Wednesday, December 25, 2002

Hey, I am here with one of my good friends Steve McShane! We have a Xmas tradition of exchanging Books on christmas day. He is gonna take the floor from me right now....steve:


Boy.... If there is anyone out there that knows technology..... It's "The Bubba"..... Nice ...... real nice.. This guy is amazing.... One day he will REALLY make a difference by connecting those afraid of TECHNOLOGY with it......... in the most of IMPORTANT ways... Let that be your challenge this year Bubba. It is a gift you have... your enthusiasm... more importantly... your enthusiasm and love for technology and how it can make peoples lives better.


As I now blush....I am ready to post this...but not with out a great word about Steve. He is one of the most amazing people I know. Our friendship has spanned nearly 10 years, and continues to grow exponetially every year. He lives life to the fullest, takes on every challenge, goal, and involvment with a passion that is unmet among anyone else I have ever met. I love learning from him, and cherish the way he makes others great through words, actions, and thoughts. If you want to see more about him, and read about his adventures check out his site at www.smcshane.com

posted @ 2:10 PM | archive_link | Comment

Tuesday, December 24, 2002

Okay, I am going to geek out here...cause it is 2 in the morning and it is what I like to do.

Computers amaze me. I just finished building 2 machines from scrap my brother and I have accumulated over the last 2 years of playing with our own home built systems. I also have revived an my old laptop from college (a pII 400 mhz box) and am currently in the process of getting Win2K up and running on it.

I got the laptop all set up with a wireless card and am now waiting for SP3 to finish installing. It is soooooooooo cool to have a totally wire free laptop connecting to the internet, downloading files and updating its OS on its own. Now, i have my days of frustration with Windows, Linux, and Computers in general, but gosh when they work is it great. I still remember jousting with my first computer, a 286 with 2 megs of ram (or maybe it was 4), and being excited to get silly text based games working on it.

My how far we have come. What i consider a slow machine is more than many people in the past would consider impossible and beyond the limits of science fiction. What will the future be like? I mean, if we have progressed this far, this fast, what will 30 years be like? That rhetorical question has been answered by so many people I don't even dare touch it with a ten foot pole.

Wireless network connections are bad ass. And they are coming in all diffrent formats. Tonight, while I was geeking, I imed a friend in Canada from my cell phone. How cool is that? How much had to happen in the back end to make that possible? Does anyone out there understand it all, or is it a mircale of epic proprotions that it all works?

I also checked out the timex instant messenger watch and got the feeling that dick tracy's creator was rolling over in his grave with a HUGE grin on his face. I can now literarly connect to anyone, anywhere, in any manner I want. I am just waiting for nike to come out with the mp3 shoe and nintendo to have the gameboy glasses form factor, with network game play!

Anyhow, between a mame box for games, an mp3 audio server, and a combo wireless/ir super remote I will have a scenario that the Jetsons would be jealous of. Throw in my super cool blue tooth headset that senses where I am and connects to the appropriate phone connection for me to call on and lets me call people using intergrated voice dialing...shesh...this is almost obscene.

And to imagine, that all of this is availible, and only needs to be strung together by dedicated geeks like myself...it warms my heart to see technology make life soooooo much fun. Of course there are lots of downsides to it (not the least to mention the "digital isolation" that people can end up in), but at the end of the day how can any Ludite argue with this pure and unadulterated science fiction dream that is becoming reality?

I wonder what other people think? A lot of folks I know are tied into technology at such a level that they take it for granted, but what about those that don't? I wonder how people grapple with the awesome toys out there when they don't feel comfortable with even their VCRs? Technology and cars are similar...sooooooo much terminology that it is easy to get lost and overwhelemd, but so much power if one take the time to learn about them. How can we make sure people don't get taken advantage of like so many do when it comes to cars?

Will I ever get tired of playing with this stuff? I hope not, because if I do, it will probably be nearly impossible to overcome the rapid changing of the landscape that technolgoy churns through.

