Saturday, December 31, 2011

Die Hard, Interrupted

Saturday, October 29, 2011

Halloween Light Show 2010 HD - Thriller

YES, this is the same house in Riverside, CA that EVERYBODY is talking about the 2011 "Party Rock Anthem" display. Enjoy last year's show!

Tuesday, August 16, 2011

You Might Be the Parent of an Autistic Child If...



You Might Be the Parent of an Autistic Child If...

A Humorous Look at Autism and the Autistic Child


As the mom of a thirteen year old autistic child I've had my share of struggles, tears, frustration and just plain old anger. And who wouldn't, Autism is one of the most puzzling and difficult to understand of all of the disorders. There is currently no known cure and what helps one child doesn't help another and no one knows why.
However over the years as I've met other parents of autistic children and shared experiences one thing has become perfectly clear to me, there is humor even in Autism. Although our children are all very different there are certain things that every parent of an autistic child can relate to and even find funny. Call it a common bond between us if you will and know that...
You Might Be The Parent Of An Autistic Child If...
You walk into your child's room and every single toy car they own is lined up in a perfect straight line.
On a hot day at the park your child removes all their clothing and runs around naked and you're not surprised.
ABA, IEP, GFCF, and PECS are more than a bunch of random letters in your world.
Your child can tell the difference between a Cheese Nip and a Cheez It by smell and runs around screaming if you try and substitute one for the other.
You go through at least three VCR's or DVD players a year. They just can't hold up to that constant rewinding and fast forwarding and neither can you. There's only so many times you can hear Barney or Tigger say the same phrase before you go crazy....


Read more at
http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/2581077/you_might_be_the_parent_of_an_autistic.html?cat=25

Sunday, July 24, 2011

How Star Trek artists imagined the iPad... 23 years ago

One interesting characteristic of Star Trek: The Next Generation—one that separated it from the original series and most of the early films—was its widespread use of smooth, flat, touch-based control panels throughout the Enterprise-D. This touch interface was also used for numerous portable devices known as PADDs, or Personal Access Display Devices. These mobile computing terminals bear a striking resemblance to Apple's iPad—a mobile computing device largely defined by its smooth, flat touchscreen interface.

To understand the thinking that led to the design of the Star Trek PADD, we spoke to some of the people involved in production of ST:TNG (as well as other Star Trek TV series and films), including Michael Okuda,Denise Okuda, and Doug Drexler. All three were involved in various aspects of production art for Star Trekproperties, including graphic design, set design, prop design, visual effects, art direction, and more. We also discussed their impressions of the iPad and how eerily similar it is to their vision of 24th century technology, how science fiction often influences technology, and what they believe is the future of human-machine interaction.



Drexler said that to him, the iPad is "eerily similar" to the PADDs used in Star Trek. "We always felt that the classic Okuda T-bar graphic was malleable, and that you could stretch and rearrange it to suit your task, just like the iPad," he said. "The PADD never had a keyboard as part of its casing, just like the iPad. Its geometry is almost exactly the same—the corner radius, the thickness, and overall rectangular shape."
"It's uncanny to have a PADD that really works," Drexler said, unlike the non-functional props made for the TV series and later films. "The iPad is the true Star Trek dream," Drexler told Ars.

http://arstechnica.com/apple/news/2010/08/how-star-trek-artists-imagined-the-ipad-23-years-ago.ars

Friday, July 8, 2011

NASA - Reflections


NASA - Reflections

This image of space shuttle Atlantis was taken shortly after the rotating service structure was rolled back at Launch Pad 39A, Thursday, July 7, 2011. Atlantis is set to liftoff today, Friday, July 8, on the final flight of the Space Shuttle Program.

Image Credit: NASA/Bill Ingalls

Tuesday, June 14, 2011

The Stanley Cup Holds 14 Beers, and Other NHL Trophy Facts | Hockey Playoffs and Championships | Life's Little Mysteries

No other sport's championship trophy is as steeped in history or is as loved by its players (and fans). The Cup itself has been through quite a lot since Governor General of Canada, the Lord Stanley of Preston donated it in 1892.

Standing just over 35 inches and weighing almost 35 pounds, the Stanley Cup makes quite an impression when presented.

Friday, June 10, 2011

Proposed Revision of the Diagnostic Criteria for Autism

The American Psychiatric Association’s Proposed Revision of the Diagnostic Criteria for Autism

As many of you may already know, the American Psychiatric Association (APA) has recently released their proposed revision of the diagnostic criteria for autism, which forgoing further revision, will appear in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders – 5 (DSM-5) projected to be published in May 2013. The proposed criteria differs from the APA’s current diagnostic criteria for autism, as described in the DSM-IV, in several ways, the foremost being the inclusion of Autistic Disorder, Pervasive Developmental Disorder-Not Otherwise Specified (PDD-NOS), and Asperger’s Disorder under the all-encompassing category, autism spectrum disorder (ASD).

