Go Giants! (Tee Ball)

Gotta love that scenery!

When I was a young boy, my dad got me into playing baseball. I started playing in West Point, Ohio when I was not quite five years old. Some of my greatest memories are of my dad helping coach my team and the friends that I played with. I would play until I was 12 years old, when multiple moves made it difficult to be on a team. I was a catcher primarily, only playing other positions when the coach would occasionally try someone else in my spot. Year after year, I won that position, with my dad lending moral and coaching support. Often, the league would try to move me up to the next division (age group) a year early due to my abilities.

Fast forward to this summer. It had been many years since I had played, most recently about 12 years ago on my U.S. Army softball team for my platoon. My youngest boy expressed an interest in playing tee ball in May. I had been feeling like my plate was full, but could not help the memories from flooding in as I looked into local leagues. At first, it appeared that there were going to be scheduling conflicts, but through some perseverance I managed to find a team that fit. In fact, the coach even played for the home town semi-pro team. By the time had the sign up fee sent in, I was signed on to assistant coach. Very suddenly, I was doing for my son what dad did for me all those years ago. I couldn't help but feel a tiny bit nervous about it.

Team Picture

The first practice came around, and went great! The nerves went away, and I really liked how the coach and I worked together. Jack was excited to get to play and wear a uniform. Unfortunately, the very next day, he fell off the slide at Grandapa's house and broke his arm. It was potentially devastating.

The broken arm photo!

But you can't keep this kid down. We found a way to get his glove over the cast, and found ways to keep him involved. The coach even invented a position, backup first baseman, for him. We couldn't even keep him from batting. While he could barely grip the bat with his left hand, he managed to have just enough control to get by.

Head Coach Davey directs the kids to practice stations.

He's not the biggest or fastest kid on the team, but he has a decent batting average and the passion. Last week, he got his cast off and got to participate more than ever. He didn't disappoint either! He had a good defensive play, and hit .750 without using the tee! He'll have one more full game after this post and a two-inning game at the end-of-the-season jamboree.

While I have always felt a bond with my boys, I can't help but feel especially proud that I can do for my son what my dad did for me. I actually feel confident that I have enough experience to help my boy be the player he wants to be. Here's hoping he sticks with it!

Search Amazon.com for tee ball

My new pistol: Springfield Armory XD(M) .45acp

Some of you may be sick of hearing about it, but what can I say.... I am overjoyed. My Father-in-Law may be one of the few people I know that likes guns more than I do. So when we were talking about pistols that I would consider carrying, safety features, etc... he was obviously listening. So, here it is:

Caliber:	45ACP
Magazines:	2 – 13 Round, Stainless Steel
Barrel:	4.5" Steel, Melonite®, Fully Supported Ramp
Sights:	Dovetail Front and Rear (Steel) 3-Dot
Trigger Pull:	5.5 - 7.7lbs.
Frame :	Black Polymer
Slide:	Forged Steel
Overall Length:	8"
Height:	5.75"
Weight w/ empty mag:	31 oz .
Available colors:	Black and Bi-Tone
*High Capacity Magazines may not be available in some states.

In the top image, I have pointed out two nice features. On top of having a trigger safety and a grip safety, the pistol tells you if you have a round in the chamber (as indicated by the indicator on top near the ejector port) and if the pistol is cocked (as indicated by the pin sticking out of the rear of the slide.) So yes, to demonstrate these indicators I had the pistol live for the photo. Have no fear, I cleared it afterward.

 Above you see that the Springfield Armory XD(m) .45acp comes packaged with a lot of great items.

• Hard case.
• 2 magazines.
• Small, Medium, and Large grip back straps.
• Paddle Holster
• Magazine holster. (holds two)
• Speed loader.
• Lock
• Brush

Part of "The (M) Factor" is the match grade barrel which most sets this pistol apart from it's predecessor.  The tighter tolerances of this barrel seem to add to accuracy and durability without increasing malfunctions. That's a win-win.

At the range, this pistol has less recoil than you expect for the caliber and is very accurate. Because you can change the grip size, it fits your hand and the grip texture is easy to hold onto without adding grip tape like some Glock owners do.

If you have any questions about this pistol, feel free to leave a comment and I'll respond as time allows.

Samsung Captivate Review

I promised that once I had time to play with my new phone I would write a review. I had planned to do it sooner, but I can't seem to put the damn thing down!

In the interest of being objective, I will list both pros and cons. However, make no mistake that the pros far outweigh the cons, and I forsee most of the cons to disappear with time.

