Life as Dan.

Super fun weekend visits.

2007-10-07T20:02:00.001-04:00

This weekend was really great. Jamie and Jason came down to go mountain biking and my folks came to spend the weekend. JJ, Ben and I went to Alum and did a couple turns. My folks Rachel and I went to COSI.
I was particularly great to mountain bike with Jason again. He is by for one of my most favorite cycling partners. He and I ride about the same pace and keep one another on our toes. I must say though that I did have the home field advantage because this was his first time on the trail. All in all it was a great but brief visit. I had to speed home to get my house ready for my parents so we parted way after the ride and Jamie and Jason went on to have lunch with Ben.
My parents had really just come down to relax so we spent our time going through the 16 cd's of pictures they brought form their recent trip to Yellowstone National Park. Yes I said 16! So we grabbed some Logan's and some Graeter's ice cream and set up to be awed by the amazing shots. 14 discs and hours later we were done so we set our sites on COSI. In honor of Columbus Day weekend it was half price so therefore a little more palatable than the standard 12 bucks a person.
I really appreciate the fact that people take the time to come down to Columbus and see Rachel and I. The drive is not quick or interesting. Thank you all of you who have and will make the trip down.
Here are some shots of our trip for you to enjoy...

Dan got a new phone...

2007-07-31T21:17:00.000-04:00

The Treo had to go. Treo + exchange server= ''hello, tech support?''I got a Q... BTW

Back to the blog,

2007-05-20T20:10:00.000-04:00

My house and life have been a whirl wind of late, therefore no bloggin'. But, now I am settling in and things are starting to take on a reasonable shape. I have a desk (two actually) and I am all internetted up. It took days to make the wireless work. Not that it was hard, I was just not motivated. As you all know I can't do just one thing at a time ever so with no TV and other stimuli I cannot concentrate. Now that I have the laptop by the TV I can get some stuff done.

So, I am will try to keep things more on spec...

You are all obligated to come to my new house (townhouse) in Columbus. We have a guestroom for you to stay in and a dishwasher so the extra dishes are no biggy. We live in Pickerington which is 30 minutes from Hocking Hills, so in theory some day I will be able to ride the hills (fat guy dreaming...) So come on down and see us. I will get some pictures up soon.

Cheers everyone... email me.

My first moblog.

2007-04-22T08:38:00.001-04:00

Okay, so my first moblog is from my living room, not all that exotic. The point being I can know blog from my new Treo. That picture is one of our favorites from our wedding. We are waiting to chat with them online... Until later, Dan out.

Just a quick update.

2007-04-03T21:26:00.000-04:00

I know it has been a while since I checked in so I thought I would just take a minute to let you all know how things are going. They are going great! I love what I am doing. What am I doing you ask?

I am a recruiter for Robert Half Technology. I specifically focus on infrastructure and support. Look 'em up at RHT.com. They are a great company to work for. I love what I am doing, which mostly consists of getting people cool jobs. If you know me you know that I am a nerd therefore talking to computer guys all day is barely a job to me.

Give me a call if you get the chance and I will talk you ear off about it. I love it!!!

WATCH OUT BIGGISH CITY! HERE COMES DAN!!!

2007-03-20T12:52:00.000-04:00

I have logged a bunch of hours and a bunch of miles in the last weeks but all for a great reason, a new job. I have been offered and have accepted a job in Columbus. I will be working with a bunch of super sharp people in a slick office right downtown. The company is called Robert Half Technologies. They deal in "getting tech people jobs" in the corporate hustle and bustle of Cbus.
I, a lover of nerdy technology, will be working with recruiters and companies to put butts were they need to be to grease the wheels and keep things rolling by putting the right top candidates into the hands of the companies that need them.

So I am now a suit and I have to shave on a much more regular basis as well as not stink. Can you believe it. I am a professional. I will keep you all in the loop.

Kitty in a box.

2007-03-16T18:20:00.001-04:00

I dedicate this to Will. May he some day move and get a kitten to snuggle.

Read this and know what a wimpy candy-ass you really are.

2007-03-16T14:13:00.000-04:00

This guy had a goal and freakin' rocked it. Who do you know who has this much metal?
That's right no one...

The Graphing Calculator Story

Copyright © 2004 Ron Avitzur.

Pacific Tech's Graphing Calculator has a long history. I began the work in 1985 while in school. That became Milo, and later became part of FrameMaker. Over the last twenty years, many people have contributed to it. Graphing Calculator 1.0, which Apple bundled with the original PowerPC computers, originated under unique circumstances.

I used to be a contractor for Apple, working on a secret project. Unfortunately, the computer we were building never saw the light of day. The project was so plagued by politics and ego that when the engineers requested technical oversight, our manager hired a psychologist instead. In August 1993, the project was canceled. A year of my work evaporated, my contract ended, and I was unemployed.

I was frustrated by all the wasted effort, so I decided to uncancel my small part of the project. I had been paid to do a job, and I wanted to finish it. My electronic badge still opened Apple's doors, so I just kept showing up.

I had many sympathizers. Apple's engineers thought what I was doing was cool. Whenever I gave demos, my colleagues said, "I wish I'd had that when I was in school." Those working on Apple's project to change the microprocessor in its computers to the IBM PowerPC were especially supportive. They thought my software would show off the speed of their new machine. None of them was able to hire me, however, so I worked unofficially, in classic "skunkworks" fashion.

