PortableApps.com

PortableApps.com | Your Digital Life, Anywhere™: "A portable app is a computer program that you can carry around with you on a portable device and use on any Windows computer. When your USB thumbdrive, portable hard drive, iPod or other portable device is plugged in, you have access to your software and personal data just as you would on your own PC. And when you unplug, none of your personal data is left behind."

Trojans get surprised...

The University of Texas Longhorns shocked the Trojans and beat 'em at their (virtual) home field and became the National Champions. Here's a couple of quotes from USC that show the difference between being gracious and not.

Pete Carroll: "It's been wonderful doing what we've been doing, it's too bad it had to end. We just couldn't get it done."
Matt Leinert: "I still think we're a better football team, they just made the plays in the end."

Williams Tower - Houston TX

This is a shot of the Williams Tower (formerly Transco Tower). I took this on New Year's day from a neighborhood across the 610 Loop from the Tower. Once again, the night snapshot mode of my SD450 gives me a nice photo, where my A10 would have given me a black (or mostly black) image.

Twue

You can pick a banjo and you can pick your friends, but you shouldn't pick your friend's banjo.

Owokee Beer

When I was in college, I was living in the dorm for the two weeks between the spring semester and summer. I thought that I was the only person in the entire dorm. One morning, I walked out of my room and saw another guy putting out his garbage. We were both shocked that we weren't the only ones in the building, so we spoke. He asked if I drank beer and I said I did. He said he had some "Owokee" beer and I should come by after work and have one. All day, I looked forward to this exotic beer from the Orient that my new Asian friend would expose me to. The friendship was short-lived however, because when I showed up handed me an Old Milwaukee.

How to switch to GMAIL

How to switch to GMAIL (documented by Google):

Switching to a new email address can be a pain, but it doesn't have to be. To get personalized help on how to switch to Gmail, enter the domain for the email address you no longer want to use, and click 'Help Me Switch'. Or view general instructions on switching from any email address. Change is good. It can be easy too.

Glad it's over...

Today, for the first time since Thursday morning, I don't see the above image every time I look in the mirror. The truck should get about 35% better gas mileage without the trailer on the way to Houston on Saturday.

The Mighty Mississippi

I took this from the Visitor's Center in Mississippi at about 5:30PM yesterday. I used the night vision feature of my new camera (Canon SD450) and love this shot.

908.2 miles in one day

We left Round Rock, TX at about 7:45 yesterday morning. We arrived in Fort Payne, AL this morning at 12:15. That means we averaged about 55MPH. We started with a full tank of gas and filled up once in each state (Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi & Alabama). We were asleep as we hit the pillow and were both up by 8:30 this morning.

So, to recap:
Miles: 908.2
States: 4
Average Speed: 55
Bobcats observed: 1 (ask Amy)

Goodbye, Doug.

Thanks for all of your help. Amy and I wish you the best of luck in Atlanta. We'll try to make it there to visit you!

Stupidest email ever

I got an email yesterday at work that went to 167 people. The person that sent it was trying to figure out if their mailing list included everyone it should. She asked us to "Please let me know as soon as possible if you ARE NOT receiving these!".

My "Stolen" Hotel Clock

My wife gave me a clock for my desk. It came with a subscription to TIME magazine and it has a place for a picture. On a previous trip to Alabama, we stayed in a Holiday Inn and I kept the access card (electronic key). Amy didn't provide me with a picture to put in the clock, so one night I got bored and cut up the access card and put in the place for the photo. It now sits on my desk and several people have asked me where I got the clock and I always tell this story because everyone thinks I stole the clock.

Iraq's Election & Laundry Baskets

I noticed that Iraq held free elections today and I laughed at how low-tech they were. They had a big Tupperware container with the lid attached with Zipties. A slot was cut in the top. Then I remembered that the last time I voted in Round Rock, I put my ballot in a locked metal box with a slot cut in the top. The big plastic tub just looked funnier.

I bet it wasn't even Tupperware. It was probably Sterilite!

Business Card Rant

5 Things that will make me throw your business card away:

• Format the phone number with periods. (800) 555-1212 is the correct way to format a phone number. 800.555.1212 is not.
• Make it slick and shiny.
• Make sure your picture covers 33% of the surface area.
• Put a registered trademark after your job title. The one I'm looking at says "REALTOR®"
• Put some information on the card with such a small font that it looks like a squiggly line.
  

The business card a friend handed me a couple of days ago for a realtor meets the last four, but the phone number was formatted correctly.

Craftsman Toolbox

We've really made great strides at getting our house clean and organized. One of the worst areas are my workbenches. This is the answer to that. I bought both pieces for $149 (normally $219) at Sears.Com.

It was a fantastic online shopping experience. I ordered it Wednesday night when I got home from work (for store pickup). Friday, I ran by the Sears at Hancock Center. I walked to the (unattended) merchandise pickup area. There was a kiosk and I scanned the card I'd used to make the purchase. My name appeared on a TV on the wall with a timer that showed how long I'd been waiting. I had been there about 5 minutes, when a guy brought out the chest and cabinet on a hand truck and rolled it right out to the Jeep and loaded it.

I've ordered online for store pickup from other companies and it seems that each time, there's 5 minutes of confusion, followed by someone saying "OH! This is an online order!". This is after I've told them that I'm here to pick up an order that I placed online. Sears has this down to an art. I'm glad to see them doing things well, as I worked for them for almost three years while I was in college.

