Last night, we went to church. Then we came home and I enjoyed the last half of the final game of the World Series. After the Red Sox won, I jumped outside and saw the lunar eclipse.
I just bought a Nikon D70 for my office. This camera is extremely cool. I’m very impressed. The thing I love about it is that I can control just about everything. This shot was at a 5.6 aperture and a 1.0 second exposure. I can use manual focus, manual everything. I won’t get into everything about it, but it’s a very excellent camera.
Today begins week two of my Early Morning Plan. I’ve been getting up at around 5:15am on the weekdays and working for a couple hours or so before going to work. This provides time for me to work on freelance stuff, do some extra-curricular web surfing, and watch the sun rise. My desk faces east and is in front of a big window, making the sunrise a beautiful event.
Getting up early is easier than I thought it would be. I love how beautiful and quiet the morning is. Anna is still in bed for the first hour or so. I can whip up an espresso or latte, wear slippers and listen to some quiet music. If you feel like there isn’t enough time in the day to relax and maybe get a few extra things done, try the Early Morning Plan. It worked for me.
Last week I discovered podcasting. Podcasting is in some respects an audio version of blogging, but it’s actually far more than that. Basically, people are using their computers to produce little radio shows and put them on the web for people to download. There are even applications that let you subscribe to any number of podcasts, and the program will download the shows soon after they are posted. Not only that, but it will put that show into iTunes. If you have your iPod set to automatically sync with iTunes, your iPod will automatically get your new Podcasts. Alternatively, you can just listen to the mp3 files via your browser, or manually download them and play them with the application of your choice.
With any technology, there are sure to be plenty of, shall we say, lousy examples of it. For instance, when the internet showed up, most websites looked downright silly and awful. Many still do. And when people started blogging, most of the weblogs were not terribly interesting. Now, however, there are some fantastic blogs out there, and they aren’t all about the internet or blogging. Examples:
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I got into a friendly argument with a buddy of mine recently. He and I are an unlikely pair to be friends. He loves to go out dancing at clubs for fun. For me that’s about as much fun as picking up Rusty’s poo from the back yard. So the argument was on whether or not it was a good idea to lease a car. He leases his Audi and I bought our Subaru. He prefers leasing his car for the fun of having a new car, no headaches with purchasing, and any maintenance and repair they pay for at the dealership. I suggested that buying is a better option, because though you pay for more maintenance, it’s economically smarter and you get the fun of owning a new car.
We bought our Subaru for about $21,000. We bought it brand new. We got a pretty nice package. Heated seats, cd player, and all that. We financed the car on a 4-year program, which comes out to about $450/month. Not bad, but not amazingly good. I’d consider this to be a pretty average for a low-to-mid-range new car.
If …
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I’ve been considering getting up at 5 or so to do extra work in the morning. I freelance a bit designing websites and working on a long-term Content Management System design with a few of my friends. It’s really hard to find time to get these sorts of things done after work and on the weekends. If I were to get up early like that, I’d get an extra 2 hours of time to work during the day.
Granted, I’m not adding hours to my day by doing this, and I’d have to get to bed earlier. However, that is what I did when I lived in Alaska. I went to work at 6:30 every day. Why? I telecommuted from Alaska with my job in Colorado. I had to deal with a two-hour time difference, and going to work early (and leaving early) seemed like the simplest solution to that.
Another variable: A few times a week, Anna has been opening up the coffee shop – which means she needs to get up at 5am too. Usually, I get up with her and make a smoothie or something for her to …
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Try this: Create a text message on your phone that says something like “Starbucks 80113”. Send it to 46645 (that’s “GOOGL”). Soon you will get a message back with the first Google Local result with the address and phone number. Of course, you’ll be searching in Englewood, Colorado; but if you want the Starbuck’s nearby you, then you’ll probably want to put in your zipcode.
Google has lots of new things it’s doing, as you probably know. For instance you can search for 42+9*5, and Google will do teh calculating for you. Even complex calculations such as cosine(180). You can also Google search for an address, and it will bring up Mapquest and Yahoo Maps links. But the cell phone search? That’s gotta be the coolest “new thing” that Google has done lately in my opinion.
I was sick earlier this week, which makes twice in the past month. I always expect to get reading done when I’m sick, laid up in bed, but it never seems to happen. I find it hard to concentrate on the written word when I’m trying not to throw up, trying to sleep, and drink fluids. It’s a complex and distracting thing.
In Other News
We’ve been going to a class that’s all about the Greek Orthodox Church. What I’ve been learning has been blowing my mind. It’s really challenging to me. I’m not sure what all to believe anymore from what I grew up with and what I’ve been taught. I’m really having to think and study about my faith, what I believe about God, and what it means to be “saved”. Maybe more about that in the future.
Side notes
Spaceship One has won the XPrize – meaning that a private venture into space has successfully been accomplished – Anasari X Prize
You can download the Presidential and Vice Presidential debates for free via the iTunes Music Store – put them on your iPod and listen …
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Be Good Not Bad is all about really good web design, based on the utmost respect for web standards, accessibility and respect for the user. Based in Denver, Colorado, Be Good Not Bad is run by Brian Warren, freelance designer, blogger, homebrewer and coffee nut.