Rob, of ClearGraphics

Martin Luther King Jr.

2012-01-16T10:41:00.000-08:00

Here is my favorite all time quote from Martin Luther King Jr's Letter from a Birmingham Jail.

"In deep disappointment I have wept over the laxity of the church. But be assured that my tears have been tears of love. There can be no deep disappointment where there is not deep love. Yes, I love the church. How could I do otherwise? I am in the rather unique position of being the son, the grandson and the great grandson of preachers. Yes, I see the church as the body of Christ. But, oh! How we have blemished and scarred that body through social neglect and through fear of being nonconformists.

There was a time when the church was very powerful--in the time when the early Christians rejoiced at being deemed worthy to suffer for what they believed. In those days the church was not merely a thermometer that recorded the ideas and principles of popular opinion; it was a thermostat that transformed the mores of society. Whenever the early Christians entered a town, the people in power became disturbed and immediately sought to convict the Christians for being "disturbers of the peace" and "outside agitators."' But the Christians pressed on, in the conviction that they were "a colony of heaven," called to obey God rather than man. Small in number, they were big in commitment. They were too God-intoxicated to be "astronomically intimidated." By their effort and example they brought an end to such ancient evils as infanticide and gladiatorial contests. Things are different now. So often the contemporary church is a weak, ineffectual voice with an uncertain sound. So often it is an archdefender of the status quo. Far from being disturbed by the presence of the church, the power structure of the average community is consoled by the church's silent--and often even vocal--sanction of things as they are.

But the judgment of God is upon the church as never before. If today's church does not recapture the sacrificial spirit of the early church, it will lose its authenticity, forfeit the loyalty of millions, and be dismissed as an irrelevant social club with no meaning for the twentieth century. Every day I meet young people whose disappointment with the church has turned into outright disgust."

My friend, Wes Humble, commented on this quote saying.

"These words from decades ago have sadly come true. Christianity has been marginalized and is a dying religion at least in influence on a culture desperately in need of the message of Jesus."

I personally need God's help to stop being a marginalized Christian. RS.

My Mac Pro's Radeon X1900 XT Is Retired To My Computer Grave Yard

2011-12-05T11:59:00.000-08:00

My Mac Pro's Radeon X1900 XT is retired to my computer grave yard, in my basement, but going back to the OEM Apple nVidia GeForce 7300 GT, which shipped with my Mac Pro, brought some encouraging results.

When I first got the 2007 Mac Pro, in 2009, I was running it in Mac OS 10.4.4.11 Tiger and Photoshop CS4 (11.0.0) would disable Open GL Rendering when it detected the stock nVidia GeForce 7300 GT card, which was on Adobe's list of unsupported graphics GPUs. So, I purchased a refurbished Apple Radeon X1900 XT. This card allowed Photoshop CS4 and Bridge CS4 to enable Open GL Rendering. Over the last year, the Radeon X1900 XT graphics card has been creating stripes on my screen when it is running hot and sometimes the dual displays would just shut off while I was working. Also, the computer was doing hardware freezes about once a day. This morning the Mac Pro shut down it's dual displays, while I was working, and I had to do another cold shut off in order to restart. I then manually shut the computer down and did a manual boot-up so that Snow Leopard would employ disk maintenance.

I shut the computer off and pulled the Radeon X1900 XT card and re-inserted the OEM Apple nVidia GeForce 7300 GT card. Now I'm running Mac OS 10.6.8 Snow Leopard with Photoshop CS4 (11.0.2) instead of Photoshop CS4 (11.0.0).

Now, the updated Photoshop CS4 under the newer OS, is enabling Open GL Rendering instead of disabling it. This graphics card's hardware limitation is now fixed so, I see no reason to buy the ATI Radeon HD 5770 Graphics Upgrade Kit for my Mac Pro:

http://eshop.macsales.com/item/Apple/6615718/

Some who have purchased the Apple ATI Radeon HD 5770 say they still got the striping on their display when the Radeon HD 5770 card was running hot, just like with the Radeon X1900 XT.

So far, the OEM Apple nVidia GeForce 7300 GT is working fine and I'm not getting any striping on my displays with no display shut-offs or hardware freezes.

