Christmas Music

This year I have tried to be a bit more proactive when it comes to helping my wife set up all of the Christmas decorations. Yesterday we put up the outside Christmas lights and today we put up the Christmas tree. As we were working today, my wife wanted to listen to Christmas music.

In the past my wife has kept a ton of Christmas music on her iPhone. For some reason she took it off and so she left it up to me to figure out how to get some Holiday music going while we put up the tree. I thought about setting up a Christmas station on Pandora. However that would have required finding speakers for my tablet or smartphone and so I pulled out an old boom-box with a built-in CD player. My wife then located about 20 Christmas CDs and we put one in.

It worked quite well and we enjoyed the music for about 40 minutes. Then the music stopped. We were still working on decorating and so my wife changed CDs and we kept going. Once again we were good, but only for about 40 minutes. It took us several hours to set things up and the music helped speed the process along. The only problem was that it felt like we were constantly changing CDs.

I'm not sure what is more annoying: listening to commercials every few songs that come with the free version of Pandora or having to swap out CDs every 40 minutes or so. Ultimately I decided that MP3 players like the iPod have really spoiled me and it is tough to go back to older music formats like CDs.

Video Game Review: Mass Effect Part I

It is the beginning of the Holiday season now and so I thought I would start my video game review a bit earlier than usual. A few weeks ago I was visiting a friend at Electronic Arts and was able to pick up a copy of the Mass Effect trilogy. I have wanted to play the series for a while and when I saw the bundle for $30, couldn't resist. This long weekend I was finally able to find some time crack open the case and start playing the game.

I have the game for my PS3 system and it is tough to going back to the PS3 after playing games on the PS4 for the past year. I only took a few minutes of play to get used to the older console. Mass Effect is one of those games where you make multiple choices throughout the game and each choice has far-reaching effects. There is also a first-person shooter element and I enjoy first person shooter games.

Mass Effect has been out for a number of years and so there wasn't any updates I needed to download when I started the game. However it did have to install the game on my PS3's hard drive. That seemed to take forever. I think it would have been faster to go to the store, buy a solid-state drive, and install it. I didn't do that, instead I went and had lunch. It was ready when I came back.

The game was a lot like a Uncharted in that it played like movie. I was surprised at how many glitches there were in the game, given its age. Once I had to quite the game and come back in because I had walked into a corner. The two people I was leading wouldn't get out of the way when I tried to back out and I was stuck.

I am only a couple of hours into the first of the three games. It is worth continuing to play as I find it very entertaining. I may have to take a break though as I have to head back to work in a few days. However I will pick it back up again during the Christmas break and will give an update as I get further along.

Track pad Preferences

I have two laptops that I switch between when I am at home in Utah. One is my Mac laptop from work. The other is a Sony VAIO. Sony is no longer in the laptop business and when they were unloading their laptops, I picked one up cheap. I tried to give it to my wife, but she couldn't get use to Windows 8.1 and refuses to use it. I have taken it over and use it for personal things like writing in this blog.

Each of my laptops uses a track pad as a substitute for the mouse. The VAIO also has a touch screen but I hate fingerprints on my screen and so I never use it. I am strictly a track pad kind of a guy. The track pads on both computers are very similar with only one difference: the VAIO has three invisible buttons I can click with my thumb while the Mac only has a single button. I say the three buttons are invisible because there is no line that distinguishes where one button ends and another begins. It makes for a seamless track pad on the VAIO and I am sure the designers thought it was a great idea. I hate it though. I am always clicking the right or center buttons when I mean to click the left one.

As there is only a single button on the Mac, I have to use one of my fingers and hold the CTL key to simulate the right mouse button. While it sounds like more work, I actually prefer it. You may disagree but after swapping between two laptops for the better part of several months, I have to say I prefer a single mouse button on a track pad. Unfortunately the Windows 8.1 control panel doesn't allow you to simulate a single button. Too bad.

