This looks like a lot of fun!!!

Amazing New Water-Powered Jet Pack - Watch more Free Videos

iPhone love

As I've written here before, I believe the iPhone to be the best cell phone I've ever used. I started out with Nokia phones and kept with simple Nokia phones until I got my iPhone. I loved Nokia, they seemed bulletproof, had great sound and grabbed even the weakest signal. I tried out a Motorola Razr, but was totally disappointed in it's performance. My kids have had numerous brands of phones from Motorola to Samsung and I just haven't seen much quality.

When I got the iPhone, it took a little getting used to. Speeds weren't all that great and the firmware seemed a bit...quirky, I guess would be the best way to put it. One thing that I noticed was with 3G turned off, I got the best signal reception I had ever gotten, even beating the various Nokia models I had used. Notice that I had 3G turned off. Until the first week of January, AT&T's 3G network was non-existant past just a few miles away from downtown. I coped, though, using the EDGE network for data when I wasn't around a wifi connection. According to this article, most of the iPhone's speed issues could be traced to AT&T's network.

BAM, the week after Christmas, I'm messing with the iPhone. Hmm, let me just check out the range of the 3G network. WOW! We're pretty much covered up with 3G around here now! I love the increased speed. The iPhone, while always a thrill to use, became even better and has fulfilled all my expectations now.

Vote

Please vote on this gun issue question with USA Today. It will only take a few seconds of your time. Then pass the link on to all the folks you know. Hopefully these results will be published later this month. This upcoming year will become critical for gun owners with the Supreme Court accepting the District of Columbia case against the right for individuals to bear arms.

http://www.usatoday.com/news/quickquestion/2007/november/popup5895.htm

Help out a friend to sportsmen

Go read on Dan's blog about Dutch Salmon's son and their tribulations over the past little while. I don't know Dutch, but know of him quite a bit. He's a renowned author, houndsman and hunter.

Cool technology

Apple has filed a patent application for what looks like a huge advancement in UI. An ambient sound sensor will detect the presence and level of sound in your environment and automatically adjust the volume of your electronics accordingly.

See MacRumors.com for more information

Is one of Obama's key appointees a PETA radical?

Cass Sunstein, chosen by President Obama to head the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs, could jeopardize your ability to hunt, eat meat or have pets. According to this article, Sunstein "has a secret aim to push a radical animal-rights agenda in the White House. Sunstein supports outlawing sport hunting, giving animals the legal right to file lawsuits, and using government regulations to phase out meat consumption."

If you're at all concerned, please speak up.

h/t Steve Bodio's Querencia

Martyrs

Just piss me off. For the majority of the years I've been involved in lure coursing, I've had to suffer a certain fool who likes to stir up all kinds of crap, break rules, generally cause trouble then turns around and plays the victim. I'm over it. I've decided that Dan's gift says it best. So, I'll post it once again.

4000!

Thanks to the 4000th visitor to this little blog, registered this morning. I'll post more details later.

A gift from my friend...

Dan, aka Shot on Site, aka dyed in the wool pinko...



Picture was taken while we were both in Hollister, CA this past summer. That finger is what I think... :)

Tam-a-lanche

See Tuesday 1/13? Many of those visits are thanks to Tam linking to the Obama Test. If you haven't yet, please go read View From The Porch. It's one of my faves.

{edit}LMAO, it's a Tam-a-lanche, not a Ta-a-lanche. I wouldn't even know what that is!

Well, he is an embarrassment to me...

I'm an embarrassment to Barack!


I only scored 18 on the Obama Test

Update on the hounds

We haven't had too much to brag about regarding the hounds lately, mostly because we just haven't been running them that much. I got some great news in my email the other day that Lobo has finished his LCM 6! We're extremely proud of the Little Buddy!

Dinner and a Show

Like the article says,

“If you have $20 in your pocket, do you go somewhere where you can just get food or do you go somewhere you can get entertained as well?"

Hooters, ever the establishment of good taste, is making money in a weak economy. I'm not a huge fan of their wings, but have to admit that I've never had a bad meal, or a bad time at Hooters. Sex sells.

Twitterfeed

Testing Twitterfeed. Keep your fingers crossed.

I'm digitally worried about our analog country

I became worried about the direction of our country when Obama was elected. I worry about my right to bear arms. I worry about my taxes. I worry about the deficit. I worry about a lot of things.

Didn't think that I needed to worry about the switch from an analog to digital TV signal, but Obama says I need to. Thought the (dot)gov and TV networks were taking care of that. You can't listen to the radio, watch TV, read a newspaper or news magazine without being warned that sometime in February the OTA TV signal will switch to digital.

To borrow a line from John Stossel, Give me a break.

A worthy bailout?

Here's a bailout I could probably get "behind"! ROTFLMAO!

Just wondering...

When fuel prices were rising, and rising rapidly, the price of everything from airline fares to milk rose along with it. I understand the economics behind prices rising as the price of raw materials rises.

What's the deal now that fuel is 1/3 to 1/2 as much as the max? Food prices have not dropped, airline fares and the special little surcharges put on extra baggage are still in place.

Just wondering.

The New Year

Happy New Year to you all!

Here are some of my goals for this year
Continue getting fit - I dropped about 30 pounds over the past couple of years... And put about 12 of that back on. It's time to finally finish the work I started back in 2007 and lose the last bit of weight I want.

Improve eating habits - goes along with ^. Not really hard to do, just have to ween myself from a little bit of junk food.

Get more ink - Love the tattoos I have already, but I need to finish the one big piece I have (Sweeney needs some background) and I'd like to get started on a sleeve for the other arm.

Take advantage of more educational opportunities - In general, I'm going to get back to working on my IT degree. More specifically, I'm going to work on my VMware certifications.

Love my family - Pretty easy to do! :)

Smile - I find that I'm a little to serious at times. I just want to loosen up a bit and have a good time!

Back up my data - Um, Yeah. I have 99% of the solution, just need to get it wrapped up and implemented. With all my music converted or bought as mp3's and so many of my photos in jpegs, I'm crazy to walk around with them only on my laptop!

Clean up my music collection - I've got a good bit that needs to be gone through and organized.

Travel - Maybe just a little bit. R and I didn't really take a vacation last year together, so it's something I'd like to do. She wants to see the Grand Canyon again and I wouldn't mind either.

Blog more - Easier said than done, but I'm going to try. I promise! I'm really interested in dogs (of course), concealed carry laws and gun control laws in general, technology and politics. Whew!

Twitter more - micro blogging is cool. If you don't, and you enjoy blogging, check it out!

Stay in touch with friends - For sure. I'm lucky that I've kept really, really good friends since childhood. Just the way it is for us. I see a few on a regular basis, but others not so much. Got to do better.

That's it for now. Maybe if I get to 3/4 of what I have here I'll be doing good. I hope everyone has a great 2009!!!