Events

I'm still getting to know the Canon 20D that Anne gave me last month. I've introduced it to my (15-year-old) 80-200 zoom that hitherto has hung out with my old EOS Rebel film camera. Because the image sensor on the 20D has only 63% of the area as a pane of 35mm film, lens lengths are extended 1.6x, making the lens, in effect, a 128-320 zoom. Combine that with bright daylight and selectable ISO speeds, and you get 1/3200 shutter at f/5.6, which eliminates camera shake: Sadly, after carefully examining...

Rocky Raccoon checked into a room. Here's the AP story: Raccoon found atop Loop skyscraper A wayward raccoon has been living on top of a 43-story building in Chicago's Loop. A construction manager didn't believe it at first when a worker reported seeing the raccoon on the 36th floor of the Kluczynski Federal Building, but a cell-phone photo provided proof. The critter was climbing scaffolding at the building, where the facade is being restored. Construction boss Tony Slavic used tuna to bait a humane...

Central Intelligence Agency chief Porter Goss has abruptly resigned his post. His office swears this has nothing at all to do with the hookers-and-parties scandal inching ever closer to him. Says Josh Marshall: We don't know definitely why Goss pulled the plug yet. But the CIA Director doesn't march over to the White House and resign, effective immediately, unless something very big is up. I'll be watching this story.

This is too funny.

Security expert Bruce Schneier has a good article today about threats to your computer (hint: Sony is one): There are all sorts of interests vying for control of your computer. There are media companies that want to control what you can do with the music and videos they sell you. There are companies that use software as a conduit to collect marketing information, deliver advertising or do whatever it is their real owners require. And there are software companies that are trying to make money by pleasing...

Found: a cool and simple geographic tool. So here's where I've been: create your own visited country map or check our Venice travel guide create your own personalized map of the USA or check out ourCalifornia travel guide create your own personalized map of Canada or check out ourVancouver travel guide create your personalized map of europe or check out our Barcelona travel guide

NHPR reported this morning that today is Moose Appreciation Day in New Hampshire. The event has outraged squirrels, who encounter cars far more often than moose with significantly worse results.

Very funny: How To Write Unmaintainable Code: Ensure a job for life, by Roedy Green. Very helpful, even in C#: Tips for maintainable Java code, by Rolf Howarth. Spend an hour reading them, then send them to your teams.

The New York Times editorial page today reminded everyone who values the Internet to call their representatives in Congress and demand continued net neutrality: One of the Internet's great strengths is that a single blogger or a small political group can inexpensively create a Web page that is just as accessible to the world as Microsoft's home page. But this democratic Internet would be in danger if the companies that deliver Internet service changed the rules so that Web sites that pay them money...

Seems God was just about done creating the universe, but He had two extra things left in his bag of creations, so He decided to split them between Adam and Eve. He told the couple that one of the things He had to give away was the ability to stand up while urinating. "It's a very handy thing," God told the couple, "I was wondering if either one of you wanted the ability." Adam jumped up and blurted, "Oh, give that to me! I'd love to oh please, oh please, oh please, let me have that ability. It'd be so...