A Neat Feature

Google made a really neat tool for Firefox. I don't find any of the other tools all that useful, but the Autolink feature is fantastic. Basically it will transform a street address into a map link on Google Maps. It saves you a couple of clicks. It is not always perfect at finding the address on a page, but it works fairly well. Click here.

General Conference Trip for our Youth

This past weekend, we took 23 members of our youth up to Utah (yes, 10 hours each way in vans with these kids. . .they were actually pretty good) for General Conference. Some of the youth had never been to Utah and many had never seen the changing of the aspen. We saw several sessions of conference in the Conference Center. We also met with Elder Coleman of the Seventy, who was the mission president in Arcadia at the time that we were baptized. We met with Ster's Dad, Roger, and sisters, Nicki, Cori and Ashlie, and it was great to see all of them. We took the youth to Cove Fort, the Beehive House, the Museum of Church History, for a brunch up Provo Canyon, had pizza with the Winegar's at their Gateway Mall apartment, and then had dinner with former ward members in Cedar City on the way home. It was a great trip and the youth loved Utah.

San Fran might be in for a Treat

It is possible that the wonderful city of San Francisco will be wrapped in a cozy wi-fi blanket provided by none other than Google. They have a plan to cover 95% of the city with free wi-fi. So how is Google going to pay for this? Some speculate (and I agree) that there will be ads specific to your location in the city. So basically the ads that are on the side of a page are specific not only to your likes but also your specific location. Pretty cool I think. Take a look at the article.

Are Killer Dolphins in the Wild?

I thought this story was pretty funny. It sounds pretty true, but I will leave that up to you when you read it. I guess there is some speculation that there are dolphins equipped with firearms of some type that have been trained by the military. Give it a read and let me know what you think.

Sights from East Lansing

Today (after MSU's huge victory over Illinois) we went to the Fenner nature center. It was a fun place to visit and has tons of walking trails. We strolled along a couple of them and saw a replica of a totem poll from the pacific northwest. Over the summer there was an outbreak of a small silk worm type creature. The branch covered in silk is representative of what we see around here. The days are wonderful now, with temps in the mid 70's. We are starting to see a few leaves shed their green color in exchange for a brighter one.

Lion King

Megan and James went on an early morning bike ride to buy pre-sale tickets of the Broadway show "The Lion King." The first 100 people to purchase tickets were getting a free CD. Not wanting to pass up this "value" we set the alarm for 5:50 am on Saturday. Unfortunately, other people had camped the night there so we did not make it in time to get the free CD, but we did get tickets for Valentine's Day and a free Lion King t-shirt. We are both very excited. The little creature in the picture was a muskrat we say on our bike ride home.

Opera is now FREE!

The Internet browser Opera is now free. There has always been a free version of this fantastic browser but it had banner ads in it. Now the banner free version (the version that used to cost money) is 100% free. I have used this browser and find it to be very similar to Firefox. I am probably going to stick with FF because there are some extensions that I love, but this is another great way to ditch IE! Click here.

The Firefox Google Toolbar is now ready to go

The Google Firefox toolbar is now out of beta and has some great features. I personally like the Autolink tool that allows you to transform any address on a web page into a link to a map. There are other handy things as well. Check it out.

Talk like a Pirate

September 19th is international "talk like a pirate day." So feel free to call all your friends mates and say Ahoy to everyone. Also it is Bob Finlay's B-day. A big Arrrrr to him!

Weekend pictures

It was the 10th annual Duarte Parade and picnic this weekend. Our ward carried the 66 X 35 foot flag again and as usual, the crowds really liked it. I also am sending pictures of our two new Siamese cats, Tony and BJ. They are brothers about 6 months old. In the final picture, it is Margaret standing next to a guy, David Ghorl, that is part of Foo Fighters, a band that was making a music video in our city. Kids tell me they know who he is but I don't have a clue. Also, it was my Mom's big anniversary celebration at her church. . .100 year anniversary. She was in charge of it and even had Cardinal Mahoney as the priest that said mass. The dinner afterwards that she planned was great. . .had about 1000 people there. Have a great week everybody. Love, Margaret See James. . .you knew that I could do it.

The 3 Amigos

This is a picture of the "3 amigos" the last time they were together before Marshall moved to Burlington, Iowa to start a new job as a pastor at a church. These are the 3 that helped to make the vision of a $44 million bond issue for our schools a reality. . .all students now and in the future will benefit from their vision and hard work. Thanks again to these hardworking school board members, past and current.

Things not to do

If I continue to do intelligent things as I did tonight, this column will continue on the blog. I now sit on on the couch in great pain as I fell off the balcony in an attempt to see if the door was open (I forgot my keys earlier and was trying to find a way in). Anyway, BYU won big time on Saturday, Michigan lost to ND, and so I am happy. Pictures to come.

River Trail

James and Megan took a walk today along the river trail. It was really beautiful! We saw lots of interesting critters while walking including a large snapping turtle. It was buried in the mud with just its head poking out waiting for some unsuspecting fish to swim by. We also saw many crayfish which James wanted to catch and send back to the lab at BYU. Maybe another day.

Kibaki Having Lunch

Normally Kibaki is a very shy young lady while she is eating. However, the other day we used some tweezers to shake her food a little and she really got aggresive. She struck at the pinky like a flash. She just started to eat right where we put her down instead of in her normal tupperware feeding tub. Thought you might all enjoy this pic.

The New iTunes

There is a new version of iTunes that was released. Most of the changes are small, but it is best to keep updated with the latest version. For those of you who are not doing the podcast thing yet this would be a great way to start. Enjoy the digital music revolution. Click here.

Google Earth Update

Yesterday a new version of Google Earth was released. I downloaded it and there are a couple of new features that are useful. Most of the chages make the navigation and looks better. Google reports that the streaming of images is better now as well. If you have dial up internet you are out of luck still but I think this program is reason enough to go high speed :). Download the installer (just click the normal download link) and it will install over an older version that you have. There is no need to uninstall any older versions. Click here and let the fun begin!

Google's Future Plans???

CNN wrote an article about the future of Google. Is it really possible (and a good idea) for Google to pay for wi-fi for everyone in America? I seriously doubt that this will ever come to pass because ISPs in the USA have a strong grip on the public (try getting someone to drop AOL). On the other had I think it would be handy to be able to read my e-mail while filling up with gas in the middle of LA. Click here for the full article.

James is now Official

Today at the CVM James received his official badge. Basically these are the keys to the kingdom at the CVM. All he has to do is hold it up to any door in the hospital and he is in. So if he has the urge to hunt for the styloid process of the ulna at 2 a.m. in the dissection lab, he can. Oh the joy!

The Best way to Fold a Shirt

Megan and James found a fun way to fold laundry quickly. It is Japanese we think. There are some simple instructions for doing it and there is also a video link on the page for those who have high-speed internet. Click here.

Ride Along the Grand River

Megan and I went on a fun bike ride yesterday. It was fun to see a new part of the city. The trail is along the Grand River and the Red Cedar River. Also along this trail is the Potter Park Zoo which is Lansing's local zoo. We are going to have to check that out sometime.