blaw blaw blog

Claw Arcade Machines vs Obama

2009-03-28T08:16:00.004-05:00

My sons are enamored with claw arcade machines. I myself have never really liked them. I think they are a waste of money, offering naive children 20 seconds of hope for $.50 - usually with nothing to show afterwords. But then I got wondering...how much does 20 seconds of hope cost under the Obama administration? I did the math. Per Google, there are 31,556,926 seconds in a year X 4 = 126,227,704. Divide that by 20 and you get 6,311,385.2. Divide that figure into the estimated $13 Trillion we'll be shelling out and those 20 second bursts of hope are costing us...

$2,059,769.70

Spending that kind of money, in 20 seconds my sons could simply buy a number of claw arcade machine routes loaded with toys and have a lot more to show for their expenditure with income producing assets stimulating the economy one naive child at a time - as opposed to pretending to stimulate the economy one naive nation at a time.

The magic of thinking small

2009-01-13T13:37:00.003-05:00

I highly recommend an old book by a Dr Schwartz called "The Magic of Thinking Big". It's a wonderful book that I recently had the opportunity to read again while I was away on a temporary assignment. While away on this assignment, I also had the opportunity to work with some wonderful individuals including one young man who was proficient with an iPhone.

Over a dinner conversation where we were discussing application development, he mentioned how one person created a Bejeweled knock-off for the iPhone, sold it for $.99 a pop and made $250K in about 6 months. Not bad. He thought that perhaps developing my flashcard application for the iPhone might not be a bad strategy.

Perhaps it wouldn't be. I have had reason to pause and contemplate - What is the one main selling feature of my application that sets it apart from all other flashcard applications? There are numerous things which set my application apart from others in its full glory, but when the application is pared down, there is one feature that distinguishes it from other flashcard applications - the ability to associate multiple responses with a cue. I've wondered if it was a distinction people would be willing to pay for. There is really only one way to know for sure, so my current efforts involve refining the application to a bare-bones version for the iPhone that provides the unique benefit of poly-sided cards. I know there are some distinct areas of studies that would definitely benefit from such an application. From there I can add features and build towards the ultimate application that I envision.

Start small. Baby steps.

flashcards at their most basic level

2008-10-23T10:12:00.006-05:00

Over the years as I've designed my application, I have really disliked the term "flashcard" because of the limitations and constraints that the term conveys. A flashcard is typically a piece a cardstock (like an index card) with a prompt on one side and an associated response on the other. The simple beauty of the flashcard is that while you contemplate the prompt, or more appropriately, what the response to the prompt is, the response remains hidden from view. Once you have decided on the response you can validate your answer by flipping the card to reveal the response written on the other side. Simple. Effective. But limited.

Occasionally, the answer to a prompt escapes the student, but it is on the tip of their tongue, so they peek at the other side and proclaim to themselves, "I knew that!". Good enough. On to the next card, confident that the detail they just studied was learned. Except it really wasn't. Faced with a similar question in a real test, the student proclaims, "I know this!" and then struggles to nudge the tidbit they thought they knew off the tip of their tongue - to no avail. The student in practice incorrectly validated information that was not learned, giving themselves a false sense of security in what they knew.

Sometimes, the student needs to learn multiple aspects relative to a prompt. Limited to two sides, the student adds each aspect to the response side and relies on not peeking at response #2-n while they are validating response #1.

I'd like to think that when I came up with the idea in '93 to create a flashcard application (yes, I have been at it THAT long), that I was original in my idea. I'm not. Other besides me have realized the organizational and randomizing benefits that a computer could bring to flashcards. Those that developed their version of flashcard software exploited the advantages computers offered to organize cards, randomize them, and offer cheat resistant validation.

If you break down a flashcard and its use to its basic elements, it boils down to a few things:

An author creates a deck of flash cards.
A user (it may even be the author) utilizes the deck of flashcards to study a topic.

A deck is a collection of cards.
A card is a prompt (the revealed side of a card) and its associated response(s) (the hidden side of a card).
Each prompt is associated with at least one response.

There is a breakdown though between the real world and the virtual world on the computer. A card in the virtual world is not limited by two sides. It can flip as many times as it needs, prompting for a uniquely associated response that requires individual validation with each flip.

