Archive for the ‘Life as we know it...’ Category

Son of Snow…

Sunday, February 14th, 2010

So just after everyone had the chance to dig out from Snowmageddon and test out their four wheel drive vehicles Son of Snow decided to show up on Tuesday, 9 February 2010. Yes, it’s not an official name, but someone mentioned it on Facebook, so I adopted it promptly and perhaps have overused it or abused it.
Son of Snow swooped in late on Tuesday night, snow falling in heavy fluffy flakes. Thereafter turning into a freezing rain, adding a nice, thin coating of ice onto everything (there are some wicked sweet icicles around here now too). For a few hours there was only a steady wind which then turned over to snow blizzard ground effects and a considerable amount of snow dumping on top of the snow that was already there. As the morning went on, things finally faded out and just became heavy winds blowing snow everywhere, normalizing the layering. Granted, the winds were still fierce.

So once the plows had a chance to push through the area a little, the house mates and I decided it was time to venture out. Fear not – I’m not driving, just in the navigator position.

If you’re interested in the epic adventures after Son of Snow, check it out in the Son of Snow Album on Vimeo.com.

The Bourne Trilogy – Crystal Clear Quality

Sunday, February 14th, 2010

So I probably should stay away from Amazon.com so as to not have inadvertent spending splurges, but I have to say that I’ve been waiting for the Bourne Trilogy to come out on Blu-Ray and of course procure it through good ole Amazon.com.

At any rate, the trilogy is out, both in a boxed set format and also individually. Now here’s the kicker though, the individuals have a lower price than the entire box set. Not quite sure if the box set comes with anything extra, but to me it would seem that buying the Bourne {Identity, Supremacy, and Ultimate} individually would be the smart thing to do.

Now of course, if you want the real story, pick up a copy of the books from Amazon and read the “true” Bourne Trilogy.  While the movies started off somewhat inline with the books, they quickly diverged and got rid of Carlos (no, I’m not referring to the Hangover) which in my humble opinion was detrimental to the story line – but hey, Hollywood seemed to like the new story line they created…

An unexpected snow storm…

Sunday, January 31st, 2010

For those of you that live in the Northern Virginia area, you might have been startled to wake up on Saturday morning, 30 January 2010 to find your front porch covered in snow and the roads a unplowed with a few inches of snow piling up.  It was to be a weekend like any other that we’ve had recently… bitterly cold and overcast. Weather forecasters had stated all week long that there was a very minute chance of snow but that the air masses would drive the snow south toward Richmond and that we would only get a dusting.

Well, there was definitely a little more than a dusting by mid-day and it would seem as though Northern Virginia got caught with their pants on the ground.

Fortunately the snow seems to be melting and it wasn’t too hard to plow since it was light and fluffy… next time we may not be so lucky ;-)

Now Playing: Joe SatrianiG3 – Live In ConcertFlying In A Blue Dream (Live)

Tomorrow…

Tuesday, January 19th, 2010

Why is it that we stress about the future? Why do we not just sit back and relax knowing that the Lord is in control? I know for me it’s more being anxious that things will turn out a particular way… putting that aside and just realizing I don’t have to be in control is actually extremely comforting.

“So do not worry about tomorrow; for tomorrow will care for itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.”
Matthew 6:34

Are we getting cooked by Wifi?

Sunday, January 10th, 2010

So over the past few weeks I’ve been taking more time for me. Not a bad thing right? Getting a balance back in place of sorts. One of my guilty pleasures is to read. Whether news feeds or books, it’s a guilty pleasure. Go ahead and book’em Dan-o (pun intended).
One of these news feeds is that of Gizmodo which showcases, you guessed it, gadgets and gizmos :-) Recently an article caught my eye dealing with a device to charge USB devices using Wifi signals. The charging device is made by RCA, more can be read here.

The question of course that this poses to me is whether or not this is a warning sign for those of us that live in neighborhoods that have several wireless running, colliding and interfering with one another. Are we getting cooked or is the power contained within the 802.11 spectrum harmless to humans because the wavelengths do not interact with the genetic and cellular makeup of the human body. Just sayin…

Holy Guacamole Batman, it’s Christmas!!!

Friday, December 25th, 2009

Surprise, surprise, Christmas seems to have caught us all off guard once again – how it seems to do this every year I’m not quite certain.  This year of course we experienced a significantly large amount of snowfall this past weekend effectively closing the local school systems and the federal government for a day as well.

