Free Copies of Microsoft Office Pro 2007 and Groove 2007

Hey, want a (legal) free copy of the new Microsoft Office? Just attend one of their seminars. It's a promotional thing for their new products, of course, but if you go, they'll give you copies of the software. I've tried out the beta version of Office 2007, and it seems to be a big step up from 2003. The interface and styling have changed, and from the features I've played around with it seems pretty slick. Unfortunately, the seminar in Alabama has already come & gone. If you're in Washington, though, you're in luck...The upcoming seminar will be on the 26th of February.

As far as Vista goes, I plan on checking it out soon. I hear it's great. If you are looking at purchasing the new OS, first you need to make sure that your computer is ready for it. Go here to use Microsoft's Update Advisor, which will tell you whether or not you are equipped to upgrade to Vista. After that, look into upgrading to Vista vice paying outright, because the price difference is substantial. You don't have to pay full price for it, even if you do not have a previously installed microsoft OS.

Daily Rant

Chinese Wonders

Whoa is just about all I can say about this. There is a park in China where you pretty much shimmy your way around a cliff on wooden planks, while holding on with just your hands to a chain. My palms began to sweat as I looked at the pictures of people working their way up the mountain. The end seems to be some sort of lookout point with a building whose purpose is unknown. I have tried to find additional information about this park, but I can't seem to locate any through search engines. The link to all of the pictures is here.













Another thing I wanted to share is a link to an ice and snow festival that happens every year in Harbin, China. Both the snow sculptures and the ice palaces are amazing in their mass and are intricately carved to create a vivid picture. Teams come from all around the globe to compete for the coveted honor of first place. The Harbin Ice and Snow Festival is a must-see, if only on the net, as it's one of the largest in the world.

BBC's mini-guide in pictures to the festival.

More pics here.

Bored? Check Out Some Weird News

I found a great website that gives odd news, called Peculiarosities.com. There's one where a woman had a spider living in her ear for 27 days! Another was about a man who coughed up a nail that had been in his body for 35 years from a gardening accident.

Another site like this that has odd, sometimes important, sometimes inane, and just random news links is called fark.com, and it is a perma-link on my blog (to the right).

Finally, check out M-Law's Wacky Warning Label website (M-Law is Michigan Lawsuit Abuse Watch). There's some doozies. However, the one that got top prize, about not putting people in washing machines? Well, if you refer back to the first website, you'll find that maybe it's not that far-fetched to think that someone will stuff themselves into one (dryers too).

ESWS Qualification

I finally got ESWS qualified back on the 23rd of January!! Yay! I am so glad to finally be done with all of that!! I am also glad I decided to go ahead and get the qual. It's great just for my own personal satisfaction to know that I didn't slack off at the end of my naval career; instead I stuck with it. Plus, it'll be great for my final eval & to put on my resume. I guess the best thing, though, is it reminded me on how much I can accomplish when I set my mind to it. I'm not trying to brag too much here, but I gotta toot my horn on this one b/c I'm just really proud of myself. I worked really hard to get this, and it's an honor. I have renewed confidence in myself because I accomplished this, when before I was having some doubts as to how I'd be able to jump back into college after being gone so long. I know I won't have many problems now, and it feels great.

Vitameatavegamin

A recent investigation by consumerlab.com indicates that multi-vitamins may be doing more harm than good. They tested 39 different vitamins, and of those, 12 failed completely. You can get the complete results at their website; however, an article on MSNBC.com gave some of the results. It said one of the women's vitamins (The Vitamin Shoppe Multivitamins - Especially for Women) had an alarming amount of lead present, while a children's vitamin contained too much Vitamin A, which can be harmful, especially to youngsters. Although there are no regulations controlling the amounts of lead that can be in a consumable product, you don't want too ingest too much of it. Too much includes the amounts present in one of these vitamins! The good thing is most of the popular brands out there, such as One-A-Day Women & Centrum Silver, passed the test. It was suggested that this is probably because these larger companies have a lot more at stake - their reputation amongst consumers could cause serious damage to their sales if it was discovered they were not up to standards. Check out MSNBC.com's article for a good starting point on the topic.

For information on vitamins in general, check out the Harvard School of Public Health's website. Their site will give you a breakdown on the major vitamins and nutrients needed. An alternate site, which is equally informative, is put out by Oregon State University.