If a user is prompted with a picture of the Mona Lisa, what is the response? It depends on the aspect of the Mona Lisa for which you are testing. If you are prompting for the name, the response should be "Mona Lisa". If you are prompting for the artist, the answer is "Leonardo di Vinci". If you are prompting for the style, the response might be "Classical". And so on and so on.

In the real world, this requires three cards, each with a picture of the Mona Lisa on the prompt side and a single response on the other, since you are limited to only two sides per card. And unless there was an additional prompt besides Mona's mug as to what response was being expected by the other side, the user would additionally require a unique deck to better know what associated aspect was being tested. The big problem is that Mona's mug should have appeared one time and one time only while the user was prompted for the name, the artist and the style, as should be the case when the next 50 pieces of art are tested. All these aspects could be presented on a response side together, but then they are validated together as well. What if you know two of the three aspects? You lose the value of validation if each aspect is not individually validated separate from the others and yet so many flashcard applications are constrained by the 2-sided limits of the real world. This shouldn't be.

How should it be? Each side should have a name that identifies the content it is exposing (where that side is being used as a prompt) or validating (where that side is utilized as a response). It could be Question/Answer, German/English, Art/Name/Artist/Style/Value, Drug/Common Name/Interactions/Contraindications, or simply Side1/Side2 (if that works for you). The name should indicate what is being exposed or what is being expected for that side. If German/English doesn't work for you, then "What is the German equivalent of the English exposed?"/"What is the English equivalent of the German exposed?" should also work as names. I prefer the succinct German/English side names, but to each their own. Generally, the cards in a deck are testing the same aspects for a list of related items. Enter the aspect names once and fill out the deck with the appropriate associated values to create a drill or test. Why make it any tougher than that?

If you flatten it out, think of a deck as a table. The header row is your side names, the rows are your cards and the columns are your individual sides. Each cell is the value for that side for that card. With the deck virtualized, sides can be randomized, cards can be randomized, cards can be organized into drills/tests and so much more. Essentially, the application serves up prompts (or cues as I prefer to call them) and awaits user responses to validate. Essentially, the application is a cue/response processor. At its heart, it is still a flashcard, but in reality, it is so much more.

update

2008-10-22T19:46:00.005-05:00

I haven't been updating my blog lately, but I have been working on the application. In fact, I have actually engaged a developer to put the application together. Initially, it will not be as robust as I would like the application. In fact, it will simply have the bare bones of requirements, but it will offer the user the ability to utilize multiple sides. Also, contrary to plans to develop a hybrid solution (which would require a lot of money to develop), I am going to develop the application as a strict online solution. Of course this means that I am redesigning the application to accommodate the online environment. Later, after the online application is established, I may develop a desktop version that can be used offline but if the online version does well enough, I may forego that.

It's not the ideal version I envisioned, but it actually works out. I inquired with a couple superintendents about the demand for an application of this nature and whether it would be something a school system would use. Unfortunately, it is not something that school systems would be open to using, so the hybrid model which relied on monetizing through institutional demand wasn't going to work like I had anticipated. So I am back at the drawing board working to determine how I might monetize this with the understanding that students are my primary market.

My wife was bemoaning not having the application to use for her nursing studies. Having the ability to validate multiple aspects individually, relative to a single cue, would come in very handy with her pharmacological studies where she has to know many aspects about each drug she is studying. Apparently, this application would be very handy for certain niches among students including nurses, some language students, humanities students, and probably many others. The key question is whether students would be willing to pay for the application. I guess we'll find out.

requirements specification updated

2008-06-13T09:48:00.003-05:00

It's been a little while and I have been a little lazy, but I have done some work on the requirements specification for Flip and re-uploaded the latest copy of the document. As always the latest versions of the documents can be found in the Flip Documents section (link on the side).

It's interesting (and tedious) working through the process of documenting all this. Just to give you an idea of how tedious it can get, check out this flow chart of the log in process. We're just logging in! How much is there to logging in? Well, a fair amount.

If the flowcharts can get this complicated with such simple processes, I am going to have to break up the application processes into many (many!) small processes. Time to get intimate with Visio. *sigh*

business requirements document complete!

2008-04-30T09:43:00.004-05:00

I finally completed the business requirements document for Flip today. As usual, you can find the document by clicking on the Flip Documents link over on the sidebar. Now I am on to the requirements specification. After that there is a use case specification and then I will be seeking grants and donations to develop the application. Whew! So much work.

a numbers game

2008-03-15T20:34:00.005-05:00

I updated the business requirements document today and added a section on tracking and reporting. This is a section that I have not given much thought until today. I am lucky that the company for whom I work is a software company whose application has a tracking section. Their tracking is for marketing purposes rather than drill and test scores, but it gave me some ideas how to better organize the data for presentation.

