Thursday, December 25, 2008
Saturday, October 18, 2008
At Disneyland with their cousin
strange, except without the "kinda" part. No picture of her is
available.
Thursday, June 26, 2008
Monday, June 9, 2008
My coffee! Mybeautiful Coffee!!!
Well, they took away the automatic coffee machine from Nestle that does Lattes and Mochas and stuff. I guess it wasn't living up to its potential and, though we had bonded and shared many a conversation, it's gone on to bigger and better things. It barely even said goodbye... one day, I woke up, drove into work, and got coffee... that afternoon, it was gone.
Not even a note...
I liked being able to go in and push its buttons and make it react. It gave that same rush my kids get when they can work daddy up into a tizzy by leaving cut up bits of paper all over the carpet. It was my outlet, my friend, my confidante.
And now, there's a new coffee machine on the floor. It's a Keurig, makes little cups of coffee (no latte goodness to be found), and I think I shall name it Helga. Helga doesn't ask for much: Put in a little sealed cup of SOMETHING (which I shall refer to as "Schrodinger's coffee" because it's just as likely to be coffee as not) and hit a button, and Helga will deign to give you coffee.
Change is rough... I have to move on, I know, but it's going to take me a while to get over my last coffee maker... it made me feel things in a new way... it gave me free lattes... it...
[sip]
Hey, this is pretty good. I think I can make this work. I can change! I can change for Helga!
Maybe it'll work this time, I can change!
Not even a note...
I liked being able to go in and push its buttons and make it react. It gave that same rush my kids get when they can work daddy up into a tizzy by leaving cut up bits of paper all over the carpet. It was my outlet, my friend, my confidante.
And now, there's a new coffee machine on the floor. It's a Keurig, makes little cups of coffee (no latte goodness to be found), and I think I shall name it Helga. Helga doesn't ask for much: Put in a little sealed cup of SOMETHING (which I shall refer to as "Schrodinger's coffee" because it's just as likely to be coffee as not) and hit a button, and Helga will deign to give you coffee.
Change is rough... I have to move on, I know, but it's going to take me a while to get over my last coffee maker... it made me feel things in a new way... it gave me free lattes... it...
[sip]
Hey, this is pretty good. I think I can make this work. I can change! I can change for Helga!
Maybe it'll work this time, I can change!
Sunday, May 25, 2008
Once again into the breech!
The place is fun, but the aspect of knowing that can go when you want, for however long you want, and just enjoy what it gives instead of trying to get "the most things done" is just incredible.
I'm glad I can do this for them, they're worth it (at least, most of the time they are...)
Saturday, May 24, 2008
Buy me candy...NOW!!
buy popcorn while mom and Fox held seats. T didn't want to take a
picture with the guy dressed as Indy in the lobby, but taking a pic in
front of $1,500 worth of candy is fine...
She's a girl after my own heart. Now I'm going to try to get a
picture of her next to the 10-foot Hulk...
Friday, May 23, 2008
Catch up with the Kidlets
So, it's that time when I notice that my blog has been neglected. I'm working about 60-70 hours a week right now (but team members are starting soon, so I won't be doing 4 jobs anymore)...
I have some pictures to put up of the kids, they're really enjoying the Silver Pass way more than I really expected. Honestly, I probably should have seen this coming, they were bound to enjoy it. I had no idea Dixie would like it this much, too. What was I thinking?!
Honestly...
I'm not sure what to do about that girl... the boy's kinda crazy, too, but at least he smiles on command!
These pictures were taken at the cannon outside the trading post in Frontier Land. The kids are heavy into pin-trading. Talia wants everything Stitch-related, Fox just wants the rarest pins that can be found.
They get along pretty well when they're there, they usually just bug their parents, but I think that's what all kids are born to do. I mean, of course, I never caused MY parents any trouble at all. Perish the thought.
In the end, they're both very cute. They get along OK, particularly when they have something they WANT to do. We recently went out to go see the new Narnia movie, and spent a few minutes at Barnes & Noble before the show. I wouldn't have guessed they'd sit together and read to each other. Kinda amazed me, but it also made a great picture when I found them all tucked away...
Saturday, May 10, 2008
Sunday, May 4, 2008
Busy Busy Busy
Nothing for a while, I've been quite busy at work. I'm pretty impressed with the caliber of people I work with. Normally, at a job, you can point to the small core of "A" players, a good number of supporting "B" players, and a pretty large majority of fair-to-middlin "C" players.