I'm glad to have Adobe's Open GL Rendering enabled with an OEM graphics GPU that runs cool and requires no imbedded cooling fan. Apples OEM nVidia GeForce 7300 GT, for the Mac Pro, is now actually on Adobe's updated list of supported GPUs for Open GL Rendering under Photoshop CS4, so why is it supported now? Is that just one of the benefits of the Photoshop CS4 11.0.2 update? It turns out that the card is supported by Adobe's Open GL Rendering in some limited ways as long as my Mac Pro is running an OS that is later than Mac OS 10.4.4.11 Tiger, like Leopard or Snow Leopard.

Maybe, some day, I will still need to upgrade to the ATI Radeon HD 5770 Graphics Upgrade Kit for my Mac Pro, especially if I upgrade to Photoshop CS5, because the old Radeon X1900 XT and the old nVidia GeForce 7300 GT is not supported in Photoshop CS5's OpenGL Rendering engine but the Radeon HD 5770 is.

The main net benefit of going back to the stock OEM Apple nVidia GeForce 7300 GTis that my Mac Pro is now "rock solid" and stable, running for weeks and months without freezing up or crashing.

Farewell, Steve.

2011-10-20T18:18:00.000-07:00

Steve Jobs • 1955-2011

Visiting The Henry Ford Greenfield Village

2011-08-02T22:46:00.000-07:00

When on vacation in Michigan, in July, I enjoyed visiting The Henry Ford Greenfield Village, in Dearborn, MI. I loved taking a 13 minute ride in a model T that was smooth and quiet, with low RPMs. My Model T driver looked like the 1940s actor and singer, Danny Kaye. He shared some insights about Henry Ford and the Model T, which was manufactured from 1908-1927, with over 15 million produced. Greenfield Village is a very charming place and at the end of the day, you don't want to leave.

My Model T driver, pictured above, said that Henry Ford liked to talk to small-town farmers and businessmen and explain to them how switching from a horse & buggy to a practical automobile will expand and enlarge your familiar world, exponentially. When I finished my Model T ride, I had a full-feeling inside.

Watching and listening to a Model T go by creates a warm feeling inside. (pictured above: a 1917 Ford Model T Woody Wagon)

Map of The Henry Ford Greenfield Village

Two days after visiting Greenfield Village, I saw a 2011 Ford Focus in downtown Saugatuck, MI. After being charmed by the Model Ts, the all new Ford Focus seemed to be charming, as well. I have never been a Ford fan but visiting The Henry Ford Greenfield Village, in Dearborn, MI, kind of gets you into the mood. :-)

The New 2011 Mac Mini Loses the Optical Drive and Moves the Power Brick Inside the Encloser

2011-07-22T20:07:00.000-07:00

Does anyone archive finished projects to CD-R and DVD-R anymore? I still do. For this reason, I see no need to lose the optical drive on the new July 2011 Mac Mini. But if Apple is abandoning the optical drive, they could at least use the gained extra space, inside the enclosure, to make a 3.5" 7200 RPM SATA drive standard instead of using a 2.5" 5400 RPM mobile drive. I know Apple is proud of the low power consumption specs on their Mini but this is a desktop machine that plugs into your wall and does not need to give up a 3.5" internal drive for a 2.5" drive to save on power consumption.

It looks like Apple is using that extra space in the Mini to move the power supply brick inside the enclosure and Apple prefers the 2.5 mobile drive in the Mini for portable durability. Apple is also allowing you the option to buy the Macbook Air external SuperDrive with the Mini.

So, the Mini still can be a practical desktop with the 2.5" 7200 RPM internal mobile drive option and the external optical drive option. Without the internal optical drive built in, this new Mac Mini might be more practical than ever as a media server for your family room TV.

If anyone knows what technology is replacing the optical drive for project archiving, please let me know.

13-Year-old ClearGraphics Logo Receives Full-color Treatment

2011-02-24T08:40:00.001-08:00

In 2010, my 13-year-old ClearGraphics logo received the full-color treatment.

Time Machine is up and running . . .

2011-02-18T21:39:00.000-08:00

I got Time Machine set up on Friday. It does not seem to slow my system down and keeping a FireWire 400 External Drive attached to my Intel-Mac workstation, all the time, does not appear to make my system buggy, like it did with my old Sawtooth G4.

