Ways to Improve the Presidential Primary system

I don't really like to blog about politics. And this isn't going to get political -- I mean, I'm not gong to endorse a candidate or even a party. Instead, I'm going to suggest ways to improve the system.

What I don't like about what's currently going on is that the news media is constantly speculating about who will win, and each new event brings on more speculation. I think this is unfairly influencing those who haven't voted yet. So here are some ideas I have:

• Have each state's primary be scheduled on a separate date, at least 3 days apart from any other state's primary. Both parties must have their primary on the same day in each state (unlike South Carolina which had them on separate days). This would ensure each state got the same advantage of time for the candidates to visit them.
  
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• The results of each primary would be held completely secret until after all of them were over. This big change, if it could be done, would eliminate the speculation on early primary results which constitute such a small percentage of the entire population but which attract so much attention and are given untoward importance.
  
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• The news media would not be allowed to speculate on how any candidate was doing or which one was likely to win, nor would they be allowed to publish poll data. If they could outlaw polls completely, that would be great. Then we would really vote based on who the candidates were and where they stand on various issues, and not on who we think is likely to win.
  

Only after all of the primaries have been run would we know the outcome. And during the whole process, the media would have to report on what the candidates said, how they stand on the issues, not on who is first or second or third on a given day, or on how much a few tears changed the poll results.

Missing my Laptop

My laptop is gone. Again.

This is the third time it's been sent to the Geek Squad for the same problem. Third, not counting the time I took it there and they ordered me a new power cord, to see if that would fix it. This is the third at-least-two-week-long-period that it will be away.

It's been annoying since before Christmas, and getting worse each day. That's why I haven't been blogging as much.

The problem is the connection between the computer and the power cord, I guess. The power jack, I think the Geek Squad guy called it yesterday. So, sometimes when it's plugged in, it's charging normally. Other times, it's not. When you've got the power cord plugged in and it doesn't work right, it keeps thinking it's connected, then it thinks it's not connected, then it thinks it is, back and forth and back and forth. When it thinks it's connected, the screen is brighter. Then it thinks it's not connected and the screen gets a big dimmer. This connecting/not connecting process must take up a good bit of memory because the computer won't do much else while it's "blinking" as I've come to call it.

So you must unplug it and work frantically till the battery dies. Then you plug it in and prop it in some position that causes it to charge (if you're lucky enough to find such a position). Lately the only such position is the spot between my son's bed and the wall. So we put it there to charge, then use it till the battery dies. Or we use another computer. Trouble is, the laptop is everyone's first choice of computers.

I have to confess something. If they all were in working order, we'd have more computers than people in this house. Four people, six computers. Two of them currently don't work at all. One of those is out being fixed by the high school tech class of a friend of ours. No telling when it will be back -- when you get your computer fixed by someone for free, you can't nag them about when it will be back. Or they may not be able to fix it at all. Another is an old IBM ThinkPad that I need to tinker with. I tried to install Linux on it and got it all messed up.

Then there are the two old Dells, one of which I'm typing on now. They used to belong to the company my husband's brother works for, and we got them when they were throwing them out. They are old and don't have much memory to run most of the current stuff, but I can get Opera to work and older versions of the Microsoft Office suite of products, as long as I don't keep too many apps open at once.

Then there's my husband's computer (see the previous post about the Malware). He got it for his business and no one's allowed to use it, though I do occasionally. I hate it, though, it has Vista on it. I hate Vista.

So the laptop is the best and it will be missed. Though I was almost hoping they'd say they couldn't fix it and give us a new one. That's what happened to our last one. Service contracts at Best Buy for computers are a good deal, I definitely recommend getting one.

Beware Malware!

I was up till 2 a.m. last night fixing a major malware problem on my husband's computer.

It started while I was out last night. I got home and he wanted help fixing this error message that kept coming up telling him he had a virus or something. Clicking on the message made Internet Explorer go to a couple of different websites, one for something called Antivirus Golden and the other for something called Malware Burn. By the time I'd gotten home, he'd installed at least one of these pernicious beasts, had a toolbar in Internet Explorer he couldn't get rid of, and couldn't do much before another warning message would come up telling him he still had a problem.