That just hasn't been the case here. The organization is quite "top heavy" talent wise, which is a very refreshing thing to find. I guess I need to keep that going by putting together a solid team and making sure my game's at the right level. I'm really glad for that kind of challenge, it's a good problem to have!
Another thing that I find incredible about this job is the variety of the people I support and interact with. The people know their job (very well) and have a passion for what they do, and I am very much enjoying supporting them.
That just hasn't been the case here. The organization is quite "top heavy" talent wise, which is a very refreshing thing to find. I guess I need to keep that going by putting together a solid team and making sure my game's at the right level. I'm really glad for that kind of challenge, it's a good problem to have!
Another thing that I find incredible about this job is the variety of the people I support and interact with. The people know their job (very well) and have a passion for what they do, and I am very much enjoying supporting them.
Saturday, May 3, 2008
The Paperless life
I've decided that I just don't have the time to be filing and filing, so I'm attempting to go paperless. I went to Staples a little while back and bought a scanner to scan in bills and paperwork. It's a Canon CanoScan LIDE 90 (CNET Review).
the LIDE is nice because it gets all the power it needs over the USB line, so no brick and no second plug. That makes it convenient. the form is nice (light and thin) for a decent price and decent quality. The secret is to be able to tuck it away, get it and attach it when it's needed, and then tuck it back away when you're done.
... Hmm, that sounded dirty...
On my MacBook Pro, the software's really pretty painless, although I don't like how the default software always wants to open up its own organizer/filer when it's done, I'm much happier just in the file system!
Here are my secrets to scanning happiness:
1. Get a shredder
Sounds lame to say that part of scanning is to buy a shredder, but if you're going to be dumping out all the files and paperwork, let's not do stupid things. I like the shredder I got at Fry's, but to each his/her/their/its own. This is not only a perfect opportunity to get organized, but an amazing de-clutter opportunity. Make the most of it!
Last and not least, never underestimate how catharsis of shredding a bill. I've never felt so free as when I've shredded my monthly mortgage bill.
2. Make sure you're saving to open file formats
Of the aborted or painful times I've tried to go paperless in the past, the downfall was always with how onerous the technology was/is and how painful and time-consuming it is. In the old days, it was slow 100dpi scanners and PaperPort. If you've used and love PaperPort, I'm sorry. I hated it. It basically kept things represented internally, with everything proprietary. All those records are sitting dormant on my PC collecting electron-dust because I don't have the software and the format is so closed.
Nowadays, most scanners will save right to PDF, so you're not even dealing with pictures, either. I love this, especially on my mac, because the PDF capabilities are so well integrated, but I hear from LifeHacker that there are options for PC people, too (I just haven't booted my PC in about 7 months, so how would I know). I like the PDF because it's a very open file type for what I need, and it's very easy to use, and the drivers now make them moderately compressed (no more 10MB single page scans).
Another feature of using PDF -- just stack your monthly statements/bills in the same PDF! Why deal dozens of files for a single vendor? I just have one landscaping PDF file, and every month, I take the new scan and just append it to the existing bill. Sure, you want to why I bother, and the simple reason is that a person rarely cares about finding all the June bills, but if you have a problem with the gardener overcharging you (I'm looking right at you, Mr. Lee!), then it's a very common occurrence for you to always need the current and last couple bills, why not have them in the same file where you can attach notes and running commentary easily?
3. Use the file system for organizing
We're all so used to using the file system for storage, I would think that any halfway-decent geek just doesn't need a database or a proprietary format for storing their PDFs, just use the ol' FS!
Most software for scanning should give you a way to save files, just make sure you get to choose. If it's going to demand you scan and save to its database/software and then do an export, I say start looking for other software. Like I mentioned earlier, this is one spot where I think the CanoScan could improve. Whenever you scan something with the one-button press, it lets me decide where to save the file, but then it opens up its manager which takes a good 30-45 seconds of spinning beachball land to figure out that there's a new file. In the meantime, I've already renamed the file and moved it to its final resting place.
4. Store immediately
One thing that I have in common between my scanning and archiving habits and in my file management habits at my new job: Looking for, retrieving and touching old files is not desired. Just get it in, get it stored, be done with it. I scan page after page of the important stuff (no, I don't scan junk mail, I'm not in this for the geek points), and then save the PDF and move them to their location in the tree. I've seen so many people (and I did this in Windows) who move them to "new" or "need to pay" or something, then try to move them where they belong later.
a) This is annoying. If the scan is a 401k statement, it belongs with the 401k statements, not a "to be read" or "new" folder. Get it filed! if you don't, the system breaks down, and the first time you can't easily find the thing you need to find or you miss that you need to pay that bill, then your filing system has failed you (or vice versa).
b) In my approach with PDFs and storing multiple bills in the same PDF, this isn't even possible! I'd be moving around my entire history of gardener bills every time a new one came in, that's hardly a good move.
