Gas Prices ... WOW!
Gas prices in my area just went over $3.00 a gallon, I'm sure it is a similar story around the US. And it is just going to get worse.

What is going on?

In an age of record profits for Oil Companies, this can't be justified by some damage from the hurricane.

Why isn't there some kind of investigation?

Alternatives
There are other ways to produce oil right now without taking it from the ground (National Geographic article). It would only cost a fraction of what the war in Iraq is costing, plus there wouldn't be the loss of life.

There is even Bio Diesel Fuel that allows us to make diesel fuel from crops such as corn.

Vehicles
There are always the different gas/electric hybrid vehicles that are available. Even if they are a little more expensive.

There is even a car that doesn't require any gas. I would love to see The Air Car come to the US, I would be one of the first people in line to buy it.

A Day at the ZOO

We took the kids to the Cleveland Zoo the other day, the kids had a great time.

Though the experience really made me feel my age! Walking all day, up and down hills, carrying a child most of the time, really took a lot out of me!

I'm not in the best shape of my life, perhaps I should start working out a little.

I think we will go to some other Zoos this year also, Andrea (my wife) wants to go to the Detroit Zoo, and a few others in Ohio, and the Pittsburgh Zoo (in that preferential order but not in that chronological order).

SpIM

SpIM (or IM Spam):
Spam is out of control, I use several methods to keep my exposure to Spam to a minimum, but some still gets through.

I use disposable, self destructing email addresses (from SpamGourmet) when I sign up at places that I think might generate Spam.

I use a bayesian filter to catch most of the junk that makes it to my mailbox.

I am careful about where I give out my personal (home) email address, and I don't post it online.

I use a couple of online Web mail accounts (from Gmail and Yahoo!) for some of my dealings online, and I trust their Spam blocking features to do a good job of keeping most of the Spam out of those accounts' main inbox.

A while ago I found that I forgot one hole that Spam found a way in on: Instant Messaging (IM).

Yes, as most people who use IM now know, Spam has found it's way to IM, most people refer to it as SpIM.

Unfortunately I can't get rid of IM, we use it at work to communicate not just with people in the next cubicle, but also with people in other buildings spread through the county, and with vendors and support personnel from companies in other states.

Shortly after I started getting SpIMmed I started sending non-anonymous Warnings to the SpIMmers to try to shut them down faster. All that got me was more SpIM.

So what was I to do:
I can't get rid of my IM, I still need to use IM.

So after much thought I decided that the only people that I really want to IM with are already on my Buddy List, so I got into my preferences and under Privacy I set the option 'Allow on my Buddy List' to contact me.

This results in a complete blocking of everybody who is not in my Buddy List from contacting me, which includes the SpIMmers. The only drawback is the if somebody new wants to IM me, I need to put them on my Buddy List first.

Is this a perfect solution: No.

Am I happy enough with it to keep doing it: Yes.