Snow Day Feb 4, 2011 and 1973!

It snowed last night!

Checkout the Snow Day from 1973 on Loyola Lane. Click the picture for a slideshow of that day.

Mac Spaces

I’m digging the Spaces feature of the Mac OS.  I should have been using this a long time ago!
If you are unfamiliar with Spaces, the feature gives you multiple “virtual” windows that you can switch between.
It’s like having multiple monitors connected to your computer each with different views of your running apps.

In the Settings for Spaces I redefined the hotkeys that switches between spaces.  It was assigned to <Ctrl>arrows but that prevented me from using those hotkeys to move around (word advance) in Visual Studio (using VMWare).  I reassigned the hotkey to be <option>arrows which had the added benefit of disabling Windows 7 hotkey to resize the current window (which I find annoying).

New Job with ATX Innovation

This week I started my new job with ATX Innovation, makers of TabbedOut a free iPhone and Android application for paying your restaurant or bar tab eliminating the need to hand over your credit card.

Guesstures

Kristen got the game Guesstures from her Grandma in Dallas for Christmas.  Besides being a fun game, it has special meaning to Jane and I.  Jane and I met at a party in Dallas and that’s the game we played that night.   I didn’t actually call Jane for a date until more than a year later!

Garrett and Cristina Robins Wedding Video

Video from my niece’s wedding.

Computer setup 2010

Five years ago I recommended THESE programs to install on a fresh Windows install.
My recommended list has changed to this:

Filezilla
Beyond Compare
WinZip
7-Zip (for RAR files)
Skype
Sony Movie Studio HD Platinum
Picassa
SumatraPDF (Blazingly fast, no annoying ads or requirements to upgrade or requirements to install Adobe Air)
CutePDF

tinyurl

When I want to share a web page that has a long honkin address I go to tinurl.com and create a shorter address that redirects to the original link.  There are other services that do this.

I’ve created:

http://tinyurl.com/lttomahawks
(http://www.youtube.com/view_play_list?p=7B4DF86AE633035C)

http://tinyurl.com/ltcheer
(http://www.youtube.com/view_play_list?p=E79E13953BCDBF36)

http://tinyurl.com/kristenbb (Not Working)

(http://www.youtube.com/my_playlists?p=8A6C34C04F860F91)

http://tinyurl.com/garrettcristina
(http://www.youtube.com/view_play_list?p=8AB6EB7DCFE443A1)

http://tinyurl.com/McCollumBB2010
(http://www.youtube.com/view_play_list?p=FE1AE7F58A7CB8F3)

http://tinyurl.com/iphonespellcheck
(https://picasaweb.google.com/alankley/IPhone?feat=email#slideshow/5570003804618535074)

http://tinyurl.com/lonestargoldpride
http://www.youtube.com/view_play_list?p=058B891D688502C1

http://tinyurl.com/maggiosrred2011
http://www.youtube.com/view_play_list?p=CE555C4BB3D94E74

http://tinyurl.com/astrossingleafall2011

http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL0CFD7B0FDAFB7DA6

http://tinyurl.com/ladycavsfall2011

Running Windows 7 on my new Macbook Pro

Who says you can’t have it all?   I’ll be leaving my current job soon and with it the use of a Windows laptop and MacBook Pro.  Last week I decided to go all in and spend the $2000 plus on a new MacBook Pro and install Windows 7 on it.  The installation of Windows 7 using Bootcamp went smoothly.  Windows 7 runs great and looks great on it!  I used the free copy of Windows 7 Ultimate I received in the mail.  I now have some great hardware that I can boot Mac OSX or Windows 7 on and do my Mac or Windows development from a single laptop.  The MacBook is fast and I have Vegas Movie Studio HD Platinum 10 installed to do video editing.  I can render out a video from Vegas and playback video real-time at the same time!

I have to discover and get use to how to do things in Windows from the MacBook.  Here are some items of note:

Print Screen: <shift><fn><F11>
Print Active Window: <shift><fn><alt><F11>
forward delete: <fn><delete>
Start of line: <fn><left arrow>
End of line: <fn><right arrow>
Next word: <control><right arrow>
Previous word: <control><left arrow>
PageUp: <fn><arrow up>
PageDn: <fn><arrow dn>
Scroll Line Up: <fn><arrow up>
Scroll Line Down: <fn><arrow down>
Move cursor to top of screen: <control><fn><arrow up>
Move cursor to bottom of screen: <control><fn><arrow down>
<fn><Enter> Insert

You can find all the Mac hotkeys here.