I knew nothing about the PowerPC and had no idea how to modify my software to run on it. One August night, after dinner, two guys showed up to announce that they would camp out in my office until the modification was done. The three of us spent the next six hours editing fifty thousand lines of code. The work was delicate surgery requiring arcane knowledge of the MacOS, the PowerPC, and my own software. It would have taken weeks for any one of us working alone.

At 1:00 a.m., we trekked to an office that had a PowerPC prototype. We looked at each other, took a deep breath, and launched the application. The monitor burst into flames. We calmly carried it outside to avoid setting off smoke detectors, plugged in another monitor, and tried again. The software hadn't caused the fire; the monitor had just chosen that moment to malfunction. The software ran over fifty times faster than it had run on the old microprocessor. We played with it for a while and agreed, "This doesn't suck" (high praise in Apple lingo). We had an impressive demo, but it would take months of hard work to turn it into a product.

I asked my friend Greg Robbins to help me. His contract in another division at Apple had just ended, so he told his manager that he would start reporting to me. She didn't ask who I was and let him keep his office and badge. In turn, I told people that I was reporting to him. Since that left no managers in the loop, we had no meetings and could be extremely productive. We worked twelve hours a day, seven days a week. Greg had unlimited energy and a perfectionist's attention to detail. He usually stayed behind closed doors programming all day, while I spent much of my time talking with other engineers. Since I had asked him to help as a personal favor, I had to keep pace with him. Thanks to an uncurtained east-facing window in my bedroom, I woke with the dawn and usually arrived ten minutes before Greg did. He would think I had been working for hours and feel obliged to work late to stay on par. I in turn felt obliged to stay as late as he did. This feedback loop created an ever-increasing spiral of productivity.

People around the Apple campus saw us all the time and assumed we belonged. Few asked who we were or what we were doing.When someone did ask me, I never lied, but relied on the power of corporate apathy. The conversations usually went like this:

Q: Do you work here?
A: No.
Q: You mean you're a contractor?
A: Actually, no.
Q: But then who's paying you?
A: No one.
Q: How do you live?
A: I live simply.
Q: (Incredulously) What are you doing here?!

At that point I'd give a demo and explain that the project had been canceled but that I was staying to finish it anyway. Since I had neither a mortgage nor a family, I could afford to live off savings. Most engineers at Apple had been through many canceled projects and completely understood my motivation.

Apple at that time had a strong tradition of skunkworks projects, in which engineers continued to work on canceled projects in hopes of producing demos that would inspire management to revive them. On occasion, they succeeded. One project, appropriately code-named Spectre, was canceled and restarted no fewer than five times. Engineers worked after hours on their skunkworks, in addition to working full time on their assigned projects. Greg and I, as nonemployees who had no daytime responsibilities, were merely extending this tradition to the next level.

In September, Apple Facilities tried to move people into our officially empty offices. They noticed us. The Facilities woman assumed that I had merely changed projects and had not yet moved to my new group, something that happened all the time. She asked what group I worked in, since it would be that group's responsibility to find me space. When I told her the truth, she was not amused. She called Security, had them cancel our badges, and told us in no uncertain terms to leave the premises.

We were saved by the layoffs that began that month. Twenty percent of Apple's fifteen thousand workers lost their jobs, but Greg and I were safe because we weren't on the books in the first place and didn't officially exist. Afterwards, there were plenty of empty offices. We found two and started sneaking into the building every day, waiting out in front for real employees to arrive and casually tailgating them through the door. Lots of people knew us and no one asked questions, since we wore our old badges as decoys.

We were making great progress, but we couldn't get it done alone. Creating sophisticated software requires a team effort. One person can use smoke and mirrors to make a demo that dazzles an audience. But shipping that to a million customers will expose its flaws and leave everyone looking bad. It is a cliche in our business that the first 90 percent of the work is easy, the second 90 percent wears you down, and the last 90 percent - the attention to detail - makes a good product. Making software that is simultaneously easy to learn, easy to use, friendly, useful, and powerful takes people with an incredible combination of skills, talent, and artistry working together with intensity and patience. Greg and I could do the core engineering, but that was a far cry from creating a finished product.

Among other things, we needed professional quality assurance (QA), the difficult and time-consuming testing that would show us the design flaws and implementation bugs we couldn't see in our own work. Out of nowhere, two QA guys we had never met approached us, having heard about our venture through the rumor mill. (We had become a kind of underground cause célèbre.) Their day job, QA-ing system software, was mind-numbingly boring. They volunteered to help us, saying, "Let's not tell our boss about this, OK?" One guy had a Ph.D. in mathematics; the other had previously written mathematical software himself. They were a godsend. They started right away.

Next, we needed help writing software to draw the three-dimensional images that our software produced. A friend with expertise in this area took a weekend off from his startup company to write all of this software. He did in two days what would have taken me a month.

My skunkworks project was beginning to look real with help from these professionals as well as others in graphic design, documentation, programming, mathematics, and user interface. The secret to programming is not intelligence, though of course that helps. It is not hard work or experience, though they help, too. The secret to programming is having smart friends.

