These opinions are my own and you're welcome to them

A Bridge over the Turtle Creek

2010-10-11T21:24:00.002-05:00

Striding the border between Illinois and Wisconsin, embodying and delineating what we can truly say call the "stateline" is this rusty, neglected, and long-closed bridge. Is this something worth saving and using? An asset or a liability? Useful or scrap?

Seen from the south (Illinois) side:

Seen from the north (Wisconsin) side:

Looks pretty bad, huh? Pretty scary, right? It's a harbor for the homeless and youth gangs. Full of broken glass and metal.

Looking south (Illinois) on east side of bridge:

Looking north (Wisconsin) on east side of bridge:

I want to make this my next "project" -- to see to it that this old bridge gets rehabilitated into a useful pedestrian and bicycle roadway. Note I said "rehabilitated" meaning it's not torn down and replaced, but restored to a safe, working bridge while maintaining its rusty, crusty, old-iron and steel character.

Pretty grim stuff.

Lots of people would have us employ resources to stop the scourge of cancer, end child abuse, and hundreds of other worthy causes, so who cares about a rusty old bridge that most people don't even know exists?

But beauty is there, just waiting to be seen.

Looking west from the center of the bridge:

As I understand it, the actual border is on the Wisconsin side of the north entrance. That means a majority of the responsibility for any restoration project will rely on the vagaries of politics on the often bizarre, and always confusing, South Beloit City Council. (On the bright side, at least it's not the Town of Beloit.)

Lost cause? Not worth it? Great potential? What do you think? Want to help?

What's wrong with this picture?

2010-08-15T09:27:00.001-05:00

Water Tower Park Signs, originally uploaded by OldOnliner.

"A park so awesome it's worth mentioning thrice! I count 3 signs within sight of each other. Now, I love this park as much as anyone, but I do NOT love the excessive signage detracting from the view, ruining what is otherwise a great photo place. Absurd."

Click through to the photo to see the notes on each of the three signs.

Maybe only someone wanting a good photograph would care... because an artist painting the scene can always leave the signs out of the painting! Then again, there's always Photoshop ... hmmm...

Cruel Cuts

2010-07-31T19:35:00.006-05:00

Cruel Cuts, originally uploaded by OldOnliner.

Someone trimmed the awesome tree in Riverside Park. The beautifully shaped odd one, that everyone paints and photographs, along the bank, next to the tennis courts.

This is outrageous! How was this allowed to happen? Who thought this was a good idea? Couldn't someone have a put sign on it saying, "DO NOT TRIM"?

Also posted on Facebook. As seen before - reference photos:

By Beloit City Councilor, Heidi Johns:

A watercolor painting by Sherry Thurner:

If we're going to do it, let's do it right

2010-03-11T13:29:00.003-06:00

The first screen shot is an overlay of the original and the revised parking lot with my comments as follows.

As an all-or-nothing proposal both of these stink, so how 'bout we consider another compromise? Premise: Design BOTH the road AND the parking lot to have the least impact on the existing park space. And that premise means you don't put it here!

The best location is just north of the area shown in the overlay drawing, just out of frame to the right. It can't be that hard to secure space on the east side for widening. ("For the consideration of $1..." comes to mind here.)

I don't understand why this isn't being considered and pushed from City staff and citizens. Or is it and we just don't hear about it?

Just saying "no" is not compromise and will not help make it easy for public use and enjoyment of the park. This "quiet end" of the park needs some kind of public access (read: "parking").

As shown on this annotated aerial photo from Bing there's plenty of space on the east side of the road to widen it, reducing the impact on existing park space. And there's a place just north of the proposed area that makes a much better location for a parking lot. This assumes two things - the east side space gets more used than as proposed (where it's not used at all on any designs I've seen) and the space gained on the west is used to preserve park space and help provide space for the parking area.

This is a FEDERAL HIGHWAY and the Fed is PAYING for it. For the construction to include replacing parking along Highway 51, the lots must be built when the highway is built. This is NOT using local tax dollars, it's not even using State tax dollars!

Let's do it now and let's do it right. (Or as right as we can make it.)

Proposed North Parking Lot - Overlay

2010-01-19T06:59:00.001-06:00

Proposed North Parking Lot - Overlay, originally uploaded by OldOnliner.

Detail engineering drawing overlaid on air photo. This is pretty close to reality as designed. The revised version of this is not supposed to have the walking/bike path through the parking lot, instead it will continue using the existing path. That means the lot will not be as deep and not encroach into the park as much. There was also some talk of increasing the angle of the diagonal parking, losing a couple of parking spaces and thereby further reducing the depth of the lot.

I suggested the 10 foot stand off buffer between street and parking lot be reduced, but was told that was required by code and the space allows for snow piles when plowing road to not encroach into the parking lot. I still suggested, that in this case - where the area is so narrow - that a variance be requested to reduce the buffer to something like 5 or 6 feet. Gaining even a yard (3 feet) in such a confined space is worth the trouble. Since this isn't a commercial area, but park land, I thought "preservation of green space" an adequate need to justify a minor variance.

Saturday in the Park with Friends - Evening of August 15th

2009-08-11T17:59:00.002-05:00

Time for another Saturday in the Park with Friends (of Riverfront). And that means it's movie night at Beloit's Riverside Park - August 15th! This year's movie is "Field of Dreams" and baseball is the theme of the day. The outdoor movie will be shown on the new "big lawn" area created where the old Ace Hardware building stood.

As part of this event, we're going to try and capture some special photo scenes along the riverfront. We start around NOON with representatives from the Beloit Snappers emerging from a field of corn created along the riverfront from 350 or so fully grown corn plants along the river) like in the movie. If we succeed in this, you'll see the results in future promotions as we did with the Seurat recreation in 2006. (If we don't, we'll have a really good time trying!)

The event itself is later, in the evening, starting with a ribbon cutting ceremony for the new Riverside Park Promenade. There will be food and games, and we'll be trying a few shots of the crowd, movie and the new lawn area with a little help from Aliant Energy and the Beloit Fire Department. And then, it's movie time!

So... come on down and be part of what should be

a B-E-A-U-tiful Saturday in the Park with Friends!

(Like the Seurat recreation, anything I shoot will be donated to the Friends of Riverfront, Visit Beloit, and the community to help promote the Beloit area.)

One year ago...

2009-06-14T14:21:00.001-05:00

The Rising Rock, originally uploaded by OldOnliner.

The rising Rock River, about a week from flood crest. The small gap under the bridge completely disappeared a week later, then the level started dropping and was almost back to normal by July 4th.

All told, this was a slow flood, taking almost 6 weeks to go from overflowing banks to receeding back to where roads could re-open.

Such is Progress?

2009-04-04T19:48:00.002-05:00

Progress?, originally uploaded by OldOnliner.

Top photo is 2005. Bottom photo is today - 4/4/09.

This is the "back way" in to and out of Leeson Park. This was a fire lane, a short cut for fire trucks and ambulances from old Station #2 and lower east side of Beloit. It is still used for Cross Country track meets. And it still has potential as an alternate walking/bike path between Colley Road and Leeson's Park or so it seems.

Used to be very pleasant, now it just is.

Happy Christmas and Merry New Year

2008-12-25T10:15:00.002-06:00

Hospital Love Lights, originally uploaded by OldOnliner.

It's over? For us retailers? Not quite yet...

Historically, the days after Christmas are almost as busy as the days before Christmas. I think this year, with the weather, the economy, and consumer attitudes, they'll be busier than ever, and much busier than before Christmas.

So... Enjoy your day off, America, for tomorrow we once again begin the patriotic journey to reboot our stalled economy and renew the hopes of our body politic. Could there be a more noble cause?

Christmas Email

2008-12-15T08:16:00.001-06:00

It's all downhill from here..., originally uploaded by OldOnliner.

This is an email exchange between Suzie (my wife) and her sister from last week. Reposted here by kind permission of the parties involved.

****
From: Suzanne
Sent: Thursday, December 4, 2008
Subject: Christmas

> Hi Barb and Connie
>
> Are you guys still alive? Haven't talked to you for awhile. Not
> much going on here. Can you believe this snow? And the cold. One good
> thing about the cold---no barking dogs.
>
> Do you have all your Christmas shopping done, how about your christmas
> cards and your holiday baking? Your tree, is it up yet? Did you
> remember to use tinsel and popcorn strings. How about the grift
> wrapping? This holiday drives me nuts. I get asked these questions
> at least twice a day. The looks on their faces when I tell them I'm Jewish.
>
> Hope all is well
>
> Love you,
> Suz
>

From: gypsyhill@merr
To: Suzanne
Sent: Friday, December 5, 2008 7:28:26 AM
Subject: Re: Christmas

You better not cry keep perfectly still.
You better not shout even if you're trampled and killed.
Open the door, get out of our way,
we been waiting in line since yesterday.
Got trees in the living room that have to be trimmed.
What did you say? Murder's a sin?
The sirens are ringing or is that a bell?
Someone saying something about someone who fell.
They want us out of the store but we won't leave,
it's Christmas time; we have a right to believe.

****

Isn't it amazing what will come from a keyboard in the morning while you finish your coffee and get ready for work?

In the photo: Suzie (center) goofing off (as in rolling down the hill like an 8-year old) on Galena's levee on her 50th birthday with sisters Barb (upper left) and Nancy (far upper right), and her mother, Bette, (next to Nancy) looks on in amazement.

Thursday was Wednesday this week

2008-11-27T18:36:00.003-06:00

In honor of my last treatment for 2008, I took a photo or two...

My last treatment until May 2009 (I'll have one exam at 1/2-way point in February).

If you must have cancer, they say this is the one to have. (And, no, there are no photos of the treatment itself... although... that's an idea we might pursue in 2009!)

A Walgreens Grows in Beloit

2008-09-02T10:30:00.001-05:00

A Walgreens Grows in Beloit, originally uploaded by OldOnliner.

Pharmacy's are sprouting like weeds around Beloit! This Walgreens on Broad Street in downtown Beloit, follows on the heals of a new one on Madison Road. Meanwhile, CVS is building TWO more stores in Beloit!

Where's the money, where's the profit? An aging, over medicated, baby-boom, 60's generation population puts the future of retailing in drugs and pharma.

Yup... Here we go... Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds in our Yellow Submarine.

Bad Health Year

2008-08-18T17:04:00.001-05:00

I'm having a bad year in the health department.

Had Scarlet Fever in March.

Torn meniscus in knee in May.

Diverticulitis (serious colon infection) in July.

During the CT scan at the ER for the diverticulitis, they found something in my bladder that didn't look right. So... 3 weeks later, once recovered that, I went to a urologist to get checked for bladder cancer.