I had not heard of any of these miasmatic monsters, but after a few minutes of research, I could tell we didn't want them. It took me three tries running Spybot Search and Destroy (plus 2 reboots) to scan and get rid of all instances of this virulent varmint. It had altered the registry and also, apparently, opened the door to all it foul friends, including something called Zlob. I was afraid, after reading some of the web pages I'd found, that I'd have to actually edit the registry to get rid of it, but Spybot did it. What a great piece of Software!

So what's the lesson here? Don't always believe your computer when it tells you it has a problem and then give you the website of a product you've never heard of as a solution. My husband actually got mad at me when he saw I was uninstalling the new "spyware remover" he'd downloaded. But it was definitely part of the problem, if not the cause of it all.

How come I wasn't fooled, when my husband fell for the trap? Well, first of all, I've always just naturally had good instincts when it comes to computer matters. Second, I googled the name of each of the products. When most of the results came back as websites telling you how to remove these adverse applications from your computer, you'll know you don't want to install it.

My final piece of advice to my husband was to start using Firefox.

The Pirates Who Don't Do Anything

We went to see the Veggie Tales movie on Sunday. If you aren't familiar with them, Veggie Tales started out as a series of video tapes (remember those? VHS format) with a Christian theme. Computer animated, funny, off-beat, even musical. Half-hour episodes re-telling Bible stories in a humorous way using animated vegetables as characters.

So, here comes a full-length Veggie Tales movie (there are also Saturday morning cartoons now). Featuring characters from one of the Silly Songs with Larry ("the part of the show when Larry comes out and sings a Silly Song") about the Pirates who don't do anything (they just stay at home and lay around, and if you ask them to do anything, they'll just tell you, "We don't do anything.") I told you if was off-beat.

So this was their story. They are characters at a dinner theater, and they get fired. Still dressed in their pirate costumes, they get sucked back in time to save a princess and her brother who've been kidnapped by real pirates. There was music and humor and vegetables doing amazing things, all without arms.

Only one thing was missing: the Bible story. Too bad they had to sell out to the big money film company to be able to get their film published.

ultra-portable PCs

Apple has a new notebook computer, the MacBook Air. It's billed as the world's thinnest computer. I can see how thin is good, but what I really want is small. I have this little old thing called a NEC MobilPro. It syncs with a PC like a PDA, but it's got essentially a full-sized keyboard and a screen that is as wide as the keyboard, but half as tall, so you can see documents in the same width you'd see on a PC screen. The problem with it, it's so old it has no wireless capability and it syncs with a serial cable, so it won't sync to newer computers.

I have a new item on my wish list, now, though. I know it's not as sweet as this new MacBook, but it's also substantially lower in price and it does many of the things I need it to do. It's called the Asus Eee PC. And it even comes in pink!

It is essentially a small PC. It has a small hard drive, but from what I understand it boots very fast. It runs a version of Linux, but it's really easy to use. I would use it to do email and surf the web, mostly. I could lay in bed and read on it, without being uncomfortable like I would be trying to lay in bed with my laptop.

I'm saving up for the 2Gb version, it's only $304!

Time for the Strike to end

I'm finally back. We got busy with Christmas, we went out of town and when we came back, we were all sick (one at a time). Though I think I was sick the longest. My youngest had it for 1 day and then gave it to me and I had it for a week. Yuck!

I've decided that the TV writer's strike has gone on long enough. I want more new episodes of NCIS and Chuck and Bones and I think The Bionic Woman has been dismantled and put back in the box she's been in since the 70's. I guess they've still got a few new episodes of ER and CSI Miami.

Here's a couple of suggestions of things you can do while you're waiting for new episodes to come back:

• Join Netflix. Netflix is a great and convenient way to get DVDs. But they're not just a replacement for your local video rental store, because they're likely to have a much bigger selection of DVDs than your local store. In addition to any movie you are likely to have ever heard of, they have the series DVDs for most TV shows that have ever been produced on DVD. Some of my personal suggestions: NCIS (they have the first 4 seasons), Monk, NYPD Blue, and MacGuyver. They have all of the seasons of MacGuyver, what a great idea! And here's a Netflix tip: if you see a commercial for a movie that's in the theaters now, and it's a movie that looks interesting but you don't want to go see it in the theaters, you can almost always save it to your Netflix queue right now. It will have a yellow "save" box instead of a read "add to queue" box and when you click that, it puts it on a special list at the bottom of your queue, and it will move up to the real queue when it comes out on DVD.
  
