AppsByAaron Blog Spot

Space debris is still there...for now.

2010-08-18T13:16:00.002-04:00

Back in January of 2006 I posted about the massive amounts of debris that is trapped in orbit around Earth. I
commented that it would be the taxpayers of the United States that would end up paying for it all. Well 4.5 years later and there's still no movement on the project.

There is a group called Star, Inc that has plans to collect the waste and either sling it back to Earth in such a way as to burn it up OR just recycle it in space for some use on some kind of space station. I'm not talking Death Star here.

"Star, Inc. president Jerome Pearson...contends that a fleet of garbage-collecting spacecraft, each equipped with approximately 200 nets, could -- over the course of seven years -- meander through low Earth orbit (LEO) and ensnare thousands of dangerous objects. Star, Inc. believes it is able to dispose of the captured trash by chucking it down to Earth's radiated nuclear waste-dumpin the South Pacific, flinging it in a trajectory so that it eventually erodes in Earth's orbit. If that fails, Star proposes to actually recycle the trash in space for use in galactic construction projects."

Here is a new image of what the amount of low orbit debris looks like.

Nets? Really? I suppose I can't think of a better way off the top of my head. I still think we could just send the junk to the Sun. Good ole' Sol will burn that stuff up real nice.

http://www.switched.com/2010/08/18/scooping-space-waste-could-pave-way-for-cosmic-elevator/

After 2 years SteelSeries still sucks

2010-07-07T08:19:00.000-04:00

It's been over 2 years since I posted about my sucky SteelSeries 5H v2 headphones and I'm still getting comments about it.

Here's the original post.
http://appsbyaaron.blogspot.com/2008/03/steelseries-5h-v2-suck.html

I'm sure that SteelSeries is making better products now but I still have a bad taste in my mouth. Hope you all are having better luck.

I'm all over the place here.

2010-04-05T18:34:00.000-04:00

I just took a gentle stroll through my blog here and came to realize that I'm all over the place as far as topics go. I'm going to add another topic in the form of genealogy. I've been really into it recently and have had some great experiences that I wanted to share with everyone...even though no one visits this site. Oh well. *I* think it's fascinating so *I'm* gonna talk about it :P

Hey ladies, want to swim in a lake of liquid diamonds?

2010-01-20T09:51:00.002-05:00

Diamond Oceans Possible on Uranus, Neptune : Discovery News

"Oceans of liquid diamond, filled with solid diamond icebergs, could be floating on Neptune and Uranus..."

That's a remarkable statement. It's not a strange comment with recent news pointing out 5 planets discovered that all have surfaces of molten lava and one of them has the density of Styrofoam. The thing that makes this latest statement conceivable is that there is real science behind it. Real science meaning they conducted experiments in labs to see if their theories are correct.

"Eggert and his colleagues took a small, natural, clear diamond, about a tenth of a carat by weight and half a millimeter thick, and blasted it with lasers at ultrahigh pressures like those found on gas giants like Neptune and Uranus.

The scientists liquefied the diamond at pressures 40 million times greater than what a person feels when standing at sea level on Earth. From there they slowly reduced the temperature and pressure.

When the pressure dropped to about 11 million times the atmospheric pressure at sea level on Earth and the temperature dropped to about 50,000 degrees, solid chunks of diamond began to appear. The pressure kept dropping, but the temperature of the diamond remained the same, with more and more chunks of diamond forming.

Then the diamond did something unexpected. The chunks of diamond didn't sink. They floated. Microscopic diamond ice burgs floated in a tiny sea of liquid diamond. The diamond was behaving like water."

Since they could prove it in a lab I have more faith in their statements.

Net books aren't all bad.

2010-01-13T16:19:00.000-05:00

As an "IT Guy" I spend a bit of time on blogs reading about technology and what's new and what's good. I've seen a lot of news about netbooks. A lot of the new is good but there are a few bloggers that hate netbooks and feel they shouldn't exist. Reasons for this include weak processors and small screen sizes. Both are true but I think there definitely is a market for netbooks.

I recently acquired a netbook during the holidays and I have to say I'm very happy with it. Before I got it (as a gift) I understood the limitations of netbooks so I wasn't completely disappointed. With only 1.6GHZ processor and 1 GB RAM you can't run Google SketchUp with some of the serious drafting that I tend to do at work. But it works perfect for a portable media center.

First thing I did was install free VLC so I could watch all the DivX-ed movies and shows I have. I already had 65+ movies compressed for a portable format which kept the file sizes low. But with 250 GB HDD I wasn't too concerned.

Next was to install Boxee. This really helps my netbook look and feel like a media player. I had to do some renaming of video files so they could be understodd by Boxee but it was worth it.

I then copied all my eBooks (which are mostly in PDF format) to the netbook and installed free Foxit Reader. This is an attempt to use my netbook as an eReader of sorts. I open the PDF file, rotate the document 90 degrees clockwise (or counter) then hit F11 to go fullscreen. BAM! eBook reader.

Next move will be to copy all my audio books to it.

I would instantly recommend a netbook to anyone who's looking for a lightweight (physically and processor-wise) media player. The battery life for the netbook I have is well over 8 hours. I've not fully tested the capacity while watching movies back to back but so far I don't have to recharge it very often and I use it all the time.

Post Avatar Depression.

2010-01-12T12:47:00.004-05:00

I have to admit I've not seen Avatar yet but I hear from almost EVERYONE who I know that has seen it that it is a very good movie. Sure the plot seems to be a cornucopia of several other movie plots but that's not what I'm hearing is the aspect worth going to see it. It's the special effects. I hear it's simply amazing. Sure I'll see it but I think I'll rent it on Blue-Ray when it comes out this summer.

I also don't care to see it in 3D. i don't want to get a headache and more importantly I don't want to be a part of this:

Aside from making 1 BILLION US dollars in 17 days and heading on track to take over Titanic as the highest grossing movie of all time it seems that there are some people that just can't see fantasy and art for what it is. FAKE!

Here are some recent headlines from DrudgeReport.com.

Chicago Alderman Declares War On 'AVATAR' .... Makes Marines Look Like 'Lunatics'...
Which marines? Real marines living on Earth in the present time? Get over it.

Vatican says no masterpiece...
"Why on earth do we care what the Vatican has to say about this? Avatar isn't trying to corrupt the minds of the people that see it. It's a STORY about a fantasy world on another planet.

Audiences experience 'AVATAR' blues; depression and suicidal thoughts...
We can do without these people. If their lives are so pathetic that they need to kill themselves because they can never get to Pandora then I suggest we just let them. But I'm sure there are a lot of therapists that disagree with me.

New planets discovered.

2010-01-08T13:37:00.001-05:00

I can understand that we can see other planets. I can understand that we can know how far away they. What I can't understand is how scientists can tell me with certainty that a planet light years away has "surfaces hotter than molten lava" or "a planet with the density of Styrofoam" thats larger than our own Jupiter. How about "two inexplicable planet-sized objects that for some reason are hotter than the stars they orbit."

Can anyone show me the math?

Kepler telescope discovers five new planets, all bigger than Earth - washingtonpost.com

http://io9.com/5442322/remarkable-styrofoam-planet-is-among-five-new-exoplanet-discoveries

You wont' find these on Mars

2010-01-05T09:48:00.000-05:00

This is one of the many reasons I can't understand why there is such a push to get to Mars. There's nothing there but dust! Yet Earth's vast majority of oceans and seas are undiscovered by man. It seems like every day scientists are finding new animals and plants that have never been seen before.

You just can't get that kind of excitement on Mars.

Strawberry crab discovered off coast of Taiwan | Mail Online

Just might be coldest winter.

2010-01-04T14:57:00.000-05:00

A little while back I posted that I doubted the prediction by scientists that this may be one of the coldest winters on record. Looks like I'm eating my cold, cold words.

Here's some recent headlines on DrudgeReport.com

Temps Plunge to Record as Cold Snap Freezes North, East States...
CHILL MAP...
Vermont sets 'all-time record for one snowstorm'...
Iowa temps 'a solid 30 degrees below normal'...
Power goes out at Reagan National outside DC...
Seoul buried in heaviest snowfall in 70 years...
Peru's mountain people 'face extinction because of cold conditions'...
Beijing -- coldest in 40 years...
World copes with Arctic weather...

Star Wars Poker Chip Set

2009-12-31T10:18:00.000-05:00

Yet more crap allowed to be sold so that George Lucas can get richer.

ThinkGeek :: Star Wars Poker Chip Set

My take on climate change.

2009-12-18T14:40:00.000-05:00

Daily Express | UK News :: Climate change is natural: 100 reasons why

"2) Man-made carbon dioxide emissions throughout human history constitute less than 0.00022 percent of the total naturally emitted from the mantle of the earth during geological history."

This alone should be proof enough. It's like dropping a single drip of oil in the ocean and saying that all living things in it will die in a week.

What's MY take on climate change? Simple. It's nature and there's nothing we can do about it. We could all leave our cars running forever and it still wouldn't make a difference. That's because the earth has a way of balancing itself out. According to Blue Planet there are enough trees in Northern Europe alone to clean 1/3 of the entire planet's air annually. And what about all that tree harvesting in the rain forests? We could cut down trees at twice the rate and still take hundreds of years to wipe trees off the planet! There are more trees in Canada and Russia than we know what to do with.

Climate Change in politics? Too easy. We all know that politicians are liars. What does Al Gore gain from his climate claims? Do you think he's doing it for the planet? For the children of the world? For poor nations around the planet? No. He's doing it for money and fame. He got the Nobel Peace Prize for his "film" An Inconvenient Truth and with that came a truckload of money. Now he's seen as the global expert on climate change. He gets to travel the world in his private jet, charge huge sums of money to lecture and ignore people's questions that try to point out his flaws.

Hilary Clinton wants to the US to help give 100 BILLION dollars "to address the climate change needs of developing countries". Apparently this includes China as a developing country. China? Really? Aren't they communist? Don't they have plenty of money? And if they didn't, wouldn't a communist government simple take what it needs from it's people? Why doesn't she donate a couple of million of her own to help out instead of wasting taxpayer dollars?

This also begs the question "what gives us (the United States) the right to demand any other country to do what we say?" We don't own the planet. We don't own the air. We don't own the oceans. We don't own Guam. How can we demand that Guam cut it's carbon emissions when we don't own Guam OR the air they are polluting? Do you think the people of Liberia are really concerned with air pollution? Do you think they would rather have food and medical supplies?

This also comes down to money. Let's say that the major countries decide to put a "global law" into effect that would force all countries to limit amount of carbon emissions. What are the penalties for going above the limit? I'm willing to bet that there is a monetary fee for such a transgression. So who gets the money? The US? The UN?

I think in the end it's all about power. Why is the US Govt trying SO hard to push the need to this "crisis" on the world? What do they have to gain? They have more power to gain. And power is all that matters to them. Find something that gets people's emotions involved, exploit that and cash in. It doesn't matter about facts and research to them. It's all about getting the glory and power no matter how you get it or who you have to step on to get it. I'm sure it's easy for a "world leader" such as President Obama to not really think of Guam or Liberia as places of importance. But to the people that live I bet it's very important.

So I suggest we stop lying to ourselves that we are the cause of climate change and focus on spending "global money" on things that we can actually make a difference about. How about we find a cure for cancer, help 3rd world countries get food and medical supplies, stop funding governments that treat their people like dogs, focus on local issues, stop throwing money away at NASA who's trying to find water on planets light years away and countless other issues.

How can I believe this?

2009-12-18T10:46:00.002-05:00

Water World Found Just Around the Corner - Water World - Gizmodo

Excuse me for being skeptical but how am I supposed to believe that we can detect water on other planets LIGHT YEARS from us when it took near 40 years to find water on our own moon which is only days away!?

And this is supposed to be a lake on Cassini?? For all we know it's a giant Solar Panel Array built by it's inhabitants!

Gates of Andaron: Is it Good or Lame?

2009-12-16T15:04:00.000-05:00

I've been looking for a good FREE mmo to play. I was really into Luna Online so I could play with my kids but they lost interest and so I stopped playing. I've played LOTR Online, Lineage II, Guild Wars, Rappelz, Cabal Online, FFXI and many others.
So do I enjoy online gaming? Yes. Yes I do. But now I want something that I can keep with for more than a month. I thought I found that when I discovered Gates of Andaron. At first it looked great. 3 races with 6 classes. The gold system is like World Of Warcraft and there are plenty of people online.

However, once I hit level 15 with my main character (Warrior) I discovered that there really is no depth to the game. There are a TON of quests and plenty grinding but that's all there really is. I made another character (Night Walker) just to see if I missed something. I've got that one to level 20 and still no real game play. It's all grinding for meager quests. And once you leave the main area for noobs (lvl 20 and under) everything is agro so you're almost forced to party. I don't mind to party but sometimes I want all the loot and XP.

