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Originally uploaded by psychoandy

New Phone Mark!

So I haven't updated in awhile, but I thought I would pass along some (techy geeky) exciting news!

I have broken up with my Storm 9530, and have picked up a Droid X!

I ordered it on Launch day, and got it a few days later.  So far...I love it.

While I got used to the quirkiness of the Storm, I was noticing the annoyances that finally got me to pull the trigger on a new phone:

1. Not being able to load up more than 5 apps in the shared RAM/app storage memory.


2. Not having Wi-Fi for those times when I'm not in a good data range, like half the areas in URMC.


3. Not having good Exchange support OUTSIDE of using BES.

I'll write more later, but now I'm getting tired from driving back from Albany in the crazy rain!

Testing video upload.

Testing android upload of video

My little girl

She makes me smile

Latest Loaf

Here's a look at my latest loaf. It is a celebration challah loaf that I put together last night. I am calling it leaning manny loaf.

I am really thinking about starting the challenge back up, but right now I don't have the time to be baking all weekend. Maybe I'll modify it so i am only making corn and dairy free instead of that plus the exact recipe. We'll see.

What's Proofing

Here's a quick look at what's on the schedule for tomorrow's baking:

• Sunday dinner bread (Biga prepped)


• Biga for Daily bread (Biga prepped)


• Pizza dough for calzones


• Cranberry scones

It seems like a lot, but I should be able to knock the four loaves of bread (Sunday/Daily) at once, and the pizza dough will take about 15 minutes, and then into the fridge it goes!  The scones will be interesting, as it will be my first attempt at them...I think they'll be tasty!

I still need to figure out what to do with the giant bag of frozen cherries in my fridge...suggestions?

Baking Update

I know it has been quite some time since I updated with baking news, but I wanted to let all (three?) of you know, I BAKED this past weekend!

I ended up making some Italian bread (using a Biga) and some Cherry turnovers on Father's Day. (Hey, some dads want to relax and have a cold one, while I prefer making it nice and hot in the kitchen first).

I think both came out fairly tasty.

I think I'm going to tackle scones and sandwich bread this weekend...as I am craving one and needing the other.

Move successful!

So we survived the move! We are slowly adjusting to life back in our hometown. It is weird to se many things that I remember growing up either surrounded by new buildings or just missing.

The stress of the new job and getting used to the new place has me a bit on edge. I'm hopping that in time, it will get better. I baked a few loaves of weekly bread on sunday and that was good. I plan on researching a new brew that I hope to start next week.

Here's to making a new brew and continuing the BBA challenge!

lack of posts

Well, as you may have noticed, there has been a significant lack of posts lately. I assure you, there is a good reason...

I got a new job! This new job is in my old stomping grounds, which means I need to move! We've been furiously packing and getting ready for move day (friday/saturday). Next week, in the chaos of unpacking, I'll try to get some updates in.

See you on the other side!

Back to norm next week?

With Easter and a bunch of work and other thing popping up, I haven't been able to get blogging bumped up in the prioirity list. Hopefully after this weeken things will return to normal.

I will also comment on the htc incredible....dreamy!

Crazy week!

This week has been non stop fun.  Lots of work "things" happening, trying to recover from Easter weekend makes for a tiring week.

I had a really great time at my Mom's for Easter.  I actually ended up baking a challenge bread without really meaning to, so I'll get that written up tomorrow (I hope).

The plan for this weekend: Get a new Bed!

No challenge this week

Howdy Bread lovers!

There won't be a challenge this week, as I will be out of town for Easter Fun!  I will still be making bread, but not in a challenge-y way.

I will be making Lambropsomo, Lefse, and hopefully dinner rolls.  I will get some pictures and post them..as long as the loaves turn out ok :)

I made the list up BEFORE I checked the weather forecast.  Thankfully, most of the breads take a few hours to proof, which means I'll be able to spend some time with family outside, and make delicious foods for our easter dinner.

See you next week!

BBA Challenge Round 8: Cinnamon Raisin Walnut Bread

The Challenge Bread

[caption id="" align="alignnone" width="500" caption="Mmm...Delicious bread of nutty raisin-y goodness"][/caption]

This week, we're making Cinnamon Raisin Walnut Bread!

Round 8 is done!

Well I finished up the Cinnamon Raisin Walnut Bread on Sunday, and I'll get the post up later this week.

I think I might slow it down a bit, as baking a challenge loaf every weeks means I don't get a chance to make "normal" bread.  I'll still try to post once a week, but I'll probably start talking about the challenges I'm facing (bread not rising as well as it used to) and how I plan to attack them (check yeast, ensure good kneading).

Hopefully, this blog will not only talk about what I'm doing with bread baking, but about baking in general and how to fit it in to a busy lifestyle.

Bread on!

BBA Challenge Round 7: Cinnamon Rolls

The Challenge Bread

This week, we're making Cinnamon Rolls!



[caption id="" align="alignnone" width="374" caption="What's left of the Rolls after ONE day..."][/caption]

BBA Challenge Round 6: Ciabatta

The Challenge Bread

This week, we're making Ciabatta.

A Little History

I first remember having Ciabatta about eight years ago, when I ordered a sandwich and they asked me if I wanted it on Ciabatta...not knowing what it was I just agreed that is sounded good.  It is now one of my favorite breads to eat (and now make!)

The Ingredients

I went with the Poolish version of this recipe, as I haven't really made anything with a poolish yet:

• Poolish
  
  
  
  • Bread Flous
  
  
  • Water
  
  
  • Yeast
  
  
  
  


• Bread Flour


• Salt


• yeast


• Water

Corn/Dairy Free changes

Since this a Primary loaf, there isn't much to it, hence no corn or dairy.  The taste and character comes from the baking.

The Shaping

The night before the baking, I made up the poolish and let it ferment in the fridge overnight.  This allows the yeast more time to break down the flour into delicious gluten.  The next day, I combined the ingredients with the poolish.  The dough is very wet and can be hard to work with.  The wetter, the harder, but the bigger the air pocket are.

