Mark Michaelis' Weblog - Miscellaneous

Rating Charities

Sat, 25 Nov 2006 06:47:17 GMT

In and effort to reach my giving goal for the year, I was pleased to come across Charity Navigator, an independent charity evaluator. (Perhaps surprisingly, I came across this web site via PC Magazine.) Charity Navigator seems similar to a Christian specific version, ECFA, the organization I hear about more frequently in this regard.

One particular organization I like is World Relief and Charity Navigator gave it a rating of five stars. The history ratings for organizations on Charity Navigator were interesting as well. Two of the organizations to which my wife and I contribute have had five stars for the past two years but they appear to have dropped significantly this year. Hmmm....

Perhaps most important to me when wondering about whether the organizations are good stewards of what we donate, all the organizations that I checked (and we donate) were given five stars for their efficiency rating.

UPDATE:

Added ECFA and PC Magazine links.

T-mobile quick access codes for anytime minute and balance information

Mon, 04 Apr 2005 00:19:29 GMT

Here are a couple quick access codes for getting account information with T-mobile:

#BAL# send (#225#) – Send information on the most recent payment and current account balance.
#MIN# send (#646#) – Returns the current anytime minute usage.

This is mentioned at T-mobiles personalized service page but I have been a customer for three years and never came across it.

Craigslist in Spokane

Wed, 12 Jan 2005 14:58:00 GMT

I know several people who have had a great Craigslist in their area and they rave about it. Mostly about the junk they have been able to give away to people that find it valuable. Unfortunately, they lived in areas like Seattle and San Francisco where Craigslist sites were huge. Yesterday my Mom sent me an email pointing out that Spokane now has a Craigslist. Activity is low (I would guess it only started in December) but none-the-less, Spokane has one now: http://spokane.craigslist.org.

Not posting for too long

Wed, 15 Dec 2004 09:29:17 GMT

Well.... after reinstalling my computer I never got around to getting Radio Userland (my previous blogging tool) to running again. Therefore, I never blogged. :(

However, my friend Michael Stokesbary has been getting on my case non-stop about posting an entry that describes how to build Everett/.NET 1.1 projects using Whidbey the “official” Microsoft way. (Not sure how official an unsupported method can but the MSBuild team helped me get over a couple humps, particularly a modification to Microsoft.CSharp.Targets file that was needed.)

Anyway, this post is is to say that I am blogging again....

More Signs to Laugh At

Thu, 13 May 2004 22:11:53 GMT

I have shared my appreciation of special signs here and here already. This page has a similar bounty to share.

Cyruslink - 802.11b Enabled Stereo System and More

Sat, 24 Apr 2004 17:25:26 GMT

For the past year my wonderful wife has been complaining about the hand-me-down stereo system that we have. Although the system is relatively good the CD player has packed up and the amplifier takes about 20 minutes to warm up due to a bad capacitor that I haven't taken the time to fix. We temporarily replaced it with a boom box but the CD player gave out on that to? We also purchased and under-the-counter CD player and radio but last week the CD player on that died to. What is the deal with CD player reliability or is it just me?

Anyway, I would like to replace it with a network (802.11b/g or Ethernet) enabled stereo system but it appeared that no such thing existed unless of course one goes with a Windows Media Center PC or Linux. The problem with Windows Media Center PCs, however, is they require a monitor and I just want a stereo (I don't want a TV, I am not disciplined enough for that.) A Windows Mobile powered stereo an an x86 processor would be great and I would love the challenge of trying to build one but writing drivers for FM receivers, CD players and the like seems beyond my time constraints. This leaves me with Linux but this too seems like a time sink waiting to happen.

Today I ran across a pretty the Cyruslink system which appears to be running a Pocket PC OS. This seems to be an ideal solution except for one significant factor: £2,999 just for the "lowend" Linkserver.

Hope at Heartbreak Motel Photo Journal

Mon, 15 Mar 2004 08:52:12 GMT

Hope at Heartbreak Motel Photo Journal is a great eye opener to the life of a family unable to achieve the American dream and instead living on the edge of poverty. It is well worth taking the time to peruse through this.

