The spring to-do list is startlingly similar to the winter to-do list, which had a lot in common with the fall to-do list. It mostly involves cleaning things and other outdoor-ish chores.

Nose cleaning, tiger style

– take apart and clean the garden fountain

- rewire the back patio lights

- strip and reseal sealant around the sunporch

- finish rebuilding the balcony floor and railing



And that's just a tiny sample!

I'd head to the Palo Alto Apple Store to buy a shiny new MacBook Pro.

Apple Mini Retail Store – Stanford Shopping Center

What's that you say? Don't I already have a shiny new MacBook Pro? Sort of. It's still a little bit shiny and it's almost three years old, which in laptop terms is pretty far from new. That $1000 would pay for a little less than half of the new model I have specced out.

I’ve had the need to set up three new Windows installations in the past couple of weeks (all XP, natch) and figured I would finally document my minimum set of essential tools for Windows.

• 7-Zip – a free, open-source (GNU LGPL) Zip utility.
• Windows PowerToys – specifically CmdHere and TweakUI. The former adds a context-menu item to folders and drives in Windows Explorer that opens a Command Prompt window (cmd.exe) to that folder or drive. The latter is a general purpose UI (user interface) tweaker that lets you adjust many aspects of Windows, from trivial (style of arrow on shortcut icon) to significant (X-Mouse style mouse tracking).
• GnuWin32 utilities – specifically Core, Wget and Which. These are command-line tools adapted from Unix which are very useful when, well, working on the command line.
• Notepad2 – a text editor, much much better than the stock Notepad that ships with Windows. Free. The “RC6″ version showed now includes an installer which replaces the stock Notepad.
• Sysinternals – a suite of tools useful for programmers and others who need to hack into the internals of Windows. My favorites are PSExec, PSFTP and Handle.
• Winkey – Add additional functionality to the Windows key (and it works with the Command key on Macs).

I’m sure there are more but those are the ones I have installed on the three Windows installations this week.

Every year we donate to the California State Sea Otter Fund on our California tax return. Please consider doing the same.

NEWS RELEASE FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

March 23, 2011

SEA OTTERS – AND THE STATE’S SEA OTTER

FUND – NEED YOUR HELP TODAY

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Even a $1 income donation on your state income taxes can

keep the fund alive and help protect an iconic marine mammal

California’s sea otters face grave threats and the state fund that contributes to their research and recovery is equally in danger if voluntary taxpayer contributions fall short in 2011. Animal aficionados in California must donate nearly $261,000 to sea otter conservation through their state income tax form in order to keep the fund alive in coming years.

“The fund supports critical research projects, so we hope Californians will come through once again as the tax deadline approaches,” said Andrew Johnson, manager of the Monterey Bay Aquarium’s Sea Otter Research and Conservation program.

The money raised by the fund – just over $1million in the past four years – supports researchers and agencies working together to understand the impacts threatening the survival of California sea otters, including infectious disease, oil spills, limited food supplies and degradation of coastal waters where otters live, and how we can aid this population’s recovery.

“Last year, our sea otter population faced its second decline in the three-year average in over a decade,” said Jim Curland, marine program associate for Defenders of Wildlife. “This fund is too important to sea otter conservation to let go. Past contributions show that Californians love their sea otters. We hope they can really rally together this year.”

In 2010, the three-year average sea otter population was just 2,711 animals – well below the 3,090-animal threshold required to consider moving sea otters off the endangered species list and an estimated one-fifth of the historic population.

Heading into the final days before the April 18 filing deadline, Californians can support efforts to save this keystone species by contributing to the California Sea Otter Fund (Code 410) on their state income tax form.There’s no upper limit to the amount taxpayers can designate for sea otters, starting from a minimum contribution of $1. All contributions through the tax form are voluntary.

Californians who’ve already filed their income taxes but who would like to donate funds can visit the Monterey Bay Aquarium websiteand click on the “Save the Oceans” link to support the Aquarium’s many efforts to save sea otters.

The mission of the nonprofit Monterey Bay Aquarium is to inspire conservation of the oceans.

Defenders of Wildlife is dedicated to the protection of all native animals and plants in their natural communities. With more than 1 million members and activists, it’s a leading advocate for innovative solutions to safeguard our wildlife heritage for generations to come.

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Because it has a whale hanging from the ceiling.

my nemesis

One of my earliest memories is of being at this museum with my parents and being awed at the giant whale hanging from the ceiling.

When we visited NYC a few years ago I wanted to make sure this was one of our stops. And indeed, there is still a whale hanging from the ceiling. I wanted to hang a smaller whale from our living room ceiling but was overruled.