Personal Thoughts
My own personal thoughts
The Testimony of Jerry Wells, my pastor
My name is Jerry Wells. My parents were Wilbur and Opal Wells. I was born in December, 1954. I grew up in Oklahoma City. My Mom Opal died just before my 4th birthday. My Dad Wilbur was devastated by her death as was our whole family. He turned to alcohol to escape his pain. For the next 14 years of my life, I lived with an alcoholic.
Wilbur was a bad drunk. To his credit he maintained his job and only drank after work and on weekends. He attended clubs where he met various women and slept with them. I was five the first time I...
That's right. There's no need to even use a Promotional Code for SnagIT now. I know of at least two alternatives that most folks don't even know about! It's so off-the-radar I would consider them secretive. You probably have read my previous postings concerning promotional codes and discounts here, here and here.
Do you really want to know what I found out?
Click here then ==> Tell me about the Free alternatives and the $19.95 one!!!
Dependence on foreign oil sources has got to stop here in the USA. It seems that we'll be waiting decades before the government helps in setting up the infrastructure and pushing municipal fleets to use Natural Gas.
How can we do our part? Do it yourself! Yes, it is possible. I came across a great resource for you DIY'ers who love gadgets and saving money at the same time.
Here's the skinny ==> http://tinyurl.com/d3vk9t <===
Join me by emailing President Obama and your Members of Congress today to ask them to support the NAT GAS Act of 2009.
http://tinyurl.com/dz2guf
This weekend I took it upon myself to upgrade my subText blog to version 2.0. I'm glad I backed up everything before attempting the debacle. My first clue should have been it's only a few days old since it was released. I went through the steps of wiping out all old files and ftp'ing all the new ones and merging my web [dot] config differences. I got an error pointing to an assembly that was suspect. After searching on SourceForge.net forums I downloaded the latest DotNetOpenID assembly and copied it over to the bin folder. Then I got the Upgrading...
I thoroughly enjoyed this posting by Jean-Paul S. Boodhoo recently. He gives a link to a very inspiring video of Benjamin Zander speaking on playing the piano with a passion. It can be applied to anything in life.
I wish you'll take some time and let this video move you as it did me.
It seems like forever since I last went into the office. My previous posting related to me being suprisingly laid off has collected dust in the blogoshere. Yet, this Monday I start my new gig with a fairly new gas and oil company here in the Oklahoma City area. My title will be senior IT analyst. They have SharePoint 2007 implemented and they are looking to me to help them do its thing. I really am excited about joining them. They are top notch and have great people. I even get my own office which was unexpected. It will be different...
Last Thursday I got "the call" that all employees dread - "you're no longer needed". Our company went through yet another round of layoffs and this time my number was called. I had survived so many of these over the 14 1/2 years of my career - with the same company (very rare, I know). It caught me by complete surprise. I was their number one "MOSS" man, they told me just days before. Then came "the call".
I guess I've been very fortunate in my career. I've only experienced two layoffs in 20 years. I do not recommend it to...
Here's something backwards that my oldest son just showed me.
Goto http://www.google.com
Type in 'google' backwards; that would be elgoog.
Click on the first item returned - elgoog.
Everything google is backwards. Even the search results.
Hmmm... I wonder if it's backwards in Australia too?
We recently had the pleasure of having our family pictures taken by an up and coming photographer - Hannah Roth. She found some great back drops in downtown Oklahoma City. We appreciate her expertise and patience with our family of 7.
If you are in the OKC area, we highly recommend her. To see more photos, visit Hannah's website:
Life Encapsulated
Thanks Hannah!
[CLICK HERE] to get the most current SnagIt Promotional Codes I have available. I believe TechSmith frowns on me disclosing these methods so I'm making it a Click-Per-Request approach.
I posted a few weeks ago on how to get SNAGIT from TechSmith for $29.95 with a promotion code of '****' (CLICK HERE to get this code). Many folks left comments thanking me for saving them money. Well, fellow blogger Nick has alerted us to a way to get SNAGIT for only $19.95 ! I'm not sure how long this will last, but it is sure worth the effort. Here's how to get SNAGIT...