Should Johnny Learn to Program?

Points and counter points on whether programming should be something all  kids should learn: Should Johnny Learn to Program?

I’m on the  side of no, programming is not a basic skill everyone should learn.  I like this counterpoint:

The giant hole in our workforce isn’t entry level developers who can hash out c code and write a compiler from scratch. It is for people with combined skills who can APPLY encapsulated technology (lots thanks to companies has been encapsulated) to specific domains.

Let’s stop trying to train the mass of high school students to become preservation carpenters, and instead make them very good contractors.

My reply:

I would recommend a deeper understanding of computing for the USER.  People don’t have a clue of the very basics of computing.

How many people click on an attachment to save and can never find it again?  People don’t understand the concept of CC vs BCC.  Folks don’t not the difference between  an Operating System, a browser, and a website.  Learning how to program is NOT something everyone should learn.  Phillips is right on the mark in suggesting we adjust the education system to teach application of encapsulated technology.  A good book on the subject is Daniel Pink’s A While New Mind.

Why Average Should Be The New Excellent

I am reprinting an article I came across. The original is linked at the end of this post.
This is also posted on the Lake Travis Parents site.

Are we pushing our kids too hard?

It’s a natural instinct to push our kids to succeed. We only want the best for them, after all. But are we damaging our children by teaching them that their choices are limited to either success or failure?

Our children grow up under the crushing weight of all our hopes and dreams for them. As they master crawling, walking and talking, we plan their futures. We imagine ourselves standing gracefully on the White House lawn, in the front row at the Academy Awards, waiting in the wings in Stockholm, courtside at the NBA finals. The child who absently bangs a few notes on the piano as he passes by is nurtured with lessons, his innate talent praised. The girl who twirls joyfully in the park is signed up for ballet and gymnastics lessons the next afternoon.

All over the world, parents push their children to succeed, to be the best, to excel. And that’s fantastic, except that the reality is that most of our children will not be world-famous whatevers or the greatest fill-in-the-blanks of all time. Most of us, after all, are fairly ordinary. Oh, sure, we’re really good at something or other, and we enjoy relative success in our chosen fields, but are we world-renowned? Are we turning down endorsement opportunities or juggling our schedules to give back-to-back keynotes at conferences on different continents or inspiring unauthorized autobiographies? Are we even writing unauthorized biographies? Most of us are not.

EMBRACE ORDINARY

What’s critical is that our kids understand that even though we want the best for them, “the best” is relative. We want them to try, to dream, to reach, but we also need to ensure that they understand that normal does not necessarily mean mediocre, and that mediocre does not define their character, even if they can’t cure cancer or play in the NFL — or even make the JV team in high school.

People can be ordinary and still make a difference in the world. People can be average and still be extraordinary. And before you brush away that word disdainfully, before you discount average, consider this: Average is what you pray for during pregnancy. If you don’t believe it, just ask any parent of a child with special needs.

DREAM — AND DO

Dreams matter. Of course they matter. Of course we want greatness for our children. But we don’t want them to be so paralyzed by the thought of greatness that they fail to do anything meaningful with their lives. Life, in general, is not an all-or-nothing proposition. Our children deserve the chance to experiment, to dabble, to be free to aspire to normalcy. To do, without worrying about success or failure. To do. To be.

UNCONDITIONAL LOVE

It’s not, “I’ll love you even if you can’t be the best or no matter what you do.” It’s, “I love you.” That intrinsic, essential, fundamental thing that makes your son your son is why you love him. Unconditional love means you don’t put conditions on it. It sounds obvious, but it’s something that’s easy to forget.

Hopes and dreams are a good thing. They’re an important part of parenting. But an equally important part is to remind yourself — and your child — that those hopes and dreams are there to inspire, not to crush. The only weight your child should feel on his shoulders is his head held high with pride in who he is now, at this moment.

Here is a link to the original article posted on SheKnows.com and written by Abbi Perets:
Are we pushing our kids too hard? Why Average Should Be The New Excellent.