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• Watch TV on the internet. NBC.com has full episodes of many shows up. On Saturday, I found out that I'd missed the first episode of Celebrity Apprentice (it started last Thursday), so I watched it Sunday night while my husband was watching a football game. a neat hint for those of you who have the TV and the computer in the same room: headphones. That way one can watch something on the TV and the other can listen to the computer without disturbing the TV viewer. Another site that has TV shows is OPENhulu.com. Some networks also sell their shows on iTunes, which is especially good if you have a video iPod. And TVSquad has a list of lots of other places you can look. Time to catch up on all those shows you never watched before or can't wait to see again.
  

More on the Rowling interview on Pottercast

I promised I'd talk more about Pottercast's interview of J.K. Rowling, part 1 of which was available last Tuesday.

It was fun. They pretended to be embroiled in yet another heated discussion of whether or not Helga Hufflepuff caused the house-elf enslavement by inviting a bunch of the creatures to Hogwarts for their own safety. John and Sue were going at it and Melissa decided to finally put the matter to rest by dialing a secret phone number. A female British voice answered and reciting the supposed Hogwarts phone system's outgoing message. After going through a couple of other departments, Melissa finally got Jo on the line. It was very well-done and rather cute.

The discussion with Jo was entirely too short. A normal Pottercast is at least 1 hour, this one was about 45 min. and the above intro took at least 8 of that. I'm looking forward to the rest of the interview.

The best part of the show so far was just getting to hear Jo talking and laughing with the Pottercast trio. She's got a very good sense of humor in person, just as she does in her books. She was calling the Harry Potter Encyclopedia she planns to write "The Scottish Book." While I didn't really understand the joke, I still found it funny. It was nice to hear her talk (the last fan interview was shared with fans in written form only) and it made me hope and wish she will update her website more regularly now that the series is over, and made me more interested to read whatever else she may write in the future.

Squeaky movie better than I thought it would be

My son has wanted to see the Alvin and the Chipmunks movie since he first heard of it's existence. He's had every line of the movie trailer memorized for weeks.

He begged me to take him and his friend, and somehow I couldn't get my husband, who had originally been enthusiastic about the movie, to take him, so I ended up going.

I thought it would be horrible. Really stupid.

But it wasn't actually that bad.

I thought the plot started out very cute. The chipmunks were singing and stuffing nuts into a hollow spot in a tree trunk. Suddenly the tree was cut down -- it was a Christmas tree. It was netted up, loaded onto a truck, and taken to the big city. Some city with no snow.

The tree was put in the lobby of an office building and the chipmunks decide to make a run for it, and end up in the basket of the main character, Dave. Dave is down on his luck, having pitched a song he wrote to the recording company and been refused. In frustrated retaliation, he grabs a basket of goodies and jumps in the elevator. The chipmunks climb aboard and he unwittingly takes them home.

After they trash his place, he finds out they can talk and then kicks them out. But he lets them back in when he finds out they can sing. He writes them a song and tries to get the record producer to listen. Add to all of this a romantic relationship that he's also frustrated by, and we're off on a cute story of how a self-centered man opens his heart and his home and becomes Daddy to the 3 chipmunks.

It's all live action, with CG chipmunks that are very convincing. Not quite real looking but since they talk, you don't expect them to look exactly like chipmunks. They certainly don't allow you to be distracted by the special effects, you just forget that they aren't real.

The story wasn't nearly as stupid as I thought, it was funny but also heartwarming, and I managed to get out of the theater without a wad of gum stuck to any part of my clothing. All in all, a positive experience.

The Author Speaks

It's finally happening. JK Rowling, the author of the Harry Potter books, is finally giving an interview to a fansite. Why is this significant? Because fans, real, hard-core fans, know to ask such questions as who took over as Headmaster/mistress of Hogwarts, how did Dumbledore know what happened at Godric's Hollow when Harry's parents were killed, who did Cho Chang end up marrying -- questions most reporters don't ask.