I have always enjoyed building my own PC's. One of my favorite websites to keep up-to-date on the latest gadgets out there is arstechnica.com ; they usually keep an updated list of hardware Do It Yourself Options:
Budget Box
Hot Rod
God Box
If you are into building your own geeked up box, check them out at ...
http://arstechnica.com/guides/buyer/guide-200703.ars
I remember the moment in time when my dad turned to me for approval in buying our Huge Leap in computing power. It was an Apple III. It was touted as the "Business" PC of its time. I was only 12 or 13 years old and I'm sure my dad had his mind made up already of how to spend the large Tax Refund burning a hole in his hand. But still, it was a great feeling knowing my dad confided in my opinion. The Apple III was a Ferarri compared to our previous TRS-80 PC. And it even had color, oh...
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We have reached a milestone in our life at the Larimore household. Please do not take this as boasting, because I am not. About three years ago my wife enrolled us in a Dave Ramsey financial peace seminar. I was not too thrilled about the deal to be honest. But since that very first class I saw debt in a new light. Granted, my wife and I did not have a huge amount of debt incurred. Still, we had the typical mortgage, credit card and non-budgeted approach to life. We also had 4 children then came five :o) What we were given...
I just purchased a copy of SnagIt from TechSmith. I can't remember if it was Hanselman or AC (Andrew Connell) that first turned me onto this software gadget - but I'm glad I found it. I was pleasantly surprised to find out that it provides screen video capture as well as screen captures. It does more than first impressions. I look forward to using it and adding it to my gadget toolbox.
Also, I wanted to pass this on to anyone who is interested in purchasing SnagIt. I, being frugal (some call me cheap), noticed the promotional code before the purchase. So, what...
This blog (http://Waynester.Net/Blog) will be down for maintenance Monday, February 19th, 2007 starting at 12:00pm (central time). I anticipate this to only take about 30 minutes. I am upgrading to the latest version of subText. This will allow me to go full boar toward ASP.NET 2.0 on all my sites being hosted.
[update] 2/19/2007 4:50pm (Central) - the upgrade has been postponed. I should be able to get to it within the next week after adequate testing of a more stable version.
Sometimes life doesn't seem fair. It is on rare occasions that someone challenges your “View” on life - let alone a three (3) year old boy. The death of Joel Morris has impacted people around the world. His family attended the church my family attend. I knew Joel's father, Terry, just by casual conversations in the hall here and there. He and Cindy are the wonderful parents of thirteen (13) children. I feel I know them even more after reading their blog on Joel. It is the most heart-wrenching, life-changing account on Joel's last days here on earth. When I see Joel's picture I can't...
In between projects and feeling bored? Or lonely and need some conversation?
I've got your solution, an AI (artificial intelligent) solution.
Talk with Alan (a “thinking machine“) over at http://www.a-i.com
He can introduce you to many of his programmed friends such as:
TheOracle - intelligent chatbot
HippyHal - stuck in the 60's
Joey - a chatbot who doesn't know hate, trained by a woman
many, many more
You can even train your own chatbot's personality.
http://www.a-i.com
Back in October my boss, Andy Stooker (from Little Rock, AR) and coworker, Scott Hankins (from nearby Edmond, OK) came to visit. I've been meaning to post these since and have finally done so. Shortly after this photo op we made a mad dash over to Ted's Cafe Escondido - the best mexican food to be had.
Here are some of the pictures of their visit:
Andy shared with us in a recent developer's conference call that he's been diagnosed with prostate cancer. If you believe in prayer he certainly could use it at such a time as this. He's upbeat and feels good about the prognosis...
Tonight on NPR All Songs Considered, Ray LaMontagne will be Live. If you didn't catch my postings last year (here and here) on this artist - he's an incredible listen. Listen tonight or catch the archive.