Okay, this was a totally pointless rant, thanks for reading it...you really didn't have to. Thanks.

posted @ 2:24 AM | archive_link | Comment

Monday, December 23, 2002

So I have new project...check this out. My friend has one of these, and i since I have a few old MoBo's laying around, I figure I might as well build one in my spare time. So, come janurary, I am doing it. Combined it with a foozball table and pool table I will never need to leave my house in Shell. Heck, maybe I can open a bar there...bubba's beachhouse bar? Th locals could call it triple B!

Anyhow...it is the day, before the day, before the day. So Merry Christmas and what not. ;)

posted @ 11:39 AM | archive_link | Comment

Sunday, December 22, 2002

Just saw two towers...gotta say:

IT ROCKS!

Some great scenes and actions...my only wish is that Liv Tyler appeared more. Man, she is smoking hot!

If you haven't checked out froogle yet, get to it!

posted @ 7:33 PM | archive_link | Comment

Thursday, December 19, 2002

So, I just had an intresting night with one of my oldest (not age wise, time wise) friends. We headed out for a quite night of coffee and catch up, and instead our ears were assaulted by bad, I mean really bad, teenage Karaoke. We decided to find a new place to try to hang out and ended up at Target. We wondered around, found a gift for her brother, and i got jacked by the toolbox gods (twice the price for an extra 4 inches...hey, keep it clean!) After that we walked in a slight bit of rain and just caught up. I know she will always be a close friend, because no matter how long it is between the times we talk, we always fall back into a comfortable conversation filled with humor, wit, and bluntness.

Anyhow, we were talking about a certain subject and she made a keen observation. She cut out the crap and asked me if I was settling for things right now and warned me to becareful of that. I didn't know what to say, but it was a very intresting observation. If I am that would be very, very sad. So I have decided to make sure I am not and prove it to myself. I mean, you only get what you go for, and you only go for what you want. Might as well go big, or just go home...

Mmm...public catharsis (is that just a nice way to say "whining"?)...blogs at there worst. Anyhow...on to something else:

I watched the LOTR, extended remix DVD today. It was really long, but quite good...i am now ready to see the Two Towers. I can't wait!

In other news, this is funny. This is jack black being funny...an exponential improvment from Shallow Hal. Which, btw was a terrible, terrible, terrible movie. Avoid it at all costs!

Well...have a good friday...i know I will. :)

posted @ 11:53 PM | archive_link | Comment

Tuesday, December 17, 2002

My friend Lori is here and she wants to contribute to my blog. Here she is:

I don't want to be on your blog...but you're cool anyway.

As you can tell she is a very loving and adventurous friend...anyhow...anyone else want to be on the blog? Email posted @ 9:50 PM | archive_link | Comment

Saturday, December 14, 2002

Well, I have to say the update mail certainly spiked traffic to the site. Mission accomplished on that end! The site had nearly 100 new unique visitors yesterday! Pretty exciting. Now I just gotta figure out a way to get them to come back. Maybe I should move every few weeks? :)

Today is an exciting action packed day. Final decision by my pops on what car he wants to buy, and some major Xmas shopping to be done. Guess which of the two I am really looking forward to? :)

Check out google news for google next step in taking over the world, and to get your update on the world in one easy stop.

posted @ 11:21 AM | archive_link | Comment

Friday, December 13, 2002

I am not sure what just happened, but I think my email update got rejected by Hotmail...if anyone gets it and checks out the site, please let me know (via an email or a comment). Shesh...this technology stuff sure is tricky!

posted @ 2:18 PM | archive_link | Comment

I will be sending out my huge new Contact mail in the next 24 hours to inform all of my friends and family about the rather signifcant changes I have made in my life as of late. The final factors of a SLO based cell phone (the number is not as good as my Seattle cell phone) and updates the site to include some new content (The In-N-Out page) as well as some site design fixes were completed today. Now, I am just have to compose the update email, create the distrbution list and hit send! With my grammar skills, I should also do a quick edit/revise as well (as opposed to the write and post method I use on this site)! ;)

Anyhow, the reason I am writing about this is that I have absolutely no clue how many people will be visiting the site in the next week or so. Last time I sent out a big update mail my inbox was overwhelmed for almost 3 weeks. It was great, but even at that time I was thinking there has to better way to communicate with my friends that enabled me to be in contact, but not have so much repetitive content. I am very intrested to see how having a blog affects the process of communicating my update. Some things I wonder include:

1. Will people visit the site? If so, are there any trends in their location, age, and/or relationship with me?
2. WIll people come back to the site after an intial visit?
3. How far back will people check back into the content I have up and will the exlpore the links I to other blogs I have posted?
4. Will people use the Comments Feature on the Site to communicate and create a community conversation around the update, and/or other things on my site?
5. Will anyone who reads this blog be motivated and start their own to communicate to their friends and family?

