So what has happened since thanksgiving? Hmmmm... work is going ok, selling lots of stuff on ebay. The ebay thing is getting old, but we do need to move the stuff, and it is my job, so that is that. The boss is out of town tomorrow through end of the year, so hopefully I will catch up on all the little things that haven't been getting done. Not that it is huge, but I have little things I would like to implement that I haven't had time to work on...

I have a website project that I need to get working on... It is a site for a company that does something (I honestly am not sure what) but I am hoping to have the skeleton of the site done soon. There are some admin pages to control the content, so that will be kinda cool to work on.

Car related... the Jetta hasn't been touched, but the Suzuki Throttle Bodies came. Those are cool. I need to order the standalone engine management too. Oh and start building the engine. I have been thinking about painting the car myself, although we need a bigger compressor for that. The Audi is doing fine. Al got me a great deal on the AC compressor that I need, so that will be fixed by summer. I also put snow tires on the Camry, although I didn't replace the valve stems, so they leak air. awesome. Now I have to pay to get them fixed since we are driving to detroit this weekend and I am not risking that...

Mason related... I will post more on his blog, but he is doing good, although nothing super notable. He is smiling more, which is cool, but it is usually when we engage him. Soon it will be in general, which will be neat. He had some shots the other day, but he did quite well, barely cried and was fine since then. I am still waiting for him to be more exciting. It will come quickly.

Christmas is NEARLY here, which is kinda freaking me out cause I am not ready. We put the tree up, and there are pics posted of course... I also built shelves into the wall, which I still need to sand and touch up, but they came out pretty nice. I like them. Pretty modern looking.

I haven't got my shopping done, which sucks cause I haven't had time to think about what to get people. Time is slim now. And I am getting late in the season to shop online as I usually do. Grrrrr.

The xbox is cool. NES and SNES and Genesis games are cool. Old. But cool.

So there are more pics of Mason that everyone should check out. We are ending month 2. Word. He rules.

The first cooler part is the xbox media center, XBMC. It it basically a fancy media launchpad. Videos I have downloaded or have on disc. MP3s. Pictures. I can load all those on the xbox or access my computers on the network from the xbox and watch those on the big screen. Slick. No more watching dumb videos on the laptop. Now I can watch dumb videos on the big screen easily. I could have hooked up the laptop to the projector, but that is too much work.

The second cooler part is emulators. All the old video games I had played as a kid I can get running on the xbox. It rules. Of course I only play games I own. But it is fun to relive those old games. It really drives home how much video games have changed in such a short period of time. Play mario brothers. Then play GTA:San Andreas and the level of involvement is so much more. The free roaming ability, the non player characters, the options for the user. It is great, and is much more enjoyable then constantly running to the right side of the screen. They are more complex, and some would argue unnecessarily violent, but that is a conversation for anther time. Lets agree they are WAY more kick ass today.

So I would recommend all you xbox owners, breath some new life into your xbox. Order up a chip and play around. It is pretty cool.

this weekend rebecca took mason to the burbs with her and they went to get paper for the birth announcements. They done chose good stuff. I went out the garage with dylan to hang out and work on cars. In typical Dylan/Bryan fashion, we spent more time driving around and eating then working, but it was a nice break none the less. We got work done on the rabbit, I cleaned out the Honda, reseated the stereo, and finally got the CD changer magazine out (rebecca hasn't seen those CDs in a long time). Then we picked up Sarah and went back to our house.

We hung out a bit, then Dylan and I went to pickup Robs as well as Mr. Salsa and Thai. We all hung out at the house for a bit, it was nice. We ate at the table. It was cool. In hindsight, it is really funny. Like we haven't ever had that many people over and eaten at the table. I think we should have more things like that. Not even dinner parties, but just people over and then we eat. Perhaps we could throw in a game of some kind as well. I love Cranium. That could rule. I may be on to something here. I need a card table or something though if we are going to play around the couch. or a coffee table. hmmmmmmmmm....

We also sold the Honda to Dylan for Sarah's folks, so that car is no longer in our arsenal.

Sunday we stayed in for the most part. I ran a few errands. I installed the timer control for the front porch light. It is pretty neat. It occupies the place where the switch was and it is fully programmable as well as has a full look up table for sunrise/sunsets. I have it set to on at sunset and off at sunrise. It is pretty cool.

