Monday, August 24, 2009

45 Brilliant Corporate Websites

Inspirational Corporate Website Designs

In this presentation, you'll find variety of highly-creative, beautiful and most importantly inspirational corporate designs which is easy to accessible and convenient to approachable. The main purpose here is to stimulate your creativity and to inspire your imagination to design or redesign your work site to show your skills to potential clients.

So how can you make sure your design is better than the designs of your competitors? How can you point employer's attention to your product? Here we might can help you by showcasing following list of great corporate designs.

Get Clipmarks - The easiest way to email text, images and videos you find on the web.

Sunday, August 23, 2009

7 Good Reasons to Switch to Win7

clipped from www.cnn.com

Seven good reasons to switch to Windows 7

(WIRED) -- Landing in stores October, Windows 7 is sparking a surprisingly heated debate (in our forums, at least) on whether or not upgrading from XP is a good idea. If you're in the "nay" camp, we're going to lay out seven reasons why you should consider switching your stance to "yay."

Windows 7 is coming in October. Here are seven reasons to consider switching to Microsoft's new OS.

When scanning our list, we politely encourage you to ask yourself, "Do I really want to continue using an eight-year-old operating system?" Followed by "Don't I deserve better?"

Because no matter how comfortable you are with XP, you do deserve an OS that's both newer and better, and Windows 7 will deliver. Not convinced? Then read on.

You Asked for This

Remember Vista? We know most of you don't want to, and that's because the OS fell short of many consumers' expectations. As a result, many -- especially power users -- elected to skip Vista entirely, and have continued running Windows XP. Hence Microsoft's attempt at a redo with Windows 7. This time around, the software giant made an effort to crowdsource feedback from Microsoft enthusiasts by distributing a free beta version of Windows 7 in January.

You complained, you demanded, and in response Microsoft slapped something together to ship October 22. The result? The overall presentation of Windows 7 is familiar enough to welcome XP users, but fundamentally it's different enough to make you change the way you think of Microsoft. (I can vouch for that, being a long-time Mac user and ex-Windows fan).

Upgrading Won't Screw You Over

Microsoft has its loyal fans in mind, including those clinging for dear life to XP. The tech giant promises that Windows 7 has been coded to support almost every piece of software that runs on your XP system. If, in the rare case one of your XP programs doesn't work on Windows 7, you can still run it in a virtual environment called XP Mode. What's especially cool about this mode is you won't have to toggle between an XP emulator and Windows 7. The apps running in XP Mode appear like ordinary windows that are part of Windows 7.

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Also, the Windows 7 upgrade chart may appear intimidating and confusing, but prior to release Microsoft plans to release a compatibility checker that will automatically scan your system to tell you which version of Windows 7 is for you.

Automatically Installed Device Drivers

This is only a minor improvement, but it addresses a major pain in the ass in earlier versions of Windows. Who has time to scour the internet for a device driver to work with hardware such as a video card or an external hard drive? Life is too short for that garbage work, and fortunately Windows 7 does this chore for you.

Plug in a new piece of hardware, and the OS will find and install the driver for you. XP has this feature, sort of, but it works better in Vista and much better in Windows 7. No more of those annoying yellow question marks. Good riddance.

Piracy

Yarr! We know there are plenty of you out there downloading pirated digital booty, especially in Windows land. But it's never been convenient to be a pirate compared with being a paying customer. For example, if you're a legitimate buyer purchasing movies off iTunes, you can easily stream your media to your legitimately purchased Apple TV. If you're a pirate, you'd have to go through roundabout programs and hardware to re-create the experience.

Windows 7 is an OS practically made for pirates. Want to display your movies, photos or music on your TV? Bam! Windows Media Player will do that out of the box if you have a Wi-Fi enabled TV, or an Xbox. No extra programs to install: Windows Media Player seamlessly communicates with your Wi-Fi device to display your illegal content in all its glory on your fancy HD TV.

And sharing media is easy, too. Want to download all of your brother's music? Bam! HomeGroup, an easy networking feature included in Windows 7, will make that super easy between computers running the OS. Immediately upon plugging in to your network with Ethernet or Wi-Fi, HomeGroup will ask if you wish to join the group on the network, allowing you to set up easy file sharing in minutes.

