Measles in the DC area

Measles exposure sites spread to Md., Va. and D.C. - wtop.com:

With five confirmed cases of measles in the area, local health officials are warning that people in the District and Arlington and Montgomery counties may have been exposed to the virus.

Local health officials released the following list of potential exposure sites in D.C. and Arlington and Montgomery counties:

Click link for those details. In VA, it's two spots in Pentagon Row.

smile. communists love you.

Greg Laden's Blog : I know exactly how Obama feels ...:

Anyway, the Yahoos are all over Obama because some drone paparazzi copped a photograph of Obama and The Enemy(ies) of The Free World shaking hands and looking happy. How dare he. End of the world, end of freedom, he's ruining it for everyone. No Republican Leader would ever do anything like that.

DVDs on demand

Steve Jackson Games Daily Illuminator - April 18, 2009:

Warner Brothers has released 150 titles from its archives in DVD. This in itself is not unheard of; what's new (or at least unusual) is their method of manufacturing and distribution. Customers will order the discs direct from WBShop.com, who presses to order. WB avoids any inventory hassles, and movie buffs get access to hundreds of films that have traditionally been collector's items.

The POD concept isn't new, of course -- we've used the technology ourselves several times. But applying it to DVDs is.

Once again, it's how some things should have been done in the first place...

Other companies are doing similar things, like instead of pressing 100,000 copies so that 100,000 stores can each get one (but not sell 'cause the 100,000 people who might want one are all located near only 1,000 of those stores), they're pressing copies and just sending them to the online warehouses. As in, instead of going to B&N, you can only get it at BN.com or Borders.com or Amazon.com.

Now, the only problem with these approaches is that whole, if I don't know it's out there, I'll never know I can buy it. Much is (or used to be) discovered merely by browsing, but increasingly with stores only carrying the "guaranteed sellers", the *good stuff* simply isn't stocked anymore.

ain't that the truth...

Make iTunes and iPod classical companions:

iTunes displays information based on each music file's tag information (artist, title, release date, etc.), which often comes from online databases if you've ripped CDs to play on your iPod. The only problem is that some of the thoughtful users who have kindly contributed to the databases are, well, morons -- especially the guy who has tagged film composer Jerry Goldsmith's orchestral music as being in the New Age genre.

copied here 'cause it needs to be said...

I do always find it interesting that the Right-wing assertions that we should have the right to be a complete asshole all come from those who claim to be believers in a preacher who 2,000 years ago preached, "Don't Be An Asshole", and then insist we should be following Him under their leadership and example.