Also, now that I have become a full convert of personal and news based blogs, I am hoping to become somewhat of an evanglist. I still remember my orginal belief that these things were a bit foolish and destined to be anonther lame internet fad. Boy, was I wrong. To that extent, I wanted to write about how I put my blog together so others can be the part of the cool cutting edge group of cybergeeks. Getting the basic site up was actually fairly straight forward, and anyone can get one up and running in an amazingly short amount of time. Here is what you gotta do:

Step 1 - Decide on your witty url. Most likely www.cool.com and www.johnsmith.come are gone already...bend your brain and come up with something that you like and works for your readers.
Step 2 - Get a basic webhosting package for as little as 35 bucks a YEAR! I pay that much for neelbubba.com at name2host.com, and I am sure there are even cheaper ones out there.
--------Note: Step 1 & 2 are actually opitional if you want full control of your witty url. You can also use free webhosting to get urls like mywittyurl.blogspot.com--------
Step 3 - Go to blogger.com (my solution and perhaps the easiest to use) or enter "blog software" in google and get your blog set up following their directions.
Step 4 - Start rambling online and see who comes to visit. Tell a friend, change your IM screen name to promote it, do what ever it takes to get eyeballs on your witty url.
Step 5 - Build the community of blogs you read by checking them reguarly, posting to their comment fields, and getting them to come to your site. It is a vicious cycle, but somebody has to make it happen! ;)

Anyhow, if you decide you want to set one up, let me know I will make time to help you out if you get stuck, deal? :) Happy reading, blogging, and holiday season!

posted @ 12:30 AM | archive_link | Comment

Monday, December 09, 2002

Dude...working the system. I just got my folks a new TV. But the best part was the deal I made...check it:

I called around and found the cheapest price at circuit city. I then called the Good Guys, who matched the CC price. But, i had a good guys coupon for 10% off which I threw down after the price match. After Magnolia high fi verified all of this, the did a low price match and delivered it for free...plus the massive discounts they gave me off of everything else I purchased because of the tv purchase. Sweet, huh?

On a side note, I am totally stoked to set up this home theater action. It is going to be killer...god bless electronic toys...i don't know what I would do with out them! :)

posted @ 5:34 PM | archive_link | Comment

Saturday, December 07, 2002

I forgot how to code. Well, that is not right...just not how to code at the level I used. It took me way to long to do something, and I didn't even get it to the quality level I wanted it to be at. :( Coding is a mind set...the ablity to focus and concepalize (sp?) rules, grasp their impact/scoop/meaning, and enforce them strictly is challenging. Not to mention understanding everyone else's convoluted code that is prone to break! But man, oh man is it fun when you get something to work!!! :)

posted @ 1:07 AM | archive_link | Comment

Thursday, December 05, 2002

two things of note...

1. I am 50% there on getting my new mailing address and phone number estabilished. Soon, very soon I will be a local californian again!
2. you can now email me at bubbam_at_exmsft.com. Another wonderful free service provided by the internet!

:>

posted @ 3:59 PM | archive_link | Comment

Wednesday, December 04, 2002

I just realized something. For the most part, my entire site is free. I use blogger for the blog software, haloscan for comments, and sitemeter for basic site view statstics. I pay absolutely nothing for these. How the heck is that possible? I wonder if that will be the case in 5, 10, or 20 years. How long can free software services remain?