5. Aliases
In my former worlds (windows 3.1 - windows XP, OS/2, and so on), when I tried this, I learned this lesson early, but then how do I easily see the bills that I have to pay?? I used to make copies, or in (ewww) PaperPort, I'd make the scan a different color on the label, or put a post-it-note on it to tell me to pay it by Tuesday.
This one time [at band camp], I went to delete the note and whoops! I deleted the doc instead! That was the end of that tool. I then went to making copies of documents in multiple folders. First, one went in its final location (see tip #4), and then another one went in "pay"... until one day instead of copying I moved the file (again, my whoops, but seriously!) and when I paid it, I deleted it. I Didn't realize it until the next month's bill came in and I had that panic attack of "Where's March's bill?? wtf!"... by then the ubiquitous trash can had long since been emptied.
This is easily solved in OS X with Aliases in a folder on my desktop named "Things to take care of" (btw, not just scanned documents go here, but any form, email reference, or other major item I need to handle at home). Finish the task, delete the alias, job done. Never "touch" that original file, don't even look for it. Just do what you need, annotate the alias, and delete the alias. The annotation is an added bonus because you can open the file from the "take care of" folder and put notes inside the PDF when you pay it (like "I paid this!") and it updates the original (stored in its nice little virtual cubicle) without you having to hunt for it.
See now, that's not so hard, is it? On the note of converting any cabinets/boxes or other stores of paper records... I say don't try and go crazy. If I ever need something out of a file, I take the opportunity to scan the file, if it's not too heavy and doesn't give me Carpal Tunnel syndrome shuffling papers through the scanner. I've seen people with the "I'm going to go completely digital and scan everything I own" twinkle in their eye, and they're funny to watch (as long as they're not related to you and your safety and well being does not depend on them).
Good luck, I think it's worth it!
the LIDE is nice because it gets all the power it needs over the USB line, so no brick and no second plug. That makes it convenient. the form is nice (light and thin) for a decent price and decent quality. The secret is to be able to tuck it away, get it and attach it when it's needed, and then tuck it back away when you're done.
... Hmm, that sounded dirty...
On my MacBook Pro, the software's really pretty painless, although I don't like how the default software always wants to open up its own organizer/filer when it's done, I'm much happier just in the file system!
Here are my secrets to scanning happiness:
1. Get a shredder
Sounds lame to say that part of scanning is to buy a shredder, but if you're going to be dumping out all the files and paperwork, let's not do stupid things. I like the shredder I got at Fry's, but to each his/her/their/its own. This is not only a perfect opportunity to get organized, but an amazing de-clutter opportunity. Make the most of it!
Last and not least, never underestimate how catharsis of shredding a bill. I've never felt so free as when I've shredded my monthly mortgage bill.
2. Make sure you're saving to open file formats
Of the aborted or painful times I've tried to go paperless in the past, the downfall was always with how onerous the technology was/is and how painful and time-consuming it is. In the old days, it was slow 100dpi scanners and PaperPort. If you've used and love PaperPort, I'm sorry. I hated it. It basically kept things represented internally, with everything proprietary. All those records are sitting dormant on my PC collecting electron-dust because I don't have the software and the format is so closed.
Nowadays, most scanners will save right to PDF, so you're not even dealing with pictures, either. I love this, especially on my mac, because the PDF capabilities are so well integrated, but I hear from LifeHacker that there are options for PC people, too (I just haven't booted my PC in about 7 months, so how would I know). I like the PDF because it's a very open file type for what I need, and it's very easy to use, and the drivers now make them moderately compressed (no more 10MB single page scans).
Another feature of using PDF -- just stack your monthly statements/bills in the same PDF! Why deal dozens of files for a single vendor? I just have one landscaping PDF file, and every month, I take the new scan and just append it to the existing bill. Sure, you want to why I bother, and the simple reason is that a person rarely cares about finding all the June bills, but if you have a problem with the gardener overcharging you (I'm looking right at you, Mr. Lee!), then it's a very common occurrence for you to always need the current and last couple bills, why not have them in the same file where you can attach notes and running commentary easily?
