Techie Dad Hosts an Exchange Student

I disabled account creation on here. At least I think I did. Firstly, nobody cares enough about what I am doing on here to create an account. Second, there are just too many jerks out there. I really hate spammers and I wonder how much money they really make doing what they do. I doubt anyone does it for any other reason. If you are going to be a douche, at least be original.

I want to firstly say that she could not have come at a busier time. I am in school pursuing a doctoral degree. My wife, kid and work all kept me busier than usual, and we are trying to sell our house.

But I must say I think she is going to fit in very well. Why do I think this? Attitude. She open to possibilities. She is interested in our culture. But above all, I think she is very flexible. If you are hosting or an exchange student, I think this is the most important quality.

Kathi and I spent all yesterday evening talking. I don’t even remember all of the topics we spoke of. Everything from our parents to the absurdity of reality television to President Obama. I am glad we are hosting this young lady and I feel a lot of excitement to show her our state and learn from her.

One thing I told her- Both of our lives will never be the same after this homestay.

Over fourteen years ago I got my real start with computers and technology working in a computer lab. Now here I am managing one on an interim basis. It brings back a lot of memories. It also brings back a lot of skills I need to brush back up on. I look forward to deploying Win 7 Images, working a little bit with pushing packages and a lot of other lost skills. I also like working with students. Good times!

After reading how a Minnesota woman was fined $1.9 million for downloading 24 songs I became morally outraged. Yes, downloading music that you did not purchase is not the right thing to do, but so is using vast financial and political influence to terrorize everyday Americans! Moreover, we have much more important things to worry about as a nation, especially in terms of our economic problems and political crises in unstable foreign nations. These things have been said before, however, they bear repeating because people continue to be opressed by what is ostensibly a ‘middleman’ lobbying organization that protects the public images of music executives and recording artists.

Firstly let me say that I personally don’t support getting stuff you don’t pay for. If I like an album and often listen to it, I buy it. Artists deserve to get paid for their work even though this generally doesn’t happen through the release of one’s first album. What follows are ideas you can use to both show your support of musicians while at the same time telling the RIAA to go screw itself.

Support non-RIAA artists and buy non-RIAA albums

Why is this important? Mainly because this is the primary corporate powerhouse trying to screw people by price fixing (Ever seen one new CD sell for more than another or a DVD? How does that work?), hunting people online, and trying to assemble our nation’s lawmaking political will against LEGAL digital downloads.

Go to these sites for more information:
http://www.riaaradar.com
Tool to tell you which albums are backed buy the RIAA

http://www.boycott-riaa.com/

Buy Used CDs

This is a great legal way to get the music you want for less than half the price.
secondspin.com
half.ebay.com
Your local music store!

Use a private network to share

I am no legal scholar, but if I buy an album and rip it to my computer where my friends could play the file whenever no one else is using it, that would be called sharing. I should be allowed to share that music whenver I want. I believe iTunes has similar functionality built in already. but you could set up a Virtual Private Network to accomplish this on an ad hoc basis.

Share offline

Kick it old school. I’ve never used that phrase before, so I thought I would try it out. Make a mix CD, lend an album out. All of these things are the point of music anyway and it isn’t tied to your IP address.

Do not use Peer to Peer (P2P) services

There are a lot of legitimate uses for P2P networks, but in my mind the risk is just too great, especially where music is concerned. If you must trade files legitimately on the Internet, there are other ways to go about it that do not make use of this technology. The RIAA is spending millions of dollars trying to bulldoze the little guy and monetize every aspect of the album manufacturing process. They should be more concerned about the state of electronic media and distribution and how to put more value into the products they produce and unbundled media beyond 99 cents a song that actually make sense!

Use services like Pandora

Pandora is a great online muisc collection you can access (at this time) for free. Every artist I’ve ever searched for has come up. You can create custom music channels based on artists, genres or songs.

Tell your favorite artists you oppose the RIAA

OK- I’m not so sure how well this would work in actual practice, but for artists who are in touch with their fans, it couldn’t hurt? However, it seems to me that artists who have online communications with their fan base are probably doing independent types of things already.

For more information check out the Electronic Frontier Foundation’s page on file sharing and personal rights

Hanging out with my little guy is periods of work encased in a lot of fun. Our guilty pleasure is Kung-Fu Panda. He is only 5 months old, and it already is something he loves. He squeals at certain scenes in the movie. I try to talk a lot to him while we’re watching it, and he can’t concentrate that long on it.
We play a lot of games and I walk around the house with him in my left arm- this is by far his favorite activity.

I spent the whole weekend with him while my wife worked.

The Speck CandyShell is some of the best iPhone protection products I have seen. Hear me now and believe me later- And then hear me later because after my phone has exceeded the escape velocity of my hand, crashing to the unforgiving asphalt of my suburban surroundings I’ll still be able to place that phone call unless for some odd reason it lands roughly on a very sharp pointy rock onto the screen surface or drowns in a vat of deep fried chicken fat. Then I’m not so sure.

The CandyShell is aptly named. It has a hard exterior and a soft, gooey (hopefully shock absorbent) interior.

Still, it was a million times better than this horrible rubberized cover I got at BestBuy. I got a pink one cause all the many covers were taken. It was hard tot get in and out of my pocket, and eventually it tore after only a few months use. This CandyShell will take many licks I hope before I get to that soft center.

Check it out at http://www.speckproducts.com/products/candyshell/iphone-3g/162

They also make a tough skin that is the most testosterone-driven cover of all time.

My favorite site as I prepare for my own drafts is Footballguys.com. They are a first rate service, and have greatly enabled me to consistently make winning picks.

Wikipedia says:

Miracle fruit is available as freeze dried granules or in tablets – this form has a longer shelf life than fresh fruit. Tablets are made from compressed freeze dried fruit which causes the texture to be clearly visible even in tablet form.

The effect of Miracle fruit is made possible by contact with the tongue, not through digestion. For this reason, tablets must be allowed to dissolve in the mouth. The most pronounced effect can be achieved by coating the entire tongue in a paste of Miracle fruit for up to 30 seconds.

The tablets are currently very difficult to get outside of Asia, where they are popular among diabetics and dieters.^[4][5] However, in many countries they can be purchased on the Internet.

I am now on the hunt for some dried miracle fruit!

Check out these links:

http://www.crfg.org/pubs/ff/miraclefruit.html

http://www.notcot.com/archives/2008/02/miracle_fruit_review.php

http://www.miracleconnect.com/

http://www.bennadel.com/blog/780-The-Miracle-Fruit-Miraculous-Berry-Turns-Sour-To-Sweet.htm

I completed the requirements for my Masters of Public Administration. I have to say I am really happy not to be in school any more. I feel the pull of wanting to take classes in much the same way someone with Stockholm Syndrome probably feels about his captors. I’m really super happy and can’t wait to further reap the benefits that this course of education has given to me.

My wife and I are committed to natural childbirth for our kid. We’re 19 weeks along and have been wading through the various processes to make this work in a hospital.

While there are many resources for people who want a home birth, I feel more comfortable in a hospital setting where the latest technology is available if interventions are really needed. My wife takes another view. and so as a partnership we’re trying to give ourselves the most natural childbirth outcome possible in a hospital setting.

This is going to take some work and a lot of talking to nurses and doctors. I’m reading some books and I’ve already had discussions with these parties.