Someone asked me to provide a non-technical explanation of these bills, to understand what is at stake.

SOPA and PIPA are intended to protect copyrighted materials and stop piracy (as their names would suggest). However, what they do to combat piracy is to create a national censorship system. On the frontside of the Internet, search engines like Google and Bing would be required to remove listings for any sites accused of containing links to infringing material. On the backside of the Internet, servers known as nameservers would be required to block access to any accused site. A nameserver is the technology that tells your web browser where to go when you type “google.com”. This level of nameserver-level blocking is already prominent in countries like China and Iran.

An earlier copyright law from 1998, the Digital Millenium Copyright Act (or DMCA), required copyright owners to request that material be removed from websites and services. In SOPA, that requirement would be directed to the websites themselves. All websites and services would be required to immediately remove links to copyrighted materials, or else their domain would be blacklisted and their site shutdown. Most user-generated content sites such as Wikipedia, YouTube, Vimeo and Flickr would be forced to shutdown, as it would be technically unfeasible to keep up with enforcement on such high traffic sites. Social networks like Facebook, Twitter and Google+ would also likely not be able to continue operations, as any post or comment that contained a link to copyrighted material could potentially shut down the entire site.

Protecting copyright is important, but far-reaching censorship isn’t the way. We can take action and prevent these bills from becoming law. Wikipedia has provided a ZIP lookup tool to point you to the online contact forms for all your representatives.

1982 in Music:

• Survivor - Eye of the Tiger
• Michael Jackson – the album Thriller, which included Thriller, Beat It, and Billie Jean
• Madonna’s debut - Everybody
• Men Without Hats - The Safety Dance
• Men At Work – Down Under
• Dexys Midnight Runners – Come On Eileen
• Modern English – I Melt With You
• Prince – 1999
• The Clash - Should I Stay or Should I Go?
• Joan Jett – I Love Rock ‘n’ Roll
• Whitesnake – Here I Go Again
• John Cougar – Jack & Diane
• Duran Duran – Hungry Like The Wolf
• Cats debuts on Broadway

1982 in Film:

• E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial
• Blade Runner
• Tron
• The Dark Crystal
• Star Trek II – The Wrath of Kahn
• Fast Times at Ridgemont High
• Rocky III
• Conan the Barbarian
• The Beastmaster
• The Thing
• The Secret of NIMH (but let’s be honest, that movie was seriously terrible)
• Annie (yes, that Annie)

1982 in Electronics:

• The Commodore 64 8-bit computer
• TIme Magazine’s Man of the Year is awarded to the computer
• Compact discs start to appear in Japan and Germany

Sources: Wikipedia, my media library, and random corners of my brain

Here’s your clue. Ready? I made it super hard…

Yup. China. (!!!!!!). We get to go for a month from mid-May to mid-June. I don’t know many details yet. I just know we’re going to the major cities. Phil will have to work some days, but not every day. Everything is being arranged for us, including our visas. We just go where this group goes. I will, of course, find out the details soon. We just found out this week that I would be able to go, which was Phil’s condition to accepting the job. All together now, “awwwwwwww”.

Although, there is one problem in paradise. One side of my garden is not growing as well as the other. I know it’s not the sun or water, so it’s got to be the soil. My thoughts are either too much compost or not enough. Something ain’t right. So my first solution will be to get some good organic miracle grow soil and put it down. I’m not complaining, though!

So here are some pics of my first harvest. I had to thin out some of the greens, and the radishes were peeking their little tops above the soil, saying “pick me, pick me!”. So I did.

baby Red Russian kale and Cherry Bell radishes

baby kale, radishes, and TONS of baby bok choy!

See the basket of greens to the left in the pic above? That’s all bok choy.

Can’t wait to try out this recipe for Sausage, Potato and Kale Soup. And this Kale and Parmesan Frittata. Now to find recipes for bok choy!

Tada!

d

Dratz. You can see water spots. Oh well. That’s what a backsplash is for, right?

Left of sink

I think this spot is my favorite. I could just stand and stare at its shininess all day long.

So that concludes the backsplash project. Total amount of time? Maybe 2 hours. Total amount spent? ~$70 (includes matching switch plates). We are SUPER happy with the results!

Next up, Part 3. Here’s a teaser:

Can you tell what’s new? Super excited about these!!!

Gliese 581 d (pronunced “gleeze”) is a super-earth in the habitable zone around the star Gliese 581, in the constellation Libra (20 light years from Earth). It was discovered in 2009, and in 2011, scientists came up with a model that could explain atmosphere and liquid water on the planet. In other words, it’s a planet outside our Solar System that could support life.

My latest song Skies of Gliese 581 d features a spacey, electronic feel and uses some new components from the just-released Reason 6. As with all my music, it’s a free download and CC-BY-SA licensed, so you can remix and reuse it.

