Send the Elevator Down

Almost 30 years ago a young boy, age 9, dreamed of becoming a doctor. This youth was a world away from achieving this dream. Living in the Congo, there were not many opportunities but, he studied hard and excelled in school.
He was accepted to Georgetown University in the Washington DC area on a scholastic scholarship. He flew to the US from his home in the Democratic Republic of the Congo in 1987. The premed major had every intention of returning to the Congo as a Doctor, a promise made to his father years before.
In his 2nd year at Georgetown ,the coach took an interest in this 7 ft 2 inch junior and convinced him to try out for the basketball team. Georgetown was a major player for the national championship during the three years this young man was a member of the team. Unlike many who leave college early to try for a career in the NBA, this man, Dikembo Mutombo, finished his education. He did detour from his intended major in medicine, instead,earning degrees in Linguistics and Diplomacy. He now speaks English, French, Spanish, Portuguese and 5 African dialects.

In 1991 Dikembo was drafted by the Denver Nuggets in the 4th round. He earned a spot on the All-Star team his rookie year. He was traded to the Atlanta Hawks in 1995-96 winning Defensive Player of the Year twice. He played for the Philadelphia 76'ers, New Jersey Nets, NY Knicks and is now playing for the Houston Rockets. Dikembo has earned the admiration of sports fans and players alike, for giving his all for the game.
Mutombo also spends much of his energies helping others. In 1997, he created the Dikembe Motombo Foundation after his mother died at age 64. For Congo's national women's basketball team, he provided equipment and funding for their trip to the 1996 Atlanta Olympics. To Special Olympians, he has donated his time and energy for clinics and workshops. In support of the Global Polio Eradication Initiative, Mutombo, has given his voice for a series of public-service announcements, encouraging millions of Central African parents to immunize their children against the disease.
Mutombo has personally donated $15 million dollars and helped raise millions more to build the $29 million dollar Biamba Marie Mutombo Hospital and Research Center, named after his mother.The 300 bed hospital will open September 2nd marking the first major hospital built in Kinshasa, Congo's capital city, in over 30 years.
"Mutombo believes that God has given him this opportunity to do great things for his country, especially in health care," says Tom Keefe, president of the International Medical Equipment Collaborative, a charity that will help to kit out the hospital once it is built. "This facility will create the most dramatic change in health-care delivery, not just in the capital, but in the country and the whole region."
At one fundraiser for the hospital, Mutombo quoted a modern African proverb to explain why he has committed so much of his life and his wealth to the welfare of others. "When you take the elevator up to reach the top, please don't forget to send the elevator back down, so that someone else can take it to the top," he said. "This is my way of sending the elevator down."

The Horror is Too Much

OH MY GOD Send in the shrink. I feel violated. How in the hell can you do this to a Monte Carlo?

My old 1987 Monte Carlo.



And FrankenMonte

The countdown is ON

13 Days.....The countdown is on. I'm not sure what I'm waiting on more, 2 weeks off out west, my brother's wedding or..... maybe more importantly...A In and Out Burger. I think the burger. I'm hooked

Kelly Clarkson Drunk at a Rock Concert

Here's a clip of Kelly Clarkson completely wasted at a Metal Skool concert. Beware Profanity. I'm not sure what's the big deal. All I saw was a young woman having fun. She was drunk, sure. But, she wasn't "out of control" She was asked on the stage and "jammed" with the act. Give her a break.

read more | digg story

AMAZING LEGO NEW YORK CITY!!! looks so real!

Wow , we never had Legos like this. Be sure to click on "read more" for the close up details. Absolutely amazing.






read more | digg story

Dude............your Dell's on Fire

Warning Warning Danger Will Robinson. Your Dell laptop is going critical. Dell announced it is recalling 1.4 million laptop batteries today. Story below.


Dell to recall 4 million batteries
Inspiron, Latitude and Precision owners should check to see if they qualify for recall offer.
Photos: Dell's recalled batteries
By Tom Krazit and Michael Kanellos
Staff Writer, CNET News.com
Published: August 14, 2006, 3:17 PM PDT
Last modified: August 15, 2006, 7:38 AM PDT


update Dell and the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission plan to recall 4.1 million notebook batteries on Tuesday, a company representative confirmed Monday.

The recall affects certain Inspiron, Latitude and Precision mobile workstations and XPS units shipped between April 2004 and July 18, 2006. Sony manufactured the batteries that are being recalled, the representative said. Click here to see photos of recalled batteries.
High Impact
What's new:

Dell is issuing a massive recall of 4.1 million battery packs, used in several of its laptop lines, because of a risk of overheating and fire.
Bottom line:

The company says there have been only a handful of reports of property damage, and none of injuries, and doesn't expect to take a big hit in its earnings from the costs of the recall. But the incident is another black eye for a company that's been losing some of its luster.

