Can I Start A Bottled Water Company?

Yep, I've been on a sporadic hiatus.  Between holidays, working two jobs and doing freelance work (expect yet another announcement soon, as I started this project a few weeks earlier), visits, and everything else, my posting has been going down... this in spite of ReaperCat, drunken astronauts , Lindsey Lohan, and the newest Harry Potter book.  How I've been able to keep from posting is beyond me.  I must have been asleep.

 

But what finally makes me post again this week?

 

Tap water.

 

PepsiCo Inc. will spell out that its Aquafina bottled water is made with tap water, a concession to the growing environmental and political opposition to the bottled water industry. According to Corporate Accountability International, a U.S. watchdog group, the world's No. 2 beverage company will include the words "Public Water Source" on Aquafina labels.

 

Via CNN.

 

Seriously, I'm all about the importance of water.  I live in a pretty high altitude, where water just... leaves.  It's here, then it's not, and if you don't hydrate, well, you've got problems.  But I am most certainly NOT a fan of bottled water.  Why?

 

Think about this.

 

Water and plastic.

First, it's lukewarm.  Then it travels.  The water and the plastic bottle heat up.

Then it arrives at it's destination, and goes into a freezer, where it suddenly becomes cold.

 

Then it goes into another location.  It's hot again. 

Then it's cold again.

 

After who knows how many iterations of hot and cold this water becomes, one seriously has to think, what is the chemical impact on the water actually in this plastic (meaning made from petroleum products) bottle by the time you drink it?  Have you ever gotten a bottle of water that tasted... different?  I have.

 

And speaking of petroleum, I'm not crazy about that either.

 

So I don't buy bottled water anymore.  Love me some tap water, though.  Apparently, so does PepsiCo.  So do yourself a favor.

 

1.  Buy a metal water bottle.

2.  Turn on your faucet and fill it up.

3.  Think of the $1.09 you just saved versus buying the bottled stuff.

4.  Profit.

 

Sure, South Park fans, I added a step.  But at least now you know how to get the "Profit" part of the plan.

 

Unblocking The iPhone

An article in Gizmodo on the efforts to unblock the iPhone comes with the best photoshop that I've seen all month.
First, the article:

Apparently, the amazing code wizards at the iPhone Dev Wiki have been able to partially unlock the iPhone using a new application called iASign. It won't fully unlock the iPhone for use with other companies, but the hack will allow you to use any existing Cingular/AT&T Pre-paid/MVNA SIM so you don't have to get a two-year contract with AT&T. We are now testing this, but if confirmed the benefits are great.

Then, the photoshop.






"YAHOOOOO! You're all clear, Kid. Now let's blow this thing and go home."

Something Useful From The Government

...and it's on the Internet.  Who would have guessed that?

Overlooked and difficult to find, there are hundreds of thousands of U.S. government web sites that can help you accomplish a variety of tasks. At the right federal .gov destination you can locate historical documents, keep tabs on Congressional happenings, view presidential paperwork, and a whole lot more.

One of these days, I'm going to write a poem - not like one of those godawful poems that you used to write when you were a sophomore in high school - but a detailed, loving poem as a celebration of the wonders of Lifehacker.  Ah, Lifehacker, how I love thee.

Personally, I've used the CIA World Factbook quite a bit in the past.  Not that I travel that much... well, at all, but if I WERE to go to, say, Guinea-Bissau,I like to know what the most important local imports are that year.

10 Instant Life Improvements? Surely You Jest

Apparently, jest they do NOT.

Many of our problems come from within our own minds. They aren't caused by events, bad luck, or other people. We cause them through our own poor mental habits. Here are 10 habits you should set aside right away to free yourself from the many problems each one will be causing you.

Thank Lifehack.org for this article.  Then read the article in its entirety.

I especially liked this suggestion:

Don't hang on to the past. This is my most important suggestion of all: let go and move on. Most of the anger, frustration, misery, and despair in this world come from people clinging to past hurts and problems. The more you turn them over in your mind, the worse you'll feel and the bigger they'll look. Don't try to fight misery. Let go and move on. Do that and you've removed just about all its power to hurt you.

This sounds like the most intelligent thing that I'll read all week, and this week I've read some amazing things.

You mean that I shouldn't ruminate over that girl that I dated in the 11th grade whose best friend I took to the Homecoming Dance?

I think I'll sleep well tonight.

Who Wants Good, Inexpensive Wine?

You do.  And here's a surprise.

 

The connoisseurs may cringe, the snobs may even sob, but the judges have spoken: California's best chardonnay costs less than $3.  Charles Shaw Chardonnay, better known as "Two Buck Chuck," beat hundreds of other wines and was named the top prize in a prestigious tasting competition in California.

 

6abc.com.  Hat tip: Fark.

 

Can't beat that with a stick.  Go get your wine on, 21 and over adult crowd.

One Of The Talks I Hope To Give My Daughter

…and I don't mean that one that you're probably thinking.

I devote a lot of time thinking about things that I'll tell my three year old daughter when she gets older, and lately, the topic that has crossed my mind quite a bit regards drugs. In our Paris, Lohan, Nicole, Britney crazed society, it probably doesn't take too much of a mental leap to figure out why.

But the key thing that has crossed my mind is this: most parents probably do not spend the brain power considering how to approach the subject of use and abuse of substances, controlled or otherwise, with their kids.

I don't want to be one of those parents, so after considering the question, I believe there might be a decent discussion out there on the subject. My proposal to answer the question "What would you say to your child about drugs?" is this:

"Honey, let me tell you something about drugs. I'm ashamed to say that I've ever taken them, but in the past I have. Really I have. But over time, I've come to some conclusions. Someday, someone that you think is attractive, perhaps someone that's rich, , or powerful, or that you admire, will offer you drugs. And you might be curious, and you might think that perhaps if you do what they do or offer, you'll be as attractive, rich, or powerful as they are."

"This is not the case. Those people that are rich or beautiful or whatever WILL NOT feel as good as you feel the next day after they have made the offer. You will be smarter than them for not following along with the crowd. You will not be panicked, you will not be depressed, you will not be ashamed, and they will be."

"I'm not saying that this will happen today, or even tomorrow, but eventually it will happen, and when it does, just try to remember what I'm saying right now, and don't do it."

I don't know if that is the smartest thing that I could say, and I have no idea if it would work, but I think those are very close to the words I'd utter.

And if that didn't work, I'd try again with something else.

In my humble opinion, that is what any Dad would do.

No Relationship At All. Nope. None.

It's been a long time.  My home connection is still on the fritz.  I hope to have it fixed today, as it's now costing me money.

 

I will, however, make my return with this nugget of information on the looming terrorist threat:

 

WASHINGTON - A new threat assessment from U.S. counterterrorism analysts says that al-Qaida has used its safe haven along the Afghan-Pakistan border to restore its operating capabilities to a level unseen since the months before Sept. 11, 2001.

 

Via Yahoo News.

 

Aaaack!  Everybody panic!

 

Hey, what's this all about?

 

June 22, 2007

Two-thirds of Americans Disapprove of the Way
George W. Bush is Handling His Job as President

Over two out-of-three Americans say they disapprove of the way George W. Bush is handling his job as president according to the latest survey from the American Research Group.

Among all Americans, 27% approve of the way Bush is handling his job as president and 67% disapprove. When it comes to Bush's handling of the economy, 29% approve and 64% disapprove.

 

Oh.

 

 

Coming Soon

I've been quite the busy man - and quite the sketchy Internet connection as well.

 

Sorry about that.  Look for some interesting news.