I need to take a trip to Texas next week, so I told the boys this morning. The very first thing they both said was, “Daddy! There are COWBOYS in Texas! They might think you are a bad guy! They have guns!” Initially, I thought it was cute, now I think it was bizarre. Why…
Why do I have a mail server and a web server in my garage?The servers cost (when I bought them) about $1200 each. Hosting of email is pretty cheap. Less than $50 a year. Hosting of Web is also pretty cheap. With a $2400 budget, why do I bother buying when I can host with…
Dell had this pretty amazing deal. Quadruple Ram on select systems. Here are the details: Pentium D 2.8 ghtz 2mb L2 Cache 4 (FOUR) gigs of Ram SATA Hard Drive (I will upgrade this to Sata-II HD soon) 48X/32XCD-RW AND 16XDVD+/-RW 128MB PCIe x16 nVidia Quadro Price: $1400 The deal is because of the ram.…
Jared has recently learned to pronounce L. He emphasizes it in every single word. “Daddy, Can we go pLlllllay tennis?” “My name is Jared CoLllllle Llllipka.” He also started teasing Ethan about it. Ethan says W instead of L. Wipka. I don’t think it is a problem. He will certainly grow out of it. I…
I set up my 2005 NFL Football pool using http://www.officefootballpool.com. Decent Interface, pretty fast. Written in Cold Fusion. Lots of options for setting up the pool. Nice statistics information. Everyone you want in a football pool with participants scattered about the country. I am going to be picking the Jets every week. Nothing can stop…
It seems the most important quality in public debate is the catchiness of the phrases one uses. Some Examples: Everyone thought conservatives just don’t care about the plight of the working class and poor people. They were right. But then came “Compassionate Conservative”. None of the policies changes, but people changed their perception of conservatives…
I used to have this speech I gave people at Koko of what a vision and mission was. I used the analogy of the United States of America. Vision A “Vision Statement” is really just an idea. It is a statement to the world saying, I believe this to be true and will make decisions…
I am current reading Master of the Senate, by Robert Caro. Pulitzer Prizing Winning Biography on Lyndon Johnson. Caro also wrote two other books on Johnson and one book, The Power Broker, also winner of the Pulitzer. 4 books in thirty years and two of them won the Pulitzer. Not bad, eh? Lesson, slow and…
The House of Representatives by a wide margin approved a mammoth energy plan for the nation Thursday that sends billions of dollars in tax breaks and subsidies to energy companies, but is expected to do little to reduce U.S. oil consumption or dampen high energy prices. – MSNBC This bill will give huge tax breaks…
In a SpongeBob Squarepants Episode, where SpongeBob meets Sandy, there is a scene where Sandy invites SpongeBob into her Air Dome. She mentions something about air. So SpongeBob asks his friend Patrick Star what it means. Patrick says, “It means she is stuck up. She puts on Airs. You can fit in, just lift your…
Since moving to San Mateo, I have adopted a new regiment of exercise. First off, I bike to work. 2.5 miles each way. This saves us the cost of a second car/gas/insurance, plus I am helping the environment. And the exercise is good for me too. Second, we have decided to try to do our…
Some days there is so much stuff in your head that you can not effectively blog. Blogging requires picking out some detail and focusing on it. Right now my head is filled with stuff I need to do, open source software pros and cons and topped off with a difficult day of interactive programming. Sometimes…
Buy a TV. Costco had some good deals. I think we want a 40-50 inch thin profile (but not hang on the wall thin) LCD HDTV. Then of course we need a stand to put it on which will have our components. I need to decide whether or not to scrap the surround sound. It’s…
Finally Finally Finally! I have internet access again! Commadot and Kokopop are back live. Woo Hoo! So much has happened in the last couple of weeks. We moved. Matthew is walking. Jared is potty trained. Nana visited. Google mapped the moon. (Easter Egg: zoom ALL the way in.) The most exciting thing is that Jared…