.idallas.com

I noticed recently that this website shows up as the number one result for several google search terms. That’s something many people spend a lot of time and money trying to do so I guess I should feel lucky. For a good time try searching for these terms! It’s likely I won’t be the top result forever so do it soon! Here’s some of the terms:

overscan mac
panasonic plasma mac mini
mini overscan
rent-a-rim
rental rims dallas
mac overscan
mac mini overscan missing
force mac mini overscan

I suspect you can probably detect the pattern there. I think I might have to write more about my experience with my Mac mini hooked to my panasonic plasma TV and the overscan issues I’ve dealt with. I was the top result for ‘my ipod is full’ last week, too. I seem to have lost that one. Hrmph.

The issue of network neutrality has been in the news a lot lately. Basically, it’s the concept that network access providers (ISPs, think DSL and cable internet) should be legally required to provide their customers with 100% unbiased access to the entirety of the content available on the Internet. Some of them want to be able to restrict your access to competing service providers. Voice over IP is the catalyst as many of the network providers also offer their own Voice over IP services. There’s a lot of misleading rhetoric being employed on both sides of the issue, but it is an important one for the long-term value of the Internet. The Save The Internet site is one of the main focal points of the ‘good guys’ side. There’s now a free song from a group of musicians called The Broadband aiming to bring people to the website and raise awareness about the issue. Similarly there’s an interesting video highlighting some of the main points involved. It’s worth watching.

(Sorry for the lame picture accompanying this post. The good guys don’t seem to have anything much better available.)

A recent New York Times Magazine article called “Mass Natural” discusses Wal-Mart’s plans to add add organically grown food to it’s stores. I didn’t even know Wal-Mart sold food so I’m pretty out of the loop on that. Anyway, they’re a gigantic retailer of whatever they sell so this move would have huge ramifications on the entire organic food industry. I’m a big believer in eating as much organic as possible and see the methods of the industrial farm industry to be basically evil. Conventional industrial farming goes for quantity over quality as far as the food goes and very little, if any, thought is put into the quality of life for the animals and the land. Giant retailers like Wal-Mart who are always trying to push down prices are one of reasons the farmers have cut corner after corner and we have ended up with food that is pumped full of antibiotics and other lovely inedibles like cardboard.

Organic farmers, on the other hand, tend to go for quality over quantity, and organically grown food typically costs quite a bit more than conventionally grown. It also tends to be sold in smaller stores and that drives prices up as well, of course. Wal-Mart has said they will only charge 10% more for organic food over similar conventional food. That sounds sorta awesome since organic food will be available to more people, but will the organic food they sell really be as good for us we’ve come to expect? That’s very unlikely. It will likely be shipped from other countries at great expense to the environment, and may even be unhealthy since the farms will use basically the same methods they use now but without the crutch of antibiotics.

Anyway, the article is great and everyone should go read it now. And don’t shop at Wal-Mart.

On our way back from Cancun, we got stuck overnight in Miami due to some crazy rain and lightning that shut down the airport for two hours. We think American Airlines handled the whole situation like amateurs and will think twice about flying that airline again. We did, however, get the opportunity to spend a few hours out on the town in Miami’s famous mostly art deco South Beach. Here’s a couple of crappy pictures of some interesting buildings.