Annual Truck & Car Show, July 26, 9am-3pm at the Somerset County Fairgrounds. All proceeds will be donated to Somerset County 4-H .

Artworks Members Show, July 4-26. Whether working with computer graphics or a pin-hole camera, paint brush or pottery, metal, wood or wool—the latest and best of members’ work make this a brilliant event. 306 Park Row, Chestertown.

Greek Festival, July 25-27, Ocean City Convention Center, 40th St. & Bay. Enjoy delicious authentic cuisine & pastries, live music & dance performances. Vendors selling Greek music, books, paintings and more. Admission. Fri. & Sat., noon-11 p.m.; Sun., noon-9 p.m.

Cecil County Fair, July 18-26. Head to Fair Hill for 4-H shows, truck and tractor pulls, and nightly live entertainment. Rtes 273 & 213, Fair Hill, Md. 410-392-3440,

58th Annual Kent Island Fireman’s Carnival, July 20-26. Help raise funds for the volunteer fire department’s equipment and maintenance while enjoying a parade, childrens’ games, rides, and fireworks. Kent Island, Md. 6-11 p.m. 410-643-5454,

Plein Air Competition and Festival, July 21-27. Artists from across the country descend upon Talbot County to paint local landscapes along farm fields and waterfronts. Artist exhibit their works at the arts festival at the Academy Art Museum. Throughout Easton, Md.

Chincoteague Blueberry Festival, July 25-27. Enjoy blueberries in every form, from pies to soups. Chincoteague Center, Chincoteague Island, Va. 9 a.m.-4:30 p.m. 757-824-3868

97th Annual Cambridge Classic Powerboat Regatta, July 26 & 27. Watch inboard hydroplanes and flat-bottom boats thunder across the Choptank River. Access to the race pits and bleacher seating is available. Hambrooks Bay at Great Marsh Park, Cambridge, Md. 10 a.m.-5 p.m.

Wheels On the Waterfront Classic Car Cruise-In, July 26. The Crisfield Area Chamber of Commerce & The Wheels That Heal Car Club are co-sponsoring a classic car cruise-in. Dash plaques to 1st 150 exhibitors, car owner goodie bags, door prize drawings, D.J., exhibitors’ hospitality tent, 50/50 raffle - all proceeds benefit Women Supporting Women, a local breast cancer counseling group. W. Main St. in downtown Crisfield. Rain date 08/02/08.

Cub Scout Pack 437 Recycling Drive, July 26, 9:00-11:00 AM. Mardela Fire House parking lot. Help Cub Scouts raise money for camp by bringing aluminum cans, old appliances and any other scrap metal products.

2008 CHESAPEAKE BAY LOG CANOE RACES, July 26 and 27, ST. MICHAELS….Miles River Yacht Club - Governor`s Cup.

Concert in the Park, July 27. 7:30 PM. City Park Bandstand. Free. Featuring the Salisbury Community Band under the direction of Charles F. Smith Jr.

Delaware State Fair, July 17-26. Harrington, DE.

Bloxom Fest, July 26, 5-8 PM. Bloxom Winery, Mason Rd., Bloxom, VA. Live music, food and wine.

With the emphasis on dark. Usually, Batman movies have some humor to break up the action and violence, but The Dark Knight has none of that. Don’t get me wrong, it is a great movie, but it is nothing like all of the Batmans that have come before. At 2 1/2 hours long, The Dark Knight is more like two or three movies in one. The twists and turns keep coming just when you think nothing more could be packed into the story. I wouldn’t recommend this movie for any kids under 12 unless you want to have trouble at bed time. There is way too much stress and violence in this movie for younger kids. It is going to be a busy night at Regal Cinemas in Salisbury tonight. The 7:00 PM showing of The Dark Knight was sold out at noon today.

What is your favorite web site? TalkReviews.com is encouraging web surfers to submit User Website Reviews about the best and worst sites on the internets. Visitors to TalkReviews can Review A Website that is already in their database, or new web sites can be added. You can even start a discussion about your own site. Let the world know about your nightmare online shopping experience or sing the praises of the best web site you have ever visited. The web has opened up an almost infinite flow of information, and the best way to learn about the most worthwhile domains is from other users.

