i40.com

When asked what RedOctane holds in store beyond Guitar Hero, president and co-founder Kai Huang said, "The next logical step within this category is to make other music instrument-based games. What most people have been asking for and would want next are products that we're likely already working on."

This is the predictable sequel to My Son is One posted a year ago

I was up most of the night. Aiden woke up at about 2 with a fever (back of the hand to the cheek assessment, Taking his temp would have done either of us any good at that hour.) and in need of tlc. He fell back asleep, on my chest on the recliner, I followed shortly there after smiling and enjoying the moment (not of him being sick, but of him still being young enough to find comfort on daddy's shoulder, ("shoul" and "oer shoul" in Aiden speak)) knowing there will be a time, that will come up before I know it, where he will be to "old" for that.

It's been another amazing year. He can count to 11 (Blame his uncle Mattie for not letting him rest on his laurels of being able to count to 10)... yes my son goes to 11. He can tell you how old he is, and he adds new words to his vocabulary at an extraordinary rate. Several months ago we tried to count how many words he knew and stopped counting somewhere past 100.

The year had it's challenges, 4-5 trips to New England to visit, and eventualy say goodbye, to my grandfather and A chance meeting I may have the courage and words to write about some day.

Aiden's personality continues to mature, loving to laugh and be silly "Silly silly daddy" "silly mommy".. and demanding what ever triggered the laughter to repeat endlessly "Again again" and "dady to it!". He's also a self motivator. When we suggest that it is time for bed, he quickly add "and no crying" even though I don't think we've used those words in that context more than once or twice.

He still isn't comfortable staying with anyone except Cheryl and I, and every attempt to have someone else watch him as ended in a flood of tears. He does show signs that it is getting better, and maybe Cheryl and I will fit in a couple of legitimate date nights this year.

This weekend to celebrate the anniversary of when we became a family through adoption, were going to go to Myrtle Beach, and have some family time in a pool... I was going to say without phones (but we'll have our cell phones), w/o computers (but we'll at least have the n770), and w/o tv (but that's not going to happen).

The other day I came home, and un prompted Aiden ran from the other end of the house, threw his arms open and said "Daddy big hug!"

For Christmas/Anniversary (of when we started dating 11 years ago) Cheryl got me a Nokia 770. Despite the fact that it is from Nokia, it is NOT a phone. It's a Linux based (Maemo - Debian ARM) internet tablet with built in Wi-Fi and Bluetooth (so I can connect to the internet through my cell phone w/o any wires). It weighs in at just 8oz but does 80% of what I use my laptop for.

Currently it comes with a web browser, email, a MP3/Video Player and a newsreader but it is under heavy development and since it's Linux it's trivial to "hack". I've gotten access to the command line (and ssh), and can use it to completely remote manage Linux and Windows machines.

Webbrowser

There are a handful of games for it (Including one of my all-time Favorites "NetHack"), and more being compiled daily (the Joys of open source). Since Nokia is still developing it (They released it early in the product cycle to find out how people are using it) it's still a little rough around the edges. but the last update got rid of the memory issues, as well as some crashing I was seeing.

keyboard - xTerm

The community has already gotten bluetooth GPS working and, hopefully we can convince TOMTOM to support it.

The price has dropped $30 since we bought it, so today’s mission is to test CompUSA's price protection policy. It should be easy since I want to apply that $30 to the cost of a 2 year service plan on it. ($45 for 2 years seems pretty cheap for something this delicate).

My previous post, about the media getting the miners tragedy wrong was done entirely from my 770 and my Cell phone (to take the picture of the newspaper) while at lunch.

-Jason

I hope USA Today got it right in w. Va. Or they did the right thing and halted distribution up there.

This mornings front page headline:

"12 miners found alive"

"Twelve missing miners were found alive and rescued ..."

I realize it all happened very late last night. Cheryl was glued on Anderson coopers every word* but to print events before they happen just serves to further our distrust of the media. "The men were then taken by ambulance to a nearby hospital"

In the future, when someone is researching this event, who's version are historians going to trust?

*Cheryls Fascination was 2 fold. Mining, and Anderson Cooper.

-Jason

No, your not on the wrong blog.

Sure

Aiden was sick, and pulled an allnighter the 23rd. Sure the house was packed to capacity. Sure I decided to make a turkey for my whole family (for the first time) and decided to make it on the grill!

But it (the holliday, not my turkey, although by all accounts it wasn't bad either) was perfect.

Aiden entertained everyone the entire time.

From Aiden's grandfather teaching him Yoga (Namastay and Sun Salutation.. both followed with a jump). Aiden mock yawning. Or Aiden flirting with a woman 20+ years his senior.