Still, as I thought through the prototypical numbers that would be presented, certain types of drilling and testing scenarios threw wrenches into what I thought would be clean and simple numbers. In particular, drilling scenarios where a user ran through a drill multiple times covering the same question multiple times posed a conundrum for how to calculate or present a user's numbers. Additionally, a single card with more than one cue side could potentially pose a question for each cue. In a German-English deck, there might be a card with the values "das Buch" and "the book". Each side could be presented as a cue. Each side could be expected as a response. The card could potentially pose two questions in a drill. How is that counted? How is it presented?

I had to think about it for a while, but I hit upon the idea of a tracking section which provided a list of drill/test sessions that had been run, providing basic information at that level to help identify the session - like the deck name, the drill/test name, the user, and the date/time it was started. Clicking on a session would provide the session's report with a header section that included the session's aggregate data and sub sections that provided detailed data specific to each iteration of the drill that the user ran. The header and the sub sections would have total numbers as well as numbers relative to unique instances of a question to help distinguish where questions might have been covered multiple times in a drill.

The numbers are sure to be confusing to users who may not understand the distinction between "total" counts vs. "unique" counts or why the distinction would be drawn, especially if their drills are relatively simple (only one cue per card) or they only allow one iteration per drill. I can't help users that refuse to read the online help (although I wish there were a way to force at least an attempt at it). I know tracking numbers for the marketing application I support are a constant source of confusion especially where users compare dynamic changing data with data that is static relative to a point in time. This might also be the case with tracking in Flip.

The presentation challenge also got me thinking about revamping the main interface to provide more convenient access to the common areas of the application (like tracking) by offering something similar to Microsoft Outlook's wonderbar. That's something to consider down the road.

new link added

2008-03-09T18:03:00.004-05:00

I added a link to my other blog (dallydoo) which is a blog of home construction ideas. I added a blog entry to dallydoo today, so if home construction is something of interest to you, I invite you to visit there and peruse my findings about home construction. If you are thinking about building, I would definitely check it out. You might happen across an idea or two that will save you some trouble when it comes time to build or more importantly after you build. The ownerbuilderbook site (also linked on the side) is another good site to visit for great ideas. I have gotten a number of great ideas from my visits to that site (which of course I am sharing in a concise format on dallydoo).

been working on business doc

2008-02-14T15:01:00.003-05:00

I have been re-working a document that offers a high-level overview of the business I would like to start. I believe I have already covered that my proposed business would be a hybrid desktop application/Software as a Service model where I offer Flip for free but provide online services to individuals and institutions to augment their use of Flip.

I haven't had a lot of time to do much. I will post new information about the progress of my design as information becomes available. Even after my design work for Flip gets finished, I still have a ton of work ahead of me designing the website and designing the online services part of the business. I can only imagine how much all of this is going to cost. It's probably a good thing that I have a few years before the wife graduates and we have two salaries. Maybe we can save up enough to get started by then. Or I suppose I could go the way of the entrepreneur and beg and borrow my way to funding. Good thing I am listening to CDs on communication and negotiating on my way to and from work. Can't hurt.

I think I will start adding a tag line to all my posts:

As always, please share comments or any ideas you have.

test definition dialog

2007-12-28T22:40:00.000-05:00

I revised the data structure definition document so that it more accurately reflected the schema document that it goes along with. I removed the side formatting and validation markup tags and placed them in their own separate document and I removed the profile information and created a separate profile structure definition document to go along with the profile schema as well. The new and revised documents are on the Flip Documents page linked in the side bar.

In the Descriptions of Side Formatting Tags documents, I made a couple of additions as well. For the WTG (Weighting) attribute I added the that a weighting of 0 would keep the response of that side from being scored at all or tabulated in scores and reports. Essentially, it would make the question a survey question. For the MC (Multiple Choice) tag, I added an attribute called AnchorLast which allows an author to anchor the last X number of choices in the multiple choice so that they remain in the last position. Choices of All of the above or None of the above would automatically be anchored in the last position, but for other languages where similar choices would not be automatically anchored, the author has the option to manually anchor the last X choices.