If you've had a similar or different experience please leave a comment.

http://www.gatesofandaron.com/

Tiger Woods: 2009's Biggest Disappointment.

2009-12-09T10:39:00.000-05:00

AS THE GOLF BALL TURNS:
GATORADE drops Tiger drink...
All Tiger Woods Ads Withdrawn by Marketers From Prime-Time...
REPORT: Tiger insulted wife in email to mistress...
Police suspected Tiger drank alcohol on day of crash...
Denied Blood Sample...
11 Women Linked...
PLAYGIRL on X-Rated Tiger Shots: 'We're Trying to Authenticate Them'...

More Star Wars Crap that George Lucas approved.

2009-12-08T14:30:00.001-05:00

Warning: Wearing These Star Wars Baseball Caps May Be Dangerous for Your Health - Star Wars Baseball Caps - Gizmodo

CRAP!

What is going on here?

2009-11-20T08:18:00.000-05:00

Reid's Government-Run Health Plan Requires Monthly Abortion Fee...
Obama rewards big donors with plum jobs overseas...
'Climate change pushes poor women to prostitution'...
CALIFORNIA ON THE BRINK? UCLA students protests 32% tuition hike...
CONGRESSMAN PUSHES 'DAY WITHOUT COMPLAINING' RESOLUTION...
Arkansas cop tasers 10-year-old girl--at mother's direction...
Climatologists Baffled by Global Warming Time-Out...

Is Global Warming happening?

2009-10-14T11:32:00.001-04:00

Heavy snow expected in PA...
Chicago record breaking cold continues...
Montana records fall...
CHILL MAP...
FORECASTS BLOWN: '09 Atlantic hurricane season quietest in decade...

I don't think so.

Interesting connections.

2009-10-09T23:34:00.000-04:00

I got an email from a friend who saw my face posted in the Fans section on FaceBook's FarmVille fan page. The funny thing about this is that this friend of mine and I have never met face to face. He lives in the state north of the one I live in and is 15 years younger than me. So how are we friends and why on earth are we even emailing each other and sending video messages through Tokbox? It's a fun little story.

Back in 2005 (I think) I discovered the world of MMORPGs through my brother-in-law MaTT. He said that he had some friends on there who played and they would all help me level my character quickly so we could all do some dungeon parties together. Lineage II was the game and i got sucked in fast and hard. Anyway, we all had TeamSpeak connections so we were talking while playing. So for about a year there were just the four of us; MaTT, BD, Ian and me.

Then BD discovered a new game called Rappelz and so we started playing that. Then I got my brother "Tweeter" hooked. Soon there were about 8 of us playing but I had only met in real life 2 of them because I was related to them. Anyway, when we were 8 members strong I was introduced to John. I liked John from day one. Even though we were on TeamSpeak and I could only hear him I could tell he was a laid back/fun loving kind of guy. And he always laughed and made the rest of us laugh.

Now John wasn't the only person that I met through this group that I still keep in touch with. In fact I am friends with John, MaTT and another (Alex) through FaceBook as well.

Anyway, Rappelz didn't last long enough. Some of the group had to go back to school (college with 1 high school) so the attendance got thin and soon there were only a few of us playing daily.

For some reason we have all stayed in contact even though we rarely (if at all) play together any more. In fact John says he's not even playing games at all and has taken up fly fishing and focusing on his new marriage. Admirable!! We still share, through emails, links and update each other on what's going on in our lives. It's very cool I think. I just wished we all lived closer so we could hang out more.

It's very interesting how life and people can bring new people into your life. Had I not spent too much time playing Lineage II I would not have met these good men. Men that I wish I could hang out with even though I've never actually met them.

2009 Winter "could" be the coldest one of the decade.

2009-09-29T12:45:00.000-04:00

I'm posting this because I love to see where scientists end up wrong. I've always had an innate disbelief in scientists. I think it comes from my faith in God and not man. I know being wrong is part of learning but I just have a hard time with predictions they make based on their mortal knowledge.

Northeast U.S. May Experience 'Coldest Winter in Decade'...

“It could be one of the coldest winters, or the coldest, winter of the decade,” Rogers said.

Now, I'm hoping to remember this post in about 6 - 8 months to see if it really was the coldest winter or if the season isn't as strong as predicted. We shall see.

Are personal blogs a thing of the past?

2009-09-25T15:20:00.002-04:00

As you may or may not know I used to post a lot of articles here. It was great for a while. I could link to other sites that I thought were cool or important and hope that some people would check it out and comment. The problem with that is that you can't really MAKE people took at your stuff. This results in low hit counts to my blog which effect self esteem.

Then I got on Facebook and kind of forgot about my blog.

Facebook is great to share information, thoughts, feelings and links because it broadcasts to all your friends as opposed to a blog where people decide if they want to spend the time at your site. I think this has had an incredible effect on the personal blogosphere. I know that my wife's personal blog has not seen a new post in months. I've not posted a whole lot here in the last year compared with previous years. It's just easier to keep current in one place.

So have you seen a decrease in your personal blog visits and activities due to Facebook or MySpace or even Twitter?

Been a while

2009-09-25T15:10:00.003-04:00

Bored with the Blog thing. Facebook is better. I've got some thoughts on blogs but I can deal with that later.

In the meantime I see interesting headlines on Drudgereport.com. This week we are hosting the G20 joke and there also happens to be some serious arrests involving terror plots.

Bin Laden demands Europe withdraw Afghanistan troops... FBI arrests Jordanian for downtown Dallas bomb plot... Illinois man charged in plot to bomb federal offices... Terror suspects accused of targeting Marine base in Quantico... Men vanish after taking photos of Philly subway system...

And how do things like these happen??

Administration to Cut 384 Agents from Mexican Border...

Report: Obama told Petraeus and McChrystal to 'scrub' assessments... Just some thoughts.

Solar power toy shows us the way to the moon.

2009-05-28T10:41:00.004-04:00

This new little gadget is six toys in one.

From the sales website:

This ‘do it yourself kit’ is a great beginners introduction to solar power technology and the end result is your very own little robot. There are 6 different ways to build it, so you could have a robot dog one minute, or a boat for your bath the next! If either of those don’t do anything for you then why not build your own little plane (moving or still), windmill or solar powered car!

The good news is that you don’t need a degree in robotics to start with, or have to try and figure out which screw is A678b and how part D456 slots into F9097a!! The diagrams are big and very easy to follow, there are only 25 parts and no screws are involved!

Sounds great so far, but what if you live in the UK, like us, which hardly ever see’s the sun? Well, this eco friendly robot can also be powered by a 50 halogen bulb (or brighter).

You can build:
1 - Robotic Dog
2 - Boat
3 - Moving Plane
4 - Car
5 - Windmill
6 - Desktop Plane

This just helps prove my point that it's possible to have a rover that can be more than one thing. There's no reason why a robot can't be programmed to attach simple connections and such.

My isues with Peek.

2009-05-27T16:38:00.008-04:00

For those of you who don't know what a Peek it you can find out here.

I got the Peek because I wanted to connect to my email accounts and replace my cell texting all for the monthly price of $20. At first I liked it. It was new and exciting. I got on the message boards and learned a lot about it and some things it can do. For example I can update my Twitter AND Facebook status at the same time if I send a message to Ping.fm.

Basically, i never sent it in to get the latest firmware update from 1.04 to 1.08. I just didn't want to be without it for a week while it was in New York. I also didn't want to pay for shipping.

Then the outages came. You see, once you set up your accounts in your Peek, Peek Corporate acts as a middleman. They monitor or ping your email accounts (with version 1.04) every 5 minutes, grab the emails and send them to your Peek. Version 1.08 is supposed to have PUSH technology and be much more "instant". Well the servers went down and people weren't getting upset that they weren't getting their info. This is the main, if not only, reason I didn't want to get a Blackberry.

This is the straw the broke the camel's back. I get an email from my wife at 3 pm in my gmail account. Since I'm at my desk all day I read sent email, reply and forget about it. At 4:13 pm my Peek beeps informing me I have new emails. I'll give you ONE guess concerning which emails I get. Gold star for you!! The exact emails I got from my wife over AN HOUR AGO.

Version 1.08, or Pronto as they call it, is supposed to let me see attached jpgs and PDFs and such but is it really worth it?? I don't think so. PLUS, now I have to carry around TWO gadgets instead of a single cell phone. I think I'm gonna sell my Peek on eBay and go back to cell texting.

End of rant.

Mars rover is stuck...

2009-05-21T17:32:00.002-04:00

http://gizmodo.com/5264223/fellow-robots-trying-to-help-stuck-mars-spirit

This is another reason why sending more than one of something is a better idea. If one of my rovers got stuck it could be rescued by other rovers. 2 heads are better than one.

Transmitting power without wires!

2009-05-20T12:46:00.007-04:00

My best friend (after my wife of course) MaTT just found a GREAT treasure on Thinkgeek.com.

http://www.thinkgeek.com/stuff/41/wec.shtm

From ThinkGeek:

Just plug the Wireless Extension Cord (WEC) base unit into a standard wall outlet, and plug whatever you need into the satellite unit. The WEC uses microwaves in the 7.2GHz range, so it won't interfere with wireless networks, Bluetooth components, etc. Now, all you need to do is adjust the antennae on the two units so they are aimed at each other. Turn everything on and you have the power! The distance the WEC units can broadcast differs from situation to situation (due to interference of such things as walls, power lines, and microwave ovens), but we've beamed power over 300 feet! The future is wireless - and the WEC's are your ticket to the future.

This could be VERY handy on a rover. I would put on one each rover in case it gets stuck or too far from a charging station. It sends out a signal of where it is and that is needs power. Charging station can locate the rover and adjust the sending panel and transmit power to the power hungry rover.

MaTT was also the man to bring the Powerpad to my attention. This is the actual site he gave me... http://www.powermatusa.com/. See how the technology works here.

Rover recharging.

2009-05-19T15:41:00.006-04:00

I found this article while trying to find a site that I found the other day. Powerpad could be used to recharge rovers.

An early design of the technology resembles a thick rubber place mat. Metal "connectivity points" span the pad's surface and deliver power to the charging contacts on a compatible notebook, cell phone, or other device that is laid on the surface. A single pad can power or recharge various compatible devices at once, accommodating as many as will fit on the pad, according to company representatives. Each unit will contain the intelligence to identify itself and its specs to the pad.

This could EASILY be modified to charge dying batteries for my rovers. Using this method of charging alleviates the need to be very precise when connecting to a charge station.

According to the article this was made to be released in 2003 so I'm sure there have been some advances in this technology.

Battery powered motorcycle made from junk!

2009-05-19T14:47:00.008-04:00

This guy got laid off from work and decided to build a motorcycle from junk he found to run on batteries.

You can watch the video here... http://blog.makezine.com
or visit his website here... http://www.firstontop.com/electragreen.htm

The point to this post is to show that if some random person in Nebraska can build a motorcycle (from junk) to run from batteries and be charged with solar (from junk) or wind (from junk) with NO foreknowledge about how to build these things (from junk) then NASA should be able to do the same thing but about 100x more efficient.

Here is a picture of the bike with wind generator and solar panel.

I should get a basic parts list of what it could take to get one of my rovers built. I bet it's well under $2,000. Wonder what a single Spider-bot would cost.

Rovers: the technology is available.

2009-05-19T13:46:00.009-04:00

I found this article today about a guy who designed "a mobile robotic platform, started more than a year ago. Desktop software (originally created in .NET C# and then ported to Flex/ActionScript) communicates with the mobile platform, can monitor its surroundings via a mounted webcam, operate it remotely and activate autonomous mode."

You can get more detailed information at the creator's web site.

This guy is on the right track. With this kind of technology there is no reason a lunar rover can't run on it's own to do simple tasks. Or complex ones. I say give this guy a job at NASA to help me get my rovers to the moon and beyond.

Where else could we send my rovers to explore? Make them wateproof and drop them in the ocean. Give them the ability to surface and recharge with solar panels. While it's surfaced transmit it's data back to base. The idea may be without limits.

Lunar Rover: more scenes.

2009-05-18T16:06:00.005-04:00

Here we see an updated version of unloading materials and supplies.

Here are 2 rovers changing a tire on a third.

This is the VERY basic concept of the power connectors. The silver circles are the magnets to hold them in place. The brown circles are the connection points. It's very simple. The only thing that would interfere is dust. I've updated the main rover with a row of these along the long sides. You will see these in the 2 above pictures.

Click to enlarge.

Lunar Rover Updates.

