I don't know much about how engines work so I decided to read an Engine Builder's Handbook. I have been learning a great deal, especially about the inputs necessary to make an engine run efficiently. For example: "The best air/fuel ratio is called stoichiometric, which translates to 14.7 pounds of air for every one pound of fuel... If you consider that air weighs about 5 one-thousandths of a pound for each gallon at standard temperature and pressure and gasoline weighs about 6 pounds per gallon, 1200 gallons of air must flow into an engine for every gallon of gasoline. Hmmm...
My Jeep has a 20.2 gallon fuel tank, consequently, I need ~24,240 gallons of air to flow thru my engine per tank of fuel. (Assuming my Jeep is stoichiometric.) That's a large volume of air. What does it take to make a gallon of gas? 98 tons (~196,000lbs) of prehistoric, buried plant material. Therefore, each fill up of gas in my Cherokee requires ~3,959,200 lbs of prehistoric, buried plant material. My Cherokee has the aerodynamics of a brick, so I frequently go thru ~24,240 gallons of air and ~3,959,200 lbs of prehistoric, buried plant material. To reassure myself that my Jeep isn't wasteful, but rather a temperate machine, I just think of the excessive depletion of natural resources due to an Escalade.
I have found CSDiff to be a great diff tool for the windows platform. Even better, it is a free tool.
I have been deleting comment spam (on my blog) for awhile. It wasn't enough to inspire me to install MT-Blacklist. However, in the last few days my blog comments have become full of spam. I decided to install MT-Blacklist today. It was a quick and eazy install. It exterminated all my existing comment spam with the press of a button, and all future comments will be reviewed by it. If you use MT and haven't installed MT-Blacklist, I highly recommend it. Sooner or later, you will be wasting time cleaning up comment spam.
I haven't used my eBay account in awhile and I decided to log in. I was surprised to find that my eBay account had been suspended. According to an e-mail from eBay the only way to resolve this issue is to fax them a copy of my driver's license along with my eBay ID, e-mail address, and telephone number. Since eBay doesn't have a customer service phone number, this appears to be the only approach. Does anyone else find this process ridiculous? Why would I send all the data necessary for an identity theft to a fax number I was given in an e-mail?
I really want to reactivate my eBay account since I have built up quite a few favorable feedbacks. However, I find their process overly intrusive. What should I do? Am I paranoid?
Here is the e-mail I received from eBay:
Thank you for contacting eBay's Trust and Safety Department about your
suspension. We temporarily suspended your trading privileges because
your eBay account password had been compromised. In order to restore
control of the account to you as quickly and safely as possible, we are
sending this automated email with important information and
instructions.
Please be assured that closing your account was necessary to prevent any
unauthorized activity. While we cannot disclose the investigative
procedures that led us to this action, we hope you feel confident that
we acted in your best interest.
For your protection, we need you to verify your identity so we can make
sure you are the owner of the account. Please send a copy of your
driver's license or other government-issued identification. Be sure to
include your eBay user ID, email address, and a valid telephone number
with your fax. You can send this information to the following fax
number:
Fax: XXX-XXX-XXXX
Please allow 48 to 72 hours for this information to be processed.
Emailing us before that time will result in delays. We will review your
account and contact you by email. Please note that any documents
submitted will be destroyed after your registration information has been
verified. If you are concerned about faxing sensitive information (such
as your Social Security number), please black it out. Your full name and
address must be legible.
We look forward to working with you towards the restoration of your
account. Thank you for your patience and effort in this important
matter.
Regards,
eBay Trust and Safety Team
My team lost its first tournament game. We battled back to make the game close after a huge deficient, but it wasn't enough. My dad had fun watching the game at the BVC Coliseum.
It was a fun season and I played the best I ever have. I scored more points this season than all the others combined. :-)
This morning, Marathon Oil Company (MOC) announced its plans to buyout Ashland Inc.'s 38% minority interest in Marathon Ashland Petroleum (MAP). The official announcement is available on Marathon Oil's corporate website. The result would be MOC fully owning MAP if the transaction closes.
I finally posted pictures from the Blue Mountain Ski Trip. It was a blast and I hope a few more of my friends will be able to make it next year.
This is a quick and easy way to identify what party you fall into: Visual Party Identifier. (Requires Macromedia Flash) The result for me was a "Middle of the Road" Independent.
Lifetime Odds of Dying*
Car crash - 1 in 242
Drowning - 1 in 1,028
Plane crash - 1 in 4,608
Lightning strike - 1 in 71,501
Bitten by dog - 1 in 137,694
Venomous spider bite - 1 in 716,010
*for someone born in 2000
Source: National Safety Council
Driving a car is pretty dangerous; I am not too worried about a spider bite.
I was in New Orleans last week for work. It just happened to be Marti Gras week. However, I didn't make it downtown for Marti Gras. It was a hectic week of work and we got a lot done.
Due to travel, I missed the last two basketball games. I was excited to play tonight after such a hiatus. I had an awesome block, which I bounced hard into the wall of the BVC Colossem. I even had a second block, but it wasn't as dramatic. I played good defense tonight, even though my offensive wasn't great. We won the game and I scored 1 point on the foul line. There were two points left over on the score sheet, so the scorers gave them to me as reward for my block.