• Had some good Father’s Day plans. Bad weather canceled some. Bad NHL behavior canceled others. #
• Sometimes being a father means giving up your special day’s activities to carry through on a parental threat/discipline. #
• Hope everyone else’s Father’s Day activities went well. Though there’s only mere minutes left to it here, Happy Dad’s Day! #
• Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’m going to have a good Dad’s Day sleep so I’m rested for Kindergarten Kid Graduation Day! #
• Really wish that the Walking With Dinosaurs Live stage show had a DVD you could buy. Would love to play it over & over again! #
• I checked out Meetup.com to see what groups are in my area. There are 6 “moms” groups & 2 “parents” groups. No “dads” groups? #
• Did find a photography group, though. They go on photoshoots and stuff. Interesting…. #
• Just remembered about Steve Gibson’s SpinRite. Might be able to fix my broken HD. But is it worth $89 or do I just re-rip all of my CDs? #
• Called @TheAngelForever. She’s sick. Thinks she might pass out. Wish I could leave work & be by her side. Stuck here for another hour. in reply to TheAngelForever #
• My son (age 5) likes working out w/ me on #EASActive but the leg strap’s too big for him. Any ideas? #
• Having him hold the nunchuck against his leg works for inline skating, but not for other workouts. #EASActive #
• RT @lucascordalis Video Games Republic » Obama issued with EA Sports Active challenge http://bit.ly/zb5d3 <= I’d love to see this! #
• Just four more workouts to go in my #EASActive 30 day challenge. 6 more trophies left. Should get 3 of those & finish challenge by Sunday. #
• Walking With Dinosaurs Live has permanently corrupted JSL. He’s stomping &roaring around instead of going to sleep. (Video coming soon.) #
• Me: “JSL, go momma.” JSL: “No no *waving hands* Noooo! Want help dada!” Ah the terrible twos. #
• So tired this morning. Can’t I have one night of uninterrupted sleep? Waking up 3 times during the night does not make you feel rested. #
• Wow, Tim Burton doing Alice in Wonderland with Johnny Depp as Mad Hatter. http://is.gd/1aaEy The Hatter never looked so… well, mad! #
• I just entered the HP MediaSmart Server Giveaway @MommyGoggles! http://tinyurl.com/nrw5oj #
• RT @elijahmanor: “Real Programmers always confuse Christmas and Halloween because Oct31 == Dec25″ #tech #quote #humor #
• RT @mike_elgan: Iranian government shoots & kills protester, then charges his parents $3,000 for the bullet. http://bit.ly/2RzjFD <= Insane! #
• Still want to work on my Twitter app. Haven’t had time lately. Also wondering if my server has the power to process all those friends lists. #
• Ew. Took out the banana I brought in to go with my lunch. Went to open it up & noticed the top was open, squishy and moldy! YUCK! #
• So tired. Can I take a post-lunch nap at my desk? #
• Has anyone used an IOGear USB Net ShareStation ( http://is.gd/1aAkn ) to share printers & external HDs over a network? #
• Yesterday, during my son’s graduation, he said the Pledge of Allegiance w/ his fingers forming an “L” on his forehead. Who taught him that? #
• Can an all-digital watch be considered dressy enough to wear with a suit? Wondering why “dress watches” must be analog in this day & age. #
• RT @tyropearl: Clerics join Iran’s anti-government protest: http://ia5li.tk Good for them #iranelection <= Good luck to the Iranians. #
• RT @cnnbrk: Security forces firing weapons beat protesters in Tehran; witness on CNN says they beat people like animals http://bit.ly/aoVi9 #
• Wondering where to go w/ @TheAngelForever for dinner for our 8th Wedding Anniversary. Doesn’t need to be kid-friendly, they’ll be at in-laws #
• RT @IranElection09: RT Iran Eye Witness of Massacre Lalezar Sq. / Baharestan on CNN! http://bit.ly/fdK1f (expand) BRUTAL #
• Realizing that we have very few photos of us as a family. Tons of indiv photos/groupings but few of all. (1 of us always behind camera.) #
• Hand cramping. Not used to writing pen & paper style so much. But a printed anniversary card just wouldn’t have the same emotional quality. #
• Got list of #EASActive exercises. 106 in total w/ 3 difficulty settings each. 318 calorie+time figures to collect. This could take awhile. #
• Got the cardio figures transcribed. Will do Upper, Lower & Sports another day. Then will work on an #EASActive web app. #
• Called Toys R Us to ask a question. Pressed button to get to cust service rep. Put on hold. No music. No one picking up. Nothing. TRU FAIL! #
• Taking a three day weekend Fri-Sun. I think my brain is taking a four day weekend, though. It’s packed and left! Get back here brain!!! #
• Strip search of 13yr old by school officials looking for ibuprofen ruled illegal. http://is.gd/1de6e <= Officials should have called police #
• Ok, this Mvix Ultio 1080p UPnP Home Theater Media Player just hit my “Tech Drool List” http://is.gd/1dge9 Wish I could get one to review! #
• While I’m hooking my son on Batman, I think my son’s hooked me on Phineas and Ferb. Curse you Perry the Platypus… er, NHL! #
• Is it 4:30 yet? #

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Recently, Jammie Thomas-Rasset lost her court case and the RIAA was awarded $1.92 million for the 24 songs that she was found to have infringed. To those of you keeping score, that’s $80,000 per song.  You might wonder just how a song can be worth more than many new cars.  Well, part of the problem is that copyright fines are outdated.  The laws regulating them come from a time when copyright infringers were mainly for-profit operations.  These people would make many copies of cassette tapes/VHS tapes and sell them on the street for less than a legitimate copy.  For this offense, the for-profit operations could be charged $750 – $150,000 per infringement.