A Better Interface

The new Aero features, which we covered in our Windows 7 first look, will change the way you interact with your computer. Aero Peek will prove the most useful: The feature displays outlines of all your open windows behind your active window. Each outlined box contains a thumbnail previewing its corresponding window to help you choose.

Gizmodo's Matt Buchanan, who has been using AeroPeek for six months, provides an excellent perspective on Aero: "It breaks the instinct to maximize windows as you're using them; instead, you simply let windows hang out, since it's much easier to juggle them." Makes sense, doesn't it, for a generation of multitaskers? Aren't you tired of Alt-Tabbing over and over and over?

Another feature, Aero Snap, makes it easier to resize and tile windows to fit the available space. (Read more about Aero Snap and Aero Peek.)

Words aren't enough. You really have to try the OS to understand why these UI enhancements are a big deal. We get the idea that the people dismissing Windows 7 haven't yet tinkered with it, and we highly encourage you to download the release candidate and give it a test drive. But do it now: The download is only available until August 20.

More Advanced Hardware Support

Technology evolves faster than living organisms, and Windows 7 is also designed to work well with upcoming hardware. Touchscreens are getting more popular in the mainstream (thanks largely to the iPhone), and sure enough Windows 7 includes multitouch support. (Check out a video demoing how it works.) If 2010 is indeed the year of the tablet, as we predict, then Windows 7 just might be the winning OS in that new landscape.

If you're not interested in touchscreens, think multiple processor cores. At some point when multicore computers are more widely available, affordable and energy efficient, an eight-year-old OS like Windows XP isn't going to know what to do with all that extra processing power. Microsoft has already hinted that Windows 7 will scale to 256 processors.

That's more than enough, but you get the picture: This is a new operating system designed for newer systems. You're going to need to upgrade eventually, so why not do it now, so you can get a good feel for the OS, rather than later?

The 64-bit version of Windows 7 can handle bigger system memory, too, scaling up to 192 GB of RAM, compared to the 4-GB limit for the 32-bit versions of Windows XP and Windows 7, and 128 GB for the less common 64-bit edition of Windows XP.

Oh, yeah, speaking of new devices -- Windows 7 is tweaked to better suit those trendy netbooks, too. These puny devices are low-powered and thus limited in performance, and Windows 7 will run better on them thanks to its improved memory management. For example, Windows XP allocated video memory for unseen windows, but Windows 7 does not. It uses video memory only for visible windows. That equates to a more responsive netbook with longer battery life.

It Looks Sexier

A superficial reason, we know, but we've become so intimate with our gadgets that their looks are important, too. Windows 7 will make your new PC look new, unlike the boring-as-vanilla UI of Windows XP. Extra detail, polish, gradients and a UI that will clear your desktop of clutter should all make Windows 7 a more attractive choice.

12 Types of Facebook Users

clipped from www.cnn.com

The 12 most annoying types of Facebookers

Here are 12 of the most annoying types of Facebook users:

The Let-Me-Tell-You-Every-Detail-of-My-Day Bore. "I'm waking up." "I had Wheaties for breakfast." "I'm bored at work." "I'm stuck in traffic." You're kidding! How fascinating! No moment is too mundane for some people to broadcast unsolicited to the world. Just because you have 432 Facebook friends doesn't mean we all want to know when you're waiting for the bus

The Self-Promoter. OK, so we've probably all posted at least once about some achievement. And sure, maybe your friends really do want to read the fascinating article you wrote about beet farming. But when almost EVERY update is a link to your blog, your poetry reading, your 10k results or your art show, you sound like a bragger or a self-centered careerist.

The Friend-Padder. The average Facebook user has 120 friends on the site. Schmoozers and social butterflies -- you know, the ones who make lifelong pals on the subway -- might reasonably have 300 or 400. But 1,000 "friends?" Unless you're George Clooney or just won the lottery, no one has that many. That's just showing off.

The Town Crier. "Michael Jackson is dead!!!" You heard it from me first! Me, and the 213,000 other people who all saw it on TMZ. These Matt Drudge wannabes are the reason many of us learn of breaking news not from TV or news sites but from online social networks. In their rush to trumpet the news, these people also spread rumors, half-truths and innuendo. No, Jeff Goldblum did not plunge to his death from a New Zealand cliff.

