Rob's Space

The Future of Work

Tue, 02 Sep 2008 19:52:11 GMT

Enjoying the significant benefit of working from home (for about 7 years now). Here's an interesting video from Luis Suarez from IBM-NL on the future of work and telecommuting. He expounds on corporate communications without e-mail, which I find compelling.

The Future of Work by Luis Suarez from Luis Suarez on Vimeo.

Pickens plan for reduced dependency on foreign oil

Tue, 29 Jul 2008 16:57:21 GMT

This makes a lot of sense to me. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dpQa-ibNOKM

iPhone 2.0

Thu, 10 Jul 2008 17:27:04 GMT

I picked up the iPhone 2.0 update this morning and have already found it useful. I installed the Mobile Flickr app from the iPhone App Store. My real estate agent needed some quick external photos of the house, so I zipped over, took the shots with my iPhone and quickly uploaded them to Flickr for her to retrieve. No need to return home and sync. No e-mail attachments. Color me impressed already. Now to play some Super Monkey Ball!

iPhone 3G

Mon, 07 Jul 2008 18:40:51 GMT

There's lots of hoopla this week as we approach availability of the iPhone 3G on July 11th. While I'm a big iPhone fan, I've decided to hold off an let the dust settle on the 3G iPhone for a bit. I'll enjoy the 2.0 software update on my original iPhone for now.

FriendFeed

Mon, 07 Jul 2008 14:16:11 GMT

I've been a Twitter user for quite some time. Based the service's recent availability issues and the fact that many folks are migrating over to FriendFeed, I decided to give FriendFeed a try. So I just downloaded AlertThingy (which runs on Adobe Air) and am giving it a go. My FriendFeed ID is RWITTE if you'd like to follow me.

Now we're cookin'!

Thu, 19 Jun 2008 01:42:19 GMT

Just got back from a cooking class at the new apartment complex. We don't move in until Saturday, but they invited us to attend the monthly class they hold for their residents. It was so cool! We had a chef from Big City Chefs who took us through the whole process of making grilled salmon fajitas with a fresh pico de gallo. The food was great. We met some other residents, including another die-hard jeep fan. He and I are going to get together for some off-roading in the future. Sometimes the universe lets you know you're on the right path. I think tonight was one of those signals.

Carnivore Secondo

Wed, 18 Jun 2008 14:31:49 GMT

I just ran across a cool article on Lifehacker that lines up nicely with the changes I'm making to our family's diet (more plants, less meat). Some good tips here for those who want to move in this direction. http://lifehacker.com/396169/change-your-cooking-style-to-cut-back-on-meat Could this be an evolving trend in America? I think it would make sense from both economic and health perspectives, but I'm not yet sure if Joe Six-Pack is ready to give up his meat and potatoes. Time will tell.

Firefox hoopla

Wed, 18 Jun 2008 14:25:58 GMT

There's been lots of buzz about the new Firefox 3 release and its associated "download day". Today there seem to be a lot of articles in my newsfeed about how to tweak Firefox to make it cleaner, more Mac-like, etc. I decided to skip the whole Firefox event. I've settled on Safari on OSX (and my iPhone) and I'm quite happy with it. No, it doesn't have lots of plug-ins and may lack some of the cool features of Firefox. But the beauty is in its simplicity. I consider it a core function of the OS (as Microsoft argued with IE years ago). I don't want to think about it ... I don't want to manage plug-ins ... I don't want to download updates. I just want it to be there and work when I need it (which it does beautifully). I'm willing to simplify my web usage in trade for this "out of mind" benefit. I've been using it exclusively since February and it seems to be working out just fine so far.

BYOG (Bring Your Own Gadgets)

Wed, 18 Jun 2008 14:18:12 GMT

http://news.yahoo.com/s/usatoday/20080616/tc_usatoday/someemployeesbuyownlaptopsphonesforwork A recent study showed that a growing number of employees buy their own gear ... ranging from cell phones and GPS units to laptops for some. I must say, I find it hard to disagree as I sit here and type on my personally-owned Macbook and 22" monitor while glancing down at my iPhone. My company-issued Thinkpad sits on the shelf as an emergency backup. In general, I would be happier if the company would just give me an annual allowance to offset my technology spending and let me buy what I need and want to do my job.

New start in a new home

Wed, 18 Jun 2008 03:08:23 GMT

Just signed the lease for my new apartment today. Woo-hoo! The girls and I move in this weekend. We couldn't be more excited at this first step to our new lives.

Organic tastes funny

Wed, 04 Jun 2008 17:40:27 GMT

On our most recent shopping trip, we picked up organic milk and eggs to give them a try. I was surprised at how different they taste from their industrial cousins. We're not sure if we can get used to the different tastes or not. Time will tell. It feels good to be eating healthier foods. We've been really watching our ingredients and using Michael Pollan's recent advice "Eat Food. Not too much. Mostly plants." So far, I'm extremely happy with the results of this lifestyle change.

