Entry for 2/21/05

This is just too funny to make it wait. I've heard about it, but getting the chance to see the pic makes it even funnier.

http://www.networkworld.com/community/?q=node/4630

Entry for 2/16/06

This article touches on something that is so very, very true about communication over the internet.
http://www.wired.com/news/technology/0,70179-0.html?tw=rss.index

Optical Illusions are pretty cool. These pictures take that to a whole different level with using simple paint in the right places:
http://www.2loop.com/3drooms.html

A Lot of people don't even know how to drive their cars, and yet somehow we feel compelled in inventing technology so that they can fly them???
http://news.com.com/StudentsCatCMITCgiveCflyingCcarCaCshot/2100-11389_3-6040007.html?tag=nefd.top

Finally, I heard this morning that last night's episode of American Idol received much better ratings than the Winter Olympics. Not a surprise really. Americans want to be entertained. They want to be entertained when THEY want it. Not when the network wants it. NBC holds up all of the good coverage until later on in the evening, and after most people have exhausted their ability to stay up. Add that to the fact that the results are easily discovered on the internet or the local news. Not much entertainment coming from the Olympics with all of that against it.

Entry for 2/7/06

Well, this weekend will certainly prove to be interesting. On the agenda: A solo trip to New Castle, PA where I will engage in hours of co-op video game play with my cousin Ryan, A two hour coffee house concert singing and playing guitar, and of course witnessing the Pittsburgh Steelers battle the Seattle Seahawks in Super Bowl XL with my Steeler-fan friends.

But enough about me. Check out this cool Beta software that pretty much allows any windows user to get the "Expose'" feature available on the Mac. I like it, except for the fact that it is a Beta version with limited configurability. Its called, "Small Windows", and it allows you to view all of your currently opened windows in thumbnail form. Here's the link to it:

http://smallwindows.sourceforge.net/

...ok, since this is delayed, I'll catch everyone up. The weekend went very well. The Steelers won the Super Bowl...WOOOOHOOOOO!!!!! And I had fun showing a handful of people my incompetence at using a tamborine. Ryan and I finally defeated our video game too.

On that software, its VERY buggy. I finaly uninstalled it today, after I found it just getting in the way and being too buggy to use. I thought that I'd use it more, but my old habits of using a taskbar are too hard to break. Oh well. It is still worth looking into if you have the time and patience.

Entry for 1/30/06

this is one of the most disturbing articles I've ever read about the Chinese...

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/news/archive/2006/01/24/international/i135115S12.DTL

...actually, I'd like to add that another disturbing thing about the Chinese is that they eat dogs...of course, so do a lot of asian cultures.

This is one of the funniest sites I've seen in a while. Check out the videos:

http://www.askaninja.com

Wanting their cake and eating it too, people now move to desparate measures to enjoy the best of both Operating System worlds on one machine:

http://www.dailytech.com/article.aspx?newsid=452

Father and Daughter celebrate Steeler Championship victory

This is a pic of Audrey and me as we celebrate the Steeler victory over the Broncos to win the AFC Championship game. Some things we're just born into. :-) 

Entry for 1/20/06

A lazy way to sort your socks:

Never Sort Socks Again

Mac users shouldn't kick back when it comes to security:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/4609968.stm

A personal switcher's story about switching to a Mac:
http://backside180.blogspot.com/2006/01/switch-boy-and-powerbook.html

I have stopped using Mozilla Firefox for about a month now. I was disgusted with its slow launching and memory hogging. On top of that was always the ramdom site that just didn't want to render correctly. Needless to say, open-source worshippers and the tech media have had nothing but good things to say about this browser since its inception. Granted, Firefox is a HUGE improvement over IE6 right now. However, there are many other options out there, such as Opera (www.opera.com) or Maxthon (www.maxthon.com), which can easily give it a run for its money. Furthermore, I found an interesting article below which helps put to rest some of the hype on Firefox. It is a great read for those who think that Firefox is bullet-proof:

The truth about Mozilla Firefox:

http://mywebpages.comcast.net/SupportCD/FirefoxMyths.html

..and this just in: I got my hands on a Beta version of IE7. All I can say is, wow. There are some kinks in it, but the coolest feature I've ever seen is the thumbnail feature you can view when you have multiple tabs open. Very very cool!

