Archive for the ‘Random’ Category

Will Return: March 10th

Wednesday, March 3rd, 2010

Viva Cozumel!

I’m happy to announce, for the first time in many years, I will be taking a hiatus from work to take an actual bona-fide, away-from-technology vacation from March 4th to March 10th. Kelly and I will be visiting beautiful Cozumel, Mexico to enjoy some much needed R&R away from the computer and the local arctic weather.

To prepare for this glorious undertaking, I will surely be driving everyone crazy by playing nothing by mariachi music for the next several days. Ay-Ha!

Upon my return, I will be sure to contact all current customers for an update on their project’s current status and to brag long-windedly about my tan and carnita-filled belly.

Wii Fit Gets Tom’s Approval

Friday, February 26th, 2010

Wii Fit w/ Balance Board

Like most folks, I put on a little extra poundage during the holidays and was looking for a good way to trick myself into exercising more. I had recently purchased a Nintendo Wii when a good Black Friday deal presented itself and figured I’d give the Fit and balance board a shot.

I have to say, its worked out quite well. Opposed to summer when I spend my lunch time walking, winter I spend a lot of time right here in front of the computer getting an overwhelming lack of exercise. Not being much of a gym (or motivation) kind of guy, the Wii Fit has been a fun and easy way to force myself into getting a minimum amount of exercise while the weather remains gloomy.

The activities are presented in a fun way that makes it seem less like a workout and more like a game, which is perfect for me. I’m happy to say I’ve lost my holiday weight (and more!), reduced my waistline a bit and have much more energy in the afternoon from using my Fit around 30 minutes a day every day.

Given its not a solution to drop a ton of weight nor will it get you in olympic shape, but if you’re having trouble motivating yourself to lose a few LBS, give the Wii Fit a shot!

James. Tiberius. Kirk.

Thursday, September 17th, 2009
kirk_cologne

James. Tiberius. Kirk.

In an effort to share all the wealth the internet has to offer (and to spoil my productivity for the day), my friend Doug sent me this fine product at the Star Trek online store.

For the discriminating, tasteful, geeky man in your life- Tiberius: cologne for men. A scent reminiscent of the most famous and highly decorated starship captain in Starfleet history.

I have to say I enjoy the description far more than the idea of the product. That’s some fine copy-writing.

most famous and highly decorated starship captain in Starfleet historymost famous and highly decorated starship captain in Starfleet historymost famous and highly decorated starship captain in Starfleet history

Think Your Job Sucks?

Monday, September 14th, 2009

After looking for a few quickie gigs via some online community sites and after reading this article on Yahoo! jobs, its hard to believe some people can make a living in this country.

According to that Yahoo! article, half of the lowest paying jobs in america are in the medical profession. They’ll pull your mangled body from your car and resuscitate you back to life and may be doing it for as little as $9 per hour. That’s ridiculous.

I was taken aback by a lot of the designer-developer positions that required degrees and at least a dozen skill-sets that were also booked around the $12-$15 per hour range. How does one pay off that $60k education at $12 / hr? If you spent every dime you earned on it and never took a vacation day, it’d still take almost 3 years.

Kinda makes me wonder where our priorities lie- but we all have to remember: you get what you pay for.

Recommendation: ThinkGeek.com

Thursday, September 3rd, 2009
ThinkGeek.com

ThinkGeek.com

I don’t know if any of you are as big of a dork as I am, but if you are, I’d highly recommend checking out ThinkGeek.com. Not only is it a stellar example of visually stunning experimental web design and runs on a freebie open-source store system that I use myself, its a great source for clever and unique gifts for that geek who has everything.

Be it to marvel at how far one can get with CSS styles or to buy something funny and entertaining, I suggest you check them out. http://www.thinkgeek.com

CIA Utilizes Open-Source for Searching

Sunday, June 21st, 2009

An article posted on Yahoo! tech news sparked my attention today, outlining some information indicating that the CIA is likely to use an open-source software for some of their search indexing. While they did not detail specifics about what would be searched, they did say they would utilize Lucene and Solr search platforms developed by the good folks at Apache (a very popular free platform for web servers).

I’m pleased to see more and more open-source softwares being used in a wider range of applications. Given the largest hold-out for big corporations and government entities is that open-source is lacking in big-business level support, but I think more companies are going to find the flexibility totally out-weighs that aspect.

Way to go, Apache!