Red Is A Flavor

I’m a big fan of movie scores.  In fact there are some movies I watch just for the music.  To me a good score is one where you can close your eyes and feel the movie, as it paints a audible picture of the scenery and emotion.

A couple of weeks ago, I watched The Day After Tomorrow (again), and it reminded me how much I love movie scores.

Here are some of my favorite scores, each of which I can put on head phones, crank it up and listen to for hours.

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The Day After Tomorrow	Legends of the Fall
Apollo 13	Last of the Mohicans
Schindler’s List	The Day the Earth Stood Still
Shawshank Redemption

What are some other’s I’ve missed?  Post your thoughts in the comments.

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I'm not a junk food person by any stretch of the imagination.  I rarely eat fast food and I have given up soft drinks over a year ago.  But a couple of years ago, I found these...and all I have to say is...damn you Snyder's of Hanover! 

This stuff is like crack.  The whole family is hooked. 

As I write this, there are two bags in the house that the boys received for Easter.  Trevor's is wisely hidden, and Brandon's is in the pantry.  I made the mistake of eating a couple pieces from Brandon's, now I have the craving so bad, I'm sitting here writing a freaking blog post about the product.

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We all love hot wings, and have tried many "buffalo" or "hot wing" products, but this one actually captures the taste of the wings.   These are one of those foods, that you actually "plan" to eat, setting your "workspace" up prior to opening the bag.

If you have not tried them yet, do so.  But please follow these guidelines when using this product.

• When having other people try them, only hand them pieces.  Do not let them hold the bag, as you will likely not get it back.  Regardless of age or ability, they WILL run.
• If you do not live alone, buy at least two bags at a time in order to get any.
• While not normally condoned, hiding of this product in your home is recommended.
• Just like real hot wings, beer is perfect with them.
• Do not curse the fine folks at Snyder's too much for the bag size.  It would not matter if the bag was 14 bushels, it still wouldn't be big enough.
• Handle as you would Gasoline.  When driving home from the store, place the product in the trunk or as far out of reach as possible. 
• Do not look for sales on them.  It doesn't matter, once you are hooked.
• If you have the opportunity, make the pilgrimage to Hanover (it is on our vacation list)
• Embrace the orange.  Orange is good.  Just wash your hands when the bag is empty.

So if you are ever looking for a gift for me and the family Amazon sells them by the 12 pack.

Oh, and sorry Brandon...

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I spend a great of time on computer.   As a Internet software developer at my day job, and a consultant and blogger  after hours, most of my waking hours are in front of a screen.  When I built our new house, I insured it had a office on the first floor, close to the general living spaces, within earshot of the kitchen.  While this has greatly aided in maintaining a balance between my work and home life, new endeavors have required more and more of my time in my office.

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A Dell Inspiron laptop has been my method of retreat from the office for a few years, but the old Dell has seen better days.  With its battery nearly useless and its PCMCIA slot no longer working, its effectiveness as a travel/out-of-office device is nearly non-existent.

In light of my need for a updated portable device, I priced out both fixing the Dell and getting a new laptop;  that was until I attended Izeafest.

I've always used my Nokia E62 smartphone and a Bluetooth keyboard for note taking, simply due to the battery life, but I noticed a large number of attendees at Izeafest using Netbooks, something I never before considered.  So I asked around a little while there, and I began in depth research into them when I got home.

Why a Asus 1000h?

After reading specs and reviews, I was torn between in the Asus 1000h and the new Dell mini9.  Both had all of the features I was looking for (XP, bluetooth for tethering, etc.), but the Asus has two clear advantages.  First, it came standard with both a 10" screen and a 6-cell battery.   Furthermore, Amazon had just lowered the price to $449.  So I dove in.

Now That I Have it...

This was honestly one of the best decisions I've made, tech-wise.  My new Netbook is small enough to carry everywhere, returns from standby extremely fast, and I'm currently getting 6+ hours of battery life.

My Bluetooth keyboard has not seen the light of day since I received the Asus.  I can type much faster on its keyboard, which is 95% the size of a standard laptops, than I could on the BT keyboard.  My only issues are the notorious right shift key is a difficult issue to overcome, but not impossible, and the sensitivity of the touch-pad.  I'm still hitting it with my thumbs from time to time. 

My configuration

When I set out to buy a new portable device, I drew a line in the sand, as to what the device will be used for.   More often than not, I tend to install all of my development tools on everything, which bogs them down.  My Netbook will only be used for remote access to Social Networks, Blogging, light word processing, and an occasional movie when traveling.  Additionally, I'll use it as a backup for my camera's memory cards while on vacation.

Anyway, my software...

• Free AVG Antivirus - I'm slowly moving all of my home PCs to it from Symantec.
• Open Office - Much lighter weight, than a full MS Office install, with more than the capabilities I'll ever need on a mobile device.  Can't beat the price.
• PowerPoint 2007 Viewer - Just in case.  With the eee PC's VGA out, I might have to use it for presentations when traveling.
• Windows Live Writer - My current blogging tool of choice.
• FoxIt Reader - Not even a comparison to Adobe Reader in terms of footprint, it only requires 2.5mb. I actually prefer the FoxIt interface to Adobe's now.
• DoPDF -Since I use the device wireless 100% of the time, I'm never close to a printer.  Installing doPDF allows me to print anything I need as a PDF and save it to a local directory.  I can then batch the prints if and when I need them.
• Nokia PC Suite - Allows me to access my phone's (Nokia E62) files, contacts, and messages, as well as access the Internet via my data plan.
• Various Portable applications - KeePass, 7-zip Portable, FileZilla Portable, VLC Portable, and a couple of games.

So what ever became of my old dell?  It is now my Ubuntu/LAMP stack device.  Works great!

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I've been wakeboarding since I was a teenager. I first learned on a Skurfer, then I bought a wakeboard around 1995 from Sams Club (which I bought on store credit, because I was broke and unemployed at the time). That board has long since been out dated. Since then, I've used a loaner from a friend.

This year, for my brithday, I decided to break down and buy a "REAL" wakeboard. So I went to my local Sports Authority and bought an O'brien System 140 package. As an added benefit, they had all of their watersports equipment 40% off!

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The next weekend, we took it out and I rode it four times and loved it, then my 135lb nephew rode it a few times then SNAP...broken.

Less than ten rides total and the whole end just broke.

A few days later I called O'brien to ask what to do, and they said "try to return it to the store", because it will be faster if they take it back. So I then called the store and they said to bring it in and we'll work something out.

When I took the board to the customer service counter, they said that they could exchange it, but after looking at the shelf there were no more O'briens left. Since I got the board during the 40% off sale, I would be loosing out to buy another board now.

We explained the situation to the manager, and he quickly offered me the same 40% discount on anything they still had in stock. So now I have a new Hyperlite Movement 140.

Thanks to the Manager at Sports Authority for going "Above and Beyond". You've just earned a customer for life.

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