I stayed up way to late last night watching the Oscars and a few interviews after the show. I have to say Billy Crystals opening act was rather entertaining. You had to love Billy sitting in Clint Eastwoods lap and singing to him. That was just to good to be true.

Kind of amazing that Lord Of The Rings won all 11 Oscars it was nominated for. Hopefully now Peter Jackson will have enough money to get a new suit or at least get that one cleaned and pressed! He was definitely looking a little frumpy.

On the other end, Charlize Theron and Angelina Jolie where looking good. You just have to love it. They made watching almost 4 hours of tv worth while.

Shortsighted men ... in their greed and selfishness will, if permitted, rob our country of half its charm by their reckless extermination of all useful and beautiful wild things. -- Theodore Roosevelt.

* * *

Even those of us familiar with this Administration's record can be shocked when someone pulls us back to show us the big picture. The March/April 2004 issue of the Sierra Club's magazine (which, vexingly, isn't available on-line yet) takes a look at what George W. Bush has been doing with our public lands.

The article, "Our Great Estate," notes that Teddy Roosevelt preserved for the public 240 million acres -- while the Bush Administration has weakened protections on 234 million of those acres.

Under the headline "The Big Bite," the article sports a graphic of the United States -- minus Texas and Oklahoma. Sierra Magazine reports, "The Bush Administration has already opened an area larger than Texas and Oklahoma combined to logging, mining, and oil extraction."

Scientists have concluded the part of Mars that NASA's Opportunity rover is exploring was soaking wet in the past.

Evidence the rover found in a rock outcrop led scientists to the conclusion. Clues from the rocks' composition, such as the presence of sulfates, and the rocks' physical appearance, such as niches where crystals grew, helped make the case for a watery history.

"Liquid water once flowed through these rocks. It changed their texture, and it changed their chemistry," said Dr. Steve Squyres of Cornell University, Ithaca, N.Y., principal investigator for the science instruments on Opportunity and its twin, Spirit. "We've been able to read the tell-tale clues the water left behind, giving us confidence in that conclusion."

More: http://marsrovers.jpl.nasa.gov/newsroom/pressreleases/20040302a.html

Hey, I'm feeling pretty smart now. I created and then figured out how to get my own 404 page working. The only problem is, it was really easy to do and know I feel kind of stupid. Doh!

For the last couple weeks I have been playing around with different browsers. I was just not happy with ie anymore and was looking for something better. I have ended up with Opera. My favorite things about the software are:

1. The tabs for open sites rather than many different open windows
2. You can skin it very easily - I use blue metal small
3. You can password protect your login pages for banks and such

It has taken a little time to get use to it but I am happy with the product overall. One thing I have found is that it does not display pages the same way that ie does. It is more strict to the standards issued by the W3C. Now I am going through and doing some re-coding of my web pages to more adhere to these standards. So if you start seeing some changes (like the horizontal bars on this page are no longer red) it is because I am trying to adhere to these standards.

I did purchase the full version. I feel it is important to pay for software you like and I just don't like ads.

** Update: **
I created red line gifs for this page as I liked the red lines and wanted them instead of just plain grey/black lines.

- Jack Ohman

The Colorado Avalanche finally had some offense in a game. Unfortunetly it didn't help as the Vancouver Canucks managed to come back twice from two goals down to tie the game. Two highlights for the Avs; Joe Sakic tallied his 14th hat trick and Alex Tanquay tied a record high 5 points in one game.

The Colorado captain expressed concern over squandering leads:

"We have to correct that," he said. "It's a great hockey team over there and they're going to get their scoring chances. It was an up-and-down game. You'd rather have the win, but for us it's a start. We showed a lot of emotion. Everybody worked hard and skated, so hopefully we can carry this to the next game."

The Avalanche are winless in their last 5 games (2-2-1) and have extended their home winless streak to 8 games (0-4-3-1).

Kerry and Bush will bring different styles, ideologies, and issues to a divisive race.

With the matchup between Sen. John Kerry and President Bush now assured, the stage is set for what observers believe could rank among the most classic - and potentially divisive - confrontations in decades.

After a period in which the two major parties often seemed to blur their differences as much as air them, these two candidates promise to offer clear-cut differences on a range of major issues, from foreign policy to trade agreements, from taxes to the death penalty.

Stylistically, the contrast may be equally stark, pitting an intellectual former war hero from the Northeast against a plain-spoken Texan who has never seen combat but has led the nation to war. The matchup makes it likely that the fall election will be close, and could further polarize an already divided nation. It may also have a profound effect on the direction of the country, magnifying the stakes for both sides.

More: http://www.csmonitor.com/2004/0304/p01s03-uspo.html

Found this interesting article on TomDispach.com by Nicholas Turse.

When, in October 1957, the USSR launched the first man-made earth satellite, the basketball-sized Sputnik, it caught the United States off guard and sent the government into fits. Not only had the Soviets exploded an atomic bomb years before the Americans predicted they would, but now they were leading the "space race." In response, the Defense Department approved funding for a new U.S. satellite project, headed by former Nazi SS officer Wernher von Braun, and created, in 1958, the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) to make certain that the United States forever after maintained "a lead in applying state-of-the-art technology for military capabilities and to prevent technological surprise from her adversaries."

