There are suddenly a lot of different types of Diet Coke. I've noticed regular Diet Coke, Diet Coke with Splenda, Coke Zero (Coke 0), Diet Cherry Coke, Diet Coke with Lime, and Diet Coke with Lemon. What is a Diet Coke drinker to do?
To my mind, Coca Cola is risking customer confusion with so many brand extensions to Diet Coke (itself a brand extension). They must feel that grabbing more shelf space and appealing to people with fairly highly honed preferences in a diet cola out weighs the costs from confusion and diluting understanding of the taste part of Diet Coke's value proposition.
I ran a bit of a taste test with Diet Coke, Diet Coke with Splenda and Coke Zero. I'll try to describe the taste differences with references to Classic Coke.
Diet Coke--This beverage has had a consistent flavor for quite a few years. As near as I can tell, since the New Coke fiasco, Diet Coke has tasted the same. It was apparently designed to appeal to the New Coke or Pepsi Drinker who enjoys a bland, very sweet Cola. To my taste, not as good as Classic Coke but not much worse and no calories, so its usually what I drink.
Diet Coke with Splenda--This is something new I have seen on the store shelves. Splenda is an artificial sweetener made from sugar, so billed to taste like Sugar. Diet Coke with Splenda tastes a bit more like Classic Coke than plain Diet Coke. A little less bland than Diet Coke a little bit of "cola kick".
Coke Zero--This is also something new I have just started seeing. I haven't seen much positioning from Coke on Coke Zero, so I had no idea what to expect. Coke Zero is much closer to Classic Coke than plain Diet Coke and even closer than Diet Coke with Splenda. It is a little less bland and has that small cola kick that Classic Coke has. If you have had Coke Light overseas, Coke Zero tastes just like Coke Light. Coke Zero (along with Coke Light overseas) is my new favorite cola drink, although so far I can't buy it from a fountain, only in bottles and cans.
I'm not sure where Diet Coke with Splenda fits in here. If you like Diet Coke with Splenda better than regular Diet Coke, you will probably like Coke Zero even better.
The flavored diet cokes (Cherry Coke, with Lime, with Lemon) are fairly uninteresting offerings to me. Diet Cherry Coke has the bland, sweet flavor of regular diet coke with a bit of an artificial cherry soda flavor. Not enough of a unique flavor to make it interesting. Dr. Pepper is a better more interesting soft drink in this flavor range to my taste.
The lemon and lime offerings are also based on regular Diet Coke and add just a bit of a different flavor. I add lime if I'm stuck with only the choice of Diet Pepsi and I have access to limes. The lime taste doesn't add much for me if there is no "off" taste to cover up.
Even though the lack of calories and sugar can make Diet Soda seem cost free, I recommend keeping diet soda consumption down. Apparently, the diet cola's are just as bad or worse for your teeth than the sugared colas. There is a lot of acid in these drinks and the acid eats into teeth. I want to preserve my teeth a bit longer, so I only drink soda with meals when I can brush my teeth right afterward.
Sunday, July 31, 2005
Linguica Casserole Recipe
I haven't found this Recipe anywhere, so Michele must have made it up. Thought I better preserve it for posterity. We enjoy it and its not too hard to make. A batch makes enough to serve about 8 adults so we make it in 2 8 x 8 pans and freeze one.
Linguica is a spicy Portuguese sausage. In the San Francisco Bay Area it can be found at Costco and most grocery stores. In some parts of the country, it can be hard to find so you may need a specialty sausage store.
Ingredients
2 Linguica sausage sticks
1 1/2 cups shredded cheese (Monterey Jack and Cheddar works fine)
10 Medium sized Potatoes
2 Red, Green, or Yellow Bell Peppers
1/2 Cup Milk
1/8 Pound Butter
1/2 Teaspoon salt
Peel potatoes, slice and boil about 45 minutes. When potatoes are soft, mash them with Milk, Butter, and salt.
While potatoes are boiling:
Slice linguica and cut slices into bits (about a 1/4 to 1/2 inch bits)
Chop peppers
Fry Linguica in a pan until cooked through
In 2 8x8 pans, put a layer of Mashed potatoes (if you are freezing one pan, you may line that pan with wax paper)
Sprinkle linguica and peppers evenly on Mashed potatoes
Cover with another layer of mashed potatoes
Cover the mashed potatoes with the shredded cheese
Bake both pans (or put one in the freezer and bake the other) at 400 Degrees for 25 minutes.
To cook Frozen casserole, bake at 400 Degrees for 1 hour 15 minutes.
Linguica is a spicy Portuguese sausage. In the San Francisco Bay Area it can be found at Costco and most grocery stores. In some parts of the country, it can be hard to find so you may need a specialty sausage store.
Ingredients
2 Linguica sausage sticks
1 1/2 cups shredded cheese (Monterey Jack and Cheddar works fine)
10 Medium sized Potatoes
2 Red, Green, or Yellow Bell Peppers
1/2 Cup Milk
1/8 Pound Butter
1/2 Teaspoon salt
Peel potatoes, slice and boil about 45 minutes. When potatoes are soft, mash them with Milk, Butter, and salt.
While potatoes are boiling:
Slice linguica and cut slices into bits (about a 1/4 to 1/2 inch bits)
Chop peppers
Fry Linguica in a pan until cooked through
In 2 8x8 pans, put a layer of Mashed potatoes (if you are freezing one pan, you may line that pan with wax paper)
Sprinkle linguica and peppers evenly on Mashed potatoes
Cover with another layer of mashed potatoes
Cover the mashed potatoes with the shredded cheese
Bake both pans (or put one in the freezer and bake the other) at 400 Degrees for 25 minutes.
To cook Frozen casserole, bake at 400 Degrees for 1 hour 15 minutes.
Thursday, April 14, 2005
Peerflix, Great Idea, Implementation doesn't work for me yet
Peerflix is a DVD sharing service that aims to give a user experience similar to Netflix with much less overhead and lower cost to the user. Instead of using a central wherehouse to hold and match DVD's, peerflix always keeps the DVD's with the users of the service. The users of the service do the labor of mailing the DVD to the next user. Peerflix also allows users to put their own DVD's on the service and get credit for them.
