Amazon Kindle Fire...no longer a rumor.

The wait is over! Amazon has entered the tablet market and they've done it with style. The Kindle Fire (I'll be calling it Fire from here on out) is a 7" tablet with respectable hardware specs although one significant missing spec is a camera. Amazon has streamlined the UI to be more consistent which is a frequent complaint about Android.

The nitty gritty is where this device gets really fun. Amazon has introduced a "split browser" that harnesses the strength and speed of Amazon's cloud computing (far too complicated to explain) to help render mobile web pages faster. This means that you're probably going to find pages loading faster on your tablet than your desktop or laptop. This is really good news and perhaps the single biggest advantage that Amazon is bringing to the user experience. This may be the reason that Fire is the proverbial "iPad killer" (although I think it just makes Apple work harder...which is good).

Some of the other awesome that was brought down from the Amazon gods is the improved and easy access to all of your content, from music to movies and books it's all simplified and unified in the Fire. Access to the Amazon Apps Market brings the flexibility, games, usability, and ease to your tablet and places you well ahead of Nook with access to a significantly larger library of apps. This is not a low grade tablet. This is a practical tablet with access to the fastest growing content library on the planet. This is something you need to get your gadget loving uncle, brother, sister, wife, husband. It's not as fancy as the iPad but what it lacks in fancy it more than makes up for in content, price, and simplicity. All of these can be found in the Gadgets section of my store so please go there to pre-order yours today.

UPDATE: There's a great video at Gizmodo showing the Fire in action.

BONUS:
To make today all the more exciting Amazon refreshed the entire Kindle eReader lineup with even better prices. Here's the breakdown:

Kindle: Newest version of the kindle without a keypad but still using buttons and smaller than the originals. $79 wifi only (ads) $109 (no ads).

Kindle Touch: Finally a touch screen. Doing away with the keypad and bringing you two choices. Wifi only $99(ads); wifi & 3G $149(ads). This is a big deal. Touch screens will make things easier, smaller, and ultimately more book-like.

Lost Gate by Orson Scott Card

I just finished another great book by Orson Scott Card. It's hard not to spoil the book in the review so I'll try and keep it short and let you pick it up at the library or using one of my links.

Let me first say that I am of the opinion that the Ender's Game Saga is without peer in science-fiction. That's saying a lot because there are plenty of science fiction writers that deserve praise and certainly Asimov is one of the most celebrated. But when you put it to me I think there isn't a better writer in science fiction today than Orson Scott Card. That said...this book is not science fiction.

In fact this is a continuation of Card's foray into Modern Day Fantasy, or fantasy/magic in modern days. It started with Enchantment (See all Contemporary Fantasy Books)  and continued with Magic Street (See all Fantasy Books). The Lost Gate is a continuation of that style and is perhaps the first book to capture my imagination since the Ender's Shadow series came out. It combines Card's notorious ethical dilemmas and his penchant for savant children. Danny, the main character is seemingly normal in every way...except that he is anything but normal even among his family, the Norths (or more precisely the Norse Gods). From beginning to end you are captured by the precocious nature of Danny North and his adventure through discovering his "affinity". When you are the child of a family of gods and two particularly strong ones much is expected...Danny delivers against all indications to the contrary. That is the magic of this great book.

Part of this book is a parallel story of a character named Wad of Dough...yup you read that right. Wad is a very unique character with immense purpose in the grander portrait that Card is setting up for the series of novels. Our first contact with him is as he emerges from an ancient oak tree. From that point you follow him as he grows from half-man/boy to mostly man and as he inserts himself into a complicated web of deceit of a kingdom struggling to overcome its decline.

The moral struggles of Danny, Wad, and other characters is fascinating and telling all at once. Despite many of the main characters being capricious gods (much like the Greek and Roman gods of lore) they have the characteristics of being very human and how they make decisions mirror ours in ways that are unexpected. Card makes the human condition apply to even the gods and in doing so he gives them a identity that you are certain to connect with.

I recommend this book to anyone who is into fantasy. I advise parents of young adults to read this before introducing it to your kids. There is certainly some adult content though not particularly tasteless or explicit and certainly not anything that wouldn't be seen on network TV in prime-time. That said it is a great book for teens. It identifies their struggles with everything from the opposite sex, to peer pressure, to dealings with adults/parents. Please don't hesitate to use the Amazon link to purchase your copy today. You won't be disappointed.

Book review: The Entrepreneur Equation

I was on Google+ today and read something by Carol Roth. While reading I was reminded of her book that I received as a gift from Erika Napoletano (redheadwriting.com). The Entrepreneur Equation was a great read and a really hard read for exactly the same reasons.

I was extremely excited to get this book from Erika because I've been thinking of getting my own business started and I thought this would give me insight into the process. I was right, but I'm afraid I'm not encouraged by the insight. Carol opened my eyes to what it means to be a business owner. The American Dream has been fed to us since we were little and no one ever tells you that 80% of people fail at the American Dream. They only tell you how this guy they know made it big selling widgets and now he lives in Tahiti or some exotic place all because he took a chance and now he's living the American Dream. It's just like magic...except it's not.

Carol opened my eyes to the impossibility of being a business owner and that those lucky enough to become successful are the exception and not the rule. There are few people who ever go into business with their eyes wide open. After reading The Entrepreneur Equation you won't have the luxury of closing your eyes ever again.

