This phone is the best!

I am really enjoying my new phone, the one written about just below here. It has all the things that I want in a phone, with the possibility to be upgraded by my own programs. It is not locked into only what T-Mobile, or even Google wants, because of the very nature of the system. Hopefully other vendors will enable their own phones using this platform, and it will only get better support and more programs available as time goes forward. Below is a movie about a little scanner program that is really cool for finding prices as you shop. Although I happen to prefer the competitor program, it does basically the same thing as shown.

Lockdown

My job has some pretty strict security policies, and they have decided to really crack down on everyone, to make sure that we are in compliance. It should be a good thing, and it is important, but some things go a bit far. They are taking away Google Earth. We tend to use it a lot for seeing what kind of imagery is available, and for the nice 3D terrain. We have a couple of pro licenses, which we keep, but the free ones are out. ITunes is also out,as well as any other program not bought by corporate. They promised tighter internet filters, to make sure that no one can use the internet. Some people said that they would be looking for new jobs because the policies will be so strict.

People like to listen to music, and there are a lot of people that use free programs to get work done. It has always been possible in the past to install trial versions of software to see if it will do what we need. Now we need to have the IT group investigate it first, then install it if they see it as necessary. Many times we realize there is something to improve the process near the end, and we don't have time for this bureaucracy.

URS is still fairly young as a large company, and it has remained fairly agile, but with all the lock downs, they will become less able to deal with new technology in a timely manner, and this will make them less competitive in the long run. I suppose that it happens to most large companies, it seems almost inevitable.

Democrats win

It turns out that most of my votes don't seem to count for much. A lot of people have said that Democrats votes don't count in Utah, but it turns out that Utah doesn't count for much anyway. I've heard that the electoral college is a good institution, however I feel that it is an antiquated system that should be given over to popular vote. The popular vote is close, but the electoral college is very skewed toward Obama. That just doesn't seem right to me. Plus if the vote was simply a popular count, everyone's vote would count, no matter which state, or where they lived. This would make it more important that every state had good security and standards for taking and counting votes, but I'm sure that is something that we could put together.

While I am very worried about many of the promises Obama has made, I can't really complain until he actually gets into the office and starts changing things. He may end up not being as bad as he sounded at times. He did say that we wanted to improve situations in the country, and some of his ideas actually sounded worth while. I am against his ideas of socialism and redistributing the wealth. I believe that since the government is doing so much to help people, we don't get the chance to help each other as much. I believe that as a people, without government influence, we would take better care of people, and teach them to take care of themselves better, than the government does. Before we had all of these programs, people helped each other, and they needed to know their neighbors, and help them, so that when they needed help, it would be there. It was more important to keep good ties with Family for the same reasons. Now people have no need of each other, because they can just get hand outs from the government. And now it may only get worse. I just wish that I had the choice of who to help if I have the money, rather than being taxed, and being forced to help, while losing all of the blessings.

Google's Phone Foray

Since our two year bondage to T-Mobile is almost over, I've been looking around for a phone that would encourage me to sign up for another two years. I have seen the iPhone, and it is a wonderous little thing, it doesn't however come from T-Mobile, and I can't spend $600 for an unlocked one. I've seen the Blackberry... and it seems somewhat useful, but that screen is too small.
I finally found the most perfect phone ever, a few days ago, the Google G1! Only offered by T-Mobile, it has a touch screen, full Qwerty keyboard, and a track ball! Any way you slice it, it has the input that you want. Browse the web on a nice large screen, type on the keyboard, send email... and it is open source! Maybe I'll have to write some programs to put on the marketplace... that is if I can convince my wife that I really need this phone. I might even be able to make money with some cool little applications on the marketplace... the phone would pay for itself!

Brisinger

I just finished the newest Eragon related book, titled Brisinger. I had thought that this was going to be a trilogy, but it seems the story is not over yet! I am dissappointed by this. Normally, I like it when good books continue, however it took him two years to write this book, so that means that I have to suffer for probably another two years before I know how it all ends! It really is too bad that they made the movie so horribly different from the book, and totally ruined it. If the movie had done well, maybe I would have films on the next two books to look forward to.

