An open letter to Google Corporation

Dear Google, we're on the verge of another technological revolution, and I want you to lead it. Please consider the following life-altering changes:

• Google Cellular
  Purchase T-Mobile.  They're a carrier that hangs around, but really never competes against the big boys of cell phone companies (Verizon, Sprint, AT&T).  Once purchased, make all your rate plans just $30-$40 a month -- only for unlimited data access and messaging charges.  The voice charges will come from replacing the ringing (or, in some cases, music) the caller hears with advertisements.  These would be selected ads you would feel comfortable letting your callers listen to (ie. I would never want anyone calling me to hear about RedBull or Trojan condoms ads).  I feel it's a small inconvenience to pay for free voice service, which of course, will be using the cellular data network and not the POTS.  Besides, if the subscriber doesn't like it, there would be incentive to answer their phone quicker.  Much better than the alternative.
• Google Medical
  No, we don't need a hospital run on Google Wave, although you wouldn't have any problems with your own WebMD.  What we need here is an intervention with our government medical paper trail.  You see it every hospital, clinic, and outpatient care you visit.  It's costs billions (un-sourced and un-researched) and is behind the times.  Digital records held in the cloud is what we need: a universal health-care filing system (read that again, carefully, conservatives).  Would we go to the extent of tattooing or implanting a scannable ID on our bodies?  Probably not.  Use a digital ID card or a SIM card in phones from your new cellular network.  People leave their wallets at home, but never their phone. This would consolidate your whole medical history, current medications, donor status, recorded biometrics and make them accessible for any certified medical care providers the whole world over allowing personnel from emergency response to your family doctor to access updated records every time they needed it.  People may go conspiracy theory on you, but the idea that we've been living in an archaic (this Internet capability has been accessible for ~15-years) system baffles me.  Get some senators on board and get your government grant.

• Google OS .. Google TV ... Google Netflix?
  You're so close to this one I can smell it.  With the advent of your hard-driveless operating system and the launching of Google TV, all this dilapidated redundancy in my house is frustrating.  With 1 desktop, 1 server, 2 laptops, and 2 external storage drives, Picasa and Google Apps, I feel I have the digital household makup that John Kerry would be envious of.  My family photos, videos, documents, music, and now recently, my backed up DVDs reside in multiple places and are often duplicated with no stapled method of organization.  I want all of this out of my hard drive and into one accessible place: the Internets.  No more purchasing a physical DVD.  Make it virtual.  Same price as an off-the-shelf DVD, but no physical media to speak of.  That way, there's only one copy of the movie in the world, but with millions of people owning the rights to it.  Your TV at home or in the car will access your purchased DVD online and on demand.  I think you're right there... Netlfix is almost there, but it's still just a rental, we don't own anything.  Hopefully your WebM video codec is an indication that this was your plan all along.
• Googlezon
  Credit for this goes to a former co-worker.  A Google shopping search gets unreliable results.  It's time to open your own web store and shipping centers and replace Amazon.com's supremacy.
• Google Entry
  QWERTY needs to die.  The English language is too complicated and cumbersome to be the ongoing solution to command input.  The console interface designers of Star Trek had it right.  We need a group of linguist and mathematicians to create a universal visual entry language.  One that uses sentence conjugations, tap-swipe entry, series and sequence patterns to develop a thought provoked input language.  This, integrated with our Google Pad (not trademarked... yet) will grant Gene Roddenberry an eternally restful slumber.
• Google Movers
  I need someone to come pack and move my house.  After doing it 11 times in 10 years, you would think I would be a pro.  However, it's quite the opposite.  Instead of becoming efficient at the task, I've become burnt out and often find excuses to avoid packing.  Things like writing an open blog letter 3 days before we move.

