BDRs/Bills I'm personally tracking during the 72nd Nevada Legislative Session (2003):

• 28 -- SB 297: Restricts information that may be included on a credit card receipt and provide other safeguards to deter identity theft.


• 36 -- SB 314: Adopts the Electronic Commerce and New Economy Data Collection Act.


• 37 -- SB 220: Repeals prohibition against certain use by governmental entity of photographic, video or digital equipment for gathering evidence for issuance of traffic citation. [DEAD]


• 40 -- SB 4: Eliminates universal energy charge funding low-income energy assistance and conservation programs. [DEAD]


• 43 -- AJR 7: AJR: Provide for annual legislative sessions.


• 50 -- ACR 2: Memorializes victims of events of September 11, 2001. [PASSED]


• 78: Prohibit various acts related to electronic mail.


• 128 -- AB 422: Abolish Daylight Savings Time in Nevada. [DEAD]


• 133 -- SB 255: Prohibit telephone solicitors from contacting certain residential, mobile or telephonic paging device.


• 148: Establish a "no call" telephone solicitation registry in Nevada.


• 266 -- SB 379: Revise provisions regarding identity theft. [DEAD]


• 267 -- AB 93: Makes various changes to provision governing electronic mail that includes advertisement. [PASSED]


• 313 -- AJR 13: Amend constitutional provisions regarding special sessions of the Legislature.


• 595 -- SB 157: Requires certain trucks and combinations of vehicles to be driven in extreme right lanes of certain highways. [DEAD]


• 680 -- SCR 11: Urges Department of Human Resources to establish statewide informational and referral system for health, welfare, human and social services. [PASSED]


• 681 -- SCR 6: Commends Nevadans for Antibiotic Awareness for its work on preventing abuse of antibiotics and urges public and private health agencies to work to prevent abuse of antibiotics in this state. [PASSED]


• 989: Enact the Uniform Computer Information Transactions Act.


• 1018 -- SB 189: Provides for biennial inspection and testing of emissions of motor vehicles in certain counties. [DEAD]


• 1044 -- SB 217: Abolishes capital punishment. [DEAD]


• 1073 -- AB 232: Requires establishment of registry of certain telephone numbers and prohibits telephone solicitors from making unsolicited telephone calls to telephone numbers included in registry under certain circumstances.


• 1136 -- SCR 31: Require interim study of the feasibility of a Maglev (magnetic levitation) train connecting various urban and rural communities of this state.


• 1158: Renames the state "East California," changes the state song to "The Tax Man," and changes the state animal to the "RINO."


• 1217 -- AB 508: Require instruction in foreign language and culture in elementary schools.


• 1220 -- SB 361: Requires disclosure of name of Legislator who requests preparation of legislative measures on list of requests. [DEAD]


• 1221 -- SJR 7: Resolution declaring the Legislature's support for the Missile Defense System.

Of course, there are many more interesting BDRs and Bills amongst the 2,520 that I'm currently tracking at work, but these are my personal favorites.

Check out my 2003 bill tracking spreadsheet (Excel) for more details.

I recently passed the 3,400 mark on Seti, finally watched Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers, and heard an awesome cover of Crowded House's "Don't Dream It's Over" (1987) by Sixpence None the Richer. Kudos go out to Sixpence for letting you listen to the entire album on their website before buying it. I wish more artists did that - heaven knows I've wasted way too much money in the past on albums that only had two or three good songs. The days of buying an album based on only hearing the best couple of songs on the radio are over - now you can make an educated purchasing decision.

Michael Jackson's concert was interesting. It was funny to see all the 30 and 40-year olds yelling and screaming. I was more interested to hear that Natalie Yurtinus is now living in Casablanca, Morocco. Apparently they have some real issues over there repressing women. Not cool.

Tom Tarbet and I had a brief conversation the other day. He's in Utah, working for a tech company. Sounds like he's doing well. Jode's in Vegas still, and I'm hoping to see them down there in a couple of weeks.

Well, I called it. I was right on about "Joe Millionaire" and what they were going to do with the poor couple. I've heard some interesting gossip about what Evan and Zora are doing with the money now that the show is over - it sounds like Evan really is a dork and Zora's too good for him. It probably won't last between them. You watch.

I was sorry to hear about my friend Jason's arrest recently. That's gotta suck for his wife, kids, and family especially. I know there are two sides to every story, but it's sad nonetheless. I hope things turn out okay in the end.