Wachapreague Carnival, July 1-19. This old-fashioned carnival features the annual Miss Wachapreague contest, funnel cakes, clam fritters, and live music. Wachapreague Carnival Wed.-Sat. 7 p.m.

Artworks Members Show, July 4-26. Whether working with computer graphics or a pin-hole camera, paint brush or pottery, metal, wood or wool—the latest and best of members’ work make this a brilliant event. 306 Park Row, Chestertown.

Kent County Fair, July 17-19. See livestock and horse shows, auctions, 4-H exhibits. And don’t miss the beef and chicken barbecue. Tolchester Fairground, Chestertown, Md. Thurs.-Fri. 12-10 p.m.; Sat. 9 a.m.-10 p.m.

Cecil County Fair, July 18-26. Head to Fair Hill for 4-H shows, truck and tractor pulls, and nightly live entertainment. Rtes 273 & 213, Fair Hill, Md.

2nd Annual Baltimore Ravens, NFL, Pepsi, Punt, Pass and Kick Competition, July 19. 406 E. Gordy Road, Salisbury, Md. 9 a.m.-4 p.m. Free to all boys and girls ages 8-15.

58th Annual Kent Island Fireman’s Carnival, July 20-26. Help raise funds for the volunteer fire department’s equipment and maintenance while enjoying a parade, childrens’ games, rides, and fireworks. Kent Island, Md. 6-11 p.m.

American Legion Post Unit #28 Annual Car Show, July 19. Any and all types of cars, trucks, motorcycles and tractors are invited. Trophies for each class, with special trophies for paints & interiors. Special Dash Plaques for the first 100 entries. Food & beverages for purchase, door prizes, DJ music, 50/50 drawings and more. 31768 Legion Rd. & Rt. 24, Millsboro, DE.

83rd Annual Chincoteague Volunteer Fireman’s Carnival 7:30 p.m. - 11:00 p.m. Rides, games, food, live entertainment, raffles, and much more. Fun for the whole family. Every Friday & Saturday in July. NO SUNDAYS. Proceeds benefit the Chincoteague Volunteer Fire Department.

Furnace Town 30th Anniversary Celebration, July 20. Noon-5 p.m. Strolling musicians, storyteller, chat with local authors, visit heritage booths, children’s activities, presentation of 19th century artists. Music at the Old Nazareth Church: 1:15 p.m., Frank Nanna and the String Dusters; 2:30 p.m., Free range Pickin’; 3:45 p.m., The Country Grass.

Concert in the Park, July 20. 7:30 PM. City Park Bandstand. Free. Featuring the Salisbury Community Band under the direction of Charles F. Smith Jr.

Delaware State Fair, July 17-26. Harrington, DE.

The evolution of the GPS satellite system and its integration into consumer electronics has created a lot of potential for GPS technology. GPS navigation does an excellent job of telling a person where they are and how to reach their destination. The next step is already in process with the use of GPS Tracking to monitor commercial fleet vehicles. The Bayrunner Shuttle service uses GPS to track their vehicles, and they can tell you where the shuttle is at any time.

But do you want everyone to know where you are? GPS tracking can also be used to keep track of personal vehicles. Your spouse just might know that you aren’t really where you said you were. Is your son or daughter really over at a friend’s house? With GPS tracking you can now make sure that they are telling the truth. This technology creates some interesting conflicts when someone is using GPS for surveillance without the knowledge of their target. Is it worth compromising the trust of family members in order to assuage your concerns about their honesty?

GPS tracking also has some useful benefits in the area of security. It is becoming more common for stolen vehicles to be recovered using GPS coordinates to follow the criminal on the run. This could be the new wave in vehicle security. GPS navigation in cell phones and other devices also provides help during trips to unfamiliar cities. No more stopping to ask for directions. As long as you know your destination, GPS can get you there.