So, as a member you have no monthly fee and you only pay $1.00 for each trade of DVD's. To get started you put some of your own DVD's on the service. You can keep DVD's you trade for or send them back to the system. There is no maximum DVD's you can donate to the service.
Sounded perfect to me. If I had a movie I just had to have immediately I could buy it and trade it into the service for credit that would let me buy more movies. I could buy one movie every other month or so for what I would spend on Netflix or Blockbuster rentals, make trades and see all the movies I could want.
I thought the problem would be availability of new movies on the system. The problem for me has been getting people to take my movies so I can trade for other movies! I have a couple of good "last year's" movies ready to trade. So far, I haven't been able to trade out, so I can't trade in!
I hoped to get started by signing up with my credit card to get a free movie. I expected a newer movie that would be easy to trade in and get started. The choices were much older than the movies I had ready to trade. I settled on a John Candy movie. I was able to trade it out, but it is only one credit. Most movies worth having cost two or three credits.
So, Peerflix is an interesting idea but for me it is a non-operational so far. Note that the whole thing is in beta. They may figure out a way to make it easier for people to get started before it goes into full operation. I'll be watching.
So, as a member you have no monthly fee and you only pay $1.00 for each trade of DVD's. To get started you put some of your own DVD's on the service. You can keep DVD's you trade for or send them back to the system. There is no maximum DVD's you can donate to the service.
Sounded perfect to me. If I had a movie I just had to have immediately I could buy it and trade it into the service for credit that would let me buy more movies. I could buy one movie every other month or so for what I would spend on Netflix or Blockbuster rentals, make trades and see all the movies I could want.
I thought the problem would be availability of new movies on the system. The problem for me has been getting people to take my movies so I can trade for other movies! I have a couple of good "last year's" movies ready to trade. So far, I haven't been able to trade out, so I can't trade in!
I hoped to get started by signing up with my credit card to get a free movie. I expected a newer movie that would be easy to trade in and get started. The choices were much older than the movies I had ready to trade. I settled on a John Candy movie. I was able to trade it out, but it is only one credit. Most movies worth having cost two or three credits.
So, Peerflix is an interesting idea but for me it is a non-operational so far. Note that the whole thing is in beta. They may figure out a way to make it easier for people to get started before it goes into full operation. I'll be watching.
Wednesday, February 16, 2005
What kind of soap do you expect next to the bidet?
Here is a story from our trip to Italy last year. I submitted it to the "Travelers Tales" section in a travel magazine but they declined to use it.
As is typical in Italy, our bed and breakfast in Rome had a bidet. Next to the bidet was soap in a push top dispenser container. The soap bottle said in big letters "Vaniglia". Not speaking any Italian, I thought it was interesting that they were so blunt about what the bidet soap was meant to clean. I told my wife that if she needed to clean her "vaniglia" they had just the right soap next to the bidet.
Later in the trip, I was very surprised to find at the gelati shop a container of white gelati labeled "Vaniglia". Like all the gelati we had in Italy, it was delicious. Those folks more worldly than I don't need to be told that "vaniglia" is Italian for Vanilla.
As is typical in Italy, our bed and breakfast in Rome had a bidet. Next to the bidet was soap in a push top dispenser container. The soap bottle said in big letters "Vaniglia". Not speaking any Italian, I thought it was interesting that they were so blunt about what the bidet soap was meant to clean. I told my wife that if she needed to clean her "vaniglia" they had just the right soap next to the bidet.
Later in the trip, I was very surprised to find at the gelati shop a container of white gelati labeled "Vaniglia". Like all the gelati we had in Italy, it was delicious. Those folks more worldly than I don't need to be told that "vaniglia" is Italian for Vanilla.
Saturday, January 29, 2005
Dr. Phil on Evan Johnson Placement Story
I don't ussually watch Dr. Phil, but I wanted to see how he handled the Evan Johnson story that the NBC Today show botched so badly.
Dr. Phil did a better job making it clear that Evan Johnson was placed with guardians for 3 years rather than adopted. He spent a long time on the story and threw in another story about another attempt at adoption that didn't work out. Dr. Phil did say that these were atypical stories that should not discourage people from adopting.
These two stories certainly were atypical. The strange thing about the Evan Johnson story is that the child was placed with his guardians so long when he had a biological father who wanted him. The second story involved an attempt to adopt a Native American child. Two things make adopting Native American children problematic for non-Native Americans:
-U.S. law regarding Native Americans
-Native American tribes are generally opposed to non-Native Americans adopting Native American children because they feel that the children are denied their culture and the culture is denied a member who should be carrying on the tribes traditions.
This story also made it appear that the couple didn't get good legal advice at the start of their attempt to adopt.
Both these stories dealt with Children who were never adopted. Adoptions are permanent. Dr. Phil did a better job of making this clear than NBC. He could have done a better job of putting the stories in context of the large number of successful adoptions that happen every year.
Dr. Phil did a better job making it clear that Evan Johnson was placed with guardians for 3 years rather than adopted. He spent a long time on the story and threw in another story about another attempt at adoption that didn't work out. Dr. Phil did say that these were atypical stories that should not discourage people from adopting.
These two stories certainly were atypical. The strange thing about the Evan Johnson story is that the child was placed with his guardians so long when he had a biological father who wanted him. The second story involved an attempt to adopt a Native American child. Two things make adopting Native American children problematic for non-Native Americans:
-U.S. law regarding Native Americans
-Native American tribes are generally opposed to non-Native Americans adopting Native American children because they feel that the children are denied their culture and the culture is denied a member who should be carrying on the tribes traditions.
This story also made it appear that the couple didn't get good legal advice at the start of their attempt to adopt.
Both these stories dealt with Children who were never adopted. Adoptions are permanent. Dr. Phil did a better job of making this clear than NBC. He could have done a better job of putting the stories in context of the large number of successful adoptions that happen every year.
