Happy Friday to all.  The weather looks like it should be alright this weekend.  So that means plenty of time to get out and do something fun.  On a sadder note though, it might rain tonight for the Homecoming Football game in town.  Oh well, some would say that football was meant to be played in the rain.

Happy Weekend!

The GOP 2008 National Convention will be held in the Twin Cities.  I must say that I am pretty excited to hear about that.  It will be amazing to see something like that here.  I am positive that it would be a great experience to be a part of.  We’ll see what I can do to help out.

In other news….  well, if you want other news go here.

I’d tell you all about what’s going on in my life.  I could, but it’s not real exciting.  So I’ll just say this: “I can’t leak secret information.”  Doesn’t that sound much more exciting?

Also congrats go out to schdav on his new job!

I noticed today that Facebook opened it’s doors to everyone. Well, not quite everyone. You have to have an invite from a person already using Facebook. I’m not sure how I feel about the changes. Part of me thinks it is cool, part of me thinks it’s taking something away.

Of course I don’t think people really take facebook for what it was meant to be. It was a cool thing to keep up with your friends. But when people you don’t even know start adding you as friends, it’s not what it’s supposed to be. As Mooney noted a recent post on the facebook blog they talk about not letting everyone be your friend. It’s true. I have gotten many requests from people I don’t know. I think that’s a little strange, and not what facebook is for.

I read an article talking about Windows XP and the 5 years it’s been around. I thought this quote was humorous:

You can think of Windows XP as a house with a second floor built of spackle, wood filler and duct tape.

Has anyone ever heard of Second Life?  I just heard of it yesterday (once again thanks to /.).  It sounds a little sad, but like a lot of other video games.  If anyone has used it, I’d love to hear what you think about it.

Now away from Techie Stuff: The Twins are going to the playoffs!  Granted I knew for a while they’d be going, so it’s not a huge surprise or anything, but it’s still exciting.  I was looking at playoff tickets last week when they went on sale.  A little bit out of my price range this year.  Maybe next time.  I’d love to get to a playoff game sometime.  I think the atmosphere of it would be really sweet.  Go Twins!

So it’s been raining for a little over 24 hours (well I think it’s still raining, I could be wrong).  I kind of like the rain.  Of course, it’s a little more fun in the summer time.  But it’s nice now too.  The cooler weather is fun.  It gives me a good excuse to drink hot chocolate in the evenings, and another use for coffee in the morning!

Beth is coming home this weekend!  I’m excited about that.  In fact, she’s probably on her way home right now.  That also means that I get my car back!  That is also very exciting for me.  It’ll be nice to be driving my own car, instead of borrowing my parents.

It’s going to be a busy weekend though.  I think we’ve got something going on the whole time, except Sunday.  But we’ve got events we’re going to be at, and we start pre-marital counseling this weekend.  So it should be a fun, but busy time.  Hopefully it will be relaxing as well.

Ya’ll have a great weekend!

One thing that I really don’t like when I’m surfing the internet are flash ad’s.  It is very annoying to have those ad’s block the text of a news article you are trying to read.  Yahoo! does it, the Pioneer Press does it, and many others.  It’s just simply annoying.

I guess it’s all in the name of “profit”, but what about giving the readers a break.  Keep the ad’s on the side, but don’t have them float around the screen, and make you wait 30 seconds before you can actually begin to read the article.

Is there any way to block these, or do you think there is any hope to get these blocked using a “pop-up” type blocker?

In case you didn’t know (like myself who did not know, until reading /.) Today is Talk Like a Pirate Day. It’s a pretty important holiday, from what I hear. I guess it gives you a good reason to say “Arrr” all day, and refer to your co-worker as “matey”.

So enjoy a Swashbuckler chat, an’ celebrate wi’ shipmates. September 19th only rolls around once a voyage!

P.S.
If you want to see what this site looks like in pirate lingo (or get a translation into pirate), click here!

To relax, and that’s what I did.  Well for half of it anyway.  Saturday was very busy, but that’s what ever Saturday is like.  Sunday was the day of rest.  After church I had a great meal of spaghetti pie, and brownies for desert.  Then it was to the couch to watch the Vikings game, with a good nap in the 4th quarter.  Although I missed the Fake Field Goal for a Touchdown, but the nap was great.  I did wake up and watched the Vikings drive down the field in OT to win it.

It seems very cold outside today.  It’s rainy, and the weather channel says it’s supposed to rain all day, and be chilly.  That doesn’t bother me a whole lot I guess.  I think I’ll make some hot coca this evening.  That sounds yummy, and it will warm me up.

3 months and 5 days until I’m a married man.  I must say that I’m pretty excited about that fact.  I get more excited as the days go on.  There is a fair amount that we need to do to get ready, but the wedding plans are coming along nicely (in my opinion at least).

