Warning sign by road: Icy.  Everything’s green.

I rediscovered this photo while looking for the UCI Student Center pic. One of us took it on the way back from a camping trip with UCI’s Campuswide Honors Program in the Angeles National Forest in April 2000. IIRC it was along Angeles Crest Highway.

A permanent sign isn’t necessarily the best way to indicate a transitory condition.

Yesterday, President Bush reportedly said, “Politicians in Washington shouldn’t be telling generals how to do their job.”

I guess he’d better recuse himself from any further military decisions for the rest of his term. Commander in Chief or not, the President of the United States is a politician in Washington.

Hmm, maybe he can give orders while traveling?

Opera BrowserThe Opera Web Browser is in the news today. First, they’ve just released version 9.20. In addition to the usual security, stability, and compatibility fixes, they’re promoting a new feature called Speed Dial, to make it easier to reach your most-frequently-visited websites.

Meanwhile, a recent survey by NetApplications and Surveyware found that while Firefox is widely considered the best browser, Opera’s users are more satisfied than users of any other browser. NetApplications’ current marketshare shows 79% IE, 15% Firefox, 4.5% Safari and 0.8% Opera for March 2007. (via OperaWatch)

While Opera is an excellent browser, this high level of satisfaction may be in part because of the size of its userbase. Often, when something is only followed by a small fraction of the potential audience, it’s mainly the hard-core fans. The only way to grow past that size is to bring in the casual users, who are less invested in it. Only time (and increased marketshare) will tell.

Webuser decided to lead with the Opera findings, which is great news for what they call “one of the internet’s best-kept secrets.” But they made an odd choice on the image to run with the article:

Screenshot of WebUser Article: Opera headline, Firefox Logo

Maybe they figured the Firefox logo was more recognizable, and would get more people to stop and read?

You know the routine. We can’t pass up a bizarre image without taking a photo and posting some sort of comment. Not even on vacations.

Alien Fresh Jerky SignThe drive to Las Vegas from southern California is simple: make your way to the 15, head north, and keep going until you get blinded by the neon. The ⅔ mark is Baker, CA, a small strip of restaurants, stores and gas stations in the middle of the desert, famous for the Bun Boy and the world’s tallest thermometer. Baker has something new: Alien Fresh Jerky.

We were staying at the South Coast Hotel and Casino, the latest megasino to open, which is a bit off the strip. At first I was a bit worried about finding the right exit. As it turns out, it’s the first giant hotel you’ll see as you approach Las Vegas from the south…about two miles before you actually have a chance to get off the freeway! (They have a free shuttle to the strip, though that had its own share of problems.) They put us in a room on the 24th floor, which had a great view of suburban South Las Vegas. Continue reading