Biking Today...

We ended up doing 11.40 miles this morning. We rode the Red, Blue and Green trails.


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West Clouds...

Taken with my LGVX8600 phone.
From RMStringer

Off For a Ride!!!

I am off for a ride at Pocahontas Park on the Red and Blue Trails with Jeff. I hope to get in about 9 miles today!

C-YA!!!


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ID Tag Software

If any of you are like me and like to have all of your MP3 collections properly tagged then this utility is for you. There are many tag options ID3v1, ID3v2 and a few others.


I was always looking for a way to remove the ID3v1 tags as you could not get some of the full names of the songs in the space provided. This could only be done with ID3v2 but you would have to go and remove the old tags yourself. The old tags would mess up MP3 player tags.



I found a freeware prog that will remove all of the old ID3v1 tags and leave the ID3v2 tags in place! It is called ID3Remover. I tried it and it works WELL!!

This is a screen shot of the prog.

Here is a direct link to the prog: ID3 Tag Remover











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Nothing Better To do...

I was on my way to work last night and I took the Powhite Parkway which is 76 north and also a Toll Road.  It was about 11.15 pm when this happened.  I came to the first set of tools near the Courthouse Road exit and I saw a person from a distance walking through the toll machines. I thought to myself that it was strange as I could see the person who takes the money at the normal booth. When I got closer I saw that it was a State Police. He was evidently looking at the inspection stickers on the windshields of the cars to see if they have expired.  He bent over to look at mine and he had to move out of the way so I could place the money into the Exact Change lane.  He looked at me and I looked at him kind of strange like don't you have any other thing to do at 11pm at night then to harass people at the toll booths?  The interstate has many more people that speed and should be looked after instead of messing with this road. It really pissed me off about this.  My sticker is still good!

 

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)

 

Verizon Wireless To Introduce ‘Any Apps, Any Device’ Option For Customers In 2008

Just in off the wire...

BASKING RIDGE, NJ — Verizon Wireless today announced that it will provide customers the option to use, on its nationwide wireless network, wireless devices, software and applications not offered by the company. Verizon Wireless plans to have this new choice available to customers throughout the country by the end of 2008.

In early 2008, the company will publish the technical standards the development community will need to design products to interface with the Verizon Wireless network. Any device that meets the minimum technical standard will be activated on the network. Devices will be tested and approved in a $20 million state-of-the-art testing lab which received an additional investment this year to gear up for the anticipated new demand. Any application the customer chooses will be allowed on these devices.

This new option goes beyond just a change in the design, delivery, purchase, and provisioning of wireless devices and applications.

“This is a transformation point in the 20-year history of mass market wireless devices – one which we believe will set the table for the next level of innovation and growth,” said Lowell McAdam, Verizon Wireless president and chief executive officer. “Verizon Wireless is not changing our successful retail model, but rather adding an additional retail option for customers looking for a different wireless experience.”

Verizon Wireless will continue to provide a full-service offering, from retail stores where customers can shop, to 24/7 customer service and technical support, to an easy-to-use handset interface and optimized software applications.

While most Verizon Wireless customers prefer the convenience of full service, the company is listening through today’s announcement to a small but growing number of customers who want another choice without full service.

Both full-service and “bring-your-own” customers will have the advantage of using America’s most reliable network.

Following publication of technical standards, Verizon Wireless will host a conference to explain the standards and get input from the development community on how to achieve the company’s goals for network performance while making it easy for them to deliver devices.
Verizon Wireless has a track record of listening to customers and transforming entrenched industry practices based on those customer needs. The company parted with the industry last year when it introduced pro-rated early termination fees, and in 2004 when it refused to participate in a wireless directory when customers said they didn’t want one. Verizon Wireless also broke with “wireless tradition” when it supported local number portability because customers wanted the freedom to take their number if they switched service providers. Such responsiveness to customers has earned Verizon Wireless the strongest brand reputation in the industry.

