Wordless Wednesday

Profanity

My Mother gave me this great old book for Christmas one year.

Since I personally feel that profanity is one of our society's greatest sicknesses, I immediately identified with the following quote.

I made this little border frame and I have it on the wall at home and at work. Others may not feel the way I do, but for me, it is a reminder that what Jesus Christ has cleaned up matters -- ME! And I pray daily that I may stand firm even though I live in a society that glorifies a fowl mouth.

I also hope it provokes thought and reason for others and that their own language may be reassessed by the power of His spirit.

Friday Funnies

Sick ... but FUNNY!

Wordless Wednesday

Mini Book Review

"Scarecrow" by Michael Connelly

Released from his long-time job as a reporter with the Los Angeles Times, newspaperman Jack McEvoy makes the decision to go out in a blaze of Glory. He utilizes all available resources at the paper with the time he has left,  to write the biggest murder story of his career.

He believes the story of a life-time has fallen into his lap when 16-year-old drug dealer, Alonzo Winslow is jailed, after supposedly confessing to a horrible murder. Jack discovers the kid never actually confessed and that he kid might be innocent. 

Writing a story about The Poet, another serial killer, had made his career years ago. Once again he's hot on the trail of a killer who is able to elude police and seems to know every move Jack makes. 

If you can stand the language (which I personally have a hard time with), this story will have you hooked and on the edge of your seat. It's a great thriller.

Since this was my first Michael Connelly novel, I checked to see if he had other work out there. Low and behold, I found "The Poet". Now I have to read it!

Not a book for children or young teens. I wonder if they ever publish "clean" editions? You do get long breaks between the language and you don't get bombarded with it.

Census 2010

Did you get yours yet?

Thank God all the horrible questions that I heard were going to be on it are not; however, I am not at all pleased with the fact that this census is a personal identifier, asking your name, age and phone number. If it wasn't already public information, I might consider not answering it; AND, I don't appreciate being put in that position.

Also, question #10. Does this person sometimes live or stay somewhere else? The only truthful answer is yes. Don't we all go on vacation, visit relatives or stay with a sick friend or relative from time-to-time? Why on earth, do they need to know this?

I've seen this video on a couple of other blogs, and I decided to post here also.

The Census Is Getting Personal
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RsDhkPym01k

Friday Funnies

Thought For The Day:

Women are Angels.

And when someone breaks our wings....

we simply continue to fly ........

on a broomstick...

We are flexible....

Google (YouTube) vs. Viacom

Nasty Business! Many will be affected, regardless of the outcome.

Interesting Article from PC World
(written by MICHAEL LIEDTKE)

Google, Viacom Sling Mud in YouTube Court Fight If you love an old-fashioned courtroom battle with a new media twist, the Google vs. Viacom copyright-infringement case makes for great entertainment. This lengthy (and particularly pissy) quarrel, which dates back to 2007, centers on Viacom's claim that Google's YouTube video-sharing site allowed users to upload more than 100,000 video clips from Viacom-owned networks and movie studios, including BET, Comedy Central, MTV, Nickelodeon, and Paramount Pictures. Viacom's lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, seeks $1 billion in damages.

Court documents made public today by the U.S. District Court provide some fascinating insights into the behind-the-scenes machinations and allegations in the case. Google, for instance, claims that Viacom employees and its marketing partners posted "a host of clips" from Viacom TV shows movies to YouTube, even while complaining publicly about their appearance on the video site.

The documents also reveal that Viacom attempted but failed to buy YouTube in 2006. Google successfully acquired YouTube in October 2006 for $1.65 billion.

Viacom first proposed a "content-partnership agreement" with YouTube in early 2006. Negotiations continued for months, but Google bought YouTube before the partnership was complete. Viacom then switched to a "strong-arm approach" to gain a better deal, Google alleges.

Viacom's Response

In a harshly worded statement on its website, Viacom says that the unsealed court documents "provide the evidence and legal basis for Viacom's arguments that YouTube intentionally operated as a haven for massive copyright infringement."

It goes on to claim that "countless" internal YouTube communications show that YouTube planned to profit by copyright infringement: "By [YouTube's] own admission, the site contained 'truckloads' of infringing content and founder Steve Chen explained that YouTube needed to 'steal' videos because those videos make 'our traffic soar.' "

YouTube's Take

Not surprisingly, YouTube officials see things differently. In a blog post, YouTube chief counsel Zahavah Levine asserts that the safe harbors in the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) protect online services such as YouTube from copyright liability, provided the services remove unauthorized material once they're notified of its existence on their site. Levine also states that content owners (e.g., Viacom) are better equipped than service providers (YouTube) to police their copyrighted content online.

