, and had the same massive loss of life, it wouldn’t be so cool… in fact, these designers would be shamed. Imagine losing a loved one to the sinking ship, or being on it yourself. Memorial my ass… these are tacky souvenirs of a horrible disaster.

To those who are looking for someone to do work for free… please wake up and join the real world.

Every day, there are more and more CL posts seeking “artists” for everything from auto graphics to comic books to corporate logo designs. More people are finding themselves in need of some form of illustrative service.

But what they’re NOT doing, unfortunately, is realizing how rare someone with these particular talents can be.

To those who are “seeking artists”, let me ask you; How many people do you know, personally, with the talent and skill to perform the services you need? A dozen? Five? One? …none?

More than likely, you don’t know any. Otherwise, you wouldn’t be posting on craigslist to find them.

And this is not really a surprise.

In this country, there are almost twice as many neurosurgeons as there are professional illustrators. There are eleven times as many certified mechanics. There are SEVENTY times as many people in the IT field.

So, given that they are less rare, and therefore less in demand, would it make sense to ask your mechanic to work on your car for free? Would you look him in the eye, with a straight face, and tell him that his compensation would be the ability to have his work shown to others as you drive down the street?

Would you offer a neurosurgeon the “opportunity” to add your name to his resume as payment for removing that pesky tumor? (Maybe you could offer him “a few bucks” for “materials”. What a deal!)

Would you be able to seriously even CONSIDER offering your web hosting service the chance to have people see their work, by viewing your website, as their payment for hosting you?

If you answered “yes” to ANY of the above, you’re obviously insane. If you answered “no”, then kudos to you for living in the real world.

But then tell me… why would you think it is okay to live out the same, delusional, ridiculous fantasy when seeking someone whose abilities are even less in supply than these folks?

Graphic artists, illustrators, painters, etc., are skilled tradesmen. As such, to consider them as, or deal with them as, anything less than professionals fully deserving of your respect is both insulting and a bad reflection on you as a sane, reasonable person. In short, it makes you look like a twit.

A few things you need to know;

1. It is not a “great opportunity” for an artist to have his work seen on your car/’zine/website/bedroom wall, etc. It IS a “great opportunity” for YOU to have their work there.

2. It is not clever to seek a “student” or “beginner” in an attempt to get work for free. It’s ignorant and insulting. They may be “students”, but that does not mean they don’t deserve to be paid for their hard work. You were a “student” once, too. Would you have taken that job at McDonalds with no pay, because you were learning essential job skills for the real world? Yes, your proposition it JUST as stupid.

3. The chance to have their name on something that is going to be seen by other people, whether it’s one or one million, is NOT a valid enticement. Neither is the right to add that work to their “portfolio”. They get to do those things ANYWAY, after being paid as they should. It’s not compensation. It’s their right, and it’s a given.

4. Stop thinking that you’re giving them some great chance to work. Once they skip over your silly ad, as they should, the next ad is usually for someone who lives in the real world, and as such, will pay them. There are far more jobs needing these skills than there are people who possess these skills.

5. Students DO need “experience”. But they do NOT need to get it by giving their work away. In fact, this does not even offer them the experience they need. Anyone who will not/can not pay them is obviously the type of person or business they should be ashamed to have on their resume anyway. Do you think professional contractors list the “experience” they got while nailing down a loose step at their grandmother’s house when they were seventeen?

If you your company or gig was worth listing as desired experience, it would be able to pay for the services it received. The only experience they will get doing free work for you is a lesson learned in what kinds of scrubs they should not lower themselves to deal with.

6. (This one is FOR the artists out there, please pay attention.) Some will ask you to “submit work for consideration”. They may even be posing as some sort of “contest”. These are almost always scams. They will take the work submitted by many artists seeking to win the “contest”, or be “chosen” for the gig, and find what they like most. They will then usually have someone who works for them, or someone who works incredibly cheap because they have no originality or talent of their own, reproduce that same work, or even just make slight modifications to it, and claim it as their own. You will NOT be paid, you will NOT win the contest. The only people who win, here, are the underhanded folks who run these ads. This is speculative, or “spec”, work. It’s risky at best, and a complete scam at worst. I urge you to avoid it, completely. For more information on this subject, please visit www.no-spec.com.

