For once Nikki and I have the day off from work at the same time. So, Memorial Day rolls around, we have some time off together and decide to have some friends over. Nothing fancy, just one other couple, some Guitar Hero 3 and a movie after having a small cookout. Oh…and of course Natalie was with us.

Well, it started off as planned, the hamburgers were well seasoned with just the right amount of chili powder and not overcooked…ok, ok…I cooked the hamburgers…but for the record, if you haven’t tried provolone cheese on a burger you should! It’s worth it. I was introduced to it courtesy of John P. Land (www.Shallowthinker.com). Back to the story. So, we had a great time with the cookout. Natalie ate well and entertained us all.

It came time for us to gather in the living room and play some Guitar Hero before starting the movie. I flipped on my cool all-in-one remote that with one button turns on my entire system from the Xbox to the surround sound and even changes the TV source and surround sound source from the cable channels to the Xbox for me with one swoop. Ahhhhh….my transformation to couch potato-ship has been confirmed…but wait. There was no sound coming from the surround sound system when Guitar Hero 3 came on. I remember Natalie playing with the buttons on the front of the system earlier that day and just knew she had found a way to mess it up.

Surely I could figure out how to fix what a 10 month old had decided to reconfigure. Not the case. I pushed buttons, changed settings, reset settings for 10 minutes. Nothing. Finally, Nikki offered to try and I looked at her skeptically. Come on. Really? Ok, I conceded and let her try, half wanting her to succeed so we could play, but as the residing geek half wanting her to fail to keep my pride intact. Childish I know. She failed as well. Our friends tried as well.

Three grown adults tried for about 20 minutes (give or take) to get it to work. Still nothing. Jokingly I stated, “Hey, since Natalie broke it why don’t we let her fix it?” I grabbed her and stood her up in front of system. She stared at it, pushed the on/off button twice but that was it. Nothing changed. We laughed thinking how great that would have been had she fixed it. I disconnected the sound and rerouted it all through the TV so we could enjoy the rest of the night.

The next morning I couldn’t get it out of my head. I had just downloaded the manual for the system, but had not had a chance to read it. As I was drinking my morning coffee I noticed Natalie playing with the front of the surround sound again. This time with more than just the on/off switch. I went over to her and told her that it was not a toy and she wasn’t allowed to play with it any more. She looked at me, squatted down and went to another toy, leaving the system in the on position. However, I noticed a setting on the front was different than last night.

So, I quickly reconnected all the cables to the surround sound and poof! Problem solved. Ladies and gentleman, the next generation of Tech Support has arrived! And now this brings a whole new meaning to Daddy’s Little Girl! She makes me so proud!

Daniel Hardeman
www.GlobalMonkey.net
Your voice, your tools!

Well. It has happened…we are a house divided. No, we don’t have the license plate on the front of our car saying that we are fans of Georgia Tech and Georgia. Although, when Alabama and Georgia play each other there is a little friction…but that’s still not it. We have now made the transformation of having two different operating systems vying for attention in our home. That’s right. You heard it correctly. We now have an Apple computer in our house.

Now for those close to me, I have provided you with endless recommendations and personal “tech support” mainly having to do with Windows based systems and software. What you may not know is that I actually grew up on the old Macintosh systems. In Guatemala my family had some of the old school Macs. Now we come full circle and Nikki has brought a MacBook with the Leopard OS X into our home.

There is this weird vibe out there that some may think that I hate the Mac system when this isn’t the case…actually, I am an advocate of both. I think the Vista haters are letting the media and a few Apple fanboys and commercials sway their opinion without actually knowing all the facts. I don’t think Vista is as bad as it is made out to be. But that is another topic for another day. While I think Apple is a great system with excellent features and very easy to use interface, and yet…hasn’t been fully tested by the hacker community due to its smaller market share. (In my humble opinion that will change over time as they grow…and they may very well show their superiority in that time…or they may fall on their face. Only time will tell.) But in my eyes there is room for both systems. For me, the ideal system is a MacBook Pro with Vista running on Parallels or other VM ware.

