300 Spartans Vs. Iran (Persia)

I went to the movies last night and I saw The 300. It was an incredible show!! I remember going to see The Lord Of The Rings and thinking that this was amazing what they did with CGI (Computer Generated Images). Well, The 300 Have upped the bar on that note. The battle scenes were amazing and the backgrounds looked like it was a comic book. All other shows of this genre will and should be jugged by this movie.

Now, this being a “true" account of a battle that took place circa 480BC, you have to take this movie with "a grain of salt" as the saying goes. Persia, what is now called Iran, has taken offense to this movie.

In an article written by the BBC; "Javad Shamqadri, a cultural advisor to Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, said it was "plundering Iran's historic past and insulting this civilization". He branded the film "psychological warfare" against Tehran and its people. But Iranian culture was strong enough to withstand the assault, Mr. Shamqadri said."

If we got pissed of about every movie or book that written about the USA and our wars and culture, we would have waged war on every freaking country especially France for making insults about us. I mean, if they get pissed about getting their asses beaten by a little island country some 2400 years ago, I just wonder what they think about the movie “Alexander” which showed the Macedonian general easily conquering the Persian Empire.

Is it our faults that 300 men killed 70,000 + of their best warriors and that they were finally beaten and pushed back after the full force of the combined Greek forces lead by the Spartan army. They are just having issues dealing with the Sanctions that are going to be placed on them and the world’s displeasure with their testing and going forward with their Nuclear program. The are just lashing out any way they can to make the USA look like the Evil Empire.

I mean, come on guys, It is a FREAKING MOVIE and it was a comic book before that and then 2400 years ago, it was happening! All anyone has to do is go and look up about the Spartans and you can see and read about it. I looked it up on Wikipedia and it told the story, but in much greater detail than what the movie went into. Are they going now try to get pissed at the owner(s) of Wikipedia? Will they say that "psychological warfare" is being wagged on them by that website also? It is free information that is most likely taught in Greece because it is part of their history.

When a movie about our on Civil war comes out, we don't get all pissed off at the producers for making an adaptation and their perception of that event. We don't say that someone is wagging a new war on our history and running a “SMEAR CAMPAIGN” on the North or South. We are not trying to Smear the good country of Iran, but merely trying to make a few dollars to line our pockets with. This is America, The land of the Free and the home of the Brave! We all love to make money and it if a few toes are stepped on, well it happens...

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Panaroma Shots of Richmond...

I took over 40 shots to make the Panorama pics. I used a program called Panaroma Maker 3.0 It takes the guess work out of making photos like these. In the past, I have not had much luck with the program. Last night however, I think that I found the technique. In my photo series, I left enough of an overlap between the photos to allow the program to integrate the photos seamlessly with no odd angles between the buildings.

I took the pictures with my Sony Cybershot 5.1 M/P with a 12x Optical Zoom and a 5x Digital Zoom using a 512 Sony Mem Pro card. I went around to different sides of the city to get the shots. I will post most of them on my PicPage this week.

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Night Shots in Richmond...

Well, I took about 45 shots today of day and night shots of Richmond Downtown. I will be editing them soon and posting them on the Blog!!!
I am off to sleep!!

RMStringer
^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Let teachers and priests and philosophers brood
over questions of reality and illusion.
I know this: if life is an illusion, then I
am no less an illusion, and being thus, the
illusion is real to me. I live, I burn with life, I
love, I slay, and I am content.
(Robert E. Howard, Queen of the Black Coast, Weird Tales, May 1934)



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Hardware stuff...

I went out yesterday and i purchased a new keyboard. I have used an ergonomic keyboard for the last 5 years and i really like them. The other day at work, i saw a keyboard that one of the engineers had, it was new and from Microsoft.

I saw that it was also an ergonomic one. I picked it up to see what the model was and it was the Natural Ergonomic Keyboard 4000. My very first keyboard was the Microsoft Natural Pro.

Here is a review of the 4000. It is taking a few days to get used to the slant and the feel of the one as it is totally different from the other one i had.

