The End by Kerry Politzer

[audio:http://www.digitalthom.com/audio/Kerry Politzer - The End-.mp3]

This is my first post using the Audio Player plugin. I was getting ready to use Ken's song in a podcast but thought I would use it as my first post as well.

Kerry's song, The End, is a great slow easy jazz tune. At first, I didn't like what I heard, and usually, when I'm previewing songs for my podcast if a song doesn't catch my ear right away I move on. But for some reason I decided to wait it out on this one. And man was I glad.

I think you'll really enjoy this track. It's one of the better tracks I've come across in some time. Thanks Kerry.

Get the MP3 here.

Buy the record here.

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Flickr and Real Estate Are A Great Pair

Yes, I'm the 50 millionth person to blog about flickr. But it won't be my last. I'm upgrading to a Pro account today. The way I see it is Flickr integrates with Wordpress, if I change web hosts, I can still have all my photos; the list just goes on.

I blogged about using Flickr and real estate here. It's been my most read post; by hundreds. I think it really is a huge way to use Flickr. There are several things you can now do with YouTube as well when it comes to real estate. Check out my first attempt at integrating a Wordpress blog as my main real estate site and Flickr. It's pretty slick. I'm starting to blog over at realtyblogging.com. Not sure what that will lead to but we'll see.

Try this... Flickr Explore. They are doing some really great things like:

• A Year Ago Today [link] as of October 2005
• The last 7 days [link]
• Geo mapping of photos [link]; great for tagging a listing (Realtors)

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Giving your all as a parent

I found this link to a story about Dick Hoyt. I've seen several news and documentary stories on the guy and his son, who is physically unable to take care of himself but seems to be very intelligent. If you're a prent, this guy puts us to shame. If we did a tenth of what this guy has done for his child imagine the relationships we would have with our children. Read the story then look at your own life.

powered by performancing firefox

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I’m selling my Dell Axim x51v

I'm selling SOLD my Dell Axim x51v. Here is a link to it on Dell's web site. It's the high end CPU model, 624Mhz with 256MB of RAM. I've had it about 9 months, hardly used, has all the original packaging, software, cables, software, and more. I'll even throw in the 512MB SD Card and the 512MB Compact Flash card.

Dell sells this unit brand new for $499. I think it's worth about $400 with the two cards and software on it. So, tell me what you are willing to pay. I'm going to be putting it on ebay soon, so, if you would like first crack at it before then, please send an email to thom DOT axim @ gmail DOT com.

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digitalthom : the music project

Ok, another project... don't tell my wife, she may just ask me to leave. But I really need to do this one. As you know, I've been trying to produce an Indie Jazz music podcast for the past several months. I really appreciate the opportunity that The Podcast Network has given me. I haven't been as consistent over the past month or so and I'm trying to get my life back on track after a major alteration.

For the first 18 years of my life I played musical instruments. Specifically, string instruments. I started playing the Violin, then the Cello, then ultimately the stand up Bass. It was the Bass that got me really excited. I got a different feeling when I played. I knew it was the one. I moved on to electric bass some time in high school, but I've had a love of the Bass ever since.

It's been about 20 years since I have actually picked up a Bass and started playing. My wife, bless her heart, bought me a new set up for Christmas last year and I've been trying to get back into it ever since. But, now I really am going to make a conscience effort to become extremely proficient at it.

The reason I mention the The Jazz Show podcast is because while finding music for the show, I have an opportunity to listen to great Jazz music. There are so many excellent musicians out there. It's what has sparked my interest to take The Music Project to the next level.

More on it as I progress.

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Writing my first book

I've been tossing around a story that I think would make a great book. The idea is pretty simple, but very emotional. However, I've decided to use the truth of the story and throw in some fiction to make it relevant to what's happening in our world today.

The title of the book came pretty quick. I'm going to call it "The Last Post". The premise is based on an actual event that took place in the desert of 29 Palms California while I was serving as a United States Marine.