3. Use the file system for organizing
We're all so used to using the file system for storage, I would think that any halfway-decent geek just doesn't need a database or a proprietary format for storing their PDFs, just use the ol' FS!Most software for scanning should give you a way to save files, just make sure you get to choose. If it's going to demand you scan and save to its database/software and then do an export, I say start looking for other software. Like I mentioned earlier, this is one spot where I think the CanoScan could improve. Whenever you scan something with the one-button press, it lets me decide where to save the file, but then it opens up its manager which takes a good 30-45 seconds of spinning beachball land to figure out that there's a new file. In the meantime, I've already renamed the file and moved it to its final resting place.
4. Store immediately
One thing that I have in common between my scanning and archiving habits and in my file management habits at my new job: Looking for, retrieving and touching old files is not desired. Just get it in, get it stored, be done with it. I scan page after page of the important stuff (no, I don't scan junk mail, I'm not in this for the geek points), and then save the PDF and move them to their location in the tree. I've seen so many people (and I did this in Windows) who move them to "new" or "need to pay" or something, then try to move them where they belong later.
a) This is annoying. If the scan is a 401k statement, it belongs with the 401k statements, not a "to be read" or "new" folder. Get it filed! if you don't, the system breaks down, and the first time you can't easily find the thing you need to find or you miss that you need to pay that bill, then your filing system has failed you (or vice versa).
b) In my approach with PDFs and storing multiple bills in the same PDF, this isn't even possible! I'd be moving around my entire history of gardener bills every time a new one came in, that's hardly a good move.
5. Aliases
In my former worlds (windows 3.1 - windows XP, OS/2, and so on), when I tried this, I learned this lesson early, but then how do I easily see the bills that I have to pay?? I used to make copies, or in (ewww) PaperPort, I'd make the scan a different color on the label, or put a post-it-note on it to tell me to pay it by Tuesday.
This one time [at band camp], I went to delete the note and whoops! I deleted the doc instead! That was the end of that tool. I then went to making copies of documents in multiple folders. First, one went in its final location (see tip #4), and then another one went in "pay"... until one day instead of copying I moved the file (again, my whoops, but seriously!) and when I paid it, I deleted it. I Didn't realize it until the next month's bill came in and I had that panic attack of "Where's March's bill?? wtf!"... by then the ubiquitous trash can had long since been emptied.
This is easily solved in OS X with Aliases in a folder on my desktop named "Things to take care of" (btw, not just scanned documents go here, but any form, email reference, or other major item I need to handle at home). Finish the task, delete the alias, job done. Never "touch" that original file, don't even look for it. Just do what you need, annotate the alias, and delete the alias. The annotation is an added bonus because you can open the file from the "take care of" folder and put notes inside the PDF when you pay it (like "I paid this!") and it updates the original (stored in its nice little virtual cubicle) without you having to hunt for it.
See now, that's not so hard, is it? On the note of converting any cabinets/boxes or other stores of paper records... I say don't try and go crazy. If I ever need something out of a file, I take the opportunity to scan the file, if it's not too heavy and doesn't give me Carpal Tunnel syndrome shuffling papers through the scanner. I've seen people with the "I'm going to go completely digital and scan everything I own" twinkle in their eye, and they're funny to watch (as long as they're not related to you and your safety and well being does not depend on them).
Good luck, I think it's worth it!
Saturday, April 26, 2008
Sunday, April 20, 2008
Saturday, April 19, 2008
Sunday, April 13, 2008
Heading off to Vegas
Well, I'm getting ready to head out to Las Vegas for a convention. This week has been an amazing whirlwind adventure, and it doesn't look like it's going to stop anytime soon.
I've started my new job, maintaining a Digital Asset Management system. It's kinda fun referring to the "DAM System" in meetings and casual conversation (yes, I am older than 9, but I don't feel like it, so you can't make me act that way). With this system comes worldwide responsibility for helping all the different business units get those digital assets back and forth so that they can be worked on and used.
There are a lot of parallels with the film-based world, as these assets need to be produced, cut, edited, delivered, tracked for different languages, and played out to the world. Even though the technology is leading edge, this is the first job that my parents may really understand and relate to what I do.
So now, I'm off to Vegas for NAB (National Association of Broadcasters). It's going to be interesting, who knows if it'll be FUN :)
I've started my new job, maintaining a Digital Asset Management system. It's kinda fun referring to the "DAM System" in meetings and casual conversation (yes, I am older than 9, but I don't feel like it, so you can't make me act that way). With this system comes worldwide responsibility for helping all the different business units get those digital assets back and forth so that they can be worked on and used.
