Rob's Convocation

Hello folks, welcome to another edition of Triple T. Today is back to the usual form of topics. Here is what is catching my eye this week.

Engadget Nook review

Engadget has a review of the Barnes & Noble Nook e-reader. Pretty good job on the review and there is even a hands on video they have posted on it. It seems to be pretty durable in comparison to a Kindle and about the same size as a trade novel. There does seem to be some glitches so you may want to hold off until they update the OS if you plan on getting one.

Comcast controlled NBC may say no to iTunes subscription plan

Yet another reason Comcast should not be allowed to own NBC. Working for DirecTV (full disclosure), I have seen how Comcast tries to extort money from Dish, Time Warner, and other carriers with Versus but DirecTV stood their ground and as a result Versus is not carried by DirecTV. With Comcast owning NBC it would mean a much more restrictive distribution of enjoyable NBC content (pause for laughter). I think Apple, DIrecTV, Dish, TW, etc need to file a class action opposing Comcast’s buyout of NBC before the FCC. I’m not a fan of government intervention into private business but I have seen the mess Comcast has created with TechTV (now G4) and Versus.

Five Gifts for the iPhone owner

Christmas is drawing near and The Unofficial Apple Weblog has a write up on 5 gifts for those with an iPhone. I like the Walldock so if my wife is reading this let me just say I REALLY like the Walldock!

What in the Whrrl?

For those that can’t get enough of social media sites here is another one to add to your list. Whrrl allows you to post a real time photo story of an event with a mix of text and photos with captions storyboard. Try out a few stories first before trying a big one as it takes some getting used to but it is pretty cool. I might use this for my future 12 of 12 days.

This Week’s iPhone/iPod touch apps

Whrrl – In addition to using Whrrl via their website, they also offer an iPhone/iPod touch based app to post your stories (editing has to be done via their website).

AT&T Mark the Spot – Having issues with your date or voice network on your iPhone? Now you can communicate it via AT&T’s new app Mark the Spot. Oh yes, they are going to get tired from hearing from me Muhahahaha!!!

US National Debt – Want to know what the US debt is roughly in real time? There is an app for that.

WhatsApp – Really cool iPhone to iPhone (or iPod touch) IM app. Don’t have to add contacts to it, anyone in your contact list that has the app shows up in your WhatsApp list. Very similar to Ping. I use both but lately been using WhatsApp more. I chat with Jeremy quite a bit on it.

Well that is going to do it for another edition of Triple T. See you all next week!

Originally published at Tupelo Geek. You can comment here or there.

Originally published at Tupelo Geek. You can comment here or there.

Hey all, it’s been a while since I’ve posted any updates about where we are on 2 fronts with regards to adoption. We have been quite busy on both fronts as you could imagine. So here is where we stand.

Gaberiel Paul – We are still in the court on this one, we have not seen him since he was placed with his “Great Step Aunt and Uncle”. Right now we have filed an adoption petition with the court as have the “aunt and uncle” (the reason I am using quotes is basically a great step aunt and uncle is not considered a blood relationship to the child). The longer he is with them, the more the door seems to be shutting on us with him something the judge has hinted to be the case as well. We did receive an updated photo of him from his mom though and he is getting so big. It was nice to see yet heart breaking cause we are missing so much of him walking and growing teeth. But we are in it until the end no matter the decision, we are prepared and know God is going to place him where He wants him.

New Beginnings – During this time we have also filed our paperwork with New Beginnings International Children’s and Family Services. They are a Christian based adoption agency, they handle domestic and foreign adoptions. Oddly enough our lawyer in Gaberiel’s case is their lawyer that handles a lot of the paperwork with adoptions so it’s a nice fit. We are as of this week, on their waiting list which means we could get a call at anytime on a newborn or soon to be newborn. We are really excited about this. We are also prepared for a scenario where we wind up getting to adopt Gaberiel and have a child from New Beginnings placed with us, we definitely have the space at home for 2 easily. Our priest, Fr. Tom is praying for us and our church held New Beginnings, Celebrating Adoption event at our parish hall where Michael Reagan, the adopted son of President Reagan spoke. I have always admired President Reagan and the fact that him and Jane Wyman adopted Michael makes me appreciate our 40th President even more. But I digress, what I was trying to say is Fr. Tom is in great contact with New Beginnings so that feels nice. Fr. Tom himself comes from a big Irish family but has called Mississippi home since 1966 the same year my brother Jeff was born.