There was one last pressing question: How could we get this thing included with the system software when the new machines shipped? The thought that we might fail to do this terrified me far more than the possibility of criminal prosecution for trespass. All the sweat that Greg and I had put in, all the clandestine aid from the friends, acquaintances, and strangers on whom I had shamelessly imposed, all the donations of time, expertise, hardware, soft drinks, and junk food would be wasted.

Once again, my sanity was saved by the kindness of a stranger. At 2:00 one morning, a visitor appeared in my office: the engineer responsible for making the PowerPC system disk master. He explained things this way: "Apple is a hardware company. There are factories far away building Apple computers. One of the final steps of their assembly line is to copy all of the system software from the 'Golden Master' hard disk onto each computer's hard disk. I create the Golden Master and FedEx it to the manufacturing plant. In a very real and pragmatic sense, I decide what software does and does not ship." He told me that if I gave him our software the day before the production run began, it could appear on the Golden Master disk. Then, before anyone realized it was there, thirty thousand units with our software on the disks would be boxed in a warehouse. (In retrospect, he may have been joking. But we didn't know that, so it allowed us to move forward with confidence.)

Once we had a plausible way to ship, Apple became the ideal work environment. Every engineer we knew was willing to help us. We got resources that would never have been available to us had we been on the payroll. For example, at that time only about two hundred PowerPC chips existed in the world. Most of those at Apple were being used by the hardware design engineers. Only a few dozen coveted PowerPC machines were even available in System Software for people working on the operating system. We had two. Engineers would come to our offices at midnight and practically slip machines under the door. One said, "Officially, this machine doesn't exist, you didn't get it from me, and I don't know you. Make sure it doesn't leave the building."

In October, when we thought we were almost finished, engineers who had been helping us had me demonstrate our software to their managers. A dozen people packed into my office. I didn't expect their support, but I felt obliged to make a good-faith effort to go through their official channels. I gave a twenty-minute demonstration, eliciting "oohs" and "ahhs." Afterward, they asked, "Who do you report to? What group are you in? Why haven't we seen this earlier?" I explained that I had been sneaking into the building and that the project didn't exist. They laughed, until they realized I was serious. Then they told me, "Don't repeat this story."

The director of PowerPC software was an academic on leave from Dartmouth. The director of PowerPC marketing was the son of a math teacher. Seeing the value of putting this educational software on every Macintosh in every school, they promptly adopted us.

Then things got really weird. The QA manager assigned people to test our product. (I didn't tell him that those people were already working on it.) The localization group assigned people to translate it into twenty languages. The human interface group ran a formal usability study. I was at the center of a whirlwind of activity. Nevertheless, Greg and I still had to sneak into the building. The people in charge of the PowerPC project, upon which the company's future depended, couldn't get us badges without a purchase order. They couldn't get a purchase order without a signed contract. They couldn't get a contract without approval from Legal, and if Legal heard the truth, we'd be escorted out of the building.

Greg was lurking outside one day, trying to act casual, when another engineer accosted him and said, "I'm sick and tired of you guys loitering in front of the building every day!" Later he phoned the appropriate bureaucrats on our behalf. I listened to his side of the conversation for twenty minutes: "No, there is no PO, because we're not paying them. No, there is no contract, because they are not contractors. No, they are not employees; we have no intention of hiring them. Yes, they must have building access because they are shipping code on our box. No, we don't have a PO number. There is no PO, because we're not paying them." Finally, he wore them down. They said to use the standard form to apply for badges, but to cross out Contractor and write in Vendor. Where it asked for a PO number, we were to use the magic words "No dollar contract." We got badges the next day. They were orange Vendor badges, the same kind the people working in the cafeteria, watering the plants, and fixing the photocopy machines had.

Official recognition made life exciting. Suddenly even more people became enthusiastically involved. When formal usability testing with students and teachers began, we discovered, again, that we were far from being done.

I had long been proud of the elegance and simplicity of our design. I wanted our program to ship with every Macintosh, so I had designed it for all users, even those who know little about computers and hate math. I wanted to make mathematics as easy and enjoyable as playing a game. In a classroom, any time spent frustrated with the computer is time taken away from teaching. Sitting behind a two-way mirror, watching first-time users struggle with our software, reminded me that programmers are the least qualified people to design software for novices. Humbled after five days of this, Greg and I went back and painstakingly added feedback to the software, as if we were standing next to users, explaining it ourselves.

Our recognition made life interesting in other ways since we could no longer remain a well kept secret. After a demo to outside developers, one person called Apple claiming that we infringed his patent, causing a fire drill until I could show prior art. Another company, the makers of Mathematica™, simply demanded that our product be pulled. Apple very politely declined. One week we were evading security, the next week Apple is rising to our defense.

By November, we were in full crunch mode, working sixteen hours a day, seven days a week, and feeling the pressure. The home stretch was a blur - wake up, grab a bagel, eat it while driving, work till we drop, sleep, repeat. If this story were a movie, you would now see the clock hand spinning and the calendar pages blowing away in the wind.

We finished in January 1994. Graphing Calculator has been part of the Macintosh ever since. Teachers around the world use it as an animated blackboard to illustrate abstract concepts visually. It shipped on more than twenty million machines. It never officially existed.