After my entire workstation was backed up a few times, I launched the Time Machine app and was visually blown away by what I saw.

Speaking of my old 400 MHz Sawtooth G4, I pulled it out of the grave yard in my basement and inserted an old 7200 RPM 80MB drive that had a clean install of Leopard (installed through my Dual G4 back up server), and I added some extra RAM, pulled from our old decommissioned G3 iMac.

This old G4 works pretty good with the unsupported install of Leopard. It's old 2002 Radeon 8500 retail graphics card, with 64 MBs of DDR RAM, helps it to perform OK with Leopard along with having 1.5 GBs of RAM. It has enough horse power to allow my son to play some of the web-based games on the Lego web site. Aaron has "Pack The Man" and "Snood" on the old Sawtooth and they both work fine. Some of the iLife '09 and iWork '09 apps work fine as well. So my 1999 G4 is now my 9 year old son's computer. He is playing on a system that is older than himself.

An Interesting Commentary About Steve Jobs' Third Leave Of Absence

2011-01-17T18:20:00.000-08:00

Shawn King, of Your Mac Life, shared an interesting commentary about Steve Jobs' third leave of absence, for health reasons. Here is the URL to listen to Shawn's commentary, by audio stream:
http://yourmaclifeshow.com/QT/YML110117_Comment.mp3

Apple's Jobs Takes a Third Medical Leave but Remains CEO - CNBC

2011-01-17T08:22:00.000-08:00

Apple's Jobs Takes Medical Leave but Remains CEO - CNBC

I hope Mr. Job's finds good health in the future and is able to return to the work that he loves, at Apple.

I Really Like The Dual Display Set Up

2010-08-31T09:45:00.000-07:00

These 2007 Dell ISP LCD monitors calibrate nice in Mac OS 10.4 Tiger and 10.5 Leopard. However, Mac OS 10.6 Snow Leopard disables your ability to use the OS's System Preferences to calibrate these older, non-Apple, third party displays.

I really like the dual display set up. One small thing I like about moving away from CRT displays, over to the LCD environment, is that I don't hear the Cathode Ray Electron Gun "kick-start" when ever I wake the computer up. I'm glad these 2007 Dell ISP LCDs have come down to an affordable price range. I'm glad to move away from CRTs after using them in my business for over 10 years.

A Caution To Snow Leopard Users . . .

2010-08-23T22:18:00.000-07:00

Dell UltraSharp 2007WFP 20.1" S-IPS LCD Monitor Wide
If you are a Mac user, this monitor is a good IPS display technology alternative to buying an Apple Cinema Display. These displays calibrate nicely, especially if you are using the System Preferences / Display Calibration Assistant in Mac OS 10.4 Tiger or Mac OS 10.5 Leopard.

The Apple & Dell IPS LCD displays don't have external contrast adjusters. With the IPS LCD, there is no contrast adjustment on the display or in the Mac OS. It stays in the right contrast all the time. Only Brightness and RGB levels can be adjusted externally as well as selecting PC Mode and Mac Mode. So with Tiger and Leopard, the contrast is about right so that I can begin the calibration process, starting with adjusting the External Brightness Control on the monitor to get the black levels to match, in System Preferences / Display Calibration Assistant.

But in Mac OS 10.6 Snow Leopard, the default-fixed contrast setting is too bright in the black and shadowed areas, so it's impossible to manually adjust the brightness to get the black levels to match in System Preferences / Display Calibration Assistant. So, all of the monitors' external controls are functioning in Snow Leopard but Snow Leopard's new default brightness is beyond the Dell monitor's external adjustment range as it is with most older Apple CRT displays and most other non-Apple third-party Mac-friendly LCD displays.

So this monitor is great for calibrating with Mac OS 10.4 Tiger or Mac OS 10.5 Leopard but Snow Leopard will render this monitor un-usable. It's almost like Apple is treating all third party-non-Apple displays like "Jail-Broken" iPhones.

Another Mac Mini Re-design . . .