So that is the update. We are very anxious and excited to become parents. Having Gaberiel for 6 months allowed me to experience true fatherhood and I want that everyday just as Kristen wants to be a mom everyday and my parents desire to be grandparents (Kristen’s are grandparents to 7 children already). I also got to see photos and video of our newest nephew Jaxon this week. Talk about one cute little boy. My brother-in-law (himself adopted), is truly a father to him and it’s great to see. Please continue to pray for us, we feel the prayers everyday, they keep us optimistic about this whole process. God bless!

Originally published at Tupelo Geek. You can comment here or there.

Hello folks and welcome to another edition of Triple T. Today will be a little different then our usual format as I want to devote my initial thoughts on Google Wave.

So what is Google Wave you might be asking, you see it trending in Twitter all the time but your wondering, “what is the deal-e-o with it?“. To put it simply it’s what email should have evolved into. Email is about 45 years old give or take a year and for the most part has remained unchanged in it’s being. When you send a message it creates a copy on your computer and sends a copy to the person you send it to. Well that person reads it and replies back now we have 4 copies on each computer but then you want to ask Bob what he thinks of the idea exchanged between Tom and Jerry so far so Tom forwards a copy to Bob and now Tom and Jerry are looking at multiple emails on the same subject.
        What Google Wave does is put everything in the cloud in one message that is a ”live message”. At anytime Tom and Jerry can add Bob into the message and Bob can playback the origin of the wave to get an idea of how the idea for a widget has unfolded. He can then add his boss Susan to the wave and Susan can add her input on the widget but she wants accounting to look into cost for the widget so she adds Sandy to the wave so Sandy can review and get an idea on cost.
        Basically it’s a collaboration tool. Think of it as a white board without space limitation. You can add in images, YouTube videos, and links. Also you can write a message in it similar to word processing tools with formatting, spell check, etc. As far as I can tell there doesn’t seem to be a limit on how many people you can add to a wave providing they are a Google Wave user (by invite only at the moment).
        The downside of a wave is if things get too crazy and a lot of input is added a new person gets confused with all that is in there, but there is a playback button which plays back the wave showing how it started from the beginning. Think of it as a DVR for a document. The huge upside is obviously it makes it a lot easier to manage a project online between people without having “dead email” taking up space in the inbox. I am looking forward to seeing how Google evolves Google Wave with new things that could be added.
        So those are my initial thoughts, if anyone wants to drive it around and kick the tires I do have 7 invites as of this writing so comment with an email address and I will nominate you for an invite. Back next week with our usual format of Triple T.

Originally published at Tupelo Geek. You can comment here or there.

Hello all and welcome to another edition of Triple T. Quite a few things to cover this week so lets get right into it.

Next generation Flip Video going WiFi

This would be very cool! With the iPhone 3GS having the ability to shoot and post video instantly, this makes sense for Flip to go in this direction.

Google Chrome OS Revealed

Google has taking the wraps off their Chrome OS. There are a couple of videos to a What is Google Chrome OS and a UI Concept one.

Apple’s Black Friday Sale

Apple has announced they will have a Black Friday Sale on their online store the day after Thanksgiving. No details yet on what will be on sale and at what price as of now but that’s why you have to come by on Friday right? Unless of course it got leaked somehow.

Google Wave

I am now on Google Wave (Thanks Maury!) You can find me here. But no I have no invites to give out at this time. It’s in preview mode right now which means it’s an Alpha mode. I see a lot of potential in this cloud app. Cross platform collaboration that is instant, you can even see when someone is typing.

Windows 7 ads

Allow me to get on my soapbox for a bit here again. Microsoft has been running these commercials where these “customers” talk about how they wanted an OS that doesn’t crash or have viruses and can do these other cool features. My politically incorrect response to these people when watching the commercial is this “Get a Mac you idiots!!”. I mean seriously are you so much drinking the Microsoft Kool Aid that you won’t even free your mind to consider the fastest growing computer maker who also happens to make one pretty cool darn phone too? But of course this would be true if these people weren’t ACTORS in the first place! If these were actual people though I would say to them “Get a Mac you idiot!”