This entry came about as a tangent as my wife discussed how Apple is not the Apple that Steve Jobs created.  He wanted to "stick it to the man" and give consumers another option than buying a PC.  However, his interests have changed, along with his company.  His advancements in "iTechnology" have been fabulous, but now outwardly bashing Adobe Flash 10.1 and Google WebM codec make him more like Bill Gates version 2.0 .  MicroSoft is all but done, having created innovations, but lacking the commitment to follow through to the bigger picture.  They did it with Windows Media Center PCs, attempting to integrate the PC and media experience, but needing so many requirements to have it work just right.  They did it with MicroSoft Surface, but wanted too high a price that only larger corporations could pursue.  Now they're doing it again with the Kin.  A social networking tool that no doubt will repeat the MotoBlur experience.

It's up to Google to make our dreams realized.  They can get this cloud thing going and make the literal Universal network in our hands (let's not mention the SkyNet possibilities).  Our cell phones are almost our computers, car operating systems, garage door openers, remote controls, radios, and one day, mind control devices.

Have any more Google _____ ideas?  What's your take on the advancement toward a more simplified (yet complex) technological experience?  Are we heading down the wrong path or moving towards a more Utopian society?  Share your thoughts in the comments.

Spring!

Spring! Finally! The semester is almost over, and Mike and I couldn't be happier about it. In celebration, I'm posting lots of pictures and videos.

First, let's get the updates out of the way. School is going well for me. I was supposedly offered a choral scholarship, but I haven't seen any confirmation on it yet. I wasn't counting on a scholarship, so if I get one, it'll be a nice bonus. Either way, the director of music education says she thinks I'm doctoral material. That's encouraging! She recommends that I get my Bachelors ASAP, then take a few years off to get some teaching experience before getting my Masters and Doctorate in quick succession. She says she thinks I have the natural intuition to be a great educator. Realistically, it might be a long time before I get my Masters, but it's nice to have a clear goal and the support of a teacher I admire a great deal.

Mike is considering another change in his major, but he's unsure right now. He's considering everything from meteorology to business, but he might just stick it out as a nuke engineer. I worry that he's too concerned with getting done quickly and making money than with finding something he's good at and that he enjoys. I worry that if he picks a career based on salary, he'll be miserable at work, and all that time and money spent on his education will mean nothing. As it is, he's doing well as a nuclear engineer. Maybe all he needs is to remember what got him excited about it in the first place. It's easy to forget what you love when you're burnt out.

Hyrum continues to do very well in school. His teachers are impressed with his reading and say he finished the kindergarten curriculum a while ago. They're making up new lessons for him to check his reading comprehension. My mom gave him a 196 page Curious George chapter book for Easter which he can read all the way through with no help. He's also top in math. He loves to quiz us on addition at home. His teachers also say his penmanship is excellent. Looks a little funky to me, so I'll just take their word for it. Hyrum's speech is improving steadily since we started him at the speech and language clinic in Idaho Falls. It looks like he'll be in pretty good shape when he starts first grade this fall.

Emily is like bottled sunshine. She's such a cheerful little girl. It always comes as quite a shock when she her mood suddenly takes a drastic turn to throwing tantrums. I guess that's a typical 3 year old girl thing. For the most part, she loves to sing, dance, make up stories, pretend to be a cat, play dress-up, and all those other things that make her so much fun to be around. She's very smart. Hyrum must be teaching her because I don't know how she already knows all her letters and letter sounds. She can also read common words that she sees often like Emily, Hyrum, Mom, Dad, and cat. Mike and I want to look into the possibility of getting her into a preschool this year.

Alright! Picture time!

Instead of Easter baskets, the kids got trays and bowls of candy. Emily got hair accessories and Strawberry Shortcake dress-up doll. Hyrum got slime and a Frisbee.

Last weekend, we took the kids to Spring Scrimmage at BSU. Before the game, they let the kids play on the field and meet the coach and players. Sadly, we took the scenic route through Arco and Craters of the Moon, so we got there as they were ushering everyone off the field. The kids still got to run out onto the field and play for a short time before a security officer tapped me on the shoulder and told us we had to go. I did manage to get a video and a few pictures. :)

Go Orange! Go Big Blue! Fight! Fight! BSU!

Some of Mike's friends from OBNUG.com (a BSU fan site) saved us seats to watch the game. The kids weren't as interested as they usually are in a real game, but they had fun posing for the camera anyhow.