PlayStation TV

Working in the video game industry gets me access to discounts not available to the general public. A month or so ago I was thinking about buying another PlayStation 4. I already have one but was looking to add one to the television I have in my bedroom and the price was very attractive. While my wife is not much of a video game player, she does like to watch Blu-ray movies. I ran the idea by some guys at work and they suggested I get a PlayStation TV instead.

A PlayStation 4 costs $399 while a PlayStation TV only costs $99. Without doing any more research, I ordered one and happily set it up when it arrived. Then I didn't do anything with it. It has sat next to my bedroom TV for about a month and last night I finally decided to give it a shot. My wife and I were going to address Christmas cards and watch a movie. I ran downstairs and put the Blu-ray into my PS4. Then I headed back upstairs.

I turned on the PlayStation TV and there was an icon to connect to my PS4. I selected it and was immediately told I needed to update the system software. I figured that would happen as I have not had the device on for a month. The update only took a few minutes. It also told me I would be able to have up to 4 PlayStation TV's connect to a single PS4. I thought that was pretty cool.

When you connect to the PS4, it shows you the home screen for the PS4 and you would think you were actually on the more expensive device. I selected the Blu-ray movie and was told I couldn't watch it. I was able to play a game on the PS4 but couldn't watch a movie. Bummer! That was the whole reason I got the PlayStation TV. Perhaps it is a feature they will add in the future but for now it doesn't work. I wonder if I can still use my discount on a PS4?

Beware of Static Electricity

This evening I went to plug my phone in and there was a nice blue spark. The cold dry air in Utah increases the amount of static electricity that we humans generate. Sometimes I can't touch my dog without shocking her. No wonder she runs and hides at this time of the year.

Electronics are very sensitive to static electricity and can be ruined by it. When I first got married, I touched a corded phone and it never worked again. I could answer the phone but the dial pad didn't work and so I couldn't make any calls. I had to go buy a new one. For a $25 phone, that really isn't a big issue. For a $500 mobile phone, static electricity will make a grown man cry.

Should you find yourself shocking everything you touch, try to ground yourself before reaching for your phone or it's power cord. Try to touch the metal case of your laptop before reaching for the keyboard or mouse. Most well-designed modern electronics are meant to discharge some static electricity. Just don't assume everything is well designed.

A Relaxing Sunday

Tomorrow I don't have to wake up early and catch a flight to the Bay Area. Instead I will work the first three days of the week from home and have the next two days off. I try to make the most of my weekends and enjoy them up until the last minute. Knowing I don't have to catch a plane tomorrow has me much more at ease.

Normally I go to bed on Sunday evenings around 10:30 pm. That is because I have to wake up at 4:45 am on Monday to catch my flight. Tonight I can relax and not have to worry about what time to turn in. I also don't have to worry about packing my bags or making sure I have everything I will need for the week. Tonight is a much needed break.

So what am I going to do with all of this extra time? Read a book. Several years ago I picked up a book that contains journals from pioneers moving West in the mid 1800's. This morning I was able to crack off a chapter and realize how easy we have it today. While it may take me 11 hours to drive a car from my home in Salt Lake to the Bay Area, it took wagon trains months to cross the same distance. I also don't have to worry about my children dying of exposure along the way.

As we head into the Thanksgiving season, I have to say that I am thankful for the technology we have. I constantly utilize speedy transportation whether it be an automobile, train, or airplane. I also enjoy the benefits of instant electronic communication. This morning I sent an e-mail to my son in Armenia, half way around the world. I will have a response waiting for me tomorrow. Yes we live in wonderful times and I am thankful for that. I hope you are too.

The Humor in Spam E-mail

I have a pretty good filter that eliminates a lot of unwanted e-mail. Unfortunately it may be a little too good as I have to go through my filter list daily to make sure I am not missing any important messages. I quickly skim the subjects and the sender. If there is anything that I think might be important, I can view it without having it sent to my inbox.

Weird Al Yankovic did a song about a decade ago making fun of the absurdity of horoscopes and so with a little creative license, I would like to add my thoughts about all of the Spam e-mails I see on a daily basis.

