We came to Texas from Germany in 1970. Fort Hood had recently been described in a national column as the place where you would insert the hose, should the world need an enima. Our initial impressions seemed to agree with that. The story of our arrival and the trials that went with it are subject for another time...today we talk about something else.

In the late sixties and early seventies, Ft Hood and many other places were dumping grounds for soldiers who were returning from Vietnam. I t...

When people talk about "compromise" in a society, what are they really saying? Usually they mean, "give up your standards and agree with me".

Compromise is talked about as if it's a good thing, but it's not. In fact, I can't think of one good thing in history that came out of compromise.

We are at our best when we stand for what we believe, not when we give in to someone else.

So, how do we co-exist without compromising? It isn't easy, but it is a better way of doing things. It means...

I just finished with my last final of the semester. And the news is good, although I won't know for certain HOW good until next week.

In Business Management, Business Communications, and Network Security, I received "A" grades. In the first two courses, that's an accomplishment, because the instructor does not liberally hand out high grades.

In Marketing and Accounting, I received a "B". In Marketing, I was points away from an "A", but the "B" should still keep my average in good shape. In...

Back when I was growing up (in the 70s), there was that days' version of "living green". Recycling was just getting going, Woodsy Owl taught us to "Give a Hoot, Don't Pollute" and that Indian guy with the tear in his eye was a moving reminder to not litter.

I also remember being taught how Solar Power, Wind Turbines and Ethanol was going to save us all from the evils of OPEC and big oil.

I agree that we shouldn't litter, and there are economical ways to cut down on pollution, but 30 year...

    GearHead 2 .502 Released    GearHead 2 has a new version released on its Sourceforge page. Go try it. It's a blast. It adds depth to the gameplay, both ASCII and SDL.

    Nevermind that I'm an admin on the wiki, it's a good game, simple to learn, hard to master. Try GH1 first, though, unless you want pure random, because GH2 isn't done yet!


    Hulu.com Site Review   Hulu is a wonderful video service that allo...

Every now and then you come across an old movie and you just have to stick with it...for one reason or another. The other night it was "The Laughing Policeman" from 1973. It is a gritty police story filmed in San Francisco. I get a kick out of movies filmed in places I am familiar with, trying to place where they are and all. Laughing at the technology of the seventies (or the lack thereof) and how "things have changed". But beyond that, the story of "The Laughing Policeman" has a special value ...

    Just How Bad Is Cheating In Video Games?   Now, I'm a "pro" gamer. In so much as I'm probably in the better 25%. Ispend too much time at it, sure, but I am fairly decent. Sure I'm justbelow the Great Wall of Ownage, meaning that there are players who willdestroy me repeatedly (most Tribes players and some Tremulous playersfall into the upper category). However, I do pretty well, especially inMMO's. However, occasionally one will find the Dretch who lags so badly...

Happy Mothers' Day  to all you Mothers out there.

    Here's wishing a happy Mother's Day to everyone here. No Daily Feature today, I'm too busy between church and Morrowind. Funny, huh?

    Anyways, happy Mother's Day! Don't eat too much like I just did!

 

    Darn relatives always trying to kill me by feeding me.

In most Army units, you have two or three times a day when the whole company lines up by sub-units and accountablity is made for each soldier and information is passed out, we call these occasions "Formations". For most soldiers, the first formation is Reville, you stand and salute the flag going up, then are released for breakfast, or go do you morning exercises (PT) or is some cases, go to work. The next formation is usually called "Work Call". Squads and platoons line up and are given pertine...

Do you know copy-pasting from Dreamweaver will not save tables unless you copy/paste the HTML code. I hate that. 

Internet Browser Plugins Security Speed Customization/LooksFirefox5555Safari3434I.E.3131Firefox wins!

FPS Games Brains Reflexes Community CostHalo151$60Tremulous453FreeET:QW345<$20Tremulous wins!

Vector Graphics Software OS Ease Quality CostInkscapeAll44FreeIllustratorMac, Win55TonsXara XtremeLinux

(Open Source)

53FreeInkscape and Xara tie for free quality, Ill...

Now here's a ad campaign all of America should get behind.  We're Americans!  Yeah, we've had our crises, but we grow from them.  We have a government that gets unresponsive to the people, but no politician lives forever!  We have depressions, recessions and hard times, but even in those we have time to cut loose and let go!  This is the heart of the American dream!  It's not about what we have, but what we do with it.  It's not about who we are, but what we do...

TW's recent post about her little green snake brought a lot of snakey memories back to me. I have written at least one article and some different comments about snakes in the last few months. I just don't like snakes, I don't care what they eat, how much you love them for a pet; if they come around here they will become a belt or pair of boots. Here's one example of why:

Missouri summers get dark before they get cool. Most of the tack rooms at the saddle club didn't have electricity and absol...

    On Raytracing       Raytracing refers to the process of using a computerto render an image, sometimes photorealistic, from an array of things.Raytracing is a very simple task, but eats up a fair deal of computerpower. It doesn't requre a terribly great computer, though, since itmerely runs lots of commands. This allows a raytracing engine to renderawesome sights on pretty much any computer. I'd recommend it for allpeople who need an image.

&nbs...

Wondering what to do with your rebate check?  There are numerous ways to spend this long awaited windfall.  Many businesses are clamoring to take your money with some pretty good deals out there.  The one that makes the most sense to me is that some grocery stores are offering incentives via gift cards to help you stretch your grocery budget by giving you 10% more.  So if you buy a $300 card they'll add $30 and for those with a $600 rebate willing to invest it in gr...