This is all well and good, but today’s infringer is more likely to be a home user with no profit motive behind their infringement.  They might not even know that they are infringing on copyrights.  They just heard from a friend that they could get free music by downloading Kazaa/BitTorrent/etc.  They might not have even been aware that the program opened their hard drive’s music folder for the entire world to see/download.  Now, I’ll agree that ignorance of the law shouldn’t be too much of a defense, but the current fines seem excessive even if they shared out their music directory willingly.

Let’s explore just how that $80,000 works out.  The first point to consider is that Jammie Thomas-Rasset wasn’t charged with downloading music.  Despite what the media keeps reporting, people are charged with sharing songs out, not downloading them.  This isn’t to say that downloading songs without the permission of the copyright holder is legal, just that it is hard to detect/prosecute.  So we’re not really talking about $80,000 per song but an $80,000 fine for the copies that are assumed to have been made and lost sales that are assumed to have happened because Jammie Thomas-Rasset’s MP3 file was shared out online.

For the sake of argument, I’ll make the big assumption that each download made from her shared copy is a lost sale.  In reality, I don’t believe that every illegal download is a lost sale, but let’s run with the 1 copy = 1 lost sale figure for now.  Given that the average price of a song online is $0.99, the $80,0000 per shared file works out to 80,808 copies made. Now, I haven’t seen any claims by the RIAA as to how long those files were shared out, but I don’t think that any residential file sharer is going to share out over 80,000 copies in any reasonable length of time.  Any formal study of the average number of song downloads per file sharer would run into the same copyright difficulties that Jammie Thomas-Rasset did.  In addition, as I said before, every illegal download isn’t a lost sale.  Some people, absent the shared file, would buy the songs, but song wouldn’t.  Some people will even buy the song after sampling it via an illegal download.  The illegal download to lost sale calculation is murky at best.

I don’t belong to that segment of the "Information Wants To Be Free" movement who thinks that everything should be put online for free for anyone.  I definitely think that some fine is needed for people who share copyrighted content out without the copyright owner’s permission.  However, over 80,000x the value of the uploaded material is unreasonable and leads to bankruptcy over a civil offense. 

So what should the laws be changed to?  Well, I think that a reasonable amount would be 10x the equivalent purchase price of the item.  In the case of Jammie Thomas-Rasset, her 24 music files would be "worth" $0.99 each (iTunes price).  Ten times that figure would give her a total fine of $237.60.  This is much smaller and yet it isn’t insignificant.  Losing $240 can be a financial sting that makes you take notice.

For larger file sharers, the penalties would rise, but not to bankruptcy levels.  The RIAA initially accused Jammie Thomas-Rasset of sharing out 1,700 files but limited their court claims to 24 files.  Had they gone after all 1,700 and won, my proposed fine would total $16,830.  This would be a huge financial hit, but one that she would be likely to recover from eventually.  They could set up a payment plan and she would need to tighten her belt, but it would be doable.  The equivalent verdict that the jury awarded would have been $136 million.  This would have just driven her deep into bankrupcy.  (The $1.92 million might just do that anyway.)

Our copyright laws need serious updating.  In no other area do you not have to prove specific damage amounts to get a ridiculous level of return on your product’s worth.

Eight years ago today, I got married to the most wonderful woman in the world. From the first moment that I met her in a Yahoo chat room, I knew that there was something special about her. I couldn’t put my finger on it at first, but as I got to know her online, I knew for sure that I wanted to spend more time with her. (And we did, often talking online or on the phone late into the night.) The first day that we met in person was wonderful. Unlike with other women I had crushes on before, I wasn’t nervous around B. It was the strangest feeling. I was completely at ease. Everything I said or did felt completely natural.

As we dated, I quickly realized that I was falling head over heels in love with this wonderful woman. Every time I thought that I was the most in love that I could possibly be, B would say or do something (or simply look stunning like she usually does) and I’d find new levels of love to explore. I soon knew that I wanted to spend the rest of my life with B. I proposed to her one hot July evening after going for a walk around the block with her and we were married the following June.

Since then we’ve been through highs (the births of NHL & JSL), lows (NHL & JSL’s seizures and hospital trips), gone on wonderful vacations (Vegas, Disney World) and had some very stressful situations (first home purchase). Through it all, there has been no one that I’d rather have by my side than B. She is the most wonderful, amazing, and sexy (yes you are, B!) woman that a guy could ask for. She’s also an incredible mother I love her with all of my heart and still, to this day, am constantly finding new levels of love with her.

On Saturday, we had the pleasure of seeing Walking With Dinosaurs: The Live Experience.  For those of you who don’t know what this is, you travel back in time and see some real, live dinosaurs.  Ok, they’re people in costumes and animatronics controlled by people, but the production values are so good, you’d swear the dinosaurs are real.  The scale is fully kept too, so when the Brachiosaur stomps onto the stage, it is nearly 33 feet (10 meters) tall.  And when the mother T-Rex comes charging in, she is over 26 feet (8 meters) of flesh tearing, loud roaring dinosaur.  (Reminder: Do *NOT* mess with this momma’s kid.  The kid may seem small and weak but the mother can eat 144 pounds in a single bite.  The average adult wouldn’t be more than a mozzarella stick is to us.)  The whole production mixes science and entertainment perfectly.

NHL, of course, loved it.  His favorite dinosaur kept shifting depending on which dino was on stage last.  We took JSL along, hoping he wouldn’t be scared by the loud noises.  Towards the end, he was a little jittery, but not completely freaked out.  A little reassurance that daddy was there and he was fine.  We figured the long-term affects of the show would be more evident with NHL than with JSL.  (We signed him up for an archeology summer program at the local community college.)  However, tonight JSL showed that he too liked the dinosaur show.  At least, he liked the roaring and charging parts of it.  Don’t just take my word for it, though, see for yourself.