Ok that is all for this week’s Triple T, Y’all have a Happy Thanksgiving and I will see you here next week.

Originally published at Tupelo Geek. You can comment here or there.

Health Care Reform polls hit new lows

Remember when the Left said Bush was out of touch with the American people based on polling? Well what does this say about their beloved HCR plan? Yep only 38% approve of your badly conceived health care plan yet you continue to want to shove it down our throats. Remember HillaryCare and how that worked out for the Democrats in 1994? I’m just sayin’!

Obama goes to China, comes home empty handed

Not exactly Nixon is he…at least not yet. By all accounts not only was his China trip a massive failure but so was his overall Asian trip. Yeah community organizer only gets you so far there Mr. President.

9/11 defendants will use trial as soapbox

Yeah you knew this was coming. Oh did you know Eric Holder as then Deputy Attorney General played a roll in Marc Rich being pardoned by Clinton? Yeah, Eric Holder you are an idiot sir!

SNL takes a swipe at Obama

Wow, you know you are doing bad when SNL is now making fun of you.

Originally published at Tupelo Geek. You can comment here or there.

Originally published at Tupelo Geek. You can comment here or there.

Wow, I have made it to 20 editions of Triple T! I have been having a lot of fun doing it and I hope you have enjoyed reading it. So what is going on this week?

Microsoft admits to copying Mac OS X

Microsoft official: Yeah Windows 7 was inspired by Mac OS X. Finally some truth from Redmond! See, doesn’t that feel better Microsoft? Confession is good for the soul, trust me I’m Catholic.

Apple Concierge app for retail stores

Apple to release Concierge app for it’s retail stores. Look forward to trying this the next time I’m up near Germantown or Birmingham.

Chrome browser for Mac December?

Chrome Browser Mac beta confirmed by end of the year. There is already a developer version out there which I have used and quite impressed with minus some minor plugin issues.

Apple retail expansion

Apple to open 40-50 stores next year. I’m guessing Tupelo is not on that list but hope springs eternal.

TomTom app updated

TomTom app updated. Some cool and much demanded features have been added to the TomTom in the latest update. I will continue to use Navigon for now though.

This Week’s iPhone/iPod touch apps

Fox Business app – Pretty cool business app, you can keep track of your selected stocks (Apple stock up at $207.36 per share as of this writing) and the latest in business news. It also offers limited live streaming of the channel as well. (Free)

ScoreMobile – I’m using this and Sportacular concurrently right now (both free). Both have features the other doesn’t. ScoreMobile will actually show the team logo where as Sportacular does not. Sportacular however gives you a favorites page showing all your favorite teams on one page regardless of sport (example Chargers, Lakers, Ole Miss). If ScoreMobile adds the favorites list I would probably delete Sportacular from the iPhone.

iheartradio – This is a pretty cool and once again a free one. It allows you to listen to radio stations live stream across the country right on your iPhone or iPod touch. At the moment I am listening to KFI AM 640 in Los Angeles my old hometown. Also has some artist exclusive stations as well. Give it a try!

Sleep Machine Lite – Having trouble falling asleep without noise? This little app offers different background noises to help you catch some Z’s from the beach to white noise to ambient music tracks Again another free app.

TweetDeck – TweetDeck recently updated their app and it is much better now. If you prefer a nice free Twitter based app then you will like this one. I still prefer Tweetie 2 myself though.

Well that’s going to do it for this weeks Triple T. See you next week!

Originally published at Tupelo Geek. You can comment here or there.

I hope to make this a routine post on Monday’s when I can. Basically I will be linking to some stories catching my eye with a little commentary added to it. So here are some stories of note this morning.

Chinese Dialogue on Racism Emerges – Hat tip to to Louis aka Phree Market on Plurk for this story.

Obama draws fire for bow to Japanese Emperor – “thou need not bow” standard protocol from the State Department since the country’s founding Mr. President (and his defenders). I have tried to tell those that defend him this fact and have been labeled everything from a right wing extremist to mentally handicapped and those are just the “nicer words”…charming!

UN: Iran to start up Nuclear facility in 2011 – Regime change from within, we must support those in Iran who wish for a peaceful revolution in their country.