They really are pretty good books, but there are a few parts that I would rather not have my boys read, because they got a bit too graphic with some parts, and it made me feel a bit ill to read it. No, they aren't anything about what you might be thinking, it is about self mutilation by crazy priests, or people trying to prove their strength. Luckily there wasn't too much of it, and hopefully there won't be any more. So, I am telling my boys the story for bedtime, in my own words, so that I can skip over the parts that they don't need to hear about.

Becca's birthday

Here she is, enjoying her birthday afternoon on the couch. Isn't she cute :) We celebrated yesterday by going to her favorite resaurant, and tonight I am making her dinner, so that she can relax a bit. We gave her cards an presents yesterday also, and ate Oreo blizzard ice cream cake for dessert, so hopefully her birthday weekend wasn't too terrible for her.

Computer Fun

I like to build computers, and Nathan acquired a nice piece that needs some upgrading. The case is great, and has 2 fans and a power supply that glow with blue LEDs. He was given this computer by his friend because it no longer worked. We were able to throw in a spare hard drive and a power supply and bring it to life. It is a Pentium 4, which is a little old, but it still has a decent graphics card. He plans on using spare cash to upgrade this as time goes on to his ultimate desktop machine, and this case can definitely handle it.

I like building computers, I was able to put together a fairly top of the line machine for a guy at work for about $800 for the parts. He tells me at least once a week how nice his machine is, faster than the work computers that cost the company $2,000 each. Building that new computer is definitely the cost effective way to go, but if you aren't going to do that, it seems like Gateway has the best price to value ratio, much better than the giants HP and Dell, who tend to charge twice what the parts cost, and they both outsource their tech support to India, while Gateway is all in the US.

Best Board Game Ever

It may be a little hard to see, but this game is Weapons and Warriors, a fun little game that my brother and I played, with the help of my kids. Basically you get to shoot little marbles to knock over little guys, and destroy their castle. But when the castle takes a hit, things really go flying. The boys loved it, and Micah played it all the next day. Nathan ended up winning 2 out of 3 with his lucky shots, but it was all fun, even when my own castle was exploding, it was still fun to watch. Who needs a new movie from Netflix over a 3 day weekend when you can play a game like this.

My handyman skills

So, my wife thought that this little rack couldn't hold up to the strain of all the things that the teachers asked the kids to bring to school. As can be seen here, the backpack in the center is very full, I'm sure that it weighs more than my 9 month old daughter, in fact. My wife had it sitting on the floor, telling people that the rack would be pulled out of the wall. Now I felt like this was insulting to the job that I did with those little racks, so I had to put the backpack up there to test it. And looks like it is fine.

Brain interface device

Check out this brain interface device It allows you to control your computer as fast as thought. It doesn't really read thoughts, so you have to do some training to prepare to use it, but it shows interesting possibility. Watching Star Trek, they talk to their computer, but wouldn't it be easier if you could just think to the computer? This device reads up to six ranges of alpha and beta brainwaves, plus eye and facial muscle movements, to allow a decent amount of control, but it isn't even a full keyboard yet, so it can't replace the keyboard and mouse just yet.

You have to use biofeedback to train your alpha and beta brainwaves to act like you want them to, the article says that they feel proficient after about a month, and compare it to learning to type on a keyboard. Anyway, it sounds interesting to me, but maybe not until it has been out a while, and gets cheaper than $300...

Staycation

We began our staycation today by visiting the zoo. I've heard that it's more popular this year. I know that we would rather spend money on doing fun things, than on gas or plane tickets, so that we could sit in a hotel room for a couple of days, trying to find free activities.

My oldest boy took some pictures of my wife and me at the zoo. We spent most of the day at the zoo, and still didn't get in to see everything, so maybe the kids will want to go back again. The zoo seemed pretty busy, so maybe everyone else is trying the same thing. If almost everyone stopped driving on vacation, I wonder what that would do to the oil industry. I keep hoping that the price of gas will go back down, but I'm not holding my breath.