We decided to take the long way back to Shelley again so we could drive through Craters of the Moon and hopefully hike the lava tunnels and the ice caves. We told the kids that it was created by several volcanoes thousands of years ago. Emily was really excited to see a volcano, and made up a cute story during the long car ride. Sorry, for some reason, the sound quality is low on this video. I plan to edit this video and upload it again. Until then, you may have to turn up your speakers.

When we got there, we learned that the lava tunnels and ice caves don't open for the year until May. We decided to take the kids on a short hike (if you can call it that) to the top of a spatter cone. Emily, who had been so excited, suddenly got scared and made Mike carry her to the top. I'm including lots of pictures for Dave's sake. You'd better be reading this, Dave! Feel free to correct me if I'm wrong about any of these rocks too.

This is the vent in a spatter cone. Spatter cones are like mini volcanoes and are formed after the magma becomes cooler and spatters out of vents in larger chunks. The cones are more jagged than smoother cinder cones.

This is the view of the lava flow from the top of the spatter cone. It's just black lava rock for as far as you can see.

The family (minus me) at the top of the cone. Emily still wouldn't let Mike put her down.

This is a cinder cone. These are formed from the cinders which are expelled when the magma is still very hot. The rocks are fine--about the size of gravel. Cinder cones are formed before spatter cones. There are several of both types at Craters of the Moon. This one looks much more impressive in person than in the picture.

Just a typical view of the lava beds and cinder cones.

And another one.

Lava beds are pretty common in East Idaho. In fact, we drive through one nearly every day on the way to school in Pocatello, so it's a little hard to get excited about seeing more lava rock desert. Still, when you step outside the everyday and realize the amazing forces at work on our planet, it'll take your breath away.

Well, that's all for now. Back to studying for finals!

Should I get an AIDS shot?

Should I get an AIDS shot?

A quick 5 minutes in Mike's thought process

(title in 1st person, subtitle in 3rd, narrative in 1st)

This was the concluding question after a few brief minutes I had with myself this morning. Usually even I can't trace back where my thoughts originate from -- Jessica has that talent to a T (is it "T" or "tee"?). However, this time was different, and I thought I'd share it with you, reader:

• We begin by looking over Jessica's shoulder as she completes her morning facebook activities. She found a facebook page for A Little Town called Rigby, Idaho and was sharing a few memories she had of Rigby in the olden days (read: 80's).  It's "profile" image is that of an old sign continuing the towns claim to the "Birthplace of Television," as it was the residency of one Philo T. Farnsworth.

• It was this sign that got the University of Idaho Fight song as sung by Bing Crosby in my head while on my way to the shower (I had had a bath at midnight the night previous, but I wanted to rinse and use conditioner this time).
• While in the shower, another old song popped into my head: the women's baseball song that was sung during the movie A League of Their Own.
• After a few un-lyrically correct renditions of the song, I wondered why the character who Madonna played ("All-the-way Mae," a self-redeeming prostitute) was still alive upon the reunion of the characters when the Women's Baseball Hall of Fame was opened up.  Should she have not contracted an STD of some sort?
• Maybe her frequent activity of her past profession caused an immunity to such a disease?
• ...I mean, studies show that major decreases in cancer are avoided by persons in professions which give more than average exposure to radiation (Reactor & Accelerator  Operators, Pilots and Plane Stewardesses, etc), as well as residents in the Cobalt-60 reinforced apartment buildings in Taiwan.  Even Advil gives you added benefits of increased white blood cell defense (without overdosing, in either case, of course).
• So, should I be seeking an AIDS strain?

Bad Logic FTW!

Topics for next week (read: probably never):

• Why Mike likes bullet points.
• If physics studies the interaction of matter and energy, kinetics, waves, light, sound... why don't we ever study "smell?"
• Should I change my name to Michael? (geez, Mike/chael, stick to a narrative form, will ya?)
• Is a nuclear powered car achievable? (inspired by Toshiba's home nuclear power plant)

• Jessica pointed it out... do I my professor's pronounce it "new-CLEE-er"? And why do I?