Why did Greg and I do something so ludicrous as sneaking into an eight-billion-dollar corporation to do volunteer work? Apple was having financial troubles then, so we joked that we were volunteering for a nonprofit organization. In reality, our motivation was complex. Partly, the PowerPC was an awesome machine, and we wanted to show off what could be done with it; in the Spinal Tap idiom, we said, "OK, this one goes to eleven." Partly, we were thinking of the storytelling value. Partly, it was a macho computer guy thing - we had never shipped a million copies of software before. Mostly, Greg and I felt that creating quality educational software was a public service. We were doing it to help kids learn math. Public schools are too poor to buy software, so the most effective way to deliver it is to install it at the factory.

Beyond this lies another set of questions, both psychological and political. Was I doing this out of bitterness that my project had been canceled? Was I subversively coopting the resources of a multinational corporation for my own ends? Or was I naive, manipulated by the system into working incredibly hard for its benefit? Was I a loose cannon, driven by arrogance and ego, or was I just devoted to furthering the cause of education?

I view the events as an experiment in subverting power structures. I had none of the traditional power over others that is inherent to the structure of corporations and bureaucracies. I had neither budget nor headcount. I answered to no one, and no one had to do anything I asked. Dozens of people collaborated spontaneously, motivated by loyalty, friendship, or the love of craftsmanship. We were hackers, creating something for the sheer joy of making it work.

After six months of grueling unpaid labor, Greg couldn't explain to his parents what he had done. They didn't use computers, and the only periodical they read was the New York Times. So as the project was winding down, I asked Greg if he wanted his photo in the Times so his parents would know what he was up to. He gave the only possible response: "Yeah, right." We made a bet for dinner at Le Mouton Noir, a fine French restaurant in Saratoga. To be honest, I expected to lose, but I made a phone call. Greg doesn't bet against me any more: On March 11, 1994, the front page of the Times business section contained an article on the alliance among Apple, IBM, and Motorola, picturing Greg and me in my front yard with a view of the Santa Cruz Mountains. Someone I knew in Apple Public Relations was livid. I had asked if she wanted to send someone for the interview, but she had said that engineers are not allowed to talk with the press. It's hard to enforce that kind of thing with people who can't be fired. It was positive press for Apple, though, and our parents were pleased.

We wanted to release a Windows version as part of Windows 98, but sadly, Microsoft has effective building security.

Postscript: After the events described, we made everything retroactively legitimate by licensing the software to Apple for distribution. Pacific Tech started a few years later, and continued to develop Graphing Calculator, both in new free versions that Apple bundled with Mac OS 8 and Mac OS 9, and commercial releases. Visit http://www.PacificT.com/FreeStuff.html to download the software.

Daring Dan and the Trio of Doom.

2007-03-04T10:02:00.000-05:00

As many of you know I have been on the hunt for a new job as of late. In that hunt I have found the need to buy a suit. Yes, I know, ha ha ha Dan in a suit. Get it out of your system and move on.
So me not knowing anything take a drive the Men's Warehouse with my intrepid wife by my side.

As we entered we were presented with a choice. We did not know it then but this was the choice that was to ultimately dictate the entire tone of the trip to the Men's Warehouse. We had to decide between the young guy (young like 16 ) and the older guy ( older like 60 ). I chose the older gentleman under the pretense that he had actually had occasion to were a suit in his life and had some idea as to how that was supposed to go. What I could not have know was that this gentlemen had reached the pinnacle of his suit knowledge in 1978 and was now going to impart that 70's knowledge to me.

Here are the highlights in approximate order:
1. If you are going to were a suit to work you need to have 10!
2. If you want to verstitle you have to buy a "trio", which is a suit with a pair of pants thrown in that are hideous.
3. It is acceptable, by his standards to were a mock turtle neck sweater as an alternative to a shirt and tie to be casual.
4. I need to very seriously consider a blue blazer with brass buttons.
5. Whatever I have or have borrowed could not possibly be the right thing.
6. The color of you shoes can make you shorter or taller.
7. Its pleated pants or nothing.
8. Suspenders help you be remembered by people?
9. You may be totally ignored in an interview if you do not have the right "tie chain"
10. You are ultimately hired in the first 15 seconds of being seen by your interviewer, which includes walking down the hall in you coat ("we sell the proper coat here").
11. First impressions are everything and you are judged on your appearance. (from a man with brown teeth, suspenders, and clothes that don't fit.)

Additionally, he continually referred to my wife assertively by her first name and at one point asked for permission to slap her.
Needless to say we did not buy a suit from him or return to the Men's Warehouse.

I did indeed get a great suit, from JC Penney of all places for all of a hundred bucks (normally 300+). And because the parts were sold as separates did not need any alterations.

I look good in a suit.

Dan's iBook gets a GUI makeover.

2007-02-19T22:25:00.000-05:00

So I was poking around on the webs and ran across one of the Kryptonites , for me, of the computer world. I found a program that changes the Graphic user interface for OS X.

This little program called Shapeshifter from Unsanity.com is the really great. Over the years I have been involved with several of these GUI skinning programs and they all have their weaknesses. I have thus far not found a signifigant problem with this one.