Saturday, January 22, 2005
Today show gets "adoption" story wrong
I saw a story on the Today show that made me very angry because they got the story wrong in a way that sensationalizes the story and does a disservice to the truth and to adoption. The Today show and MSNBC portray the story as an adopted child being ripped from its adopted home where it lived 3 years to be returned to its birth mother. Of course, this is a nightmare every potential adopted family thinks about. It is a nightmare that almost never happens. It didn't happen in this case. The adoption never happened. It was not an adopted child, but a child the family tried to adopt where they retained guardianship. A sad story yes, but not the story that the Today show and MS-NBC reported. Here is the MS-NBC story which is the way the Today show also portrayed it:
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/6814927/
Here is a story that rings much more true from the Chicago Tribune: Story
I wrote to NBC to complain but only got a automated response. Here is the letter I wrote to NBC:
Subject: Disgusted by Sensationalized, inaccurate Today Show coverage of Evan Johnson Story
Dear Today Show Producers,
I was shocked to see on the Today show that an adopted 3 year old was taken from its adoptive home and reunited with his birth Mother. An adopted child being taken from its home is extremely rare. Before an adoption is finalized great care is taken to ensure that it is a final resolution of child's and the adoptive families status.
It is clear that Today Show and MS-NBC got the story wrong. The Chicago tribune story rings much more true: http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/chicago/chi-0501080183jan08,1,7510119.story?coll=chi-newslocalchicago-hed&ctrack=1&cset=true
The long standing guardianship described in the Tribune story is much different from an adoption. In fact, it appears that adoption was rejected when the child was less than 1 year old precisely because the permanent status of the child could not be guaranteed. While this story is indeed tragic and we can all question the wisdom of the decisions in this child's life, it is much different from an adoption falling apart. Adoptions are permanent. Guardianships, however long they last, may not be.
This kind sensational, inaccurate coverage is extremely damaging to families who might consider adoption and to children who can benefit from adoption. Family's have a right to know that finalized adoptions are almost never reversed. It is obviously extremely important that children and parents are confident their relationship is permanent. The importance of a feeling of permanence to children and families is the reason such great care is taken by legal authorities, social workers, and family's to make sure that adoptions are indeed final. The few times they have been reversed have been because of a long chain of extremely unlikely events.
I have been a foster parent and am an adoptive parent. It is very clear to foster parents, guardians, and adoptive parents that foster parent and guardianship relationships may be temporary, adoptions are permanent.
Portraying a long standing guardianship as an adoption to make the story more dramatic or exciting undermines the publics understanding of the reality of permanence in adoptive relationships. It may prevent prospective adoptive parents from considering adoption. It may leave children in foster care longer than they need to be.
I hope that Today and MS-NBC will work to correct the inaccurate impressions your story left. I hope you will have adoption advocates on your program to talk about how rarely finalized adoptions fall apart and how there are other defined relationships (foster care and guardianship) for situations where a permanent adoption is not possible. I hope you will let people know that adoption is a realistic, permanent and very loving way to build a family and raise child who can not be raised by his birth parents.
Ralph Galantine
San Jose, CA
408-723-9456
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/6814927/
Here is a story that rings much more true from the Chicago Tribune: Story
I wrote to NBC to complain but only got a automated response. Here is the letter I wrote to NBC:
Subject: Disgusted by Sensationalized, inaccurate Today Show coverage of Evan Johnson Story
Dear Today Show Producers,
I was shocked to see on the Today show that an adopted 3 year old was taken from its adoptive home and reunited with his birth Mother. An adopted child being taken from its home is extremely rare. Before an adoption is finalized great care is taken to ensure that it is a final resolution of child's and the adoptive families status.
It is clear that Today Show and MS-NBC got the story wrong. The Chicago tribune story rings much more true: http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/chicago/chi-0501080183jan08,1,7510119.story?coll=chi-newslocalchicago-hed&ctrack=1&cset=true
The long standing guardianship described in the Tribune story is much different from an adoption. In fact, it appears that adoption was rejected when the child was less than 1 year old precisely because the permanent status of the child could not be guaranteed. While this story is indeed tragic and we can all question the wisdom of the decisions in this child's life, it is much different from an adoption falling apart. Adoptions are permanent. Guardianships, however long they last, may not be.
This kind sensational, inaccurate coverage is extremely damaging to families who might consider adoption and to children who can benefit from adoption. Family's have a right to know that finalized adoptions are almost never reversed. It is obviously extremely important that children and parents are confident their relationship is permanent. The importance of a feeling of permanence to children and families is the reason such great care is taken by legal authorities, social workers, and family's to make sure that adoptions are indeed final. The few times they have been reversed have been because of a long chain of extremely unlikely events.
I have been a foster parent and am an adoptive parent. It is very clear to foster parents, guardians, and adoptive parents that foster parent and guardianship relationships may be temporary, adoptions are permanent.
Portraying a long standing guardianship as an adoption to make the story more dramatic or exciting undermines the publics understanding of the reality of permanence in adoptive relationships. It may prevent prospective adoptive parents from considering adoption. It may leave children in foster care longer than they need to be.
I hope that Today and MS-NBC will work to correct the inaccurate impressions your story left. I hope you will have adoption advocates on your program to talk about how rarely finalized adoptions fall apart and how there are other defined relationships (foster care and guardianship) for situations where a permanent adoption is not possible. I hope you will let people know that adoption is a realistic, permanent and very loving way to build a family and raise child who can not be raised by his birth parents.
Ralph Galantine
San Jose, CA
408-723-9456
Tuesday, January 18, 2005
Snapfish and Firefox
Don't even bother trying to use Snapfish with Firefox (or Mozilla, Netscape, Opera) if you are running on Windows. Just grit your teeth and load up Internet Explorer (IE) as annoying as it may be. Snapfish has a very nice uploading tool (an ActiveX control) that loads into IE and allows you to upload groups of photos from a directory easily. A lot of features, like ordering photobooks and the upload tool, just aren't available on Firefox.
I was trying to use Firefox and only go into IE when I had to for something like ordering a photobook. Unfortunately, you can't always tell what you are missing. If you are not in IE, you don't know you are missing the ActiveX uploading tool. If you are running outside of Windows I'm not sure I would recommend Snapfish at all. Shutterfly had more support for alternate browsers.
I made my feelings known to Snapfish with the advice that they support Firefox and other standards compliant browsers. This is a pretty big issue for me because IE is feels slow and ponderous next to Firefox (and firefox keeps getting better) but not yet big enough for me to drop Snapfish because I am happy with everything else.