Back to the topic at hand…the Geek is always called upon by their family and friends for tech support of all kinds. Even for pieces of technology that they have no expertise in. If it has a circuit in it, the family tech geek must know about it right? I hadn’t touched a Mac since I was a kid and had no clue how to use the new Macs. So, here was my break! AAAAHHHHH…yes….Nikki had the new Mac with Apple Care that came with a special phone number to help her in her transition from PC to Mac….she wouldn’t need to ask me anything. They were available 24/7. I could sleep in peace. I would get a break.

One problem. Geeks must have a curse cast on them by some witch doctor in the Congo who thought it would be fun to keep them up at night wondering about that strange new piece of technology in the other room. It doesn’t matter if that new piece of technology is a new Mac or a new cell phone or Natalie’s new baby toy that makes cool noises and makes her giggle for no reason what-so-ever. If it peaks our curiosity…we just can’t sleep. We must explore.

So much for Apple Care. Within the first hour of Nikki bringing her shiny new MacBook home, I was helping set it up. I don’t believe she ever called Apple Care until she was at work and had a problem with a printer and had already called me and finally baffled me because I couldn’t actually see the system to try to fix it. That was the one drawback. Since I am not familiar with it…I can’t fix it over the phone since I am not familiar with the interface….but alas, the curse struck and I could not help myself from playing with it.

And now…who needs Apple Care? Ok, let’s not go too far. I have a feeling there’s still a lot to learn about it. But now I am looking forward to one day having that MacBook Pro with both Vista and Leopard OS running on it. The best of both worlds. Why not?

Well, my general review of the Mac. For those of you thinking of switching, it’s a great system. Be warned that there is a learning curve, but once you get the hang of it, you will probably enjoy it. Keep in mind the old programs you have won’t run on the new operating system, but most things that you need are already accessible on the Mac, or you will just have to gradually build your collection back up. But for the average consumer, it’s all there. For those worried about Vista. I don’t think you should be. I have been running it since before it was released with Beta versions and it has only improved. Now with service pack 1, it’s even better.

If you want to get into complaints about Apple vs. PC…like I said that’s a whole different discussion. I have arguments for and against both sides. But for now… Can’t we just get along?

Daniel Hardeman
www.GlobalMonkey.net
Your voice, your tools!

For those of you that follow technology and the latest format wars, yes, Toshiba lost and HD DVD is dead.  Sony pulled out the win with Blue-ray.  I am not a fan of Sony by any stretch of the imagination for many reasons that I will not go into.  That isn’t the point of this particular post.  I have to vent.  I was a HUGE supporter of HD DVD hoping it would prevail (again for reasons not important now).  Alas.  I was on the losing side.

At Christmas I was given an HD DVD add on player for my Xbox that I will continue to use for a while.  Now, here is where I have a problem with Toshiba.  The player came with a great mail-in rebate offer for 5 free HD DVD’s.  It was a limited selection, but none the less they were free.  So, I selected the following:  The Italian Job, Pitch Black, Swordfish, Firewall, and Troy.  What I got was Alexander Revisited, The Departed, Streets of Fire (never heard of it), Swordfish, and The Italian Job.

Ok, so I know in the fine print that I finally read in rebate it says they reserve the right to substitute movies if one is no longer available, but come on!  You have bigger problems here.  First, you said it would take 8-10 weeks to process.  I mailed in the rebate 12 weeks ago and just received the disks today.  Secondly, you’re going to substitute 60% of the movies I picked?

But finally, you’re not just going to substitute those movies for others…but you’re going to substitute them for ones that weren’t even options for me to originally pick from on the rebate.  Alexander Revisited, Streets of Fire, and The Departed weren’t even part of the originally rebate.  Come on Toshiba, you rolled over and gave up on the format war without putting up a fight.  Don’t treat your customers poorly because you are a sore loser.

I didn’t want to have to buy Sony.  I was going to hold out longer even with the format war being over.  But now, I don’t feel so bad.  Toshiba, don’t expect my loyalty to you to be as strong as it was before.  If this is a hint of the kind of service you provide in other areas of your company, don’t expect much business from me in the future.

And yes, I may be a little bitter about being on the wrong side of the format wars myself, but that doesn’t excuse your actions.

D. Hardeman

“Ordinarily he was insane, but he had lucid moments when he was merely stupid.”

