Further more. Small can be good! These sites are miniaturized for the pocket sized and they do it all minus the commercial fluff and banner ads. This site cuts right to the chase and displays the Wx radar summary. Here’s one that presents content in the way that fathers of the early internet (not necessarily Al Gore (!) originally intended. Compare the Yahoo for the palm with Yahoo for the desktop!
All posts by cs
pda enabled
I wrote some browser detection code that will allow this site to sniff for PocketPC handheld devices. Since the screen size on the handheld is a mere 240×320, a much smaller presentation is required. When you browse strombotne.com with Pocket IE the optimized version will now automatically load. View a simulation
out of this world
If you did not get to see the live shot on CNN here’s another chance. The launch of the Mars Exploration Rover Mission featured a ROCKET CAM which provided a most amazing perspective. In the video, the earth gets really small really fast.
only driven by a little old lady
Standing on the tarmac, flight bags ready, I watch our new bird pull into the gate. Gleaming new paint shines in the light and I’m feeling fortunate to be flying one of the new ones. The smile fades when I realize that this is AC 861, the aircraft that had a rough beginning: T-boned by an airport BUS, it has been rescued from the brink in an heroic salvage effort. All within its young life. We will be sure not to push the performance envelope with this one. Handle gently.
value added
This site is hosted with ColdFusion and it only took me two days of coding to add a couple of new features. There is a search form field which allows one to enter keyword or phrase to locate information. Not quite as fancy as Google but hey, this is local flavor. The View by Category is also functional. Pick your favorite blog topic: i.e. boats, cars, girls, planes!
mainsteamstopwow
In Lincoln, Nebraska, downtown, there are old brick and mortar buildings converted to shops, bars, and restaurants. One in particular, the old train station est. 1869, was magnificent stone and marble. The grand lobby, once the transportation hub of this locale, had tall cathedral like spaces. One could only imagine the activity and drama that played here. Echoes.
Outside, an old long silent locomotive relic dated 1901 was the item of interest. Studying the design I tried to guess what was what and how it worked following which pipes lead where and did what. That’s my thing. Fun to analyze for authenticity. What was period and what was added later. Tech for it’s era it must have been a fearsome thing to get close to such a monster when it was fired. Steam would be hissing and oil and water oozing and dripping. Groans and sounds from deep within as the beast heated or cooled. Breathing and heaving and that’s just standing idle. When it went to work, whistle shrieking, the engine must have been glorious. I get my thrills pushing the thrust levers forward (9200lbs cumulative) and hurtling down the runway. Opening the throttle on this iron horse would give me goose bumps for sure.
turn red
Tis’ the season and I’m carrying as much fresh fruit in my overnight bag that I can. Rather than make a mess of it in the cockpit, I step off during a lull in the action and bite into a sweet one. I was enjoying a particularly juicy bite, leaning forward at the waist to avoid drippings on my shirt or shoe tops when the passengers began to file past for boarding. I finished up quickly and cut into the line. ‘Ummmm. That looked delicious!’ remarked the woman in front of me. I was pleased that she was admiring my choice of snack and began to blurt that ‘it was a nectarine and aren’t they great and…’ she nods and reaches out and flicks a dangler from my chin. Just a wee bit embarrassing. Must have been Mother Instinct made her do that.
crippled
The UPS man brought a CF wireless network card plug-in for my PDA. Anxious to try it out, as my LAN is CAT 5 wired, I went outside in search of a WiFi [free] hotspot. A local innovative tech-hip restaurant was my test site. It was really trick to be able to access the WorldWideWeb and connect to information so effortlessly – without phone jack or wires. Project todo list: Design a web page application to sniff and detect the itty-bitty 3.5 inch TFT of a handheld device! I did note, during the experience, that email sent from my PDA did not go out. I realize that, due to legal and liability issues that the restaurant likely blocked all ports — save port :80 for internet browsing. It would not be kosher for a customer/patron to send spam, threatening messages or illegal [porn] content with their email client. It could or would be traced back to the point of origin – the free network access provider – and thus expose the local establishment to complicity. The family looks at me strangely as I peer deep into the PocketPc absorbed and oblivious to the conversation of the moment. What! You thought it was just by coincidence that we chose THIS place to come and eat and I just happened to bring my DEVICE along?
critic
Watched a great film last night on VHS. BEHIND THE SUN– Abril Despedacado (Portuguese with English subtitles). Pay note to the visual metaphors – things that go ’round. The most enjoyable way to watch movies, for me, is to avoid knowing any of the story line before hand. Newspaper reviews and especially sneak film preview clips and trailers are a spoiler. The only advance info you need is Brazil-1910. But if you must… here’s a screenshot
plumber tip #4
Our 12 year undersink kitchen disposal wasn’t disposing. Being a simple contractors’ grade [cheap] it was immediately suspect. Maybe the cutting knives are dull… Tap water backs-up and the dishwasher is challenged to drain. Instead of summarily replacing the unit, try drain cleaner. Not the whimpy Drano™ or Liquid Plumber™ as seen on TV but something really caustic like: Pro Drain Opener – 93% sulfuric acid with the skull and cross bones warning. None of these are recommended for use in a disposal appliance but what’s to loose. Try two applications (1/2 cup wait 15 min). The trap downstream of the unit gets hot like a gun barrel so there is some good endothermic reaction going on. The pipes are good to go again after flushing with cool water. Check for leaks.