NY Times cuts union jobs and replaces them with non-unionized employees – I have a smug look on my face right now, that is all I’m saying.

Health Care bill would reduce senior care – Yep, the whole thing with zero extra spending for health care is all smoke and mirrors. It’s simply robbing Peter to pay Paul.

Frost/Nixon – I have watched this movie several times now. Now for a little background, I was only 2 when President Nixon resigned from office and based on his policies as president I would hardly refer to him as conservative. That being said he was highly intelligent and was a foreign policy wonk, lets face it he opened the US door to China which the Soviet’s hated. He was also highly paranoid illustrated by the Watergate break in. He humiliated McGovern in ‘72 to the point that McGovern even lost his home state of South Dakota (520-17 in the Electoral College vote). But back to the movie, it was about the famous David Frost interviews with Richard Nixon in 1977 in California and the background of how the interview was agreed to and the rules and guidelines setup for it. Michael Sheen plays David Frost and Frank Langella as Richard Nixon. Also of note Kevin Bacon plays Jack Brennan a former Marine who was Nixon’s chief of staff after leaving office who dictated a lot of the terms of the interview. The movie is not really a Left vs Right movie at all, in fact it is much more character driven then anything else. Great movie and really enjoyed it.

Originally published at Tupelo Geek. You can comment here or there.

Testing out WordPress 2 for the iPhone.

Originally published at Tupelo Geek. You can comment here or there.

Below are excerpts from the detailed summary of the Affordable Health Care for America Act. My comments are in red. Points I take issue with are bold faced

Public health insurance option. The bill establishes a public health insurance option available within the Exchange to ensure choice, competition and accountability. Like other private plans, the public option must survive on its premiums. The Secretary of Health and Human Services will administer the public option and negotiate rates for providers that participate in the public option. The public health insurance option is provided startup administrative funding, but it is required to amortize these costs into future premiums to ensure it operates on a level playing field with private insurers. (What’s the cost of a first class stamp now?)

Creates a new marketplace called the national “Health Insurance Exchange”, with an option for states that agree to meet federal standards to run their own exchange.        U.S. Territories will also have the option of operating an exchange if they meet all of the insurance reforms and requirements as established by this Act. (In other words like the old Soviet satellite countries had to meet USSR standards..or else)

Employers must either provide health insurance to their employees or make a contribution to help fund affordable health insurance. Employers that choose to offer coverage contribute at least 72.5 percent of premium for workers, 65 percent for families. However, if the coverage is unaffordable for low-wage workers, that worker can choose subsidized coverage in the Exchange and the employer makes a contribution to the Exchange. Employers who do not offer qualified coverage contribute 8 percent of their payroll to help cover expenses of employees who seek coverage through the Exchange. (Oh you mean a penalty tax right?)

Individuals are required to obtain health insurance coverage or pay a fee equal to lower of 2.5 percent of their adjusted income above the filing threshold or the average premium on the Exchange. (Wait…what? Is this still America?)

It is the responsibility of the federal government to ensure that essential health coverage is affordable and available to all Americans (Really? Funny I didn’t see this in the Constitution) by establishing consumer protections and insurance reforms, affordability credits and overseeing a fair marketplace for people to choose among options.

Revenue. The bill would impose a surcharge (tax increase) on taxpayers with adjusted gross income in excess of $1 million (married filing a joint return) and $500,000 (single) at a rate of 5.4 percent.

Don’t believe me? Fine, read what John Cassidy who is in favor of Universal Health Care has to say about it in the New Yorker.

Originally published at Tupelo Geek. You can comment here or there.

Today we remember those that fought for our freedom. Some came home and lived out their lives, others were not so fortunate. For me I think about my Uncle Robert G. It is a great honor to be named after this great American who served in Europe during WWII and came back home to Mississippi and never really spoke of what he saw over there. He just went about his life once he was home, he never married and never had children he just came home and worked and lived his life quietly. I sometimes wonder what he saw over there that might have shaped his life once returning but most of all I am thankful he and many others fought for our freedom against those who only knew murder and oppression. Today, we still fight the same fight against a different enemy, one that hides in caves instead of bunkers and we must be just as resilient in this fight as my great uncle’s generation was against Nazi Germany, Japan, and Italy. Today all of those countries are now allies of us and as we continue to form new alliances with the Iraqi and Afghanistan governments, we must not forget the evil forces in those countries that want to topple those democratically establish governments and establish their own brand of oppression and death on innocents. We must prevail!