-Heinrich Heine, German critic and poet

This is one of the quotes that I have come across recently that has stood out to me. Most people in today’s society would think me crazy for considering even a change from a solid, good paying job with excellent benefits for the search of the unknown dream. But I think I have gotten the same general consensus from everyone. Pursue God’s will. One life to live, don’t waste it. But what do you get from the quote above? Me…I think it insane to stifle your creativity and your hopes and dreams by keeping yourself trapped in what society defines as “successful.” But even more than that…it is stupid to realize it insane and not do anything about it. That’s what I see. You?

As far as what to do to live that life…well, that will be the real journey. I believe my life growing up on the mission field and taking the journey’s that I have taught me that I should first seek God. So, that’s a given and I will assume at all of you as friends and family or strangers may be willing to keep me in your prayers.

Step two. I will continue on my journey to seek out my calling. Who knows? Maybe after this journey I will find out I am exactly where I need to be. But if you never search, you may never realize that the path you seek is right in front of you. I have a feeling that isn’t the case, but I do go into this with an open mind. Either way, I appreciate all the conversation and will keep you posted on where I go from here. I have many avenues to pursue that I am not at liberty to discuss at the moment, but let me leave you with another quote:

“Crazy people don’t sit around wondering if their nuts… They have better things to do.” – Anthony Hopkins, in The Proof

So….I am off to do better things.

D. Hardeman

You can call me crazy…for most of you that know me, that wouldn’t be anything new, but I’m getting restless.  Restless with decisions I’ve made.  Not regarding who I’ve married or whether or not we should have chosen to start a family.  I am madly in love with my wife and can’t get enough of my beautiful daughter.  So, what is that other choice I could be talking about?  Could it be that new video game I bought a few months ago?  Sorry Ubisoft, Splinter Cell Double Agent had too many glitches in it for me.  It looked gorgeous, but was just a bit buggy…I didn’t like it that much.  No.  Maybe it’s just heartburn from eating way too much Mexican…no, that couldn’t be.  I was raised in Guatemala, I should be able to take that.  Not to mention all the other foods I have eaten around the world that I seemed to be ok with. 

 Wait.  I might be on to something.  I was raised in Guatemala.  By the time I was 22 I had set foot in at least 15 or more different countries and experienced more than most adult retired couples could ever wish to have experienced in a life time after spending their entire careers saving up and waiting to “experience life” only to get to retirement and find that they are no longer healthy enough to do those things the wanted to do.  I can’t really say I am having an awakening yet.  But I guess I kind of wish I was having an awakening.  Maybe I’m on the verge of one.  In 2006 I got to be on the frontlines of one of the largest disaster relief efforts in the world in Indonesia…I’ve lived a pretty exciting life.  Yet I find myself feeling trapped in a 9-5 job that wants me to put off my reward for hardwork until I am too old to enjoy it. 

I have just started reading a new book.  Don’t be surprised my friends, I do read sometimes.  It’s called The 4-Hour Workweek by Timothy Ferriss.  Now, I haven’t gotten all the way into it, but it is making me realize how much the 9-5 routine seems to be squelching my creativity and ambitiousness that used to carry me from one adventure to another.  I know there is a lot of respectability and importance in teaching my daughter the values of hard work and providing for your family, but at the same time isn’t it important to teach her that you should follow your passions and not just settle for the mundane?  I mean, we only have one life to live, right? 

So, I’m going to try something new.  I’m going to ask my audience some questions.  Please leave as many comments, questions, or suggestions as you wish.  In my next blog post I will try to respond to some, if not all of the comments.  Sorry, I don’t have my forums setup yet to make it easier, but let’s see what we can do shall we? 

Sometimes, those around us know us better than ourselves.  If you know me…If you had to pick a career for me, what would it be?  What things do you feel I am most passionate about?  It what venues, hobbies or events have you seen me the happiest? 

 Ok, if you don’t know me that well…(if you do know me you can still answer these questions too)  Do you think it is irresponsible for someone to leave a secure job to pursue the unknown and explore other careers?  Or is there a time to “buckle down” and “grow up?”  Is it too much for an average guy like me to think there is something greater out there for him than just a normal 9-5 job?  It provides for the family, right?  Am I just delusional? 