So to artists/designers/illustrators looking for work, do everyone a favor, ESPECIALLY yourselves, and avoid people who do not intend to pay you. Whether they are “spec” gigs, or just some guy who wants a free mural on his living room walls. They need you. You do NOT need them.

And for those who are looking for someone to do work for free… please wake up and join the real world. The only thing you’re accomplishing is to insult those with the skills you need. Get a clue.

First up are Quik Tops can sealers, which attach a pouring spout, and the lid doubles as a little cup you can pour your pop into, although I’m not sure why you’d want to. It’s a screw-top bottle to prevent leaks, and probably a great choice for using in the car too. You can find them in a set of two at Urchin.co.uk for GBP 6.99, or about USD $14.

If Quik Tops seem a bit too complicated and expensive, you’ll be much happier with Top It Can Caps, which are available in a 2-pack for $1.99 at Organize.com. It has the small, filtered opening shown for drinking, and snaps closed to keep in the fizz.

While they won’t help with spills, you can certainly keep the bugs out with these stylish drink umbrellas from Miles Kimball. The set of 4 are color-coded for easy drink identification and come with 100 straws at only $6.99.

And finally, for indoors or out, a wonderful mug set for coffee, tea, or hot chocolate. These 12oz mugs have their own lids which double as coasters. They are available in sets of 4 – each set is only one color – red, yellow, or blue – for $19.99.

One of their arguments is that kids should not call adults by their first names. Um, hello, why do you think he was Mr. Rogers to all of us, and Fred to other adults on the show!!

There’s a ton of screwed up teaching going on in the world, in high school, college, and the workplace. But to go back decades and read something else into what people like Mr. Rogers was trying to say is pushing it.

Besides, let’s put the blame where it really rests: Oprah and Dr. Phil. They’ve screwed up more people than Fred Rogers ever could. And that continues into adulthood.

via TV Squad

Also, right now Amazon has a 4-for-3 deal going on. Add any 4 items to your cart (eligible items include some books, CDs, DVDs, magazines, and home & garden items) and you will get the least expensive item free. Here are the promo details.

So we went to Arby’s yesterday and saw huge posters plastered all over, advertising their new strawberry & banana swirl shake. We ordered 2, only to be told they were out, so we got their orange dream shakes instead. Now, I understand it is probably a popular item, especially during the hot summer days, and that it was the 4th of July, so they may not have gotten any deliveries of whatever mix they use… but when advertising a brand-new promo item with huge posters, you would think they could plan ahead and not run out.

via Apartment Therapy’s Home Tech

via TechCrunch

After lunch, around 12:30, the aide brought him a refill without asking if he needed one. In fact, since he’d had iced tea with lunch, he didn’t. What I found appalling was how she brought it. Rather than dumping the water in the pitcher and refilling it, she brought in a plastic pitcher liner full of ice water, took the one inside the pitcher out, dumped the old water and threw the liner away. What a waste of plastic! Wouldn’t just washing the pitcher in the hospital’s dishwashers solve the problem of germs? And how germy is a pitcher sitting there for 2 1/2 hours going to get? It’s not like anyone was drinking from it, and my dad wasn’t contagious.

I’ve been reading a blog called Plastic Free by EnviroWoman. She’s taken a pledge to not purchase any new plastic in 2007. The plastic she’s bought, by desperate need (deodorant) or by accident (inside cans of pop!) are in a very small pile that she’s posted pictures of. Her blog has definitely made me more aware of all the plastic in my life, most of which won’t degrade for hundreds or thousands of years (this site says a plastic jug will take a million years!) And not all plastic can be recycled.

Check out Plastic Free and then think about how much plastic comes into your life every day.

“Can you please quit linking keywords in your posts to categories or tags? Especially ones that have only one post in their category, like Consumerist’s link today to Palatine. It really feels like that IntelliTxt advertising and is very annoying. It is irritating to have to mouse over a link to see if it’s a pointless link that goes to an internal category, or a real one to an external site. Trust me, if I want to see all your posts on the Space Station, I’ll either search the blog myself or click tags on the bottom of the posts.