THE CONS:

Accessories:
My first complaint is a petty one. There are very few accessories available. This phone is so new that trying to find protective cases and covers yield long waits. I'm not sure if the failure is with Samsung or with manufacturers, but if I spend this much money on a device, I want to be able to protect it!

GPS:
My next complaint is the singularly largest complaint on this phone for us, as well as tons of folks I have seen online in various forums. There is a definite problem with the GPS which is one of the coolest things for me to play with on a smart phone. It takes longer than it should to get a lock, and once locked is not as accurate as it should be. Samsung has said that it is not a hardware issue, and that the issues will go away once the Android 2.2 update happens in September. Naturally, the online community is skeptical, but I hold hope that Samsung will fix this. In the meantime, users have found a tweak that speeds up the lock a little and is 50% more accurate. I did the tweak to my phone and managed to make it tolerable.

Bloatware:
Another complaint among many users has more to do with the carrier. (For the record, I do not buy into the massive "AT&T sucks" campaign that consists primarily of iPhone users in large metropolitan areas.) It seems that AT&T is very proud of their version of navigation, media, and location finders. So much so, that they cement many apps into the phone that the common user cannot remove. Some of them are even set to load up and update every time you turn the phone on.  Workarounds are out there, like the app I downloaded that automatically kills those apps when they try to start on power up. The other way is to root your phone which allows you to use third party apps and delete the bloatware. That method is only recommended for advanced users, however, as it can void your warranty. Even worse, you could screw it up and "brick" your phone. For the non-geeks that may read this, the term "brick" refers to breaking the software or firmware causing your phone to be a useless weight....like a brick...LOL.

THE PROS:

Construction:
I mentioned this from our excursion to the AT&T store, but this device is built solid. However, it still manages to be nearly half the weight of the iPhone. That's a win-win in my book.

4 inch AMOLED touchscreen:
Wow... just freaking wow! Anyone that I come across that has an iPhone looks at my phone and says, "What is THAT?!?!?" Their eyes bug out of their head as I turn up my brightness and dazzle them with the live wallpapers and 720p video quality on a responsive touch screen that is bigger than theirs.

Android OS:
Even though this device is still on Android 2.1, I am extremely happy. I am cautiously optimistic that when the 2.2 upgrade comes out that it will be even better. That said, doing a side-by-side comparison with an iPhone showed that my Captivate responded to menus and commands faster.

The iPhone groupies will always bring up the number of apps available, but thus far I have found everything I could ever want and I have 100,000 less crap-apps to sort through to find the one I want. Since it will be easier to develop for Android than for iOS, it is feasible that the gap in available apps will shrink over time anyway.

Then there is the integration. Integration isn't always a good thing, but in this case is a godsend. When I began to set my Captivate up to my preferences, it synced up to my Google contacts, maps, email, and calendars. I can now turn off my SMS text alerts for my calendar, because I can set the phone to post my events right to my home screen.

Bias alert! I absolutely despise iTunes. I hate it with a passion. While I realize that not everyone shares my disdain, this is something that really drove me away from iPhone. I love that I don't have to use it with Android! However, if you like iTunes like my wife, there is an app that allows you to sync your Captivate with your  iTunes library.

Customization:
One of the things iPhone users covet about my Captivate is the sheer number of home screens. I was able to customize multiple home screens (I'm up to 6 now with 8 available) and the dock. Since I'm not willing to pay AT&T for what would be a 6th email account, I moved my messaging icon to where the email button was on the dock. I also wanted faster access to my camera, so I put my camera icon where the browser icon was. Putting widgets and apps onto the various home screens is very intuitive.

Camera:
I love the camera. It takes great photos and video. Photos are crisp and vibrant and videos are 720p quality (unless you deliberately limit the size for MMS messaging.) There are lots of cool camera functions like vintage mode, panorama, action, cartoon mode, exposure adjustments and light adjustments. (See a few samples at the end of this posting.)

In the box:
While I was waiting for the phone to come in the mail, I put a headset on my Amazon wishlist. I have since removed that item, because not only did the phone come with a set, but they sound better than the ones I bought for my mp3 player.

Summary:

I may think of more to add to this later, but you get the idea. I resisted getting into the smartphone arena for so long because I didn't feel that I really needed that much device. Now that I have the Captivate I realize that they are very convenient. I wanted bleeding edge technology if I was going to do it, and I firmly believe that I have achieved that goal.

Standard Mode

Cartoon Mode

Action Mode

Smartphones and the perpetual gravitation toward being state-of-the-art.