Ralph
I was trying to use Firefox and only go into IE when I had to for something like ordering a photobook. Unfortunately, you can't always tell what you are missing. If you are not in IE, you don't know you are missing the ActiveX uploading tool. If you are running outside of Windows I'm not sure I would recommend Snapfish at all. Shutterfly had more support for alternate browsers.
I made my feelings known to Snapfish with the advice that they support Firefox and other standards compliant browsers. This is a pretty big issue for me because IE is feels slow and ponderous next to Firefox (and firefox keeps getting better) but not yet big enough for me to drop Snapfish because I am happy with everything else.
Ralph
Monday, January 17, 2005
Costco Photo Paper Works with Epson CX6600
I tried the Kirkland Signature Glossy Inkjet Photo Paper from Costco on the Epson CX6600. I was worried it wouldn't work because I had problems with the Kodak Photo Paper (cracking in the reds and yellows). I am happy to report, no problems with the Costco paper and the blues are deeper like the Kodak paper (the Epson paper has slightly less saturated colors for some reason).
I couldn't find the Epson cartridges at Costco but they are available from Costco online. Costco's great return policy makes me prefer to buy from them. I have had clogged brand new cartridges in the past, Costco exchanges with no question.
Ralph
I couldn't find the Epson cartridges at Costco but they are available from Costco online. Costco's great return policy makes me prefer to buy from them. I have had clogged brand new cartridges in the past, Costco exchanges with no question.
Ralph
Sunday, January 09, 2005
Photo Memory Book Arrived
The "Memory Book" we ordered from Snapfish arrived and we love it. It's a nice little hard covered book with all our best Italy pictures printed on high quality book-like pages.
I think the pre-made albums are the way to go. To me the main outputs of picture taking are albums and archives. Archives are simple enough to create on CD's or DVD's. Albums are a pain to assemble from prints, empty photo albums, labels. If you order 4x6 prints from a photo service, all you have when they arrive is another project. If you order a Memory Book, you are done.
Snapfish customer service was quick and helpful when we thought the book was lost in the mail. They offered to re-create it promptly but it arrived the next day so there was no need. E-mail Customer service was very courteous and seemed genuine in their desire to help in any way possible.
Even with the good experience with Snapfish, I took another look at Shutterfly. They have a softcover album that is only about 50 cents a page (compared to a dollar for the hardcover album). Plus, shutterfly has ample space for writing on every page and more flexible page options. Plus, Sutterfly works with my Firefox browser so I don't have to go into Internet Explorer just to work on a photobook. I downloaded Sutterfly's software and it made it easy to upload my 122 photos for my Michele "Baby Book" project. I was ready to go with a softcover album. But, I made a few discoveries.
Discovery one: the softcover album is smaller, only 5.5 x 7.5 inches. The Snapfish album is pages are 9 x 10 7/8, the shutterfly hardcover album is 8.75 x 11.25 inches. So, on to a hardcover Shutterfly Photobook. With their January sale it will still be about the same price or less than Snapfish (more for 1st 20 pages, less for each page after 20).
Discovery number two: Shutterfly's software re-cropped my pictures and cut off parts of them! Since I have 122 pictures already uploaded to Snapfish without anything cut off, the bad cropping is a deal killer for Shutterfly for this project.
I'll be back to try Shutterfly if I can use a small book somewhere or maybe to see how their hardcover book compares. I'll need to figure out how to solve the cropping problem.
Meanwhile, I downloaded Snapfish's software, photoshow. As a Comcast customer I get the deluxe version free. It looks great, similar to Picasa which I blogged on previously but with the ability to make slideshows and put them on Video CD's. The main thing I am looking for from the software is easier uploading of photos to Snapfish. The web based upload procedure goes by the single picture and is very cumbersome. If the Snapfish software works for me, Snapfish will have a pretty good overall solution.
I think the pre-made albums are the way to go. To me the main outputs of picture taking are albums and archives. Archives are simple enough to create on CD's or DVD's. Albums are a pain to assemble from prints, empty photo albums, labels. If you order 4x6 prints from a photo service, all you have when they arrive is another project. If you order a Memory Book, you are done.
Snapfish customer service was quick and helpful when we thought the book was lost in the mail. They offered to re-create it promptly but it arrived the next day so there was no need. E-mail Customer service was very courteous and seemed genuine in their desire to help in any way possible.
Even with the good experience with Snapfish, I took another look at Shutterfly. They have a softcover album that is only about 50 cents a page (compared to a dollar for the hardcover album). Plus, shutterfly has ample space for writing on every page and more flexible page options. Plus, Sutterfly works with my Firefox browser so I don't have to go into Internet Explorer just to work on a photobook. I downloaded Sutterfly's software and it made it easy to upload my 122 photos for my Michele "Baby Book" project. I was ready to go with a softcover album. But, I made a few discoveries.
Discovery one: the softcover album is smaller, only 5.5 x 7.5 inches. The Snapfish album is pages are 9 x 10 7/8, the shutterfly hardcover album is 8.75 x 11.25 inches. So, on to a hardcover Shutterfly Photobook. With their January sale it will still be about the same price or less than Snapfish (more for 1st 20 pages, less for each page after 20).
Discovery number two: Shutterfly's software re-cropped my pictures and cut off parts of them! Since I have 122 pictures already uploaded to Snapfish without anything cut off, the bad cropping is a deal killer for Shutterfly for this project.
I'll be back to try Shutterfly if I can use a small book somewhere or maybe to see how their hardcover book compares. I'll need to figure out how to solve the cropping problem.
Meanwhile, I downloaded Snapfish's software, photoshow. As a Comcast customer I get the deluxe version free. It looks great, similar to Picasa which I blogged on previously but with the ability to make slideshows and put them on Video CD's. The main thing I am looking for from the software is easier uploading of photos to Snapfish. The web based upload procedure goes by the single picture and is very cumbersome. If the Snapfish software works for me, Snapfish will have a pretty good overall solution.
Friday, January 07, 2005
Picasa--Pretty Cool
Google is becoming the king of free software. Picasa is a very nice photo organizer and fixer. Two neat things:
1. It finds all the photos on your system when you install it. It also updates the folders that it expects to have photos. It organizes them more or less by folders. I can find all the stuff.