Last Monday he removed 2 tumors from the bladder, one was 2 to 3cm and the other not much more than a speck.

I am a very lucky guy. The cancer is localized inside the bladder, and does not appear to penetrate into the muscle tissue. It's very treatable and survivable. Most of the time this kind of cancer isn't discovered until you start peeing blood and by then the cancer is much harder to cure and quite often fatal. I am lucky, huh?

I got the damn catheter off on Saturday! Yea! I should be back to work by September. The cancer treatment protocol to insure the cancer is killed will go on for about 2 years.

Oh... yeah... and when this is surgery is cleared up (next month?) I'll go in for a colonoscopy to check and make sure my colon is OK, too. Joy.

Still... I am way better off than a lot of people. Other than being sore, tired, bored, and restless, I'd say I have nothing to complain about.

I must say, the staff at Beloit Memorial Hospital are outstanding! Each and every one of them, without fail or exception, did an awesome job helping me through all this... from the ER in July to the "Special Care" wing last week! THANKS FOLKS!!!

And - more on the bright side - I'm not in Iraq.

Turn Around

2007-01-07T19:05:00.000-06:00

Turn Around
Originally uploaded by OldOnliner.

I did not move, I just turned around.

We've got our own little war on terror to fight right here in our home towns and if we don't succeed we'll end up with a little bit of hell in our own backyards.

Obviously someone with vision is trying to improve things. The despair that leads to gangs is something we must replace with hope and harmony.

Flickr Explore Pages Collection

2006-12-27T08:48:00.000-06:00

Compilation from interestingness
Originally uploaded by OldOnliner.

These 12 photos are found on Flickr's Explore Pages for each date noted under the them.

What appears here was made possible by viewers like you! Thank you!

Links to each individual photo on Flickr, starting at top left are:

1. First example of Seurat Painting Photo, 2. Riverfront Seurat Photo, 3. Seurat Painting with Rock River Scene, 4. Photo Taps, 5. Beckman Mill Postcard, 6. Swing time!, 7. Boring Bar Preset - 1980, 8. Little boy, big truck, 9. The Best Man..., 10. Sunset on the Rock River, 11. The Fishing Bridge in Beloit, 12. Beloit Lagoon Paddle Boats and Fountains

Parallels 'Coherency' Mode

2006-12-03T00:57:00.000-06:00

Parallels 'Coherency' Mode
Originally uploaded by gruber.

Ahhh... we sell this software, too!

Note in comments on photo. Parallels allows you to run Windows on a Mac ... no biggy... but it lets you do either Dual Boot (common nowadays) or Virtual Machine mode... all from the Windows installation. How cool is that?

Hanging by a Thread on Flickr - Photo Sharing!

2006-09-18T23:11:00.000-05:00

Hanging by a Thread on Flickr

Really cool work, really neat views. Look for this one somewhere, sometime or ask your local library about obtaining a copy.

The Making Of: Saturday in the Park with Friends in Beloit

2006-07-15T07:49:00.000-05:00

Second Impressionism - Saturday in the Park with Friends
Originally uploaded by OldOnliner.

As you may have seen on the Flickr set, the dog's owner used peanut butter on the ground to get it to "pose" for us.

How it came together...

Becky sent email to the Friends of Riverfront group about 10 days before the event. Our local newspaper ran a story - on the FRONT PAGE - on Wednesday before with color photo version seen on the flyer cpy I posted at Flickr. Becky and I told anyone we met about our plans to stage the photo op. I was more interested in getting photographers to shoot it, Becky was into getting volunteers to pose.

We had a picnic table "marshalling area" (you can see this in some of Jim Simonson's photos of the event) with props and printed copies of the painting. It seemed that about half or more participants had done their home work or already knew Seurat and this painting well. We also had 3 or 4 "positioners" taking people to locations and each of these people had a printed copy of Seurat's painting with them.

We decided on this location over 2 others about a month earlier and noted the location for camera angle and estimated time of day for optimum light/shadow conditions. We figured on a 2-hour window of opportunity that was totally dependent on the sun coming out. (W'e'd have shot without, but it wouldn't have been as good result.) Three days before the event, Becky and I took a print of the painting to the site, we numbered each subject location on the painting and walked it with can of brown spray paint to mark spots on the grass, including the spot to place the camera. We didn't do foreground locations because a lot of line-of-site and perspective issues required more bodies to work with than our 4 eyes, so we figured the foreground characters would get placed on the day of shooting.

On the day of the shoot, about 3 hours before, Becky and I and another volunteer numbered and placed 3 X 5 cards achored by a roofing nail at each position corresponding to the number we used on our print of the painting. As people showed up at the picnic table, we looked them over and decided where they'd make the best fit; gave them a numbered sticker and one of the "positioners" would escort them to the number on the ground. (When the lady with the Seurat bag showed up, I said, "I don't care what anyone says or plans, you are going HERE.")

We then used a bullhorn to fine tune line of sight issues and direct people. We yelled "If you are not told otherwise, you are looking at the river" and "ready" and "pose... pose... pose" We then repositioned or replaced people in the scene with others (see Flickr set) and reshot the scene. We did that 3 times.

The wind was so fierce, we were worried about the boats and umbrellas were tough to work with too. So we stopped shooting after only a 1/2 hour. The boats were pure luck... they couldn't hear us directing and they had to battle wind and current to either stay in picture or stay off rocks along bank.

Thus far, the first photo -- the early one on Flickr -- is considered the best result. The time stamp on it indicates it was the first group's second "pose" after resetting some messed up umbrellas and waiting to get dog and sailboat properly into photo.

We talked about doing this as an annual event, but now I don't know... something tells me to leave well enough alone. Considering the logistics and wind, this was a magical moment in many, many ways.

If I had to do one thing differently, I'd have used strings on the ground from the camera's position to key areas of subjects in the photo to lay out line of sights. With only three of us laying it out before the event, it was very hard to be sure we hadn't missplaced or obscured someone/somthing. I think strings would have helped prevent that.

On the FlickrBlog

2006-07-09T08:25:00.000-05:00

FlickrBlog: "First Impressionism"

On July 1st, the community of Beloit, Wisconsin came together on the banks of the Rock River to recreate George Seurat's "Sunday Afternoon on the Island of LaGrande Jatte" -- "Saturday in the Park with Friends". The event was covered by the Beloit Daily News: Art is alive along the River. See more photos in this Flickr Set."

We made the Flickr Blog yesterday! I'm really happy to see Beloit get noticed like this!

Staging Seurat Photo at Beloit's Riverfront

2006-06-23T15:59:00.000-05:00

Riverfront Seurat Photo
Originally uploaded by OldOnliner.

We're going to try and make this famous painting by George Seurat come to life on the banks of the Rock River in Beloit Saturday, July 1st at 3:00 pm. (The rain date is Sunday, July 2.)

Email has gone out asking for volunteers from the Friends of Riverfront group to help stage the scene. I'd also like to see other photographers - the more the merrier - help photograph it so we have a better chance of successfully capturing the scene.

This will be a 'modern' scene, so wear normal stuff. It'd be nice to see some of reds and browns and dark tops as seen above.

I have no idea if this will work and I'm not sure I have enough camera to pull this off, but we're going to try and make it happen.

Fairbanks Flats

2006-06-17T10:12:00.000-05:00

Fairbanks Flats
Originally uploaded by OldOnliner.

In the early 1900's - during and after WWI - these apartments were built for African American laborers migrating from the south to work in factories in the north. Due to WWI, there was a scarcity of labor in northern industrial towns like Beloit.

These were originally called "Edgewater Flats" but later became known as "Fairbanks Flats" because people living in them worked at the Fairbanks plant on the other side of the Rock River.

IIRC, this is now a historic site, commemorating Beloit's sorry history of "defacto segregation."

This was 60 years before Henry Avenue bridge existed, far from Beloit's city-center, and relatively isolated from Beloit's then-existing neighborhoods. Today, this is prime river front property and the question pf the day is, "What should we do with these vacant uninhabitable buildings?"

Before sewage treatment and abundant leisure time, river fronts like Beloit's were an eyesore of dirty factories (water/steam power!) and foundries, a stinking swampy mess of human and industrial waste.

My how times change.

Stitched from 4 frames using Autostitch.

Artwalk 2006 Wall Display at Austin's Barbershop

2006-05-18T19:52:00.000-05:00

Austin's Barbershop - Artwalk 2006 Wall Display
Originally uploaded by OldOnliner.

Downtown Beloit's annual Artwalk is Friday evening from 5 to 9 and Saturday morning atarting at 10.

Stop in and I'll buy you a Coke from Rod's real-live-working collectable 8 oz bottle-style Coke machine.

I also blogged about the Artwalk 2006 event here:

http://www.geocities.com/mark_e_p/blog

Made of Shadows and Light

2006-04-18T11:05:00.000-05:00

Shadows and light
Originally uploaded by OldOnliner.

I considered converting this to B&W and decided to leave it in color. Converting would have lost the "vanilla" hues (which was the reason I even thought of sharing this) and muted the shadow from the tree trunk.

I used a gradient fill along the far shore line at top to slightly subdue the crown of the tree and bring out the ripples in the river. Other than that and a very slight adjustment in brightness, I didn't do much to it.

I was riding along the bike path, looked to my right, saw these two sitting there, and pressed the shutter... I didn't even see the LCD or viewfinder since the camera was in my right hand, and the palm of that hand was resting on the padded end of the right handle bar.

Surrendipity. (Or, as I tell people buying new digital cameras, "Don't be afraid to take lots of photos!" You never know what you'll find when you get home.")

South Beloit toll plaza

2006-04-09T11:59:00.000-05:00

Road rage: Welcome to S. Beloit toll plaza

By Pat Milhizer
ROCKFORD REGISTER STAR

If state leaders want to pump more dollars into the budget this summer, they should install a swear jar at the South Beloit toll plaza. Tollway drivers already know there's no science to predict traffic jams.
Usually, odds for smooth sailing are always better when you avoid rush hour. But lately, westbound traffic on Interstate 90 toward the plaza has been as predictable as a roulette table.

A Twin Neck iPod Guitar

2006-03-19T18:36:00.000-06:00

Twin Neck iPod Guitar
Originally uploaded by ldandersen.

I hope Nate gets to see this one!

What's it for? I don't care! It's just cool. ;-)

Beloit - Gateway to Wisconsin

2006-03-10T20:34:00.000-06:00

Beloit - Gateway to Wisconsin
Originally uploaded by OldOnliner.

Taken this afternoon -- what a beautiful day -- from the parking lot at City Hall.

I guess some folks will figure out what I was doing during lunch.

This is way cool...

2006-03-05T08:17:00.000-06:00

Creative Arena
Originally uploaded by sebpayne.