This is the Natural Pro:

This is the Keyboard 4000:


The 4000 is very different in style and feel. I like it, but it is very different from the other one. This has many new function keys such as Favorite(5), Volume, a built in Search Function, A Zoom bar that works well, as well as the Mail and Web features. The leather cushion to rest your palms is very nice to feel. Unlike the Natural Pro, this board is slanted from back to front. It does not have any USB ports like the Natural Pro did, but the would be had to use with the slant that the 4000 has. The color of the 4000 is GREAT!! Silver and Black instead of the light Tan of the Pro. The 4000 fits better with my color scheme. Everything that i have is Black, Gray and Silver, so a perfect fit.

IF you are worried about Repetitive Motion Injuries, this keyboard will be a very good purchase in that case. I use my hands for my work as a technician and also as a drummer, so, any help i can get in that department helps.

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Stuff this weekend...

I went today and i proceeded to put my down payment on my new mountain bike. I am going to get it on Monday when my brother is here. I went with the Gary Fisher Wahoo

I cant wait to get it!!! I am getting last years model, so i am getting a good price on it and by doing that, i can get some extra stuff with it!! New seat, light and a toolkit for it.

My brother will be here tomorrow evening, and i think that we are going to go and do some night shots around the city. I will post them if they turn out nice and how i like them to.

We are off to the movies...


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Time Change and Microsoft...

As I stated before, the Daylight Saving Time change will occur on March 11 at 2.00 am. Most computers have an automatic feature that will change time for you, but this was set up prior to the governmental change of The DST. So, Microsoft has issued a patch that can be downloaded from their website.

Some computers that have "Automatic Updates" activated will have this patch already. But if you, like me, do not choose to use this feature and want to pick and choose what patches are applied; then here is the link to the patch site.

It is called: February 2007 cumulative time zone update for Microsoft Windows operating systems

This should advert any problems that might happen with this time change.
For other information on this and how to change the settings yourself:How to configure daylight saving time for the United States in 2007



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Videos Changed Out...

I just changed out the videos on the bottom section of the BLOG. New 80's stuff!!!

I get most of these from YouTube.


More to come!!

















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Ready for the wool to be pulled?

How many of you have heard of Peter Popoff?? I am sure that many of you have if you ever watch or have watched TV. He is a Televangelist that is the "HOT" item at the moment. He is the one giving for a "small donation” for the "Miracle Spring Water"!

I was up early this morning and I saw a TV show with him and his wife and he was praying for Finical Freedom form Satanic enslavement. For God to just rip the bonds off and for you to have finical freedom!! And by drinking his water, you will get healed!! Just think about it...

Drink the vial of Miracle Spring Water and you can be healed!! Praise God.
He was talking and spouting scriptures about wealth in the bible by being a good servant and obeying the Lord. I am a Christian, but this whole-sale rip-off of people just takes the cake. About 20 years ago, Popoff was run off TV for being a Hoax!

In my opinion, he is no better than a sexual predator. He prays on the hopes and dreams of people and for a small donation you to can have you wildest dreams come true. I saw a testimonial this morning. A woman asked for him to pray for her to have a finical burden lifted off of her and family and lo and behold, she received 2 checks in the mail all totaling $70,000!! Wow, if it was only that easy, I would have been a millionaire long ago!! The lady looked like a destitute person and was barley intelligible in her speaking.

"You can also read on an independent website about how James Randi went toe-to-toe with Popoff in the late 80’s. Ordinarily Seems Randi publicly exposed (on Johnny Carson) research he did with a team of people over several months into Popoff’s mass ministry sessions. Popoff had become well-known for being able to “receive messages from God” during his stadium performances. He would go to somebody in the audience, tell them their name and address, and what ails them, and then heal them of it. Turns out Randi caught him on tape using an electronic surveillance device receiving the “word of God” from his wife, a staff member who had information cards and guided him via radio transmitter to the audience members whom God had chosen for healing.

