Still like my Dentist

Had another appointment today at Dr. Bobbitt's office.  Today was a cleaning (there's a technical term for it) by Debbie.  Again I was struck by the openness and constant flow of information.  I'm pretty sure every dentist I've been to tried to get this information across - and I'm pretty sure I tried to understand it - but today I finally grasped the whole cycle of plaque to calculus (tarter), and why flossing is key.  Debbie's analogy of breaking up the platoons before they could gang up is going to be very easy to remember.

And a huge apology goes out to Pearl- who is my first and last contact for each visit.  She's very friendly and made becoming a new patient as simple a process as I could imagine.  Turns out she's from the same town as me, so we had some politics to agree on.

Share Geeky Stuff

A few technologies I've been using a lot lately (rss/del.ico.us/google docs) are hard to explain to people.  I almost want to invite everyone to a classroom somehow and demonstrating how I'm using these things.  All of the things would benefit from more people using them, especially people I know. 

Along that line, I was reminded of barCamp, where you get people together and show this stuff and how it works.  I wish I was more on top of things before the last bar camp Manchester: I would have loved to do a brief session on 4 or 5 technologies that I was really enjoying. 

I think the problem with barCamp though is that there's no way my sisters, for example, would ever attend one.  The level of "commitment to geekness" is too high.  The very aspect that it's free might also be turning them off.

I envisioned a business where you host conferences like this at least once a week - and it costs $20 to come every week, but if you do a presentation (and at least 8 people show up) you get paid $100.  Possibly you only get a $100 credit so you don't have to pay to come to sessions for another month.

The extra cash would be used to fund the company, pay the rent, buy projectors and cheap hardware etc.

There are local classes - community college level etc. where they show how to use word or excel.  But I think something between that and barcamp would be useful.

Dr. Bobbitt: Best Dentist Ever

Just got back from the most satisfying dental experience I've ever had.  My new dentist Dr. Scott Bobbitt was recommended by my sister (whom if she had a blog would be a link like Dr. Bobbitt).

I liked my last dentist - she was cute - but I think she left the practice she was at and they refused to tell me where she went.

Enter Dr. Bobbitt: I met him at my sisters surprise birthday party - she introduced him as "Your new dentist" and she was right.  This guy doesn't just know his stuff - he's got a passion for it.  I'm hesitant to get into it more because the introduction to his dental methodology is so well delivered that I know I won't do it justice.

Here's why I was so impressed: During the initial examination I knew what was going on every step of the way.  I understood the language going back and forth between him and his assistant Cat, because he explained it - and I could see her entering the info on the LCD display mirroring her workstation display that was obviously there for the patient alone.  As the examination progresses I started to feel bad that I didn't have more questions - Dr. Bobbitt was constantly querying me to make sure I understood what was going on.

And another thing - he's got lasers.  When he started in with that and asked if I'd seen it on the website I was kinda sad I hadn't.  What an awesome advance in dentistry.  If I was doing his website I'd start it with something like "Remember that pokey thing that they examine your teeth with?  Well we do it with a laser."  That alone would have had me in the chair months ago.  The all digital xRay and digital teeth picture stuff was just icing on the cake for my gagdet-minded self.

In well under 2 hrs the good doctor and I had a plan - my plan - and I not only understood it but agreed with it in every detail.  He went down some crazy roads of some weird stuff we could do (bone grafts etc...) - but in the end we have a pretty simple plan to take care of my dental health.  That's what I wanted all along and didn't even know it.

Wrist Mounted Camera

The folks over at GoPro Cameras have released a wrist mounted digital camera.  It's marketed to surfer/skier types, and being the latter I am interested.  A quick look at the specs though reveals 640x480 VGA resolution, which is a whopping 0.3 Megapixels.  The price is under $100.  It shoots video too, which in my expierence you don't need high rez to shoot the fun "snap shot" style home movies.

I considered buying it just so I could have a few in the car and sell them to the gawkers when I go skiing.  I'd wear it and be taking pix of the kids and when people ask in the lift line I'd rave about not having to fumble for a camera with gloves on and other stuff in the pocket falling out etc...  I'd probably take a picture of them real quick like to show how easy it is.  And when they ask me how much I'll say: "For you my new friend...", then I'd glance around to make sure nobody was listening (of course everyone is), "I've got a brand new one in my ski bag, still in the box, $100.  If you buy me a beer too we can go get it right now and you'll be shooting today."

In the end though, there's simply not enough data in 0.3 megapixels.  Lack of removeable storage was another missing piece - but at the low rez you really don't need it.

Red Sox Ticket Consideration

I've had the problem in the past of having an extra ticket or 2 to a Red Sox game, and it's difficult to know whom to ask.  It always comes back around to "Why didn't you ask me?"  So I decided to quantify the process of who I consider for tickets.  The result is this google spreadsheet, which is easy to update from anywhere I can get online, and has the additional benefit of me being able to publish via that link and show people exactly why I didn't ask them if they wanted to go.  You get a ton of points for giving me free tickets, and loose points for leaving early.

