Back in Town

Yea, AT&T fixed my DSL line today!

So we are back from Pittsburgh. We had a very successful trip. We were able to get Quentin a nice little efficiency apartment. He has a job, and he is enrolled in school. So he is all set up. The trip was very demanding, but everything went perfectly. I have to think that it was providence.

I am meeting one on one with the lawyer who gave the presentation at the Rice Alliance Start Up workshop about forming a Limited Liability Company (LLC). It is always an exciting moment when you create your first company. Now that I have investors and an employee I guess it is about time.

I got an e-mail last week from Google wanting to know if I want a job. Before you are impressed you should know that Google is growing so fast they seem to be trying to hire all known IT employees. Google is supposed to be a really great place to work, but the downside is that I would have to move to Mountain View, California (Silicon Valley) where you would have to be a part owner of Google to afford to buy a house. Still, there is no harm in listening to their offer. I am thinking of telling them I want the job, but when I show up try to sell them on my NewIO instead.

Masterpiece Theatre schedule this spring looks particularly good. Sorry if you already missed Jane Eyre.

Pittsburgh

So apparently, one spells Pittsburgh with an "h". Who knew?

So Dallas, Texarkana, Little Rock, Memphis, Nashville, Louisville, Cincinatti, Columbus and then Pittsburgh. 2 days (22 hours) of driving. Car made it (yea).

Pittsburgh is a large, rocky city. It is cold, but there is no wind, so it is a pleasant chill. It is snowing, but not heavily, which gives everything a Christmas-y feel.

Quentin's school is small, but seems like a good place to become a gunsmith.

We went to church last night. It was a small church, but the people seem very nice. They seem very welcoming to Quentin.

Today we are looking for a place for Quentin to live. There are several possibilities, so I believe it will work out fine.

We feel very blessed. Hope all is well with you.

Start Up Mentoring Workshop

Darron and I went to the Rice Alliance Start Up Mentoring Workshop yesterday. It was very interesting and I learned a lot. There were four lectures.

The first was how to raise money from venture capitalists by Bob Bridge, CEO of Zilker Labs. This was ok, but not really encouraging, because it is not very easy, and even if you are successful the VCs usually end up taking control of your company. So forget that. I want to own the company not sell it!

The second lecture was how to boostrap your company by Bijoy Goswami from Bootstrap Network. This was excellent and very useful. The idea is that you build a demo, you sell it to a customer, and then repeat to build your business, just like what I am trying to do.

The third lecture was on Finance 101, by Robert S Smith of Bridgepoint Consulting. This was about the various ways to raise money and ways to structure the investments. What not to do and things to avoid was also discussed.

Lastly, Alex R. Allermann of Jenkins and Gilchrist, P.C. discussed business law, including how to structure your company and when to do it. It looks like what you want is a Limited Liability Partnership until circumstances force you to incorporate.

Anyway it was quite fascinating and inspiring.

The other thing that happened to me is that Kim's dog ate my DSL line. Seriously. For some reason the silly dog thought a wire on the side of the building would make a wonderful chew toy. I am typing this from work, in case you are wondering.

Tomorrow I leave for Pittsburg to take Quentin to trade school. Ruth Ann and NatJ are also going. The other kids are being farmed out. We drive there and set him up, and then we will fly back Saturday. Looks like more snow for me.

More From the Great Blizzard of 2007

So Much for Global Warming

So they promised us warm weather and we get this! Snow! First time it has snowed in Austin in years!

You can not see the little snow flakes in this picture, but you can see some of the accumulation and the iciles that have formed.

It is now day 2 and we are still trapped at home with the children. We may not survive the great blizzard of 2007. If there are no more postings here by me, send food (preferably cookies and hot chocolate) and a psychologist.

NewI\O Project Update

There has been a breakthrough on my NewI\O project over the holidays. There is now a version of the client for Microsoft Windows. That means that those of you running Microsoft Windows can check it out if you want. Sorry to all of you Apple Mac users. A Mac client is in the plan, but is not available yet.

To get started you need to download the Dreadnought Application Browser to your desktop. You can get it here:

ftp://ftp.newio.org/pub/d0/DreadNoughtSetup-0.11_065r2.exe

Next you need to run it and it will start an installer like other Windows programs. Just accept the defaults to any questions it asks you.

It does not install an icon on your desktop, but after it is installed you should be able to access Dreadnought by clicking on "Start", then "All Programs", then "NewIO", then "Dreadnought Browser".

It should start up and say "newio" and then give you a little box with a default URL in it. The URL should be something like:

nio://appstest.newio.org:22/list.nio

This basically says to run the list program on the appstest server. You should be able to just hit the ENTER key.

It will ask you for a login and password. Use the following:

Login: nio
Password: welcome1 (that is a number "1")

It will then run the list program and give you a list of all of the programs that are available on the server. Pick one and change the "list.nio" in the URL to the name of the program that you want to try. Hit enter and that program should run.

The first time you run a program it might take a little while to start up as it downloads resource to your computer. After that when you run the same program again it should start right up.

Let me know if you get it to work.

Note: This will probably not work if you are behind a firewall unless you have port 22 opened.

Tagged By Raven!

I was tagged by Raven.

First, the rules:

1. Players start by listing three things he/she got for Christmas.
2. Then they list three things he/she definitely did not want to get for Christmas.
3. Then he/she tags five friends and lists their names.
4. The ones who get tagged write on their blogs about their Christmas wishes, and state the rules clearly.
5. Then tag five more victims.

I like how the taggees are refered to as "victims"...

What I got (the loot):

1a. Polo Cologne (I stink?)
1b. Steve McQueen DVD Boxed Set (Yes!)
1c. A Calven and Hobbes book

What I did not want (and did not get):

2a. Cruzin Cooler
2b. Avenging Narwhal Play Set
2c. Attack Spider

5 Victims (from belly lint comments):

3a. Aggie
3b. Amy
3c. Angela O
3d. Bettina
3e. Euromark

But forget about that part about taging 5 others. Christmas is history already.

Christmas 2006: Christmas Eve

Christmas 2006: Christmas Morning Breakfast

Christmas 2006: Opening Presents

What's Up With That?

So after 23 years of marriage I just find out yesterday from my wife that that little lint ball that forms in my navel is NOT sexy. Whats up with that?!? What happened to the old love a person where they are at? Why is she always asking me to change? I am not sure how much more of this I can stand.

Very Handy Blog

This is a very handy blog, but it has to be against the law...

Road Trip!

We stop at a rest stop in Arizona on our way to California.

It is dry and arrid, but still very pretty.

They have very small horses in Arizona, and Marjorie captured one of them.

The sun beat down mercisly, and we had no water. Survival was in question.

I sent the children out to look for water and rattlesnakes.

Nat, Kim, and Emily seem happy, even though they found no water or rattlesnakes.

There is something very wrong about this picture, but I can not quite put my finger on it.

Nat, Marjorie, and Emily searching for miniture Arizona horses.

Here is one now in a little canyon.

White stallion on a dangerous cliff trail.

Can you spot the horse in this picture? It is obviously afraid of my children.

Contemplating a dangerous jump...

I have no idea. Wierd stuff ends up on a shared digital camera.