The team recorded hours of conversations in which Elizabeth Popoff radioed to her husband personal details that she and other aides gathered from the audience in conversations before the service and from prayer request cards filled out there. Elizabeth Popoff and several aides would scout the audience looking for “hot” ones. They would ask them, “Is Jesus going to heal you? And what’s your name, and where do you live? Have you had this condition long?” They would write all this information down on cards, which later on Elizabeth would recite during the service via her concealed transmitter. She carried the power source in a large handbag, and the transmitter and microphone were hidden under her blouse."

This makes me wonder about other Televangelists like Benny Hinn. Or another preacher that I think that got into the business to prove that you can make money in this business. His name was Dr. Gene Scott. We used to watch him in college back in the early 1990s. He would be preaching with a cigar in his mouth and a pair of sunglasses on. Then cut to his home with several dancers and watching his Race Horses run around with the girls on them listening to the Neutron Dance by the Pointer Sisters!! Wow, that was a lot to talk about...

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Richmond Skyline...

I hope to be able over the next few days to go and take a few photos of the skyline of Richmond. I found a good spot the other day while I was on my way home from shift. There is a big overpass I95 North that is part of the Chippingham/895 interchange that has enough height to give me a clear shot of I95 North looking at downtown Richmond. I will have to act like my truck is broken down for a few minutes to get this shot(s)!

These are a few shots that I found on the web.





I hope to be able to get several from around the city that will look like these. I think that from the bridge, I will be able to get a better one than the last pic as I will get it from above the streets and from a distance of about 2-3 miles, thus, encompassing all of downtown and part of I95.

The first pic was taken from around the south side of the James River close to 14th street. I should be able to get several shots that are like that one as well. We shall see...

I am versy excited about this series of pictures. I hope to have this all done by Monday night!



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The end of the week...

I am feeling better as i went to the doctor yesterday and i got some meds. I have a sinus infection, but i am feeling better, the meds are working. i got some stuff to post about tonight, so...


I have just 2 nights to finish this week of work out!!!

I have also found a great place for a night shot of Richmond Virginia from an overpass. I hope to get that this weekend...

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This weekend...

It has been along 3 days on shift this weekend and i have not felt the best as i think that i am fighting a cold.  I should have a few interesting things to post about in the next few days... My brother is coming to visit me this coming weekend and we will have 3 days to chill! Cant wait for that.

Until then.

Peace&Love INC.

--
RMStringer
+++++++++++++++

Copyright Royalty Board Releases Decision - Rates are Going Up Significantly

Well,
I wonder how and if this decision will affect people out there in cyberspace who every once and a while stream audio via Shoutcast or some other means. I have never done this, but at some times i have wanted to due to my large music collection.


Copyright Royalty Board Releases Decision - Rates are Going Up Significantly

The Copyright Royalty Board decision on the royalties for to be paid by Internet Radio stations for streaming music during the years 2006-2010 was released to the participants in the proceeding today. And the rates are going up significantly over the next few years. More importantly, especially for smaller entities, there are no royalty rates based on a percentage of revenue as were in effect for small webcasters under the Small Webcasters Settlement Act. Instead, all royalties are given as a per performance number, i.e. a payment for each song every time a listener hears that song

In a 100 page decision, the Board essentially adopted the royalty rate advanced by SoundExchange (the collective that receives the royalties and distributes the money to copyright holders and performers) in the litigation. It denied all proposals for a percentage of revenue royalty (including a proposal that SoundExchange itself advanced). The Board also rejected any premium for streams received by a wireless service, as SoundExchange had suggested.

The rates set by the Board for commercial webcasters, including broadcasters retransmitting their over-the-air signals on the Internet, are as follows:
2006 - $.0008 per performance
2007 - $.0011 per performance
2008 - $.0014 per performance
2009 - $.0018 per performance
2010 - $.0019 per performance
The minimum fee is $500 per channel per year. There is no clear definition of what a "channel" is for services that make up individualized playlists for listeners.

