We're really enjoying the DSL at the office (Sara especially likes iTunes radio) and it's all working well. We couldn't decide if we could afford it at home, but Sara just got a raise, so we're going for it. I'm hoping to finally get my Linux comp online. Then I can forge ahead into the high countries of geekdom.

Jared pointed out this flash movie. You've never heard the default windows sound effects like this.

I drove to Kansas City today and I was listening to some mp3s on my Pocket PC.

I really like this lyric from "In Christ Alone" on the Newsboys worship album:

No guilt in life, no fear in death
This is the power of Christ in me
From life’s first cry to final breath
Jesus commands my destiny

And this is from Waterdeep's "Everyone's Beautiful":

Still they were beautiful
Everyone's beautiful
All of us crawling on hands and knees in need of you

I just read that Waterdeep is going to stop touring. They're playing a farewell show on April 30 and May 1 . . . in Kansas City. This is very close to where I live. Anyone want to go? Tickets are $15.

I'm beginning the process of changing email addresses. I'm tired of Hotmail. I've been using Hotmail Popper* so I could get my webmail in a regular email client like Thunderbird. It was better than speding the time logging onto the hotmail website and looking at that yucky interface, but it's still too slow. So, if you want to email me, please us my new address.

*Note: Hotmail Popper used to be freeware, but the newer versions are free trials and the software costs $18. So, if you get it, try and find an older version of it.

Several times in the last few weeks I've been sitting at my computer and I needed to use a calculator. I was annoyed that I had to click through start > all programs > accessories just to get a stupid calculator. I could have added it to my quick launch bar or my desktop, but I didn't really want to do that, either. While Brendan was here he mentioned that this bothered him, too. So, I googled the problem and found a good solution. Now I can open the calculator program by holding Ctrl + Alt + C. Click the link below to read how I did it.

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Dial-up
DSL

DSL is now up and running at the office. I downloaded a file earlier this week with the dial-up and it clocked in at 5.7 kb/sec, not bad for dial-up. Today I tested the DSL connection, and it downloaded at 141 KB/sec. Cable modems and T1s can get a lot faster, but 141 is a lot faster than what I'm used to. Over 20 times faster! I had resigned myself to a small town life with no broadband, so this is pretty exciting to me.

When Danny first suggested that we, frugal (tight, stingy, scrooge-like…insert your own tight-fisted adjective here) people that we are, should splurge on a seemingly needless technological advancement like a TiVo, I was barely able to stifle a laugh. First of all, it took at least a year to convince him that we could afford more than the 12 (including local) cable channels we were paying for. (Actually, it took them canceling his precious TechTV from our lineup.) As you have already read, we got a great deal on the TiVo, so I couldn't really argue, but I wasn't quite convinced that it would help me in any way. Now I'm hooked. Today, Danny lamented that if he had known we could get DSL before we bought the TiVo, he would have gotten it instead…I quickly responded "No way!" Here are the top 5 reasons I love my TiVo.

5. Constant Dora the Explorer access. My daughter Emma is mildly obsessed with this Nickelodeon cartoon character and her show. (Emma's fixation on this show is actually the main reason we were floored when DishNetwork said they were not going to provide Nick anymore. But we took care of that problem!) Now I can enter our "Now Playing" list and call up any of the episodes we have saved. No more tantrums…until we visit someone without 24-hour Dora access.

4. The 'Search' Feature. If there is a movie or TV show I want to watch, I just have to enter the search menu and type in the first few letters of the title. I then have a playlist for the next two weeks, and can even choose to "Season Pass" a show, recording every new episode that appears. And, if I'm feeling really brave, I can view a menu of all movies, scroll through it, and select the ones I want to record. If you will remember my past confession of decision-making, I am always pleasantly surprised at the movies that magically appear days later.

3. Watching a show while one (or two) others are being recorded. You might think this is a bit much, and perhaps it is. But hear me out. I love the WB and watch Everwood, Gilmore Girls and Smallville regularly. But with our old setup, if any of these shows were recording, we couldn't watch anything else. So if Emma wanted to watch Dora on TV and not one of the many we have on DVD or VHS (which, believe me, isn't that far-fetched), we had to keep her mind off of this desire for a full hour. Have you ever tried to occupy an hour of a toddler's time? I rest my case.

2. No VHS tapes. Speaking of our finicky toddler, she also has the habit of running by a piece of electronic equipment and "leaving her mark". In the case of our VCR, this means ejecting the tape we were planning on using for one of the aforementioned WB shows. Translation: I would come home expecting to see Everwood and would instead see the front end of an empty VHS tape sticking out of the VCR. With TiVo, there are no tapes. It's Emma proof!

1. Dawson's Creek. (Brendan…I'm counting on you to stick up for me on this one.)
Here's the thing. TBS airs two Dawson's Creek episodes every morning. They run in succession, so, in theory, if I watched both episodes each day I could finish a season in like a week or two. Unfortunately, I don't have the time (nor the patience) to sit through two episodes per day, plus their airtime infringes on 'Dora time'-and we know who wins on that one. Now, I can get my teen love/drama/angst fix whenever I want. It's like being in high school without all the taunting and bad food.

DSL for the church is ordered and should be installed next week. Thank you, SBC!

Could it be?!

Thanks to Luis for pointing this site out:

www.abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyzabcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyzabcdefghijk.com/

You can sign up for a free email address with this domain. Here are some of the features they list:
- Some web forms are unable to read your email address
- Some email software cannot be configured
- People have a hard time typing in your email address
- Companies think that your email address is fake

Sounds great!