So what am I doing here? I need to go listen to the podcast. More comments when I'm done listening.

Google vs. Wikipedia

Probably the two most-commonly-used websites by members of my family, including me, are now going to compete against each other. Or maybe there's room for both.

Google is a search engine, and a source for ad revenue. It's also a verb. I actually said this the other day: "Go to YouTube and Google [whatever it was I was talking about searching for]." I couldn't believe it. You Google things at Google, and while YouTube features a search field, you don't Google there. But it's become a verb meaning search, in general, in a surprisingly short time.

Wikipedia is an online, user-written encyclopedia. Schools usually won't let you use this as a source (though they often let you use other web pages; this is a subject I need to table till another time), but you can often get surprisingly accurate and complete information from Wikipedia. Users correct and add to what other users write. The problem comes when controversial topics arise, or when someone has something to gain, like winning an election. Then false information is sometimes posted. But since you're supposed to cite references when you write an article on Wikipedia, it should be mostly accurate.

In our family, we've found Wikipedia helpful mostly for pop culture information. Want to know all about how the Nancy Drew series were not written by a woman named Carolyn Keene, like I believed when I was growing up? Check out Wikipedia. Want to know all of the titles of every episode of the TV show NCIS? Check out Wikipedia. Want to know about all of the times characters or items from one Pixar movie have a cameo on another Pixar movie? Check out Wikipedia.

I already use these two sites side-by-side. I have an extension in Firefox called Googlepedia. When I use Google to search, the search results come up on the left-hand side, and the best match Wikipedia article comes up on the right-hand side. Sometimes the match is very far off (usually when I'm searching using several terms) and sometimes it's exactly what I'm looking for. There's definitely room for both of them in this world.

The Google encyclopedia will be different from Wikipedia. First, each article will be authored by a person with a name, and no one else can edit it, though they can review and comment on it, I guess. So, you'll have to wade through a bunch of comments to see if the info in the article is true or not. That could be a good thing or a bad thing. Second, there will be ads. In fact, authors of articles will receive a substantial portion of the ad revenue for an article. Again, that could be a good thing or a bad thing.

I would guess that there will be room for both of these things. I hope so, anyway. I like them both, and I don't really want either of them to go away.

reviews of a book we may never get to read

So, all of the Harry Potter books are done, finished, written, published.

The author wants to do something special to thank some of the people who helped her create and publish them. So she writes 5 Wizarding Fairy Tales and has them published in a special volume -- actually 7 special volumes -- that are actually handwritten by her and put together with handmade binding.

So, 6 special people are each given a copy of the book. As far as I know, these people have not been named. I figure someone at Bloomsbury, Arther Levine of Scholastic, and her daughter Jessica are among those who received a copy, but as Mr. Owl said, "The world may never know."

The 7th book was auctioned off, with proceeds going to charity.

To sum up, so far, what we've got is the world's most popular author wrote something original that millions of people would pay to buy a copy of (money that could go to charity) and instead only one copy will actually be available at any price.

So, they held the auction, and the winning bidder was . . .

Amazon.com.

I didn't know a website could buy a book. It's very strange. But it gets stranger.

Before I go on I must note that, if you click on the links below in this post, you will see SPOILERS! If you don't want to know what happens in these stories, on the off-chance that you might someday get to buy a copy for yourself, don't click on the links! You have been WARNED!

Because now Amazon is putting up high-resolution photos and [SPOILER WARNING] reviews of the book. As of this writing, they've written reviews of 2 of the 5 stories. Assuming that one of the remaining three is the tale of the three brothers and the Deathly Hallows items that is featured in her most recent Harry Potter novel, there are still 2 stories we know virtually nothing about.

I couldn't help myself. I read the reviews. It's like when I was a kid and I was given the opportunity to eat appitizers before dinner. And I'd fill up on all those yummy things, and then I wouldn't want to eat the even yummier dinner food. That's what I've done here. I've read the "reviews", which amounts to a well-written summary of the ENTIRE STORY, including the ending, and now I know the ending and it won't be nearly as exciting if Jo takes pity on us poor readers and decides to published a mass market version of this book.

