Random Musings of Brian A. Thomas. Love for Ari and Sidd.
General
Look Here, a New Dark Tower Book!
Aug 4th
I love Stephen King’s the Dark Tower series
I read the first few books in the first series, and it was really good.
You probably should read the regular books in the series first, then get into the graphic novels, even though they take place before the novels. Also that first novel can be a bit hard to get through, but after that they are a fun, fast easy read.
The graphic novels start with: More >
I Need a New Video Card and Router
Jul 18th
Near the start of the year my old computer died. It had been acting flaky, and finally the HD kicked it. While I could have replaced the HD, the PC itself was being flaky so I got a super cheap new computer. This one has an integrated video chip, which can be disabled to use a regular video card. The integrated chip is equal, or not just a hair better than the old video card so I decided against moving the card over. More >
Our Crumb Cake Recipe
Jul 12th
I have fond memories of baking with my grandma Thomas (I would link to her in the Thomas Family Tree, but she wouldn’t show up yet due to privacy settings). We made cinnamon jumbles, cookies and this crumb cake. The recipe cards always say “Olive Crumb Cake”, but it is supposed to read “Olive’s Crumb Cake.” As I understand it, Olive was one of my grandmother’s friends, and this was her recipe.
The cake is nice, moist and spongy. The cake sort of crumbles, but it is the crumbs on the top that give it its name. It is a wonderful breakfast cake as well as snack cake.
Ari and I made this the other day, and I thought I would share it.
Ingredients:
- 1 1/2 Cups Brown Sugar
- 1/2 Cup Shortening (I recommend butter flavored stuff… I’ve used butter itself as well, but the recipe says Shortening so I’ll repeat what it says).
- 2 Cups Flower
- 1 Egg
- 1 Cup Sour Milk (to make Sour Milk, pour 1 cup milk into a bowl, add 1 Tablespoon Vinegar and let stand for 5 minutes)
- 1 teaspoon Cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon Baking Soda
Directions:
More >
First Amendment Shut Down to Protect BP
Jul 5th
The first amendment has been shut down to protect BP from looking bad. Officials at BP and the government are lying about how many skimming vessels are in each perish. In one perish they say they have 96, but the perish only has 19. How much worse would this disaster have been if we had an even more oil industry friendly government in place?
Sidd and Ari Update
Oct 3rd
Okay, the main purpose of the blog is to keep family and friends up to date with what is happening with my family. To that end…
Ari is enjoying Kindergarten and his bus ride home. No real news to report there yet. They went on a field trip to see a ballet of Peter and the Wolf, which “was good but not too good.”
At the moment we have only one car, so Sara and the kids have to take me to work, then she and Sidd have to take Ari to school. Why only one car? The other day Sara calls and says that the truck feels funny, like it has a flat and the brakes weren’t felling right, but she pulled over and the tire didn’t look flat, and decided (against my instructions) to continue on. Later she calls broken down. A friend of hers came and got her and the kids and took them down to their place since that was where she was heading anyhow. We learned that the lug nuts must not have been tight enough and that they came loose (odd thing is, I thought I tightened them, and the truck drove fine for days afterwords). This resulted in one of the bolts getting sheared off. So now we have to replace the 5 bolts… not an easy task. The alternative is to replace the whole hub, but that costs a crap ton and since it only needs bolts, we’ll wait until we can get that fixed…
Meanwhile, Sidd is rolling over both directions really well. His rolls to his back are sometimes met by him bumping his head, but for the most part he does well. He sleeps on his side it seems. He is also starting to get some of the mechanics of crawling… well, scooting. He hasn’t figured out that if he got on his knees that he would be more mobile, but he does try to scoot to get stuff that is out of his reach.
Sidd’s colic is gone. For the most part he cries if hungry, wet, wants attention, is too bored or really tired. Otherwise he is a fairly happy kid. Still needs lots of attention.