The TMIer. "Brad is heading to Walgreens to buy something for these pesky hemorrhoids." Boundaries of privacy and decorum don't seem to exist for these too-much-information updaters, who unabashedly offer up details about their sex lives, marital troubles and bodily functions. Thanks for sharing.

The Bad Grammarian. "So sad about Fara Fauset but Im so gladd its friday yippe". Yes, I know the punctuation rules are different in the digital world. And, no, no one likes a spelling-Nazi schoolmarm. But you sound like a moron.

The Sympathy-Baiter. "Barbara is feeling sad today." "Man, am I glad that's over." "Jim could really use some good news about now." Like anglers hunting for fish, these sad sacks cast out their hooks -- baited with vague tales of woe -- in the hopes of landing concerned responses. Genuine bad news is one thing, but these manipulative posts are just pleas for attention.

The Lurker. The Peeping Toms of Facebook, these voyeurs are too cautious, or maybe too lazy, to update their status or write on your wall. But once in a while, you'll be talking to them and they'll mention something you posted, so you know they're on your page, hiding in the shadows. It's just a little creepy.

The Crank. These curmudgeons, like the trolls who spew hate in blog comments, never met something they couldn't complain about. "Carl isn't really that impressed with idiots who don't realize how idiotic they are." [Actual status update.] Keep spreading the love.

The Paparazzo. Ever visit your Facebook page and discover that someone's posted a photo of you from last weekend's party -- a photo you didn't authorize and haven't even seen? You'd really rather not have to explain to your mom why you were leering like a drunken hyena and French-kissing a bottle of Jagermeister.

The Maddening Obscurist. "If not now then when?" "You'll see..." "Grist for the mill." "John is, small world." "Dave thought he was immune, but no. No, he is not." [Actual status updates, all.] Sorry, but you're not being mysterious -- just nonsensical.

The Chronic Inviter. "Support my cause. Sign my petition. Play Mafia Wars with me. Which 'Star Trek' character are you? Here are the 'Top 5 cars I have personally owned.' Here are '25 Things About Me.' Here's a drink. What drink are you? We're related! I took the 'What President Are You?' quiz and found out I'm Millard Fillmore! What president are you?"

Chalk Art n 3D - Kurt Wenners

clipped from www.telegraph.co.uk

Chalk in three dimensions: the pavement art of Kurt Wenners

clipped from www.telegraph.co.uk

Tom Ridge Admits to Manipulating the Colored Terror Alert System to Re-Elect Bush in 2004

clipped from www.huffingtonpost.com

Tom Ridge: I Was Pressured To Raise Terror Alert To Help Bush Win

In a new book, former Secretary of Homeland Security Tom Ridge reveals new details on politicization under President Bush, reports US News & World Report's Paul Bedard. Among other things, Ridge admits that he was pressured to raise the terror alert to help Bush win re-election in 2004.

Ridge was never invited to sit in on National Security Council meetings; was "blindsided" by the FBI in morning Oval Office meetings because the agency withheld critical information from him; found his urgings to block Michael Brown from being named head of the emergency agency blamed for the Hurricane Katrina disaster ignored; and was pushed to raise the security alert on the eve of President Bush's re-election, something he saw as politically motivated and worth resigning over.

"What Tom Ridge disclosed confirms our worst suspicions," said Sen. Lautenberg (D-N.J.), who criticized the color-coded system back in 2003. "Just like they did in Iraq, the Bush Administration manipulated intelligence to cause fear in the public to further its political goals."

The Bush administration was forced to admit in the days after the 2004 alert that it was based on intelligence three or four years old. Officials then claimed there was a previously unmentioned "separate stream of intelligence" that justified the warning -- but offered little tangible information to support their new story..

Monday, August 17, 2009

Why We Need Healthcare Reform Now!!!

Why We Need Health Care Reform

By BARACK OBAMA

Published: August 15, 2009

OUR nation is now engaged in a great debate about the future of health care in America. And over the past few weeks, much of the media attention has been focused on the loudest voices. What we haven't heard are the voices of the millions upon millions of Americans who quietly struggle every day with a system that often works better for the health-insurance companies than it does for them.

