Thats pretty neat, where can I get one?

Here is a list of pretty neat shops that I frequent rather often:

Newegg.com: They sell computer parts and a variety of electronics. Decent customer service and rock bottom prices.

ThinkGeek: These guys sell just about any geek gift you can think of from t-shirts with witty slogans on them to usb controlled missile launchers.

Cafepress: These guys offer the common man the chance to create thier own store with clothing that has unique user created slogans or emblems.

Should I buy Microsoft Vista?

I get asked this one a lot so I'll post it here for all to read.

When someone asks me if I think they should upgrade to Vista I tell them "Wait to upgrade until you buy a new computer that comes with it."

In all honesty, if you have to ask then usually the answer is no.

National Shutdown Day is Tomorrow!

March 24th is National Shutdown Day. One day a year dedicated to turning off the computer and maybe even getting outside a bit. Whodathunkit?

What I want but can't have yet

Guitar Hero 2 for the xbox 360 comes out on April 3rd, also recently announced is an expansion for Guitar Hero 2 on the PS2....The 80's edition! Hopefully this will be available as downloadable content on the 360. If not, then I guess the playstation will have to stay in the living room a little longer.

New music to listen to! I have not really listened to much music in the last year or so. I have bought only 3 cds in the last 2 years. I have downloaded only a few tracks from iTunes. But just recently I have begun to get really bored of not listening to anything new. So, I asked Kay-la for some suggestions. She recommended Shiny Toy Guns, Hellogoodbye, and Fake P. So far the first two are spot on what I was wanting to hear. If any of you have other suggestions please let me know!

Spore for the PC. This game looks like a lot fun. It takes you from the beginning (single cell organizism) all the way through intergalactic civilization in a sim style game. This game is currently slated to be released sometime this fall :(

So anything you all are especially anxious for?

Before I leave for the day....

Podcasts, podcasts, podcasts

Here is a short list of some of my favorite podcasts (btw you don't need Itunes, nor even an Ipod to listen to podcasts. They are just like most other audio files....they can play on anything and there are tons of free and open source pod cast clients out there) If you are interested, just google the names and it shouldn't be too hard to find them. Well actually, I am just to lazy to grab their urls at the moment!

Buzz Out Loud: This is a 30-ish min daily about current tech news, very funny

Diggnation: Follows some of the weekly top stories from Digg.com (two funny and smart guys sitting around drinking beer and talking tech...great stuff)

TwiT: This Week In Tech is a weekly podcast that also follows top tech news and opinions, weekly guest panels full of great tech reports, insiders, and other smart people.

DL.TV: Once again, a tech related podcast often focusing on digital entertainment and other non-news related features.

TV show times: the good, the bad, and the "hey where'd it go?"

Mainly I am posting this for my house hold to be able to see when our favorite shows are starting/ending this season. I haven't been too happy with the way shows are taking long breaks. Heros for instance, took a long winter break, came back, and now is on another break, grr. But then again, I don't know if I would rather have a few weeks of break time every few months, or a few months of back to back shows, and then a really long break. All I can say right now is that Kyle XY is finally coming back! So, here is a list of show premiers and finales coming up (btw, this list comes from one of my favorite blogs TV Squad) (Updated March 28th and took out all the shows from dates that have passed)

--- SHOWS RETURNING FROM HIATUS ---

May 1st
Veronica Mars (The CW)

--- NEW SEASON/SERIES PREMIERES ---

May 29th
Last Comic Standing (NBC)

June 3rd
The 4400 (USA)
The Dead Zone (USA)

June 4th
Kyle XY (ABC Family)

June 5th
My Boys (TBS)

June 6th
Ghost Hunters (Sci-Fi)

June 10th
Big Love (HBO)

June 11th
The Closer (TNT)

June 12th
Rescue Me (FX)

June 20th
America's Got Talent (NBC)

June 25th
Hell's Kitchen (FOX)

June 28th
It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia (FX)

--- SHOW SEASON FINALES ---

April 26th
30 Rock (NBC)

May 3rd
Nanny 911 (FOX)
Trading Spouses (FOX)

May 23rd
Lost (ABC)

June 5th
The Shield (FX)

Attack of the Tuesday!!

Grrr.......

In the mean time here are some links for your enjoyment:

Netvibes is a great news aggregation site/start page. It is highly customizable, one of the best web 2.0 sites out there.

Flickr is an amazing photo sharing site. Many great photographs can be found here. Also, you can sign up for flickr to host your photos for sharing (normal accounts are free). I find all my great desktop photos here.

Digg is a user driven news site. Users submit web articles and the community can vote on how whether or not they like the article. I can browse these pages for hours!

Jen, her sisters, and thier dad

Over the summer Jen and I traveled up to Seattle for her eldest sisters 20th (?) wedding anniversary. I got to meet Jen's father for the first, and only, time. I'm glad I did since I'll never have the chance to now. It was great seeing all the sisters having such a great time. The party was great, the karaoke was so horrible is was good, and i got to spend so real quality time with Jen's family. I'm very happy that I am going to get such great in-laws. Jen's sisters are great people and thier mom is amazing. Enough of this for now, I have a lot more photos to go through.

Kay-la the pirate

Kay-la's costume.

Noah's Halloween

Noah the evil wizard.

Kay-la....being way too old

Kay-la on the first day of school. She looks way too old in this picture.

The Pirate says Arrrg!

One of the family pets. This is Pirate, the kitten. He'll eat anything...even wasabi funions.

Noah's silly picture

Jenn loves this one. She loves it so much it is on our family photo wall at home.

Kay-la's Birthday

I guess everyone has to turn 15 at some point in time. It just so happens that the 1st of March was Kay-la's turn. To celebrate, her grandma and her great-grandparents took her out to dinner (along with Noah and I) to Hometown buffet. It was a pretty nice time, especially once the balloon man came by and made Kay-la a giant pink monkey and Noah a fishing pole with a big ol' fish on the hook.

Now comes the real fun. Kay-la is hosting a birthday bash this weekend, festivities to include flashlight candy hunt, spinning balls of fire, loud music, even louder giggling girls, and I'm sure a few well placed and even louder Hey could ya keep it down(s).

Pictures galore coming soon!

This is really just a test to see if I can upload images and how I can make this work for my needs. Seems pretty easy! BTW, this image is something my brother Bob sent me. It made me chuckle, maybe you will too!

First Post or what the heck is this?

Not much here yet, but this is only the first post. Check back soon to see our most recent photos and to read up on what we are doing these days!
~Chris