Tech related content geared towards parents with gadgets
We had a power outage tonight in Canyon Country so I grabbed the tripod and took some pictures. I have a Nikon D3000 and I enjoy taking pictures of the stars and the sky with long exposure.
Some of the effects you get with a camera when there is no artificial light flooding your shots is pretty awesome. Leave a comment and tell me what you guys think.
It certainly looks like a good day for the girls to have stayed at their mothers house or maybe not. Usually when the power is out it gives us all a chance to unplug and all be in the same room; talking and playing by candlelight. We enjoy earth day for the same reason. Tonight its just me and Victor flying solo. He is reenacting scenes from Old School by streaking the quad. Seriously! He is taking advantage of the extreme darkness to disguise his shirtless body. He’s laughing and I’m laughing at him. Good times. Word is the power will be in before midnight. Hannah and Hailey….. You missed a good night.
Both of my daughters are very good students. Occasionally, I get upset with A & B report cards because I believe all A’s is what they are both capable of. So far in 2012 Hannah and Hailey have exceeded my expectations twice.
Hannah made the JV team for softball. I had expected her to make the Freshmen team….. because she is a freshman. This week she worked out with the varsity squad which was cool. I think it was a temporary thing but again it exceeds the assumptions I had made.
Hailey played in her first basketball game today because of her extended Arkansas vacation. I expect Hailey to keep up on the court. I expect Hailey to take a couple of shots, I expect Hailey to shoot free throws. I do not expect her to play aggressively on defense, drive the ball up the floor weaving in and out of traffic, pull down rebounds and go right back up with them. Today, I could not believe how much she had improved in her game. Continue reading
My Farewell Ball from Front Porch
My job now….. find another job. Is someone looking for a superstar? Is there a company who needs a 2010 Lance Berkman and would be pleasantly surprised with a 2011 Lance Berkman? Here I am. Finding you is my job now; I started working my new job on Friday the 13th.
Unfortunately, but predictably, I was laid off one week ago today. I debated writing anything concerning my layoff but I needed this catharsis. First, let me say, I am not upset with the company for doing what they felt was needed and I wish them nothing but the best. They have a great product and a bright future. I now have relationships that will outlast the employment and experiences to help me in the next step.
This post could be named many things, but I will stick with what it will take to become a superstar again for another company. I have been a superstar for several companies and always felt like I aligned myself with the business needs of the customers. I will summarize. Continue reading
The name of this blog should probably be called family Apple fan blog since I have a tendency to report on iPhone and iPad items I find cool.
I received a text message recently with emoticons in it and found it intriging since I do not have Emoji or anything installed but yet I could still read it.
As it turns out you can send emoticons on iPhone pretty easily and you’ll find the icons are…… extensive.
On the iPhone home screen open General > Keyboard > International Keyboards > Choose Add New Keyboards > now select Emoji. Continue reading
I have a Honda Ridgeline with GPS in it and it works pretty well. I pay to get the upgraded DVD every year and see a value in the new features. Azul recently got a new Mercedes which has the COMAND system which allows you to use your voice and a mouse-like device to control GPS, iDevice, Radio, etc. One of the things I love about her system is it’s ability to show Points of interests on the screen with a little icon of the point. See the screenshot below for Randy’s Donuts.
The COMAND system will also show live weather and traffic. My in car system does not do that but I do have an unlimited bandwidth on my iPhone data plan. To the app store I go! Continue reading
I hate to print pictures, what do I have my Macbook for anyway? However, I wanted to take some pictures to work for the desk and felt the need to print directly from my iPhone and/or iPad.
I have a Canon MP495 wireless printer which you can pick up at Wal-Mart for about $50. It allows you to scan and print from your computer wirelessly which is perfect because we hide the printer under a nightstand so as to keep our Zen style :S) . I don’t have a desk since everyone uses laptops and this was a prerequisite for having a printer at all. Continue reading
Hannah, my dear daughter, I have coached you since you were a little girl and I have had a blast doing it. As you have gotten older you have turned in to a miniature me and sometimes I regret teaching you to be a smart aleck. You are quick with a quip and as smart as anyone I know.
Softball is such a small part of what will be your life but I hope that it teaches you some of the same lessons it has taught me. Winning and losing each teach important lessons in humility. Working towards a team goal is one of the most rewarding things you will learn from here on out. The friendships you form through sports are long lasting and you will remember them with nothing but smiles. Continue reading
I signed up for twitter 3 years, 8 months, 3 weeks, 6 days, 22 hours, 15 minutes, 42 seconds at the time of this post. I signed up for twitter then because I like being part of new things. I did the same thing with Mint.com, Gmail and of course Facebook.
So why do you need to use Twitter? It is hard to understand where Twitter falls in to your social life online. I started using an RSS feed to get all of the recent articles from websites that I frequented daily. Unfortunately, I think I was one of the few that used it regularly. Basically, an RSS feed for my site looks likes this: Continue reading
In the movie 2001: Space Odyssey there is a scene where a video call is made by a father to his daughter the day before her birthday. The movie was off on a couple of things including video calls by about 5 or 6 years but nonetheless the future is here.
On Christmas this year, we used the iPad 2 to allow my family in Arkansas to participate in our Christmas morning. As long as someone on the other end has a Mac or iDevice with Facetime available on it you too can make a “video call”.
Facetime with Tatym
We opened gifts and were able to see my little niece’s delight while watching us open our gifts. 2011: Space Odyssey Christmas was a success.