Monday, October 30, 2006

New Taxpayer Bill of Rights Commercial (Open Trackbacks)

For the benefit of those who've noticed that I've been MIA from the blog for more than a week, thanks for noticing. Things are well. As a matter of fact, my day job, which I've written about in a necessarily vague way previously, has kept me very busy lately. As a matter of fact, it seems that the very good news I've been waiting to hear for months will indeed come about. I'm still in finger-crossing mode here, but things do look good.

I sure wish I didn't have to work two jobs to live in Maine. I know the folks in this political commercial are actors, but the prospect of needing to move from the lovely state of Maine because of its high tax burden is one that I've been contemplating for a very long time.



Another note: The good news about my day job means I'll be out of state for long stretches of time in the coming weeks, in order to receive training. If this post is still on the front page throughout November, please feel free to send your trackback pings to it. (I've always been liberal in accepting pings well into Wednesday, anyway). I'll put up links on the weekends, when I'm home. I'm not sure about whether I'll have much time for blogging while I'm away, so please don't worry about me. In this case, no news is really good news.

Peace,

Tor

This is this week's open trackback post. You may trackback on most any subject, provided you link to this post. Click here and here and here for more info on open trackbacks. I'll be very busy Monday and Tuesday, but should have a chance to put the links up late Tuesday night or Wednesday night, at the latest.

Comedian Jenee has a nice rant about Hollywood's Silly Scene.

Freedom Folks have an Exclusive Interview with Larry Wachs.

Chaotic Synaptic Activity would like to draw your attention to a program to provide laptops for wounded veterans.

123beta chimes in with some fun Halloween stuff.

Bernie Planck lets us know about Hillary Clinton's qualifications, and also the qualifications - ahem - of Scarlett Johansson.

Renaissance Blogger talks about atheism.

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Friday, October 20, 2006

Islander

If the film Islander comes to a theater near you, by all means go see it. It's about a lobsterman who lives on the island of Vinalhaven, just off the Maine coast. His headstrong ways about keeping mainlanders from lobstering near the island lead to a terrible accidental death. After he gets out of prison, he has to try and pick up the pieces of his life on Vinalhaven.

In general, the cast did an okay job of imitating the coastal Maine accent. My lovely wife Rowan put it best in noting that they tended to drift in and out of it a bit, and that if they had indeed gone for a true island accent, subtitles would have been necessary, even for many Mainers.

The movie was well shot for its budget, tho as a projectionist I was forced to give up trying to find a good focus spot. It just didn't stay in one place.

Peace,

Tor

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Another PayPerPost Puzzle

Ever on the lookout for blog ads, yours truly is posting a piece of another PayPerPost puzzle, this one codenamed payperpostbluemonster. The first to assemble all the pieces and post it on their blog will get $500. I doubt it will be me, since I have to work tonight, and it looks like there's a deluge of puzzle pieces coming out right now. Good luck, fellow Posties!



Peace,

Tor

This post has been sponsored via PayPerPost. Tor has written the post and it reflects his thoughts. If you are a blogger who would like to have the opportunity for post sponsors, please sign up at PayPerPost and fill in tor at torsrants dot com as your referral.

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Charles Darwin's Works Online

Charles Darwin's archives are being put online. It's hard to understate the importance of the ability of normal folks to use the internet to see as much of Darwin's work as possible. Darwin has been misquoted and misconstrued so often by Intelligent Designists and other creationists, that it will be wonderful to be able to point authoritatively to his actual words and ideas in his works.

Now if we could just get Richard Dawkins to relinquish copyright on his wonderful explanations of the modern picture of evolution and post it all online, free for the taking. 'Twould be a great service to humanity.

Peace,

Tor

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Wednesday, October 18, 2006

Quantitative Analysis Spectroscope


If you need a stocking stuffer for your junior physicist or chemist, consider Edmund Scientific's affordable spectroscope.



It will allow you to analyze light wavelengths from 4000Å to 7000Å in both emission and absorption spectra. In combination with a spectrum analysis chart and spectrum tubes (or a less expensive set of acrylic filters), a young experimenter will be able to learn a lot about the visible part of the electromagnetic spectrum.

Even without the charts and spectrum tubes, the spectroscope is a lot of fun around the house.

Here are a couple of different views of the inside of the spectroscope, aimed at different light sources around my house.




It's hard to tell from the pictures, but there's a scale atop the diffracted bands of light. A good household experiment might be to look at the different wavelengths from incandescent bulbs and fluorescent bulbs. If there are any old sodium lights in your town, check them out. The next thing to check out would be neon lights. How about the light from the television, or computer monitor? I wouldn't recommend looking at sunlight with this spectroscope.

If that last experiment sounds up your alley, check out Edmund's Night Spectra Quest Spectrum Card. It has a complete lesson plan that will help you learn about light pollution in your area and identify the different kinds of lights you encounter.

Edmund's Scientific has a lot of other great gift ideas for the holiday season. The little icky boy in me would love to play with Bug Watch. It's a double viewer that lets you look at any insect specimen from both top and bottom. Kewl! Or as we say in Maine, some old wicked!

Peace,

Tor

This post has been sponsored via PayPerPost. Tor has written the post and it reflects his thoughts. If you are a blogger who would like to have the opportunity for post sponsors, please sign up at PayPerPost and fill in tor at torsrants dot com as your referral.

Barbara Merrill Still Third, But Gaining

Some interesting quotes in today's Press Herald about Maine independent gubernatorial candidate Barbara Merrill:

Michelle Thomas of Turner listened to Merrill's presentation and said she was impressed with what she heard.

"I think she has done her homework," Thomas said. "She understands what the issues are. She is not going to be partisan. I was leaning toward Woodcock, but now I'm not so sure."