Almost half a century later, what's left of the USSR is a collapsed group of half-failed states, while the U.S. stands alone as the globe's sole hyperpower. Yet DARPA, the agency for an arms-race world, seems only to be warming up to the chase. There may be no country left to take the lead from us, the nearest military competitor being China which reportedly had $65 billion in military expenditures in 2002 (compared to our $466 billion according to GlobalSecurity.org) and which, only in 2003, put its first "Taikonaut" into outer space. Undaunted, DARPA continues to develop high-tech weapons systems for 2025-2050 and beyond – some of them standard fare like your run-of-the-mill. hypersonic bombers, others more exotic.

The rest of the article:
http://www.nationinstitute.org/tomdispatch/index.mhtml?emx=x&pid=1290

- Nick Anderson - 03/04/2004

The real reason Bush wants to go to Mars.

And I think it is a great idea, if he wants to go I am not going to stop him from leaving! ;)

Out of the blue there is an update for Thingamablog. I hadn't seen any news on the program and thought it wasn't being developed anymore. I guess I was wrong. I am glad because I do like this little blogging program. It's nice because now you can post and publish with one click as opposed to before when it took two.

Man oh man, what is up with the Colorado Avalanche?

Four nights ago they played Vancouver and had some offense, finally, and tie at 5-5. Then, two nights ago they played an awsome game and won 5-1 against the San Jose. Now going into todays game against Calgary you would expect a continuation of this pattern.

Not!

The Avs stubbled hard and fell back into the abyss that they have been living in since the beginning of February and lose 7-1! Can you say "Ouch". With Philippe Sauve in goal, maybe this was one last shot for him prior to the trade deadline tomorrow. Possibly Pierre LeCroix wanted to see what Philippe was made of before the trade deadline is gone.

One can only hope that this is a serious wake up call for the team with some of the best talent in the league.

You have to be wondering what is going through Tony Granados mind these days especially with the vote of confidence from Pierre the other day. Isn't that like the tough of death for a coach these days when there is questions about them and the GM or management say there job is secure?

I really think this team needs to have a players only meeting and get their collective asses in gear or they are not going to have much confidence going into the playoffs. I would hate to see them knocked out in the first round and them have the CBA mess with next years hockey. Hell, we possibly could not see them play for a long time to come. And on top of that, you have to figure that Peter Forsberg is off to Sweden at the end of the year if the CBA gets caught in a log jam.

Come on boys, don't let the fans down, please!

Supposetly the new $20 bills have a tracking device in them that may explode in a microwave. I don't have a microwave to test this out with, so you are on your own.

RFID Tags in New US Notes Explode When You Try to Microwave Them

Check out this slide show of Hubble Telescope photos put to music.

http://wires.news.com.au/special/mm/030811-hubble.htm

In a small nearby galaxy lies a luminous cloud of gas and dust, called a nebula, which houses a family of newborn stars. If not for the death of a massive star millions of years ago, this stellar nursery never would have formed.

The nebula, Henize 206, and the remnants of the exploding star that created it, are pictured in superb detail in a new image from NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope. Henize 206 sits just outside our own galaxy, the Milky Way, in a satellite galaxy 163,000 light-years away called the Large Magellanic Cloud. It is home to hundreds and possibly thousands of stars, ranging in age from two to 10 million years old.

"The image is a wonderful example of the cycle of birth and death that gives rise to stars throughout the universe," said Dr. Varoujan Gorjian, a scientist at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif., and principal investigator for the latest observation.

More: http://www.spitzer.caltech.edu/Media/releases/ssc2004-04/release.shtml

This just in, Thingamablog is now able to do comments with Haloscan. So if you wish, leave your comments.

It is said that there are only two tragedies in life:
not getting what one wants,
and getting it.

- Bhanta Henepola Gunaratana,
"Eight Mindful Steps to Happiness"

Here is a headline for you:
Former U.S. figure skater champion and aspiring boxer Tonya Harding is trying minor league ice hockery next and will play with the Indianapolis Ice of the Central Hockey League against the Colorado Eagles on Friday.

It is a sad day for the NHL today as the inability to control the game has reared it's ugly head once again. I think it is way beyond time to bring the players conduct into the 20th century now that we are in the 21st century. I played hockey for quite a bit of my life and love the game, but this really makes me sad to call myself a NHL fan:

The Colorado Avalanche Hockey Club and its team doctors, along with the local neurosurgeons in Vancouver, British Columbia, is releasing the following report regarding the condition of Steve Moore.

“Steve Moore will remain hospitalized in Vancouver for an indefinite period of time,” said Avalanche Head Athletic Trainer Pat Karns. “Exams have revealed that Steve sustained a concussion and a cervical injury (neck fracture) and will be out at least for the remainder of the season. He also suffered deep facial lacerations and abrasions to the forehead, right cheek and upper lip. As soon as his condition permits him to travel, he will be transferred to Craig Hospital in Denver, where some of the best neurosurgeons in the country will reevaluate his condition in further detail. Steve regained consciousness before leaving the arena last night.”