My little JSL-a-saurus!

• Got one for @donttrythis and the Mythbusters. While out on the lake in @TheAngelForever’s aunt’s pontoon boat, the boat tipped forward… #
• So the myth for @donttrythis and #Mythbusters: Can a pontoon boat flip over by too many people being on one side (front/back/left/right)? #
• If a person is rude to my co-workers and rude to me on the phone, it doesn’t make me want to call them back quickly. #
• Computer locked up again. Cleaned out fan to reduce CPU temp & rebooted. Dropped Seesmic’s querying of Twitter API to reduce network calls. #
• Next up to help PC run faster: Deleting FireFox extensions that I don’t use/need. #
• Unfortunately, my preferred method of speeding up this laptop, removing McAfee (& replacing it with another anti-virus prog), isn’t allowed. #
• FireFox needs to be reigned in. Ten open tabs shouldn’t equal 500MB of memory! #
• Disabled a bunch of extensions that I never/rarely use. Wonder how I can delete them entirely. #
• Ah. Quite easy. Just click on the FireFox extension and select Uninstall. All unused extensions deleted except for two. #
• Those two (a Java Quickstart and the Microsoft one)wouldn’t let me delete them so I’ll leave them disabled. #
• FireFox already seems snappier. Let’s see if the memory footprint stays lower. 5 tabs and 112MB now. #
• After hibernating, waking up & opening more tabs (total of 9 now), FireFox taking up only 167MB. Much better than 10 tabs at 500MB before. #
• Off to work out with #EASActive. #
• Think I found a bug in #EASActive. During pitching hard, w/ 2 stacks of bottles, I toss the ball at 1 stack & a whole stack vanishes! #
• Ok, something is seriously wrong with #EASActive. 1st phantom bottles, then the batting cage tossed me phantom balls & put me in a shadow… #
• Now #EASActive tossed me a phantom ball to catch. My guy reached for it & got stuck! What should I do? #
• Had to restart the #EASActive workout to recover from the bug. Weird. Anyone else encounter EA SPORTS Active bugs? #
• 1 feature I wish #EASActive had: a way to track how close you are to getting each trophy. e.g. for boxing, show how many targets you’ve hit. #
• Arm killing me after doing all of the #EASActive baseball workouts on hard! I did it all for the trophy. #
• RT @mike_elgan: Amazing pictures from the unrest in Iran: http://bit.ly/xwcZY <= Num 38 is amazing. So many people protesting at once! #
• Now comes the real test of my FireFox changes. I’ve just opened up 27 more tabs for a total 33. FireFox’s memory usage has gone up to 203MB. #
• That’s much better than yesterday’s 500MB+ for only 10 tabs. Looks like the changes worked. #
• While waiting for my car to be fixed this morn, their TV had FOX News on. Don’t normally watch it. Boy is it slanted coverage! #
• Teaser for a Gitmo detainees story: “Did Obama make a mistake sending Gitmo detainees to the beaches of Bermuda?” #
• Those guys were released from custody (picked up wrongly it seems). FOX made it sound like we’re sending terrorists to Bermuda now. #
• Also: “Obama’s sending Gitmo detainees someplace you might go on vacation!” (Italy) FOX made it seem like we’re putting terrorists in villas #
• Some days I swim against the stream of incoming work & some days the Universe ties me up & drags me kicking & screaming further downstream. #
• Today is a kicking and screaming kind of day. #
• Is it lunchtime yet? Oh wait. It is! YAY! #
• Put some of these FireFox memory reducing tips into effect. Hopefully, they work: http://bit.ly/vdt5A #
• Last night I gave my boys a treat. They didn’t like it, but I loved it. Frozen bananas w/ dark chocolate peanut butter! #
• Take banana, split in half, put dark choc PB inside & put back together. Cut into bite size portions, wrap each in wax paper & freeze. YUM! #
• It’s like a peanut butter, chocolate, banana ice cream, only less calories! Used this Dark Choc PB: http://bit.ly/jbBL6 #
• Only need to collect 10 more trophies in #EASActive & I’ll have them all. How close is everyone else to getting all of the trophies? #
• 9 #EASActive trophies left to collect: Fitness Superstar, 30 Day Champion, Checking In, Volleyball Champ, Fists of Fitness… #
• … Goal Achiever, Fuel for the Fire, 50 Strong & Ten out of Ten. #EASActive #
• Did a very long run on Hard. 5 times around the track? Insanity! #EASActive #
• People give their kids Lupron to “treat” Autism? Really? It’s a nasty drug meant for advanced prostrate cancer. Kids shouldn’t be taking it! #
• So tired. Why can’t adults have nap time too? #
• RT @mike_elgan: Iran gov. uses photoshop to boost pro-gov crowds http://bit.ly/E09Vv (like they did before w/ missiles http://bit.ly/pIymw). #
• Called tailor about suit alterations. Seamstress there M-F to 2:30pm. How can I get my suits altered (so I can go to work) when I work 8-5?! #
• #helpiranelection – show support for democracy in Iran add green overlay to your Twitter avatar with 1-click – http://helpiranelection.com/ #
• Got 3 more trophies last night on #EASActive. 1 for completing 3 goals, 1 for boxing, & 1 for volleyball. Only have 6 trophies left. #
• RT @RustyJay: I would have never guessed! Firefox 3 will become the most popular web browser in a few days. http://is.gd/15pm3 #
• Sometimes I’m amazed by people’s follower choices. I mention #EASActive volleyball & a volleyball fan follows me. Not complaining, mind you. #
• For the record, though I rarely play it nowadays, I like playing actual volleyball. Was one of the only sports I had actual skills in. #
• Don’t know why or how, but I was always able to serve that ball exactly where I wanted it to go. #
• Really? A Montana city wants job applicants to give “all current personal or business websites” w/ usernames & passwords? http://is.gd/15ytP #
• Exhausted, feel like I’m going to pass out, but going to do my #EASActive workout. Need to get rid of some stress anyway. #
• Ok, #EASActive workout done. Now I just need to empty the dishwasher, clean up the dishes in the sink & get to bed sometime before midnight. #
• Dishwasher cleaned & refilled. Even cleaned off the stovetop. Now it’s time to *thud* *zzzzzzzzzz* #
• What’s up with @twitterparents retweeting so many anti-circumcision posts? #twitterparents #
• Anyone know of any good dad forums/message boards? #
• Trying to think of good places to go out for Father’s Day lunch. We’re going to do pizza & wings w/ B’s parents for dinner. #
• I wanted something a little more special for dad’s day so we’re going out to lunch. Need to figure out a good place that’s kid friendly. #
• Parenting.com has tabs for fertility, pregnancy, baby, toddler, child, mom, recipes, activities, gear & community. Where’s the Dad tab? WTH? #
• Pixar grants dying 10 yr old girl’s wish to see “Up.” She was too sick to go to a theater & died 7hrs later. http://is.gd/16oOt #
• Thinking of unfollowing #TwitterParents if this anti-circumcision BS continues. #
• I think the week has drained me. Feeling no motivation right now. Got to try to force myself to finish up some stuff. #
• 30 circ deaths listed by anti-circ folks. Of those 3 were before 1980 (1910? Really?). 2 died of non-circ injuries (suicide/beaten)… #
• …Make that 3 from non-circ, 10 from possible illegal initiation schools and 1 by herpes contracted by the mohel. That leaves 13. #
• Ok, did a proper recount: 3 before 1980, 11 from South Africa (possible “initiation school”), 3 non-circ deaths…. #
• …1 from herpes tangentially related to circ (contracted from mohel). That leaves 12 deaths over a 26 year span. Not exactly an epidemic. #
• Trying to focus on work since I’m really angry about a few things right now. #
• To anti-circ tweeters: It’s obvious neither of us will sway the other & it’s fri afternoon. I’m not replying to any more anti-circ tweets. #
• Walking with Dinosaurs Live was amazing. Dinosaurs were so lifelike! Any more lifelike and audience members would have been gobbled up! #

