FbL has the after action report of the Soldier’s Angels Conference in San Antonio, TX, specifically on the ValOUR-ITfront. Can you believe it? In 2 years, 1200 laptops have been passed out to those needing them? Take one wounded geek, put in a blog blender with a school teacher and push the “liquify” button. See what happens in two years:

Last weekend was the 2007 Soldiers’ Angels Conference, and the highlight of the event for Angels was a party at the Brooke Army Medical Center’s (BAMC’s) Fisher Houses in which 78 Valour-IT laptops were distributed to wounded Soldiers and Marines. This brings Valour-IT’s total laptop distributions to over 1200 in two years, and an additional 22 laptops are on standby at BAMC.

Valour-IT was able to distribute the 78 laptops at once thanks to a $150,000 grant [warning, PDF file] from the San Antonio Area Foundation (SAAF), which is by far the largest donation Valour-IT has ever received. The money must be used exclusively in Texas, but that will free up other donations to be applied to locations around the country. SAAF has five million dollars to distribute and this was the first round of grants. Valour-IT received the largest grant of this round (about $80,000 of it remains at this time).

In related news, Circuit City has been working with Valour-IT for some time now, helping us to stretch our donated bucks. They negotiate with their major suppliers to get the best dealer incentives and bulk rates available at any given time and pass that savings directly on to us.
[…]

Read the rest of the story, for there’s plenty of great things happening around the SA/ValOUR-IT program! and…if you have a few spare bucks, I bet there’s a service member support charity that might appreciate them!

Samsung is cranking out DLP TVs that are able to provide fast enough frame rates so you can see 3D images. You will need to wear your shutter glasses, but they’re wireless. Low end for the TV is $1499, but can run towards $4500 (size) and then you’ll need a media center type PC.

Samsung HL-T5087S DLP HD 3D TV
David Berlind from ZDNet has a little report and video on the new toy….

Desktop Factory Printer
About 90 lbs, and it can create 3D objects up to 5″x5″x5″, with the specs fed in from your CAD/CAM program. Just advanced bubblejet like printing technology. Layers are .01″ per pass.

Got about $5000 you don’t need more than small parts fro your car, your home, or stuff just for fun?

On a t-shirt:

“Viral marketing doesn’t work.  Tell everyone you know.”

“Change occurs at the speed of thought”

A little levity in all the stories of fabrication from Dr. Sanity:

BEAUCHAMP AT THE BAT
The Outlook was quite brilliant for The New Republic rag:
The polls were in their favor, and the public will had sagged.
But when Bush didn’t falter, as Petraeus led the surge,
A sickly silence fell upon those moonbats on the verge.

A straggling few got up and wailed deep despair. The rest
Clung to that hope which springs eternal in the human breast;
They thought, if only one more Abu Ghraib could be brought to light–
They’d put up even money, that we’d lose all will to fight.

So upon that stricken multitude grim melancholy sat,
For there seemed but little chance that they could count on that.
Then from a thousand leftist throats there rose a lusty yell;
The New Republic had a piece that claim the war was hell!

There was ease in Beauchamp’s manner as he stepped into his place;
There was pride in his raw expose, and a smile on TNR’s face.
And when, responding to the cheers, he staunchly stood by his claims,
No leftist in the crowd could doubt they’d near-achieved their aims.

A million eyes were on him as he told his tragic story;
The defeatists all applauded as he defamed his Unit’s glory.
And as commanders searched to see if Beauchamp’s tales were true,
They nonetheless were heralded; and those with doubts were few.

From TNR editors there came a muffled roar,
“How can you even doubt us?” they all cried, “We verified as before!”
“He’s just a courageous soldier with great moral authority!”
And its likely they’d a-sainted him; but that was not to be.

“Fraud!” cried his comrades, and the echo answered fraud;
But one scornful look from Beauchamp and the leftist crowd was awed.
John Murtha’s face grew stern and cold, and they saw his muscles strain,
And they knew that Beauchamp had found support in the weakest links again.

Now the sneer is gone from TNR, though the left’s still filled with hate;
Their lofty goal of surrendering will surely have to wait.
Because right now the truth is out, and and they have to let it go,
Because too many people realize, and too many people know….

Oh, somewhere in this favored land the sun is shining bright;
The band is playing somewhere, and somewhere hearts are light,
And somewhere men are laughing, and somewhere children shout;
But there is no joy in Moonbat land- mighty Beauchamp has struck out.