About Verizon WirelessVerizon Wireless operates the nation’s most reliable wireless voice and data network, serving 63.7 million customers. The largest U.S. wireless company and largest wireless data provider, based on revenues, Verizon Wireless is headquartered in Basking Ridge, N.J., with 68,000 employees nationwide. The company is a joint venture of Verizon Communications (NYSE: VZ) and Vodafone (NYSE and LSE: VOD). Find more information on the Web at www.verizonwireless.com.

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Windows problems...

I just had to do an “Upgrade” to my old Windows Xp Pro installation.  I used a prog called Reg Cleaner 4.3 and it hosed a few entries that I needed.  After its use, the desktop kept crashing.  I used an old trick and instead of doing a complete reinstall, I used the upgrade option.  This allowed me to be able to keep all of my settings and reinstall the main OS to a disk state.  I will have to reinstall a few other updates, but it is working fine now.

 

RMStringer

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

You have no conscience and it seems you never will - Cyberaktif

 

Esther's Follies...Austin Texas

Here are a few pics from the Esther's Follies show that i saw in Austin Texas 2 weekends ago. The show is on 6th Street in downtown Austin and it has been running for 30 years. I had never heard of the show and when i was younger would not have enjoyed it but now I really loved the show and the funny skits and magic tricks that were preformed. The players were top notch and they all had a very political slant to the comedy! If you are ever in Austin, I STRONGLY recommend going to see the show! You will not be disappointed!!! The pics are not the best as i used my Cam Phone to take them.

Ray Anderson He IS TOP NOTCH!!!
Ray Anderson, Austin’s nationally renowned magician has been caught up in the tornado that is Esther’s Follies for over fifteen years. Deemed “best spellbinder” by the Austin Chronicle, Ray perplexes both audience members and curious 6th Street revelers peering through Esther’s trademark windows. Whether as himself or his “Amazing Frank” alter-ego, Ray uniquely combines magic and comedy in a way you probably have never seen before.

Kerry Awn Does a GOOD BUSH Imitation!!

Kerry Awn has rocked Follies audiences for over a decade as Buck Husky, George W., and that patron Saint of the Velveeta Room— Ronnie Velveeta! He’s also band leader of the Uranium Savages, has won the Chronicle’s “Best Comic” title for over a decade, and was even named “Texas State Comic” by the Texas Legislature! He restored the 23rd & Guadalupe mural— Austin’s most memorable, and has a show presently at the South Austin Popular Museum on South Lamar! Check it out at kerryawn.com.

Shannon Sedwick Pulling stuff out of her dress as Patsy Cline (THIS WAS FUNNY) has become Shannon’s trademark at Esther’s, though she is equally at home playing Ann Richards, Madonna, or Hilary Clinton. The mama of the Follies, Shannon keeps the show rolling as producer and performer, stays active in Sixth Street restoration as President of the Old Pecan Street Association and other downtown organizations, and keeps busy with projects created by her co-producer and husband, Michael Shelton.

Esther's Follies is Located at
525 East 6th Street
Austin, TX 78701


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Robot Chicken...

We saw this the other night at work. Remember the ThunderCats? This is a little different take on them plus much much more!! This is not the entire video as it is over 15 minutes long. This is just a preview! There are several other clips in this preview that you might remember!!


Dicks With Time Machines!



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Wet light rays.

Taken with my LGVX8600 phone. I wanted to take this pic for a long time. It is on an overpass on I95 North.
From RMStringer

Rain Tonight

Taken with my LGVX8600 phone. The lot is all wet.
From RMStringer

Police Secrecy Behind Unmanned Aircraft Test.

For those of you that live in Houston Texas...

It looks like they are getting in the "Anti-Terrorist" Game also. I wonder if the drones have guns and bombs like their Armed Forces cousins?

By Stephen Dean

WALLER COUNTY, Texas -- Houston police started testing unmanned aircraft and the event was shrouded in secrecy, but it was captured on tape by Local 2 Investigates.