For noncommercial webcasters, the fee will be $500 per channel, for up to 159,140 Aggregate Tuning Hours (one listener listening for an hour) per month. Noncommercial webcasters who exceed that level pay at the commercial rate for all listening in excess of that limit.
The decision is subject to Motions that confidential information be redacted to the public, so it is not yet released for public review. A request for rehearing of this decision can be made by any party to the case within 15 days. The Board can also make technical corrections to the decision (not affecting the rate). The decision is to be published in the Federal Register within 60 days. Appeals may be filed with the US Court of AppeaIs in Washington, DC within 30 days of Federal Register publication. As this decision may well significantly impact webcasters, large and small, there is no doubt that more will be heard on this decision in coming months. We'll have more details on this decision in coming days.


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More Computer Sutff...

This is what my tower looks like.

It is a Soho File Server Plus case by Antec.

I also have enclosed a Mechnicial drawing of the tower as well.

So today, I took the fan that was on the side of the tower (80MM Blue) which had been blowing out as to evacuate the hot air from the inside. I turned it around which made the fan blow into the case. This made more air cool the Motherboard and RAM as well. I have 2 fans in the front holders that force air in from the outside, and two (80mm Blue) fans blowing out the back of the case.

My power supply is an Antec 480 watt True Power supply. It has a 120mm fan and an 80mm fan built into it.

So with the power supply that is a total of seven fans in the case. Also my GeForce 6200 has a built in fan on its GPU as well as my AMD processor has a fan (50mm) on it. Having said all of this, I found that my system HD (40gig WD) was running very hot! It was around 126F and that is very hot to run a drive. The main reason is that the bay that it is in does not have a fan associated with it.

So, I crammed a fan into the case in between some IDE cables and it is set to blow onto that drive. I am going to do some moving around of some drives next week and place it in the lower bay that has a fan set in the front of it. The temp went from 126F to about 115F in about 10 mins.

Anoter interesting observation, 2 nights ago, I had the side fan blowing inward; the Motherboard temp went down to about 93F!! When I turned it around where the air was blowing out, the temp went up to 101F. So, I turned it around today and the temp has gone back down.

It has become very clear that cooling is of paramount importance when running a High-End computer. I hope that this gives some of you insight as to cooling designs that can be done in one type of an after-market computer case. Also, I am using the Speed Fan app to monitor all of these specs.

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My Blog Interests...

When I first started this thing, I did it because a friend of mine had one and I thought that it would be neat. I posted sporadically. Now that I have gotten in to it, I enjoy posting and try to post as often as I can with good ideas.

It is my hope that in the near future, people will start to leave comments on my posts via the blog. I know some people get email and will reply to that, but it is my hope that people will post to my blog.

I try to bring interesting content to my site and I hope people find it interesting enough to come back and read new posts. It is sometimes hard to post interesting stuff for all readers and some posts are aimed at a certain group. But all in all, I try to make the content readable and enjoyable to all my readers. So, please feel free to post to my site and let me know if I am doing a good job or not.

Thanks for your patronage.
RMStringer


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The End of An Era...

Remember when all you had to do was go and purchase a TV antenna from the local store to be able to watch tv? Well, that day is nearly gone. The days of Analogue TV are comming to an end!! Here are the details that i have found about this big change.

Death of analog TV in 2009 means adjustments for over-the-air viewers.

The rabbit-eared TV has less than two years to live. And forget trying to buy one from your neighborhood electronics store.

Analog broadcasts - a basic TV signal sent through the air - are set to end in 2009. That's when TV signals become a digital stream that only the right kind of TV or converter box can decode.

If that's news to you, you're not alone. More than 56 percent of over-the-air viewers have "seen, read or heard nothing" about the transition, according a recent survey by the National Association of Broadcasters, and only 10 percent of viewers knew it would happen in 2009.

Starting this month, retailers no longer can sell TVs that only have analog tuners. "The majority of televisions have had digital tuners built into them for the past two years," said Phil Murray, marketing manager of Denver-based Listen Up Audio/Video, and most retailers have sold dual- tuner (analog and digital) televisions for years, so customers won't notice a difference on store shelves.

Congress approved the switch to digital in late 2005 as part of a broader spending bill. Moving TV broadcasts to digital will free up the 700-megahertz frequency band used by analog, meaning that spectrum can be used for emergency communications and auctioned for new wireless services.

