Virginia Snowstorm Photos

Posted by on Feb 20th, 2012 in News | 0 comments

A moderate snowstorm moved through Virginia, West Virginia, and parts of the southern Ohio Valley today dumping as much as 10″ of snow on many areas.  There’s been some great photos put up on the American Weather forums, some of which I’m mirroring here for your enjoyment.  The below pictures were taken in Lynchburg, VA by dbarney, with 8 inches on the ground (click on the image for a larger version):

Meanwhile, others are posting videos of the storm’s impact on the region on YouTube. The following video was put up by MidlothianWX (in Midlothian, VA) with 3 inches on the ground:

While it wasn’t a severe storm by any stretch of the imagination, in a fairly snowless winter thus far, it’s been the most significant event in the Mid-Atlantic this season.

International Space Station Time Lapse

Posted by on Dec 11th, 2011 in Internet | 0 comments

Take a look at the view from the International Space Station:

This time lapse shows everything from Auroras, to city landscapes, to storms. In alternate videos you can even see frozen arctic landscapes, a huge contrast from the areas populated by humans, which are clearly noticeable by the city lights visible from ground.

NASA posts a lot of space videos on the internet, many of which have been mirrored a hundred times over on YouTube. On their NASATelevision channel, you can find a video showing what it’s like to be inside the ISS.

Thank you CNN for the unexpected laughs @ Steve Jobs

Posted by on Nov 24th, 2011 in Internet | 0 comments

Like much of the media, CNN has been raving on and on about Steve Jobs since he passed away recently.  I stumbled upon an article about Steve Jobs posted today about Steve’s involvement in customer service at Apple.  Admittedly, I thought it was cool that he partook in this role, though he only responded to existing trouble tickets (didn’t answer the phone support line).  The real reason why I’m even writing about this though is because when I clicked the comments to see what people had to say about the article, I got an unexpected treat: hundreds of snide/troll remarks about Jobs.

Here’s a few examples:

hyperliner: Steve Jobs was resuscitated after the third day. His disciples have seen them, but he looks different. He told them that he new iPad is not of this earth. He told them to go on and tell others what they had seen, and write articles about it.

 

LuckyKate: I miss Jobs.  I hope he went to heaven.

(in response to LuckyKate) WetFarts2311: Nope he’s definitely in Hell.

 

SpinMonkey: ”All hail the mighty Steve Jobs” *prostrates on floor in front of Steve Jobs statue*

I sort of understand where much of the negativity is coming from.  The media is portraying Jobs as a great human being because of his accomplishments within Apple, but he was just an ordinary person who happened to be successful at what he did.  News outlets like CNN try to tell people what to believe and when it doesn’t work, this kind of response is what the end result is.

Denver’s Wild Weather Demonstrated in Forecast

Posted by on Oct 24th, 2011 in News | 0 comments

From sunny with temperatures near 80 degrees to snow with temperatures in the teens, the next 3 days are going to be wild in the Denver, CO area.  This National Weather Service image above demonstrates how Denver’s weather can undergo extreme changes in a very short period of time.  Currently (as I write this) the temps in Denver are near 80ºF with a dewpoint of 7ºF, meaning the air is extremely dry.  The area is under a winter storm watch as the storm system expected to impact the area Tuesday and Wednesday is expected to drop a sizable amount of snow.

How Much To Tip for Delivery?

Posted by on Oct 10th, 2011 in Uncategorized | 0 comments

I was reading a good thread on a forum today and came across an interesting post about how much you should tip your drivers for a delivery.  The following was a response regarding the topic from a delivery driver and his thoughts on the matter:

Just remember that it’s not the driver’s fault if the person answering the phone is a stupid ditz who says “it’ll be 30 minutes!” when two cooks have called out sick and the oven just isn’t getting loaded fast enough and everybody but that dumb chick knows it’s going to be alot closer to 1 hour, or the drivers are overloaded with orders going to every corner of bumduck that the same stupid ditz didn’t realize is outside the delivery area.

Percentage tips are silly. If I bring you a medium cheese pizza and it costs $10, that’s worth a $2 tip if you’re generous – but if I bring you two large supreme pizzas and some breadsticks and the total is $25, suddenly the work I’ve done is worth $5? That’s why I just tip a flat amount when I get food delivered, usually $5+the change rounded up, unless it’s bad weather or there’s alot of extra crap for the driver to carry like three 2-liter bottles or something.