We have made the jump. It's a leap that seems natural to most of you, because our world depends so highly on technology. Yet it is something that we have resisted for quite a long time. I speak of that first foray into the realm of the smartphone. I mentioned this on my Facebook the other night. After the initial ribbing I got from someone that most likely waited in line for every iPhone that has ever been made, the other comments were all inquiries as to which phone I chose. That is the fun part of this story (which is a little long-winded, I'll admit.)

This upgrade to our lives began with my wife. While she is not one to get sucked into the hype surrounding the release of the latest tech, she could not deny that having such tech was tempting. She works online from home, and is rarely away from a computer or the internet in general. However, once a year she is sent to an event by her company where she could actually use the expanded capability of a smartphone. As of this posting, she has a basic quick messaging phone, and an iPod Touch. Because she already has many apps, music, and games on her iPod, she decided that she coveted the iPhone especially because it would consolidate two devices into one.

iPhone 4

Why not? It is one of (if not THE) leading devices out there, and she could easily sync the existing iPod stuff onto the iPhone. With our Alaska Permanent Fund Dividend coming in October, it seemed like a good time to look at upgrading. Being a fair person, she knew that it was only right that I also get an upgrade.

So, I began looking at possible upgrades as well. The difference between us is that I had little to no interest in the iPhone. Before anyone starts guffawing at me, let me explain. I am not denying that Apple has a viable device. However, I have many reasons to shop around more:

1. I hate iTunes.
2. I hate Safari more.
3. Everyone and their brother went out and camped out for the iPhone, and I have an aversion (possibly irrational) toward following the herd. 
4. I never buy on a whim.
5. I don't like that Apple devices are not flash or java friendly.
6. The antenna debacle...
7. The price (see below...)

I started by looking up comparisons between the various operating systems. I wanted to know the buzz on iOS4 vs. Android vs. Windows Mobile. Once I got varying opinions on that, I began looking at devices available to me. In Alaska, we have two companies that service just Alaska and parts of the northwest, and AT&T. No Verizon, T-Mobile, or Sprint here. So, with limited carriers I had to look hard at plans and devices. It really limited the devices available to me. That is bad, in that I like to have a large selection. However, it was good in that I had less research to do on devices!

I narrowed the choices down to eight devices at first, then again to the iPhone4, Blackberry Storm, HTC Aria, or Samsung Captivate. Once I had it down to those four, I was able to do better side-by-side comparisons. This also began my combing for tech company and user reviews. It was the 40+ reviews for one device that really swayed me at this point. (But I am going to keep you in suspense for a moment longer. I will only say that it is not the iPhone and quite a few reviewers traded their iPhone for this device.)

At this point, I notified my wife that I had a viable candidate for my next phone. She had a couple questions, so I navigated to our carrier's website with her for some show-and-tell. This is when she got a shock. She had thought that we were eligible for the upgrade special pricing this year, but there in front of us was the bad news that we would have to pay full price for the phones unless we waited till September of 2011.

You could feel her disappointment all the way across town. We can hardly afford this upgrade as it is, but really can't if we have to pay $800 for the phones! It appeared that our dreams of having current tech would have to wait. However, I decided to try my skills of charm and persuasion with our carrier. After that conversation, I learned that they would work with me on my phone choice, but could not override the pricing with her iPhone. This caused further headache, because now her device would cost us $399 where mine would now be $199.

This is the fun part.

My wife does a comparison between my first choice and her coveted iPhone. She still REALLY wants that iPhone, but can't deny that my choice has nice features. After a bit of debate, we decide to go to the store and lay hands on all these devices. Low and behold! We walked out of that store with my wife wanting the same phone as me, and I wanted it even more. The choice might surprise you.

Samsung Captivate

This badboy is big in height and width due to it's larger touchscreen, but is nice and thin. It weighs half as much as the iPhone4, but appears to be well constructed. Talk time on the battery isn't as good, but standby time is significantly better. It's an Android phone, so it has all the functionality I want without the fluff. No Safari, and no iTunes!

I mentioned how we played with it earlier in this post. Well, we noticed that it was easier to navigate, had very brilliant color, had a more responsive touchpad, and was noticeably faster between menus. Testing a few websites showed us that we could go places on this phone that we could not on the iPhone. I particularly liked how all my favorite sites looked so much better on the Captivate.

So, our new phones are on order! I will come back and give a deeper review of the Captivate once I have had it a month or so. From the first impression, I can see why quite a few folks liked this over the iPhone. For more specs, follow this link to Samsung's website!

I can't wait to post from my new phone!

