This summer, my oldest son (age 9) has been plowing through every book in the library on electronics, robotics and astronomy that he can convince the public library to check out to him. His current fixation is BattleBots, because he hasn’t solved the “Earth orbit is a long way up” problem, yet. For the...

Tim and I don’t see eye2eye on some things, but quite often he nails the the whole “married geek” thing. It’ll definitely be funny to watch Tim’s comix grow and change when they have kids. A lot like my own father enjoys watching the slow-motion train wreck of my life. Heh.   You don’t even have...

About two or three weekends back, we took the Sequoia up toward the Glacier Peak Wilderness loaded with the family (wife, kids, me) and various pieces of what-if back country gear: important stuff like MREs, bonus water, rope and rappelling stuff, tire repair bits, etc. Of course, by now, you’ve figured...

But then I went and put my name in the hat once more... because it’s for a good cause! No, it’s not April Fool’s. That’s tomorrow. Personally, I’d like to thank L.D. Kirshenbaum (the author of the article below) for giving us a fair shake. I’m sure that there were some embarrassing quotes among all the...

A long time ago, in a life far, far away, I was a deputy constable and I had to physically locate people and hand them court documents (or haul them off to jail). As much fun as it was to run around with a badge and a gun, it would’ve made life much easier if I could’ve just sent them an email! I guess...

It’s always interesting to see how other people see themselves. Or want to be seen. Maybe it’s the latent social scientist training from decades gone by in graduate school. Who knows? Giving them no specific directions besides “make an avatar for yourself”, I turned the family loose on the Xbox Live...

Wow. Are people with autism trapped in their own world? Or are the rest of us just trapped in ours? The Language of Autism - Well - Tara Parker-Pope (New York Times Blog) At risk of sounding Chomsky-esque: We humans often mistake strong linguistic communication facility [in our own language] with intelligence...

Got my copy of WHS last week and I'm hoping to make time to stand it up this week; I'm sure that I'll want to remember these links later when that happens. Heh. Coming Home to Windows Home Server, Part 1 A new column begins, focusing on Microsoft's highly touted Windows Home Server. (10/15/07) Coming...

I have it on good authority that sometimes humor will help get forgiveness when you failed to get permission. Mommy, why is there a server in the house? Heh. Let me know if it works for you...

Sounds like a book any teen could benefit from, not just teens with autism! Damian, who was diagnosed at the age of 5 and is now a college student, defines a term like acne, kissing or gossip. Then Josie describes the same issue from a parent’s point of view. Autism Society of America: Book Addresses...

Bobbie was sure right about the best laid schemes and a' that. I certainly felt about mouse-sized towing a 5x8 trailer in my two-wheel drive minivan crawling through the Rocky Mountains this time! So much for blogging the move from Houston to Redmond in real time, though... I blame that on the streptococcal...

Well, not exactly. This post title is just my nod to the yellow journalism that pervades the media these days... Where have all the reporters gone? Long time ago? (Sorry, that song is stuck in my head this morning.) I'm making the leap. Taking the plunge. Leaving Microsoft Services... But I'm not going...