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I’ll admit it. I’m a bit of a nerd. (Ok, a huge nerd.) I grew up with not much in the way of social contact between myself and other people. In fact, my social contacts were just as likely to be a source of stress (kids making fun of me, awkwardness around girls, etc) as a source of serenity.  Recently, though, I’ve noticed that I’ve been feeling isolated and craving human interaction. 

When B and I got engaged, we lived pretty far apart.  We talked it over and decided that I should move to be closer to her.  So I left my life in my home town, with my then-job/then-co-workers, my friends, my parents, etc and moved to be closer to her.  I don’t regret that decision. B’s family is great and I like it here, but there are times when I miss having my own friends and family nearby. 

It doesn’t help that my work involves me sitting behind a computer for 8 hours a day, in an office with little to no human contact.  My office has no windows, so I just look at four walls all day (when I’m not looking at my computer screen).  In addition, my office is in the back of the server room, so I need to close my door lest the air conditioning freeze me out.  There are many days whenI don’t say more than "hi" to people face-to-face.  (Instant messaging or phone conversations don’t really count.)   When I come home, I need to instantly transition from Work-TechyDad to Dad-And-Father-TechyDad.  There honestly doesn’t seem like I have any time to just be TechyDad.

Recently, Discovering Dad wrote an article called Making Friends Like a Man.  In it, he laments not being able to make more guy friends.  I can completely sympathize.  Where we live, my wife is near to at least two of her friends.  She can decide that she wants to go out with one of them to see a movie, have dinner, or just vent about something.  I can go out with… well, nobody really.  I’ve lived here for seven and a half years now and I still don’t have a single friend that I can just go catch a flick with or talk with.  My life revolves around going to work and being a dad/husband.  As much as I like my job and as much as I like being a dad/husband, there are times when I wish I could take a short break from it all and just be myself with a friend or two.

B recently told me that she’ll be heading out one night with a friend of hers to catch an upcoming movie that they wanted to see.  I lamented that I couldn’t do the same to see, say Star Trek.  B told me that I could go with her father or her friend (who likes Star Trek also), but I said no.  I don’t want to go out with her family or her friends.  I want friends of my own.  However, I’m completely clueless how to remedy the situation.

Do you have many friends outside of work/family?  If so, where do you go to socialize/make friends?  If not, do you ever feel isolated?