William Jefferson Lewis, a Republican, also listened to Merrill's presentation. He found it impressive that she has a business plan, but says he will withhold judgment on whom to vote for until he has heard from Woodcock.

....

Richard Crabtree counts himself as a member of Merrill's Marauders, a newly formed group of Republicans and Democrats who support Merrill's gubernatorial bid.

Crabtree, a former executive for Central Maine Power Co., has been a Republican for more than 40 years, but became a Merrill supporter after reading her book.

"It (the book) contains a vision that is realizable. You have to have a plan in order to lead. You need to have an idea of where you are going, and Barbara has that," Crabtree said.


The consensus on Merrill's candidacy has generally been that she might be a spoiler for Democratic Governor John Baldacci, and enable Republican candidate Chandler Woodcock to gain a slim plurality of the vote next month. Ever since I read her book, I've been inclined to believe that she might take a good number of votes from the libertarians among registered Republicans (and I include myself among that number). Woodcock's strong suit with Republicans right now is that he is the only candidate who unreservedly supports TABOR, the Taxpayer's Bill of Rights. Merrill's nuanced approach to TABOR, while landing in the anti-TABOR camp, sends plenty of signals to folks like me that she intends to accomplish more budget reduction (or at least restraint) at the state level than TABORistas ever dreamt of.

As of right now, Merrill still has my vote, despite her quixotic attack on campaign signs. Sorry, Chandler.

Peace,

Tor

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Finding Cheap Health Insurance

The State of Maine is in serious trouble when it comes to health care. Chandler Woodcock, the Republican gubernatorial candidate, would like to let market forces bring down the costs of health care services and insurance.

And Republican Sen. Chandler Woodcock said the state needs to bring in more competition to force rates to go down.

"We need to be able to buy health insurance outside the state," he said.


If that should become a reality, Mainers will need a tool to help them find affordable healthcare and insurance. Here's one to file away for future reference: Vimo.



Vimo is the only place on the internet where a consumer can find comparison shopping information on insurance, Health Savings Accounts (HSAs), medical procedures, doctors and dentists.

Suppose you need a balloon angioplasty. Go to Vimo, enter your sex, heart procedure, and balloon angioplasty. You'll get search results including the name of the hospital in the country that charges the least amount for it, as well as the hospital that performs it the most frequently every year, along with other useful information to help you make an informed choice.

In the age of information, it's a shame that Mainers aren't immediately able to partake in Vimo's comparison shopping for health insurance. If Woodcock gets his way, we'll be happy Vimo's there.

Peace,

Tor

This post has been sponsored via PayPerPost. Tor has written the post and it reflects his thoughts. If you are a blogger who would like to have the opportunity for post sponsors, please sign up at PayPerPost and fill in tor at torsrants dot com as your referral.

Alfred Ockenfels for Child Molester, Joseph Baiungo for Big Brother

The campaign signs of Alfred Ockenfels, who's running for Sheriff of Knox County, Maine, have acquired some editorial comments lately:

Four of the defaced political signs, which were covered with a large sticker printed with "child molester," were found in Rockport.


On first glance, it appears to be someone with a grudge, trying to libel Ockenfels. However, it is very, very funny. I think Ockenfels should have laughed it off and shown he has a thick skin about the vandalism, rather than treat it as some high crime orchestrated by his political opponents. (For those suspecting my involvement, rest assured that the FBI already has my prints on file.)

A story in the Bangor Daily News (and without an online version of it, alas!) segues from the defacement of Ockenfels' signs in Knox County to the defacement of Joseph Baiungo's signs here in Waldo County.

Several people Tuesday said some of district attorney candidate Joe Baiungo's political signs, with a huge photo of the Belfast lawyer, have been marked up with mustaches and beards.


Well, Baiungo should have expected that. For those outside of the area, here's what Baiungo's signs look like.



Creepy, no? The eyes just follow you everywhere....like Big Brother. I don't know anything about Baiungo, or his opponent, Rushlau. In general, I'm not sure that I as a voter am qualified to pick who of the two men would be the better prosecutor. But I do know that Baiungo's signs creep me out. I expect some of the signs might go missing, and that lots of kids might use Baiungo cutout faces for their costumes on Halloween. If anything, the folks putting mustaches and beards on Baiungo's visage are helping his candidacy tremendously.

Aside from that, it's the first time I've ever seen a politician in Maine use a photo on their campaign signs. I'm sure I'm not the only one who infers (rightly or wrongly) a hint of egotism. That's not a character trait that's to be encouraged among civil servants.

Peace,

Tor

Linking to the following blogs with open trackback posts: Diane's Stuff, Third World County, Stuck on Stupid, rashbre central, Jack of All Trades, Right Truth, Blue Star Chronicles, Don Surber, Is It Just Me?, Dumb Ox, Random Thoughts of Yet Another Military Member

Building Stonehenge with Ingenuity (Not Aliens)

Stonehenge has been one of the sites that both believers in alien contact with ancient humans and believers in supernatural forces have pointed to as having been outside the technical capability of ancient humans to build. Here's an interesting report from YouTube on a fellow whose passion has been to find simple machines that would have allowed ancients to erect Stonehenge.



Peace,

Tor

Detox at Home

There's a new option for those seeking drug detox: detox at home, without a lengthy stay at a detox center. Meditox has developed a new medication called buprenorphine (aka Subutex or Suboxone). Combined with one-on-one coaching, those seeking detox from methadone, Oxycontin, Vicodin or similar opiates will be able to go through detox without withdrawal symptoms, and without conspicuously withdrawing from life.

It's an option for detox worthy of consideration for those who can't afford to stay in a detox facility for a month or more, or are worried about losing their jobs upon their return. Just one visit to a Meditox center in Florida, California or Texas is necessary. After that, the individual's progress is closely monitored, and Meditox will be available 24/7 for any assistance or support.

