Funny Picture...

Free Music Downloads...

There's some stuff here that's worth downloading. Amazon.com: Free Music Downloads.

Looks like a Jimmy Buffet Song...

I took this picture in Florida in March. This area suffered significant damage at the hands of hurricane Charley.

Things I'll miss about Austin (if we ever leave)...

Waterloo Records - The best place to buy CD's, especially Austin or Texas artists.
Chuy's - The only place in town to eat Tex-Mex.
Alamo Drafthouse - Dinner and a movie, all in one.
Round Rock Express - Double-A baseball, soon to be Triple-A

I hate rebates...

I believe that rebates are a waste of my time. When I compare prices, I assume that I won't receive the rebate and decide if it's still a good deal. If the rebate is required for it to be a deal, I go elsewhere. It seems like I'm not the only one. Ed Foster has a log entry called Ed Foster's Gripelog: Forced to Play the Rebate Game. Please read it, especially if you work in Marketing.

A great church...

My lovely wife and I are members of St. George's Episcopal Church, Austin, TX. I serve on the vestry and also on the school board of St. George's Episcopal School.

Sources for great links...

This guy has some of the coolest links daily:Waxy.org: Links Miniblog. My other source is Madville.com

Learn more about digital photography...

The Imaging Resource Presents WebPhotoSchool! is a place to get lessons on how to shoot great pictures.

Great place to buy cell phone chargers and other accessories...

cell phone shop - Nokia, Ericsson, Motorola, Samsung, Nextel, Kyocera, accessories is where I buy accessories for cell phones. I just ordered two car chargers and a new antenna.

Confessions of a Car Salesman...

Edmunds has posted a great story: Confessions of a Car Salesman. They hired " a veteran journalist, to go undercover by working at two new car dealerships in the Los Angeles area." It's enlightening and frightening.

An editorial on turn signal use...

I am constantly frustrated by people who don't use turn signals. I wanted to write an editorial, but I found one that says precisely what I wanted to say. Please take a moment to read MATT HELMS: Turn signals for idiots: That means you, pal. The following day's column MATT HELMS: Turn-signal rant hits a nerve with readers has some great quotes from readers. He has great things to say about driving in general. Please check out his column.

Great local musicians (Austin)...

There are lots of great musicians in Austin. Here are a few of my favorites:

• Asylum Street Spankers
• Marcia Ball
• Guy Forsyth
• Malford Milligan (formerly of Storyville)
• Patrice Pike (formerly of Sister 7, present member of The Black Box Rebellion)
• Bruce Robison
  
• Charlie Robison
  
• Bob Schneider (formerly of Ugly Americans, present member of The Scabs)
• Kelly Willis
  

Houston Texans Schedule for 2004

The Official Site of the Houston Texans.

Great Source for Music (and other stuff)...

The Internet Archive is building a digital library of Internet sites and other cultural artifacts in digital form. Like a paper library, we provide free access to researchers, historians, scholars, and the general public.

Here are some examples of artists which have complete concerts posted in the Live Music Archive:

• Ryan Adams
• Billy Bragg
• Bela Fleck and the Flecktones
• Gin Blossoms
• Hayseed Dixie
• Los Lonely Boys
• Maroon5
• Bob Schneider
• Tenacious D
• Hank Williams III

This is also the home of the Wayback Machine, which allows you to see my first homepage

Picasa Automatic Photo Organizer...

Picasa: Automated Digital Photo Organizer software, instant photo albums, sharing & printing: Download. They were acquired by Google and now you can download version 1.6 for free. Very cool.

Third Portable DVD Player Post...

I have revisited my opinion following my previous first and second Portable DVD player posts. I have decided to order the Initial Portable DVD With 4.2" Wide Screen, IDM-9520 from WalMart. It's available in the clearance department for only $99.86. A three year warranty is available for 16.58. The total price with the 3 year warranty and shipping and handling is $121.41. Amazon lists the same item for $129.94 (with no extended warranty, but with free shipping).

What the heck is a reciprocal link ?

My buddy Al has a blog called the The Daily Babbler. He linked to me and now I link to him. Get it ?

New Portable Media Centers...

At least a couple of Windows Mobile-based Portable Media Centers are available for preorder on Amazon. The Samsung Yepp YH-999 and the Creative Labs 20 GB Zen Media Centers look pretty good. They are both (I'm sure) quite capable audio-video players. I think that for my money, the Archos AV420 might be a better deal, because it has the ability to record and should be quite a capable DVR. This gives you the ability to record your favorite shows and take them with you to work on your lunch hour or commute (as long as your not driving). The Archos also works as a digital wallet and reads most flash card standards. For more information, the Archos manual is available. Stay tuned as these device become reality.

Patriotism abounds, but not respect for the flag....

I notice that many people choose to show their patriotism by displaying the US Flag. As a former boy scout, it's hard for me to ignore the misuse of the Flag that I see. One of these is flags on car antennas. Many of these were 'installed' during the weeks following September 11, 2001. They are well past their useful life. They are often frayed or completely destroyed. These should be burned. I found a great site about the US Flag. Learn about flag etiquette and many other subjects.

Booting ReactOS...

I've been following the ReactOS project for years. This is a Windows NT compatible OS, which will be free. They have a live CD which you can boot to and experience. This will be awesome and may someday be the future of Windows. I should also mention that another Microsoft OS has been cloned more completely by the FreeDOS folks.