The likely outcome of the Google vs. Viacom fight? Years of courtroom maneuvers, millions in attorney fees, and ultimately a revenue-sharing agreement between the two sides. But the courtroom documents do provide a fascinating glimpse into the behind-the-scenes battles that rage when billions of dollars are at stake.

Software Treasures and Cartoon Memories

 I recently found a couple of handy little web treasures and, of course, they are my favorite thing ... FREE!

I love to listen to audio books but the distances I travel do not allow me listen to full 1 to 2 hour segments in one sitting (I listen when I'm in the car, obviously).

Since I put the books on my MP3 player, I have to take the time to manually fast forward to get back to where I left off (if I can even remember). Needless to say, it can be frustrating and time-consuming. This neat little freebie makes my life easy!

I cut the tracks into 20 minute segments and my audio books are so much more enjoyable. I really appreciate people who share their software creations for free.

You can get the audio book cutter for yourself here


HJSplit is great free program to use to split a large file into smaller, more manageable pieces either for storage purposes or for emailing, etc. When you need the whole file again, the very same program will join the pieces back together for you!

You can get HJSplit here

My boss showed me something on his cell phone today that he said would bring back childhood memories. He was right it. It did. I hope you enjoy it too!

Wordless Wednesday

Mini Book Review

I recently read "Witch and Wizard" by James Patterson. The beginning was very creepy to me. It was almost like a Minister's end-time sermon rewritten as fantasy fiction.

The new order is now in place. All the children are being killed or imprisoned by the "One Who Is The One". The One who decides and The One who makes the rules is the One Who Is The One".

Other than the creepiness and the fact that a child witch and wizard are to battle the regime of the "evil world leader", it was a pretty cool little story. If it conjures up pictures in my mind or has me on the edge of my seat at all, I consider it a good read. This one did. It is, however, definitely a book for kids/young teens.

                                                                               

Weird Word: Echnalubma

Definition: A kind of vehicle, full of sick people, and chased by reywals.

But what are reywals?

Make a Shirt Out of a Dollar Bill

Have you ever wondered how to make a shirt out of a dollar bill? Me too! Well, I did it today (with a little help from an article I found on the internet).

This is how you make a collared shirt out of a dollar bill. A great oragami challenge.

1. Place the dollar on a flat surface long ways with George facing up. Fold the dollar in half.

2. Unfold the dollar and then fold each side into the middle crease from the previous fold.

3. Turn the dollar over and fold down the white strip at the very end of the bill.

4. Turn it over and at the same end, fold the corners into the middle line that is made by the two folds. This will be the collar. The exact angles are not critical.

5. Fold the opposite ends inward to make a sort of "necklace". Use this fold to control the length of the shirt.

6. Fold the end that you just folded again, the rest of the way so the bottom fits under the “collar.” The collar holds this fold in place. You can get the best fit by tucking the end under the collar and sliding your finger down to the bottom to make the crease.

7. To make the sleeves:

-Unfold both of the folds you just made. Then slightly unfold the two middle folds for the sleeves. Take one side at the bottom of the dollar where you just made the fold in step 5. Pinch out a corner shape (reverse the crease made in step 5 on the outer edge).

-Fold the side back into place with the “sleeve” sticking out.

-Make the other sleeve the same way.

8. Fold both of the upwards folds back under the collar. You have made collared shirt out of a dollar bill!

Ideas for use:

o as a tip
o as a gift for a child (use bigger bills the same way)
o as a way to pay off your bet (as in you lost your shirt)
o to help the tooth fairy be creative
o as incentives for employees (the bigger the bill, the bigger the incentive)

Here's a video that explains it all.

Friday Funnies

Acting Up In Church

One Sunday, a young child was "acting up" during the morning worship hour.

The parents did their best to maintain some sense of order in the pew but were losing the battle.

Finally, the father picked the little fellow up and walked sternly up the aisle on his way out.

Just before reaching the safety of the foyer, the little one called loudly to the congregation,
"Pray for me! Pray for me!"

Wordless Wednesday

Scary Cartoons

 

Friday Funnies

Wordless Wednesday