Broadcasters and TV manufacturers are starting to realize they need to get the word out so the nation's 20 million households that rely on free, over-the-air broadcasts don't turn on their TVs to find a blank screen on Feb. 17, 2009, the transition date. The switch won't affect the estimated 96 million consumers who subscribe to cable or satellite TV.

Those most likely to be affected are the poor and elderly. Congress has approved $1.5 billion for vouchers for people to buy converter boxes, which allows viewers to see digital programming on analog TVs.

Starting Jan. 1, 2008, each household can request up to two coupons valued at $40 each to help cover the cost of buying a box, which are expected to cost $50 to $70.

• What happens this month?
All new television sets designed to receive over-the-air signals must contain a tuner capable of receiving digital broadcasts, in preparation for a complete transition to digital broadcasts by 2009. Retailers no longer can sell analog-only sets.
Digital tuners already were required in sets with screens larger than 25 inches.

• What happens on Feb. 17, 2009?
Analog-television broadcasts end in the United States. That doesn't mean the end of free-broadcast television, but consumers will need either a TV with a digital tuner, cable- or satellite-TV service, or a converter box for their old analog TVs.

Here is the link to the story that i read and got most of this material from.
Rabbit ears losing their rabbit's foot





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Computer Tools...

All the time great apps are created for computers. Some help you check for system errors, while others help you monitor such things as Temp and Fan speeds or Voltage on your motherboard.

One such app that I have used before and that I am now using is called Speed Fan. It is a Freeware prog meaning that you do not have to purchase it from the designer. All motherboards are designed with sensors as well as most Hard Drives that will monitor Temp, speed and voltage. Here is a screen shot of the app:


While using this prog, I found some Temperature issues with some of my Hard Drives. I have made some configuration changes and in doing so, have lowered the temps to the Good Spec range. I will be doing some more reporting about this app as time goes by and i make more adjustments. In my opinion, if you run a High-End computer like me, it only makes sence to run this app to monitor your computer. Here is a download link for the prog.
Speed Fan

From the Creator: Alfredo Milani Comparetti
"If you need a tool that can change your computer's fan speeds, read the temperatures of your motherboard and your hard disk, read voltages and fan speeds and check the status of your hard disk using S.M.A.R.T. or SCSI attributes, then you came to the right place. SpeedFan is the software to go. It is fully configurable and you can create custom events to handle every situation in an automated way. SpeedFan works under Windows 9x, ME, NT, 2000, 2003 XP. If you are planning a hardware upgrade and would like to move to Vista, consider that SpeedFan is compatible with it too. The 32 bit version works fine. For the 64 bit version I need to purchase the driver signing certificate, but I already made tests and SpeedFan works fine on it too. And this all costs you absolutely nothing! "

All I want to say to the creator is Thank You very much for this new version!!

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Computer Stuff...

You know when you are trying to save a picture from the web and you want to save it on your computer? Well, i was trying to do this the other day and like many MS Windows computers, it locked up.

I was trying to save it to a specific HD and it did not happen. The drive was a *Maxtor 100gig SATA drive. SO i did what any other mortal would do, i hit the button and Rebooted my comp. That was a mistake. Then computer was trying to boot up and the dreaded screen: "One of your disks needs to be checked for consistency"

SO, being the good computer user that i am, i let it. IT was going very slow and then data started to appear similar to this:


One of your disks needs to be checked for consistency. You may cancel the disk check, but it is strongly recommended that you continue.Windows will now check the disk.CHKDSK is verifying files (stage 1 of 3)

File record segment 53896 is unreadable.
File record segment 53897 is unreadable.
File record segment 53898 is unreadable.
File record segment 53899 is unreadable.
File record segment 53916 is unreadable.
File record segment 53917 is unreadable.
File record segment 53918 is unreadable.
File record segment 53919 is unreadable.

IF this happens, don't worry, i had a few errands to run and so i left the computer to do its thing. After i got back home, i had to reboot 2 times and then the drive was ok. I cant seam to find any bad sectors or any lost data. i got lucky.

