by Greg

Speaking Engagement: Village Bookmarket

I’ll be talking about my book, A Journey Shared as well as self-publishing options in general at our local bookstore, the Village Bookmarket, tomorrow at 10:00am. If anyone in the Palmyra area would like to come join us, should be about an hour-long event, and I plan to really just field questions and see which way those attending would like it to go. I’ll talk about A Journey Shared, as well as my other two books. I’ll talk about this blog, and blogging in general. I’ll talk about social networking sites a bit probably, and I’ll talk about various self-publishing options if there are any there who would like to know such things.

It’s pretty neat that I have been able to publish three books over the past couple years, and it will be fun to talk about that process, and the content of the books as well. Since you are here reading what I write, I thought you may enjoy joining me for that fun!

Maybe see you there. And, if you didn’t know I had published three books, then… my page header and sidebar are not working… 🙂 You can click here to see all three books at Amazon.com… that’d work, too.

by Greg

Target Practice

Kirstie - the live targetToday just after lunch, Ian and Alex were testing out a new Nerf dart gun set. It apparently includes a vest with little targets on it that presumably one or both combatants would don as they battle it out.

In today’s test however, Kirstie was wearing the vest. (And the cool, protective googles.) And she was stationary.

(That was the best part!)

So, big brother Ian was taking shot after shot at his 5 year old sister, while she just stood there and took it, giggling each time a dart would hit the target. (Other big brother Alex was collecting darts and reloading his older brother.)

One of many funny moments in the Campbell household. It’s certainly never dull around here. 🙂

by Greg

GregsApples.com … is back? (Sort of.)

Gregs Apple (and more!) Store
Hey folks! Just wanted to give you a quick heads up. I was reminded today that I used to be an Authorized Apple Business Agent, for which Apple paid me a commission on any sales I generated for them. That was neat. Then I was an Apple Business Store Affiliate, similar deal, just not working directly for Apple. THEN, I actually worked for Apple as a trainer at the local Apple Retail Store… which was awesome! But… I didn’t have enough time to give them. Too bad.

So now… I decided to use my Amazon Associates account to make a new little “GregsApples” store (though I have let that domain expire…)

If you are into that sort of thing (Apple, iPod, iPhone, Mac, etc) and you’d like to support GregsHead.net and the Campbell family (well, at least, a little…) I’d invite you to check it out! It’s pretty cool actually. Like my own little mini-Amazon … and only Apple stuff!

Click the banner above to visit, or it will be in the sidebar even after this particular post gets pushed off the front page of my blog … or, here’s the direct link:

http://astore.amazon.com/bwdapple-20

Check it out and let me know what you think. If you have any Apple/Mac questions, I’m pretty good at answering those, too 🙂

by Greg

WWDC Kicks Off: No Jobs, But Plenty of Fun

As expected, Steve Jobs did not make an appearance at the latest Apple keynote. However, many product updates did take center stage!

No time to detail it, but here are some highlights:

  • New iPhone: 3G(s) (“s” stands for “speed”, says Apple)
  • Same prices, but current iPhone (3G, 8GB model) will sell for $99!
  • Tons of cool new iPhone apps for the app store, involving the new features of iPhone OS 3.0 (several with GPS locating/mapping stuff)
  • Mac OS 10.6 (Snow Leopard) was covered, will be released in Sep. $129 as usual, but will be $29 for current Leopard users! Crazy.
  • Other interesting tidbits: Will take up 6GB less space on your computer, uses 64-bit processing much better, everything is just faster.
  • Speaking of faster, new MacBook lineup announced: Featuring, new 13″ MacBook Pro, 500GB 7200rpm hard drives, unibody design allowing for 1,000 battery charges (normally about 300). Processors up to 3.06GHz. 8GB RAM. Oh, and starting at $1699.

There’s more, and in previous years, I would elaborate a bit more, but for now, check out Macworld’s coverage. They do a good job. 🙂

And, go visit your local Apple store.

by Greg

Humble Scientists

We received a complimentary copy of the latest edition of Creation magazine (the Answers in Genesis folks) and I have been perusing it the past couple days. I really enjoy the subject matter they cover, and I believe that my worldview is similar enough to theirs that I can mostly relate to what they are presenting, so it’s generally a good read.

What makes me sad is that as I read it, I sense the same (or greater?) arrogance that I would get from any staunch “Darwinist” in their writings. Their conclusions—really just most of the words they choose to use—drip with arrogance. Their angle seems mostly to tear down the “prevailing” scientific thought of the day, which seems to begin with the parameter that there is no God (or supernatural) and so all of life happened on its own.

As I said, the arrogance permeates all of science, no matter which fundamental worldview you happen to hold to. Whether you feel the evidence points to evolution and all of those conclusions, or a creator and his creation and all of those conclusions (or somewhere in between I suppose?) why the need for such definitive certainty? In most cases, we just can’t know everything. We know what we know now, and usually that’s only a part anyway.

So I was just thinking, wouldn’t it be cool if there was some organization for humble scientists? Scientists who pledged no allegiance to a theory or a doctrine or, even worse, a financial underwriter or a political party? How great would that be to just have intellectually honest investigation of the facts, based on current theories, and then a neutral (although, can never be completely neutral) presentation of the current conclusions from the current studies? What could be wrong with that?

