Improving US Economy

Signs point to an improving economy as the dollar gains ground on the euro; markets trending upward. This is all very interesting in the light of the latest recession actually ending in November of 2001. So don’t let the media and political “gloomers” convince you things are all negative, the facts reveal a different picture.

Singer-Garbage Man Makes the Best of It

57-year-old Andrew Macchio is a garbage man in New York City but he works to the score of a different composer. With a postive attitude he sings as he works and entertains all who are in range of his wonderful voice.

Poland, Spain Helping in Iraq

Good news can be hard to find, especially when the largest media companies don’t cover it. I learned from Good Morning America’s Matt Lauer that N.A.T.O. countries Poland and now Spain are on the ground in Iraq helping to restore order and keep the peace. It’s surprising to hear because even though the AP created the report back in June, media outlets like CNN and MSNBC chose not to pick it up. Good news like this should be shared, not hidden.

Online School of Design

I just learned about Sessions.com, an online school for design. You can get an accredited Masters certificate that covers multimedia, graphic and Web design. The site looks quite thorough and I know that Christopher Schmitt is a veteran design expert so this might be the shape of things to come.

Ever Hear the One About…

Do you have difficulty shooting the breeze at work? Tough time small-talking at the mall? Ever have one of those embarrassing “lulls” in conversation on a date? You, my friend, are a prime candiate for John Ratliff’s, Cheaters Guide to Witty Banter. For less than 10 bucks, you could be the next Regis.

Music, Tech and Regulations

The Internet is such an amazing phenomenon because it’s not just a new playing field, but a new kind of field. The possibilities are virtually limitless.

The reason I’m thinking about this is because everyone has different tastes in music, right? Some people (like myself) have such broad tastes that standard radio stations only serve satisfactory fare a small fraction of the time. Sirius and XM are a step in the right directions, but only the Internet could allow for stations (feeds) for niches like Heavy Metal Hair Bands of the 80s or Prince and His Purpleness’s Proteges.

Frameworks like Shoutcast and products like Winamp make this totally feasible. That’s when you start to get excited. Well, that is until the U.S. Copyright Office comes in with this goobly-gook. Seems like RIAA has more reach than we gave them credit for. Maybe Queensryche said it best with Revolution Calling. If not revolution, at least some changes are needed before John Doe could broadcast his favorite tunes.

The good news? Some day we’ll all remember a time when we couldn’t do personal broadcasting.

Thought-Provoking Wheelchair

Some folks would love to be in a wheelchair. I’m not talking about healthy, non-handicapped people but those unfortunate individuals who don’t have the capacity to utilize today’s standard wheelchairs due to almost complete lack of movement. Well, it might not be long until these people find freedom in the wheelchair of tomorrow.

Dr. Bright Goes Home

Dr. Bill Bright passed on this past Saturday evening. He was perhaps the most influential person of faith who has lived in this past century. The 4 Spiritual Laws and the The Jesus Film have been translated into over 800 languages so that almost everyone on earth could see and hear the message of the gospel. His organization, Campus Crusade for Christ, spent this past week giving honor to him and his life.

Anyone who has ever met him, knew him to be the kind of “little Christ” that the true Christ wants all of his followers to be. There could be no greater accolade.

Introverts Are People Too!

Airbag has a great post about how Extroverts are getting all the cool Web apps. So, he created Introvertster. Nice job Greg… especially helpful is that quick-and-easy packet flooding tutorial. It really does stop those pesky IMs. ;^)

Saddam Tape Vows Revenge

The latest Saddam tape acknowledges the deaths of his two sons as he vows revenge. But does anyone believe this guy? This is actually just another piece of information that will help us track down this murderous dictator and give the people of Iraq some peace of mind.

Building Virtual Worlds

How cool would it be to design, build and then “live” in a new virtual world? One of the great things about technology is that it is always growing… larger… bigger… and more powerful. The kinds of worlds that can be created now are a far cry from Wolfenstein-3D. What would you want your virtual world to be like? Become the very superhero of your dreams? Particpate in activities far beyond your financial station? Visit places that don’t actually exist? The sky is certainly not the limit.

Volatile Middle East More Quiet

As Israel is in the process of handing over control of two West Bank towns to Palestine, it’s interesting to note that the amount of terrorism on the part of Palestine has dropped considerably ever since America put together the coalition to put down terroristic activities in Afghanistan and Iraq. This is a positive by-product of the war that should not go unrecognized, espcially since stablizing the region has been priority one on the foreign affairs list in America for decades.

Break a Leg, Literally

Broken bones aren’t usually funny, that is, unless you are a comedian and it happens just 15 seconds into your act. The audience thought it was all part of Mark Olver’s act. He played along. “I was in a lot of pain, but managed to do about 15 minutes of material while on the floor, passing out every now and then because of the pain, and then coming round to do the punchline.” What a trooper!

Who Do They Sound Like?

A friend asks, “Do you like Chevelle?”
“Who do they sound like?” you respond.

That’s a big question in the world of music. As this 2001 article on Wired points out, “The most common way to get introduced to new music is via the radio, but this tends to aim at the demographic ‘sweet spot’ and leaves many people unserved.” So how do you find new music that sounds like the stuff you already like?‚ĶThe article cites a classifying system created Cantametrix, but they’ve been purchased by Gracenote who has let this technology sit on a shelf somewhere to gather dust.

MusicGenome has a similar technology, but they don’t make it easy for anyone to use it. This doesn’t make sense since they are most concerned about making money and are overlooking the obvious solution.

I’m sure that someone will fix this problem someday, but until then, at least the Internet lets me sample some non-radio music to broaden my musical realm.

Armstrong 1 Day Away from 5th Tour

Despite the many obstacles, the history book for one, Lance Armstrong is one day away from capturing his fifth straight Tour de France. It appears that all he has to do is stay on his bike and avoid a catastrophe, then he’ll be back next year to go for a 6th title, which would put inspirational Armstrong is a league of his own.