T-Shirts Anyone?

I think I'm going to make a couple of T-Shirts up with our puppy on them. Anyone want some let me know. This is the image I am going to use...

I should have thought about it before Valentines Day. I could have Photoshop'd in a box of chocolates or flowers in her mouth. Oh well, whats coming up now... St. Patricks Day... don't know what I could do with that. Maybe Easter, she could be carrying an Easter basket or something.

Trinity is sleeping on the futon behind me while I am writing this. She must be having a dream because she is half-barking, half-wimpering in her sleep. Sometimes her legs start moving around like she is really running fast in her dream. All she can do is dream about running now because she has a broken toe with a splint and a bunch of bandaging wrapped around it. The bandage is pink and matches her collar so even though she can't run very well at least she looks good.

Phillippines Sunset

Jayson has been stationed off the coast of the Phillippines, as his ship is providing a base for aid operations to the area. They have supplies and helicopters going in and out. I believe it was for the mud-slide disasters they have had.

He sent me a picture of a sunset from the ship taken a day or two ago... but I think they are like 12 hours ahead of us so I guess it could be setting RIGHT NOW! :-)

Nozzle

Kyle Walker is in a band called Nozzle. We watched them a few weeks ago in their 1st round Bandemonium playoff at Durty Nellies in Palatine. I think their next show is Fri. March 3rd. Come on out and vote!

Jayson's Blog on MySpace

Jayson has a blog on MySpace for anyone who would like to check it out. Unfortunately you have to be a member of MySpace to leave comments for him (unlike this cool blogger site where anyone can leave me a comment)... :-)

Anyway, check it out here for exciting info on Navy life in Japan.

Tina has one too, but it is insanely 15 year-old girlish and it kind of gave me a headache. :-)

Albino Fawn Found in Texas

There was a strange story around this... I wasn't sure what was true or not, so I checked it out with our friends at the Urban Legends site and they verify that though the pictures appear real, there are several versions of the story floating around. You can check out the myth analysis of the email here if you are so inclined.

Thanks Jay for sending these pics over.

I found a few cool video clips for your viewing pleasure

Like a little Jackie Chan looking for a job:

My wife works out...

This is why I don't work out:

Like John Mayer?

...then you'll like this:

COOL BEANS

I found this really cool site: PANDORA. It is a free site that creates a custom radio station for you on the fly, based on a song or artist that you enter. You choose something that you know you like and it will pick another song that it thinks you will like based on your entry. It will continue to pick songs for you, which you can skip or add to a favorites list. You can fine-tune what songs it chooses for you by giving the song a thumbs up or thumbs down. Very cool! Check it out.

The Pandora site also mentions some cool devices you can use to play their songs (or other streaming audio or static songs of various formats from your pc) through your stereo or send to other parts of your house. The SqueezeBox has got to be the coolest!

Happy Valentines Day!

If you still need to get your flowers, teddy bear, chocolate... whatever, your time is running out.

LA Cops Fight Car Chases With GPS Devices

By Laurie Sullivan Courtesy of TechWeb News

The Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) will become the first law enforcement agency to outfit cars with a device that propels and sticks a Global Positioning System (GPS) onto a fleeing car.

The department will mount the StarChase LLC device in the grill of some squad cars in the fall. "Officers in the car would control a green laser light, similar to an aiming device that fixes on your target," said LAPD Lieutenant Paul Vernon on Friday. "A small dart-like device is propelled from the officer's car."

The LAPD is hopeful the GPS device will reduce the number of high-speed car chases through the city. The department conducted more than 600 vehicle pursuits in 2005, up from 581 in the prior year, said Vernon.

Rather than engage in a high-speed chase that is dangerous for the public and police, an officer can trigger the GPS tracking device from their car. The officer also will have a remote unit, about the size of a device that unlocks a car, when they're outside the patrol car.

Each StarChase unit can fire two GPS tracking devices in case the first one misses or does not stick to the vehicle. The GPS device consists of a battery and a radio transmitter embedded in an epoxy compound. The tag affixes to the suspect's vehicle and transmits its location via satellite to police headquarters where it is superimposed over a map displayed on a computer.

The GPS tag activates at impact. It transmits the car's exact position via a wireless modem. An encrypted cellular backbone delivers continuous position updates to the StarChase server that pushes location-based information to authorized users through a password-protected Web portal.

The delay between the transmission and the refresh-picture rate from the Web server is about two to three seconds. The system uses data transmission encryption to ensure security. StarChase said the platform is approved by the National Security Agency.

The LAPD expects trails to last between four and six months. The technology is still in development. A few questions remain. For example, it's not clear the optimal distance a patrol car must follow behind a vehicle in pursuit. Vernon said it's probably "similar distance an officer would be in most gun fights, which is fairly close, about 21 feet."

The GPS device is one of three new technologies the department will deploy. Others include a small Taser gun and a new crime analysis lab.

Speeding Ticket Got You Down?

"Fighting the Typical Radar ticket" article from the National Motorists Association is a must-read:

http://www.motorists.org/issues/tickets/build_a_case.html

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