Found on Flickr - Creative Arena.

Too much to think about here...

Windows Vista Versions Proliferate

2006-02-21T19:58:00.000-06:00

Paul Thurrott's SuperSite for Windows:

Features breakdown

Many people are curious about which features will be made available in each product edition. Here's a partial list.

Key to the table:
Str - Windows Starter 2007
Home N - Windows Vista Home N (Europe only)
Home B - Windows Vista Home Basic
Home P - Windows Vista Home Premium
Bus N - Windows Vista Business N (Europe only)
Bus - Windows Vista Business
Sm Bus - Windows Vista Small Business
Ent -Windows Vista Enterprise
Ult - Windows Vista Ultimate

SiteAdvisor blog: The Web's Download Disasters, Inaugural Edition

2006-01-15T00:27:00.000-06:00

This is a nice read...

SiteAdvisor blog: The Web's Download Disasters, Inaugural Edition:
"The Web's Download Disasters, Inaugural Edition - When we first started crawling the Web looking for bad downloads last year, we weren't sure what we'd find. Today, a million Web sites and 140,000 download tests later, I can say with confidence that there are some great programs to be downloaded out there. I can say with equal confidence that there's also plenty of train wrecks waiting to happen to your PC. "

Top 10 tricks causing spyware epidemic

2005-12-22T14:23:00.000-06:00

A look back at 2005 and a list of the Top 10 tricks causing our spyware epidemic. From Suzi Turner at ZDNet's Spyware Confidential Blog:

5. Spazbox domain installs massive spyware/adware using IRC as documented by Paperghost.

4. Anti-spyware spread by spyware and trojans, details here about super rogues PSGuard, Razespyware, SpySheriff, Spy Trooper, WorldAntiSpy and more recently SpyAxe here.

3. Direct Revenue adware distributed through BitTorrent, (or more aurora and nail.exe) exposed by Paperghost.

2. AIM worm carries backdoor, rootkit and adware, found to be powered by world wide bot net with ties to the Middle East. See write up from CNET.

And now, drum roll please, the top spyware trick of 2005...

1. Sony BMG infects users with DRM rootkit originally reported by Mark Russinovich at SysInternals. The fallout of this debacle continues with artists revolting and plenty of legal action against Sony BMG in the works.

All Spruced Up for Christmas

2005-12-18T09:46:00.000-06:00

Spruced Up
Originally uploaded by OldOnliner.

Happy Christmas and a Merry New Year to all!

What I want for Christmas or Canon PowerShot A620 Review

2005-12-05T18:20:00.000-06:00

Yuppers... Another thing I like about these cameras is quality and features, coupled with size and portability. Who wants to lug 10 pounds of equipment when 8 ounces will do the job just fine?

Canon PowerShot A620 Review: 14. Conclusion: Digital Photography Review:

Overall conclusion:

The PowerShot A95 was one of the most successful 5MP compacts due
to its compelling combination of features, image quality and value for money. But it was not a camera without problems - mainly performance and speed issues, most of which we - and all the people who bought it - put down to the inevitable compromise involved in getting so many features at such a keen price. The PowerShot A620, though externally pretty similar, is a very different kettle of fish. Not only does it boast a much better sensor, but the use of the latest DIGIC II processor means it's a lot, lot faster in operation too. There is very little here to suggest a 'budget' model at all; image quality is excellent, it's very well built, it handles well and it has a real wealth of photographic features that make it suitable for everyone from the absolute beginner to the more experienced photographer wanting lots of control over the picture taking process. And like the A95 it's a great first camera for anyone wanting to learn the craft of photography, being both affordable and well-specified enough to grow with you as your knowledge and experience increases.

Beloit Area 2006 Calendar Mosaic

2005-12-01T21:22:00.000-06:00

Beloit Area 2006 Calendar Mosaic
Originally uploaded by OldOnliner.

A mosaic of the 12 photos used in the 2006 Beloit Area Calendar that you can buy at Staples in Beloit, Wisconsin.

This all started because we thought it'd be nice to do sample calendars with a more local flavor than the usual stuff we get from the marketing department. After some inquiries and a convoluted process, we are permitted to not only use it as a custom calendar sample, but to actually sell them to anyone wanting one.

Each of the photos in the mosaic represents a featured photo for each month of the year. The spiral bound, full-size, high quality color calendars are $5.99 each at our Copy and Print Center.

Stop in and check 'em out and tell your friends. They're a unique, one of a kind calendar.

Brothers - 25 years ago in Denver

2005-11-26T21:56:00.000-06:00

Chorus Line on Stage
Originally uploaded by OldOnliner.

What a vacation that was... In August of 1980 my brother Todd and I went to Denver to visit my brother Kirk and his wife, Lynn. [Left to right in photo.]

We'd had dinner at a restaurant in Denver with western theme rooms - like silver mines, old west saloon, pueblos, etc.

As we were leaving, I handed my camera (Rollei mini-35) to the waitress and asked if she would try and take our picture on the small stage. She took this ONE photo. In the days of film, it'd be two weeks before I found out what a great snapshot she got! I hope we gave her a good tip as she certainly deserved it!

Great vacation... got to see a mountain - climb one, too - for the first time.

Boring Bar Presetter - 1980

2005-11-26T19:55:00.000-06:00

Boring Bar Presetter - 1980
Originally uploaded by OldOnliner.

25 Years ago... what more can I say?

Houses for Sale in Beloit

2005-11-20T19:13:00.000-06:00

Houses for Sale
Originally uploaded by OldOnliner.

I discovered these homes for sale during bike rides in the past couple of months and they piqued my interest.

We went through the Harrison location today during an open house.

Nice house. Living areas are nice, well done decor, and well maintained. LOTS of room for such a small site. Suzie did not like the kitchen area or the driveway with no usable garage.

Not sure we could afford it anyway.

Entering Beloit from the northwest

2005-11-16T12:25:00.000-06:00

I ran across this old photo from last August today so I'll bring it up again...

Just look at how prominent the water tower in downtown Beloit is in this view as you enter the city on Madison Road. It sure would be nice to see it dressed up a little with a nice, bold BELOIT sign or logo?

How about something like this modified City of Beloit logo from a few years ago?

Mr. City Manager, tear down this wall!

2005-11-12T20:16:00.000-06:00

Mr. City Manager, tear down this wall!
Originally uploaded by OldOnliner.

Try to imagine a time when there was no fence and you could ride a bike through and through this huge cemetary and the adjoining park areas. No fences to stop you, no speed bumps to ruin your rims and interrupt your ride.

I remember such a time. It was almost 30 years ago.

Now... I understand the need for speed bumps and vehicle barriers, but THIS is not a solution. It fails on so many levels.

1 - It's ugly.
2 - It looks temporary.
3 - It's easily damaged.
4 - It breaks up the esthetics of the park. (Did I mention it was ugly?)
5 - It totally inhibits the riding experience of bicyclist.
6 - It punishes the many for the sins of the few.

Solution: Speed bumps with a small gap centered in the lane and/or along the sides of the roadway. Vehicle barriers with gaps for pedestrians and bicycles. Remove the fencing from the grassy area between roadways and open the green spaces back up. If you need to stop vehicles on grass, use berms and trees instead of chainlink.

Now imagine miles and miles of open road, ideal for bikers looking to burn off some calories on a "closed course" free of the usual traffic.

Ahhh... bliss.

Help Choose 2006 Calendar Photos

2005-10-22T14:39:00.000-05:00

Water Tower Place Park
Originally uploaded by OldOnliner.

It's time to choose photos for a custom 2006 calendar and you can help! Once printed, these calendars are Christmas gifts for friends and family members.

I need to select 13 photos - one for a cover and one to accompany month. There are a few things that conspire to complicate the selection process:

The photos must be horizontal (landscape) oriented. Vertical (portrait) oriented photos don't work.
I do not have photos from all seasons/months and, therefore, picking one to match a particular month (that wasn't used in LAST YEAR'S calendar is a problem.
We want to "mix things up" and not repeat scenes or topics. For example: We want to avoid a collection featuring too much art, too few people, repeats of same site, too many static shots, and so on. (Unless, of course, someone thinks this should be an all-art calendar!)

Pop on over to my Flickr Photo stream and have a look-see at the photo collection, then come back and add your suggested photos as a comment here.

Click the photo or links at the right to visit my Flickr Photo collection.

[This tradition harkens back to when Beloit Corp distributed a very cool and much-coveted calendar for free to customers, employees and their families each year. Does anyone remember those?]

Eaton Chapel Vertical Panorama

2005-10-16T12:56:00.000-05:00

Eaton Chapel
Originally uploaded by OldOnliner.

Taken late in the day, just after the lights came on and just after sunset, this was my first attempt at a vertically photostitched panorama.

I laid on the ground, put the camera on a mini-tripod, tilted the head 90 degrees, oriented and checked the ball socket, set shutter at a 2 second delay, and started shooting at the top with auto-exposure. I carefully pivoted the camera, overlapped, refocused, and ended up with 4 frames. (I could have done the exposure manually, but the light was failing and there was no time for it.)

To control seam locations, and prevent the seams from falling on key areas of the photograph, you manually indicate overlap by picking two or more overlap areas/spots, and then let the photostitch software put it all together.

Saturday Photos

2005-10-15T20:30:00.000-05:00

Old Glory
Originally uploaded by OldOnliner.

It turned out to be a good day for photos! I filled my card - 129 frames - and ended up with more than a few worth sharing.

In a way, it's like fishing only you don't really know it's a keeper until you get it home.

After attending a visitation this morning at 10, I wanted to stop in at the Fire Department's HQ for their annual open house. Glad I did... it was fun, interesting, and good subject matter. Bill Bartz was there acting as guide. (I still think of him as "Billy" because he was always John Bartz's little brother to me!)

I'd planned to bike out to Big Hill Park, but didn't feel like dealing with the wind while riding along Afton Road. I don't care if there is a bike path, it's just not enough fun. Maybe tomorrow.

This flag photo makes a nice background for the PC desktop. It's actually shot with one step of digital zoom yielding 4.3x effective zoom against 3x optical.

I hope the family fishing along the river can find the Flickr photos - I told them to look.

WAPC Friday Afternoon Session

2005-10-08T11:21:00.000-05:00

Afternoon Discussion Session
Originally uploaded by OldOnliner.

The range and forgiveness of digital cameras never ceases to amaze...

Through the control booth window, with available light, on 2 second shutter delay to prevent camera shake and you get this with a $200 camera.

Is that cool, or what?

"Faster, better, cheaper..."