More stories on battery recalls

If they have one of the affected units, consumers are advised to eject the battery from the notebook after powering down and continue using the notebook with its AC power adapter, the CPSC said. Dell has so far received six reports of overheating units that caused property damage, but no injuries.

Dell has faced several issues this year related to exploding or flaming notebooks, and wants to ensure the safety of its customers, the representative said. The 4.1 million units is a subset of the 22 million units shipped during that time frame, he said. Dell said it doesn't expect the cost of the recall to materially affect its earnings. The company reports earnings for the previous quarter this Thursday.

At the moment, this looks like the largest battery recall in the history of the electronics industry, said Roger Kay, an analyst with Endpoint Technologies Associates. "The scale of it is phenomenal."

Sony will help pay the costs associated with the recall of 4.1 million batteries the company supplied to Dell, said Rick Clancy, a Sony spokesman.

"We are supporting Dell's recall," Clancy said. "There will be financial assistance and we are sharing engineering data and both doing further research." He declined to specify exactly how much assistance Sony would provide.
Tell us your story
Had a problem with a laptop battery? We want to hear about it. Just send us an e-mail.

Customers will be able to go to a Dell Web site or to the Consumer Product Safety Commission site to determine if they need a new battery. Dell also plans to launch a toll-free number, 1-866-342-0011, for people affected by the situation, IDC analyst Richard Shim said.

"It's a huge deal," Shim said, particularly for Dell customers with employees in remote locations or traveling. "If you have people all over the field, then you're asking folks to send in the batteries and run off just AC (alternating current power) until they can get new batteries shipped out to them."

Dell had only six incidents over millions of units, Shim said, but it's "a dangerous situation."

What causes the problem?
Lithium ion batteries have two to three times the energy density of nickel-cadmium and nickel-metal hydride batteries and four times the energy density of lead-acid batteries. Higher energy density translates to longer battery life. Lithium ion batteries are used in consumer electronics and notebooks, which only require a limited amount of energy. Hybrid cars and power tools, however, generally use more traditional batteries, in part because of the risk of explosion.
Dell battery packs

The problems Dell is having stem from impurities within the anode and cathode of the battery, said Kay, who was briefed on the problems by Dell executives. Over time, those impurities, usually tiny pieces of metal, can work their way to the edge of the anode or cathode and rupture the isolator that sits between the two, he said. Once that happens, you get a short circuit and possibly a fire.

In cell phones, lithium ion batteries can overheat because of a short circuit. If the temperature rises slowly, the battery case may melt. If it rises rapidly, however, enough pressure may be generated to create a small explosion in a lithium ion battery. Consumers have suffered severe burns as a result of these failures. The chemical reaction that produces energy in a lithium-ion battery is considered quite violent.

Several companies, including Valence Technology and PowerGenix, are working on safer lithium ion batteries or batteries which rely on different chemicals.

"The timing of this does buy Dell goodwill with customers and potential customers," said Sam Bhavnani, an analyst with Current Analysis. The first pictures of exploding laptops were posted in June, and the company has moved fairly quickly to investigate whether or not the problems were isolated or more widespread, he said.
Models in the hot seat

Dell plans to announce a recall of 4.1 million batteries worldwide on Tuesday. Here's a list of the affected models.

Latitude
D410, D500, D505, D510, D520, D600, D610, D620, D800, D810
Inspiron
6000, 8500, 8600, 9100, 9200, 9300, 500m, 510m, 600m, 6400, E1505, 700m, 710m, 9400, E1705
Dell Precision
M20, M60, M70 and M90 mobile workstations
XPS
XPS, XPS Gen2, XPS M170 and XPS M1710

Source: Consumer Product Safety Commission

It's possible that other PC vendors are using the Sony batteries in their products, Kay said. Dell executives told Kay that the company was one of the first to begin using this type of battery, and that they think other problems will crop up down the road for other PC companies.

But even if two companies use the same batteries, they don't necessarily design the technology that connects the battery to the notebook in the same way, Kay said. For example, Lenovo's notebooks use software that's designed to shut down the battery if it notices a problem and they charge the batteries more slowly than others in the industry, a company representative said. A Dell representative was unable to comment on the specifc technology it uses to enclose its batteries.

Sony's lithium ion cells can be found in the battery packs used by other manufacturers, but at this point Sony and those manufacturers have not seen the same level of problems that affected the Dell notebooks with Sony's technology, Clancy said. "We are in close communication with our customers, and as appropriate we will work with them and the CPSC if needed," he said.