Lastly, I created a document outlining and describing the Test Definition dialog. Here is a mockup screenshot of the dialog. You can read more about it in the document.

SCORM

2007-12-28T10:38:00.000-05:00

In doing a little research last night on online testing, I happened across an acronym, SCORM, as it related to some application or another (as in, the application is SCORM compliant). I looked it up and found the following wiki regarding it: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SCORM.

SCORM stands for Sharable Content Object Reference Model and it is a collection of standards and specifications for web-based e-learning. It defines communications between client side content and a host system called the run-time environment (commonly a function of a learning management system).

I need to research this a little more to understand if SCORM compliance is a standard I should aspire to in my designs or not. The main benefit I see is a built in market of clients that insist on SCORM compliance, particularly the government. And the government is no small client, particularly when you consider that public schools fall under some jurisdiction of the government. That said, it would seem that SCORM compliance is important to my designs. However, superficially, SCORM seems to be related to e-learning systems, where Flip is not so much a learning system, as it is a review and testing system (or a drill and test processor if you will). Still, in my cursory purview of SCORM standards I saw that some standards did apply to review and testing functionality. As I mentioned, I need to research this a little more.

profile schema added

2007-12-27T22:00:00.000-05:00

I put together a schema for profiles, which includes data definitions for profiles (login and password), results (session data), and Leitner progression tracking. The schema is on the page with the Flip docs.

I can't recall if I have covered what Leitner progression/tracking is in this blog yet or not. Sebastian Leitner was an Austrian commentator who developed a system of memorization based on spaced repetition. As a concept was successfully passed, it progressed from one stage/bucket/box to another until a certain point where the concept is considered "memorized". When the learner failed to pass a concept, it regressed or even reset to the beginning point. A system for Leitner-based tracking is considered a required feature in flashcard applications, or in my case, drill and test processors.

Flip presents a slight challenge for Leitner-based tracking because cards can have more than two sides and validation is typically on a side by side basis rather than a card by card basis. Therefore, progression through Leitner stages can differ between sides of the same card, or if so designated, progression could be on a card by card basis - an all-or-none basis where all response sides must be answered correctly for progression to occur or the card regresses. I have not accommodated for this option yet in my designs, so I will have to determine where such a designation best fits and add it to my designs. It will be part of the profile schema if it is incorporated, but I need to think it through and how it would be implemented. If it is too difficult I may eliminate the choice and simply go with one validation option or the other.

I also need to incorporate options in the application that allow the user to designate how many stages their Leitner tracking can have. Ten is probably more than adequate, but the schema has twenty as the max. There needs to be fields where the user can designate how far a correct response progresses and how far an incorrect response regresses (including an option for reset). Defaults will be +1 and -1.

XML schema available

2007-12-27T16:31:00.000-05:00

The Flip deck schema has been uploaded to blawblawblog. I revised the list of links on the side and consolidated the retreat files under a single web page and I did the same with Flip files. It makes for a cleaner look. I will start working on a schema file for the security, Leitner progression, and the results and upload those files as they become available.

a little XML knowledge

2007-12-27T12:50:00.000-05:00

A couple weeks ago, I had an XML class at work through ExecuTrain. Justin B was the teacher and he did a good job of covering the topic in the time given (which sadly, was not terribly adequate). It provided me another tool to work with in the design of Flip. I have almost completed an XML schema based off the Flip Data Structure definition. I should have it up sometime later today. There will be some modifications from the data structure definition (meaning I will need to go back and modify the DSD as well), but I think I am moving in the right direction with the design.

A couple of changes that are being made to the data structure include removing the security, the results, and the Leitner progression from the data definition (as these will be stored either locally or online, but not with the file), and removing formatting tags from the data definition (as they really do not define the data but rather mark it up). I will probably break these elements out in separate documents.

And, in case you have not noticed, I updated the design of the blog. The header is a bit generic, but more appropriate for my focus on my design and development efforts than the previous BYU Cougars banner. You may also note that I now have a button for LinkedIn. If you happen across this blog and are interested in following the progression of these efforts, feel free to join my network, but let me know who you are and what your interest in joining my network is. Otherwise, feel free to join in the discussion and add comments to my blog. Thanks for visiting!

picture of our property

2007-12-16T20:54:00.000-05:00

I was looking through my blog posts for a post with a picture of our property. I realized that we didn't have one, so for those of you that are interested in a picture of the property, here is an arial view of the lot. The two circles are the old grain silo pads that we'll build a greenhouse on or a gazebo (or both). That is if we don't sell the land first.