2005-10-02T21:34:00.000-05:00

Nice... two weeks ago I called SBC about my DSL connection speeds. The tech support guy (in India!) referred me to Customer Service (in Appleton WI!) and they happily converted me to the latest promotional package - 1.5 meg/sec @ $14.99 a month for one year when you 'bundle' your SBC services!

Coolness! 4 times faster and $11 less a month! And that 1.25 meg tested throughput above is constant and not variable like a shared Charter Pipeline connection.

What happens at the end of the year? I call them about a month before it ends and ask for whatever the current promotion is. That's all.

Wait... there's more! Unlike Charter Cable, I still have a dialup connection should I need one.

Oh... yeah... the screen shot above? That's my SBC DSL connected PC tested on Charter's test page!

Danger, Danger

2005-10-02T21:29:00.000-05:00

Apparently these two were left on the lawn after a sign removal?

Wonder how long these have been there?

Time to contact the School District of Beloit risk management team...

Grasshoppers

2005-09-17T17:01:00.000-05:00

Grasshoppers hang together
Originally uploaded by OldOnliner.

Love the photo. And here's another one where I can't decide which crop I like. This is original, but in the Flickr comments, I added alternate crops.

The Landing

2005-09-17T09:29:00.000-05:00

As shot?

Or as seen in real life?

I can't decide.

The Future?

2005-09-11T19:59:00.000-05:00

Curmudgeon: cur mudg eon (ker muj' en), n. "an irascible, churlish person."

WordNet Search: curmudgeon (n) "a crusty irascible cantankerous old person full of stubborn ideas."

The Smirk

2005-09-11T09:02:00.000-05:00

The Smirk
Originally uploaded by OldOnliner.

Yes, folks, this is the original source photo for the "avatar" you see associated with this blog and my other online personas.

I took this at Suzie's parents' house in Galena, Illinois. It was a sad time as we were there that week for Dick's funeral. I just noticed the date and recall that it was my son's 16th birthday.

It was created by an artist in New Orleans where Betty bought it on a whim. Betty calls him, "The Smirk" and it used to hang on the side of their 'barn' or on this tree in the yard. Betty's since moved and "The Smirk" no longer resides outside, but has instead moved to an inside hallway.

The Best Man...

2005-09-05T12:44:00.000-05:00

The Best Man...
Originally uploaded by OldOnliner.

I happened upon this wedding party as they were having photos taken in the park across the street from the First Congregational Church in Beloit. I decided it might be fun to take pictures of them having their pictures taken.

When I got home and looked at the results of the day's photo efforts, this is what I found... Am I mistaken or is that the best man goosing the groom?

New Orleans Disaster Blog

2005-09-03T21:06:00.000-05:00

Thanks to Alex Eckelberry at Sunbelt Blog for the link to...

The Interdictor:

Saturday, September 3rd, 2005 7:01 pm
City Security

"The city is starting to feel more secure now. Much larger military and Homeland Security presence and many fewer civilians left. Of course with this added security comes additional dangers like hyper-suspicious, armed authorities. If you watch the cam or walk the streets, you see that almost every civilian is approached, evaluated for threat potential, then either patted down or left alone..."

And then there's this map of the city with comment tags: http://www.scipionus.com/ .

The Yahoo City of Beloit Club Welcome Page

2005-09-03T09:31:00.000-05:00

BDN Article - How to Help Hurricane Victims

CLICK HERE FOR INFO!

Welcome to our Yahoo City of Beloit Club! Let's talk about the issues, news, events, history, plans, politics, and other topics related to Beloit and the Stateline Area.

Visit our new Greater Beloit & Stateline Area Flickr Group!

The City of Beloit lies along the banks of the Rock River on the border of Wisconsin and Illinois. Beloit is blessed with tree-lined streets, green lawns, a rich history, and a gorgeous river. Like other small cities, Beloit also faces many challenges; some are typical of a small town and others are unique to Beloit. Anthropologist Margaret Mead described Beloit as, "America in microcosm." An accurate economy of words.

Click below to visit the City of Beloit Portal Page.

Click here to visit the Yahoo City of Beloit Club and see this presented in its original context.

Beloit Corp and K&T Machining Center

2005-08-31T13:06:00.000-05:00

An earlier blog entry - History of Beloit Iron Works Page - got me to looking for the two publicity photos shot by a Beloit Corp photographer that I once had sitting above my desk. This morning, the photos turned up under a bunch of junk so I scanned them. So time for some more history...

I ran this K & T MilwaukeeMatic Machining Center from late 1989 to the end of 1995. (The longest time I spent doing the same job in my 21+ years at Beloit Corp. I think these were taken in something like 1990 or 1991?)

This machine had four 3' by 4' pallets where various jobs were preset/preloaded. You could have two pallets loaded to the machine at a time. In the photo above, you can see two jobs. I have my hand on a dryer bearing housing and there's a steamfit part ready to shuttle over and run.

One might wonder at the odd composition in these photos, but there was a reason. These photos were to supposed to be used in promotional materials, with accompanying videos at trade shows. The photos needed to obscure fixturing and machining methods while showing off our "modern" machining processes. I never did see the finished videos, but I think my dad got a surprise seeing his son in a video at a trade show. (Dad worked for Valmet/Metso, one of our competitors.)

In the next photo, you can just make out the "Automation Intelligence" control station, screen and keyboard. These were PC-based controls that were originally designed for Boeing. Beloit Corp purchased 4 of these in 1987 to retrofit onto all our K&T Machining Centers, replacing their out-of-date Allen-Bradley Controls. (Due to start-up issues we actually installed only 3 of the AI controls, saving the 4th for parts.)

The AI Control employed two motherboards, running 12 Mhz Intel 80286 processors, with 2 megs of RAM, sharing a single RLL 20 MEG hard drive, connected to a VGA monitor. (Lucky me, too! The first machine fitted got an - ugh, yech - EGA monitor!) One PC controlled machine motion/motors (MCP), while the other was the User Interface. The OS was IBM/MSDOS 3.3 with a primitive multitasker/shell interface called TASKVIEW. The AI control had a neat - and at the time unheard of - full-screen Wordstar-based Text Editor that was quite handy for tweaking our CNC programs.

That AI Control is a lot of the reason I ended up learning about PCs. It's what you might call the 'root' cause that sent me into the world of MS/DOS and PCs. So, in a weird sort of way, those controls continue to influence my life to this very day.

For those who think these machines just banged out thousands of the same thing day in and day out, that was not the case at Beloit Corp. Paper machines are custom made. This K&T alone had a library of well-over 10,000 programs for that many different parts. We called it a "long run" when we had more than 40 of the same part to machine.

And, yes, I still have an "I DOS" bumper sticker from PC/Computing magazine in my desk downstairs.

Beloit Stone Water Tower Window

2005-08-29T18:53:00.000-05:00

watertower window
Originally uploaded by rocketjim54.

I just really like Jim's angle on this subject. It's an example of the kind of photo result you can only get using a camera with a nice long, image stabelized zoom lens. (This was shot with a Canon S1 IS.)

History of Beloit Iron Works Page

2005-08-28T20:59:00.000-05:00

A forgotten web page I made...

The story of the Beloit Iron Works from the 1936 Book of Beloit.

"So the more paper Americans use and the more uses to which they put it, the better Beloit will like it. For Beloit men will build the machines that make the paper---and that will be fine for them, for the community and for the state."

And checking the referral links from that page, I came across the Paper Industry Web (PIW) page. I urge you to check out the Paper Industry Web page while it's still up!

http://www.paperindustryweb.com/newstuff.htm

According to the main page, it's only got a week left - September 1st! Can a host/mirror be found and set up in that short amount of time?

I machined a lot of these "Primary Arms" in my years at Beloit Corp. Here we see a matched pair of arms getting a final inspect from someone at Paperchine in South Beloit.

Siren Photo

2005-08-28T20:16:00.000-05:00

Siren
Originally uploaded by OldOnliner.

One of my favorites. Thanks to the vari-angle LCD on the Canon A80, I was able to hold the camera above my head and capture this view of O.V. "Vern" Shaffer's Siren statue.

The Siren sits atop a six-foot pedestal and isn't really very large so this photo might represent a "new look" at a familiar object for some Beloiters.

Right now, this is my Windows desktop wallpaper.

Here's a photo of the dedication plaque from the statue's base:

Find more information on this sculpture at Beloit College's Public Art Page.

Happy Anniversary!

2005-08-22T09:26:00.000-05:00

Twenty four years ago Suzanne and I were married in a civil ceremony at The Green Shutters restaurant in Whitewater, Wisconsin. The formerly antique-filled restaurant/home is now the location of the Mercy Whitewater Medical Center, seen in the photo below.

We had a simple wedding for 75 friends and family. The ceremony was at [high] noon, and was followed almost immediately by a luncheon reception where the champagne flowed freely.

Most people don't know my 3-piece suit cost 4 times more than Suzie's wedding dress! And, damn, nobody warned us that getting hit with thrown rice HURTS!

We drove ourselves from the reception in our nicely decorated Omni 024. No chauffeurs for us! We then took it - fully decorated - all the way to Colorado for our honeymoon.

Man, I loved that car! It was truly my last new car until we bought the PT Cruiser in 2004.

Well... enough reminiscing for now...

Boats, Rock River and BMHS

2005-08-21T20:29:00.000-05:00

Two boats, too fast
Originally uploaded by OldOnliner.

That's Beloit Memorial High School in the background. I really wonder if our community (and students!) realize what an awesome location and facility they have there?

I defy anyone to go to Janesville or Madison or Clinton or Rockford or Rockton, and find one school - new or old - even 1/2 as beautiful as BMHS.

Why aren't students from around the area beating paths to the door trying to get in via Wisconsin's School Choice program? Does our district even attempt to market or use BMHS's proximity to the river and parks for anything except complaining about traffic? Does our school district even have a rowing team, or canoe or kayaking club?

Adopt Cats at Rock County Humane Society

2005-08-21T09:25:00.000-05:00

Rock County Humane Society: "The cats displayed below are only a 'small representation' of all the animals we have up for adoption. A more complete listing of our animals can be found on Petfinder.com. We cannot guarantee that the animal you are interested in will still be available when you stop in."

"MILI is a short haired female. She is a spayed female so she is all ready to go to her new home. She has short, dense, black fur--she's very pretty. Mili's birthday is June 1st, 2004. #19652"

"PEANUT and Penny (19539) are littermates. You might consider our Double the Love for Less program with these two siblings Peanut was born in March of 2003 so she is just about 2 years old. She is spayed and front declawed. She is a little shy being here and probably wouldn't like to live with small children. Peanut just needs someone to be patient with her and to go slowly while she gets used to you. #19542

Self Portrait

2005-08-20T11:08:00.000-05:00

I'm sure viewers are glad I don't do these very often...

