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

Susan is almost home

It has been a week but Susan is on her way home.

House is still standing. Older kids are alive.

What more could she ask for?



http://www.cheaptickets.com/trs/cheaptickets/flighttracker/flight_tracker_graphic.xsl

Browser Central - my second widget

From now on. . . .I save my posts before I submit. Blogger crash. Argh!!

Below is my second widget.

I thought my last (first) widget did what it was supposed to do. I wanted an app that could market the self-service tools that we were deploying yet be unobtrusive.
I think that I accomplished what I set out to do. But I thought it could be better.

Instead of describing what each tool did and launching a separate browser, why not integrate the browser into the app? Or if made full screen, use the browser as a kiosk?

So first a drawing:



I use the same template I used before (thanks Brad Wardell). Resize it a bit here and there.
I use the ActiveX control for IE and throw some script to accept URLs from the buttons.
I set the functionality of the buttons to send the URL.
Pretty much done at that point.

I moved the buttons from the side to the top to allow more screen space. I also grouped the forward and back buttons at the top. Why ,make a user go all over everywhere?

I didn't want to search the web for arrows that we public and matched so I used text to control going forward and back in the browser.

I used the TabletPC to create my own font based on my handwriting. DesktopX lets me embed the font (or whatever else really) into the object. So a user without my font, can still use it.

Things I would like to do (am thinking about doing): {updated}

• Show an alert if there is no internet connection. I added some code that puts up an alert box. Maybe do something about it?
• Show the descriptions of the tool (website in this example)
• I removed the minimize image in the upper right-hand corner and repalced it with a Under score. It looks more like a standard minimize button.
• I changed the setting on the title to allow it to move the whole app.
• I resized the buttons and lined up the text

Download: link
Requires DesktopX.

Should I rip this?

I have had two conversations in the last month about ripping songs. One with a teenager and one with a father of a pre-teen.

The arguement were the similar:

1. I'm not stealing from the artist, I'm liberating from the evil record companies who are exploiting the poor artists.
2. I'm not stealing because the artist has so much money that they wouldn't notice my purchase.
3. It's not stealing becaus I would have never bought the album (song).
4. Muic should be free for everyone.
5. You don't understand! I'm not going to talk about this anymore.

Of course, you ask them how it's different from shoplifting and who knows what argument they may come up with, because, that's WRONG! Whatever.

My kids think I am harsh because I don't let them burn music at my house. I think I am giving because I don't make them remove all pirated material from the house.

I think that it's stealing. If someone produced some material and expects recompense and doesn't get it; it's stealing. Software, music, movies; all the same thing. Stealing.

I'm on the line about TV. I think I'm OK with watching a show I missed as long as the commercials are intact.
Granted, if I were watching live, I would be flipping to other channels or getting a snack or chasing a kid and probably miss the ad. But the option is there.

You want to burn music you own? Convert all those cassettes to CD (but download the hirher quality version from the web)? Knock yourself out. Have fun. Make that Eighty's mix tape of your favorite monster ballads. You did your part. Thanks.

In any case, I saw a tongue-in-cheek chart at inreview.co.uk that will help those who want to steal justify that theft. And those others . . . enjoy.

My first Desktop X widget

The company I work for does IT support. Our focus is moving users closer to solving their own problems; self-service.

We have three major componants and they ar all web based. But users don't know how to get to them. It's a marketing problem really.

So Wedneday at 11:30 PM in bed I had an idea to build a launcher. Somehting that sat on the desktop and obviosly provided links to the tools. I whipped out the TabletPC. Opened Journal and drew out the design.



The next morning I open MS Paint and started drawing buttons and stuff.

Background:


Button:


InfoPanel:


They stunk. Horribly.

So I thought to myself . . that aero thing is pretty popular at WinCustomize Link, I'll see if there is an image I can use like that. And lo and behold, there it was; an aero template by Brad Wardell.

So I grab that and start building my objects. I resized that one image over and over again for different functions. I then added a few text objects on top of my graphpical objects. Set them to do nothing.

I then added actions to my buttons; launch the right tool. Easy enough.

Now for the infopanel; I wanted to have a description of the tool displayed when a user moused over the button. By sending messages to a bunch of new text objects (with different states for mouse over and mouse away) on top of the infopanel I accomplished this.

I tried to add a fourth button to show system stats. I go the meters to work, but I couldn't get them to go away when mousing over the other buttons. Something to work on later.

Then I added a minimize object, locked everything down, and exported.

Total build time: under two hours

I also want to get the widget to start minimized. But for that I need code. And for code I need to study.

That brings up a good point. To build this object I didn't need to know any code. The property fields for objects in DX is wicked easy to understand.

So there I had it, my first DesktopX object:



I wanted to share my object with the community at WC. But the tools referenced are all on the intranet or otherwise non-accessible. So I updated the Text on the three button objects and title. Updated the descriptions on the infopanel objects.

Updated the URLs on the button objects to point to some great sites. Exported and uploaded.

Total time: 23 minutes

Launch Central



Download: Link (DesktopX required)

Miriam learns well from her sister . . .

. . from a certain point of view.

When we moved into the new house the "Green Room" became my den. We moved in some furniture that was very comfortable but a wee bit too stained for the livingroom.

Gwen discovered very quickly that the couch, seat, and ottoman made great platforms to jump from. I was cool with it. Susan . . . put up with my choice.

Then Miriam came. And she watched. And she learned. And she put it to practice.

She does not nail the landings like Gwendolyn does. But she is not two yet. I have faith.