Peace,

Tor

This post has been sponsored via PayPerPost. Tor has written the post and it reflects his thoughts. If you are a blogger who would like to have the opportunity for post sponsors, please sign up at PayPerPost and fill in tor at torsrants dot com as your referral.

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Tuesday, October 17, 2006

Saving Video from Dying Websites (Open Trackbacks)

One thing that the future historians of the internet will have to deal with is the fact that many small sites die every day. A coworker of mine has found that one of his favorite sites, www.smallrc.com, which dealt with small radio controlled airplanes, is in its death throes. The site was really a business venture, but it hosted free forums. The front page seems to be gone, but there is still some access to the forums. Some of those forums contain video clips of hobbyists having fun with their planes.

I've taken a few of the vids that my coworker thought most worth saving and put them on YouTube. I'm also making a CD-ROM for him with those files. Here's a sample.



Since the internet and the world wide web are still very much in their infancy, it is of course hard to know what parts of its current offerings will be of interest to folks in the future. Smallrc.com is an example of where a commercial website created an online community for a narrow niche of web users, and generated content that will be of value to social historians. But when the sites die, even a few cached pages at Google won't be much help. The Wayback Machine, even with its 55 billion archived pages, concentrates on the larger, more popular sites.

In the days of the supremacy of print media, even publications with small audiences managed to have many of their issues saved. While there are some films missing from the early days of cinema, most of them are available to us now, in some form or other. Magnetic recordings of radio and television programs assure future historians of those media will have several lifetimes' worth of source material to peruse.

But the internet changes quickly. Servers crash. Sites are deleted. Heck, with a click of one button I could delete the entirety of this blog. It's not that I think my blog will be of interest to hordes of historians in the 22nd century, but I do think that historians will want to have access to many examples of websites in order to accurately portray the ways the internet is changing societies around the globe.

Peace,

Tor

This is this week's open trackback post. You may trackback on most any subject, provided you link to this post. Click here and here and here for more info on open trackbacks.

Bernie Planck would like you to go to Planck's Constant and read about what happens After the World Ends. I suspect there'll be a lot of finger-pointing. When you're done with that, read his account of Border Babies, and then help him get his tongue back into his mouth after he tells you all about Devon Aoki.

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Thursday, October 12, 2006

Bumper Snicker

It's a rare case indeed when one of those online quiz thingies actually spits out something that I agree with. Even tho I know it's not right, it's how I usually feel.

Your Bumper Sticker Should Be

If you can read this, I can stop suddenly and sue you


Peace,

Tor

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Wednesday, October 11, 2006

The Culture of Corruption

If you're going to point out that the majority party in Congress is corrupt, you'd better make sure you're not part of the culture of corruption yourself.

Senate Democratic Leader Harry Reid collected a $1.1 million windfall on a Las Vegas land sale even though he hadn't personally owned the property for three years, property deeds show.

....

Senate ethics rules require lawmakers to disclose on their annual ethics report all transactions involving investment properties - regardless of profit or loss - and to report any ownership stake in companies.

....

"This is very, very clear," Cooper said. "Whether you make a profit or a loss you've got to put that transaction down so the public, voters, can see exactly what kind of money is moving to or from a member of Congress."


The best thing about this story is that a former aide to Reid snitched him out to the Associated Press. We need more aides, former and current, to start snitching on legislators, both Democratic and Republican. Till then, we need to make sure that neither party has the run of the shop the way the Republicans do nationally, and the way the Democrats do in Maine.

I hope for gridlock in the upcoming elections.

Peace,

Tor

The Rules of Poker

You don't have to be a high-stakes gambler to enjoy the game of poker. I myself took part in a low-stakes game (five dollars total to get in and play till the end) of Texas Hold 'Em this summer, and lost gloriously. But if you're going to play, you'll need to check out this site on poker rules. You'll find rules for the variant game of Omaha, as well as the basic poker hand values.

If I were telling you to go and bet lots of money on online poker, I'd feel ashamed. I can't tell you to do that. The sites I'm telling you about do make their money from online betting, but the information you'll find there is free, and can just as easily be used for friendly games around the campfire, playing for marshmallows or s'mores. Remember, gambling in and of itself is not evil. Just like anything else, when you let it overwhelm your life and you start counting on it to change your circumstances for the better, you'd better stop.

Peace,

Tor

This post has been sponsored via PayPerPost. Tor has written the post and it reflects his thoughts. If you are a blogger who would like to have the opportunity for post sponsors, please sign up at PayPerPost and fill in tor at torsrants dot com as your referral.

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A Little Site Up-Sprucing

I just wanted to take a moment to call your attention to a few of the tweaks I've been doing to my template lately.

Several weeks ago, I consolidated the right-hand column with the left-hand column. There was a time when I liked the three-column look, but I came to realize that it made it hard for visitors to find what they needed. It also distracted too much from the posts themselves.

With the advent of PayPerPost sponsored posts, I've also cut way back on the third party ads. Now you'll just see a banner ad just under my masthead. If I'm commenting on a particular item, I may throw in an Amazon (or other) affiliate link. But the PayPerPost has been so good to me, that I may just eventually forego all other ads. I'm going to wait several months before making that jump, tho.

Now all of my post titles are permalinks to the individual post. There may be an old post or two from when I was a mere tyro at blogging that therefore will speak of "clicking on the link in the title" to go somewhere else, but will take you to the individual post page. Sorry 'bout that. I'm just trying to be a bit more in line with the common practice I see around the blogosphere these days.

Now I've moved the date and the comments and trackback links to a spot that they should be easier to find. I've had people email me, saying they couldn't find it. Guess it was too buried amidst the rubble of categories and tags.

The blog really looks best when viewed with Mozilla Firefox, but it seems to look okay in IE, as well. If anyone sees any terrible bugs, please purge your browser cache (especially if you're a regular visitor) and reload the page. If there's still a problem, let me know.