Lose 20 pounds overnight - As someone who has lost about 30 pounds in the past 3 months, I know what it takes to lose weight. It really is a simple trick: eat less food and exercise more. Unfortunately the only way to lose 20 pounds overnight is to have one of your legs amputated. I've grown attached to mine and want to keep them so I won't be trying to lose 20 pounds overnight.

Reverse diabetes with this one simple trick - For a lot of people there really is one simple trick for reversing type 2 diabetes and that is to lose weight. However I think those that have type 1 diabetes are offended by such claims. Losing weight also doesn't guarantee you will reverse diabetes, but you may keep it at bay for a while. I'm sorry as I really do want there to be a magic cure for diabetes. Unfortunately it is not that simple for everyone. If you do have diabetes, please see your doctor and get help.

These women want to date you - If I was living below the poverty level of some 3rd world country and you offered to fly me to the United States or some other equally wealthy country, I'd want to date you to. There are much less expensive ways of getting a date though. Besides, this is most likely a scam.

Have an affair tonight - No, I like my wife and wouldn't want to do anything to hurt her. I suppose there are some that might find this e-mail entertaining, but I'll pass.

Find out if he is cheating on you - I think this e-mail is sent by the same people that sent the previous e-mail. Anyone who responds to the previous e-mail is put on a list and all they have to do is check to see if your name is on the list.

I will pay you $2 Million if you help me deposit this money - I get something like this on a daily basis. Remember that if something is too good to be true, it generally is. This is a good way to have someone give up bank account information that bad guys use to clean out savings accounts.

You've won a prize - Ok, I'll admit that once I really did win a prize and they notified me by e-mail. However they provided information that I had given them when I signed up for the contest and so I knew it was real. Generally speaking though, you didn't win anything and it is just another scam.

Repayment of the money lost in a scam - This one is just sad even if it is a bit clever. If someone was gullible enough to get scammed once, they just might fall for it again in the hopes of getting their money back. Too bad it doesn't really work that way. 

I'm stuck in a foreign country and need your help to get home - I actually almost fell for this one. I got an e-mail from someone I barely know claiming that he was stuck in some foreign country and needed me to wire him some money so he could buy a plane ticket home. I didn't know him well enough to just call his family and ask if he was traveling and so it was tempting to respond and send him a few bucks. However I travel enough internationally to have seen the holes in his story and figured it was a scam. I was tempted though.

I wish there was something I could do to keep people from sending me so much junk e-mail. Unfortunately that is just the price we pay for being able to exchange messages so easily. Every once and a while I do crack a smile as I read some of these unwanted messages. Perhaps I just need to view them as entertainment and humor. After all, that is what the small print says about horoscopes.

Low-Tech Solutions

Last night it was time to fly from the Bay Area home to Salt Lake. I fly with a friend who lives in Utah like me and also works just South of San Francisco. He usually picks me up at my office and we drive to the Oakland airport. My buddy has arranged parking in a garage close to the airport but it still requires that we walk about a mile to catch a shuttle bus to the terminal. Usually it is a pleasant walk even though it might be in the dark. Last night it was pouring rain. That complicated things.

We knew it was going to be a wet walk and so I picked up some large trash bags from the office. I also had the foresight to copy down the numbers to 3 different taxi cab companies that operate in the Oakland airport area.

We got to the garage and decided it was too wet to try and walk, so we called each of the cab companies. Others must have had a similar idea because we couldn't get a taxi for 30 minutes. That was going to make us late for the flight. Ultimately we had to walk to the shuttle stop armed with only our large garbage bags. We stayed mostly dry until the sidewalk started flooding. It didn't take long before our feet were soaked. Our only recourse was to pull out more plastic bags and put them over our feet. The bags lasted only moments before they succumbed to the asphalt and grew holes.

My travel partner and I made it to the airport and while we were not completely dry, our luggage was, thanks to our low-tech plastic bags. With all of the technology around us, sometimes it is something as simple as a plastic bag that can solve a problem.