You know, I think a lot of people are going to be shocked to find out that HTML-email support is, by default, disabled in the new version of MS Outlook (Outlook 11). I think it's a step in the right direction, not only for security reasons (viruses, malicious scripts, etc.), but simply for the fact that email was never meant to include HTML content! HTML just bloats the email, makes it load slower, and doesn't really add much (in the vast majority of cases) to the meaning. When everyone at the office feels the need to include a color signature and background image, it's gets a little ridiculous. Of course, when they send the mail, it never appears correctly anyway - the background image is always an attachment, so are those stupid v-cards. Do I really care that you want me to read your message in the Arial font instead of the one I've chosen to use (Times New Roman)? The ones I like are the messages that have all the important text in the regular (plain text) window, but then there's an attachment - when you open up the attachment, it's just the same text all over again, except this time in Arial and colored blue (Rich Text formatted). Whoopty do! Ooh, I'm so impressed. I think Microsoft should've steered clear of HTML in email completely. Rich Text, maybe - just for underlines/bold/highlights, etc., but definitely not HTML. There's no point to it.

Misti and I both laughed for 5 minutes straight the other night while driving down E. McCarran. We pulled up to a red light next to one of those stupid tricked out ugly import cars. Every few seconds the guy would rev his engine so he would be cool (or something - whatever: he looked and sounded like an idiot). The light turned green and he hit the gas, but he let the clutch out too fast and the car stalled. It was so hilarious, we seriously busted up and laughed all the way home. I think he saw us laughing, which just made it even that much funnier. He got beat off the line by a plain ol' family car with a carseat and a baby in the back seat. It was great!   =)   Speaking of which, I shouldn't neglect to mention that this is the first year that I've ever actually watched any NASCAR on TV. The dorks on the radio always rave about it, so I figured I had better at least pause on that station long enough while channel surfing to get the general idea. You know, it's actually not as boring as I thought it would be. I've now watched it for about a total of 5 minutes over two days, and I've already seen two accidents, a car on fire, and enough road rage to make the morning commute look like a Sunday drive. By the way, if you're anything like I am, you probably don't know what NASCAR stands for: "National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing".

Valentine's Day this year was awesome. Misti made me a 'candy letter' (a huge poster-size card with a storyline about how we met, with all appropriate words substituted by real candies and candy bars). Misti's present was a 23-step indoor and outdoor scavenger hunt for some goodies. Becca gave me the best little Valentine's Day card with her little scribblings on it. She also made one for her mommy last Sunday in Nursery, with her little photo on it and stickers. It is very cute!   =)

Tonight we watched part of "Payback" (the blue Mel Gibson movie) - it was an edited version on TV (on the TBS Superstation). It's a pretty good flick, if you subscribe to the whole vigilante concept.

Misti made a strange observation today. Most showers have either a frosted glass door or a shower curtain that keeps the water contained. Most of these don't go all the way up to the ceiling, which, I suppose, let's the steam escape over the shower door/curtain toward the fan or the window for ventilation. So why, then, does a rush of steam roll across and fog up the mirror when you open up the door/curtain? It's already had a chance to vent, so why is there so much still in there after the water is shut off (and hence not producing any more steam)?

The people that live below us stink so much! They smoke 5 or 6 cartons a day, and the smoke rises up through the vents or something, despite the filters that the apartment complex installed for us. It's quite disgusting. We're most likely going to move in a few months because of it. They also reuse their cooking grease or something, because anytime they cook something, it just smells so rancid! BLEH! They also never get dressed for the day, just wander around in their pajamas. Who lives like this? Gross.

Well, "Joe Millionaire" is almost over. The obvious choice is Zora, I don't know why it's such a hard decision for him. The other girl (Sarah) is just wayyyyyyy too fake and money-hungry. My guess is that after he picks Zora, the show is going to give Zora a million dollars (not Evan), and they'll live happily ever after. FOX wouldn't dare leave them poor - the public outcry would cause programming boycotts, flame mail, and angry phone calls for months to come. Of course, I've briefly read all sorts of rumours floating about regarding the "final" choice on the show - not Evan's choice, but the girl's choice: after Zora is picked, she then gets to pick between the poor Evan and $1,000,000. Will she choose the construction worker or the money? Hmmm. Let's say she chooses the money (like Sarah would). Then Evan doesn't get the girl, so the show would have to give him some money, too, or else the show would suck. Let's say, then, that Zora chooses Evan instead of the money, so they're poor then. The show would still have to give them some money or else the show would suck - well, not totally, as the couple falls in love and it's all sappy and wonderful, but it would still kinda suck. I guess we'll have to wait and see.

