Wednesday, May 31, 2006

Freeware for Palm phone and PDA's

This is a new site for Palm freeware. The search is very good and I've downloaded several apps from them.
Freeware for Palm phone and pda, PalmOS free downloads.: "Welcome to the largest Palm freeware downloads archive. More than 8,300 free software titles for your Palm OS powered Thungsten, LifeDrive or Treo phone."

Sunday, May 28, 2006

Dodge Coronet 440 (Maybe 1966)

I took this picture this morning in the Travis Heights neighborhood in Austin. It's always been one of my favorite Dodges.
Dodge Coronet 440 (Maybe 1966)
When I was in college, my two roommates and I worked at Sears in Huntsville, TX. Ron and Randy were (usually) the appliance delivery guys. I worked all over the store. This was during the early 80's.

Randy was looking for a car to buy (he didn't have one) and Ron and I were both Chrysler fanatics. Ron and I were working in the tire center one day and a Dodge Coronet 440 drove by and he and I took off running after the car. We finally caught up to it and asked if he wanted to sell it. He did. We got his name and number and gave it to Randy and told him that HE ABSOLUTELY HAD TO BUY THIS CAR. I'm not sure if he ever called, but since he didn't really have any money, he wasn't able to buy.

Ron and I were disappointed, because we knew that we'd probably have been allowed to drive it. We were even more disappointed when we realized we'd have to continue to chauffeur Randy around for the foreseeable future.

TripHub

TripHub is a web application which makes it easy to plan family vacations and any travel that groups of people might take. Amy's family has taken some large family vacations in the past and this might have streamlined the process. The following info is from their site.

Have you ever been the organizer for a reunion, wedding, get-away with friends, retreat, or any other group trip or event? If you have, then you are familiar with the challenges (headaches!) involved in keeping track of who’s coming, making group decisions, and coordinating plans.

Today, TripHub makes it easy to:
  • Invite people to join your trip and keep track of who is coming
  • Research and discuss hotel options in over 350 cities
  • Share travel itineraries from any source or supplier
  • Send e-mails to some or all members of the group
  • Track who owes money

    Saturday, May 27, 2006

    Pandora

    I just registered for the free version of Pandora, a music streaming service. It doesn't require a standalone player. It uses Flash and plays in a browser, so it's a cross-platform solution (Windows, Mac, Linux). I heard about it on the Inside the Net podcast #6.

    All of the other streaming stations base what they play on songs that you've rated. If you've rated a particular song. they look at other users who like that song and recommend songs that those people like. Pandora is a completely different service. It grew out of The Music Genome Project. They have 40 musicians who listen to music critically, and map hundreds of characteristics of each song. It then suggests other songs that are characteristically similar to the song that you give it to start.

    Once music is playing, you can click on the album cover to get the menu shown here.

    Pandora Menu Screenshot

    "Pandora is a music discovery service designed to help you find and enjoy music that you'll love. It's powered by the Music Genome Project, the most comprehensive analysis of music ever undertaken. Just tell us one of your favorite songs or artists and we'll launch a streaming station to explore that part of the music universe."

    Thursday, May 25, 2006

    Dell Diamond Panorama


    Baseball
    Originally uploaded by mzhummina.
    The Dell Diamond is located in Round Rock, TX. It is the home of the Round Rock Express. This is a great panaromic image of the park I found. It was taken by Tara Hacker. Be sure and check out a larger version on Flickr.com.

    My Linguistic Profile

    Your Linguistic Profile::
    75% General American English
    20% Dixie
    0% Midwestern
    0% Upper Midwestern
    0% Yankee


    I was proud of my results, until I noticed that my linguistic profile only adds up to 95%. Not sure about the other 5%. I've seen others get the same 95%, so it might be a bug...

    Coinstar - Free Coin Counting


    visiting the coinstar
    Originally uploaded by xzasporated.
    I have used the big Coinstar machines several times in the past to generate folding money from a huge jar of change. Hasn't everyone? The percentage they take has always been significant, even exorbitant. I think when it started, it was about 7%. I think it's higher than that now.

    However, Coinstar now offers free coin counting, if you are willing to settle for gift cards or eCertificates instead of cash.

