My dog's bloat survival story

Taedyn was diagnosed with cancer in the beginning of March, 2011. She’s had surgery to remove the tumor, and chemo to eradicate what is left. It has been a week and a half since her second dose of chemo, and I noticed she was feeling slightly restless yesterday. This has not been unusual. She has been having diarrhoea on and off and so has been feeling somewhat upset. Her stomach has been grumbly and she’s had gas (both burping and farting) for weeks. I thought yesterday’s minor discomfort wa...

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Through the eyes of a dog

It's amazing at times what insight you can get at how an animal perceives the world. I discovered recently a peculiar perception Taedyn has of elevators. She apparently doesn't understand that its purpose is for transportation. She likes to carry things, and will pick up a rock or stick on the way to the office and bring it inside. On this particular day she dropped the stick while we were waiting for the elevator door to open and didn't collect it again before we entered. When...

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Using an Existing System vs Creating One from Scratch

The question has come up debating if one should use an existing content management system (like Drupal) or widget (like Prototype Window), or create their own custom system from scratch. First of all, you need to evaluate your website’s feature requests, and your development team. The variables to consider are: Quantity of features Complexity of features Size of development team Diversity and experience of development team In general, the higher quantity and complexity of features will dema...

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The domain real estate business

Yup, thats right. Domains are real estate. And it's in a bubble. Buy low, sell high - REAL high. Profit margins are in the hundreds of thousands of percent, or at the least, hundreds of percent. And I just contributed to it in order to maintain the value of my property. A new neighbor moved in next door, and he was one of those hicks with the three cars on cinder blocks in the front yard types. It was so bad I considered moving, only to remember when I first moved in here, I couldn&apos...

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Infrared Photography

Infrared photography creates an interesting effect where greenery is white, skin is porcelin and eyes are very black. It can be done both digitally and with film, each with their pros and cons. Infrared on film Film is more hazy due to a lack of an anti-halation layer, and grain caused by a higher ASA. This is often times considered a positive because it gives a very heavenly or nostalgia feel to the photograph. An anti-halation layer is present on most film, preventing colors from mixing, b...

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Silly Italian boys

While I was in Europe, I traveled around a lot, of course. In Italy, I was regularly popping around the country on their excellent and inexpensive train system. One day we waited awhile for the train, and were the first, by a long shot, to get on the train. We sat in the first coach car, being between the first class car and the second coach car. As we were waiting, we became apprehensive as to why no one was boarding the train, but then noticed a growing crowd gathering outside the train. A...

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