# Tuesday, September 25, 2007

411 on 3-1-1 and other travel tips

Haven't flown in a while, here's the skinny on the new regulations:

3-1-1 for carry-ons = 3 ounce bottle or less; 1 quart-sized, clear, plastic, zip-top bag; 1 bag per passenger placed in screening bin. One-quart bag per person limits the total liquid volume each traveler can bring. 3 oz. container size is a security measure.

[ TSA : 3-1-1 on Air Travel ]

For the Hijabi Jet-Set there are new-new guidelines for head coverings:

All members of the traveling public are permitted to wear head coverings (whether religious or not) through the security checkpoints. The new standard procedures subject all persons wearing head coverings to the possibility of additional security screening, which may include a pat-down search of the head covering. Individuals may be referred for additional screening if the security officer cannot reasonably determine that the head area is free of a detectable threat item. If the issue cannot be resolved through a pat-down search, the individual will be offered the opportunity to remove the head covering in a private screening area.

TSA : Religious and Cultural Needs ]

And the TSA is kind and gentle with the kiddies:

We specially train our Security Officers and they understand your concern for your children.  They will approach your children gently and treat them with respect.  If your child becomes uncomfortable or upset, security officers will consult you about the best way to relieve your child's concern.

TSA : Traveling with Children ]

And the big thing I need to do? Psyche myself up for the hurry-up-and-wait, hurry-up-and-wait, hurry-up-and-wait that modern travel by airplane has become. But don't feel sorry for me, feel sorry for Yaty, she's got to put up with me.

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# Monday, September 24, 2007

Yo Gabba Gabba!

Yo Gabba Gabba! is a fun live-action program for young children ages 1 and up. Join our host DJ Lance Rock as he introduces us to friendly toy monsters in a magical land full of music, dance, colorful cartoons, and simple life lessons that will get you and your children up off the floor to learn and dance along. Just say the magic words! YO GABBA GABBA!!

[ Find Out More About Yo Gabba Gabba! ]

So says Nick Jr, I think it's more of a mass hallucination. I guess the Ska band "The Aquabats" were tired of not getting their music played on Baby Einsteins, or they decided the world was ready for a hip-hop kids show, any which way I'm not sure if it's the craziest thing I've seen since the '70s, or my new favorite show...

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# Tuesday, September 18, 2007

Kid Nation?

40 Kids have 40 days to build a brave new world without adults to help or hinder their efforts. Can they do it? These Kids, ages 8-15, will turn a ghost town into their new home. They will cook their own meals, clean their own outhouses, haul their own water and even run their own businesses including the old town saloon (root beer only). Through it all, they'll cope with regular childhood emotions and situations: homesickness, peer pressure and the urge to break every rule they've ever known.

[ Kid Nation on CBS ]

I was disappointed when in episode 7, the bullies smashed Piggy's glasses and no one seemed to respect the conch anymore. The clips for next weeks show some kind of boulder falling off of a cliff, hope it doesn't hit anyone...

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# Wednesday, September 12, 2007

Marhaban Ramadan


Ramadan Yjm3na, originally uploaded by o0()^SmSm^()0o.

Welcome Ramadhan!

May this be a blessed, productive, and fulfilling Ramadhan for us all.

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# Tuesday, September 11, 2007

Elaborate please

Now you can buy a house modeled after one of Martha Stewart's three houses. People love these houses so much that sales are bucking the downturn in new home sales. Says a representative for the company building the homes: "It's our version of the iPhone. It illustrates the power of something different with a brand tied to it."

[ Now you can buy a house modeled after one of... (kottke.org) ]

@josephgrossberg: Wow. Talk about not getting it.

From this I can infer that there was a downturn of phone sales? Or the houses are a hybrid house/mp3 player with an innovative interface? Or their houses actually fit in your pocket and you can make calls on them?

If you ask me Martha Stewart has jumped the shark and not used her stint in the pokey to her advantage. A recent trip to Michaels introduced me to the Martha Stewart line of Scrap Booking supplies, and I have to hope that the Scrap Booking community is outright rejecting her crap in favor of their own creativity. (And no I don't scrap book, I'm toying with a new hobby in jewelry making...)

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# Monday, September 10, 2007

8 years later, Gruska...

If you create software development tools, you’ll want to consider building on the Visual Studio 2008 Shell. A streamlined Visual Studio development environment, the Visual Studio Shell provides the core foundation so you can focus on building your application’s unique features. Flexible customization options help you deliver optimized experiences for specific markets.

[ Visual Studio 2008 Shell ]

Meaning, since you love Visual Studio and want to just get used to one IDE, you can now use the Shell and educate it for other platforms (like ColdFusion!). Previously that would have cost over $10,000 to get the rights from Microsoft to Frankenstein their IDE, but now:

Q: How much will the Visual Studio Shell cost?

The Visual Studio Shell will be freely available as part of the Visual Studio SDK starting with the release of Visual Studio 2008. Building and deploying applications based on the Visual Studio Shell will be royalty-free.

So we're ready for you to download the VS2K8 Shell SDK and build us an awesome CF editor, Gruska...

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# Sunday, September 09, 2007

New Silver Spring

I grew up in Silver Spring in the 1970's and 1980's and as I keep telling everyone, it's no longer the Silver Spring I grew up in. Here are some prime examples, and some places that haven't changed in 30 years.

[ New Silver Spring - a photoset on Flickr ]

Hey look, I'm quoting myself! But seriously, Silver Spring is so nice now, check it out!

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# Friday, September 07, 2007

New Camera!

Coolpix S50

Camera Type: Point & Shoot
Megapixels: 7.2 Megapixels
Optical Zoom: 3 X
LCD Size: 3 in
Media Type: SDHC Memory Card, MultiMediaCard, Secure Digital (SD) Card

So perhaps my Flickr will get something more than crappy cell phone pix and game related wallpapers...

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# Tuesday, September 04, 2007

VW HQ DC?

Barring a last-minute delay, Volkswagen of America will announce plans to move its headquarters to the Washington, D.C. suburbs, during a news conference several well-placed VW sources tell TheCarConnection.com will be held on Thursday.

[ Volkswagen Moving to D.C. Area - The Car Connection ]

Hot!

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Revolutionary, perhaps

But such a great idea. It would take a ton of people to get on board with this, and lots of planning over many years, but the potential is well worth it, if not just to stop us from lugging transformers around for each of our devices.

  1. Develop a universal standard around 12 volt dc for all electronics.
  2. Develop a standard wall plug or distribution system for 12 volt DC.
  3. Provide a secondary wiring system in all new houses at 12V DC.
  4. Revise our current wiring codes to reduce the number of 110V outlets and circuits required.

    [ Big Steps In Building: Change Our Wiring to 12 Volt DC (TreeHugger) ]

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