Life, Liberty, Pursuit of Happiness and a 100Mb connection...

So first I gotta say that I'm all for it. Think what you will, but the internet has to be one of the great inventions of our time. Just think of how many things it has made obsolete and then think of just how important those things were 20 years ago.

What do I mean? Well, for example, encyclopedias. Honestly, when was the last time someone came to your door and tried to sell you an encyclopedia? I'll bet it hasn't happened in a while! And how many people even still own one (or if they do, when was the last time a single volume was even opened)? I know when I grew up, I used them quite a bit in school. But they're outdated! It was printed text! It didn't change! Enter wikipedia. Maybe not the most accurate online resource, as it CAN be modified inaccurately, but it's FAR superior to any encyclopedia.

Another example? Okay. When was the last time you sent a letter (by mail) to someone who also has an e-mail address that they commonly check? I'm betting that you haven't! Heck, I don't even know what a postage stamp costs any more. All I know is that the last few times I've tried to use one, the mail was returned due to insufficient postage.

I digress. So Finland (the country in Europe, not the community in Minnesota) has decided to mandate that it's population has the right to high speed internet access. Starting in July, everyone will have access to a 1Mb connection, with the goal of 100Mb by 2015. Wow.

Before you think this is a bad idea, understand that it doesn't make it free. It just means that it's available to everyone. Like water and electricity. It's something you need.

I don't know about you, but this would make me take the stairs!

What a silly little backwards town...

http://www.enewscourier.com/local/local_story_224213331.html

Wow. Give me a break. So much for all the live music playing where I work...

I hate lawnwork.

First of all, I have pretty bad allergies. Spring and Autumn (and most of the summer), most of my time is spent taking care of my nose. Just ask my parents, I'll make any excuse necessary to get out of it. Heck, I'd rather spend the day scrubbing floors than cutting grass. Well today was the first time I'd done any sort of lawnwork in years. The result?

FAIL!!!!!!

Why exactly? Well, I have a 'touch' of OCD and tend to want anything that has lines to be PERFECTLY straight and all angles to be right. Vacuuming carpet has the same result... I'll go back over the same spot 10 times just to get the lines right...

So, 4 hours later, I'm sneezy and my lawn looks 'decent'. But I'm not happy with it. I guess the only good things are that 1) I won't have to do it again for at least another week, and 2) The visible mowing lines should be gone by tomorrow...

*sigh*

~dx

NOT English and NO help available...

So does anyone else still use MySpace? I mean, I know that it's outdated and that Facebook is FAR superior, but surely SOMEONE can help me with this...






I don't know what happened. I don't know what language that is, and I DON'T know how to fix it.

Help!

Columbus Day

Columbus Day. A day that honors the founding of civilization in the Western Hemisphere by the Spanish, led by Christopher Columbus. His small fleet of only three ships, the Santa Maria, Pinta and Niña landed in America on October 12, 1492.

Hmm... How many errors do you see in that statement?

Christopher Columbus -- Wait -- Let's get this right: Christoforo Colombo was his birth name, if you believe most historians. There are a few who believe otherwise*.

Christoforo Colombo, a Spaniard -- Wait -- Let's get this right: He wasn't from Spain, he was Italian! Sorry, not quite. Christoforo Colombo was born in Genoa. Yes, Genoa is now a city in the country of Italy. However, 500 years ago, Genoa was actually it's own republic. The Republic of Genoa became part of Italy, when it unified in 1861. So to be historically accurate then, we should say "Christoforo Colombo, a Genoan -- Wait -- Christoforo Colombo became a citizen of Spain and changed his name to Cristóbal Colón.

...

Right. So where does that leave us?

Cristóbal Colón, a Spaniard, his journey having been finance by the King and Queen of Spain -- Wait -- In reality, most of the financial backing for his voyages came from private "Italian" investors. The Spanish did agree to help him financially (after several other bodies like the English and Portugese said no), but having just recently ousted the Muslims in Granada, they were a little tight on money themselves. He set sail with his three ships, the Santa Maria, the Pinta and the Niña -- Wait -- Actually, it was the Santa Maria, the Pinta and the Santa Clara. The name Niña was only a nickname.

At 2:00 AM on October 12, 1942, a sailor on the Pinta sighted land. Wow! Guess they could see better back then. I can't even find the keyhole on my door at 2:00 AM, and don't tell me they weren't drinking. They were sailors, afterall... Now unlike many of us learned, they were NOT discovering what would later become the USA. In fact, they found the island later named San Salvador in the Bahamas. During his four journeys, he did make landfall several times on what is now Cuba, but that was a close as he ever got to the United States.

Leif Ericson landed a litle closer to home about 500 years earlier. He was a Norseman (believed born in Iceland) and landed in what is now Newfoundland, Canada around 1000 A.D. In 1964, the US began recognizing October 9th as Leif Ericson Day, although not nearly as widely recognized as the 3 day later celebration of (and 500 year later discovery by) Christopher Columbus.

And honestly, can we really say that civilization was brought the west by Europeans? I'm not proclaiming myself an expert, but I'd say the Incan and Mayan empires were fairly civilized...


So, happy Colón Day! (Mine's happy, how's yours?)

~D

* It is narrowly (the opposite of widely?) believed that Christopher Columbus was actually born in Portugal as Salvador Fernandes Zarco.

Do it tomorrow. Do it today. Do it NOW!!!!!!