Entry for 1/11/06

This site is pretty cool. It really expands upon the idea of an online word processor. But even more so by offering you an entire online office-type suite to create power points, spreadsheets, etc. It also offers up to 30 MB of storage etc. Pretty cool. I still like writely though, for ease of use and the fact that you don't need to download so many java applets. Check it out below.

ThinkFree Office Online


...so it turns out that Apple dropped an Intel chip into its products a whole 6 months earlier than predicted. That's awesome. While I am not anywhere near in the market to buy a Mac and make the switch (it would be hard to justify dropping 1,000 bucks on a computer when you already have 2 working computers already), I am keeping my eyes and ears open tight for feedback on this new change. I'm also curious to see what windows Vista is like when it finally comes out in the year 3015. It will be interesting to compare the two operating systems.

My website (not my blog, but actual website) is becoming an issue in the back of my mind. It seems to consistently be way out of date with pictures and news. I have yet to write a smooth interface for updating any of it. Not only that, but Meg is taking pictures at a pace too insane to keep up with. I am going to need to get myself into a project of re-writing the programming on our website to allow her to do picture uploads and content editing. This way I can at least get both of us keeping the content active. Now, if I can only find the time to do this... :-)

a few more links of interest

Ok, I came accross this interesting link that made me shake my head. Its cool. But whoever did this has way too much free time to kill:

Go to your start menu

Select Run

At the prompt type in: CMD.EXE

At the next window (which should be a DOS prompt) type in: telnet towel.blinkenlights.nl

Enjoy the movie!!!

This next article is of no surprise really:

Employees complain as IE begins its rapid descent

What the world needs less of

I find it very, very hard to respect countries and people where the practices of Islam are taken to this extreme:

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20051228/ap_on_re_as/pakistan_honor_killings;_ylt=AoV_S4gLh5YOrs4OuUYIzP_jOrgF;_ylu=X3oDMTA3b3JuZGZhBHNlYwM3MjE

Obviously, this guy has issues. In Pakistan he will probably be sentenced to death, which is a just punishment for such a crime. In the US, however, he probably has a chance of living in a prison and getting food and shelter from our tax dollars for the rest of his life.

Notes and Updates

Yeah, like this will make them any safer:

http://www.gizmowatch.com/entry/honda-unrolls-worlds-first-motorcycle-airbag/

Why it pays to have a cute baby (Which I do, hehe):
http://news.com.com/2061-10786_3-6009893.html?part=rss&tag=6009893&subj=news

An update to my home PC issue: It appears that my theory was dead wrong. It wasn't an overheating computer. Rather, it was a faulty power supply. A good friend of mine provided me with a spare Powers Supply that he had, and when I tried it out, the computer worked perfectly. Not only that, but my new cdrw can burn a full disc in 2.5 minutes! Awesome! This is good news, because I really wanted to wait a while before getting a new computer. Also this gives me time to wait until the new Intel Macs are out on the market and have been run through the wringer by early adopters. In any case, I'm very happy to my friend, Dave who provide me with the power supply.

Of truth and consequences

Here's a great quote that merits a posting:

"The plural of spouse is 'spice'. "

On a less happier note:

My journey over to the world of Apple just took a step closer as my PC decided to stop working for me. I installed a new cd-rw drive to extend its life and usefullness and was rewarded by a machine that reboots every 3 minutes. Even with the new drive removed!!! Now it just turns off without warning. My suspicions are that the processor is overheating somehow, so tonight's experiment will allow me to find that out. In any case, I'm reduced to a slower, but currently more reliable Laptop. Stay tuned for further musings on this problematic issue.