While we’re at it, I’m not too thrilled with the metacategories – categories that appear in small text above each headline and make every RSS feed have a colon title, like Technology is Awesome: Baby Monitor Monitors Space Station instead of just what’s after the colon. I don’t like the search box searching all the Gawker sites instead of just the one I’m one, and I don’t care how many views a post has – CERTAINLY not enough to have it in large print right next to the headline.”

Naturally, being from Google, Gears is in beta. If you are running Firefox 1.5+ or IE6+ on XP, Vista, Mac, or Linux, at the top right in Google Reader, you should see an Offline link. We can only hope offline Gmail is to follow. Google Docs & Spreadsheets (& Presenter) shouldn’t be far behind, either.

via Download Squad

$20 at Fred Flare

at Fred Flare

For example, the other day I got a comment on this Burger King customer service post. The commenter said, “I was in your Location X store and got crappy service, I’d like something done about it.” First, there’s nothing on my blog that says I work for BK, and even if I did, I couldn’t do anything about her situation – she’d need to call corporate.

Then, I got a comment on this pizza post – I don’t run a pizza shack, but a lady commented and said she would like to submit some ways to market my pizza, could I please tell her how she should submit this to my site. People, use your noggins and realize that just because we blog about a place, doesn’t mean we work with it.

So here’s Lorelle’s major points, and click over using the above link to read more about them.

1. Say Something Intelligent – write like you passed the 8th grade!
2. Ask Something Intelligent – this relates to what I said above
3. Write Something Intelligent -if u write like an idiut & u cant spell or use propr grammr, you look stupid and not intelligent, funny, or cute. Or as Lorelle puts it, “If you want an intelligent response to your comment, write intelligently. Use complete sentences.” Oh, and by the way, blogs are public places – don’t publish your private details.
4. Add to the Conversation – try to stay on topic and share your knowledge
5. Your Comment is a Mini Resume – your comments can encourage people to visit your website, if they’re intelligent, and if not… well, they can discourage visits just as easily.

Most of her post can be summed up in two words: Comment intelligently.

I don’t carry an exceptionally large purse, but when I type out what’s inside, it’s a huge list. My current purse is no longer listed, but I got it at Purses Boutique. My secret to packing it all in is my Purseket organizer and using mostly travel sizes.

• My wallet (soon to be split into an ultra-slim credit card holder and a coin sorter wallet).
• A Rainbow Brite metal wallet (also known as a “cigarette case”) from a seller on Vendio that holds my coupons.
• A change purse that holds nail clippers, Listerine Pocket Pack, mini folding scissors (like in a sewing kit), mini dental floss, artificial tears, and a spare chapstick
• A metal business card holder that has business cards and address labels.
• My cell phone, keys, and USB thumb drive
• A separate keyring that holds keyring-sized store loyalty cards, Blockbuster card, etc.
• Toiletries/cosmetics: Lotion and chapstick (I can’t live without them!), hand sanitizer, travel size deodorant (for those emergencies!), feminine supplies, Ocean (saline nasal) spray (yes, I’m an allergy sufferer), Band-Aid brand anti-itch gel (I occasionally get hives too)
• A small pill box filled with an assortment of Advil, Tylenol, Claritin, and Benadryl (tip: tear off a fourth of a kleenex and stuff in the top to keep the pills from rattling like a box of Tic Tacs).
• Another cylindrical pill container (technically from Gaviscon) that holds my Pepcid AC
• A travel container, like above, of Dramamine
• A telescoping backscratcher (not the best thing in the world… it tends to want to turn as you’re using it)
• Starlight mints and Zetts sore throat drops (15 cents each at CVS but well worth it – best sore throat remedy ever!)
• A mini flashlight clipped inside the top (great for seeing inside your purse in the dark – I got a dozen for $4.95 at Oriental Trading, so I can toss one out when it dies and put a new one in.)
• Sunglasses
• My prescription reading glasses, since I got them about a week ago, in a hard case with a cleaning cloth
• Zeiss Lens Wipes, around before the glasses, since they work great for my cell phone, iPod, DS/PSP, etc.
• Occasionally, one or more of the following: My iPod Mini or 1st gen Shuffle with earbuds, my DS Lite, or my PSP, with games
• When I remember to pack them, kleenex (being an allergy sufferer, I keep a family-sized box of Puffs Ultra in my car, so I always have some around).

