aubreyturner.org

This gadget is kind of cool (in a geeky sort of way):

The Forever Flashlight uses no batteries or bulbs. Instead it uses Faraday’s Principle of Induction and a bright LED to produce light without batteries. The light is shaken for about 30 seconds to recharge a capacitor and it will then provide about 5 minutes of light. As the light is shaken, a magnet passes through a metal coil generating electricity. During prolonged use it can be shaken for 10-15 seconds every 2 or 3 minutes.

It seems a bit expensive, but the idea is sound (although I wonder how bright it actually is).

I always carry a flashlight with me and I have a couple in the truck and at home.  You never know when you’ll need one.

The whole set of pictures from yesterday’s rally in Dallas (minus one accidental shot of a blurry street ) are now available here.

I went to the rally this afternoon and then went out for dinner and watched Dreamcatcher.  Which is why I only got back a little while ago.

Despite the rain, the crowd that showed up was still enthusiastic.  Unfortunately, I was not really able to hear what was going on at the main rally (in front of the old courthouse).  However, at the same time there were a lot of people on the sidewalk facing the street with their signs.  The motorists were generally supportive, honking and waving flags.  The crowd would respond to this with cheers.

I spent about an hour and a half at the rally and I ran into the du Toits, but only got a second to speak to them as they were on their way home (the rain finally got to them).

I took 104 pictures which I will grovel through to create a gallery later.  For now, here are a few samples: (click on image for full-size, but beware that they are at their original size of 1760×1168; I will downsize them when creating the gallery)

The French were not too popular with this crowd:

And neither were the Dixie Chicks:

Bring me their heads on a platter:

There were a number of Iraqis who know what the situation really is:

Continued under “More…”

I found this one amusing:

Finally, the real drum(s) of war:

This lady gave one of the “peace” protestors a piece of her mind:

Speaking of which, the contingent of peaceniks was kind of puny:

In contrast, the pro-American people stretched the length of the block on the sidewalk and there was a large gathering in front of the old courthouse (in a way, it was like two rallies):

A pro-America rally will be held in downtown Dallas today at 3:00pm.

Link via Emperor Misha I.

I just had the misfortune of watching an AARP commercial for getting a “prescription drug benefit” as part of Medicare.  Some woman was having a “summit” in her house and made it seem as if everyone agrees that this is a good idea. 

My immediate thought, which I yelled back at the TV (TV is really bad for my blood pressure), was “Who the hell do you think you are that I have to pay for your drugs?”  It really pisses me off that some people feel that they are entitled to get the rest of us to pay for their drugs.  It’s irresponsible and it smacks of socialism.  If the program were self-supporting through premiums, I wouldn’t care.  But they’re asking for billions of dollars from the rest of us, which is simply unacceptable.

<sarcasm>It’s nice to see that “peace” protesters are respectful of other people’s property.</sarcasm>  It’s too bad that it is illegal to shoot these bastards.  They’d make great sniper practice.

TAOS, N.M.  — War protesters trashed the grounds around a northern New Mexico home owned by Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, placing “No War” stickers and throwing children’s clothes around the property, authorities say.

No arrests were made during the demonstration Thursday, said Lt. Eddie Martinez of the Taos County Sheriff’s Department.

The protesters were among 400 to 500 who began demonstrating at Taos Plaza and marched along U.S. 64 to two Rumsfeld properties at El Prado, a couple of miles northwest of Taos, Martinez said.

“They got onto his property, and that would be trespassing,” he said. “There’s issues and laws they need to understand. If their choice is a peace demonstration, then they should keep the peace.”

I must be somewhat obtuse, because I received a one-line email with no subject that has me scratching my head:

America!  Love it or leave it!  We have 15 pets!

Is that directed at me?  What’s the deal with the pets?  I’m confused….

Everyone else is doing a far better job of war coverage than I ever could, so I guess I’ll stick to my usual stuff….

The 802.11g specification is still a draft standard, so there will be some potential problems deploying products based on that standard.  So despite my recent problems with a WPC54G card, I still like Linksys products.  Which is why I’m a bit concerned about the news today that Cisco is planning to buy Linksys.  I understand that Cisco makes good products in the corporate environment, but I’ve not had much exposure to them.  I’m a software guy, so their products are hidden from me at work and I haven’t used them at home.  My hope is that they will keep the Linksys product line distinct from their other products.  This could happen, since the reason given for Cisco’s purchase is that they wanted to get into the home wireless LAN business, which is an area where Linksys is very strong.

I guess I’ll just have to wait and see what happens.

I always seem to be disconnected when things break.  I listened to Fox on XM on the way home and watched some of the news at 6:00pm.  All signs pointed to a delay, so I went to do other things. 

I cleaned a couple of my guns and played around with this laptop to get the wireless working.  I gave up on the WPC54G for now and got a D-Link DWL-650+.  As soon as I go online I find that bombing has begun, although it’s not the main attack. 

I guess it’s time now to take the orange alert seriously.  I think I’ll take Kim duToit’s advice and pack the shotgun as soon as I convert it to pistol grip (like Denton is going to be a target ).

PayPal’s response to my customer service inquiry leaves a bit to be desired:

Dear Aubrey,

Thank you for contacting PayPal.

We appreciate the time you’ve taken to write us with your comments about our service. 

PayPal continuously strives to provide you with the highest quality website features and navigation system.  We carefully consider every feedback email we receive and appreciate your suggestions. 

Thank you very much for your feedback.

If you have any further questions, please feel free to contact us again.

Sincerely,
LuShawn
PayPal Customer Service

This sounds like they were required to respond, but didn’t know what to say.