Yes, I've Flip-Flopped yet again

I've done it again. I've switched from Firefox to Internet Explorer. Why? Well, first off, I was noticing that leaving firefox open on my work computer for a few hours was consuming massive ammounts of RAM. Okay, maybe not "massive" but enough to make me annoyed. Also I was contemplating on the fact that I use very little of its extensions for anything. I really like it for its ability to use tabbed browsing and its pop-up blocker. However, it does have a tendency to force me over to IE when I want to view a nice website with all of the bells and whistles, which it cannot display. One of those sites is ESPN.com. I use Yahoo services extensively as well. I noticed that Yahoo mail, as well as other services offer a more seamless experience in Internet Explorer. And despite what most people say, Firefox has crashed on me quite a few times, and that's with a gig of RAM.

So I decided to enhance IE by installing the MSN toolbar, which gives me pop-up blocking and tabbed browsing as well as desktop search (Which I don't use). The switch thus far has proved to be pretty good. IE launches much faster than Firefox, and the toolbar has been doing a great job as well. Its also nice to go to a website with full confidence that I will be able to experience every feature it has available.

In other news, I followed the advice by John C. Divorak in the latest podcast of This Week in Tech, and am trying out the "Writely" online word processor. I have to say, this is pretty sweet. Right now I am composing this blog with their service. I haven't examined all of their features yet, but I will post a future evaluation of it once I'm done. Now, let's see how this "blog" option works....

Good Advice I Heard Today

Listening to a radio show today, I heard some advice that I can agree with:

"Sometimes the best choice you can make, is the one that you don't... Nobody ever suffers from giving a decision a little more thought...With the fast-paced society we live in getting instant responses on cell phones, instant messages, and e-mails, everyone has lost sight on a valuable method for dealing with life. Waiting...What decision ever gets ruined by giving it a little more thought?"

This is advice we all need to consider.

Difficult choices for the cost-conscious consumer

This is the kind of information that makes it difficult to make an all-out switch to a Mac.

"Are Apple Computer computers a bargain? It depends on the perspective of the buyer. This week, CompUSA is selling an iMac with a built-in 20-inch LCD monitor for $1,699. It comes with a 250GB hard drive and 512MB of memory.

For about the same price, a consumer can get two high-end HP Pavilion PCs and two 15-inch LCD monitors at the same store. For $844, CompUSA has a bundle that includes the HP model with a dual-core Athlon processor, 1GB of memory and a 250GB hard drive.

Or a shopper could get five Compaq Sempron-based systems (each bundled with a 17-inch CRT monitor) and have money left over. "

Links and Thoughts #6

If this gets off the ground, Cable might actually be worth purchasing:

a good idea

Smash me an XBox while you're at it:
this is too funny

This story is tragic. However the moral is...um, I'm not really sure:

Kiss of Death

What do you do when you're using Firefox and your mouse bites the big one? You read this article:

Mouseless Firefox tricks

A temperature-controlled butter dish: because we can't think of anything else to invent:

A buttery idea


Best quote heard this week:

(comment made concerning parental discipline of children in today's society)
"It seems like the age of personal responsibility has gone by the wayside when it comes to parents disciplining their kids"

What NOT to be thankful for.

So Thanksgiving Day has come and gone, and now we're off to prepping for Christmas and the New Year. Each year as I sit down in front of a huge pile of food on the last Thursday of November, I think about how many people in the world have probably never seen this amount of food in one place in their entire life. American tradition has caused us to plop down around a huge table, say a little prayer and engage in a ritual of gluttony that should probably disgust us. There are lots of things to surely be thankful for. But in some cases, I think that we need to re-examine how we celebrate what God has given us. I'm not against eating turkey and pumpkin pie. What I am bothered by is not what we celbrate with, its how we celebrate it. Is God honored when we ritually sit down and eat until it hurts? Is he honored when we spend 3 to 5 minutes of thanksgiving prayer and then spend the next 3 hours feasting like its our last meal?

When was the last time we've heard a sermon on gluttony in this country? Do pastors preach on such a thing? Does anyone really understand what gluttony is anymore?