D. Hardeman

Four Scores and seven consoles ago…ok, ok…I won’t write a geek rendition of Lincoln’s speech.  Frankly my dear, I don’t give a…wait, wait…too many quotes from non-geeky references.  I’m probably not passing all of Calypso Katie’s Geek requirements.  RRRRRRRR……..that would be Chewbacca saying, “What’s up?” 

Ok, let me elaborate.  Well, throughout the young life of my blog it seems a young girl named Calypso Katie has made reference in comments that I am not a “true” geek.  One recent reason is because I can’t name all the characters in Star Wars and “quote movies, tv shows, and books to the point that other people have no clue what they’re talking about. Thus, they create their own language.”  Well, ok.  Yes Calypso, kudos to you…(please note my sarcasm).  You make a lot of assumptions.  I never said I couldn’t name ANY characters.  I never said I couldn’t quote ANY movie, book or TV show…but for the record, I have read The Lord of the Rings, but in general I don’t like reading much.  There aren’t enough pretty pictures to look at…..

I want to elaborate on something.  What is a geek to me?  “Geek” to me is more of a community.  You aren’t a “true” geek because of one specific field like comics, Star Wars, Star Trek or whatever.  In the early days of geeks, we were looked down upon, the social outcasts.  Now, geek is everywhere just about, but the true geeks are the specialists in each field.  I consider myself a Tech Geek.  If something has circuits in it or a computer chip in it, I am interested in it or most likely have a pretty in depth knowledge about it.  Because of the amount of technology out there, I obviously can’t know everything, but my brain has trained to the point that with little research and explanation I can learn anything techie pretty easily. 

Well, there are also Sci-fi Geeks.  Science Geeks.  Comic Geeks.  Anime Geeks.  And the list goes on.  Most of these fields of Geekhood do overlap as the members in each most likely evolved from the same early era, but at some point took up different interests, but they still share some of the common characteristics. 

The general public enjoys what the Geeks specialize in, but they don’t understand it, thus, they need us.  And in today’s day and age.  We are a much needed community.  Who is going to fix our family’s computer?  Create the next Superhero?  The next Sci-fi trilogy? 

Well…for those of you that see the picture of my Xbox 360 in this post and cringe, you feel my pain. Yes, that’s right. One of my family members is going to have emergency surgery. My Xbox 360 has one of the many dreaded RROD errors (Red Ring of Death). For those that don’t understand this, Microsoft has acknowledged a problem with early Xbox 360′s having hardware failures. So much so that they have extended the normal 90 day warranty to a whopping 3 year warranty. Kudos for MS for stepping up to the plate like that. Most companies I have experience with would have just moved on to the next version of that product.

I will also say that MS did a great job of not giving me a run around. Last night I turned it on to watch a movie, but alas, a black screen awaited me and 3 blinking red lights. I followed all the troubleshooting instructions from Microsoft’s website to the T. Nothing. No gaming CPR could help at this point. I felt my heart sink. What do I do?! The world awaits me to save them in Halo! My fans on Guitar Hero are calling my name! My secret double agent life has to be put on hold in Splinter Cell! And now I can’t stop the nuclear missiles from launching in Rainbow Six! The world needs me!!!!!!!!

A few deep breaths later I did call MS and they immediately checked the serial number and stated they will send me a postage paid package for me to return it and have repaired….ok, ok…I guess I can live with that…until I asked what the turnaround was. 2-4 weeks….I fainted.

……waking up in a daze I realized the service rep was still on the phone. I informed him to go ahead and send it immediately while there was still life in the console. He assured me the surgery was a standard procedure and I would have nothing to worry about.

Whew! Thank goodness. Well, for the next 2-4 weeks (not counting the shipping) I will have to deal with my withdrawals. Maybe I should consider rehab? Hmmmmm……Maybe not….Never let the kid in you die!!!!

While Nikki and I were making a grocery run to Kroger the other day with Natalie, we had a strange encounter with one of the store employees.  Before I get to that though, let me give a little background on my “Geekie-ness” of a life.  In high school I memorized HTML (the computer code for creating web pages), I also learned Q-basic programming and helped troubleshoot the computers for my parent’s mission organization.  I played Atari and the original Nintendo (I could beat Super Mario Brothers 3 in 30 minutes flat).  I owned a game boy, a Sega Genesis (and didn’t get rid of it until last year…Sonic the Hedge Hog rules!!!), loved Sony Playstation 1 and 2.  During college enjoyed many PC games as well.  I have built a fair share of computer systems including many with limited availability of parts while working in Indonesia. 