Looking back over the past years, I’ve noticed little by little that presents don’t have much meaning but rather the closeness of family and realizing what Christ’s means for all of us.  Now, is that to say that gifts and presents shouldn’t be exchanged and given, by no means! The gleaming joy in the eyes of my nephews is priceless and something that I would not trade for the world.

For those of you like myself, single but with family nearby, chin up and draw close to your friends and family and celebrate Christmas.

Now Playing: Extreme – The Best Of Extreme – An Accidental Collision Of Atoms – More Than Words

Just another day in sNOwVA

Sunday, December 20th, 2009

Yes folks that’s right, it’s that time of the year where the weather forecasters and meteorologists get giddy when they see pressure systems pushing one way and moisture pushing another.  To me it’s all just one big wave equation with several thermodynamic variables at play – adding in the whole presence of trees and other obstructions on the ground that cause different turbulence within the clouds… :-)   Anyway, just a little check in this evening / morning for those curious as to what’s up and going on.

And no, please don’t fret, I made ground turkey chili with medium grain rice – nice and low fat and with a lot of protein and starch to fill you up so that you’re not tempted to just eat everything in the house while trapped for a few days.

One of those days…

Tuesday, December 8th, 2009

Yet another day in the life of Dan, working through technical problems and assembling information pieces, all the while listening to music to help ease the mind and get in more of a rhythm. I decided I’d let Apple’s Genius algorithms lead my way through music this morning and based on my music collection and the main selection of Lifesong by Casting Crowns, I ended up with the following playlist:

Name Artist Album
Lifesong Casting Crowns Lifesong
Cry Out to Jesus Third Day Wherever You Are
This Man Jeremy Camp Restored
How Great Is Our God Chris Tomlin Arriving
Wholly Yours David Crowder* Band A Collision
Strong Tower Kutless Strong Tower
Voice Of Truth Casting Crowns Casting Crowns
Word of God Speak MercyMe Spoken For
He Reigns Newsboys Adoration
Here Is Our King David Crowder Band Here Is Our King
Give Me Your Eyes Brandon Heath What If We
Show Me Your Glory Third Day Come Together
Made to Worship Chris Tomlin See the Morning
Walk by Faith Jeremy Camp Stay
Dead Man (Carry Me) Jars of Clay Good Monsters
Never Alone BarlowGirl BarlowGirl
Does Anybody Hear Her Casting Crowns Lifesong
Homesick MercyMe Undone
By Your Side Tenth Avenue North Over and Underneath
Indescribable Chris Tomlin Arriving
We Fall Down Kutless Strong Tower
You Are My King (Amazing Love) Newsboys Adoration
Take You Back Jeremy Camp Restored
If We Are The Body Casting Crowns Casting Crowns
Mountain of God Third Day Wherever You Are

As it ended up, this set was pretty solid in keeping me in line with my technical work and with a pure heart and mind.

Could you pick up and Vanish?

Sunday, November 29th, 2009

This evening I picked up a copy of Wired magazine and decided to spend a bit of time disconnected from the Internet and away from any blinking device that might cause me to stray from keeping focused on something that I’m reading.

The cover story documents the story of Evan Ratliff, a writer that put forth the challenge that he could go off the grid for a month and not be found. In essence I don’t think that this would be that difficult, but as a part of the parameters, Evan checked in with his editor on a regular basis and left a cookie crumb trail for individuals to find him.

All in all, quite an interesting story in which he was able to dodge “hunters” as they would be called throughout the US for 27 days.

The entirety of the story is captured here.

As for me, the only thing that I really learned in all of this was about the Tor Project which allows for the use of relay servers of sorts across the planet to allow for IP address masquerading for less of a technical discussion. Interesting nonetheless on ways to cover your tracks.

One thing to make of note is that Tor will only encrypt your traffic and bounce it through servers if properly configured. If you’ve got a service in the background that reaches back home or to a server to pull information without being configured to go through Tor, your IP address will be known. This would be where netstat -a comes in pretty handy to see how chatty your OS is.

Thanksgiving 2009

Thursday, November 26th, 2009

Just another day in the life of Dan… that’s what I tell myself every morning as I get ready for the day.

It’s been a perplexing year with several life changes and challenges – whether family related, work or things in the social and technical communities that I’m involved with.

Today is Thanksgiving though, the day that we stop and breath and remember how blessed we are in this world. I know that for me, living in the Northern Virginia area I don’t see quite the same economic conditions that seem to exist in other parts of the country. I read articles on BBC, CNN, Fox and Drudge and suddenly see the enormity of the pain and hard times that are affecting others and realize how blessed I am.

I would only ask that on this Thanksgiving day in 2009 that you stop and realize the blessings that have been placed on you and reflect on them.