Said Colorado Avalanche President and General Manager Pierre Lacroix: “Steve knows he has the support of the entire Avalanche family and hockey fans throughout the world, and we hope that he recovers as soon as possible.”

From Sports Network:

New York, NY (Sports Network) - Vancouver Canucks center Todd Bertuzzi has been suspended indefinitely by the National Hockey League for deliberately injuring Colorado center Steve Moore, who is currently in a Denver Hospital bed with a concussion and a neck fracture.

On Monday night, Bertuzzi punched Moore in the head from behind and then jumped his back and drove him face-first into the ice, knocking him unconscious. Moore, who scored a goal earlier in the game, laid motionless in a puddle of blood before being carted off on a stretcher. Bertuzzi received a match penalty for his actions, which comes with an automatic review by the NHL.

"When it is one of your players and one of your warriors out there trying to do his job you are concerned," said Colorado head coach Tony Granato.

"It was disgusting," former Avalanche defenseman Derek Morris said. "I haven't seen anything like that in my seven years of playing hockey. This was premeditated, this was the worst thing I've seen." Morris was traded to Phoenix on Tuesday.

A disciplinary hearing is scheduled for Wednesday at the league's office in Toronto.

In addition, there is also an independent police investigation ongoing in regards to the incident.

"It was something that shouldn't have happened," Granato said. "There is no room for that in our game."

In 57 games this season, his first full season with the Avalanche, Moore has five goals and 12 points.

Bertuzzi has 17 goals 43 assists on the season.

Other Related Articles:

• Avs' Moore out rest of season with broken neck - ‘Remorseful’ Canucks star Bertuzzi faces long suspension, police probe for retaliation hit from behind
• Celizic: NHL needs to ban fighting, dirty play
• FAN FORUM: What should happen to Bertuzzi?
• Players say Bertuzzi hit was bad for NHL, wonder what penalty star will pay?
• Vancouver police investigate ugly on-ice hit by Canucks star

Various Quotes:

• "... it was the same, sickening, premeditated assault which happens just often enough to give a league desperately seeking to clean up its image a bad name." - Eric Duhatschek - Globe and Mail Update
• "The NHL has allowed the players to get out of hand. They do not respect the officials, the opposition or the idea of disciplinary action. It is clear by their actions on the ice, particularly in the last couple of weeks when the Senators and Flyers turned a key conference game into an on-ice riot complete with Donald Brashear offering a throat-slashing gesture as he stood in the runway off the bench.
  There was no response from the league on any of that and now they will be forced to respond as the NHL has hit the national news again. It's not the way the league would like and the people in charge are the only ones who can stop it. They are late. Let's hope not too late." - Kara Yorio - The Sporting News

The thoughts of this blogger a with Steve Moore and his family. I wish him to make a full recover and may it be a quick one at that.

A high-ranking military officer reveals how Defense Department extremists suppressed information and twisted the truth to drive the country to war.

Salon.com has just broken a major story detailing how the Pentagon created a special office to manipulate intelligence data on Iraq and WMDs. It's written by Karen Kwiatkowski, a military officer who watched this unit at work, telling us the inside story in her own words.

http://www.salon.com/opinion/feature/2004/03/10/osp_moveon/

- Berkeley Breathed

I watched the Bertuzzi news conference with interest last night. You could easily see the man was upset, but I am sorry, I don't feel bad for him. I feel bad for the man in the hospital for an indefinite stay. Hockey is the only professional sport I can think of, except boxing, where the players can lose their cool and duke it out. And, we as a civilization are suppose to accept this because it is part of it's history. Does this mean that Italians can open up the Colluseum and start matches to the death because it is part of their history? If any citizen in almost any country on this planet loses their cool and attacks another citizen are there not retributions? But not hockey, it's part of it's history. Another perfect example of how humans do not learn from history.

Here are two quotes that show what really is acceptable in hockey today:

"As NHL players, we get fired up and sometimes do stupid things on the ice," said Brendan Shanahan of the Red Wings.

"It's a very emotional game, and you can quickly lose your temper and lose your focus," said Wayne Gretzky.

At this point what ever Gary Bettman does, it will be a little to little and a little to late. He had the perfect time to say something about retaliation when he came to Denver and sat in a box with Peirre Lecroix for the last Vancouver game here. What did he say, nothing. When asked why he was here he said he was just in the neighborhood and stopped by. When asked why he was in the neighborhood he wouldn't say.

Did you realize fighting is up 26% this season? Did you know veiwership is going down? Gary Bettman and the rest of the hockey world is trying to sell hockey as a violent sport and it is not selling. The sad part is they do not realize this. And the really sad part is that even though there is a player in the hospital, what ever they do will not be enough to clean up the game and make it sell in the U.S. And until they can make it sell in the U.S., it will remain a minor sport here.

Finally, you have Colorado coach Tony Granato and his comments. Isn't it true there is a tape of him blatenly(?) swinging his stick into the head of another player? I wonder what he has to say about that?