I won't go into the details. I will say that if you are serious about getting into business and think you have thought of everything you had better pick this book up and give it a good read. Do the thinking/decision exercises at the end of each chapter and then before you quit that day job read it again and if you still feel strongly about your idea then go for it...but plan on failing along the way...if you plan for it in advance you may just have a chance in the long run.

Pioneer week Challenge: Wrap Up

This post is about two weeks late but at least I'm getting to it now. If you didn't read my original post on the Pioneer Week Challenge now may be a good time to do that so that you understand what I'm talking about.
http://goo.gl/hrwri

Report

During the week we had planned to try some traditional Pioneer games. The kids were excited for the chance to try out some of those games (Marbles was a big hit). In addition to those games we played some of our board games and had a great time re-learning dusty games from our coat closet.

We also tried to eat meals that were more rustic. We cooked a couple of meals in Dutch Ovens and one meal on the grill. We also made our own butter. The kids really enjoyed shaking the heavy cream and were excited to try the butter on their homemade rolls. In fact we've found that if you buy your heavy cream at a reasonable price you can make your own butter for less than it sells in the stores. The added benefit being that you also have buttermilk as a byproduct for pancakes, scones, muffins etc.

I tried really hard to keep a pen and paper journal for the week. I didn't
do nearly as well as my wife (3 days to her 7) but it was interesting to see that my handwriting isn't nearly so bad as I had suspected it would be given how infrequently I write things down. I also tried to read more and finished a good book The Entrepreneur Equation by Carol Roth (review to follow).

We expected a lot of free time through the week and found that we didn't have near as much as we had planned. Which turned out to be a good thing. Below you'll find my thoughts on the results of the week as opposed to the activities.

Success

How does one judge success on something like a week without technology? "By their fruits shall ye know them". The fruit of our week without tech was promising. It showed me that my family is truly an Eternal Family. I saw my kids being more kind. I saw myself being more helpful to my wife. I saw my wife being happier. I saw my motivation to be better improved. In the end I feel like this is worthwhile and I would encourage everyone (with families or single) to try this Challenge.

FAIL

My participation in the Pioneer Week Challenge was limited. This means that I was able to access and attend to my technology habit at work. I was able to check email, Facebook, G+, Twitter, etc...and generally be connected to the world for the eight hours a day that I was at work. When the work day was over I was forced to cut out the phone, internet, TV, etc and become part of my most important social network, my family. The only failure of the week is that I wish I had the chance to eliminate tech from my life for the entire week like my kids and wife did. I feel like it would have made the week all the more important to me and my family. I feel so strongly about this that I'm considering taking a week off for the next Pioneer Week Challenge so that I can join my family in their tech deprivation.

Conclusion

The thing that I took from the Pioneer Week Challenge that sticks with me the most is that we live our lives full of distractions. Some of those distractions are necessary and part of the journey through life. Others are choices that we make. In large part technology is one of those choices. I'm not suggesting we all throw our tech in the garbage and drag out the horse and buggy. I am suggesting we find the distractions that we choose and decide if they make any sense.

Our screensaver for the week

Monkey makin' butter

"Cars" on the TV!

Pioneer Week Challenge: Can you live without it?

I'm a geek. I love all things technology and new-and-shiny. If it has buttons, batteries, or does something I could have done with my own two hands then I want it. I have an eight year old son who complains of being bored unless he's watching a movie, or playing a game on my laptop or Android phone. Technology is integrated into our lives in such a way as to make us appear to be the first iteration of the Jetson's. The only thing we lack is a robot maid (my wife is waiting for one). We document our life in an almost exclusively digital manner. Analog is something that my kids will likely never understand.

Recently this addiction came to a head with my son (and myself) being at the receiving end of some serious talk from my wife. It seems we neglect Real Life when we stare at our glowing screens. Who would have thought there was life outside of Lego.com, Google+/Facebook/Twitter, and Angry Birds? So my wife said we were going to have an entire day without computer, TV, or cellphones. Being the "good husband" that I want my wife to believe I am I one upped (+1) her and said we should do a whole week without technology. Talk about putting your foot in your mouth. That taste will never leave. Sooooo here's the deal:

We will be shutting down our technology consumption from Pioneer Day (July 24th for those not aware of Latter Day Saint celebrations) and conclude on Saturday (which just happens to be our Ward Pioneer Day celebration). What does shutting down mean? Well this means that we will not have our cellphones, our TV, our computer, running for the entire week. This could result in some serious energy savings for our family. The lesson we'd like to learn from this is that there is more to life than 0's and 1's arranged for our entertainment. We may take this to a new level and even do as much of our cooking using less conventional methods (i.e. Dutch Oven, BBQ grill, solar oven etc.). We will either come closer together by weeks end or we will not see the week end. In either event I feel strongly that it's going to be quite the adventure.

So now the challenge to all who are willing. Join us. Take the Pioneer Week Challenge and turn off the digital world as much as possible. Take out the things that distract you from your family and focus on things that bring you together. If you survive then you just might be a Forever Family.

Are you going to take the challenge? Leave your ideas for "Pioneer activities" in the comments section and we'll try and do some of them during our experiment. When it's all over I'll post a blog about our experience.

