Faster, better…

Archive for December, 2008

Click through to Salisbury News and read: “Do you know what this is?” An Iraqi sculptor honors the fallen American soldier.

Memorial to Fallen American's in Iraq

Over the holidays I found a blog theme tool called Artisteer. The new look was created with that tool. Faster, Better went from a two column to a three column format, When that happened some title bars were cut off and other minor anomalies showed up. I’m working on those at the moment.

This new tool is terrific, particularly if you don’t code in WordPress. Artisteer allows you to control so much of what you see. Using the theme you create with the product you spruce it up with your widgets and gadgets and away you go. I found Artisteer intuitive enough to learn without spending a great deal of time reading the docs. Before I purchased the standard edition I spent about a day creating different themes and basically judging the character and usefulness of the software.

My sense is Artisteer is going to be a big hit in the blogging community and may even be a big hit for web designers.

Merry Christmas everyone!

BGE customers will receive envelopes in their December and January bills for an easy way to contribute to the Fuel Fund of Maryland. Funds raised go directly to low-income energy assistance. Please help us Heat a Home this holiday season!

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A trooper was fired today by the Maryland State Police after he was arrested on charges of kidnapping a man in his marked cruiser at a fast-food drive-through, then leading Baltimore County police on a drunken high-speed chase.

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A region once known for its leafy tobacco fields is trying for a new image: a mini-Napa in the heart of Southern Maryland. Difficult climate and local laws will make repeating the success in Virginia’s wine industry tough.

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(The Washington Times)–It was long before dawn on a cold, clear night when Ray Frank and his son Ryan left their homes north of Baltimore to drive to southern Maryland and fish for striped bass that the weekend angler wouldn’t even think were available in December. But now is when well-fed rockfish arrive from the Atlantic Ocean to invade the Ches

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students duplicate the license plates by printing plate numbers on glossy photo paper, using fonts from certain websites that “mimic” those on Maryland license plates. They tape the duplicate plate over the existing plate on the back of their car and purposefully speed through a speed camera, the parent said.

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Tailgating is an aggressive driving behavior that is all too common in Southern Maryland. One would think tailgating is an Olympic sport with the number of aggressive drivers out there practicing various following-too-closely techniques.

Collisions are far too common in our region and not all collisions are attributable to younger drivers, drunk drivers, or seniors. Not all collisions are truly accidents. Most are caused by UNSAFE and AGGRESSIVE driving behaviors and are therefore preventable and NOT an accident! This article at SmartMotorist.com has some amazing statistics that I think match our area quite well. This article is worth reading.

Why would anyone tailgate when the car in front of them is already at the speed limit or there are other cars in front of the car they are tailgating? Why would anyone tailgate while on their cellular telephone? Why would anyone tailgate while transporting a child in their SUV? Why would anyone want to make themselves dangerous on the roadway?

Not a day goes by when I drive here or there that I do not have an aggressive Southern Maryland driver behind me. The BIG surprise is that there are a fair number of drivers using vehicles with public safety vanity plates engaged in the practice. The rest of the state is not about to change their behavior if public safety employees remain part of the problem.

Show your disgust for the tailgating pandemic and observe the three and six second rule. Travel the speed limit, stop at stop signs. Send a message that you obey our traffic laws and that you intend to arrive alive.

WASHINGTON D.C. – The public can help the Coast Guard keep America
’s waterways safe and secure. In light of the tragic terrorist attacks in Mumbai it is important to remember that all Americans play a vital role in homeland security.

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coastguardnews.com)–Los Angeles – With the holiday boat parade season just around the corner the U.S. Coast Guard reminds recreational boaters that in order to carry any passengers for hire a Coast Guard issued license is required. In addition to having a Coast Guard issued license, federal regulations also require each vessel carrying passengers

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WASHINGTON — The U.S. Coast Guard announced Thursday that it submitted to the Federal Register a notice of proposed rulemaking entitled “Vessel Requirements for Notices of Arrival and Departure and Automatic Identification System,” a rule designed to increase navigation safety and raise maritime domain awareness

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Buoys guide ships into port–but who maintains these crucial floating beacons? PM editor Joe Pappalardo spent a night and two days on a Coast Guard boat off the coast of New York watching a young crew labor to keep our maritime infrastructure afloat.

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I have no Admin menus and I do not know why. This evening using Automatic Upgrade I upgraded to WordPress 2.7. I did not disable OZH Admin and I also have another plugin that prevents other users from seeing my Admin screens.

The ONLY screen I can see is one marked NEW POST. All other ADMIN functions are missing in action.  All I can do is add new posts and pages. There is no access to any settings or plug- in menus.

CURE: Using FTP I visited the site plugin directory. This allowed me to disable the ADMIN MENU plug in by Ozh used in 2.65. Once that was done my screen-left  WP 2.7 ADMIN menus returned. This wasn’t immediately apparent during the upgrade. It only became an issue after I pushed the button to reactivate plug ins that were active before the upgrade took place. Whew! Happily a NEW version of this terrific plug in was created for WP 2.7. I too like the desk top feel. Side menus give me a crick in the neck. Ozh rocks! Contrary to what I have read elsewhere OZH and Automatic Upgrade still work fine. No other anomalies observed.

A patriotic Southern-Maryland salute is extended to the Captain and crew of the gallant USS Freedom passing by on the Chesapeake Bay this morning. Ship watchers can follow its AIS signal into Annapolis, MD on the PopularWireless AIS page.

This is one of the Navy’s newest and most exciting ships, fast, agile, and capable. Check out this YouTube video!

Visit the ship’s website. Also see this article at the Navy website regarding the ship’s commissioning on November 8, 2008.

On your marine scanner listen for, “This is Freedom” and “Warship 1.”