• Last night did the medium level workout in EA Sports Active 30 Day Challenge. Squats were killer, but the rest wasn’t too bad. #easactive #
• Not a good sign. Trying to free up laptop disk space by copying files to upstairs computer which errors out. Hope drive isn’t dying. #
• Not good. The hard drive’s saying Delayed Write Failed. Think I’ll go upstairs, unplug the drive, plug it back in & pray that fixes it. #
• Oddly enough the root file/folder listing shows up. The drive has some videos & MP3s which could be recreated/replaced. #
• Biggest issue is that there are old NHL videos on there. I still have the original tapes, but I’d rather not have to locate/re-rip them. #
• Bad news on that hard drive. Tried to do a chkdsk & it said “cannot access volume”. Need to see if its the cable or drive that’s died. #
• #crapsuperpowers The ability to fly at speeds of 5mph coupled with an intense fear of heights that keeps you below 6 feet off the ground. #
• Looks like it’s going to be a “productive” day. My laptop’s already freezing up instead of letting me do any work. *sigh* #
• Just realized we’re going to be out of town for one of our EA Sports ACTIVE workouts. Not sure what we should do. #easactive #
• They have a Wii where we’re going, but it wouldn’t have our profiles. Could bring our Wii also but that seems like overkill. #easactive #
• With the hard drive failure, the major thing we’d lose would be our MP3s. Have some on my laptop. Could re-rip CDs to get the rest back. #
• The irony is that I told my sister just a few wks ago that HDs don’t “wear out & need replacement” every 5yrs like a computer tech told her. #
• Still don’t think they do. They fail unexpectedly, not at 5yrs, but it’s ironic how I was touting HD long life & now this drive goes funky. #
• Must be the end of a long day. My computer doesn’t want to respond quickly. #
• Trying to restore my malfunctioning hard drive. Would rather be working out on EA Sports ACTIVE. #easactive #
• Trying Zero Assumption Recovery. Hoping that will fix my funky hard drive & recover the data. #
• Rats. Clicked the wrong thing and now Zero Assumption Recovery is locked up. Might need to kill the task and try again. #
• Ok, this hard drive repair is driving me batty. Think I need to de-stress by doing my EA Sports ACTIVE30 Day Challenge workout. #easactive #
• Time to get ready for bed. Make that way past time to go to bed. I’ve *GOT* to start going to bed earlier. #
• Am I awake yet? Got to bed late last night trying to fix malfunctioning hard drive. Then couldn’t fall asleep. Working on only 4hrs sleep. #
• *thud* *zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz* #
• Trying to find the motivation to do work is tough when you’re operating on very little sleep. #
• Think I’ll go ask our computer techs here about my malfunctioning hard drive & if there’s any chance of data recovery. #
• Also should check my external hard drive that has the backed up NHL videos. Make sure those videos are good copies. #
• If they are, then the only thing I’d lose is our MP3 collection. That could be “recovered” by re-ripping CDs. #
• Found a lot of MP3s backed up on our external hard drive. Consolidating them into one location. Should reduce sting if HD is indeed dead. #
• Testing movies of NHL. They work. It’s odd watching baby NHL on-screen knowing that he’s my 5 year old big boy now. #
• Might need to replace dying hard drive. Complication: I need a new scanner for photo scanning project. Not sure we can afford both now. #
• Scanner costs ~$130. New hard drive costs ~$55. I could spend more & get a network HD so our desktop computer doesn’t need to be on 24/7. #
• That would be more money short-term, but could save us on the power bill. #
• Thinking of buying a new wireless router w/ USB ports ($45). Can then plug in a USB HD & our printer & share them w/o having a computer on. #
• Cost: Router $45, USB HD Enclosure $16, HD $58. Total: $119. Add in the scanner I want ($130) & we’d be buying ~$250 in computer gear. #
• Could save $8 by going with a Hitachi drive instead of a Western Digital drive. #
• Apparently, the enclosure I was looking at costs $7 to ship. That might make a pre-built USB hard drive cheaper. Wonder what BJ’s has. #
• NHL celebrating his B-Day in school tomorrow. Teacher says if he has more than 1 warning he doesn’t get to have 1 of his own cupcakes. WTF?! #
• My mistake. It’s if he has 3 warnings. Not 2 or more. #
• HuffingtonPost doesn’t clearly separate James Von Brunn’s quoted views from their own article. Least not on my screen. http://bit.ly/4zqVs #
• Reports coming in that security guard shot at Holocaust Museum has died. I hope that von Brunn survives only so he can pay for his crimes. #
• Plus, a quick death seems too good for him. Need to find a good Yiddish curse to apply to von Brunn #
• Regarding James von Brunn, Vifil yor er iz gegangn oyf di fis zol er geyn af di hent un di iberike zol er zikh sharn oyf di hintn. #
• “As many years as he’s walked on his feet, let him walk on his hands, and for the rest of the time he should crawl along on his ass.” #
• Or how about “Gut zol oyf im onshikn fin di tsen makes di beste.” (God should visit upon him the best of the Ten Plagues.) #
• I’m not usually the type to wish suffering on others, but for people like James von Brunn, I make exceptions. #
• This page is my source of Yiddish curses. http://bit.ly/nM2qp May each one happen to James von Brunn. #
• My favorite Yiddish curse: “Migulgl zol er vern in a henglayhter, by tog zol er hengen, un bay nakht zol er brenen.” #
• Translation: “He should be transformed into a chandelier, to hang by day and to burn by night.” #
• Just made some hard boiled eggs for tomorrow’s breakfast. Going to do my 30 day challenge soon then it’s off to sleep. #easactive #
• Just learned that Novell doesn’t support iChain anymore. Used it as a passthrough/eDirectory auth. Anyone know any good iChain replacements? #
• Tech just hooked up malfunctioning HD. Folders/Files visible. Tried to copy some. Drive went *click* *click* *click*. Not good at all. #
• That would be the sound of physical damage to the hard drive. This drive is kaput. #
• Firefox keeps crashing on me. Think it’s an extension. Going to try to disable it before it crashes again. Hoping to save all my open tabs. #
• This woman needs a reality dose: http://bit.ly/w5X8j “Did these scientists talk to the moon? … Ask her permission?” The moon’s not alive! #
• Grabbed wooden pallets to use at home (keep stuff in basement dry). For now they’re crowding my office. Think I’ll build a TechyDad-fort! #
• My wife (@TheAngelForever) is an EA Sports ACTIVE dancing machine! #EASActive #
• Attempts to go to sleep early last night & get a good night’s sleep were thwarted. #
• 1st, couldn’t fall asleep. Then, NHL woke up in the middle of the night needing to go potty. After that we got a 5yr old visitor in our bed. #
• Driving in, a mystery light on my dashboard lit up. I looked it up in my owner’s manual. Was a tire pressure sensor saying my tires were low #
• Really bad headache today. Not sure if it’s allergies, lack of sleep, or what. Going to find some advil to take. #
• Wondering if you do a 30 Day Challenge workout on a rest day, do you get ahead 1 day? Would be useful for when we’re out of town. #EASActive #
• Wondering if anyone would miss me if I shut my door and took a 2 hour nap. *thud* *zzzzzzzzzzzz* #
• Any web developers out there? How do you have a menu so long it flows off the page? Any #JQuery plugins for this? (Using jd_menu right now.) #