                Robert G Smith, 1907-1985

Originally published at Tupelo Geek. You can comment here or there.

Boy am I happy to no longer live there.

SACRAMENTO, Calif. — California wage earners will soon notice a little less money in their paychecks.

Starting Monday, employers in the cash-strapped state are required to withhold 10 percent more in state income taxes to help ease the budget problems.

It’s part of a plan to artificially inflate state revenue by $1.7 billion through next June.

Brenda Voet, a spokeswoman for the state Franchise Tax Board, says it’s technically not a tax increase since workers will get their money back after April 15.

A single wage earner making $51,000 a year with no dependents will get about $4 less a week.

“Government is like a baby. An alimentary canal with a big appetite at one end and no sense of responsibility at the other.“ – Ronald Reagan

Originally published at Tupelo Geek. You can comment here or there.

Hello all and welcome to the first installment of my sports themed blog posts. This will be about all things sports and what my opinion on the matter maybe. Some topics of sports you will not see me comment on are golf, tennis, and horse racing. I just have no interest in these sports although I do think Tiger Woods and the Williams sisters are extremely talented in their perspective sports. So lets dive right in.

Falcons-Saints

What an exciting game last night. First Atlanta was up and then New Orleans took a 28-14 lead into halftime and then Atlanta came back and it came down to the last seconds of the game but the Saints won 35-27. The Saints are now 7-0, one of 2 unbeaten teams in the NFL the other being the Colts.

NFL Sunday Ticket

Titans-Jags, Raiders-Chargers

With my new split shift at work, I get to watch most of the games now and the second half games I get to see in their entirety. One of the benefits of working with DirecTV is I get the NFL Sunday Ticket and Superfan package. This means I get the games in HD and have access to the Red Zone channel which every time a team gets into the red zone (20 yards from the goal line), it will show that game on that channel. Sunday I got to watch my 2 favorite teams play, the Chargers and the Titans, the Chargers were hosting the Raiders and the Titans were hosting the Jaguars. They both won and for the Titans it was their first win of the year as they started Vince Young this time instead of Kerry Collins. VY had an outstanding game 15-18 125 yards and a TD pass with no int’s and a rating of 114.1. Translation, he had an awesome day! Titans 30 Jags 13, Chargers 24 Raiders 16

Vikings-Packers

I also got to see Brett Favre return to Green Bay in a Vikings uniform, he was roundly boo’d but had the last laugh as the Vikings beat the Pack 38-26. Favre went 17-28 244 yards and 4 TD passes with a rating of 128.6 but Aaron Rodgers wasn’t too bad either in a losing effort going 26-41 287 yards and 3 TD passes with a rating of 108.5. Translation, looking long term the Packers made the right move in trading Brett and going with Rodgers.

College Football

Ole Miss

Ole Miss took a whooping on the road at Auburn 33-20. Jevan Snead went 16/35 175 yards 1 TD and 2 interceptions. Not a good day for Snead who seems to be having a Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde season so far. Maybe it’s time for Coach Nutt to play another guy at QB to keep the Bowl hopes alive. They play Northern Arizona this weekend so that should be a win.

Notre Dame

The Irish played a home game at the Alamo Dome in San Antonio against the Washington State Cougars and whooped the kitties 40-14. Jimmy Clausen went 22-27, 268 yards and 2 TD’s for the Irish who improved to who improved to 6-2 with their only losses against Michigan and USC being close down to the last second games. Notre Dame will host Navy on Saturday back at South Bend which should be a good game as Navy is 6-3 this year.

UCLA

The last of my favorite teams once again lost to a Pac 10 team this time losing to Oregon State 26-19 but the Bruins actually showed signs of life for once. Kevin Prince went 22/34. 323 yards and threw for 2 TD’s and no interceptions. Not a bad game for Prince in a losing effort though.

USC LOST!!