Not that I am in the least bit innocent of this charge. I'm certainly pulling more than my share of fat and calories each day. I just wonder if anybody else considers this issue each year?

Free + Recycle = Freecycle.org

I can't really explain why I haven't posted about this really wonderful concept before, but now I am. A few months ago, a friend of Meg's told her about this online community called "Freecycle.org". Freecycle.org is a website that allows one to give away or recieve items for free from people within their surrounding community. Its kind of like a free version of the classifieds. Most of the community groups are organized by city or county. To give you an example of how it works, let me explain about our experiences with it so far:

1. the first experience we had was when Megan set up her account, which sends e-mails to your yahoo account (Freecycle is affiliated with Yahoo! Groups I believe). Each day the folder would fill up with "offer" or "wanted" notices for various items. One of the freely offered items was an all-wooden baby's high chair from somebody in the nearby area. Meg replied to the person offering the highchair, who gave us directions to their place as well as where she would leave the item. A couple of days later, we found the person's house, picked up the highchair, which was out on the person's porch, and went home. It was as simple as that.

2. Our second experience was a metal filing cabinet. Meg and I had been thinking of buying one, but when we saw this, we figured, "what the heck?". The person was out in E-Town, which is about 1/2 hours from our place. However, a free metal filing cabinet is a free metal filing cabinet. Because of poor written communication via e-mail by both us and the person giving the cabinet away, we end up driving out there and finding nothing. A week later, the scheduling for both the person and us was better communicated and we came home with a free working filing cabinet.

3. The 3rd experience we had was getting rid of a bunch of useless computer junk that I had lying around the house. Recylcing computers can be a pain, so this was a great way. We divided up our items into separate free offers and posted them on the web. We got several responses, asking for the items right away. The arrangements for pickup were made and we set the items out on our front porch. Within the week, all of the stuff was gone. It was so easy!!!


Of course, one has to realize that not everything that people are giving away is going to be top-quality, or in top-quality condition. For instance, the high-chair is very nice, but the finish needs re-done. The filing cabinet works fine, but its missing a metal folder rack in one of the drawers. Of the computer items I gave away, some work, others didn't (of course, I DID let everyone know that before they chose to claim the item).

All in all, I think that Freecycle.org is a great idea for people. It allows people to be rid of stuff that is taking up space, and allows others who are looking for various items to find them at no cost. Its a situation where everybody wins. If you think that you might be interested in checking it out, here's the link: Freecycle.org

Links and Thoughts #5

I'm posting this link in dedication to my conscious decision to switch to the Mac Platform with the purchase of my next computer. More details to come about the reasoning behind this. Here's an article detailing the history of Apple's long-standing operating system:

history-of-mac-os/


Pictures of Michael Dell's house. So much for modest living. If I were as rich as him, my house would only be 23k square feet. :-)

the house that dell built

Interesting Patents, including...um, Coffee Beer?

weird patents

Happy Birthday to the coolest available web browser out there:

happy b day firefox!

What Microsoft Needs To Do

Ok, let's insert this opinion right here. After reading tons of articles and comparing products and such, it is clear to me what Microsoft needs to do in order to not only survive, but somehow improve.

Release Operating Systems More Often

One issue we've seen with them is their lack of dependability because of operating system vulnerabilities. Rather than continuously putting out new patches and fixes each month, they should just mimic Apple (like they do for their OS anyways). Release an operating system every year to 1.5 years. This would make it easier to insert current tech features into the OS, and periodically reinforce security issues. The whole OS could be progressively improved, and it would also make a great way to keep hackers from figuring out the code. If its always changing, then its less likely to be hacked and exploited. It would also provide improved revenue.

I understand that the cost to support all of the new products at this measure would increase, but that's another area where Microsoft could make money, in offering support contracts with every OS that they release. This would guarantee enough revenue to handle the support. Every 3 to 5 years, they could just drop support for the oldest OS, as they do now. This would prompt people to upgrade every couple of years to keep up with new changes.