In the hunt I also found this little program called iPulse made by the fine folks at Iconfactory.com. It connects to your system monitors to tell you what is going on with your computer through a very clean and skinnable interface. In addition to it incredibly sexy graphic nature it shows you a window (transparent, my favorite kind) with various data when you mouse over the different regions.

So cool. This is another reason to get a Mac (or run Linux...). If you tried this on your PC the whole thing would virtually explode or melt on your desk.

Both these have a very low Ram footprint which makes them at least a little guilt free.

On a final note if you keep any notes on your computer and need to organize you virtul brain you may need VooDooPad. Look into it.

I would write more but Rachel ( my wife ) keeps rubbing her butt on me...

ER makes Rachel and Dottie sleepy.

2007-02-15T23:35:00.001-05:00

I just thought that she and Dottie were so cute that I had to get a pic.

And that my friends was Thursday.

Two Days of Snowy Carnage!

2007-02-14T15:49:00.000-05:00

The city of Toledo had the trucks out and running starting tuesday as soon as the snow began which was early in the morning I am told. I was sleeping.

Things looked grusome from the go. Most of the side walks were getting deeper as the roads were getting worse.

I am thankful in weather like this that I do not drive a bus.

With roads like this the bus may have been a smarter option. Remember that if you are sliding into the curb turn your tires so they will roll over the curb not slide into it sideways. If you choose sideways this is what happens to your ride.

This morning the whole neighborhood was out side digging themselves out. I guess this is how this little one is helping dad.

We romped through the park, snow angels and all, to shake away the winter grays and replace them with rosy cheeks.

I thought that these guys should have flown south by now.

I thought this was a good depth gauge for the Big Blast as the news has chosen to call our little snow emergency.

SNOW DAY!!!

2007-02-13T15:23:00.000-05:00

I took the blizzard as a chance to kick around the snow. Man it was cold out there!

You have not lived....

2007-02-12T12:45:00.000-05:00

Until you have been to the Toledo Cat Show!

Every owner and breeder has an elaborate spread.

Everyone wants their kitty to strut its cute stuff.

Kinky Fur.

No Fur.

Whiskers Galore!

This is an adorable old lady and her non-pedigreed cat "Frisky". We met them both at the Toledo Cat Show. "Frisky" was there to be part of the household cat competition, As in cats that don't cost $1000 with an impressive bloodline. (Shouldn't you only be using big dollar signs and the word bloodline when handling livestock?) Frisky had won several awards and was the pride and joy of this woman's and her husband's life. I met her husband in the Paws and Whiskers adoption aisle where he was helping people fall in love with cats, if they weren't already. He was just as adorable as she was and looked twice as old. Thank you Frisky, Paws and Whiskers and the happy old couple who brought a sense of humanity to the ridiculousness of the day.

This is the husband of the cute little old lady with Frisky.

This was one of the most fun days I have had in a while. These people were all great and loved to show you how special their kitty is. Of course there were crazy cat people everywhere but I think the really scary ones stayed home because no one hissed at me and the camera and no one smelled like pee. At least no one I met. Rachel, John, Garret and I all have kitties on the brain and now must fight the urge to sell all our stuff to buy designer cats. (average designer cat price at this show, $900)
So next year when they have to Toledo Cat Show you have to go it is amazing.

This entire post is dedicated to Will...

If you have that Ti addiction, here is your new toothbrush.

2007-02-09T13:25:00.000-05:00

The TiFinity toothbrush is the latest invention in the fight to keep your chompers tip-top. The actual bristles of the toothbrush are Ti. OMFG you say.
Ti is metal.
Yes, this is a metal toothbrush.
It's not like you think.
The inventors state that this is a very good thing. The increase in abrasiveness is just right. You get cleaner teeth healthier gums and a toothbrush that will last up to five years.
The Ti bristles because they cannot hold water collect less bacteria and are half the diameter of their nylon counterpart therefore penetrate better into all those nooks and crannies.
I must have one, I just have to justify a $40 toothbrush to my wife.
But baby, it's Titanium!

New Ideas for Apple.

2007-02-09T08:54:00.000-05:00

I think that Apple needs to seriously consider making a dock for the iBook. Six cables is way too much to have sticking out the side of my iBook when it is on the desk. If you are wonder what the hell is pugged in to it, there is an external monitor, external speakers, a Mighty Mouse, Fire Wire, and two USB hubs. I had to take this with my new lens, which I was forced to buy because of an enormous store credit at the camera store. The new lens, while still under scrutiny, seems totally Rad. (It's a Nikon 70-300 VR)

Something about pencils.

2007-02-06T23:16:00.000-05:00

In these fast paced, no time to sharpen, I'll send you an email days we often over look a much beloved item from our pasts, the pencil. It may have been ages since you have seen one and on the odd chance you come across one in your home, in some long forgotten bag or cranny, do you even have a way to sharpen it?
Do you remember what it is like to use one? Can you feel it's freshly sharpen point catch on the fine fibers of the paper? Oh, the glory of that moment when the point goes from much to sharp to just so smooth with the perfect amount of friction: paper to lead.
Dig one out and remember a time you had to erase and not backspace. You won't be sorry.
Therefore I have let go for the moment my urge to use a type writer and in its stead I place a mighty pencil.
Behold my mighty pencil!