Once I was done kneading the dough, I transferred it to the Generously floured counter.  I shaped the dough into a rough rectangle.  I then sprinkled another generous portion  of flour on top of the loaf.  Then, grabbing opposite ends of the dough,  I picked it up, and let it stretch to about twice the original size.  I placed it back down on the counter, and folded it up like a letter.  I lightly misted it with oil, covered it in plastic, and let it rest for 30 minutes.  I then did another stretching session.

After the stretching, I took a heavy Towel and setup a couche: a floured towel used to create crusty breads.  I let the loaves proof until they had "noticeably swelled."

The Baking

I preheated the oven to 500 degrees.  I put a cookie sheet on the topmost oven rack, while moving the other rack to the lowest setting.  Once the oven was up to temp, I put a cup of hot water into the steam pan, and put the loaves on the lowest rack.  After 30 seconds, I opened the oven, and sprayed the sides with water to generate more steam.  I did this twice more at 30 second intervals, and then turned the oven down to 450 degrees.  I baked the loaves for 10 minutes, and then rotated them 180 degrees and continued to bake them until they reached an internal temperature of 205.   I then placed them on a cooling rack for about an hour.

Results and My Final Thoughts/Notes

The end result was good.  The crust was fairly crusty, but not too hard.  I didn't get as big of air pockets as I wanted, but they were pretty good.

Again, I think one of the main things I learned this week would be timing.  I think I let the dough sit more than 30 minutes, as it kind of swelled out and almost off the pan!  Then, I think I over compensated and didn't let the loaves proof long enough on the couche.

As the saying goes, there's no bad homemade bread....unless it burnt.

Up Next…

Next week, we're making Cinnamon Rolls!

Comments? Suggestions?

So what do you think? Sound good?  Anything I should change/do better?

First BBA fail!

I had my first fail this weekend with regards to the challenge! This weekend I was attempting to make ciabatta and bought yeast since I was up in Rochester for the weekend. I left the loaf in the sun for a couple of hours to let it rise. I came back and reized the loaf had not changed shape or size.

So here's my tip of the week: check the date on your yeast BEFORE you start baking.

I'll be making a second attempt this weekend to NOT h e a fail.

Stay tuned!!

Let's go Ciabatta!

I'm working on the Ciabatta right now, so hopefully I'll have some news shortly!

BBA Challenge Round 5: Challah

The Challenge Bread

This week, we're making Challah.

A Little History

Challah is a Jewish celebration bread.  It is braided and sometimes a braid will be placed on top of a larger braid for a big celebration loaf.

The Ingredients

This one is pretty straight forward:

• Bread Flour


• sugar


• Salf


• yeast


• Vegetable oil


• whole eggs


• egg yolks


• Water

Make sure to save the egg whites to use as an egg wash later on.  I just put them in a bowl and covered it with plastic wrap and put it in the refrigerator while I prepped the loaves.

Corn/Dairy Free changes

There are no diary or corn ingredients in this bread.  No changes!

The Shaping

This is the first loaf that has required "real" shaping.  On the first non Giant celebration loaf, I took the dough and split it into three equal pieces.  This is where the scale was handy: Just because two pieces looked about the same, they often weren't.  I took the pieces, and shaped them into Boules, and let them rest for ten minutes under a towel.

After the mandatory rest period, I began shaping them into nice, long ropes of dough.  I started by rolling them on the table, slowly pushing them out from the center of the dough mass.  I that mostly worked, but I experimented with other methods as well.  I tried holding the dough "upright" and rubbing my hands like I was trying to warm them up, letting gravity pull the dough down.  That didn't work as well as the horizontal roll, but it wasn't bad.    The last method I tried was holding the dough with my hands at nine and three o'clock and slowly shaking the dough like you to a vending machine trying to get your stuck Doritos to fall.  While shaking, I slowly pulled the dough out, eventually ending up with my hands about three to four feet apart.  That seemed to be the best method on that day.

After I had three equal length ropes, I began my braiding from the center of soon-to-be loaf.  I braided down until I couldn't effectively make more cross over manuvers.  I then rotated the loaf and did it to the other side.  When I flipped the loaf, I needed to invert my braiding method: instead of taking the rope on the left and brining it over the top of the middle rope on its way to the right side, I needed to put it under the middle rope to keep the braid looking neat and not end up with a funky bump in the middle.  It took my brain a couple of attempts before I finally got it right.  I think it ended up looking pretty good for my first attempt.

The Celebration was very similar, but instead of one braid there were two: one on top that was half the size of the bottom loaf.  I did this by taking the dough and cutting it into three equal pieces and then combining two of those pieces.  I then took both lumps and cut them into three dough balls to make a total of six dough ropes.  I formed the bottom braid and put the smaller one on top and gave it just a little pinch to keep it from falling off.

I then gave the loaf a quick egg white wash, and let them proof under plastic wrap for about 2 hours, or until the loaf just about doubled in size.  I then gave the loaf another quick wash and let it rise until it was double the original size.

The Baking

I preheated the oven to 325 degrees.  I baked the loaves for about 45 minutes, until the internal temperature of the loaves reached 190 degrees.  The crust also turned a nice golden brown.  The curst wa

Results and My Final Thoughts/Notes

I really liked making the Challah.  Even though my shaping skills are not up to the level I would like them to be, I think I will be adding this into the normal rotation of breads.  It serves as a nice break from my "basic" loaves, and gives me a chance to try making "arts-y" bread.

Up Next…

Next week, we'll be tackling Ciabatta on the road!

Comments? Suggestions?

So what do you think? Sound good?  Do you have any butter/milk replacements that I should try?

Holy Missing Post!

Alright.

I admit I've fallen behind on my BBA Challenge post.  I have started the Challah entry, but this week got away from me.  I've been working on Anya's Site, which is still not quite ready, but I promise: Today you will have your Challah post!

Ciabatta is coming along alright...I think ;)

Challah is done

I managed to get the Challah finished yesterday. There wasn't any overnight Fermenting going on, so it came together pretty quickly.

I'll give you a sneak peak at the post: There's half a loaf left!