Sissy up your truck for the holidays...

iPod 101

For those of you who will receive (or have already received) an iPod for Christmas, Apple has put together all you need to know. Check it out at iPod 101!

"If you're a new iPod owner or simply need a refresher course on how to get the most out of your iPod, you've come to the right place. Welcome to iPod 101: Your guide to rockin' out, gettin' down, and boogieing with your iPod, iPod nano, iPod mini, or iPod shuffle."

TV Shows available on iTunes today

iTunes Music Store enhanced their television offerings this morning and the following shows are now available.
ABC

• Lost
• Desperate Housewives
• Night Stalker

Disney

• The Suite Life of Jack & Cody
• That's So Raven

NBC

• Law & Order
• The Office
• Surface
• The Tonight Show with Jay Leno
• Late Night with Conan O'Brien
• Alfred Hitchcock Presents
  
• Dragnet
• Adam-12
• Knight Rider

Sci-Fi

• Battlestar Galactica
• Battlestar Galactica Miniseries

USA

• Monk
  

YFML is coming today!

Welcome to Texas!

More storage, faster

I went to Fry's last night and picked up a Seagate 200GB hard drive. It was originally marked $139. It was on sale for $99 and there's a $50 rebate. I also bought an Airlink+ External USB 2.0 Enclosure for it for $35. This will give me a portable 200GB drive for $85. That's a great deal

Conversion to iTunes

I have never completely moved our CD collection to the computer. I've started and stopped a few times, but now that Amy is getting an White Apple 4 GB iPod Nano for Christmas, I am using iTunes to rip and convert our entire CD collection. We have more CD's than I thought, I've been working on it for a few evenings and I'm just now completing the C's. I'm using Amy's system and it has two optical drives. I have iTunes set so that when I insert a CD, it rips it, converts it to AAC format, then ejects the CD. Because of the two drives, it's working almost continuously.

Once the album has been stored in the iTunes Library, I run iTunes Art Importer to capture the album art. This way, the screen on the Nano will always show the album cover on the CD.

Mozilla Firefox 1.5 Released

Mozilla Firefox 1.5: "The final release of Mozilla Firefox 1.5 is now available for download from GetFirefox.com for most major operating systems or from the mirrors. Users of the release candidates should receive the update soon."

Worst fortune cookie fortune EVER!

"Don't behave with cold manners"

Rock & Roll Hall of Fame - New members

New York, New York, November 28, 2005 - The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Foundation today announced its 2006 Inductees.

The following artists will be inducted at the Twenty-First Annual Induction Ceremony, which will be held Monday, March 13th 2006 in New York at the Waldorf Astoria Hotel:

• Black Sabbath (Geezer Butler, Tony Iommi, Ozzy Osbourne and Bill Ward)
• Sex Pistols (Paul Cook, Steve Jones, Glen Matlock, Johnny Rotten, Sid Vicious)
• Lynyrd Skynyrd (Bob Burns, Allen Collins, Steve Gaines, Ed King, Billy Powell, Artimus Pyle, Gary Rossington, Ronnie Van Zant, Leon Wilkeson)
• Miles Davis
• Blondie (Clem Burke, Jimmy Destri, Nigel Harrison, Debbie Harry, Frank Infante, Chris Stein, Gary Valentine)

9 Boxes of Books and videos

Here are the nine boxes of books and videos that I took to Half-Price Books. They have been packed and unpacked and loaded and unloaded many times. We made sure to sift through them and get rid of the ones that mice had chewed on. There were probably 120 books and 25 VHS videos. I went to Half-Price Books with this whole pile of stuff. The employee checked my ID and entered that info in the computer and asked to be sure that I had time to wait until their offer. He then helped me unload the books and bring them into the store. He said I could wait on the couch. He called my name about 30-35 minutes later that 'The Offer' was ready. I walked up there with a big smile on my face and he said "We can offer you $20.25". I almost fell over. The way I saw it, my choices were limited to:

• Take the money
• Load the books back into the boxes, load them back into the truck and then give them to Goodwill
• Load the books back into the boxes, load them back into the truck and try to sell them at our garage sale
• Load the books back into the boxes, load them back into the truck and try to sell them on eBay.

Notice that all of the solutions except the first one include the phrase "Load the books back into the boxes, load them back into the truck and...". I took the money.

(Can you guess why I didn't link to Half-Price Books ?)

Wireless USB Optical Desktop

Clean up the look on your desk with the Kensington Wireless Optical Desktop. It's a complete wireless desktop with multimedia keyboard and optical mouse finished in a two-tone silver finish to complement today's PCs. This wireless desktop has a slim profile and two-tone silver/black color scheme. The keyboard has 19 hot keys for quick Internet access and multimedia control. The mouse featrues DiamondEye optical technology for precise tracking and USB and PS2 connection works with any PC.

What's in the Box
Keyboard, wireless optical mouse, RF receiver with PS/2 and USB connectivity

Product Description:
USB and PS2 Compatible / Works with Windows 98 or later for PC / Contains 1 Wireless Optical Mouse and 1 Wireless Keyboard Kensington 5-year product warranty and toll-free technical support Comes in Brown Box.

6.5 hours into our garage cleanup...

HOW TO: Getting Started with RSS

HOW TO: Getting Started with RSS at PaulStamatiou.com

This is a very good article about what RSS is and how to make it work for you.

How about a $139 laptop ?

