» Found this stuffed inside my most recent truck registration. Basically says that due to Colorado Senate Bill 09-108 (aka "FASTER") my truck registration fee will be going up (and my motorcycle as well). Not just up a little bit, but an increase of $32 the first year. My most recent registration was $45. So it's going from $45 to $77? And that's just the first year, it goes up again the second and third years. I'm ok with some increases to pay for infrastructure but damn near doubling the cost? That's insane.
» MP3 Skype Call Recorder. Freeware (not just a "oh, try it for a 3 minute call and then pay out the nose for a full version", but actually FREE). Works great, recorded a very technical conference call last week so I could reference some of the material later (which I did this week...) #
» Config Backup Plugin for Adobe Photoshop Lightroom. Helps you backup your other plug-ins and application configuration (things not backed up by a Lightroom Catalog backup.) #
» For a while now we've seen this fox out and about in the neighborhood. A week ago Jane saw it catch a bird and run off. Usually it shows up around dusk and just makes it's rounds, including through our back yard. I've been wanting to photograph it the whole time so I've taken to leaving my camera in an accessible place, with the ISO cranked up and the long lens on it, just in case. Last night I almost caught it, then this morning as I stumbled into the kitchen I saw this:
It didn't seem too concerned about me, though the shutter noise did eventually make it duck under the back deck and run off (bird still firmly in mouth). We have been seeing "bird explosions" of feathers in the back yard for a couple months now, I think we've figured out what that was from. Of course we feed the birds so we've basically set out a buffet for this fox... #
» Colorado Ghost Towns. I linked directly to the Colorado page because if you go to the front page there's hideous and loud music with no way to shut it off (and the site uses frames, double-idiots.) #
» Crescent Lake Panoramic. Best view full size while scrolling. Taken pretty darn early (before 6am?) this past weekend at Crescent Lake, Colorado.
» Curing Garmin Blue Flag Waypoint Disease. Changing waypoints away from the huge blue flag (and setting the zoom level at which they show up in the first place.) #
» Google Apps Sync for Microsoft Outlook. Very cool, you use Google Apps instead of Exchange (I bet that doesn't make Microsoft happy, Exchange lock-in is one of their chief ways of capturing market share.) #
Denver prices fell by 2.7 percent in January and by 1.7 percent in February.
The year-over-year decrease for Denver was 4.9 percent, the best showing off any of the major cities in the index. Dallas, with a drop of 5 percent, was a close second.
And yet when they sent me my tax assessment they said my value increased 3% last year... #
» Perfect Starts. I think I'm going to get a pack of these for starting seeds next year. I've been doing them inside Jiffy Peat Pellets but then have to remove all the dirt when I move them out to my Hydro-Stacker hydroponics setup. The Perfect Starts would mean I could just move from the tray straight out to the hydroponics. #
» A night shot from the weekend camping trip. A 28 minute exposure (on a tripod obviously), aimed roughly north. The light in the lower right was not our camp, we were behind the camera. Down low is Crescent Lake.
» FYI: Why Tape Measure Claws Move Around. Interesting, I'd always assumed it was because the rivets at the end had worked loose. Of course I only seem to own tape measures that have lived for decades already... #
» Understanding the Flash Sync Speed. Quick and understandable explanation of WHY you cannot sync a flash at faster than the low (1/200, 1/250) speed you have to use. #
» Frugal Paris. I believe most cities are about as expensive as you make them. Most have relatively cheap eats and places to stay assuming you are willing to drop your expectations a notch or two. #
» Was out in the back country this weekend (more on that later) and spotted a pair of Clark's Nutcrackers. Cool birds.
» Fox News - Habitually Mislabeling Politicians. But only when they do something wrong. Either they have terrible fact-checkers or they are liars, either way why does anyone believe anything they have to say? #
» Email Address Length FAQ. Good stuff to know if you are working on applications that use email addresses. #
» Remote controlled SR-71 Blackbird. That. is. AWESOME. I especially love two things: 1) the sound the engines make when spinning up, 2) the woman waiting with the fire extinguisher "just in case".
» Migration Assistant to Automatically Install Equivalent Programs. That's pretty cool, it'll scan your Windows partition and give suggestions of equivalents to your applications (so if you have AIM installed it'll suggest Pidgin, Photoshop will recommend GIMP, etc.) #
» WhoCallsMe? Identifies Unknown Callers. We were getting those "warranty for your car" scammers for a while (on Jane's car, which is more than 15 years old...) #
» Trailer: HBO's 'The Pacific'! I really enjoyed Band of Brothers (bought the DVD set the day it came out) so if the production quality on this is similar I'll be watching for sure. #
» Caught this outside the photo studio one night and I just loved how it looked at that moment.
» Made these yesterday based on this pesto roll recipe. Came out amazing.
After the first rise, rolled out and with the pesto in place:
Cut and placed into pans waiting proofing (the second rise):
Proofed and waiting to go into the oven:
Finished product:
I've put one pan of them (broken up into individual rolls) into the freezer, we can take them out one and two at a time and have them with dinner rather than feeling pressure to eat them all before they go bad...
#