I'm going to start the book on my blog thomwriting.blogspot.com. Hopefully I can get through the first chapter really quick.

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My daughter took this great picture

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Programmers are fat

Yes, we are all geek's, at least most of you reading this. And I'm here to tell you, most programmers are big. Too big. I'm one of them. If you are a hard core programmer who has been doing it for any length of time, it's conceivable you are way too big for your own good, am I right?

Here's the deal. In an effort to please our clients/employers, we sacrifice our own lives all in the name of technology. We sacrifice our health all in the name of meeting a deadline.

I know my previous words are mostly tongue in cheek, and I'm sure there are fewer overweight programmers than I make there out to be. But, looking around some of the development teams over the past few months, and then taking a really good look at myself, yeah, we're big.

See, the problem is, to much programming will lessen your life span. Want to live to see 90, program fewer hours, drink less Rock Star, go on vacation, and for crying out loud, eat a healthy diet.

["all work and no play makes Jack a dull boy"] is a great post on a similar problem.

So last night, I took the first step to reducing my overage. I got a membership at a gym. I have grandeur's of looking like my old Marine self again, along with help from these guys. I'll make a good effort (went to the gym at 6AM this morning) and hopefully, I can gain back a few years of my life.

I know this is a little off topic, but I'm genuinely concerned about my fellow geek's. Take control.

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Crappy digital pictures

I'm either a moron (a word I love to use when I describe someone who has no clue), or the camera I have just simply sucks. Here's the deal. I was taking pictures at my wife's 40th birthday party (she will kill me when she reads this), and the majority came out blurry, off color, and seemed to pick up every fleck of dust floating in the air. I was hoping it's the camera. It would b e easier to blame, but it's most likely my not understanding the way the camera works.

After I saw the pictures I took (see them here), I decided to head over to Darren Rowse web site Digital Camera Reviews. I thought maybe I was missing something. Maybe I didn't understand how to use a freakin point and shoot digital camera. The camera in question (oh, I'll get back to Darren's site in a minute) is a Casio Exilim EX-Z57, 5.0 Mega Pixel, 3x Optical. Nice camera, light, small, has a SanDisk UltraII 512MB (USB) card for memory. Large screen on the back to see the photos. But it still takes what I consider to be crappy pictures.There are a number, something like 20, condition settings available; black and white, night time, portrait, kids, sports, and so on. I typically use the indoor or outdoor setting.

Back to Darren's Digital Camera site. I searched for my camera, and no luck. He hasn't done a review and it's not in the online store. Probably because it's an older camera, two years maybe.But

But, I did find a couple of real good tutorials on his Digital Photography School blog. Like, 11 Tips for Better Candid Photography, here, (similar to the party pictures I butchered). I also found this great tutorial, Photographing people from different angles.

Anyway, after looking around, reading, and trying to figure out what the hell I'm doing wrong, I quit. It must be me. I'm going to spend the afternoon using each setting of the camera and taking pictures of the same subject.

I hope this doesn't affect my 356Photos Project. Because I want you all to see my good side.

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365 Photos Project

Not sure why I want to try this, but it seems interesting. Taking one picture of myself every day for 365 days. Can I do it? Not sure, but I'm going t try. I hope I can vary the location of the pictures I take. You can see all the photos here.

RSS feed of 365Project

Tags: 365Photos

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Why does Windows Live Writer do this?

I clicked on the Get Posting Style button when setting up a new blog account in Windows Live Writer. Then I noticed this entry title on my blog page: "Temporary Post Used For Style Detection (c560c898-8ea2-xxxx-xxxx-d25b48d206ed)" What the hell? That is totally stupid. If you're going to post something to my blog and not tell me about it, the least you can do is delete it when you are done. Doh! What if I hadn't noticed it for several days, what an oaf I would look like. That's a bug. Please fix it.

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Software Security Sucks

The reason software security sucks is because as a developer/architect/user, they mean different things to each one. As a developer, it's a pain to implement it. As an Architect, it's a pain to define it. As a user, I don't really give two cents unless it prevents me from doing my job.