Download “Skies of Gliese 581 d”

Download audio file (Philip-Cain_Skies-of-Gliese-581-d.mp3)

Photo by debivort, via a CC License

Sun rises, birds sing, music  from nowhere serenades the start of the day

Wow this shade is great!

Arggggggggg my eyes! My skin! I’m burning! I must be in hell! (aka it’s noon and the hottest part of the day)

Whew! The heat is gone. But I’m too fried to produce anything. I’m just going to curl up and protect myself. Sucks for the other plants that have to get sun until nighttime.

And there, my friends, was the problem. The plants need sun all day from the minute they are planted. That helps them acclimate to the increasing heat. A garden in the front yard would be south facing and receive sun all day, especially during the winter when the sun patterns change. So a new garden bed in the front it is! Bonus – it’s irrigated out there. Woot woot! Here are some snaps of the fun:

Manly men digging up the hard soil

Yes, us girls actually did work, not stand around looking cute.

Bribery

Sweaty and fed

Thanks everyone! You're the best!

Ok, so this isn’t really efficienizing anything, but it sure is giving the kitchen some pizzazz! We’ve been thinking and exploring ways to put up a backsplash that are a) doable with our limited handyman skills and tools, and b) inexpensive. I read an article on Apartment Therapy about DIY Backsplash Ideas that pointed us in the right direction. Then somehow I came across this post about snip and stick tiles. Ooooh, seems just like something we could handle! So we set off to find the best bang for our buck. We liked these but when we added up the total it was pretty pricey. So off to Amazon we go! And we found what we wanted: brushed aluminum tiles (real metal, not plastic) that you stick on the wall, and affordable!

Handy Wall Tiles  (As seen on TV, according to the package…)

I read all the reviews (A first for me. I never think to do that, and then Mr. P asks why I didn’t!). We were good to go. I ordered 2 packs, figuring I’d we’d do this in little installments to make it even more budget friendly, and less overwhelming to get done. I even ordered a matching light switch cover! Although, I didn’t check to see that there were two light switches that would need to be covered. Sigh.

They arrive, Phil freaks out bc I didn’t consult him for the final decision, I get upset, he lays them out and sees that they will work, all is right with the world again.

Our counter(s) before: (please excuse the crappy pictures. Hopefully, you know, from previous blog posts, that I can take good pictures!).

Booooooooring!

After (still in progress!!)

Oooooh, so schnazzy!

Yes, this is a different counter than the before, because I didn’t think of this blog post until after we had started.

p.s. See those cute little gnomes? They are salt n pepper shakers! Felipe gave them to me on our anniversary. All together now: Awwwwwwwww! I think they may be making future appearances.

Obviously we aren’t finished. We need to cut some tiles to go around the switches, but I’m really scared to do that because it has to be very precise. Did I mention these tiles are (supposedly) cuttable with scissors? Neato!

And that area didn’t even take up a whole pack. If we decide to do another row up, then it probably will. But I ordered two, so the other side of the sink can be done too. Yay!

Yes, I know that’s not a real word.

My latest project has been to efficienize the kitchen. Felipe would always complain about how hard it was for both of us to make dinner together in there. He said once, “We need a more efficient kitchen!” So that got me thinking… I couldn’t do anything about the actual space, but I could do little things here and there to make working together run more smoothly. Now don’t assume we had a messy, cluttered kitchen. I actually keep a very tidy kitchen (excluding the usual pile of dishes that need to be washed…). I had already de-cluttered the kitchen counter. I had organized drawers and cabinets. My space where I stand to cook is actually an ideal triangle between the stove, counter/sink, and fridge. But there was definitely room for creative improvement.

So my first goal was to make a pot rack! Those ones made out of pegboard. I really am quite proud of this solution I came up with. I HATED squatting down and reaching in a deep cabinet for a pot or pan. And then if I emptied that cabinet, I would have room for our food processor, ice cream maker, and ice tea maker. Don’t judge. Those are necessities in our life. Those 3 appliances were crammed in whatever nook I could find. I researched how to make a pegboard pot rack and set to work. Note, if you are a cute girl and you go alone to home depot and *ahem* non-flirtatiously ask the lumber guys to cut wood to precise measurements, they will.

Tada!

I gorrilla glued. I drilled. I painted. I knocked over the board and scuffed it. I sanded out the scuffs. I painted again. I knocked it over again. I sanded. I painted. Kiki knocked it over. Sigh. I’m such a handyman girl! Dot dot dot. I let Phil do the installation after all that.

A few weeks later and I am very pleased with this solution. I love just walking over and grabbing a pot off the wall. I love the color it brings to the kitchen. I love having all my appliances neatly tucked away and not next to toppling tupperware or precariously balancing on the edge of a shelf. Huzzah!

Most “no” people have taken the job because they don’t know how to inspire or motivate people – so they figure they might as well be good at something – and saying no is pretty easy to do. The challenge for you is to know which “no” people to listen to and which ones to ignore.

Phil Cooke – Start Identifying the “No” People In Your Life