The U.S. military has found the perfect way to demonstrate that it's purely the thought that counts. This bugle emulator sits in a real bugle and plays a collection of calls, including "Taps." Due to a shortage of actual bugle players, the Pentagon had already ordered 700 of these to be used at military funerals in 2003.

(Featured in Wired: Gadgets for the Lazy)

Apparently it took congress passing a law to allow for Virtual Bugles to be used in public ceremonies. No, I'm serious.

This made remember something. A few saturdays ago I was sitting on my porch in the morning and I noticed a boy, maybe 9 or 10 on one of the adjacent porches. He very solemnly brought out an american flag, hooked it to a clothesline attached to a post, raised the flag. He pulled out a piece of paper and started laboriously reading the pledge of allegiance out loud.

It struck me as really weird. Or one of those weird things that I just don't encounter in my life anymore, and certainly not in San Francisco. I assumed it must be something boy-scout-like that was going on. I think the last time I heard the pledge of allegiance (outside of a ballpark) was probably in my high school homeroom class, long after I refused to say it. It's sort of strange to me that its even still around with all that god and republic stuff.