Human beings, who are almost unique in having the ability to learn from the experience of others,
are also remarkable for their apparent disinclination to do so.
Douglas Adams

Boxed In - Slate

Recently, my father-in-law broke his leg when his golfing buddy ran him over with their golf cart. Don't shed too many tears. These things happen as one ages: Eyes dim, hearing fades, reactions slow, and eventually someone runs someone else over. If you have any tears, save them for the sad scene I witnessed when I visited him during his convalescence.

read on ...

"Bandwidth hogs" join unicorns in realm of mythical creatures - Ars Technica

One analyst has had it with Internet data caps. Bandwidth hogs are a myth, he says, and caps simply penalize heavy users who cause no problems for others. Now, he's throwing down the gauntlet and challenging ISPs to turn over some data for analysis.

read on ...

Peacefires newest Circumventors:

bloodjump.com/ -- you can access it with either http:// or https://
mousemuffin.com/ -- you can access it with either http:// or https://
treetrash.com/ -- you can access it with either http:// or https://
dogtractor.com/ -- you can access it with either http:// or https://
youngbadger.com/ -- you can access it with either http:// or https://

Remember, always try https://www.stupidcensorship.com first.

The big list.

The Dancing House is the nickname given to the Nationale-Nederlanden building in downtown Prague, Czech Republic. It was designed by Croatian-Czech architect Vlado Milunić in co-operation with Canadian architect Frank Gehry on a vacant riverfront plot (where the previous building had been destroyed during the Bombing of Prague in 1945). The building was designed in 1992 and completed in 1996.

Source: Wikipedia

I've uploaded a couple new photo albums for your viewing pleasure.

Denver Water visits Shadow Wood:
Night photos of Denver Water ripping and tearing to fix a water main break.

Frosty, Snowy Morning:
I think the title pretty much explains this one.

Photo Gallery Home

By David Fitzsimmons - Courtesy of Politicalcartoons.com

There are many more Christmas Nativity Cartoons on Daryl Cagle's Political Cartoonist Index

Morning Snow - 2009.12.06

A set of photographs taken this morning after a little snow last night.

Photo Gallery Home

8 Reasons Hitchcock's 'North By Northwest' Still Rules - Wired

The director's suspenseful masterpiece remains a must-see movie, 50 years after its release.

read on ...

Peacefires newest Circumventors:

hammerclock.com -- you can access it with either http:// or https://

Remember, always try https://www.stupidcensorship.com first.

The big list.

Richard Branson unveils Virgin Galactic spaceplane - BBC

Sir Richard Branson has unveiled the rocket plane he will use to take fare-paying passengers into space. SpaceShipTwo was presented to the world in Mojave, California. The vehicle will undergo testing over the next 18 months before being allowed to take ticketed individuals on short-hop trips just above the atmosphere.

read on ...

I took these photographs on a rather chilly day (mid teens) while walking around Bible Park.

Creek with Snow and Ice - 12.09

Pedro's Photo Gallery

I just liked the contrast and design

Snow and Concrete - 12.09

Pedro's Photo Gallery

 
Trees Along Highline Canal - 12.13

Just wandering around Highling Canal snapping some photos.

Pedro's Photo Gallery

Peacefires newest Circumventors:

ricefountain.com -- you can access it with either http:// or https://

Remember, always try https://www.stupidcensorship.com first.

The big list.

Whoppers of 2009 - FactCheck

Summary Although 2009 was not an election year, it kept us exceptionally busy, and led to millions of visits to our site. In this year-end summary, we offer some of the worst examples of the falsehoods we encountered during the first year of the Obama administration. The list of howlers includes the ...

read on ...

Sublime Sand: Desert Dunes Seen From Space - Wired

The sculpted, shifting sand dunes of some of the world's most spectacular deserts are especially stunning when seen from space. This gallery showcases some of the tallest, strangest and most extensive dunes in the world.

read on ...

Inspired by Saturday afternoon movies, the two boys storm the local bank – sort of. - Robert C. Jones/CSM

James Carlyle and I were downtown, letting our tricycles graze outside the door of the First National Bank. James’s was light blue, a full two hands higher than my red one. I, however, wore a real buffalo-fur cowboy vest - bulletproof. In addition, I had on my genuine Mexican sombrero, which, if I turned the brim down all the way around, made a very workable tent. One of us - I think it was James, but it might have been me - said, "Let’s rob the bank!"

read on ...

 
Signe Wilkenson - 29 December 2009

 
Walt Handelsman - 28 December 2009

Social Network Photos Bridge Taiwan-China Gap - Wired

The U.S. Postal Service expects to deliver over 3 billion cards and letters this holiday season. Halfway around the world, a group of young web enthusiasts have initiated their own version of Americans’ traditional year-end communication flurry.

read on ...

Camera Toss Christmas Lights - 29 December 2009

I caught the idea from an article on the Wired website

Jon Stewart on Bruce Springsteen:

I am not a music critic. Nor historian, nor archivist. I cannot tell you where Bruce Springsteen falls in the pantheon of the American songbook. I cannot illuminate the context of his work, or its roots in the folk and oral history traditions of our great nations.

But I am from New Jersey.

So, I can tell you what I believe. And what I believe is that Bob Dylan and James Brown had a baby. Yes! And they abandoned this child, as you can imagine at the time ... interracial, same sex relationships being what they were ... they abandoned this baby by the side of the road between the exit interchanges 8A and 9 on the Jersey Turnpike ... that child was Bruce Springsteen.

I believe that Bruce Springsteen is an unprecedented combination of lyrical eloquence, musical mastery and sheer unbridled, unadulterated joy. Exuberance in the act of telling stories so familiar, stories that have never been told so well or so uniquely. And I know he's hating this right now. He's a modest man, and he doesn't like sitting there in that little box, with his little suit, wearing a little rainbow dreamcatcher or whatever they have on there ... he doesn't like it.

He wishes he had his guitar and that I would shut up, but I will not. He is the Boss ... But I didn't understand his music for a long time, until I began to yearn. Until I began to question the things that I was making and doing in my own life. Until I realized that it wasn't just about the joyful parade on stage and the theatrics.

It was about stories of lives that could be changed. And that the only status that you could fail to achieve is the status quo. The only thing, the only failure in life was not to make the effort to change our station. And it resonated with me because, and I say this truly to him ... I would not be here, God knows, not even in this business if it were not for the inspirational words and music of Bruce Springsteen.

Christmas Lights - 2009

Just an assortment of Christmas lights taken during this month of December