2009-05-18T10:37:00.011-04:00

I've redesigned the rover a little. I've decided that the simplest way to allow for multiple modules to be added and moved is to make the main floor out of bars. This correlates with my idea of adding "claws" to the bottoms of each module.

Here is an example "scene" of something that may happen. The smaller rover in the bottom left has been fitted with 2 HD cameras and a solar panel. This will allow the rover to basically roam wherever it wants to taking pictures. The main action here is the 3 larger rovers. The middle one is carrying 3 garden pods (containing lettuce) and is flanked by 2 other rovers who will be lifting each pod. The larger rover on the right has also been fitted with 2 solar panels to help charge it's batteries and help them last longer.

As you can see there are many scenarios where this method can be utilized. This is the main thought on my mind recently so there will be more updates on this.

One large hurdle to figure out is the universal connectors that should connect the modules sitting on the rover sled to the computer on the rover. I like the idea of the power connector on Macbooks. Magnetic and easy to connect and disconnect. I also like the concept of a USB plug and play method. More to come...

Lunar robots: My idea.

2009-05-14T14:28:00.006-04:00

I started by reading this: http://gizmodo.com/5252255/x-prize-team-to-send-swarm-of-spiders-to-the-moon

So I read an article yesterday about some Italian team creating spider-like robots to walk on the moon, take pictures and send them back to Earth. My first thought is, "how are you going to get them back? Or are you just going to leave your trash there?" Then I got to thinking that they are going about this all wrong. If you are going to send up a bunch of robots why not make them MUCH more worthwhile?

With today’s technology we could easily send up a couple of robots (or a million) and have them run around digging and whatnot. In fact, why not design them to complete advanced tasks such as assembling buildings and maintenance on each other? Here’s what I would do if I had NASA money…

· Build robots that can travel 50 miles using rechargeable batteries. Robots themselves can’t recharge. People are retrofitting their motor cycles to use batteries and can get 40 miles per charge and go 60 miles per hour.

· Send up payloads containing various modules.

o “GPS” stations to create grid for mapping and navigating. Solar powered.Antennas need to be set up to help robots triangulate their position on the planet.

o Charging stations for robots. Each charging station is portable and is self powered via solar panels. Hundreds of units can be set up to expand the range of each robot.

o Human base stations. Could be inflatable so all a robot has to do is roll it to where it’s needed and connect CO2 canister to inflate.

o Greenhouse. If we are planning on sending people there to live for a while why not get a greenhouse going BEFORE they get there?

o Extra parts for robot self repair. Why not? Why can’t a robot replace the battery on another robot? Robots can be fitted with interchangeable arms to perform various functions.

o Labs. Send up additional labs for robots to send samples for analysis.

· Shuttles aren’t needed. Only a rocket large enough to get the payload off the ground is needed.Payloads can vary from small to huge.

So basically you want to send up a couple robots, charging stations and the transmitting towers to get “the grid” started. Now there is a way for robots to triangulate their position and not get lost. Next, you can send up 50 bots and 100 charging stations. Have the bots set the charging stations all over the place to expand the area the bots can go. Send up a base for sending data back to Earth. This can also be linked to a lab where samples are taken for analysis.

All this can be done easily with NASA’s resources. Use the moon as a testing ground. Then start on mars.

Here are some very basic concepts. You can click on each image to enlarge it.

There are all kinds of sizes and variations that can be built with this system.

Example of a solar panel collecting power to charge rover batteries.

Basic rover with two arm modules. All components and modules could be "plug and play" for easy assembly.

Feedback is welcome. Note to NASA: if you want to know more of my ideas just ask. ;)

Getting bored with keeping everyone updated.

2009-04-09T16:16:00.003-04:00

I'm on Twitter, Facebook and Blogger. I actively watch (stalk more like it) about 90 blogs to get my information fix. I just got a Peek so I can get all my emails and text messages wherever I am.

It was all fun at first but now I just have a feeling like I'm alone. I know I have a family and good friends but there's just some empty feeling I get after a while of Tweeting, status updating and blogging. Maybe it's just me.

So I may just stop updating this blog. Ferever. Still haven't made a decision. Just wanted to keep you all (about 67 unique visitors last month according to my statcounter account) informed.

WHERE IS ALL THE OUTRAGE??

2009-02-13T15:29:00.002-05:00

HURRY, FELLAS, LET'S VOTE, I AM OFF TO ROME!

FINAL STIMULUS BILL BALLOONS TO 1,071 PAGES...

Dem Senator Predicts: None of His Colleagues 'Will Have Chance' to Read It...

Congressman: 'We all cast our votes with one hand and crossed our fingers with the other'...

246-183: HOUSE PASSES OBAMA $787 BILLION 'STIMULUS'; NO GOP SUPPORT, 7 DEMS VOTE NO

VIDEO: 'NOT ONE MEMBER HAS READ THIS BILL'

CRAZED: Break Promise To Post Bill 48-Hour Before Vote...

This is absolutely insane. Mark my words this will destroy this country! And it will be on the heads of the Dems in control ie Obama and Palosi. They've both been pushing for this "stimulus" bill to go through as fast as possible and NO ONE knows what's in this thing!

Why isn't there more outcry from over 300 MILLION American citizens?? I'm pissed beyond reason because I and my future generation will end up suffering financially for this for a very long time.

GRRRRRRR!!!! I feel so helpless!!

More crap from George "Dishin out the crap" Lucas

2009-01-23T16:31:00.003-05:00

PLEASE STOP THE REDICULOUS RELEASE OF STUPID CRAP ABOUT STAR WARS!!

Obama wants to let you slaughter the unborn!

2009-01-23T10:53:00.001-05:00

http://www.reuters.com/article/topNews/idUSTRE50M3PQ20090123?feedType=RSS&feedName=topNews

"WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama on Friday will lift restrictions on U.S. government funding for groups that provide abortion services or counseling abroad, reversing a policy of his Republican predecessor George W. Bush, an administration official said.

"It will be today. He's going to make an executive order (lifting the global gag rule)," the official said.

The Democratic president's decision is a victory for advocates of abortion rights on an issue that has become a tit-for-tat policy change each time the White House shifts from one party to the other in recent years.

When the ban was in place, no U.S. government funding for family planning services could be given to clinics or groups that offer abortion services or counseling in other countries even if the funds for those activities come from non-U.S. government sources."

Need to vent...

2009-01-23T09:55:00.002-05:00

I just lost two whole days worth of entered data in my Google Notebook. I use said webware to journal everything that I do at work so I have a history of my awesomeness. GRRRR. Now I think I need to use something more reliable.

Just wanted to let you all know that Google can suck at times.

Other than this little mishap I've not had a single issue with Google.

Still kickin it

2009-01-15T00:01:00.001-05:00

I got a PS3 for Christmas so I've been busy.

There. You've been updated.

Out of sorts.

2008-12-10T16:33:00.002-05:00

Sorry I've not posted for a while. I don't have the motivation recently. Posting, for me, comes in waves it seems. I'm sure there's more posts coming from me. Hang tight. ;)

Done with Bones

2008-11-06T14:47:00.002-05:00

Last night my wife and I were watching one of our favorite shows. I'll just jump to the issue.

Angela had a 1 year lesbian relationship. In the real world I don't care who ppl screw (or whatever lesbians do) but I don't need it in my tv especially when it's not even needed in the plot anywhere. I especially don't care to see them kiss. That's just my personal opinion. Homophobe? Not really. I see people in the mall kissing and holding hands. I don't care. But I don't care to bring into my house. There are other shows to watch.

The geeky kid from the first season (or two) ended up being the serial killer they were "hunting". WTH was THAT all about?! I just thought that was a lame attempt to fire an actor.

Angela and Jack broke off their engagement for some jacked up reason. I loved that they were in love and cared so much about each other. It relieves some of the tention between Bones and Booth.

And now since Angela is not engaged she's going to have a lesbian fling with an old flame. Lame. Just for ratings.

It's going in a direction that I just don't care about. Hence I'm leaving it.

Review: The Cure's new cd '4:13 Dream'.

2008-10-30T21:34:00.012-04:00

I just listened to the audio clips of The Cure's new album '4:13 Dream' and I have to say that its a much needed trip back to the sound I fell in love with over 20 years ago.

I've been a life long fan and have stood by them through the Bloodflowers cd which I thought was complete trash even though it was critically praised and was nominated for a Grammy for Best Alternative Music Performance in 2001.

I first heard of The Cure in the mid 80's when I was a "skater" in high school back when skaters where not as accepted as they are today. The album was 'Standing on a Beach/Staring at the Sea: The Singles' and I loved it from first sound. I ran out and bought all the other albums I could find. I bought posters, t-shirts, patched and all the magazines I could get my hands on.

I stuck with them and boasted that they were (and still are) my all time favorite band. I still remember listening to 'Kiss Me, Kiss Me, Kiss Me' for the first time when it came out. I think a total of 2 songs were played on the radio from that album. 'Just Like Heaven' and 'Why Can't I Be you?'

My friend Kris (who was also a die-hard fan) and I would go to Karma records at least once a week to see if there were any good imported cds that we could add to our collection. Had to have it all.

Everything was going great...until Bloodflowers. I was SO excited to get a new cd from The Cure but I almost threw it out. It just didn't have that sound and flow of the band I had grown to love. To me all the songs had the same beat and complete lack of variation. They all sounded the same. I don't listen to it at all.

I debated even buying the next release entitleD 'The Cure'. This album brought the music back to a more familiar sound of The Cure. Even though I only enjoyed about half of the album I still feel it's a triumph over Bloodflowers and put Robert Smith back in good standing with me. I got the sense that he knew his previous cd wasn't up to par compared to his life's long work.

Now that you know where I'm coming from I can tell you that 4:13 Dream isn't the best cd they put out but it's better than the previous 2.

The cd starts with Under The Stars which is a slow song. You either like their slow songs or you don't. I tend to like most of them but why start a cd out with something slow?? The nest 3 songs (The Only One, The Reasons Why and Freakshow) are a more upbeat and have a more classic "The Cure" sound to them. Next is Sirensong, a slower song with the rolling guitar and great lyrics. The rest of the cd is pretty good. Upbeat, diversity, better.

I think I'll buy this cd. It was a much needed improvment over previous cds and gets things back to the way they were.

LEGO games. What would you like to see?

2008-10-27T12:21:00.003-04:00

I love the LEGO games Star Wars and Indiana Jones. LEGO Batman is all Iwant for Christmas this year. A recent about LEGO games that will never happen started me thinking about what other genres might make for a good LEGO game.

There are pleny of characters and story lines in The Simpsons to make for a HUGE game. Several Star Trek games could be made as well. I could even think of enough things for a LEGO James Bond.

Please post your thoughts for a new LEGO game.

List of LEGO articels at Kotaku.com

Software for Starving Students is no more.

2008-10-23T23:11:00.003-04:00

I was just reading through my blog history to find posts to add to the new list section for 'My Favorite Posts' and I found that Software for Starving Students is no more. They suggest, however, that you take a look at OpenDisk for a replacement.

OpenDisk is basically an ISO to burn to cd packed with great freeware that is installed on your computer. Here's their list.

If you are looking for a one-stop-shop for some great freeware whether you're a student or not it's worth a look.

Is there no end to the CRAP from George Lucas!?!?

2008-10-23T18:11:00.001-04:00

Lu cas, Stop Now: Darth Vader TV/DVD Has Lightsaber Remote

I'm so sick and tired of Star Wars being peddled to every single person on the planet. Star Wars used to be cool. Of course this was before the new episodes (I, II and III). I was even all jazzed about Episode I when it came out. Darth Maul was the bomb! Now let's look at what "cool" crap you can get in Star Wars version.

Bowling Balls

Hoodies

Clocks
http://gizmodo.com/5054306/3d-darth-vader-wall-clock-springs-into-action-when-the-lights-go-out
http://gizmodo.com/5045796/r2+d2-alarm-clock-requires-x+wing-bedsheets

Watch

Cell phone alerts

Emperor's Throne

Flashlights

RUBBER DUCKS!

So as you can see there are a lot of ways George has turned a great thing into a huge money machine with no bar too low.

The Eye.

2008-10-16T21:05:00.003-04:00

I'm at work defragging half the fleet of pcs here and I have The Eye going on a second monitor. The Eye, a story of a blind girl (Jessica Alba) who gets a cornea transplant and starts seeing images of death and junk. This is basically a new version of Body Parts staring Jeff Fahey (one of the greatest B movie actor) who loses his arm in a car accident, receives a donor limb from a murderer who was served the death sentence.

I'm a sucker for these kind of creepy movies. The Grudge, The Eye, The Ring, One Missed Call, The Skeleton Key all good movies. The Grudge 2 sucked IMO. 1408 was a nightmare from Satan himself.