A Day In the Life of Africa

Mon, 15 Mar 2004 08:47:30 GMT

A new "Day in the Life..." book has been released. Publishing profits go toward AIDS education in Africa. Having been born in Africa and spent considerable time traveling in sub-Saharan Africa, it was enjoyable to peruse through the photos. My only disappointment was that there was nothing from Mozambique, a country I happen to be partial too. I especially appreciated Archbishop Desmond Tutu's forward which is quoted in here.

Viewing London from a Toilet

Wed, 25 Feb 2004 14:07:27 GMT

Way cool! How 'bout one of these in the middle of the cube farm to spice things up.

Now That's Not Nice E-Cards.

Fri, 23 Jan 2004 03:43:21 GMT

Check out these E-Cards! I think I could make pretty heavy use of the "Can't Go For That" one.

Amphibious Sports Car Drives On Water

Thu, 04 Sep 2003 23:14:18 GMT

Sweet!! Check out the picture.... but with a price tag of £150,000 I guess I will wait a year or two for the novelty to wear off....right!

Spokane Locals Build a Car of the Future

Sun, 27 Jul 2003 17:48:57 GMT

Here's a great commuter car built by local Spokane residents none-the-less. Their website is www.commutercars.com but the article provides a great write-up.

Heavy Plant Crossing (Light Plants Have to use the Bridge Down the Way.)

Mon, 21 Jul 2003 00:25:53 GMT

While vacationing in England we came across several interesting signs but this was undoubtedly my favorite. Don't the English just have a way with words?

A New Uninvited Addition to the Michaelis Household

Sun, 20 Jul 2003 22:55:14 GMT

Today over breakfast our neighbor asked us if we new we had a wasp nest in the garden.

"Wasp nest? No, of course not, do we really? Hey, check that out...."

Just before spraying I discovered that both the remaining wasp spray cans in the house were virtually empty. Nothing like adding a bit of excitement. Well the spray made pretty good work of it. I sprayed after dark as supposedly the wasps are less active then (though they sure didn't seem to lack any energy based on the buzzing sound coming from the nest once I started spraying.) I was disappointed that the spray dissolved the nest somewhat as I was hoping to save it and show Benjamin. Oh well... perhaps another time.

Degree Confluence Project

Fri, 18 Jul 2003 19:48:21 GMT

Here is an interesting project:

"The goal of the project is to visit each of the latitude and longitude integer degree intersections in the world, and to take pictures at each location. The pictures and stories will then be posted here."

TSA Recommends Removing Your Shoes at Security

Fri, 18 Jul 2003 13:25:47 GMT

I have traveled enough over the past few months to be rather baffled by the randomness of this rule. I find that certain checkpoints have no problem with my New Balance 804 sneakers and others let me know in unsubtle ways that if I don't remove my shoes before hand I will be searched once I get to the other side. In fact, I have noticed differences at the two different security checkpoints in Spokane (my home airport) even as I had to go through both checkpoints in one day. The first checkpoint insisted that if I didn't take my shoes off before hand I would be searched. The second had no problem with me walking straight through and when I mentioned that the previous gate had insisted they said that was ludicrous and no checkpoint would force me to do anything. Well perhaps they wouldn't force me but if they are going to insist on searching me at the other side where they will "request" I remove my shoes anyway then.... Frankly, this rule puzzles me almost as much as not allowing nail clippers through. Surely I could hide much larger items (assuming no metal of course) in other locations on my person then in the soles of my shoes. Heck, there are false stomachs I could wear in which I could probably place my entire carry on bag. Anyway.... enough of the attitude. I understand it is for my safety, I just wish I had the aptitude to understand.

How do I configure my Windows 2000 and Windows XP computers to print to the DI-704P, DI-714P+, DI-707P, or DI-713P?

Sat, 12 Jul 2003 00:56:49 GMT

OK, so I purchased the D-Link DI-713P wireless router about 1 year ago now and each time I installed computer I went through the hassle of installing the client software in order to be able to access the printer connected to the router. (I purchased this particular router because not only did it have the printer port but it also had a serial port to which I could connect an external modem for fail over if my broadband connection went down. Not that I have ever actually done this and since I only have one phone line I don't believe my wife would even let me but you get the idea.) Anyway, it turns out that the client software is not even needed as there is built in support from Windows 2000 and Windows XP.

United to offer e-mail on U.S. flights

Fri, 20 Jun 2003 08:17:48 GMT

Well... this is out of my price range but at least it is starting. Presumably, over time, the prices will drop to be more reasonable.