Phew, what a list! So, what’s in your bag?

I’m on an organic beekeeping list of about 1,000 people, mostly Americans, and no one in the organic beekeeping world, including commercial beekeepers, is reporting colony collapse on this list. The problem with the big commercial guys is that they put pesticides in their hives to fumigate for varroa mites, and they feed antibiotics to the bees. They also haul the hives by truck all over the place to make more money with pollination services, which stresses the colonies.

Her email recommends a visit to the Bush Bees Web site at Bushfarms.com. Here, Michael Bush felt compelled to put a message to the beekeeping world right on the top page:

Most of us beekeepers are fighting with the Varroa mites. I’m happy to say my biggest problems are things like trying to get nucs through the winter and coming up with hives that won’t hurt my back from lifting or better ways to feed the bees.

This change from fighting the mites is mostly because I’ve gone to natural sized cells. In case you weren’t aware, and I wasn’t for a long time, the foundation in common usage results in much larger bees than what you would find in a natural hive. I’ve measured sections of natural worker brood comb that are 4.6mm in diameter. …What most people use for worker brood is foundation that is 5.4mm in diameter. If you translate that into three dimensions instead of one, it produces a bee that is about half as large again as is natural. By letting the bees build natural sized cells, I have virtually eliminated my Varroa and Tracheal mite problems. One cause of this is shorter capping times by one day, and shorter post-capping times by one day. This means less Varroa get into the cells, and less Varroa reproduce in the cells.

Are you surprised that the major media reports forgot to tell us how the dying bees are actually hyper-bred varieties that we coax into a larger than normal body size? It sounds just like the beef industry. And, have we here a solution to the vanishing bee problem? Is it one that the CCD Working Group, or indeed, the scientific world at large, will support? Will media coverage affect government action in dealing with this issue?”

Original article

If Real ID happens:

* Every state’s DMV database will be linked and tons of information from social security numbers and birth dates to copies of birth certificates and bank statements will be accessible to DMV employees across the country.
o This will be a dream for identity thieves.
o The potential for insider fraud and the issuance of false licenses is very real.
* All of these problems led to an almost unprecedented revolt among the states. Five states, Maine, Idaho, Arkansas, Montana and Washington, have passed anti-Real ID resolutions or legislation. This type of legislation has been filed in more than 30 states.
* Drivers licenses will cost each American approximately $100.
o Since the federal government has appropriated only a small fraction of the necessary costs to implement REAL ID, the driver is now going to have to shoulder the burden of higher costs at the DMV.
* DMV locations will be completely overburdened.
o Lines will be longer because it will take more time to process applications.
o Mail and Internet renewals will have to be suspended.

The law that created the Department of Homeland Security prohibited a national identification system. By trying to implement REAL ID, the Department of Homeland Security is breaking the law and violating the public trust.

Use the link above to send in your comments (you can do so anonymously at the government site, without even an e-mail address) against RealID.

More info:
BoingBoing
Privacy Coalition
Electronic Frontier Foundation

Overall, though, I don’t think I’ll be going back anytime soon. They used to be great – my favorite was the pizzadillas (cross between pizza and quesadillas) but now their menu is just too small.

Kind of a Big Dealio

“Cancellation penalties are anti-competitive and deprive consumers of the benefits of competition in the markets where there is more than one broadband provider,” says Kenney. “The justifications for them are suspect. Once enticing consumers to sign up, broadband providers should rely on quality
and service to build customer loyalty, not onerous contract terms that hold consumers hostage.”

Like wireless phone companies, broadband providers who have started including early termination fees and requiring long term contracts for promotional offers say they are justified. That’s because consumers are usually getting a break on monthly rates, as well as free or discounted installation and equipment, such as modems.

“Basically, we are charging the (early termination) fee to regain what we have been giving the customer for free,” says Bobbi Henson, director of Media Relations at Verizon. “Customers who sign a (high-speed Internet) contract with us get free installation and sometimes free equipment. They also save $2-$8 on their monthly rate.”

Check on what your broadband provider is charging here, and then go here and tell the FCC via an already-written e-mail to stop early termination fees.