2010-06-17T08:16:00.000-07:00

It looks like Apple came up with a new way to keep the Mac Mini from cannibalizing iMac sales, they raised the entry level price point to $700. But it looks like they redesigned the enclosure so that it is easier to get inside to swap out memory DIMMs.

http://www.apple.com/macmini/

It's interesting to see that they gave it the all aluminum enclosure treatment and, with the HDMI port, it looks like it is now a better media server for someone's TV/family room.

The Mini is an interesting product to watch in it's slow evolution. My mac support friend shared with me these thoughts about about the new Mini:

"From an engineering perspective, there are two flaws with the new mini:

1 - The aluminum case will likely attenuate the wireless signal and people will complain about the limited range compared to the plastic mini. Any metal enclosure surrounding an antenna presents a Faraday shield and as demonstrated with the aluminum laptops, G5 and Mac Pro, reception range is quite limited when compared with the MacBook and prior plastic laptops.

2 - The 5400 RPM hard drives cannot move data as quickly as 7200 RPM hard drives. At $700, there's no excuse. The days of the under-performing Performa are long gone.

Why Apple insists on handicapping the mini's performance, I don't know. In my not so humble opinion, the mini should be the equivalent of an iMac without the LCD panel. Their fear of cannibalizing iMac sales is unfounded until they try. The industrial design aesthetics of an aluminum enclosure do look good and I give them credit for making the mini service friendly.

I'll be keeping an eye out for the early adopters' reports on the reduced wireless range... – JGT"

SATA Hard Drive Partitioning Is a Little Touchy Under Tiger

2009-09-18T23:12:00.000-07:00

SATA hard drive partitioning is a little touchy unless you have Mac OS X Leopard or Snow Leapard. Before I got my recently acquired '07 Mac Pro set up to be my workstation, I found it's 2-year old stock internal SATA drive was way too noisy to be my regular internal hard drive. So I did not replace it with the best brand but possibly the most quietest, Seagate. Their 1TB drive was their smallest drive that promised to be quiet and yet still have 32 MBs of disk cash. It also is called a SATA II drive. I did not buy any of the server or enterprise class drives since there was no indication in their specs that they were quiet.

I read on the web that you can partition any Altra ATA drive anyway you want with no negative consequence but if you use the Mac OS 10.4 OEM install DVD to partition a SATA drive you can create unreliability in your data. The cure is to partition only with a Leopard or Snow Leopard install DVD because Leopard's Disk Utility only partitions SATA drives within specific parameters to ensure drive reliability. The OS 10.4 Disk Utility does not.

I looked into buying Leopard just to have the better SATA drive partitioning ability but I did not want to install the unstable Leopard OS and I did not want to pay the $117 for it. Snow Leopard looked like the better investment but I was under the impression that Snow Leopard won't install unless I already own a Leopard Install DVD. So, I went ahead anyway and used my Tiger install DVD to partition my new Seagate SATA drive to 886 GBs for the boot partition, 22 GBs for the Jobs 1 partition and 22 GBs for the Jobs 2 partition. After a couple weeks of use, Photoshop CS4 was giving me error messages when I tried to save a 60 MB file to partition "Jobs 1", which had 350 MBs of free space left. The error message was, "Unable to save file due to a drive error." I could not fix the problem on this partition.

I was frustrated at the prospect of having to buy Leopard. Then on the "Your Mac Life" internet radio show, Shawn King interviewed Ted Landau, of Macfixit.com, about Snow Leopard. Ted says Apple does not require you to authenticate that you already own or run Leopard in order to own and install Snow Leopard. Apple knows there are so few Intel-based Mac users, running Tiger, there was no need to require users to have Leopard to install Snow Leopard. So I have bypassed Leopard and purchased the Mac OS 10.6 Snow Leopard install DVD on Amazon.com for $26.50, with sales tax and free shipping. I'll use the Snow Leopard Install DVD to properly partition my new SATA drive and then install Tiger or possibly Snow Leopard. Snow Leopard does have a more streamlined version of Rosetta, for running PowerPC apps, that you can opt to include in the Snow Leopard installation or leave out. I might do some tests to see if Snow Leopard will work for me at this time, with my Retrospect 5 Client, under Rosetta. I might read in the Adobe Forums to see if Creative Sweat 3 & CS4 users are getting better stability from 10.6 Snow Leopard than they did with 10.5 Leopard.

