Houston Zoo Redux

The Houston Zoo is always a great place to get some pics. Today was no exception.

The Solution to All Problems

Thomas Sowell on Education

The great economist Thomas Sowell recently published a 3-part essay on the economics of going to college. As usual, he makes perfect sense. Read part 1, part 2, and part 3.

In this three-part series, Dr. Sowell tackles two of the most significant issues in education. First, we must find alternative methods of paying for education that don’t include tax payer subsidies. The second issue is the cost of education and why it’s so high. Sowell asks, “How many people would go to college if they had to pay the real cost of all the resources taken from other parts of the economy? Probably a lot fewer people.”

Dr. Sowell explains that the cost of education is so high because so much of it is government subsidized, and as long as that continues to happen, the schools will continue to raise the cost of education. Until something changes, there will be no incentive for schools to lower tuition.

One good way to generate incentive is to change the way the students pay for college. Instead of relying on FASFA and other similar programs, he suggests that students sign a promissory note that states the student will essentially trade a college education for a certain percentage of their future earnings. This way, fewer people will actually go to college because that type of agreement requires more thought than simply filling out a FASFA form and going to school.

Birds

Birds can be hard to shoot.  These photos were taken in a nice neighborhood in Houston.

Is Rice the Next Unleaded Gasoline?

So, if a supply problem with something as benign as rice were to take place (real or perceived), would it raise the price of Chinese food and other Asian cuisines?  Sam’s Club and other outlets that sell in bulk have already put a limit on the amount of rice someone can buy.  Furthermore, most of the Chinese places I know of are not huge chains.  They are mom-and-pop restaurants who don’t rely on a huge supply chain to get their resources in.  They go to places like Sam’s to get what they need.  Furthermore, a lot of these places are buffet style and go through rice like crazy.

I remember when a Chinese buffet was about $5.00.  It wasn’t that long ago.  Now those same establishments are charging around $8.00 per person (before the rice shortage).  You can probably expect to see the typical Chinese buffet go up a couple more dollars in the near future.

The supply of the basic staple in the diets of millions of people around the world just took a dive.  What’s next?  I am not sure what caused this as I have not spent too much time reading about the problem.  But we can safely say that it didn’t happen overnight.  Something caused this issue.

HP 2133 Mini-Note Delayed

Well, I broke down and ordered the HP 2133 Mini-Note last night. As you can see, the ship date is about a week and a half after the order was placed. Not a huge deal.

After I ordered the system, I realized that I had put the wrong phone number on my order. I called HP this morning to get that corrected and was told that the ship date had been moved to May 9. This sucks. The only thing I can hope for is that the information the rep had was incorrect. I had this thing shipped to a location where I will be on the estimated delivery date. If it is delayed, that means I will have to cancel the order and re-order, or hope someone can change the delivery address (which isn’t likely)

Maybe this will be a situation similar to when I bought my Dell XPS M1710 laptop. The system arrived at the house before the original estimated ship date. Seeing as how the mini-note is new and hot, that probably won’t happen.

Scarborough Faire

I went to the Scarborough Renaissance Festival this weekend. One of the most interesting exhibits was that of John Karger and his Last Chance Forever organization from San Antonio, Texas. Last Chance Forever: The Bird of Prey Conservancy was incorporated in 1978 as a non-profit organization whose mission is to rehabilitate sick, injured, and orphaned birds of prey (raptors) such as hawks, owls, eagles, falcons, and vultures, and return them back to their natural habitat. Below are some of the photos I took of their exhibit. Photos of the festival as a whole can be found here.  John Karger is a Master Falconer.

Commodore 64 Commercials

Feeling a little nostalgic today, I went out to locate some vintage Commodore 64 commercials. I grew up with this computer. It hit the market when I was 11 years old. I got one a couple of years later, I think. One thing I remember was the after-market products that were available for it, like the Enhancer 2000 floppy drive. It was an after-market replacement for the standard 1541.

At one point, I also had a Commodore SX-64. The Commodore SX-64, also known as the Executive 64, or VIP-64 in Europe, was a portable, briefcase/suitcase-size “luggable” version of the popular Commodore 64 home computer and holds the distinction of being the first full-color portable computer. It was a demo/eval unit (read: free) and it didn’t work very much, but I had one. That’s all that mattered. Broken or not, I was the only teenager in my neighborhood with more than one computer. 3l33t!

Or the Commodore VIC-20 commercial with William Shatner

Texas State Capitol

The Texas State Capitol, located in Austin, Texas, is the fourth building to serve as the seat of Texas government. It houses the chambers of the Texas State Legislature and the office of the Governor of Texas. Originally designed by Elijah E. Myers, it was constructed from 1882–88 under the direction of civil engineer Lindsay Walker, and a $75 million underground extension was completed in 1993. The building was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1970 and recognized as a National Historic Landmark in 1986. It is the largest State Capitol building, but smaller than the National Capitol in Washington, D.C.  More photos here…

Sony Alpha A100 Settings

I’ve had my Sony Alpha A100 for a few months now but I’ve never had the chance to play around with some of the settings. Last night was a goof opportunity for that. I focused on the black and white setting. I am getting to like that a lot.