NOTE: We are so digital that our only phones are cellular style so if you need to get hold of us during this week you'll need to come by and talk to us in person.

Facebook...it's been a good run. Google+ gives me so much more.

I was recently lucky enough to get an invite to Google's newest attempt at social networking. Google+ is the latest in a long line of mediocre and failed attempts by Google to compete legitimately with their newest and biggest threat to internet dominance - Facebook.

Google+ (G+ for short) is everything that Facebook should have become over the last several years...had they been listening. Which is exactly what Google appears to be doing with their early adopters at least. There are tons of new features and things to like in this social network and while I'd love to spend thousands of words on those features I will try and keep this short.

My favorite features:

First is the Circles concept and execution. Circles are your "circles of friends" sort of like Groups on Facebook but a million times easier to create and manage. Your circles act like individual streams for each group and gives you the ability to communicate the information you want with only the people you want. I know most of you Facebook-ers are saying that you can do the same thing on Facebook. My question is; how many of you are doing it? and if you're not why not? I consider myself pretty well heeled on almost every social media platform primarily Facebook and I don't break my friends into those categories because it's simply too time consuming and not very intuitive. Google has found the most intuitive way to not only conceptualize your groups but also curate them and execute their usage. You can create layers and layers of circles and share just the information you want with just the people that care about that information.
It's even got Twitter-like functionality. Twitter allows you to follow people that don't follow you back. Creating a source for news and information without forcing a "relationship". G+ also does this. You can add almost anyone to your circles and they aren't forced to follow you back. This means that you can get the same news and information feed that you have on Twitter without leaving the Facebook-like relationship network of G+. Admittedly G+ is new and as with all new things they glitter with awesome...but I see this network replacing both my Twitter and Facebook because it can do both functions for me on one site without a third party Hootsuite, or Tweetdeck interface.
The next innovative function (probably the next one to be mimicked by Facebook) is the "Hangout" feature. This feature allows people withe web cams to meet up and have a 10 way chat with each other. Built on the Google Talk product this is an awesome social integration that really takes things to a new level. While this feature won't stand long with Facebook playing catch-up very quickly it remains to be seen just how this will be executed in Facebook. I can tell you that it is very compelling in G+.
The next feature is deep integration with the mobile phone app and image sharing. Every time you use your phone to take a picture the image is immediately uploaded (not shared) to your Picasa web album and available to share. Another mobile feature is Huddle. This is a SMS feature that allows you to select one of your Circles and start a SMS chat with the circle. All of the responses are sent to all the circle members creating a complete conversation where everyone is privy to the conversation and no rebroadcasting is necessary. Very handy for organizing diner with some of your favorite people.
The long and short of it all is that Google has finally got social figured out. They will be a force and you'll find that your in a similar situation to when you left MySpace for Facebook. Below are some important links in learning more about this network and if you understand it all you'll be as excited about it as I am, maybe. One more reason to join...Ashton Kutcher is already building a following here.

Related articles

• Google+: Why I Think Mom and Dad Will Use It (jeanhsu.com)
• 9 Reasons to Switch from Facebook to Google+ (pcworld.com)
• How to turn Google+ into and online photography portfolio(thenextweb.com)
• Google Plus 50(chrisbrogan.com)
• 39 things you should know about Google+(webpronews.com)

Awesome Camping Trip: 10th Anniversary at Camp Z

This last weekend we went on our 10th annual Camp Zarahemla trip with Karen's family. It was perhaps one of the best trips we've ever had. The weather was great the food was perfect and our trip to Mt. Rainier was as good as you'll ever get. I'll keep this post short and not bore you with the details of our trip. Instead I'll include some of the awesome pictures we took. Below you will find the slideshow of our trip.

Amazon Tablet Rumors: What if they're true?

{EAV_BLOG_VER:12a8ae1d61ba62ef}Image via CrunchBaseAmazon is a very forward thinking company. My personal experience working for them at a customer support call center gave me a chance to see how they work to make their company better every single day. Not only was the organization extraordinarily fast paced it was also very customer centric bending over backwards at times to make a customer happy. Why would I preface this post in such a way? Well Amazon is a household name for a reason and with their first foray into consumer electronics they were successful in large part because they have had such laser-like focus on the consumer experience. This will be the key to their rumored second consumer device reportedly coming in fall this year.
The tech part of this is important. Amazon has one of the best libraries of Video's on Demand of any company. While Netflix is unarguably the monster in this category, Amazon has a very respectable catalog that warrants attention. Netflix, and Hulu Plus are services that have made the transition to tablets and this transition is important to their future success as these devices become our primary connection to the world and entertainment. Amazon's creation of a tablet follows on surprise moves like the Amazon App store that sells Android Apps. This new store allows them to leverage their huge retail presence and the digital accounts associated with it to rival the Android Market by Google. But this store is more of an opportunity to support their new Android powered tablet and that tablet, like the Kindle before it, could be a huge deal. If Amazon puts all of their current apps on this new tablet and announces a new app with the tablet they could enter the tablet wars as a legitimate force. So what app do they need to introduce still? AmazonVOD (Video on Demand) for Android would allow them to enter the tablet market more prepared to do battle than almost any other Android tablet released or rumored to be released. While working there over a year ago I mentioned that they needed to make such an appliance...low and behold here it comes. No doubt it's been in the works longer than that but it's like they were reading my mind. With this product they would be positioned so well to compete with Apple that Motorola, Samsung, Dell, and other Android tablet manufactures would seem like second class citizens in the market. I make this assertion on the fact that none of those organizations is paired with a content source that comes anywhere near rivaling Apple or Amazon. Apple has iTunes and thousands of movie titles that are available for rent/purchase with ease. If Amazon plays their cards right (and they almost always do) they will be THE Apple iPad competitor. Between their cloud MP3 service and cloud drive offering they'll be able to point to cross platform functionality from almost any consumer entertainment or computing device. Apple has this only in so much as you have lots of Apple products. If Amazon is able to add uploading and streaming of movies like they do music they will have one up on Apple and will be able to draw the iPad2 and it's lesser competitors back to the drawing board.
Of course all of this is speculation at least until this holiday season when all our entertainment dreams come true thanks to Amazon.

