Year / 2008

by Greg

Saturn And Mars

The Planets

I watched an episode of PBS’ Nova recently titled, “Voyage to the Mystery Moon”. It was the story of NASA’s Cassini mission to explore Saturn and land on its enormous moon, Titan. Very cool show about a pretty fascinating project. I am definitely very interested in space and space exploration.

Well, that show led me to do a bit more research on the internets, and while there, I discovered that right now (at least where we live) you can look up in the western sky, just after sunset, and see Saturn and Mars really really close together. It’s pretty cool. You should try it.

This article gives a bit more detail, but it’s basically July 9-11 that the planets will appear to be close together in the sky.

So if it’s a nice night where you are (and you’re near where we are) get out and enjoy the view!

by Greg

Faith Without Doubt

If you ask God for something specific (and do not doubt), that is faith.

If you do not receive what you asked for, but you remain unwavering in your trust of your Father, presuming that He knows better than you, and by not receiving what you asked for, you are actually better off … is that the epitome of faith? Or is it just back-door doubt?

I’m really trying to figure that out.

by Greg

Turkey Hill Ice Cream – Celebrating National Ice Cream Month

Turkey Hill Ice Cream

Just like last year, the good folks at the Turkey Hill Ice Cream blog are posting fun ice cream related stories to their blog every day during July – National Ice Cream Month. I’m not sure what the exact prizes are, but I know they pick commenters randomly and award prizes all month long. Fun stuff! So, stop by and read about ice cream, comment, and maybe get some prizes! Great ice cream, great fun!

And again, happy national ice cream month! 🙂

by Greg

Free Derek Webb Album – The Ringing Bell

If you’re a fan of Derek Webb, chances are you already have this album. But, if you’re a Derek Webb fan with very limited funds (like me) then perhaps you were waiting for something like this to come along.

I got an email from the DW camp yesterday telling me I could get the album The Ringing Bell for FREE if I just tell three friends about NoiseTrade.com, the site that is offering this free download deal. So… I gave it a try, and am enjoying my new album right now! 🙂

There are many more artists offering their music this way at the site linked above, but you can use the handy-dandy widget at the top of this post to email some friends, and get yourself the Derek Webb album in your email box. Fun!

Enjoy, and spread the word!

by Greg

Mac Trojan: Real Threat, or Website Traffic Generator?

I’m late to the party with this one, but it’s been busy around here… what can I say?

So, last week there were reports that a genuine Mac OS trojan had been discovered “in the wild” (meaning, in the real world, affecting real Mac users). I checked it out (per the link above) today and found that it’s still just a good opportunity to get some hits to your site.

The so-called “trojan” is an AppleScript file that must be downloaded, and double-clicked (opened) in order to do anything. I must admit, what it is able to do is impressive. It somehow works around the OS safeguards and is able to do some things only an administrator should do. However, it still requires user activation.

So, the Mac continues to be (by far) the safest computing platform available. I do wonder if this particular script “counts” enough for Apple to have to say there are now (1) viruses for the Mac?

(NOTE: I visited a page where Apple used to claim there were currently zero viruses for the Mac OS, and now it does not explicitly say that. Perhaps they are becoming a bit less smug about their incredible security? Perhaps.)

by Greg

Food Fest II

Food Fest II
As promised, Food Fest II took place this weekend, and the following is a brief recap of the day’s events.

The first eaters arrived around 11:00am, and much of the food was on the table, ready to be eaten! We had chips and salsa, chips and homemade Celery Seed Dip (a hit!), fresh sliced watermelon, deviled eggs, our favorite recipe potato salad, and Skyline was simmering in the crock pot! There was a big pitcher of fresh-brewed sweet tea, and some chocolate chocolate chip cookies, and I’m pretty sure there were a few other things I am forgetting!

We realized we were a tad low on the Frank’s Red Hot, so after a quick trip to the store by the Chis, the next bunch of eaters arrived and we were ready to go! I threw some burgers and hot dogs (including some Zweigles!) on the grill and we started to eating! And it really never stopped!

Shortly after the burgers and dogs were done, the deep fryer arrived (borrowed from a friend) and we got ready to cook up the wings. We did take a slight break after the first food barrage, but that was filled by snacking on all of the above, including the additions of a fun apple salad and brownies cooked in a cast-iron skillet by the second group of eaters.

We played some board games, video games, and mostly hung out and talked (all while eating of course!) There was some napping, too! 🙂 More eaters came throughout the day, including our next door neighbors. I think I counted a total of twenty peoples coming through and joining Food Fest II.

