It has been a while since I last posted anything. The primary reason was that was simply due to being in a head down mode.

Coming out of 2008 hasn’t been the easiest thing to do. And taking the helm of a new company has left me with just a “little” bit of work. But has been going quite well and I’m looking forward to the business turning profitable this month– just 2 months after starting.

I will try to get caught up with my posts, but am also posting on the company’s blog, which has priority. Apparently, I’m still the go-to guy for answers to numerous subjects.

Cheers,

Mike

Sometimes you can’t quite explain why certain chains of events occur. You can try. But no matter how much effort you exert, things can’t be explained.

Well, I’m through trying to rationalize. I’ve got a new gig. And as far as I’m concerned, I have a lifetime supply of tackling fuel. Some of my friends, have never had the fortune of watching The Waterboy. Here’s a clip for their benefit.

If you’re looking for a great pair of headphones for various athletic endeavors, look no further. I’ve had some great headphones from Shure and from Klipsch. But these really make me happy because they not only sound great, but they’re wireless and they have great remote controls to change volume and songs. Now, they also do something else that my Shure’s can’t do. They can make phone calls.

If you’re like me and like listening to tunes while riding at 20mph, you might like to be able to make an emergency call if you happen to break down. Or what happens if someone needs to call you in an emergency? Well, to date I’ve had to keep my iPod in one pocket and my cell phone in another. I’ve tried some headphone attachments that add a microphone to my Klipsch or Shures, but it just creates a really long cord with a really bad microphone.

Now, the problem with these headphones isn’t with the headphones. The problem is trying to use them with an iPhone (same goes for a 2nd generation iPod Touch). Apple currently doesn’t support A2DP, which is Bluetooth’s mechanism for streaming audio to stereo headphones. So for the most part, you have to use a special bluetooth dongle that adds 1.5 inches to the length of your iPhone. Plus, the dongle vibrates loose during movement. In short, the combination isn’t very pleasant.

However, all of this should be solved with the release of the new OS update. I’m excited about that. Right now, I’m having fun working on my first iPhone apps. The SDK’s pretty cool. And this is certainly new frontier for me. But for now, I’m very excited to have a fix to an annoying problem.

Now, if you’re looking to go down such a path, make sure you get your UDID from iTunes before you try updating the firmware. Otherwise iTunes won’t be able to read the UDID from you phone. You’ll have to obtain it via Xcode instead. Just FYI.

Enjoy!

Well, what can I say about life on a farm that I haven’t already said? Anyone who has known me for any length of time has to get a good chuckle over the thought of me raising chickens. But I shall endeavor despite recent discouragements.

Two days ago, our house was hit by what I can only descibe as a serial killer of chickens. Yep! You heard me right. You see, while you might think of this as a simple act of nature– a fox feeding on chickens, I have to remain a bit more cynical. On Wednesday, we lost four of remaining five chickens in broad daylight. The culprit was a fox. And the sucker wasn’t afraid of me at all. He simply stared me down and then sauntered off, after the carnage.

But what was really wrong for the whole thing was that the chickens were in immaculate condition. There were no chunks missing. There was no blood. Last year’s fox attacks resulted in headless lumps left in the chicken pen. But not with this fox. Their chicken necks were merely broken as they were left to flop around.

Our neighbor has lost more than forty chickens to this fox, and similar, disturbing results. His show chickens were killed and left pristine, as if posed.

I’ve thought about contacting the FBI’s BAU (Behavioral Analysis Unit), but let’s face it, there’s not a lot of experience to glean from. After all, there aren’t a lot of reported cases of serial killing foxes to build a profile. So, I’ve armed myself and I’m waiting. Foxes are creatures of habit. Yesterday, I stood ready and set a trap for the wiley fox. But he showed up before I could zero my scope on my Gamo rifle. I managed to get a body shot in, but it didn’t take him down. I am hoping he will come back by this afternoon so I can try to get a head shot in now that my scope’s sited. We’ll have to see.

Out of all our chickens, we only have one left– Olivia. Olivia also happens to be our oldest chicken. Well, I guess the fact that she’s the only one alive makes her the oldest. What I meant to say was that she has been with us longer than any other, previously living, chicken. Her theme song is I will Survive.

Wish me luck!

Have you ever wanted to just lose it? Well, I have and I think I’m sort of at that point today. I suppose had I never been in the military I might not care so much, but nothing chaps my hide worse than indecision. I’m convinced it results in more deaths than pitbulls, drugs, guns or DWIs. Okay, maybe I’m giving it more credit than it deserves. But hopefully you know where I stand on it.

Fundamentally, leaders lead. I think it’s implied in the word. What do you think? We lead. Now, some or most may not agree with the decision. Some may down right hate it. And let’s not forget that there’s the off chance that we can be wrong. But leaders lead. Period.

The one thing for certain that indecision brings about is a lack of confidence. And it undermines authority. In technology, it pisses away lots of money while you’re burning cash to result in no positive outcome. You can also class such individuals as fence-sitters. Or possibly even as fickle. They change their mind constantly.

This is just a rant, I know. I just had to get it off my chest. I’ve been dealing with a particular account for months and I finally had to walk away today. I simply couldn’t take it any more. It’s no so much that I was inconvenienced by it all. I simply found the behavior to be lacking of any good and decent quality. In other words, it made me sick. But I really don’t hold the messenger accountable. I’m sure he had the same pungent taste in his own mouth.

End of rant…