The problems I have with them, however, is that when they go to a hospital there's NO STAFF AT NIGHT. Ever been in a hospital over night? You can't get a moment's rest cause some nurse is checking vitals every 15 minutes.

The Eye isn't a bad movie, just full of cliche's.

My new Tech Blog

2008-10-16T10:47:00.004-04:00

I started another blog that's just for IT and how I get things done at work.

http://appsbyaaronit.blogspot.com/

I'm going to focus on the things that happen at work and what tools I use to resolve them. The goal here is to hopefully help other people who are the only IT Guy in a small company. I don't have a million dollar budget so I have to use free tools as much as possible. Plus I'm cheap.

I hope it cathes on and I get a lot of visitors. Enjoy!

LEGO anatomy...I wish I had mad art skillz.

2008-10-15T11:31:00.001-04:00

I've seen this artist before. He's got some great imagination. I've also seen some other sketches with classic cartoon characters. Too cool IMO.

Lego: The Anatomy of a Lego Minifig Is as Fa scinating as It Is Spoo k y

Trouble with politicians

2008-10-08T12:46:00.006-04:00

McCain would buy bad homeowner mortgages...

"WASHINGTON (AP) - John McCain's proposal to buy up bad home mortgages would use nearly half the $700 billion from the recent Wall Street bailout package to assist Americans directly, instead of indirectly by rescuing the nation's financial markets.

The Republican presidential candidate announced during Tuesday's debate that he would order the federal government to spend $300 billion in federal funds to buy the mortgages and allow financially troubled homeowners to keep their houses.

Democratic nominee Barack Obama last month sounded a similar theme, proposing that the government consider taking such a step.

But McCain's approach was far more categorical.

"I would order the secretary of the Treasury to immediately buy up the bad home-loan mortgages in America and renegotiate at the new value of those homes—at the diminished values of those homes—and let people be able to make those payments and stay in their homes," he said."

One of the problems I see with this is that it's not doing any good to neighborhoods that are seeing mulit-forclosures. I live in a small subdivision with a hundred houses or so and the people that are foreclosing are the ones who are buying new cars, satellite dishes, alcohol, cigarettes, boats, pools, fire pits, karaoke machines, flat-screen tvs and other "toys" that shouldn't be purchased instead of making a house payment.

All this will do is create more neighborhoods that are low income and increase crime which will strain local police departments even further!

And the US Federal Government wants to use TAXPAYER money to buy out these houses so that these people suffer no consequences of their actions thus allowing them to continue a life of stupidity while the rest of us who are busting our asses to make it all work out STILL have to continue to do so.

How is this FAIR in any way?!?!

And what makes you think that just because you bought their house and gave them lower payments they will actually makes payments THEN? All you're doing is sending a message that its ok to not pay for your house at the rate you WANT to pay for it. It's not like they are going to lose a bedroom or garage or something! All this is going to do is create MORE government dependency that is already crippling this nation IMO.

And where is this $800 BILLION coming from anyway? Is there some huge amount of money the feds are hanging on to? NO! They don't have this kind of EXTRA money just laying around. So that means they are going to have to get it from somewhere and history shows us that when a govt needs more money they just TAKE it.

To McCain and Obama:
I want a $1 million house but once I start making payments I can't afford them so can you come bail me out so I can continue to live in a house that I deserve?

See how stupid that sounds!?

And why stop there? I've recently posted an article which proposes that over $250,000 be given to every adult in the US so that that money can be put right back into the system and actually help get this economy back on track.

If I had $250k I would pay off my house, car and school loans. After banking some of the $$ for emergencies I would build a fence, deck in the back yard, buy another car (because my Saturn is 8 years old with over 150k miles on it), put in hard wood floors in my downstairs, recarpet the rest of the house, bump out the kitchen, get a new couch, re-shingle the roof, repair the furnace, get the wife a new Mac laptop....do you see where this is going? All the stuff I just mentioned are items that have to be made by someone. So when I buy some of it it has to be replaced. THIS KEEPS AND CREATES JOBS which is what truly drives the economy!!

When governments increase taxes I have less money to give to companies for products and services which in turn creates layoffs and cutbacks. Why are politicians so out of touch with the basics??

Mt Dew in Green Label Art

2008-10-07T16:03:00.002-04:00

WOW! I was just handed 2 new bottles of Mt Dew from a collegue. Way cool. So I went to the Mt Dew web site and sure enought there they are. For a limited time though. :( I mayhave to collect the whole "series".

Crazy IPs

2008-10-03T10:37:00.004-04:00

Our network at work crashed yesterday and we were down for about 30 minutes. I can't find the reason for it and there is a girl here who can't get the internet to work even though her network connection is perfect. She's the only one with this issue.

It got me to thinking that it might have been a hack-attack so I looked at the incoming log on the router. This is very scary to any IT guy. Well it is to me anyway.

Here is a screenshot of the Excel file I have going. You can click on it to enlarge it so you can read it. Most of the ports being accessed are 25 which is the email port so I know most of them are possible spam. However there are a couple that are really odd. I can't find any information on Ports 56113 and 50225.

I've been using a website called http://network-tools.com/ to gather the info about each IP address.

If you know anything that could help out I would appriciate it. Or if you have had similar experiences.

When is it time to look for a new job?

2008-10-01T16:53:00.002-04:00

I've been with my current employer for almost 2 years. It was great at first but the last year has really declined. I think the CONS are outweighing the PROS right now.

When do you decide it's time to move on?

$297,500.00 bailout to US citizens! NOT banks.

2008-09-29T12:34:00.003-04:00

This is NOT my idea but it needs to be out there IMO.

My friend Mark sends his thoughts in an email...

I’m against the $85,000,000,000.00 bailout of AIG.

Instead, I’m in favor of giving $85,000,000,000 to America in a We Deserve It Dividend.

To make the math simple, let’s assume there are 200,000,000 bonafide U.S. citizens 18+. Our population is about 301,000,000 +/- counting every man, woman and child. So 200,000,000 might be a fair stab at adults 18 and up.

So divide 200 million adults 18+ into $85 billion that equals $425,000.00.

My plan is to give $425,000 to every person 18+ as a We Deserve It Dividend.

Of course, it would NOT be tax free. So let’s assume a tax rate of 30%. Every individual 18+ has to pay $127,500.00 in taxes.

That sends $25,500,000,000 right back to Uncle Sam. But it means that every adult 18+ has $297,500.00 in their pocket.

A husband and wife has $595,000.00.

What could you do with $297,500.00 to $595,000.00 in your family?

Pay off your mortgage – housing crisis solved.

Repay college loans – what a great boost to new grads

Put away money for college – it’ll be there

Save in a bank – create money to loan to entrepreneurs.

Buy a new car – create jobs

Invest in the market – capital drives growth

Pay for your parent’s medical insurance – health care improves

Remember this is for every adult U.S. citizen 18+ including the folks who lost their jobs at Lehman Brothers and every other company that is cutting back. And of course, for those serving in our Armed Forces.

If we’re going to re-distribute wealth let’s really do it...instead of trickling out a puny $1,000.00 ( “vote buy” ) economic incentive that is being proposed by one of our candidates for President.

If we’re going to do an $85 billion bailout, let’s bail out every adult U.S. citizen 18+!

As for AIG – liquidate it. Sell off its parts. Let American General go back to being American General. Sell off the real estate. Let the private sector bargain hunters cut it up and clean it up.

Here’s my rationale. We deserve it and AIG doesn’t.

Sure it’s a crazy idea that can “never work.”

But can you imagine the Coast-To-Coast Block Party?

How do you spell Economic Boom?

And remember, The Family plan only really costs $59.5 billion because $25.5 billion is returned instantly in taxes to Uncle Sam.

Folding@Home rank boosted to 50!

2008-09-29T10:19:00.006-04:00

I'm in 50th place!!

My Team's page

My Page

Windows 7 most popular feature so far is calculator?

2008-09-22T20:00:00.002-04:00

I've been reading a bit today about the Windows 7 screenshots that were released today. Doesn't look much different than Vista. yawn. Seems like the most popular feature to more than some is the new calculator look...with history. The other is the "ribbon" in Paint and Notepad.

Is this really what people find most important in an OS? How about stability, efficiency, reliability, compatibility, speed or ease of use?! And why aren't people upset over the fact that Microsoft will probably force it's lemmings to upgrade (ie $$$$$$$$$) to the new OS 6 months after release...AGAIN!?

Can someone please hack the spammers!?!?

2008-09-22T14:02:00.004-04:00

I get so tired of filtering spam from my inbox to the GFI anti-spam folders at work! I see reports from companies that track malware and spammers saying that 80% of the worlds spam is coming from, like, 6 computers (so they know which computers) but why on earth don't they just hack them and shut them down?!?! This is costing my company thousands of $ each year for anti-spam filtering software and me to spend the time each day to sort it all out. Spammers are the devil's concubines!!

Here are a couple reports from our email server. Byesian is the "AI" of the GFI software. It's supposed to read each email to see if there are spam-type words in there. Keep in mind there are under 20 employees where I work.

One day's worth. 190 actual emails. 5394 SPAM in one day!

One month's worth. 211,617 SPAM in one month!

Jericho. Possibly the greatest tv show. Ever.

2008-09-22T12:52:00.005-04:00

I first discovered Jericho back in 2006 when it was in it's first season. I fell in love instantly. What a great concept! What does a small do when a nuclear blast is seen over over Denver? Craziness for one thing. It also shows what can happen to any town in the event of a country thrown into instant chaos.

This show is simply great. At first it was hard to get through the first couple of episodes because I was irritated with Jake and his old sqeezes acting. But the story kept me in there. After the 5th episode I was sucked into it completely. I consider myself a lifelong fan even though the series was cancelled after the first season.

But that didn't stop the real fans. They set out a campain to get the show back. They flooded CBS with nuts. Over 20 nuts to be exact. CBS caved and ordered 7 more episodes to conclude the show and every episode was worth it.

It's very sad that major tv corporations don't understand (or seem to care about) their fanbase. This same thing happend with my other favorite show of all time, Firefly. Firefly was abandoned by Big TV but the fans are some of the most feirce and dedicated. Every time I see Firefly in a poll on the internet it always ranks very well. Here's a couple examples.

What's the most over-rated SF show? (io9.com)

What television shows should be resurrected from the graveyard during the writers strike? (io9.com)

I encourage anyone who's not seen Jericho to go to your nearest dvd rental palace and get both seasons. Then cancel everything else for a weekend and allow yourself to be sucked into the greatest short-lived series of all time. You won't be disappointed!

Update: Just found the whole series on Hulu.com

2 weeks after Chrome

2008-09-19T12:23:00.003-04:00

I've been using Google Chrome almost exclusively since it's release. So far I still love it. There are a couple of things that I wish it could do.

So far I can't sync all my versions easily. I have it installed on my work pc, laptop and home pc. I would have to copy the settings and bookmarks from one pc to the next manually. Firefox has a nice add on called Foxmarks which allows you to create an account and store all your bookmarks on their account and auto-sync all your Firefoxes wherever they are.

Bookmarks are kind of a mess. I don't feel that Chrome is made for a user to get tho their bookmarks easily. Firefox is great for letting me search within my bookmarks. That's VERY handy and missed.

Downloads are kinda brainless. I hope that was their plan about that. One nice this is that you can search your downloads. On the other hand I don't see a way to 'clear' your downloads in mass quantities. I do love how the downloads page is organized. Like a history.

Chrome won't work for some sites and programs. I use Spiceworks at work for my network control. It's a very nice tool but it doesn't seem to play well with Chrome. I still have to use Firefox or IE for that.

No 3rd party add ons yet. iPhone was out and hacked with in a couple days. Why are there no add ons or anything for Chrome? It's been downloaded over 2 million times so far.

That's all I can think of at the moment. Of course as soon as I post this I will think of something else. What do you think about Chrome so far?

2 weeks after Chrome

2008-09-19T12:23:00.002-04:00

I've been using Google Chrome almost exclusively since it's release. So far I still love it. There are a couple of things that I wish it could do.

So far I can't sync all my versions easily. I have it installed on my work pc, laptop and home pc. I would have to copy the settings and bookmarks from one pc to the next manually. Firefox has a nice add on called Foxmarks which allows you to create an account and store all your bookmarks on their account and auto-sync all your Firefoxes wherever they are.

Bookmarks are kind of a mess. I don't feel that Chrome is made for a user to get tho their bookmarks easily. Firefox is great for letting me search within my bookmarks. That's VERY handy and missed.

Downloads are kinda brainless. I hope that was their plan about that. One nice this is that you can search your downloads. On the other hand I don't see a way to 'clear' your downloads in mass quantities. I do love how the downloads page is organized. Like a history.