There are a lot of parallels with the film-based world, as these assets need to be produced, cut, edited, delivered, tracked for different languages, and played out to the world. Even though the technology is leading edge, this is the first job that my parents may really understand and relate to what I do.
So now, I'm off to Vegas for NAB (National Association of Broadcasters). It's going to be interesting, who knows if it'll be FUN :)
Saturday, March 29, 2008
New tires
It will be a while before she gets that I'm mocking her here. I love having kids!
Friday, March 28, 2008
Mac vs PC Pic
Original's here: zu1tnm.jpg (PNG Image, 500x715 pixels)
I love this! This makes my day! I use both, I'm verging on becoming a Mac Fanboy, but I still cling to using both for whatever they're good at (if anything, I'm a Perl Fanboy). I just love things like this and the Zune phone parody that someone did...
Seriously, these just rock!
What other good Mac vs. PC and anti-Microsoft jokes are out there?
Wednesday, March 26, 2008
No More Training Wheels!!!
Today, F-man rode his bike without training wheels! Mommy took the wheels off and started him off on the grass in the yard. Like a trooper, he balanced on the bike and pedaled for a few feet before tipping a little.
We need to get a bike that's the right size for him and get the tires inflated (bike was from last fall, so it's in a bit of disrepair.. who knew it would come out of mothballs in March!)
The boy rocks! he did an awesome job and we're as proud of him as we can be!
We need to get a bike that's the right size for him and get the tires inflated (bike was from last fall, so it's in a bit of disrepair.. who knew it would come out of mothballs in March!)
The boy rocks! he did an awesome job and we're as proud of him as we can be!
Harry Potter Scooter Kid
What I learned from my daughter:
Scootin' around outside is only fun in a Barbie helmet, bunch'a pads and with pen marks on your face to make you look like Harry Potter. I don't know where the evil little pointed beard came from, must by Mommy's touch to the costume to lend it that certain air of truthfulness :)
My son had what he described as the skunk look. A colored over nose was as far as we went because what he wanted was for us to color his eyes red. Sure, it's an idea... but after careful consideration, we decided maybe next time.
We went around the neighborhood and then T practiced her scooting while F looked for bugs in the yard. ahh to be a kid again. I just listened to podcasts and giggled at how silly they are.
Love those kids!
UPDATE: The whole barbie helmet and Happy Potter pen coloring doesn't work on adults. No, there won't be any pictures :)
Tuesday, March 25, 2008
Big News
So, today the "big news" came out at work: I'm leaving for another job.
The opportunity is awesome, it really feels like a dream job (does every job feel that way right when you accept it?) and I'm looking forward to it with an extreme amount of enthusiasm. It's almost child-like wide-eyed wonder at the potential.
At my current job, the news that I was leaving was announced today, after they put some things in place for the transition. I'm sad in a way to leave, it's not like it was worthless and I was hating it, or that I've been actively searching and scrounging for a new job... neither of those things are the case. In "Situational Leadership" terms, I was totally D3/D4 on my job. Really on the way up and feeling empowered and ready to make a difference. I worked as many projects as people that had been there for years, and we had a lot of stuff going into production.
Then again, this new job is a dream-job, so whatcha gonna do?
So, now the "two weeks transition" has officially begun. Lots of work to transition, lots of projects to bring other people up to speed on, lots of users to talk to (and in some cases, calm down)... This is an interesting time in any job. The future is known, the timeline is set, and the die is cast, so we move on down the road.
I can't wait!
The opportunity is awesome, it really feels like a dream job (does every job feel that way right when you accept it?) and I'm looking forward to it with an extreme amount of enthusiasm. It's almost child-like wide-eyed wonder at the potential.
At my current job, the news that I was leaving was announced today, after they put some things in place for the transition. I'm sad in a way to leave, it's not like it was worthless and I was hating it, or that I've been actively searching and scrounging for a new job... neither of those things are the case. In "Situational Leadership" terms, I was totally D3/D4 on my job. Really on the way up and feeling empowered and ready to make a difference. I worked as many projects as people that had been there for years, and we had a lot of stuff going into production.
Then again, this new job is a dream-job, so whatcha gonna do?
So, now the "two weeks transition" has officially begun. Lots of work to transition, lots of projects to bring other people up to speed on, lots of users to talk to (and in some cases, calm down)... This is an interesting time in any job. The future is known, the timeline is set, and the die is cast, so we move on down the road.
I can't wait!
Monday, March 24, 2008
Feelin' Good
I don't know what exactly is contributing to my mood, but I feel great today! Well, that's not entirely true. I do know something big that's helping my mood, it's the knowledge that things are going to get much better for me and my family soon, we're making some positive changes.