Satisfaction in Coding

A couple of days ago I was adding an entry to this blog when I noticed that I had "Assembly Language" as one of my labels. It briefly reminded me of some assembly language programming I had to do while in college. For those that don't know, assembly language is one step above the ones and zeros that computers understand. Nobody wants to remember that 00000001 is the command to move the contents of register A to register B and so the designers of the Intel 8088 microprocessor created the MOVAB command. MOVAB is much easier to understand for us humans. Very few people program in Assembly Language as it can be rather tedious. However those programs are small and run incredibly fast.

Thinking back to my college classes reminded me how much fun coding is. When I first started at my current job, I got to do quite a bit of SQL coding. Now I do less and less as I am managing a bunch of developers. Every once and a while, I will get to do something technical and I feel a great sense of satisfaction.

Last night I got back to my boat early and had time to play around with a bit of coding. It felt good to create few lines of Python and watch them do something interesting. Once again, I am back on the boat early and plan to continue with my sample coding. I'm not planning to write the next version of Tetris or a better game than Angry Birds, but that doesn't matter. Coding allows me to build something. It allows me to create something. Writing software allows me to turn ideas into reality with virtually no cost other than my time. That alone is its own reward.

Duct Tape

We are expecting rain in the Bay Area tomorrow and so I went out to my Jeep and applied Duct tape to a rusted section of the roof. This is a very temporary fix as the tape will only accelerate the oxidation process. I really should remove the rust, weld a piece of sheet metal over the hole, and properly paint the repair. All of that will have to wait until my Christmas break when I can get the Jeep back to my home garage in Utah and take the time to do things right.

My duct tape fix is all I have time for this evening and is symbolic of a number of technological fixes we apply to problems. Sneakernet is one such example that a number of us old-timers used to use. Instead of taking the time to set up a network between two computers, we would copy files to floppy disks, walk the disks to the second computer, and copy the files off the floppies. For large amounts of data, this was a painfully slow process and it would have been better to take the time so put the computer on the network.

Duct tape fixes are fine for certain problems but should be used sparingly. They only become a problem when we use them too often and are unwilling to look into more elegant solutions. So if you find yourself constantly doing something on your computer, take the time to do a quick Internet search and see if there are suggestions for a better way to do things. You may just save yourself some time.

Reading the Sunday Newspaper

Last night I had the option of sitting down and watching a movie with my wife or reading a book while she read the Sunday paper. I watched a movie with my wife the previous two nights and so I opted to sit down and read a book. I am glad I did as it was very relaxing and enjoyable.

I know that electronic readers like the Kindle and Nook have replaced books while tablets have replaced newspapers. However there is something therapeutic about reading from something that doesn't require batteries. It is also nice to unfold a newspaper and spread it out on a table or ottoman as you can see much more at once than you can with even the largest of tablets.

Several years ago we stopped taking the daily paper and only subscribed to the one on Sunday. Truth be told, I like reading the comics. I'm not the only one as my youngest son used to call dibs on them when I was done. He is now living in Armenia but has asked that we forward him the Sunday comics on occasion. My wife is a bit more thorough with the Sunday paper. She likes to go through all of the ads in search of something interesting. Then she carefully reads each section of the paper paying more attention to certain articles and less to others. When she is done, she folds everything up and puts the paper in our recycle bin.

We are one of the few families I know that still subscribes to a physical newspaper. I think that is pretty sad as some of my fondest memories are from reading the Sunday newspaper when I was young. I enjoy and embrace technology as that is how I make my living. However sitting back on a Sunday evening and watching my wife enjoy reading makes it worth the small price we pay. If you haven't read a real newspaper in a while, spend a few quarters and pick one up. See if you don't feel a satisfaction you don't get from an electronic format. If you do, you may want to think about subscribing. Newspapers really aren't that expensive.