These are people like Lori Hitchcock, whom I met in New Hampshire last week. Lori is currently self-employed and trying to start a business, but because she has hepatitis C, she cannot find an insurance company that will cover her. Another woman testified that an insurance company would not cover illnesses related to her internal organs because of an accident she had when she was 5 years old. A man lost his health coverage in the middle of chemotherapy because the insurance company discovered that he had gallstones, which he hadn't known about when he applied for his policy. Because his treatment was delayed, he died.

I hear more and more stories like these every single day, and it is why we are acting so urgently to pass health-insurance reform this year. I don't have to explain to the nearly 46 million Americans who don't have health insurance how important this is. But it's just as important for Americans who do have health insurance.

There are four main ways the reform we're proposing will provide more stability and security to every American.

First, if you don't have health insurance, you will have a choice of high-quality, affordable coverage for yourself and your family — coverage that will stay with you whether you move, change your job or lose your job.

Second, reform will finally bring skyrocketing health care costs under control, which will mean real savings for families, businesses and our government. We'll cut hundreds of billions of dollars in waste and inefficiency in federal health programs like Medicare and Medicaid and in unwarranted subsidies to insurance companies that do nothing to improve care and everything to improve their profits.

Third, by making Medicare more efficient, we'll be able to ensure that more tax dollars go directly to caring for seniors instead of enriching insurance companies. This will not only help provide today's seniors with the benefits they've been promised; it will also ensure the long-term health of Medicare for tomorrow's seniors. And our reforms will also reduce the amount our seniors pay for their prescription drugs.

Lastly, reform will provide every American with some basic consumer protections that will finally hold insurance companies accountable. A 2007 national survey actually shows that insurance companies discriminated against more than 12 million Americans in the previous three years because they had a pre-existing illness or condition. The companies either refused to cover the person, refused to cover a specific illness or condition or charged a higher premium.

We will put an end to these practices. Our reform will prohibit insurance companies from denying coverage because of your medical history. Nor will they be allowed to drop your coverage if you get sick. They will not be able to water down your coverage when you need it most. They will no longer be able to place some arbitrary cap on the amount of coverage you can receive in a given year or in a lifetime. And we will place a limit on how much you can be charged for out-of-pocket expenses. No one in America should go broke because they get sick.

Most important, we will require insurance companies to cover routine checkups, preventive care and screening tests like mammograms and colonoscopies. There's no reason that we shouldn't be catching diseases like breast cancer and prostate cancer on the front end. It makes sense, it saves lives and it can also save money.

This is what reform is about. If you don't have health insurance, you will finally have quality, affordable options once we pass reform. If you have health insurance, we will make sure that no insurance company or government bureaucrat gets between you and the care you need. If you like your doctor, you can keep your doctor. If you like your health care plan, you can keep your health care plan. You will not be waiting in any lines. This is not about putting the government in charge of your health insurance. I don't believe anyone should be in charge of your health care decisions but you and your doctor — not government bureaucrats, not insurance companies.

The long and vigorous debate about health care that's been taking place over the past few months is a good thing. It's what America's all about.

But let's make sure that we talk with one another, and not over one another. We are bound to disagree, but let's disagree over issues that are real, and not wild misrepresentations that bear no resemblance to anything that anyone has actually proposed. This is a complicated and critical issue, and it deserves a serious debate.

Despite what we've seen on television, I believe that serious debate is taking place at kitchen tables all across America. In the past few years, I've received countless letters and questions about health care. Some people are in favor of reform, and others have concerns. But almost everyone understands that something must be done. Almost everyone knows that we must start holding insurance companies accountable and give Americans a greater sense of stability and security when it comes to their health care.

I am confident that when all is said and done, we can forge the consensus we need to achieve this goal. We are already closer to achieving health-insurance reform than we have ever been. We have the American Nurses Association and the American Medical Association on board, because our nation's nurses and doctors know firsthand how badly we need reform. We have broad agreement in Congress on about 80 percent of what we're trying to do. And we have an agreement from the drug companies to make prescription drugs more affordable for seniors. The AARP supports this policy, and agrees with us that reform must happen this year.