Peace,

Tor

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Epson Inkjet Printers

When it comes to Epson inkjet printers, the ones that are worth getting are a bit on the pricey side. Inkjet printers in general are a cheap way to print photos, but if you want to have versatility, you'll have to go with a wide format color inkjet printer.

In general, I'd suggest staying away from their low-end home printers. That's the sort of printer that tries to be good at everything, and excellent at nothing. If you want to print photos, consider Epson inkjet printers with a high dpi capability. If you are going to be printing a lot of text, get a low-end laser printer. You might even find a good used one kicking around that will do just fine, unless you're trying to make camera-ready copy. For printing text, the savings in ink will be worth the extra expense of the laser printer.

Peace,

Tor

This post has been sponsored via PayPerPost. Tor has written the post and it reflects his thoughts. If you are a blogger who would like to have the opportunity for post sponsors, please sign up at PayPerPost and fill in tor at torsrants dot com as your referral.

Cursive, RIP and Good Riddance

The Washington Post reports on the death of cursive writing.

When handwritten essays were introduced on the SAT exams for the class of 2006, just 15 percent of the almost 1.5 million students wrote their answers in cursive. The rest? They printed. Block letters.


When I write with a pen or pencil, it is almost always in block letters, with the notable exception of my signature. I have a hard time reading my own cursive, much less anybody else's. My wife does have very beautiful penmanship, but even then I sometimes have to ask her what a particular letter is, if I'm not able to make the word out from context.

I can't see getting too upset about the death of cursive. I once worked for a publisher who put out a book with tables and tables of examples of the cursive that genealogists might come across in searching through old German church books. I remember the letter "Q" had dozens of versions, none of which looked like a "Q" to me.

The best thing anyone can do is teach their kids how to type. If I hadn't taken two semesters of typing in high school, I surely would have flunked out of college.

Here's one case where I stand with the majority. Good riddance to cursive. May it no longer cause anxiety to third graders who are extremely intelligent yet lack good penmanship.

Peace,

Tor

Linking to the following blogs with open trackback posts: Third World County, Diane's Stuff, rashbre central, Stuck on Stupid, Jack of All Trades

Chatter Stones from Edmund Scientific

Chatter Stones are really highly polished magnets shaped like pointy jelly beans. Here's a quick video of them in use. No, I wasn't in a zero-gravity environment; I just had to have the camera sideways. You'll have to turn your speakers way up, since the microphone on the camera wasn't very good. Sorry.



This short clip doesn't do justice to the range of sounds you will learn to get out of these stones. Not to mention the weird clinks, whistles and raspberries you'll get one time only by accident.

The basic method here is to slightly separate these powerful magnets with your thumb and toss them into the air. The Chatter Stones then work out their love-hate relationship of magnetic attraction and repulsion. They're spinning in the air as they meet, and quickly pull themselves together and push themselves away. The polished, rounded surfaces of the magnets keep them from coming to a standstill too soon.

Some other fun I've had with these powerful magnets has included putting one on a wooden table while the other one is held in my hand, a few inches away. You can play with the repulsion and attraction of the magnets to set the one on the table spinning like a top. Or you can play a sort of game to see how close you can get the magnets together before they SLAM together.

Chatter Stones make an affordable stocking (or other gift bag) stuffer for the upcoming holiday season. Really, you should get one for everyone in your circle of family and friends. Imagine the sounds you could get from more than two of these stones!

I see Edmund also has a larger version called Uber-Orbs. Wish I'd gotten a set of those. I'm also adding their magnetic pendulum to my wish list.

Peace,

Tor

This post has been sponsored via PayPerPost. Tor has written the post and it reflects his thoughts. If you are a blogger who would like to have the opportunity for post sponsors, please sign up at PayPerPost and fill in tor at torsrants dot com as your referral.

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Tuesday, October 10, 2006

Little Miss Sunshine

Speaking of movies, I just have to rave about Little Miss Sunshine, which will be playing thru the 19th of October in Belfast, Maine. Yes, it's rated R, because it deals with some adult (and serious) themes, but if you have a dark sense of humor about dysfunctional families, you'll laugh very hard. Alan Arkin would have stolen the show from a lesser ensemble. Despite the dark humor, it does redeem itself in the end with many moments of sweetness. I haven't spoken with anyone who hasn't liked it so far.

If you're easily offended, don't go. If you're going thru, or have recently gone through, a major family grief event, it might touch on a few raw nerves. Otherwise, gang ho!

Peace,

Tor

Bid on Movies for a Year in Belfast, Maine

My lovely wife Rowan and I walked the length of the new footbridge in Belfast, Maine this past weekend. Tho I certainly wasn't in favor of another largely government-funded project, I have to admit that it was well done.

Now the Belfast Bridge Fund is getting ready for a blowout on its eBay store. One of the items that will go to auction (provided it's not sold first as a buy-it-now) is a year pass to the Colonial Theatre. Even as a buy-it-now, it's a real deal! (As most of my regular readers know, I'm a part-time projectionist at the Colonial. The Colonial isn't getting any money from the auction, just the bridge fund.)

Sharpen up your sniping fingers!

Peace,

Tor

Mayline Furniture at Bizchair.com

If you're looking for an online source for Mayline Furniture, check out BizChair.com.

BizChair.com is the first place to go online for Mayline Furniture. Whether you need high quality executive office furniture, conference and training tables, reception tables, or network enclosures and racks, BizChair.com will hook you up with the right high-quality product from Mayline Furniture.

Mailroom furniture can be hard to find online, but BizChair.com has a comprehensive listing of Mayline's products. Not only is the BizChair.com site easy to navigate, but they offer free shipping on Mayline Furniture.

