Erin at Soccer
By Mike | April 13, 2011
My ongoing quest to become the worst sports parent ever… :-(
Topics: Baby, Parenting Angst, Sports | 1 Comment »
So in the meantime…
By Mike | March 20, 2011
The few of you that read my blog on it’s irregularly updated basis are possibly on my Facebook “friends” list as well.
Well, I gave up Facebook for Lent. Its amazing how much time that frees up for things like household projects (yeah/boo!) Real quality time with the daughter other than her sitting on the couch watching “educational” television between two people on their laptops. (yeah!)
There are other perks and annoyances as well (like not being sure if people still check the e-mail addresses you have for them or if they rely entirely on Facebook anymore (as many of us do…)
Anywho… in my search for content to consume – I’ve discovered a couple of things that I thought some of you might find interesting (alright, *I* found interesting and you know I can’t keep my opinion to myself.)
First off – you’ve all heard of the Amazon Kindle ebook reader, etc. If you haven’t you’ve been under a rock for the past 3 years. 
But here’s something you may not know – there is a software program that you can read Amazon Kindle ebooks on just about any computer or reasonably modern phone you might have. Think about that – you can read your book on your phone in the toilet at work (guilty!)
and then the program will actually synchronize what page you’re on so if you get home and want to read on the bigger screen of your laptop, or tablet, or kindle or whatever, you can!
Pretty cool, you may say – but I still like paper books, I don’t like the digital rights management on ebooks etc. Very valid concerns and I happen to completely agree with you!
But here’s a little neat thing I discovered.
Amazon hasn’t really stooped to the level of calling a certain price of books the “bargain bin” but let me assure you – there is a bargain bin in the Amazon Kindle store. And it is *CHEAP*
I’ve poked around and bought more than a few 99 cent books. A lot of them from authors that aren’t top shelf, and not necessarily carried in bookstores, or books that are out of mass market print or whatever reason. A lot more are from authors that are up and coming (the cover art is a bit of a tell on these, lol.)
But point being. For 99 cents – that’s less than the cost of what passes for a newspaper these days, it’s a lot less than the price of a comic book – you can make a low risk investment in some entertainment, to consume at your leisure that will reasonably give you at least several days of enjoyment. Or if you don’t like it – eh, you’re out 99 cents. Can’t even buy a cup of coffee for 99 cents.
Poke around in there – yeah, sure, you may get what you pay for, but I’ve hit on a few undiscovered writers I’ve really enjoyed – and the selection is huge!
Here’s another thing I picked up on.
It’s actually kind of a funny backtrack – I found a couple of highly rated books on Amazon’s kindle shop – read a couple of them, and enjoyed them. Then I found out they were actually novelizations of podcasts! (The modern audio book!)
This led me to podiobooks.com where you can download serialized fiction audio books for free or on a donation basis. Holy headphones batman!
Some of them are a lot like what (I understood) the old radio dramas to be, some are simply the author reading their own books. But I’m on my sixth novel and seriously considering upgrading my car stereo so I can listen more practically on my commute. (I’d have to burn them to disc right now, and most of the books would make that more than a dozen CD’s) better to get a stereo that will either take an in-line cable (yes, mine is that old) play MP3 files directly (second choice) or take a USB drive. I actually think MP3 might be easier, then I could skip around chapters a bit easier while driving.
Anyhow, my latest adventures when avoiding the darkness and evil that is Yo-Gaba-Gaba. 
MO’B
Topics: About Mike, Books, Facebook, Gadgets, Music | 1 Comment »
Electronic Voting Malfunction E-mail
By Mike | November 3, 2010
I sent the following e-mail this morning to the Missouri Secretary of State, the Clay County, Missouri Board of Election Commissioners, and the Electronic Frontier Foundation.
While far from fiery, I strongly feel that it is every citizen’s civic duty to protect our voting rights and freedoms and would encourage you to do the same.
Hello,
I feel compelled to report a concern I observed firsthand and my polling place
yesterday in Kansas City, Missouri.
<Precint Redacted by Poster>
First off, our polling place appears to now be using 2 separate types of voting
machines.
The "Scantron" type, which has been in use for several years – to my
observations reliably without issues.
However, while picking up my ballot yesterday morning, I observed firsthand
troubleshooting of a malfunctioning video voting machine.
While I was standing there, the problem was identified as the paper audit tape
of the machine had never been removed after the previous election in August of
2010.
This causes me grave concern due to the many outstanding questions around the
reliability and security of these machines, as well as their potential for
fraudulent manipulation.
I would like to strongly voice my support for the continued use of voting
equipment and processes that provide reliable, and transparent, accountability
of votes tallied in our Local, State, and Federal elections.
Sincerely,
Michael O’Brien
<Address Redacted by Poster>
Topics: Gadgets, Politics | 1 Comment »