My Dad, Step Mom, Grandmother, and Brother all made the effort to come out/down here from their own corner of the country, and we cannot thank them enough.

Santa was VERY good to me this year.. But more about that later.

-Jason

I can't not post any longer. I held back posting when a morning trip to starbucks was greeted with "Our Espresso machine is out of order, can I get you anything else?". ANYTHIGN ELSE? WTF else is there? Go home, take the morning off.

I held my tongue when thanksgiving was a complete trainwreck. Summary: We drove 6 hours each way so Cheryl, Aiden, and I could spend $120+ on a turkey dinner, that only the three of us actualy sat down to eat.

I held my tongue when Aiden started counting to 3.. He can now count to 10.. but he skips a few numbers.

But.. I cannot keep my silence any more. I found this on WWdN.. (Cheryl's always quoting WWdN.. No matter what she say's she's a closet geek! Red Dwarf fans unite!)

Disney is working on a new animated series that will replace Christopher Robin with a 6-year-old girl.

"We got raised eyebrows even in-house at first, but the feeling
was these timeless characters really needed a breath of fresh air that
only the introduction of someone new could provide," says Nancy Kanter
of the Disney Channel.

Excuse me? This is why big evil corporations shouldn't buy up rights to everything on earth. A. A. Milne.. We are sorry.

Full Story

-Jason

Have you ever tried to have a conversation, or even tried to say something profound using oversized magnetic letters you outgrew in 3rd grade? (or 8th grade in my case). Well now you can. Introducing yet another refrigerator, this time covered with pre-school letters!

If no letters are moved for 10 minutes, it scatters the letters randomly. This is to prevent the more naughty words from lingering too long. I may adjust this in the future.

And dont forget the original FridgePoet and Shakespear Fridge Poet

-Jason

himself. It needs a little fine tuning me thinks.

-Jason

I just got back from a virtual trip to the Geek Mecca where I bought a new 250gb SATA HD to mate with my hopefully soon to be replaced in warranty 250gb SATA HD, to provide constant, and hassle free backup (Off-site DVD backups still required). Thanks to "mccrawdaddy" for helping to push me into making this move I had been contemplating.

2 Interesting things. Newegg.com's price for the drive is only $10 more than tigerdirect's price for the same drive [REFURBISHED], their shipping is less, and no sales tax, making it a complete wash... Or so I thought.

As I was checking out, I was offered a magazine subscription. rolls eyes I expected it to be a "receive 3 months free, then continue receiving the magazine for our inflated annual rate" offer. Instead it was a "Receive a Full year of pc magazine" and a note, that If I don't want to receive PC Magazine (a $19.95 value) for free I am entitled to a refund of the subscription price.

*blink* Huh? I must have read that wrong. So I click on the Info button and it says the auditing body that over sees magazine subscriptions require publishers to offer a refund of the full subscription price if people choose not to take advantage of the free offer. I click on the refund form and it is simply an address for Ziff Davis, and a space to enter name and address. I do have to include a self addressed envelope, but I figure the 97 cents (60 cents out going, and 37 cent SASE) is worth seeing if this is legit or not.

I googled for this type of offer and found many hits, but I haven't found anyone who's commented on it working or not. Does anyone have any experience with it? is there something I'm missing (I hope not, I consider myself to be reasonably clever).

-Jason

Right now it only has a single word-set of 1000 words (plus duplicates), but I am actively working on (and seeking volunteers to) creating new themed word-sets, as well as revising the current word-set.

If The Fridge Poet strikes your fancy, I'd love it if you would spread the word. Include screen captures of your favorite poetry, etc.

I'd also like to find a neater (as in "Golly Gee that's neat", or at least cleaner) way of displaying that many words in a confined space. If you have any ideas, conceptualy (I can handle the technical side of it) please don't hesitate to let me know.

I'm pretty disenchanted with Celeberty, but having met teller, and enjoyed his work over the years, I bet this would be a lot of fun.

"Don't expect a catered event with violins at your table and little guys in uniforms," says Teller."I may even make you watch over your pork roll to keep it from burning. You'll be treated the way I treat my friends."

TableTeller makes this remarkable offer in support of the James Randi Educational Foundation. The brunch will be held Friday morning of THE AMAZ!NG MEETING 4, more popularly known as TAM4. TAM4 is an annual conference bringing together smart people who believe critical thinking skills must be central to building a quality future. That, and waffles (or gourmet pancakes, with fresh fruit topping, fine tea, Massachusetts maple syrup from Penn's favorite sugar house, homemade or Taylor-made sausage, etc; it's Teller's brunch and he'll serve what he's in the mood to eat).

eBay: Brunch with Teller Charity event James Randi Ed. Fdn. (item 6572010350 end time Oct-28-05 10:22:07 PDT)