Thomas Hawk did a really nice thing for his friend Robert Scoble by taking a of 'first day' pictures of Roberts newborn son. Thomas, we should think about how we form some sort of volunteer community that does this free of charge for families just because we love to take pictures. I personally know I would have loved to have someone come take snapshots when our kids were born while we celebrated the birth with friends and family.

[Idea forming...]

Aw, heck, I've been meaning to play around with Facebook more. So, I just created a group called Photography Volunteers at http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=5630108367 with the following description:

Photography Volunteers is a group of photography enthusiasts who like to volunteer their time to take special occasion photos. It's focus is on taking pictures for the sheer love of photography, and helping others celebrate rather than a business model. If you want to make money at this sort of thing this probably isn't your group. If you are a hobbyist photographer who would like to hone your skills while doing something nice for someone by helping them create memories of their special day, well, this might be the place for you.

A first thought: I'm willing to bet there are many families who really can't afford to create these types of memories but would be very appreciative of a volunteer who would do so.

Anywho, if it sounds like a fit for you, join up. Let's see what happens.

I downloaded and tried to install LinuxMCE build 0704 tonight (main wiki page here and video here). This was another attempt to install one of the Linux based media center / personal video recorder solutions -- this one in particular was interesting because of all the claims about how much better it was than Windows Media Center. The install of Kubntu was was seamless enough using the Quick Install DVD but it was all downhill afterwards. I couldn't get it to load with alpha blending or masking settings -- it kept failing due to the fact it couldn't start the Orbiter. Finally got the setup screens to launch by selecting the basic UI. That's where I got stuck -- I couldn't even get past the initial setup screens after trying to do so after an hour. Perhaps LinuxMCE is great if you can get over all of the hurdles. The video seems to have been created in the Seattle area -- anyone want to show up to our geek dinner tomorrow with this running to show it off...?

Which reminds me to remind you not to forget joining me in welcoming Scott Hanselman to Microsoft. Details here on this post about when and where: http://blog.retrosight.com/GeekDinnerOnSeptember12AtCrossroads.aspx.

I have to admit I'm a pretty big fan of Disney's 'High School Musical' and 'High School Musical 2' made for TV movies and soundtracks. Here is why...

• It's good, squeaky clean fun I can safely watch with my children harkening back to the golden years of family friendly fare from Disney like Mary Poppins and The Absent Minded Professor. No sexual innuendo, no evil, no violence, no foul language -- and bathing suit / clothing more modest than what you would find in Beach Blanket Bingo.
• Catchy tunes with clean lyrics and something for everyone. Pop, hip hop, ballads and latin influences abound -- with nods to contemporary artists (Fergie, Nelly Furtado) and old school musical fare (Rodgers & Hammerstein) alike. The music is pure sugary sweetness, but with a nice groove -- danceable and singable through and through. There is nothing better than music the whole family can belt out during a car ride.
• The group choreography is awesome -- you can tell the cast (which includes one of the primary choreographers) really had fun making the movie. Interestingly enough, Kenny Ortega also choreographed Dirty Dancing -- what a contrast! Even more fun is watching mom and dad trying to keep up with the kids whilst trying to duplicate.
• Zero teen angst. Basically, it's how we really hope our children will turn out when they grow to this age.
• Story lines which get tied up in nice packages with bows on top. I'm a sucker for movies which end on a positive note and where everything turns out just great for everyone -- these don't disappoint in that department.
• It's reinvigorating the high school musical (no pun intended). I performed in 'You're A Good Man, Charlie Brown' and 'The Sound of Music' in high school productions. What I wouldn't have given to have a very contemporary piece instead. Mind you, those shows are classic -- but exactly that -- classic. Unless you are a theater geek already they won't really draw you in. Luckily, many local theater groups are doing High School Musical -- I'll be attending one put together by Seattle Children's Theater with my childre. I would say these are almost certainly this generations 'Joseph & The Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat' or 'Grease'.

If you are a parent of kids this is a must have!

I'll be happy to organize and host Scott.

It's been a while since we've had one of these -- the last time I brought some Windows Media Center giveaways (tuners, remote controls, etc.) so I'll do it again. One of the recipients of a tuner later joined Microsoft (Tyler Welch). You never know what I might have in my bag of goodies.

Where: Crossroads Mall (http://www.crossroadsbellevue.com/) located at 15600 NE 8th Street, Bellevue, WA 98008. Specifically, the location is in the Public Market Eatieries at the tables and chairs between Papazzi Pizzeria, 39 Kaiten Sushi and O'Char Thai -- find a floor map here.

When: September 12, 2007 from 6:00 PM - 9:00 PM

Pass the word along...!

I don't know about you, but Chris is just getting more annoying over the last few weeks. Seems like he's got a bee in his bonnet (or in his shorts). He seems bent on YELLING SO MUCH WE CAN'T HELP BUT PAY ATTENTION TO HIM. Microsoft PR must not be paying him enough attention these days, or he has figured out that stirring the Mac vs. PC pot (no matter how very tiring and, frankly old and irrelevant the argument has become) does wonders for ad revenue.

Meanwhile, Ken still hasn't gotten any help -- I posted a comment to Chris' blog asking him to put Ken in touch with me, but nada from Chris so far. I kind of find it sad that Chris is leaving him out in the cold.

Update: Chris has forwarded the offer of help to Ken but hasn't heard back. Thanks, Chris.