2. You can do simple fixes to photos like cropping, doing an auto color correction, or fixing red eye without changing the original file. It stores it in some auxilarly storage so you can _always_ revert back to the picture.
The ability to work on a file without changing it has been a godsend working on some family pictures that were scanned as whole album pages rather than individual pictures. I can crop and correct one photo from an album page, export it out as a new file then go back to the original page to start working on a new picture off the page.
I have Photoshop but I don't have any grasp of how to get much of the value out of it. Picasa does the simple, surface stuff easily and safely.
Picasa is now owned by Google and is a free download from:
http://www.picasa.com/
Thumbs up, especially for free.
1. It finds all the photos on your system when you install it. It also updates the folders that it expects to have photos. It organizes them more or less by folders. I can find all the stuff.
2. You can do simple fixes to photos like cropping, doing an auto color correction, or fixing red eye without changing the original file. It stores it in some auxilarly storage so you can _always_ revert back to the picture.
The ability to work on a file without changing it has been a godsend working on some family pictures that were scanned as whole album pages rather than individual pictures. I can crop and correct one photo from an album page, export it out as a new file then go back to the original page to start working on a new picture off the page.
I have Photoshop but I don't have any grasp of how to get much of the value out of it. Picasa does the simple, surface stuff easily and safely.
Picasa is now owned by Google and is a free download from:
http://www.picasa.com/
Thumbs up, especially for free.
Sunday, January 02, 2005
150 Years of Progress on Freedom and Equality in America
150 years ago in America people were owned, bought, sold, and used like farm animals. The major export of the United States (Cotton) was dependent on slave labor. No major political party dared advocate abolishing slavery where it existed. The "Radical" Republicans only dared oppose the extension of slavery. Most large businesses and other non-religious institutions, North and South, were complicit with slavery by investing or dealing with slave owners and slave based commerce. Most individuals North and South practiced and accepted discrimination against African Americans in their own localities. Churches had split over slavery by the 1840's not because Northerners dared call for abolition in the South (much less offer church membership to African Americans in the North), but because Southern branches would not accept any condemnation of slavery as morally problematic. The United States was one of the most free and equal societies in the world at that time.
100 years ago slavery had been gone for 40 years, but:
-open and constant discrimination against African Americans was accepted and practiced by most Americans. Separate but equal had been enshrined by a supreme court ruling. The vote was effectively denied to most African Americans. Theodore Roosevelt was widely censured for dining with Booker T. Washington in the White House.
-Women were not allowed to vote and women's rights in general were widely dependent on their relationship to a man. Women's participation in the labor force was restricted by unrestrained fertility, open discrimination, and strong social mores.
-Jews as well as many immigrants from "less desirable" parts of Europe were openly discriminated against in education, jobs, and even lodging.
And yet, The United States was one of the most free and equal societies in the world.
50 years ago women had the right to vote, but:
-Schools in the south were segregated, African Americans were still effectively denied the right to vote in many states, Economic, educational, and social opportunities were denied to African Americans.
-Social and Economic opportunities for women were still highly restricted.
-Discrimination against Jews and other ethnic groups was still open in some areas.
And yet, the United States was one of the most free and equal societies in the world.
This year:
-an African American woman born 50 years ago in Alabama will succeed another African American as Secretary of State. The qualifications of an African American Supreme court Justice to become the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court are being widely debated. An African American defeated another African American to become U.S. Senator from Illinois. Public schools still don't provide equal education, but choice in education (Vouchers, Charter Schools, etc.) is improving opportunities for the poor wherever it is tried. An African American secretary of education fought for and won significant accountability through testing from the educational establishment. The face of America to the world as often as not has dark skin (I couldn't list all the African American athletes, entertainers, and public officials who are the ambassadors of the United States to the world).
-Women have greatly expanded economic opportunities and earn more than half of college degrees as well as significant proportions of advanced degrees in most fields including law and medicine. Wage differentials have declined to the point where they can be explained by time lost in the labor force due to child rearing and occupational choices for flexibility. Inequality is still significant and many inequalities (e.g., incarceration rates, homicide rates, life expectancy) bear unfavorably on men.
-Discrimination on ethnic or religious basis is rarely tolerated openly except where there is a claim of past discrimination to correct (affirmative action). There is work to do on more subtle discrimination.
And yes, the United States is among the most free and equal countries in the world today.
Past progress in human rights and equality makes me optimistic for the next 50 years. I am particularly optimistic since over each of those 50 year periods living standards for all Americans, particularly the poorest Americans, have improved measurably and dramatically. Life expectancy at birth, infant mortality, average height, literacy rate, just about anything you can measure has improved. Today, obesity is the most widespread dietary problem among poor Americans.
Worldwide progress on freedom and equality has also been great over long sustained periods. Europe and the world's struggles with fascism and Communism created huge backward steps in freedom and equality in the 20th century. I am optimistic (perhaps foolishly) that the European Union can create a framework for progress in Europe that can withstand challenges.
America is often portrayed as divided but almost all Americans can applaud the progress of the last 150 years and work for more progress on freedom and equality in the United States and the world.
100 years ago slavery had been gone for 40 years, but:
-open and constant discrimination against African Americans was accepted and practiced by most Americans. Separate but equal had been enshrined by a supreme court ruling. The vote was effectively denied to most African Americans. Theodore Roosevelt was widely censured for dining with Booker T. Washington in the White House.
-Women were not allowed to vote and women's rights in general were widely dependent on their relationship to a man. Women's participation in the labor force was restricted by unrestrained fertility, open discrimination, and strong social mores.
-Jews as well as many immigrants from "less desirable" parts of Europe were openly discriminated against in education, jobs, and even lodging.
And yet, The United States was one of the most free and equal societies in the world.
50 years ago women had the right to vote, but:
-Schools in the south were segregated, African Americans were still effectively denied the right to vote in many states, Economic, educational, and social opportunities were denied to African Americans.
-Social and Economic opportunities for women were still highly restricted.
-Discrimination against Jews and other ethnic groups was still open in some areas.
And yet, the United States was one of the most free and equal societies in the world.