24 Inch iMac Lust.

2007-02-05T20:57:00.000-05:00

I am fixated again. I will have you 24 inch iMac with extra (2GB) ram, 256 MB Video Ram and Aperture 1.5. Oh yes, I will.

I hate it plugging in my cell phone.

2007-02-05T17:38:00.000-05:00

This thing is sweet. I hate looking for one of the 64 cords I own for charging things. This up incoming device that charges stuff with no cords. The SplashPad™ will allow "enabled" devices to just set on the pad and get all revved up. I can't wait; that is the future.

The Ideal Breakfast.

2007-02-05T15:56:00.000-05:00

If you are not familiar with Ideal Hotdog you should be. John, Garret, and I went there for a bite on Saturday. Who can beat 2 eggs, hashbrowns, toast and coffee for $2.79. I think that we should start ending the breakfast ride there. Although I think the double pace line down Alexis would not go over that well.

Yes the fondue was wonderful.

2007-01-27T16:01:00.000-05:00

Rachel made fondue in Jamie's pot. It was cheesy ( the delicious kind ). On another note I am fully embracing the grain and character of my little Canon Powershot S230 on B/w mode. I guess I can hold off buying a Holga for now.

Scout is very photogenic.

2007-01-27T14:51:00.001-05:00

Scout, originally uploaded by Life as Dan..

You said it Will!

2007-01-26T19:36:00.000-05:00

What do you get for $2.50?

2007-01-21T11:26:00.000-05:00

Apparently at the University of Toledo's auction you get an oak desk. It is awesome. It just like the desks in science class with numbered drawers and a thick black Formica top. Check it out. I love it!

Wednesday is the worst day.

2007-01-18T00:28:00.000-05:00

But here is a picture of me to make it better.

Ondella, Ondella Mama V.I. , V.I. Uh-oh!

2007-01-13T11:51:00.000-05:00

Ahhh, the champagne of beers...
Rachel loves the Scrod...
When it comes to pictures this is the best Jason has to offer...

The waitress was into cameras. She showed us pics from her phone that she took on a cross country trip. She needs a camera...

John posed for this, as opposed to my typical sniped pictures of him...

J2 called me up for some beers at the VI. Twas a good night. To bad Rachel couldn't pull the trigger on hitting up Mark's hot tub. It was cold and rainy though.

Another new Camera and some other stuff.

2007-01-11T00:50:00.000-05:00

My dad is super cool. He has lent me this bad ass old school Nikkormat. He bought in Korea when he was in the army. Full manual. Fully sweet. I am going to jam this mama full of some B/W film and have at it.
I think you will also note the super choice film texture of the camera's image above. I was lucky enough to get the Exposure plug in for Photoshop from Alienware. It takes lame way to acurate digital camera flim-flam and makes it look like lush old film. So Sweet! I love it.
Here is the pic of Mike Steele from below with a little B&W. I am really in love with this plug in.

Five days have passed.

2007-01-09T17:27:00.000-05:00

So I have not updated in 5 days. So here is a few snaps of the week. Most notably, one of the acorns that Rachel and I planted at our wedding sprouted, we saw Mike Steele play at the museum with friends, Dottie still has a cone, Sophie is a kitty, I have a new idea to make some extra cash, we looked at old pictures with my parents, and Vyto and I watched Florida pound OSU while Rachel and her mom worked on cleaning out the basement. That's about it. Until next time...

New Year's Eve!

2007-01-03T11:26:00.000-05:00

We played some Wii, we ate some super rad grub, and we drank some champagne. I love champagne ( I remember how to spell that by saying CHAM-PAG-NE.) Monk, from Infinite Art Tattoo, came over with his wife and kids (seen above). If you have not met him he is one of the nicest people around and his wife and kids are great. I am glad they came. If you ever need some freakin serious ink call him. Thanks for all the goodness Don.

By the way the next morning my arms hurt from flogging myself playing the Wii. Dick Clark sounded like he was near death and Ryan Seacrest is no replacement, why is that A-hole hosting anything is he a professional host? I kinda think he rides to events on a short bus with whats his face from Extreme Home Makeover.

Christmas has passed and now on with the gray.

2006-12-28T08:55:00.000-05:00

Chronologically these pictures go from bottom to top.
We have had a pretty darn good holiday. My folks came to the B's for dinner and my brother and sister in law came over for desert and coffee. Beans and I had a great time at both my folks and the B's on Christmas morning. We have established the tradition of spending the night at Beans's mom and dad's and having a good old fashioned morning and we even brought the dog.
We capped off the morning with a iChat with K & Sus (in England, awesome). Rachel was icky feeling so I went to my folks and later saw Mr. Mishka and the posse for some fireplace. All in all pretty dang fantastic.