3 Things to fix Chrome OS and my CR48

Image via WikipediaI just read a similar blog post that detailed the items that Chrome OS doesn't have that it needs. I found myself disagreeing with the blogger on almost all accounts. I shared my opinion with my suggestions as to the REAL features that are missing in the CR48. I felt so strongly about it that I decided that I'd bore my faithful readers with my review after having the CR48 since before Christmas.
First and foremost the CR48 is nowhere near ready for broad public purchase. The machinery is awesome if a little conservative in processing power...but it is just for use on the internet and doesn't need to run Photoshop CS5 or anything like that. That being said...if you've been using Chrome browser you're ready to buy one of the newly announced Chromebooks coming to a big-box store near you in June. I can say that because I suspect that the CR48 line has provided the data needed to make the upcoming Chromebooks not only stable but more advanced on the software end than the current dev or beta releases on CR48 and that updates and improvements to the CR48 will slow and have fewer serious tweaks in coming months.
Now, again, based on the assumption that most of the problems that exist on the CR48 TODAY are going to exist in the Chromebooks next month, here is the list of things that need to be corrected.

1. Media player! Holy cow this one is big. In large part a computer is only useful in as much as it is able to play/run various files from a variety of media. If I have a SD card with the first 5 episodes of Big Bang Theory that I want to watch on my laptop I better be able to get my fix of Sheldon, Penny and Leonard without having to jump through hoops. My experience with the Media player is that it'll play MP3's like a champ. Easy peasy. But Mp4, Mpg, Avi, just about every video format that I've had time to try doesn't play on the media player. I've tried the dev channel, the beta channel, and followed forum instructions and have yet to have a downloaded file work in the media player. When this is fixed I'll be an even HUGER advocate for this OS.
2. Centralized or simplified storage solutions. Right now I can save my pics on Picassa, Box.net, Flickr, GDocs, and a variety of other resources. Each of those offer varying capacity to me for saving those important files. If I want to save my music I presume I'll be able to save them on either AmazonMP3's system, or GMusic and have access to them in a playable format with ease. The problem is that in many cases I have to have a user id and password for each of those and remember which service I saved the file with. If I save my homework in Box.net and I keep looking in GDocs to find it I'll be at it all night. I need to be able to have a central cloud "C" drive that I can quickly count on for finding ALL of my files regardless of the service I need to use them. If this is some URL storage service that creates searchable & tag-able bookmarks to my files then that's what that means. If it means Google ponies up more than they already do for their individual services so I can save my videos (specifically those I'd play on that media player) then that's what needs to happen. YouTube will not play my purchased media but the media player better and that means I need a place I can store and search for that media. 
3. Offline use of extensions would also be nice. There are some extensions that I use that aren't always just useful on the internet. Occasionally those extensions are useful for other things. 

That's it. The list is short and likely already corrected just not on my CR48. The hardware issues with the trackpad and the slower rendering of Flash are things I can get over for the price I paid for this beta tester. Had I paid $300-400 for this thing I'd be disappointed...but we've been assured these won't be issues with the new Chromebooks. Chrome OS is an important addition to the marketplace because it will bring millions to the "Cloud" and it will give a simplified "average user" experience that will appeal to people who have no use or experience with things like design software or other processor/graphics hungry programs. Chrome OS is for consumers that still want functionality with basic features that most people buy a computer for in the first place. Chrome OS is not for people who require the raw power of a computer to create products or consume bleeding edge games. Chrome OS is for people who want to write a paper for college and then watch some YouTube or upload their most recent vacation pics. It's functional, useful, familiar, and does what most people ask their computer to do and then more. For all of the benefits of Chrome OS click here. Then tell me what you think.

The Grass is always greener on the other side..

So the last week has been prepping our backyard for this last weekends "big push". When we moved into this house it was October 30th and winter was just around the corner. The tack weed was just changing color and getting hard enough to stick into oak. The one positive thing was that the weeds were turning brown and going "dormant" until spring. All winter long we made plans to get the yard ready and make the back yard a place we could enjoy. Well that work started with the underground trampoline as documented here. Then the weather became unseasonably cool and the weekends never cooperated for us to do any work of significance. Finally Spring arrived and the excuses started sounding lame so we got to work. We started by getting the weeds plucked. Tons of help from Karen's family made it a one day project. Then we got the sprinklers in...also documented. The final project was several weeknights long and perhaps one of the most draining weekends in recent memory (at least until the next draining weekend). We spent almost two weeks raking the yard to remove rocks. We dumped somewhere in the realm of 4 tons of rocks and leveled the bumps from the boulders that were removed. Then we had this weekend spent cutting sod from the in-laws, rolling it, transporting to our house, and then laying it on Saturday. The results are early but phenomenal. There are no kudos or number of +1's that would be sufficient to express my gratitude for the help and hard work of my in-laws.