Nut Brown Update

I took the Nut Brown and transferred it to the 5 gallon Glass carboy on Sunday. It was in there for about 8-9 days before the primary fermentation settled down. While I was transferring the brew, I caught a hint of the hops...and I am happy to report that this will not be a super hoppy beer! Hooray for not using the same hops every single time!

BBA Challenge Round 4: Brioche

The Challenge Bread

This week, we're making Brioche: Rich Man's Style!

BBA Challenge Round 3: Artos: Christopsomos

The Challenge Bread

This week I tackled Artos which is greek celebration bread.  I chose the first variation which is Christopsomos.

Winter Nut Brown Ale!

Along with the BBA challenge this weekend, I also took it upon myself to brew another beer. This time up: Nut Brown Ale.  I went with nut brown to brew something that isn't a stout.  The hops that is called for were very low on the Alpha Acid level, which hopefully means the strong Hop taste that has been overtaking my brews won't be as present.

I'll also get this written up this week, so look out for  more posts!

BBA Challenge Round three is done!

Well I just took Round three out of the oven.  We'll see how it is tomrorow!

Quick thoughts:

• It's a little darker than I would like, but not burnt.


• The smell is amazing.  This is my first time baking that I really had a hard time not "sampling" as soon as it came out.


• Always check your Parchment paper supply BEFORE shaping your loaves.

That's it for now!  I'll get the post and hopefully some pictures up shortly!

The BlackBerry saga

Here's the saga of my former smartphone, the blackberry 9530. It is not a pretty tale and it involves money, reboots, missing apps, and a lot of swearing.

The Issue

It all started when my screen started acting up. My screen would occasionally not recognize a tap or a press.  At first, I thought it was a mistake I made: my hand was too cold, I pushed too quickly, or some other crazy sounding thing.  I would attempt to click on the PodTrapper Icon and get nothing…It didn’t happen frequently enough to warrant sending the unit in for repair, just enough to keep the embers of irritation glowing.  I do seem to have a slight calibration issue.  It is definitely an issue that has cropped up overtime.  While that is an annoyance, the bigger problem is stability.

The App Problem

The one thing I love about the BlackBerry platform over other platforms is the openness. I am not reliant on one company to bless, anoint, or whatever religious analogy you care to use an application.  Granted, there are pros and cons to both styles of thinking.

On the Open-Plus side, I can run whatever I want.  IF want to search for an app that will replace the included apps, such as a replacement web browser, or email application, I can.  As of right now, the only web browser that is available for the iPhone OS is Mobile Safari.  Yes, Opera is working on the Opera Mini browser, but it hasn’t been submitted for approval yet.  On the Non-Open-Plus side, I know the apps that have been approved work.  I haven’t really seen an iPhone/iPod Touch app crash that wasn’t related to the app requiring a data connection, and said connection leaving without leaving a note.  I’ve had a couple of bomb outs on my iPod Touch, but it always brings me right back to the home screen.  I’m getting on an apple rant, so let’s look a the downside of Open-Apps.

On the Open-Minus side, I can run whatever I want.  Since the code isn’t tested by RIM for Operability, You can get some pretty bad apps that crash.  on my BlackBerry, I currently have about 14 apps.  I don’t keep them all running all the time…mostly because the Storm 9530 has a small application memory size.  I am getting a message about once every two days on my storm saying it is out of application memory, and that to remedy this, I should delete some apps.  Seriously?  why is my application memory so small?  I have an 8 gig SD card in there that is 75% free?  Can’t I dedicate some of that to applications?  Granted, I am frustrated by this, but I think this gives way to the penultimate reason…

I am a Cheap Geek

I really am.  I agonized for over a year about getting a smartphone.  I was practically drooling when they announced the Moto Q back in May of 2006.  I eyed that baby for a long time.  It wasn’t until the close of 2007 that I finally took the plunge and picked it up.  It took me another 6 months before I finally got a data plan to really use the thing for more than a glorified calculator.  I held onto that thing until February 2009 when I got the Storm.  I really loved it!  At the time, I could justify the $29.99 a month, as money was a bit more freely flowing with both my wife and I working.  With the birth of my Daughter Anya in December, it really made me rethink my Mobile Priorities.

Don’t get me wrong, I still really like the storm!  SmartPhones in general are still my go-to Gadget dream scenarios.  I can just think of a better thing to spend the money on.  I’m sure I will venture into the SmartPhone arena again, but for now, I’m experimenting to see how I do without 24/7 Internets.

Does that mean I’m completely happy NOT connected 24/7?  No, but I still get all the stuff I want out of my iPod Touch that is on loan.  The question is, when I have to give up the touch…will I get my own?

It has been fun blackberry...

I had a longer post that I just erased like a n00b. I will rewrite. Just not tonight.

I don't know how else to say it blackbery 9530...it's over. We had a good run, but I can't live this lie anyore. You just aren't Meeting my expectations.

BBA Challenge Round two update

Well I completed round two of my BBa challenge and it was interesting. I will write up a full post tonight but a quick teaser: delciously dense

BBA Challenge Round 2: Bagels

For the next round of the BBA Challenge, I plan on making cinnamon-raisin bagels.  The next recipe in the book is Artos: Greek celebration bread, but the recipe calls for a bram (starter) and that can take a few weeks.  I will make the starter next week, and will hopefully get it going in time for Easter.

The bagels will be fun, as I haven't ever made them before.

Look for more posts this week about ingredients, techniques, and my game plan.

Bread on!

BBA Challenge Round 1: Anadama Bread - Baking and Results!

Well, I've finished round one of the BBA Challenge!  I think I'm off to a good start, and I think my Milladama bread is a mighty fine substitue.

