While working to develop and test the new look for MftC, I came across a fantastic tool called BrowserShots. What this tool does is assemble what you page looks like when viewed through different browser versions and types on different operating systems. Since I’m pretty much a Mac shop now, this is very helpful to me particularly when attempting to ascertain how the design will appear to the many Windows/Internet Explorer users of the world.

The best bits? It’s dirt simple to use and it’s free! (Though you may subscribe to a periodic snapshot service.) First off, visit the BrowserShots home page. Then enter the URL you would like to test, select the browser/platform combinations, select screensizes/resolutions, turn on/off javascript, etc. then press submit. The jobs will be submitted and in 30 minutes or less, a nice set of screenshots of the page in question will be waiting for your review.

BrowserShots Control Panel


The results page displays the screenshots and then allows you to download a compressed tar ball of all the images should you so desire. It’s a great utility and if you’re looking to increase browser testing coverage, is a great way to accomplish that goal. Since they’re AdSense monetized, I clicked the banner there to help them out a little…A couple of results are posted below in small form, if you want the larger form, click the image in question to retrieve it.

The Geothermal Energy Association, a group that is effectively the geothermal industry’s lobby in Washington, D.C., is sponsoring another Development and Finance Workshop. We’ve attended two of these and can say, for people trying to break into geothermal, they’re a value-added event. Also, like all of these events, it’s proven to be an excellent networking opportunity. This one will be in Las Vegas at the Bally Hotel, Wednesday, January 16, 2008. The session runs from 8-5 and a reception follows.

Session Topics:

• The outlook for state renewable energy laws, federal tax incentives, and other key incentives for expanding geothermal energy production in the West.
• New avenues for financial support of geothermal projects – green power, climate credits, and other approaches.
• Geothermal investing from a variety of viewpoints, including the financing, investing, and marketing of new projects.
• Geothermal project development basics from leading project developers.
• New projects under development: what, where and by whom.
• Geothermal resources in the West – overview and key issues to address for development

So, if you’re interested in geothermal project development and you’d like to get a jump start, we recommend attending this workshop.

Now that the “award season” in college football has concluded with the Heisman ceremony, I’d like to gripe a little bit about the whole process. What if baseball’s MVP awards were handed out after the regular season was over but before the playoffs commenced? It’s not a great policy to grant individual awards when there are 32 games left to play in the season. In fact, it’s downright silly.

The other aspect of the individual award circuit that is troubling has to do with singling a player out when there are many players contributing to their success. In some ways, I can understand quarterback awards as there is only one active at a time and that player touches the ball virtually every play throughout the offensive series. Kickers, there’s another I can understand a bit. But when you get to defenses, tail backs, receivers, offensive lines it seems counter-productive to do anything other than reward the unit as a whole.

I’m going to pick a little bit on James Laurinaitis, Butkus Award Winner for best linebacker of the season. By all accounts and measures, James is an outstanding football player. But if you want an example of unit performance, look at the Penn State/Ohio State game where Penn State had a scheme where there was always someone focused on blocking him and taking him out of the play. It was effective in that game, though the defensive unit as a whole adjusted well and dominated Penn State just the same. In that game, Laurinaitis was limited to 2 tackles vs. his average of 10 tackles per game.

Does that one game mean he doesn’t deserve the award? No, I don’t that that’s the point. The point is, it’s a defensive unit performance that matters in the end and the fact that the defensive line occupies blockers enables Laurinaitis to roam free and make plays. When that situation wasn’t working, the defense overall adjusted and still prevailed. I have to wonder if these ill-timed individual awards damage team cohesion. At a minimum, the season should be complete before handing them out.

Apparently, the message on this sign is not true.


It is not my intent to post frequently about religion, but I keep seeing things that prompt me to comment. Thus, another entry on religion.

I’ve commented earlier that no religion is any more or less valid than any other religion and recently I read an article that demonstrates this point very clearly. The Episcopal Church has been struggling for some period of time on how the humans who lead the church interpret scripture. Particularly around the issues of ordination of women and the role of gays in the church.

The Fresno Diocese (even though it is in California technically, it may as well be in Oklahoma from a world view perspective) has voted to leave the US led church and join a conservative South American expression of the church. This is one of 55 entities that has made such decisions to date.

Setting aside the reasons for the schism, if, in fact, the religion was the “one true faith” founded on words from a super-being, there wouldn’t be this petty squabbling over what the deity meant (when not saying anything about the role of women or gays in the church in the scripture.) Once one starts to view religion the way one views Santa, his elves, flying reindeer, and a sack of presents for the good kids, reading about such disagreements, not between religions, but within a single religion, becomes almost comical. Why almost comical? Because real people are hurt by believing these folk stories every day.

One other aside, when mentioning the 77 churches and various pieces of property in this article, it only served to remind me that religion is a BUSINESS. Like all businesses, this one should be paying taxes. It’s time to end the tax exemption for religions/churches in this country.

Germany has recently contemplated banning Scientology from the country stating that “the goals of Church of Scientology to be in conflict with the principles of the nation’s constitution.”

That’s pretty strong stuff. Those of you who read this site with regularity know that I’m not all that enthusiastic with religion and its affect on the population at large, but I draw a very bright line where someone’s individual choice about religion could be impaired by a state. Having been in and around Germany and Germans frequently over the past 20 years, I can say this sort of activity surprises me. If it were a little more targeted, aimed at keeping religious dogma from invading the government, that would be much more sensible. Church and State shouldn’t mix.

But that goes both ways, I don’t believe the State should ever be involved in someone’s personal choice about faith and/or religion. There are some simple facts about this subject:

• There are many different religions in the world
• Many claim to be the “one true faith”
• No one can prove that any given religion is more or less valid than any other

Taking steps down the path where the State determines which religions/faiths/gods are valid oversteps the State’s power and responsibility. These are choices best left to the people to express. When State’s seek to intervene, they tend to look like the People’s Republic of China and its repression of Falun Gong (a movement many Westerners wouldn’t even classify as a religion.)

So Germany, take a deep breath, think about this one. The world is watching what you do…

This entry was catalyzed by this news story at CNN.