Also, (not that anyone really cares) I had a come from behind win in Fantasy Baseball this past week to go to the championship match up!   I can’t seem to get anything going in Fantasy Football this year though.  I’m starting out 0-2.  Oh well.  It’s something fun to do for free, so I can’t complain.

Have a great Monday!

So, as to not be like some people (I thought about taking the time to make links out of all those words, but decided I didn’t have enough time or words, but you know who you are) here I am posting again.

It’s been an interesting day.  I must saying that working the corporate world is interesting.  It’s different from the public sector, and working at Bethel.  Things happen here which get people talking.  If you want some knowledge as to what I’m talking about do a Google New Search for Banta.  Needless to say that’s been the major talk of the day around here.

Apple released a new iTunes the other day.  I have only gotten the chance to play with it a little bit.  It’s different, but I like it.  I think the iTunes Movies are interesting.  From what I read (correct me if I’m wrong) they are pretty good quality.

One thing I’m excited to see more about is the project code named iTV. It seems like it will be an Airport Express for your TV type of thing.  That might be overly simplified, but that’s what I’m getting from it.  You can stream video, music, pictures, etc. from your computer to your TV Screen.  It seems kind of cool, especially if you can use your computer as a TiVO.

The new iPods I think are cool, but nothing special.  A bigger HD is always nice.  The new iPod Shuffle is pretty small.  I’d think that’d be easy to loose.  I can see the handiness of it, but I dunno.  It reminds me of th SNL skit from a while back.

In case you didn’t know today is the Primary in Minnesota, 8 other states and the District of Columbia.  It’s a chance for you, the voter, to go out and decide who will be on the November ballot for which there is more than one person seeking the chance to be on the ballot of a certain party.  It is also a chance for local races, such as County Commissioner and Sheriff to narrow the field (in the case of Todd County) from 5 sheriff candidates to 2.  So get out there and vote.

On another note, I would encourage everyone to head over to Erin’s Site so we can laugh along with her about the crazy thing she tried to do yesterday.  I must say I was impressed.

I’m going to keep working hard, so I best go.

It seems like it wasn’t that long ago, but it’s already been 5 years.  I remember sitting in Trig and the secretary coming over the intercom telling teachers to turn on their TV’s.  It was a weird and surreal moment for everyone I think.

Now, as our country moves forward, we should remember the events of that day.  We should remember that they have struck us once, and they want to do it again.  We need to be vigilant, because the War on Terror is unlike the others which we have fought.

September 11, 2001 marked a changing point for our country.  Things will never be the same.  But we can never forget.

I’ve been using the latest beta version of Firefox for a few days now.  I figured I’d through my thoughts out there for everyone.  Just FYI, I’ve used the new version mostly on Windows, as that’s what I use at work.  I haven’t had time to use it on the Mac as much, so I don’t really have an opinion on it yet.
Features I like:

• The new tabs.  It’s nice to have the tabs you aren’t using set back (I can’t think of a better word for it) from the others.  It’s also nice to have the close button on each tab.
• The Search Bar.  I like the different set up of it.  It’s something much easier, and better than the 2.0b1 version.
• The default skin (On Windows anyway, the Mac one doesn’t seem quite as nice).  The default skin is very clean.  It’s small, easy to use, and isn’t to bulky.
• The spell check is something that’s very nice.  That’s a feature I’ve thought has been needed for a long time.  I’m very glad to see it incorporated in Firefox 2.0
• How it handles RSS Feeds.  It gives you the option of adding the feed to what ever RSS Reader you use.  Pretty nice.

Things I’m not so fond of:

• The Find Feature. Before you could start typing and it would try to find matches on the page.  It would allow you to scroll through all those matches.  Now it will only find the first match.  In order to scroll through the matches you have to press ctrl+F.  Not a huge deal, but not quite as nice.

I don’t have to many complaints about the new Firefox.   I like it, and I think it’s going to be a good browser when it’s out of beta.

I would be kind of interested in trying IE 7, but I don’t have an XP machine to try it on.  Oh well, if it follows tradition it probably won’t be that great anyway.

There seems to be a lot of commotion surrounding the new revisions to the widely used facebook. I find the whole debate rather interesting. It made the news on /. last night. It also got student portals requesting a return to the old style.

I, for one, like the new face lift, or at least most of it. Being able to see who posted what to my wall is nice. I don’t care to see who posted something on some one elses wall though.

Seeing who joined what groups is kind of interesting. You can see what groups are new, and what they’re all about. Otherwise you don’t really know about the new groups (or at least people like myself who don’t use facebook much at all).

Seeing who changed their profile picture is pretty sweet. It gives you the chance to see the “new” them. I like that.