Even though it isn't a full vacation away from home, it is already helping me out. I am feeling less stress already, and it is only the first day :) It seems like I have been sick quite a bit lately, and maybe it is just the stress has weakened my immune system. I was asked the other day if I take vitamins, and yes I do, and I think they do help somewhat, but I haven't had significant consecutive time off of work for probably five years. Yes, I've taken time off after my wife had a baby, but that is such a stressful time, I never really felt rested and ready to go back to work. I just need this time to enjoy my family, and relax, and not worry about anything for a week.

This little girl never needs to sleep it seems, even when we do. Here we are wearing the same clothes, at about 11pm, with all the other children in bed, this little girl still looks wide awake and happy. I have just spent two weeks with quite a bit of overtime, and then my wife decides to work for three days straight. With Independance Day festivities, including late fireworks yesterday, I am all worn out. I haven't had a week off of work for about three years now, so it is about time, and I'm excited for our vacation next week.

My wife says that this little girl looks like me, but I'm not seeing the resemblance in this picture. I have heard both that she looks like me, and that she looks like Becca. Looking at the baby pictures, she definitely looks more like my oldest son than like the two middle children, but we probably won't know too much until she is a bit older.

Celestial Family

We took some pictures outside today, and as we were all being tormented, we got this great picture with us being translated. We opted to come back down and deliver a message that God loves all of us, and that we all need to keep working to make the world a better place.

Ok, maybe that didn't happen, we really aren't perfect (yet) but it looked neat anyway. Today was Father's Day, and the kids and my wife were really nice to me, with the great cards that they made for me, and the tie that you can't see in this picture. I was a bit dissappointed that they didn't have any special treats for the fathers at church, except for the primary children singing songs about fathers.

We went over to my parents house to visit my dad, and to celebrate the June birthdays, and my dad sure does get spoiled. He got a new computer chair, a chess game, the Silmarillian, and drill bits. Becca said it felt like it must be my dad's birthday with all the gifts going around. She isn't used to that, and says that small gifts are best. I don't remember it being that extravagant when I was younger, but I didn't think it was too much. Are gifts too much for Mother's Day and Father's day? I suppose that it is nice to receive gifts, but the nicest presents that I got today were the cards that they spent time on for me.

Becca was trying to get Macey to look at her and smile, but she would only look at me and smile :) Sometimes she is a very happy little child, but it goes quickly to ornery when she gets tired, hungry, poopy, or is not being held. She is pretty easy to please, as long as she is being held, and none of the other three items is bothering her, she is as happy as can be. And isn't she just a cutie when she smiles.
She really looks so small in this picture, but she has grown a lot in her first six months.

Music Genome Project

This is a video from Pandora which is part of the music genome project. They have broken down music into its component parts, which allows them to play music for you that is similar to the music you like, but possibly from other artists that you have never heard before. Visit it and play with it, because it is one of the coolest things to discover new music that you like. You start by choosing a song or artist that you like, and it starts playing songs similar to what you chose. You get to vote on whether you like each song, and it slowly tailors the songs to your responses. If you don't like a song, it instantly can skip past it, but it is like your own personal radio station, even better than the "My 99.5" station.

Don't Fast Forward Through life

Macey likes sleeping only while we are holding her, and while I was sick and in my jammies, Becca decided to take this picture. I was just trying to pass the time until I could feel better, but I couldn't ignore the baby while Becca tried to take care of the house, so she ended up sleeping while I played on the computer.

I have gone through some tough times in my life, and my escape has been video games. I think that it helped me survive at times, however life is pretty good now (at least when I am not sick) so I shouldn't need video games anymore. However, I am addicted to video games. Once I start playing, I have a hard time stopping. It tends to be okay if I get a bunch of things done, and then play for an hour to relax, but if I get started on Saturday morning, I end up doing nothing with my entire day.
We recently saw the movie Click, where the main character ends up fast forwarding through his entire life. I realized that when I start playing games, I am sort of fast forwarding. I accomplish almost nothing, I take care of the kids basic needs, but I am not paying enough attention to them. I am not accomplishing my home improvement projects, yard work, extra work to help me get ahead, or anything else.
I am going to be limiting my time on the computer, and trying to accomplish more. In the past I felt like I needed more time to myself, working and going to school, but now things are different, and I haven't changed with how my life has changed.
I think that video games can be good, they can bring people together, they can improve hand eye coordination and problem solving skills. But in excess they cause problems because you aren't improving anything, you aren't getting together with people anymore, in fact the people in your life can feel alienated.