Port Visit

We finally got to pull into port a few days ago on the 16th. It was such a relief to be on land again; we hadn't got off the boat since we left on the 27th of November last year. We ported in Naha, Okinawa, where we were able to get a few supplies, walk around and explore the area for 2 days, and just get away from the boat. It was so great -- I didn't realize how much I missed being able to have some freedom until we stepped down the gangway.

The sunrise was beautiful over the harbor as we entered. Physically & metaphorically, it was the best I've seen.

Our first day in port consisted of going to the NEX and restocking up on essentials. While we were waiting for the bus to take us from Camp Kinser to Camp Foster, we walked along the shore which was littered with trash. Someone had even discarded an old television. Is this a sign of the future?

That evening, we ate dinner in a restaurant that is literally in a tree. Fake as it may be, it was still quite an experience to be perched up over the harbor while eating dinner. The food was not so hot, though. There wasn't much appetizing to choose from: things like raw cod liver, bowels of something, chicken cartilidge, and pig ears just didn't spark my interest. I'm not exaggerating, either -- it was like a menu at a feed store. Anyway, after this, Amanda and I walked down to Kokusai Dori Street, which is Naha's version of Bourbon St. The gaudy neon lights made it seem like a full-on casino. This went on for miles, and we walked most of it that night, stopping in shops and taking pictures of the most interesting attractions.

Something unique to Okinawans, (and perhaps all Japanese, I don't know for sure), is 'habu sake.' It is made with the venom of snakes, and as you can see here, they pickle the entire snake in the jar. The effects are said to be much like absinthe, and one shot can knock you off of your feet. I think the price alone is enough to knock you down -- yen to dollar right now, just move the decimal over 2 places...These bottles are ranging from $400 to $600...and we saw some up to $800!

The gal I was shopping around with is Amanda, who is my roomate out here. We've become friends during the trip; she's turned out to be an exceptionally kind person, and a great roomate.

The next day, we decided that we would walk to nearby Camp Kinser where the closest phones were so that we could call home. We didn't think it would take very long, as it had only seemed like a few minutes ride by car the previous day. Two hours later...we finally got there, sweating from the muggy weather outside. We spent another couple of hours in the open foodcourt, calling people to see how things were going back home.

My grandfather is doing better in some respects, worse in others. It was really great to finally get to speak to my family without constantly worrying about the conversation dropping over the tenuous satellite connection. He actually recognized who I was, and we had a pretty good conversation, which was a relief from the previous developments to his health. I'm anxious to get back to the States so that I can have a reliable means of communicating with him.

After our phone calls, we gave in and called a taxi to take us to Shuri Castle, which was the Ryukyu Kingdom's central place. This was the ruling class from all the way back in the 1400's up until the late 1800's. The castle was impressive, and the workers were busy creating wooden and straw figures which lined the walls leading to the gates. These figures were adorned with flowers of various types and colors, giving them life.

We also witnessed a traditional Japanese fan dance, which was given outside of the courtyard entrance of the castle. Two women would enter the stage and perform a synchronous dance. We later spoke to one of the castle workers who helps to coordinate the dances, and she insisted on us telling everyone we knew to come visit the castle and to come see the dances. So if you're ever in the neighborhood, make sure you stop by.

Here is where the king would sit & look out to his people.

Here's a model photo of how the courtyard would have looked during a gathering.

After touring the castle grounds and surrounding areas, we walked around the park for a little bit, goofing off.

Later, I pulled the map out from my backpack and we began to walk in the general direction of where we thought the monorail was located. We must have looked lost because a woman approached us outside of a minimart and asked where we were trying to go. Her English was slightly broken, but she was fairly easy to understand. She proceeded to give us detailed directions on how to make it to two separate stations, depending on our final destination. Once she felt like we understood, she departed in the opposite direction across the street. As I was waiting for Amanda to use the bathroom, this same woman walks back across the street, grabs my arm, and says, "I will take you there so you do not get lost." We tried to protest her generosity, but she wouldn't hear it. She entered the store before we left and spoke with the worker, who followed her outside with two extra umbrellas, presumably for us. She ended up walking us all the way up the stairs into the station, which was about 3/4 of a mile away, telling us about her town and her people all the way. Once inside, she made sure we knew which stop to get off on. She even showed us exactly how much it would cost and tried to give us the umbrellas so that we would stay dry. Before she departed, she made us promise that if we were to get lost again, we would ask any Okinawan for directions because she said they were good people. We said goodbye to Naomi and boarded the monorail headed for Kokusai Dori, where we planned to have dinner. Once we got off, we headed to the main street, but we weren't sure whether to take a left or a right. Once again, we were approached by another Okinawan lady who asked where we were trying to go. She pointed us in the right direction, and then waited there on the corner while she watched us cross 2 crosswalks to make sure we had gone the right way. She missed her light because of this. I was impressed by the Okinawans we met.

