Welcome!
Michael Hightower Welcome to the new mphtower.com. I’m switching to WordPress from Joomla with the hope of making this easier for me to manage. We’ll see how this goes! You can still…
Remove XML/HTML Tags from a Document
Here’s a useful trick to remove XML, HTML, or any other tags from a document using Notepad++: Find: <+> Replace: Be sure to have your cursor at the start of…
Batch renaming/PowerShell Here context menu
Here are some handy tricks for batch renaming files and for printing a directory listing of files. First, download the PowerShell Here executable: powershellhere Batch Renaming Files Using PowerShell (included…
Why Are Round Manhole Covers Round?
Why Are Round Manhole Covers Round? About 25 years ago the question “Why are manhole covers round?” appeared in the book “When Do Fish Sleep?” by David Feldman. Since then,…
Cash for Clunkers – How to Fix It
One of the fundamental ideas of Cash for Clunkers is sound, in my opinion: Get people interested in buying more fuel efficient vehicles. But the wastefulness of destroying perfectly usable…
Cash for Clunkers – Who Sets the Price?
In the discussion following yesterday’s Cash for Clunkers article, John Rodes made an excellent point: "It IS obvious that different "factors" are "present" and the most obvious is price. Simply…
Cash for Clunkers – Doin’ The Math
I hate to see old cars die. They represent the efforts of so many people—designers and engineers, mechanics, accountants, miners, and myriad others. And a car is such a personal…
Desi Arnaz Offensive – Who knew?
During the Sotomajor confirmation hearings an amusing moment occurred when Sotomajor mistakenly implied she would shoot Sen. Tom Coburn. Coburn quipped, "You’ll have a lot of ‘splainin’ to do." There…
Motorcyclin’ Misfits
Finding images for the Spotter’s Guide made me realize there are a few types of Motorcyclist out there that don’t necessarily fit one of those categories. Much as in the…
A Spotter’s Guide to Motorcyclists
While visiting my folks in the DC area over Memorial Day weekend I saw a ton of motorcycles out for Rolling Thunder. It’s nice to see so many people riding,…
Writers, Not Timberlake Let Down SNL
Rarely am I excited to see an episode of Saturday Night Live. It gets TiVoed, but it’s one of the shows that I watch when most other options have been…
Just How Big Are We?
At the end of Men In Black, the point of view continuously pulls back to reveal our galaxy resides within a marble. We then see that this marble is part…
The UAW, Xenophobia, and Layin’ Pipe
In conversations with a few people, I’ve had the feeling that the underlying point about the union’s involvement in the auto industry collapse hasn’t quite hit. Perhaps it’s because I…
Getcher American Business Spin-Offs While They’re Hot!
In the last two entries on this blog I discussed what got the American auto industry into this crisis, as well as debunked the myth that the problem is based…
Don’t Blame Fuel Prices, Blame John Denver
After yesterday’s long article about the Big Three and their Big Problems, Scott wrote a thoughtful response. There were a couple of common misperceptions in there regarding SUVs, though. In…
Who Killed the American Car Company?
The bailout has arrived for the Big 3 amidst relief and criticism from every point of view. The unions have to make unprecedented concessions, and the automakers have to figure…
My Child, the Breakfast Food
I had another dream which I have since forgotten. Fortunately, my wonderful fiancee has proven her value to me by remembering it after I told to her right as I…