Innovate

Let's face it. When was the last time that Microsoft actually came up with something original? Do you mean to tell me that with billions of dollars flowing throughout that company that they can't just invent something new? They've been copying ideas long enough. Its hard to give somebody credit for their work, when most of it is copying their main competitors ideas 5 years after their competitor introduced the concept.


Read comments in the comment box

Come on, Microsoft! I've been reading article after article where people have been mentioning huge annoyances that have existed for years in Microsoft Operating systems. Why doesn't Microsoft address it? The registry? The false "Time remaining" stats when you're copying files? The copy feature that quits in the middle of copying a huge amount of files if there is one error, and you have no idea what files are copied are what ones didn't make it. These issues have existed for many releases. Listen to us and fix them please!!!!

Of course, I'm no expert. I know that there are probably a few flaws in my rant, but I think that the ideas are still something Microsoft should consider. If they keep going in the same direction like they are now, my daughter might be reading about them in her history books when she grows up.

Links and Thoughts #4

Thought: Sorry for the delay on the latest post, for all 0.5 of you who actually read this. I was out of town for the weekend.

Need to find some good uses for duct tape but run out of ideas? Check these out:

http://www.ducktapeclub.com/ducktivities/


Interesting little blog with some facts about how crappy things are with electricity:

Click here to read the blog


Did you grow up playing video games? If so, then you must read this article:

read article here

Still have a tape recorder? Is it big and bulky? Compare it with the first videotape recorder ever:

Kicking it really old school

Links and Thoughts #3

Why is this news? And why did I post it on my blog..oh well. If you really care about running out of names for hurricanes, this link is for you:


Click here for the article

This is something you should read if you have problems remember names like I do. Seriously, just ask...now what was their name...?


Click here for the article


$150 computer? Yes, its true:


Click here for the article

Not that I plan on doing it myself, but its interesting to see why other people think that Linux is better than the alternatives:

Click here for the article

From a guy who himself seems to be a Microsoft Basher, here is an interesting article on Media Bias with Technology Reporting:

Click here for the article


This is one of the coolest time-lapse videos I've ever seen. It tracks the development of this 2005 season of hurricanes. Simply amazing:

Click here for the article

Thought: This season is proving to be one of the least exciting sports seasons for me. No interesting baseball drama, the NFL has been turned upside down with hurricane influence, immoral boat parties, and long-time crappy teams doing great. And will somebody let me know when the hockey season starts? Oh wait, it did? Don't get me wrong, I'm still paying attention, but its just not as exciting.

Links and Thoughts #2

short video of the forth-coming JAVA Operating system

http://www.darlugo.com/?id=124&p=10

thought: Dear PC World. Can you publish just one edition of your magazine that doesn't have a huge article on either spyware, viruses, or windows secrets that you act like nobody knows?

great commentary on "microsoft innovation", from a PC World columnist. He's harsh, but a lot of what he says makes sense.

Steven Manne's Commentary

test out the linux Operating System in your browser...very, very cool!!!

http://opensource.region-stuttgart.de/test_linux_desktop.php

John C. Dvorak sounds off on Microsoft's Incompetent Operating System:

Dvorak Commentary

Interesting concept on document filling for people who need better organization. Never tried it, but it looks like a good idea to try if I can ever get organized to do it... :-)

http://www.lise.jp/honyaku/noguchi.html

Tips to speed up your computers booting time (mostly for windows xp):

Windows Boot Speed Tips

thought: Is there anybody out there that uses Windows and likes it? Every article I read these days is a rant against them. Interesting, considering that they probably write their rants using a windows machine (credit for thought on that goes to Paul Fink). Even a recent pc world article was talking about "alternative operating systems" and discussed a Mac. Why? You would think that a magazine that is solely about PC's would stay away from Mac info. Maybe the writers DO use macs?



Like the new look? Let me know. Also, report any bad links to me, so they can be corrected. Thanks!!!