The Power of Positive Thinking

There is no such thing as luck. At least not for me. Nothing really that terrible happens to me, and nothing extraordinary. Well, except for Becca and my kids, they are definitely the best thing that could happen to me. I've always thought that nothing matters but what you do, not how you feel or how lucky you are, but how do you explain the following:

There is this guy at work that can do no wrong. Nothing that ever happens to him is bad. There is that scripture that The Lord will turn all things to your good, but I don't think things could get as good as he gets it. He gets rear ended, gets some pain, and his Honda Civic is totaled. Most people would now be hard pressed to get a car for what the insurance company gives you, but the car didn't actually belong to him, but to his Mother-In-Law. After she gets the insurance check, she then wires some money to her son-in-law, but of course a little extra... enough to buy a Mercedes C Class! Plus he gets money for his pain and suffering, as his doctor's bill added up to just enough.

And another thing that happened to him:
What would you think would happen if you accidentally got a package in the mail? It is usually junk mail, or something that they will charge you for later. How about a 23" flat screen monitor? And there is no record of shipping it to you, and they won't accept it back.

Plus, positive thinking can get you a close parking spot, every time, at Costco and Wal-Mart. This may not be positive proof, but you have to give it a try at least, right?

Too Cute

Look at this cute picture that I took! I just like the pose because when Micah was little I took him to the zoo and he loved eating a milk bottle. I got a little picture of him from someone else who was there, but we didn't have a digital camera back then, and the picture we got was really grainy... Anyway this is a much better picture, And I just wanted to share it with everyone. Do you think that Meadow Gold would like this spokesperson? Maybe Cream o' Weber? I think this little girl could sell strawberry and chocolate milk :)

Websites by Troy

I have a website done almost entirely by me... well sort of. This is the first public website where I was allowed free license to do whatever I wanted, no template to follow, or other restrictions. I'm the developer, but I have some help on the design side of things. Check out the Windsor-Essex Parkway and let me know what you think of it. The website had 115,000 hits on the first day that it went live, and I have not heard a single comment that the site didn't work, or that it didn't look good. I was able to do what the designers envisioned in the flash movie header, and the basic site design. Make sure to check out the Media page and try some of the movies, they are quite short 3d animations, but still kind of fun to watch. Most of you probably won't care too much about the purpose, but it was made to announce a plan for a parkway that would help connect Detroit in the US with Windsor Ontario in Canada. Right now there is a lot of congestion trying to cross a single bridge, and this solution will bring much needed below grade highway to reduce pollution and congestion by reducing stopped vehicles, and also add a lot of park space and walkways over the road, which should help connect the neighborhoods better, and reduce eye sore. Anyway, let me know what you think :)

Opposites Attract

	Becca is my opposite, while I don't mind things to be a little bit messy, she likes them sparkling clean. I tend to procrastinate, Becca does things now. I like to relax, Becca never seems to rest. I like new technology, Becca still misses her old Windows 98 computer. I like to be with lots of family, Becca likes to keep things small with just us. We do have in common that we love each other, and we love our children, and we have been able to make it work. We both compromise on various things to help maintain a balance. Becca may be different from me, but I need her to help me where I am lacking. I recognize I have some bad habits, like procrastinating, and I am trying to follow her example. I would like to help her learn to relax a little, and in some small way help her the way that she is helping me.
Becca, then and now
	She is a wonderful wife and mother. She says that it isn't her that has helped the kids be so smart, but I still know that it is. She has encouraged them, and tends to find fun activities for them to learn new things. For instance, Jewelia is now learning her ABCs, and so every day she sings the ABC song with her, and they put together the alphabet puzzle. I try to encourage them in my own way, whenever they ask questions, I don't just put them off or tell them they will understand later, I try to explain things to them as best I can, even if the explanations get a bit technical, the children like to hear the answer. I'm not saying that we are the greatest parents ever, and I know that our kids are really smart, but I think that my wife has a much larger influence than she will admit.