Now, I guess I should back down from post title. But it's true. Developing and designing applications with security in mind is a very daunting task. In my opinion, and of course, it's all mine, web applications seem to provide the biggest scare to employers and users. Desktop application for some reason gives everyone a sense of security. Could it be that it's primarily self contained?

There have been hundreds of white papers, blog posts and books written about software security. A company I worked for not long ago, which sells security software, had two security experts on staff. Guys who all they do is help define the security concerns for the architecture of the software.

[just had a thought about testing and security, next post]

I know this, in the end, when it comes right down to it, most companies will bend and forgo any security in software, especially if their current development staff doesn't understand the necessity of security. Sure they may learn some, but it will be weak at best.

OK, I admit it. I'm one of those guys. As I was looking at a project I'm working on today, I was a little stumped as to where the security holes were. Or were there even any? As the leader of an enormous one man operation, I should know this stuff. So, I set off to learn more about the security of software development.

Tags: Software+Development

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Yes, Office 2.0 is for me

I wanted to jump in on this discussion, mainly because I am very passionate about these Web 2.0 apps.

Honestly, I don't care if they are aptly named "Web 2.0", or Web 3.0 or Webbies or what ever. What I do care about is they are accessible from pretty much anywhere I can get an Internet connection.

As I posted here, I'm really open to these applications. As stated in Chris's post (here), not everyone needs every feature of a wordprocessor like Microsoft Word. In fact, I don't even need all the features in a Google Docs. But I like the interface, the ability to use several document formats, and I'm sure as Google goes along, it will get better. And I'm willing to look past it.

I don't think any of these applications are ready for full Enterprise deployments, nor do I think they were intended as such. As an Enterprise user, I would feel very frustrated knowing that I must be connected to the Internet to use my wordprocessor or spreadsheet. But if you don't care or need to, then yeah, these Web 2.0 apps are fantastic.

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October Breast Cancer Awareness

I added a cool little badge to the right that links to the National Breast Cancer Awareness site. Please take a moment and visit the site to learn more about this disease.

Over the past several years I have lost several members of my family to cancer. It's a devastating disease. It affects more than the person who's sick. Recently a good friend of mine lost a brother to cancer. When I called to convey my condolences, I asked what I could do for him and his Family. His answer... make people aware of cancer, and do all you can to help find a cure. That's all I want. I don't want another family to go though what we have.

I agree. So, I am doing my part to try and help find a cure for something that is so devastating.

I also want to recognize that several of my Family members are stricken with Multiple Sclerosis. This is an equally debilitating and deadly disease.

Please consider donating to any charity that is dedicated to fighting and finding a cure for these deadly diseases.

Image from Sarah Ballard

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Tracking my development time

I know there are probably a thousand utilities to track timed events. In the case where I need to track how much time I spend working on a clients project, I found a great little application called TimeLeft. Why do I like it? It's small. I can keep it running on the top of my windows and it doesn't get in the way. I can take a quick glance and see where I'm at. I can quickly pause, or all together stop. Again, there a probably a thousand different utilities I could have used, but this one really fits my needs. Thought I would share. 

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WriteToMyBlog, easy and works great

I have been using WriteToMyBlog the last couple of days. It's a great little app, web based, supports several blogging API's. Here are a couple of my quick assessments:

1. It seems to have a lot of

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A theme that finally works

After dinking around with themes for the past oh, 3 months, or for ever, I have finally found one that I like and seems to work really well with Wordpress Widgets. I'll keep tweaking the interface, but as it stands, it really works well.

Tags: Site+News

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Back in the “IT” world

OK, so I thought I would try something different. And I did... sort of. I was never 100% out of the IT world. I was doing contract programming. And now... that's what I'm doing again, full time.

I guess it's in my blood. It's what I really want to be doing. There are a lot of variations of things I want to do, ideas I have. The down time gave me an opportunity to look at a lot of things.

Tags: Technology

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