All in the name of a well manicured lawn.

Yesterday started early and ended late. I woke up about 7:00 a.m. (I know that's not that early...but wait for the rest of it) and got ready to go pick up the trencher that would dig out the lines for our sprinkler system in the back yard. When I got there I saw all the other poor suckers that were renting various big equipment for spring cleaning/home improvement. I went to the desk to get the unit that we had reserved. When they showed me what we had reserved I was a little dumbstruck. This thing was tiny. It couldn't have weighed much more than me and it was supposed to chew through the bedrock that is our backyard. I was very concerned. When I had paid and was waiting to be loaded the guy who runs the show at Sun Rental came and asked me which one I was getting. I told him and he started to get a wild eyed concern on his face. Needless to say he upgraded me to the 800lbs behemoth that would eventually beat the stuffing out of me. I got it home and lined up with the area that was supposed to be the first run of our sprinkler lines. I wasn't into the project 10 minutes and I knew my day was shot. Every 10 inches of trench required me digging out huge rocks that the trencher couldn't dig out. By the time I had reached the end of the first quarter of the first of three lines I had been digging for almost 45 min. The machine had already beat me black and blue (not literally but it sure felt like it) and I still had most of the trenching left. I managed to get the next half of the first line done in slightly less time. I got down along the back fence of our yard and this is

when I started to feel the sting of defeat, tack weed, blisters, and sore muscles. The first 15 ft along the fence was very smooth and relatively quick. Then I noticed that I was slowly moving closer to the fence and that I needed a course correction. The 800lbs machine didn't like being man-handled and it fought me for every inch of movement. It was then that I started hitting boulders the size of my head...yes really that big. The machine bucked, and rocked, and generally punished me for the next 20 ft. of trench. Then my wife returned from her errands. I was pouring sweat, chewing on dust and grit, and looking at a blister that seemed to reach the muscles of my palm and it didn't get any easier. I spent a total of 5 hours feeling like someone was beating me with a baseball bat...and then the real work started. So far we have laid 1 full circuit and started the lines for the last two. There are parts of the trench for those last two lines that are going to require a lot of shovel work...so the pain isn't over yet. More to follow.

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2 Trailer.

I just purchased Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part one and watched it for the first time last Friday. Today I watched the trailer for part 2 and I'm very excited to see the conclusion. It looks like it's interpreted from the book and it looks like it was really done well. I can't wait for it to come out. This summer is going to be awesome. 

Atlas Shrugged: Part 1 MOVIE Review

This last Friday I was able to go watch Atlas Shrugged Part 1. First of all this particular review is going to be as apolitical as possible. I hope to make this review more about the quality of the film in terms of story, plot, acting etc. With that in mind just remember that this movie is implicitly political.

So the filming of this movie is every bit as high quality as any Hollywood film. The images are well framed and artfully done. The color doesn't seems to lend to anything other than "realistic" portrayal of the world that we live in now. The book was written over 50 years ago and if I were to create an artistic version of this I would give the colors a hue that gives a little more noire and perhaps even a sepia tone...but since they placed this movie in the near future it made sense that they would use real colors and hues.

The plot was strictly following the book...which is both good and bad. Ayn Rand was over the top in so many ways and it was really hard to overcome that in her plot and the stilted and halting way the dialog progressed was unfortunately carried over to the movie. People do not speak the way that Ayn Rand wrote her dialog. On the contrary she seemed to think that people used words that were on the average over 3 syllables long. Her characters are deep but in an almost inaccessible way. People find traits that they have in common with Hank, Dagny, and others but in the end they don't identify with any of the characters completely.

After watching this movie I find the same flaws from the book. The screen writers needed to interpret Rand's novel in a way that would make it more modern and accessible. If/when they produce the remaining parts of the story they need to put more effort into making the dialog smooth, natural, and most importantly believable. If they overcome that the production quality is sufficient to give them a shot at making this a great movie rather than a passable book conversion. Because ultimately that is what this is, nothing more than a copy of the book in an audio visual form. If this is to reach the heights that are due Rand's greatness they need to allow the medium to be the message and not be subject to a strict conversion of her original text. On a scale of 1-5 I give this a 3. Have you seen this movie? Tell me what you think.

Pretty sure I hate car repairs!

I hate car repairs

So we're a day from leaving for vacation...the first in a very long time and I keep hearing a high whine like a jet engine from our car. At first I thought it was the new tires we put on it...then I started thinking it was something else. Karen's dad checked it out and agreed that it was not the tires. Took it in last night to get it checked out. Guy says that it's probably the rear differential pinion bearing. Estimates that it would cost $500-700 to replace the damaged part. So I'm thinking 'this is not good...I hope we can get it fixed tomorrow so we can still leave for our vacation'. This morning is the day we're supposed to leave. We'd like to leave town around 2:00 p.m. after the kids are out of school. So we call a couple of places for an estimate...the first guy we call says $800 but it could be something other than the pinion bearing and he'd need to look at it but it's not likely he could finish the job today. So we take it to our "guys" who have done all the repairs and maintenance on this and our other vehicles. They take it out for a drive and come back and demonstrate that it's not likely the bearings but rather the "gears" in the rear differential. So I call my little brother who is far more mechanically inclined and he says that if it's the whole back end he could replace it in no time flat. He also suggests that we find one at a junk yard and get it for a lot less than a new one ($1500-2500) and he could put it in really quick. So I call Karen and talk to her and get all snippy with her (Sorry) and now I'm just feeling bad and wanted to vent just a little. I'll complete the post when the damage is done...but don't count on me being a happy camper over this.