A Ski Rack for the Jeep

Last month I bought my wife a new Jeep Wrangler. The first addition is getting a ski rack for it since there is snow falling in the mountains around my house. Unfortunately the Jeep Wrangler is a tough car to outfit with a ski rack. You can mount one on the hard top but that involves drilling holes. Besides we don't yet have a hard top as ours came with a soft top.

I didn't want to wait for one to arrive by mail and so I headed to the local ski shop. Both Thule and Yakima make ski racks meant to mount on bike carriers that attach to trailer hitches. We wanted a ski rack that attaches to our spare tire. The ski shop just had ski racks for the top of a car. Next we headed to REI. REI had the Thule racks and we were able see that we needed to get their rack for skis that attaches to a bike rack. We also saw that they have a bike rack that attaches to a spare tire and is compatible with the ski rack we need. Unfortunately the combo was rather expensive at $465 for both.

Being a computer expert and knowing that you can always get a better price online, I came home with my wife and we fired up the computer. Guess what? Everyone wanted $465 for the combo. I couldn't believe that a better deal didn't exist on the Internet. In the end, my wife and I headed down to REI and made the purchase. As I am an REI member, I was able to use my 20% discount on a single item. I used it on the more expensive piece of the 2-part rack. That means the local store had the better price than the Internet.

We brought everything home and looked at putting it together. In the end, we decided that the best option for our ski rack was actually to mount it to a trailer hitch bike rack we already own. Since we bought both pieces from a local shop, we can take back the piece we don't need, save ourselves $200, and not have to pay shipping costs. Sometimes it pays to shop at a local store instead of trying to buy everything online.

The Best Tasting Milk Chocolate

Computers are good for a number of things including product reviews. However some products are best reviewed by the purchaser. Chocolate is one. Yesterday we decided to have a milk chocolate taste test in the office. It was very interesting as I was the one that set up the test.

Unfortunately I can no longer eat milk chocolate as it is not part of my super strict diet. Dark chocolate is, but everyone wanted to know which milk chocolate was the best. We had seven different brands and it was up to me to arrange them up and label them so nobody would know what chocolate they were eating. All I needed to do was break them into similar sized pieces and put them face-down on the plates. I then labeled each chocolate with a single letter. We tried the following:

• Godiva
• Dove
• Hershey's
• Ghiradelli
• Cadbury
• Lindt
• Meiji

For those that don't travel to Tokyo much, the last one is from Japan.

I would love to tell you which was everyone's favorite, but then that would ruin the experience for you. This is one time you want to discover the answer for yourself.

What Did We Do Before the Internet?

My wife and I gave our 2008 Subaru to our oldest son a few weeks ago. We thought we were doing him a favor. It turns out we unloaded a minor problem for us only to give it to him. Being a responsible father means that it is now my problem again. The clutch was getting really close to burning out. Now it is slipping and we get to repair it. What does this have to do with the Internet? That is how we diagnosed the problem and also the means for figuring out the best course of action to fix it.

My son described the problem to me over the course of two or three verbal paragraphs. I did a quick search on the Internet and discovered the clutch is slipping. It is only a matter of time before it burns out completely and the car is no longer drivable. Next I looked at what it would take to repair it. You can get a clutch replacement kit for about $200 online. The only question is if it is enough to completely repair the clutch. A quick search revealed a nice video talking about the problem and roughly how to fix it. Armed with a lot more knowledge and a few more Internet searches, my son and I are confident we can solve the problem on our own.

This leads me to the question of today's entry: What did we do before the Internet? It feels like any time there is a problem I need solved or a question I need answered, the Internet has one. Not all of the answers are correct, but there is a lot of guidance that didn't exist before. Now I get to spend a Saturday working on the car with my son.

A New Washing Machine

My wife and I have been looking for a new washing machine for about 6 months. Our current one is slowly dying and we are doing all we can to keep it going. Coming up on the Holiday season, there are a number of deals and so we waited until we found a great price on the one we want. Today I decided to order it online. It should arrive in a couple of weeks.