Course it’s always great as a UCLA and a Notre Dame fan to see USC getting their butts kicked! The Oregon Ducks handed Cheat Carroll his worst defeat as head coach of SC, 47-20 up in Eugene, OR. Goodbye BSC title hopes USC who were dropped to 12th in the latest standings. The Ducks however are now on the national stage jumping to 8 in the BCS and 7 in the AP poll.

Well that will do it for this first installment of TMQ. See you all next week.

Originally published at Tupelo Geek. You can comment here or there.

Hey folks, apologies for the delay but had to take one of the dogs to the vet yesterday with a bad paw, thankfully she is doing much better today. So lets get right into it.

Google Chrome for Mac

Google has a developer release of their Chrome browser for the Mac and I have been using it. I am impressed with how snappy and responsive it is. Definitely faster than Firefox and just about as fast as Safari 4. The only glitch I have noticed is on loading a PDF page it will only display the first page of the PDF and displaying video media on certain sites (Windows 7 webpage). Simple fixes I’m sure but really enjoying it.

New Mac ads

Apple has released 3 new I’m a Mac, I’m a PC ads just in time for Windows 7. Their pretty funny and worth checking out.

Broken Promises

Teeter Tottering

PC News

Windows 7

Based on the feedback I’m getting from my friends that are using Windows 7 they seem very impressed with it. At some point I may give it a try via BootCamp on the MacBook. As a technology blogger I owe it to myself to be objective and give it a fair shot.

iPhone to Verizon in 2010?

Music to my ears if this happens. I am so ready to kick AT&T to the curb as much as Apple is. With their pathetically slow roll out of 3G as illustrated in Verizon’s “There’s a Map for that” advertising, nothing would make me happier then to blow up the Death Star while saying to them “Can you hear me now!”

This Week’s iPhone/iPod touch apps

AAA Roadside – Ok this one gets the first review cause it actually bailed me out this week. I was a moron and didn’t fill up my truck in time and ran out of gas. Luckily I was able to glide over to a safe spot and be out of the way of traffic. I used the app on my phone to report my issue. It automatically geotagged my location and lets you specifically put in via menus what your vehicle problem is (out of fuel) it even asks if you use regular or diesel after that. I submitted it and 10 mins later got a call from Triple A advising me of the company dispatched to my location and the timeline for arrival. Pretty impressive! If you use AAA you need this app and it’s free!

NASA – This is a pretty cool app for the space program fans out there. If there is an app that will convince my brother to get an iPhone or iPod touch it would be this one. Upon launching it takes you to the Missions window which displays the space programs current initiatives such as the Space Shuttle, the International Space Station, Mars Rover, the LCROSS project (water on moon study), and the next generation Constellation which is replacing the aging Space Shuttle program and will allow Moon and Mars landings for astronauts.

The Catholic Directory – Ok so your a traveling man or woman but want to attend Mass no matter where you are, there is an app for that! Not only will this app determine your current location and find the nearest parish, but it also has a window for the daily readings and a window for the video of the daily mass courtesy of CatholicTV. Oh and it’s free too.

Food Network Nighttime – One of my favorite channels now has an app for the iPhone. You can watch full episodes or sneak peaks or recaps of their evening shows right on your iPhone or touch. Now you have another way to get hungry.

Barnes & Noble eReader – This app will really come in handy when the Nook comes out cause it can sync with the Nook so you never miss a page on a book you are reading between the two. Very similar to the Kindle app as well. It even offers a one touch option to access the online B&N store to buy more books for it. Pretty cool and it makes me want a Nook for Christmas even more now.

Well that is all for this weeks Triple T. If you haven’t done so yet check out my good friend Jeremy Holley and his blog. If you love technology then your going to love his blog. He does iPhone and iPod touch app reviews as well, check out his review of the app Geocaching. See you next week!

Originally published at Tupelo Geek. You can comment here or there.