I have to say this is one of the strangest siguations I've ever encountered. A website that sells books managed to spoil one for me, but it's one I might never get to read, so I don't know whether to be grateful or to grumble about it.

James Potter and the Hall of Elders' Crossing

Sometime in November of this year, a website appeared containing a teaser about a story with the title James Potter and the Hall of Elders' Crossing. The graphics were very Harry Potter-ish and there was even speculation that this might be advertising a new novel by the beloved author J.K. Rowling.

However, I turned out to be a rather ambitious fan fiction story by an American fan of the books. He originally wrote it for his children, and, being a web designer, decided to publish it for the world to read.

Once you get past the passwords (you can find out what the passwords are by checking out the article about the website on Wikipedia), you can read each chapter in PDF format. A new chapter goes up each day, starting December 1st, until the last chapter on December 21st.

I've been reading it, though I'm over a week behind now. It's okay. There are new characters and some old favorites. You can tell right off it was written by an American, and one who doesn't have the same sense of humor as J. K. Rowling. He's got some things confused, or maybe he just thinks things should be different at Hogwarts. Students of all different levels seem to be in classes with one another, instead of first years sharing classes only with other first years, for example.

But what I really think he's got wrong is he's brought back Cedric Diggory as a ghost. I thought that sounded like something that wouldn't happen in the Harry Potter universe, and my son confirmed it for me.

He was reading over my shoulder one day and caught enough words to see the identity of the ghost. He immediately said "Cedric wasn't afraid to die!" He understands the author's "rule" that you only become a ghost if you don't wish to pass on, either you are afraid of the great beyond or you want to stay here and haunt the living, as is the case with Moaning Myrtle. Cedric, brave Hufflepuff Triwizard champion that he was, does not fall into that category. I tried to find a quote from Rowling to reallyh confirm this -- I'm sure I remember her saying that Cedric wouldn't be coming back as a ghost -- but I couldn't find one.

It's fun to read about James -- Harry's son, not his father -- and his first year at Hogwarts, but it's not really how I envisioned it, somehow. Reading it did, more than anything, make me want to write my own Harry Potter fan fiction.

Father Tim is back!

If you don't know him, let me introduce you. Father Timothy Kavanaugh, of Mitford, North Carolina, is the main character in the Mitford Books by Jan Karon.

When we first meet him, in At Home in Mitford, he is about to turn 60. He is an Episcopalian priest in a small mountain town.

So what are the books about? They're about life. They're about the members of this small community and their trials, tribulations and triumphs, their loves, their losses, their lives. And even the food they eat. So many specific kinds of food are mentioned that the author eventually wrote a cookbook featuring the recipes for Esther Bolick's famous orange marmalade cake, Miss Sadie's apple pie, and Puny's cornbread, among others.

Early on in the first book, Father Tim meets Dooley Barlowe, a young boy who's had a hard life. Oldest of 5 siblings, his mother's alcoholism and father's desertion has led to the siblings being scattered hither and yon. Father Time agrees to take care of Dooley and enters into what eventually becomes a permanent parental relationship with this precious and spunky young person. A big part of the series revolves around the search for the other siblings, as well as a romance for Father Tim. Many lives are changed and we learn that life is not boring in this small town.

But the series ended with A Light from Heaven. There was a feeling of closure, and also of life still going on. You closed the book and you didn't want to say good-bye. Fortunately, the Mitford books are of the type that you can enjoy re-reading them, two or even three or four times.

I knew there was a second series planned called The Father Tim novels, but I thought it was going to be about his childhood. And it is, but the adult Father Tim we all know and love is in there, too. I'm only about one-quarter of the way through Home to Holly Springs, but I am very much enjoying the way we see Father Tim in the present alongside flashbacks to his childhood, growing up in a small Mississippi town called Holly Springs.

These books are in your library. If you haven't read them, you will enjoy them. I think there is something for everyone, men, women, those who love mystery (there's a bit of mystery and suspense sprinkled in), those who love romance, those who love books with great characters that are true to life.