Chrome won't work for some sites and programs. I use Spiceworks at work for my network control. It's a very nice tool but it doesn't seem to play well with Chrome. I still have to use Firefox or IE for that.

No 3rd party add ons yet. iPhone was out and hacked with in a couple days. Why are there no add ons or anything for Chrome? It's been downloaded over 2 million times so far.

No drop list for the back button. Just a peeve but like to be able to go back in a browsing history by several pages at a time. Firefox (and I think IE) let you do that through the back button drop list.

Posting this didn't work in Chrome. I kept getting an error so I had to write this post in Notepad++ then paste into Firefox. booooo. :'(

That's all I can think of at the moment. Of course as soon as I post this I will think of something else. What do you think about Chrome so far?

Headlines. WEEEEEE

2008-09-18T14:03:00.002-04:00

Man killed trying to steal 11,000 volt copper cable...

Make sure it's unplugged before you steal it.

Human breast milk on restaurant's menu...

I have no repsonse to this.

Cops: Cocaine dealer levied gas surcharge on drug customers...

No one is exempt from taxes these days.

Texting while driving 'more dangerous than drugs or alcohol'...

I doubt it.

OBAMA TELLS SUPPORTERS: 'ARGUE AND GET IN THEIR FACE'

The new bipartisan.

Biden calls paying higher taxes a patriotic act...

Wow. Didn't see that one coming.

Trump switched from Hillary to McCain...

Who the frick cares? I wish he'd switch hairstyles.

Politics = predictible yawn-fest

2008-09-04T22:36:00.009-04:00

it might just be my attitude because my depression meds seem to be failing recently and I have a bigger "whatever" attitude but McCain is talking the same ol' thing.

Watching McCain's speech on PBS with my hot wife and all he's saying is the same thing that's been said by Republicans since I can remember. Let's recap shall we?

I will make Govt smaller.
I will create more jobs.
I will balance the budget.
I'm going to shake up Washington and make them listen and obey.
My war record is better than your war record.
I'll make your kids smarter.
I'm going to cut taxes down to NOTHING.
I will bring world peace by pimp slapping all the other countries and make them love me.
My opponent is the devil and wants to kill your children and eat your parents.

And on the seventh day I'll rest from my labors.

Fast forward 4 years later.

Tax increases.
War record made no difference.
Government is even bigger.
Govt spending is higher than ever.
Companies are stagnant because taxes were increased and money isn't there to hire more employees.
Family with tragic story from speech is still having trouble and "big govt" loses touch with the average American family.

Jumped 6 placed

2008-09-04T20:55:00.003-04:00

I just checked my status on my Folding@Home team and found I just jumped from 72 to 66. w00t.

More headlines

2008-09-04T13:56:00.002-04:00

Paper: Palin's hair 'about 20 years out of date'...

Does that mean her hair is running for VP? What are her hair's stances on global warming?

$350 million high school finally opens in LA...

Did I read that right?!

FRIGHT: Bus Driver Gets Lost, Circles With Kids For 5 Hours...

Did I read that right?!

Men's Fidelity Controlled By 'Cheating Genetics'...

Nice. Another excuse for adultery. "Not my fault

IT Dude is not your personal assistant!

2008-09-04T12:58:00.010-04:00

The main drawback to being the only IT guy in a small business is that everyone sees you as their personal assistant who's only purpose is to serve them. Here are a few examples.

There's a guy here who is "too busy" to copy a file from his personal laptop to his computer in his office. So he asks me to do it for him. It took me LITERALLY 2 minutes to plug in a flash drive, copy the file to the flash drive, unplug the flash drive from the laptop, plug the flash drive into my work computer and email him his file.

Why is it my responsibility to make sure that an employee's signature in Outlook is copied from his old computer to his new one? Can't HE copy from an existing email his signature and paste it into a new signature?!

Is it so hard to look at your program list BEFORE asking me to dig out a software cd and trek to your office, install the cd, start the install only to be told that the program is already there?

If your sound is not working "all of a sudden" then look at the volume control in Windows Media Player that you're using and make sure it's ON!

If I give you a company laptop to take home to use I know it's capable of connecting to the company's VPN. Don't call me and tell me it's not working. At least don't make it seem like I'M the one who's messed up! If you are trying to save energy and hibernate your pc when you leave YOU CAN'T REMOTE DESKTOP BECAUSE YOUR FRACKIN COMPUTER IS NOT ON!!

If you bring me your personal laptop and tell me that your wireless isn't working...learn to work your crap! Why is this MY fault? You have the password to the WiFi at work so why can't you work your own computer? I can get it hooked up without ANY problems. You just connect!

Why am I supposed to know how all software works? I'm not a drafter! Why do I need to know the intricacies of AutoCAD, AutoSketch, Surfer, Google SketchUp or ArcView?! Supposedly this all falls under "IT" so it's been told to me that I am to know it all in case someone has issues with them.

Don't put off an AutoSketch update simply because you don't want to take the time to learn it then place a ton of pressure on me to help you out like it's my sole job to do that. I took the time to learn it so you should be able to as well. (He told me TO MY FACE that he didn't want to take the time to learn it!)

If you send me an email and list multiple programs that you asked me to install but "aren't installed" then you better damn well LOOK at your programs list because I DID install them? What? Am I some kind of LIAR when I reply to you and tell you that I installed the programs you asked for?!

Don't EVER ask me how to run that program I just installed on your computer. You know? FONTS? How can you get a PHD and not know what FONTS are and why they're NOT A PROGRAM!?

If you request a second monitor and I order you one and install it all for you and you call me to your office to tell me it's not working and I show you it is working by dragging an open window onto it and you are amazed I should have full rights to laugh at you in your face until I pass out. Then wake up and drop a coffee grinder in your pants.

This is what I have to deal with folks.

I've come to understand that being the only IT Guy in a small business STILL leaves me at the bottom of the "ladder". Most of the time I feel like an IT Doormat where anyone has permission to just wipe their feet on me and have me do their bidding. Friggin SUCKS! I think I need to find another job because the perception around here of what an IT guy does and is responsible for are all jacked-up to hell.

I like Google Chrome

2008-09-02T21:19:00.004-04:00

Google just released it's own web browser today called Chrome. Of course it's free and looks like it will be in "beta" for a while but I can get used to that. Gmail's been in beta for a few years now.

After installing Chrome I was imediately impressed with the amount of space I seem to have. All there is is an tab row and toolbar. Once I imported my Firefox bookmarks I got another row for my Bookmark Toolbar. But that's it!

It loads pages real fast too. At home I'm on WiFi because there's no room for me at the computer desk in the family area. So I "work" at a small desk in my room. Even so the pages load very quickly.

This browser feels very light. If that's posssible. I don't feel burdened down like I do with Firefox. Don't get me wrong, I loved Firefox like it was one of my own but I think it time to give it up.

There is only one thing I can think of that Chrome needs and that's a page content blocker. I hate ads and if I can remove them from a site (on my end) I will. But since Chrome is Open Source I'm sure there's a 13 year old out there coding away and there will be specialized versions popping up on the web for a while.

Chrome has a few new features that set it aside from other browsers. You can watch the short videos they have here. My favs are the ability to drag any tab out of the browser into it's own window then back again...seamlessly. The task manager is great to. They've made this browser so that each tab is running it's own process so if you have a hanging page you can kill it without killing the whole program. Very smart.

Over all I really like this new browser. I've only been using it for a couple hours though so I will have to give it a fair shake during the next month to get a real feel for it.

More later.

More headlines.

2008-08-29T21:00:00.002-04:00

Ok I should just start a new blog that's dedicated to this. As you know I post headlines from DrudgeReport.com and then comment about said headline.

Ohio jury convicts mom in microwaved-baby case... Did I just read that right?COMCAST to make monthly Internet use cap official... ...deter 'bandwidth hogs'

Does this include legitimate bandwidth for online backups?

Michael Jackson: 'I Feel Very Young' at 50... That's because at least half of you is less than 20 years old!38,379,000 Watched Obama Speech... I just watched for the commercials. Don't know who won.Italy museum defies pope anger over crucified frog... WHA?! In the name of "art".

Headlines for 2-26-2008

2008-08-26T11:28:00.002-04:00

I loved doing the headlines with my responses so much I am doing it again.

Chelsea Narrates 'Homage to Hillary'... Why do we care what Chelsae thinks? DOES she think?TV: Plot to Kill Obama: Shoot From High Vantage Point... WOW! People suck. Let him run. *Wasn't a 'credible threat'...
It still doesn't mean people aren't a-holes.

Obama from a home in Kansas City: I'm 'here in St. Louis'... LOL! Sounds about right. He's a politician after all.X-rated video shot in Tennessee park... Were the "actors" related? Oh my bad. That's a Kentucky joke.TIGHT: CITIGROUP Will Ban Off-Site Meetings, Limit Color Photocopies to Cut Costs... No more "meetings" at the golf course. :(COMPUTER-RAGE: Teen Attacks Family Over Change In Privileges... I'm kind of tired of seeing parents lose control over their kids.TV: A Look Back at Hillary's Year in Pantsuits...
Why is this a headline? Why is this even a story? News has really gone downhill.Medvedev: Russia ready for 'anything'... Sharks with frickin lasers on their heads? Are they ready for that?

Mormons still misunderstood

2008-08-23T23:02:00.007-04:00

I'm listening to the news radio about McCain's possible running mate for presidency Mitt Romney who is Mormon. Every time the news talks about Romney they add "a Mormon" to it. Example: Mitt Romney, "a Mormon", might be a possible pick for Vice President...blah blah blah. Why do we (us Mormons) still get this kind of subtle abuse? You don't see this kind of treatment toward any other candidate. News even makes mention about the "controversial" Mitt Romney. Since when is being a Christian such a controversy??

People call us "Mormons" because of the Book of Mormon which is actually a collection of books and records of people from Central America during the time of Jesus. Doesn't it make sense that our Heavenly Father would want as many of His children to hear about the salvation that His son Jesus has to offer them? Why would He want some of His children to be confused or lost?

To answer the old question "are Mormons Christians" you can simply look to the name of the church: The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. Yes we DO believe in Jesus Christ, God and the Holy Ghost. So why all the confusion and "controversy"? Well, I think most of it comes from the dark time in the history of the church when Polygamy was brought back. Now I don't know all the reasons why it was instituted but I do know that the Bible is full of accounts where multiple wives were allowed and "OKed" by God. I also know that polygamy wasn't a "free-for-all". This was more of a calling and most men who had been asked to marry again had a hard time with it.

So it happened. I didn't last long. Once the US decided to pass a law against polygamy we followed that law. Those groups in Utah who are polygamists are NOT Mormons. Once a Mormon violates this law they are excommunicated. They are no longer affiliated with The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. They say they are but this is a self-proclamation by the head of the "family".

But I still don't think that's the whole reason why people today are so against the Mormons. I think it's more about ignorance than anything else. People tend to listen to people they love or like such as fathers and mothers. When the ignorance starts generations back it can be carried along the line. Some will want to find out for themselves and I think that's great. If I want to learn about laws I talk to a lawyer not a photographer. I talk to a photographer if I want to learn about how to take a good picture.

I also know that there are Pastors or leaders of other religious congregations that speak from the pulpit against Mormons teaching their followers the lies that Mormons aren't Christians that we don't believe in God. I know it happens because I've seen it in person. It's sad that ANY Christian religion teaches to hate others. That's not whats in the Bible at all. That's not the true message of Jesus Christ. We are to love one another and help those in need.

I think it's sad that this trend of disliking Mormons "just because" is an old practice with deep roots of ignorance. I wish people would just ask some questions and be willing to listen for the sake of understanding what we believe. The people who try to get us in a corner and "Bible bash" with us and try to trick us into contradicting ourselves is completely counterproductive and those people are just mad about something else.

Symantec STILL SUCKING

2008-08-21T14:05:00.002-04:00

So I purchased the upgrade to Backup Exec 12 so we can have the latest and greatest but after I install the software and run the program it tells me that the Service is not installed. REALLY? I assumed that would have happened during the INSTALL. It won't install the services either. So I mess with stuff on the server for a few minutes then get frustrated and decide to call Symantec Tech Support. This gets good. Apparently the purchase of the software does not include a support agreement. So after spending over $1500 for upgrades I have to pay them ANOTHER $250 to get this issue resolved.

Am I the only person with a pulse that finds this kind of "support" a huge pain in the ASS?!?!

Then I get put on hold for a while because Tropical Storm Fay is tearing up Florida thus hampering one of their data centers...I'M STILL ROUTED TO INDIA ANYWAY so what's the deal?