Hmm. I have been thinking and writing trying to organize my thoughts on the decision by the NHL on Todd Bertuzzis suspension. Overall I am kind of disappointed in what they decided to do. I do not think it is fair to leave the suspension open ended like they did. I believe they should had made a firm decision and gone with it. Instead they left themselves open to wait and see how this all continues to play in the public arena then make a final decision based on how they think the politicalness of it will play. I see this as a side stepping maneuver by Gary Bettman and the NHL in general when I believe at this point they need to put there collective foot down on violence in the sport and take an intelligent step forward. What they ended up doing was sidestepping the bigger issue and taking a couple steps backward by ignoring the issue of the increase in violence in the league. Yes, their statement does say that this kind of behavoir is unacceptable, but it does not address what I believe to be the bigger issue of violence as a whole throughout the league. I honestly believe that what is unacceptable on the city street should be unacceptable on the professional ice rink. This is not boxing, this is hockey and what ever you may think, I don't believe they are compatible. Kids should not be watching the professionals in this sport taking vengeance on one another for what ever reason. They should not be seeing adults who are paid in some cases multi millions of dollars a year losing their cool and in most cases it be tossed off as an acceptable part of the game. This is just a GAME not some life or death struggle and it is about time the NHL realize this and demanded the actions of its players to treat it as such. But that's just my opinion, you as always are entitled to your own. (Well, at least until John Ashcroft takes it away, but that is a rant for another time.)

More articles about this incident:

• Text of the NHL announcement
• Code lets NHL play violently - Mark Kiszla - Denver Post
• Players say Bertuzzi's punishment fits the crime but doubt violence will stop - Bill Beacon - Canadian Press
• NHL leaves open possibility of Bertuzzi playing in World Cup of Hockey - Pierre Lebrun - Canadian Press
• Hockey is so sick it needs to sit out a season - Jefferey Simpson - The Globe and Mail
• Prime minister tells hockey to 'clean up your act' following Bertuzzi affair - Canadian Press
• Moore assault puts NHL fights in different light - Rick Morrissey - Chicago Tribune

One final quote that I think sums up the NHL's attitude towards violence:

"More often that not, the remarks in the heat of the moment dissipate by the time the actual game is played." He smiled then added "Although we still have two periods to play"
- Gary Bettman, March 3rd at the Pepsi Center, Denver, Colorado during the Vancouver - Colorado game

Guess you missed that mark by a couple periods there Mr. Bettman. I have to say, that is one funny joke, you ever thought of being a comedian?

Here are three articles from this mornings Rocky Mountain News which I feel sum up most of my feelings about this past week and the NHL. Unfortunately I am feeling burned out on all the hoopla surrounding this latest episode with the hockey world because I don't feel there is going to be much change from the corporate offices.

• Hockey's image also suffers blow - Sport debates response, scrambles for answers in wake of Moore attack - Rick Sadowski
• That's the NHL's story - and they're sticking to it - Dave Krieger
• Ice of apathy encrusts hockey - Bernie Lincicome

Overall, it has been a sad state of affairs for the NHL, if you ask me.

Hey all you readers out there in cyberspace. Just a reminder not to open unknown attachments. Twice today NAV has caught viruses trying to sneak in to my inbox. W32.Beagle.J and W32.Netsky.D where attached to emails sent to addresses on my website. An interesting development that I had not realized, they are out there scanning websites for email addresses and trying to attack them. I am not sure how they are doing this, but they are.

I for one keep my virus definitions up to date. I am also very aware of emails that arrive from addressees who I do not know. You just have to stay on your toes in this digital age.

Which begs the question, do you trust computer voting. I don't. They have enough problems with chads and such now, just wait till there are tampering programs developed for voting computers. I can't wait for some 15 year old in Bunkin, Wherever who is bored and looks to the voting computer system to elect the girl he has a crush on President of the United States. Won't that just impress her, let alone send the country into a constitutional tailspin for a while.

Just something to look forward to.

Here is something really cool for all you local Colorado folks. Lance Armstrong has committed to riding in the Vail Rocky Mountain Classic professional race Labor Day weekend in one of his few North American appearances.

Better check those vacation hours and get those vacation requests in. It could be a once in a life time chance to see Lance and, you never know, Sheryl Crow could be there to! Now there is a really go reason to go ;)

Check this out. The Justice Department and FBI proposed that providers should be forced to provide access for FBI wiretaps and other electronic surveillance. And guess who they want to pay for it. That's right, the customer.

Experts say the proposal by the Justice Department, the FBI and the Drug Enforcement Administration could require extensive retooling of existing broadband networks and could impose significant costs. Privacy advocates also argue that there are not enough safeguards to prevent the government from intercepting data from innocent users.

Check out the story on The Washington Post:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A54512-2004Mar12.html

I have to say I had a great weekend here in Colorado. Lots of sunshine with the tempurature tempered with some wind. I finally took the mountain bike out this weekend (hence the new photo up in the top right corner). First, though I took a good 30 mile road ride on Saturday on a loop around southern Denver. A nice ride for sure, but the climb back up Quincy through Cherry Creek Village from the Platte River was a bitch with the stong, steady head wind. Man where the quads screaming by the time I cranked up that. And, the biggest heartbreaker is, it is not a really steep climb, just steady. I hate those sometimes.