This is our 3.5 ac lot that we purchased last year. Currently, we are just leasing it out for farming, with plans to build on it after the wife gets out of school.

security model

2007-12-15T22:00:00.000-05:00

I was thinking about the security model for Flip the other day. As I have it currently, the security is maintained as a part of the file itself. But I need to re-examine whether the security should be part of the file itself, maintained separate from the file, or whether the user should be provided the option to decide where the login and password is maintained. Part of the consideration has to do with Leitner tracking.

Leitner tracking is a model whereby the memorization of a concept is quantified with boxes (or buckets to use a development term). Once a concept hits or exceeds a certain threshold, the concept is considered memorized. Answering the concept or card correctly advances the score for that concept towards the memorization threshold, while wrong answers decreases the score away from the threshold (or resets the score to zero altogether). More advanced models provide means to customize the incrementation and decrementing associated with correct and incorrect answers as well as set the thresholds for what is considered memorized. I still need to design the Leitner tracking system for Flip.

Maintaining the tracking file for each user has its advantages and its disadvantages for both inside the file and outside the file. If the file is maintained inside the file, then the Leitner tracking can be maintained as the file is moved from one computer to another, but the file size gets larger, quicker. If the file is maintained outside of the file, then the file size doesn't grow too large, too quick, but the tracking resides on one computer and you lose that tracking if you use the file on another PC. The best option is probably to maintain the tracking in an online repository so that the file size does not grow too large and the tracking can be accessed from one computer to another. This might even lend itself to online accounts individuals can create where their tracking, results, and analysis is maintained. The accounts could also have online communities dedicated to certain topics and offering online help in those areas of study. It wouldn't be necessary to use the application, but it might be an added benefit that some people would be willing to pay a little extra for.

I had to authenticate my computer for using SalesForce at home today. It finally dawned on me how useful that is to prevent hackers from stealing a password and using it from their computers. It's definitely a model worth following when I finally put together my company. I'll have to ensure that logins are people's email addresses the way SalesForce does. The more I think about the Software as a Service (SaaS) model, the more I like it.

deciding on a direction for the blog

2007-12-09T16:25:00.000-05:00

It's been a bit since I last posted. I have been busy with life in general as well as revising the specifications for Flip (yes, the specifications on the side are now officially outdated, although they still provide a solid foundation of what I am working on). I downloaded a document that explained specifications and how to write them up to industry standards, so I am revising them and putting together specifications that fall more in line with what the industry expects so when the time comes to actually develop the application, I can convey what I want in a document that falls in line with what the developer is expecting.

I think that I am going to start focusing this blog on my development efforts, which for the immediate foreseeable future means specification revisions and such. I need to upload my revised specifications in the near future. I think I'll move entries of a personal nature to the family blogs (which are not getting a lot of use currently). If you like following a business in its nascent stages (idea, conception, planning) then hopefully this will be of interest to you as I work on this.

holiday world endorsement

2007-05-20T14:46:00.000-05:00

Yesterday we went to Holiday World with uncle Andy. As usual, the kids had a blast. It was interesting to contrast our experience at Holiday World with the King's Island trip we had last summer. In thinking about it, I would have to say, I like Holiday World a LOT better. Paramount's King Island has a bigger park, more rides, and they are branded with characters that are popular with the kids. But there were a number of factors with King's Island that I just simply did not like.

Getting in and out of King's Island is a nightmare and it takes forever. Holiday World is a little further away (distance-wise), but I can park much closer to the gate than I ever could at King's Island, and if I remember right, you had to pay a premium at King's Island for similar parking. Leaving Holiday World, even at the peak of traffic when the park was closing, was a breeze. No problem at all (and it didn't require a force a traffic officers either). Although Holiday World may not have as many rides as King's Island, they do have a very good selection of rides, and in some respects, I would say they even have a BETTER selection of rides - particularly with roller coasters.

