How about some golf!
Things are shaping up for the earliest round in years. I'm hoping for April 14!
Recent golf start dates:
Thanks Santa!...
For bringing me a Skycaddie SG5. Along with the new Mizuno's, can't wait to get out there! Click the pic for the COUNTDOWN TO GOLF CLOCK.
So you wanna watch some Superbowl commercials?...
I don't get it. I absolutely detest commercials and the commercialism of every possible space that the public eye or ear could possibly come across. "This powerplay is brought to you by...", "This traffic report is brought to you by...", "This flu season report is brought to you by...", "This stinky shit is sponsored by...". Why don't they start a COMMERCIALS CHANNEL - ALL COMMERCIALS ALL THE TIME? Put ALL the commercials there and let those that love them on-demand to their hearts' content.
So much for winter...
I love a freezing cold, dry winter with plenty of snow, little wind, and clear skies. This year has been anything but, as we attempt to break a record for thaw/freeze/thaw cycles in one season. I thought last winters' humid, cloudy weather was bad... at least this winter we get the odd lovely sunny day. Now only if we could get a few -20C days in there.
Comet Lovejoy Plunges into the Sun and Survives. Incredible video from NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory here.
Internet security. 15 Tips for protective your privacy online here.
The world is a beautiful place...
October sunset at MacGregor Point Provincial Park. Otis and I hiked out to Sunset Point in hopes of seeing a famous Lake Huron sunset. The challenge was to get far enough west to see the sun set over water. We were not disappointed. MacGregor is a lovely campground with many very large and private sites.
The Comedy Network has had some great Canadian stuff I'd never heard of. Sean Cullen was guesting on the 2009 skit show Hotbox. Watch some clips here. Picnicface is a troupe that records out of Halifax. Clips can be found here.
Politicians Think We're Stupid...
Attawapiskat, Ontario is in such dire straights that they need an emergency response from the Red Cross. The red-faced Canadian federal government response is typical, predictable and pathetic finger-pointing. Worse: properly humiliated PM Harper bitch-slaps the local aboriginal government for causing such global embarassment by forcing an accountant baby-sitter outsider to be in charge of local finances for the community. How dare they embarrass Lord Harper. Way to go federal government!
The GO Trains are coming to Waterloo Region. Nice to finally see some attention paid to rail as an alternative to driving the 401 to Toronto. Way to go provincial government! Travel time Kitchener to Union Station is 2 hours?? I'll drive.
Property taxes in the city Waterloo are already amoung the highest in the country. They need more next year, 2.1% more. Our tax bill for 2012 is $4124.64 for our expansive 0.1 acre property. This just in: City Infrastructure in Need of Repair. City Council ponders how much more they can increase local taxes. Way to go local government! Keeping it real for the people.
Golf - It's Definately Curtains...
Last round of the year - an incredible Nov 25 day with 12 deg of sun and some breeze. The friendly crew at Ariss did a great job accommodating us as one of the last courses open on a very busy day. The new sticks sleep while I ponder some improvement in 2012. Highlights this year: new set of Mizuno irons, 28 putt round at Conestoga (9 holes @ putt), playing Rebel Creek 1st time (net -11), playing Thundering Waters first time (net par),
Recent golf end dates:
Roundabouts...
I love them! There are no bad roundabouts - only bad roundabout drivers. And no shortage of them.
Last winter I was happy to spend an evening with Hailey attending a lecture by Professor Shing-Tung Yau, one of the preeminent mathematicians of our time, at U of Waterloo. He of Calabi-Yau manifold fame was sometimes hard to understand by accent and inadequate amplification, but was none the less fascinating, and I'm the proud owner of a signed copy of his book: The Shape of Inner Space: String Theory and the Geometry of the Universe's Hidden Dimensions. After completing the book, I emailed professor Yau at Harvard U to congratulate him on his book (not an easy read for the non-math inclined). Prof Yau took the time to reply: " dear Frank, it is really great to know that you like the book. I certainly remember you. I hope to meet you sometime again. best regards, yau"
How cool is that!
Way to go Voyager...
From 14 billion kms away, NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena sent a command to the Voyager 2 spacecraft to switch thrusters to the backup set. Ten days later, on Nov 14/11, a confirmation signal from the spacecraft was received back on earth. The change extends the life of the 39 year old craft's nuclear power supply by about 10 years. Voyager 2 is currently located in the heliosheath -- the outermost layer of the heliosphere where the solar wind from the sun is slowed by the pressure of interstellar gas.
Some Awesome Video...
