New Toys

For several years I had an MP3 player with a removable compact flash card for memory. However, the player couldn't take cards bigger then 1 gig and wanted more space for audio books.

My wife has had an ipod mini for several years and really enjoyed it so after Apple introduced the new iphone and ipod lines, started to look on ebay to see what an 80 gig ipod would go for. Was amazed that new ones were selling from $250 to $330, when Best Buy is selling them for $249. I actually bid on about 25 auctions and finally have my 80 gig. Its used but in great condition.

Of course I couldn't stop there, had to also get the FM tuner for my car since I don't have an MP3 plug in and a power cable and plug in cable for my wife's car so she can charge and listen to her ipod in the car.

Since we trade off cars twice a week, my Prius has car pool stickers so one person can use the HOV lanes in Cal, when she has to go downtown. The stickers save her about 20 min on her commute each way. So instead of transferring CDs from my car to hers, only have to plug in the ipod and can keep listening to the audio book. Also have music now at work which is nice so don't have to hear my co workers when they are on the phone. The joy of cubical life.

So with the new ipod, what about my old mp3 player? Well will salvage the CF card because our camera uses it but most likely will try to sell it on ebay as well with one of our smaller CF cards. Otherwise its off to the ewaste center.

Now I have my PDA, cell phone and ipod. The next thing is to see how to get all three into one package. NO the iphone is not the solution, my PDA is a Palm and I'm sticking with the OS. So can combine the PDA and cell phone (Treo) but they don't have the storage capacity for a music player. Will have to see what the companies come up with next.

The state of education

Over at American Civic Literacy, they have a 60 question quiz on US civics.

How well can you do?

I took the test and got 59 out of 60. The only question I missed was:

"The question of why democracy leads to well-ordered government in America when disorder prevails in Europe is central to: "

The test is here: http://www.americancivicliteracy.org/resources/quiz.aspx

The sad part is how poorly many folks do.

Have you forgotten?

I should have had this up on the 11th, but no I haven't forgotten.

Have you?



Thanks to Barb (who doesn't know this blog exhists or that I copied her idea).

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m_-x9kMPauc

Smog Check

Civic Smog Check
Originally uploaded by kawfeadikt

Way back when, I had a Sonoma Red Pearl Honda Civic LX--the first car that I owned (aside from the family Oldsmobile Cutlass Supreme). Today, I searched the California smog database and found this, a record of my trusty old Civic and its, presumably, last smog check.

As you can see, the last notation was from November of 2004 and I can only guess that the new owner, who robbed me of my stereo even though he promised he would take it out and return it, couldn't push it much beyond the 119,000 miles.

This makes me kind of sad.

TMQ on Football and...Fuel Economy

I like reading Gregg Easterbrook, aka TMQ. Where else can you see a guy riff on the woes of the NFL and then segue into EPA mileage and Election 2008? Interesting to see that President Bush and Barack Obama agree on mandating an increase of MPG standards of automobiles by one third. They agree. What is interesting is that, here, Detroit automakers and the Dems share a common goal: resistance to the mileage standard increase.

Sure, Detroit resists the need to improve their designs, but the Dems seem to have designs on improving their Election 2008 chances. By stonewalling now, they may be able attempting to claim the moral high ground come 2008 through pointing out how the Administration and Republicans did nothing to improve mileage. As Easterbrook says,

"Wouldn't it be nice if Detroit CEOs [and Democrats] acted as though they cared about national security!"

I agree.

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Half-Croc'd

James Lileks has the 411 on Crocs and I agree.

I’ve seen large sloppy men wearing Crocs, and they needed only twin tufts of orange hair and a red ball for a nose to complete the image. Crocs for adults say “I can’t even manage Velcro, and believe the world wants to look at your callused heels.

Thirty bucks for a couple of pieces of rubber is far too much, especially for something that looks like a post modern interpretation of Dutch clogs, or Alien-ized Dr. Scholl's.

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Fall is here

The days and evenings are getting cooler here, the heat of summer is going away.

Have a few things to share from the news:

The Media:

Journalists are supposed to be impartial and objective in their reporting in the US unless they are writing an op/ed. Well we like that fiction here, but it would be nice if the journalists would keep their end of the bargain. If not, lets go back to partisan papers.

Greenspan says Iraq war was for oil. That was the claim and headline. The truth is a little different. Greenspan says HE was for the war because it would help to stabilize oil prices and prevent Iraq from threatening oil supplies. That was why he supported the war. Journalists either didn't understand or didn't want to understand what Greenspan said.

Boeing 787 Dreamliner unsafe says fired engineer. That is the headline. The truth is a little different. Yes an engineer was fired from Boeing and he has claimed the 787 is unsafe. But look at why he was fired and his comments become suspect. The engineer filed an OSHA claim for retaliation termination for his whistle blowing. After OSHA investigated, they dismissed the engineer's claim as groundless.

10th Mountain Division Commander "Were Tired" says the headline. Yes he said that, but if one reads the article one comes away with a very different opinion of the shape of the force.

So three stories, three examples of journalists trying to get their spin on the tone of the story instead of letting the facts speak for themselves.

Three other stories to share:

What is the story about the Israeli raid in Syria a few days ago? No one knows or those who do know aren't talking. Lots of speculation and I don't have a clue.

Mark Steyn has some fun at Barry Manilow's expense after Manilow refused to appear on the View because Elisabeth Hasselbeck is one of the hosts and GASP is a conservative. Too funny and only makes Manilow weaker because he's afraid of a girl.

Finally, Larry Kudlow gives reason why the economy is doing well. I do hope he is correct.