I love the roller coasters at Holiday World. It is obvious that the rides were designed around the riders and not around the Park's need to cram as many occupants on the ride as possible. If you are a man over 6'2" riding some of the rides at King's Island is PUH (Pure Unadulterated Hades). Son of Beast is the absolute worst. I hate that ride and will never ride it again. It took an act of contortion to get on that ride and I regretted it the whole way. Uncle Andy complained that he feels completely beat up after riding SOB. I agree as do many others I am sure. I am 6'4" and of reasonable build. Regardless of my girth (again, not that substantial), the problem is with my legs. They simply do not fit on that ride. Tip to King's Island: If you are going to make your rides THAT cramped, make sure that you advertise the MAXIMUM heights for your rides. I'm thinking 6'2" is the cutoff. Top Gun is another ride that is terrible in this regard. If you are over 6'2" and would like to enjoy the rides WITH your kids, Holiday World is MUCH better. By the way, I read an article in the newspaper a couple weeks after our trip to King's Island where SOB (what an appropriate acronym) came to a sudden stop coming out of some high speed portion. I can only imagine that any tall persons riding on that ride had to come away from that with deep thigh contusions at minimum and broken femurs, shins, and/or clavicles at worst. Hopefully, they were not stuck upside down as well.

The rides that are available at Holiday World may not be as numerous as King's Islands, but there are plenty to ride and they are all very enjoyable. Their roller coasters are some of the best around. Even roller coaster enthusiasts from around the country who have experienced what the industry has to offer agree that Holiday world's offerings of the Raven, the Legend, and the Voyage are some of the best (all in the top 10). I agree. The rides may not be branded with popular cartoon characters, but honestly, the kids do not care (and I appreciate that they are watching their bottom lines and providing a family experience at an affordable price). The other rides Holiday World has to offer are every bit as enjoyable as the rides offered elsewhere by other parks. Like any park, the rides have lines, but they are not nearly so long, so kids are actually able to experience most of what the park has to offer, including the rides in their excellent water park.

Holiday World's water park (Splashin' Safari) is hard to beat and the great thing is that it's part and parcel of the bargain it is already to get into the park. Kids could easily spend the whole day in either part of the park, but because they can move through lines as quickly as they do, it's easy for them to fully enjoy all the park's offerings within a single day. If it's a little chilly, they can stay in Holiday World and if it's roasting, Splashin' Safari offers welcome relief from the heat.

Holiday World's attention to the park visitor is also evidenced by its free sunscreen stations and Pepsi soda fountains spread liberally throughout the park. We visited Holiday World a couple summers ago on what had to be THE hottest two days of the summer. We were roasting. The weather was PUH, but we were able to enjoy our time at Holiday World regardless without bankrupting the family because of the amenities Holiday World offered. Holiday World is constantly recognized for its family friendliness and it's park cleanliness. I don't think you can go much more than 30 feet without seeing a trashcan and for the most part I think the patrons are fairly self-policing as far as litter goes, but for the occasional litter-bug, the park employs a conscientious staff that does a great job of keeping the park very clean.

I will drive a little further to take my family to Holiday World. They are a hard bargain to beat for family amusement park enjoyment. Holiday World is quickly becoming a family tradition. Maybe if we ever get to the point we can buy a vacation home, it just might be in Santa Claus, Indiana. I don't think the kids would mind a summer of Holiday World.

The winning Potato Head

2007-03-16T14:28:00.000-05:00

In honor of National Potato day (or is it week?) and St. Patty's day, here is the winning decorated potato (mine of course) from my team at work. Ain't he the cute one? His name is After Hours (because that's how we look when we wake up to answer the after hours phone).

Congratulations Nathaniel!

2007-01-25T23:54:00.001-05:00

Nathaniel won the spelling bee at his school and is moving on to the regionals. Suprisingly, he studied very little (he even lost the book with the words he needed to practice for a while). He did get some help though. His great aunt Ginny (she is great, isn't she?) helped him at Granma Linda's B-day. If he wants to do well at Regionals, he is going to have to study more than he did this last time.

How prettiful!

2007-01-25T23:42:00.000-05:00

The other day, Becky decided on a whim to do her nails (a rarity) and pulled out a bottle of polish. Jeremy decided he wanted his nails done too and soon after Dallin and Ammon wanted theirs done as well. Becky obligingly painted the nails of the three boys a nice bright red. Nathaniel was out playing with friends, but I think it is safe to say that even had he been home, he would not have participated in the little nail salon. Later she rounded the boys up and came to pick me up at work (the van was broke and it was a school night for Becky).