And if you have read them, or are looking for a gift for someone who is a fan of these series, check out the cookbook mentioned above, or A Mitford Bedside Companion or A Continual Feast, Father Tim's notebook where he jots down quotes he finds meaningful. And there are even some children's books by the same author, picture books with beautiful illustrations, including at least one about Violet the cat. Whichever you choose, you're sure to enjoy your stay in Mitford.

Robots

They're making robots in Japan.

The link will take you to a news story about some robots. You should watch both of the video clips, because they are apparently two (or maybe 3, or 4) completely different robots.

The one is a pair of identical robots called Asimo (Japanese for "legs"). They work in conjunction with one another and the video shows them serving drinks from a serving cart. They need a special customized tray to be able to move the drinks without dropping them, and the drinks have spill-proof tops like you get when you get coffee from a take-out coffee place.

The other set look like aliens. At least, their faces do, they have those big eyes you see on aliens. They don't seem to be the same as the others. These are doing even more imaginative and less useful tasks than the Honda ones. One of them plays the violin. The other looks like a girl robot. She doesn't have legs and the bottom part of her is made to look like she is wearing a floor-length skirt. She talks (in Japanese, so I don't know what she says) and then apparently signs her name on a card that is given to her.

I think they are making a big mistake. Though my husband might actually find a need for a robot that will bring him a drink (he's always asking me to pour him something to drink), I'd much prefer a robot that could do laundry, load (and unload) the dishwasher, make the kids' lunches, pick up stray socks, empty the trash, wash windows, bring me the phone, take my empty drink glass to the kitchen, etc. They've succeeded in making a mass-marketable robot that will vacuum your house, clean your pool, even clean your gutters. When are we going to get Rosie? I could use a robot housekeeper much more than I need a robot who can play the violin.

Elm Creek Quilt books

These books are a real treat. I haven't read all of them yet, but I just finished The Christmas Quilt, a nice short little novel just right for the season.

But let me back up and describe the series as a whole.

Each one has a bit of a mystery, or at least some suspense. You either find out some bit of the past that was previously unknown, or you are drawn along by the story, worried about how it will turn out. Frequently both.

The author has woven the modern world with the past in a very interesting way, so the books satisfy our yearning for something a bit old fashioned, but seem new and exciting at the same time.

The stories center around an older woman named Sylvia who returns to her childhood home after 50 years' absence. She intends to sell it and move back to wherever she's been living for the past 50 years -- she only comes back when they can't find another heir. But a younger woman in the town, Sarah, convinces her to start a quilt camp. The first book gives the reader a glimpse at why Sylvia has been gone so long and develops the relationship between the two women.

Subsequent novels deal with the past residents of Elm Creek Manor, Sylvia's family and ancestors, and the on-going relationships of it's current residents, who form a new kind of family, those not all related by blood but by a common bond of friendship and love.

I want to point out that I am not a quilter. Never made a quilte in my life. You don't have to be a quilter to enjoy these books. The small amount of quilting lingo that you'll need to understand to enjoy these books is woven into the story (Sarah, the younger main character, is a novice quilter at the beginning, so we learn along with her).

These books are like spending an evening with a close group of friends. They contain something for everything -- a bit of history, suspense and a bit of mystery, romance, friendship, family, and love.

If you're looking for a gift for a woman in your life, these might be a great choice. There are two volumes (An Elm Creek Quilts Sampler and An Elm Creek Quilts Album, in that order) that each contain 3 of the novels, so you might want to look for those if you're buying for someone who hasn't read any of them. There are also a couple of books with patterns in them, for the quilter on your list who has already read the books.

May 2008 will be Movie Month

On May 16th, we will travel back to Narnia and meet Prince Caspian, the second in the series of movies based on the Chronicles of Narnia by CS Lewis.

Then, one week later, we'll travel back in time to 1957 and accompany Indiana Jones on one last crusade.

We don't go see movies in the theaters very often. Usually it's not worth the price. And when we saw Ratatouille, I left the theater with a big wad of bright yellow bubble gum stuck to the back of my pants. So I'm not sure I'm "into" the movie theater scene anymore. I prefer getting my movies by mail and watching them snuggled up in my bed.