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The recent Holocaust Museum shooting and the focus on White Supremacist James W. von Brunn has brought up a lot of memories for me.  Being Jewish, I’ve dealt with bigotry a few times in my life.  The first time I encountered it was sitting in the hall in school with a friend of mine.  He introduced me to another friend of his.  This guy, knowing that I was Jewish, starting spouting off some very anti-semetic things such as "Hitler should have finished the job" and such.  Now, I’m not usually a violent person, but my friend had to restrain me from decking this guy right in his hate-filled mouth.  My friend apologized and tried to claim that the guy was a nice guy despite his views.  I didn’t care.  I didn’t want to be associated with anyone like that.

My next experiece dealing with hate came from within.  I was sitting in my high school Biology class talking with some classmates.  We were joking around and I make a joke regarding Jehova’s Witnesses.  Someone else in my class turned to me and said "I’m a Jehova’s Witness."  Now, I don’t know if he was serious or what, but his words hit home.  I suddenly realized that I wouldn’t like it if people were making bad jokes as the expense of Jews.  So why was it alright for me to make bad jokes at the expense of someone else’s religion?  (Of course, the answer is that it wasn’t.)

This led me to "discover" that my father was quite bigoted.  I don’t think I quite noticed it before, but he was.  He’d make comments about "modern" (for the time) music being "whites listening to black music when it should be the other way around."  He’d see a black man walking in our general neighborhood and wonder "what’s he doing here?"  That sort of stuff.  He didn’t hate other groups per se.  He just thought less of them because they weren’t like him.  Growing up with that kind of attitude is infectious.  It takes a conscious effort to break the cycle, but after that Biology class remark, I made that effort.  I won’t say that I’m 100% free of my father’s prejudices, but I recognize them whenever they try to bubble up (a rare event nowadays) and actively push them from my mind.

My third experience came during college.  A friend of mine, who worked for the school paper, leaned over to me during class and told me not to get upset.  Apparently, the paper was approached to run an add and they accepted it.  The ad, actually a 27 page insert called "The Revisionist", was from a man named Bradley R. Smith and detailed how the Holocaust never happened.  He seriously claimed that not a single Jew was gassed to death by the Nazis, but instead Jews made up the Holocaust to gain sympathy.  Needless to say, I was enraged.

The paper’s editors tried to justify the printing of the 27 page "ad" by saying that he has a right to free speech and that they were simply presenting both sides of the argument.  My response was that, while he had a right to free speech, they had no responsibility to promote his speech.  Their decision to do so was their own, not born of any Constitutional necessity.  In addition, there are no "two sides" and there is no argument.  The Holocaust happened, the evidence for it is clear and its historical authenticity was proven long ago.  Would the paper, I asked, run an ad claiming that slavery never happened and blacks were always treated nice by every white guy they encountered because it "would be presenting both sides" and it would be giving the ad’s authors "their right to free speech"?

My college’s Hillel chapter ran a counter-campaign and I, and others, wrote letters to the school newspaper lambasting them for giving a voice to this Holocaust Denier.  Some others also wrote letters.  One, outragously, claimed that those who died during the Holocaust would be happy to see that we are arguing over whether it actually happened.

During my college years, I also had the opportunity to visit the Holocaust Museum in Washington, DC.  It had many powerful exhibits like having to walk under the "Work Makes One Free" sign that once marked the enterence to a concentration camp or the room filled with shoes.  When I entered one of the cattle cars used to transport Jews to the camps, my mind tried to picture fitting as many people inside of it as the sign indicated the Nazis stuffed in there.  It just couldn’t grasp how they all fit in.  Of course, I realized, that was because I was thinking of fitting *people* inside.  To the Nazis, they were stuffing in beings that were worse than animals so they didn’t care how atrocious conditions were in the car.  My mind was being limited by my own humanity.  (Thank goodness!)

The most powerful exhibit, however, was surprisingly one meant for children.  It was called Daniel’s Story.  In it, you walk into the life of a little Jewish boy named Daniel just as the Nazis came to power.  His life seems pretty normal as first, but as you progress through his life (by moving from room to room), Nazis intrude into his life.  At first, it is just small things like having to wear a yellow star, but you end up staring at the entrance to a concentration camp.  The exhibit masterfully connected you emotionally to Daniel, so when the tragic ending occurred, it hit me hard.  I’m not one to cry in public, but I was extremely near tears.  Only a odd fluke that I found mildly humorous (a letter by a child hanging on the wall who the same name as me) kept me from breaking down completely.

In addition, I found a renewed reason not to hate others different from myself while in the Holocaust Museum.  One section described how Hitler approached a group of Jehovah’s Witnesses.  To simplify matters, he basically told them to keep out of his way while he killed the Jews and they would be left alone.  They, however, didn’t think it was right and opposed him.  For their opposition, they were put in concentration camps and killed.  From this I learned that, despite your differences with someone, you should always try to find the good in them.

Unfortunately, I just can’t find any good in James von Brunn or in people like him who turn their hate-filled views into violence.  I hope he survives his injuries only because he deserves to be tried and convicted of murder and locked away for the rest of his life.  My condolences go out to the family of the slain guard and my thanks to out to him and the other guards who kept this tragedy limited to only one life lost.  Had they not reacted as quickly as they did, more innocent lives could have been lost to this madman.  I think an appropriate response to James von Brunn’s hate is information.  Where there is ignorance, hatred thrives.  We should all strive to learn more, whether it be about a group of people who are different than us or about an event in history that we don’t know all the details about.  The more we learn, the more the light of knowledge shines, driving hatred into the ever decreasing shadows.