I can understand, and even accept free software. It is like free digital content (like this blog), once you create it, there is minimal cost to support (if you even chose to support it) and replicate it. The theory is simple in this case, someone didn't anticipate a market space and thus did not pursue creating one and subsequent revenue. While some people might call this a pure lose, and others will call it a social-technological experiment that produces useful bits of technology that keep the world on a forward progress. This can be akin to work of ancient philsophers who established new ways of thinking, and often shared them for free (or for "a donation"). Anyhow, I am diving into a point I was not trying to make...but free software make sense and at an abstract level is beneficial to the world in most cases.

But can someone please explain (use the comment feature!!!) how free software services work? I get something for free, that you (who ever you may be) are paying out of pocket in order to provide me with it? WHO IN THEIR RIGHT MIND DOES THIS? Okay, so I know what I am going to hear...strategy. Right, get lots of users, and then slowely convert them to a revenue source, or leverge their membership status to enable partnerships, advertising, and the such. But how long can you sustain this? And even worse, how do you stave off a competitor that offers your service better, faster, and with less revenue generation (commecials! spam! etc!) mechansims? Worse, what happens when your user base overwhelems your resource allocation in a sudden massive sign up spree that can result from the cliches of "viral addoption" and "internet time?"

Free software services appear to fly in the face of logic and economic reasoning. I mean, look all the big software mongers are currently attempting to convert their "buy it once" model of software sales, to a re-occuring revenue stream system which they like to think of as "Software as a Service." Yet these same big companies contiune to give away software services in exchange for a promise of marketshare tomorrow. What is their secret plot? Are they selling my intimate letters to penthouse for the stories the contain (pa-sha!) or are the secretly using my computer as part of a global hacking network designed to crack the secret alogrithym's of state lotto picking devices? SOMEONE TELL ME!

Regardless, I am pretty freaking stoked that i am getting away with free software services this right now and hope the econmic theory doesn't catch up too soon! ;)

posted @ 11:02 AM | archive_link | Comment

Tuesday, December 03, 2002

Mmm...I just enabled comments. Click the little blue comments link at the end of each post to leave your thoughts...pretty cool. Thanks Haloscan!

posted @ 5:45 PM | archive_link | Comment

If you need some DVD's check this out.

posted @ 4:39 PM | archive_link | Comment

I picked up another historical book...this one on John Adams. I am still unclear if we have some common characteristics or if I am just identifying with him because he is the first I am reading about. Anyhow, I am enjoying working on identifying some historical figures that I can read about and see how they succeeded and failed in their pursuits. I have a big list of people to explore and plan to get it down to less then 6 so that I can make a hobby of reading about them. A somewhat intresting undertaking that was motivated by a book of my mother's called "The Leadership Challenge." We shall see what becomes of it.

Currently I am in the San Luis Obispo area where I am chilling at my new pad and setting up the bedroom to some degree. Also brushing up pool game, since the house has a very nice new table. The weather is unreal, and I, unfortunetly, will be heading back up today.

I have been pondering my future as of the last few weeks and now, more than ever I am unclear what it holds. I discussed it with my father for a while yesterday, but still have no clear path that i feel is compelling. Nevertheless, the next 6-7 months are charted clearly and thus I have some time to come to final conclusions.

Mmmm...this, perhaps, has been the most candid I have been in a post in a while. Still unclear of the short and long term impacts of keeping a publically published blog is (I wonder what kind of research has occured in this area). Well, there is the obvious impact in sharing with the world my lack of spelling and grammar abilties, but that is the least of my concerns as modern word processors & meticulious revisions will compensate for that in serious academic or business undertakings. More importanly, I wonder whether a public journal is beneficial for reflection and catharsis, or if the private process of a written journal is a better outlet. The practice of subtly in blogs is strangly appealing and seems to allow authors to explore topics with a strange balance of deep thought and coy admissions. The interaction with readers as a result of posts is perhaps the most intresting and unique effect of a blog. Hearing my words echoed back (to be challenged, complimented, or for clarfication) to me by both those that are close and distant has a very distinct effect on output as well the thinking/reflective process.

In a few days I will make the existance of this blog much more public, and the resulting traffic spike and subsequent new regular readers makes me wonder what I will and will not post in the future. But I digress (grin...that phrase is so loaded in its meaning and intentions)...

posted @ 4:37 PM | archive_link | Comment