UPDATE: So the final tally is coming in at $1960...yup there is no question that I HATE car repairs. The gears in the differential were chunking off and we won't be leaving until tomorrow...sometime. Meaning we probably won't leave for vacation until mid-day tomorrow. Today just got a whole lot worse. 

Pia Toscano American Idol Winner?

Image via Wikipedia
So last week America said that they didn't want Pia Toscano as their American Idol. They voted for other singers and said that they no longer wanted boring ballads akin to those sung by the great diva's of the 90's and early 00's. They said they'd rather listen to voices that are more unique. They said this with their phones, text messages, and online voting. In the end...it didn't matter.
Pia Toscano is a remarkable talent with incredible looks and a voice to make any Top 40 diva jealous. She held her self with dignity befitting the most practiced talent. For some people it was her biggest flaw. I'd even wager it was the reason she was voted off. In the end the result was not what the people voted for.

Pia signed a recording contract with Interscope within days of "losing" on American Idol. There are so many problems with this that I can't even begin to cover them all. The biggest problem that I have is that this is remarkably unfair to the "winner" of the show. It also reduces the integrity of the show. It makes the premise of the show a fallacy and creates an audience that no longer cares for the outcome. I think Pia should have been a top 5 contestant on her talent alone. But the fact that she's signing a contract with the same company that will sign the eventual winner is a slap in the face. Not only will she break an album before the winner but she'll be raking in the money far sooner than the winner. If I were a contestant still on the show I'd be trying to throw the show as soon as possible and testing the waters for my own contract.
Shout out for your favorite contestant and let me know what you think of Pia's contract.

Related articles

• American Idol's Pia Toscano to Make Big Announcement (news.instyle.com)

Ground Level Trampoline

When we purchased our new home back in October we knew we wanted to put our trampoline at ground level. We didn't know how...but some how we were going to have our trampoline in the ground. When moved in and started looking at the ground and getting used to the size and shape of things in our yard we were even more excited because we were looking at a yard that was bigger than we anticipated and thus gave us room for the trampoline and room to move. It was nice. Then warmer weather hit.

Our backyard is not finished and so basically it's just a leveled and graded dirt yard. On first observation we thought "this will be easy". On first attempt to push a shovel into the ground though our thoughts changed to "this is going to be work". We spent one weekend digging and digging. We dug a hole roughly two and half feet deep and six to seven feet wide. Not bad...except for the aching backs and the overwhelmed feeling of defeat. The following week we pulled out the big guns...pick axes. Yup that helped expand that hole about two feet wider and six inches deeper. Not what you would call progress. So then came the next big weekend with nice weather. We pulled out the pick axes and got to work...it wasn't thirty minutes later that we 

One of the volunteers

called Sun Rental to get a backhoe. Now the production went into overdrive (is that getting archaic? not sure if people even know what overdrive is...I'm not even sure I know what overdrive is). After riding the backhoe across our front yard (I hope we didn't break any sprinkler pipes) and getting the hang of the controls I was able to accomplish in 5 minutes what took us 5 hours to accomplish previously. We had the backhoe for "half a day" which basically meant 4-5 hours of running time. We only needed 2 hours to accomplish our goal of getting the tramp in the ground.

The bonus...my back wasn't aching and I got to play with a really big Tonka Toy. But our story doesn't end quite yet.  You see our trampoline is a perfect circle...unfortunately the hole was not. This means that there were places with little gap and other places with HUGE gaps between the edge of the tramp and "level" ground. So we knew we had more work. We had to find an effective way of backfilling without undoing all of our work. The weather, fortunately, turned cool giving us time to contemplate the best way to accomplish our backfill project. We thought of using palates and even found six of them that we could use to create a sort of wall to push the dirt against without it filling in our hole. This seemed like a good idea until we found the palates to be too big or too small or ultimately less useful. So we contemplated investing a little money into the project (aside from the very reasonable fee for the backhoe) and buy some lumber to rig up against the legs of the tramp to create our wall. We were ready to purchase a couple sheets of plywood and just attach or lean them up against the legs. It would have been reasonable but a new alternative came to the rescue. Karen's dad was getting ready to remove the wood from his cargo trailer and suggested that we could use it for our tramp. He in all of his generosity and general awesomeness not only removed the lumber and delivered it, he also cut it to size, and then attached the lumber with brackets to the legs using his own tools on his own time (which is really saying a lot since he's an electrical contractor). So now we had free lumber, and labor to help us get the job done. Unfortunately the lumber from his trailer didn't quite cover the whole job so we went and got the last little bit that was needed. Again Karen's dad helped cut, and attach it to the legs. Our project was making progress again just in time for some good weather, we hoped.