Can't say much more about it, other than I can't wait for the news to be "out there" so that it's not just something bubbling up inside me and my immediate family.
I think there's also some happiness in the air because the kids are out on spring break. They have so much energy and they're so thrilled that they aren't going to school today. I'm impressed, my normal "week off" routine when I was a kid was to sleep in until my mother got mad at me, and then for about an extra hour or so after that! The kids today have asked a couple times if it's a school day and if they have to go to school. It's so cute how excited they get when you give them the same answer.
I'm hoping they don't drive my wife too crazy. I mean, they're little, but they're crafty!
Can't say much more about it, other than I can't wait for the news to be "out there" so that it's not just something bubbling up inside me and my immediate family.
I think there's also some happiness in the air because the kids are out on spring break. They have so much energy and they're so thrilled that they aren't going to school today. I'm impressed, my normal "week off" routine when I was a kid was to sleep in until my mother got mad at me, and then for about an extra hour or so after that! The kids today have asked a couple times if it's a school day and if they have to go to school. It's so cute how excited they get when you give them the same answer.
I'm hoping they don't drive my wife too crazy. I mean, they're little, but they're crafty!
Sunday, March 23, 2008
Saturday, March 22, 2008
Coloring Easter Eggs
We colored a bunch of Easter eggs tonight. Here are some selected pictures... If you have kids that are older than this, remember this fondly... If you have tiny kids, prepare yourselves for a special kind of parental hell in which everything in your home makes a concerted attempt to become multi-colored and gaudy.
Luckily, my house is already multi-colored and gaudy, so I don't think anyone will be able to tell.
Not to be outdone, the little girl also had her hands in the muck and mire and was makin' little egglets. She had one in red and then proceeded to dump it in green, at which point my wife said "Oh No! Now it's going to be brown!" Well, she just loves her little turd-egg!
At our house, the Easter Bunny is one sick puppy!
Missing tooth!
Close one. I'm sure the tooth fairy will catch her tonight!
Something tells me "She" better!
And the cat is saying...
Actually the cat loves it and was purring the whole time. She even lets the kid put her in a bucket and carry her.
I just don't know what to make of it.
Wednesday, March 19, 2008
Monday, March 17, 2008
Happy St. Patty's Day
Before you ask, yes I'm wearing green.
The one time in junior high that I didn't scarred me for life. I never felt like such a pariah.
This afternoon l, I'm out of the office on an errand, and I am at a wonderful place. Whereas my work's idea of St. Patrick's Day is a curt "hey look, green!" and then a disapproving look-- I digress.
My errand (more later) brought me to this atrium of an office building. The atrium is green trimmed and they've gone all-out!
There's a DJ, lots of freebies, people dressed up, and everyone having a great time. I took a pic and will upload it when I get the chance tonight. It is pretty cool, everyone is laughing and smiling, which is a bit of a shift from my normal day.
Sunday, March 16, 2008
RSS + Google + iPhone = Bliss
I'm addicted to my RSS feeds. They're my break in the day and my dose of reality (and comedy) when I get home from a crappy day at work.
Anyway, I just found out a friend of mine hadn't yet experienced the holy trinity of RSS: Your Favorite Feeds, Google Reader, and an iPhone. I just can't think of a better way to stay connected!
If you're wondering what I'm talking about, it's pretty simple. First, do you know what RSS feeds are? If not, I envy you, because the world's about to open up to you and your days of a thousand bookmarks and your list of sites to go to every morning just disappeared.
[Noob alert... skip this part if you know what RSS feeds are]
RSS Feeds
RSS (Really Simple Syndication) is a way of sending out updates and receiving them without having to visit the site everyday to see if something's changed. Got a friend on Flickr and sometimes forget to check their photostream? Read a webcomic (xkcd.com ftw!) but get tired of checking in to see if a new comic has been released? Listen to podcasts?
Anyway, I avoided RSS for a long time simply because I didn't get it. I'm like that with a lot of new technologies... either I am rabid about it because I do get it (which doesn't happen often), or I'm one of those people who just sit slack-jawed on the sidelines and say "whuh?!" when people talk about it because the implications pass right by me.
[ok, Noobs, you've been schoold a tad on what they are. Any questions, check out What Is RSS?]
Google Reader
Anyway, Google reader is a very functional RSS aggregator and reader. I am going to show a bit of my geekiness here and say it is my favorite simply because it has vi-like keystrokes so that you don't need to use your mouse as much. Seriously, I will never deny being a geek.