AlphaSmart 3000 IR Features and Specifications:

• 3 AA Batteries (runs 700 hours on these)
  
• AlphaWord Plus, Beamer, Keywords and Calculator SmartApplets
• Built-in Infrared Capabilities
• User's Guide"

4.5 hours into our garage cleanup...

Fall is here...

This morning, I saw this bird's nest in one of the trees in the front yard. Please click on the photo to view the full size version, this size doesn't really do the photo justice.

It's Black Friday

I won't be taking part in Black Friday. I'm unwilling to fight the crowds and have to work today. For those of you who are interested, here's the Black Friday entry from Wikipedia:

Black Friday, the day after Thanksgiving in the United States, is historically one of the busiest retail shopping days of the year. Many consider it the "official" beginning to the holiday season. The "black" in the name comes from the standard accounting practice of using red ink to denote negative values (losses) and black ink to denote positive values (profits). Black Friday is the day when retailers traditionally get back "in the black" after operating "in the red" for the previous months, often by cutting prices considerably. In addition, most retailers will open very early.

Although Black Friday is typically the busiest shopping day of the year in terms of customer traffic, it is not typically the day with the highest sales volume. That is usually either Christmas Eve or the last Saturday before Christmas.

Because of the large amount of shopping that typically occurs on Black Friday, it has also become Buy Nothing Day.

Everything old is new again

I just went back to the original layout for the blog. Blogger doesn't have that many layout choices and this is the best I've found for displaying the content I want to display. A couple features aren't implemented yet, but they should be in the next few days.

Howto: Have a Happy Thanksgiving!

Be careful on the road.
Enjoy spending the day with family.
Root for your team.
Watch A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving tonight on ABC.

The good news is...

I paid less than two bucks a gallon yesterday at the HEB at the corner of Greenlawn and Louis Henna in Round Rock.

Another redesign

I have heard from users in the past that this blog looked like crap on Internet Explorer. I'm sorry about that. I didn't realize that that browser was still around. I'm not completely pleased with this new layout, but it looks OK in all browsers, even in OffByOne.

Simon Evening of Giving

Tonight, Amy and I are going to the Simon Evening of Giving with BigMac and his family. This will be our fourth year to attend this fundraiser. It's traditionally been where Amy and I kick off our Christmas shopping. It's a nationwide event, so please find a Simon mall near you that's participating in the Evening of Giving or the Day of Giving and go.

Simon Evening of Giving is the exclusive, after-hours shopping event that kicks off the holiday shopping season. This fund-raising event will include a night of private holiday shopping and family entertainment when the malls opens at after-hours for the supporters of participating charities. Throughout the mall, there will be exclusive store discounts, entertainment, food sampling and more. Last year’s Simon Evening of Giving, was held at 63 Simon Malls across the country, and raised over $2,000,000, for 2,571 national, regional and local charities including Simon Youth Foundation^®.

On Sunday, November 20^th, sixty-two Simon malls will be hosting the traditional Simon Evening of Giving and an additional sixteen Simon malls will be hosting the New! Simon Day of Giving. Simon Day of Giving is a natural extension of the evening event, just held during regular mall open hours – with shopping, festive holiday entertainment, door prizes, silent auctions, food sampling and of course – More Shopping!

For charities and not-for-profit organizations interested in participating or receiving more information about Simon Evening of Giving or Simon Day of Giving, please contact your local participation Simon mall.

Would you like cash back ?

Yesterday, Amy and I went to Souper Salads for lunch, Payment is required before you go through the line. I was using my debit card and the cashier (who will henceforth be referred to as cashier) said "Do you want cash back ? Like two or three dollars ?" I assumed that the reason he chose those amounts was to show that I could get any amount (not limited to $20 increments like most ATM's). I thought about it and decided that since I had no cash, that I would go ahead and get some. So, I asked for twenty. The cashier said "Oh no! I can't give you that much. I can only give you two or three dollars at the most. It's limited to half the amount of the bill". The lunch was right under $16, so I could have asked for almost $8. Amy later explained that it was so I would have a small amount of cash to leave as a tip.

On the way out, I went to the Men's room. I was just walking in and saw the same cashier washing his hands (there was a sign that employees must do so). He asked me how I was doing and I replied "Fine". I wasn't yet at the urinal, so I didn't mind answering. I was at the urinal when he asked, "Are you finding everything on the buffet OK ?" I said, "YES!" Thank goodness there wasn't a more substantial customer survey involved.

Iron Bowl 2005

If you're in Austin, come watch the game with the Auburn Alumni at the sports bar inside Showplace Lanes Austin. The game starts at 2:30. We went to see Auburn whoop Georgia there last week and were among 40 Auburn fans. It was awesome. Today should be every bit as exciting.

Cool Site: Lifehacker

Here's some cool articles or posts that I've found on Lifehacker in the past 4 months. This site alway has great stuff. They describe their site this way:

Computers make us more productive. Yeah, right. Lifehacker recommends the downloads, web sites and shortcuts that actually save time. Don't live to geek; geek to live.