Last night Kristen and I attended a fundraiser for New Beginnings International Children’s and Family Services held at our church. It was the first time we have been to a fundraiser and it had a who’s who of the community there. Elected leaders, church pastors including our own Fr. Tom, and captains of business here. The keynote speech was delivered by Michael Reagan. For those that don’t know, Michael is the adopted son of Ronald Reagan and Jayne Wyman and has a book called Twice Adopted. New Beginnings started out in Tupelo in 1984 and is branching out to Nepal and Poland. It is also the same agency we are filing our paperwork with to be adoptive parents. Michael Reagan made a good point last night by saying that the key to less abortions from teenage mothers raised in a Christian home is for their parents to act like Christians with love and compassion and understanding. Realizing that adoption is a viable alternative for the child. This is why we have chosen to be adoptive parents. We gave our hearts to the foster care program for a year and we learned a lot from it, but one of the things we did learn is we are just too loving to be foster parents. Quite frankly saying good bye to a child was terrible for us and we are just not cut out to be foster parents, not yet at least. So as part of our commitment to life we are saying yes to a child in need of a loving home. We would love to have more than just one though so we are in this for the long haul. So dare to be an adoptive parent, if you call yourself pro-life like we do then as a general principle you should be open to adoption providing you have the financial resources of course. But you know what, even if you don’t God has a way of providing for all. Trust in his will, meet with your priest or pastor for guidance if needed.

Originally published at Tupelo Geek. You can comment here or there.

I know the nook from Barnes & Noble won’t be out until 11/30, but based on how it looks on the B&N web site it seems more durable then the Kindle. I have not jumped on the e-reader bandwagon yet for one big reason, I’m waiting to see what the rumored Mac tablet brings to the table. But basing it on just these 2, I would heavily lean toward the nook. One thing I do like on the nook is no keyboard in the way.

Yeah I know the iPhone has spoiled me on keyboard freedom. Another thing is look at the color screen for library search. Anyway let me know what you think of it. Obviously I would have to feel and touch it first for a better perspective which B&N will allow you to do at their stores which you can’t really with the Kindle.

Originally published at Tupelo Geek. You can comment here or there.

Hello folks and welcome to another edition of Triple T. This will be a post more about today’s Apple product announcements then anything else.

New iMac’s

Two models announced today, a 21.5“ display and a 27” one, with a 1920 x 1080 display for the 21.5 and a 2560 x 1440 for the 27“ with 16:9 ratio on both for true HD experience. Also RAM expandable up to 16GB and 3.06GHz Intel Core 2 Duo processor or 3.33GHz. As well as a Quad-Core version for the 27” model. All come with a 1TB HD. 21.5“ starts at $1499 and the 27” is $1699, the Quad-Core at $1999.

New MacBook

In the new unibody design but the same familiar snow white finish to it. 1.08“ thin and 4.7 lbs. Sporting a 7 hour battery life on a single charge. Also has a Multi-Touch trackpad. Comes with 2GB of RAM expandable to 4, 2.26 Intel Core 2 Duo processor, and a 250GB 5400 RPM HD with an option for 320GB or 500GB 5400 RPM HD. Same $999 price point.

New Mac mini

In the latest configuration of the Mac mini we have a 2.26, 2.53, or 2.66GHz Intel Core 2 Duo processors. 2GB SO-DIMMs expandable to 4GB and 160, 320, or 500GB Serial ATA hard drive options. One Firewire 800 and five USB 2.0 ports. 2 configurations available, a 2.26 GHz with 160GB HD for $599 or a 2.53 GHz and 320GB HD for $799 and also a Mac mini server with a 2.53 and 500GB model for $999 (no optical drive).

Magic Mouse

Yes at last the Mighty Mouse is dead, no not the cartoon character but the one made by Apple. Replaced with the built from the ground up Magic Mouse which if you own a iPhone or iPod touch, will feel very familiar to you on operating it. It has a multi-touch surface to it and is included with the above mentioned new iMac’s and as a stand alone price of $69 (yes, I have bought one already for the iMac at home). It connects via Bluetooth and it is if I made me so bold one sexy design.

Engadget unboxing Photos

Want to see more? Engadget has unboxing photos of the MacBook, iMac and Magic Mouse.

Barnes & Noble announces the nook e-reader

B&N has a competitor to the Kindle now. It’s available for pre-order at $259. I’m still going to hold out for the much rumored Mac tablet and see what it will bring to the e-reader market.

Well that’s it for this week’s Triple T, sorry no time for app reviews this week. See you all next week in this same space!

Originally published at Tupelo Geek. You can comment here or there.

Ok so a theme blog for my opinion blogs on general news.