THIS JUST IN! (LOL!)  Samsung is handing out free phones like this one to frustrated iPhone4 owners! Read about it HERE!

FACEBOOK and your privacy.

   There is no denying that Facebook is a very large presence on the web. If you spend any time on the web, you have probably come across an article about your privacy when using Facebook. Whether you are a Facebook user or not, it is important to be aware of who can see your information online.

   I decided to blog this today due to a lengthy tutorial I gave a family member the other day. As I verbally guided her through all of the privacy settings that I have set, I noted how surprised she became as I moved her from setting to setting. While she is not a frequent internet user and a novice to social networking, she is an intellegent person that asked for my help to secure her info on Facebook.

 

   While many of you reading this are fairly savvy at the internet and your online identity, it never hurts to have a gentle reminder from time to time. But never fear my fellow geeks, I'm about to reveal something even you might not have known about!

THE BASICS:

When using social networking one should never:

• Post identification information or images of items like driver's license, passport, social security number, home address, credit card numbers, or bank information.
• Post provacative photos or pictures of illegal activity.
• "Friend" or "Follow" your boss or even certain coworkers.

When using social networking one should:

• Adjust privacy settings to restrict who can access information you post.
• Adjust security settings so that the website cannot share your information.
• Be very selective and carful when using "apps".

   The main problem in the news with facebook is that no matter how you adjust your privacy and security, some web partners are still able to obtain information about you. The amount of information is negotiated. For this reason, you should be especially careful what you post on Facebook.

HELP IS OUT THERE!

   Generally, I discourage running apps on Facebook. However, California based Reputation Defender has a app that can help you determine what others see of you on Facebook. The app is called PrivacyDefender. At privacydefender.net you can set up a free app that will check your settings, give you a report complete with a pie chart, and a button to fix the holes for you.

   Advanced users may run this app just to see what it detects while novice users may want to use the "Fix My Privacy" button. Either way, today is a great day to double check your security and privacy settings. Facebook claims that they will never change your settings, but they have not proven trustworthy with our information so don't take the risk! Also be aware that Facebook makes changes to their privacy policies nearly as much as you change underwear. It makes sense to check these settings occasionally to find out what is new and make sure that the default setting isn't sharing too much!

In other news...

   Buzz on the net says that Twitter is about to launch a feature known as "You Both fFollow" according to CNN.com. This feature would be much like the Facebook friend suggestions in that it can connect people that share an interest or friend on the site. When contacted, the site's developers did confirm that this feature is being tested. Click here to get the rest of the story.

   And finally, I have added some Adsense and Amazon ads to this blog because I am poor. Adsense may go away, as I find it annoying. I like the Amazon stuff so far, and may use it as a link when suggesting products in my blogs. I realize that you all hate ads, but do me a favor and click the Amazon ads occasionally, m'kay? Thanks for stopping by!

The AFFORDABLE Gaming System!

I have said to friends on many occasions that I don't buy complete computer systems from companies like Dell or HP. I've been very succinct in my reasoning, and that is that I can build a better system for less. A few points to consider:

1. Part of what you are paying for is their labor. While I would have to charge some labor to build a system for someone else, I am sure it would still save that person some money.
2. When you get a system from one of the big companies, you get a lot of [what I call] crap loaded on your system that you may never use. Most of this is required by that company's partners in exchange for good deals. What it means for you is less drive space and unnecessary programs loading and using up resources.
3. While warranty seems nice, it means that you have to take (or send) your system to an authorized repair facility which can mean going without your system for a time.
4. Some companies still use proprietary hardware which means you can't upgrade yourself.

Why am I on this soapbox? There are many reasons, but one of them is THE ALMIGHTY DOLLAR.

$

Recently, I went to Dell.com to price out gaming rigs. I priced out an Alienware and a non-Alienware system with mid-high specs. How much do you think those systems cost?

$3500-$5900

Ouch right?
This doesn't include a monitor!

Tonight, I finally got off my ass and priced out individual parts to build my own gaming rig from scratch. Look at these specs in my Gaming System Wish List. (Don't add it all up yet. The total is below.)

This system is a 64-bit system running a 3-core CPU, 8GB of fast RAM, 1TB Raid 0 configuration, two great video cards running SLI, a great sound card, gaming input devices, surround sound, and a 24 inch widescreen display. This will run any game you can buy off the shelf with the graphics cranked as high as it can go!!!

So how much am I out in parts for such a killer gaming system?

$2088.48

Not only is this a 40-60% savings in price for me, but it would benchmark faster than the Alienware! Even if I built this for you, you are talking about $420 labor at standard technician rates. Even more is that you can use this as a base to upgrade in the future meaning that you can spend a few bucks to upgrade a video card without having to take it in the an authorized dealer!