If you don’t leave a damn tip I give you a dirty look and say something like “alright have a good one” without thanking you. Your food will be lukewarm next time, and if you call my boss to complain I will open all my windows and crack open the pizza box on my way to your house so it’s downright cold. I’ll shake up your soda bottle, smoke a cigarette parked right down the block from your house if I have time….. I don’t jack with food safety, that’s abhorrent. I’ve known drivers that did. …. But I accept that stiffers are a part of life as a delivery driver. It’s not that I feel entitled to tips, it’s just that these people are complete downers and if I hit a cluster of them in a row it really sucks, because I depend on tips for the majority of my income.

If you give me less than $1 (for instance, on a $19.91 order, a $20), I’ll treat you like a stiffer. But if you say “keep the change” there’s a really good chance that the police will recieve an anonymous tip about drug activity. Eff people who do this.

If you tip $1-$2, I’ll look at you like you’re a little off in the head, unless you are literally around the corner from the store. (even then, come on…I’m giving up a spot in the rotation to take this order to you. I could let it sit on top of the oven and grab a second order that’s farther away and tips better once it’s ready)

$2, I’m alright with that. That’s about average for me between the stiffers, the big tippers, and the average people…. maybe $2.50 per delivery is what I make on average. So you’re not messing with my money since I already budget for about that much income.

If you tip $3, I am a happy pizza delivery guy, and I will always make sure your orders are made properly and delivered promptly. I won’t bend over backwards or anything but you should never have any complaints about your service if you’re tipping in this range. $3 tips are my bread and butter, this is the most commonly given amount.

$3-$5, If every customer was like you, I’d be pretty cool with that. When I hit a bunch of these in a row I’m a happy delivery dude.

$5 flat, I love you people. Especially if you’re a regular. Your orders always come first, and I personally make sure the cook gets your order exactly right with a little bit extra of everything.

Over $5, especially getting up into the $7+ range…..You get everything the $5 tippers get, plus an extra 2-liter I just happened to have, extra parmesean/ranch dressing/whatever, extra time to go to the C-Store and buy you some smokes or some beer…..you got it bro, I’ll take care of you for life.

And if you tell me you can’t afford to give a tip “cuz the economy” or some other lame excuse as you sign the credit card slip for your $35 dinner for two, you can go to hell. If you can afford to eat out you can afford to throw the delivery guy a couple of bucks.

Most places keep the delivery charge for themselves. They claim it offsets their insurance costs. If the driver gets any, it’s usually $0.50-$1.00 – out of the $2.50-$3.50 delivery charge. The delivery charge is not a tip. It fools the customer into thinking it is, and then it goes to the store. There’s been some lawsuits and now I think the major chains have started putting disclaimers saying this on the bottom of their reciepts.

Most of you seem to be really cool customers though. Thanks a bunch

I usually tip between $2.50 and $4.00, and it’s actually funny because some of my friends were hassling me about that range being too low.  I’m glad I’m average or slightly above average in the grand scheme of things.  The truth is though, if I was expected to pay more than $4 for food delivery, I (and many others) simply wouldn’t be doing it.  That costs too much and those people who seem to think they are entitled to larger amounts would be out of a job entirely.

On the flip side, it’s rare that I ever tip lower than $2.00 unless I made a mistake about how much money I have (ie. I think I have $20, the bill comes up to $14 and I end up only having $15 on hand after I place my order).  99.99% of the time though I make up for the difference in coins I have laying around though.  Additionally, I’d never give a bad tip for a slow delivery either.  On that thread, some people stated that they lowered the amount, but any change I’d make due to slowness would be very minor.

Microsoft Hacked!?

Posted by on Oct 8th, 2011 in News | 0 comments

A subdomain dedicated to Microsoft Fuselabs (http://fuse.microsoft.com) was hacked it seems as users who attempted to load the webpage today were greeted with:

While the defaced website is active, you can view the rest by going to the URL.  Eventually it will be fixed, so you can see an image of the defaced website at http://froze.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/microsofthacked2.jpg.

Though not altogether unsurprising, the Microsoft hack demonstrates once again that nothing on the internet is totally secure.  The way fuse.microsoft.com is intended to look can be viewed on Google’s cache here.