Now flash forward to the present.  I currently play Xbox 360 online pretty religiously (not as much as I used to now that I have a kid in the house).  I have taken vacation days off work for the release of Halo 2 and 3.  I own a Wii.  I have a home server that I can access from my PDA phone, which I can also use as a modem for my computer to connect my laptop to the internet through Verizon’s network.   And well…I’m sure I can go on, but I think you get the point. 

By all means, I am not a full fledge geek.  I can’t name all the characters in the Star Wars movies, but I can say that I have visited one of the rebel bases…it was filmed in Guatemala…back to my story.

So, Nikki and I are walking through Kroger and a young man is stocking the shelves.  As we pass him he notices me checking my e-mail on my phone. 

Kroger Guy: “Oh, a tech geek, huh?!”

Me:  “Yeah, something like that.”

Kroger Guy: “Bet you aren’t as much of a techie or geek as me!”

(I see Nikki’s eyes fill with a mixture of emotion.  First surprise, then confusion passes over her face, then fear at what I will do…then…interest and a small smirk on her face.)

Me: “Ok…” (sarcasm in my voice) ”You might be surprised.” (I keep walking and checking my e-mail.)

Kroger Guy: (Steps up in front of me) “Well, do you build your own computers.  I do.”

Me: (Come on…he’s just asking for it…) “Actually, I have 2 sitting upstairs in my house that I built that can record television, and I have a home server downstairs that I run.”

Kroger Guy: “Well, do you play video games?!”

Me: “Yeah, you could say that.  Xbox, Wii, used to play playstation…”

Kroger Guy: (Interrupting) “Well, I still have my Atari, Sega Saturn…”

Me: (Cutting him off) “Good systems.  Atari’s of course a classic.  Who doesn’t love that one?  Loved the NES, still had my Genesis until last year.  You ever play the Commodore 64?”

Kroger Guy: “uuhhhh…”(stunned look on his face)

(Point for me!  The Commodore 64 is a computer not a gaming console.  However, it did have a few games for it.  But was most popular in the early to mid-80’s…I was still in elementary school…hehehe)

Kroger Guy: “I guess we will just call it a draw.”

Me: (with a smirk on my face) “Sure, whatever you say man…” (Not wanting to crush whatever dreams he may have to strive to be the ultimate geek of the universe…I thought to myself, “self, should I have told him how I rigged a Tivo and a tv in the back of a Ford F150 in a parking lot of a Gamestop while waiting in line for Halo 3 to be released just so I could watch the season premiere of Heroes without losing my place in line?”  Naaawwww…) 

As we walked away, Nikki and I began laughing and couldn’t believe ourselves.  Did that really happen?  It was reminiscent of an old western face off except without any cool guns, special affects or gritty one-liners.  But as I rode off into the sunset…I felt confident that I was the quickest geek on the north side of town…at least in Aisle 12. 

Guitar Hero III for Xbox 360… I finally gave in and joined the groupies that are too impatient to actually learn to play a real guitar and just play a fisher price wannabe guitar.  All I have to say is…Insane!  After playing for 3 hours straight, I couldn’t feel the tips of my fingers for 2 days!  I have now finally finished career mode on easy and am finding that my fingers aren’t quite conditioned for pushing 4 difference buttons with one hand while strumming with the other.  How do those young people do it!  I’m getting old!  Or it could be the cold that I have that causes my joints to feel achy anyways.  Ya….I’ll blame it on that. 

As for Nikki…I win again.  This is the second video game purchase in a row that she has loved (the first being the Wii, but that’s another conversation).  Now she can be the rock and roll rebel that she has always wanted to be.  At some point we may invest in a second guitar so we can battle each other, but in the mean time we can join friends online or have them bring theirs over for game night. 

Well, I love the game, but I don’t see my see myself getting insanely good.  Check out this video of a 9 yr old beating the hardest song on expert mode.  Then the second one is of a college guy beating the same song, (but the 9 year old gets a higher score, and he seems a heck of a lot more relaxed) Disgustingly cool…