We wound up our day by having dinner at a Japanese restaurant that required us to remove our shoes and sit on the floor on cushions. We were given a table option, but when in Japan...So I ordered a salad, which I have a habit of doing when I don't know what's on the menu other than by the pictures. I didn't know seaweed was salty. If I wanted that, I'd go down to the beach and just open my mouth underwater. It was ok, but I was really wanting some sushi. I swear, the last night in port I'm going to make it to a nice sushi joint.

That was it for our port visit. Now we're back out.

Happy New Year!

To bring in the New Year, let's reflect on 2006 with Time magazine's 'Year in Pictures:'
http://www.time.com/time/yip/2006/

O Christmas Tree, O Christmas Tree, How Beautiful Your Array Is...

Merry Christmas, everybody, from the Mildet on the USNS Victorious! Here is our group photo with the Christmas tree that our SOC Techs made out of spare array parts. Isn't it lovely?

TA-DAH!

What's up with the little-ol'-penguin in the background??

Road Bike Tip

Here's a tip for you roadies. It's a makeshift stopper to keep your bike from rolling away when you park it somewhere. It involves taking a wine bottle cork, cutting it into a 'V', and wedging it in between the brake and your handlebars in order to force the bike to stay braked. When you don't have a kickstand, this could be useful.

You can read more about it at Kevin Kelly's Cool Tools website.

Pepsi Can Stove

Here's a neat idea where can take a soda can and make it into a stove. They are lightweight, and excellent for backpacking. If you already have a stove that you rely on, this one can be used as a lightweight backup. They weigh next to nothing, you can reduce your fuel weight, it's more environmentally friendly, and most importantly, they out-perform store bought models when the temperature drops.





The fuel you can use with these stoves is denatured alcohol, which you can find at most hardware stores or outdoor supply stores. As far as the can goes, Pepsi is the preferred soda because of its shape as it helps stabalize the stove better.





Wikipedia has a comprehensive explanation of how to make the stove, how efficient it runs, how it compares to other stoves, and every other little nuance about this stove that you could think of.

Here's a website that has 3 different versions of alcohol stoves.

A guy did a review on the pepsi can stove here.

If you're feeling a bit lazy, but you still want an alcohol burning stove, there's a company called 'Trangia' that makes them, with some variations.

Choicepoint

Last year Choicepoint, a data broker, inadvertently sold over 163,000 personal records to criminals. They ended up settling with the Federal Trade Commission back in January to pay $5 million to consumers as a reimbursement for the expenses incurred as a result of the security breach. Another $10 million was tacked on as a fine for the company.

(As a side note, I did not exactly know what a 'data broker' was, so I searched for the term. I can vaguely put together what it means, but as a working definition, I did not understand exactly what these companies do with their data as a 'broker.' Evidently, these companies maintain gigantic databases of things like SSN's, birthdays, credit reports, and other sensitive data.)

The FTC has just begun mailing out forms to 1,400 victims that were identified as having spent money to clear up identity theft issues arising from Choicepoint's mistake. There is also a website where consumers can download a version of the file if they do not receive one by mail. This is for people who believe that they have had identity theft issues stemming from scammers getting their information from Choicepoint.

Alternately, if you are just concerned about the privacy of your phone records, check out EPIC's website. EPIC is the Electronic Privacy Information Center, and is a virtual clearinghouse for identity theft and privacy issues, mostly relating to the internet and other electronic forms of communication.