Normally I wouldn't care because it's not my money in the first place. But I have to tell the boss why I am spending all this money and it would be better if he had some understanding about what I do but, like most bosses, he only knows how to run MS Office tools. I have to explain why I had to purchase a new license for Office 2003 Pro because all the current licenses are used up and there are no more to use. But I get a guilt-trip about it instead of a pat on the back and a "thanks for keeping us LEGAL."

/sigh. I think I want to start farming chickens or something.

You through the ages with Yearbookyourself.com

2008-08-21T10:51:00.006-04:00

I just spent about 30 minutes at yearbookyourself.com and now I have pains from laughter. If you knew me in the 90's you will now that I had this exact haircut AND sweater! Here's more pics. Click on them to enlarge them.

Headlines with responses.

2008-08-20T13:48:00.004-04:00

I visit DrudgeReport.com several times throughout the day to keep up on some of the main events happening in the world. I would love to comment on a lot (if not most) of the topics going on but that would be a full time job and since I already have one of those I think I'll just comment on the headlines.

MCCAIN PULLS AHEAD 'BY 5 POINTS'... Why are we making a game of this? It should be MUCH more important that points and games.Michael Moore calls for Caroline Kennedy! Why in the hell are we listening to Michael Moore? He's a "film" director.Lowest-rated week ever for ABC, FOX and CBS... That's because he Olympics are on NBC and there's nothing else on tv!Docs SLAM Phelps for FROSTED FLAKES deal... I say Good job Phelps! If he wants to sell out to Cheese-its and Kay-y then let him.Researcher says bigfoot just a rubber gorilla suit... I seriously doubt that I'm the only one that saw that coming.U.S. tracking citizens' border crossings... You just NOW came up with this?NATIONAL ENQUIRER UNLEASHES NEW EDWARDS EXPOSE... Stop giving Edwards attention! He's an adulterer! Don't make him a celebrity for it!Obama: McCain 'doesn't know what he's up against'... Change? Is he up against change? That was fun. I could make this a daily post.

Microsoft hits new low with Mojave deception.

2008-08-19T11:55:00.010-04:00

I've seen a few of the new commercials of Microsoft tricking people into liking or even loving Vista. They get people to explain why they won't move to Vista then show them "Mojave" (actually Vista) and get them to see the error of their ways. This trick begs some investigation.

What exactly did MSoft show these people? We never actually see what these shmoes off the streets are shown. Was it the bubbly screensaver? Was it the sidebar and how you can see the weather widget on your desktop? Was it how to shut down the computer? I seriously doubt that they showed these people how to disable the constant nagging by Vista about every friggin thing you do is a security risk or how to make your old printer's manufacturer make updated drivers so you can print.

What were these people offered? Were these people given a prize or reward for their time and opinion? Or did they simply get a "thank you" and a shove out the door. Personally I would have done it for a free Mac with Leopard OS. ;)

How many people refused to check out the next version of windows "Mojave"? So far I've only seen about 5 - 7 MAX people sit down and talk. I'm willing to bet that there were LOADS of people that refused to even look at another "version" of Windows. Vista's been around for a short time and there are already working release clients of the next version Windows 7. /sigh See previous rants about that.

Are these people technologically minded in the least? ie Do they know anything about OSes or computers? If you take a person who doesn't use a computer and show them all the wonders ANY computer can do then of course they will find it cool and fun and a "must have". I seriously doubt these people who were dazzled are IT Pros, Network Admins or any other person who has to work with a PC for more than 40 hours a week. I've been using Vista for almost a month as a test for my company and I dislike it more each day. And the first thing I did was disable the constant nagging about everything I do is a security risk.

I just wish that Microsoft would stop wasting time, money and energy by trying to trick us into like their crap and just remove the crap from the system. A crapless OS goes a long way. I doubt this is really going to boost sales of Vista because , like Macs, some people just like what they have. I've not seen anything in Vista that would make me decide I had to have it. There's nothing overwhelming in Vista that makes you feel like a failure using XP.

New headphones

2008-08-19T09:39:00.003-04:00

I bought these new headphones cause I needed some new ones for gaming. They looked great in the store and in the packaging but...WHAT THE HELL?! Who did they test these things on? Hulk? Sure they sound great but do I really need to wear the Golden Gate Bridge on my noggin? Won't be wearing these in public.

Less interns = more WUs.

2008-08-18T09:44:00.002-04:00

The interns are all out so that gives me 3 more computers here at work to run Folding@Home for me. That will bring my my computer total to 9. woot.

You can keep track of my stats here.

I would love to start a new team but when I started with MajorGeeks' team I was in like 286th place and now I'm in 72nd. Hard to stop that kind of progress and start all over.

Does basketball belong in the Olympics?

2008-08-15T22:34:00.003-04:00

Sitting on the couch with my hot wife watching the Olympics and they are interviewing Kobe Bryan...why is there basketball in the Olympics?! Where's the baseball? It just seems very odd that we can send professional athletes who make millions of dollars to spank the planet. So why aren't we doing the same thing with baseball, football, F1 Racing or NASCAR? Am I alone in this?

Phelps PWNZ!

2008-08-15T22:32:00.001-04:00

Just watched Michael Phelps win a gold medal by .01 seconds. Amazing.

Mummy 3 goes nowhere near my heart.

2008-08-15T21:40:00.004-04:00

I just went to see The Mummy 3. The trailer did a great job of teasing me about all the glory to come. However, it fails on so many levels.

First off, Maria Bello replaced Rachel Weisz as Evelyn. I can deal with change but the chemistry between the main couple just didn't come through. At all. I think Maria even faked the English accent. I just didn't like her performance.

When did Alex lose his english accent?! When we saw this character in Mummy 2 he had a great accent. I loved it but why change it? Just because he grew up? Other then that Luke Ford did a fine job filling the role.

Isabella Leong plays Alex's new love interest. She's cute and all but why did they feel the need to do a voice over for her? She sounded like a 6 year old. Makes no sense.

The story was friggin awesome...for the first 15 minutes. Setting the stage for the movie was great. Greed, magic, a love triangle, death, torture...all the makings of a great movie. Then we meet the characters and it all goes downhill from there. Nothing happens to move the story along like in the first two movies. It seemed like things happened just to have them happen. The O'connel's and the rest of the good guys beat the bad guys to every destination but fail to do the obvious thing, do something stupid and let the baddies walk all over them. I lost interest at about the 30 minute mark.

And why is Jet Li making new movies!?!? I thought Fearless was his last movie. He was quitting after that to become a buddist or something.

Michell Yeoh did a great job. I haven't seen her do a bad job in any movie I've seen her in yet. Well, there was one scene in James Bond: Tomorrow Never Dies. She's with Bond in the belly of the stealth boat and she has one bullet left in her gun. She's trapped. She quickly peaks around a corner and sees her chance. She then jumps out of her hiding place and while pulling the trigger gives a traditional 'hiy'. What. The. Hell. Stupidest thing EVER! She's shooting a gun! Who wrote that into the script and why did it make it into the final cut? sigh

In conclusion, I won't buy this movie. I'm going to treat it like the first Hulk movie. It never happened.

Why is my computer slow?

2008-08-15T13:19:00.004-04:00

Because you might be a slob.

Seriously, I've been in a computer ever since 1984 and I've seen my fair share of computer problems solved by simply cleaning out the case. Twice a year shut down your computer, unplug all cables, take the tower outside and use a compressed air can to blow out all the dust. Seems like a simple thing or that your case isn't very dusty but I've seen people throw out perfectly good computers because they thought theirs was "bad". I blow out the dust and it fires right up and works great. So don't let this happen to you.

More info on the influence of dust in a computer and the damage it can cause.

BTW you read it correctly, I've been in a computer since 1984.

One more reason to distrust politicians

2008-08-08T15:38:00.002-04:00

"John Edwards repeatedly lied during his Presidential campaign about an extramarital affair with a novice filmmaker, the former Senator admitted to ABC News today."

http://abcnews.go.com/Blotter/story?id=5441195&page=1

"Since becoming pregnant, Hunter has lived under assumed names in a series of expensive homes in North Carolina and, more recently, in Santa Barbara, California.

Edwards denied paying any money to Hunter to keep her from going public but said it was possible some of his friends or supporters may have made payments without telling him. "

Still telling lies? Most likely!

When will we get some people in office that are there for the real reason we want them there? Or do we want them there? I'm an emotional wreck today. Been in a HAZWOPER 8 hour refresher course all day so I haven't been able to be at my computer more than 5 minutes. :(

Sloppy postings recently

2008-08-07T10:35:00.002-04:00

I've recently been noticing a lot of typos in the blogs I read. I tend to expect more from 'professional' bloggers who are paid to sit and blog all day long. Is it that hard to re-read what you've typed to make sure you have it the way you want it before posting to the world? Now I'm not perfect by any means but I'm also blogging for free. If I were to get paid for this I would do a much better job of commenting and proofreading. Maybe it's just a peeve but its irritating.

/end rant.

BEHOLD! Planet of the Apes!

2008-08-04T10:53:00.003-04:00

One reason to get a Blue Ray player.

• Eight extra minutes of footage in the unrated version of Conquest of the Planet of the Apes
• Beyond the Forbidden Zone Adventure Game
• Science of the Apes: scientists, anthropologists and sociologists discuss the first film
• Evolution of the Apes: HD featurette that traces how the Planet of the Apes went from book to screen
• Impact of the Apes: HD featurette about how the story became a pop culture phenomenon
• HD “Making of” features for each sequel
• Commentary by composers, actors and make up artists.
• A Behind the Planet of the Apes documentary
• The original theatrical trailers
• Behind the scenes galleries

Source: Gizmodo

Youtube vids only playing 5 seconds...

2008-08-04T10:50:00.002-04:00

Is anyone else having this problem? I play a Youtube video on a web site and it loads just fine but only plays about 3-5 seconds then stops. I can slide the play ball thing and it will play another 3 seconds and stop. Very frustrating. If you have a solution that does NOT require a reboot please let me know. Thanks.

Rename Vista to El Diablo!!!!

2008-07-10T09:26:00.007-04:00

So I took the plunge and installed Vista on my work computer. We will all eventually use it because Microsoft will stop selling XP. I've been using it all week and so far it's a HUGE pain in the rear-end.

The short list of problems is that I get the BSOD ever 12 hours or so, network connection doesn't happen at every reboot, Konica's Vista drivers don't work so I can't print to the main company printer, some reboots hang for more than 30 minutes, USB Bluetooth dongle drivers completely jacked up the system and I had to fix it in Safe Mode, Outlook is really slow most of the time now, our in-house chat client shows everyone as offline. etc.

The UI is really different from what I am used to but I am "The IT Guy" so I can adapt. However, this will be a HUGE problem for most of the other people who work with me. They are all geologists and scientist who are, for the most part, COMPLETELY lacking basic computer skills. I have to routinely go help people with their volume settings and copy files from laptop to desktop because they don't know how to use a USB drive or computer in general. So for a complete change in functionality in Explorer (for example) to be put in their faces just may cause a complete break down of productivity and morale. As an example of how change is taken here is that no one here wants Office 2007 because the whole "ribbon" format is too daunting. I seem to be the only one here who actually likes the ribbon in Office 2007.

As an IT guy in charge of keeping things running smoothly for over 20 computers and 6 servers it's more than irritating that Microsoft is forcing us all to change to a new OS just because they can. I can understand that they are a company just like other companies and thus are in need of continual income however there has to be a better way. I keep looking at the Apple model and think it's better simply because they keep improving the same OS they've been running for years. Mac users don't need to relearn an entire OS with each new upgrade of the OS. If Microsoft would simply update/upgrade the existing XP OS there would be a larger base of happy Windows users and possibly higher sales of new versions/upgrades. Vista was just released in January of 2007 and there are already screenshots of the next windows version floating all over the internet.

My suggestion to Microsoft is that you simply work out all the bugs in the current version that's being forced on us and continue to make it better through future upgrades instead of rebuilding and entire OS every 3 years. I would also suggest you listen to your target audience. A quick Google search will show you that a majority of the Vista users are not happy with it at all. I'm not and I know others aren't either.

To all the users like me that are forced to use Vista (either now or in the future) you have my sympathy and understanding. If you don't have Vista and are using XP I would suggest that you hold out as long as you can. XP works really well for most users because it's been available for years and there has been major attention given to it so most of the bugs are worked out.

Simple computer upgrade = MORE RAM!

2008-07-02T15:32:00.004-04:00

I work on people's computers sometimes. More than I like at times. One old question I get from people is "how can I make it faster?"

I can't make this more simple...

IF YOU ARE RUNNING WINDOWS XP YOU NEED MORE RAM THAN 512 MEGS! PLEASE, FOR THE LOVE OF THE DEITY OF YOUR CHOICE, INSTALL AT LEAST 2 GIGS OF MEMORY!!