BBA Challenge Round 1: Anadama Bread - Pre-Baking

Today is baking day!  I'm in a holding pattern right now.  The Original Recipe Anadama bread is proofing, while the Milladama is in the sponge stage.  I worked out the different steps I need to follow to complete one Recipe and discovered from start to finish it is about 5 hours...lots of Proofing time in there.  I decided to offset the baking by a few steps.  Here's the chart I made:

BBA Challenge Round 1: Anadama Bread

The first bread in the BBA Challenge is Anadama Bread.  Thankfully, it looks like it is starting out on a lighter note and should be a manageable first challenge.  I picked up the supplies I need this morning:

• Coarse Ground Cornmeal (Polenta)


• Bread flour


• Instant Yeast


• Molasses


• Shortening

I couldn't find the Brer Rabbit Golden Molasses that Peter Reinhart suggests, so I went with Plantation Blackstrap.  Yes, it is going to give off a more potent Molasses flavor, but I enjoy it.

I started to prepare for tomorrow's baking by creating the "soaker" of cornmeal.  I just need to let it sit  overnight, so the cornmeal will soften a bit, and release of the sugars trapped in it.

Mark's Corn/Milk-Free Alternative

As part of the BBA Challenge, I want to attempt to make all the recipes so my Wife can enjoy them as well.  She is allergic to Milk, and sensitive to corn, so I will be replacing these when They appear in the recipe.  This will help me discover my abilities as a baker, and find alternatives that will not affect the characteristics of the loaves too much.

The only ingredient we need to repleace i the cornmeal.  I did some searching, and decided to try Millet.  IT seems to be the "go to" replacement.  I found a couple of Tasty sounding Millet-instead-of-Corn-bread recipes that will have to try at some point.

The only trick I've found so far, is Millet can be hard to find in some supermarkets.  I found Millet next to bird-type seeds in the bulk department, so I suggest starting there.  The Millet was whole, so I decided to try soaking it untouched, and soaking it after I ran it through a food processor to open the seed husk, while preserving the coarse texture.

You can see the pictures I've taken on my Flickr BBA challenge page located here.

Tomorrow is baking day.  I plan to take more pictures and write up as I go.  Maybe I'll even ustream it!

I wish this was real

The BBA Challenge!

So I was doing some research on baking, when I came across the pinch my salt website.  It's a good site about baking and such, but what really caught my eye was the BBA challenge.

The gist is this: To bake every recipe in the Bread Baker's Apprentice book by Peter Reinhart.  This will push your bread baking knowledge to the limit and more.  It appears the challenge has been going on for a few months, but no time like the present to start!

I decided that just baking the breads wouldn't be enough.  I plan on taking each recipe, and where applicable, making them corn and diary free!   I want to compare the two loaves to see how closely I can mimic the flavor/appearance.

We'll see how this goes, as I bake my first loaves this weekend!

Baking Folly, Part Two

I made a loaf of Italian bread using the pre ferement biga, and learned the value of planning ahead.  If you want to read about how it went and what I though, just click that read more do-dad!

A couple of follies in baking bread, Part One

This week had a few interesting Occurrences when attempting to bake bread.  Here's tale #1

Here's what I've learned today

1. The Biga preferment is identical to the pate fermentee, save for salt.


2. Attempting to make a quality loaf of bread when you get home from work is possible...as long as you don't mind going to bed at 11:05.


3. The iPad is still a "less than optimal" product name.


4. I would love a chance to play with an iPad for a week or two to see if it does or does not do enough for me.


5. I need a baking stone.


6. The Dell Streak is shiny


7. I think I've given up on attempting to watch TV.


8. I like to end lists on an even number.

The iPad!

So Apple just announced the iPad.  Horrible name aside let’s get down to it!

Good/bad news

I got a call from the Vet today.  Time for a round of good news...bad news...

I couldn't wait..

I broke into the Deep Winter Stout..

I was amazing.  It still has a bit of the pine, but the flavor has mellowed.  I think it tastes like Guinness extra stout.

Let's see what happens when it fully carbonates.

Bread baking can make for a long night

I am still up.

I'm waiting...

Waiting for bread to bake.

Note about pre-ferments

So I should have known this.  But then again, I"m just starting out and got a little excited.

Anya Update!

So Robyn took Anya to the pediatrician this week.

Miss Anya weighed nine pounds, five ounces!  Gaining weight like a champ!

Slight Delay for Bread making

I didn't get a chance to make my pre-ferment today.  I got caught up with Beer bottling and watching Anya Sleep!  She went down around 4:45 and slept until after dinner which was about 6 or so.  By the time I bottled the beer, ate dinner, cleaned up after dinner, wrote my beer post, and checked out the latest Geekiness it was eight.  I'm not staying up another three hours to put my pre ferment in the fridge!  I'll just make it tomorrow night.

Who knows?  Maybe it'll be a busy blogging week!  This is my second post tonight!

HopHopHop

I bottled my lasted beer tonight.  The recipe came from the Brewer's Bible and was called Deep Winter Stout.    The brewing itself was done on New Year's Eve.  I thought this was a great way to celebrate the end of one year and the beginning of another...way better than consuming too much beer/wine.  Read on for my Recounting the tale of the best two dollars ever spent and my love/hate with Centennial Hops.

The Challenge

Alright,

So going forward, I am challenging myself to blog at least once a week.

I'm not putting any kind of length/topic requirement, but I would expect a blog at least about baby Anya, beer making, bread making, and/or Gadgets.

You've been warned!

What I plan on doing next week!

I've been baking bread like a madman the past few weeks!  I've really got the "basic" wheat loaf down.  Having a scale to weight out ingredients is awesome.

Pre-ferment - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

Oh great...

I've been on Parental leave for almost 5 weeks.

Just got an email saying that people were waiting for me to come back...and "had been saving things for me to fix."

Really? But...that's why we have a team!

well...at least I won't be bored when I get back :)

frustration

Just found out that our not even two year old puppy might have heartworms. While we are going to get a second test to confirm, I am aleaft kind of freaking out. What really gets me is that we've done everything we were supposed to do: we stared him on heartworm medicine as soon as we got him. Total suck.

Totally True

Hey Girl

I love you Anya Sage.

Who knew editing MSIs could be so much fun!

One of the joys of my job is getting crazy funky software to work.  Recently to get some software to work, I needed to modify the MSI package so when it was pushed out to the domain, it would apply all the required settings.

This has given me the pleasure of using the free MSI editor from Microsoft, aptly named ORCA.  It really does feel like I'm attempting to interface with a killer whale...and the Program Icon reflects that as well!!