When we last left our intrepid Disney World vacationers, they were headed for the Tower of Terror.  As you may or may not know, the Tower of Terror is basically a thirteen story elevator shaft that you get dropped down – repeatedly.  Now, I have a fear of falling.  Not heights, just falling.  I’m fine behind the window of a 20th story building, but put me on the edge of a 2nd story balcony and I get nervous.  Naturally, then, a ride whose sole purpose is to make you fall multiple stories over and over wouldn’t appeal to me.  Indeed, when we went to Disney World in 2001 for our honeymoon, I refused to ride on it with B.  Why did I go on it this time, then?  Simple, because NHL had declared that he was going on it and I couldn’t let my 5 year old show me up.  Macho pride prevailed over plummeting phobia.

Nevertheless, I began to get nervous as we wound our way through the corridors, past the "story room" (where the back-story to the Tower of Terror is revealed) to our elevator.  I was quite happy to see the seats, actually.  For some reason, I thought that we would be standing when we dropped.  In hindsight, it was a stupid thing to think.  Imagine the liability of dropping an elevator full of standing (read: not buckled in) people even 2 stories.  Disney would be paying out millions in injured back, broken bone, and whiplash claims.  So we sat in our seats and I braced myself.  At first, we went up slowly and were "treated" to some more setup story.  There were ghosts, thousands of stars, and lots of other creepiness which served as a distraction to the fact that you were climbing ridiculously high up.  Finally, we were shown that we were, indeed, high in the air.  Then, we weren’t.  We plummeted down and I tried (unsuccessfully, I think) not to scream.  Then we shot back up again.  And I mean shot.  This was no mere elevator rising, but more along the lines of "falling up."  Then we fell back down again.  Then back up again.  Then back down and up.  Then, finally, back down.

Eventually, our elevator car came to rest and the doors opened to let us out.  The only reason my legs consented to carry me out was that, had they refused, I’d likely be forced to go up and down a few more times.  As I struggled to walk normally, I asked NHL if he thought it was scary.  He didn’t think so.  He didn’t want to go back on, but he wasn’t scared.  That tears it.  My son is braver than me when it comes to rides.  (This much I’ve known for quite some time.)

After we got off the ride, we met with B, B’s mother, and a now-awake JSL in front of the Beauty and the Beast stage show.  We quickly took our seats and while I fed JSL an apple (he missed lunch while sleeping, remember), the show began with a loud *BONG*.  A *VERY* loud *BONG*.  Everyone jumped and JSL got quite afraid.  They soon stopped the show, announced some technical difficulties and had us wait while they fixed them.  A few minutes later, we were watching a "tale as old as time, song as old as rhyme."  The show itself was quite nice, touching on all of the major points of the movie while cutting it down to stage show length.  Some things were cut, of course, such as Belle’s father.  She was just said to have wound up at the castle due to "an amazing series of events."  The only remnent of Belle’s father in the stage show is a line from the movie where the Beasts’ servents say that Belle has lost her father and freedom in the same day.

After the stage show, B and her father went on the Rockin’ Roller Coaster again.  We stayed to see the photo taken during the ride, got our photo taken in front of the guitar, and then headed right for The Little Mermaid show.  This show was indoors (always nice to get out of the hot Florida sun) and the boys enjoyed the songs and story.  It was over pretty quickly and, after a little shopping, we headed for the 50′s Prime Time Cafe for dinner.

This restaurant was quite appropriate for Mother’s Day dinner as the whole setup is that you’re sitting down for dinner at "mom’s house" circa 1950.  The waiting area has a bunch of old black and white TVs for you to watch and old-style furniture.  Your server takes the role of "Mom", telling you to keep your elbows off the table, eat all of your vegetables, set the table (take the napkins and silverware from a central backet and place them out) and do your homework (decide what to order).  It was quite funny to watch one of the cast members (pretending to be a cousin, I think), doing the "airplane manuver" to get a woman at another table to eat her veggies.  (They don’t push it too far, of course.  Just enough to be funny.)

After our dinner with "Mom", we headed to Downtown Disney to do some shopping.  Here is where NHL finally got to see the long-promised World of Disney.  If you have never been there, the World of Disney is the world’s largest Disney store.  The shop is so large, that I’ve gotten lost in it.  You get turned around and can’t figure out which way you turn to get to Plush Animals from Mensware.  After the World of Disney, we stopped by Goofy’s Candy Shop, but didn’t buy anything there.  Finally, exhausted, we made our way back to the hotel for a good night’s sleep.