American Idol

So, the big excitement around here is for David Archuleta, who is doing us proud here in Murray. I think he is really doing well, although I'm not sure if he will win it all, I do also like Carly Smithson and David Cook, and Kristy Lee Cook adds the Country dimension. They all did fairly well tonight, at least I thought so. I do miss Amanda Overmyer, I thought she was consistently good.

Tonight was American Idol night at our house. We all like to listen to the songs, even though they are sometimes (*cough* Brook *cough*) less than appealing. Sayesha tends to be somewhat boring, and Kristy did fairly well tonight, but she doesn't seem to be consistent. I do like having some country, and I hope that she stays around until the final four at least. After that I'm going to have to make some hard decisions on who is my favorite. Oh, and I forgot about Jason Castro... he sounds all right, I liked his Somewhere Over the Rainbow song, but mostly he is, as Simon likes to put it, "forgettable."

Technological Ingenuity

Wouldn't it be nice if all that carbon dioxide contributing to global warming were turned into DVDs? Of course carbon dioxide isn't the greatest worry, since it is about the least potent green house gas. All the methane produced by cows is much more potent at creating a greenhouse effect, methane gas is 20 times more effective at trapping heat.
Of course we will also be able to reduce our pollution by buying cars that get more than 100 mpg. There are other vehicles in the works for the competition from the X Prize Foundation.

Possibly boring personal opinion ramblings follow: Beware.

I like these ideas. I believe that it is more important to create good economic reasons to save the environment, rather than have the government force things upon us. I don't like the haze across the valley, but we need less force, and more logical ways to proceed than we hear from many politicians and environmentalists. They seem more intent on stopping all progress than on giving solutions that make sense. We can't just stop doing everything, because people still need to work, and eat, and improve.

Things are different today than way back when we couldn't cut down the forest fast enough. There are more people on the Earth, there is more technology, and more potential than ever before. We can't go back now, we need to move forward. We still need to try to be good stewards of what we have, and not always choose the most destructive ways to solve problems, but having us all go back to hunter gatherers just isn't going to work.

Religion

I hope to post on all of the various subjects that would be taboo on a site that is all just cutesy family photos. So first of all posting on religious musings (It is Sunday.)

I watched the LDS General Conference last weekend, and of course it had the usual spiritual uplift, but there were some things that I noticed that make those at the head of the Church seem more human. It seemed to me at least that President Monson was actually humbled by his new calling. He has been an apostle for many years, and a counselor in the first presidency for a long time as well, but now he is the one in charge. He didn't seem like someone who had been seeking for power, he seemed like one who was overwhelmed by a sense of responsibility.

Of course he is following the example of Christ, as should someone who is the prophet, but sometimes it is hard to see for certain who they are on television, such as when they are giving a press release. Of course, in the video shown here, he hadn't just been sustained with a solemn assembly. Like Elder Holland said, we were able to see the mantle fall upon him.

The Boredom Begins

I wanted to write stuff on the family blog, but my wife thought that it was much too boring, so she suggested I could have a boring blog somewhere. My wife picked the name, but hopefully it won't be boring for everybody... I'll probably post stuff on technology stories that I like, political junk that no one wants to listen to, and maybe books that I've read. I might post stuff about programming tips, or maybe I'll collect some kind of online resume.

I know what you're thinking (at least what my wife is thinking):
B-O-R-I-N-G

It's actually amazing that my wife and I are together, unless you believe that Paula Abdul song that opposites attract. Our interests are different, she's extremely neat and organized, while I'm a bit of a slob. But we love each other, and we sure make cute kids ;)

Well, maybe I'll be able to find like minded people, and we can help each other in cyber space. Or maybe this will just be someplace to vent.