I must say though that we as a country need to allot more days to family and the Holidays than the 1.5 that we do. We spend from Halloween to December 24th getting ready and we have the 24th and 25th allowed to us to enjoy our families our gifts and the spirit of the Holidays. That seems like a bit of a farce that we can fully enjoy ourselves and families in that 36 hour time. If you are unlucky enough to work retail then that feels like .0002 minutes before you have to go back to work and get yelled at because someones uncle who came from Florida lost the receipt for this gift that someone wants cash back to put towards their latest hot pink fashion statement not sold where you are and how dare you have a store policy that prevents returns without original packaging and a receipt. What sense does that make? So remember that it is everyones holiday even that disgruntled teen behind the counter. You are mad cause you cannot return that one thing and all he wants is to home and play the Gogillion dollars in videos games he got. So have some heart and just remember, in like a week we can start shopping for bathing suits, while we are at maximum holiday girth.

Gears of War, bow down to you new masters.

2006-12-20T00:02:00.000-05:00

Okay so I know that beating the game on the easy mode isn't all that brag worthy but, this is the sweetest game of all time so whatever. We now move on to "hardcore"mode. Wish us luck!
Yes, I know we are dorks.

Jack was a cat.

2006-12-15T09:39:00.000-05:00

He was a shit. I don't know that he cared that we existed but I liked him. He was killed this morning when he some how was hit by a car. I thought that I taught him better than that. So now he is gone to kitty heaven so he can chase mice and birds all day every day. We'll miss you Jack...

Holiday Cookies!

2006-12-14T10:54:00.000-05:00

We had a super cookie blow out at the Mishka's.
My stomach hurts and well, Jason was drunk and Johan helped.
Special thanks to all those who actually made the cookies while I
ate them and Jason got drunk. He did make a nice fire in the fire place.
He did it with just one match ( and a fire starter log ), he must
have been one heck of a boyscout.

Pub Report.

2006-12-13T10:24:00.000-05:00

As you can see there were many reactions to these surroundings.

So I understand that I am a little late in this report. I think it was Saturday night that we went to ,correct me if I am wrong, Mulvaney's Bunker. So here are some of the pics I snapped that night. We had to jet the band was AWFUL. Seriously, I don't know what it is with cover bands, they must hear they real music in their head and think that they are rockin it. They sucked. They bunker seemed okay before that. You'll have to ask Jason if the food was good.

2006-12-09T17:37:00.000-05:00

Today my internet was out all day, so I cleaned the bathroom and took some pics of the sink! What a day!

The Best thing to happen on Monroe St.

2006-12-04T22:42:00.000-05:00

Manhatten Grounds. Coffee in a seriously nice atmosphere as well as locally owned and operated.

Now whenever I have to deal with the I just have to run into Target thing I can do it with a nonfat Latte in my hot little hands. They have a great look, local art, WI-FI, leather chairs and well, coffee. Oh yeah, the bathrooms are super cool too! Stop in and help out a local business that just opened up. They are next to Wildbirds Unlimited across the street from Target.

2006-11-28T11:12:00.000-05:00

This weekend was cool. I went to the Detroit Zoo with My folks and Rachel (wife). We saw bunches of cool stuff and I took like 600 pictures which lead me to one very important realization. I don't really think animals are all that cool to take pictures of. I like people, maybe I will go as far as to includes people with animals. I forgot that on Saturday we cleaned up the roadside that the MVW adopted, there were two dead owls and a lot of cigarette butts. People throw all kinds of crap out the windows! After the zoo we stopped into Royal Oak, not so bad, and had a great dinner followed by the most amazing chocolate chip cookie ever created at this bakery that is amazing. I don't know what its name was but everything looked like an ad in a magazine. I finished the weekend with a nice beer with my buds at some bar that was setup like a man cave with LCD tv's and leather couches. Sweet. Thanks to Rachel for the invite. Who was that guy? They had Dead Guy on tap, fabulous.

I have not been so vigilant.

2006-11-22T08:24:00.000-05:00

I have been all wrapped up in playing photographer in this last week. I love looking for life and color to capture. I bet you didn't know that I am artsy-fartsty. On top of that cameras totally satisfy that tech dork that lives not so deep down inside. Check out my Flickr page. I am very proud of some of those picks. Ironically enough I have to take pics of the newest cameras with the oldest.

Hmmm.

2006-11-13T17:41:00.000-05:00

Definitely Creepy. Really this is one of the last things that
you want to see as you move in to make a grumby.

D50 who?

2006-11-10T16:50:00.000-05:00

So I walk into the local sweet camera shop to if my friend Kevin can lend me some info to help me with my obsession with these mid-sized full function pocketable cameras. So I ask him what he thinks and if he has heard anything about the Canon Powershot G7. He tells me he doesn't know much but the models before were pretty chill. So he shows me some flim-flam and then I move on to D50 talk in the honor of my dear old dad, and low and behold in the shipping box still are two fresh from Canon G7's. We tore right in. Man, it didn't take long for me to realize that this is sweet hotness. It does, dare say I, everything the D50 does and maybe more. Full manual mode, several presets, and it's built like a brick shit house. You can feel the density of the bad ass that is packed into this mother. Hold on kids we are about to roll.... More to come.

Blogging Creates New Obsessions.