One of the first things I look for in office furniture is ergonomics. If you employ people who work in a call center, you'll be interested in these call center chairs. They're made for intensive round-the-clock use, and work well at desks, computer stations or task tables. Many of the chairs also have cleanroom options available. There are also some high weight capacity chairs for your consideration.

You'll also find stylish conference tables. And they're designed for leg room, stability and ease of reconfiguration. Even the folks who sit at the crescent table will have plenty of legroom.

If you're more worried about space, check out these conference tables. They share legs between adjacent tables, allowing more seat access in a row than you'd normally be able to afford.

Peace,

Tor

Tor has been paid to blog about the above topic via PayPerPost. If you are a blogger who would be interested in being paid to blog, please sign up at PayPerPost and fill in tor at torsrants dot com as your referral.

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Long Live Sox the Cat (Open Trackbacks)

Here's the kind of good news you need to go hunting deep into the paper to find. A cat from Missouri named Socks (renamed Sox for the new owners' favorite baseball team) has been adopted by a family in Bucksport, Maine.

Sox’s journey came about when Wendy read an article in the Bangor Daily News last month telling about the cat’s plight in Missouri. The kitten was injured when a sofa fell on her, partially paralyzing her back legs. The cat was dropped off at Dr. Jim Crago’s veterinary clinic in Jefferson City. The owner never returned to get her.


Click thru to see Sox in her "wheelchair", which was made by a boyscout troop in Missouri.

Am I the only one who sees some irony in the fact that Sox is black and white, and has changed residence from one half of the Missouri Compromise to the other?

Aside from that, it's wonderful to see people so moved by the plight of a feline that they cash in their frequent flier miles to get a cat in need into a loving home. Welcome to Maine, Sox. With luck like yours, buy some tickets in the kitty lottery post haste.

Peace,

Tor

This is this week's open trackback post. You may trackback on most any subject, provided you link to this post. Click here and here and here for more info on open trackbacks.

Bernie would like you to read his cute retelling of an old nugget, Vices Are Not Crimes.

Just over the transom: Angel trackbacked with Oops...More CarnagE at Woman Honor Thyself. More cheerful news about genocide. Sigh.

If you don't see your trackback appear, do what Angel did, and send me a comment or an email. Dadgummed Haloscan doesn't seem to work for some people. I know pings that I send through it go missing, so it only makes sense that some of the pings you send towards me will also go awol.

Because of this, I do go searching for pings at Technorati, too. I found this one from Renaissance Blogger, who asks, Do We Really Want to Celebrate This? Pack a brown bag lunch and read up.

Bernie strikes again a day later, updating us on another seeming Palestinian genocide.

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Monday, October 9, 2006

Vonage

If you're looking for information on Vonage, check out these Vonage forums. Forum topics include how to integrate fax, TiVo and alarms into Vonage, Vonage installation, and keeping your current telephone number with Vonage.

They even keep track of the Vonage commercials. My favorite is this one, called Vonage Exorcism.

The forums have tens of thousands of registered members. When I visited, there were hundreds of people online at the same time. Seems to me that anyone wanting to get any answers about Vonage would want to join these forums.

Peace,

Tor

Tor has been paid to blog about the above topic via PayPerPost. If you are a blogger who would be interested in being paid to blog, please sign up at PayPerPost and fill in tor at torsrants dot com as your referral.

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Sunday, October 8, 2006

A Blog for Women

Welcome to this week's blog tenant atop the navigation column, Women Lifestyle, Fashion, Health, Beauty and Personality. As soon as I saw the entry on Battlestar Galactica, which is one of the best scifi shows ever, I knew it was going to win the bid. Actually, most of the other posts don't really interest me that much, but the BG post made it happen.

Thanks also to CoolAdzine for Marketers, a fellow PayPerPostie, for bidding on a tenancy. They were also a tenant quite a while ago, and deserve another look. Check out their communications industry forecast.

I think there was a third bid that expired before I had a chance to log on. If that third bidder is out there, please know it was nothing personal.

Peace,

Tor

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Friday, October 6, 2006

Evangelicals Leaving the Republicans

Evangelical Christians in the U.S. are now rethinking their kneejerk alliance with the Republican Party, according to the Washington Post.

A nationwide poll of 1,500 registered voters released yesterday by the nonpartisan Pew Research Center found that 57 percent of white evangelicals are inclined to vote for Republican congressional candidates in the midterm elections, a 21-point drop in support among this critical part of the GOP base.

Even before the Foley scandal, the portion of white evangelicals with a "favorable" impression of the Republican Party had fallen sharply this year, from 63 percent to 54 percent, according to Pew polls.


This can only be good for the country as a whole. Just as African-Americans are slowly coming to the conclusion that their votes have been taken for granted by the Democrats, it's good to see that the Republicans are having similar problems holding onto one of their core constituencies. Here's a great chance for minor parties, be they the Libertarian Party, Green Party or others, to make some inroads on these groups.

It's also heartening to see folks actually evaluating each candidate in a complex fashion, without regard to the party label. The usual stereotype for libertarians is that they will vote for Republicans in absence of a Libertarian candidate. In my experience, I'm just as likely to vote for a Democrat on a ballot, depending on which issues are more important than others in any given election.

The days of straight-ticket voting may be over. RIP.

Peace,

Tor

Linking to the following blogs with open trackback posts: Pirates Cove, Using My Powers For Good, MacBros' Place, The World According to Carl, Gospel Fiction, People Are Idiots, Woman Honor Thyself, Cao's Blog, Right Wing Nation

PayPerPost is not the AntiChrist of the Blogosphere

When it comes to blog advertising, PayPerPost has come under some intense criticism. Two recent examples by Jason Calacanis have been brought to my attention by PPP's Ted Murphy.

In the first, Calacanis says:

...you can disclose you're using the platform--no one has that i know of... It's the worst, most evil idea to hit the blogosphere to date, and that fact that venture capitalist are rewarding it is pathetic.