This year:
-an African American woman born 50 years ago in Alabama will succeed another African American as Secretary of State. The qualifications of an African American Supreme court Justice to become the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court are being widely debated. An African American defeated another African American to become U.S. Senator from Illinois. Public schools still don't provide equal education, but choice in education (Vouchers, Charter Schools, etc.) is improving opportunities for the poor wherever it is tried. An African American secretary of education fought for and won significant accountability through testing from the educational establishment. The face of America to the world as often as not has dark skin (I couldn't list all the African American athletes, entertainers, and public officials who are the ambassadors of the United States to the world).
-Women have greatly expanded economic opportunities and earn more than half of college degrees as well as significant proportions of advanced degrees in most fields including law and medicine. Wage differentials have declined to the point where they can be explained by time lost in the labor force due to child rearing and occupational choices for flexibility. Inequality is still significant and many inequalities (e.g., incarceration rates, homicide rates, life expectancy) bear unfavorably on men.
-Discrimination on ethnic or religious basis is rarely tolerated openly except where there is a claim of past discrimination to correct (affirmative action). There is work to do on more subtle discrimination.
And yes, the United States is among the most free and equal countries in the world today.
Past progress in human rights and equality makes me optimistic for the next 50 years. I am particularly optimistic since over each of those 50 year periods living standards for all Americans, particularly the poorest Americans, have improved measurably and dramatically. Life expectancy at birth, infant mortality, average height, literacy rate, just about anything you can measure has improved. Today, obesity is the most widespread dietary problem among poor Americans.
Worldwide progress on freedom and equality has also been great over long sustained periods. Europe and the world's struggles with fascism and Communism created huge backward steps in freedom and equality in the 20th century. I am optimistic (perhaps foolishly) that the European Union can create a framework for progress in Europe that can withstand challenges.
America is often portrayed as divided but almost all Americans can applaud the progress of the last 150 years and work for more progress on freedom and equality in the United States and the world.
Gillette M3 Power Razor-Vibrating razor
My brother told me about the Gilette Vebrating razor. He said he doesn't get any cuts with it. Checked it out in Consumer Reports--their review was pretty extensive. Consumer reports had people compare it to the old Gillette 3 blade system which is what I used. They said it was about even.
So, I gave it a go. I wouldn't say I get any smoother shave out of it (I still need to shave my roughest spot twice). But I would say it is less likely to cut and the vibrating motion does make the shave feel for more comfortable. The blades are interchangeable with the other Gillette 3 blade system.
So, marginal thumbs up. I'm going to keep using it, though I wouldn't say it is something you can't live without.
So, I gave it a go. I wouldn't say I get any smoother shave out of it (I still need to shave my roughest spot twice). But I would say it is less likely to cut and the vibrating motion does make the shave feel for more comfortable. The blades are interchangeable with the other Gillette 3 blade system.
So, marginal thumbs up. I'm going to keep using it, though I wouldn't say it is something you can't live without.
Thursday, December 23, 2004
Electoral College--It's a good thing
Dianne Feinstein is proposing an amendment to the Constitution to abolish the electoral college. Fortunately, the Electoral College will not be abolished. Unfortunately, a lot of people don't understand what a great thing it is. Dean's World explains nicely why the Electoral College system won't be abolished. It would take the consent 2/3 of the Senate and 3/4 of state legislatures to amend the consitution. So, a lot of smaller states would have to vote to disempower themselves to amend the constitution. Sorry Dianne, not going to happen.
Dean also explains some of the good points of the electoral college. Josh Marshall gives the standard critique of the electoral college and sets up a small state empowerement straw man to shoot down. I would like to point out a couple of advantages that Dean (much less Josh) doesn't elaborate that I think are important. One, the electoral college limits the effect of voting fraud. Two, the electoral college limits the impact of local passions and regional candidates.
Fraud can impact the most votes where one party is totally dominant and voting fraud in favor of that party is essentially condoned by the population of the locality. Imagine an election as close as the 2000 election. As Dean points out, the recounts and issues would cascade nationally as votes in every state could have affected the balance. As Dean does not point, Texas with a Republican Governer, legislature, court, and local election officials could easily have manufactured enough votes for Bush to offset the Gore total. But then of course Massachussetts with Democratic Governor, legislature, court, and local election officials could have manufactured offsetting votes. It would be competitive election fraud to the maximum and for any party or large polically uncompetitive state to unilaterally disarm would be suicidal in any remotely close election. The only solution would be central federal control over elections, which has its own opportunities for pernicious behavior. Under the electoral college system, the states where fraud matters in presidential elections are states that are evenly devided where checks on voter fraud are more likely to be found through party diversity (a Republican governer and secretary state and a democratic election commission and supreme court for example).
We can see the virtues of an electoral college in their absence in Ukrain or within American states. In Ukrain the Russian leaning eastern section of the country was able to manufacture votes for Russain supported candidate. If Ukrain had an electoral college like system, the manufactured high turnout and high ratio of votes for one candidate would have less effect on a national election.
Limiting the impact of local passions, is as important as balancing large and small states. Without the electoral college, a single state or regional candidate could take votes from one of the national parties in one state or region and change the national election result. Or perhaps a state party organization could be so weak, corrupt and discredited they make a very poor showing in a large state and disproportionally affect the national result. Over the years we have seen the regional impact States Rights parties, Green parties, temperance parties, etc. have had. The electoral college limits the impact of those parties to the states where they are strong and relevent, and does not amplify their impact through a single national popular vote decision.
Even though Feinstein is only grandstanding here, she is way off base. Calling for the abolition of the electoral college system is irresponsible.
Dean also explains some of the good points of the electoral college. Josh Marshall gives the standard critique of the electoral college and sets up a small state empowerement straw man to shoot down. I would like to point out a couple of advantages that Dean (much less Josh) doesn't elaborate that I think are important. One, the electoral college limits the effect of voting fraud. Two, the electoral college limits the impact of local passions and regional candidates.