• 20 Ways To Say No
• How To Burn DVDs for Video Playback
• Intel's Digital Home Guy
• Molly O'Poverty's Guide To (Mostly) Free Music
• The Universal Packing List
• How to Move to a New City
• Using the Windows Briefcase for Traveling
• How to Sing Better
• How to Inexpensively Increase the Value of your Home
• How to Get Your Pet to Like the Car
• How to Resign from a Job
• Lifehacker Takes On: Omelets in a Bag
• Special: How to control your home computer from anywhere
• Cheap deals with Lastminute Auction
• Special: How to host a personal wiki on your home computer
• Reuse a CVS Disposable Camcorder
• How To Become A Master Networker
• Yet another (better) Web-based IM Client
• How to fast track your career
• Cheap DIY Photography
• Ask Lifehacker: Reestablishing Sleep Cycles
• Special: How to access a home server behind a router/firewall
• How to Deploy VOIP
• How to get down to one remote
• Watch TV on a Laptop
• How to set up a home FTP server
• Save a DVD movie to your iPod
• Free Web Application List

My Silktide Sitescore

I have added the following image near the bottom of the right side of the screen. It will constantly be updated with my current score. Just for reference, today my rating is a 7.9.

Click on it and see the ratings!

Finally, we've been recognized.

IT workers dubbed 'worst dressed'

"Help-desk staff were named as the worst offenders,"

Lost on iTunes

As I mentioned earlier, earlier this week we lost last week's episode of Lost. I spent $1.99 tonight on iTunes to purchase it. We watched it and caught up. If Alias had the same deal, we would have bought those episodes as well.

Questions about Suicide Bombers

If you're a suicide bomber and you kill just one person (other than yourself), have you really accomplished anything ? What if you're the only person who is killed ? Isn't that really just an elaborate suicide ?

Free TV Shows

Warner Bros to offer classic repeats for free over broadband - Yahoo! News: "Hollywood studio Warner Brothers said it plans to put thousands of episodes of old television favourites including 'Wonder Woman' online for free under a groundbreaking deal with America Online."

Some of you may realize that you have been able to get free TV shows for years. Even before your first computer, you were able to 'download' television shows. You were probably even able to get them wirelessly.

data = gone

Monday was a bad day for data. My system at work has been flaky lately and in repairing it, they had to reimage it. I've lost all my old email archives plus all the work on a project I was working on. I wasn't too upset until I got home and noticed that our DVR had formatted the hard drive, taking 2 episodes of Alias, 1 episode of Lost and about 20 movies and other shows that had been in the queue.

I may do a quick backup on my main system. Anyone have 86000 floppies I can borrow ?

Recent Interesting MAKE: Blog posts

• eWatch - super PDA watch
• Build stuff with free Vintage Plans
• HOW TO set up a home FTP server
• DIY GPS tracking with Mologogo - review
• DIY Drive-ins? er, ons?

If you aren't currently subscribed to the MAKE: Blog RSS feed, how can you call yourself a geek ? These are the coolest things I've seen there in the past couple of months.

Jones Soda Holiday Pack

Amy and I have seen the the Jones Soda Holiday Pack the last couple of times we went to Target. These are the flavors of the Holiday Pack:

• Brussels Sprout with Prosciutto
• Cranberry Sauce
• Turkey & Gravy
• Wild Herb Stuffing
• Pumpkin Pie

They also have a regional Holiday Pack which contains:

• Broccoli Casserole
• Smoked Salmon Paté
• Turkey & Gravy
• Corn on the Cob
• Pecan Pie.

Last year's Holiday Pack included:

• Turkey & Gravy Soda
• Cranberry Soda
• Mashed Potato & Butter
• Green Bean Casserole
• Fruitcake Soda

Now, I really like Jones Soda and have mentioned them before. I think I'll stick with my favorite Jones Sodas.

• Blue Bubblegum
• Green Apple
• Berry Lemonade

My dad would be proud...

Go ahead, see if you can beat a 90!

You Passed 8th Grade Math

Congratulations, you got 9/10 correct!

Could You Pass 8th Grade Math?

www.EndWalletButt.com

I thought that might get your attention. This seems to be a clever way to get the thickness of a man's wallet down to a reasonable size. Check it out. Here's a quote from their site.

ALL-ETT® Billfold was started in 1998 from a simple desire to solve a classic problem. By using a revolutionary design, and modern materials, it was found that we need not cling to traditional wallets whose basic design preceded having so many credit cards.

RIP: Arrested Development

FOX has cancelled the funniest network comedy in years. Arrested Development will be allowed to film five more before the season ends.

Another Keyring Tool...

In addition to a small flashlight, I carry a small multitool on my keyring. It's a Swiss+Tech Utili-Key® 6-In-1. I'm not sure how I ever got along without it.

The lightest and most compact multiple tool ever developed. This ultra-light, durable and precision crafted 6-in-1 tool has a straight knife blade and a serrated cutting surface, a micro-sized screwdriver, a Phillips screwdriver, an eyeglass screwdriver, and a bottle opener, and weighs in at an amazing 0.5 oz. The tool makes minor repairs, assemblies, installations, and hundreds of jobs an easy undertaking. The patented quick-release design easily snaps to your key ring, and just as easily releases for multiple everyday tasks. Ideal for indoor or outdoor activities and emergency situations, this tool comes in handy on the road and at home!

New keyring flashlight...

For the past four years, I've been carrying a Photon Micro-Light® II on my keyring. It's an incredibly useful light and has come in handy on hundreds of occasions. The batteries are replaceable (unlike many of these lights) and it takes two batteries that usually cost me $3 each at Radio Shack. Recently, it has gotten dim, so I know that the batteries need to be replaced again.

Last night, I went to pick up some things at Target and saw that they had the INOVA Microlight for $5.99. Since that's the same price as getting batteries for my Photon, I went ahead and picked one up.