The apartment is okay. We are nearly unpacked. The downstairs is cleared of all boxes. Sidd and Ari’s room still has boxes, but not much we can do about those as those hold toys and we can’t have them all over the floor as Ari’s toy box is already full. Lots of boxes in our closets, but nothing we can do there either as there is no room in this place for the stuff to be unpacked.
That should be the quick rundown of all that is going on here.
Baby Dancing Video
Sep 27th
To make up for the far too many political posts, here is a dancing baby.
A Good Reason Why Your Android Phone Should Have a Keyboard
May 21st
There are some really cool Android phones coming out soon. The HTC Magic, the Samsung i7500 which has tons of onboard storage and a really cool screen, but both of those lack one key thing, a physical keyboard, with which you could use:
Okay before people get too excited, per the guy’s website, you will need a rooted G1 and have installed Debain on it. So it isn’t running through the Android SDK. Still very impressive.
Perhaps Not a Jr. Copywriter
May 21st
There are a few things I need to do now before they will think about promoting me to Jr. Copywriter… it seemed like such a sure thing the way my boss and her boss were talking… Anyhow, I first need to find a product we can sell at $100 to $200 profit. This is a bit tricky since I don’t think any of my ideas would sell for that much over cost. There were lots of other reasonable requirements, then it hit to one where I have to be willing to buy the ad space. The question there is, are they saying that I need to actually pay for it, or just something I believe is good enough that if in some fantasy world I had enough to place a full page ad, I would? As it stands there is no way I could afford a full page ad, even in something like the Canton Repository, let alone a major market newspaper. Needless to say, I was sad to get that news… not that it is so bad, at least if I don’t have to pay for the ad. I may never get a job that will let me take care of my family…
Now is the Time for Our Friends and Family to Change to T-Mobile
May 21st
Right now, until May 26th, Wal-Mart is giving a $50 gift card for signing a new 2 year agreement with T-Mobile. Sara and I use T-Mobile. Mobile to mobile is free, so you could call us for free, and we could receive your call for free. So if you get a phone that would be free normally with 2 year contract, it comes out like they are paying you to get the phone from them. If you get a G1 like I want to get, it is normally $98.88, but after getting the $50 card, it is basically like getting the phone for only $48.88, which is nearly a steal. Remember, your number is likely to be portable, so you probably don’t need a new number, just a new T-Mobile contract.
Cool Android Application, Sky Map
May 18th
Android, is a cool mobile phone (and laptop, etc.) platform. T-Mobile has the G1 out right now, and there are a couple more phones coming out soon from them, and we should see some coming from other carriers this year as well (probably not AT&T and Verizon as they don’t like not controlling the market, and Android opens things up too much, but they will support it if their customers demand it enough). Anyhow, I want one to do geocaching with… and add to the fact that my phone is 4 or so years old, it all adds to the fact it is time to start looking at a new phone.
I learned about a new application for the G1 and other Android devices. It is called SkyMap and you point you phone at a star and it will tell you what it is and more about it. If you want to find a star/planet it will tell you where to look for it. Video demo:
Thinking of Going to a Football Game This Year
Apr 30th
I think Ari and I, and perhaps some friends of ours if I can get them to go, will go to a football… err soccer to us… game this year. That’s right, I am thinking of going down to watch the 2008 MLS Champions, The Columbus Crew. I think in the day we’ll go down early, go to the Zoo or COSI, then head to the game. The original plan is to then head back at night.
Some vids:
More >
Why Music Sucks These Days – I Could’t Agree More
Apr 30th
A great video from many talented people explaining why radio and music suck so much these days. The Beatles came out over 40 years ago and are still influential, still getting radio play, still selling records and in a while will be selling a The Beatles: Rock Band
I should supplement my rant by saying that I am not saying there hasn’t been any good music since the mid 70′s. Lord knows I have liked or loved plenty of music since those days. And there are breakthrough artists that I think will be remembered, loved, respected and influential 40, 50, 100 years after they came out or were popular (if they ever got popular). But 98% of the music produced today is just to make a quick buck for the label. The music industry is no longer interested in fostering talent, they removed the talent from the executive ranks a long time ago and filled it with business people who only care about impressing the shareholders. Shareholders don’t care about fostering talent either, they don’t care if the label is here 10, 50 years from now, they want a quick return on their investment.