On Sunday a couple of buddies and I headed out to Green Mountain with the mountain bikes. Whew, I have to say that initial climb from the east parking lot was a shocker. The body really had no clue what in the world was going on. I hadn't been on that bike since some time last fall and even with the daily commuting to work and back every day, my lungs and legs where not quite ready for it. It took about a third of the climb for the body to adapt. There was some serious sucking of air there for a while not to mention some lactic acid build up in the legs.

I have to say we where not the only ones with this ride in mind. The park was packed with riders and the runners didn't seem to happy about this. The traffic on the trails was amazing. I don't think I have ever seen that many riders out there before and every time you passed a runner, boy did they seem pissed. Oh well, what are you going to do, not ride? I Don't think so.

In the mean time I can't wait for next weekend, the weather is suppose to be even better that this past weekend. Probably go hit at least one of those other trails on the front range.

Hans Blix, the former chief United Nations weapons inspector, said Monday that the Bush administration convinced itself of the existence of banned weapons based on dubious findings before invading Iraq and was not interested in hearing evidence to the contrary.

"I think they had a set mind," Mr. Blix said on the NBC News program "Today" as he began a ten-day American book tour in the week marking the first anniversary of the United States-led invasion of Iraq.

"They wanted to come to the conclusion that there were weapons," he said. "Like the former days of the witch hunt, they are convinced that they exist, and if you see a black cat, well, that's evidence of the witch."

In a talk to a crowd of 1,200 people on Monday night at New York University, Mr. Blix said he did not share the Bush administrations' view that the war had made the world a safer place.

More:
http://www.nytimes.com/2004/03/16/international/middleeast/16BLIX.html?th

It is not already a requirement but Time Warner wants to go ahead and let law enforcement get access to what you and I do on the internet. What the FBI wants is incredably far reaching and privacy experts have quams about it..

Read the article:
http://news.com.com/2100-1034_3-5173320.html

I guess what Bush wants, Bush gets, to hell with us in the trenches I am waiting for the day when they start monitering my little site because I don't like what they are doing. I forsee a day when you have to watch what you say, much like a police state, or you could be put away as a enemy of the state with no rights what so ever. I hope not, but you never know.

Tired from a long, hard winter? Looking for a sunny getaway that won't break the family budget? Camp X-ray at Guantánamo Bay in tropical Cuba has fun for everyone.

Or at least, that was the word from Fox News last week. "Another young Afghan boy is saying that, contrary to complaints from Human Rights Watch, he had a wonderful time as a detainee at Guantánamo Bay," a Fox anchor reported. Fourteen-year-old Asad Olad returned from a 14-month stay at Gitmo with rave reviews. "[H]e spent his days watching movies, playing football, and going to class, where he says he was fascinated by lessons on the solar system," the anchor said.

Yes, better living through incarceration. We should all be so fortunate.

Read the full story:
http://www.csmonitor.com/2004/0316/p09s02-codc.html

A very interesting story commenting on how readership on papers and viewership of the national news is falling significately in the US

Leading Parks Advocate Releases Report Outlining Critical Staffing Shortages in National Parks

The nonpartisan park watchdog, the National Parks Conservation Association (NPCA) today issued a groundbreaking report on the critical shortage of staff in America's national parks, a shortage that directly affects the experiences of millions of visitors this summer and cripples the ability of the National Park Service to protect the nation's heritage.

The Report:
http://www.npca.org/across_the_nation/visitor_experience/endangeredrangers/default.asp

I don't always agree with what the ACLU does, but this one I do like. Very soon we will only be voting by computer if the powers to be get their way, something I find very scary. And if the powers to be have the ability to get into any computer system who is to say "Big Brother" will not be running the show? If they can get into any computer system to watch where you and I go and to see what you and I have to say, they sure as hell can mess with election votes. On top of this, you know this will be Microsoft software and all the hackers out there in cyberland will be gunning to get their "vote" in! It is a scary frontier we are encroaching on my friends.

So, summited for your consideration:

From: Matt Howes, National Internet Organizer, ACLU
To: ACLU Action Network Members
Date: March 18, 2004

Not satisfied with the new snooping powers granted by the PATRIOT Act, the Department of Justice is now asking the Federal Communications Commission to allow law enforcement the power to regulate the design of Internet communications services to make them easy to wiretap.

If implemented, the new request by Attorney General John Ashcroft would dramatically increase the government's surveillance powers and set a precedent for opening the entire Internet to law enforcement. By forcing technology companies to build 'backdoors' in their systems for wiretapping, the Ashcroft plan would also create weaknesses that hackers and thieves could use to invade your privacy and steal personal information like credit card numbers.

The government already has more than enough power to spy on individuals suspected of wrongdoing. This measure is the equivalent of requiring all new homes be built with a peephole for law enforcement agents to look through.

Take Action! Tell the FCC and Congress that you oppose these new wiretapping requirements.