Oh well, I'm paying the price in down time for ignoring helpful tech info about SATA drive partitioning but I'm glad I can get a usable install DVD of Snow Leopard, for under $30, so that I can partition my internal SATA drive the correct and reliable way.

The 80's are Relevant at the Henry Ford Museum

2009-04-27T06:48:00.000-07:00

I had the privilege of visiting the Henry Ford Museum when I took my wife and mother in-law to visit their ailing relative in Dearborn, MI, this past early April. Many men, older than myself, have always enjoyed seeing well preserved cars that were shipping new when they were young. Back in the 80's, while in my early and mid 20s, I had a passion for a lot of things, including cars that were progressive, for their time, for their design and reliability.

The Henry Ford Museum had two cars that really stood out to me in the 1980s – a 1983 Honda Accord and a 1986 Ford Taurus. They were both on display, pristine and new looking, and it made me feel like I had gone back in time. I always thought that these models were unique compared to the disparaging products GM was shipping at that time. Honda raised the bar of consumer expectations for what a car should be and Ford responded to the new customer expectations with the Taurus, which was the number one selling family sedan in the late 80s.

Mail-order Baby Cleveland Flowering Pair Tree

2009-04-04T22:58:00.000-07:00

Our mail-order baby Cleveland Flowering Pair tree blossomed for the first time.

More File Compatibility On The Mac

2009-03-11T07:42:00.000-07:00

I have been finding more ways to open more Windows files that have had very little support in Mac OS in the past.

OpenOffice.org 3.0.1 is a free office sweat that can open old and very recent versions of Word Perfect, from Windows, files.

NeoOffice 2.2.5 is a free program that can open MS Works, from Windows, files quite well on a Mac.

One other handy tool is a web site:

http://www.en.conv2pdf.com/

With the web site, "conv2pdf," I can upload a MS Publisher file from Windows, or a MS Works file and it sends it back as a PDF version to me, perfectly formatted, and it's free.

Adobe InDesign CS4 Hardware Optimization . . .

2008-10-30T14:00:00.000-07:00

I took InDesign CS4 (6.0) for a spin on my Dual G4, under OS 10.4.11. IDCS4 is perfectly speedy and launches faster than my installation of InDesign CS3 (5.0.4).

In some areas of the app, IDCS4 seems more efficient than IDCS3, on my G4, even though the system requirements are PowerPC G5 or multicore Intel processor.

I'm thankful to Adobe for making IDCS4 fast enough on my G4.

A Visit From The MacFaddens

2008-04-27T23:25:00.000-07:00

In April of 2008, we really enjoyed having the David, Jill and their remaining nest of lovely children, Rebbecca (top), Lucas and Katie (lower). Our kids, Aaron and Jennifer, are sitting at the bottom of this picture. They enjoyed the MacFadden's visit and so did I!

Hasbro Transformers Toy, Optimus Prime

2007-10-21T18:10:00.000-07:00

On Aaron's Birthday, we gave him a Hasbro Transformers Toy, Optimus Prime.

On Thursday evening Aaron and I sat down on the couch with Optimus Prime and followed the instructions from Hasbro. We finally got Optimus folded up into the tractor trailer truck. It was done with much struggle and travail. It is amazing that the product description for this toy says "For ages 5 and up." It seemed to be over my head. The above photo shows the result of our struggles.

At Least It's Warm In Sun City

2007-04-10T16:45:00.000-07:00

We had an unseasonably warm late March and early April which has spring-boarded into an unseasonably cool April. Overnight temperatures have dipped into the low 20s.

My Mom and Dad have ducked this bad weather by living in Sun City Arizona. Here is a picture of an evening outdoor community concert they recently attended.

The Internet Radio Show That's "All Things Mac" Has A New URL

2007-02-27T14:39:00.000-08:00

The internet radio show "Your Mac Life", with host Shawn King, is no longer at http://www.yourmaclife.com/
You can now listen to the show by going to http://www.yourmaclifeshow.com/

Snow shuts down Greater Cincinnati

2007-02-07T06:37:00.000-08:00

On February 6 we received 6" of accumulated snow betwean 1:00 p.m. and 8:30 p.m. On February 7 most schools were closed with numerous declared snow emergencys around the try-state, including Independence.