Jessica's Birthday and New Year's

My birthday was December 31st, and I turned 30 this year. It's funny because I don't think of other people in their 30s as being old, but when it's me...

We had a small party at home on my birthday. Hyrum and Emily got me a necklace. Mike got me some gloves, a hair dryer, and an antenna for our tv. The best part of the day was when I went to see my mom at work and my step-dad was there. You'd think my kids would know Sherwin well enough to know that he loves to tease, but I guess Emily is just too gullible. For your enjoyment, here's the condensed conversation.

Sherwin: Well, it's your mom's birthday. Should we give her birthday spankings?

Emily: NOOO!! Don't give her spankings! She'll be good and happy, so please don't give her spankings, Grandpa!

Everyone in the credit union could hear her panicked yelling. One guy in the corner was trying to pretend he wasn't eavesdropping, but his whole body was shaking from suppressed laughter. Most people openly laughed and commented on how cute the kids were. It made my day.

New Year's Day brought with it a lot of snow. In response to this, my mom issued a challenge to all her kids and some of Sherwin's. The contest? Who could build the best snowman! We took on the challenge along with Mom and Sherwin and Dale. I was jealous of the kids' new snow pants and grateful for my new gloves by the end of the very cold and wet day. As always, if you want more pictures, they can be found on Facebook.

And the finished product:

Ta-da! It's a cat, in case you were wondering.

Meow!

Now, lest you snowman purists out there say, "That's not a snowman, it's a cat!" yes. We know. However, it was constructed in the traditional 3 part fashion. The hind quarters were the largest ball, the medium one is the shoulders, and the smallest is, of course, the head. Mike named him "Dave" since his brother loves cats so much. Here is my mom and Sherwin's entry.

RAWR! It's a bear.

...with a golf club.

I'm guess the bear didn't have a great game. He looks a little upset. Dale had piled up some snow to make a sculpture, but hadn't gotten any farther before the deadline. So, who do you think won? Comments?

Although this didn't happen on either my birthday or on New Year's, it's still worth mentioning. Dave and Hilerie, if you're reading this, you might want to skip down to the next part. BSU beat TCU in a great Fiesta Bowl! Congrats Broncos!

Well, now the holidays are over. Hyrum is back in school, and Mike and I start the semester tomorrow. Wish us luck!

Christmas

We had a great Christmas this year! Sadly, I don't have any pictures of Christmas Eve or Christmas day. But, not to worry! I still have plenty of pictures courtesy of my Mom and Sherwin. I even have a video to post!

My brother Jacob came to visit from Arizona. He has been seeing a girl, Erica, from Idaho. In fact, they went to grade school together in Lincoln (a township in Idaho Falls) and her parents are my Grandma Sears's neighbors. She lives in Boise now, but she and Jacob have made a few trips to visit each other. She came to visit her family here in East Idaho for Christmas, so we finally got to meet her.

On Christmas Eve, we went to my Grandma Sears's house for dinner and presents with the extended family. The kids loved seeing my brother James's kids again. Piper and Hyrum have always been close friends, and lately, she has taken quite a liking to Emily. She insists that they're sisters, not cousins.

Grandma Sears got us some much needed towels, toys and clothes for the kids, and new silverware. It is so great to have good silverware. Ya know, the kind that match? The kind where the spoons don't bend when you dish up ice cream? Yeah, that's the stuff... Thanks Grandma Sears!

Some of the cousins at Grandma's house. Top Row: Piper, Monkey, Emily. Bottom Row: Isaac, Hyrum, Savannah, Mason. If you're confused about the monkey, read this entry for more info.

I helped mom make matching Christmas dresses for her granddaughters this year. You'll have to check out my brother's blog if you want to see his girls in theirs. His blog is linked on the side bar. Here are some of the Christmas pictures of Hyrum and Emily. If you want more Christmas pictures, you can find them on Facebook.

I wish I had pictures of opening presents on Christmas day, but my camera wasn't charged. I can assure you though, it was wonderful! The kids got talking Woody and Jessie dolls from us. They were a huge hit!