With that being saidI will now be bombarded with the questions, "What's the difference between ram and memory? Will that delete all my files if I add more memory?"

I'm just going to stop before I explode.

Relaxing Game

2008-06-24T08:54:00.004-04:00

I know it's been a while since I posted a new post here. Here's a nice game to release your anger at me on. All you have to do is catch the notes and listen to the pretty music. Ahh, doesn't that feel better?

PLAY HERE!

New PDA Software!!

2008-06-19T14:37:00.003-04:00

Okay, so I am a geek. but am I the only one who gets frustrated with people talking on their phones while drive their cars? I doubt it. I've always wondered what the real life statistics are for people who talk and drive. You hear all kinds of numbers in the newspapers and on tv but how do they really know? This program can help you in your own research. Simply tap the car side when you see a driver NOT talking on the phone. When you see a driver on the phone tap the TALKING button. Both buttons add to the Total count to get an accurate percentage calculation. Go forth and count!

POCKET PC ONLY!

DOWNLOAD HERE!

Grow your own rice and reduce personal food shortage panic.

2008-06-10T16:11:00.004-04:00

As many of you may know, there have been some food shortages within the last year. One of the big ones was rice. Stores even started to limit the amount a person could buy. One way to get around some of that, or at least lessen your dependence on the stores, is to grow your own. Although I've not done it myself it looks like it isn't too hard.

Get a clean bucket or container that WON'T leak.
Fill with dirt (6 inches) then water (2 inches above the dirt).
Drop in some rice.
Harvest in about 4 months.

This may not replace the grocery store but it could help save some money. The main downside to this is that standing water is a mosquito magnet. The lay eggs in ANY amount of water they can find.

For complete direction go to www.associatedcontent.com

What's with Mars?

2008-05-27T09:58:00.004-04:00

Growing up I wanted to be an astronaut. The thought of going into space was a very cool idea. Zero gravity and walking on the moon are still fun to think about. However, I honestly don't understand the fascination with Mars.

NASA spent over $500 million on the latest Phoenix Lander to find ice within 20 inches of the surface. That's half a BILLION dollars just to find ice! That's not ALL this lander will do of course. It will also take some 3D pictures and test for gases in the atmosphere. It will also test the soil to see if life COULD live there. I'm guessing this means crops.

This is all so we can send people there to live and work for lengthy periods of time. Perhaps for the remainder of their years since NASA doesn't have a "round trip" plan yet.

SteelSeries continues to SUCK!

2008-05-21T19:44:00.002-04:00

Faithful followers of my blog may be familiar with my dealings with my SteelSeries headphones. This time they broke in an unrepairable-by-me place. It's much more than a simple solder job this time. They broke at a critical juncture where the over-head-support joins with the right-side speaker. These headphones are meant to be taken apart so as to save space in one's game bag. I've done it once when I first got them...over a year ago. Ever since they've been connected to together.

All I have to say is that I am NOT going to take them back. I am NOT going to call SteelSeries and complain or send them an email like I did last time. They offered to replace them for a new set but I declined because I didn't want to start over with a new piece of crap. I'm posting this in hopes that others will read and steer clear of this crappy product.

Oh, forgot to tell you how I broke them. SIMPLY PUTTING THEM ON! NO over-exersion! NO dropping! NO stepping on them! NO letting the kids play with them! I simply "opened" them up to the normal width that I usually do to place them on my head and they snapped with a loud "POP". Over $120 down the drain. I've gotten more use out of our $40 DVD player. Like 3 years worth so far and it still works great.

SYMANTEC SUCKS!!!!!!!!!

2008-05-21T19:36:00.003-04:00

Been a while since I posted here and I'm sad that the drought is quenched with a rant.

The company I work for has spent well over $1000 on software within the last 2 years to back up our data. And when there's a hiccup and I need to get some support from the vendor they won't do it because we haven't purchased a support package. Well, they can help this one time but it will cost me $250...just like Microsoft.

I can't help but have a deep and penetrating HATRED for companies like Symantec and Microsoft who put out crappy software and then feel the need to kick their buyers in the proverbial crotch.

And it pushes me further into a demonic pit of anger because I'm working late to fix this problem.

Which reminds me of my headphones issue that's an ongoing repair job. sigh.

Interesting Tips

2008-04-21T08:24:00.002-04:00

Those of you who know me know that I am not an environmental freak. However, there have some emails sent around the office over the last week. Interesting stuff.

In the Delta Flight Magazine, there was a list of items that, if done collectively, would make a big impact in helping to keep our planet green. All of the items are not big sacrifices; it’s just a small change that has big consequences, if enough of us follow the suggestion.

If the thermostats in every house in America were lowered 1 degree Fahrenheit during the winter, the nation would save 230 million barrels of crude oil – enough to fill an oil tanker 400 times. That’s the amount of oil being imported into the US from Iraq each year.

If 40 million people were to spend 1 minute less each day in the shower over their lifetimes, they save 4 trillion gallons of water – the total amount of snow and rain that falls over the entire lower 48 United States in a day.

The people of the United States represent less than 5% of the world’s population, yet we use more than 25% of the planet’s resources. If the rest of the world rose to our level of consumption, four additional planets would be needed to supply the resources and absorb the waste.

One soft drink can recycled by each elementary school student in America would save 24.8 million cans. That would be enough aluminum to create 21 Boeing 737 airplanes.

One hour of using a gas-operated leaf blower produces the same amount of greenhouse gases as a car driving 4,400 miles – that’s around trip from Salt Lake City to New York City. Use a Rake for goodness sake!

One gallon of used oil – the amount from a small car engine – can pollute 1 million gallons of fresh water and create an 8-acre oil slick. (Each year, nearly 200 million gallons of used oil are illegally dumped on the ground, tossed in the trash or poured down storm sewers and drains.)

One old cell phone recycled by each cell phone user in America would reclaim enough precious metals to create 631 solid gold replicas of the Egyptian pharaoh Tutankhamen’s funerary mask.

If homebuilders installed one dual-flush toilet instead of a standard low-flow toilet in every new house built in 2008, they would save 1.65 billion gallons of water a year.

One out of every 3 pounds of the waste that Americans generate is just for packaging, which each year adds up to 77 million tons – enough to fill the Louisiana Superdome in New Orleans 37 times.

If every American switched to receiving just one bill as an electronic statement instead of a paper one, the one-time saving would be 217,800,000 sheets – enough to completely blanket the island of Key West in a single layer of paper.

If just one passenger per each flight in the world this year packed 1 pound less of luggage, they would save enough fuel to fly a Boeing 737 around the world 474 times.

One dimmer switch replacing a regular on/off switch in every U.S. house would save the electricity necessary to light 1,200,000 homes – that’s every home in the state of Arkansas.

Replacing just one 500-sheet roll of virgin toilet paper a year with one 500-sheet roll of 100% recycled paper in every American household would leave 424,000 trees standing – 16 times as many trees as in New York City’s Central Park.

If Iowans purchased 1% more locally grown produce instead of fruits and vegetables shipped in from out of state, they could save enough fuel to drive a Toyota Prius back and forth from Portland Oregon, to Portland Maine 211 times (crossing Iowa 422 times).

If one 20-mile trip per week was cut out (by combining errands), for every registered vehicle in the U.S., 145 million fewer tons of greenhouse gases would be released into the air each year. That’s equal to the annual carbon dioxide emissions from 36 coal-fired power plants.

If everyone in Atlanta who normally drove to work would telecommute just one day a year instead, they would save more than $50 million in gas – enough to buy an Energy Star compact fluorescent bulb for the desk lamps of every college student in the U. S.

If every newspaper reader in the U.S. recycled just one typical Sunday paper, he or she could help create 212,000,000 pounds of cellulose insulation – enough to insulate 118,767 Habitat for Humanity houses. That’s nearly twice as many houses as all the Habitat homes built in America so far.

If every American collected 1 gallon of water once a week while waiting for the shower or bathwater to get hot (use it to water your houseplants), the total saved would be 15.8 billion gallons of water a year – enough to fill the Reflecting Pool at the National Mall in Washington, D.C. 2,338 times.

If every American household had turned off the lights for one hour at 8 PM local time on 3-29-08 during the World Wildlife Fund’s Earth Hour 2008, they would prevent more than 16,610 tons of carbon dioxide from being released – enough to fill every hot-air balloon at the annual Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta seven times.

If 1 quart of leftover paint was recycled from every renovation project in America this year (10% of all the house paint purchased in the U. S. is typically thrown out), it would reclaim 2.5 million gallons – enough to paint the outside of the White House every year for the next 43 centuries, or to pain San Francisco’s Golden Gate Bridge 250 times.

Folding @ Home update

2008-04-11T11:16:00.001-04:00

I crossed the 30,ooo point mark. YEAH ME.

My Favorite Software

2008-03-20T14:19:00.002-04:00

This is a long post but I have several people ask me what software they should use on various topics. Here's a list of my favorites. Enjoy!

Gadwin PrintScreen
This is a great program for getting screenshots. It’s very flexible.

Launchy
When you have several hundred programs installed on your computer you may not be able to remember them all. Launchy allows you to search for programs on your computer so you don’t have to hunt through the Start Menu to find what you’re looking for.

nMacro Recorder
nMacro allows you to record both keyboard and mouse actions and then save them as standalone executables, which you can run to reproduce recorded actions on same system or on other systems.

WinBar
WinBar is a free and compact program that lets you monitor your system and provides easy access to frequently used controls.

AudioGrabber
Rip music from audio cds to MP3.

MediaMonkey
Music player like iTunes but NOT iTunes.

Audacity
Record anything that comes through your speakers.

Wink
Record and playback anything happening on your screen. Great for showing people how to use a program. Records mouse movement and keystrokes. File can be exported as EXE or Flash.

KeePass
Database for recording all your passwords for whatever you need.

ViceVersa
Compare the contents of 2 folders for differences.

Webmaster Password Generator
Generates passwords for you. VERY easy, safe, and dynamic.

CCLeaner
Cleans up junk files on your computer. Has an uninstall section as well.

Glary Utilities
Like CCleaner but seems to find more stuff.

WinDirStat
View all the contents of your hard drive in a new way. SEE what’s taking up space.

Recuva
Recover deleted files. From the CCleaner people.

FileZilla
FTP client

Notepad++
Notepad but with many more features.

AM-DeadLink
This program will examine all your bookmarks and find duplicates and make sure the sites are still active.

Sumo
Find and download updates for all your installed software.

Folder Size for Windows
Folder Size for Windows adds a new column to the Details view in Windows Explorer. The new column shows not only the size of files, but also the size of folders. It keeps track of which folders you view, and scans them in the background so you can see complete size of all files within the folder.

Karen’s Directory Printer
Karen's Directory Printer can print the name of every file on a drive, along with the file's size, date and time of last modification, and attributes (Read-Only, Hidden, System and Archive)!

Paint.Net
Paint with a hint of Photoshop

Pidgin
Pidgin is a multi-protocol Instant Messaging client that allows you to use all of your IM accounts at once.

Save2pc lite
Save YoutTube vids to your hard drive for later viewing.

Process Explorer
Process Explorer shows you information about which handles and DLLs processes have opened or loaded.

CDBurnerXP
Burn CDs and DVDs, including Blu-Ray and HD-DVDs. It also includes the feature to burn and create ISOs.

Primo PDF
Print to PDF.

JKDefrag
Simple defragmentation.

HTTrack Website Copier
Does what it says. Copies an entire website to your local hard drive for viewing.

Foxit Reader
Foxit Reader is a free PDF document viewer and printer, with incredible small size (only 2.1 M download size), breezing-fast launch speed and rich feature set.

Agent Ransack
Agent Ransack is a tool for finding files and information on your hard drive fast and efficiently. When searching the contents of files Agent Ransack displays the text found so you can quickly browse the results without having to separately open each file!

AppsByAaron’s Favorite Software

2008-03-20T14:16:00.001-04:00

Gadwin PrintScreen
This is a great program for getting screenshots. It’s very flexible.

This is a long post but I have several people ask me what software they should use

WinBar
WinBar is a free and compact program that lets you monitor your system and provides easy access to frequently used controls.

AudioGrabber
Rip music from audio cds to MP3.

MediaMonkey
Music player like iTunes but NOT iTunes.

Audacity
Record anything that comes through your speakers.

Wink
Record and playback anything happening on your screen. Great for showing people how to use a program. Records mouse movement and keystrokes. File can be exported as EXE or Flash.

KeePass
Database for recording all your passwords for whatever you need.

ViceVersa
Compare the contents of 2 folders for differences.

Webmaster Password Generator
Generates passwords for you. VERY easy, safe, and dynamic.