If you would like to have your address and phone removed from search engines on the web, you need to visit these sites independently. Here's the main ones:
Google Phone Book Removal
Infospace - On this one, you gotta search for your info, then remove
YellowPages Switchboard - Once again, search for your data, then click update
Yahoo People Search Removal
Verizon Super Pages Removal
White Pages - Search for it, then click on 'Privacy Concerns?'
AnyWho Privacy
Addresses.com
Intelius - Submit a request
ZabaSearch - You gotta submit an email on this one, & then they'll give you instructions

**These links are courtesy of Bob Rankin. He has an excellent newsletter you can catch at his website - the link is in the upper right corner.


It's interesting to note that a person's address and phone number could previously be found in phone books quite easily, but with the advent of technology like Google Earth, an address can be visually pinpointed on a map. Also, it's easy to plug someone's address into MapQuest which will give you step-by-step directions to get there. As this technology becomes more prevalent, we will begin to see more people concerned with how this data is handled. It's one thing to have your address displayed amongst thousands of others in a drab black-and-white phone book; it seems drastically different to have someone be able to see your car in your driveway, and you on the lawn when they look you up. Smile, you're on camera!

December 7th, 1941

Pearl Harbor. I cannot begin to describe the emotions I felt when I went there this summer. It is so powerful. To think of all the fallout that occured from this act is overwhelming. So many sailors and others lost their lives there, just doing their daily jobs. I think about the ones that were probably standing watch, or lying in their racks, or sitting at the mess decks having some coffee when they were attacked...It was Sunday, which is 'holiday routine.' They were completely unaware of what was about to happen.



When you get there, you hop on a boat that takes you to the Arizona Memorial. Not before you watch a video describing how the memorial was built, though. They tell you all about why the design was chosen and how they went about setting it up. It's all well-thought out. Then the boat takes you to the memorial. While you walk around the memorial, you have a set of headphones on that tells you about the sinking of the Arizona...How the men became trapped below. It is a tomb for 1,177 sailors, and that's just one battleship that was moored in Battleship Row. There were a total of 2,403 that died and an additional 1,178 were wounded in the attack.

It's such a moving experience, and I recommend if you're in Hawaii, to go. I'm so glad that I did.

I also got to meet a guy who had survived the attack. He was a charming fellow -- had plenty of jokes, and was in good humor. Here's a picture of me with him.

Looking at the results and the retaliation that was brought forth from this event is staggering. I was looking at some pictures out here of Hiroshima. Someone on the boat had taken a trip on the bullet to see the town. There was a building that was nothing but a shell which they told me used to be the Red Cross hospital. After the bombing at Hiroshima, it was the only building, albeit a skeleton, that stood for miles. There were pictures of men whose clothes had been fused to their bodies. All this while Stalin marched his way through the islands.

The interconnections and implications of all of these events accumulated into a burst of emotion when I visited the memorial. I felt at awe, but at the same time I had that funny feeling in the pit of my stomach when something's not right. It's staggering. Being in Pearl Harbor at the scene of the attack reminded me that a few decades ago, the world went crazy.

Karl Marx said those who cannot learn from the past are doomed to repeat it. I hope that my generation can keep these events fresh. I hope that we do not let their memories fade, because then we will not understand the pain of those events; that time. I got a forwarded email the other day urging people to remember the Holocaust. My generation needs to remember another's pain so that we don't feel the need to experience it ourselves.

I found Franklin D. Roosevelt's speech that he said the day following the attack. Of course his beginning statement has been forever linked to the event itself. I've included it here, along with a link for you to read it in its entirety. There's also a site that goes over how the speech was prepared.

"Yesterday, December 7, 1941—a date which will live in infamy—the United States of American was suddenly and deliberately attacked by naval and air forces of the Empire of Japan..."

So if you want to find out more info or read stories of survivors of Pearl Harbor, you can check out Pearl Harbor Attacked and the Pearl Harbor Survivors Project, which are both excellent sources.

Out on the Ocean Blue

I thought I'd share this picture...

I'm out on the USNS Victorious right now. We flew out to Tokyo/Narita on the 27th, and drove over to Yokohama. We had the 28th to beat around base & get a few essentials from the NEX, and then we pulled out the next day. I was really bummed that we didn't get any time in port other than on base. My roomie & I did make it to the 105 yen sushi joint before we left, but it was mediocre that day.

Not doing much out here except for trying to get into a routine. We start our full watches tomorrow, so I'm trying to get on a regular rotation of watch, working out, reading books/watching movies, and sleeping. If you don't find a routine out here, it can be maddening.