Time really flies. I mean that in more ways than one tonight. I noticed this video of the Challenger disaster on CNN.com because today is the 25th anniversary of the Challenger disaster. It s the exact video that I watched live at my Grandparents’ house in 1986. It hardly seems possible that it happened 25 years ago. after watching the video, I thought about writing a blog post, but I felt like I’d written something about it already. I couldn’t figure out what would have prompted me to write about it in recent months. When I looked back, I realized that previous post was from 28 January 2006 on the 20th anniversary! Like I said, time clearly does fly by.

You can check out my previous post here.

If you live in the Philadelphia area, you’ve no doubt heard about the short-lived renaming of Philadelphia’s annual Christmas Village. Just in case you aren’t familiar, Philadelphia has, for the past few years, has put on a Chriskindlmarkt in Center City outside city hall. They don’t call it a Chriskindlmarkt. They instead call it a Christmas Village. Earlier this week, the city decided to remove the word Christmas from it to avoid offending people. This ridiculous move was met with a proper level of outrage from the public and Mayor Michael Nutter had the name restored.

While I think he made the right move, it’s insane that they ever changed the name to begin with. I don’t think he’s a hero for putting out a fire that the city started to begin with. I also don’t think this is the last time we’ll hear about this. So, I feel like I should get on my virtual soapbox and shout into the wind.

I’m not a member of any religion, Christian or otherwise,  and I don’t care about what religion anyone belongs to any more than I care what race someone is. Whether you’re Christian, Jewish, Muslim or Pastafarian has nothing to do with the situation. I think the separation of church and state is extremely important and I think religion has no place in government. However, my argument is, and always has been, that there are really two Christmases. First, there’s the “baby Jesus Christmas.” I’m referring to the religious holiday that the Christians only celebrate. Then there’s the Christmas that’s for everyone, the “Santa Claus Christmas.” Yes, Christmas started as a religious holiday, but it has evolved into the secular version that most of us celebrate today. Christmas is about decorating, giving gifts & cards, being with family and friends and spreading goodwill. Those parts of Christmas are unrelated to religion. Christmas is my favorite time of the year and it sickens me when I hear of schools, businesses or anyone else referring to Christmas as “The Holiday” or “The Winter Holiday.” It just seems ridiculous. I’ve never read the Bible but I’m pretty sure that there’s no mention of Santa Claus, eggnog, candy canes or flying reindeer in there.

So, I’m very glad that the for once, the whiney minority was shut down by the sane majority. It doesn’t happen often, but it’s a sweet victory when it does.

The Philadelphia Inquirer’s article regarding the Christmas Village debacle is here.

Some photos from previous visits to the Christmas Village can be found in the Photos section of this site.

I just updated my mother’s towel catalog for the first time in a while. Halloween, Fall, Thanksgiving and Christmas are all coming up and there are towels for each! Of course, the everyday ones make great gifts too! Take a look look at what’s available here.

We all know Microsoft is trying desperately to get some traction for their new Bing search engine. While looking for some images on Google, I just noticed that one of the avenues Microsoft is using is by buying adds on… wait for it… Google!

Click here to see the whole page.

The NY/NJ Port Authority announced yesterday that they are finally doing what I’ve been hoping they would do. The new skyscraper being built in lower Manhattan at the site of the former Twin Towers will not be called the Freedom Tower and previously planned. Instead the it will be called 1 World Trade Center. I’m glad they finally saw the light and called it what it should be called. They even did it with 3 or 4 years to spare before it’s completed. I’m sure some people will be upset about the name change, but my guess is that it will be the same group of people who would upset no matter what it’s called.

Read more at CNN.com.

What happens when you hvae a president who’s from Chicago? Well, the same thing that happens to the Chicago River on Saint Patrick’s Day… the water turns green. Today, the white House dyed the fountains on the North and South Lawns of the White House green.

More photos and info here.

Oh the humanity! Apparently the Google Maps car had a run in with a deer and the car won. In true Google fashion, the entire thing was indexed!

Check it out at Gizmodo.

Lately most of the news about Apple has been about Steve Job’s health and the future of the company. However, todays a good day to look back at Apple’s past. Why? Because it was 25 years ago today that Steve Jobs unveiled the first Macintosh computer.

Since that time, a lot has changed. THe Macintosh has consistently stayed one step ahead of the curve when it comes to new technologies. The mouse, 3.5″ floppies, firewire, USB are just a few items that apple was early to adopt. Of course, who could forget the first iMac. Not only did it revitalize Apple’s sales, it impacted a wide range of consumer products. We saw brightly colored translucent plastic on everything from staplers to office furniture to floppy drives.

So, take a moment and relive the Macintosh introduction on YouTube…

Over the past few days you probably have seen posts that consist of any “tweets” I’ve posted to twittered on a given day. Obviously, this means I’ve caught up with the bandwagon and joined Twitter. You can find me at twitter.com/megatti. I got the idea to have my tweets automatically cross posted to my blog from Leo Laporte. Like him, I don’t like the idea having anything I create hosted solely on a service that I don’t control. So, the result is that you can catch up with my tweets on twitter, but you can also check them out on my blog. That way they’re all saved for posterity. (Don’t take that to mean that you can expect anything profound from me! )

It’s been a tough month for Apple enthusiasts. A few weeks ago Apple announced Steve Jobs would not give the Macworld Expo keynote and that Apple would pull out of next year’s Expo. Besides basically assuring the impending demise of Macworld San Francisco it raised fears about Steve’s health. Then he announced that his health issues are related to a hormone imbalance and that he’s gonna be ok. The stock price rebounded and the masses were again happy. Then yesterday the roller coaster took another BIG turn for the worse when Apple released this press release.

Most people think that Apple fans like me are nuts for taking so much stock in the health and well-being of a CEO, but unlike most companies, Apple’s CEO IS the company. The company moved solely on his direction and ideas. He’s a complete totalitarian (I mean that in the nicest possible way!) who built the company, and later rebuilt it.

Hopefully we’ll see him back at the helm in a few months before too much damage is done to the company.

I finally found time to go on another covered bridge tour. If you haven’t seen my previous photos from the Lehigh Valley, you can check them out here. Then go check out my newest photos from the covered bridges of Berks County. I’m sure they aren’t the last ones you’ll see posted.

The photos also include some pictures of the Reading area including the William Penn Memorial Fire Tower and Pagoda.

We all know what Thanksgiving dinner means. It means cooking a turkey, some stuffing, a variety of vegetables, probably some sweet potatoes and biscuits. Oh and don’t forget the cranberry sauce. Dessert brings pumpkin pie and maybe some egg nog to start off the holiday season.

You’ve eaten this combination every year of your life but do you know why? Check out this article on CNN to learn more about this holiday tradition.

Happy Thanksgiving!

I wish I’d seen this before the election. Ron Howard made this this classic video featuring some classic characters!

You’ve heard and seen the months of annoying campaign ads. You’ve endured constant polling calls. Now it’s your turn to impact the election. Whether you’re voting for McCain or Obama, just make sure you vote!

I won’t tell you who I’m voting for in about 6 hours when the polls open, but if you look closely at this post, I think you’ll figure it out.

Fall is finally here and Oktoberfest has begun in Munich. Even though I’m not a beer drinker, it’s a fun fall tradition and who could say no to a huge plate of traditional Bavarian food! I’ve never been to Munich, but you can check out the photos from when we went to Oktoberfest at the (now closed) Hofbrauhaus.

Then take a look at the real thing coutesy of Yahoo! News.