Stephen’s Blog

I have owned a Kindle since September 2008 when I received it as a combined birthday gift. I have used it in fits and spurts. Not long after I got it I loaded it with numerous books from Project Gutenberg and I was in paradise. This condition persisted for a while but eventually it faded. As a result there have been times during the past year and a half that my kindle has collected dust. I feel that a big reason for this is that the time I am able to spend on leisure reading is variable. Most of the reading that I do on a regular basis is of the non-fiction technical variety.

Unfortunately when I first got the Kindle technical publishers were a little behind in providing Kindle friendly formats. This has changed as the market has become more mature with new e-readers flooding the market. Although my kindle is very much outdated by the plethora of new competitors I feel like my use of it is just now really hitting its stride. Every day more publishers are making the transition and I can see the future when dead tree books will be a luxury item.

Speaking of dead tree books, my new favorite book store is Half Priced Books. Thanks to this wonderful store Colin and I have been reading through the Hardy Boys. We finished the first three books and are working on the fifth. We couldn’t find the forth at our local HPB, but did find it while we were in Austin for Christmas. Colin has really, really enjoyed these and I look forward to finishing the series with him.

As the second full week of 2010 approaches I am still trying to cope with the fact that 2009 is no more. As I look back I have to say that the highlight of 2009 was running the Oklahoma City Race for the Cure 5k with Amber. Most of the year went by in a blur as usual.

So much has changed, but too much has stayed the same. Not that 2009 was an unproductive year, but I feel that it was a year of traveling on gravel. With that said I hope to be more productive in 2010 and I look forward to another blessed year.

It has been a while since I updated my site and I decided I would kick things back off with a post on what I am thankful for at this juncture in my life.

First and foremost I am thankful for a loving and merciful God. Eph 2:4-5. I am thankful for a wife who is beyond compare. She is my oasis. I am also thankful for the blessings that are Colin and Kate. Without fail they bring a smile to my face every day. I am thankful for all of my family, far and wide.

I am thankful for my job and all that it allows me to do. I am thankful for those who have come before me and those who shall come after. May God continue to bless us and may he grant us the wisdom to see the bounty of his blessing.

This is just a post as a reminder to myself. When using the built-in ftp client in Ciscos IOS if you are having problems with it try “debug ip ftp”. Also if you are filtering connections to your ftp server by ip address you will probably need specify the source interface with “ip ftp source-interface interface”.

I just downloaded the Windows 7 beta (x64) and so far I am impressed. The only thing that hasn’t just worked 100% out of the box on my Dell D630 was the video. I downloaded and installed the 64 bit Vista video driver for my video card. After a reboot I was greeted with some native resolution goodness.

I then proceeded to download the Windows Live Essentials Beta and here I am blogging from Windows Live Writer.