Last year I spent a lot of time flying between Baltimore and Tampa on Southwest Airlines. So much that I was an A-List member, which sadly I no longer am, although that is a different story…
I found myself often flying back from Tampa just as the sun was setting to the West, I saw some amazing sunsets, many through the broken clouds of a summer thunderstorm. At some point, I started bringing my Canon SD870 IS along and snapping some pictures out the window. Even with the Plexiglas, I was able to get some surprisingly good shots. Here are a couple of my favorites.
Oh! I have slipped the surly bonds of Earth
And danced the skies on laughter-silvered wings;
Sunward I’ve climbed, and joined the tumbling mirth
Of sun-split clouds
Up, up the long, delirious burning blue
I’ve topped the wind-swept heights with easy grace
Where never lark, or ever eagle flew —
And, while with silent, lifting mind I’ve trod
The high untrespassed sanctity of space,
Put out my hand, and touched the face of God.
Wow, the second season of Pitchmen aired last night on the Discovery Channel®, without Billy Mays (RIP). This year the show will be hosted by Andrew “Sully” Sullivan, and the first two main products that got the spotlight were Cold Fire® and Hex Light®.
Cold Fire™ is an environmentally friendly fire extinguishing agent that puts out ANY fire faster, safer, with less water, less damage to property, and less risk to firefighters. Cold Fire cools 21 times faster than water, and works to remove heat and the fuel sources from the fire tetrahedron, preventing re-ignition. The Cold Fire fire extinguisher was used on Sully, after he lit himself on fire, and as expected, Cold Fire worked to put the fire out on Sullivan.
During test marketing the product sold nearly 1 million units according to Pitchmen, so it certainly seems that people are excited about Cold Fire. As the show explained, this is not really a new product, it is just being pitched in a new way.
HexLight was the second product featured, it is a LED flashlight that is worn around the wrist or forearm, so that both of your hands can be free. What you end up with is a battery operated hands free flashlight that ingeniously beams a surprising strong burst of light in the direction the wearers hand is pointing.
I have been a long-time user of SmugMug Photo service, they were the best when I first started to look for an online photo gallery, and they still are. For $40 a year, you get unlimited storage AND they store all of you original photos (no reduced image quality and resolution like free sites). A great new feature is their ability to store and play-back HD quality video. My wife and I bought a Sony HD camcorder a couple years back, and it is great to now be able to load them on to the Interwebs and have them viewable from anywhere. Here is a video we made of old Blue Meanie several years ago as he went after his dinner.
To see the above content in pure HD glory, click on the full screen button on the bottom right, and then pick HD On.
Some more SmugMug highlights:
* – Integrated sharing on Facebook, Twitter, via email and a growing list of other services
* – Mobile Apps for iPad, iPhone and Android
* – No ads or promotions surrounding your photos
* – We keep original, full resolution photos, unlike other sites
* – Full-screen slideshows and HD Video playback
* – Real, knowledgeable & friendly humans to answer your emails quickly
* – Add photos from Lightroom, Aperture, iPhoto, Picasa, and other popular programs
Eastern Box Turtle - Terrapene Carolina - Time to come out of your shell
Ever have one of those days when you just want to stay snuggled under your covers and in bed all day. Looks like this fellow feels the same way.
As these guys wander around, please do not be tempted to bring it in as a pet. These turtles do not like to live in captivity, and will likely not live very long. Keep them out in the wild and enjoy them in their native environment. If they look hurt, or their shell is cracked, again, leave them alone. These turtles do have the ability to regenerate their shell.
I wanted to throw a shout-out to a software package called Xming X Server. I have been using this nifty piece of software to access the Gnome desktop of our corporate Linux servers from the comfort of my Windows based laptop. Xmind does this my running a XServer under Windows, and using a customized version of Putty to forward all the X packets across a SSH connection. Even on Internet connection, the performance is very acceptable, and when on a local LAN, it approaches native speed.
A limited version of Xming has been released into the public domain, but throw Mr Colin Harrison £10 and he will send you an unencumbered version. I am interested to hear from other folks who are using a Windows XServer to connect to a Linux or Mac.
I have a 1984 Toyota SDK8 that I bought a number of years ago. It is a great skid loader, but because they are no longer imported into the US, it is a real pain to find any info. I am going to start posting all of the information I have about it on this page, hopefully some other folks will add any information that they may have. Right now I am focused on getting the starter turning over reliably, it usually only turns over about once every four or five tries.
My bucket attachment is also all mangled up, I am curious if anyone has replaced their’s with a BobCat Quick Tach attachment plate?
Repair manual which covers the inspection, adjustment and repair procedures for the overhaul of the engine, chassis and materials handling system of the Toyota Skid Steer Loader 2SGK6, 2SDK6, 2SDK7, and 2SDK8.
Fuel Filter Napa 3386
Oil Filter Napa 1521
Hydraulic Napa 51551
Fan Belt Mitsubishi 99523-11 52
Motor for SDK8 is a Toyota 2J diesel. Diesel Forklift truck CPCD80-2,80-2J,TOYOTA 2J ENGIN D B 4CY, 2.5 LTR
to find some mini-skid steers.
