Archive for February, 2006

Builder Approved By Bank

// February 25th, 2006 // No Comments » // Life

Despite dire warnings from our banker that the builder approval process could take weeks and that we were risking a lot waiting this long to get them approved, our builders’ subcontractors all answered their phones on the first try and gave our builder the thumbs up, so our bank approved our builder within 3 hours of submitting their packet to the bank. We sure put a lot of sweat into worrying about that and we’re glad it’s behind us.

We’re having our architect make some minor changes to cut costs – mostly reducing the excessive lighting we added. We should have our contract done within a week or two and be able to close and start building within 30 days!

Switching To Mac

// February 17th, 2006 // No Comments » // Technology

Apple LogoAfter years of ogling my friends Macs, I’m finally making the switch.

Now I won’t have to listen anymore to friends who say, “You know, if you were on a Mac that would be easier/simpler/work better.”

Right now I’m leveraging the cheapest entry point for switching – the Mac Mini. I also got a 20% discount on a new Dell 20″ LCD flat-panel display. The switch was made even easier because of an early birthday gift from my wife’s always-generous mother. All said, we’re completing the switch for about $300 out-of-pocket. Can’t beat that!

My Mini should arrive today, and with it one giant leap towards computing nirvana.

What Can The NSA Do?

// February 2nd, 2006 // No Comments » // Security & Privacy

Very interesting white paper detailing some of the capabilities of the NSA, according to the ACLU.

Read more at ACLU.org