Links and Thoughts #1

Oh no, not another browser! Can't they just fix the ones we have??? Just kidding. This browser takes a different approach than all of the others. Particuarly in areas of social networking of bookmarks and stuff. Its called "Flock". Check out the article

Flock Article

Hate spam? Want to sign up for a service, but don't want stupid junk mail in your already-bombarded e-mail inbox? How about a disposable e-mail address. Yep, that's right disposable addresses are temporary and allow you to "use it and lose it" Check out a list of services that provide them.

Disposable E-mail account services


If you use firefox, and REALLY want to speed it up, check out this extension. I've not tried it myself, but the reviews are unanimous that it makes a huge difference in the speed of your browser. Now if only somebody could figure out a way to speed up the actualy launching of firefox. I swear it seems like hours when I first start it up in the morning. Must run on deisel or something. Update: I've tried it and it WORKS!!! Very fast indeed!!

http://fasterfox.mozdev.org/

Does the RIAA have any friends? Now they are suing satellite radio companies as well. I've heard that they will soon be suing individuals who hum any copyright protected tune while walking down the street.

RIAA to sue sattelite radio providers

Ok, so these are nerdy quotes, but if you like nerdy quotes, check them out. They are funny enough to rattle the pens out of your pocket protector.

Read them here


Random thoughts:

-Hockey started its season again last night...did anybody who's not wearing a Hockey Jersey at least 3 times a week notice?

-You know that people have blind spots when the media talks about how the Steelers will play better on Monday with a more prepared offensive line...uh, does anybody happen to be aware that our secondary has sucked for like 10 years or something? I give up. What's the point?

-So Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes are having a baby...that's about as relevant to my life as saying, "Somewhere out in a swamp, a crocodile just ate two of its newborn offspring for dinner".

-If you have dial-up and still surf the internet, be aware that most of what the web can now be used for has passed you by completely. Other than viewing websites and reading e-mail, you've reached your limit. Just thought I'd share.

-George Bush really hasn't said anything much different in the past year or so about our presence in Iraq or the war on terror. I get why we are there ,but I don't get why some of us are so dumb that we need 70 speeches from him to explain why we are there.

A little change in the direction of this blog.

The other day I read a very informative article on blogs and how they work. My first impression was that blogs were merely online diaries or commentaries on things. I've found that that is true in one case. Some people consider a blog to be more of an informative listing of interesting links with some commentary.

My blog has mostly been personal thoughts, with the occasional link or two. I'm going to turn that direction towards linking towards informative articles and commentaries that I encounter throughout the day. I hope that those who read this blog will find the links and minor commentaries a refreshing change from the drab and borrng opinions I've been spewing for about a year now. Of course, I will still comment on any interesting news in my pesonal life, but as a whole this blog is about to take another direction. Stay tuned, all you readers, for a new look and content.

Monday Morning Football Thoughts Week 4

Umm..uhh..there was football on? Sorry. The Steelers had a bye and there weren't any interesting matchups, so I ended up watching, well no football. Couldn't get into it. However, my thoughts about the results:

Cincinatti, Tampa Bay, Washington, and the Colts are undefeated....there's something really wrong about all of this. Kind of like some sort of reverse dream that shouldn't be happening. Cincinatti is offically on my "Scary teams the Steelers have to play" list. Speaking of which, the Chargers are now on the list, after a gigantic pummeling of the Patriots. Give the Pats some credit, they had no Rodney Harrison. THe WERE however, at home, which you would have thought might help them...not at all.

After watching Pittsburgh lose to New England, I'm kind of doubtful about their ability against the good teams. I'm just hoping that they can hold their own against what seems to be a new NFC North Juggernaut, Cincinatti Bengals. If they can defeat the Chargers this coming Monday night, it might sway my faith.

On a non-football related note, my brother Donovan is getting married in Cleveland this coming Saturday. I think I'm feeling as surreal as he probably is right now. Never pictured him having a wedding and getting married. Its a neat thing. I'm in the wedding, and very glad to be a part of it.