Since the last one was 2 years ago, I guess it was time.

I planned to post this to my Y!360 Blog, but that lame service doesn't want to accept this photo upload.

Oh well... time for another ride...

Geotagging is soooooo cool!

2005-08-13T12:07:00.000-05:00

Click the screen shot below for the actual Geotag page -

Pirated Version of Mac OS for PCs

2005-08-12T23:01:00.000-05:00

Pirated Version of Mac OS for PCs:

"However, several enterprising hackers have figured out ways to bypass the security chip and run the developer's version of MacOS for x86 on any x86-based PC, according to a posting on the Web page of The OSx86 Project. Posters on that site, as well as other sites within the Mac community, claim to have used the instructions to run Mac OS X on their Intel or AMD PCs, with some posting pictures and videos of x86 PCs booting Mac OS X.

"The process requires a copy of Mac OS X version 4 (Tiger), VMware's virtualization software, the PearPC emulator that can run operating systems written for PowerPC on any architecture, Apple's Darwin 8.0.1 software, an x86 processor that supports SSE2 (Streaming SIMD Extensions 2), and two files created by an independent developer that can be downloaded using the BitTorrent file-sharing system."

Interesting Google Search Results

2005-08-09T22:16:00.000-05:00

Go to http://www.google.com/ and put the words - useful webpage - in the box and click the I'm Feeling Lucky! button.

Oh yeah... while you're at it, try the words - Beloit Staples - in the box and click the I'm Feeling Lucky! button again.

Here... I'll save you the trouble...

Google search result - "useful webpage"- Click here!

Google search result - "Beloit Staples"- Click here!

What a hoot!

Massive Identity Harvesting!

2005-08-06T17:27:00.000-05:00

From Sunbelt Blog Entries...

Sunbeltblog: Identity Theft Update: "This was discovered by Patrick Jordan, a senior staff researcher here. Patrick is a veteran of spyware, and even he admits to never having seen something like this before. It's pretty staggering. "

Sunbeltblog: More on the identity theft ring: "Here is a quick idea of what happened: ... our most senior CoolWebSearch (CWS) expert, was doing research on a CWS exploit. During the course of infecting a machine, he discovered that (a) the machine he was testing became a spam zombie and (b) he noticed a call back to a remote server. He traced back the remote server and found an incredibly sophisticated criminal identity theft ring."

Hmmm... apparently linked to CWS? Connected to the Russian 'Mafia?' Harvesting personal information? Why doesn't this surprise me? It won't be long now and masses of the non-tech-literate will see and hear about this on CNN, FOX and NPR.

CWS uses spam email that exploits WindowsXP vulnerabilities and/or socially engineers the reader to get itself installed on the PC. Make sure your PC has installed all critical updates for Windows and its Internet Exploder browser.

(How bad is it online these days? Example: If you're online, running WinXP connected directly to the Internet without SP2 and without a firewall or router, it's already too late! Your PC was compromised in the time it took you to read this message!)

Remember: "It ain't free for nothing!"

While there are good, free online downloads, even they have a price! And that price is the cost of YOUR time and trouble to do your own research on it before you click that OK button! Fail to pay that fee and your PC will be owned and that owner will not be you.

Be smarter than the sleazeballs!

Check out the camera they're using!

2005-07-31T16:26:00.000-05:00

Yahoo! News Photos: "AFP - Sat Jul 30, 2005 - An Iraqi man has his image taken for security purposes at a checkpoint at the eastern entrance of the western city of Fallujah on July 25. The city which saw heavy battles last fall is still under tight security by Iraqi and US troops.(AFP/Mohammed Khodur)"

Is that a Canon A70 being used to take photos in Iraq for their new ID cards? You bet!

Photos like this help confirm my suggestion to use cameras like these simple, rugged Canons when going off to faraway foreign lands. HP, Fuji and Olympus also have reliable, simple digital camera models that use good ol' standard AA batteries. (Note: You should still have and use rechargables, but it's nice to have something to fall back on when recharging isn't an easily accomplished task.)

As long as we're talking cameras here, you might as well read the full review on the new Canon S2 IS digital camera at DPReview.com. A very nice, but not small camera.

Drooling yet? Remember... friends and family week starts TODAY - 7/31 - at Staples in Beloit and that means 12% off the Canon S2 IS if you're friend or family to me. (And promise to let me play with it when you get one. J/K!)

Retail Gangs: A New Breed of Thieves

2005-07-31T08:19:00.000-05:00

Yahoo! News:

'We're seeing an incredible amount of activity from organized retail theft gangs from the New York area all the way down into Richmond,' said Robert Wade, vice president of loss prevention for Hecht's.

Losses from organized retail theft have topped $30 billion annually, triple what they were a decade ago, according to the National Retail Federation, leading to higher prices, frequent out-of-stock problems and a more cumbersome shopping experience for consumers.

Wisconsin No-Call List Threatened - Channel 3000 News

2005-07-29T09:56:00.000-05:00

Yahoo! News: The state's 'do not call' list may be history by the end of the day Friday.

Telemarketers say states like Wisconsin shouldn't regulate the list so they're petitioning the FCC to make the laws invalid.

State consumer protection says if you want to protect the state list; e-mail your comments to the FCC by the end of the day Friday:
http://www.fcc.gov/cgb/ecfs.

(NOTE: The site was down Friday morning. You may have to keep trying.) [Worked for me!] You will need to enter docket number 02-278.

Any comments after today will no longer be considered.

So far, 10,000 comments have been sent by Wisconsinites.

Beloit Geotags

2005-07-23T18:21:00.000-05:00

Is this cool or what?!

Zoto GeoTags For Beloit Area

That's the new Hybird view of Google Maps - it lays map data (streets and borders) on top of the satelite image in a live scrolling window view. Those red balloons represent Geotagged photos I've uploaded for sharing on Zoto.com. Click and have a look... should be painless, and pop-up, and garbage-free.

TIP: Double-click an untagged spot on the map to center it, then zoom the view using the slider controls to the left.

Head Shot!

2005-07-23T08:08:00.000-05:00

Now this is nice composition!

Yahoo! News Photo: "Argentina's Guillermo Coria hits a forehand during his Davis Cup world group quarter-final singles match against Australia's Lleyton Hewitt in Sydney July 15, 2005. Hewitt defeated Coria 7-6 6-1 1-6 6-2 in the first match of the world group tie, giving Australia a 1-0 lead. REUTERS/Tim Wimborne."

Cars, cars, cars!

2005-07-20T09:13:00.000-05:00

Goodbye old friend...

... traded in for Ad's b-day present last Friday (see previous blog).

As I mentioned, this is an ironic twist since it's basically the car my wife was looking for last spring when we had a bad experience at our local Ford dealer.

How did we end up buying three cars from Mark Hendee at Bryden Motors?

It all started when I wanted to gift that old Geo Prizm up there to my son in late 2003. I ran into Mark at our store one afternoon while he was looking for someone to explain Palm PDAs to him. I learned he wanted to use it for selling cars at Bryden's. In passing, I happened to mention that I'd always wanted a PT Cruiser, but doubted I'd ever get one since Bryden Motors was on my wife's boycott list (a very short, but very long-lived list you don't ever want to be on) due to a lemon of a car we bought there in 1984 and they seemed out of my price range.

Long story short... Mark said he could win over my wife to give Bryden's another try and get me a deal I could afford. More story short... after a couple of weeks of back-and-forth... he did just that. Then Ad got the Geo you see above. (Its clear coat was fading then, too.)

Late in the spring of 2004, Suzi got the bug to replace her aging '93 Ford Escort Wagon which, at that time, was her favorite car of all time. She was sold on buying a Ford Focus, all she needed was a test drive to seal the deal so we arranged for one at the local Ford dealer. (In defense of what you're about to read, I think we got a new, inexperienced salesperson.)

I scheduled a test drive appointment for "around 6:30 pm" on Thursday, but we were ran late due to work and dinner and stuff. The salesperson called at about 6:15(!), asking if we were coming or not. Suzi had just gotten home. We finally got there a little after 7:00pm.

Now... remember... this was a test drive by scheduled appointment for an essentially done-deal car sale!

Car #1: Dead battery, this was the car waiting for us to drive. Salesperson took us to it.
Car #2: Found the keys, found the car. Salesperson helped us find it, but it was a 3-door (ZX3) STICK. No good.
Car #3: Found the keys, salesperson said "...it's a gray one out there..." handed us the plates and said she'd check the Escort's trade-in value. We searched the lot, it wasn't gray, it was blue. It had so much promotional writing on the front window ("Dude, you're getting a Dell!") that it couldn't be driven safely off the lot.

As we sat in the car, Suzi looked at me and said, "That's it. We're done here. Let's go." She got out of the car and we had to wait for the salesperson to finish their drive around the block in our Escort. When they breathlessly walked into the showroom, I handed over the dealer plate as Suzi said, "We're through here" and out she walked without looking back, leaving me with the salesperson and my mouth gaping open. It was 7:35 pm.

(My wife is a lesson in "customer service is everything." Businesses - You don't ever want to piss off my wife. Another story... Best Buy has been on her boycott list since 2000.)

While we drove back into town, I jokingly suggested we swing by Bryden's and look at the Neons. (I already knew that there's not really a car like the Focus wagon in Chrysler's car lineup.) She said, let's look, maybe we'll see "the guy we bought the Cruiser from..." We came back into town on Gardner Street and had to double-back to Bryden's and...

"It was dark and stormy night..." and it was late - 10 or 15 minutes to closing when we pulled into the lot across from Bryden's offices. We looked around and then who should we see standing down a ways on the sidewalk? Mark Hendee.

In TEN minutes... With the wind blowing and rain spitting... Mark had us test driving TWO vehicles. One - a Neon and another he recommended because my wife mentioned she drives to her mom's almost every other weekend. He said something to the effect, "...you don't want a small car, you want a highway car...something with power and comfort - like this Dodge Stratus." He was absolutely right, and he did this in something under 15 mminutes! And he assured us he could get us a deal to make it as affordable as the Focus or Neon.

This is the short version, and it took a week to close the deal, but in that 15 minutes Mark did everything right and far more than the Ford salesperson had managed with a day's warning. (We signed the papers and picked up the Stratus on a Tuesday - exactly 10 years after we bought the Escort we were getting rid of!)

Want a Chrysler? See Mark Hendee. He's 3-for-3 at our house - a car a year - 2003, 2004, and 2005.

Ad's new Focus ZX5:

My PT Cruiser and Suzi's Stratus:

Blogging photos via Zoto

2005-07-19T08:41:00.000-05:00

My current desktop wallpaper:

Ooo... I could get to liking this!