    They offer the following vendor's gift cards and eCertificates.
    • Amazon.Com
    • Virgin Digital
    • Borders
    • Linens'n Things
    • iTunes Music Card
    • Starbucks
    • Pier 1 Imports
    • Hollywood Video
    This is not available at every Coinstar machine, but you can use their Advanced Machine Locator to find the ones that offer these extra services. If you're here in Round Rock, it looks like all the Albertson's have them.

    You can also use Coinstar to donate to charity using the Coins That Count Donation Program.

    You have to respect a company that can take such a mundane service and make it compelling.

    Wednesday, May 24, 2006

    Clifford Antone 1949-2006

    KGSR is playing nothing but the blues this morning. Yesterday, Clifford Antone died of an apparent heart attack. For those of you don't know who Clifford Antone was, he founded Antone's, the greatest blues club of our time.

    Story links: Houston Chronicle Story, News 8 Austin

    From the Antone's Night Club Myspace About Page: Antone's, the first club on 6th street, opened its doors in the summer of 1975 with the great Clifton Chenier. The venue, now located at the corner of 5th and Lavaca Street, was founded by legendary promoter Clifford Antone and has hosted such blues "greats" as Muddy Waters, B.B. King, Buddy Guy, John Lee Hooker, Pinetop Perkins, James Cotton and countless others. Antone's has helped launch the careers of Stevie Ray Vaughan, Jimmy Vaughan, The Fabulous Thunderbirds, Los Lonely Boys, Ian Moore, and Bob Schneider to name a few. Antone's stage has been graced by everyone from Bono & The Edge, to Billy Gibbons of ZZ Top, to Eric Clapton, to Dwight Yoakam to Bruce Willis. The venue has won countless awards including numerous Austin Music Awards, as well as being named nightclub of the year by USA Today and the W.C. Handy Awards. The venue is all ages all the time and offers an unforgettable live music experience for everyone.
    People are leaving comments at the Myspace page.

    The DVD for Antone's - Home of the Blues will be out in a couple of weeks. Here's a quote from their page:
    Some of the biggest blues legends in the business have stepped onto the stage at Antone's in Austin, Texas. This documentary takes a look at the history of the club.


    You can also read about my favorite Antone's music experience.

    Tuesday, May 23, 2006

    Won't You Be My Neighbor?


    In 1969 the US Senate had a hearing on funding the newly developed Corporation for Public Broadcasting. The proposed endowment was $20 million, but President Nixon wanted it cut in half because of the spending going on in the Vietnam War. This is an video clip of the exchange between Mr. Rogers and Senator Pastore, head of the hearing. Senator Pastore starts out very abrasive and by the time Mr. Rogers is done talking, Senator Pastore's inner child has heard Mr. Rogers and agreed with him. Enjoy.

    Monday, May 22, 2006

    Wish her luck!

    My wife is flying to Atlanta tomorrow for a job interview on Wednesday. Please leave a letter of encouragement as a comment to this entry (or email her). Thanks!

    Cork'd

    "Cork’d is a free service for wine aficionados. You can use Cork’d to catalog, rate and review wines you’ve tasted. You can also keep track of wines you’d like to try and buy as well as subscribe to what your buddies have reviewed. It’s a new way to discover and share wine — and we think it’s perfect for people like you."

    Sunday, May 21, 2006

    The Oasis at Medina Lake

    The Oasis at Medina Lake .
    Friday, we went to a wedding at The Oasis at Medina Lake. This shot was actually taken from my chair at the wedding. It was hot and the wedding was too early, but it was a beautiful site.

    Leaf

    Leaf
    This picture is a wonderful example of what you can do with a 5 Megapixel camera. This picture was originally taken with my Canon SD450. The resolution of that image is 2592 x 1944. The picture was bad, it was very out of focus (except for the leaf). I cut out the worst parts of the image and concentrated on the leaf. Now the picture is 608 x 703 pixels and it still has enough detail to be interesting.

    Ultimate Cage Match


    Yesterday, Amy and I went to Petco in Round Rock and saw these kittens. Amy picked up the two that are fighting in this clip. She handed me the black one and it relaxed in my hands. Amy kept the white one and it climbed all over her and scratched her 5-6 times. If we didn't already have our limit on cats, ...

