My wedding ring

Every day I drive to work and I notice my wedding ring.

I don't mean that I see my wedding ring. I mean that I notice it. I think about how lucky I am and how I am happy about the life I traded for the life I got.

There's a lot of pressure being a dad

Susan calls me and relates that Gwen was upset because the new water park wasn't going to be available at the ribbon cutting because the floor didn't cure right or some such thing.

Gwendolyn responds that they should call me, because I can fix anything.

Being a father changes how I look at myself. And all for the good, ya know?

I am fundamentally lazy. And I procrastinate. And I don't smile enough (especially when trying to be funny).

With children in the picture, I have to be a better person because I want them to be better people. I want them kinder, and smarter, and wiser than their old man. How else will they be able to take care of me in my dotage?

Chocolate Mpire

I know I'm a Star Wars geek. I'm better than most but I know I have a problem. But how can you resist when M&Ms are having promotions like the following link? I want DARK chocolate. I want to believe that Episode III will rock. Link

Penguin

If you have ever been in my house you know you can't ever have enough penguins. If you haven't been in my house, we have penguins. Everywhere.

From Jake Ludington's MediaBlab:

We may never learn if androids truly dream of electric sheep, but this cartoon short advocates the possibility of penguins dreaming of flight. Billed as, "A story of a penguin hoping for intergalactic voyages," this animated short demonstrates a boy's willingness to sacrifice to help his aquatic avian friend achieve his dream. Originally appearing on the CBC's Zed Open Source Television, which I assume is Canada's answer to public
access the imagery and backing soundtrack are both quite talented from the second offering by director Wojtek Wawszczyk. His other work, Mouse, also available through Zed is worth checking out too. Link

They Might Be Giants - Bloodmobile

From boingboing.net:

"Infringing teenager's awesome They Might Be Giants video"

"Dave Logan is a high school senior who just finished his latest animation, which is a music video for They Might Be Giants' excellent song ' Bloodmobile.' This is a really excellent video, and I hope we can all appreciate a good science song. I think this is pretty in-fringe-ified, but I imagine it's just a matter of time before it's available on the Giants' site. What's the status of student work and fair use anyway?"

Easter

The girls posing and hunting for eggs on Resurrection Day.

Pictures from Susan's trip to NY

Susan and the two little girls went to her home town of Lindenhurst NY to visit family. Here are their pictures . . .


PopPop, Miriam, and my nephew Logan in NY

Gwendolyn in NY with her cousin, Logan

Miriam in NY

G in NY

More snow in NY

Relaxing in NY

Poor Miriam, she thinks she's so cool

Gwen at the beach in NY

Multiplicity

Multiplicity is the newest software purchase I have made and it has made me so much more productive.

It's a hard application to describe. Mostly because people think they know what it is and go from there. But they usually miss it.

Multiplicity connect two seperate computers to one mouse and keyboard over a network.

Thnk of it as like a switch that gives focus to whatever PC you are using via the mouse.

What multiplicity is not:

• Remote desktop/remote control. Those systems allow you to bring a remote computer into the PC you are using. Usually in another window. Think pcAnywhere or VNC or Windows Remote Desktop. I use tightVNC to connect to the G4 Man at the house and Remote Desktop at work. Both rock.
• VirtualPC. VirtualPC is great for testing. I have every flavor of Windows since Win3.1 running in VPC. I run BeOS and some Linux distros too. Everything is networked together (except the Win3.1, I had to drop that but my WFWG is running)
• Dual monitors. We have these at work and they work well. You get twice the desktop. I work with developers that have code on one monitor and app on the other. It's pretty efficient.

Multiplicity is for people who have two or more PCs next to each other and want to use both. But they don't wnat to have to switch back and forth between mice and keyboards. Seemlessly.

I have a TabletPC that travels with me too and from the office. It's a good PC but it's a tablet, there are limitations. It feels slower. The keyboard is cramped. The touchpad is not a mouse.
So I do my heavy lifting with the desktop. But I want my portable (travel) work to be on the Tablet.

In steps MP. I can be working on the desktop and as I slide my cursor over to the side of the monitor closest to the tablet . . . the cursor jumps to the tablet and there I am.

I type on the keyboard plugged into the desktop and the keystrokes appear on the tablet.

I can copy and paste clipboard content; images, text. I use it to copy URLs a lot. and if I run a quesry on the desktop but want to send the email from the client on the tablet; copy and paste.

The Pro version (the one I use) also allows me to copy files among the PCs I have connected. I save something on PC1, drag my cursor across PC2 and continue an to PC3 where I right click and paste. There's my file. Nice.

Customer support from the vendor rocks. They are available via web forum, email, and IRC. ALL THE TIME.

If you have multiple PCs on your desk now I reccommend this product. (They are planning to support Mac an Linux in the near future for those of you who swing that way.)

DNRs, Living Wills, Wills, and Terri Shaivo

The Terri Schaivo case has been on my mind a lot the last few weeks. I am sure it's been on the mind of most Americans at some point or another.

How can it not? It touches on religion, the courts, the Congress, in-laws, children, civil rights. Somewhere in that mess every American must at least one opinion.

I . . . I have feelings and thoughts (note that I acknowledge the difference) about almost all of them. And I've reversed those thoughts and feelings a number of times. It's just a mess. And I feel so sad for the family. What a terrible place to be and to have been there for so long.

For the record,

1. I think that the only place the courts had a place was whether Michael Schaivo was a competent guardian and could speak for Terri. They did that. Move on.
2. Congress should be able to make all the laws they want but this case had all the law that was necessary beforehand. And it'll be interesting to see how fast the discussion gets dropped after Terri dies.
3. If Terri is brain-dead and her parents want to maintain her; let them. Get a proxy divorce Michael or whatever court order you need to get on with your life and move on.
4. Parents, let your daughter go.
5. Supreme Court - great job. Continue to focus on enforcing law and not making it.
6. Religious folks - decide if you believe in God's will or not. Act accordingly. If God wants Terri to stay alive, He'll take care of that. If He wants to take her home, why are you getting in the way?

And the fact is that all this could have been made so much simpler if Terri had made her wishes known before hand. I did a search on the internet and found all the forms required to make this situation clear for my family if not easy for them.

So in case it comes up and the forms can't be found. Please use emergency measures to keep me alive long enough to determine if I am going to have quality life. If I am going to be a vegetable, please pull the plug and move on with your lives.

Better yet, move me to Oregon and make use of the assisted suicide laws to put me down. Consider this my go-ahead. And I don't want my body to starve. That's barbaric. The doctors caring (not caring) for Terri should be disgusted with themselves.

And while we are on the topic of death, I would prefer cremation. I would like some of my ashes entombed with my sister Sarah. She was my birthday present and I'd like to be with her. I know it's goofy. But ask anyone that knows me; I'm goofy. If anyone else wants my ashes, you are welcome to them. [I have some of Sarah's on my dresser and they bring me . . . something. Not joy, or closeness, or anything that I can describe. But I'm glad she's there.]

So go out and do your own search.
Get the forms your state uses and fill them out. Pay the money if you can't find the free ones. Or send a notarized letter to someone.
Your death or incapacitation is going to be hard enough.
Make your family's life AND your death as easy as possible.
Do what you can.
Do something.
And tell the people that you love that you love them.
Because you never know.
DD
Texas forms