Strangely, I kind of enjoy it...it feels like I'm editing a file in Windows 3.11.

Holy Retirement!

I'm a bit of a Vikings Football fan...and I was not that pleased with the prospect of bringing Favre this season.  I was mostly concerned with his age, and after watching the way he played with the Jets last year, I was preparing myself for a pretty bad football season (my other Team is the Bills...Let's not go there..)

But I got to admit, ever since he arrived in Training camp, he has been a class act.  No temper tantrums that I have noticed, and he has been playing like a real assassin!  He does have a good O-Line protecting him though...

Pump Man Found!

Well, the Well pump man was found!  He came in, and about 30 minutes later, water was flowing again!

Looking back on it, I feel bad for our Landlord.  Each time I called her (four times total) for status updates/whatnot, it sounded like she was on the verge of breaking down, or had just completed a breakdown.

...Then again, I was without running water...a basic necessity of life.  If I had reacted as I did (not letting up until I had an answer that was workable) over...I dunno...a dent in the fridge or a loose door frame I would think I was overreacting.

I think Over think things too much and I should get back to talking about gadgets...

Our current apartment...

Is in an old house...and it appears to be falling apart.

The Well pump just went out....this was after the basement flooded because the drain in the basement was plugged....so now we have no water and the landlord is getting a hold of the "pump guy real quick."

I'd like to have faith in my landlords...but considering every project they have done to the place hasn't been finished...I'm worried that i won't have water anytime soon.

unfortunately, I haven't documented my on again off again love affair with our place...so I'll have to leave it at:

I don't have water right now....

I blame...stress?

So I almost bought a DROID today...

I came to my senses before placing the OVER $500 order...

I then thought buying a Storm2 was a stellar idea...

Thankfully I came to my senses again before placing the ALMSOT $500 order...

I think work and Baby Peterson 1.0's imminent arrival are to blame...

But still...I haven't compulsorily bought anything that expensive since...1997!

I think it is time to unplug for the night....Before I buy something really cool and REALLY expensive.

3g VZW femtocell?

This could be interesting...

http://www.engadget.com/2009/11/17/samsungs-ubicell-cdma-base-station-going-3g-in-2010/

The one thing that really irks me about my current is that it doesn't have 3g...but since CDMA doesn't use EVDO for voice I wasn't too concerned...until I got my Storm...and I would LOVE To have this since I don't have wi-fi.  Then I can be lazy on the couch and still check a quick site or two!

Converted!

I am known at work as the gadget guy.  I'm the one that everyone turns to when they want to know what's new in the smartphone world.

Recetly one of the guys was looking to replace his palm TX and Verizon Dumb Feature phone.  I talked with him and he narrowed it down to the Storm2 and the Droid...

I pushed him towards the DROID...and now I feel bad.  Although, it really came down to The droid will talk to the exchange service directly, while the Storm will require either hooking up to the BES or using NotifyLink: the two supported options in our workplace.  I think he'll like the physical keyboard...I hope :)

App development….

I think I want to get into app development for smartphones…but I am not sure where to begin.

 

And by begin, I mean which platform?  I have a blackBerry, but I am very curious about android…

I think I’ll start with BlackBerry and go from there..I mean I can test apps on my BB for now.

Played with the DROID

So I got a chance to get down to the local Verizon store to play with the Motorola DROID.  First impressions follow!

Skunks

In the morning I like to go running.  It is good exercise and I’d otherwise just sit around waiting to go to work drinking coffee…at least I can justify it after my run.

With the approaching season of Winter, it makes running very interesting. The air gets colder, it takes longer for it to be lighter, and Animals start acting crazy.

Baby Gadgets?

Many you probably know, but I am expecting my first child in just under a month!  I thought I would put out a question to everyone:  What are some good/useful baby tech gadgets?  I know it is a bit soon to get little bean her first Smartphone (needs to be at least 6 months old I think :) ), but are there any worthwhile baby gadgets?

Anyone have a suggestion to help keep family that is far away updated on baby's status?  I plan to publish updates to this blog an also update my flickr stream, but I just want to make sure that I'm taking myself out of the lack of baby updates equation.

Holiday Brew!

So I like to brew beer.  I'm not quite to the total grain "I make my own Extract" type of brewing but I hope to get to that point when I have the space.  My latest Brew was a holiday themed brew that had potential for disater.  Did it?  Read on to find out if it is all Silver Bells and Dumplings or if I ended up with Coal Beer

Same phone, yet different abilities?

I'm going to rant a bit about phones in the US vs. Their world counter parts.  You have been warned.

What I want in a phone

It's getting down to the holiday shopping season again.  This means that the Cell phone carriers are putting out their holiday deals and newest devices.  While I think the smart phone industry has come a long way in the past three or four years, I always feel like I'm see-sawing between what parts of my phone are great, and what parts aren't

This post will serve a reminder to me about the type of Phones I have had and what I did not like about them, and what I wished as different.  Hopefully I'll remember this and not get blinded by all the shiny things.

Because I have to...

This is a pretty good review, and hits a lot of the points I was curious about...mostly the keyboard.

Maybe the DROID isn't the phone for me...but it is closer...DROID 2 for me?

Engadget takes on the DROID

Storm 9530 with OS 5.0.0.328…my take

I’ve posted recently about how the Motorola DROID might cause me to break up with my BlackBerry Storm 9530. I wrote that BEFORE I first installed leaked 5.0.0.323 and then installed the Official Verizon 5.0.0.328. To sum up, I re-like my Storm…mostly.

Storm Trouble brewing....

I think this phone could cause me to break up with my BlackBerry...

http://www.boygeniusreport.com/2009/10/19/motorola-droid-hands-on/

[caption id="" align="alignnone" width="700" caption="I think this is MY JesusPhone...."][/caption]

Windows Live Writer?

I think I just found a new tool for blogging!  Windows Live Writer!

