Archive for the ' General' Category

Knots

Wednesday, December 7th, 2005 | 10:12

MAKE blog had a link to this page on how to tie various knots: I Will Knot!, with video demonstrations of the tying process. Next time I stop by Wal-Mart or Home Depot, I’ll have to pick up some nylon rope.
A couple months ago, I stopped by the Lakewood YMCA’s taihojutsu class. One [...]

City Data

Thursday, November 17th, 2005 | 11:03

City Data looks like useful summary information for all sorts of US cities. Here’s the page for Ohio’s Bigger Cities (over 6000 residents) and Cleveland in particular. Lots of neat demographic, climate, economic, etc., information.

London Bombed

Thursday, July 7th, 2005 | 07:13

It seems to be Madrid again, but I feel closer to London than to Madrid, knowing some people there (friends and co-worker) and having visited.
I’m not sure if anything new needs to be said that wasn’t already said about Madrid. It’s still early, regardless.
News comes in slowly. I found out about the bombings [...]

U.S. Customs Registration

Thursday, May 26th, 2005 | 14:57

Holland America sent us a “Planning & Advice” booklet for our upcoming Alaska trip, one section of which said to register valuables with U.S. Customs to avoid any hassles when re-entering the country. We’re stopping in Vancouver for a couple of days, so we don’t bypass Customs through the Holland America shuttle. On [...]

Plastics Recycling System

Wednesday, May 4th, 2005 | 18:03

Here’s a handy chart detailing the various plastics used in packaging and products, identified by their recycling number. It’s handy to figure out what you can do to a given plastic bottle, in terms of heating or storing stuff in it.
I found this chart after a discussion on whether it was safe to microwave [...]

Gizmodo is Hiring an Editor

Tuesday, April 5th, 2005 | 12:58

Gizmodo is hiring an editor. After some encouragement from friends, I’ve sat down and wrote up the requisite three Gizmodo-like stories on tech products and thrown my hat into the ring. I don’t have much by way of recent gadgets — the TV is probably the newest, fanciest thing (or maybe the Tivo) [...]

TaxCut 2004

Tuesday, March 22nd, 2005 | 09:30

Taxes are all done except the mailing. I was able to E-File the Federal return, but have to mail in paper copies of the Ohio and New York state returns, because partial-year residents can’t E-File. As usual, there’s a Federal tax refund — mortgage interest deductions and all that — but I was [...]

Fund Raising Week at NPR

Thursday, March 17th, 2005 | 09:29

It’s the last week of the semi-annual NPR pledge drive, and one thing I’ve noticed is that, over the years, the asked for pledge amounts have increased drastically. I remember when NPR or PBS would ask for $20 pledges as a first level. Granted, this was many years ago and inflation would have [...]

Investment Vehicles

Saturday, March 5th, 2005 | 08:53

A few weeks ago, I spoke with an American Express Financial Advisor (AEFA), mainly because we had gone through a series of sea-changes in 2004: the start of residency, moving to Cleveland, the apartment sale and what to do with the proceeds. Having a third-party look at things was a reasonable idea, and we [...]

The Gates

Tuesday, March 1st, 2005 | 16:18

Now that everyone with a camera (including cell phones) along with their pet monkeys have taken photos of The Gates, it’s time to post my set:

(Most of the shooting was done with the 18-70mm kit lens and with the new 80-200mm bazooka. The big Nikkor actually handles well and has a good balance. [...]