Something...

... to think about

Protect Your Online Identity

Many sites, such as Facebook, do have the option of SSL to encrypt your information transiting the web. However, lots of sites do not default to the secure mode (it's a little slower). It's possible to protect your online identity by using a FireFox add-on called Force-TLS.

Linux and Kids

This explains some of the reasons why I will be using Linux for my child's computer.

Free Internet Coming Soon to Starbucks

Coming soon to a location (possibly) near you. Free Internet at Starbucks - as long as you use a Starbucks card to make a purchase. Two hours for free; pay thereafter. That's good news for me! No more $10.00 per visit (payable to T-Mobile) to do homework.

Multi-Touch Whiteboard

I remember a few years ago when the smartboard was completely new.   The idea of having a board that one could write on like a whiteboard but interact with like a computer stylus was innovative.  The prohibitive cost kept many from adopting it, but the prices were steadily falling.  Microsoft even predicts a day when it will be standard in a house or restaurant to have an interactive table top.

That day appears to be nearing much more rapidly. Thanks to an inventive and imaginative student. Here is a video showing the multi-touch whiteboard that he developed. Using an infra-red LED and a Nintendo Wii remote.

Pretty cool, huh?

Fly to the Stars!

Google Earth 4.2 now has Google Sky. It allows you to view the night sky and "fly" to the stars and galaxies.  Here's a video that shows the latest features!

First Tic-Tac-Toe... and now Checkers

 Just like I've always believed - Checkers is a worthless game.  Ok, so it's not worthless: I've had many a fun (and at other times very frustrating) game.  But ever since I learned Chess, I've dislike Checkers, primarily because I thought the game was without real strategy; it's not she who plays perfectly wins but rather he who makes a mistake loses.

Come to find out, the computers have solved the game and it really is a game that if each plays perfectly, no one wins.  So just like Tic-Tac-Toe has been solved (see War Games for a cool demonstration) so has Checkers.  But don't attempt to copy down the right moves - "the entire solution includes 500,995,484,682,338,672,639 possible board configurations."

Chess on the other hand is still a long ways from being solved - even if the computers are better than we humans.

Happy Birthday, Blog!

From Boundless I learned that the Wall Street Journal is running a celebration for the blog;  a birthday celebration, that is:

Happy Blogiversary

It's been 10 years since the blog was born. Love them or hate them, they've roiled presidential campaigns and given everyman a global soapbox. Twelve commentators -- including Tom Wolfe, Newt Gingrich, the SEC's Christopher Cox and actress-turned-blogger Mia Farrow -- on what blogs mean to them.

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So, in celebration, I thought I would show you all my first blog.  (Yeah, I know - kinda nerdy and self promoting -- it's for the blog birthday party, though)  Debuted on my first website roughly 9 years ago (November 1998), it was part of a series that ran for 13 posts lasting through October 30 1999.  Now that I look back at them, I find them very trite, naive, and innocent.

 So here is the unedited raw content, save a few opsec edits, of the first blog I wrote. 

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Vol. 1.1

November 1998

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New way to get news.

Hello everyone! I am trying out this format to see if this will be a good way to get the news out. I would appreciate feedback on this. I plan to make this available online also. Email me @ old email address to start receiving it via email.

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The Past 5 Months

Because this is the first time that I have communicated with some of you for a long time I am going to give a quick summary of the past 5 months.

The trip out to California was a fun, yet long one. We started out on a rainy day and had rain every day until we got to Wyoming. But most of the rain was at night. We were able to see anything we wanted to see when we wanted because during that time it was not raining. We still have dents in our car from the hail that fell in Missouri.

Our entire trip from Ohio to California took us through the states of Indiana, Illinois, Missouri, Kansas, Colorado, Wyoming, Utah, Arizona, Nevada, and then to California. I was able to drive in all of the states and I drove from just outside of Las Vegas all the way into a rest stop in California.

