Virginia Passes Smoking Ban

February 5th, 2009

clipped from www.wusa9.com

Richmond, Va. (WUSA)– Governor Tim Kaine and members of the General Assembly announce legislation has passed to ban smoking in nearly all of Virginia’s restaurants and bars. Exceptions will only be made for private clubs and restaurants that have a physically separated and separately ventilated smoking area.


In a press release, Kaine said, “The dangers of second-hand smoke are undeniable– that’s why I made a restaurant smoking ban one of my legislative priorities. This legislation will make Virginia’s restaurants safer for both patrons and employees.”

The passing of this legislation adds Virginia to the growing number of states that have passed a statewide ban on smoking in public places like restaurants and bars.

Portable Bike Lane

January 16th, 2009

clipped from www.boingboing.net
LightLane is a concept gadget that paints a bike lane around your bicycle with laser-light as you pedal through the night:
Enter LightLane, a safety concept from the clever designers at Altitude, Inc. The system projects a virtual bike lane (using lasers!) on the ground around the cyclists, providing drivers with a recognizable boundary they can easily avoid. The idea is to allow riders to take safety into their own hands, rather than leaving it to the city.
  blog it
Following the lead of heavy-hitters from Microsoft, Google filed a petition with the California Supreme Court asking it to overturn Proposition 8, which Google cites as hindering their ability to attrack and retain employees.
clipped from googleblog.blogspot.com

In September of last year, Google announced its opposition to California’s Proposition 8. While the campaign was emotionally charged and difficult for both sides, in the wake of the election many were concerned with the impact Proposition 8 could have on the personal lives of people they work with every day, and on California’s ability to attract and retain a diverse mix of employees from around the world.
That’s why we’ve signed an amicus brief (PDF file) in support of several cases currently challenging Proposition 8 in the California Supreme Court. Denying employees basic rights isn’t right, and it isn’t good for businesses. We are committed to preserving fundamental rights for every one of the people who work hard to make Google a success.
Please join us in continuing to fight for equality for all Californians.

The Story of my Life

January 2nd, 2009

clipped from i39.tinypic.com
http://i39.tinypic.com/15hhnpj.jpg

Worst Passwords

January 2nd, 2009

clipped from www.boingboing.net
From Mark Burnett’s 2005 book Perfect Passwords: Selection, Protection, Authentication, a table of the “Top 500 Worst Passwords Of All Time.”
1 123456 porsche firebird prince rosebud
2 password guitar butter beach jaguar
3 12345678 chelsea united amateur great
4 1234 black turtle 7777777 cool
5 pussy diamond steelers muffin cooper
6 12345 nascar tiffany redsox 1313
7 dragon jackson zxcvbn star scorpio
8 qwerty cameron tomcat testing mountain
9 696969 654321 golf shannon madison
10 mustang computer bond007 murphy 987654

Free Broadband for All?

December 25th, 2008

clipped from www.websiteoptimization.com
President-elect Obama is calling for a massive $850 billion or more economic stimulus package to jump start the US economy and rebuild neglected infrastructure. As part of this plan the Obama administration has pledged to deploy next-generation broadband to every community in America. What the new administration has not offered is more specifics on their plan to achieve broadband for all. The Free Press has put forth a $44 billion plan to achieve universal broadband availability for the United States.

Some of the programs that the Free Press recommends include:

  • Bonds for broadband
  • Every child online
  • E-rate@home program
  • Lifeline/Linkup Broadband Pilot Program
  • Broadband Data Improvement Act
  • Rural Development Community Connect Grant Program
  • Health Care and Public Service Digital Modernization Program

Death to VHS

December 25th, 2008

clipped from www.latimes.com
Pop culture is finally hitting the eject button on the VHS tape, the once-ubiquitous home-video format that will finish this month as a creaky ghost of Christmas past.



After three decades of steady if unspectacular service, the spinning wheels of the home-entertainment stalwart are slowing to a halt at retail outlets. On a crisp Friday morning in October, the final truckload of VHS tapes rolled out of a Palm Harbor, Fla., warehouse run by Ryan J. Kugler, the last major supplier of the tapes.



“It’s dead, this is it, this is the last Christmas, without a doubt,” said Kugler, 34, a Burbank businessman. “I was the last one buying VHS and the last one selling it, and I’m done. Anything left in warehouse we’ll just give away or throw away.”

Eyes on the Prize

December 9th, 2008

It’s good to see the government in Indiana is focusing on important regulatory and legislative problems.
clipped from slashdot.org
“According to a recent article, Indiana BMV Communications Director Dennis Rosebrough states that applicants for a new or renewed operator’s license or state identification card will no longer be allowed to smile and say cheese. Apparently new facial recognition software being employed by the state fails to function when the face is distorted by something as innocuous as smiling. Also on the list of taboos are hats, eyeglasses, and hair that hangs down over the face. The article fails to mention, however, the legality of beards, mustaches, and bushy eyebrows.”

Beautiful Vancouver

November 24th, 2008

This makes me want to visit.
clipped from farm4.static.flickr.com
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3202/3052414280_ce424b96a1_b.jpg

Ocean Beach Sunset

November 17th, 2008



IMG_8018, originally uploaded by jacobwest.