Remember Rick Moranis as Gerry Todd on SCTV, the video guy pulling handles and messing with state-of-the-art effects? Gerry was the face of calm and control in the the brand new era of music video television. I've always loved this dry character. I forgot about this funny sketch where Moranis doubles as Michael McDonald on Chris Cross's video for Fly Like The Wind here.
Apollo 13 launch via the mighty Saturn 5 rocket. Must see video here.
Time-lapse video of the earth, from the ISS here.
Christmas lights...
We sucked it up and bought 72 feet of outdoor LED lights for the house. Our large bulb incandescent set was showing its age and seems unfashionably out of date. I'm all for saving hydro, and the LEDs are way more efficient than the old bulbs, but if one goes it cannot be replaced. There's no 6 cent replacement bulb solution. LEDs last longer, but they do burn out, and get damaged. I suppose you could wire cut the bad bulb out and splice the wires back together. Otherwise, your tossing the hole set costing over a dollar a foot. So, are they cheaper? We'll eventually find out. They'll probably burn out about the same time that all my cd music collection goes bad.
You's wanna piece a me?...
Fall camping at MacGregor Point, Otis and I are scoping out a photo spot for a Lake Huron sunset when we spot this fella. First thought: Awesome! I've finally found a porcupine live in the wild (I've long wished to see one). Immediately followed by: I hope this leash doesn't break! Having found porci with his back to us, we made noise as we got closer. Finally we saw a calm turn of the head to acknowledge us, followed by a mooning, full needles flared. I chuckled at the half minute display as we got another backwards glance. When porci turned to his left to slowly leave, I gave a foot a stomp and porci picked up some speed. Otis and I hi-fived each other. What a treat!
The World is a Beautiful Place...
Wolf Lake, Haliburton Forest Reserve. This huge, privately owned and well run lot just west of the south arm of Algonquin Provincial Park boasts some 77000 acres of forest with a small number of private camp sites, a wolf reserve, zip-lines, observatory, and extensive trails.
The other day, the phone rang at the household.
Software alternatives...
With the popularity of pdf, everyone needs a reader. There is a nice alternative to the bloated and invasive Adobe reader. I've been testing Nitro pdf Reader and quite like. Nitro website here.
Paint.net is a very nice graphics and photo editor tool that does way more than the Windows version. There's lots of add-ons available to customize the special effects capabilities. Paint.net website here.
Congratulations MESSENGER...
After a 6-1/2 year, 4.9 billion mile race to catch the fast near Earth neighbor, Messenger is the first spacecraft to ever orbit planet Mercury. More
Sydney and I attended a very interesting PI lecture by Marcus Chown who covered wide range of bonker things about the universe. If you've not gone to one of these free public evenings you're stupid.
Night Skies Network...
I recently discovered this terrific site for amateur astronomers who like to view and share the wonders of our night time skies. Here you will find members from all parts of the globe broadcasting the night skies from their home built observatories. A chat board accompanies the live imagery, where you can converse with the hosts who are great sources of info and very generous with their time. Link here.
Upcoming Stuff...
Daylight Savings Time - Mar 11, 2012
The Masters - April 5-8, 2012, Augusta, Georgia
Waterloo Air Show - June 2-3,2012, Waterloo Regional Airport
LPGA Classic - June 20-24, 2012, Waterloo, Ontario
Sunfest Music Festival - July 5-8, 2012, London, Ontario
Men's Pro Tennis - August 4-12, 2012, Toronto
Kitchener Blues Festival - August 9-12, 2012, Kitchener
Free websurfing protection tools......
Highly recommended free software to combat viruses and spyware. Don't even think about web surfing without this free stuff.
Virus protection.
--
WinPatrol. --
Spybot. --
SpywareBlaster.
Passwords are a pain in the ass...More...
Not only is it important to change them up, but to make them complicated as well. Today's computers are powerful enough to make thousands of password attempts (read "guesses") very quickly in an effort to gain access to an online account. Think your passwords are clever and hard to guess? Test them out here.
Backups are a pain in the ass...
But when your hard drive fails, it's all worth it. Don't risk losing all those photos, music files, personal docs. Don't toss that hard drive in your old pc - pull it out, buy a suitable hard drive enclosure ($45 at Staples for mine), clean it up (format), install some decent backup software (I like Syncback), and back up regularly. Believe me, you'll be glad you did some day, so just do it.
...that dolphins sleep with one eye open?
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NEXT SOYUZ TARGET LAUNCH TO ISS MARCH 29, 2012 |