 

I first found Wordpress For BlackBerry, which I do like.  My main problem is, that I don’t want to write a long post on my phone.  And then I get into this loop of “Should I post a quick blog, or Tweet about it?”  This usually ends up with me not doing anything…and then being kinda bummed that I’m not getting into writing more, and then I get down on myself for being down.  This goes on like this for a few hours, when my Wife snaps me out of it..or I find something shiny.

 

But now I’ve found Windows Live Writer.  A free tool that lets me compose a Blog post with all the shiny WYSIWYG-ness I have come to love.  The interface is a lot like any word processing program.  You have a toolbar along the top to change font size, bold, underline, center, and to add bullets. 

To the right, I have links to the blogs I have setup (so far just mine), Recently posted items, Drafts, and Several Insert plug-ins.  There is a “Add a plug-in” feature, which connects to the Windows Live Gallery, where you can find more plug-ins, such as add a Polaroid Picture, Flickr picture search, and so on.  The one that jumped out at me is the Twitter notify, which will tweet out your new blog post to all your followers.  I haven’t played with that yet, but I’m guessing it is pretty straight forward.  Plus, I’m not sure I’m ready to start broadcasting my blog posts yet…I’m pretty sure this is still and ALPHA blog.

Along the bottom of the Screen, you have your publishing options.  You can add tags, Preview the post with your current theme, and set a publish date.  I really enjoy the preview, as it can help me get a feel if my post is too long, or needs to be formatted differently.

All in all, the free Windows Live Writer is a great tool for beginning bloggers.  I can begin a post,  start the general outline while I still have it fresh in my head.  I can then add any media/content and preview it before I even open a web browser.  I’m sure as I use it more I’ll find things to gripe about, but for now, I’d give it two thumbs up.

To get HP Protect Tools to Work on Windows 7 on an HP EliteBook 2730p

Grab this Version of Protect Tools Security Manager. Should be version 4.10.9.13.  The one that is listed for the 2730p is version 4.00.11.152 and WILL NOT WORK.

 

Grab The BIOS Configuration for HP Protect Tools.

 

(Note, You don’t really need the BIOS part unless you’re like me and forgot your BIOS Admin Password…I’m awesome like that)

 

And then you should be good to use Protect Tools in Windows 7! 

Thanks to Markus Lentinen for pointing me to the Correct Protect Tools Version.

HP Protect Tools NOT windows 7 ready

I recently installed Windows 7 onto my Elitebook 2730p and stupidly installed the HP Protect Tools on it. I used the vista installer and figured it would be just fine...I was wrong.

It installed, but didn't really work. the Protect Tool Shield showed up, but any time I double clicked the taskbar icon, it just popped up a window and sat there. I thought I would uninstall it...but it just hung there.

I did a little searching around for how to remove it. I even tried safe mode on Win 7...no dice.

I finally just gave up and reinstalled the system. I didn't get too far in, so I figured it wasn't much of a waste.

This will teach me to wait for HP to release Windows 7 compatible Protect Tools

oh storm...

There are times that I love my blackberry storm. I love having push email...I love it. Access to my personal/work calendar is great. Phone call quality is great.

There are also tines that the thing is about two seconds away from being thrown against the wall. Th landscape keyboard is awesome. Portrait is a bit funky at times. (this could also be an issue with my thumbs being too big...but I digress.). I dent have many apps on the thing but it is almost out of space...why can't I save/run apps from my sd card?! Don't get started on the browser...that will be a post all by itself coming soon.

Speaking of apps...where are they? Blackberry world app does not have the breadth when compared to windows mobile or apple...I feel like I need to spend more time searching the web than my winmo/apple counterparts.

Time to learn how to make bb apps.
***UPDATE***
I should point out I wrote that post on my BB Storm While On the bus home...I have an odd relationship with my phones.

Motorola Sholes / Droid live photos : Boy Genius Report

Motorola Sholes / Droid live photos : Boy Genius Report.

I really want an android phone.  Don't get me wrong: I like my blackberry storm...I'm just realizing the limitations.

Which will be a new post!  I'll write it up...soon :)

Playing around

I've been playing around with themes/plugins

The site might be a bit crazy. My Hope is to start Blogging again. But, we'll see...

Updating again

Just updated Blog software AGAIN.

Will this never end?

Baby!

BABY!

Baby Names

Baby Girl Names

Parenting

Freaking house hunting

Trying to find a house is turning out to be a second job.

It all started out happy and care-free: we were dreaming up our perfect house.  A house with enough room for us, the baby and the animals.  Plus, there would be a good size of land (~5 acres) that we could have to plant, have bees, do what we pleased.  It would not in the middle of town, so we wouldn't have neighbors right on top of us.  It was great dream...

Too bad it seems it is only that; a dream.  After going over all of our information We began the search for a home.  Turns out we can't get what we want for what we are willing (and able) to pay.  So we have scaled back our dreams.  Maybe 2 acres would be enough to get done what we want.  That helped bring the price down, but it is sitll on the verge of being too expensive...

We are going to look at one house that is close...if we only had a few more months, than we could probably raise some more capital.  Getting an extra 10-12k would probably put a few more things in our price range.

Also, it seems to be lately that things are about 10% more than i want to spend...

tired

Balloon rally was fun. Tiring but fun. Hope to post the pictures soon. Oscar did very well even with all the people and noise. I was very impressed! Camping this year just might turn out alright...

Lies

Apparently rain IS NOT scheduled today...but was this morning...now to wait for the bus.

staff meetings

Staff meetings make me feel awkward...

not sure how useful this will be...

While this is cool...I am not sure how often I will use this...but still...whheee!

test

Beer Attempt #3

So since our first attempt at beer was a success, I attempted another Beer for This Chirstmas: A holiday porter.  Not super great, but not bad.  Here's a hint: be skimpy with cloves in beer...a little goes a long way.

But that was attempt #2...this post is about 3#!  In an effort to attempt a different brew every time Robyn and I decided to try making a barley wine.  We have both had a very decent barley wine-style ale, and thought "what the heck?"

We had help from our friends Dan and Candace...and I think it'll be alright...
I can say that now after the three days of looking like rust....

Broken Pictures....