Click here for more information and to send a free fax to the FCC Chairman and your Members of Congress:

http://www.aclu.org/Privacy/Privacy.cfm?ID=15264&c=39

Like a busy urban family, planets rarely get together all at once. Later this month, however, the five so-called naked-eye planets - Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter and Saturn - will reunite in the night sky, giving spectators a unique chance to see Earth's closest companions in one easy sitting.

The gathering will be visible every night for an hour after sunset, beginning around March 22 and lasting about two weeks. While other opportunities to catch a five-planet rendezvous will take place in the next few years, both at dawn and dusk, this one is not to be missed.

"This particular planetary grouping will quite possibly offer the best nighttime views until 2036," says Dr. Myles Standish, an astronomer at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif.

For early risers, there will be another chance to see all five naked-eye planets together just before sunrise in December of this year and early January 2005.

Since ancient times, the naked-eye planets have intrigued and inspired onlookers all over the world. But only sporadically, usually every few years or so, do their orbits take them to the same side of the Sun. When this happens, the planets stretch across the morning or evening skies depending on which side of the Sun they reside. More rare are planetary alignments in which the five planets assemble in a very small corner of the sky.

"Every so often the five visible planets will collect on one side of the Sun," says Standish. "Only when conditions are right, will they all be clearly visible at either dusk or dawn."

The Details

To catch the planetary get-together, you'll need a good view of the sky, free of buildings and bright city lights (you should still be able to see the planets through urban light pollution). The show begins around March 22 and lasts through early April, when Mercury fades from sight. The finest views will take place during the last 8 to 10 days of March.

Begin by looking to the western horizon each evening just after sunset. Seated in a row up and across the sky will be Mercury, Venus, Mars and Saturn. Saturn will lie almost directly overhead. Following the line of the planets, Jupiter will be close to the eastern horizon. Together, the planets will span about 135 degrees. About an hour after dusk, Mercury will dip below the western horizon.

The Moon will also be attending the festivities, mingling through the planets in an orderly fashion. On March 22, it will take a seat next to Mercury, and then climbing up the night sky, it will end its tour on April 1 right above mighty Jupiter, the largest planet in our solar system. As the Moon slides from planet to planet, it will grow in size from a slender crescent to a nearly full circle of white.

Note that Venus is currently brighter than usual because of where it lies in relation to Earth and the Sun.

The Moon and planets will appear to follow nearly the same path through the stars. This is because their orbits around the Sun occupy planes that are close to that of Earth's orbit. The plane Earth moves in is called the ecliptic.

If for some reason you miss the "Fab Five," another set of orbiting bodies will soon make a grand debut. In April and May of this year, two naked-eye comets, C/2001 Q4 and C/2002 T7, will grace the twilight skies. To spot the cosmic balls of dust and ice look to the west at dusk or dawn. A pair of binoculars will help to initially locate the comets because they may be slightly washed out by the Sun. On May 12 to 16 look out for a mini-reunion with the naked-eye planets, when comet C/2001 Q4 lines up with Venus, Mars, Saturn and Jupiter.

Well I made the mistake of checking out MYIE2 on my computer for a few hours yesterday. Man did it mess up everything.

I found I didn't like it and uninstalled it. The problem was when it uninstalled it kept its fingers on the default browser setting, or something. IE6 wouldn't reset itself as my default browser. Thus, AI Roboform taskbar icon didn't work, I was having problems with email links, SETISpy wouldn't connect to check user stats, there was just all kind of issues. I had tried checking and unchecking the box for IE to check to see if it was the default browser to no avail. Nothing was working

I have been using Opera as a second browser and tried unloading that to no luck.

After seaching the internet for a couple hours I found a program called SetBrowser at http://www.pc-tools.net. It did the trick. So if you ever have the problem of IE not resetting itself to the default browser, go download this freeware and life should be just dandy again.

Moral of the story: I guess there is some option in MYIE2 to reset the browser to the original default, so either do that or just don't load MYIE2 on your computer. The choice is yours.

Now that's funny!

Colorado's quest for a 10th straight division title took a hit Saturday, as Owen Nolan scored twice and Ed Belfour made 32 saves to lead Toronto to a 5-2 win over the Avalanche at the Air Canada Centre.

Joe Sakic finished with a goal and an assist for the Avalanche, who suffered their third straight loss. They lead the Northwest Division by four points over second-place Vancouver. John-Michael Liles scored and David Aebischer stopped 19 shots.

The Maple Leafs went ahead 3-0 in the first period, before Colorado used a pair of goals on the power play to get within 3-2. Liles made it 3-1 with 7:55 left in the second. A match penalty and a game misconduct call against Wade Belak led to the goal.

Sakic got his 32nd of the season 3:16 later with the Avalanche on a two-man advantage. He beat goalie Ed Belfour with a wrist shot from the right circle.

The Avalanche finished 2-for-8 on the power play.

Sakic's two points give him 84 on the season, leaving him two shy of Tampa Bay's Martin St. Louis for the league lead. Sakic has 32 goals and 52 assists in 74 games.

The Avalanche will next return home to face Chicago on Tuesday.