A Lenovo representative said the company has not seen an unusual pattern of problems with its notebook batteries, although no PC company is immune to battery issues from time to time. Lynn Fox, an Apple Computer spokeswoman, said, "We are currently investigating whether batteries that have been supplied to Apple for our current and previous notebook lines meet our high standards for battery safety and performance." Representatives for Hewlett-Packard and Gateway were not immediately available to comment.

CNET News.com's Stephen Shankland contributed to this report.

Give This Man a Cookie

Give that man a cookie. I'm the man being mentioned here. First, I'll have to backtrack to yesterday.
I get home around 5pm yesterday. It had been a long start to the week. By this afternoon, I already had 27.25 hrs "logged" at work. It was more like 31 hrs actual. Anyway, I'm home and Glo is working late giving her 1st of 3 presentations. I decide since she would have to get up early the next day, I would go and get something to eat and have it waiting. My first idea was catfish from Cracker Barrel. I get out the menu for the number and a brainstorm hits. Ok, more like an afternoon shower.
I had discovered this BBQ place on the other side of town in a strip mall type shopping center. Their ribs are...... well, to die for. Why not just run over there and grab a dinner for each of us? I make the call and decide what the heck, I'll take my truck. It's around a 10 min drive, so I know they should be ready when I get there.
I pull up in front of the restaurant (which is just one store front in a huge building). I place my flashers on, I don't even lock the truck cause it's just gonna be a second. I go inside and hey, my order is setting on the window behind the counter. KEWL. Well, now it's time to "teach" the new employee. I promise at this point I couldn't have been in the store more than 2 minutes. The girl gets all the info in the register and starts running my card. At this point, a guy walks up and asks "Is that is my truck outside?" I tell him it is and he says, "I think you're are getting a ticket." At this point the "new" girl is having problems tearing the receipt off the credit card machine. She gives me a torn receipt and a whole receipt to sign. Now we're lost again. I hand her the receipt, take back my card and I have to wait for the other girl to come out and I remind them to hand me my food cause by now I see this cop writing a ticket. I swear time seemed to move slowly but I couldn't have been in the restaurant more than 4 mins at this point. Ok maybe 5.
I grab my food and start walking to my truck The smartass cockroach asks Why are you parked in a fire zone? I explain the obvious. To which this prick hands me a ticket. He barely had time to scribble my License plate number and VIN number. I brief description of where and I don't think there was even the time written down. He was in such a hurry to write his f'ing little ticket and scurry away I'm not sure it's legible. I tell him Thanks buddy, have a nice day. Of course it wasn't spoken in the friendliest of tones. At this point I'm about as pissed as I can get. The whole idea of .....well lets say that's far as I'm concerned my whole day is ...well now f'ed.
I leave this fine establishment and the smug cockroach in the white car and head home. I'm almost to the interstate and I'm coming up on a ROCS gas station at a red light. This road is a 4 lane with a turn lane. I';m in the left lane and the light turns green. There is a line of cars in the right lane and one car in the left sitting at the light. The first cars of both lanes take off, but there is a pickup sitting at the light. I'm saying to myself Look another a-hole on the phone. For some reason I have a funny feeling and instead of gassing on it to jump in front of the cars in the right lane so I could jump on the interstate I hesitate a second. I'm still doing 40-45 mind you. All of a sudden her comes this stupid braindead......Wow I need more Prozac, I'm really wound up. Anyway this dumb biotch come pulling out and instead of stopping when she sees me she just pulls out another 10 feet or so and blocks the whole lane. Well, needless to say, I don't catch ALL of this fine BBQ that had just doubled in price because of the pest infestation in the parking lot.
When I finally get stopped all I can see is this b's head. I can't see the door or anything else because I'm that close. This just adds to my joyous mood and I'm sure if anyone had their window down they probably blushed when I "explained" my displeasure to this woman with the blank stare would tried to motion that it was the guys fault that had stopped all the traffic to let her out. Sure I didn't almost hit him cause he was stopped you dumb......ok I think you get he point.
So, you ask. Why should I get a cookie? So far all I did was park illegally, get a citation, and almost ran over some obviously handicapped lady cause I was in a hurry.
Well, I'll tell you why. Less than 20 minutes ago I received a phonecall. It wasn't for me. It was for my lovely wife Glo. It was a marketer and he was just calling to see if we needed to make a donation for a worthy cause. Now, in most cases I'm really nice. Curt and to the point, but I explain that we give donations through payroll deductions at my wife's job and we're not interested. This organization was little untimely though. You see, the gentleman on the other end of the phone was from the Fraternal Order of Police and wanted to know if I wanted to "donate"
This is where I deserve the cookie. Instead of inviting him to take a trip to a place where it's always a little warm, I just give him the speech and say have a nice day. Am I getting older? Or am I just getting to the point where I just don't give a shit?