In the coming weeks, the cynics and the naysayers will continue to exploit fear and concerns for political gain. But for all the scare tactics out there, what's truly scary — truly risky — is the prospect of doing nothing. If we maintain the status quo, we will continue to see 14,000 Americans lose their health insurance every day. Premiums will continue to skyrocket. Our deficit will continue to grow. And insurance companies will continue to profit by discriminating against sick people.

That is not a future I want for my children, or for yours. And that is not a future I want for the United States of America.

In the end, this isn't about politics. This is about people's lives and livelihoods. This is about people's businesses. This is about America's future, and whether we will be able to look back years from now and say that this was the moment when we made the changes we needed, and gave our children a better life. I believe we can, and I believe we will.

Sunday, August 09, 2009

Pictures of Phish - Red Rocks Amphitheater, Colorado

Saturday, August 08, 2009

Top 10 Tricks for Making Your Playlists Rock [Lifehacker Top 10]

Sent to you by TO-Double-D via Google Reader:

Top 10 Tricks for Making Your Playlists Rock [Lifehacker Top 10]

via Lifehacker by Kevin Purdy on 8/8/09

If music is part of your everyday work routine, workout, or commute, stuffing your player full of tunes and hitting shuffle just won't cut it. Scan these 10 tips for improving and expanding your music playlists.

Photo by Fey the Ferocious Feyrannosaur.

10. Build persistent online playlists

Last.fm, Pandora—they're both popular places to listen to tunes online, but they don't let you queue up music for later, unless you're a monthly subscriber. If you want to slot and stream exactly the music you want to hear anywhere there's a net connection, however, you've still got options. If you're the DIY type, check out our guide to hosting your own playlist with Opentape. If you're looking for a pre-built web solution ready to search and stack your picks, Mixtape.me, built by editor Adam Pash, and Grooveshark are a couple good choices among many options. If you're particularly fond of your own collection but can't bring it with you, head to our roundup of ways to stream your music over the net.

9. Make Genius smarter about recommendations

Apple really set the bar just a tad too high when it named iTunes' music recommendation service, and, in general, Genius doesn't provide awesome mix tape ideas from your subconscious. That doesn't mean it couldn't be better. Wired suggests a few ways to get along with Genius, like sticking with the iTunes store's genre labeling and un-checking suggestions that are way off. The general suggestion, though, is giving Genius time to figure out your library, which obviously means you need to buckle down at work and start tearing through albums. (Original post)

8. Pick good music for working/studying

Some Lifehacker editors are partial to the ambient but beat-driven tracks available on Groove Salad, or the more traditional pick of Brian Eno. Our readers, however, are a hive mind unto themselves, and have a lot of strong picks for music that meshes well with work. In general, tracks that don't pull your attention away, or perhaps move in unpredictable patterns are great accompaniment for getting things done—classical works you're not familiar with, new and complex music, or, for some folks, tracks so familiar that they're just a comforting soundscape.

7. Make your music sound better

Any playlist gets better if you can bump up the sound quality. If your personal style, or office culture, forbids the ear-enveloping headphone "cans," in-ear earbuds can work just fine—if you know how to put them in. Luckily, a CNET audiophile can explain, with detailed pictures, exactly how to fit earbuds into your ears for better sound fidelity and long-term comfort.

6. Share music with friends and coworkers

If you hear someone with a killer tune playing from their own hard drive, they can usually be cajoled into sending a copy your way. But what if they've brought that track in on their MP3 player? Grab a copy of DoubleTwist for Mac or PC, hook up their phone or MP3 player, and you're on your way to really enjoying the benefits of mobile music. If you're strictly an iPhone or iPod person, our guide to copying music from your iPhone or iPod to you computer for free should have you covered.

5. Grab music outside your country restrictions

Sites like Lifehacker can seem like such a tease sometimes. We tell you about the best desktop music player we've ever used, then tell you about how it's blocked to the U.S. Well, Spotify and other music services are only blocked if you're traveling on normal, pedestrian web routes. We've previously mentioned ways to access U.S.-only content like Hulu or Pandora, and recommended tools like FoxyProxy, but, honestly, most popular services have already filled Google search results with work-arounds and routes to them. Tech news web site TechCrunch, for instance, is only too happy to suggest a route to sign up with Spotify.