Spring Science Surprise #1:
Bears Don't Really Hibernate

Scientists say that "true" hibernators, such as ground squirrels, practically die during hibernation. Their body temperature drops to near freezing, and their organs shut down. A ground squirrel's heart rate, for example, slows from a few hundred beats per minute to just five. Even the little nut lover's bones and teeth deteriorate, as every tissue toes the line between life and death. They do wake up every few weeks. But normally, you can poke, prod, or even eat a hibernating critter and get no response.

Never try that with a bear. Yogi and Boo-Boo aren't exactly into winter sports, but they're not dead to the world either. Bears just use winter to catch up on their sleep, preferring winter dormancy to scrounging for dwindling food. Their body temperature drops only a few degrees. They wake up frequently and can stir in a second if someone invades their den. Mother bears even give birth to cubs and suckle them sleepily till spring.

Spring Science Surprise #2:
Your Grass Doesn't Really Grow That Fast

Once warmed and watered out of its winter brownness, your lawn probably adds a couple of inches each week. Yet be thankful. There is a grass that you'd have to cut every hour of every day for a month just to keep your yard underfoot.

It's called bamboo. Bamboo may grow like a tree, but it's actually a kind of giant grass. Many think it's the fastest growing plant on the planet. One variety, called madake, can grow up to four feet (more than a meter) in a single day. It reaches its full height in a month, towering as much as 72 feet (22 meters) above you and your Lawnboy. Slack off with a bamboo lawn, and you'll be cutting it with a helicopter.

Spring Science Surprise #3:
The Smell of Rain Is Petrichor

April showers bring May flowers, and something else, too: the smell of rain--that fresh, earthy scent marketers never quite manage to put in fabric softener. In 1964, two Australian scientists trying to pin down the elusive smell discovered that plants secrete various oils during dry times that rocks and soil absorb. A little rain releases the oils into the air. The scientists, who clearly had poetry in their souls, called the aroma "petrichor," combining the Greek word petros, or rock, with ichor, the blood-like essence of Greek gods.

Still, not every rainy-day aroma comes from botanical extracts, like so much bath oil. In moister, more wooded areas around the world, the smell of rain is likely the smell of spores, from bacteria that live in the soil called actinomycetes. Raindrops pounding the ground blast fine particles of soil and spores into the air, where they're more whiffable. So, could the smell of rain kill you? Not generally. In fact, actinomycetes are a primary source of antibiotics used to combat other, less refreshing bacteria.

Spring Science Surprise #4:
The First Robin May Not Signal Spring

Alright, let's talk about the birds and the bees. First thing: Mom lied. Spotting a robin does not necessarily signal the start of spring. Truth is, you can spot American robins just about all year long. Even if your robins flew south for the winter, you might see one that flew in from someplace farther north. To get a thumbs-up on spring, you have to lay eyes on your robins--on the ones actually returning to your area for some spring and summer worming.

You can't exactly check their boarding passes. But you can listen. When your local robins return, the males call dibs on worms, marking their territories with a distinctive song: cheer-up, cheer-up, cheer-a-lee. Robins make all kinds of chirps and calls, but they save this singing for after they've returned to claim a springtime spot. They tend to arrive after the temperature moves consistently above 37 degrees Fahrenheit (3 degrees Celsius). That's when worms head back to the surface after tunneling all winter below the frost.

Spring Science Surprise #5:
Honey Is Bee Vomit

Dad didn't tell you the whole story either. He surely told you that bees make honey. But how? It's not as if the little buzzers have a honey factory inside their hive where they slather sweets into packages like Keebler elves. Come on: they're bees, not teamsters.

No, honey is pretty much just bee vomit--what bees burp up to feed their young and sustain the hive during winter. To make such glorious stuff, honeybees sip only the best nectar from the ripest flowers. The official drink of Greek gods, nectar is a watery mix of various sugars, with those sugars accounting for between 3 and 80 percent of the solution. Once inside bees' honey sacs, the nectar loses moisture, giving the sugars sticky-sweet reign. One bee belch later, and you've got the essence of spring flowers on your toast.

From: Knowledge News

The Avalanche got Peter Forsberg back last night, Joe Sakic scored his 1,400 point and Steve Moore was released from Rose Medical Center yesterday.

They still can't win as they tied Chicago in last nights game.

I watch the first couple of periods and was impressed with the energy the Avs showed. There where quite a few scoring chances that just didn't pan out for the them. They need to take this positive effort into the last 6 games they have. The biggest of them will be the next two against Detroit. If want any chance of taking the Western Conference they will have to win both of these meetings with the conference leader.

Stories of note this morning:

• Moore released from hospital
• Forsberg Back as Colorado Halts Slide
• Belak asks NHL to be consistent
• Brodeur youngest goalie to win 400 games
• Avs almost forfeited after Bertuzzi hit

Found this article about the notes in the W2K code that was leaked a while back.
http://www.kuro5hin.org/story/2004/2/15/71552/7795?
It makes for some interesting reading.

Here is an news item that is worth reading in full. There are three new Bagle worm variants that are out there that pose a new leve of threat.

A series of new variants of the prolific Bagle worm has raised alarms in the security community through an innovative infection mechanism: The e-mail message in which the variants arrive may have no file attachment, and it's possible for a user to become infected without having to launch one.

