Today's a good day to wrap up with some mental health exercise, since I'm laid up from physical exercise awhile longer while the back is on the mend.
Thanks today for...
- Leaving work caught up on all my projects.
- The back's improving (Ibuprofen!).
- Tomorrow Dena and I get to election judge together.
- The day after I have a vacation day.
- I got yet another math tutoring referral today.
- A little time with NBA Live 2006.
- The fantasy basketball team in 1st place.
- A successful discussion of placing new employees in the department.
- Thirty DVR'd episodes of Law & Order to choose from.
Usually it's smaller things that need more appreciation and attention. For today, that's good!
Monday, April 4, 2011
Nazis In Bathing Suits
Even the best-laid plans can go bad. These plans, however, were not the best.
Sunday, April 3, 2011
Chuck That
In entertainment news, Sheen's opening night act in Detroit turned out to be a colossal failure. The city's promoters are hoping for more success with their next comic event, Unabomber Plays With Big Piles Of Dynamite.
Letter Rip
What I want to do is mail a letter to myself. Then the mailman's got this moral dilemma whether to lug it all the way to the post office and back, or just to forge the post office stamp and leave it there.
Saturday, April 2, 2011
Free Shot After The Free Shot
Does Chris Bosh technically get an assist on this LeBron James undefended dunk?
Friday, April 1, 2011
McDonald Diagnosed With Grover's Disease
A routine annual skin examination yielded a surprising diagnosis Friday, when Joe McDonald was diagnosed with Grover's Disease.
The disease contains several stages and its progression varies by the patient, Dr. Wisdom explained.
In stage 1, the skin experiences eraser-sized dots sensitive to heat and moisture which are prone to occasional itchiness. The skin may or may not respond to treatments such as a steroid-based cream.
While it seldom progresses past the first stage, advanced cases of the condition exhibit prevalent thick blue patches of fur, bulbous unblinking eyes, ballooned pink nose and emaciated arms. End-stage Grover's sufferers normally develop lips that are extraordinarily thin, wide, and red, with no discernible beginning or end. Despite loss of tongue and the inability to maneuver the lips to form letters other than random flapping of the lower jaw, speech is remarkably unimpaired, although voice pitch typically becomes more gravelly and cute.
Stage 5 Grover's Disease
McDonald's wife Dena was at her husband's side with one hand tucked behind his back, relaying the message to the press like a skilled puppeteer.
The disease contains several stages and its progression varies by the patient, Dr. Wisdom explained.
In stage 1, the skin experiences eraser-sized dots sensitive to heat and moisture which are prone to occasional itchiness. The skin may or may not respond to treatments such as a steroid-based cream.
While it seldom progresses past the first stage, advanced cases of the condition exhibit prevalent thick blue patches of fur, bulbous unblinking eyes, ballooned pink nose and emaciated arms. End-stage Grover's sufferers normally develop lips that are extraordinarily thin, wide, and red, with no discernible beginning or end. Despite loss of tongue and the inability to maneuver the lips to form letters other than random flapping of the lower jaw, speech is remarkably unimpaired, although voice pitch typically becomes more gravelly and cute.
Stage 5 Grover's Disease
McDonald's wife Dena was at her husband's side with one hand tucked behind his back, relaying the message to the press like a skilled puppeteer.
To Sleep Or Not To Sleep?
From Morieka Johnson, Mother Nature Network:
Q: Does putting my computer to sleep help extend the battery life? What else can I do to save energy and make my new computer last?
A: We’ve all heard stories about what's best for a computer’s battery. That’s why I was excited to make friends with Fred Peters, president of Huntington Beach IT Services.
In addition to teaching computing courses in Orange County, Calif., Peters happily makes house calls to revive frazzled computers and the people who rely on them.
Here are his expert tips on how to keep your new laptop running smoothly.
Sleep mode vs. shutting down
Peters notes that your work process will determine whether it’s more efficient to use “Sleep” mode or simply shut down the computer. “It is never fun to have to consistently wait any amount of time if the shut downs are too frequent,” he says. "‘Sleep’ requires more power, but it boots up faster, while ‘Hibernate’ uses less power, but takes longer to come online.” That same logic applies to shutting off your computer completely.
“Your computer will become obsolete before you wear out your computer by turning it on and off a lot,” he adds. “It also doesn't take more energy to start a computer than to keep it running.”
Sleep mode requires a constant, though reduced use of power (0-6 watts). Peters also notes that colorful screensavers do nothing to conserve energy. Accessing your computer remotely with the Wake on LAN feature also can drain the power.
