Misc

Please tell me why the credit/debit card producers cannot put a bit on their cards to let systems automatically determine if the card is a debit or credit card? What a waste of my time and the employee's time to ask me this question over and over again.

My 2003 Saturn Vue is for sale. Buy it!

Update 2008-01-26: Sold!

Apparently South Carolina is letting people vote online for the design of the new license plate. I think that's a neat idea, but I'm sort of disappointed with the three designs. Two of the designs feature a centered palmetto tree, just like the current one, but I like the current one better than either of those. The other design is the state flag tucked into the corner of the plate. It looks decent but I can see that one getting covered up by plate frames. My vote goes to the palmetto tree at sunrise/sunset, but I'd be happy to keep my current palmetto tree plate.

Update 2007-08-28: Looks like they picked the plate that I voted for (PDF warning). I still like the current plate better, and I don't care for the cheesy .com advertisement on the new plate. Plus, the new plate will aggravate SC Gamecock fans as it leans toward Clemson colors!

Today I was trying to figure out the chords in a song (Katie Reider's awesome "Slowing Down for the Silence"). I figured out a couple chords, but was having trouble guessing some of the others. So I whipped up this little web application. You tell it a chord in your song and it will tell you all the major keys where you can find that chord. Using that knowledge, you can try the other chords in the key and see if they fit the song you're playing. I'm pretty sure Katie's song is in D major.

Enjoy!

I wrote a song!

My oldest son loves to sing this song. It's dedicated to all the Carolina chickadees outside our windows. Here it is, complete with guitar chords:


It's not much, but maybe it'll lead to greater things!

Here's a goofy game you can play with Wikipedia. Try to get to the topic you want by starting from the Main Page. It only really works if you know a good bit about your subject, unless you're lucky enough for your topic to be directly linked from the Main Page!

For example, yesterday I thought I'd look at the page for Counting Crows, to see if they had a new album yet. I started at the Main Page. They don't keep a history of this page for some reason, but on March 17, there was a mention about the element Californium. I seemed to recall that element had something to do with the University of California at Berkeley. So I clicked into the element and sure enough, Berkeley is mentioned. I was pretty sure that was the school for the Cal. Bears football team, and I also recall seeing the Counting Crows lead singer Adam Duritz present at some of those games on TV. So I followed the link to Berkeley, and from there I tried the alumni list. Duritz is listed there as attending, but not graduating. That page also contains the direct link to Counting Crows, my goal. So I found the Counting Crows in four links from the Main Page.

Today I wanted to see the article on the Cincinnati Reds. The Main Page had Cosmonaut, which shares a page with Astronaut. From there, the List of Astronauts, then Neil Armstrong, then Univeristy of Cincinnati, Cincinnati, Ohio, and finally the Reds.

Wikipedia is so linked up you could probably find any topic from the Main Page eventually. Extra points if you can do it without using "What Links Here" in the toolbox.

I recently added a Swedish translation to my FishTank calculator. I don't speak Swedish, but this summer I became interested in the Swedish band Kent from hearing them on Pandora. Check it out, it's good stuff. Through their music I've absorbed a tiny bit of the language. I found a referrer to this post on a Swedish aquarium forum and I decided to give a translation a try. There are lots of language tools on the web, and I made much use of this English-Swedish dictionary, some of the Swedish Wikipedia, and a little of online translators.

I'm sure there are errors in my translation, so feel free to correct me if you find one! I enjoy learning about other languages, so if you'd like to see FishTank in another language, let me know.

I'm going to take my son to the Georgia Aquarium soon. I was browsing their website and came across this tidbit (emphasis mine):

For the safety of our guests, everyone must go through the security checkpoints before entering the Aquarium. No guns, knives, lighters, matches or fishing poles are permitted inside Georgia Aquarium.

Well, I'm pretty disappointed about this, because I was planning on catching one of those whale sharks to bring home!

Back in January I wrote this on a Slashdot article about how underground utility infrastructure is frequently damaged by construction and repair.

My neighbors and I have had our share of underground utility outages while a new sewer line was installed. Cable, telephone, electricity and water were all out at some point during that period. To fix the problem, the companies just lay a new line and bury it, leaving the old. If you dig and find a broken wire, there's no telling if it's needed unless somethings stops working in your house (or your neighbor's).

I think there should be a standard for burying utilities. At least have a marked pathway where everything goes. Or how about a fixed conduit from the street utilities to your house? Make it easy to get to and hard to damage. Phone and cable wires could be lumped together, and the electricity could be nearby but obviously guarded from people accidentally touching it.

Sure a conduit box could be expensive, but given the number of times these guys have had to come out to our neighborhood to fix damage, it might pay for itself. Something has to be better than the present situation.

I think a utility conduit is a good idea that companies are too short-sighted to adopt. And it's not just a problem in the U.S. While reading the May 2006 National Geographic, I came across this quote from Prince Charles regarding a planned community he was trying to establish:

"It took a long time to wear down the public utility people to have one common trench for water, electricity and gas," [Prince Charles] said. "That was more difficult than you would believe possible. It means you don't have to dig up the road every five minutes—and, you know, one common satellite dish means you don't have to have these things stuck all over everything like a rash."

So I guess I just need some royal clout and I might be able to pull it off!

My previous residence is for sale! Please click here and have a look. It's a great house with access to Lake Greenwood (South Carolina). If you know anyone who might be interested, please pass the info along!

Update 2006-11-29: the house has been sold! Thanks for your interest.