It offers a couple of advantages over the Photon II. The Photon has a momentary squeeze switch and an actual on/off slider. The light is either on or off. The INOVA offers a multi-mode switch and offers multiple modes (high power, low power, strobe and signal mode). There's only one switch and it's pretty ingenious. Here's the operation guide:

Operation Guide.
Press the button one time for high power.
Press the button two times for low power.
Press the button three times for strobe.

If you leave your Microlight on any setting for more than 2 seconds the next press of the button will turn it off and not go to the next function. In the high power setting your Microlight will automatically shut off after 4 minutes. Low power and strobe settings will run as long as they are active.

To reset your Microlight into signal mode:
Press the button three times for strobe mode.
While the light is strobing, press and hold the button for 5 seconds.
In signal mode your light will only works as a squeeze light. To activate normal operating modes press and hold down the button for 15 seconds until the light goes out.

1955 Chevrolet Handyman Station Wagon

I captured this in front of CD Warehouse in Round Rock. I wasn't sure what it was, because I thought (incorrectly) that all 1955-1957 two-door wagons were Nomads and all other wagons had 4 doors. This one, however, is clearly not a Nomad because it doesn't have a single long rear side window. I finally found out that it's a Handyman Station Wagon. It was obvious that it's a 1955 Chevrolet.

Long Blog Posts....

I don't like 'em.

Room with a view...

This is the bathroom at the Whole Foods Landmark Store at 6th and Lamar.

Proofreading Bennigan's menu

Notice how the heading is "Steaks, Ribs & Fajitas" and then notice that one of the menu items is "Grilled Meatloaf". Which of the three is it ?

The menu at their Bennigans.com has the same anomaly.

Texans, I'm disappointed in us.

Texas easily passes Proposition 2. We've proven that we are the hand puppets of bigots who have been able to legislate intolerance.

Kiss - Peter Criss and Paul Stanley

Welcome to Washington County (Texas)

We've been selling a piece of property in Washington County for the last couple of months. Yesterday morning, I drove to Brenham, Texas for the last trip related to the sale. Two or three weeks ago, this sign appeared at the line between Lee and Washington counties.

Please note that the sign says "Birthplace of Texas". Those of you who weren't required to study Texas history may not understand that significance of that phrase. Washington is a very small town in Washington County. The Republic of Texas was born there when the Texas Declaration of Independence was signed there in March of 1836. The town was referred to (then and now) as "Washington on the Brazos" to differentiate it from "Washington on the Potomac".

Proposed Constitutional Amendments November 8, 2005

Today is the day to vote regarding these proposed amendments to the Texas Constitution. If you live in Texas, please vote today.

Vote against reversing Texas' progress

Please read the following language and if you live in Texas, decide if you want to vote for intolerance. This resolution was created by Representative Warren Chisum and Senator Todd Staples. These two people believe that Texas is too tolerant regarding marriage and they want to legislate a solution. They aren't working to advance our state's tolerance, they are working to eliminate it. They are bigots and you should help halt their vanity project.

Ballot Language
"The constitutional amendment providing that marriage in this state consists only of the union of one man and one woman and prohibiting this state or a political subdivision of this state from creating or recognizing any legal status identical or similar to marriage."

Brief Explanation
HJR 6 would provide that marriage in Texas is solely the union of a man and woman, and that the state and its political subdivisions could not create or recognize any legal status identical to or similar to marriage, including such legal status relationships created outside of Texas.

I just installed ObjectDock

Amy and I went to the Apple Store at Barton Creek Square Mall on Friday night. I looked at all of the Macs and I love the dock they use. I thought about picking up a Mac Mini, but there is a cheaper way.

I just found and installed the freeware version of ObjectDock from Stardock. Here's a screenshot. If you've seen a modern Mac, you know how it works.

(Click the screenshot to see what it really looks like)

It's an RSS world...

You can now use the orange XML button beside the user count to subscribe to my RSS feed.

Jeep Commander stuff

Amy really likes the new Jeep Commander (I don't really 'get it'). Here are a couple of concepts based the Commander (just for her):

• Jeep Commander that satisfies the hip-hop in you
• Off-Road Commander Concept - now that’s a Jeep…

Cool Trike

IMG_0602-1
Originally uploaded by eschulz.

I love these trikes. I'm not sure how practical they are. They certainly should get better gas mileage than a car, but probably not nearly as much as a two-wheeler.

Lastminute Auctions

lastminute-auction.com provides a new way to hunt for great bargains on eBay.com.

They search current offers on eBay for auctions which meet their strict simple criteria:

1. The auction ends in one hour.
2. The price is currently one dollar or less.
   

Although they find a bunch of stuff that's not even worth one dollar, they consistently uncover some really great deals

Cheapest PC on the planet ?

I've noticed recently that Fry's Electronics in Austin has been selling their house brand (GQ - Great Quality) PC for $159. It's not currently on sale, so it's a good deal higher than that price today. I've wondered if it could be any good. ExtremeTech has tested it and you can see their full review. It did pretty well.

If you're not lucky enough to live close to a Fry's, you can pick it up at Outpost.Com. It's selling today for $269, but they have run it on sale cheaper than that online recently.