The boy NOT in the balloon

Ok the more I think about this whole fiasco the more I think this family punked the media outlets yesterday to a point that only Ashton Kutcher could admire. That part I don’t have a problem with, I find it amusing the media did get punked. The problem I have is the fact that the local officials in the area had to devote manpower to this escapade. Time to bill the parents on this deal if it is proven to be a planned hoax.

Windows 7 and advertising

Yes I know, I’m a Mac user so why spend time and space talking about the dark side? Well I will tell you why. Kylie is annoying me! Seriously Microsoft, who does your advertising? I mean Windows 7 may be a step up and “surprisingly good” but your advertising sucks!

The Daily GOP phone call

So I’m getting a daily phone call from the RNC soliciting donations for my annual membership. Well here is the problem GOP, I’m not a Republican anymore! I am an independent libertarian leaning conservative (note those are smaller case on the L and C). Until the GOP can prove to me that they are the party of a truly smaller government, low taxes, and a party respectful of the Constitution, they will not be getting a dime from me. At least with the Democrats they stand for what they truly are, big government, big taxing, and openly hostile to Capitalism.

Glenn Beck

This guy is a genius. Seriously I want to get his new book as soon as I finish Michelle Malkin’s, Culture of Corruption. He is entertaining but at the same time informative. If your not catching his show it’s on Fox News every night at 5pm ET. Basically he is the antidote to Bill Maher, Hugo Chavez, Michael Moore, or any other socialist out there.

Michael Jackson’s “This is It”

Ok is anyone creeped out that this movie is coming out WAY too soon after his death? I mean is AEG that transparent on wanting to make money off his death? I’m not saying they shouldn’t put out the movie but it just rubs me the wrong way is all.

Angels

Finally looking forward to seeing the Angels spank the Yankees yet again in another playoff series and head to the World Series to hopefully play the Dodgers. I want these 2 teams for 2 big reasons, 1 I want to see ESPN get mad that no team in their back yard is in the Fall Classic and 2 I’ve always wanted to see the Angels and Dodgers play in a series that mattered and of course I want to see the Angels beat the Dodgers so the L.A. Times will finally understand that the Angels are the better team in the L.A. area and have been all decade long.

Originally published at Tupelo Geek. You can comment here or there.

        I have enjoyed blogging for quite some time now. My first regular blog was on LiveJournal in 2005 and I had some blog posts on MySpace before that. Over the years since blogging has grown big.
        Blogging has been the driving force behind micro blog sites like Twitter and Plurk and behind Facebook’s exploding popularity. On Facebook, like on Twitter and Plurk you can compose short status posts otherwise known as micro blogging, or you can compose a longer blog post using Notes.
        For the blogger that doesn’t want to use FB but wants to say something beyond 140 characters, there is Blogger (aka Blogspot) owned by Google or WordPress.com. Both offer a basic free account with a nice web based interface.
        Then there are the bloggers like myself, I own my own domain and I utilize MacJournal (WinJournal for you folks on The Borg side) to compose my blogs from the desktop and then post to my blog which utilizes WordPress.
        The advantage of using WordPress is it offers a lot of third party plug-ins to say cross post your blog to your existing LiveJournal account. Other plug-ins allow you to announce your new blog posts to your FaceBook, Twitter, Plurk, etc. accounts. I recommend the Ping.fm plug-in as it will alert all of the above at the same time for you without you having to go to each individual site and creating a post linking to your blog.
        So why blog? Well why not? You have a lot of things to say, passions to share, opinions on things. The basic principle of starting a blog is to base it around something you have a passion for. Mine is more of a general blog but I do have a weekly tech blog I maintain. For others it may be a blog about cooking or knitting, some it may be about their favorite TV show or a book review.
        The point is we all have something we are passionate about and can offer an opinion or expertise on so go ahead and blog about it. There is no cost to it beyond an internet connection, the tools are there for you to utilize. As you get the hang of things you may want to create your own domain and use the more advanced tools, but start out on the basic sites first and hone your blogging skills there.
        So find your passion and shout it out there. In the old days you would need a publisher to pay to provide your content, in the digital age that barrier no longer exists. Blogging is global so get into the global conversation.

Originally published at Tupelo Geek. You can comment here or there.