I heard a song on the radio that sounded familiar and, thinking it was from a musical, searched around for it. I discovered that it is sung by Josh Groban, a 20-year-old baritone. The lyrics were written by Linda Thompson (David Foster’s wife) and Richard Marx composed the music, wrote the arrangement and produced it. […]

Christmas carols, the smell of pine and the sight of snowflakes falling gently to the ground all remind me of when Christmas was a time of wonder. As I look back, I’m saddened to see that it has lost its magic. I miss the feeling of anticipation that kept me awake on Christmas eve. I […]

A new reality TV show has been dreamed up to test the sincerity of a woman’s love for a man they are led to believe is rich. In reality, he’s only pretending to be rich. As far as the women know, it’s another “Who Wants to Marry a Millionaire.” At the end of the show, […]

Whether it’s a parody or real, Ill Mitch from Russia is good for a laugh. Here’s a sample directly from his bad self. “Hello to rap fans, I am ILL Mitch. I come from Russia to America now I am free to do 3 favorite things. These are rap and ride on my skateboard and […]

Jason graciously gave me a ride to the aiport at the early hour of 4am, for which I am very grateful. I arrived in New Hampshire without incident, and already had a chance to get a $400 voucher and a first class flight to Manchester from Atlanta. I didn’t take it because I wanted to […]

Longer baggage checks for the holidays. “I’d advise passengers to wear comfortable shoes and bring along a good book, because you might have to stand in line a long time,” said Robert Poole, a transportation expert at the Reason Foundation, a Los Angeles public policy think tank. “I worry a lot about the potential for […]

The State of Utah is dead last (51st) in beer consumption per capita, and they still want to raise the excise tax. It’s already at $11, more than double five of the six neighboring states. New Mexico has the slightly higher tax of $12.71, but Wyoming’s is a paltry $0.62. One of the purported reasons […]

A study done on memory has shown that people with amazing memories have a brain just like yours. The trick is to use mnemonics. A number of years ago I listened to the Mega Memory tapes and read the Memory Book. Both of them recommended similar techniques to remember lists of things. When the techniques […]

A court has rejected a 60-year-old man’s attempt to invoke the ancient right to trial by combat, rather than pay a £25 fine for a minor motoring offence. It’s settled then. According to Leon Humphreys, a man’s life is worth £25.

Ben Stein, host of the show Win Ben Stein’s Money wrote an article (second part) complaining that we’re squelching what gives this country an edge and asks, “What would it take to kill innovation altogether?” He believes we’re already far down the road on many of them, but I disagree. The problems are usually with […]

Wired had an article about the segway and I was surprised to discover that Segway headquarters are located in Manchester, New Hampshire. What was even more surprising is that Chris Johnson, who has two segways, lives in Exeter, New Hampshire. You see, I lived in Exeter for 10 years and will be returning in a […]

After seeing Jason’s guest map I’ve decided to add one to my site as well. I’m curious to see who (if anyone) signs up on it. If there are any foreigners reading, now is your time to declare your nationality. I modified the link in the sidebar to be a target link instead of using […]

Alan Ralsky has the capacity to send a billion emails a day and he’s made a fortune doing it. Now he’s learning what it’s like to be on the receiving end after some folks on slashdot teamed up to give him a taste of his own medicine. (via the register) As they say, one good […]

Usability guy Joe Clark was interviewed on slashdot and his thorough answers provide a good overview of how to make your web site accessible. The solutions are realistic, as opposed to some usability advocates who propose changing the entire medium of the web in order to accomodate a small percentage of the user base. If […]

After an unimpressive Leonids shower I’m disinclined to arise early for another cold stargazing session. However, the Perseids were impressive and an article said that this shower is “usually the most satisfying of all the annual showers, even surpassing the more widely recognized Perseids of August.” I’m tempted. It also addresses the poor performance of […]

In a junior high social studies class we reviewed the lyrics of Billy Joel’s song “We Didn’t Start the Fire” in an effort to peak our interest in history. Now a guy at Caltech has gathered the associated images and made the fruits of his labor (flash) available to all. I have a feeling that […]

My new Yamaha Clavinova CLP120 was delivered today. I’ve been planning to buy a digital piano for a number of months because I want to improve my piano playing skills and this past Tuesday I finally bought one. Some of the features I like best are the keyboard cover (like a real piano), weighted keys […]

Wired has an article about digital cameras that caught my eye. As a blogger, they’re very handy to have because you can write about something (like watching the Leonids or Thanksgiving dinner) and post pictures at the same time. Blogging and digital cameras go well together.

I was surprised to hear that Phil Windley resigned as the CIO for the State of Utah. In his letter of resignation he explained. “With recent events, I have come to realize that I have become an impediment to implementing our vision for eGovernment and an efficient and effective information technology infrastructure. The conversation has […]

Ever heard that we only use 10% of our brain? “That 10% figure was invented in the 30s by ad men in America selling self-help pamphlets. ‘Scientists say you only use one-tenth of your brain,’ the ads said. ‘Wake up to your true potential.’” Do you believe your tongue has different sections for different tastes? […]

I signed up to participate in the Link and Think project to learn more about how it is affecting others, since I haven’t been affected by it firsthand. My initial understanding was that AIDS affects gay men and drug users who share needles. I was also aware that blood transfusions used to be another way […]