Leap into 2009

2008 Leap SecondDid you feel it? Did you get just a little bit more done today? A few minutes ago, at 6:59:60 pm local time, an extra second was added to the calendar. That’s right, after second #59, there was #60, then #00. It was done then because it was midnight in Universal Coordinated Time, UTC. It’s called a Leap Second.

So why add a second? Who’s going to even notice? Probably not you or I, but people in science doing precise measurement, especially of celestial objects, needed it. Do you need to reset your clock? Not unless you’re really obsessed with accuracy. Continue Reading…

Winamp-idipity

I often listen to music on my computer. No, not often, nearly constantly. I have a large collection of MP3s and usually have a semi-random selection of songs in the playlist in Winamp. I let them shuffle at random and I have a plugin that removes the song once it plays, so nothing plays twice.

My first thought would be that it would play songs that don’t go together very well, clashing styles and tempos, but most of the time, it doesn’t.

First of all, it’s mostly all music I like in the first place. So just the fact that it exists means I probably like the song. But my tastes vary widely and according to mood, so that covers a lot of ground. And there are a lot of reasons I might ‘like’ a song or artist. Just because I ‘like’ surf music, doesn’t mean I always want to listen to it. Continue Reading…

Schmuck-a-thon

Sale of sales, bargain of bargains, Toyotathon of Toyotathons… what idiots do they think we are, writing commercials that idiotic?

I think I’ll run right in and ask for a Cadillac of Cadillacs…

Blowing in the New Year…

A week agoA week ago, we were having a perfect, snowy December. There had been snow on the ground almost continuously since before Thanksgiving, but no major storm to speak of. The ski areas were having the best start in years.

But that all changed after Christmas. We’ve had rain and almost all the snow has melted here. There’s still enough down south in the ski areas, but they’ve got to be concerned.

Click any photo for a larger image.

Today: high winds knock down trees.
Today, high winds came in this morning and it’s more like March coming in like a Lion, than December. Gusts more than 50 mph woke us this morning along with the sound of sirens as the local Fire Department kept busy answering calls. Continue Reading…

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