Neighbors in rural Waller County said they thought a top-secret military venture was under way among the farmland and ranches, some 70 miles northwest of Houston. KPRC Local 2 Investigates had four hidden cameras aimed at a row of mysterious black trucks. Satellite dishes and a swirling radar added to the neighbors' suspense.

Then, cameras were rolling as an unmanned aircraft was launched into the sky and operated by remote control.

Houston police cars were surrounding the land with a roadblock in place to check each of the dignitaries arriving for the invitation-only event. The invitation spelled out, "NO MEDIA ALLOWED."

HPD Chief Harold Hurtt attended, along with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and dozens of officers from various police agencies in the Houston area. Few of the guests would comment as they left the test site.

News Chopper 2 had a Local 2 Investigates team following the aircraft for more than one hour as it circled overhead. Its wings spanned 10 feet and it circled at an altitude of 1,500 feet. Operators from a private firm called Insitu, Inc. manned remote controls from inside the fleet of black trucks as the guests watched a live feed from the high-powered camera aboard the 40-pound aircraft.

"I wasn't ready to publicize this," Executive Assistant Police Chief Martha Montalvo said. She and other department leaders hastily organized a news conference when they realized Local 2 Investigates had captured the entire event on camera.

"We still haven't even decided how we were going to go forward on this task, so it seemed premature to me to announce this to the media," Montalvo said. "But since, obviously, the media found out about it, then I don't see any reason why just not go forward with what we have so far."

Montalvo told reporters the unmanned aircraft would be used for "mobility" or traffic issues, evacuations during storms, homeland security, search and rescue, and also "tactical." She admitted that could include covert police actions and she said she was not ruling out someday using the drones for writing traffic tickets.

A large number of the officers at the test site were assigned to the department's ticket-writing Radar Task Force. Capt. Tom Runyan insisted they were only there to provide "site security," even though KPRC cameras spotted those officers heavily participating in the test flight.

Houston police contacted KPRC from the test site, claiming the entire airspace was restricted by the Federal Aviation Administration. Police even threatened action from the FAA if the Local 2 helicopter remained in the area. However, KPRC reported it had already checked with the FAA on numerous occasions and found no flight restrictions around the site, a point conceded by Montalvo.

HPD leaders said they would address privacy and unlawful search questions later.
South Texas College of Law professor Rocky Rhodes, who teaches the constitution and privacy issues, said, "One issue is going to be law enforcement using this and when, by using these drones, are they conducting a search in which they'd need probable cause or a warrant. If the drones are being used to get into private spaces and be able to view where the government cannot otherwise go, and to collect information that would not otherwise be able to collect, that's concerning to me."

HPD Assistant Chief Vickie King said of the unmanned aircraft, "It's interesting that privacy doesn't occur or searches aren't an issue when you have a helicopter pilot over you and it would not be used in airspace other than what our helicopters are used in already."

She admitted that police helicopters are not equipped with cameras nearly as powerful as the unmanned aircraft, but she downplayed any privacy concerns, saying news helicopters have powerful cameras as well.

HPD stressed it is working with the FAA on reviewing the technical specifications, the airworthiness and hazards of flying unmanned aircraft in an urban setting. Future test flights are planned.

The price tag for an unmanned aircraft ranges from $30,000 to $1 million each and HPD is hoping to begin law enforcement from the air by June of 2008 with these new aircraft.

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This week...

Well folks, The week is drawing to an end. I was able to Ride about 15 miles this week and i went to the gym and did weights 2 days on Sunday and Tuesday. I was supposed to go and ride today but i did not feel good and i was tired as i today is a my "bad day" for sleep and work.

Well, i am going to close this post by saying to everyone to have a very good Christmas Holiday Season!



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A Button...

It is my first try at making a buton for others to use on their site. Let em know what u think.