Okay, okay, I’ll stop my rant…
The great movie, Almost Famous
40 Years of Life… Almost
Apr 12th
Soon I’ll be 40 years old. Wow.
We got a used XBox 360 for a really good deal from Sara’s brother (he upgraded to a fancy new version), so my wish lists has modified some, since we no longer need that.
Top item on the list continues to be a GPS for Geocaching (not for car use so much), either a Garmin Oregon 400T
With us now having an XBox 360, the item most wanted for it is Xbox 360 Rock Band 2 Special Edition
New to the list is the Nikon D40 6.1MP Digital SLR Camera Kit with 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6G ED II AF-S DX Zoom-Nikkor Lens
Jr Copywriter
Mar 20th
I may soon be promoted soon, to Jr Copywriter.
A year ago I made an ad for a spin dryer. This was more an effort to learn how to do something in InDesign than anything else at the time. Recently they asked for green ideas and I sent in the ad. The guy sent the idea to the owner and marketing people. They then called me in. They liked the idea, and suggested I should become a Jr. Copywriter.
To that end, the following two books were suggested:
The Copywriter’s Handbook, Third Edition: A Step-By-Step Guide To Writing Copy That Sells
The Adweek Copywriting Handbook: The Ultimate Guide to Writing Powerful Advertising and Marketing Copy from One of America’s Top Copywriters
I have both books on request at the local library. The second one is not in the Stark County system, so they’ll have to get it from another system.
I think it will be exciting…
March 26th
Mar 2nd
March 26th is when our second child should be born. He is expected to be a boy. Aside from that I will give no details yet.
6 Years and Counting
Feb 15th
Today is our 6 year anniversary. I would find it hard to believe if it wasn’t for the fact that Ari will be 5 in just 3 more weeks, which is also hard to believe. I guess time flies when you are having fun. Add to all that, 2 weeks after Ari’s birthday our 2nd child will be born.
US Incarceration
Jan 31st
There are 2,293,157 people in US jails. That is the highest incarceration total in the world. Even China, falls to second place with 1,565,771. We have nearly twice the number of people in jail, though they have over a billion more people. If we look at it from a percentage of the population view, the US still far outdoes everyone, with 737 prisoners per 100,000 in population. Russia is second with 611, Saint Kitts and Nevis is third with 547 and then the US Virgin Islands 521.
Why the US leads the world in incarcerations will be the subject of a later post. Needless to say, many of those people are didn’t steal anything, they didn’t hurt anyone, weren’t violent in any way, didn’t risk hurting anyone, as a matter of fact, a vast majority of this group of offenders were highly productive members of society and would still be if let go today. If this group of non-violent people were to be let go, we would instantly end the overcrowding problem in jails and be able to keep thieves, murders, rapist, child molesters and the like in jail long and devote far more police effort to capturing and stopping those violent people that harm society.
However, there are a contractors and sub-contractors building, maintaining, staffing, providing food and other services to prisons who spend considerable money lobbying the government to keep that one segment in jail and to put more of that segment in jail. Sure not having them in jail would save billions, even if you chose to provide treatment for those people the savings would be in the billions (and you would treat more of them), but tax savings doesn’t go the politicians pocket, but lobby money does.
Code 41 with a New DVD Burner
Jan 9th
This is a technical article to help somebody if they have the same problem I did. If somebody hits this via a Google search, I hope this helps. For everyone else, you probably can skip this one.
So our old DVD burner (a NEC ND-3520A) on our computer died. It had long ago stopped burning or playing CDs, and finally stopped being recognized at all. So we replaced it using a gift card my company gave us.
