Technology

Finally, I Have Finished My Vegan Mouse Trap Project

My vegan mousetrap (live trap) project is now live! I have finished adding the images to the document that I started last fall. With the completion of this project page, I have also published the video that I made last fall, showing the capture of a mouse in my trap!

Day-dreaming About the End of Technical Support

 My current employment is all about technical support. I'm the go-to-guy for any computer problems. Mysteriously, this includes anything with electrons or photons.

I've worked in the technical support field most of my life. One of my talents is comprehending machines and systems, which is quickly recognized by others in trouble with objects and processes. Sadly, I'm not omniscient, nor omnipotent (even if some problems magically fix themselves when I'm around). There are days when my talent becomes a curse.

The Inevitable Outcome of Socialized Parenting...Er, "Education"

First off, I was home schooled, K through 12. It was a wonderful experience, but not the topic of this post. Being raised outside of the public school system, I often see it with "new eyes" and not a little suspicion. The idea that a central authority could trump my parents bothers me. It all comes down what I call unalienable responsibility. Much like unalienable rights, there are some responsibilities that cannot be subsumed by society, government, or other third parties.

Do You Belong In Your Zip Code?

The New York Times recently published a web service showing the movie rental habits, by zip code, of 12 major cities over the past year. The data comes from Netflicks movie rentals for 100 movies. I initially visited the site just to see how they presented the information (very well) and it really made me think. This is a great example of how data is only what you make of it. And, that no matter how unbiased you try to be, just collecting and presenting data induces inacuracy or bias.

Little Fingers, Big Problems; Kids and Computers

Each of my children relates to computers differently. While age plays a part, most of the differences are psychological. Some of my children are puzzlers, thinkers, explorers. Others are quickly frustrated and want others to make tech work for them. But all of them love keyboards, mice, and mischief.

BYU Removes YouTube Ban

BYU announced the following this morning:

YouTube is now available on the campus of Brigham Young University. Given the educational information and materials available on the video-sharing service, the University determined to make the service available on campus. The press has been following this issue quite closely, and Carrie Jenkins has released this information to them earlier this morning.

Finally, Open Development for the LDS Church!

I have been hoping that the Church would open up some of their projects to outside help. Last week, Joel Dehlin announced that the church unit websites will soon be more open to general development.

This is welcome news. It's a good step in the right direction. Next, I hope they open-source the Membership & Leadership System (MLS). That would be fantastic!

Free Issues of Solar Today!

As a birthday present in 2006, my wife gave me a subscription to the Solar Today magazine. She knew I was very interested in solar energy and renewable energy at large. I may yet start a business related to that.

Repairing the Washing Machine

Today was one of those days when everything works out alright in the end, but certainly gives you a scare!

I had a long day at work; I was up at 6:00. By the end, I was tired, but excited to go home and play with a Macbook Air I'm setting up for a faculty member.

Later in the evening, just as I am completing the initial setup, I notice an odd sound from the laundry room and go to investigate.

I Have Upgraded to Drupal 6!

Despite worrying, planning, and putting-off upgrading this site from Drupal 5 to 6, the actual upgrade took less than an hour, including the backup and migrate. There was only one puzzling hangup. After 15 minutes of searching, I realized that I needed to turn on the taxonomy mod and everything finished upgrading without errors!

I'm still upgrading modules and turning them on, so some site functionality will be missing for a while. I will also take some time to re-architect some of the site and maybe finish some ideas that weren't easy in D5.