Blog abuse - Blog spam - Beware

2005-07-17T22:38:00.000-05:00

Here's a stunning example of Blog spam hawking virus, spyware, malware 'solutions' to paranoid PC users.

Read some of the entries to see how dericulous it is. It's just padding search engine placement with blog entries full of semi-clever keywords and referral links.

Blogger User Profile: Computer Saver:

Computer Saver Blogs:
Antivirus Clean
Bug Free Operation

Self portrait or not?

2005-07-17T10:48:00.000-05:00

The Landing up close
Originally uploaded by OldOnliner.

For some reason, when I look at this I think the guy kneeling at the lower left is the artist. You will note that profile is the only one holding a tool (hammer) for working metal.

Comparison photos:

This was originally posted directly from Flickr. Too bad you can't use Flickr to blog post to Yahoo 360.

2005-07-17T10:01:00.000-05:00

A fascinating blog by author David Brin...

Contrary Brin: "...let me reiterate a point that nobody else seems to be making. I think liberals make a terrible mistake by expressing their objections to this war in leftist or pacifist terms."

2005-07-16T12:38:00.000-05:00

One question! (A comment I posted on another person's blog...)

Yahoo! 360? - My Blog - Spyware Informer - Dell and Spyware: Don't Say It's So!:

You're thinking of Backweb? It's not [in HP PCs] anymore... hasn't been in a long time, unless it's named something else now. But there is ad serving software pre-installed on HP and Compaq machines. It's listed in Add/Remove programs.

Since I sell this stuff, I'd like these companies to answer me one question: 'When did it become OK to annoy your customers?'

My guess is it coincided with the blossoming of the internet and web when the old PC/online habit of referring to customers as 'users' gained currency (pun intended!) with Wall Street and mainstream media. It's easy to annoy 'customers' when you hand them a label equivalent to drug addicts.

Stick *that* observation in your pipe and smoke it!

2005-06-08T17:51:00.000-05:00

Ahhh... and this would perhaps be why we're out of HP color cartridges until sometime this summer?!

Forbes.com - Magazine Article: "Faces In The News - Hurd's HP Settles With InkCycle... Greg Levine, 06.08.05, 2:26 PM ET

Hewlett-Packard (nyse: HPQ - news - people ) on Wednesday said it came to terms with alleged patent infringer InkCycle. Led by Chief Executive Mark Hurd, the computer and printer maker in March filed a lawsuit against InkCycle.

The latter firm amasses used-HP printer cartridges, refurbishes and refills them with its own ink. It then markets them under the Staples (nasdaq: SPLS - news - people ) brand, said a HP spokesman quoted by The Associated Press. In the suit, HP claimed InkCycle was producing ink that violated the hardware giant's patents. Under the settlement, InkCycle agreed to modify its formulation--and pay Hewlett-Packard a fee. Financial terms of the agreement were not disclosed.

The AP quoted Pradeep Jotwani, HP senior vice president of imaging and printing supplies, as saying his company intends to 'constantly monitor InkCycle and others for possible patent infringement.' InkCycle Vice President Brad Roderick said in a statement, 'We worked quickly and in collaboration with HP to procure reformulated inks when we learned of the problem and believe that helped bring this matter to a speedy resolution.'

2005-06-03T07:24:00.000-05:00

Sunbeltblog: Annenberg study on how misinformed internet consumers are:

"An interesting and somewhat depressing report by the Annenberg Public Policy Center. The study, entitled 'Open to Exploitation: American Shoppers Online and Offline', has tidbits like this:

The study indicates that many adults who use the internet believe incorrectly
that laws prevent online and offline stores from selling their personal
information.

• 75% do not know the correct response—false—to the statement, “When a website has a privacy policy, it means the site will not share my information with other websites and companies.”

• 64% of American adults who have used the internet recently do not know it is legal for “an online store to charge different people different prices at the same time of day.” 71% don’t know it is legal for an offline store to do that.

• 68% of American adults who have used the internet in the past month believe
incorrectly that “a site such as Expedia or Orbitz that compares prices on different airlines must include the lowest airline prices.”

• 49% could not detect illegal “phishing”—the activity where crooks posing as banks send emails to consumers that ask them to click on a link wanting them to verify their account."

2005-06-01T20:55:00.000-05:00

Beloit Daily News:

"Preuschl Jared Allan Preuschl, 20, of Beloit, died Monday, in Beloit Memorial Hospital. Funeral services will be 10:30 a.m., Saturday, in the Daley Murphy Wisch & Associates Funeral Home 2355 Cranston Road, Beloit, Wis. Visitation will be from 6 to 8 p.m., Friday, in the funeral home."

2005-05-31T09:31:00.000-05:00

I remember when POV first came out in like 1993 or 1994. It's still going and it's still doing really neat stuff!

POVCOMP 2004: Hall of Fame:

"The images presented on this page show a selection of the types of art that can be created using POV-Ray. To a new user the concept of creating such images may seem daunting, but remember - all of the artists featured here were one day new users themselves."

2005-05-27T07:37:00.000-05:00

An excellent read!

Sunbeltblog: Report on the spyware market:

"Report on the spyware market just out. Morgan Stanley's report on the spyware market. Read it here."

2005-05-20T21:58:00.000-05:00

Miscreants! You might think you can hide, but you can't!

Computers Seized in Data-Theft Probe:

"Computers Seized in Data-Theft Probe Federal Investigators Remove PCs, Discs From Several Locations; LexisNexis Break-In Linked to Paris Hilton Phone Hacking

By Brian Krebs
washingtonpost.com
Thursday, May 19, 2005; 6:16 PM

The federal investigation into the massive theft of sensitive personal records from database giant LexisNexis Inc. intensified this week with the execution of search warrants and seizure of evidence from several individuals across the country, according to federal law enforcement officials."

2005-05-18T20:09:00.000-05:00

Fascinating photographs of a closed and decaying amusement park in Japan. Don't worry about reading the captions, just check out the photos.

Abandoned Amusement Park T" in the Touhoku region

2005-05-03T22:08:00.000-05:00

How to integrate SP2 into the original, older version of WinXp! COOL!

You may receive the "Setup cannot copy the file staxmem.dll" error message when you try to install IIS on a computer that is running Windows XP Professional with SP2:

"Method 2: Integrate the Windows XP Professional SP2 installation files into the original version of the Windows XP Professional installation files

To integrate the Windows XP Professional SP2 installation
files into the original version of the Windows XP Professional installation files, follow these steps:

1. Create a new folder that does not contain any files. To do this, follow these steps:

a. Click Start, click Run, type cmd, and then click OK.
b. At the command prompt, type cd \, and then press ENTER.
c. At the command prompt, type md winxp, and then press ENTER.

2. Put the original version of the Windows XP Professional CD into your CD drive.

3. At the command prompt, type the following command, and then press ENTER:
xcopy /E /I /V CD_Drive:\i386\*.* /s Drive:\winxp
Note In this command, CD_Drive is the CD drive where the original version of the Windows XP Professional CD is located.

4. Remove the Windows XP Professional CD from the CD drive, and then put the Windows XP Professional SP2 CD in the CD
drive.

5. At the command prompt, type the following command, and then press ENTER:
CD_Drive:
Note In this command, CD_Drive is the CD drive where the Windows XP Professional SP2 CD is located.

6. At the command prompt, type the following command, and then press ENTER:
xpsp2 /integrate:Drive:\winxp

7. When you are prompted to locate the Windows XP Professional installation files, type
Drive:\winxp
and then press ENTER.

2005-05-02T19:14:00.000-05:00

Repost of January Blog! So good it was worth repeating. It's laughs galore on every page when you see the whole manual!
Shades of "All your base are belong to us!"

Check out the scan of page 1 from the manual that came included with a KByte 128 MP3 player I bought on clearance at Staples last week (January). Click the link below the image to load a PDF version of the entire manual (4.4 meg).

http://www.geocities.com/mark_e_p/stuff/k-byte_mp3_manual.pdf

Standout phrases like, "...operation guide of the product is disaccord with the manual" and "Know well with player" and "Basal function" are funny enough, but every page is full of hilarious translations!
And then there's the screen shot of the format player's memory:

http://www.geocities.com/mark_e_p/stuff/mp3_player_screen.jpg

You might miss the misspelled title bar ("MP3 Plyer"), but no one can miss the one that had me ROFLMAO - "All the data of the disk will lose!"

No matter how the device works (and its not bad), the laughter alone was worth the price - $34 - of admission!

2005-04-26T09:49:00.000-05:00

"Same as it ever was..."

PCWorld.com at Yahoo - First Look: Symantec's So-So Spyware Protection: "Like previous versions of Norton Internet Security, 2005 is meant to be an all-inclusive security package for Windows 2000 and XP computers that includes necessities such as a firewall and antivirus protection in addition to its brand-new spyware detection app. As a result it's a big program, and a big download. The 33MB download installs approximately 314MB of files, 11 services, 3 startup items, 2 toolbars, and 2 BHOs (Browser Helper Objects), all of which results in 8 additional processes running in memory on the PC, which made my test system noticeably less responsive."

Sigh... Symantec? Norton? If you're willing to go through the hassle of removing all Symantec product from your system, try Panda or CA's eTrust EZ Antivirus. Anything but Symantec!

2005-04-24T18:45:00.000-05:00

Webshots Community - OldOnliner's Photo Home Page:

Beloit Riverfront 2005
View Guestbook
Photos: 10
Created: Jan 16, 2005

Scenes From Home
View Guestbook
Photos: 4
Created: Jan 16, 2005

Christmas in Galena
View Guestbook
Photos: 11
Created: Jan 16, 2005

Beloit Riverfront 2004
View Guestbook
Photos: 9
Created: Apr 24, 2005

2005-04-22T21:23:00.000-05:00

If you ever look in JavaCool's SpywareBlaster list of Restricted domains, you will find there are currently 1316 domain names (domain.com) associated with CWS! These guys do not care who they hurt or how they make their money!

Threatchaos.com: Cool Web Search: The Ebola of Adware:

Yesterday I promised to reveal the most prevalent adware on the Internet. It will come as no surprise that it is Cool Web Search. Of course there are many versions of this nasty piece of work.

