Thursday, April 30, 2020

Cutting Edge Fashion

It's not easy keeping up with the latest trends in fashionable hairstyles...


Hopefully, this photo will convince the government that barbershops should be considered "essential" services!

Saturday, April 25, 2020

English Language Homographs

Imagine how difficult it must be for a non-English speaking person to learn English given the double meaning of words like these:
  1. The bandage was wound around the wound.
  2. The farm was used to produce produce.
  3. The dump was so full that it had to refuse more refuse.
  4. We must polish the Polish Furniture.
  5. He could lead if he would get the lead out.
  6. The soldier decided to desert his dessert in the desert.
  7. Since there is no time like the present, he thought it was time to present the present.
  8. A bass was painted on the head of the bass drum.
  9. When shot at, the dove dove into the bushes.
  10. I did not object to the object.
  11. The insurance was invalid for the invalid.
  12. There was a row among the oarsmen about how to row.
  13. They were too close to the door to close it.
  14. The buck does funny things when the does are present.
  15. A seamstress and a sewer fell down into a sewer line.
  16. To help with planting, the farmer taught his sow to sow.
  17. The wind was too strong to wind the sail.
  18. Upon seeing the tear in the painting I shed a tear.
  19. I had to subject the subject to a series of tests.
  20. How can I intimate this to my most intimate friend?
Click here to see a list of additional homographs.

Saturday, April 18, 2020

Rock Crawling Vicariously

The next best thing to taking my Jeep off-road is to watch other people take their Jeep off-road. There is a young couple that I have been following on YouTube that has been tackling some of the most notorious trails in the country in a highly modified Jeep Wrangler. Lately, they have been at Sand Hollow State Park which is known for its extremely gnarly obstacles. Here are their latest videos...




Tuesday, April 14, 2020

Government Overreach

John Stossel has published a cautionary video of what can happen when big government chooses to take away your civil liberties...



In case you think this type of tech tyranny could never happen in America, consider Utah's current approach to visitors entering the state...
"A statewide effort will begin on Friday, April 10th to survey all out of state visitors who enter Utah. In our area, this will occur near the Utah/Colorado state line via the wireless alerting system. When a traveler enters the region, the nearby cell phone tower will automatically send a message to their cell phones instructing them to pull over and fill out a survey for information and tracking purposes. It should be noted there will be no physical “checkpoints” or roadblocks."
Yes, we want to keep people safe, but this is a little too close to Orwell's "Big Brother" for me. As Benjamin Franklin once said: "Those who would give up essential Liberty, to purchase a little temporary Safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety".

Update (4/16/2020): Utah's text alerts to road travelers to collect coronavirus data has been canceled due to unintended consequences. Click here to read full story.

Monday, April 06, 2020

Desert Humor

I am beginning to feel like I am in the movie Groundhog Day living the same day over and over. One of the ways I try to breakup the monotony as well as getting some much needed exercise is to walk around the park. Long term residents tend to decorate the outside of their residences. Here is one of my favorites...

Wednesday, April 01, 2020

Use Your PC To Fight COVID-19

Folding@home uses distributed computing to do disease research. It has been around for years, but has recently turned its attention to the COVID-19 virus. You can help in the fight by downloading their program to your personal computer and letting it run in the background. You can choose to run it full time or just when the computer is idle. You can also choose how much power you wish to use. For more information, click here.