To get the most for your money, Peters advises adjusting power settings so that it automatically goes into Sleep/Standby mode after about 15 minutes of inactivity, and then shut it down at the end of your day.
Bionic battery life
To get the most out of your computer battery, Peters says to you have to give it a workout. Don’t keep your machine plugged in to an outlet. Instead, discharge the battery daily.
Size does matter
By purchasing a laptop, Peters says that you are ahead in the energy-saving game. Laptops use about 15-60 watts, while desktops use 65-250 watts — plus another 15-80 watts for a monitor.
He also adds that you can further conserve energy by using an LCD monitor and ditching the high-end video card unless it’s absolutely necessary. Also, turn off printers and other peripherals when they are not in use.
To kill “vampire power,” TreeHugger.com suggests purchasing a power strip. With all peripherals connected to one source, it’s easy to simply flip the switch on power hogs any time.
Establish a backup process
In addition to Peters’ great advice about conserving energy, I discovered the hard way that it also pays to save backup versions of your work. Invest in an external hard drive to hold your digital music library, special photos, and other key documents. Frequent backups ensure that your data doesn’t die with your laptop.
While you are in the process of backing things up, create an emergency file (on good old-fashioned paper) that contains your computer’s serial number along with other key data such as your credit card numbers and phone numbers to reach each company, along with contact info to your insurance company. Access to that information is vital, particularly in the event of an accident, fire, computer theft, or other catastrophe.
Peters warns that those key pieces of information are not safe on your computer. If you are like me and absolutely need a digital holding space for those nuggets of information, he suggests sites like LastPass as your online vault.
Happy computing!
Q: Does putting my computer to sleep help extend the battery life? What else can I do to save energy and make my new computer last?
A: We’ve all heard stories about what's best for a computer’s battery. That’s why I was excited to make friends with Fred Peters, president of Huntington Beach IT Services.
In addition to teaching computing courses in Orange County, Calif., Peters happily makes house calls to revive frazzled computers and the people who rely on them.
Here are his expert tips on how to keep your new laptop running smoothly.
Sleep mode vs. shutting down
Peters notes that your work process will determine whether it’s more efficient to use “Sleep” mode or simply shut down the computer. “It is never fun to have to consistently wait any amount of time if the shut downs are too frequent,” he says. "‘Sleep’ requires more power, but it boots up faster, while ‘Hibernate’ uses less power, but takes longer to come online.” That same logic applies to shutting off your computer completely.
“Your computer will become obsolete before you wear out your computer by turning it on and off a lot,” he adds. “It also doesn't take more energy to start a computer than to keep it running.”
Sleep mode requires a constant, though reduced use of power (0-6 watts). Peters also notes that colorful screensavers do nothing to conserve energy. Accessing your computer remotely with the Wake on LAN feature also can drain the power.
To get the most for your money, Peters advises adjusting power settings so that it automatically goes into Sleep/Standby mode after about 15 minutes of inactivity, and then shut it down at the end of your day.
Bionic battery life
To get the most out of your computer battery, Peters says to you have to give it a workout. Don’t keep your machine plugged in to an outlet. Instead, discharge the battery daily.
Size does matter
By purchasing a laptop, Peters says that you are ahead in the energy-saving game. Laptops use about 15-60 watts, while desktops use 65-250 watts — plus another 15-80 watts for a monitor.
He also adds that you can further conserve energy by using an LCD monitor and ditching the high-end video card unless it’s absolutely necessary. Also, turn off printers and other peripherals when they are not in use.
To kill “vampire power,” TreeHugger.com suggests purchasing a power strip. With all peripherals connected to one source, it’s easy to simply flip the switch on power hogs any time.
Establish a backup process
In addition to Peters’ great advice about conserving energy, I discovered the hard way that it also pays to save backup versions of your work. Invest in an external hard drive to hold your digital music library, special photos, and other key documents. Frequent backups ensure that your data doesn’t die with your laptop.
While you are in the process of backing things up, create an emergency file (on good old-fashioned paper) that contains your computer’s serial number along with other key data such as your credit card numbers and phone numbers to reach each company, along with contact info to your insurance company. Access to that information is vital, particularly in the event of an accident, fire, computer theft, or other catastrophe.
Peters warns that those key pieces of information are not safe on your computer. If you are like me and absolutely need a digital holding space for those nuggets of information, he suggests sites like LastPass as your online vault.
Happy computing!
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