Here is the break down from the most recent Webroot Spy Audit results. Out of 1.49 million machines:

Version -- Number of machines
CoolWWW -- 227,513
CWS AboutBlank -- 187,246
CWS sp.html hijack -- 7,439
CWS_AnalyzeIE -- 7,569
CWS_Cassandra -- 6,860
CWS_Directwebsearch Hijacker -- 9,904
CWS_Ehttp Hijacker -- 16,978
CWS_Hputi -- 9,130
CWS_iesprt -- 5,616
CWS_mailhook -- 5,203
CWS_NS3 -- 167,897
CWS_NS3 Hijacker -- 57,123
CWS_xplugin -- 9,732

Total CWS -- 718,210

Half of all machines on the Internet are infected with Cool Web Search! Yesterday I used some data that is available on revenue generating capability of adware to project what each of the adware vendors are doing in terms of annual revenue. If I were to use the same numbers to calculate CWS's revenue it would be well over $200 million. It is hard to imagine an illicit group of hackers garnering that sort of revenue. I suspect that CWS is much worse at maintaining consistent revenue per infection because it is the Ebola of the Internet. It is so malicious that it tends to break the ability of a machine to browse effectively and therefore limits the number of ads and click-throughs that can be generated. Like Ebola, it kills its host before it can be productive.

2005-04-22T21:22:00.000-05:00

Threatchaos.com: The Adware Market Report:

Webroot's advanced research lab has access to huge volumes of data on adware, system monitors, Trojans and cookies. The data is used to come up with the Top Ten Threats list.

I took some time this past week to dig into the numbers a little more deeply. Now, a word of caution: these results are from the spy audit that Webroot conducts along with Earthlink and reports every quarter. The data does not come from installed versions of Spy Sweeper. (Think about it, if you have Spy Sweeper installed you don?t have any of these threats, right?)

Here are the raw numbers for the number 2 through 7 most prevalent pieces of adware we found:

Gator (GAIN) - 215,866
180search Assistant - 203,707
BlazeFind - 178,230
ISTbar/AUpdate - 159,137
Transponder (vx2) - 158,505
Internet Optimizer - 154,901

These results are from 1.49 million machines scanned.

So, if this were a market research report Claria (GAIN) and 180Solutions (180search Assistant) could each claim a presence on 15% of machines scanned. If we take the leap and assume that the sample is representative of the Internet in total we can estimate how many machines have each of these products installed on them. Using the reported number of active Internet users from the same time frame, 265 million, we get the following number of installs for each of these products:

Gator (GAIN) - 38,400,000
180search Assistant - 36,200,000
BlazeFind - 31,700,000
ISTbar/AUpdate - 28,300,000
Transponder (vx2) - 28,200,000
Internet Optimizer - 27,500,000

2005-04-18T19:00:00.000-05:00

Anti-spyware warrior, Eric Howe, has some interesting points to make as he reminisces on the state of the spyware problem in The FTC Spyware Workshop: One Year Later

One year ago this week (April 19 to be precise), the FTC hosted its Spyware Workshop: ... Unfortunately, the most significant developments in the year since the FTC workshop are all bad news for internet users.

Hmmm... Eric's summary of the current state of things forgets to mention a recent survey indicating that 90% (9 in 10!) of PCs are infested with some kind of adware/malware/spyware.

I'm looking for a link to the news article... Ah... there it is!

Panda Software - Press release

Glendale, CA - March 29, 2005 - Spyware is one of the most common security risks and directly affects user privacy. What’s more, it is one of the main reasons why users call internal technical support centers in companies. The data is surprising: according to a recent report compiled by the companies Webroot and Earthlink, 9 in 10 computers have spyware installed. This means that 90 percent of computers are affected by this type of malware. What’s more, an average of 25 spyware programs were installed on the computers studied. Similarly, data collected by Panda Software’s free online antivirus solution, Panda ActiveScan -the new version of which also detects spyware-, shows that 84 percent of the malware installed on computers is spyware.

Shameless plug: We just got the latest version of Panda Anti-Virus/Anti-spy in stock at Staples. And it really is an excellent product that's worth checking out.

2005-04-17T19:53:00.000-05:00

More spyware in the news! Symantec's Norton Security products finally join the anti-spyware party!

Yahoo! News - Symantec Hops Aboard Anti-Spyware Train:

"Taking a page out of rival Microsoft Corp.'s playbook, Symantec Corp. rolled out a free public beta of the new Norton Internet Security 2005 AntiSpyware Edition, adding spyware-detection capabilities to a product suite that already features virus protection, spam detection, intrusion protection and content filtering."

eWeek - Symantec Preps Anti-Spyware Launch as Revenue Climbs: Symantec Preps Anti-Spyware Launch as Revenue Climbs - By Mark Hachman - eWeek

"Executives at security solutions provider Symantec said they're confident that the company's business will continue to thrive in the face of Microsoft's Windows XP Service Pack 2, and they promised a comprehensive anti-spyware package in the next few weeks.

"In a conference call Wednesday announcing the company's earnings for the second fiscal quarter, executives said Symantec's revenues had increased dramatically from the same period last year, even lacking the presence of a big-name worm that would energize sales."

Symantec, Inc. - Announcement of Public Beta:

"Norton Internet Security™ 2005 AntiSpyware Edition provides essential protection from viruses, hackers, and privacy threats. This easy-to-use, integrated product includes virus protection, spyware removal, a firewall, intrusion prevention, privacy protection, spam detection, and content filtering.

"This edition includes powerful new Norton™ Spyware Protection (available for Windows® 2000 and Windows XP only), which automatically detects and removes both spyware and adware. Norton Spyware Protection even helps you identify adware that’s needed to run programs you want."

2005-04-16T11:34:00.000-05:00

Good reads... not all related...

A discussion thread about using iTunes with MP3 players other than Apple iPods - Is Itunes compatible with any other MP3 Player? - by "TJ Talluto"

Simple explanation - with pictures! - on how spyware happens - Howstuffworks "How Spyware Works" . All-in-all How Stuff Works is an interesting web site with accessible, though sometimes dated, write-ups.

And for those who wonder why I am always saying that there's "no easy answer" to spyware/malware/adware problems... try following the Q and A in this solution discussion at Spywarewarrior Forum - Spyware Warrior :: View topic - hijacked and frustrated [VX2]-

Hi, My browser has been Hijacked. by malware I have run the ad-aware and system mechanic sypware keep coming up with the same malware and I cannot display any pages with my browser. I have verizon dsl they have not helped. running windows xp-2 and internet explorer. Looks like something about shopnav. If that helps any

Now... don't cheat yourself... scroll down and read the last post from spyware removal expert Blender. She has a neat summary, including links, on how to protect and immunize yourself to future spyware/malware/adware problems.

2005-03-30T09:15:00.000-06:00

Posted some new and updated photos here yesterday:

Spring 2005 Scenes and Panoramas

Be sure to check out the monstrous panorama of Maple Avenue reconstruction. Just gotta love modern photostitching software.

Some day I'll get a camera monopod that I can easily carry and these will get even better. (Sure... and someday I'll get a better camera, too? Ha!)

The new PC sure makes all this stuff way easier and much faster. Too bad more people can't optimize their PCs and remove the useless WindowsXP embellishments (too numerous to mention). TIP: Make sure you're using ClearType with an LCD monitor [Control Panel - Display - Appearance - Effects].

More later - the day is too nice to waste!

2004-10-31T17:21:00.000-06:00

More information and tips on Spyware, Adware, Malware and other net pests. How to clean a messed up PC and how to prevent getting one in the first place. Check your PC for browser hijackers, host file exploits, spyware, adware and other nasty pests. There is no easy answer or magic bullet to solve such problems. Understanding, knowledge, safe and smart internet behavior remains your best hope for peace from these abusive, annoying, and opportunistic pests. (This was compiled from posts I've made and read in the last week or so.)

Remember this: "It ain't free for nothing." SO READ THE FINE PRINT BEFORE CLICKING "YES." (TIP: Key in on the 'third party' clauses.)

* Close POP-UPS by pressing the Alt+F4 key combo, do NOT click buttons (like CANCEL, OK, or X) in a suspicious pop-up window as they may not reliably do what you expect! (Hold an 'Alt' key down while you press the F4 key.)

FOR INTERNET EXPLORER USERS! Click on the TOOLS menu and INTERNET OPTIONS while using Internet Explorer OR Go to Control Panel, switch to Classic View, and use the INTERNET OPTIONS applet located there. Then...

1. Try to stay up-to-date with the current critical updates for Windows and any security programs on your PC. Despite what you may have heard, WindowsXP users should install Service Pack 2. (For best results, disable your anti-virus before doing updating!)
2. Get a good anti-virus program. See http://www.microsoft.com/athome/security/ for information. Norton Internet Security 2005 is an excellent 'complete solution' choice and very easy for end-users, but will not remove spyware.
3. Get Spybot-Search and Destroy, Ad-Aware SE. Update it BEFORE a daily scan to check for spyware and trojans. An even better solution is Webroot's Spysweeper for $29.99.
4. Get a good firewall program. Zone Alarm at http://www.zonelabs.com/ is popular and free, but isn't very stable. See also, Sygate's Personal Firewall at http://soho.sygate.com/products/spf_standard.htm .
5 - Advanced Tab along the top. UNcheck "Install on Demand" option.
6 - Security Tab along the top. Click TRUSTED SITES and make sure that whatever is listed there really ARE sites you completely trust!
7 - Security Tab along the top. Click Restricted Sites and then Click "Custom Level" and make sure EVERYTHING is disabled! Then either manually add nasty sites as you find them, or go and get Eric Howe's IE-SpyAd from https://netfiles.uiuc.edu/ehowes/www/resource.htm to add a HUGE list of nasty sites.
FOR OUTLOOK EXPRESS USERS! Spyware doesn't usually result from viewing email, but it can if you're wildly out of date on Windows updates and too open with security settings. While using Outlook Express...
8 - To safely use Outlook Express for any email, go into it's TOOLS menu and make sure to place it in RESTRICTED ZONE.
9 - OUTLOOK EXPRESS! Be sure to turn OFF LookOut Exploit's PREVIEW PANE option. While viewing your INBOX, click VIEW- LAYOUT and UNcheck the Preview Pain option.

******

For more information, see:

http://security.yahoo.com/

http://www.pcpitstop.com/spycheck/default.asp

https://netfiles.uiuc.edu/ehowes/www/main-nf.htm

https://netfiles.uiuc.edu/ehowes/www/info8.htm

http://spywarewarrior.com/asw-test-guide.htm

http://www.spywareinfo.com/~merijn/

ANTI-SPYWARE HELP FORUMS:

http://www.spywareinfo.com/

http://spywarewarrior.com/

If you can handle it, a great idea is to get a different browser - Firefox or Mozilla. You'll know you're candidate for such a switch if you can figure out how to do so without my help. (Sorry, that's just the way it is, folks.)

Great utility for managing junk in Windows: http://www.winpatrol.com/.

If you use IE, get a toolbar that actually works to block pop-ups! Try one of these freebies:

Earthlink's - http://www.earthlink.net/home/software/toolbar/

Google's - http://toolbar.google.com/

******

This document is archived on the web at: http://www.geocities.com/mark_e_p/stuff/antispyware.htm.