Well, it's official: Squishy likes Spam. We got some Spam BBQ Flavored at the store the other day, but I didn't decide to open it until yesterday. Upon opening the veritable Western delicacy, I unwittingly unleashed a floodgate of culinary perfection the likes of which are unparalleled in the modern palette.



Truth be told, I was actually disappointed at first, but it kinda grows on ya. She, however, liked it right off the bat, and ate two servings of it at one sitting. She calls it "meat", although I'm not sure how accurate that really is. On the flip side, I'm the one who likes Pedialyte Freezer Pops, while she doesn't particularly care for them.

I find it funny that Apple pulled a Microsoft with OS X. For those unaware, there are really 2 versions of Macintosh OS ten: 10.0 and 10.2 (Jaguar). It's the same deal that Microsoft pulled a few years ago with Windows 98 and Windows 98 SE (second edition). Not really a big difference, but just enough for some stuff not to work the same between versions. I think Apple wants to be like Microsoft, deep down inside.

In a decision of which Brad is sure to approve, we bought Becca some little purple Powerpuff Girls slippers.

When we bought our car we were given three keys - two for the drivers and one for valet parking. We were told that the one for valet parking can only be used to park your car (therefore it works in the ignition and to open the doors) - but it doesn't open the trunk. So, we thought, "Great, that's a nice thing", right? You could put valuables in the trunk and no one could get to them. Then, it dawned on me the other day, as I was holding this key, that it doesn't matter if it unlocks the trunk or not because it unlocks the car. And once you're in the car, there's a convenient little lever beside the driver's seat that opens the trunk. Therefore, anyone wanting to get into the trunk with only a valet key could do so very easily. Who came up with that idea?

Well, I'm glad to know that the computer arena isn't the only one all screwed up with aspect ratio problems. The photographic community is similarly plagued by inconsistant sizes and ratios. Traditional 35mm film captures images in a 3:2 aspect ratio (3" wide for every 2" tall). Now, when you take your film in for developing, what are the four standard sizes? Yep, you guessed 'em: 5"x3" (3x5), and 6"x4" (4x6), 7"x5" (5x7), and 10"x8" (8x10). Now, a little math will show that only one of these sizes is actually compatible with the film, and the others are not only incompatible with each other and traditional film, but also with today's digital camera aspect ratios:

• 3/2 = 1.5 (35mm film)


• 5/3 = 1.6666 (3x5 print, incorrect aspect ratio)


• 6/4 = 1.5 (4x6 print, correct aspect ratio for 35mm film)


• 7/5 = 1.4 (5x7 print, incorrect ratio)


• 10/8 = 1.25 (8x10 print, incorrect ratio)


• 4/3 = 1.3333 (typical digital camera aspect ratio)

Notice that of the four "standard" print sizes, only 4x6 prints are the same ratio as the original 35mm film. All the other sizes require that some of your photo be cropped (trimmed off) and/or stretched to fit. Enough to get you riled up, isn't it!

Also notice that I threw in digital cameras into the mix. Why? Because with the widespread acceptance of online developing services like Shutterfly, Ofoto, and Club Photo, more and more people are getting their digital photos 'developed' into prints. Guess what, though? The sizes that these services are offering include the familiar (albeit incorrect) print sizes of 3x5, 4x6, 5x7, and 8x10! Oh, the humanity!

Of the three mentioned above, only Club Photo offers a print size compatible with digital photos: they call it the "4XD" size, which is 5.33"x4" (4x5.33), and therefore uses the correct aspect ratio for digital photos:

• 4/3 = 1600x1200 = 1.3333 (typical digital camera aspect ratio)


• 5.33/4 = Club Photo's "4XD" print size = 1.3333 (correct aspect ratio)

Incidentally, if you choose poorly and get your photos printed on the wrong size paper, how much of your image is lost? More than 10% is being discarded arbitrarily by the photo developer. Choose wisely. Choke on that you danceteria types!