UPDATE: It seems he probably was suffering from Pre-Traumatic Stress Disorder!
– Diagnosed by Dr. Sanity @ 9:24 AM Comments (9) | Trackback (0)

H/T: Little Green Footballs reader pat.

Oh, and not to worry. IT seems the entire story “Shock Troops” has been removed, without explanation from The New Republic website. Interesting, but certainly not unbelievable.

Before I begin, I have to comment that my few commenters have proven themselves to be practical, thoughtful people, helping me see I might should just leave the titling of this regular post as is. On the other hand, I think the potential for humor might just have escaped them…

This day’s subject: WTC John King, USN.Chief Water Tender John King served our nation for 26 years and in two wars, the Spanish American War, and again in WWI. One thing that makes John King rather unique is that he was twice awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor, making him one of 19 service members so decorated, and one of six Navy personnel. He saw action at the Battle of Manila Bay with Adm Dewey’s Fleet. His first CMOH came as the result of his actions aboard USS VICKSBURG.. It was awarded by President Theodore Roosevelt:Onboard the USS Vicksburg, for heroism in the line of his profession, at the time of the accident to the boilers, 29 May 1901.The second, awarded by President Taft:

Onboard the USS Salem for extraordinary heroism in the line of his profession on the occasion of the accident to one of the boilers of that vessel 13 September 1909.

Not much is available on the net about John King, with the most extensive version at Wikipedia.

One ship has been named in honor of WTC John King, USN: USS JOHN KING (DD-953/DDG-3)

Ordered as a ship of the FORREST SHERMAN Class Destroyers in 1956, she was later redesignated DDG-953 and in 1957 DDG-3, (before commissioning), the second ship of the ADAMS Class Guider Missile Destroyers. USS JOHN KING was a member of the USS SARATOGA Battle Group that deployed to the Mediterranean in late October, 1978, returning to her homeport of Norfolk, VA in May, 1979. I was in company with her and, on the transit to the Med, was sent over to be an exercise observer for a graded missile firing for her training requirements.

Flown over via one of our embarked H-46 cargo helos, the deck of the KING was too small for an H-46 to land, so I had to be hoisted to the deck. Once in the “horse collar” and out of the helo, dangling a mere few feet from the safety of the inside of the fuselage, but still at eye level with the crewman, it got a little exciting for me. Story to be the topic for this coming “Ropeyarn Sunday ‘Sea Stories’ and Open Trackbacks.”

In case you didn’t catch the announcement last month on your WP Dashboard, the WPAU plugin is out.

Took me about 2 minutes to move from 2.2.1 to 2.2.2 (out today to fix some security issues). That sure is a lot less than the all morning long sessions I have had before coming to the 2.X then 2.1.X and finally the 2.2.1 version, making sure I didn’t lose anything.
Besides having to download two generated backup files, there was one plugin that didn’t reactivate in the process, so I did it manually.

Highly recommended!

Update 8/08/2007:  I found two other plugins I had activated that didn’t come back on using the automatic update.  Recommendation:  Scan your plugin list for ones not coming back on.

“Made ion America” with cheap and poor quality parts fabricated in China.

I’m going to stand in the sun and practice mechanical skills with regards toi feul and cooling systems on a Dodge that is my transportation.

This is number three major issue to arise during ownership, the result of poor product standards. Details later…

So, a question for anyone interested in chipping in two cents (and you don’t even need PayPal!), ponder this:

The routine Monday posts are titled “Monday Maritime Matters.” Would it be too fadish to rename it to “Monday Naval Contemplations?”

Just a thought.

Input, as simple as “Yes/No” accepted. More lengthy thoughts appreciated as well.

Next thought: I don’t have some magical WordPress plugin to rotate my header graphics, but I can whip out topical pictures pretty quickly. Not that this is a well travelled blog, but if you have a picture of merit, with some connection to mostly nautical things, and would not mond having a SWO pin and some brand name lettering overlaid on it, I’d be happy to put it on the hosting server for regular use. Some topical stuff for holidays, special occasions, or maybe earthscapes/astronomy stuff, too. Format is 730 px wide x 200 px tall…can go up to 900 px wide, too, if it frames better. let me know if you’d like to participate.

Be back in a few (hours)!

“Fight Prime Time…READ A BOOK!”

Amen to that!