Miriam Jumping: wmv (380KB); AVI (8.86 MB)
[I made a token effort to find a free MPEG encoder . . . failed.]

A tribute to my Aunt: Pizza Burgers!

http://www.favoritebrandrecipes.com/Recipes/220/3674001220.htm

Last summer the family went to Green Bay, WI for my father's wedding. We stayed a few days at my Aunt Gail and Uncle Jim's house (with cousins Paul and Jeni) and one night had Pizza Burgers. I vaugly recall having these as a child but had not had them in years. And I didn't recall them being called "Pizza Burgers."

But last night dinner was a little loose. So we had Pizza burgers. Used Susan's delicious no-recipe sauce and vegie pepporoni for those of us who are freakish about our cunsumption of dead animals.

And I thought of my Aunt.

---

Ingredients
1 pound ground beef
2 cups RAGÚ® Old World Style® Pasta Sauce
1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese (about 4 ounces)
1/4 teaspoon salt
6 English muffins, split and toasted

Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 15 minutes

1. In small bowl, combine ground beef, 1/2 cup Ragú Pasta Sauce, 1/2 cup cheese and salt. Shape into 6 patties. Grill or broil until done.
2. Meanwhile, heat remaining pasta sauce. To serve, arrange burgers on muffin halves. Top with remaining cheese, sauce and muffin halves.

It's Freedom of Religion, Not Freedom FROM Religion

I'll continue my theme of government involvement in our lives. My two previous rants were about about Freedom of the press and government charity. If you read those you can guess my views on the subject; "Freedom of" is not "freedom from" religion.

“Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or
prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech,
or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to
petition the Government for redress of grievances.” U.S. Const.,
Amend. I."

Today the Supremes will hear two arguments about religion (specifically the Ten Commandments) in public places.

It's amazing to me, after reading the briefs, it's apparent that the supremes really have to make a decision. Case law supports both sides of the arguments. That's where I think we went wrong though. There should not be case law supporting the the petitioner in the first argument (Van Orden v. Perry[Governor of Texas]) and the respondent in the second (McCreary County v. ACLU of Kentucky).

The Constitution is very clear; the federal government will not force a religion or prevent a citizen from choosing their own religion. Some of the other arguments justifying why the commandments should remain in place seem spurious to me. They claim that the monuments are part of history, or part of a museum setting., or it's less religious than other religious symbology that the Supreme Court has already allowed.

The only argument that needs to be made is that the commandments are not endorsing any specific religion or religion at all. Believe, don't believe, change your beliefs, whatever. If you think that the government is cramming faith down your throat, petition them to put up a monument to your beliefs. Petition the government to take it down. Call all your friends, family, neighbors, mosque-mates, church-buddies, temple pals, and vote. Then you can make the rules. Have fun, good luck.

On a personal note, I think the ten commandments are good rules to live by. Ignore the first 2 or three (depending on your interpretation) if you don't believe in Yahweh or any other deity. And I don't see the harm. They don't take anything away from your faith or lack of faith.

Wiki link: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Freedom_of_religion

A Fun and Twisted message to Congress

Consumers Union is working to drive attention to a bill (s.470)to amend the Public Health Service Act so that we the people can see all the results of clinical trials.

The video has a Schoolhouse rock kind of thing going but the cause is just.

Watch the video and fill out the linked letter. You may do yourself some good.

My take on Bankruptcy Reform

This week the U.S. senate is scheduled to look at the Bankruptcy Abuse Prevention and Consumer Protection Act of 2005 (S.256). The meat of the act is that if a person can afford to pay back debt, they must. And the determining factor is if the debtor is above the state median income.

It illustrates in my mind the type of thinking that is wrong with this country. Who in their right mind would argue that people that accrue debt should NOT have to pay it back.

My biggest complaint about the act has nothing really to do with the act. It has to do with some of the major backers; credit card companies and the auto finance companies. These companies are predators. They feed off the American dream to have the "good life" now and pay for it later. And they know full well that most Americans don't pay off the full mount of their debt every month and the interest eats them alive.

Don't get me wrong; I think that those people are morons (excluding yourself, of course). [Susan and I have two debts, the house and one of our three cars. We don't do credit. We save and buy. And sometimes we have to wait for the things we want. And sometimes we don't get what we want at all. But we know that bankruptcy is not in our future.] I believe credit is a bad thing. And I have a hard time listening to people who say that it's required, even if just for emergencies. Saving a little something on the side is good for emergencies, credit just puts it off.

And the thing about bankruptcy is that the stigma of filing is gone. You hear about huge corporations filing all the time. and they stay in business, make acquisitions, get bailed out by the government. And with the current laws, personal bankruptcy doesn't have to change your life. You keep your house, your car, no one is going to repo that PCyou bought because you were feeling blue. What's supposed to happen to break you of your habit is your credit is shot. I hear stories though of people in bankruptcy that can get approved for new credit cards.

You can look at the stats yourself, bankruptcy filings are going through the roof. I am glad to see this reform go before the Senate. I think you should go out and find what your senators and representative are going to do and make sure they know what you want them to do.

And save some money, don't rely on credit. Because if you file bankruptcy, someone has to eat that debt, and someone else is going to have to pay for it.

Gwendolyn wanted pancakes this morning. It's pretty hard to say no to someone so cute.

Voodoo Knife Rack

Have you ever seen a cooler knife rack?

It even matches the kitchen. It almost make me wish that Susan would open up her kitchen to my own peculier tastes. But I get the "green room" downstairs and she gets the kitchen.



Viceversa-Voodo knife rack