The airlines fear “crowd control” problems if cell phones are allowed in flights. They believe cell phone calls might promote rude behavior and conflict between passengers, which flight attendants would have to deal with. The airlines also benefit in general from passengers remaining ignorant about what’s happening on the ground during flights, including personal problems, terrorist attacks, plane crashes and other information that might upset passengers.

However, the airlines know that some kind of plane-to-ground communication is coming, and they want to profit from it. Simply allowing passengers to use their own cell phones in flight would leave the airlines out of the profit-taking. Airlines would prefer that phones be banned while they come up with new ways to charge for communication, such as the coming wave of Wi-Fi access. Meanwhile, the ban is potentially more profitable.

There is much more in the article, including why the ban is beneficial to cell phone carriers, the government, and why the government is irresponsible for “not knowing” if cell phones can crash planes. As the last sentence of the article says, we can place a man on the moon and let him talk to Houston the whole time… we can certainly let people use their phones on flights. (Though it might annoy others.)

via ComputerWorld

One of the entries was clearly much longer, so I e-mailed CrunchGear stating that it was unfair. At that time only 2 entries were posted – mine hadn’t even been posted yet. John Biggs wrote back, somewhat condescendingly, that not everyone writes as elegantly as me, and did offer me an opportunity to add to my entry. You can see the e-mail exchange below… he never responded to my second e-mail. At this time there are 5 entries, and out of curiosity I copy-pasted them into an online Javascript word counter – 3 of the 5 are over the stated 200-word maximum – one at a whopping 511 words, more than twice the limit.

The point is that if they state contest entries may be 200 words max, they really need to stick to it.

I did not rewrite my entry.

——– Original Message ——–
Subject: Re: Unfair contest entry
Date: Fri, 16 Mar 2007 12:55:18 -0500
From: Kat
To: John Biggs

JB
–

CrunchGear never publicly announced the winners – had they actually posted the entrants’ names and e-mail addresses, I would e-mail them to ask if they had received their prizes.

I asked Thor of the Demand Satisfaction blog to write about it, and he did so here.

I know John Biggs gave me the chance to expand my story, but when I followed the rules of the contest, why not make the ones who did not follow the rules pare down their posts? And I realize this is ultimately a pretty small matter. Had John Biggs not sounded so condescending when I sent my initial e-mail, I probably would have let it go.

All I want is a public, “hey, we should have followed our own contest rules, we won’t do it again” from CrunchGear. And for them to stick to it.

Update: Just got an e-mail from John Biggs: (well two but I combined them):

I’m sorry if you felt dissatisfied with the results but you saw the three winners –
# UMPC Train Pain
19 | 40% of all votes
# Flame-On!
17 | 36% of all votes
# Bloops!
6 | 13% of all votes

JB

Yes, I know that I didn’t rewrite my entry… I guess I will consider this reply satisfactory, although like I posted before, I just wanted CrunchGear to stick to their own contest rules.

Bought a Single? Get the Album for Less with Complete My Album at iTunes.

I used to be a very picky eater and only got extra cheese and mushrooms on my pizza, occasionally throwing in pepperoni. A few years ago I went through a phase where I got green peppers too, but hadn’t for a while, and recently my mom got me hooked on onions.

The kitchen sink pizza has: sausage, mushrooms, onions, pepperoni, green peppers, ham, Canadian bacon, regular bacon, and black olives. I have never eaten such a heavily-topped pizza! I was only able to eat half of what I normally eat when I have pizza.

The only thing on that list that I wouldn’t normally eat is the olives, but I couldn’t taste them at all. It was a great pizza! I probably won’t get it often (it’s probably also accurately known as heart attack on a pizza crust) but it was something different to try.

Other designs available, for $5 to $7, at Anti-Magnet

For those like me who routinely highlight information in a page (screensifters, anyone?), it’s extremely annoying. Here is a way to still highlight text, without disabling JavaScript, if you’re using Firefox:

Press ‘F3′ and type in the first few words of the sentence you would like to mark in the search box at the bottom of the screen.

Firefox will find and highlight the text you typed. Use the Next/Previous buttons to locate the occurrence you want, if there are multiple occurrences of the same text in the page, or just type more of the sentence in the search box until it finds only that sentence.