Fraud can impact the most votes where one party is totally dominant and voting fraud in favor of that party is essentially condoned by the population of the locality. Imagine an election as close as the 2000 election. As Dean points out, the recounts and issues would cascade nationally as votes in every state could have affected the balance. As Dean does not point, Texas with a Republican Governer, legislature, court, and local election officials could easily have manufactured enough votes for Bush to offset the Gore total. But then of course Massachussetts with Democratic Governor, legislature, court, and local election officials could have manufactured offsetting votes. It would be competitive election fraud to the maximum and for any party or large polically uncompetitive state to unilaterally disarm would be suicidal in any remotely close election. The only solution would be central federal control over elections, which has its own opportunities for pernicious behavior. Under the electoral college system, the states where fraud matters in presidential elections are states that are evenly devided where checks on voter fraud are more likely to be found through party diversity (a Republican governer and secretary state and a democratic election commission and supreme court for example).
We can see the virtues of an electoral college in their absence in Ukrain or within American states. In Ukrain the Russian leaning eastern section of the country was able to manufacture votes for Russain supported candidate. If Ukrain had an electoral college like system, the manufactured high turnout and high ratio of votes for one candidate would have less effect on a national election.
Limiting the impact of local passions, is as important as balancing large and small states. Without the electoral college, a single state or regional candidate could take votes from one of the national parties in one state or region and change the national election result. Or perhaps a state party organization could be so weak, corrupt and discredited they make a very poor showing in a large state and disproportionally affect the national result. Over the years we have seen the regional impact States Rights parties, Green parties, temperance parties, etc. have had. The electoral college limits the impact of those parties to the states where they are strong and relevent, and does not amplify their impact through a single national popular vote decision.
Even though Feinstein is only grandstanding here, she is way off base. Calling for the abolition of the electoral college system is irresponsible.
Internet Photo Service
After our problems with our printer and the experience of printing our homemade 8x10 holiday cards we decided it was time to sign up for a photo service.
I compared Sanpfish, Shutterfly, and Ofoto based on prices and offerings. The main thing I was looking for was their pre-made book pricing. Snapfish has a large format book at a about $1.00 a per page (double sided is a dollar per side). This seems like a better deal than the other services. I think these bound books are the way to go. No messing creating albums. I'll find out over the next few months. Snapfish also has the cheapest 4x6 prints. All the services seem to go for the gusto in pricing their 8x10's (over $3.00 versus under $1.00 for a 5x7).
I'll let you know what I learn about using Snapfish versus printing your own stuff on photopaper versus what I remember about getting prints at Costco from that film stuff people used to use.
I compared Sanpfish, Shutterfly, and Ofoto based on prices and offerings. The main thing I was looking for was their pre-made book pricing. Snapfish has a large format book at a about $1.00 a per page (double sided is a dollar per side). This seems like a better deal than the other services. I think these bound books are the way to go. No messing creating albums. I'll find out over the next few months. Snapfish also has the cheapest 4x6 prints. All the services seem to go for the gusto in pricing their 8x10's (over $3.00 versus under $1.00 for a 5x7).
I'll let you know what I learn about using Snapfish versus printing your own stuff on photopaper versus what I remember about getting prints at Costco from that film stuff people used to use.
New Printer/Scanner
I love the multifunction printer, scanner, copier, fax thingies. I love being able to make copies, color copies, print and scan with only one thing taking up space in my small office. I loved our HP PSC 750. But alas, the HP PSC 75o completely gave up the ghost on scanning (it would only give errors when I tried) and the death of the scanner made the printer unreliable too.
So, it was off to research the latest Multifunctions from HP and Epson (we are down on Lexmark because we bought one and had two of them malfunction before we bought the PSC 750). CNET recommended the Epson Stylus CX6600 in this review . So, we went with the Epson even though we have been fans of the HP Deskjet line since the days were called a Deskjet without a number and the Deskjet 500 and we were pretty happy with the PSC 750 even though it only lasted about two years.
We loaded it up and brought it home from Fry's. I was a bit dissappointed for two reasons:
1. The Kodak glossy photo paper does not work with this printer. Red and yellow colors show cracking on the Kodak paper. It's fine on the Epson photo paper, but photos on the Epson paper I have tried don't look as saturated as the Kodak paper.
2. The state of the art doesn't seem to have advanced much in 2 years since the PSC 750. The Espson is about the same speed, does things with similar quality and has similar capabilities at about the same price. Aren't we supposed to be advancing in the computer field?
I am hoping for a little lower cost per page because of less expensive Epson ink and individual cartridges. I am also hoping for less fading, but in just two years I haven't had a chance to be bothered by fading, so that is a theoretical benefit only at this point.
The Epson does have slots for photo cards, so that is a nice advance on my old printer (especially since our computer has no memory card slots). But I was hoping for more speed, same or better quality at the same money as two years ago. According to reviews, the HP's at the $150 price point have really slow printing for photos (8 minutes for an 8x10!). So, to get more speed than I have now in an HP I would have to go to the 300 price point. Not appealing right now.
So, it was off to research the latest Multifunctions from HP and Epson (we are down on Lexmark because we bought one and had two of them malfunction before we bought the PSC 750). CNET recommended the Epson Stylus CX6600 in this review . So, we went with the Epson even though we have been fans of the HP Deskjet line since the days were called a Deskjet without a number and the Deskjet 500 and we were pretty happy with the PSC 750 even though it only lasted about two years.
We loaded it up and brought it home from Fry's. I was a bit dissappointed for two reasons:
1. The Kodak glossy photo paper does not work with this printer. Red and yellow colors show cracking on the Kodak paper. It's fine on the Epson photo paper, but photos on the Epson paper I have tried don't look as saturated as the Kodak paper.
2. The state of the art doesn't seem to have advanced much in 2 years since the PSC 750. The Espson is about the same speed, does things with similar quality and has similar capabilities at about the same price. Aren't we supposed to be advancing in the computer field?
I am hoping for a little lower cost per page because of less expensive Epson ink and individual cartridges. I am also hoping for less fading, but in just two years I haven't had a chance to be bothered by fading, so that is a theoretical benefit only at this point.
The Epson does have slots for photo cards, so that is a nice advance on my old printer (especially since our computer has no memory card slots). But I was hoping for more speed, same or better quality at the same money as two years ago. According to reviews, the HP's at the $150 price point have really slow printing for photos (8 minutes for an 8x10!). So, to get more speed than I have now in an HP I would have to go to the 300 price point. Not appealing right now.