I've replied to Calacanis to point out that I have been disclosing ever since I started running PPP-sponsored posts. I know that Kn@ppster, who was my referral, does also. I recently came across another who also discloses, tho I can't recall their name at the moment.

Of course, Thomas Knapp and I tend to offer opinions on ideological and political matters, so it's important for us to make clear to our readers which posts are advertisements and which are not. Our audiences will disappear if they think we're talking a political candidate or issue up or down because someone's paying us to do so. Folks who are writing blogs about scrapbooking or fly fishing may not have such concerns. It should be up to them whether to disclose their use of PayPerPost. As a libertarian, I have to support their right to make nondisclosed blog posts. The rest of us have the right to decide whether a particular blog is worthwhile or not.

Out of the thirty or so posts that I have written for PPP, only one advertiser has balked at the disclosure. I deleted the post, and PPP backed me up, and will pay me for the post, anyway. The advertiser hadn't mentioned the need for nondisclosure in their opportunity description (most don't), so I had fulfilled the qualifications of the post for payment. That doesn't sound like the actions of one of the most evil ideas to hit the blogosphere.

Calacanis' second post states:

[Jay Allen's] post is spot on, and he explains that there marketing slimebuckets are NOT interested in supporting you with advertising--they are interested in using you for covert marketing.


Actually, earlier today I put the question directly to Ted Murphy, CEO of PayPerPost, in an online town meeting.

Tor Lindahl: Ted, what's the likelihood that more advertisers' requests will be able to become part of a standard checklist so bloggers will be able to quickly scan opps for what they like or don't like to blog about?
Ted Murphy: very likely. : )
Lisa Renee: Hi Ted the hat goes good with your eyes :-)
Ted Murphy: awwww. thats sweet : )
....
Tor Lindahl: Hey Lisa Renee! Good to see you!
Ted Murphy: i love the community we have here :)
....
Lisa Renee: My being here is all thanks to you Tor :-)
Ted Murphy: i love talking cats. long live tor!
....
Christopher Schmitt: Do bloggers make mention on their blogs that they are affiliared with PPP? Is that required or not?
Ted Murphy: it is optional right now.
....
Tor Lindahl: Thanks Ted :-) When you say ppp affiliation is optional right now, do you mean that there may come a time that is is mandatory to disclose, or mandatory not to disclose, or maybe a third way, such that nondisclosed ppp posts get a larger fee?
Ted Murphy: yes. LOL. we will be introducing a program shortly that will have some mandatory disclosure features. It will be optional, but those who signup for the program must disclose and all advertisers in that program will require disclosure.
Tor Lindahl: If advertisers are giving us poor rankings, will we be able to appeal a poor ranking from a disgruntled advertiser, or will it not really be so overwhelmingly important? And will there be a standard guidelione as to what advertisers and bloggers should be thinking when they make their rankings?
Ted Murphy: there will not be an appeal. the ranking will be based on the overall feedback from all advertisers. if you get a bad review or two it shouldn't matter so long as you are doing a good job overall.
....
Tor Lindahl: Cool, as long as I can keep disclosing, and there are advertisers who want my readers' eyes, I'm all for it.
Ted Murphy: there is no problem with disclosure. we will offer all flavors and combinations, you pick what is right for you.


Does that sound like the ravings of a madman who's going to take over the blogosphere with nondisclosed sponsored posts? Not to me.

So my readers can rest assured that I'll continue to use PayPerPost, and continue to disclose. It may be the case in the future that I'll have fewer opportunities open to me, but it's more important to me that you are able to pick out the advertisements (which are still my thoughts, anyway) from the non-sponsored posts.

And yes, I am getting paid to do this post, but I've gone way beyond the measly 50 words Ted required. And he explicitly said it didn't matter what our thoughts on the matter were: we could have decided to take PPP to the woodshed on this one, and still get paid. Once again, not the actions of a man who has something to hide, or is doing something unethical.

Peace,

Tor

Tor has been paid to blog about the above topic via PayPerPost. If you are a blogger who would be interested in being paid to blog, please sign up at PayPerPost and fill in tor at torsrants dot com as your referral.

Thursday, October 5, 2006

Jane Desaulniers, Anne Beebe-Center and the Scandal That Wouldn't Go Away

Just when you think the whole matter of former Knox County Administrator Jane Desaulniers had been long laid to rest, Commissioner Anne Beebe-Center goes and writes a letter to a local newspaper that opens the whole mess up again.

From the Courier-Gazette:

Beebe-Center, who is seeking re-election to the board, submitted a letter to the editor, which appeared in the Sept. 9 edition of The Courier-Gazette, rebutting some claims made by Desaulniers.

One of the terms of the agreement was that neither party was to make disparaging remarks about one another....

"While it is understandable that she would be upset with me for not supporting the generous severance package the other two commissioners voted for her, which she apparently hoped her unsubstantiated claims would assure her, I hope you, my constituents and the taxpayers of this county will stand behind me in my decisions and will disregard the unsubstantiated charges that have been made," [Beebe-Center] continued.


In my previous post about Jane Desaulniers and Anne Beebe-Center, I tried to be even-handed in assigning possible fault to both the commissioners and to the former administrator. With this latest development, it's becoming more and more apparent that Beebe-Center is a bumblingly incompetent commissioner. I hope the residents of Knox County fail to reelect her. I don't know anything about Bradford Carter, but I have to think he's going to win. Or better yet, the residents of Maine should put all county commissioners out of work.

Peace,

Tor

Home Water Quality Test Kit

Edmund Scientific has sent me another product to review, a Home Water Quality Test Kit. This is an easy to use kit with tests for bacteria, hydrogen sulfide, total nitrate and nitrite levels, pH, chlorine, hardness, iron, copper and a few others.