We were able to see sights in Illinois where Abraham Lincoln lived and in Kansas where Eisenhower lived. In Colorado we saw family and friends and also went to Focus on the Family the day that Dr. Dobson had a stroke. (There is no connection between the two incidents.)

In Wyoming we saw lots of animals along the road and also saw a nice sunset. In Utah we went to Bryce Canyon and saw the sun rise over the canyon. It was cool. From there we drove to the city where my mom and dad had part of their honeymoon. We also ate at Carl's Jr. (A West Coast fast food joint - my favorite).

When we first arrived in LA we stayed in the old LIFE (Bible College) men's dorm (now the Angelus Bible Institute dorm). LIFE was where mom and dad met.

We were immediately accepted into the church, but I had several of the experiences with people recognizing me, but I had a blank mind on who they were. Oh well!

We are now in a church-owned house in Glendale, which is about 8 miles from the church and 10 miles from the school.

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New School

We are now attending school name. It is a small school district made up of three schools (Elementary, Middle, and High) on one campus. The total enrollment is 1950 students. Each grade has about 150 students and the classes are about 20-30 in size.

The school has several bus routes and we take one of them to get to school. The stops are near our house - one is just across the street.

When I first saw the school, I decided that out of all of the schools that we had seen that this was the one that I wanted to go to. The campus was the only one that said "come here." All the other schools that we had visited looked run down and did not look inviting.

This has turned out to be a very good school. I am taking 3 AP classes that allow me to earn college credit for them. None of the other schools that we looked at offered any of these classes. This is allowing me to prepare more for college and get ahead in my studies so that I can get into a good college.

The students and staff at school name have been friendly and helpful. Even in such a large school, we are not lost in the crowd. The staff knows our family and so do many of the students. I am a Teacher's Assistant for the Athletic Department and it is going well. The secretaries and the Athletic Director are nice and they are good friends. I have been able to help them and they have welcomed me warmly to the school.

School is going well, we are just passed the first quarter; wow time flies. It seems like we have just been in school for a short time, but semester exams are coming up quickly. Just about 6 weeks of school and then we are in the 2^nd Semester!

I think that "senioritus" is starting to affect me even though I am a junior. Most of my classmates are seniors and the juniors that are not are also being affected with senioritus. Maybe it should be called "upperclassmenitus".

All in all it has been a good time at school name. Our grades are good and so are the teachers and friends.

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Mission's Trip

Brother's name and I are preparing to go with some of our youth group to Tijuana, Mexico this weekend. We leave the day after Thanksgiving and return on Sunday. (I know that some will receive this after the trip is over. I will describe it in the next issue) The trip has been planned for several months, but we did not know that we would be going until about two months ago.

The youth leadership is wanting this trip to be a giving time. They wanted everyone to supply there own way to go. I at first declined in late August because I did not have the money to go. In October I was again asked if I wanted to go and I said that I did (I did, but did not have the money). They said to not worry about the money. I mentioned to them that I could go if I got enough money from my birthday. This was on a Sunday; by Wednesday all of the money came in and I was able to go.

We have 4 teams that are going down to TJ. We have a worship team, puppet team, drama team and prayer team. Everyone is a member of two teams. I am on the worship team and the puppet team. Brother's name is on the puppet team and the prayer team. We are going to be going to two orphanages and two churches and we are staying at LIFE Tijuana (a Bible college). We will be teaching a youth group there how to do puppets and drama. It is during a pastors' conference and we will be doing part of a service for the pastors. We are told that they are eager to have us come. For them it is strange to have teenagers who would be willing to go on a missions trip.

Thank you to everyone who helped me go.

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My 17^th Birthday

For my birthday we had a small family party, but family names surprised me and my friends at school with a pizza. My spanish teacher gave me some Dr. Pepper and the Athletic Department gave me a cake and a card. It was fun. Some friends at church gave Mark and I a joint party and they gave me a nice shirt and some money. I used the money to get some more CDs. Like I stated earlier most of the money that I got for my birthday I used to pay for the missions trip.