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New Links To my Site...

Here are a few new links that i have added to a fellow Blogger's sites.

Good,Bad,Ugly"

The Gonzo Papers"

Go and Visit Them!!


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pulp - hardcore (no, not THAT hardcore...)

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Pocahontas Park Today...

We got in 8 miles today on the Red and Blue trails.  I am totally wasted and my knees are hurting.  I will have to go to the gym tomorrow to lift weights.  I guess that I am just really tired from work this week…

 

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)

 

Strange Files...

On CNN.Com/Health


Doctors untangle the strange case of the giant hairball!






CNN) -- It may not be the most appetizing reading before a hearty holiday meal, but the New England Journal of Medicine is devoting part of its Thanksgiving issue to a giant hairball -- and not the feline kind.

The prestigious journal details the case of a previously healthy 18-year-old woman who consulted a team of gastrointestinal specialists.
She complained of a five-month history of pain and swelling in her abdomen, vomiting after eating and a 40-pound weight loss.

After a scan of the woman's abdomen showed a large mass, doctors lowered a scope through her esophagus.

It revealed "a large bezoar occluding nearly the entire stomach," wrote Drs. Ronald M. Levy and Srinadh Komanduri, gastroenterologists at Rush University Medical Center in Chicago, Illinois.
For the uninitiated, a bezoar is a hairball.

"On questioning, the patient stated that she had had a habit of eating her hair for many years -- a condition called trichophagia," they wrote.


"It seemed like she'd been doing this for several years," Levy told CNN.
The woman underwent surgery to remove the mass of black, curly hair, which weighed 10 pounds and measured 15 inches by 7 inches by 7 inches, the doctors said.
Five days later, she was eating normally and was sent home.

A year later, the pain and vomiting were gone, the patient had regained 20 pounds "and reports that she has stopped eating her hair."

Reached at his home in Chicago, Levy said he had no idea whether the journal's timing of the publication on Thanksgiving was intentional.

Either way, he said, it would not affect the gastroenterologists' holiday dinner plans -- "We don't get fazed by much."










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Justices To Rule On D.C. Gun Ban

2nd Amendment Case Could Affect Laws Nationwide

By Robert BarnesWashington Post Staff Writer

The Supreme Court announced yesterday that it will determine whether the District of Columbia's strict firearms law violates the Constitution, a decision that will raise the politically and culturally divisive issue of gun control just in time for the 2008 elections.

The court's examination of the meaning of the Second Amendment for the first time in nearly 70 years carries broad implications for gun-control measures locally and across the country.

The District has the nation's most restrictive law, essentially banning private handgun ownership and requiring that rifles and shotguns kept in private homes be unloaded and disassembled or outfitted with a trigger lock. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit declared it unconstitutional last year, becoming the first appeals court to overturn a gun-control law because of the Second Amendment.

For years, legal scholars, historians and grammarians have debated the meaning of the amendment because of its enigmatic wording and odd punctuation: "A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed."

Gun-rights proponents say the words guarantee the right of an individual to possess firearms. Gun-control supporters say the words convey only a civic or "collective" right to own guns as part of service in an organized military organization. The Bush administration said in 2002 that it supports the individual-rights position.

Robert A. Levy, a scholar at the libertarian Cato Institute who has spent years planning a challenge that would reach the Supreme Court, called the court's decision to take the case "good news for all Americans who would like to be able to defend themselves where they live and sleep."

"And it's especially good news for residents of Washington, D.C., which has been the murder capital of the nation despite an outright ban on all functional firearms since 1976," he said.
Mayor Adrian M. Fenty (D) has said the District's up-and-down homicide rate would have been higher without the ban, and that the law is a locally supported move to protect police officers, children and other victims of gun violence.

"It's the will of the people of the District of Columbia that has to be respected," Fenty said at a news conference with D.C. Attorney General Linda Singer and several D.C. Council members. "We should have the right to make our own decisions."