There are some jobs that require just the right tools. I have the usual collection of screwdrivers and wrenches along with other odds and ends. A few years ago I got one of those bucket organizers that fit into a 5 gallon bucket, one that used to have drywall compound in it. It worked OK for awhile, but eventually it lost its organizer status and just became a bucket of tools. One of my favorite tools is an old Craftsman wrench that has rotating socket heads on both ends. I found a new tool that is similar to it, and I guess it was used for oil pan plugs. I also have a set of Black and Decker Firestorm cordless tools that includes a drill/driver, circular saw, reciprocating saw, jig saw and flashlight. I hate to admit that they don’t get the attention that they should. I used to do more work around the house, but most projects are on the back burner for now.

I would like to be able to do more repairs on the vehicles that occupy our garage. On a couple of occasions I have gotten into a project that wound up being a little outside the ability of my limited tool collection. The car repairs would be much easier with a nice set of Air Tools to help break loose those tough to reach bolts. Something about the sound that air tools make at the car repair shop give the feeling that things are getting done right. I got stuck in the middle of a brake repair that would have benefited from an air impact wrench. I wound up taking it to the repair shop to finish the job. It would be handy to have a media blaster around to help refinish some of the metal that is rusting on our deck furniture and grill too. I guess I will just have to make a list for the next occasion that warrants a gift to good old Dad.

Today marks the anniversary of the very first television commercial which was aired on July 1, 1941. Television broadcasts were changed forever. According to Wikipedia:

The first television advertisement was broadcast in the United States at 14:29 on July 1, 1941, when the Bulova Watch Company paid $9 to New York City NBC affiliate WNBT (now WNBC) for a 20-second spot aired before a baseball game between the Brooklyn Dodgers and Philadelphia Phillies. It simply displayed a Bulova watch over a map of the U.S., with a voiceover of the company’s slogan “America runs on Bulova time!”

Thank goodness for TiVo.

We will be taking a road trip through the northeast this summer. We have a couple of stops planned along the way with our final destination being somewhere in Maine. This is not a region that we have visited before, so it would make sense to work in as many side trips as possible, because I’m not sure when we might make a trip that far north again.

One stop will be in the area north of Boston. We will probably make a day out of the Salem area to see all there is to see about witches and the area’s waterfront. I also realized recently that it would not be too far off the path to make a visit to Walden Pond. I was enlightened by a recent trip to Walden reported by Mike’s Musings. I usually pick up Walden (the book) to read at the beginning of each summer. For some reason the tale pairs well with the warming weather for me.

Another stop on our trip, probably on the way back, will be Mystic, CT, and yes we hope to have a pizza there. Something about the name Mystic Seaport or Mystic River draws a potential visitor to that part of the map.

One thing I am not looking forward to is driving through the traffic near major cities on our route. I would like to visit New York City, since I haven’t been there before, but driving in the city is not one of my favorite things. One way around this would be to do some New York City Sightseeing from the comfort of a double decker bus. CitySights NY offers numerous tours of NYC including the Empire State Building and the Statue of Liberty along with all of the essential sites of the Big Apple. Maybe we could fit that into our schedule.

I am looking forward to our vacation, and hopefully there will be some pictures worth sharing later this summer.

Saturday, June 28th

Federalsburg Xtravaganza, Marina Park, 6:00-10:00 PM. Marshyhope River raft race, Fireworks.

Tilghman Island Seafood Festival, Kronsberg Park. Steamed crabs, live entertainment, food vendors, crab picking contest, hard crab races, fireman’s parade.

Truck and Tractor Pull, Pocomoke Fairgrounds, Gates open at 4:00 PM.

Lewes Seafaring Days, presented by the Lewes Historical Society. Maritime programs, fresh seafood, kayak tours, artists.

Sidewalk Fine Arts Show, Milton, DE. 9:00AM-4:00PM.

A Tour of Horn Point Lab, UMCES, Cambridge, MD, 10:00AM. 90 minute walking tour of state of the art environmental labs.