Stocks, 3D Maps, & Elections

Stocks
So I've finally found a brokerage with decent fees and no minimum purchase. I'll share which one after I can get credit for recommending someone. I'd get $50 if you signed up, but I have to wait 30 days before I can recommend anyone. I will, however, share my stock picks. I can't yet purchase because my ACH is still processing. Two companies that are relatively new and cheap to buy (penny stocks, folks) but I really like the companies' ideas.

One is APWL - Advanced Power Line. They are building high-speed internet connections through the electrical lines. It's still a work in progress, but I see that taking off -- high speed internet anywhere there are power lines in your home/office/etc. If that could be combined with a Vonage-type connection (Vonage has a portable VOIP telephone service that will follow you wherever you plug into high speed interent) to do charges, the portability would be nice. Some might argue that wireless is the way of the future, but lots of people still get DSL and cable internet. This would replace those types of connections.

The other stock pick is ITPD. ITPD is a company that is investing in medical-care facilities in Wal-Marts. The goal is to have a low-cost clinic in every Wal-Mart. Each facility would be staffed by nurses and groups of clinics would be managed by a doctor. Only two clinics have been opened so far.

Disclaimer: These are companies that I will be investing in... I make no guarantees on how they will do. Investing involves risk and should be a carefully managed part of your portfolio. I do not advocate "day-trading" or other get-rich-quick schemes.

3D Maps
We've all come to know and love Google Earth and the satellite images of Earth (and yes, they have Google Mars, too). Microsoft, not wanting to be left behind, also started its version with "bird's eye views" that had a closer image for certain cities. But it has now announced its three dimensional views of a few cities. It will be adding more in the future. It appears to be a composite of its earlier views, but combined it with a three dimensional frame and wrapped the photos onto the frame. I can't get any good views yet, but I think that's due to my current connection.

Will someone try and check it out for me? Thanks.

Elections Tomorrow
The 2006 Mid-Term Elections are tomorrow. I am not voting this year (yes, shame on me) because I failed to register in time -- the elections snuck up on me. It will be interesting to watch the results -- not the returns (the tally of who won) but how the country changes and in which direction it goes. These next two years are really pivotal for us.

As a side note, I prefer a divided government (control of Congress by one party and the presidency by the other). I think that best preserves the interests of our country. Only when the two sides work together is anything done and the excesses are limited (but not eliminated).

Until next time...

More Bird Flu and Hope for an Open Internet

The Bird Flu is making news again. Now it appears to spread between humans. I hope this doesn't become a major threat. Right now it appears that it takes incredibly close, prolonged contact to transfer. Which means those of us who are single and not sharing a room with others are at a better advantage to survive... except when counting in the facts that

1. All of us are mortal and therefore can die

2. Happily married people live healthier and longer than singles. (I'm still at work, but will soon be heading out to find food - most likely fast food - and Raid -- still have yet to see if the ants are invading for part 3.)

3. I'm rambling. (I don't know how that fits...)

Anyway

I really don't want to pay more for the internet. According to this article in the BBC there is a debate over the open internet or the two (or more tiered) internet. I, for one, prefer the open internet. More competition, less regulation, and equal (for the most-part) opportunity for all. Having to pay for premium delivery would be passed on to the consumer (more fees for all) and we would almost be forced to pay extra (dial-up is already slow enough now... imagine if we had to pay for faster connection and faster delivery or else suffer a lack of both).

Perhaps I'll have Subway tonight...

Middle of Nowhere

Just a quick note from a mobile device in the middle of nowhere. Technology is possible to skip generations of development. That enables globalization to benefit the poorest of the poor. Pictures later. For more on the globalization and technology see the book The World is Flat.

1 Billion Downloads

Itunes marks its one billionth download. That's a lot of songs. I did contribute, but 194 is just a drop in the bucket.