Pierow’s Prattle

“Remembering that I’ll be dead soon is the most important tool I’ve ever encountered to help me make the big choices in life. Because almost everything – all external expectations, all pride, all fear of embarrassment or failure – these things just fall away in the face of death, leaving only what is truly important. Remembering that you are going to die is the best way I know to avoid the trap of thinking you have something to lose. You are already naked. There is no reason not to follow your heart.” ~ Steve Jobs

[Steve Jobs’s Best Quotes at The Wall Street Journal]

NSAR will register your dog (yes, any dog) as a service animal.  From their website:

“It’s no secret that many businesses simply aren’t pet-friendly, even though most of the population is. A large number of our clients register their dogs as Certified Service Animals or Emotional Support Animals (ESAs) not just to accompany them into stores, restaurants, motels, or on airline flights (for no extra cost), but to successfully qualify for housing where pets aren’t allowed. Our Service Dog Certification documents formalize and simplify these processes and make qualifying for special housing hassle-free. If you and your service dog become certified with NSAR, both of you are immediately protected under federal law (ADA).”

[Complete Service Animal Certification Kit - $64.95 at NSAR]

A state-by-state list of store closings planned by Borders as it tries to reorganize in Chapter 11 bankruptcy. Store closures are due over the next few weeks and some clearance sales are expected to start this weekend.

Chapter 11 Store Closure List

For general information purposes, Borders Group has provided the list below of Borders superstores closing as part of the company’s Chapter 11 reorganization process.

These stores are expected to close by the end of April 2011.  The list is not final and does not create any obligation by Borders Group with respect to the closure of any specific store. This list is based on currently available operating, financial and competitive information. Actual store closures may differ depending on a variety of factors including, but not limited to, risks related to finalization of third-party agreements, expected cost savings, income tax and other benefits associated with the store closures in the anticipated time frame, if at all. Borders Group undertakes no obligation to notify third parties of such changes.

(more…)

“Take the first step in faith. You don’t have to see the whole staircase, just take the first step.”

- Martin Luther King, Jr.

“We delight in the beauty of the butterfly, but rarely admit the changes it has gone through to achieve that beauty.” ~ Maya Angelou

“I cheated on my Fears, broke up with my Doubts, got engaged to my Faith and now I’m marrying my Dreams.”

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rgUrqGFxV3Q

Lights Out by Rick Astley

On the empty streets of this nowhere town
The melting shadows fade
And the dark is creeping up on me again
In between these sheets were I laid you down
I tried to find some rest
So I reach out for the switch but why pretend

‘Cause I can’t turn the lights out now
I’ll see your face
No, I can’t turn the lights out now
My heart will break
‘Cause everything I see will end up killing me
All over, all over again
So I can’t turn the lights out
(Turn the lights out)

There’s a clock that stopped ticking by the bed
the second you were gone
and it feels just like my heart stopped beating too
‘Cause it’s hard to keep those promises
I made when I was strong
Now I’m haunted by the ghost of you

And I can’t turn the lights out now
I’ll see your face
No, I can’t turn the lights out now
My heart will break
‘Cause everything I see will end up killing me
All over, all over again
No I can’t turn the lights out
Turn the lights out
(Turn the lights out)

It’s so hard holdin’ on
It’s so hard that you’ve gone
It’s so hard holdin’ on
Don’t you know?
Don’t you know?

I can’t turn the lights out now
I’ll see your face
I can’t turn the lights out now
My heart will break
‘Cause everything I see will end up killing me
All over, all over again
So I can’t turn the lights out
Turn the lights Out
(Turn the lights out)
So I can’t turn the lights out…
(Turn the lights out)
(Turn the lights out)

Retrevo’s index of user manuals is over 100,000 entries strong and covers everything from dishwashers to scanners, calculators to routers, and everything in between.

[Retrevo Manual Index]

Uneasy silence published a great write-up on how to put a stronger unlock passcode on your iPhone than the standard four-digit code that is used by default:

First Download the iPhone Configuration Utility from Apple (for Mac or PC, and connect your phone.

Then launch the utility, go to “Configuration Profiles”, “New”. Give it a name and identifier, then go down to Passcode, enable it and set your own options.

Once you’re done, go to your phone in the left pane, “Configuration Profiles” tab, and click install next your profile. It’ll pop up on your phone and you can install it!

Simple and secure way to lock down your iPhone a little more.

Update: iClarified has a more detailed write-up on the procedure.

[Uneasy Silence] [iClarified]

Want to know how much phone companies and internet service providers charge to funnel your private communications or records to U.S. law enforcement and spy agencies?

That’s the question muckraker and Indiana University graduate student Christopher Soghoian asked all agencies within the Department of Justice, under a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request filed a few months ago. But before the agencies could provide the data, Verizon and Yahoo intervened and filed an objection on grounds that, among other things, they would be ridiculed and publicly shamed were their surveillance price sheets made public.

[Full Story]