    FJ Cruiser

    Yesterday, I saw one of the first Toyota FJ Cruisers in Round Rock. It's a unique looking vehicle, and I was interested since the review in the April 2006 issue of Car and Driver. Here are a couple of pictures of it. Just below the pictures is a quote from Toyota.com.
    Toyota FJ Cruiser #1
    Toyota FJ Cruiser #2

    Toyota.com : Vehicles : FJ Cruiser: "The all-new FJ Cruiser is the latest in a long line of celebrated off-road vehicles from Toyota. And in the tradition of the legendary Land Cruiser family, the FJ Cruiser is not only engineered to conquer anything Mother Nature has to offer, but keep coming back for more."

    Saturday, May 20, 2006

    Spoetzl Brewery

    Spoetzl Brewery
    Shiner, TX is the home of Spoetzl Brewery.
    Spoetzl Brewery is the home of Shiner Beer.

    Tilted Kilt - Round Rock


    Tilted Kilt - Round Rock
    Originally uploaded by eschulz.
    • Hot Girls
    • Great Food
    • Cheap Beer
    • Every Day
    • Daily Lunch Specials

    Thursday, May 18, 2006

    Unfettered access to fortune cookies

    Today, I ate at Panda Express where one is granted unfettered access to fortune cookies. I got three and they are (in no particular order):
  • Keep your expectations reasonable (I'll try)
  • You have an ability for accomplishment (obviously)
  • Your charm is quite irresistable (according to the ladies...)
  • Wednesday, May 10, 2006

    Can vegetarians eat Goldfish ?

    Eric: Can vegetarians eat Goldfish ?
    Kelly: haha!
    Kelly: or is that a real question?
    Kelly: :-)
    Eric: I know vegans can't
    Kelly: probably they can. You know, unless they are morally opposed to eating animal shaped food
    Eric: Right, and that would be a weird rule to have.
    Kelly: it seemed like a one liner joke
    Eric: It was
    Kelly: "No, I'm sorry, I can't eat animal crackers or Goldfish"
    Kelly: "I'm a ______________" What would they be called?
    Eric: Jackass
    Kelly: hahah1!!!
    Eric: Vegetearnium
    Kelly: ooo, i like that!
    Kelly: cross between vegetarian and terrarium
    Eric: Exactly
    Kelly: a vegeterrarium
    Kelly: I'm gonna start telling people that. "Hi, my name is Kelly and I'm a vegeterrarium."
    Eric: And wait for the question...
    Kelly: when they say what is that, I can say "I don't eat anything shaped like an animal!"
    Kelly: damn, we should be comedy writers for someone funny's show!
    Eric: With your permission, the entire exchange is going on my blog.
    Kelly: please do. We need to get the word out!
    This is just a snippet of a chat between me and a colleague that happened today. It made me laugh.

    Evolution of dance...


    Inspirational Comedian Judson Laipply - The Evolution of Dance. You'll just have to watch it. For a comedian, this guy's a heck of a dancer (and mimic).

    Saturday, May 06, 2006

    50 Free MP3's

    Start downloading your FREE MP3s today and take two weeks to decide if you like eMusic. If you're not 100% satisfied simply cancel before your trial period ends and you'll never pay a dime. Keep the 50 FREE MP3s as a gift just for checking out eMusic

    Amy and I both joined emusic and downloaded a number of MP3's during our trial membership. She and I both decided to cancel our membership because there just weren't enough songs and artists that we were interested in. Try it out for yourself, and you'll at least get the 50 free songs. Actually, you aren't limited to 50 songs, be sure and look for free songs, which don't count toward the 50.

    Friday, May 05, 2006

    Teardrop Trailer Project

    I just found Tom Swenson's Teardrop Trailer Project. He built a Teardrop style travel trailer using plans fron Kuffel Creek Press. He also mentioned an entire community support forum.

    This really looks like a good way to turn some sweat and $2000 into an RV, which could be pulled behind almost any vehicle.

    Tuesday, May 02, 2006