* On a different note, it appears that Seagate has purchased Maxtor!









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The Music industry...

How many people remember way back around 1985 when Compact Discs came out. Remember how much they cost? The were around 10-13 dollars. Then remember in the 1990s? The price was raised to around 16-19 dollars a disc. What a dramatic increase. Well several years ago, there was a class action lawsuit filed against the RIAA for price gouging. If you went online, you could sign that petition and join the lawsuit.

Well, i did and the other day, i received a check from that suit! IT was about $14, but the case was won. I know that was not much money, but divided out between several million people, think about it.



Here is part of the ruling:

The Defendants have agreed to pay a combination of cash and non-cash consideration. Defendants' combined cash payments total $67,375,000. In addition, Distributor Defendants will provide $75,700,000 worth of prerecorded music compact discs. This will take place in the 41 states that filed the suit.

I was a member and i filed a claim in Texas.

You are a member of the Settlement Group if you are a person (or entity) in the United States or its Territories and Possessions who purchased prerecorded Music Products, consisting of compact discs, cassettes and vinyl albums, from one or more retailers during the period January 1, 1995, through December 22, 2000.

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Share the Road...

We all have been driving in the city or counrty and have seen the sign saying "Share The Road" with a bicycle. Most majoy cities have this type of sign. Me being a bicker, i like to see those kinds of signs. They were all over Colorado when we lived there. It was really nice to have them as there was a lot of bickers that lived there.






Well, the other evening, Friday evening, to be exact. My wife and I were driving out in Chester Va. To me, it was in the boonies and we were looking for this high school in the middle of no where. My daughter was having another cheerleading contest. By the way, her school took 2nd out of 10 schools.

Anyway, we were driving down these back woods roads and we say a sign of the "Share the road" type, only I had never seen this one before. I knew that we were in the back-woods when this type of sign is around. We finally found the high school for the competition. I hoped that they would give a refund for gas because it was so far out there. The school was very nice and that is because no one can find it to use it.















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DST - Spring forward...Fall back....2007

During DST, clocks are turned forward an hour, effectively
moving an hour of daylight from the morning to the evening.



Just a few interesting fact that i have found on the web.




World map showing current and past daylight saving usage
██ Areas that have DST
██ Areas that once had DST
██ Areas that never had DST

For many of you that did not know, DST is going to be changed this year. Beginning in 2007, Daylight Saving Time is extended one month and begins for most of the United States on the Second Sunday in March to the First Sunday of November.

So, the dates will be as follows:

Year: 2007
DST Begins 2 a.m.(Second Sunday in March) March 11
DST Ends 2 a.m.(First Sunday in November) November 4
Year: 2008
DST Begins 2 a.m.(Second Sunday in March) March 9
DST Ends 2 a.m.(First Sunday in November) November 2.

I remember something about this and i heard about it when we lived in Massachusetts, but i was not sure about the exact details. On August 8, 2005, President George W. Bush signed the Energy Policy Act of 2005, Pub. L. no. 109-58, 119 Stat 594 (2005).



This Act changed the time change dates for Daylight Saving Time in the U.S. The Secretary of Energy will report the impact of this change to Congress. Congress retains the right to resume the 2005 Daylight Saving Time schedule once the Department of Energy study is complete .

So, we will get to see how this works out as it is about 2 weeks away from happening.



Some more interesting stuff:

The official spelling is Daylight Saving Time, not Daylight SavingS Time.


Saving is used here as a verbal adjective (a participle). It modifies time and tells us more about its nature; namely, that it is characterized by the activity of saving daylight. It is a saving daylight kind of time. Similar examples would be a mind expanding book or a man eating tiger. Saving is used in the same way as saving a ball game, rather than as a savings account.


Nevertheless, many people feel the word savings (with an 's') flows more mellifluously off the tongue. Daylight Savings Time is also in common usage, and can be found in dictionaries.
Adding to the confusion is that the phrase Daylight Saving Time is inaccurate, since no daylight is actually saved. Daylight Shifting Time would be better, but it is not as politically desirable.




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