1024 Cheerleaders at LP Field

1,024 Stadium Flipcards held by a Pixel Army



Try it yourself (sure beats paying $100.00 to say "Will You Marry Me" on the Titans Scoreboard...)



Click on the image to embiggen for a little more detail.

Cell phones for 911 emergencies

I briefly overheard on Fox News about how your cell phone can be used as a public safety tool. It's obviously to dial 911 even when the phone has no service or is out of range. But in recent news when James Kim and his family disappeared in Oregon, or when skiers go missing, cell phone technology comes into play.

From ZDNET:

Mobile devices, when they are within range, constantly let cell towers and the mobile switching center, which is connected to multiple towers, know of their location. The mobile switching center uses the location information to ensure that incoming calls and messages are routed to the tower nearest to the user.

If a subscriber is unable to get service, this location information is usually purged from the mobile switching center. But some location information may remain in call detail records. Some mobile operators may store the most recent communication between a device and a mobile switching center for a certain period of time, usually 24 hours.

When someone is missing, even this small bit of information can prove useful in determining the approximate location of a device using the updates from the mobile switching center. If the mobile subscriber is still within cell phone range, authorities can track his or her general movement by following the sequence of towers the phone has contacted or pinged. And if the cell phone goes out of range or runs out of battery power, the mobile operator may be able to use the last recorded location before the cell phone either lost its signal or lost power.

The bit of info I caught on the news is when you are hopelessly lost in a area unfamiliar, dial 911 when you can at the higest elevation. The signal can be triangulated between towers to pinpoint your location. Even if you're a bad dude on the run.

In fact, I understand from talking to Cingular One that a used cell phone without a sim card can call 911 without paying anything for service. Cell phones are regulated by the FCC. The FCC demands that ALL cell phones shall be able to dial 911. So next time when you're upgrading a phone, give that elderly next door neighbor your cell phone to stash in the car with the cigarette lighter charger. He/She doesn't have to have a telephone number or sign up for service... the cell phone can connect to 911.

photo source

New Home on the Range

I marvel at the architecture and design of stadiums and at times the taxpayers' willingness to fund these monuments to the world's most popular sport - National Football League's American football. Arlington, Texas taxpayers will fund 1/3 of the 1 billion dollar cost (capped at 325 million).

When the Dallas Cowboys move from Texas Stadium, they'll leave behind 35 years of history, but the signature hole in the roof will go with them.

Their new stadium, scheduled to open in 2009, will include two quarter-mile-long steel arches and a retractable roof that mimics the famed feature. As the Cowboys faithful would say, God would still be able to look down on America's Team and watch the games on Sunday afternoon - even in Arlington.

Read the rest of the story from The Dallas News.



Courtesy of Blogging The Boys, THE blog about the Dallas Cowboys, here's a PDF of the specifics.

You have GOT TO SEE the 6o yard scoreboard. So much for the Titans new 2.2 million dollar scoreboard.

Stadiums with revenue from luxury suites in the NFL is like hitting a oil well for the owners.

Blogger Party Feel Good Aftermath

After collecting 100 pounds, 3 ounces of dog and cat food from the festive blogger party at the Mothership BBQ Saturday night, I was pleased to deliver the goods and the accompanying generosity of the blogosphere world that is called Nashville Is Talking. I did some explaining about NIT, the community that it fosters and caring souls involved not only for each other, dogs and cats, but those who were tragically hit by house fires.



I got to visit with Thunder who is available to adopt. Thunder is a collie/shepherd/lab mix, neutered male, 5 to 6 years old, weights about 66 lbs and he tells me (I'm kinda like Dr. Doolittle) that he's been around other dogs and older kids - he would like a place that has a lot of running room. Thunder would be so GRATEFUL if someone would take him home today. A super gentle dog that I think would make an excellent side kick buddy.

The volunteer staff was enthusiastic and were very happy to receive the goods.



Here's Amanda, the Development Coordinator with the ZEN Puppy Dog Treats. Give them a call at 615 352-1010 or stop by and see them at 213 Oceola in West Nashville 37209



Interested in Volunteering? Here's how you can help

Here are some fun ways that you can help our furry friends this holiday season!

Thanks again to Jag, Britney, CeeElCee, the planning committee, Knuck and everybody who turned out to celebrate all that is good about blogging. Seeing first-hand the enthusiasm from the hard working volunteers at the Nashville Humane Association and how appreciative they were of the donations exemplifies the kind hearts behind the screen names. My Christmas was made this morning!

Blogger Weekend Wrapup

After a wonderous holiday weekend, it's back to the internet salt mines.

I'll have to throw down some cough syrup, change out of my pajamas and head over to the Nashville Humane Society to drop out the bags of dog food and cat food collected at the exclusive Nashville Blogger Festivus, Chanukah, Kwanzaa, Christmas, Solstice, Holiday Get-together.



Thanks to the generosity of the Nashville bloggers, exactly 100 pounds 3 ounces of food was collected! That is exactly how much pork I've eaten at the Mothership this year - My Name is Earl Karma indeed. The dog food outnumbered the cat food two to one, so that tells me the next blogger meetup has to be at Centennial Park where the dogs can run free and the cats will have trees to climb.

Thanks to Jag for jumpstarting the idea of getting together, Britney for being there for all of us and the Evite list, all the new friends made via the Nashville Is Talking aggregator, and for Jim to host this event at the Mothership BBQ. Seems appropriate that we have a home away from home to eat lunch and celebrate our online presence face to face. Who knows, this could be a annual event - a Swine Feast with webloggers, spouses, friends and children. With mayoral candidate David Briley in attendance, he should if elected, bring back the old Sheriff Fate Thomas BBQ bashes at the Mothership.... we need more FUN raisers.