Live - http://www.npr.org/programs/asc/index.html
NPR blurb - http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=6599923
“Singer, songwriter and guitarist Ray LaMontagne makes mellow, sometimes dark, poetry songs that are part folk, part soul, with warmly textured atmospherics. His latest CD, Til the Sun Turns Black is a collection of melancholy tales LaMontagne says "ate away" at him until they were recorded.“
“Unlike a lot of artists, LaMontagne did not grow up in a musical family. He...
I came across this today and thought I'd pass it along for others in case you are interested in your website uptime.
mon.itor.us provides 24 x 7 network and website monitoring serviceim with personalized interactive interface, where you can add server performance and availability tests, get uptime reports, add contacts to get the alert notifications. Tests will be performed from geographically distributed servers. The monitoring will be performed outside of your network firewall and on the application level - that is a big advantage over ISP provided (if they do) network monitoring.
Start yours today by going to http://mon.itor.us
A timeless lesson on how consultants can make a difference for an organization.Last week, we took some friends out to a new restaurant, and noticed that the waiter who took our order carried a spoon in his shirt pocket. It seemed a little strange. When the busboy brought our water and utensils, I noticed he also had a spoon in his shirt pocket. Then I looked around saw that all the staff had spoons in their pockets.When the waiter came back to serve our soup I asked, "Why the spoon?""Well," he explained, "the restaurant's owners hired Andersen Consulting to revamp...
I mentioned in a previous post that my oldest son and I were going camping in the Oklahoma Wichita Wildlife Reserve. I finally got the pictures downloaded and have posted them. We had a great father-son time together. No women around to tell us what to do. We mingled with the buffalo, fished, built a camp fire and hiked. We took the last elk tour of the season too.
Here are some of the pictures:
We would have had many more pictures, but our camera ran out of battery spunk!
To all the fathers out there - spend quality time with your children, it'll pay off in...
This weekend my oldest son and I are going to the Oklahoma Wichita Wildlife Reserve. It boasts of over 550 animals. We will be camping underneath the stars, fishing, elk and buffalo observing and hiking. I look forward to this time with my son. He is about to turn thirteen (13) years-old and boy 'ol boy is he turning into a man 'ol man. They grow up quick. Then I have three other sons coming up the ladder. Maybe we can make this an annual event - guy time.
During the month of July 2006, for 7 nights, I was busy remodeling my office. During the day, I would work from Panera Bread via wireless connection. With the help of some very good friends it came out looking pretty good.
Here are some pictures of before:
And here are the after:
I would like to thank those that helped out. It would have never gotten done without your involvement - I feel loved ;-)
Paula Kaye Compton for seeing the vision before any of us ever did (designer)
Odus Compton - removed old fluorescent lighting units, drywall prep, can and pendant lighting...
Lately, I've been dabbling into making a little money on the side. I've got a full-time day job so time spent is after-hours. My main motivation has been to pay-down our debt. Lord willing, we'll be totally debt-free (including mortgage) in April 2007. One of my mentors, Jim Cockrum, has helped me come up with some Creative ideas. We recently exchanged emails and I found out he has five children like myself. His popular ebook titled The Silent Sales Machine Hiding on eBay opened my eyes to several revenue streams. If you've noticed my eBay banner on the upper-left corner...
This afternoon the College Football world started hearing some startling news. The Oklahoma Sooner's top star quarterback, Rhett Bomar, was kicked off the team. This quarterback wasn't just some above-average athlete. He was destined to be one of Oklahoma's greatest to grace the position. OU (and many sports analysts) expected him to lead them to the National Championship game his Sophomore year! As a freshman he broke records that fueled this anticipation. And the infraction that Rhett was guilty of probably is common in the college football world - receiving money through a pad job that really wasn't earned.
As the title of...
Imagine getting gas for free by using someone else's SpeedPass card using a cracked “secret” code. Three John Hopkins University graduate students proved it could be done back in 2004. It exposes the need for RFID (Radio Frequency Identification) to evolve into higher levels of security. With gas prices at outrageous highs, it's certainly an issue of the times.
