- Police: Argument over better father ends in shooting – A man shot his former lover's new boyfriend in the leg early Saturday morning after the two men argued about who was a better father to the first man's son, police said.
- Home invasion suspects tied to border group – KVOA News 4, Tucson, Arizona - – The trio are alleged to have dressed as law enforcement officers and forced their way into a home about 10 miles north of the Mexican border in rural Arivaca on May 30, wounding a woman and fatally shooting her husband and their 9-year-old daughter.
Their motive was financial, Dupnik said.
"The husband who was murdered has a history of being involved in narcotics and there was an anticipation that there would be a considerable amount of cash at this location as well as the possibility of drugs," Dupnik said.
Forde is the leader of Minutemen American Defense, a small border watch group, and Bush goes by the nickname "Gunny" and is its operations director, according to the group's Web site.
- News : Intel fined for hazardous waste – The New Mexico Environment Department fined Intel for violating the state’s hazardous waste management regulations in March.
On March 25, NMED conducted a hazardous waste compliance evaluation inspection at Intel Corporation. Inspectors discovered that Intel failed to close several containers of universal waste lamps. Universal waste lamps are bulbs used for standard office lighting and can contain levels of mercury and lead that make them hazardous waste when disposed.
- Growing the Poison Pepper – Boing Boing – I ordered naga jolokia pepper seeds from the Chile Pepper Institute at New Mexico State University. The naga jolokia, sometimes called the bhut jolokia, the ghost pepper, or the poison pepper, is the world's hottest chile pepper. My brother, the expert gardener, is growing them right now. These are pretty difficult to grow in Minnesota; they take forever to germinate and the drop flowers at the slightest provocation.
- Bare-bones warning to Boulder cyclists – The Denver Post – Boulder Police Chief Mark Beckner warned Thursday that police will ticket bike riders if they expose their genitals during the World Naked Bike Ride, which is planned for Saturday as a protest against oil dependency.
- Not so windy: Research suggests winds dying down – The Denver Post – The wind, a favorite power source of the green energy movement, seems to be dying down across the United States. And the cause, ironically, may be global warming—the very problem wind power seeks to address.
The idea that winds may be slowing is still a speculative one, and scientists disagree whether that is happening. But a first-of-its-kind study suggests that average and peak wind speeds have been noticeably slowing since 1973, especially in the Midwest and the East. - Four Reasons Why iPhone Owners Hate AT&T – With the iPhone 3G S news now in the wild, the discussion digressed from the announcement of the 3G S itself to AT&T, the iPhone's exclusive carrier in the U.S. (at the moment). Without a doubt, this relationship is where Apple's weaknesses lie.
- Three Things the Palm Pre Does Better Than the iPhone 3GS | Popular Science – Arguably the Pre’s biggest draw is its super-elegant multitasking schema—apps fill up “cards” as they’re launched, which you can quickly scroll through horizontally by pressing the main button, which zooms out into a “card”view. Closing apps is done by flicking it off the top of the screen, which feels great. Aside from the five icons in a quick-launch bar and those within the three drawers of the app launcher, there is no icons-on-a-desktop conceit.
- Al Jazeera English – Europe – WHO declares H1N1 pandemic – The World Health Organisation has declared a H1N1 pandemic, the first such annoucement in more than 40 years, as infections continue to rise around the planet.
- Atomic Warfare – Intel last week bought for $884 million Wind River Systems, a venerable embedded operating system company — yet another of the chip giant’s recent forays into software. The reason for this purchase is both simple and grand — to help Intel vertically integrate and to further its Linux ambitions. Intel’s ultimate target with this purchase is Microsoft. It’s all about kicking Redmond out of the netbook business.
Of Course I Will Buy The New iPhone 3GS
Monday was the big day when Apple had the their annual World Wide Developers Conference (WWDC) and made some hardware and software announcements. Though there were a number of new and expected things I was most interested in the new iPhone.
The new iPhone 3GS doesn’t look different from the old iPhone 3G except there’s an “S” added to it’s name to denote speed. This is not really all new phone but an improvement to the current phone model:
- Faster processor
- More memory
- 3 Megapixel camera with autofocus
- Video Recording
- Includes a compass
The two features that prompted me to buy the iPhone 3Gs is the 32GB of memory (over the 16GB in my iPhone 2G) and the addition of the compass.
There has been some controversy for existing owners of the iPhone 3G and their inability to get the subsidized price of $300 off the list price ($499 for 8GB, $599 for 16GB, or $699 for 32GB. I actually blame Apple for this, they should have announced the normal price for the iPhone 3GS then noted that carries may offer subsides prices. AT&T is doing nothing different with the iPhone in terms of free upgrades to phones that they would do with any other phone. I do agree that the new iPhone models are expensive without the subsidies.