So in the hurry of updating the site, I accidently blew away the uploads folder...and made all the pictures not work...

Whoops!

Updated!

I finally updated the site!  Whee!  New Dashboard is nice.

I must have a deficiency...

So when it comes to making new friends...I tend to suck at it.

In Colorado, I worked with a bunch of people who were around my age and we shared an office.  We got along great.
Now, here in Ithaca, I work with a lot of people, but don't share an office.  It makes getting to know people somewhat difficult as when you share an office, there is more small talk.

I feel like I have some defficiency when it comes to making new friends..

Am I the only one?

Updating

I'm bad on two levels:

• Updating this site (with content)


• Updating this site (the software that runs it)

Every time I turn around..BAM!  Another Version of WordPress...

Well hopefully this update is as smooth as the others have been.

Touch me

Well, not me...  I would, however like to touch this.

I think this would kill my cravings for an iPhone...I mean, I could have it check my mail, surf the web in a not completely annoying manner, and in general just not need much in the way of a laptop.

Anyone want to buy me one? ;)

Bike fixing!

So I have my first bike project this weekend.

Friday morning I was getting ready to ride into work. I got on my bike, implemented FINE-C, and hit the electric starter...

No dice.

Ok, it is first thing in the morning and the bike is a 1976...the cold is probably getting to it. I decide to give it another go...

Again, no dice.

I begin to think about what could be wrong..."it is pretty chilly this morning, it might need a couple more times for it to get going.." Seemed logical to me. My old 1984 Ford Escort Wagon was pretty finicky when it came to cold weather. So I try to have it turn over again...

No dice, but this time I notice it doesn't try with as much gusto...

"Odd," I mutter "seems like the battery doesn't have much of a charge." "I know, I'll just kick start it, let it rev for a little bit, and that should be enough of a charge to get me going."

After about 3 tries of kick starting, it fires to life. Success!!!

...well not really. It was about 20 seconds in to the idling at 1200 RPMs that my wife walked out and asked me what I was doing at Quarter to 7 in morning.
"Trying to get my bike to charge the battery enough for it to not die on me." I say with no recognition of the second half of the sentence. It only took one more time for me to get it.

"It's 6:45 in the morning! People are sleeping!"

"What?"

She then gives me the "you heard me and are just letting the facts slip through your mind" look.

"oh."

I shut the bike down and slowly make my way to the truck in the pokiest manner ever.

I spend the better part of Friday researching different ways to test your battery, how to recharge it, and how to see if it is more than just a dead battery.  I decided to take a look after work and put my new knowledge I gained to work.

..To Be Continued...

My head hurts

There this guy I work with.  He's a really nice guy.

I just get a little concerned about his technical skills/ability to think.

Anytime he tires to write something that will be published on the Website/sent out via massive mail...it is a complete scatter shot.

Sentence fragments, incomplete thoughts, grammar that is utterly atrocious.

(side note, I spelled atrocious right the first time!  I think my spelling is getting better with age.)

I mean, the guy is really nice...but...I think he needs to take a month off and just RELAX.  He's been working non-stop for...well probably his whole working career.  He needs to take care of his mental state.  I think if he could swing an extended time away, it would rejuvenate him.

...it couldn't hurt.

I said what what

This is great. Oh South Park...

Vista Day 3: The day I get frustrated by OEM installs

After the fun of Day 2, I thought my fun with frustrating things was over.  Man, was I wrong.  Apparently the bundled Lenovo Connection manager also controls Bluetooth.  Sadly, it took me 10 minutes to figure out that it did that.  Then, apparently Vista and The Connection Manager were fighting over who had the best network settings.  I blew away all the network profiles and made sure that Vista just thought everything was automatic (DHCP at least) and then things settled down.  After that,  I was back in business.

Other than the fact it is using a Low Voltage Processor, I really love the X61 Tablet.  Not quite strong enough to run Half Life 2 at a decent frame rate, but for a work machine, Vista/Tablet is rocking.

Vista, Day 2

Well, Yesterday was an interesting day in Vista Land (C). The morning was fine, and managed to work away, and test out some Pen Flicks....Very fun.

The afternoon, was a bit frustrating, but I think I have to blame the Thinkpad Connection manager software and not Vista.  The Subnet in my office does not have DHCP enabled, and I had my Wired connection set to have an alternate configuration: If it doesn't get a DHCP lease, it would assign the address I gave it.  Well apparently the ThinkPad Connection manager didn't get that message.  It took me about 30 minutes for it to finally understand what connection I wanted it to use.  IT doesn't help that the Campus-Wide Wireless network is just about in reach of my office..and The Connection Software REALLY wanted to connect to it...I even turned off the wireless, but it assumed it was still in the "roaming" profile I created...I forced to use the "Wired Office" profile, but it would still flip back to Roaming...I'll have to take a look into that later today.

Other than that, I have to say, Running Vista on recommended hardware is a lot better than on non-recommended...I think my last Vista Machine was a Dell Optiplex Gx260....yeah...Vista was mad :)

30 days with Vista

Yes, that's right. I'm taking the Vista Plunge. I decided that I had better get used to it, since it isn't going away.

My last attempt at Vista lasted about 3 days....then again I had it installed on a Dell GX280...not exactly recommended specs. This time around, I've got a new machine to test out on...

A LENOVO X61 TABLET!!!

Now before you start yelling at me saying "Mark! That's just a toy! You're a gadget gouger!" let me explain.
I decided that to test Vista, I should get a laptop, mostly because I know that is how most of my users are going to end up getting it: They have this tendency to just go out and buy laptops without talking to me first. Desktops, they do come to me, but Laptops "aren't department machines..." umm...Yes they are, but that's another argument for another day.

I can test vista on a desktop and get to know all the ins and outs, but a laptop offers me the distinct advantage of being able to bring the machine with me, instead of it residing in my office, sitting unused for half a day. I figure the best way to get to know Vista, is it use it full time for a month, not just a part of a week.

So here's to Day 1: Installing all the things I forgot to install before the day started. Up first, Oracle Calendar and Twhirl

Stupid Educational discounts!

