Too Costly to Expand Salem Jail, Study Says
April 13, 2005 – 18:23 pmExpanding the Salem jail is a problem because nearby land is in a flood plain. But so is the proposed Roanoke County site.
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Roanoke Times Story
Attitude by Charles Swindoll
April 13, 2005 – 11:27 amI keep this essay on my refigerator and try to fall back on it when things get tough. I though I would share it on the blog.
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The longer I live, the more I realize the impact of attitude on life. Attitude, to me, is more important than facts.
It is more important than the past, than education, than money, than circumstances, than failures, than successes, than what other people think or say or do.
It is more important than appearance, giftedness or skill. It will make or break a company……a church……a home. The remarkable thing is we have a choice every day regarding the attitude we will embrace for that day.
We cannot change our past. We cannot change the fact that people will act in a certain way. We cannot change the inevitable. The only thing we can do is play on the one string we have, and that is our attitude.
I am convinced that life is 10% what happens to me and 90% how I react to it. And so it is with you. We are in charge of our attitudes.
New Scott Family Member is Mary Grace
April 12, 2005 – 22:32 pmI finally had a chance to visit with the new, super-sized Scott family. The new baby daughter is now officially named Mary Grace Scott. Everyone looks like they are doing fine and they will be ready to take their new baby home tomorrow.
Deleting Rows or Columns in Excel
April 12, 2005 – 22:28 pmBy now you probably know that I am big on keyboard shortcuts. Here are some ways to delete rows and columns in Excel without having to use the menus. This works for Excel 97 and later.
To select a row or column, click on the grey box at the far left of the row (containing the row number) or the grey box at the top of the column (containing the column letter). Once you have highlighted the row or column, you can just click the Del key (to clear the cells) or Ctrl-C (to start a cut-and-paste operation).
You can also select a row or column from the keyboard. Simply move to a cell in the row or column you want to select and press Shift + Spacebar (to select the row) or Ctrl + Spacebar (to select the column). If you want to extend the selection of rows or columns, release the Ctrl key, then press and hold the Shift key and use the arrow keys (up arrow, right arrow, etc.) to select adjacent rows or columns.
Once you have selected the row(s) or column(s) you want to delete, press Ctrl + – (Ctrl key plus the minus key). The minus key can be the one on the numeric keypad or on the top row of keys (just above the letters and below the function keys) on standard keyboards. This will bring up the Delete pop-up window, at which point you can
In fact, you don’t have to select the entire row or column prior to deleting it — you can also move to a cell in the row or column you want to delete, press Ctrl + – and select “Entire row” or “Entire column” from the Delete pop-up window.
These keyboard shortcuts help keep your hands on the keyboard and limit the number of times you have to reach for your mouse. Once you get used to them, they save you lots of time. You an save your up and down arm movements for after 1700 hours at your local pub.
Bad Commercials – A Rant!
April 11, 2005 – 19:29 pmIs it my imagination or is some advertising genius telling business folks that using their own kids in commercials will cause consumers to rush out and buy their products? Lately, it seems like every locally produced commercial includes someone?s kids or grandkids. I think we have all had the pleasure of having dinner at a friend?s house and then getting trapped into watching a shaky home video of their trip to Gatlinburg or some other vacation wonderland. If you are one of those folks who likes to share your vacation experiences or family movies with your friends, let me clue you in on something, they suck for other folks. Really!
It is bad enough when you have to endure a movie that includes your buddy?s kids but it really sucks when you have to watch some kid you don’t even know on your own television. I don?t care how cute your four year old granddaughter is, I don?t want to hear her sing an off-key version of ?Take Me Out to The Ball Game? at six o?clock in the morning before I’ve had my first cup of coffee. (Do you here that Captain Party?) I think I pulled a muscle the other day stabbing for the mute button when the Captain Party commercial came on for the umpteenth time.
If that Is not bad enough, guess what was on the radio when I got in car to drive to work. (Keep in mind that my commute lasts for all of about 5 minutes) Sure enough, someone must have told the guy from “For Sale By Owner” magazine to include his kid in the his commercial. This little kid just raves about how much he likes the “For Sale By Owner” magazine so his dad offers to take him to the home sells training seminar that is conveniently taking place this weekend. The kid is just ecstatic over this trip! Give me a break, get the kid a Play Station, let him watch MTV or join the YMCA. Do something to give the kid a life!
I am prepared to make a deal with these folks. If they stop showing idiotic commercials that ruin my day before it gets started, I will buy all my party supplies from Captain Party and, if I decide to get rid of my house, I promise to sell it myself. I know this isn’t a law enforcement issue but it may end up being a mental health issue. Of course that?s just my opinion, I could be wrong!
Edit Unwanted Color From Images in PowerPoint
April 11, 2005 – 18:44 pmWhen you import a graphic from the web or your own stash of pics, many of the images have a white or colored background around it on your slide. To get rid of the image background, insert the picture on your slide, select it, and then click the Set Transparent Color tool on the Picture toolbar. The pointer arrow will display a wand next to it. Next, click on the color in your image that you want to set as transparent. You can only set one color to transparent, so images with more than one color in their background may require you to use something like Photoshop to do the edit.
Software Will Link Kiddie Porn Traffickers
April 10, 2005 – 19:12 pmA program launched by Microsoft and Canadian authorities will link credit card numbers, chat messages and arrest records. The authorities plan to use it to track down traffickers in child pornography.
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American Beacon – Passport RFID Chips
April 9, 2005 – 9:04 amWhat do you suppose a terrorist would be willing to pay to pick out all of the Americans walking down the street in a foreign city? Of course the U.S. Department of State would do everything possible to prevent the use of such a weapon – wouldn’t they?