Interestingly enough, one of my co-workers asked about my method for purchasing appliances without realizing I had just bought a large one. I explained that the repair man keeps coming to our house to fix our washing machine and so I keep asking him which major brand he repairs the least. While I appreciate all of the online reviews available for any possible purchase you can make, the one review I trust the most is that of someone that repairs the product on a daily basis.

There are numerous stories of companies planting good reviews as well as unsatisfied customers complaining too loudly about the smallest of problems. One would think it all balances out in the end because of the volume of reviews. However I am not so sure and so I place more weight in the review of a trusted adviser and less weight in the voice of the masses. After all, everyone stupidly purchased those front-loading washers and they became super popular. Never mind that you can't interrupt the washing cycle should you have mistakenly left something out. Now everyone is discovering that there is an engineering flaw with them where they don't drain properly. A little water remains in the bottom which creates a playground for mold, mildew, and some really nasty smelling bacteria that has people tossing them out in favor of top-loading washers.

So what brand of washing machine did we get? Whirlpool. I'd write a glowing review but I have yet to use it. Besides I'm not so sure I would trust the review, nor should you.

Cyberwidows

When the Internet exploded about a decade ago and everyone started putting up Websites, somebody coined the term "Cyberwidow." It referred to wives that were neglected in the evening because husbands were busy playing online games or surfing the Internet. As someone who works in the video game industry, I fear I only help contribute to the problem. Therefore I feel it is appropriate for me to help provide my own personal remedy.

About a month ago I was talking with one of my friends. We were talking about our wives and he mentioned that it is important to get away for a weekend, without the kids, and go do something fun. His recommendation included a quarterly time-frame. I have to say that I agree. My kids are grown and all moved out so it is just me and my wife. Yet we still try to get away once a year. Conincidently we were having the conversation just after I returned from a weekend in San Diego and so I felt like I was doing my part. That was back in September.

Now it is November and a different quarter. This past weekend I took my wife to Moab, Utah. One of my favorite national park is Arches and it is spectacular. I think it ranks right up there with Yellowstone and Yosemite. Arches National Park is located just outside of Moab and has some adventurous hikes with amazing scenery. Moab also happens to be mountain bike capital of the world and at the same time, four-wheel-drive capital of the world. It just so happens that I recently bought my wife a brand new Jeep Wrangler Rubicon. We used the trip to do a bit of hiking and break in my wife's new car. It was fun and most importantly, nothing broke.

The whole weekend was very inexpensive. We opted to stay in a hotel where breakfast was included in the price of the room. They had a hot tub and pool that felt rejuvenating even though it was only 45 degrees Fahrenheit outside overnight. Throw in gas for the Jeep, eating at restaurants, and entry into the park for a total cost under $200. Remember that a happy wife equals a happy life. Life is pretty good for me right now.

An E-mail From my Sister

I just got an e-mail from my sister and thought it was great that she was thinking about me. The message looked like it came from her in that it even had the line at the bottom that said it was sent from her iPhone. My sister has an iPhone and so one would think the link that she suggested really came from her. The reality is that the message wasn't from her and I knew even before I subjected myself to more spam e-mail.

So how did I know the message really wasn't from my sister? It is easy because I also have an iPhone. I know how tough it is to type on my iPhone's keyboard and there is no way I would spell out an entire URL with all of the little various characters that make up the tracking signature. The characters at the end of my alleged sister's e-mail were "3b5pmwcxdk5sympms0" and there is no way I would type all that out.

Another hint that the e-mail really wasn't from my sister was that she sent me it from her iPhone. Why wouldn't she send me a text? It would have been faster for her and she knows I respond to text messages much more quickly than I do with e-mail.

The next time you get an e-mail from one of your friends that contains a link to click on, simply ask yourself a few questions. Does the e-mail look legitimate? Are there hidden clues that indicate it not being a genuine e-mail? If you do have a question, you can always expand the e-mail headers and see where the e-mail originated. While the reply-to field was my sister's e-mail address, the originating e-mail address wasn't. I think I will just send an e-mail to my sister saying "Hello".