Bolder Boulder

Mon, 26 May 2008 17:12:01 GMT

Brittany ran the Bolder Boulder this morning. We don't have official results yet, but I timed her at about 1 hr, 5 min. The scale of the race was mind-bogglingly huge. I've never seen so many runners in one place. Brittany said it was really cool -- to be raced more for the experience than a fast time. She said there were al sorts of interesting people along the race route. They were spraying people with their hoses, playing live music, and there was even one guy in the middle of the road with a tray of tater tots for the runners. Rather than scrounge for a parking place, we parked at a nearby park-n-ride and took a shuttle over to the start line. Once Brittany started, Breannon and I walked to the finish line at the stadium -- about 3 miles. It was cold and rainy, but everyone's spirits were high. Brittany had a blast and Breannon and I really enjoyed it as well.

Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants.

Tue, 20 May 2008 04:14:34 GMT

Last week I caught a lecture on Youtube given by Michael Pollan, the author of several nutrition books -- most recently "In Defense of Food: An Eater's Manifesto". I was so impressed that I bought the aforementioned latest title. It just arrived today. The lecture alone changed my shopping habits. I can't wait to see what I learn from the book.

Marital Counseling

Tue, 13 May 2008 15:10:53 GMT

A husband and wife came for counseling after 20 years of marriage. When asked what the problem was, the wife went into a passionate, painful tirade listing every problem they had ever had in the 20 years they had been married. She went on and on and on: neglect, lack of intimacy, emptiness, loneliness, feeling unloved and unlovable, an entire laundry list of unmet needs she had endured over the course of their marriage. Finally, after allowing this to go on for a sufficient length of time, the therapist got up, walked around the desk and, after asking the wife to stand, embraced and kissed her passionately as her husband watched with a raised eyebrow. The woman shut up and quietly sat down as though in a daze. The therapist turned to the husband and said, "This is what your wife needs at least three times a week. Can you do this?" The husband thought for a moment and replied, "Well, I can drop her off here on Mondays and Wednesdays, but on Fridays, I fish."

Warm and Sunny

Mon, 12 May 2008 15:44:11 GMT

Yesterday was perfect weather ... 72 and sunny. We took the top down on the jeep. Looks like today is shaping up to be similarly beautiful. Thank goodness ... summer can't come soon enough.

Mac Desktop Music Video

Sun, 11 May 2008 02:55:08 GMT

Is your desktop compelling enough to provide the setting for a music video? Mine is. Director Dennis Liu made this fantastic video for The Bird and The Bee's song, "Again and Again".

Via The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW)

New Blogging Tool

Sat, 10 May 2008 01:04:02 GMT

One of the things I miss most about Windows XP is Windows Live Writer. It made blogging a breeze with Windows Live Spaces. Alas, there are few Mac blogging tools to be found that integrate with Live Spaces. I stumbled upon Ecto, which also supports a strong add-in capability (much like Live Writer). So starting with this blog entry, I'm giving it a whirl.

Now we're cooking

Wed, 07 May 2008 03:36:57 GMT

I'm starting to really have fun cooking for the kids and they seem quite happy to play the guinea pigs. Tonight's dinner was Chicken Cordon Bleu and asparagus with Hollandaise Sauce. This was my first attempt at making Hollandaise sauce. I wasn't sure it would come out but, sure enough, it was a hit. I followed directions I found at About.com, but substituted Tabasco for the recommended cayenne pepper. About three dashes and it had an unexpected little kick. The kids have demanded that I make eggs benedict this weekend with the same sauce.

Settling in

Tue, 06 May 2008 15:53:13 GMT

I'm settling into the single dad routine. The house is clean, the family is well-fed (I'm really enjoying meal planning and cooking, but that's not especially new) and the kids and I seem to have stabilized emotionally. Had to take the dog (Balder) to the vet for an infection yesterday and he has surgery scheduled for tomorrow to remove a growth on his leg ... that was fairly traumatic. But mostly, things are okay. Taking some vacation from work while I sort things out has helped a lot. I had planned to take the whole week off, but I think I may jump back in on Thursday. Looks like the kids and I are going to be okay after all.

Upheaval

Thu, 01 May 2008 21:50:15 GMT

Is there life after divorce? After 18 years of marriage, it seems I may find out. Pat left a couple days ago and last night, after taking the kids to dinner, formally stated that she wants a divorce. So here I am ... squaring away the finances, taking care of the kids and the house, and trying to keep myself together. To say this sucks would be the understatement of a lifetime.