What I am referring to is a technology known as RFID (radio-frequency identification) that may end up on a chip inside all U.S. passports. The State Department claims the technology will help move U.S. citizens through border crossings. Apparently the RFID chip will include all the printed information from the passport along with an enhanced photograph of the passport holder, useful for photo recognition.
The State Department claims the RFID data will be readable only out to a distance of about four inches. It plans to begin issuing new passports using the technology to diplomats starting in August. However, even if we assume they are correct with their “readable data” distance, a terrorist would not need to read the data, only identify the source of the signal, which may be done from a much greater distance. Another issue that they don’t seem to be considering is the pace of technology development when there is a need. The question should be, how far away will someone be able to read the radio frequency in 5 or 10 years?
The comments period is over and there were over 1500 comments submitted. Many, particularly from the travel industry, were opposed to project. They are concerned that the RFID will serve as beacons to identify Americans in a crowd.
“This is an inappropriate use of technology and it’s dangerous,” said Bill Scannell, a California publicist and former intelligence officer who created the Web site RFIDkills.com to fight the new passports, which he calls “terrorist beacons.”
As for me, I’m just going to stay home where I don’t need a passport since I already live in Salem.
Word: Omit Headers On The First Page
April 8, 2005 – 7:46 amSometimes you may not want a header to appear on the first page of a Word document. For example, the title page of a report should not have a page number. In addition, you may want to place a different header on a page. You can use the following tip with Word 97 and later.
To stop a header in your document:
- Move to the first page. Choose View/Header and Footer from the main menu.
- Click on the Page Setup button in the Header and Footer toolbar. (It looks like an open book.)
- Click on the Layout tab.
- Check the “Different first page” box. Word clears the header and changes the header label to “First Page Header.” You’re ready to enter the header text for the first page. If you don’t want a header on this page, just leave the header area blank.
- Click on Close in the Header and Footer toolbar.
Use the same process to create a separate footer for the first page.
Verizon Increases 411 Fees
April 8, 2005 – 6:34 amOn Friday, Verizon is scheduled to hike its 411 directory assistance fee to $1.25 per request ” an increase of nearly four times over its existing 411 charge. Revenue flowing into Verizon’s coffers from the 411 service will eventually surge because of its tens of millions of subscribers.
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Marine Corp Marathon Training Schedule
April 7, 2005 – 19:49 pmIf you are considering training for the Marine Corp Marathon but don’t know how much time and energy you will have to commit to training, take a look at the attached training schedule that we plan to use. The schedule was adapted from the Runner’s World magazine recommendations. Just put your miles and time in the appropriate cells and the spreadsheet keeps your weekly and overall mileage totals.
Marine Corp Marathon (30th Anniversary)
April 6, 2005 – 17:57 pmThe enrollment for the Marine Corp Marathon opened last night at midnight. The race will be run on Sunday, October 30, 2005 and there will be no lottery this year. Since it is the 30th anniversary for the marathon, they are accepting the first 30,000 people to register.
Jim Booth, the training coordinator at Cardinal Criminal Justice Academy, will be running it for the second straight year. This year, he will be accompanied by his brother Butch, who just returned from combat duty in Iraq. Last year Jim and Lt. Scott Schwarzer, of the Radford Department of Police, ran the race in support of Butch but this year he will be able to share the pain. We are still waiting to see if Scott’s loving chief, Gary Harmon, will let him off to run it this year. David Scott, our other training coordinator and fellow marathoner, will not be running in this one since his “soon to be” new father duties may make training tough. My son and I will also be running together again. He beat us all in the Myrtle Beach Marathon in February but who knows what October will bring.
If anyone is interested in joining us on this adventure, let me know. You must decide quickly and go to http://www.marinemarathon.com/theentry.php to sign up. The fee is $85 + a $4 handling fee. If you have ever thought about running a marathon, this is the one to do. The course, which winds through Washington DC is mostly flat and is always well administered. I am sure that they will go all out for the 30th anniversary. We will begin training hard at the beginning of July so you have plenty of time to train up.
Apple’s Top 10 Reason’s To Switch
April 5, 2005 – 20:47 pm1. The Mac…It Just Works
2. It Doesn?t Crash
3. It?s a Digital Jukebox
4. Delivers The Promise Of Digital Photography
5. Best Solution, In Fact, For All Things Digital
6. Built To Go Everywhere ? Because That?s Where You?ll Want It
7. The Internet Is Integrated
8. Office is Office and then Some
9. It Works Effortlessly With PCs
10. It?s Beautiful
Check out the Apple Site
Websites: Taxes Due – Need Help?
April 3, 2005 – 15:44 pmYou did it again, didn’t you? Tax time is a few days away and you still haven’t gotten around to doing your taxes. However, this year, since you are an internet geek, you can get all the help that you need.
The IRS maintains “The” tax related website. However, there are many others. Yahoo! has a tax section that is very informative and the TurboTax site is also pretty good.
CLICK HERE:
http://www.irs.gov/newsroom/content/0,,id=104608,00.html
http://taxes.yahoo.com/tips/
http://www.turbotax.com/tax_tips_and_resources/index.html?source=215cc1&ttid=ttheeader
You can also download the forms and publications you need at the IRS site.
CLICK HERE:
http://www.irs.gov/formspubs/index.html
Of course if you just can’t get things finished in time, you can file an extension. The instructions are on the IRS website.
CLICK HERE:
http://www.irs.gov/formspubs/article/0,,id=98155,00.html