Grill Purchase called off

Well I'm going about these postings a little backwards. I had planned to mention the hunt for the great stainless Gas Grill has been called off. The more I looked, the higher they got to be. At the end we were looking at some monstrosity from Home Depot. It was a Ducane. It seemed very well put together. The grates were all stainless and the cabinet doors closed with a smoothness not found on other models. The grill I bought, oh let's see, 4 years ago was an Outdoor Grills model. The body and frame was made out of cast aluminum. No rusting. The burner( which was under warranty if I had my receipt) was cast brass. It has been really used over the last four years and even though the electronic lighter has been shot for over a year it has been a good one.
I like the newer grills for the features they have packed into them. The side burners, rotisserie burners, multiple burners( good for smoking or indirect cooking). They had a Grill by Perfect Flame at Lowes. It had 4 burners with one burner vaporizer( a plate that covers the burner to prevent flareups) that could be replaced by a wood chip box. Very kewl. With that you could place your meat on one side of the grill and have just enough heat to cook the wood chips and SLOWLY cook a brisket or something like that.
Hey I'm back from the truck show. I just have to finish up by saying that it's official. No grill for me this year. I ordered a new burner for the Outdoor Grills model I bought 4 years ago. If I had saved the receipt, it would have been replaced under warranty. Oh well, I ordered it anyway. Hopefully it will be here by Thursday. If so, I can see grilled ribeyes on the menu for Friday.

Camcorder Blues

I need help. We are getting ready for vacaion and I'm in the market for a camcorder. I've looked at so many now I'm lost. I looked at reviews from Consumer Reports. CNET, PC Magazine, Best Buy, Circuit City....See why I'm confused? So far the one I really like is one from Sony. I know I've ranted about the evil Sony empire since the hidden rootkit DRM fiasco last year with their "enhanced" CD's. But, at the same time I've always had a place in my heart for their electronics.
The model I'm looking at is the DCR HC90. It seems to be a mid-price camcorder with decent low-light recording, decent zoom, good image stabilization and the abilty to pass-thru analog video sources to convert to digital. I haven't found it at the major box stores, Circuit City, Best Buy, etc. I think they must have "upgraded" to the DCR HC96?
I'm looking at a couple of more but maybe if I just ask for your opinions? So, if ya got a camcorder let me know which one and how's it doing. Thanks.

Welcome DSC Listeners. Mi lenguaje declamatorio pequeño en la Inmigración

Hello all

I see I've had a few visitors from the DSC. Welcome. I know this may be a little too late for the majority of my traffic from PodShow. But if anyone is coming back, then I'm glad to have you. To everyone else, it's been another LONG week. But, what's new?

I heard a story in Bill Handel's radio show this week. It's a human interest story of a family of ILLEGAL immigrants. Now, before I'm labeled as an asshole racist, I can understand and sympathize with the want to better one's self. I have no problem with immigration but do it right, do it legal.

Now please don't talk "explain" how the legalization of the 12 million illegals in the country now will help by them paying taxes. Yeahhhhhhhhhh...... Sure. I can imagine the money flowing in now. How many of the millions of illegals are making more than poverty level wages?
Let's think about this for a second. I'm a family of 4? (probably more than that) but let's say 4. I'm working for $400-500 a week. That's at most, 26K. Well, for one I'm not going to be paying a whole lot in taxes with 4 deductions. Hey, I doubt I will pay anything. Now, I've used the public schools to educate my children at a cost of over $7000 per child. I need help with medical expenses....We won't go into that....... So for now let's just say I've paid the minimum, if any, taxes and have used the public schools to educate my children at the cost of at least 28K ( 4 x $7000) . In the meantime I've paid Taxes on 26K of income. For the point of this fairy tale we'll say at a rate of ....oh..25% LOL. That's $6,500. Fast forward to April 15th. It's time to file our taxes. After filling out our 1040, we now qualify for the Earned Income Tax Credit! We not only get our $6500 back, now, the taxpayers can PAY us for working.
I can't see where we ( the USA) will benefit from this generous immigration policy. I know.......They'll be doing jobs we won't do. That will in turn help the economy by adding profits to corporations which in turn, can order materials from the "new" manufacturing superpower China and others in the far east. Sounds like a winner to me. "sigh"
Now, back to the article. It's a good description of the mind set of the majority ( I know there are exceptions) of the disputed illegal immigrants.

Bienvenido a México Septentrional