Below is a shot of our street after the county maintenance truck cleared and treated it.

New County Jail

2006-12-13T08:11:00.000-08:00

Once again proposed Kenton jail faces opposition

A new jail going up a half mile north of our subdivision. There is a lot of community opposition, of course. I'm still trying to evaluate weather this is a negative thing, or not. It's definitely bad for our friend Lloyd Brueckner since the jail will essentially be in his back yard.

(Note: [July-2008] Since I made this original post, the new jail location was defeated. I am grateful to Fiscal Court Judge, Ralph Drees, and the Kenton County Commission for being big enough to work with the citizens of Independence, KY to secure a new jail site that is equally distanced and equally isolated from the surrounding communities – and closer to the Covington Court House.)

Aaron Rides His Power Wheels

2006-11-26T18:39:00.000-08:00

These pictures were taken exactly a year ago. I wanted to publish them on the web and, with my blog, I finally can. My sister Leslie and her son, Austin, gave this Power Wheels ATV to my son, Aaron. He really enjoys it and even took a tour on it today. The lead acid battery that comes with it had a lot of range a year ago. Now after another year of repeated use it has lost a lot of its range, per charge.

I checked the web and there are third party battery suppliers that sell Sealed Lead Acid Batteries for the Power Wheels that have more range than the Standard Fisher Price Lead Acid Battery. But these batteries don't plug into the standard Power Wheels battery connector and I don't want to mess with the wiring.

One third party supplier has a more desirable solution. They sell the standard Fisher Price 12-Volt 9.5-Amp Lead Acid replacement battery along with their own improved charger for a little more than the price of just the replacement battery. Their improved charger design has indicator lights that tell you when the battery is charging and when it is done charging. It also stops charging automatically once the battery is fully charged. These added features will help the Fisher Price replacement battery to have a longer life.

Here is the URL to the page on kidswheels.com that offers the "Power Wheels 12-Volt 12 Amp. Hr. Sabre Type Battery& Charger Set" for our Power Wheels ATV.

http://www.kidswheels.com/index.cfm?catid=245

I'm going to order it after I receive some more payments from my customers. Enjoy the November '05 pictures of Aaron riding his Power Wheels in the company of his sister, Jennifer, and his mother, Linda.

"Ooh! A guy with a car!"

Who Killed the Electric Car? – Released To DVD It's worth seeing no matter what your political persuasion.

2006-11-18T16:21:00.000-08:00

I rented and watched this movie, with curiosity and skepticism, and felt sympathy for General Motors and other car companies that are disheartened and amazed that California can place such enormous compliance requirements on auto makers, that no other state would even think of trying.

I believe I could understand why GM could see no return on investment for development of the electric car. I tried to not let the movie appeal to my emotions but pay attention to the compelling information that was presented.

A few impressive assertions that the movie communicated to me was:

A. That the battery technology for more practical range, per charge, was available but the rights to that technology was purchased by GM, who sat on that technology and then later sold it to the oil companies to be removed from deployment in the market place, for the time being.

B. Hydrogen Fuel Cell Technology has enormous technological hurtles to overcome to be practical to the mass market while plug-in rechargeable electric cars are already proven to be practical because you can refuel the car at home every night while your sleeping.

C. The electric car did not seem practical as a single principal vehicle to own because of the limited driving range but the gas/electric hybrid cars, that Honda and Toyota are selling, answer this dilemma by maintaining compatibility with our current widely available fuel source, but utilizing rechargeable electric power at the same time.

D. The real positive outlook regarding hybrids is that they can evolve into plug-in rechargeable hybrids that allow you to drive the first sixty miles of your day, using virtually no gas, yet you still can rely on gas when you need it.

