28 Jun 2006
Some New Critters (Some Just Visiting)

Things have been moving fast around here, and I've not had the time to blog too much about them. I had mentioned a while back that we'd sold most of the Highland cattle herd: we'll let them breed back up to full strength over time. But we really needed a calf for our petting zoo, so we purchased a Simmental bottle baby from a local farm:

Annie
Annie

We named her Annie due to her slightly curly red hair - she's not a purebred, but she sure is sweet. She took her first trip with the zoo last Friday to Holliday Park in Indy, and she had a great time! In fact, we all did!

We have also found a market for lamb, and have been selling more fleeces of late, so we thought we'd use a little of the money we made from the cattle to build up a small flock of sheep - now that they're weaned and out in the pasture all the time, Link and Cory were getting lonely! So we bought a small flock (two ewes with their three wethered ram lambs) of Horned Dorsets from Connor Prairie, and a couple of bottle ewe lambs (a white Texile and a black Suffolk cross) from Kevyn.

Dorset Flock
The Dorset Flock

Dorset Ram
One of the Dorset Ram Lambs

Dorset Ram
Another Dorset Ram Lamb

Texile and SuffolkX
Texile and SuffolkX Ewe Lambs (Piglet and Roo)

Texile Ewe
Texile Ewe (Piglet)

So our sheep count is back up to nine: we're going to get a Blackie ram and stand him to the ewes for next springs lamb crop, but that's the only addition we're planning right now.

As if all this wasn't enough to keep us hopping, we've also had a couple of visitors. These two birds of a feather wandered down from Kevyn's parents house into our neck of the woods a couple of weeks ago. The found our place last Friday, and they must like the chickens or something, 'cause they've stuck around.

Peacock and Peahen
Peacock and Peahen

Peacock Showing Off
What a Showoff!

Nobody's come to claim them yet, even though we've let the owners know they're here and hanging around. And I guess they can stay for a while - they are awful cool to watch, even if their call sounds like a mourning dove being strangled in a cement mixer!

And I think I'm all caught up ...

21:48 /Home | 4 comments | permanent link

Microsoft: Here's how to halt WGA alerts

I'm not sure how much good following these instructions would actually do, as M$ has indicated that this "tool" will be made a mandatory part of the OS in the future. So what's wrong with this, you ask? Are you a software pirate or somebody who supports using a pirated OS?

Not hardly.

The problem with this is that it's "full auto". And it has to be, to be effective, otherwise the pirates could just turn it off. But this capability means that it must be allowed through any firewall, by default, in order to contact M$ and do it's job. This makes it a prime target for hackers to replace, turning your PC into a "zombie". Given Microsoft's security record in the past, it's only a matter of time before an exploit is released that does exactly that.

I've resolved that I've purchased my last Wintel box: when my Medion PC finally dies in a couple of years, I'll be buying a new Intel-based Mac, and run Windows as a second OS when I need to write some code for my remaining Windows client.

Along with a new release of Windows Genuine Advantage Notifications, Microsoft shares how to remove the controversial antipiracy tool.

(link) [CNET News.com]

08:32 /Technology | 2 comments | permanent link

New cell phone to prevent drunk dialing

Capitalism marches on ...

There just might be no other gadget that has transformed the party scene quite as much as the cell phone. Address books and text-messaging...

(link) [CNET News.com]

08:26 /Technology | 0 comments | permanent link

Bush ignores laws he inks, vexing Congress

I've never understood how the President thinks he can do this: the Executive is not the arbiter of legality, that's why we have the Judiciary. This President's use of these documents disturbs me even more than previous abuses, because this President has demonstrated that he believes the Executive can make law as well.

Given this, I wonder what purpose he thinks the Congress and the Courts serve? Are they to be naught but rubber stamps for his executive power? There are other places where this is the prevailing doctrine of government...

AP - Sen. John McCain thought he had a deal when President Bush, faced with a veto-proof margin in Congress, agreed to sign a bill banning the torture of detainees. Not quite. While Bush signed the new law, he also quietly approved another document: a signing statement reserving his right to ignore the law. McCain was furious, and so were other lawmakers.

(link) [Yahoo! News: Top Stories]

06:00 /Politics | 0 comments | permanent link