Thursday, January 31, 2008

The Eyes Have It, Show and Tell, -and- Disarmed


The Eyes Have It - bionic contact lens may create tiny personal displays
Show and Tell - man exposes himself, blames restless-leg syndrome
Disarmed - major credit card company disallows firearm purchases

On this day in history: January 31, 1961 - The United States sends its first monkey into space, Ham the chimpanzee. His Mercury/Redstone 2 achieves an altitude of 158 miles, a 19-minute ride that subjects Ham to a force of 16 times gravity. The space ape splashes down safely, his capsule is plucked from the ocean by the USS Donner.

Born on this day in history: January 31, 1919 - Jackie Robinson (1919–72)Born in Cairo, GA, baseball player Jackie Robinson was the first African-American to play in the major leagues, becoming a star for the Brooklyn Dodgers (1947-56). Robinson was Rookie of the Year in 1947, and league batting champion and Most Valuable Player in 1949.

Scripture of the Day: Since they hated knowledge and did not choose to fear the LORD ... they will eat the fruit of their ways and be filled with the fruit of their schemes. - Proverbs 1:29,31

Video of the Day: Monkey Cowboy Rides Dog - submitted by Laura


Monkey turns cowboy
Monkey turns cowboy



Here is a photograph I took of Mr. Nitro with my new Nikon D3 DSLR. I took this photograph with a Nikkor 24-120mm lens, at 24mm, from a distance of 18" from the vehicle. Click to enlarge.






The rain has returned! The wind has returned, also. It began sprinkling lightly while I was on my way to the office. It is now raining in earnest. The weatherpeople have been wrong all week, but their forecast for today appears to be correct.

It is difficult to imagine that it has been nearly a year since we purchased Mr. Nitro and Mr. Yaris, but the evidence cannot be disputed: The registration renewals and 2008 license-plate stickers arrived (I renewed the registrations online—something I highly recommend doing.), and I received a letter from Sirius Satellite Radio alerting me that I have only a few days during which to renew my Sirius satellite radio subscription. When I purchased Mr. Nitro, a one-year subscription to Sirius was included. The free ride will soon end. I enjoy Sirius a good deal, so I shall renew the subscription. Laura and I have our favorite channels, and reception is excellent nearly everywhere. Tunnels, car washes, indoor parking structures, and trees can sometimes affect reception, but this is a mere temporary inconvenience. In remote areas and mountainous regions where FM signals are inaccessible, Sirius is available. Also, the necessity to search for stations while traveling—as one exits the broadcast area for a station—is not an issue with Sirius.

I finally employed Mr. Nitro's remote start function last evening. I left the heater controls set when I exited Mr. Nitro yesterday afternoon at our home. When we were nearly ready to depart for Bible college at Harvest Christian Center, I activated Mr. Nitro's remote start function from the warmth of our house. When we entered Mr. Nitro, he was comfortably warm. I repeated this procedure when we were departing the church. The remote start function—as well as the alarm arm/disarm functions operate from a distance of up to 300 feet—so long as there is a clear path for the signal from the key to the vehicle.