4. Grab the music you're streaming

Sometimes your web radio station or music recommendation service, like Pandora or Last.fm, hit it right on the head. To grab those songs that sound right on, try the previously mentioned Tubemaster++, a browser wrap-around that can grab audio or video from any Flash-based page. There's also Screamer Radio, which adds in a lot of great radio stations to check out. For recording and decoding any kind of audio running across your system, however, we recommend having a copy of VLC on hand.

3. Banish tracks from your MP3 player forever

You're out for a jog or on the way home from work when, suddenly, an insipid, album-filler track just kills your whole groove. Don't try and make a mental note to banish that track—mark it one star. Then set up your music manager to never load one-star tracks onto your player, and you're on your way. (Original post)

2. Tag your tunes the right way

If your music collection came from a lot of sources, some of them more shadow-y than others, your files are probably a librarian's worst nightmare. Tagging them all with the right genre, artist, album, track, and disc numbers can be done easier than you think with software tools like MediaMonkey or any of six reader selections for best MP3 tagging tools. While you're feeling all rebuild-y, go ahead and embed album art the easy way.

1. Use smart(er) playlists

If you want iTunes (or another programmable music manager) to surprise you with good, relevant picks from your library, Smart Playlists are the way to go. Gina's recommended Smart Playlist settings can ensure you're hearing music you haven't heard in at least a week (unlike with, say, the radio), find the seldom-played gems in your collection, and compile best-of lists for the year so far, the holidays, or whenever.

Those are geeky suggestions, anyways, about how to give your regular listening material a boost. What have you done to improve your auditory organization? Tell us about it in the comments.

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Friday, August 07, 2009

75 Things You Can Compost, But Thought You Couldn't

Can I really compost that? Yes you can!

By Colleen Vanderlinden
Harper Woods, MI, USA | Fri Jul 31 07:30:00 GMT 2009

Howard Oates/istockphoto

The basics of composting are simple. Most people know they can compost fruit and vegetable peels, leaves, and grass clippings. But what about that tea bag you used this morning? Or the fur that collects in the brush when you groom your cat?

The following list is meant to get you thinking about your compost possibilities. Not every item on the list is for everyone, and that's fine. Imagine how much trash we could prevent from going into the landfills if each of us just decided to compost a few more things. Here are 75 ideas to get you started.

From the Kitchen

Coffee grounds and filters
Tea bags
Used paper napkins
Pizza boxes, ripped into smaller pieces
Paper bags, either ripped or balled up
The crumbs you sweep off of the counters and floors
Plain cooked pasta
Plain cooked rice
Stale bread
Paper towel rolls
Stale saltine crackers
Stale cereal
Used paper plates (as long as they don't have a waxy coating)
Cellophane bags (be sure it's really Cellophane and not just clear plastic—there's a difference.)
Nut shells (except for walnut shells, which can be toxic to plants)
Old herbs and spices
Stale pretzels
Pizza crusts
Cereal boxes (tear them into smaller pieces first)
Wine corks
Moldy cheese
Melted ice cream
Old jelly, jam, or preserves
Stale beer and wine
Paper egg cartons
Toothpicks
Bamboo skewers
Paper cupcake or muffin cups

From the Bathroom

Used facial tissues
Hair from your hairbrush
Toilet paper rolls
Old loofahs
Nail clippings
Urine
100% Cotton cotton balls
Cotton swabs made from 100% cotton and cardboard (not plastic) sticks

Personal Items

It might be a good idea to bury these items in your pile. Just sayin'.

Cardboard tampon applicators
Latex condoms

From the Laundry Room

Dryer lint
Old/stained cotton clothing—rip or cut it into smaller pieces
Old wool clothing—rip or cut it into smaller pieces

From the Office

Bills and other documents you've shredded
Envelopes (minus the plastic window)
Pencil shavings
Sticky notes
Business cards (as long as they're not glossy)
Receipts

Around the House

Contents of your vacuum cleaner bag or canister
Newspapers (shredded or torn into smaller pieces)
Subscription cards from magazines
Leaves trimmed from houseplants
Dead houseplants and their soil
Flowers from floral arrangements
Natural potpourri
Used matches
Ashes from the fireplace, barbecue grill, or outdoor fire pit