One thought I have pondered is that GM spending a billion dollars for the development of an entirely new car technology is very low-cost when you look at what car companies spend just to develop a new gas powered model. It seems like for GM, under the Clinton Administration, development and marketing of a zero emissions car was part of the cost of preserving their privilege to sell their entire line of GM products in California, so keeping the development costs down and still loosing money on just the electric car was do-able so that they could be profitable in California with their gas powered line of products. So GM tried real hard to keep the development costs down. Then when Al Gore failed to win the white house, the status-quo could not be maintained. Now GM could appeal to a new president, who respected the right of corporations to only develop and market products that are profitable, and the incentive to continue with the money loosing electric car was lost. I don't know if President Bush was in collusion with the oil companies by letting the electric car die or if he just believed that big government should not mandate the production and sale of products that only loose money.

I never got emotionally caught up in GM crushing the electric cars. The cars were never sold to anyone, only leased. The cars were no longer going to be supported by it's manufacturer.

The movie did draw attention to the fact that the oil companies actively opposed the development and marketing of the electric car which hurts their image in the public eye.

I started to view this movie thinking I was going to see a lot of environmentalist crying over a failed pipe dream but instead I found it entertaining and educational to get a taste of a growing community of people that want to see transportation become cleaner and less dependent on the volatile oil business - and that this community is in-fact seeing progress and success.

A Great Time At The Texas Road House

2006-11-04T20:58:00.000-08:00

On Tuesday evening my Mom & Dad arrived in Independence, KY and treated my family to dinner at the Texas Road House. I had a really great time and my chicken salad dinner was very good.

Below is a picture of my Father, Bob Scott, when he was 18 or 19. The back of this photo was stamped, "August 11, 1949."

Saturday Morning Deer Sighting

2006-11-04T19:57:00.000-08:00

This photo was taken around 10:30 am on Saturday morning, November 4. A deer stood in our backyard trail long enough so I could get a few snapshots.

Matt Comes Home From Navy Service For The First Time Two Years

2006-11-04T19:27:00.000-08:00

This past week our nephew, Matt, was in town with his son, Boston. On Thursday, Linda took Aaron and Jennifer to the Cincinnati Museum Center Children's Museum, at Union Terminal, and met up with her mother, Myrtle; her sister, Carol; and Carol's son, Matt; with Boston and Matt's friend, Elizabeth. Above is a picture of Matt with Boston and Grandma Myrtle.

Saturday Hilly Hundred Loop

2006-10-21T14:24:00.000-07:00

The new Saturday loop, at the Indiana Hilly hundred, made the old rout look like all short hills. When I thought I conquered a hill I would find out I only had climbed one third of it. I had to walk my bike up a number of hills. Many of the hills were not too steep, they were just never ending – they went on and on. Some of the young racers would dash up these same hills with their little corn-cob cogs.

I found I dealt with the hills better after I had lunch so if I do it again next year, I'll eat a couple PowerBars before I start out in the morning. I'll probably use my mountain bike, with the granny gears, instead of my road bike.

The ride did not take too long since it was only 48 miles. I enjoyed the ride and the weather was perfect.

Better late than never . . .

2006-10-21T11:16:00.000-07:00

I have been laying out a book in Arabic using Adobe InDesign CS2 Middle Eastern version (IDCS2 ME) which handles Arabic text and fonts from right to left. The upgrade for the Middle Eastern version costs between $600.00 and $800.00 but I was able to upgrade for $399.00 from Aramedia.com.

I am very pleased how more snappy and efficient IDCS2 is compared to IDCS1. I also like how it lets you create soft drop shadows as fat and as dark as Photoshop – something that IDCS1 could not do. I wish I purchased this upgrade a year ago but now my upgrade expense is going towards the higher purchase price of the Middle Eastern version which handles English/Roman text and fonts, from left to right, just fine. I also found out my free update (v3.1.4) for my installation of Font Reserve is compatible with IDSC2 and Mac OS X Tiger. Retrospect Network Client v.5.0.540 is compatible with Tiger so my move up to Tiger turned out to be less costly than I expected.

I am a "late-adopter" or a user of "trailing-edge" technology. After reading forums concerning Mac OS X Tiger this past year, it looks like this most recent OS optimizes everything from an old slot loading G3 iMac to any G4, or G5, substantially more than Panther as long as you have at least 1GB of RAM installed. So far I have installed Tiger on my Sawtooth G4 file server and my mobile Titanium G4. Both machines have a GB of RAM and it appears that Tiger is faster than Panther on these two older machines.