Now you know why I build my own.... and harp on others to do the same....

Update: I got a comment outside of this blog that AMD Tri-Core doesn't belong in a wishlist. This comment was based on that person's 'opinion' of either AMD or their tri-core processor and not based on any review I have read. However, if you are also biased against that processor (or any other item in my list) then just substitute whatever you like better. Either way, you will still come in WAY WAY WAY less than buying the Dell. That was the point of this blog... the savings. It is not my intent to shove a particular CPU down your throat. I encourage anyone to go put together their own list and compare it to the Alienware.

Still alive! (I think...)

If my life were to be expressed in BASIC it would look something like:

10 REM ***Daily Routine***
20 PRINT "Go to work."
30 IF DAY = "Wednesday" THEN GOTO 50
40 PRINT "Go to school."
50 PRINT "Go home"
60 IF TIME < "5:00" THEN PRINT "Play with kids."
70 PRINT "Do Homework"
80 PRINT "Go to sleep for 5 hours."
90 IF HEARTBEAT = 0 THEN GOTO 110
100 GOTO 20
110 END

While this doesn't cover everything, you get the idea of the endless loop that my life has become. This would be a great deal of the reason why I have not posted a blog in a long time. Add to that the computer problems I've been having, and you can see how it's been tough lately. So here's a little update on life in general:

Work:
I'm still working at the same old place making the same pocket change. While I like the work, I'm still not liking the pay or the company that I work for. I recently got some scuttlebutt from the guys at Range Control that a job will soon be posted for a job over there. It would be a civil service job that will net just about $3.00 an hour more. However, it would be a foot in the door for the GS wage grade and there is a possibility that they may add a job over there that my college work would qualify me for. If that happens, then I'd get another pay hike that would put me back to where I once was. Add to that the federal benefits and that I can apply my time in the army toward retirement an it's a win. Needless to say, I'll be watching out for that posting.

School:
I have one more class this semester, which is my final in my IT Essentials class. I'm in the process of scheduling my CompTIA A+ exam. I'm signed up for classes that start on January 21st. There was a scheduling conflict at the school, so the IT class I was supposed to have in the evening changed to afternoons. Luckily (or not depending on how you look at it) my adviser is also the instructor and was willing to let me do the class via independent study. While this means that I can still take the class, it also means that it will be more work and harder to make the grade. I'll have to see the lab schedules and do my studies during small windows of opportunity. It will be a couple of weeks before I see my final grades in the two classes I took this semester. I know that I passed, I just don't know the final grades yet.

Computers:
The Laptop.
Before classes started, I had a feeling that I was going to need a laptop for school. My feeling was strong on this, but my wife felt that it was less likely and we should wait and see. The verdict is in. I definitely did need one. Since my wife is a work from home type, she can write off a new computer. But that means she gets the new one, and I get the hand-me-down. Lucky her, but at least I have a school laptop out of it. (Since we got rid of the 7 year old one, I now have dubbed mine the "craptop.") It's not much, but I can write my papers on it separate from my gaming system and from darn near anywhere I can find quiet.

The desktop.
It's been up and down more than Pam Anderson on a pogo stick. Some of you may say, "You've still been checking email and Facebook!" This is true, but no one has seen me in Everquest II in a long time. The laptop and using my phone (to text updates to Twitter which also show in Facebook) go a long way toward keeping me connected.

First, it was a 500GB external hard drive that just stopped spinning. While this didn't take the system down as a a whole, it did take out my music and video collections. Then, I installed Windows 7. That went without a hitch, but soon afterward I started having problems. The short story is that one of my two 160GB internal drives bought the farm. Depending on time, I may blog my adventures in how I finally figured out the problem. Luckily, we were able to get a great deal on a couple of 1TB external drives. Too bad my hopes and plans of running RAID 0 are now going to have to wait.

So, as of this posting, I now have both of my computers up and running.

Let me also add that Windows 7 Home Premium is everything that the hype says it is. This really is the OS that Microsoft should have been producing from the start. Detractors say that it's geared too much toward amateur users, but they fail to see that 90% of the users out there fall into that category.


If you don't already have a 64-bit capable system, start saving now. That is where the computer market is going to very quickly. If you need evidence, look at the fact that the first 64-bit OS Microsoft offered was XP Professional (not home versions you notice.) Now, you have fully supported 64-bit versions of Vista and Windows 7. The hardware manufacturers are now up to par with device drivers as well.