Edit: Adding links to Apple Hot News: http://www.apple.com/hotnews/ and RSS http://images.apple.com/main/rss/hotnews/hotnews.rss.

I subscribe to the Apple Hot News RSS feed. It's clearly biased, as any official corporate public relations web site is going to be. I think they let one slip through the censors. I'm going to copy it here because I'm willing to bet it will be taken down as soon as someone realizes what they are saying:

Vista blazes when running under Boot Camp on a Mac
“If you install Boot Camp on a well-equipped Mac model, it can become a blazing fast Vista computer.” That’s what Walter Mossberg (Wall Street Journal) concluded after installing Vista and Boot Camp on a new iMac. Mossberg tested the iMac’s performance “using Vista’s built-in Windows Experience Index, a rating system that goes from 1 to 5.9, with scores above 3.0 generally required for full, quick performance. My iMac scored a 5.0, the best score of any consumer Vista machine I have tested.” That score, he remarks, is “very impressive for a computer that wasn’t designed with Vista in mind.” [Aug 23, 2007]

That first sentence *could* imply that any other operating installed on the Mac makes it not so 'blazing fast' by comparison.

Whoops!

Seriously, if the MacOS is all that why even bother installing another operating system. Oh, what? You want a blazing fast computer? Then install Windows Vista on that MacBook (Pro) and you'll have your wish. Of course, some folks will point out Mossberg limited it to comparisons with 'Vista' computers. Lots of people will miss that distinction as I did when I first read this pull quote.

Furthermore, what Apple is reinforcing is the concept of the Mac being the best Windows Vista machine out there. If true, that backs up my assertion that the Mac hardware is gaining personal computer market share directly as a result of the fact it is a Windows machine, capable of running the best darn operating system in the world: Windows Vista. Yeah, there is a Halo Effect -- it's called 'we do Windows and do it great!'

Wow. Has it been this long? I guess it has. Anyway, Mack has a great writeup on the history of Windows Media Center which is worth reading.

"On September 3rd, Microsoft will celebrate the five year anniversary of Windows Media Center, arguably one of the company’s more successful products. Windows XP Media Center Edition was released to manufacturers in the United States and Canada in 2002, and Microsoft has followed up with a number of releases since then, most recently as part of Windows Vista. The software is at the core of Microsoft’s digital media strategy and looks to have a bright future ahead. In this post we’ll take a look at what Windows Media Center is, the levels of success it has achieved thus far, and finally we’ll touch on where Microsoft might take the product in the next few years."

Get the full story over at http://www.last100.com/2007/08/23/windows-media-center-a-microsoft-success-story/.

Thanks, Mack...!

This past Sunday I played goalie for our soccer club (Salsa FC) for about 20 minutes. This is only the second (or maybe third) time I have ever played that position, and the first time I've ever faced a penalty kick. I squared off against the opponent, reacted well and (pretty much) flung my body to the right in an effort to block the kick. I missed, and had the 'wind knocked out of me' badly -- see http://www.madsci.org/posts/archives/mar97/858749772.An.r.html for a pretty good physiological description. It was very, very scary to not be able to take in a breath at all for what seemed like a very long time -- to the point of nearly passing out. At most it was probably 20 seconds before I was able to begin taking some tiny breaths back in -- but it felt much longer, and I did start to panic a little bit.

After laying there for about 5 minutes I got up and walked back to the sideline unassisted, and even substituted back in to my regular positions a couple of times (fullback or midfield) but felt a growing discomfort in my mid chest region, just below the pectoral muscles. I just couldn't seem to take in any deep breaths without a lot of discomfort. I say 'discomfort' because at the time it wasn't painful -- I just couldn't seem to inhale deeply. It seemed to get worse on the car ride home, and the pain started to set in.

Turns out I have some number of cracked ribs. It's actually quite painful to move. Breathing is pretty shallow because anything deeper hurts. A suppressed cough is pretty bad -- if I don't suppress that it really lights up the pain receptors. I sneezed last night and was seeing stars and had to sit down in a hurry. Even clearing my throat or yawning results in a good bit of pain. My left side is worse than my right, to the point I can't even sleep on my left side -- and I'm very definitely a side sleeper. Once I get into a comfortable position on my back or right side I'm able to sleep -- until I shift the least little bit, then I'm awake for the next 15 minutes or so trying to get comfortable again.

But I'd do it all over again. Why?

My good friend Michael, who along with his wife Wanda got me involved with soccer as an adult said the following as I was desperately trying to find some air laying in the goal:

'Yeah, you missed it. But you looked good.'

Uniform: $30

Shoes: $80

Shin Guards: $15

Having great friends who will make you laugh when you have no breath to do so: Priceless.

Go Salsa...!!!

That went pretty smoothly -- thanks Scott, Omar and the rest of the dasBlog development team for putting together 2.0. You guys ROCK...!

Also using Windows Live Writer for the first time with this post. Configuration with dasBlog was an absolute snap. Blogging just got a whole lot easier.

Sweet...

That's the title of a blog post I would love to see Jeff Atwood write. As I was sitting there playing with one of my children this evening I noticed we were using a box of Legos which contained a mixture of their brand new ones and those from my childhood (30+ years old in most cases). Suddenly it dawned on me that none of these pieces had any comaptibility issues -- we could mix and match at will and they always, always fit. Of course, there are exceptions when it comes to Duplo and Technic -- but those have always been present. Talk about legacy support...!