New version of Yahoo Maps

Tonight, according to Jeremy Zawodny's Blog, the new version (link to Beta) of Yahoo Maps will be launched. There are a couple other related interesting sites:

• Yahoo! Maps Web Services - Maps Application Gallery- A list of applications that make use of the new API, including:
• Local Events Browser (Currently just a demo)
• Flickr Maps
  
• Yahoo! Maps Web Services - Introducting the Yahoo! Maps APIs
  

"The new Yahoo! Maps offers a powerful new way to experience and use maps. Tap into this beautiful new interface either using the free Flash® viewer from Macromedia® or display via AJAX.

Yahoo! Maps also includes a rich set of APIs for both Flash and AJAX that enable you to use and publish maps on your web site or in your client application."

Build your own Hummer clone

Urban Gorilla 4x4 Bodies off-road body kits turn your pickup or Suburban into the vehicle of your dreams. Body packages are designed to require only basic auto shop skills and equipment. Your completed vehicle will turn heads and go just about anywhere. Get started on your dream truck today!"

I like the Combat version.

Halloween Joke

A skeleton walks into a bar and says "Give me a beer and a mop".

Panoramic Photos of our Farm

I used all of the automatic settings when taking these, so there are some color anomolies, but you can get a good idea of what the farm looks like.

iPod nano

iPod nano
Originally uploaded by Zengame.

This is what Amy wants for her birthday. Apple. iPod. nano. White. 4GB.

Quote of the Day...

Republican Senator Trent Lott, when asked about Harriet Miers's withdrawal, said "I want the President to look across the country and find the best man, woman or minority that he can find."

New Camera (Sort of)...

I'm asking my wife for a Canon SD200 for my birthday (less than a month a way!). For the next week or so, I've borrowed my friend's SD300 which is very similar. It's hard to believe how much smaller it is than my current camera, the Canon A-10. These pictures show the difference in size. Unfortunately, these shots were taken with my lousy camera, the Treo 600. I hope to post some cool pictures over the next 2 weeks. Watch for that!

http://base.google.com

This is what I get when going to http://base.google.com this morning. MercuryNews.Com has a little more information here. Here's a teaser...

Google confirmed on Tuesday the creation of Google Base, a service that potentially expands the company's reach into online classifieds -- and into the territory of Internet auctioneer eBay and craigslist.

Treo 600 vs Audiovox SMT5600

Here's a shot of my PalmOne Treo 600 and BigMac's Audiovox SMT5600. As you can see . the Treo is quite a bit larger, but that gives it a larger screen. The similarities are striking, both of us have installed 1GB cards and use the phone as our MP3 player. Both PDA's are pointed to Mobile Optimized.

It's hard to put a dollar amount on a blog, but...

My blog is worth $5,080.86.
How much is your blog worth?

Go ahead and make me an offer.

Wikimedia Foundation, Inc

I have linked in the past to Wikipedia & Wikibooks. I just found the home page of the Wikimedia Foundation, Inc and their other properties: Wikiquote, Wictionary, Wikisource, Wikinews, Wikimedia Commons, Wikispecies and The Wikimedia Meta-Wiki.

The Wikimedia Foundation, Inc. is an international non-profit organization dedicated to encouraging the growth, development and distribution of free, multilingual content, and to providing the full content of these wiki-based projects to the public free of charge. Wikimedia relies on public donations to meet its goal of providing free knowledge to every person in the world.

OpenOffice.org 2.0 is no longer in Beta...

It's been over seven months since I first told you about the Beta version of OpenOffice 2.0. Now, it has been released and is available for download.

OpenOffice.org 2.0 is the productivity suite that individuals, governments, and corporations around the world have been expecting for the last two years. Easy to use and fluidly interoperable with every major office suite, OpenOffice.org 2.0 realises the potential of open source.

With new features, advanced XML capabilities and native support for the OASIS Standard OpenDocument format, OpenOffice.org 2.0 gives users around the globe the tools to be engaged and productive members of their society.

Download it now. If it is not ready today in your language, it will be shortly. OpenOffice.org 2.0 is yours.

More changes to my blog.

I have deleted TreoVida and migrated those posts to this blog. I posted them with the date and time that they were originally posted. For the comments, I created one comment for each existing comment and quoted the original. This way, it still shows who commented and when.

Spiders are scary...

Changes to my blog

In the past week, I have deleted tons of spam comments. Hopefully, you don't see much of that because I delete it a couple of times per day. Blogger.com has a feature which may significantly reduce (or even eliminate) this crap. It's called word verification and the only apparent downside is that people who leave legitimate comments will be inconvenienced. I am doing this to keep others from making money off of my blog. Let me know if the inconvenience will keep you from leaving comments. If that's the case, I'll try to figure out a custom solution for you.

I have also included Google AdSense advertisements. I don't think that they are too obtrusive. They are context sensitive, so if people find my blog, they may very well find well-targeted ads. If not, they are on the right side of the screen and can be completely ignored. I doubt I will make much money, but if someone is going to monetize this site, I want it to be me.

Also, I have enabled the backlinks function, which will allow me to enable me to keep track of other pages on the web that link to posts on this blog.

Games I'm trying to watch right now...

• LSU Tigers vs Auburn Tigers
• Chicago White Sox vs Houston Astros
• Toby vs Sabrina

The teams I am supporting are bolded.

Zelda Fitzgerald...

Meet my mother's new cat, Zelda Fitzgerald. While getting used to her new surroundings, she prefers to spend the majority of her time under the bed. I'm sure that will change soon and I hope that Zelda provides a great deal of entertainment and companionship. Our cats certainly do.