• About to start EA Sports ACTIVE 30 day challenge with @TheAngelForever #
• RT @TheAngelForever (about EA Sports ACTIVE): @kileigh7 Oh it will make you burn and burn and burn! #
• RT @mike_elgan: Some people have waaay too much free time. Gummi Bear Surgery? http://bit.ly/KOCD7 #
• Couldn’t get more than 1 trick on inline skating (EA Sports ACTIVE). @TheAngelForever got 9 of 9 tricks! Both proud & jealous of her! #
• EA Sports ACTIVE tires out my muscles and, for some weird reason, makes me hungry. My muscles, however, refuse to drag me to the kitchen. #
• Inline skating update. @TheAngelForever went 18 for 18. I went 1 for 18. Her comment: “Maybe my short stature works for something.” #
• Finished 4 out of 5 Disney Photo Pass photo sections. Only 52 more photos in Epcot to process… But first, a strawberry smoothie. #
• Forget the smoothie… too much work for my tired body. Strawberries & whipped cream is all my body will consent to prepare. #
• Why can’t we have naptime when we’re grownups? My body is aching for a nap or 3. Muscles are tired & they’re dragging my brain down w/ them. #
• I’d like to thank the EA Sports ACTIVE crew for making a great workout. My muscles want to strangle them, but just ignore them. #easactive #
• Why is my computer locking up? Maybe because Firefox is taking up 430MB of memory? #
• Working on our Disney Photo Pass photos. Only have 20 more to process and then we order the Photo CD. #
• Just have photos of us with Donald and us with Goofy left. #
• Really should head to sleep, but I just need to add a couple more borders to these Disney Photo Pass photos. #
• Down to only the Goofy photos. Not going to do them tonight, though. Too tired. I think I can finish up the remaining 12 photos tomorrow. #
• Time for some sleep. Good night all! #
• RT @SouthwestAir Southwest has virtual queuing! Callers can hang up phone, keep place, & get call back when agent avail! http://bit.ly/cehot #
• Someone in a meeting mentioned they had a big project scanning tons of photos & it was becoming a headache. I told them about @ScanMyPhotos. #
• They were delighted that their project was going to become much easier to complete. #
• Also told her about Winkflash photobooks & the flat rate sale they have every so often. She was very happy. (Meeting wasn’t about photos.) #
• “Live Action” breakout: http://bit.ly/5RTcF
  I wonder how long did it took to make this (and the loading sequence). #
• Walking With Dinosaurs is coming near us. Was thinking of taking NHL, but then I checked out the ticket prices. $30-60/ticket? No thank you! #
• I’m in the boys’ room trying to get them to go to sleep while @TheAngelForever works out. Boys are going beserk & won’t settle down. #
• RT @ehomeupgrade: Xtreamer HDD Media Player / Streamer Hits the Scene http://ff.im/-3wcRV <= $197 for everything except HDD, sounds great. #
• Add in this 250GB HDD for $60 & you have a complete media center for only $260! (Now if only I could convince @TheAngelForever we need this) #
• Boys slowly calming down/settling. Not close to sleeping yet, though. #
• My laptop battery only has 25 more mins of charge. Who will last longer, the boys or my battery? Taking bets now! #
• JSL stands up & refuses to lay down. “Do you want daddy to go bye-bye?” “Nooo! *flop on pillow*” #
• 19 minutes left on my battery. Boys are slowly calming down more. My money’s on the boys outlasting the battery. #
• 100 Photopass photos down. 4 to go. Hoping to get at least one done before my battery dies on me. #
• 2 of the remaining 4 Disney PhotoPass photos done. Only 7 mins left on my battery. Going to concede & put my laptop in other room to charge. #
• Boys are finally asleep. Time for me to finish up the Disney PhotoPass photos and then sew some buttons back on my suits. #
• Last Disney PhotoPass photo’s last border done. We started w/ 104 photos. Now at 512 w/ all the borders applied. Now to order the PhotoCD. #
• Maybe I *won’t* order the Disney PhotoPass CD now. When I pre-ordered, it said Express Shipping was included. Now it’s adding $7 shipping. #
• I’ll call tomorrow to question the shipping charge. For now, I need a snack & then need to sew buttons. #
• Time for bed. I’m going to sleep early tonight: 11:30! #
• Called Disney PhotoPass & cleared up the shipping issue. The free PhotoCD preorder shipping is because they just “ship” you an e-mail. #
• When the actual Disney PhotoPass PhotoCD is ordered, they add in the cost to ship the CD ($7 for standard, $11 for express). #
• RT @mike_elgan: Someone found two bullets that collided in mid-air during a war in 1854. http://bit.ly/22Bd5o <= Mythbusters did this once. #
• RT @thinkgeek: Your dad’s a tool! Wait. We meant, you should win your dad a tool: http://cli.gs/bqWXrW <= This Swiss Army Knife’s insane! #
• RT @OwenC: The problem with fitting something genius in 140chars is that noone can retweet it in it’s entirety #
• Eating a hard boiled egg & wondering if it is possible to “hard boil” egg substitute (or egg white from a carton) to lower calories/fat. #
• I’ve drank 32oz of water in about an hour and a half. Still thirsty. That reminds me, I need to call about my blood sugar test results. #
• Called my doctor an hour ago to get the results of the blood test I took a week ago. Wonder how long it’ll take them to call me back. #
• I addition to #easactive Day 4 last night, I did a custom workout. Running, dancing, boxing & inline skating. Was good, but needs tweaking. #
• Is it 4:30 yet? *checks clock* No, but almost. #
• Is it bad that I wish I wasn’t at work right now, but working out w/ EA Sports ACTIVE? I think I’m addicted to #easactive workouts! #
• After doing her normal 30 day challenge workout & a custom one she just made, @TheAngelForever is glistening! #easactive #
• This stinks. In the middle of my EA Sports Active workout (11 of 18), the Wii fell off its perch & reset. Now I have to start all over. #
• The Wii is ok. Was caught by its own cords. But one vital cord came out & reset the Wii. Our running causes too many floor vibrations. #
• Looked at a local photo scanning service. $0.95/photo+$5.99. 262 photos’d be $255. At that price, I’ll buy a new scanner & do it myself. #
• EA Sports Active workout got me so tired today that I can’t even sit. Twittering & web browsing from the floor. #easactive #
• Looking through my Grandma’s photos, I found a really old one (1800′s) of my great-grandma w/ Russian text on back. Can anyone read Russian? #
• I took 2 years of Russian in college but promptly forgot everything the day after my last Russian final. #
• RT @BadAstronomer: Homeopathy kills. http://tr.im/nyt0 <= Awful story of a child dying from eczema… yes, eczema! #

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