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Guitar & Pen |
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Thoughts on just about everything from rock-n-roll, sports, kids, to geek speak -- by John Bullock About John Subscribe to this blog  |
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February 2004 March 2004 April 2004 May 2004 June 2004 July 2004 August 2004 September 2004 October 2004 November 2004 December 2004 January 2005 February 2005 March 2005 April 2005 May 2005 June 2005 July 2005 August 2005 September 2005 October 2005 November 2005 December 2005 January 2006 February 2006 March 2006 April 2006 May 2006 June 2006 July 2006 August 2006 September 2006 October 2006 November 2006 December 2006 January 2007 February 2007 March 2007 April 2007 May 2007 June 2007 September 2007 November 2007 December 2007 January 2008 February 2008 |
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Thursday, December 29, 2005 |
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Who on Tour!? | |
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I saw an article on Yahoo today which quoted Pete Towshend saying that The Who would go on tour in 2006. I have mixed emotions about that as half (2) of the original band are deceased. However, I cannot ever get enough of them so I will probably go anyways. When I was checking out the original post that Pete made I found out that he has a weblog now (no RSS feed though). | |
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Friday, December 23, 2005 |
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Video Games | |
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I've been struggling and thinking a lot lately about video games and my children. Especially my son, Alex. Alex loves to play video games and would probably do it all day long if we let him. Lindsay will play games, but she isn't into blowing things up and fighting like Alex is. She rather do the drawing, music, and arts and craftsy type stuff which concerns me much less. During the kids winter break, they have been going to the rec center (AKA daycare) as Suzanne and I both work (mostly) full time. The rec center has two computers out for the kids to play with. We believe that Alex has been spending most of his time playing games on the computers. I think besides the play time outdoors and the organized activities, he spends most of his time at the computers. I know when he is not off track, he does not get a lot of video game and computer time. When we moved into the new house, where the kids have their own TV and play area, I gave the kids my old NEC TurboGrafx-16 as I no longer play it. The games are pretty easy, and I don't care a whole lot about what happens to it so I think it makes the perfect first game for them to have on their own. The kids also both have Leapster's which are handheld units that run educational games for 4-10 year olds. Both of the kids love these and we like them more as they are also learning tools. For Christmas, we are getting the kids a couple more games. Alex is getting Spiderman and Lindsay is getting Math Missions. As they get older, they outgrow the games as they are age specific and become too easy. I also bought a used computer from my work last Christmas for the kids, although I have not set it up at the new house for them (like they don't have enough games). I have a Sony PlayStation2 that I put a couple hours on every week and let the kids play with me at times. I definitely try to watch which games I play when they are around or with me. I have been buying more (used) kid friendly games lately so they can play more stuff. I think about half of my games are kid friendly now. Items such as Nemo, Harry Potter (although hard for them to play), Jak II, an ATV racing game, and Lego Star Wars (Alex's favorite!). I can definitely tell that Alex's skills are getting much better due to all the time he has been logging. I also have some PC games and my old GameBoy that I don't play with much any more. Lindsay loves to get online and go to the Disney web site and play stuff. A few weeks back when she and I both stayed home sick, she played on it for 2-3 hours which is more than I have ever seen her do in a single sitting. The reason I bring this up today is because there is an article on the BBC Technology blog about the exact subject. The article talked about a Gamer Dad web site that I decided to check out. It is pretty cool actually. They do reviews of games and included with each one is a kid factor to help parents determine if they are comfortable having their children play that specific game. Not only do they have lots of information about video games, but there are message boards devoted to "non-powered" games, such as board and card games, kids movies, talking to your kids, books and television. They also have an RSS feed (subscribed!) so the content comes to me versus me going to the content. As I know the kids will play games and that there are benefits to be gained from them, I think it is my responsibility as a parent to be educated about them and make sure they get appropriate stuff. |
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Obvious Health News | |
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I am a subscriber to the Reuter's Health blog and every so often, they publish a "finding" that I think is something pretty obvious that I have known a long time. For example, yesterday they published an article that stated that regular exercise leads to better mental health. HELLLLLLLLOOOOOO!?!? This is news? Every winter, Suzanne has to deal with my crankiness and complaining about being cooped inside as I am unable (AKA unwilling) to get out and ride in the wet and cold (wimp!). They have said other things like eating too much fatty food contributes to heart disease. Jeez, really, I never would have guessed. I complain, but most of the information is not stuff that is so obvious. It is the same health information that you will see and hear on the evening news (as I don't watch the news, it is good I find out about these things). | |
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Wednesday, December 21, 2005 |
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Moderately Confused | |
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Monday, December 12, 2005 |
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Letter to Computer Associates | |
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I am extremely unhappy with your product and the free online technical support. I have been constantly receiving messages that my (EZ Armor) subscription has expired and that I need to renew it. I did renew the product at the end of July this year. I tried at least half a dozen on-line chats to resolve the problem but they could never help me. Each time they would ask that I do the same things over and over (which I reluctantly agreed to) but nothing worked. I am an expert computer user as I am a enterprise software architect and have been programming computers for over 20 years now. We tried everything from downloading the latest version (3 or 4 times), reinstalling the product (3 or 4 times), cleaning the registry, and making changes on your end but I continue to receive the pop-ups. I have uninstalled EZ Armor and installed a product that actually works. Unfortunately, your return policy says in order to get a refund, it must be within 30 days of the purchase date. This hardly seems fair, when your own customer service could not fix your own product in that time line. I thought I had a found a good company and good product with Computer Associates but obviously I was very wrong. I will be posting a copy of of this support request on my blog so that other computer users can see that you have an inferior product and customer service in addition to unfair return policies. Thanks for nothing. John Bullock |
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Wednesday, December 07, 2005 |
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Days Off | |
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I heard and had a few snow days in my time, but I've never had a smog day. As a (normal) kid, you are always excited to get an extra day off from school. I know that a lot of ski jumps, snow ball fights, snow football, and cross country skiing was done when I had my days off. But with a smog day, being stuck inside it would take some of the fun out of it. At least it would have for me. I think my son's two favorite things, which we watch very closely, are to watch TV and play video games. He would be in hog heaven with a smog day! Although it isn't a day off, I am having a cold day today. The high in the Denver metro area is around 5 degrees today. My temporary office that I am sharing with the other architects has very poor insulation and heating. This makes it very cold even when you don't have a high around five below (it is usually about ten degrees colder at my work than down at home). I worked at the office yesterday but it was so frickin' cold I decided that I was not going to torture myself when I could work from home. We'll see what tomorrow has in store for me. |
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