Friday night we were planning our Saturday activities and looked out the window to see rain. It seemed our backfill operation was a bust. Thankfully when we woke up we found that the sun was out and the clouds had dropped their fill rather quickly over night giving it some time with the wind to dry up a little. Karen went to an appointment first thing in the morning and I started digging. The kids had lovingly named each of the mounds that surrounded the trampoline and when they saw me cutting away at Pop-Tart Mountain and Lego Mountain they were a little put out but they joined in and started helping me move rocks, boulders, and dirt into the gaps around the tramp. This is when the aching back came back into the project. I moved a 200-300 lbs. boulder half way across our yard to fill in one of the gaps and another one of nearly the same size about half that distance. It was a good work out. By the time Karen returned from her appointment I had done about a third of the total work already. When she got back the work really started. We had about three quarters of the back fill done by 11:00 a.m. and we were ready for a break. We went to Costco to get a new wheel barrow so we could move dirt from Pop-Tart Mountain to Hot Wheel Valley without all the back strain. By 2:30 we had what you see in the following pictures. Leave your comments below.

After The Leaves Fall by Nicole Baart

So Facebook is one of those things that is a huge time suck and rarely gives as much back as you give to it...and then sometimes you find something worthwhile among the complaining and birthday wishes of your 300 closest friends. This book was one of those things. On a tip from Glenn Beck I checked out this free Kindle book. I was skeptical since it wasn't a political book. But the last book I read that he suggested was good (Atlas Shrugged) so I thought 'for free I'll give it a shot'. I was not disappointed.
Julie, the main character, has to be fashioned after someone because there is no way in this world that a story like this could be a purely fictional tale. Tragedy is the beginning middle and end of this girls life. From the formative pre-teen years when her mother left to the devastating early teen years when her father died of cancer this girls life is anything but peaches and cream.  Beyond the storyline (which could be summed up rather quickly and would be one giant spoiler) the writing is mature and almost over the top descriptive.  Across the entire text I can find unique descriptions of seemingly everyday occurrences. The language feels like Leaves of Grass meets As I Lay Dying and the same tones and voice seems to come through in a very feminine way. I was surprised at how much I enjoyed the writing event though the content of the book isn't my typical genre I was enthralled by the wonderful imagery and the overwhelming tragedy of Julia's life. In parts the writing seems nostalgic but in a present tense sort of way almost as though the story is being written years after the events took place with the knowledge of the outcome and yet unflinching in the way it describes the events in present tense. You experience it through a lens of right now but in a way that keeps you guessing about the narrators (Julia) relationship to the timeline of the story. Has Julia grown up and is just telling the story from an incredibly accurate memory or is this a travel log that grows with each new struggle? It's a great way to experience a story like this.
I would recommend this book to the same type of people who would be reading all the books on Oprah's list (for all I know this is on her list). The end of the book is a cliff hanger...just so you know this is the first book in a series and the end is natural but very much incomplete leaving you eager to finish Julia's story.

Twilight Saga: Review of "The Short Second Life of Bree Tanner".

So I'd be embarrassed to admit that I've read the entire Twilight Series except that I'm not. I'm not going to do a review of the series as a whole or individual books. I am, however, going to review a tangential book that I think really has more merit, in some ways, than the original series.
The Short Second Life of Bree Tanner is a novella based on a character from Eclipse who has a mere page or two of mention. The book based on this short lived character is arguably the best written of the series. Bree as a character is perhaps more well written in the less than 200 pages than any of the other characters in the entire series. First of all I'm going to ignore any argument that Stephanie Meyer is a horrible writer. Any writer who sparks interest in reading for adolescents and adults alike is not a horrible writer. Second I'm going to avoid making this post about comparing Bella and Bree. I'll be happy to compare the quality of the novella to the novels but not the qualities of the characters.
Bree tanner is such an enigma in this story that I can't help but be drawn to her. The story of her "second birth" is bathed in mystery and why she was chosen by Riley is anything but clear. Furthermore the absence of her first life from the story makes her all the more intriguing. Details concerning why she was in the wrong place at the wrong time are so short that it actually makes it more interesting. Her attraction to Diego was so quick and based on so little that it was more like an actual teen trying to describe their experience. This contrasts to Bella's descriptions so completely that it actually feels more real.
Another thing that I enjoyed was the story of Frank. Perhaps the most important character in this book is also the most enigmatic. In fact if there is a cottage industry of fan-fiction Frank should be an extremely important part of that culture. As a character he is almost non-existent which is exactly as he would have it...yet his importance in the grand scheme of things is pronounced and the potential for another tangential line of stories with him as lead are obvious.
The creation of Bree and Frank and to a lesser extent Diego are proof, in my mind, that Stephanie Meyer is talented and has more writing in her than just teen-drama. If you haven't read the Twilight Saga don't read this until you do and it will be the sweetest part of the entire saga.

A great fast read for your Space Boy.