Sunday, December 19, 2004
Tuesday, December 14, 2004
2004 Holiday Letter
We got our Christmas cards out! Yeah!
We printed the card out on photo quality paper at home. I don't recommend doing it that way unless you have a faster printer than we do. I loved the result of having the years picture's on an 8.5 x 11 sheet, but it took a long time to print it all (including running out of color ink in the middle of the job).
The .pdf of the card is here.
Here is the letter we sent out:
Dear Friends and Family,
We printed the card out on photo quality paper at home. I don't recommend doing it that way unless you have a faster printer than we do. I loved the result of having the years picture's on an 8.5 x 11 sheet, but it took a long time to print it all (including running out of color ink in the middle of the job).
The .pdf of the card is here.
Here is the letter we sent out:
Dear Friends and Family,
We missed sending out cards last year. We were lost in our house remodel and just trying to get through normal life. The remodel is finished in the sense that we moved into and had the final inspection so we're done with the city (there is always more to do). Because we were able to move our office stuff into our new bedroom, we have room for each of the kids to have their own room and still have a large playroom/guest room. The playroom/guest room works really well because we got a bed that folds up onto the wall (a murphy bed). When its folded up there is lots of room for the kids to play and Timmy to make a mess without disturbing the rest of the house. My brother Paul is staying in the guest room right now until he knows where he will be working longer term.
Remodeling was much more disruptive to our lives than we could have ever imagined. We were our own general contractors with Ralph's Uncle Ralph and Ralph's cousins (Uncle Ralph's two sons Ryan and Mark) doing the vast majority of the work and designing the remodel. We did some things ourselves like installing Pergo floors, putting in closet organizers, some painting, some trim and fitting. I hope never to do such a major construction project while living in a home again.
Kristin, Grace, and Timmy are doing great. Kristin is turning into quite the scholar/athlete. She is keeping up her soccer playing while taking on basketball for Holy Family's 5th grade team. She is keeping up her grades really well even with the pretty demanding homework in the fifth grade. We are just praying this kind of thing continues. Grace also played soccer this year enjoying playing goal keeper in particular. Ralph was the assistant coach for Grace's team this year, so we were pretty wrapped up during soccer season. Grace is also a Brownie girl scout and is doing well in second grade. Both girls were on a swim team in the summer.
Timmy is in pre-school now. Since he was born in May, he'll be younger (5 months younger than Grace) when he starts Kindergarten. I think he will be ready though.
Things at Ralph's company, Sun Microsystems, were pretty tough over the last couple of years. The usual “doing more with less”, downsizing, etc. In addition, Ralph differed with his manager about how to manage his team and areas of responsibility. He tried hard to work it out and wore himself down quite a bit, but ultimately he was laid off in July. He is looking for a position now in marketing with another technology company.
I have been doing a lot of volunteer work at the school including doing a math enrichment program for 4th grade and helping out in the classroom last year. I really like getting to know the kids and parents at the school. I have been trying to find work that would allow me to spend enough time with the kids, but so far haven't found anything. I had an eBay store going online, but haven't found profitable items to sell.
We were fortunate to have two vacations this year. The first was in June with the kids to Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Park. This Fall Ralph and I went to Italy. We were attending the wedding of Dave and Sabrina. Ralph met Dave in college and he has been our close friend since before we were married. They were married in Sicily and are now living in Deruta (in the Umbria region) working in the family ceramics business. We spent a few days in Rome and a few days on the Amalfi coast in addition to the time we spent in Umbria and Sicily. Of course, we ran ourselves ragged because we we wanted to see so much, but it was a wonderful trip.
Ralph has been doing a “blog” where he put up pictures from the trip, trip descriptions, pictures of the kids, and a few political reflections. He is also put links to letters of Christmas past. If you want to read more about our trip to Italy or see a few more pictures, his blog address is:
http://planetralph.blogspot.com
We are wishing you and yours a joyful holiday season and all the best in the new year.
Love,
Michele, Ralph, Kristin, Grace and Timothy
Wednesday, December 08, 2004
2002 Holiday Letter
OK, I found the 2002 Holiday Letter. So, only the 2000 and 2001 are missing from the online archive (perhaps we didn't write them?). Here is 2002:
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year Christmas 2002
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year Christmas 2002
We are grateful for a relatively uneventful 2002. The children are growing and thriving, we are coping with three growing and thriving children, and I still has a job.
Timmy is every bit the 2 year old. He is working through toilet training making charming discoveries; for example, he has discovered he can not hold it indefinitely. He has quite a wide vocabulary, much of which can be understood with careful listening. I am convinced he understands everything we say.
Grace is nearly 6 and is in Kindergarten. She is getting to really enjoy Kindergarten. She loved her pre-Kindergarten and teacher, so it was an adjustment with her new teacher, larger class and more demanding environment at Holy Family. She is doing well though and is joining the Daisy Girl Scouts, taking gymnastics, and swimming in the summer.
Kristin is nearly 9 and is in the 3rdgrade. She is still very much the soccer player and has her bedroom walls covered with signed posters from the CyberRays, Earthquakes, and Santa Clara Broncos soccer teams. She is singing in the choir at church and doing very well in school considering she talks so much and only occassionally listens to her teacher. She reads quite a bit, especially when she is not allowed to play her Gameboy or watch TV or when she is trying to stay up past her bedtime. Kristin received her first communion and was confirmed this year (our parish received special permission to perform confirmation before first communion.)
Michele is a “stay-at-home” mom, though she is rarely at home; she should perhaps be called a “kid-chasing, errand-running, activity-chauffeuring, school-volunteering” mom. Michele has successfully some of her sanity over the past year. Our vacation in Puerto Vallarto in the Spring and yelling at the refs during Sharks games might have helped with that.
I went from being a Product Line Manager to a Group Marketing Manager at Sun Microsystems. It seems to be one of those promotions where you keep doing the same thing and don't get a pay increase. I haven't been traveling as much though (just a couple of trips early in the year) so that is a plus.
We are hoping that events of year have been happy ones.
Love,
Michele, Ralph, Kristin, Grace, and Timothy
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