RIP: Treo & TreoVida

The other day, my Treo stopped working as a phone. The PDA worked (without Internet access of course). I talked to Verizon and they replaced it. The new one works great and sync'd without issue. I will be sending my original Treo back Monday.

In related news, I have ceased updating TreoVida. The only people that seem to read it are spammers. I will be providing Treo updates in this blog in the future and I may migrate those existing posts to this blog. If you're not interested in those posts, please ignore them. Thanks.

Long drive home...

Congratulations Astros!

Last night, the Houstom Astros won the National League Championship Series. For the first time ever, they will compete in the World Series.

At least four of the Astros have played for the Round Rock Express in the past few years, so there's a hometown connection.

My MontBlanc pen...

Several years ago (1991-1992?), I worked for a company which ran a small ad in the back of Byte Magazine. It was my job to create the copy and arrange for the advertising. We were one of Byte's smallest accounts, but they treated us well.

At the end of that year, our account executive sent me a MontBlanc pen as a gift of appreciation. For a while, I bragged about it. Then I tended to forget I had it. I didn't want to carry it, because I was sure that I would lose it. It was kept in the case it came in. For years, I kept it hidden.

I never knew what I would use it for, until about 8 years ago. I was about to buy a house in October of 1997. I decided I would use it to sign my name on the numerous documents at the closing. A week before the closing, I made sure that it worked.

On the day of the closing, I pulled the case out and put it on the conference table. At the time that they put the first document in front of me, I smiled. I reached out and opened the case. I removed the pen and just as I was about to put it to paper to sign my name, the title agent said "That pen doesn't write in black, does it ?". It did and I told her that. She explained that these were legal documents and that they needed to be signed in blue, so that copies would be obvious as copies. She handed me a Bic pen with her company's name on it and I signed everything with that Bic.

I hope that, someday, I will be able to live up to such a fine writing instrument.

Sign seen in local pub...

God created liquor to keep the Irish from conquering the world.

Joke of the day...

Bush and Dick Cheney are enjoying lunch at a fancy Washington restaurant, when the waitress approaches their table to take their order.

She is young and very attractive.

She asks Cheney what he wants, and he replies, "I'll have the heart-healthy salad." "Very good, sir," she replies, and turning to Bush she asks, "And what do you want, Mr. President?" Bush answers, "How about a quickie?"

Taken aback, the waitress slaps him and says, "I'm shocked and disappointed in you. I thought you were bringing in a new administration that was committed to high principles and morality. I'm sorry I voted for you." With that, the waitress departed in a huff.

Cheney leans over to Bush, and says, "Mr. President, I believe that's pronounced 'quiche'."

Source: Joe Stump's Blog at JoeStump.Net

Bimbo Box

I spotted this yesterday at an antique dealer and had no idea what it was. I did see a description of it's function here.

I'm gonna be rich !!!

Check out the email I just received from Bongo Roseveelt. Bongo is looking for a trustworthy person to help him steal some money. He apparently picked my email address from a list of 143 million. Heck, it's an honor just to be nominated.

Dear Sir,

In order to transfer from a Bank some amount of money, I have the courage to look for a reliable and honest person who will be capable for this important business believing that you will never let me down either now or in the future.

I am Bongo Roseveelt,a consulting auditor of prime banks here in South Africa. On June 6,2002,an American Mining consultant/contractor with the South African Mining corporation,Mr. Robert H. Klinsman made a numbered time (fixed)deposit for twelve calendar months,value of United States Dollar(USD $) Fourteen Million Two Hundred thousand in an account. On maturity, The bank sent a routine notification to his forwarding address but got no reply. After a month,The bank sent another reminder and finally his contract employers,the South African Mining corporation wrote to inform the bank that Mr. Robert H. Klinsman died from an automobile accident,that he died without MAKING A WILL, and all attempts by the American Embassy to trace his next of kin was fruitless.

I therefore, made further investigation and discovered that Mr. Robert H. Klinsman in fact was an immigrant from Jamaica and only recently obtained American citizenship.He did not declare any kin or relations in all his official documents, including his Bank deposit paper work. This money total (USD $) Fourteen Million Two Hundred thousand is still sitting in my bank as dormant Account. No one will ever come forward to claim it, and according to South African banking policy,after 5years, the money will revert to the ownership of the South African Government if the account owner is certified dead.

This is the situation, and my proposal is that I am looking for a foreigner who will stand in as the next of kin to MR.Robert H. Klinsman,and a Bank Account abroad will then facilitate the transfer of this money to the beneficiary/ next of kin. This is simple, all you have to do is to immediately send me a bank account anywhere in the world for me to arrange the proper money transfer paperwork. This money total USD ($14.2M) will then be paid into this Account for us to share in the ratio of 70% for me, 25 % for you and 5% for expenses that might come up during transfer process. There is no risk at all, and all the paper work for this transaction will be done
by me using my position and connection in the banks in South Africa. This business transaction is guaranteed.

If you are interested, please reply immediately through my personal email sending the following details:

(1) Your Full Name/Address
(2) Your Private Telephone/fax Number.
(3) Your Account Particulars.

Please observe the utmost confidentiality, and be rest assured that this transaction would be most profitable to both of us because I shall require your assistance to invest my share in your country.  I look forward to your earliest reply.

Yours,
Bongo Roseveelt.