The iPhone
So why google reader on the iPhone? Well, it's simply because of the amazing interface google has on the iPhone. I went to the config tab (labeled "More") on my iPhone and made the Reader one of the tabs across the top. Now when work's got me down, I'm only seconds away from my rss feeds...
The Benefits
One of the coolest benefits on the iPhone vs. the computer is that they stay in synch. Anything I read on one is automatically marked read, so I don't spend any time wondering "Ok, does the phone know I read this on the computer?"
Second, the interface is great. When I find a feed, it's simple as pie to add it in Firefox to my google reader
Third, sharing or marking items is easy in Google Reader.
Fourth, the interface for Google mail/reader/news is so slick on the iPhone that it makes a great bragging point to people who only use their phone for SMS!
What are the RSS Feeds I have? I'm not going to put links in... half the fun is finding them.
Enjoy! If you already know about RSS, that's great... If this helps, then I'm glad, because it helped me save a lot of time and that silly little "this is my primary list of bookmarks" page that I wrote way back in 1998.
Anyway, I just found out a friend of mine hadn't yet experienced the holy trinity of RSS: Your Favorite Feeds, Google Reader, and an iPhone. I just can't think of a better way to stay connected!
If you're wondering what I'm talking about, it's pretty simple. First, do you know what RSS feeds are? If not, I envy you, because the world's about to open up to you and your days of a thousand bookmarks and your list of sites to go to every morning just disappeared.
[Noob alert... skip this part if you know what RSS feeds are]
RSS Feeds
RSS (Really Simple Syndication) is a way of sending out updates and receiving them without having to visit the site everyday to see if something's changed. Got a friend on Flickr and sometimes forget to check their photostream? Read a webcomic (xkcd.com ftw!) but get tired of checking in to see if a new comic has been released? Listen to podcasts?
Anyway, I avoided RSS for a long time simply because I didn't get it. I'm like that with a lot of new technologies... either I am rabid about it because I do get it (which doesn't happen often), or I'm one of those people who just sit slack-jawed on the sidelines and say "whuh?!" when people talk about it because the implications pass right by me.
[ok, Noobs, you've been schoold a tad on what they are. Any questions, check out What Is RSS?]
Google Reader
Anyway, Google reader is a very functional RSS aggregator and reader. I am going to show a bit of my geekiness here and say it is my favorite simply because it has vi-like keystrokes so that you don't need to use your mouse as much. Seriously, I will never deny being a geek.
The iPhone
So why google reader on the iPhone? Well, it's simply because of the amazing interface google has on the iPhone. I went to the config tab (labeled "More") on my iPhone and made the Reader one of the tabs across the top. Now when work's got me down, I'm only seconds away from my rss feeds...
The Benefits
One of the coolest benefits on the iPhone vs. the computer is that they stay in synch. Anything I read on one is automatically marked read, so I don't spend any time wondering "Ok, does the phone know I read this on the computer?"
Second, the interface is great. When I find a feed, it's simple as pie to add it in Firefox to my google reader
Third, sharing or marking items is easy in Google Reader.
Fourth, the interface for Google mail/reader/news is so slick on the iPhone that it makes a great bragging point to people who only use their phone for SMS!
What are the RSS Feeds I have? I'm not going to put links in... half the fun is finding them.
- Lolcats (icanhascheezburger.com) (Yeah, I like cats)
- /. (slashdot.org) (great tech news)
- TWiT TV (This Week in Tech. Podcasts I trust and enjoy listening to)
- xkcd.com (a web comic for people with schooling) (And Me!)
- Calvin and Hobbes Unofficial stream (old C&H cartoons)
- Daily Dilbert (because I work for a living)
- Quote of the Day
- 43folders Blog (43folders.com)
Enjoy! If you already know about RSS, that's great... If this helps, then I'm glad, because it helped me save a lot of time and that silly little "this is my primary list of bookmarks" page that I wrote way back in 1998.
Ack a lizard!
About 10 minutes after they caught it, their cousin had given an impromptu lesson on lizards and how they "work" (he has some kinda freaky lizard at home. Seriously his mom, my sister, is strange). Oh, if you're reading this, Hi Sis! Pay no attention...
After that, they noticed that the lizard was in the process of shedding its skin, so the kids took turns "helping". I don't know if it's considered help from the lizard's perspective, he didn't look too happy.