I had another daddy daughter date night at the local library this last week. I'm finding that one of the best ways for me to connect with my kids is through the books they read. For parents that want a little advice...go to the library with your kids. You'll learn as much about them from the books they want to read as you do from anything that they say to you. Anyway...that's not the purpose of this blog post. While I was at the library I took the opportunity to grab a book for myself. I picked up another Orson Scott Card book. This one was actually a novella titled Space Boy. This book was a VERY fast read...which means it's perfect for your ADD/ADHD boy  about the age of twelve who has a book report due on Monday and it's Saturday and he hasn't read a book yet. This book was full of the juvenile type of things that boys love and at the same time it captured some of the real world drama that many boys go through at some point in their life. It was smart, crude, heart-felt, callous, and most of all short. The characters are not really developed in any meaningful way but at the same time you find yourself identifying with all of them even the hapless dad. Science fiction in the most real sense this novella plays with the ideas of time and space travel. It also deals with aliens and pseudo-science like worm holes and stuff. The real essence of the story comes down to family and the way we protect and love each other. Most of the boys reading this aren't likely to see that so glaringly as I did but they will see that the main character Todd selflessly does what he can to reunite his family. I encourage you to get this book for your boy and see if he doesn't like it. I'd put my money on them enjoying it. While you're at it read it your self and enjoy. Then post your book report as a comment.

3 tips to get your gardening on.

Phil did not see his shadow a couple of days ago and that means Spring is on the way. For green thumbs everywhere the excitement can begin. It might seem a little forward thinking given the insane amount of snow and cold across the country but this weather will pass and if you haven't been thinking green for a couple of weeks now you'll be behind the game when this mess thaws. I'm including some tips to get ready now for the impending planting season.

Get ready...get set...seed.

Image via WikipediaThere are many hardy plants that you can start in seed today and plant as soon as you can chip away the ice (ok so if there's ice don't plant...but if the soil can be dug...plant). Believe it or not that day is closer than you think. Some things to start from seed right now are broccoli, cauliflower, swiss chard, cabbage, eggplant, lettuce, onions(from seed not bulb or start), parsley, peppers, spinach (watch for hard frosts), tomatoes (seed only) and dozens of other hardy plants. Now it's important to understand that this is just starting seeds and not actually planting in your garden.

Planning makes everything easier

If you do row gardening or (my preference) Squarefoot Gardening, planning is very important. Know where, when, and how your precious seedlings will be planted. Stagger your harvest by planting at different times. Determine the space needed for your garden. When will you be able to harvest some of your garden and replant? Plan this all out while you're stuck in the house with ten foot drifts of snow at your door and you'll be that much better off when you're donning your short sleeve shirts and gardening gloves.

Infrastructure saves you from insanity

Part of planning is getting the actual space ready. This means building or developing some infrastructure. If you haven't got Squarefoot Gardens you might check out my review of "All New Squarefoot Gardening" and then go out and get some supplies. Building a garden is more than tilling up some ground in your back yard (at least it should be). If you have got a Squarefoot Garden then you are way ahead of the game. If you didn't cover and clean at the end of last season you'll need to go out and remove all the leaves and debris from your garden and you'll likely need to turn the soil a little. If you plan on growing up in your garden make sure you've got the proper trusses. If you're just starting get the book from the link above and get out before the rest of the folks out there.

Have fun.

Gardening is a family thing. If you haven't got family invite neighbor kids over to help. If you decide to do row gardening you've decided to do more work and that's fine because half the fun is spending time in the fresh air. If you've got time and a camera start a gardening blog that documents the growth of your plants. Just do something that turns your garden into more than another food source or weekend work. Finally, push winter out of your life and start thinking spring because there is a green tomorrow under all of the white today.

Review: Trust Agents

I just finished this book and for most of the people who follow this blog this post is going to be boring. Of course there's always the chance that I'll make it interesting with some quip about monkeys or something. So maybe you should read the whole review.

Why would I pick up a book like this? On the face of things this isn't the typical book that I read or review. First of all the I despise self help books and this is arguably a self help book. Second I usually read for fun and that, generally speaking, means fiction. Third, and perhaps most importantly, monkeys are funny. Just making sure you're all still reading.


Recently I decided that I had some skills with technology that I could share with the less tech-savvy folk out there. In making this decision I had to understand how I was going to offer up that help and get word out that I was available. Being something of a geek and enjoying immensely the use of my new (free) Google laptop, I decided to start a website that I would call my "business" and offer up my help as a Social Media Consultant. CnctNow (read: connect now) is born. The only problem now is that I don't have a reputation to leverage to make this venture successful or even useful. I began my search for social media professionals and advice on how to become a social media consultant. The result of this search revealed Chris Brogan. Reading some of his blog posts and seeing the way he treated the business of social media gave me some perspective. I noticed that he had written a book and the first chance I got I picked it up at my local library.

It took me a lot longer than normal to read this book. It's not that I didn't enjoy the book. On the contrary I enjoyed it more than I expected. It took some time to get through this book because there's really so much to digest in this book. It's not just a book about social media and how to build an internet identity. It is about being human and treating people like they are human. It's about creating a sense of community by being friendly, helpful, honest, and, the buzzword of the book, transparent. I learned a lot from this book and it helped point me in the right direction for how to build my reputation, identity and how to make my own game.

You don't have to want the same things as me or even be interested in social media or the internet to get something from this book. Those things are good but this book really transcends its intended audience of entrepreneurs and business leaders and becomes a guide on how to treat people and live a life of influence and usefulness. I encourage you to read this book and get back to me on your thoughts. If you made it this far into this post I think you deserve to have one more bit of entertainment. Wasn't it worth it?Image via Wikipedia