| Komputer Klinic: Find the right Christmas gifts for photo buffs
Thanks to digital cameras, more people than ever are interested in photography. You probably have a photo enthusiast or budding photographer on your Christmas list. Knowing what to buy photo buffs is tricky. You may be tempted to purchase lenses, flashes or other expensive gear. Photographers are very particular. Unless youre an expert, skip these things. Accessories such as batteries, memory cards and camera cases will be welcome. But use some imagination. Here are some ideas to get you going: Make the camera work wirelessly. Some newer cameras feature Wi-Fi. This lets owners transfer photos to a computer wirelessly. Photos can also be uploaded to Web sites. Likewise, youll find wireless transmitters for high-end cameras from Canon and Nikon.
School Board agrees to keep block schedule for another year
Linda Abbott must have a very short memory. She changed her vote after it was finished in a small meeting I remember about 7 months ago. Something to do with the Superintendant I think. Tonight, she did not know if it was appropriate for Mr. Callabrese to change his vote.Amazingly, even the person whose side he was going to join voted to not allow him to change his vote. My divorced parents that hate each other get along better than these people do. Truth really is stranger than fiction. .
TheStar.com | GTA | Toronto tourism takes $50M hit with loss of race
One of the most important things we can do is to have a diverse calendar with events that appeal to all markets. It's one of the major events we have, along with things like the film festival, Caribana and Pride Day." Asked if the race would be hard to replace from a tourism standpoint, Ross replied, "Definitely. In a short period of time it would be a challenge. But I think the community would come together to do whatever's possible to be sure something replaces it." Ross said there could be layoffs, possibly among workers who install seats alongside the race course and such. But Pantalone said with Toronto in a building boom, many will likely find other work if the 2008 race is cancelled. "We don't have a full-time staff of construction workers at the Ex," he explained.
DirecTV still covets DISH
DirecTV is still interested in buying smaller rival EchoStar but doubts U.S. regulators would allow such a deal. The two companies tried to merge in 2002, but the deal collapsed under opposition from the Federal Communications Commission, which believed it would be anti-competitive.Mike Palkovic, chief financial officer of DirecTV, said a merger would be "desirable but not feasible" as the market environment had not changed.
"We'd be nuts not to look at it," Palkovic told Reuters. "But the regulatory issues haven't gone away." According to Leitchman Research Group, DirecTV has 55 per cent of the satellite TV market, or 15.1 million subscribers, and EchoStar Communications Corp. has 45 percent, or 11.9 million subscribers.
DirecTV said in February it was in talks with EchoStar to create a wireless high-speed network, which would put them in a stronger position to compete against cable operators and telephone companies that sell Internet, video and phone services.
Samuel is eager for bidding to get started
New England is the only team that can negotiate with Samuel right now, but at 12:01 a.m. on Feb. 29, Shavers and partner Jay Bianco can start fielding calls from all 32 teams. "There's always communication going on with our situation," Shavers said. "We don't eliminate anyone until we've signed a new deal and move to a new city." Shavers called New England Samuel's "birthplace," and Samuel has said he'd like to remain with the Patriots. But he is also anticipating the chance to hit the open market. It is expected that Samuel's deal will exceed the $28.5 million that Nate Clements got over the first three years he received from San Francisco last year. Clements' deal was announced as eight years, $80 million, but the final year of the deal was already voided, making it a seven-year, $64-million pact.
Marney Rich Keenan:
Somehow in between the saturated news coverage of the New Hampshire primary early this week, NBC's "Today" show managed to squeeze in an interview with the Blue Man. This was not one of the mute entertainers from the Blue Man Group, but an actual man named Paul Karason, whose skin is truly a bright blue. About 14 years ago, Karason developed a bad case of dermatitis on his face. He started self-medicating, using an age-old folk remedy called colloidal silver, which is made by extracting silver from metal using an electrical current (something the U.S. Food and Drug Administration does not recommend). Karason, now 57, drank the concoction and also rubbed it on his skin. Ingesting the potion not only cured Karason of his dermatitis, but, over time, it also turned his freckles and once fair skin completely blue.
Wednesday's total lunar eclipse may be a doozy
It's a good thing none of us are cavemen, or Wednesday night we might find ourselves on a panicked run for ironwood clubs and sharpened mastodon bones. Around 8 p.m., when a total lunar eclipse darkens the moon and imbues it with shades from copper to crimson, we unlike our forebears - will have the advantage of knowing we're in for a really good show. Rain clouds could obscure view of eclipse GRAPHIC: Learn about the lunar eclipse Cavemen weren't so lucky. "In the distant past, people took lunar eclipses as omens of bad things to come. They didn't have the means to understand what was happening," says Claude Haynes, Gilbert sky watcher and East Valley Astronomy Club president. For early man, a blood-red sphere hanging in the sky was a scary thing, a message from an angry god.
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