He added: "We believe the U.S. Constitution is on our side."

The two sides proposed competing constitutional questions, so the court wrote its own, saying it would determine whether provisions of the District's law "violate the Second Amendment rights of individuals who are not affiliated with any state-regulated militia, but who wish to keep handguns and other firearms for private use in their homes." The court will probably hear the case in March.

The court's last examination of the amendment was in 1939, when it ruled in U.S. v. Miller that a sawed-off shotgun transported across state lines by a bootlegger was not what the amendment's authors had in mind when they were protecting arms needed for military service.

Since then, almost all of the nation's courts of appeal have read the ruling to mean that the amendment conveys only a collective right to gun ownership. But two of them, the D.C. Circuit and the 5th Circuit, have endorsed the individual-rights view, and so have some legal scholars who normally take positions on the left.

Mark V. Tushnet, a Harvard law professor whose new book, "Out of Range," is a legal and historical examination of the Second Amendment, concluded that the legal arguments on each side "are in reasonably close balance."

There is scant evidence about the justices' views.

Justices Clarence Thomas and Antonin Scalia have made statements that seem to show their sympathy for the individual-rights argument. Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. said at his confirmation hearing that he believed the court in its Miller decision "sidestepped" the fundamental question.

Levy and co-counsel Clark M. Neily III and Alan Gura worked for years to assemble a challenge to the D.C. ban that the courts would accept. Their plaintiffs are law-abiding citizens who want the weapons for self-defense rather than people appealing criminal convictions for possessing weapons.

The case is called District of Columbia v. Heller because of security guard and D.C. resident Dick A. Heller, 65, whose application for a permit to keep a handgun in his home was denied by the city.

A federal district judge ruled against Heller and other residents who brought the suit, but a three-judge panel of the appeals court overturned that decision. By a 2 to 1 vote, the judges ruled that the Second Amendment protects an individual's right to private firearms and self-defense that "existed prior to the formation of the new government under the Constitution."

The petition filed by the D.C. attorney general said the appeals court is wrong for three reasons: It recognizes an individual rather than a collective right, the Second Amendment serves as a restriction only on federal interference with state-regulated militias and state-recognized gun rights, and the District is within its rights to protect its citizens by banning a certain type of gun.

The gun-rights lawyers said they agreed that even a recognition of an individual right could allow the government to make reasonable restrictions, but not the ban the District imposes.

Both sides acknowledge that the Second Amendment pertains to federal restrictions rather than to restrictions imposed by states and that the District's unique status presents something of a jurisdictional quandary. But Maryland and three other states filed a brief saying that all have a stake in the case, because allowing the appeals court ruling to stand would destabilize current law and "cast a cloud over all federal and state law restricting access to firearms."

National groups on both sides of the gun-control issue are jittery about bringing the case to the Supreme Court, because of the uncertainty about the outcome.

"We're nervous," said Paul Helmke, president of the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence. "Anytime you go to the Supreme Court, you could end up with all sorts of gun laws being called into question."

The National Rifle Association was also initially skeptical about the case, but Executive Vice President Wayne LaPierre said he is more confident of a positive outcome for his group with Roberts and Justice Samuel A. Alito Jr. on the court.

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Dc Gun Laws...

This is off of the NRA's Website. This does not need to happen!!! Please help to not let this happen!!!