I can’t complain about AT&T too much. I get the subsided price for the iPhone 3GS but I did pay $599 for my iPhone 2G so AT&T never subsided me in the first place. AT&T recently placed a new tower near my house so I am no longer in a cell signal black hole. I get a full 5 bars at my house all the time. Clearly they are working on improving their coverage.
The other complaints about AT&T is their inability to provide multi-media messaging service (MMS) and using the iPhone as a modem (tethering) when the new iPhone launches. It’s pretty amazing that AT&T can’t get their act together in time and clearly aren’t ready to handle dealing with the type of users that use the iPhone.
I pre-ordered my phone through Apple’s well done iPhone ordering site. I’m thrilled that Apple promises delivery of the new iPhone on Friday June 19th, the day of launch. I don’t have to stand at in any lines and I’m guaranteed a device.
Hardware aside, the big improvements will be with the software. iPhone OS 3.0 is to be released on the same day the new hardware launches and has more improvements that any new hardware. It works on older iPhones and will be free. The Golden Masters have already leaked onto the internet and the reviews have been good so far.
10 Interesting Links From June 9th
- jfleck at inkstain » What a Housing Bubble Looks Like – Here’s what a housing bubble looks like. Housing prices. Red is Arizona, green is Nevada, blue is us here in New Mexico. The three states track together since the 1970s (off to the left of what’s displayed in this graph). Prices in Arizona and Nevada shoot up beginning around 2004, then collapse pretty dramatically. Click through for larger image. Data from St. Louis Fed.
- Little Tikes Cozy Coupe Tops U.S. Car Sales – Auto – FOXNews.com – The Cozy Coupe sold 457,000 units in 2008, topping the Toyota Camry and Honda Accord. In the '90s, it outsold both the Accord and Ford Taurus.
- Lightyear Sunken Bath Episode 6 – Storage from Nothing – Most Arizona houses are slab on grade. This means that changing plumbing is challenging or expensive. Slab on Grade houses are laid out, and the plumbing, both waste and supply lines are buried in the ground before the slab is poured. You see some interesting bottom plates here. On the remodeling end, this means that you either get creative or you get to spend really large amounts of money time and noise to move things around. (Nothing screams remodeling to the neighbors like someone with a concrete slab saw in your bathroom.)
- The Official Site of Rio Rancho, NM – June 20th: Hazardous Waste – Saturday, June 20, 2009 Keep Rio Rancho Beautiful will hold a Pharmaceutical Take Back and Household Hazardous Waste Collection from 9am to 2pm at at the Santa Ana Star Event Center upper west parking lot. This event is for Rio Rancho Residents only, please remember to bring proof of residency, such as a drivers license with Rio Rancho address!
- Oprah responds to Newsweek cover story | TV, movie and music news | Current Affairs | EW.com – In a statement today, Oprah Winfrey responded to a Newsweek cover story which suggested that some of the non-traditional medical advice advocated on her show poses a danger to her legions of viewers
- Final release of Safari 4 tweaks interface from beta version | E-mail and Internet | MacUser | Macworld – The most controversial new feature of Safari 4 was the placement of tabs on the top of the Safari browser window instead of below the bookmarks bar. At first, I was against this new UI quirk, but the more I used the Safari 4 Beta the more I liked the placement of the tabs on top of the window. Sadly, in the shipping version of Safari 4 tabs have returned to their traditional place
- Wild horses victims of recession, too – The Denver Post – Wild horses are feeling the effects of recession, as federal authorities find fewer horse owners willing to take on extra animals.
At a wild horse auction run by the Bureau of Land Management in Eagle Saturday, only 10 of 39 horses were adopted. Most went for the minimum bid of $125. - McCullough-Price House – This 1938 Pueblo Revival style home was donated to the City by the Price-Propstra family, renovated and opened to the public in 2007. It is home to the Chandler Visitors Center and includes gallery, office and meeting spaces, plus a catering kitchen. The facility can be rented for intimate weddings and receptions, luncheons and banquets, meetings and seminars.
- Chandler cuts access to historic ‘38 home – Doors will be locked at Chandler's historic McCullough-Price House after June 30.
The move comes two years after the city spent $850,000 to renovate the 1938 pueblo revival-style home near Chandler Fashion Center to open it to the public as a visitors center and museum.
The building at 300 S. Chandler Village Drive will remain available for special events, tours and private-party rentals, city officials said. It didn't attract enough visitors to justify 40-hour-a-week staffing in tough economic times.