Here's how the test for bacteria worked at the House o' Tor.

First things are first: washing the hands. This helps lessen the likelihood the water sample will be contaminated by bacteria on the hands.



I'll be expecting lucrative offers from hand modeling agencies to come flooding into my email box.

Now we just collected the sample from the tap.....



...carefully replaced the cap....



...and made like we were mixing a martini for James Bond.



The rest of the test was easy. We just had to stow the sample in a dark place at room temperature for 48 hours. At the end, we took it out and saw that the color of the liquid hadn't changed from purple, which was good. If it had changed to yellow, we'd have had to treat the well with bleach, which isn't pleasant for a few days. We had to do it once a few years ago, after the well was hydrofractured due to low water production. It was a relief to us to know that our drinking water was still safe from bacteria.

There are many other water testing products available from Edmund. They also have a simpler water test kit, as well as an educational set of slides for identifying polluted water.

The other tests included in the test kit were similarly easy to perform. They just involved dipping test strips into our water samples and comparing their resulting colors to a sheet.



Here's what our nitrate/nitrite test strip looked like.



Overall, this kit is a great value for the money. I know that there are home water testing labs that you can mail a water sample to, and they'll do all these tests for you for a lot more money. If you get the kit from Edmunds, you can do all the tests yourself for a lot less money, and have some fun in the process.

Peace,

Tor

Tor has been paid to blog about the above topic via PayPerPost. If you are a blogger who would be interested in being paid to blog, please sign up at PayPerPost and fill in tor at torsrants dot com as your referral.

Wednesday, October 4, 2006

Voluntary Waterboarding

Brad Spangler has volunteered for a good waterboarding. And he wants it taped. No, he's not going to sell it. He's going to give it away to show people just what the U.S. government is doing to "detainees" in the "War on Terror." This is the sort of thing that could wake people up to the futility of torture as an intelligence-gathering mechanism.

Peace,

Tor

Big Pharma and Bribes for Doctors

The Bangor Daily News has an editorial today against the practice of doctors receiving "gifts" from pharmaceutical manufacturers.

According to the article, nearly 90 percent of the $21 billion marketing budget of the pharmaceutical industry is directed at physicians. That $19 billion outlay paid doctors for free meals, travel and other expenses and fees for attending lectures and conferences, for their time spent at such meetings, provision of ghostwriting services, grants for research projects, and consultation services, the authors wrote.

They cited a survey showing that in the year 2000 the industry sponsored 314,000 events specifically for physicians. They said, "The purpose behind such industry contacts is unmistakable: Drug companies are attempting to promote the use of their products."

Free samples also would be barred, on the ground that they tend to bias physicians and patients in favor of expensive medications when cheaper alternatives may be just as effective.


First of all, I'm not defending Big Pharma here, since they are using their corporate power (enforced by Big Government) to obtain seemingly endless patents on their pharmaceuticals. In a left-libertarian world, more medicines would be available more cheaply, and sooner than in the current scheme.

But there are some good consequences of doctors' receiving free samples. Just last winter, at a time when I was without health insurance and therefore would be paying for medicine out of pocket, I needed some antibiotics to battle an infection in my lungs. My doctor's first question was whether I had insurance. When I replied in the negative, she went right to her cabinet to fetch a week's worth of free samples for me.

I'm worried that any prohibitions on doctors' receipt of free medicine samples will tend to hurt their poorest patients. Let's not let that happen. Let's inject free market principles into our health care and pharmaceutical systems. Let's not add more regulations that will only drive prices up and restrict availability.

Peace,

Tor

Tagged as:

How Gas Turbines Work

If you've ever wondered how a gas turbine works, check out this site.

You'll learn about the compressors, combustion systems and turbines, the different types of gas turbines and how the modules of a turbofan work together.

It's easy to get drawn into this well-designed educational website. They've also got an equally enticing section on fuel cells.

Peace,

Tor

Tor has been paid to blog about the above topic via PayPerPost. If you are a blogger who would be interested in being paid to blog, please sign up at PayPerPost and fill in tor at torsrants dot com as your referral.

A Scientologist on the Amish Killings

Creative Expressions has an interesting take on the Nickel Mines School killings.

The American public and the rest of the world has a right to know what psychiatric drugs Charles Carl Roberts was on that drove him to commit such atrocities.

One for one crimes like this have been tied to these drugs, yet they are still promoted in our magazines and prescribed to us by our family doctors who have bought pharma PR that they are safe.


If you can't guess, the blogger is a Scientologist. Don't let that stop you from checking out the blog. Despite its overwhelmingly Scientologist-related content (not that there's anything wrong with that -- indeed, it's very interesting!), there are many good morsels, like this post on the Duplessis Orphans. Yes,it all fits into the anti-psychiatry Scientologist Weltanschauung, but it's interesting to me as a left-libertarian due to its portrait of Canadian bureaucracy out of control.

Peace,

Tor

Tagged as:

Know Your Customer

Inspired by a rant over at An Indian Summer, I thought I'd give my few experiences with being carded. Oh, that was so long ago for me. My wife, who is slightly older than I, actually got carded very recently. Guess I'm not aging well.

The first time I got carded was when I was still eighteen. Dateline: Brunswick, Maine. A cashier (who was obviously not a native of Maine, or even a resident of any length of time), asked for ID when I tried to buy a six-pack of Moxie. Click through the link, and tell me how anyone could imagine that it's a beer can. I had to have a manager summoned to explain to the cashier that Moxie is just a soda.

Oddly enough, the first time I ever actually bought anything alcoholic (not at the same store), after I was 21, the cashier didn't ask to see my ID. I started to offer it to her anyway, but she waved me off. "It's okay, I've seen your ID before." Except for the fact that I'd never shown it to anyone, except for checkwriting purposes, I would have believed her.