Coolest way to wash your hands

I had lunch with some buddies today at Rudy's BBQ. Near the entrance, they have sinks to wash your hands. This automated hand washing device is new and you put your hands in the holes in the top. For 12 seconds, it sprays your hands and massages them. When you remove your hands they are clean and wet. Then, you just dry them with a paper towel (a relatively low-tech process). The roll of stickers are blue circles with white letters that boldly state "I have clean hands!".

Useless dialog of the Week...

Uh, this would be a good time to click Cancel.

NETGEAR - Storage Central SC101

Personally, I'm using NASLite and have been for about a year. The Netgear Storage Central looks like a much more elegant solution.

"Storage Central is easy to setup and install. Just slide in one or two 3.5” IDE disk drives of any capacity; connect Storage Central to any wired or wireless router or switch from any vendor, then configure with Smart Wizard install assistant. Now you’re ready to access files from any PC on your network, as a simple letter drive."

Additional Resources:

• Support forum on Netgear's website- There do seem to be quite a few issues with the device. Here's the support forum on Netgear's website. It appears to only accept specific IDE drives.
• Reviews @ Cnet
• Reviews @ Amazon

Red River Shootout....

Today is the big game and Texas has lost the last five Red River Shootouts. Hopefully, we can win this one, the 100th game between OU and UT. The actual name has been changed to the Red River Rivalry, but we we're still gonna call it a shootout. OK ?

These boots are made for walkin'...

Amy bought her first pair of cowboy boots yesterday at Cavender's Boot City. I will let her tell you about them.

I'm not sure if it was my 30th birthday or my 8th anniversary of living in Texas or just the cosmic alignment... but earlier this year, I decided I needed a pair of cowboy boots. I have never really considered myself a cowboy boot-wearing kind of girl, although I probably officially earned them the summer I worked on the HF Bar Dude Ranch in Saddlestring, Wyoming!

The first boot store we went to had an okay selection, but the boots were sorted by size as opposed to brand or style, so it was kind of like shopping at Payless for 10 times the price.

The experience at Cavender's was far better. John from East Texas was my friendly and knowledgeable sales person. I appreciated his honesty about what brands are better for first-time boot wearers, what brands are known more for their name rather than their quality, and how the construction of the boots varies. I actually ended up buying the first pair I tried on at Cavender's. They are Ariat stockman boots, and I got them for $150. I'm wearing them as I type this, even though I'm already in bed. (Just kidding!) And despite the fact that Eric probably thinks I should have stuck with any one of my many pair of Birkenstocks, he has been completely supportive of this little whim. Thanks, baby!

Latinitas Magazine

Thursday, Amy attended the 2005 Greater Austin Hispanic Chamber of Commerce Community Service Awards Luncheon. A friend of ours recieved the Luz de la Communidad (Community Visionary) Award for Latinitas, an online magazine which she created for Hispanic girls.

At the early age of twenty-five, Alicia Rascon, who was born in Mexico, is co-founder of “Latinitas” an online magazine. Latinitas is a non-profit organization whose main mission is to empower Hispanic girls to succeed through media and technology applications. Ms. Rascon has dedicated herself to providing new avenues and opening the doors to a new future for Latina youths by creating a forum where Latina girls can feel good about themselves. In 2005, the Austin Chronicle’s Best of List named Alicia Rascon, “Best Aspiring Journalist 2005.”

Above quote provided by the September 28, 2005 issue of the Greater Austin Hispanic Chamber of Commerce newsletter.

Fourth Anniversary Weekend

Amy and I celebrated our fourth wedding anniversary a little early this year. We were able to take advantage of some great deals.

Friday night, we went to a going away Happy Hour at Nuevo Leon for two of Amy's co-workers who are leaving. We left the festivities early to go out to dinner with our friends, Chad and Amanda (she is one of the people leaving Amy's company). We enjoyed visiting with them on the rooftop of Whole Foods.

Instead of going home, we checked into the Hampton Inn Round Rock, approximately 1 mile from our house. You might be wondering why we would choose to stay so close to home... it was free! Several members of Amy's family had stayed in the same hotel back in February, so we had earned two nights' lodging.

Saturday, we slept in until 7:00 and enjoyed a free continental breakfast. Then we did some shopping around town before having lunch at Central Market and going back to the hotel for a nap.

That evening, we got all gussied up and went to dinner at Hill Country Pasta House. A friend had given us a coupon for a free entree, so even with a bottle of wine, two entrees, and a dessert (free because our waiter found out what we were celebrating), we only spent $50 !(and that included a ten dollar tip). The food was delicious, and we had great service from Hank - the same guy who waited on us the only other time we went to that restaurant. He even remembered us!

Following dinner, we drove downtown, parked for free at St. David's Episcopal Church, and enjoyed an amazing concert by Will Taylor & Strings Attached featuring several talented artists - Abra Moore, Suzi Stern, Libby Kirkpatrick, Tucker Livingston, Kacy Crowley, Barbara K, and Patrice Pike. It was a CD release concert benefitting CASA of Travis County. Oh, and did I mention it was free? We were on the guest list!

Sunday morning, we slept REALLY late (8:00) and had our free breakfast again. Then we just lounged around watching a movie until check-out time. After we got home, we watched the Auburn game, which we had recorded from Saturday. Auburn stomped all over Steve Spurrier's South Carolina team. The Gamecocks played embarassingly bad football, but we'll take the win just the same. War Eagle! Sitting around watching TV was exhausting, so we took a long nap...had to drum up enough energy to work on this blog post.