In this afternoon, the lizard learned a couple things:
1. Kids are scary (good luck, I've been telling people that forever!)
2. He can fly (with a little help), but only once or twice before one of the adults interceded
3. (pay attention, all reptiles and backyard critters!) "underneath a roof tile on the side of the house" sucks as a hiding place.
Friday, March 14, 2008
Woo Hoo, SDK Baby!
I am a geek. I embrace it, I revel in it, it's on my license plate, and it used to be apparent by how many electronic gadgets I carried around... This included my Palm (later my treo 650p), my cell phone(s) [I changed them out ever 6-8 months, so it's not worth listing], blackberry, iPod, whatever!
Now I just carry that damn blackberry and my iPhone. Please understand, I love my iPhone. In some states, the love I feel for my iPhone would be considered illegal in addition to just being creepy. I don't go to those states anymore (I'm lookin' right at you, Alabama!) This is actually my second one, as I recently upgraded to the 16gb version from the 8gb I've had since July.
What to say, it's pretty cool. I was running a jailbroken 1.1.2 firmware, but with the new phone, I'm on 1.1.4 and I restored my wife's phone and updated to 1.1.4. The only thing I miss is the Taskbar Notifier applet, honestly. A little reminder wherever you were that you had a text message or an email waiting for you. Sure, I went nuts in the beginning with all the little applets, had to restore the phone a couple times while wandering around in terminal [yeah, don't do that...] or screwing up the configs/plists for my ringtones [don't do that, either].
Now, I want to see what apps are going to be built using the SDK... I like the comments at /. because they kinda get to the heart of it from a geek standpoint
- what's going to be possible?
- What's going to be allowed?
- What is the killer app going to be?
So, I registered and downloaded the SDK. I'm a noob at Objective C, though I've been coding scripting and other languages for years, and staring at the big empty window... or rather staring at the big empty black screen of the simulated iPhone on my Mac's desktop, I find myself asking a simple question:
What's a good app for the iPhone? I'm not a big graphics guy, but I'll tell you, I would like a password holder that lives on the phone and not in the cloud... What else?
Now I just carry that damn blackberry and my iPhone. Please understand, I love my iPhone. In some states, the love I feel for my iPhone would be considered illegal in addition to just being creepy. I don't go to those states anymore (I'm lookin' right at you, Alabama!) This is actually my second one, as I recently upgraded to the 16gb version from the 8gb I've had since July.
What to say, it's pretty cool. I was running a jailbroken 1.1.2 firmware, but with the new phone, I'm on 1.1.4 and I restored my wife's phone and updated to 1.1.4. The only thing I miss is the Taskbar Notifier applet, honestly. A little reminder wherever you were that you had a text message or an email waiting for you. Sure, I went nuts in the beginning with all the little applets, had to restore the phone a couple times while wandering around in terminal [yeah, don't do that...] or screwing up the configs/plists for my ringtones [don't do that, either].
Now, I want to see what apps are going to be built using the SDK... I like the comments at /. because they kinda get to the heart of it from a geek standpoint
- what's going to be possible?
- What's going to be allowed?
- What is the killer app going to be?
So, I registered and downloaded the SDK. I'm a noob at Objective C, though I've been coding scripting and other languages for years, and staring at the big empty window... or rather staring at the big empty black screen of the simulated iPhone on my Mac's desktop, I find myself asking a simple question:
What's a good app for the iPhone? I'm not a big graphics guy, but I'll tell you, I would like a password holder that lives on the phone and not in the cloud... What else?
Lazy cats
beds... Btw they wouldn't move and got mad at me when I made the bed
over them!
Attack of the Girl Scouts!
I've got a fever... and the only prescription is MORE COWBELL!
My wife made this shirt for me, it's probably my favorite shirt ever, she'd never seen the landmark SNL Skit behind it. If you haven't, shame on you, just try out youtube on a random day and you'll find 500 versions of it, but no link will live for long.
Here goes anyway:
Cowbell Sketch at Liveleak.com
Success at the speech meet!
T is second from the right, of course she climbed up on the counter. Pic should have been better, but some idiot (moi) took it...
So my kids had a speech meet today.
T-belle did a bible verse (john 4:7-11) and F-man did Dylan Thomas' "Do Not Go Gentle into that Good Night"
T was stellar and beautiful as she did her verse flawlessly. She got a red ribbon for her rating of "excellent!"
F got into it as he was reciting and by the end, you could tell he was in another world and speaking from his heart. He got a blue ribbon and a rating of "superior."
Both kids pretty much moved dad (and mom) to tears!
I love them, I'm impressed with how well they did!
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