2004-10-25T18:47:00.000-05:00

Finally! Released to return to work full-time!
No pseudocyst detected in pancreas.
No inflammation.
Blood work normal.
Lost 15 pounds (so far).
Need to heal internals, adjust to diet and start working out.
We're on the way to normal again! COOL!

---------------

After a week on the feet for over 8 hours a day, I'm reminded again of the bone spur growing up the back of my left heel on top of where my Achilles attaches - OUCH. Oh well... Cost of growing old. As long as I keep moving it feels pretty much OK. Weird kind of problem.

---------------

B-Day is Election Day! And this coming weekend is the annual Beloit Corporation Quarter Century Club dinner. The club is open to all former employees now and is really an annual reunion. This year, the event is at 6 pm on 11/06 at the Ramada Inn in South Beloit.

2004-09-21T17:08:00.000-05:00

I just returned from a week in the hospital. This followed what is easily the worst attack of pancreatitis I've ever experienced.

http://www.google.com/search?&ie=UTF-8&q=Pancreatic+Pseudocysts

After being home only a few hours... I've learned bunches about what may cause the attacks of accute recurring pancreatitis I've had much of my life. It turns out those abdominal pains were not "my imagination" but were - ARE - real and symptomatic of the more serious attacks. As I get older, these attacks seem to occur more frequently and with higher pain levels.

http://www.surgery.usc.edu/divisions/tumor/pancreasdiseases/web%20pages/PANCREATITIS/pancreatic%20pseudocys1.html

http://www.emedicine.com/med/topic2674.htm

Now we need to consult with Doctors...

Doctor Eugene Gonzales:
http://www.beloitmemorialhospital.org/medical_staff/staff_popup.cfm?staffid=30

Doctor Eric Eisenberg:
http://www.beloitmemorialhospital.org/medical_staff/staff_popup.cfm?staffid=40

... confirm the diagnosis, and examine treatment options.

Maybe things will change, but right now I'm a little disappointed with the specialists at UW Hospitals.

As usual, Beloit Memorial Hospital did a pretty darn good job making things comfortable while working around the usual tight staffing limits. (I had 5 meals during this week's stay - that's some kind of record!)

2004-09-12T15:49:00.000-05:00

Call this one, "Just click NO."

First of all there's a great summary of the problem in the Acrobat file linked below. This document should be required reading for anyone offering PC help these days.

The Center for Democracy and Technology
Ghosts in Our Machines:
Background and Policy Proposals on the “Spyware” Problem

(If your browser didn't ask permission to open the .PDF in the link above, your browser isn't secure. Don't feel bad, most of your browsers won't be asking.)
I posted this somewhere this morning:
You need to check for spyware/adware.

Get Ad-Aware SE, Spybot Search
and Destroy, and HijackThis. Install,

update, and scan with these.

Great site: http://www.netrn.net/spywareblog/
And got this reply:
I wondered why you recommended one of the above --

To which, I respond...

These people are not ethical and they do not care what happens to their victims anymore than the script kiddies or former eastern block hackers do when they write viruses. So when dealing with spyware, I try to recommend tangential, informative sites instead of direct links to the software tools. I do this for a number of reasons:

1 - People need to understand the problem before dealing with it.

2 - Spyware infestations often block, or intercept and re-direct, attempts to reach and download the most effective and common tools. Therefore, you need to understand the problem before dealing with it.

3 - Spyware/Adware malwares are constantly changing and hard to pin down. Therefore, you need to understand the problem before dealing with it.

Go, read, get educated, understand and then heal thyself.

HijackThis is listed last because it is a last resort. It is not recommended for use by casual PC users, but it is necessary when you have something new. When that happens, HijackThis can help you disable the pest and restore PC functionality. Then you can come back later with more information and either hack the registry to remove it, or remove it using one of the now-updated aforementioned software tools.

Most call-center support Techs, reading scripts don't understand this problem very well yet, but they're learning... slowly.

(How stupid are the marketing droids? Dell, HP, Logitech, M$ and many, many other large companies still bundle adware with their new products. Stupid? Yes. When did it become OK to annoy customers? And how many degrees does it take before you realize its a bad thing? The answer is ZERO as in 0. There is nothing common about common sense.)

The simplest suggestion is: When in doubt, just click "NO."

2004-09-11T22:05:00.000-05:00

Last weekend, I updated my web page, created a screensaver, and took a few bike rides. I discovered a new feature of an old program I've been using for years. I used it to create a page for recent photos - Sunday's Bike Ride. Cool, huh?

By way of fairness, I need to mention how I noticed the city is finally fixing the sidewalk I mentioned in an earlier blog. I'm sure this was in the works long before my blog about it. Way to go, Beloit!

I've got to wonder if this is just a sidewalk project or are there plans to accomodate easy access to the street at the spot pictured here?

Don't forget to vote, Tuesday.

2004-08-21T21:55:00.000-05:00

Many thanks to Jeanette for bringing this wonderful item to my attention. What a great gift for your favorite geek this Christmas!

Cyberguys - USB WATCH, BLACK W/SILVER FACE, 128MB

Cyberguys - USB WATCH, BLACK W/SILVER FACE, 256MB

Cool, huh? One will do nicely, just remember bigger is better. ;-)

2004-08-15T11:58:00.000-05:00

NOTE: This is not an advertisement or a solicitation for sales.

I'm surprised we still have a bunch of these refurbished HP Photosmart 735
digital cameras in stock at our store. At $99.98 these are just a great way to get into digital photography! At this price why not join the digital camera revolution and start shooting low-cost, utterly guilt-free digital photos? Sure there are better cameras, there always are! But all-around, HPs are way simple to use (esp. for the non-WinXP user!), have good battery life, good photo quality, and a better-than-average feature set.

Digital Photo Review Information Page on HP 735 - http://www.dpreview.com/news/0303/03030301hp735.asp

Compare:

* Refurbished HP 735 camera at $99.98 + 128Mb SD-card $39.94 + rechargable batteries $14.99 + camera bag $4.99 + 2 year warranty $19.99 = $179.89 Total!

* A brand new HP 735 camera = $179.98 for the camera alone!

Staples Buying Information Page for the Refurbed HP 735 digital camera - http://www.staples.com/Catalog/Browse/Sku.asp?PageType=1&Sku=577184

2004-08-07T12:08:00.000-05:00

How sad that I had to go 'out of town' to find some decent coverage of the John Kerry campaign event in Beloit last Tuesday.

Tickets didn't ensure chance to see Kerry
The Janesville Gazette - Wednesday, August 4, 2004

Highlight quotes from the article:

"Thelma Siker of Janesville ... asked to talk to Heinz Kerry, in her native tongue, Portuguese. The two chatted for a couple of minutes."

"After word spread that Heinz Kerry would chat with locals at Bagels & More, media and others anxiously gathered outside the small cafe.

"The crowd was a surprise for the store's employees, who knew nothing about the plan."

[More confusion and misunderstanding from organizers? As we now know, Theresa Heinz Kerry planned and did stop at the downtown Monroe institution of Baumgartners to sample their world-famous cheese and beer. I am pretty sure someone knew of this well in advance, but the exact information failed to accurately filter down the food chain to Beloit street level. (And they didn't find any WMDs, either.) ]

"Also in the crowd were the superintendents of the county's two largest school districts, Tom Evert from Janesville and Beloit Superintendent Bette Lang.

"Afterward, Evert took pains to say he would have been honored to attend a political speech by President Bush as well."

[Somehow space didn't permit the article to mention these two are married.]

Vendors sat throughout the grounds to sell Kerry/Edwards paraphernalia like pins and flags while the eager crowd waited for security checks.

[The BDN covered much of this stuff in a photo feature with little, if any, captioning. Proof that a photo isn't always worth more than few words.]

"Who was that guy running the microphone around to people who wanted to ask Kerry questions? Yup, that was Dan Schooff... "

Here are two photos of John Kerry taken at the meet-and-greet outside after the rally (provided by anonymous friend):

2004-08-01T12:08:00.000-05:00

Some things just make you wonder about our school district. Let's start with these wonderful new trees planted along the riverbank behind BMHS:

I remember watching Dutch Elm Disease march down Beloit's terraces - from tree-to-tree, lot-to-lot and block-to-block - eventually wiping out all the huge elm trees that lined and canopied Beloit's streets. It was very depressing. By the time I graduated from BMHS, Beloit's 'old city' looked almost as barren as Park Meadow (off Murphy's Woods Road) does now.

So why are all these same-species trees planted side-by-side, in a row, and so close together? It is no longer recommended, and Beloit's terrace tree program strongly discourages, the planting of same species trees in rows near each other. I also know from personal experience that you need more space between trees than what appears above.

Doesn't our school district employ some pretty well-educated people who understand and teach (imagine that!) biology and environmental science? So... how did we get this? Educate me.

Heck, I can't help but wonder if these maple trees are even appropriate for a riverbank planting? Oh yeah, and my son (see below) wants to know what happened to the big willow trees behind BMHS. Why were they cut down and not replaced?

Wait, there's more! How many more trees or books (gasp!) could our district have purchased if they'd skipped the silly plaques in front of each tree?

Each plaque, and therefore each tree, represents a school in the district Here's a close up:

Now, I don't know about you, but this all seems pretty silly and wasteful to me.

Wait... we're not done yet, there's still more! Maybe they could have used the time and concrete for the plaques to improve the looks, navigability, and safety of the area where the riverwalk ends south of BMHS? Here's what I'm talking about:

This spot represents an area of future development/improvement plans as part of the whole Beloit2000 plan. It is also in the gray area... between City and School properties. In other words, nobody wants to do anything. So it sits for years just as you see it here...

WHY? Because its in some ten-year plan to fix or improve? Because we can't agree on who will spend the few hundred dollars it would take to fix? What's so hard about making this look better and be safer?

Look closely and you should be able to see the pipe sticking up. (Look for a dark spot, right and a little up from center, between grass and dirt path.) You'd think that alone would get the district's risk management team to force some kind of action.

This doesn't require anything fancy. A little landscaping, a bit of fill, and layer of blacktop 3 to 4 feet wide and - POOF - all better! What is so hard about this?

Where are our school district's skills and priorities? Where's our school board?

But, you say, 'you're nitpicking' or 'this is micromanaging to the extreme.' It is, but that's what you get when a governmental enterprise suffers from bad management - micromanagement from elected officials and the electorate. What other choice do you have? That's simple: Get new management.

Think about it.

(You can see the originals of these photos at: http://www.geocities.com/mark_e_p/blogimages .)