Read a detailed report over at Mobile Enterprise - RFID Hacking: Tales of Not-So-Encrypted Data
I got my collectible SourceFource MSDN Webcast Guy in the mail today. Casey Picker got his too, as well as other coworkers of mine - call us geeks, go ahead. MSDN has three other Courageous Coding Heroes on the way in the coming months. They've lowered the requirements from 4 live webcast events to 2. So, if you haven't gotten onto the SourceFource bandwagon, jump on board and start sippin' the caffeine and pull some all nighters.
http://msdn.microsoft.com/events/hero
I was getting tired of buying batteries for my FujiFilm FinePix 2 megapixel camera. I inherited it after we finally splurged on a Canon Digital XT Rebel (sweet camera, btw). I use this Fuji camera to take pictures of things I sell on eBay from time-to-time. Anyways, it seemed like I was using this camera about 2 or 3 settings max and the batteries would expire. Well, I found this accessory, including rechargeable batteries on eBay called a Picture Cradle. Transfers pictures, recharges, etc. I got it for like $5 when it retailed for $75 brand new. This guy was...
Are you taking advantage of Microsoft's online training Webcasts? If not, you're missing some valuable information that will improve your coding development skills. For those who don't have big corporate funds to send you off for training this is a godsend. Where else can you learn all the cutting edge .NET development coming at us - FOR FREE?!?! Take advantage of it if you're not...
http://msdn.microsoft.com/events/
Also, if you are an MSDN webcast junky AND have a blog - add your name to the MSDN Webcasts and Events Bloggers...
Add Your Blog
How many of you attend a local MSDN event? Is it just...
I received an email from a friend of mine, Jeaux Smith, recently.
“There are 10 types of people in the world- people who understand binary, and people who have friends”
I found it pretty clever anyway.
It's not too often that you get to work alongside someone who has great passion and ambitions when it comes to software development. Andrew Connell recently announced his departure from his (and mine too) current employer. I remember the day when I was asked to “show the ropes” to a new employee on some coding practices within the group. I could tell then and there that this mentee was going to be someone who made a difference within our organization. Not since my early days in I.T. America have I seen someone who lived to code and coded to make a difference for...
Well, I guess it was inevitable. The “Comment Spammers” have found my blog. The other day I had a handful which was no big deal, I manually deleted them like I would remove toilet paper from the trees after being pranked. This time it's a more serious dent. I have two-hundred and forty (240) comments today. Compare that with only about a dozen at last remembrance. I guess I need to apply Andrew Connell's remedy mentioned here for these viral attacks *pronto* before I get frosted again. I hate Spam!
I posted about Ray Lamontagne a month ago. Since that time, he has grown in recognition and his fan base has exploded. He is touring Europe, the UK and the US. A simple search on Google returns back a ton of results.
It would seem that serendipity is now Ray LaMontagne's middle name. He went from the middle of nowhere to making his first record in collaboration with a brilliant producer (Ethan Johns), and he did it without making a compromise or even breaking a sweat. But maybe Ray's sweated enough in his life. Maybe destiny is making up for lost...
The guys name is Ray Lamontange and I found out about him through Carl Franklin's posting on his “encounter” or time spent with him. Ray's story is an interesting read. I found myself late one night, while on a business trip, reading and listening to this man's music. You won't understand this guy unless you read what other's and himself have wrote about him. He seems to be a star on the rise in the music industry - with his debut album recently released by RCA.
Ray LaMontagne was born in New Hampshire ("But we were just passing through," he points out), one...
I'm a huge U2 fan. I've enjoyed their tunes since my high school days - which, by the way, shows just how good a band they are - the Test of Time :-p When they released their “All That You Can't Leave Behind“ CD, I bought it the first day it came out. The CD had my undivided attention and stayed in my Car Stereo for months without change, kid you not. It remains one of my favorite of all time. I didn't think they could top it, then came “How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb“ and it came close.