More technical difficulties

I'm wondering if this should just be a weekly segment - a list of the things that went wrong with the technology today.  Got 2 in the past 24hrs.  First was the server I host the new Wiki on blew a power supply... about 3 hrs after I sent an email introducing the technology to the beta audience... so the email goes out, and the site goes down and don't I look amazing.

2nd problem is the dell is fried again - blue screens this time.  Smells like bad memory, but both 512M chips produce similar results.  The people on the support chat site are pretty good though - minimizing the painful troubleshooting steps.  I'm glad we have MoJo pack, so she can use my machine.  I think I'm gonna cough up the $50 for it.

Geni - Love it

I've toyed with a couple geniological things on the web, and always thought there should be a really quick and easy way to put it all together and make it insainly easy to enter the info.  Well, I think Geni pretty much nailed it.  I wouldn't change a thing.

MoJoPack

Props the Security Now Podcast for introducing me to a product called MojoPack : Simplest description - it lets you install a windows desktop on a USB memory keychain.  I thought this would be handy for me to have when going to various places where I use someone elses computer to check mail or just surfing.  It came in very handy this weekend after my wifes computer died (usb controller bellied up) and she was using my computer.  Normally this is a little inconvient becuase she has to log into a few of the same sites I use - and then I have to log her out and myself back in.  With Mojopack I have her working in that "other" desktop and she can stay logged in and leave that virtual machine in any state she wants.  The best part is that the switch between mojo desktop and the host desktop is almost instantaneous - much faster than if we were logging in and out of windows accounts.  I'm running the 30 day free trial - didn't even check the price until just now - a small ouch: $50

What YouTube is good for

Found this at Dvorak's blog first, but this is what you tube is really good for. A silly little skit that is just so well done and entertaining that you gotta share it.

We are expierencing Technical Difficulties

SuzShe's computer blew the USB controller this morning.  Probably the new iPod trying to charge from it or something.  Tried to call Dell Support but was told it was over a 10 min wait by the telephone agent.  Decided to try to Dell support Chat - and Jason B. had me try a few things and then scheduled a motherboard replacement.  I'm glad we have a 1yr warrenty on the system.  I asked where he was and he said he was in the US.

Yesterday I had a problem with Turbo Tax Online edition and logging in.  It sent me to some security quesion page that I could not escape from no matter what I did.  I got their chat support working too and she recognized the problem and said their engineer is working on it.  I asked her where she was and she said Singapore.

The mosquito r/c helicopter I got for xMas has a problem with one of the motors - and I don't even know where to begin getting support for that.

My MythTV system still has a few problems like volume control and I'm not happy with how it's using disk space.  Again - no idea where to get support.

My sister was having problems with disk space on her laptop, and had a bunch of questions on how to manage the volume of pictures etc. she generates.  Eventually led her down the road of a network storage device.  Her original plan was to get a file server on her network.  She's had a server before becuase her internet connection used to be a satillite that wouldn't just "plug into a router" and needed a server.  I had to administer this system so I'm glad I got her to do something I hopefully don't have to support.

I suppose there's something to learn here - but other than "Get off the Grid" I have no ideas.

Supermarket Madness

Went to pick up some popcorn & buttersalt tonight and realized what a scam our local Shaws is perpetrating.  I have a problem with the Shop the World isles, as it gives the store the excuse to further distribute things in the store so you spend as much time looking as possible.  They have 4 isles of this supposedly ethnic food,  but also about 4 isles of non-ethnic food.  The other isles are cleaning stuff and dog food etc.  So essentially they've got 2 whole stores that you end up having to walk through.  It's evil in my book.  The stuff in the shop the world section is not typically ethic either - they have most of the spirce section repeated with a different brand of spices - and the canned vegetables have the same story.  And I couldn't find buttersalt in either section.

Two Ideas Stolen in a week

To be honost neither of the stolen ideas was stolen - more like someone else came up with them on their own before I had took the initiative to make it happen.  The latest idea is an in your car hotspot that I thought of about 5 years ago.  They took it to the next level providing service - but the whole idea of making your CAR a hotspot was something I thought of becuase I though it would be good to have your backups or your "main content" directory in your car - becuase you're almost always within range of your car.

Chalkboard Wall Calendar

Kewl idea here from Martha no less. Paint chalkboard paint in a pattern on the wall so you can have the month's calendar for all to see.

Another Idea Gone

I thought of the idea where users bet on what they think the weather will be - for points - a couple of years ago.  Even went so far as to plan out a phased approach to how I'd do it.  First phase was to enter a zipcode and a temperature range - and based on how big the range was and how close you got, you got points.

My goal was to make a hyper-accurate weather prediction system.  Professional Weather forcasters could be guaged and rated.

Well - looks like someone from google has taken it to the extreme and added the idea of making it a Weather Insurance system where you can do kinda the same thing I thought of, but for real money.

RFID in the Clothes

As a way to better track laundry - I'd like to have RFID chips in all my clothes.  It's be worth the $0.10 or so to quickly locate matching socks - or know that I'm low on shirts or something.