2006-11-09T11:33:00.000-05:00

Now are the days of the Blog, therefore I have ever increasing thoughts of cameras and computers. I am currently drooling over these bits here. The 24 inch Imac is a piece of majestic beauty. Just think about the amazing full screen photo edits on a monitor that is 20 inches by 12.5 inches or to be more simple, big as my TV. Then what Blogger worth their salt doesn't have a sick little camera just to keep in their bag? That where this little darling from Panasonic comes in. The DMC-LX2K Lumix® is a 10.2 Megapixel unit with a 4x optical zoom, digital image stabilization and a Leica lens. If you don't know who Leica is then you don't know lenses, which I guess is okay seeing as I am a nerd of sorts. Then for those days when you are out to take some serious pics you must go with the digital SLR and for the money you cannot beat the Nikon D50. You can get this bad boy with a couple lenses for about a 1k. That's a steal. It takes awe inspiring photos. All of the best on my Flickr site are from one, at least on my honymoon. If anyone just wants to get me any of these that would be cool. Oh yeah I want 2Gb of Ram on the Imac and the 750Gb hard drive and the 256Mb video card but that's all. Don't want to be greedy!

I Love Robots!

2006-11-09T11:13:00.000-05:00

The future is near! Okay so this is not so real but this video is amazing. How cool would it be if this was true. I cannot wait until the World can settle its differences with giant robot fights like in Robot Jox. Now all those kids who "ruined" their lives playing video games could have a career lined up, that is if they have not lost all reapect for human life playing Vice City.

Robot Chicken is freakin awesome!

2006-11-07T17:52:00.000-05:00

It has been a while since I have seen this and I almost peed my pants. Check it out.

The Internet is not just for Porn.

2006-11-06T17:50:00.000-05:00

I just found two of my old friends today and got a hold of them. This is part of my greater pursuit to not be a hermit but holy crapoloa it was easy, which is a little creepy. The internet may bring us together, though it may be some weird kind of no handshakes or hugs Instant message world, but that better than the hermit cave right?

Seriously. Hugs will save the World.

2006-11-03T12:22:00.001-05:00

GO HUG SOMEONE RIGHT NOW!!!

This is kinda sweet. Hold on, there are stormtroopers.

2006-11-03T10:51:00.001-05:00

This whole thing may be a little... whatever. But it has whiskey, techno, stormtroopers and sleazy dancing. What else is there? Vampires!?

The 2nd Generation Ipod Shuffle is lust worthy.

2006-11-01T21:39:00.000-05:00

This guy shows us all the intimate details.

Seriously you need to be careful you don't get drunk and eat it.
Now how do I get one?

Damnit, now I have to change all my passwords.

2006-11-01T13:03:00.000-05:00

I thought no one would ever
think of "Liverpool" as a password.
I guess that is out the window.
Top ten most commonly used passwords.

2006-11-01T09:48:00.000-05:00

I Just found my Gameboy DS lite again. I have rediscovered its allure through one of the most addictive games thus far. In Mario Vs. Donkey Kong 2- March of the minis you control an army of mini Marios on a Mission to recover Pauline from the clutches of DK. The boards are super cool and fun to solve.
I love any game you can play for five minutes and enjoy every second of it. This is one. If you dont't have a DS get one. It is winter folks and that means two things, Beer and Gaming. With the DS you can take you gaming to the bar. There is not much better than that.

This makes my wittle heart melt.

2006-11-01T00:25:00.001-05:00

Did you notice how his cute little ears are all folded down. Super cute. He is a Scottish fold. It think they are cool, but so are Robots.

The 12 steps start with one.

2006-10-31T23:59:00.000-05:00

The first step towards recovery is to admit that you have an addiction.

I may have an addiction.
Does that count? Is that an admission?
I have put more entries and work into this blog than almost any other thing I have done today, including getting dressed because somehow I didn't put on shoes today. I wore my slippers all day.

I did realize that I was wearing them but I was already on my way out and probably thinking about my Blog or my bike. Either way the first step towards recovery is to admit that you have an addiction. Is it an addiction if you like it?

Mmmmm... Slippers.

The seven phases of owning an Ipod- Illustrated.

2006-10-31T20:32:00.000-05:00

This pretty much says it all.
And I must admit I have "pretty much"
been through this a couple time.
Although pictures really help you feel it.

These Guys know how to put it on.

2006-10-31T20:10:00.000-05:00

These are the folks at Make: magazine. They kick like ten thousand asses cause they make all kinds of cool-ass stuff. You should see all the rad costumes the put together and all of the sweet accessories.
I was gonna be a giant Lego man this year until this guy beat me to it, shucks...

Seeing as it is Halloween.

2006-10-31T12:00:00.000-05:00

I know this party was last friday but it was in the spirit of the day, which I think has officially been declared as drunk. Yes, the spirit of Halloween is drunk.

First things first. There is nothing free about blogging.

2006-10-31T10:51:00.000-05:00

Free Blog, right? That is if you don't count the flickr upgrade and the CS2 download, as well as the half dozen little apps that are "must haves" for blogging. Though I may be hooked already.

Here's to whatever and peer pressure.

2006-10-30T23:44:00.000-05:00

I have been prodded by several "friends" that I must join the Blogo-sphere. I think this may go the way of the Flickr account and the Gmail page and well a lot of other stuff that was cool at the moment, but what the hell maybe I'll get through the winter doing this... So any way There was a really long pause there but you couldn't tell. I needed to edit a photo which led to an IM to Scott and blah, blah, blah. Happy Blogasms everyone.