U2's frontman, Bono, is...
I needed to find a CD audio to MP3 ripper program for a friend of mine. I wanted it to be legit (free) so I went with an Open Source Project called CD-DA X-Tractor.
[via CD-DA X-Tractor]
CD-DA X-Tractor is a fantastic open source development project that includes a ripper and incorporates the latest LAME mp3 converter. Ability to encode to the OGG Vorbis format is also provided.The program uses AKrip, an open source ripper with great jitter correction that produces accurate WAV files and fast speeds. Ripping on my Plextor 16/10/40 took only 33 seconds. When output settings were changed to rip...
Heather Solomon, a coworker (and a darn fine one at that), is blogging Hurricane Rita while electricity permits. She has a few pictures of the clouds rolling in as well as her branded horse. She will continue to post images as long as possible. So, check it out over the weekend!
http://www.heathersolomon.com/blog/
Casey Picker, a coworker, is becoming a new daddy. After all the times of me prodding him of “When”, he finally got busy and helped make it happen. Congrats Casey! You and Mary Beth will make fine parents.
Check out the ultrasound here
via [MSN Health]
Here's an interesting article on sleepwalking. I personally had an extreme problem with sleepwalking between the age of 10 and 12. I once sleptwalked out of the house in the snow and all the way the next block over in the neighborhood. That wouldn't be so bad if I hadn't been naked (except for a Farah Fawcette t-shirt). Yeah, it really happened.
Here's the article: Sleepwalking Into Trouble
I've always wondered if my good friends from KlipSpringer named one of their albums over that incident: Sleepwalking and the Married Virgin (they actually didn't).
I'm back from my week hiatus from the Norfork Lake Resort area. We stayed in a camp site just at the base of the Norfork dam. To sum it up, I survived the trip, enjoyed my time with the children, and dug sleeping under the stars and hearing the sounds of nature.
Some of the guys were really into trout fishing. It was pretty cool to see the annual trout run at Dry Run Creek. We caught the beginning season when they swim upstream in order to spawn near the hatchery they were raised in. Children under the age of 16 are...
via Wayne Larimore
I will be silent the next week. Me and the family will be camping in the northwest part of Arkansas. We are not camping folks. However, a couple of other families invited us and promised us it would be fun. So, here we go. Amongst the three families we will be corraling 15 children. We plan on fishing (at least us boys), smoring and just roughing it for a week.
No Laptop
No Football
No comfy bed
hey, who talked me into this?.....
via Pandora.com
Were you one of those forerunners in high school or college who was on top of all the British, European or U.S. College bands out there? Or perhaps, did you have a friend like that who you relied upon to recommend those killer bands you would enjoy? Well, the Music Genome Project has created a web site that'll be your friend. I just fired it up and entered U2 as my point of reference. It plays the first 10 hours free of similar bands that you'll enjoy. I'm into my 3rd song and it's doing a good job so...
Google and Yahoo! are hiring away hundreds of top engineers from high tech's most prestigious firms.
"...just about everyone is a bit astonished at the fearsome force swallowing up some of tech's best and brightest."
Read which superstars from Microsoft, eBay and Amazon have been snapped up (and more insight) at ...
» BusinessWeek online
This has got to be one of the most promising weapons against cancer. Scientists have finally taken nanotechnology to a level that is effective against destroying cancerous cells in mice. The molecular sized smart bomb “travels to the tumor and burrows deep inside. The outer membrane then disintegrates and releases an anti-angiogenesis drug so the blood vessels feeding the tumor collapse.”
“We're quite hopeful and optimistic that as we translate this into humans the results pan outas they have in animals,” Professor Ram Sasisekharan, of MIT's Biological Engineering Division,said in an interview.
The great thing about this, other than it could be...
via [Klipspringer]
My long time friends in the band Klipspringer made me aware of this and are participating in it. Today has been marked as the West Memphis Three (WM3) World Awareness Day. I had never heard of their story, but it's worth reading.
» Free The West Memphis Three