EBay Treasure

I found this while looking around EBay. It's a CD for The Balancing Act, "Three Squares and a Roof + New Campfire Songs". This disc is getting very hard to find used, much less unopened. It's one of my all time favorites. I have the CD already, but I know it is one of those things that is disappearing off the face of the Earth -- it's funny how you start noticing things like that when you get older.

Bird poops in reporter's mouth

I heard about this on Howard Stern this morning. I don't know why this is so funny...

Rez HD

Here's a glowing review of the newly released Rez HD XBox Live arcade game. I've been reading a lot of positive reviews on this -- I guess I should try a demo and see what all the noise is about.

Has the cell phone replaced the wrist watch?

I love watches -- always have. They are the only functional piece of jewelry that I have worn and I love looking at them at the store and online. But the truth is, I haven't purchase one in many, many years and don't plan on it. I have a clock on my microwave and oven, in my living room, in my car, on my cell phone, and on my computer. There's even one on my XBox 360 screen. I simply don't need another time piece. It's too bad really; watches can be beautiful things.

I've been thinking about this recently. I found this article today and if you do the poll, you'll see that most people agree with me. I think things will flip-flop again in the future as soon as they can shrink cell phone electronics into a normal sized wrist watch. I know the screen on a watch isn't big enough to web browse or look through your calendar, but some people really do just use their phones to talk. Combined with quality voice features and a wireless headset, a wrist phone could call you and tell you your appointments and contact information. You can already use your cell phone to send reminders to your phone via voice.

Penn & Teller - Magic Revealed

I found this video entertaining and enlightening.

Sirius XM Merger

I found some interesting articles on the merger that speculate it will happen soon. I found this one that states the National Council of Negro Women opposes the merger mainly because of programming like Howard Stern, Bubba the Love Sponge, and Opie and Anthony. Since both XM and Sirius have adult content, I'm not sure of the logic behind opposing a merger. I know I'm looking forward to the merger for many reasons -- my Sirius stock and more choice being the top two.

Worst. Server. Ever.

I had the honor of helping Chad franken-cobble this "server" together in an emergency to get a failed server up and running. Ugh...

Sam Makes Homemade Pizza

Inspired by the movie Ratatouille, my son has been excited about cooking. He's helped make cookies, salsa, and today he made a pizza.

Maybe he'll be a chef someday...

Spiderman is here!

100% "Next To You" Rock Band Drumming on Expert

Crazy!

Huckabee: Jesus Freak

I came across this today and it scares me that somebody can actually be a contender for a party's nomination and want to eliminate the separation of church and state.

Sing a song you know...

I just got 100% in Rock Band singing Last Train To Clarksville, a personal favorite of mine when I was a kid. W00t!!!!

Scratched Blackberry Screen - REPAIRED!

The same day I purchased my new Blackberry Curve, I scratched the screen. Not a small, minor scratch, but the kind that makes an entire line on the readout impossible to read. I was devastated.

I browsed various Blackberry forums and found this article. I went to the cnn.cn and found a replacement lens for $4.99 + $5.99 shipping. So for around $11.00, I got a new screen and it came in today.

As the forum article indicates, there are two camps for screen replacement: Pry the old one off or disassemble the entire unit and pop the lens out from behind the faceplate. There's actually a video on YouTube that shows how to take a Curve apart, which doesn't look too hard. I don't have a #5 torx bit driver though so I opted for the good old fashion method of prying the lens right off the front.

It took some serious leverage (make sure to use some type of tape or you will scratch your case when you use it as a fulcrum). I used three layers of electrical tape right where the speaker is located. I simply took the smallest screw driver I had and wedged it under the screen. It cracked and came off in three pieces. If you do this yourself, just make sure you don't drop the jagged pieces on to the LCD below. These are much more expensive to replace.

Once the lens was removed, I peeled away the paper from the back of the new lens and applied it right where the old lens had been. I pressed a few times to make sure the adhesive took hold and I was done. It took less than 5 minutes and it looks like a brand new Blackberry.

Kite Jump Mountainboard

This looks like a lot of fun. Make sure to check out "The Gap" jump towards the end.

Close up of the 18" Drags

The new rims!

New Car

A few weeks ago I bought a 2007 Nissan Altima. I just put new rims on it. I'll post better pictures when I have my other camera.

Finally...Wireless Blackberry Sync

I've owned a Blackberry for many years now and I have enjoyed the plethora of features. Even though fancier and shinier gadgets have come and gone I'm familiar with the Blackberry and its operating system, so I've had three different models and have liked each one. The last two I have had supported synchronization over a wireless Bluetooth connection, but it has always eluded me. The tech support forums always indicated that the units were picky about what Bluetooth stack was on the PC favoring Microsoft's version versus Toshiba or any other.

I was never able to get it to work with my Fujitsu on board Bluetooth stack, but about a year ago I got a Microsoft Bluetooth keyboard and mouse that included a wireless dongle, so I tried it to no avail. Even with my newest Blackberry, the Curve, the wireless sync still didn't work.

This weekend I was determined to work out whatever the hell was wrong. I updated drivers. I updated the Blackberry software. I updated the Blackberry OS. And finally....finally after so many years, I have true wireless synchronization to Outlook on my PC. At first it worked but would crash when syncing the task list. I deleted the whole profile and reprogrammed my old USB sync schema from scratch and that did the trick. Now I can sync my BB without taking it out of my bag. w00t!!

Idiocracy

After seeing the movie Idiocracy, this gave me a chuckle as I passed it on the way to work.

The Colors Of A Storm

Taken during the last bad storm...

Another great quote from "Life of Pi"

Here's a great excerpt from the book I'm reading regarding agnostics:

"To choose doubt as a philosophy of life is akin to choosing immobility as a means of transportation."

The book is good so far -- I wish I had more time to read.

EBay to the rescue...again!

My left shift key and tab button stopped working reliably a couple of weeks ago and it has been frustrating, to say the least, on many levels. Obviously not being able to use these keys is bad enough. However, today I got the donkey slap in the face from Fujitsu after I called their sales line and was told they don't sell spare parts. My laptop is out of warranty, so I figured I could replace the keyboard myself, typically an easy operation. They said my only option was to send it to their depot in Tennessee for repair for $300 and wait more than a week to get it back. I searched through web sites that sell spare laptop parts, but none had Fujitsu tablet parts. I thought I was screwed.

I always forget about EBay. I did a quick search and found 4 keyboard replacements for my laptop for under $45. I don't know why I don't just search there first. Kudos to EBay!

Mmmm. Batter Blaster!

I saw an article on the Internet about Batter Blaster and thought it was a unique idea. In a nutshell, it's organic pancake / waffle batter contained within a pressurized can like whipped cream. They had it at my local store so I picked up a can.

As advertised, it's a mess-free way to make quick pancakes. The batter seemed to have more air than your standard mix, which resulted in very fluffy and airy pancakes. It took a bit to get the heat right and I burned a few before I corrected my error. Also, I found that making smaller pancakes resulted in a better experience as the batter was a little thinner than what I was used to (I tend to make my batter thicker for more cake-like pancakes).

Overall it was a very enjoyable, tasty solution for a quick breakfast. I'm going to try waffles next.

Sam the Rock Band Drummer

Long Paper Airplane Flight

I don't know exactly why, but I find this flight very peaceful.

How not to win a drag race...

http://www.maniacworld.com/drag-racing-gone-wrong.html