If you’d like a more permanent mark, that lasts longer than the next click on the page, click the ‘highlight all’ button. It will mark all occurrences of the text with a yellow background until you refresh the page.

You can also get the NoScript Add-On for Firefox and more easily decide who controls your browsing experience.

In IE, you’re probably stuck with disabling JavaScript.

They also have a free program… sign up!

Feedback 2.0 will the the redesigned system that will still include the positive and negative options, but now it expands and will give buyers the chance to rate sellers on other aspects of the purchase. The additional ratings will be done using a 5–star system rating on the following:

• Was the item as described?
• How was the communication with the seller?
• Was the item shipped promptly?
• Were shipping and handling charges fair?

Another change will be the addition of the item purchased as well as the price under each feedback rating so that people will know what the feedback was for without needing to click on the item number.

That’s cool… I think it will help people feel more confident in buying from sellers. Look for it this spring.

via Cybernet News

First, the bad, and it’s a shorter list this time around.  They have a whole new set, and while it’s more modern- and spacious-looking, it also feels a little more impersonal.  It’s not as warm.  Also, they have either new cameras or new film and new lighting, and it shows off flaws in the chefs more. 

Speaking of the chefs, here’s the good: They are a lot less annoying and more tolerable this time around… in fact, I kind of like the show now.  Allie is seeming a LOT more approachable and less stuck-up than before, and Lucinda isn’t so… well, motherly, I think… she was motherly in an annoying way, if you know what I mean.  I still love John and Margot, and Sarah seems to have mellowed out a bit.

So, overall the changes they’ve made to the show are great.

“Alright, we’ve been following the RIAA’s increasingly frequent affronts to privacy and free speech lately, and it’s about time we stopped merely bitching and moaning and did something about it. The RIAA has the power to shift public policy and to alter the direction of technology and the Internet for one reason and one reason alone: it’s totally loaded. Without their millions of dollars to throw at lawyers, the RIAA is toothless. They get their money from us, the consumers, and if we don’t like the way they’re behaving, we can let them know with our wallets.

With that in mind, Gizmodo is declaring the month of March Boycott the RIAA month. We want to get the word out to as many people as humanly possible that we can all send a message by refusing to buy any album put out by an RIAA label.”

Interesting. They note you can still support your favorite artists by seeing them in concert, which makes them more money than simply buying their albums.

Gizmodo

Bookstore discount cards are not a good bargain.  For this example, I’m going to use Barnes & Noble’s card.  Their membership is $25 a year, and it lets you save 10% off all your book purchases.  Now, doesn’t this sound like a great deal?  It’s not, when you think about it.

$25 equals 10% of $250.  In other words, to even earn your membership fee back in savings, you have to spend $250 there in one year.  You only start truly saving 10% off your purchases after that. 

Books-A-Million’s Millionaire Club has slightly better math: Their membership is $15 for 10% off books, meaning you only have to spend $150 in a year.

Borders, on the other hand, offers a free card, but you only get a $5 gift card for every $150 you spend… That’s about 3%.

I’m sure you’ve read that MSN article about 10 things you should never buy new – books are one of them! Personally, I buy books from Marketplace sellers at Amazon… I get them, often in like-new condition, for a few dollars… usually saving 75% or more. I have one of those Amazon Visa cards that lets you earn gift certificates for spending a certain amount of money – when I get my $25 certificate, I can get 5 or 6 books used rather than just one or two brand new.

So next time you think about joining a savings club that costs money to join, calculate how much you’ll have to save to earn your membership fee back, and don’t join if you’re not 100% certain that you’ll save money on top of that fee.

PBS Kids’ new morning show host (who talks to the kids in between shows), Miss Lori with her guinea pig friend Hooper, is a direct rip-off of Nick Jr’s Piper O’ Possum. I think the Disney Channel has some lump of clay (quite literally) hosting its shows, but I hate the Disney Channel so I won’t watch to be sure. I really can’t stand Miss Lori either… she never stops smiling. Even Hooper’s name is a rip-off – okay, an homage if you insist – of Mr. Hooper from Sesame Street.

Hey PBS, allow me to rip off your commercials and say Be More Original.