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I'm not sure what they call DVRs for radio, but why is it that we're just now getting them in cars, and even then, only the high-end cars?

A lot of times lately I've heard the end of a commercial talking about a special offer, the dates of some event, a funny quote - something I wanted to hear again. I start reaching for the rewind button only to remember "D'oh! It's radio!"

We've had DVRs for something like five years now in our homes - why's it taken so long to come to car stereos? Why's it so pricy? C'mon, so you have 512 MB of memory. That'd record almost an hour of AM or FM audio, right? CD quality audio is about 10 MB/minute, so heck, 512 MB might record several hours. 512 MB of flash memory costs, oh, roughly $8 right now.

I've been saying for quite awhile now that if we took the money we spend on the war in Iraq in one week, and divided it up among 5-10 schools, companies, and others capable of doing research, we'd all be driving around in gasoline-free cars within five to eight years.

Ethanol, from what I understand, is a bust. Corn doesn't give us a lot of energy and using corn for fuel raises the costs of basic products like milk, beef, and everything that uses corn syrup, etc.

What about nuclear powered cars? The amount of radioactive materials that'd be necessary to power a car would be incredibly small, and thus, the amount of lead surrounding the little plutonium pill would not be larger than a modern engine ((I'm guessing, but I've talked with a few scientists in the field and they feel the same way.)). Cars would "always be on" and could even keep their temperatures controlled when parked. Engine noise wouldn't be a concern, and the amount of waste generated would be small - probably a few grams over a ten-year car life cycle.

I'm sure I haven't gotten everything right with what I've said above, but I think I'm pretty close. Why don't we have a plan for nuclear powered cars?

It strikes me as funny the number of people who, upon reaching me at a wrong number, react "poorly." Most of the "poor" reactions are a simple "click" as they hang up. How about saying "Oh, sorry. Goodbye." Some will ask if this is 555-1234 (which is fine), and then argue with me that it must not be because they're certain they dialed correctly (that part's not fine). I'm not rude to these people - I simply say "I think you've got the wrong number." I let them ask a question or say goodbye, answer it, and conclude with a "goodbye" on my end.

When I call a wrong number, and am told so, I say "I'm sorry, I was trying to reach Sears" if it's a business (this happened the other day - yp.yahoo.com has an outdated phone number). The person gave me the new number. If it's a person I'm trying to reach ((I can't remember the last time I mis-dialed a friend's number.)), I'll simply say "I'm sorry, have a good day."

It's particularly aggravating when wrong-number-dialers are rude at 2am. Note the time of this post. 😛

I have three computers right now: a Mac Pro, a MacBook Pro, and a 12" PowerBook.

For some reason, I've noticed that the MacBook Pro is not syncing properly with .Mac. My keychains aren't right. Bookmarks don't synchronize themselves properly. I delete a bookmark on the MacBook Pro and it isn't deleted on the Mac Pro. Or vice versa.

Both computers (all three) show up in the .Mac pref pane's list of registered computers. I've "reset the sync data" by over-writing the data on the MacBook Pro from the data on .Mac. It doesn't seem to matter.

Can I reset some cache somewhere or something? Has anyone else seen this kind of problem? What's going on?

P.S. My iDisk seems to synchronize just fine.

Carey and I just watched "My Kid Could Paint That" and I've got to admit I'm pretty skeptical. Even "Ocean," the painting Marla Olmstead is seen painting end to end in a DVD, looks little like most of her other paintings. Who knows?

It's an interesting movie, and I think others should watch it. If you've seen it, what do you think?

The back yard is already beginning to feel a lot more spacious. Today, topsoil was put down. Tomorrow, the topsoil will be spread, some holes will be filled in, and the seeds, fertilizer, and mulch will be put down. Then, some day later this week, our bushes will be put in along the edge of the property.

So much more room. I think I might look into getting a hitting net so I can practice my golf swing at home. Hmmmmm…

Pictures to come at some point in the future.

We just purchased a little keyboard, and after "oohing" and "ahhhing" at the number of songs that are included, the various instruments, etc. I checked what I'd long ago heard was an important thing in choosing an electronic keyboard for learning: "velocity."

It's my understanding that "velocity" is a measure of how hard you hit the key. Tap it softly and the sound is quite different than if you strike the key violently. The same song can sound very different played with different key-striking velocities.

This keyboard doesn't support that. Not that we're getting ahead of ourselves or something - this is just a "see if someone is at all interested" type of thing - but how important is it that an electronic keyboard have the ability to play different "velocities?"

Whispering Woods, one of the two courses to which I belong, placed third earlier today in the EDGA's Interclub tournament. My score acted as a tie-breaker to edge out Kahkwa, as we both had 399 totals.

I played like crap and really need to put my swing on video to eliminate the one or two lingering flaws. I suppose I should have, after ingraining my swing last year, kept it up over the winter. I've learned my lesson.

Versus is owned by Comcast. Comcast is headquartered in Philadelphia and owns the Flyers.

Now it all makes a lot more sense.

Update: Worth a read.

Judi has more of the details, but suffice to say that a project I've been working on for about 15 months is finally just about wrapped up.

Yippee!

As I mentioned before, Carey and I have recently decided to turn one wall of a downstairs playroom into a craft room/mini-office. We spent the better part of Mother's Day weekend (and the days before it) working on such a project, and, as promised, here are the before and after photos.

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This is the scene of a Family Buck Night only 20 minutes before the first pitch is thrown.

Handheld and stitched together automatically with the Photoshop "photomerge" command. No doubt I could have spent time doing it manually, but eh.

So, Powerset has been in the news lately, but so far as I can tell, it kind of sucks.

"Who is the CEO of Apple?" results in Steve Jobs' name first appearing fourth. In first place? Gil Amelio.

Uh hmmm.

My partner in the Golf Talk Podcast uses a Windows machine. He has a Samson USB condenser mic, and just recently we've decided to try recording both sides of the conversation.

I use Audio Hijack Pro to record both sides, currently, and would likely continue to use that same setup to record my side, but we aren't sure of the best way to record his side (on his Windows machine). Can anyone recommend a setup?

I edit the audio in Soundtrack Pro, so recommendations should likely produce a lossless (AIFF, WAV, etc.) file with good clarity and have the ability to adjust for gain and other things. The better the source audio, the better it'll sound when edited.

Any help is appreciated. Thanks.

I'm on the lookout for a Dremel type tool. Does anyone have them? Are they worth it?

There have been several times over the past several years when I've wanted one: as a handy screwdriver that can fit into smaller places than my regular cordless drill, to get those little sanding and cutting things to smoothly cut through baseboards or nails or whatever, and things like that.

So again, are they worth it? I'm sure there are several "Dremel-like" tools out there, and I'm not stuck on the "Dremel" name (if it even exists anymore?), so should I look into one brand over another? What's recommended (again, if they're even worth it)?