The Case For Reforming The District of Columbia`s Gun Laws

H.R. 1399/S. 1001, the "District of Columbia Personal Protection Act," introduced in the House by Rep. Mike Ross (D-Ark.) and Rep. Mark Souder (R-Ind.) and in the Senate by Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison (R-Tex.), would end D.C.'s prohibition on using guns for self-defense in one's home and conform other D.C. gun laws to federal laws, while retaining stiff penalties for illegal gun possession and gun crimes. It would do none of the things claimed by anti-gun groups. The legislation is long overdue. In 1976, D.C.'s City Council thumbed its nose at Congress, the 14th Amendment's guarantee of "equal protection of the laws," and the rest of the U.S., and began conducting a social experiment of its own design against the city's law-abiding residents. The experiment, unlike anything known elsewhere in America, took the form of the Firearms Control Regulations Act, which required that firearms kept at home be rendered useless for protection by being "unloaded, disassembled, or bound by a trigger lock or similar device." It required that all privately owned firearms be registered, and prohibited possession of a handgun not registered with city police prior to Sept. 24, 1976, and re-registered by Feb. 5, 1977. The results have been catastrophic. Since D.C. imposed its 1976 laws, it has earned the unfortunate distinction, "murder capital of the United States." D.C.'s murder rate had been declining before 1976, but it increased thereafter. Between 1976-1991, it rose 200%, while the U.S. murder rate rose only 9%. (FBI, D.C. Police) The District's prohibition on possession of firearms for defense at home conflicts with Congress' stated purpose in passing the Gun Control Act (1968). Section 101 of that law states "[I]t is not the purpose of this title to place any undue or unnecessary Federal restrictions or burdens on law-abiding citizens with respect to the acquisition, possession, or use of firearms appropriate to the purpose of hunting, trapshooting, target shooting, personal protection, or any other lawful activity, and that this title is not intended to discourage or eliminate the private ownership or use of firearms by law-abiding citizens for lawful purposes. . ." (Emphasis added.) D.C. is the only jurisdiction in the U.S. that prohibits keeping firearms in an operable condition at home, for defense against criminal attack. The right to be secure in one's home is an ages-old right affirmed in law and court decisions, but curtailed in D.C. The District should not criminalize self-defense when it cannot defend people. As legal scholars Robert J. Cottrol and Raymond T. Diamond have written, "[A] society with a dismal record of protecting a people has a dubious claim on the right to disarm them. . . . [I]t is unwise to place the means of protection totally in the hands of the state. . . ." ("The Second Amendment: Toward an Afro-Americanist Reconsideration," Gun Control and the Constitution: Sources and Explorations on the Second Amendment, ed., Robert J. Cottrol, Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, School of Law, 1994, p. 427.) The District should not criminalize self-defense when it is not legally obligated to defend people. The District of Columbia Court of Appeals has ruled that the city's police department is "not generally liable to victims of violent criminal acts for failure to provide adequate police protection. . . ." (Warren v. District of Columbia, 444 A.2d 1, 1981) D.C.'s gun law forces law-abiding people to choose between protecting their lives and obeying the law. Former U.S. Senator Warren Rudman, after retiring from office, said: "Honest people don't have guns and criminals do. I think people have a right to protect themselves. I was outraged to learn that I couldn't legally have a gun in Washington. Despite the law, I kept one in my office and one in my apartment, because there were plenty of armed criminals roaming the streets of Washington." (Combat: Twelve Years in the U.S. Senate, 1996, p.40) Allowing citizens to defend themselves at home deters criminals. A study for the U.S. Department of Justice found that 40% of felons have decided to not commit one or more crimes for fear their potential victims were armed. (James D. Wright and Peter H. Rossi, Armed and Considered Dangerous: A Survey of Felons and Their Firearms, 1986, p. 155.) The District's prohibition against using firearms for defense against violent criminal attack increases the likelihood that crime victims will be injured by their assailants. National Crime Victimization Surveys show: "Robbery and assault victims who used a gun to resist were less likely to be attacked or to suffer an injury than those who used any other methods of self-protection or those who did not resist at all." (Gary Kleck, Targeting Guns, 1997, p. 171). On July 11, 2006 D.C. Police Chief Charles H. Ramsey declared a "crime emergency" in the District. The move, in reaction to a recent surge in homicides, allowed him to quickly adjust officers' schedules and limit their days off. Ramsey has declared four "crime emergencies" since taking office in 1998.

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RMSTringer
+++++++++++++++