Don't get me wrong, I love the fact I can order machines for a generous discount throught a lot of different Vendors for my job...I love saving money.

The thing I can't stand is when the list of things I can buy is threefold smaller than the list of actual products they sell.

I mean, why not give me the option to buy ALL of your products, and just point out to me that I'm getting a Super sweet deal if I buy from the "Recommended for Universities" list instead of the "Recommended for home" list.  Sometimes, your home list has more up to date hardware than your University list...

Why would I want to buy a 1.5 year old machine (at a good price) versus a brand new machine that really isn't that much more??

Am I asking for too much?

Thrice (or how I justify seeing horrible movie sequels)

Here is my original post about movie sequels. Enjoy!

Thrice

I enjoy Love movies. I love being entertained for a couple of hours by gripping realistic tales, amazing fantasy or uber techie sci-fi. I use movies to be thrilled, to laugh, and sometimes to cry or sometimes all three.

I began to notice a trend in movies the more I watched them: Sequels are a dime a dozen. If you make one good a movie, it means you need to make a sequel...or two. I would want to watch the sequels to know what happened to my favorite..or least favorite character. I began to realize if I watched every sequel to every movie I saw, I would do nothing but watch movies all day. If I were one Mr. Greg Belavia, well that's who I would be. Greg loves movies more than anyone I know. In fact, I think he IS a movie. That's another Tale for another day.

As I was saying, I needed to come up with some guidelines as far as what sequels I would watch. I'll explain my process and then post the rules. That way, you can come along on the journey to discover the rules of Trilogies! ...or Just kill some time.

My thought process goes like this:

I see the first part either in the theaters, at a party or through Netflix. I enjoy the first part and say to myself "that wasn't bad, I wonder if they'll continue this and make a series of films." I flesh out my ideas of where the story could go, day dreaming about it for some time.

A second part comes out. I say to myself "I would like to see that. I wonder if it will be better than the original. (note to self: most of the time, it's not.) I might or might not see it at this point in the theaters. This is largely due to interest or lack thereof in anyone else I know wanting to pay 10 bucks to see it. If I can't find one other person to go, I'll just wait for it to come out on DVD. Usually, as I'm waiting for the DVD to come out, I begin to hear rumors of a possible third movie. I say to myself "if I see the second, I'll see the third."

When the second movie finally arrives on DVD, I give myself until the third one is out in theaters before I've broken the trilogy cycle. I usually have at least six months to watch it. After watching the second, I'm usually left feeling like my dreams for the movie project have been dashed; thrown upon the rocks of horrible scripting and poorly trained actors. I feel dejected, and downtrodden. At this point, I feel like the director/writer have made this movie deliberately to make me feel some sort of connection to the movie, as if they want me to write them and say "hey dumbelina! what did you do to my movie? you destroyed it by killing off Bob! 'What about Bob' isn't 'What about Bob' without Bob! I can't believe you did that!"

After a few hours of cooling down, I begin to scour the Internets again to see if there's any word on when the third part will be done. I usually find myself only a few short months away from release. It's here I begin to plot. If I read pre-reviews, and it looks like the movie won't be half bad, I'll begin the PR push of a lifetime. My wife is usually the lead test subject in my attempt to rally the troops for a full on theater viewing, but considering the last trilogies I watched were outside her rules of movie-watching, I usually lose.

I then try to spin the campaign from "let's go see this amazing ending to a great story" to "Let's go watch this trainwreck and laugh at it the entire time!" Suffice to say, I usually don't see the third in the theaters, but I think there may be an exception to this rule on the horizon. If all of my campaigning fails, I'll usually just end up renting it on netflix. Sadly, as with the last one linked, I felt as though the series let me down again...but with the Trilogy rule completed, I can sever ties with the movie series knowing I did my best. I did all that I could for it, but sometimes, it's just never enough...

So without further ado, here are "Mark's Rules for watching Sequels: Trilogy Edition"

1. I must see the first part before seeing any other part.


2. I must "want" to see the second part in the theaters.


3. I must see the second part before the third part hits theaters.


4. I must see the third part if the above rules are met.

There you have it; my rules on how I see Trilogies. The rules could be applied to a movie dynasty or two, but generally if I see three I'm going to see all of them. I mean come on, who didn't watch all the Rocky movies?

Robocop 2: Or how I wished I had more beer

Seeing as though I have my rules about movies ( a post I will re-create later today), I had to watch Robocop 2.

I can't tell you how much I wished I had more than 1.5 beers to make it through this movie.  Don't get me wrong, for a "turn off your brain" flick, it was good. I had a good time watching Robo blow the crap out of Nuke Dealers, but there were a few things that I couldn't get past.

1. That stupid like Punk.  I honestly did not care what happened to him.  I didn't really find him to be a believable character.  His first line of "can't shoot a kid" made me wish this movie would interact with my zapper so I could take him out.  At the end, when he died, I was actually glad that meant I didn't have to see him on the screen anymore.  I didn't buy his conversion, or his fears.  And he was so totally not enough of a dick.  When he was holding out on the nuke addicted (...hooker?) lady, why didn't she just pimp-slap him and take the drugs and kick him out of the car?  He's Twelve!


2. Cain as a robocop wanna be was not very good.  He has superior armaments, but "was addicted to drugs" and couldn't do anything without nuke...yet when the psycho Psychologist dangled it in front of him, he just believed what she said and attempted to take out the Mayor.  Why not just nod your head in agreement, and then when she turned her back, snap her neck and take the Nuke???  You weapons and strength, use them!


3. The mayor's voice really got on my nerves...almost Bobcat Goldthwait nerve level.  And who let him have some Jolt before shooting?

I guess I really should have found more Dog Fish Head before watching it....I'd better get a case before Robocop 3 shows up tomorrow...

Good idea!

The exact opposite of my Last post...drinking and Robocop...Best Combination!!!!!

not a good combination

Let this be a lesson to all you kids out there:

NEVER drink and blog...it leads to frustration and lost blog posts...with only your flailing hands and Boot camp trackpad drivers to blame...

and GET OFF MY LAWN!!!

Kids these days....