CCLeaner
Cleans up junk files on your computer. Has an uninstall section as well.

Glary Utilities
Like CCleaner but seems to find more stuff.

WinDirStat
View all the contents of your hard drive in a new way. SEE what’s taking up space.

Recuva
Recover deleted files. From the CCleaner people.

FileZilla
FTP client

Notepad++
Notepad but with many more features.

AM-DeadLink
This program will examine all your bookmarks and find duplicates and make sure the sites are still active.

Sumo
Find and download updates for all your installed software.

Paint.Net
Paint with a hint of Photoshop

Pidgin
Pidgin is a multi-protocol Instant Messaging client that allows you to use all of your IM accounts at once.

Save2pc lite
Save YoutTube vids to your hard drive for later viewing.

Process Explorer
Process Explorer shows you information about which handles and DLLs processes have opened or loaded.

CDBurnerXP
Burn CDs and DVDs, including Blu-Ray and HD-DVDs. It also includes the feature to burn and create ISOs.

Primo PDF
Print to PDF.

JKDefrag
Simple defragmentation.

HTTrack Website Copier
Does what it says. Copies an entire website to your local hard drive for viewing.

Foxit Reader
Foxit Reader is a free PDF document viewer and printer, with incredible small size (only 2.1 M download size), breezing-fast launch speed and rich feature set.

SteelSeries 5H v2 SUCK!!

2008-03-18T17:51:00.004-04:00

I just sent a nice little email to the Support group over at SteelSeries. This is the second pair of gaming headphones I've owned that they make. Each set has broken in the right side. The real problem is that the wiring around the extractable microphone is pinched and wears out very quickly. The first pair I had I took back to Fry's and got the non-usb model and ended up paying more due to restocking fees and crap. So when the problem happened the second time I decided to fix them myself. I opened the left side and re-wired the cables around the joint. I also soldered them CORRECTLY. They worked perfect after that for almost a year until a couple days ago when the right side stopped again. Now I'll have to figure out what's wrong AGAIN and fix them.

Kind of a MAJOR SUCK for $100 headphones!!

Auto lock your PC when you walk away from it.

2008-03-13T09:23:00.002-04:00

Lifehacker.com has a great link this morning for a free PC application that monitors the signal of a BlueTooth device on your person and locks (Win+L) your computer when that device is out of range.

Here's an example: My cell phone has BlueTooth so I select that to be monitored because it's ALWAYS on me. When I get up to go talk to Jaughn Dough because his computer is suddenly smoking and not even turned on my computer will automanically go into Locked mode so that Jane Snoopy-Nose doesn't come over to hack my IM to order some crack from her dealer.

That's a false story but you get the idea. I don't know how this program will effect the battery life of the device you choose to be monitored. I'll try it out and let oyu know. ;)

Link to Lifehacker.com story
Link to Download

SWEET digital notepad!!

2008-03-12T13:51:00.003-04:00

I just found out about this thing. It's the Adesso Cyberpad A4 Digital Notepad.

"The CyberPad integrates the familiarity of pen-on-paper feel. It's a digital notepad with an electronic inking pen that feels and works as well as a regular pen. It lets you to naturally write as you usually do with a regular pen on paper.No special papers needed! Utilizing the electromagnetic technology, it lets you put any ordinary letter size or A4 size paper on the pad and use the inking pen to write directly on the paper. Even if the thickness of papers laid on the pad are 3/4" thick; your handwritten notes can still be captured and stored in the built-in or optional SD card memory slot of your CyberPad."

This would be a great tool for almost anybody who is connected to their computer but can't take it with them everywhere. Take your notes in meetings, church functions, grocery store etc then sync them to your computer. Draw a quick schematic for something and it's saved as a digital image. Very cool indeed. I'll have my hands on one in a week or so and let you all know how it works. I may need one for personal use!!

Here's some details.

Form Filling:
Digitally captures and store everything you write in real time with the ink on an ordinary letter or A4 (8.5” x 11”) size paper. Instantly get both a digital record and a hardcopy duplicate of your handwritten notes even when you are on the move. This is one of the excellent parts of the form filling application which translates the hardcopy to a digital data.

Hand Writing Recognition:
The riteMail® 2.5 is able to read CyberPad document files for smartly transferring your handwriting to text. It supports and recognizes 4 languages; English, French, German, and Russian. With its exceptional software technology, the riteShape™ and riteScript™, makes shapes and completes charts with an automatic adjustment and alignment of concentric shapes, connected lines and adjacent shapes.

Evernote
View, Edit and E-mail your Hand Writing Notes:
With CyberPad’s bundle such as riteMail™, you can easily view, edit and organize your handwriting to be converted to digital pages using Windows operating system. Save any digital pages as an image file and share your notes with others through e-Mail and you can even send notes to your PDA.

Works as a Graphics Tablet:
By connecting the CyberPad to your PC or notebook through the USB port, it allows you to capture, organize, and share your handwritten notes, drawings, and sketches. Also, you could use the CyberPad in a Landscape format. It can be use as a drawing tablet where you can write or draw on it and your work will displays right on your computer screen.

Form
Create and Customize Forms... with a touch of a button:
Creating forms has never been so easy. With the help of My Form and Microsoft Word, the Cyberpad can create the simple to the most advanced forms. This is suitable for medical professionals, office clerks, lawyers, or anybody who uses forms on a daily basis. It saves and stores your forms onto your computer for easy access at anytime.

Notes Organize your Notes:
Place any ordinary paper or notepad on the digital pad. Then write on the paper with the digital inking pen. The pad digitally records anything you write on it and it is store as one digital page. In the right side of your CyberPad you can organize your notes by creating folders. The LCD screen shown on your left will tell you which page and folder you’re writing in.

Right now it's $150 at TigerDirect.com!! Better than a PDA in more ways than I can think of.

Link
Link with detailed info including bundled software
TigerDirect link

Hidden bed means more floor space.

2008-03-10T10:08:00.002-04:00

I'm glad I thought of this over 10 years ago and did nothing about it. Friggin genius idea especially for those who have little floor space. Here's my fav picture from the link below. Click on it for an enlarged version.

via Gizmodo.com
Gallery from BEDUP (in french)

Professor finds Ark of Covenant is a drum?

2008-03-07T12:36:00.007-05:00

Sigh. What's with people this week that are just bugging me? Tudor Parfitt, a professor of modern Jewish studies at the University of London's School of African and Oriental Studies, says he's found the Ark of the Covenant sitting in a warehouse in Zimbabwe. But even he doubts it's the real thing. Can this story get any more confusing? Sure.

"According to the Book of Exodus, the Ark of the Covenant -- a gold-covered container carried on poles, topped with two golden cherubim facing each other -- was crafted on orders from God given to Moses at Mount Sinai.

Parfitt, however, thinks it is unlikely a group of ex-slaves wandering in the desert had the means to create an object so elaborate. That's why the piece he found, a carved wooden drum, seems more likely, he said."

So the ex-slaves of Pharaoh weren't skilled enough for God? The same people who were forced to carve in stone, work intricate metalworks such as gold and silver and carve wood in fine workmanship?

Then it gets nuttier... " ...Parfitt hopes the discovery will end some of the tension between Jews and Muslims...". Are you friggin kidding me? They can't even exist near each other without killing everyone but you think that this chunk of ancient drum is going to solve all their problems?! If this thing is ever found all it will do is create mass flocking of people from every corner of the Earth to come pray to it. Look what happens when an image of the Virgin Mary appears on toast. And there will be wars over who gets to keep it. The Catholics will want to claim it because they think they deserve it and the Jews will want it because it's their right to have it.

I personally hope we NEVER find it. Nothing good can come of it.

Homeschool ban in California?

2008-03-07T10:54:00.005-05:00

California is looking to ban all homeschools where parents do not have teaching credentials and send their kids to public schools.

"A California appeals court ruling clamping down on homeschooling by parents without teaching credentials sent shock waves across the state this week, leaving an estimated 166,000 children as possible truants and their parents at risk of prosecution."

So the government thinks that parents are incapable of teaching their own kids. But they hand out money forever to welfare families where there is child and drug abuse. The article continues...

"The ruling was applauded by a director for the state's largest teachers union.

"We're happy," said Lloyd Porter, who is on the California Teachers Association board of directors. "We always think students should be taught by credentialed teachers, no matter what the setting.""'

Why is there a Teacher's Union? Seriously?! It's so that lousy, lazy, uncaring can keep their jobs without consequence. This is just another way for the government to get more money to spend on stupid programs. Those 166,000 kids would be spending a ton of money on book fees, locker rentals, school lunches and so forth.

By the way, this is the same state that allowed a teacher to teach for 17 without being able to read or write!! But parents don't have proper teaching credentials. Whatever.

Acacia update

2008-03-05T20:20:00.006-05:00

Doing some more research on the subject of acacia trees, and the suggestion from Adman, I found the biblical references about this narcotic tree.

LDS.org's Bible search brings 14 results on the search for "shittim". Looks like God found the wood pleasing because he commanded the tabernacle to contain much of it. Still doesn't mean Moses was a pot-head.

Let's explore...
If the narcotic in question is supposed to allow the user to see sounds this does not mean that Moses didn't at least hear God speak to him. If he was high then he simply saw what God was telling him. In this case Moses was still a man of God and led his people in righteousness.

I still maintain that Moses WAS a man of God (and not a pot-head) else the whole of Judaism is false since the sect relies heavily on the Law of Moses. I don't think Benny Shanon wants to claim that all Jews are in err because Moses smoked some bark, hence, didn't speak to God.

IS Benny Shanon claiming that Moses didn't speak with God? Is Benny Shanon claiming that Moses was not directed by God? What is the extent of the claims of Benny Shanon concerning the state of Moses and his divine calling??

Any other thoughts on this?

Moses: Stoner or Prophet of God?

2008-03-04T14:20:00.003-05:00

I am going to say Prophet of God on this one. However, there are always some people out there that want to disprove Christianity any way they can. Like this guy accusing Moses to be a user of narcotics and didn't really see God as a burning bush. Oh he saw a burning bush alright, according to Benny, but it was the mind interpreting sounds as light.

"Such mind-altering substances formed an integral part of the religious rites of Israelites in biblical times, Benny Shanon, a professor of cognitive psychology at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem wrote in the Time and Mind journal of philosophy.

"As far Moses on Mount Sinai is concerned, it was either a supernatural cosmic event, which I don't believe, or a legend, which I don't believe either, or finally, and this is very probable, an event that joined Moses and the people of Israel under the effect of narcotics," Shanon told Israeli public radio on Tuesday." sigh. Seriously? Someone believes this? Ok, fine. I can accept that you can believe what you want. He continues.

"He said the psychedelic effects of ayahuasca were comparable to those produced by concoctions based on bark of the acacia tree, that is frequently mentioned in the Bible."

So then I do a search of the King James Bible. Guess what I don't find. That's right. The word "acacia" appears NOWHERE in the entire Bible. Unless I am missing something, which I doubt.

Then I Google "acacia tree" and it takes me to the Wiki page.

Wiki: "The Acacia is used as a symbol in Freemasonry, to represent purity and endurance of the soul, and as funerary symbolism signifying resurrection and immortality.

Several parts (mainly bark, root and resin) of Acacia are used to make incense for rituals. Acacia is used in incense mainly in India, Nepal, Tibet and China. Smoke from Acacia bark is thought to keep demons and ghosts away and to put the gods in a good mood. Roots and resin from Acacia are combined with rhododendron, acorus, cytisus, salvia and some other components of incense. Both people and elephants like an alcoholic beverage made from acacia fruit.[8] According to Easton's Bible Dictionary, the Acacia tree may be the “burning bush” (Exodus 3:2) which Moses encountered in the desert[9]

In the Quran 56:29, the acacia are mentioned as the flowers that companions in heaven will be wearing."

I next searched the Eastons Bible Dictionary through http://eastonsbibledictionary.com. It says "(Hebrews shittim) Exodus 25:5, R.V. probably the Acacia seyal (the gum-arabic tree); called the "shittah" tree (Isaiah 41:19). Its wood is called shittim wood (Exodus 26:15, 26; 25:10, 13, 23, 28, etc.). This species (A. seyal) is like the hawthorn, a gnarled and thorny tree. It yields the gum-arabic of commerce. It is found in abundance in the Sinaitic peninsula."

Note the word "PROBABLY"? So they don't even know.

In conclusion, I, an IT guy with a lifelong experience in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints and the ability to Google, have disproved this whole thing.

And this isn't even touching the other things Moses did with the help of God: Water from a rock, splitting seas, tornado of fire, plagues for Pharaoh etc. But he got masses of people to follow him around the desert for 40 YEARS cause he had some good weed? Whatever.