- Review: NeatDesk and NeatWorks for Mac | Unclutterer – A few weeks ago, the Neat company sent me their new NeatDesk for Mac scanner and its NeatWorks software to review. I have been a Fujitsu ScanSnap loyalist for the past two years, so I wasn’t super excited about doing the NeatDesk review. In fact, I tested one of their mobile scanners a year ago and was so disappointed with it that I didn’t even post the review to the site (why clutter up your time with an awful review?).
To my surprise, however, I liked the NeatDesk for Mac. Specifically, I really liked the NeatWorks software. (If you buy the scanner, the software comes with it. The software also sells as a stand-alone product.)
Updated: Bear Found In Rio Rancho, Near My House
There was a 200lbs bear in Rio Rancho this morning. The bear was initially spotted right near my house then was chased into a tree a few blocks from my house. There was quite the circus around the neighborhood with all the police, fire and ever single news van in the state.
KRQE has a report and video from this morning. I don’t know what happened to the bear but I’m sure Game and Fish knocked it out and took it away.
Update: The link to KRQE seems to be doing something weird. You can watch the original breaking news on YouTube. KRQE has a follow-up about the incident with a video on YouTube. They don’t know where the bear came from but it will be going to the Zuni mountains.
Attaching The Evaporative Cooler Duct Work To The Concrete Pad
Last year I received a Master Cool evaporative cooler for free. I purchased some duct work from a local home improvement store but never permanently attached it. I had used duct tape to hold the whole mess together last year. Duct tape does a poor job of sticking to concrete.
This year I came up with a method of attaching the duct work by installing concrete bolts and bolting down extruded aluminum L channel to the concrete. I considered gluing the aluminum directly to the concrete but I wanted to have the option to remove it in the future.
I learned a few things about drilling through concrete. First: it takes a lot of power and my cordless Dewalt drill had a tough time with the drilling. It was just really slow (perhaps a lithium ion nano battery would have helped). I was meaning to buy a corded hammer drill anyway and the corded drill was 10 times faster. Second: it was easier to drill the holes in the aluminum L channel then use that as a template for drilling the concrete, rather than marking the concrete. The drill bit tended to walk a little in the concrete. Third: drilling concrete is hard on the drill bits. It’s good to have extra on hand.
I attached double sided window and door weather stripping to the aluminum L channel but left the paper backing on the other side. I filled in any remaining gaps with some outdoor rated silicon sealant.
I am far from done with this project. I need to verify that water is not leaking into the duct. I need to have someone clean all the duct work so I have not completely sealed the duct to the aluminum L channel. I want to install some sort of concrete sealant to the duct once it’s cleaned out.
Finally, I want to build a better stand for the cooler. I envision a wheeled stand with a built-in jack so I can easily move the cooler around for maintenance and adjust its height without additional help.
iPhone App Of The Week: The Ted
This app is so ridiculous and pointless it’s awesome. Actually I think something like this is a great way to promote yourself if your are an iPhone developer.The Ted is free on the iTunes Apps Store.
The Ted is a mystical man who knows all and is wise beyond his years. His widsom has been sought by Kings, Queens, mythical creatures, mob bosses, and small children. The Ted is now here to help you.
NetNewsWire Update For Mac And iPhone
I’m glad Brent Simmons posted an updated on NetNewsWire for Mac and iPhone, my RSS reader of choice, on his blog at inessential.com. I was getting ready to post a pithy comment on the Newsgator forums about the lack of progress.
Brent says that NetNewsWire 3.2 for mac and NetNewsWire 2.0 for iPhone are in competition for release. Although he does not give a time frame for either. He describes NetNewsWire 3.2 for Mac as not a major upgrade except for the Google Reader synchronization options and NetNewsWire 2.0 for iPhone as a huge upgrade.
He goes into some detail about iPhone performance and NetNewsWire 4.0 for mac so if your interested I would read his post.
Gardening By The Yard TV Show In Rio Rancho’s Waterwise Garden
HGTV’s Gardening By The Yard with Paul James will be showing an episode filmed at Sandoval County’s Waterwise Garden in Rio Rancho. The episode number is GBY-1807 and is entitled “Xeriscaping, Drought-Tolerant Plants, Wise Water Practices“. It will be shown in New Mexico on HGTV which airs Sunday June 7th at 5:30am.
Gardening By The Yard is one of my favorite gardening shows and it’s too bad I didn’t know they were here filming. I will add video of the episode here if it becomes available.
R2-D2 In Developement
Check out this beautiful incomplete R2-D2 frame from the Maker Faire on julianbleecker’s photo stream on Flickr. No information from the photo on what this is about but there is a link to www.artoo-detoo.net in the background. There’s a part of me that wants to complete a project like this, but I have plenty of incomplete projects already.