Sunday, June 29th

Choptank Riverside Concert Series, Sarah Ayers Band, Cambridge, MD. Sailwinds Park, 3:00 PM.

Salisbury Community Band Concert, City Park Bandstand, 7:30 PM.

It looks like one of the next trends in web tools will be applications that bring the web to you rather than making you go out and search for sites that match your needs or interests. One tool that I started playing with recently was StumbleUpon, which links users to sites that have been stumbled by surfers with similar interests. SU reminds me of the Next button on WordPress with some degree of logic involved in determining your next destination.

I ran across another site today that promises to serve up all the latest news on your pop culture interests from music to TV to movies. PopBandit.com creates pop pages for each band or actor or TV show that you might be interested in. The pop page includes photos along with a feed of the latest news, product releases and videos. PopBandit also features a social networking aspect that allows you to see other visitors who are fans along with other popular pages.

I decided to see if PopBandit had a pop page for the Arctic Monkeys, since I was listening to them on the MP3 player today. Even though they might not be a mainstream band, sure enough there was a pop page for them with links to the latest news and videos about the band.

There is a new song playing on the radio with Tom Petty on vocals, but it is not his usual band backing him up. Petty is currently playing with members of his early 70’s band, Mudcrutch, which never made it past there first single, but led to Petty’s eventual success.

PopBandit also has pages for new movies like Get Smart, and the site will even send you an alert when the Weeds Season 3 DVD comes out. Check out PopBandit and find what you’re in to.

No, I am not going to post about physics today. I am experimenting with StumbleUpon, which claims to help you find web sites that match your interests, and I have also read that it can be a tool that can increase traffic to your web site. I plan to see if SU can do both for me.

One of the first web sites that I stumbled upon is titled String Spin Toy. It is one of those fun time killers that occupy the web.

Last year, the traffic talk around Fruitland, MD, centered around the roundabout that was constructed at the intersection of Cedar Lane and Division Street. Many local motorists fretted over the possibility that we would not know how to circumnavigate such a complex engineering project. The naysayers are quiet now, and it seems that we have survived a year of school buses and trucks and everyday traffic passing through the new roundabout. The feature is much more friendly to pedestrians, and when the power goes out, law enforcement agencies don’t have to worry about dispatching an officer to control the intersection. Roundabouts are effective traffic control features, and it seems that Fruitland was out front in the roundabout game. Residents of Montgomery County, MD, are currently witnessing the construction of several roundabouts, including three in the Deer Park neighborhood. According to Just Up the Pike, local citizens are glad to have them. There are lots of cliches about change. Changes aren’t permanent, but change is. The more things change, the more they stay the same. In the case of the Fruitland roundabout, change was a good thing.

The astute workers at the Easton GoodWill store thought that a recent donation was worth investigating. After some research and consultation with experts in the field, their hunch paid off in the amount of $40,600. According to the Baltimore Sun, that is how much an impressionist painting by an artist named Cortes sold for at Sotheby’s auction house. The painting was dropped off as a donation in March, and was recently sold at auction after Sotheby’s confirmed the authenticity of the painting.

It used to be enough to display a sticker from the local security company in the window of a home or business to discourage theft or burglary. Criminals can be more effectively discouraged by installing visible security systems to make it obvious that someone is watching. A digital security camera can easily be installed to monitor a home or business. Choices are even available for security cameras that can be incorporated into an existing wireless computer network. These cameras can be monitored on site or even from home via your internet connection. IT Planet is a great source for security system equipment and supplies, and they guarantee the best prices.

They might just be towns down the road to residents of the Delmarva Peninsula, but travelers through our region consider some of our local burgs to be the best getaways of the Northeast region of the United States. The IgoUgo Travel Blog lists four Delmarva towns among their best summer getaways. The four highly acclaimed destinations are St. Michael’s in MD, Milton of DE, and the towns of Chincoteague and Cape Charles, VA. All of these spots would make a fantastic day trip or weekend escape.