Party and Holiday Supplies

Wrapping paper rolls
Paper table cloths
Crepe paper streamers
Latex balloons
Raffia
Excelsior
Jack o' Lanterns
Those hay bales you used as part of your outdoor fall decor
Natural holiday wreaths
Your Christmas tree. Chop it up with some pruners first (or use a wood chipper, if you have one...)
Evergreen garlands

Pet-Related

Fur from the dog or cat brush
Droppings and bedding from your rabbit/gerbil/hamsters, etc.
Newspaper/droppings from the bottom of the bird cage
Feathers
Alfalfa hay or pellets (usually fed to rabbits)
Rawhide dog chews
Fish food
Dry dog or cat food

I know that the longer I've had a compost pile, the more likely I've been to take a second look at something I was preparing to throw in the trash. "Hmm. Can I compost this?" is a frequent question in my house. And, as you can see, it's surprising how often you can answer "Yes!"

Wednesday, August 05, 2009

YOU MAY BE A TALIBAN IF...

YOU MAY BE A TALIBAN IF....

1. You refine heroin for a living, but you have a moral objection to beer.

2. You own a $3,000 machine gun and a $5,000 rocket launcher, but you can't
afford shoes.

3. You have more wives than teeth.

4. You wipe your butt with your bare left hand, but you consider bacon
unclean.

5. You think vests come in two styles: bullet-proof and suicide.

6. You can't think of anyone you haven't declared Jihad against.

7. You consider television dangerous, but routinely carry explosives in your
clothing.

8. You were amazed to discover that cell phones have uses other than setting
off roadside bombs.

9. You have nothing against women and think every man should own several.

10. You've always had a crush on your neighbor's goat.

Tuesday, August 04, 2009

Joke: My job sucks

My job is so fucking unbelievable. I'll try to sum it up by first
telling you about the folks I work with:

First, there is this supermodel wanna-be chick. Yeah, okay, she is
pretty hot, but damn is she completely useless. The girl is constantly
fixing her hair or putting on makeup. She is extremely self-centered
and has never once considered the needs or wants of anyone but
herself. She is as dumb as a box of rocks, and I still find it
surprising that she has enough brain power to continue to breathe.

The next chick is completely the opposite. She might even be one of
the smartest people on the planet. Her career oppertunities are
endless, and yet she is here with us. She is a zero on a scale of 1 to
10. I'm not sure she even showers, much less shaves her "womanly"
parts. I think she might be a lesbian, because every time we drive by
the hardware store, she moans like a cat in heat.

But the jewel of the crowd has got to be the fucking stoner. And this
guy is more than just your average pothead. In fact, he is baked
before he comes to work, during work, and I'm sure after work. He
probably hasn't been sober anytime in the last ten years, and he's
only 22. He dresses like a beatnik throwback from the 1960's, and to
make things worse, he brings his big fucking dog to work. Every
fucking day I have to look at this huge Great Dane walk around
half-stoned from the second-hand smoke. Hell, sometimes I even think
it's trying to talk with its constant bellowing. Also, both of them
are constantly hungry, requiring multiple stops to McDonalds and
Burger King, every single fucking day.

Anyway, I drive these fucktards around in my van and we solve
mysteries and shit.

Monday, August 24, 2009

01. 2udoku

02. Sprinklepenny

03. Scoreloop

04. Lemonstandapp

05. Seavusprojectviewer

06. Exxonmobil

07. Ing

08. Ge

09. Citigroup

10. Db

11. Ubs

12. Carrefour

13. Globallogic

14. Rbs

15. Siemens

16. Hitachi

17. Statoilhydro

18. Thyssenkrupp

19. Tutorsource

20. Bloglines

21. Blogrovr

22. Newsgator

23. Letsfreckle

24. Nybbletech

25. Formspring

26. Agilezen

27. Strutta

28. Dropsend

29. Linkpatch

30. Mailermailer

31. Ewedding

32. Crazyegg

33. Litmusapp

34. Platino

35. Goplanapp

36. Serj

37. Glue

38. Xanthem

39. Buzzding

40. Blackberry

41. Thegezegenhost

42. W3roi

43. Sipgate

44. Lepushmail

45. Tolingo