Tuesday, May 31, 2011

Dodgers fans are going, going . . .

With fans presented with a host of reasons to stay home or tune out — unpopular ownership, a brutal beating in the parking lot, the Dodgers' lackluster performance — one of baseball's most storied franchises faces an uncertain future....


Thursday, May 26, 2011

Sheriff Provides Proposed Alternative Budget Plan for Next Fiscal Year

heriff Sniff met with senior county staff on Tuesday afternoon, 5-24-11, and proposed a budget option for the Sheriff's Department for FY 11/12 in stark contrast to the county Chief Executive Officer-proposed budget that would force the department to lay off at least 500 fulltime staff, dismantling special teams and task forces, mothballing sheriff's stations, and gutting jail capacity.


http://www.riversidesheriff.org/press/admin11-0525.asp

Tuesday, May 17, 2011

Netflix Now The Largest Single Source of Internet Traffic In North America

Netflix video streaming is now the single largest source of peak downstream Internet traffic in the U.S., according to a new report by Sandvine. The streaming video service now accounts for 29.7 percent of peak downstream traffic, up from 21 percent last fall.

Wednesday, May 11, 2011

Month child conceived, autism risk linked

Month child conceived, autism risk linked: "A study involving 6.6 million California children in the 1990s and 2000s linked the month a child is conceived and the risk of autism, researchers say. The study, published in the journal Epidemiology, found children conceived during winter -- for the study considered to be the months of December, January and February -- had a significantly greater risk of autism."

Tuesday, May 3, 2011

What is Asperger's? - I Have Asperger's

Check out her blog. http://ihaveaspergers.webs.com

Very interesting and informative. I am convinced that my wife Irene and I both have Asperger's; we have a 4 year old son who's Autistic.

Join us on our blog about Autism and Aspergers:

Thursday, April 28, 2011

The Most Hated Baby Names | Most Popular and Least Popular Names | Baby Name Trends | LiveScience

There is no scientific study on the most-hated names, but these results, culled from hundreds of online message board postings by Baby Name Wizard blogger Laura Wattenberg, suggest that people have very strong opinions about what makes a good name. Here are the least-liked names for both girls and boys:

Wednesday, April 27, 2011

Amazing video of 4-27 Tornado in Alabama

4-27-11 Tornado Tuscaloosa, Al from Crimson Tide Productions on Vimeo.

Budget crunch mothballs telescopes built to search for alien signals

The hunt for extraterrestrial life just lost one of its best tools. The Allen Telescope Array (ATA), a field of radio dishes in rural northern California built to seek out transmissions from distant alien civilizations, has been shuttered, at least temporarily, as its operators scramble to find a way to continue to fund it.

FeedBurner test

Testing new FeedBurner options and modifications

Thursday, April 7, 2011

Star Trek Streaming Starting in July?

Star Trek Streaming Starting in July?: "

In February Netflix announced a deal with CBS that would bring Star Trek to streaming, but they've been quiet about when. Trek Movie has the scoop on when Star Trek will be streaming: 



Firstly Netflix confirmed they will be streaming every episode of every season for all five live-action Star Trek series: the original Star Trek, Star Trek: The Next Generation, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, Star Trek: Voyager, and Star Trek: Enterprise. TOS, TNG, Voyager and Enterprise will all become available on July 1st. DS9 will launch on October 1st. TOS and Enterprise will be available in HD.



Thanks to Mary for sending this in.

"

Monday, February 28, 2011

Walmart FAIL

Can you believe that stupid WalMart thinks The Essential "Weird Al" is a Country album???!!! WTF?!
Twitpic - Share photos and videos on Twitter

Thursday, February 10, 2011

PC World's 10 Netflix Power Tools Websites & Apps

PC World's 10 Netflix Power Tools Websites & Apps: "

PC World featured 10 Netflix Power Tools in a recent story that highlighted websites and apps that complement the Netflix website.



There's more to Netflix than just streaming video and DVDs by mail. If you want to make the most of your subscription, you need to branch out from the Netflix site and check out some third-party tools and services. They'll help you find movies you like, manage your queue on the run, delve deeper into the Watch Instantly library, and much more. Best of all, the majority of them are free. Here are ten we really like.



I'm rather partial to #3, but I'm also a big fan of websites like Feedfliks, Instantwatcher, Netflix Pivot, and WhichFlicks.


Thanks to Shellie for sending this in.

"

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