… don’t mix it with gasoline. (As we’ve done in our “memories of lawn-mowings past” bad gas & used oil container.)

Says Boise’s “Curb It” recycling program, emphasis mine:

Used motor oil can be recycled curbside. Up to two gallons per household per week can be collected. The oil must be placed in a non-returnable, transparent plastic container so the contents can be seen. Label the container "used motor oil" and place it next to (not inside) your trash and recycling carts. Oil should NOT be mixed with gasoline or antifreeze, otherwise it cannot be recycled. Used oil that is mixed with these products will need to be disposed of at one of the household hazardous waste collection sites.

Wi-fi is free at the Boise airport, sponsored originally by MPC Computers, and more recently by Idaho Business Review.

Google brought free Holiday 2009 wi-fi to many US airports, promoting Google’s homepage and select charities, including in Boise. The Idaho Business Review landing page on flyboise disappeared, replaced by a gauntlet of Google pages. I see no obvious signs of a struggle.

Though I mourn displacement of a local business, the new network works very well. But for how long? On January 15 the holiday offer ends. Will Google’s gift horse live on, sans festive ribbon? Or will Idaho Business Review resume sponsorship? (I worry they might be satisfied with the new obnoxious plasma TVs.)

Or will someone new sling wireless service at BOI? And will it continue to be free & good?

Image via Wikipedia

Boise’s “Curb It” program makes wheeled rental trash carts mandatory, and recycling a lot easier.

But you already have a trash can! (Or a couple!) What to do with them? Here are some ideas I’ve heard, and I’d love to hear yours:

Make a planter: Cut the top 2/3rds off, and use it for a planter, or as a form for a nicer looking planter.

Store hoses: Again, cut the top 2/3rds off, and use it coil hoses into in the winter.

Make a compost bin:  I’d imagine a can could be rolled on its side, with air holes added, and used as a composting device.

Store root vegetables: A trashcan buried in the ground & filled with sand or hay, lid on, works to store root vegetables like potatoes & carrots.

Make Halloween costumes: Uh, go as a trashcan? I was a cyclone once, and a trashcan was the frame for this costume.

Keep them for overflow: The Curb It program allows for overflow (over what fits in the provided carts) via $1 stickers. Only trash in cans & bundled sticks with the stickers applied are accepted. So, you might need those cans after all…

Put them in the blue bin? Our plastic Rubbermaid Roughneck trashcans are marked with a 4, and my understanding that’s a type of plastic that’s recyclable in Boise. Now, getting the can cleaned & down to a recyclable size could be a challenge…

Any other bright ideas?

More on the Boise “Curb It” program at http://www.cityofboise.org/curbit/.

Image by Oregon State University Archives via Flickr

I’m collecting a list of Boise, Idaho-based iPhone applications & developers.

If you know of one (an app), or are one (a developer), please leave me a note.

Here’s my list to-date:

• App, GroceryZen http://www.groceryzen.com
• App, iMakeDecisions http://www.idahostatesman.com/newsupdates/story/578588.html
• Developer, MobileDataforce: http://www.mobiledataforce.com/News/2008-07-18-iphoneRelease.stm
• Developed a iPhone-specific website, TSheets: http://www.tsheets.com/overview-of-online-timesheet-software.php

I couldn’t sleep, so I spent a little time toying with Bluetooth PAN between our Vista PC and my phone, sharing the wireless broadband network from phone to PC with the “Internet Sharing” application for Windows Mobile.

I’m one of those geeks who has a naming scheme for computers/devices. Free coffee to whoever can figure out what my scheme is based on the name of my phone. The scheme itself is related to another obsession of mine, for a 2x nerdish multiplier.

I’ve done this with my work laptop plenty of times, but it’s usually at SEA, or Hotel Inadequatewifi, where I’ve a question that needs answering, and no time to play.

So, here’s the results of the Speakeasy Speed test. Upload speed approaches CableOne’s local max of 500kbps, which reminds me that I need to start pushing out more videos with the phone. Download speed is not-so-great, but fine for doing most things.

 
This is the Verizon Wireless 3G network in Boise, ID, at 3 bars, to the Seattle test IP. I’m not in motion, and it’s 2AM; I doubt my part of the network is getting much traffic. I’d guess it’s pretty close to optimal conditions.

I’m not clear on whether the speeds are limited by Bluetooth PAN and battery power source.

I’ll go get some sleep now, lest we find out.

I ran out of olive oil, and I need eggs. 5 seconds and they are on the list. Need something new? Add it to your list once, and next time, it’s one tap away.

groceryZen is an iPhone recipe and shopping application made by developers & designers I know. If I had an iPhone, I’d be saying "I’ve got to get me some of that."

But I currently have the Verizon HTC Tricorder.

And I mean Original Series Tricorder, with the shoulder strap, knobs and 3" CRT.

Oops, I remembered to put pants on.

http://www.boisenopantsday.com/

My bike computer was crushed by a Cadillac on State Street this afternoon. I noticed it wasn’t activating, so I pushed a button, and somehow that was enough to eject it 10 feet into passing traffic.

An idea I’ve had for a while: make a “Myst clone” using Flickr. You could make an puzzle/exploration game by taking pictures and using hyperlink notes to connect pictures. Hide clues in some pictures to allow access through “combination locks” made out of other pictures. Jason in the Anything Boise Flickr group used the hyperlink note technique for “close ups” of some rafters down by BSU.

Today was a big day for people watering things. Some guy was taking a wizz in the planters by The Beanery. Very sneaky… but I saw you prepping, and executing, dude. A maintenance person in a cart was watering trees along 8th. The planters and trash cans in that area look similar, and he must have been seriously spacing, because he stopped at a trash can and started to put the nozzle in it.