The message includes a Windows ActiveX control and uses a vulnerability announced and patched by Microsoft Corp. in August and another problem from last October. The most recent Cumulative Security Update for Internet Explorer also includes a fix for the more recently discovered flaw.

Continued Here: http://www.eweek.com/article2/0,1759,1550835,00.asp?kc=EWNWS031804DTX1K0000599

The Avs lose one to Detroit, but it wasn't because they didn't try. The effort put out by the players during this game was exceptional. You have to say that Manny Legace played an incredible game for the Wings in the net. Some of the saves he made where unbelievable. On the other side, David Aebischer just didn't see to be ready to go. Aebischer looked confused at times and just couldn't keep track of the puck. Not the best of outings for him. Hopefully he will have one of those bad game, good game turn arounds for Saturdays game in Detroit.

I have to say the Avs have looked better the last couple of games even though they have lost them. There seems to be more energy in the team than of late. We can only hope this carries over into the playoffs. If it doesn't, it is going to be another short year for the team.

- Gary Varvel - 03/25/2004

© Ann Telnaes - 03/21/2004

© Ann Telnaes - 03/20/2004

After a long hiatus the editorial cartoon section has returned. I have kind of come up with a directory to break down the over 24MB of images I uploaded today. It is not perfect but it will work for the time being. There are no previews, just a listing in each directory, but I feel it was better that just a huge list of everything together.

When you have a few spare minutes go check it out:
Editorial Cartoons

:: Update ::

As of November 3rd, 2004 the Editorial Cartoon Blog is no longer being updated. It is still but I have just started adding editorial cartoons to my main blog. Check the Archives Index for the cartoons that have been added there.

It is a weekend of web site work, that's for sure.

My next rebuild is the old Cold Mountain area that I had not touched in a few years. It has been reincarnated as Taoism, Buddhism and Zen.

I have cleaned up the code on most of the pages and have updated the links. I will also be adding more content in the coming weeks. I just need to finish putting it all together, but I wanted to get the initial area up and running to find any problems.

Go check it out if you wish:
Taoism, Buddhism and Zen

Did you catch this past weeks The Boondocks by Aaron McGruder? Man was it a good series.

It started last Sunday with the Geico gag and then went with the new slogan of "isn't almost good enough" for the Bush campaign. It definitely had me laughing all week.

If you missed it or want to see them again here they are, at least until someone finds out and has me take them down.

Enjoy!

I have put a M. C. Escher image on the desktop

Desktop Images

Check this out, Singapore Airlines has an 18.5 hour flight from Los Angeles to Singapore. Damb, that's a long time to be in an aluminum tube! On top of that they are going to start alonger one in June from NYC up and over the North Pole and then on to Singapore. I hope they give you more than just peanuts on those babies!

Read More:
http://www.abcnews.go.com/sections/Travel/WorldNewsTonight/longest_flight_040328-1.html

Check out the Museum of Hoaxes top 100 pranks. There are definitely some kicking themselves for falling for some of these!

The Top 100 Hoaxes Of All Time

Absolutely, positively stolen from Knowlegde News!

Much faster than you think--literally. But not nearly as fast as you and Superman fly through space.

A bullet fired from a .38 Special might travel 600 feet per second. That's "only" 400 miles per hour (640 kph), slower than the cruising speed of a 747. Yet a high-powered rifle using a specially made cartridge can send a slug speeding away at 4,000 feet per second. That's 2,700 miles per hour (4,350 kph). A typical deer rifle fires a bullet with about two-thirds that speed--still more than twice the speed of sound.

Forget about dodging even the pokiest of these slugs. The electrical signals that move between your brain and your muscles don't go faster than 270 miles per hour (435 kph). The signals involved in thinking and reading move even slower than that. Mercifully, pain signals travel slower still.

But that's not to say that you're some kind of slug yourself. You actually move incredibly fast all the time. At mid-latitudes, the Earth spins at about 700 to 900 miles per hour (1,100 to 1,500 kph), and you, of course, spin with it. Similarly, the Earth goes round the sun at about 65,000 miles per hour (105,000 kph), and you go around with it.

Dizzy yet? You're whirling about even faster. The sun and all its satellites, including you, move around the center of the Milky Way at about 500,000 miles per hour (800,000 kph). And the Milky Way is moving at 1.4 million miles per hour (2.2 million kph) toward some mysterious "Great Attractor." There are other motions, too, but you get the idea.

Fortunately, we are all saved from perpetual motion sickness by the fact that this tremendous speed is relative. Fire a deer rifle from an SR-71 Blackbird at full throttle, and the bullet will move away from you at a little more than twice the speed of sound. But relative to the ground, it will move at an incredible Mach 5--its speed, plus the speed of your Blackbird. It's all about your frame of reference.

U.S. Air Force Captain Joseph Kittinger learned this firsthand. In 1960, as part of a military test, he parachuted from a balloon gondola more than 100,000 feet (30,000 meters) above the Earth. While in freefall, his body reached a speed of 614 miles per hour (988 kph)--nearly breaking the sound barrier. And yet, lacking any reference so far above the ground, he said, "I have absolutely no sensation of the increasing speed with which I fall."