It has been almost 9 years since I brewed my last batch of beer.  Tonight, we bottled an October Fest beer.  Here's the wife capping: 


And the boy packing: 

To my surprise on my way to work, WBOB 1160 AM changed their format to all Oldies.  If I recall, they were in the middle of a 10,000 song marathon.  I really enjoyed WBOB.  They had some of my favorite talk show hosts Bill Bennett and Hugh Hewitt.  I guess I will have get them via streaming over the internet.
 

A couple months ago, I remember playing Google Earth and thought it was ok but more or less just forgot about it.  Last week, I decided to give it another look and found it amazing.  I think the reason why I gave it a second look because I wanted to compare it the new Microsoft local.live.com.

Its "fly to location" feature is quite awesome and enchants my 3 year old son who is totally into maps.  The community feature is pretty neat, as well.  People can "pushpin" points of interest and share.  These can be turned on and show right up in the map.  

I was looking at some burning oil fields in Iraq and it made me think about the "time" issue with satellite images.  It would be interesting to be able to compare a region overtime.  This could be interesting for a number of reasons:

• aforementioned Iraq
• Stadiums or buildings as they are being built
• before/after of New Orleans
• suburbs growth
  

Today, my Firefox was automatically updated to 1.5.01.  It is refreshing how simple and painless it is.

It did say that one of my extensions X-Ray was not compatible was was disabled.

I think Apple and Real need to learn some lessons from FireFox.

Well, my parents are currently visiting my sister in California.  They are trying to attend several show tapings.  Tonight, they will be on the Tonight Show.  Good chance they I would be embarassed if Jay Leno talks to them. 

While setting my DVR, I noticed that Snoop Dogg is on.  I really doubt if my parents know who they are.

The award for Windows XP on an Intel Mac Content is now at $9569.  Supposedly,  this guy got it working.  However, he did use Vista stuff to help boot.  I would say that is legit but I am not the judge.

The guys over at the X-Prize Foundation are at it again:

The people behind the X Prize that kick-started personal space travel are planning prizes in a variety of non-space fields, from automobile technology and genome research to nanotechnology and education.

Next X Prizes target genes and gas mileage - LiveScience - MSNBC.com


I think this is a good approach to solve tough problems.  It is capitalism at its best.  I wonder why this can't be applied to our border problems.  I know that the border problem is a complex one but I think most people agree that "good fences make good neighbors."  Obviously, the first step is to seal the border.  However, that is not that simple. 

A fence is fundamentally obtained by blocking or patroling.  You can either use people or things (i.e. technology) to achieve this.  We definitely do not need a "Great Wall of China" but there are alternatives.  But I think they are technology alternatives that have never been explored.  The government really can't do this...they get stuck with analysis paralysis and we'll have another SDI. 

The best bet is to create a Minuteman Prize...funded by a private organization. 

Just my thoughts...

I am glad our system worked as it should.  A lot of fan-fan...but the right thing prevailed.

John Paul Stevens is currently 85 and could be the next potential seat of the court.  Stevens definitely leans to the left and could shift the overal tendency of the court with the next appointment.  Realistically, Teddy Kennendy won't let him retire until after 2008.

Alito Seen as Carrying the Torch of Reagan - Los Angeles Times

It's all fun and games until Walt Cummings loses an eye... That was a great scene tonight on "24."  That's was more along the lines of what I expecting last week when Jack Bauer started to torture that dude from CTC.

24 is a great show.  They have great writers and understand pace and drama.  Right now, it is the really the only show that I watch.

Initial impression:  looks nice and is very intuitive.  However, wish the Send To Blog was not locked in to Blogger.com.

Also, no Firefox support yet.

ABC News: Google Toolbar 4 (beta)

I guess John Kerry doesn't understand that when you win the Presendential Election, you have the Constitutional right to nominate anyone you want:

He is packing the court with conservative ideologues who will extend the legacy of his presidency for years to come.

That's called checks and balances

Later, he acknowleges this:

I know better than anyone that elections have consequences and that the President has every right to nominate whomever he chooses to replace Justice Sandra Day O'Connor. But I also know that Senators have the right - in fact, they have a constitutional responsibility, to question whether that nominee is the right choice. That is why the Framers required the Senate to provide advice and consent. We are not meant to be a rubber stamp. We need not rush to judgment simply to satisfy the political deadline of a State of the Union address.

but still doesn't get the concept of Senators are to review Alito's credentials not his opinions.

   John Kerry: The Vote Of A Lifetime - Yahoo! News

Here's me all dapper with my lovely daughter.

Hillary Clinton is now saying she supports a filibuster for Judge Alito.  This is very surprising from her considering she is trying to keep very centric and low key politically.  The votes are not there for the filibuster to work.  Is she banking on it to be unsuccessful (not enough votes) to be able to say she tried?  I guess that would offer red meat to the far left and be a mute point to centric voters because nothing happened.

Just when the Pen Missle and Tiger Hand wasn't enough in the original Rock-Paper-Saddam.  There is a sequel with "The Painting."

However, there will always been an endless supply of material for future versions.  It seems that Saddam was just kicked out of court a few hours ago.

Well, today is the Chinese New Year.  2006 is the Year of the Dog.

According to Wikipedia:

“People born in this year are loyal, honest, and trustworthy, but can also be stubborn and selfish. Dogs get along with Horses, Rabbits, and Tigers.”

Some famous people born during the Year of the Dog:

• George W. Bush, President of the United States
• Bill Clinton, Former President of the United States
• David Gilmour, guitarist & vocalist of Pink Floyd
• Andre Agassi, professional tennis player
• Madonna, singer, actress, author
• Laura Bush, First Lady of the United States
• Michael Jackson, singer, actor
• Donald Trump, Real Estate Tycoon, Host and Executive Producer of "The Apprentice"
• Steven Spielberg, director, producer
• Sylvester Stallone, actor
• Elvis Presley, singer
• Winston Churchill, former British prime minister
• Herbert Hoover, Former President of the United States
• Mother Teresa, Albanian Catholic nun

 That's a pretty diverse crowd...