But these movies have long been anticipated. We really enjoyed the first Narnia movie and I have fond memories of the first 3 Indiana Jones movies, long ago in a galaxy far, far away. My kids have only seen them on video (actually, my younger son hasn't seen them at all) and they are very excited about this new one. So we're looking forward to May 2008.

old-fashioned remedies

I just heard on the news that they actually did a scientific study that proved that honey soothes children's coughs better than cough medicine. Oh, the amazing advances of modern science!

My mother used to give me a special, wonderfully-tasting spoonful of something warm and sweet when I had a sore throat. I know it wasn't just honey, it wasn't as thick in consistency. She heated it up, but she mixed it with something, too. Sounds like she was on the right track.

My favorite cough drops when I was a kid were honey-flavored.

Honey is mentioned in the Bible and other ancient literature. As early as the story of the migration of the family of Israel to Egypt -- they send a gift, including honey from their native land, to appease those they were hoping could give them some food. Later, when the Israelites went back to the Promised Land, they described it as a "land flowing with milk and honey."

I guess we've always known of the value of honey. Apparently, modern Science has finally acknowledged this fact.

This video goes along with my "history-of-the-internet" post from before. It is hilarious, though you need to watch out for a bit of "language." This is what it was like to connect online before IE 4.0.

Winter weather

They're doing it again. They've been talking for days about it. It's coming. It's coming.

By "they" I mean the people on the news, and by "It" I mean the first snowstorm of the year.

They've been saying it would start at dusk today (Sunday), but we woke up this morning and it was snowing. We thought it would stop. I guess it probably did -- we went to church and it wasn't snowing there. But church is at a lower elevation and it's frequently snowing at our house and not snowing at church. When we got home, it was still snowing, or snowing again -- enough to cover the sidewalk.

Last night my husband said they predicted we'd get anywhere from 7 to 12 inches. Everyone thinks school will be closed. And it's supposed to be windy so the snow will drift and blow and make everyone miserable.

The worst part is that it's garbage night. So there will be garbage cans amongst the snowbanks. What fun!

I want to move south and I want to do it NOW.

Check Mii Out

The ingenuity of the creators of the Nintendo Wii game console continues to amaze and delight me. We had to pay above the going price to get ours from some guy on eBay, after spending many hours on the phone to all local stores that sell Wii's asking every day if they had any in stock. I was frustrated at not being able to get one, but I am glad we finally did.

The thing that is a new is a feature called Check Mii Out. I've always thought the feature on the Wii where you can make your own Mii is really fun. You can make one that looks like yourself, but we quickly realized we could make ones that look like our favorite characters. There doesn't seem to be a limit to how many you can make; I think we have over 100 of them. And they play on your team (or the other team) when you play Wii Sports. So, we have Mom batting and Severus Snape pitching. And Mario and Link, and whenever a friend comes over, we let him make one representing himself. It's very cool.

So now, with this new feature, you can share your Mii with the world. Right on the Wii, you can go to a channel where you can upload your creation, and see those others have uploaded. The only limitation is that you can only give them initials, not names (my son theorizes this is to keep people from being able to use inappropriate words). So, HP for Harry Potter, either LV (Lord Voldemort) or TR (Tom Riddle) for the boy wizard's evil nemesis. We've seen quite a few HPs, and I personally think my Voldie is the best. Snape is popular as well, and I'm not the only one who dressed him in Slytherin green even though he always seems to wear black.

Other popular ones are JC (Jesus Christ) and MJ (Michael Jackson -- someone did a great job capturing the Gloved One's hollowed-out cheekbones). People are getting creative and making non-human characters -- Storm Troopers and Ewoks. I tried my hand at Snoopy after seeing CB (Charlie Brown) and PP (Peppermint Patty). It was hard to get Snoopy's ears right, though. I thought I did a good job with Dobby (Harry Potter's house-elf friend).

One great feature is that you can download other people's Mii's onto your machine. You can't edit them once you've got them, but you can get them.

My kids, even my 16-year-old boy, have had a great time with this feature. It's frustrating that you can only use initials and not names, but then it's sometimes fun to try and guess who they might be.