Seeing who has new pictures of themselves up could be useful. However, I don’t like it. It says has added new photo’s. Well, if you look at the photos they are of a bunch of people I don’t know. So I don’t think that’s necessary.

Seeing who wrote new “notes” is fun. It allows you to see the updates, which is a good thing. I like it.

Putting the info of who broke up with who, or who is attending what, is a little overly stalkerish. However, I think that facebook in general allows people to be stalkerish. It just allows for easier reading of that information. If you are that worried that people will see it, then don’t put that information on the internet. It seems simple to me.

I like the mini-feed on the person’s profile page. You can see what they’ve added, removed, changed, etc. It’s simple, it’s easy, and it’s convenient.

I think people don’t really realize that any information you put on the internet is public knowledge. As Bethel states in their recent announcement (FYI, only Bethel people can get there):

Online communities can help students connect with each other in many positive ways. We acknowledge how important these connections can be for you during your college years. We advise you, however, to use discretion when posting personal information on the Internet. Be aware that your information is not private and that your personal safety can be compromised by posting information about your whereabouts and activities.

In addition, any information posted by you or approved by you on the Internet, including in online communities, may be used by the university, future employers, or law enforcement personnel in the ordinary discharge of their duties. Any negative information may be used to your detriment, ranging from minor embarrassment to serious disciplinary proceedings that may lead to sanctions, up to and including separation from the Bethel community.

People who don’t like the new facebook setup because it makes your information more visible have little grounds to stand on (in my opinion).  You put the information out there and you say “Okay, do whatever you want with it.”

People who don’t like the new facebook setup for cosmetic reasons have a decent opinion, but change isn’t all bad.

I’d like to see a few options out there to edit what you see on your “home page”.  I don’t really care who added photos of who, so give me the option to not see it.

Overall I like the new face lift, but I’d like to have the option of customizing it a little bit.

Now that this is on my facebook (thank you facebook notes), feel free to comment!

For me anyway.  It’s a weird feeling, I’ll admit.  Being at Bethel this weekend was fun.  It was great to hang out with a lot of the friends from college.  It seems kind of weird not going to classes though.  I think it feels more weird this year than it did last fall.  Of course last fall I was doing something totally amazing, and I knew I’d be back to classes in the Spring.  That could be the difference I guess.

It’s a weird feeling though.  I was thinking about my friends who are starting classes.  I guess I’m not to sad about not having classes.  I don’t miss the homework a whole lot.  But the college life aspect was fun, and it was fun to be in again this weekend.  Staying up late with friends, hanging out, it was just a good time.

So to all of my friends who are going back to school: Enjoy!  And don’t forget to do your homework.

So it’s kind of a weird time to be doing a year re-cap, but it’s somewhat appropriate for me I feel.

It was a year ago today that I left MN to embark upon my DC Adventure.  I remember the trip to the airport, and all that entailed.  It was an interesting time for me. Flying to Washington D.C., not knowing anyone, unsure of where what I was really going to be doing.  It was good times. I remember getting off the airplane, going to get my luggage, and low and behold one bag didn’t make it.  Luckily it wasn’t the one with my suites in it.

A year ago tomorrow was when I saw the White House in person for the first time (since I was in like Kindergarten, so I didn’t really remember it).  Walking up to the White House and not being cleared to enter.  It was funny. BUt I finally got in, and began my service to the Country.  What a great time for me.  I still think about the amazing expierences that I had in DC and at the White House very often.  Remembering everything that I did on the weekends, the museums, the tours.  It was great.  I would do it all over again, if I had the chance.

Doing what I was able to do, being where I was, seeing the people I saw, and meeting everyone was so amazing.  It was an honor to be able to do all of that.  So many memories that I’ll never forget.
It was also only 3 weeks after Beth got back from her summer in Germany.  That was a bit of a downer.  Having her gone for 10 weeks, being around for 3 weeks, and then me leaving for nearly 3.5 months.  But it was a good growing time for both of us.  It was truly the best thing for us.  It is great to have someone who is so great and encourages me to do what I want, even when it means we don’t get to hang out.

Then going to Europe for Interim was a good expierence as well.  I like traveling the world, and it was fun to learn more about the E.U.  I’m excited to go back to Europe again sometime.  On a little different circumstances.  It will be fun to tour and visit, and not have it be a school work thing.  It will be great to do it with Beth!

This election cycle has been one amazing time for me as well. It has been a great learning expierence, and a lot of fun “Work”.  Meeting people and learning what is important to them is something that is great.  I love talking to the people and hearing how they perceive what is gonig on in government.  Government should be about the people and for the people.  It has changed into something drastically different then that.  Really listening to the people and doing what they want is something every politician should do.

That is my year in review.  A short review I guess.  There is so much more I could say, but I guess I have already said it.  The links to the old posts are to the left, so feel free to look back upon the good times as I have.