No ice cream this year, but National Ice Cream Month officially starts tomorrow. So, get ready! Thirty-one straight days of ice cream! Food Fest never stops!

Plans for Food Fest III are already underway. Check back here at GregsHead.net for details! 🙂

by Greg

Unofficial Star Trek Movie

This weekend I discovered an unofficial Star Trek movie, which was released over the internet, officially completing this month. It’s a three part series which you can watch online, produced by Renegade Studios, and actually has many familiar Star Trek actors in it, some even playing their familiar Star Trek roles.

The movie is called Of Gods and Men and was directed by Tim Russ, who played Tuvoc on Star Trek: Voyager. The story was written by two Star Trek: Deep Space Nine writers as well.

Even though you can tell it’s done on a much smaller budget, I have enjoyed what I’ve seen so far (about half way through) and wanted to spread the word. It was done, according to a wikipedia article as a “’40th anniversary gift’ from Star Trek actors to their fans” in 2006.

by Greg

NFL in Thirty-Seven

NFL FootballI checked my countdown calendar widget today and folks, believe it or not, there are only THIRTY SEVEN DAYS until NFL football begins with the Hall of Fame (pre-season) game!!! 37!!! Whoopeee!! Seriously. Can’t wait.

And the best part? I think my Bills have a very solid team to begin the year! Lots of optimism here in Western New York. Check out what I have been writing in the off-season at our Buffalo Bills Review Articles page.

Bring on NFL football!!!

by Greg

What I Know Right Now

Recently I have been trying to figure out what it is that I like to do. I have plenty to do, but in trying to simplify I have been taking inventory of what I both like to do, and do well.

Here’s what I have so far:

  • I love people. I am a people person through and through.
  • Hosting. Probably goes along with the above, but I love having people at my house, and I love serving them.
  • Food. I love to cook/bake, and from every response I’ve ever gotten from others, it would seem I’m quite good at it.
  • Writing. Really, I love to write. I think and communicate best through writing. In general, I just love words.

I’m pretty good at the design work that I do. And I’m pretty helpful to people re: computer stuff. I can also sing and play the guitar/piano pretty well. There’s some more, but that list seems to be pretty accurate.

So… a restaurant? Coffee house? Bed & Breakfast? Maybe just somehow become independently wealthy so that I can do all those things above just for fun?

… that would be cool…

This post is mostly for me, just to look back on and see what I was thinking in June of 2008. But, if you have any thoughts… you know what to do.

by Greg

The Intricacy Of Us

I recently watched a Discovery Channel show titled 2057: Future Car or something like that. It’s more than just about the cars of the future. Really it’s about life 50 years from now. Projected by scientists and theorists who feel they are on the current cutting edge of technology and such sciences.

A good portion of the show was both fascinating and scary. It relates to the post below actually. The vision the makers of this show have of the future is a very, very “connected” future. Every aspect of life is interconnected to the others via a centralized network. Everything is known about everyone. The idea is that this makes life much safer, better, but… really? I think not. Maybe that helped me want to “disconnect” (see the previous entry).

Cars that automatically correct errors of human drivers, clothes that report your vitals to doctors every three minutes or so, cameras and GPS systems tracking everyone everywhere. Yikes.

Scariness aside, one segment that caught my attention was the part about robots. The documentary makers made no excuses in saying that robots are not ready for everyday use just yet. They are really hard to make work. There has been great progress, but it has been very slow-going, and very difficult. The interesting part to me was when they were trying to just get a humanoid robot to walk, the creators said, “It’s incredible how sophisticated the human body is, even just the balance it takes to take a step.”

How incredible we are! All these brilliant minds have spent years trying to make a machine that can do what a two year old can do! Amazing. It was fun to watch. I don’t doubt that we will progress and make something that can mimic human life more and more… but God has already done that! Holy cow. He’s just amazing, and I am blown away right now at his design, creativity, and his handiwork in general.

To think that there is no Designer, seems to me you are either just not seeing what I am seeing, or denying it, or maybe just stubborn. And I’m just talking about the intricacies of the human body and how it all works together. I don’t know the complete process of how we came into being, but I have no doubt just from what I have observed that we have quite intricately & skillfully been designed.

I’m not trying to start any arguments here, but as always comments/thoughts are welcome. It was just another moment today when I thought, “How can anyone think this is a sequence of events begun by random chance?” I think some might credit a universal “Life Force” rather than a being (God), but it seems the prevailing scientific thought precludes the possibility of a Designer… and that just seems so crazy to me.

I love that we are fearfully and wonderfully made. We are just amazing.