If I was a scientist, in the scientist community… that’s what I would do.

by Greg

Tips Should Be Tips!

Today as we ate at a sit-down restaurant for the second day in a row (may be a record!) I found myself in the familiar place of attempting to figure out what a “fair” tip would be for our waitress. Generally I do a few dollars, which is probably about the percentage it is “supposed” to be.

But this time I had to pause for a few reasons. First, we have spent a bunch of money this weekend on home school books and other supplies, so, was considering the overall funding. Then, the waitress wasn’t really all that helpful. Aren’t you supposed to tip for excellent service?

That’s when I realized what a crazy system the whole “tipping” thing has become!!

Listen, people… TIPS are BONUS money given for doing a GOOD job!!! They are not a requirement. They can’t be. Then they are not tips!

But, I know. Part of the brokenness of the system is that the employing restaurant does not pay their servers a fair wage. They pay less because they realize that “tips” have become a “required” expense for those doing the dining. So they pay less? How is that fair? Doesn’t make any sense… they should get paid to do the work they are doing!

Some places even have a forced gratuity (for large parties, etc). Come on!!

Hmmph! I am pretty close to deciding to never tip a waiter/waitress/server again. If I’m forced to pay a predetermined amount… how is that a “tip”? How do I get to choose to show someone I appreciated their service with a little bonus? I don’t!

So, that’s my rant for the day. TIPS should be TIPS!

🙂

by Greg

Time Flies When You’re Not Driving a Bus

I realized today just how long it’s been since I drove a school bus.

Jen & I spent a decent chunk of this day driving through the streets of Fairport, NY. It was their annual Canal Days festival, and we were privileged to have a babysitter caring for our kids, so we decided to check it out.

First, we drove through the various side streets of the village looking for a street-side parking spot. This was an adventure! Canal Days are quite well attended on sunny, 75º days! We managed to find a spot, and eventually made our way to the festival.

We enjoyed the fact that we had no kids in tow (AND the fact that I got some Perry’s White Lightning ice cream at a little ice cream shop there!!) – and we enjoyed a nice leisurely browsing of the library book sale. But, overall, not really our thing. (Lots of people, a little too hot…) So, we moved on.

Due to modified traffic patterns caused by all the people, vendors, and other fun stuff from the event, we took a few side streets that I knew of from my bus driving days. As we traveled the “back” roads, I recounted a story or two of my time as a Fairport schools bus driver (bus #190!). I told Jen about the places I stopped, the kids I remembered picking up, and even the long break I had at one of the schools we passed today.

Then all of a sudden it hit me.

None – not one – of the kids I drove on those school bus routes … are still in school!!!

Holy cow. How can that be?? But it’s true. I drove their busses the 1996-1997 school year. That is 13 school years ago. Thirteen! So, even the kindergartners I drove… they have graduated. (Or maybe are this year, I suppose.)

It doesn’t seem that long. It really doesn’t.

The older I get the more I realize that the old people before me were right. Time just keeps going faster, and faster. It really does. Before you know it, it’s been 13 years, and all the kids you drove to and from school are too old to be in school.

Craziness!

by Greg

Glenn Beck is a Lying Sack of Dog Mess

I saw this video online yesterday (it’s actually kind of long) and just thought it was… weird. The events that precipitated this investigative report were quite weird as well. Talk show guy Glenn Beck was accused of being a “lying sack of dog mess” by Whoopi Goldberg on her TV show, The View. And, the crazy part, it’s all about a meaningless event.

And yet, still quite fascinating. Enjoy.

by Greg

CraigsList or ebay? Pros and Cons

Jen & I both recently had a bit of success listing and selling stuff on CraigsList, and following that, a friend asked how I chose CraigsList over ebay. “Well,” began my reply, “I suppose there are a number of reasons to use either,” I explained.

And so there are. I figured it might even be fun to post those here! This might not be interesting to some of you, and it’s not typically the sort of content I post here, but figured it might be useful to some. So, here goes!

CraigsList.org

PROS CONS
You get the full payment, no fees. People like to “haggle” on CraigsList, no one thinks the asking price is the actual price.
Usually no shipping involved as CraigsList is a localized service. Smaller marketplace as CraigsList is mainly a local listing.
Instant gratification! Almost always a CraigsList sale is made (or not made!) within hours of listing.
Generally, fewer fraudulent transactions here. It’s “policed” by the CraigsList “community”, and the transactions seem to be a bit more “personal”.
Nicer for larger items that you don’t want to figure out how to ship!

ebay.com

PROS CONS
DEFINITELY the marketplace. You reach the world with your listing. There are fees, fees everywhere!
More reliable transactions… when you sell something, you can usually expect prompt payment. Shipping is involved. Figuring out costs, and then, actually shipping.
More anonymous transactions in a way… some people prefer this. Mentioned above, ebay is replete with Phishing scams, and other monkey business. (Of course, they have an entire fraud dept. to handle this, but it’s still much more prevalent.)
ebay has been around, so kinda back to marketplace, the buyers and sellers know first to look there, and second that the transaction can mostly be trusted.
PayPal integration is nice.
Even with associated fees, can often make more money on “sellable” items here, as there is the larger marketplace.

So, as you can see… it mostly comes down to: ebay = marketplace, and craigslist = faster/simpler transaction. At least, that’s how it’s been for us.

In fact… it’s just about time to list some more stuff right now…