The kids also bought small presents for each other. Mike and I decided not to give each other presents this year so we could afford the dolls, but he cheated and got me a vegetable steamer anyhow. Mike's sister Jen and her family had our names for Christmas. I'm very excited to spend my Jo-Ann's Fabrics gift card! I'm just having a hard time deciding which project I want to make. Mike's Best Buy card is as good as spent, and it's going to take Hyrum and Emily years to finish all the activity books they got. Thank you, Golding family! Dan and Cristtin also sent us a package, although it wasn't for Christmas. We saved it for Christmas anyhow. I cannot tell you how much I love hand-me-downs! Thanks guys! A Secret Santa provided our kids with new coats, snow boots, snow pants, school clothes, and plenty of toys. In fact, there were 3 large boxes of presents and food. I guess he must have known how tough it is to be out of work for 5 months. Thank you, Santa!

After opening presents at our house, we headed over to my mom's house for breakfast and more presents. It was a full house with the four of us, Mom and Sherwin, Sherwin's son Dale and daughter Suzanne, and Jacob. Mom and Sherwin got me new pots and pans. Does it mean I'm getting old if I'm excited about that? The kids got more books and more toys. Hyrum was excited to get The Sound of Music from my mom. That is by far his favorite movie, but we've never owned it. Emily got an Aristocats DVD. Singing and dancing cats? Doesn't get much better than that! Even Jacob spoiled them with an enormous Lego set for Hyrum and a Playdough activity table for Emily. Jacob spoiled us too with a Nintendo DS game each. It was hard to resist the urge to hold The Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks over my head and sing "Du-nu-nu-nu!" (If you haven't played any Zelda games, you won't understand. It's ok, we forgive you.) We spent the rest of Christmas playing with the kids' toys. Dang, Lego is still fun when you're 30!

The day after Christmas, we went with Jacob and Erica to visit my Grandma Page and Aunt Pat. It was nice to see them again. I really need to visit my grandma more often. It was good to hear how my cousins on my Dad's side are doing. That evening, we had dinner and game night at my mom's house. We taught Erica how to play Pinochle and had a great game of Balderdash.

Now, I promised you a video. If you're still reading after that long post, here's your reward. Last week, the kids got a belated Christmas present from Mike's friend Kit. We'll forgive the lateness since it was on backorder and shipped from Japan. Besides, it's just too dang cute!

Emily's Birthday

Ok, so I tried to do December all in one post, but I'm having troubles getting blogger to upload any more pictures. I guess I'll break it up into a couple posts and see if this works.

On December 6th, we celebrated Emily's 3rd birthday! We had the party at my mom's house with the 4 of us, my mom and Sherwin, and Sherwin's son Dale. We had a great time! I think that playing with Emily's pop beads after she opened her presents more than made up for the missing birthday cake. Here's a video of the night.

Sorry that all my videos have J-pop music in them, but I don't currently have any good songs in English on my computer. Besides, the title means "Empty Your Pockets." Rather fitting for December, don't you think? Poor Emily had a bad cold, but I still think she gave a stunning performance!

Here are some of my favorite pictures from the event. If you want to see more pictures, I've posted more on my Facebook page.

Emily greedily looks over her pile of presents

Emily plays with her new friend, Zebra. Aren't my kids so creative with their toys' names?

My mom gave Emily and Hyrum matching bedspreads for their birthdays. I think that when Emily first saw hers, she thought that it was Hyrum's. She caught on when she saw it on her own bed at home that night. She was pretty excited that their beds matched.

Emily gets a kiss from Dad. (look at all that jewelery!)

Emily gives a kiss to Dad.

Emily tries to escape Dad's whisker burn.

I can't believe that my little girl isn't so little anymore! She's excited to be in Primary now, although she had a hard time letting go of Nursery. Hyrum assured her that she'd have a lot of fun and get to sing a lot. That helped. I think I uncovered her real fear this morning when she told me that she thought she had to grow up to be a boy in order to go to Primary. She didn't believe me when I told her that it's for both boys and girls. Good thing I had Hyrum there to back me up. She always listens to her brother.