12 Things I love
I’m going to write a little bit about the things I love. Because some things kick ass and some things don’t, and I think it’s time to mention the good ones for today. I’m not in a wierd mood, just been wanting to post this for a while.
- WordPress I orginally had Mark Cuban here in this list, but I realized that despite Mark’s coolness, I do not always think he kicks ass. But if I get to know him better, perhaps he’ll be back on the list. WordPress beats him though, and this includes the developers. Wordpress is this fantastic publishing server software that is supereasy to configure and highly customizeable. See Designorati.com for their highly customized version. Blogs can be lame, but WordPress is awesome if you want to set up a website. There are a bunch of themes out there to use and it’s easy to communicate.
- Xara Xtreme is one of the most badass drawing programs out there. It’s one of the only vector drawing programs where the tools behave as you would expect. The commercial version on Windows is 80 bucks and well worth it for what you can do. They also have opensourced it in hopes that at Linux and Mac version will be close to follow. Some libraries aren’t available in the free version, but it will be robust I’m sure. The fabulous thing is they have the best movies for this program. When you go to the help menu, you can permanently install a whole list of short movie tutorials on how to use it. This is exactly how software should be. It’s faster with large digital image handling than any other program. Xara
- Apple Computer oops, wrong list
- My Wife The reason my wife is third on this list is that she is my third wife. Just kidding. She is quite possibly the most hilarious person I know. No one would ever say that who knows her because she’s so quiet to everyone but me and her immediate family, but trust me there are many many layers to her, and most of them are funny. The most funny thing is she spends 5 hours a day on a computer, but hates computer, and she knows her husband has a website, but has no desire to ever go there.
- Fran Lemery When I was younger, I would never expect to have a best friend who is 35 years older than me, but I do. Fran is such a neat guy. He’s good at everything important, like building, gardening, speaking, computers, remembering names, and fine wines. He’s really wise and definitely my best friend in Kansas City. Really a cool person to know and learn from.
- Wired Magazine Years ago, I remember thinking that Wired was one of the many faux tech magazines full of computer buyer’s guide ads. Was I wrong. This magazine is perhaps the most intelligent read that a magazine can be. It’s entertaining, and full of good tech / political articles. The writers really seem to deserve to be there, as all of them are good. They even have sex articles, which rules. Seems like all their articles are free on their website too. wired.com
- My friend Susan is the reason why I finished my book. She is best wordsmith I know. Not in the form of poetry, but just being an expert in English. Her vocabulary is unmatched at the office, and I get the feeling she actually knows what she’s saying, unlike other coworkers who often misuse the big words more than I would admit to them. Susan is also a very honest person and is more funny than she gives herself credit. Actually she’s more everything than she probably will give herself credit. Yes Susan, you beat Blender on the list.persimmonsmith.com
- Blender 3D is a 3D graphics program and is completely free and open source. So you can use it, program your own version if you like. But as it is the interface is the best I’ve seen for such a detailed program. Each part is organized in panels that fit together and can be resized. An easy keystroke will pop your panel to full screen and back again. The actual purpose of the program is to create 3D models and worlds and render still images, videos, or create games or some other multimedia experience. Adobe, is just now getting into the interface design that Blender has had for years. Blender
- Mary Roach wrote the books Spook and Stiff and is such a fun person to read. Her books are entertaining and are science based, but really end up being books about adventure, culture and mystery. As she puts it, she starts her books knowing nothing of the subject. Then she takes you on her learning adventure. Mary, if you ever make it to Kansas City, we need to go to the Kona Grill or something to hang out. Mary Roach
- The Public Library can you get any better than a place that holds the information of the world that encourages you and supports you in any endeavor. Your librarians even protect your rights and do their best to make sure you have access to the free flow of information. Plus it’s fun to sit back and read / people watch, browse what other people are doing. Some libraries let you take out video games even and DVD movies are the norm now at pretty much any library. And here’s the crazy thing. You can go to the library’s website in a lot of places, and put holds on books. Then when they are available, several librarians will find your book and set it aside, and send you an email to come pick it up. Thank you Ben Franklin! my library
- Jon Stewart freaking rules. Why the heck isn’t his logic taken beyond it’s masterful comedic exploits to being applied in our lives. He is quite possibly the most important commentator today. I have no reason to watch TV news if I can download his clips off the internet. I get the important take on world news as it is. His take on the media is razor sharp.
- the guy from The STRAIGHT DOPE is another great guy. Actually come to think of it, I don’t know if he is a guy, but I’m pretty sure Cecil is always a guy. Anyway, read his site and how he answers the questions that you didn’t know you wanted answered, but were sitting in your unconscious somewhere.”