Portman Ave. versus Patriot Blvd: This intersection is strange. If you're coming South on Patriot from Longley, there is a stop sign at Portman. If you're coming Northeast on Patriot from Virginia, there is also a stop sign at Portman, but it is a "free right turn" (which effectively cancels out the stop sign). Thus, as it turns out in real life, if you're making the right turn onto Portman at this intersection, you have the right of way, so those attempting the left-hand turn have to wait for you and everyone else behind you (quite possibly for a very long time - especially during the after work crowd). So they have to sit there indefinitely. That's actually not my beef with this intersection (primarily because it never affects me - I'm always coming off the freeway, so I'm coming into the area the "normal" way). My beef is that the city has painted a solid line at this intersection in the mouth of Portman (heading East), implying that two cars could make the turn at the same time as long as they stayed in their own lane. The funny part about that theory is that no one even tries to stay in the lines because it would be such a sharp turn coming from either direction, that it makes you feel like you're driving recklessly if you do (I've tried it). Plus, there's a strategically placed pothole in the righthand lane that you'll hit every time if you stay in your lane. Thus, even though a lefthand turn candidate *should* be able to turn simultaneously with a right-hander, no one is foolish enough to risk it because the free right turners don't have to stop and usually take the turn wide.



To add insult to injury, there's also a crosswalk here. So even though a pedestrian should have the right of way here the minute they even get close to the painted lines, they stop and get stuck here, too, because they know that the cars don't normally have to stop - and habit is hard to break. Thus, for their own safety, they sit and wait - just like the sorry bunch of left-handers. So what's the solution? Well, it's pretty obvious that the solid line attempting to create two lanes out of one that quickly merges into one about 10' later anyway should be eliminated - hence making it just one lane and thereby eliminating the dangerous confusion at this intersection. As for the pedestrians, well - wear some reflective clothing and your running shoes.   =)

Mac OS X seems to have strange bugs, just little things that don't quite work correctly, such as loosing the mouse cursor after a screen blank (screen saving power feature), reverting back to the 'classic' environment to run older programs, and my biggest pet peeve: the maximize button doesn't really maximize! Macs have always had a problem maximizing a browser window (not even an option in OS 9) - at least in OS X there's a button - too bad it only kind of works! Macs are also notorious for coming with small monitors (you spend so much on the overpriced, underpowered CPU that you're forced to buy a small monitor), so I can't imagine why you wouldn't want all your windows as big as possible...

In relation to my previous post about screen resolutions and aspect ratios, I decided to add the following list showing the quasi-common names for these resolutions. I honestly don't think they're particularly common or useful, but I thought I'd at least include them for completeness. (If you walked in to CompUSA and said you wanted a graphics card that supported "QUXGA-Wide", how many sales dorks do you honestly believe would know what resolution that is?)

• 320x200 = CGA (Color Graphics Adapter)


• 640x200 = CGA (yes, another one)


• 640x350 = EGA (Enhanced Graphics Adapter)


• 720x350 = MDA (Monochrome Display Adapter)


• 640x480 = VGA (Video Graphics Array)


• 800x600 = SVGA (Super Video Graphics Array)


• 1024x768 = XGA (eXtended Graphics Array) - 0.8 megapixels


• 1280x1024 = SXGA (Super eXtended Graphics Array) - 1.3 megapixels


• 1400x1050 = SXGA+ (Super eXtended Graphics Array Plus)


• 1600x1024 = SXGA-Wide


• 1600x1200 = UXGA (Ultra eXtended Graphics Array) - 1.9 megapixels


• 1920x1080 = HDTV (High Definition Television)


• 1920x1200 = UXGA-Wide


• 2048x1536 (or 2056x1536? Sources disagree.) = QXGA (Quad eXtended Graphics Array) - 3.1 megapixels


• 2560x2048 = QSXGA (Quad Super eXtended Graphics Array) - 7.6 megapixels


• 3200x2400 = QUXGA (Quad Ultra eXtended Graphics Array) - 7.7 megapixels


• 3840x2400 = QUXGA-Wide - 9.2 megapixels

Many thanks to Iiyama, InfoHQ, and Procon for the background info.

Also noteworthy are some common resolutions that digital cameras use:

• 160x120 (if your camera is this small, you're hatin' it)


• 320x240 (ditto - typical cheap Logitech-ish computer webcams)


• 640x480 (ditto - $50-ish cameras)


• 768x512 (Kodak Photo CD - whose brilliant idea was this size?)


• 800x600 (still ditto)


• 1024x768 (low-end cameras)


• 1280x960 (1.3 megapixel cameras)


• 1600x1200 (2 megapixel cameras)


• 1984x1488 (3 megapixel cameras)

I haven't had the opportunity to test out anything better than this. I'm sure they're great cameras - just too expensive right now.