With this sore throat and my Dallas Cowboys buttkicking by the Saints, I may need some Zen Puppy pills in my system.

Meanwhile enjoy the Flickr Set of the event.

Such fun and BTW, a special thanks for welcoming Mrs. WonderDawg - She's a bit shy - but I think she would make a great blogger with her insights on life - "If I Was Queen For A Day" would be the name. She has strong opinions about SUVs; that no one should be allowed to commute into Davidson County during rush hour from other counties unless there were toll booths installed and many, many other choice topics.

Thanks again everybody!

Tonite Was The Night...

A Festivus, Chanukah, Kwanzaa, Christmas, Solstice, Holiday Get-together Blogger Story:

After the Mothership landed in Berry Hill off Thompson Lane, during the time of Nashville Is Talking, bloggers [*] from the east, west, north, south and left of center came to Columbine Place. (* Footnote: Traditionally Wise Guys).

Then CeeElCee called the Funkenswine secretly and found out from them the exact time the party was to appeared. When WonderDawg realized that he had been ringmastered by the Funkenswine, the House of Woo was happy, and he gave a decree to the Queen Brittney of KRN to Evite all the bloggers in Berry Hill and its far flunged vicinity who were aggregated, two years old and under, in accordance with the time he had learned from the Funkenswine.

And when they came from far away lands into the Mothership, the gifts they brought -- dog food, cat food and bottled refreshments, they saw the BBQ buffet with Milo the help, and chowed down, and made merry laughter, fuzzy pictures and festive talk . . . and all was well.

[*] funny, left, right, personable

Rental Property Gone to the Birds

In honor of the Tennessee Titans' win streak, I need to get off my lazy landlord duff and clean up my rental property:



My next door neighbor from Texas, Frank specializes in high dollar rentals:

Saturday Photo Scavenger Hunt - Red

Photo Hunt 35: Red

Theme: Red | Join the Photo Hunt | View Blogroll | Visit participants.

Up and down Charlotte Pike in West Nashville, there are pawn shops aplenty. I see the signs advertising DVD players for $9.00 and TV's starting at $20.00. I'm not one to frequent pawn shops as I'm somewhat distrustful of two things: buying hot stolen item (stereotypical, I know) and buying someone's tools of the trade who happens to be done on his luck. Surely that can't happen right? A carpenter trading in his skill saw in order to keep a roof over his head and feed his family.

But today on the way home, I was prompted to go in to visit this pawn shop. Subconciously, I was photo / scavenger hunting an item in red. I'd missed posting last week's photo hunt - Lights - as I just couldn't make time to visit a neon blazened movie theatre. My instincts were dead on:



Red indeed. With matching leopard print pattern.



Someone's trying to pawn off their taste in casual furniture... $119.00 each. Ask for Lynette if anyone is interested said the nice girl at the counter.

xxx

I joined the Saturday Photo Scavenger Hunt hosted by TN Chick. You too can play: Join the Photo Hunt There's a different theme every Saturday, and it's a lot of fun visiting the community of participants.

Double dose of Geekdom

I not sure if bloggers fall under "geekdom", but I'm straddling my personal Nirvana Saturday.

First, I'm honored to be the guest speaker at the Nashville Palm Users Group meeting:

When: Saturday, December 9th at 10:00 - 12 noon

Where: Edmondson Pike Branch Library Map
5501 Edmondson Pike
Nashville, TN 37211
(615) 880-3957

Ever since Ali Baba first uttered the immortal words "Open, Sesame" we have dreamed of the day where we too could control our world with nothing more than the sound of our voice. To be able to say "Open, E-mail", or "Delete, SPAM" and have a computer do our bidding is a fantasy I think we could all enjoy.

Well, what used to be considered a fantasy is quickly becoming a reality today. Biometrics is a quickly growing industry that has many different applications. This month, NPUG takes a look at voice recognition on your Palm OS device.

Your truly will be explaining be explaining how voice biometrics work and how we can use this technology right now.

Get your sugar donuts and wired up on Louisiana Community Coffee, win some software (last time NPUG gave away three new devices, including a Treo) and meet some really nice folks - pastors, school teachers, good old boys and other cool folks.

Later on...

Come one, come all to the exclusive Nashville Blogger Festivus, Chanukah, Kwanzaa, Christmas, Solstice, Holiday Get-together.

When: Saturday, December 9, 4:30 - 7:30.

Where: Mothership BBQ (map)

Who's invited: This party is very exclusive. Bloggers, Blog Commenters, Blog Lurkers, Significant Others of the aforementioned, Co-workers, friends and neighbors of said significant others, and anyone who happens to be driving through Berry Hill are all welcome.

There will be a Mothership sampler buffet. Five dollars or 55.04 Mexican Peso(s) is the suggested donation for partaking in said buffet.

If you want to get likkered up, BYOB. Like any good holiday party, desserts, covered dishes (especially sausage balls, per request of CeeElCee) and fruitcakes (including your cousin Sid) are always welcome.

Let's remember our furry four legged friends this holiday season by bringing a bag of dog/puppy food or cat/kitten food as a gift to the Nashville Humane Association.

See you here, there and everywhere (but the mall).

Tommy turns 57?

Rex Camino, one of our Nashville bloggers wrote a headline - "Tommy turns 57" that had my head spinning to do the math... 2006 minus 57 equals ... what ??? 1949 ?

I was thinking about the Tommy album by The Who... released in 1969 (37 years ago).



What a great album - ranks right up there second only to The Beatles' Sgt. Pepper, Pink Floyd's Dark Side of the Moon and Cat Stevens' Tea For the Tillerman as one of those defining moments in rock 'n' roll history. At least for me living in that particular time warp of great and creative expression of music.