Becky informed me of the pedi and manicures the boys had. Ammon decided that the nail polish was wearing old and he wanted it off. "I don't want this anymore. I'm going to wash my hands when we get home." That's when we set him straight about the permanency of nail polish and how it requires a special chemical to get it off.

Somewhere, somehow, Ammon did manage to get the polish off his finger nails.

That Sunday, Ammon was in primary and volunteered for a demonstration in sharing time with the rest of the primary. He had no idea what the demonstration was. Then the primary president asked him to take off his shoes and socks. Since his toenails were covered up, Ammon never bothered to get the polish off his toenails. The primary presidency and the rest of primary were shocked to see pretty painted toenails on Ammon when he took his shoes off. They had not singled him out (Ammon had volunteered) and they had no idea that his toenails were red. Needless to say, everybody got a good laugh out of it.

going full monty

2006-12-03T21:05:00.000-05:00

I exposed my Flip specifications to a wider audience today. I invited the general OO.o (OpenOffice.org) audience in their general forum to take a look at my Flip specifications with the hope that I can get some expressions of interest in the application and some positive (or even negative, for that matter) feedback. One of the OO.o moderators introduced me to an online utility where I can convert files to PDF's, so there is now a PDF file available for download if you do not wish to defile your computer with a *gasp* Microsoft file. The file is on the sidebar to the right. Enjoy.

"The Answered Prayer" BYU vs. Utah 2006

2006-11-28T13:28:00.000-05:00


Football highlights. John Beck completed a pass to Johnny Harline with no time left in this heated rivalry. Harline caught the pass in a kneeling position as if he were praying, thus "The Answered Prayer."

holy war and refs

2006-11-28T13:16:00.000-05:00

If you missed the Holy War last Friday, you missed a doozy. I was unable to see most games this season thanks to the mtn fiasco, but I did get to see the annual rival matchup between BYU and Utah. You would have to be near dead to have not uttered something on the last play of that game. I know where I was watching the game, we raised the roof with our yell. It was incredible.

The game was a lot closer than it really should have been. I know people say refs don't win or lose games, but that is bunk. I don't win or lose games, because I am not part of the game. Players? They are a part of the game. Coaches? They are a part of the game. Fans (at the stadium)? They are a part of the game. Refs? They are a part of the game. Everyone of these entities plays a role in the outcome of the game. Some moreso than others. The referees play a significant role and can seriously impact the outcome of the game. If they make a mistake, they can be held every bit as culpable in the game's outcome as a player can, because their role is that significant. If the Utes want to blame the refs for their loss then so be it (they're wrong), but they have every right to include the refs in the reasons for their loss, just as we would if we had lost.

The refs really stunk it up with a number of calls/no calls. Some which significantly impacted the game. There was a blatant roughing the kicker no-call that prevented a momentum shifting first down, a block in the back on a fake punt that allowed a momentum shifting first down, an overturned fumble which had been returned for a touchdown but instead resulted in the Yewts driving for a score, loads of pass interference that was not called, and others. It should not have come to that final play, but it did. I am glad the Cougars won. They deserved that game. The Yewts never should have been in it, but I am glad that the Cougars overcame some lousy calls and won the game regardless.

If you missed the game, check out the highlights above.

heroes

2006-11-22T11:34:00.000-05:00

OK. I admit it. I love the show Heroes. I could probably do a fair number of blogs on Heroes itself. It's one of the few indulgences I allow myself. Save the cheerleader. Save the world. Btw, the paintings had two cheerleaders - Claire and the other girl. Which cheerleader was supposed to be saved? Claire survived. Was that mission accomplished or was her former bff dying a failure? I'm probably stretching. But just a question to throw out. This show makes it too easy to speculate because it is so full of misdirection. They have some really good writing. I'm sure they leave loose ends, but not too many and its amazing how some even small details become so important in the story. It has a big following watching very closely.

Here is a screenshot from the previews for next week. Who is that with Chandra? *Gasp* It's Syllar! I get the impression from the look of shock on Syllar's face after he makes the glass fly off the table that he is under tutelage from Chandra. Maybe the secret room with all the "Please forgive me" writing on the wall that Mohinder found in N.Y. was Chandra's, not Syllar's. Maybe Chandra regrets helping Syllar? Maybe this is a big mis-direction. Maybe Syllar turns out in some weird way to be a good guy? It'll be fun to watch and find out.