Peace,

Tor

Filed Under:

VOIP 101

Voice Over Internet Protocol, or VOIP, is a burgeoning field of communications. It holds the promise of revolutionizing voice communications by providing nearly limitless calls worldwide for a pittance. We'll have to wait and see how that works out in the long run.

In the short run, most of us have more questions than answers about VOIP. Here's a site on the subject that should clear up some of the issues on VOIP.

They've got an excellent write up on VOIP myths, for instance. They show, for instance, that the overall expense of VOIP phone systems is lower than the circuit-switched systems that most businesses have. That's because most of the intelligence is in the phone unit itself, giving a seemingly higher cost for the VOIP phone. But that disregards the high expense of the line cards for the traditional method of switching. Business owners should definitely check out this site.
Peace,

Tor

Tor has been paid to blog about the above topic via PayPerPost. If you are a blogger who would be interested in being paid to blog, please sign up at PayPerPost and fill in tor at torsrants dot com as your referral.

Maine's Sex Offender Registry

One thing that really gets me about the efforts to change Maine's sex offender registry law is that the major impetus was the killing of two men who were on the list this past Easter.

One began on Easter Sunday, when Stephen Marshall used the online registry to find and kill two men he didn't know. One of the victims was William Elliot of Milo, who was convicted of a misdemeanor sex assault after having sex with his girlfriend when she was 15 and he was 20.

Committee members questioned whether Elliot should have been listed with other more dangerous offenders.

"William Elliot was not a risk to re-offend, and there's probably a lot of others in that category," Rep. Gary Plummer, R-Windham, said Tuesday.


So, we want to make sure only the really bad guys get killed when we release them from prison? Is that it?

Don't get me wrong. I think folks like Joseph Tellier shouldn't be allowed back into society. Ever. I don't care how many psychologists sign off on it.

But if the law says that you've served your term for your crime, and you're free to go, but you have to register with us so any disturbed individual with an internet connection can hunt you down, that's just crazy. Anyone about to be released from prison who will be required to be on such a list should have the option of staying in protective custody indefinitely. Or they should have round-the-clock security underwritten by the state. The lawmakers involved seem to be implicitly approving of vigilantism to rid society of the sex offenders that they don't want to lock up. That's just wrong. Not as wrong as the crimes that sent the folks to prison, but wrong still.

Peace,

Tor

Another Cool Blog

I've come across a fairly new blog that covers a very intriguing niche of political activity: Initiative is a Good Thing. Its pseudonymous author, Helen Langora, describes it as "Petition drives, ballot access, citizen initiatives: A conservative covers the news, the controversies, the key players, and the inside stories."

One of the stories the blog is covering right now is TABOR, the "Taxpayers' Bill of Rights" initiative, here in Maine.

Initiative also delves into the meta-issues of citizens' petitions and related matters, not just the particular initiatives that are currently in the spotlight. There's a good post on "astroturf" campaigns. Despite being a self-described conservative, "Helen" doesn't mind giving kudos to the Democratic Underground.

This blog falls into the category of "Why didn't I think of that?"

Peace,

Tor

Linking to the following blogs with open trackback posts: Third World County, Diane's Stuff, Jack of All Trades, TMH's Bacon Bits

Filed Under:

A Fun Radio Kit for Kids


Edmund Scientific's Electronic AM/FM Radio Kit will give any young budding electronics hobbyist several hours of fun learning about diodes, capacitors and resistors. Even if you're not so young, the fact that you can learn about simple electronic components without plugging in a soldering gun is a great plus.



It all starts with this plastic template into which you insert some small springs.



These are the only tools you'll need. Actually, you'll need a slightly smaller screwdriver than the one in this picture. My bad. But the important thing is no soldering. That's why this is safe fun for a young electronics experimenter. The box says it's safe for ages eight and up, but that would be a pretty intelligent eight-year-old. I'd recommend adult supervision.



First we check all of the parts against the list in the instructions.

The next part doesn't require any tools. It's just putting the springs into the holes. The instructions recommended using a ballpoint pen or somesuch to get the springs firmly down into their holes, but I had no problem using just my fingers.



Each time a spring is inserted, you have to mark the other side with the correct number, so you'll be able to do the wiring correctly in later steps. I wondered why they didn't just do this ahead of time for the kit, but then I realized that it's good practice for a young electronics experimenter to mark off what's what when they're doing it. That's the way it works in the real world. Anyone who's had to remove all their spark plug wires at once will know what I'm talking about.



Now it's time to start inserting electronic components into the board. The young experimenter will learn how to identify many different parts, such as diodes, capacitors and resistors.



The actual connections for the electronic components are made on the back side of the plastic and cardboard template. That's why it was so important to label which hole was which.



Here's a view of the back of the kit after most of the components have been installed.



Then things get neatened up a bit with the wire cutters.



Now we have to add the battery and the FM tuning board.





Here's the fully assembled project, with the antennae added on the front.



At this point, the radio is configured to receive FM signals. It just takes a few easy wiring changes on the front of the panel to change it to an AM radio receiver.

Completing this project was a lot of fun, and the kit is an extremely cheap way to gather all the components necessary for learning about assembling a basic radio receiver. One oversight in the directions that I'd like to point out is that there isn't a good description of what's required to tune in different AM stations. I knew to slide the AM antenna coil along its bar due to my experience with electronics in general and with crystal radios in particular, but most folks using the kit probably wouldn't have known that.

If you're looking for more fun science toys and experiments, visit Edmund Scientific. I notice they've got a sweet deal on an electricity usage monitor, and a cool robot kit.

I'll be reviewing several other products soon. Check out my earlier review of the Megazooka!

Peace,

Tor

Tor has been paid to blog about the above topic via PayPerPost. If you are a blogger who would be interested in being paid to blog, please sign up at PayPerPost and fill in tor at torsrants dot com as your referral.