After some research I decided on a Samsung SH-S223F that we picked it up from New Egg for $25. It amazes me that drives of far less quality sell at Wal-Mart even for far more, even after shipping and handling was added to the order. The S223F is a very fast drive and is SATA over the older IDE which was something I really wanted.
Anyhow the computer recognized the drive quickly and everything was going well, Windows detected the new hardware but it never showed up in My Computer. When I looked it up in Device Manager it has a yellow astrix next to it and said it was a code 41.
What I eventually found was a Russian page that helped me fix the problem, but since then I found a Microsoft Support page that gives the same details in English without needing to use Google’s translation service. That page covers errors 31,31, 19, 39 and 41. In short the registry LowerFilters and UpperFilters in HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE/SYSTEM/CurrentControlSet/Control/Class/{4D36E965-E325-11CE-BFC1-08002BE10318} need deleted, a process I’ll leave to the aforementioned MS support page to explain. I can’t tell exactly what UpperFilters and LowerFilters are in the registry though it looks like it relates to how burning software interacts with the burner. Most software installs it’s own filters at the software level, but MS for some reason puts it in the registry which can cause occasional conflicts. Let’s hope they fix this in Windows 7… I doubt it, like I doubt they fixed Windows long term problem with the clock (International PC standards have long required the PC clock to be set to UT, with the OS adjusting it to the local time, and all OSs except Windows follow this standard, while Windows sets the PC clock to local time, this causes a problem in dual boot situations).
This Can Only End Badly
Dec 27th
The horror of reading the headline “Amateurs are trying genetic engineering at home” brings things back to various story ideas I have thought of but never put into book form.
A lonely guy, who never forgot the guys who picked on him in High School invents a disease that quickly kills men, and only men, leaving him essentially the last man on Earth.
Two variations on the zombie apocalypse, both either a movie/tv mini/maxi series or a modification for Left 4 Dead… In both variations the story involves escorting a lady the party finds to safety as she has the cure, but can’t replicate it until she gets to the main survivor camp which is rumored to have the equipment necessary. We know little about her past, she worked for an infectious disease center, her husband worked for a sprinkler system company, they had a child which she doesn’t speak anything more of, but nothing really else. The disease is a 28 Days Later type rage virus that is spread via infected blood getting into you (at least an open membrane) or in certain liquid forms. Anyhow, the party finally makes it past the hordes of zombies and to a large survivor camp who confirms that there is the medical equipment necessary to replicate the cure. She is taken away. As she leaves she makes a comment (more on that in a bit) and presses a button which causes the sprinkler system to activate all over the camp, with the water having the gel that spreads the virus, causing it to spread to the camp. Our last shot is the party who we have been following outside watching the helicopter leave and then turning to the oncoming zombie hoard. Prior to this we finally learn the real origin of the virus was her, and possibly some of her allies. In one case it is just her and her hatred of all humanity, as the helicopter leaves we hear her say “humanity doesn’t deserve to live.” Then there is the original story line where we drop hints along the while that the disease was originally created by some Christians who thought they could make Jesus return quicker by causing the apocalypse. This was inspired by the people who think that the election of Obama and other events prior to that may cause Jesus to come back sooner. (Which makes God really weak if His time line can be disrupted by mankind, especially a simple election or any of the other things that caused people to say that such and such may make Him return soon, but then again most Christians don’t think God is strong enough to convict people of sin himself and therefor make laws to do His job for Him, but that was another post all together.)
Anyhow, the whole idea of people playing Genetic Engineer at home can only end badly. Sure a good percentage of people will want to do good, but a certain percentage will want to do harm. Even in the cases of those wanting to do good may cause harm. The killer bees got here out of the intent of doing good, but they escaped the lab. Even something that may seem good for a while may mutate and evolve into something bad. This isn’t to say that we should stand in the way of scientific progress, but there needs to be caution as we move forward on certain fronts.
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