Monday I installed the projector to the wall and set that up. I forgot how nice it is to have a huge TV and video games. I played some Burnout-Takedown until Rebecca got annoyed. It was dope. The xbox mod chips come this week too, and I picked up a 160gb HD for it. Micheal and I are going to mod them up and I am all over installing xbox media center on mine. It will make watching all the tv and videos I have on the computer way easier. It will be nice. And I love tinkering with things.

We also stopped by the wabansia house and saw the kittens. Damn kittens are cool. They are so playful and entertaining. Michael needs to take more pictures. Michael's dad built this incredible cat castle. it is insane. HUGE! totally cool, although it makes them look kinda dorky, but that is certainly ok with me. It would actually get bonus points in my book!

Mason is doing great, check his blog for more updates. He is still eating and sleeping and pooping, but he is awake more now than ever. He is also a bit fussier, not such that we can't get him to be quiet, but it is still kinda annoying. He still grunts and groans as he tries to move around and use his muscles and whatnot. It is funny. But you can tell his vision is improving and he can focus better, which is neat. His dexterity is also improved, as he now actually will hold onto things, like a blanket, etc. It is cute.

I am sure there are other things that have happened, but I forget things.

Tonight we are going over to Robyn's to see the new place, have dinner, hangout, etc. It is gonna rule. Mason will get to see a new place and new cats.

By Steven Johnson, Steven Johnson's "Everything Bad Is Good For You: How Today's Popular Culture Is Actually Making Us Smarter" was published by Riverhead Books in May.

Dear Sen. Clinton:

ADVERTISEMENT
I'm writing to commend you for calling for a $90-million study on the effects of video games on children, and in particular the courageous stand you have taken in recent weeks against the notorious "Grand Theft Auto" series.

I'd like to draw your attention to another game whose nonstop violence and hostility has captured the attention of millions of kids — a game that instills aggressive thoughts in the minds of its players, some of whom have gone on to commit real-world acts of violence and sexual assault after playing.

I'm talking, of course, about high school football.

I know a congressional investigation into football won't play so well with those crucial swing voters, but it makes about as much sense as an investigation into the pressing issue that is Xbox and PlayStation 2.

Your current concern is over explicit sex in "Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas." Yet there's not much to investigate, is there? It should get rated appropriately, and that's that. But there's more to your proposed study: You want to examine how video games shape children's values and cognitive development.

Kids have always played games. A hundred years ago they were playing stickball and kick the can; now they're playing "World of Warcraft," "Halo 2" and "Madden 2005." And parents have to drag their kids away from the games to get them to do their algebra homework, but parents have been dragging kids away from whatever the kids were into since the dawn of civilization.

So any sensible investigation into video games must ask the "compared to what" question. If the alternative to playing "Halo 2" is reading "The Portrait of a Lady," then of course "The Portrait of a Lady" is better for you. But it's not as though kids have been reading Henry James for 100 years and then suddenly dropped him for Pokemon.

Another key question: Of all the games that kids play, which ones require the most mental exertion? Parents can play this at home: Try a few rounds of Monopoly or Go Fish with your kids, and see who wins. I suspect most families will find that it's a relatively even match. Then sit down and try to play "Halo 2" with the kids. You'll be lucky if you survive 10 minutes.

The great secret of today's video games that has been lost in the moral panic over "Grand Theft Auto" is how difficult the games have become. That difficulty is not merely a question of hand-eye coordination; most of today's games force kids to learn complex rule systems, master challenging new interfaces, follow dozens of shifting variables in real time and prioritize between multiple objectives.

In short, precisely the sorts of skills that they're going to need in the digital workplace of tomorrow.

Consider this one fascinating trend among teenagers: They're spending less time watching professional sports and more time simulating those sports on Xbox or PlayStation. Now, which activity challenges the mind more — sitting around rooting for the Packers, or managing an entire football franchise through a season of "Madden 2005": calling plays, setting lineups, trading players and negotiating contracts? Which challenges the mind more — zoning out to the lives of fictional characters on a televised soap opera, or actively managing the lives of dozens of virtual characters in a game such as "The Sims"?

On to the issue of aggression, and what causes it in kids, especially teenage boys. Congress should be interested in the facts: The last 10 years have seen the release of many popular violent games, including "Quake" and "Grand Theft Auto"; that period has also seen the most dramatic drop in violent crime in recent memory. According to Duke University's Child Well-Being Index, today's kids are less violent than kids have been at any time since the study began in 1975. Perhaps, Sen. Clinton, your investigation should explore the theory that violent games function as a safety valve, letting children explore their natural aggression without acting it out in the real world.

Many juvenile crimes — such as the carjacking that is so central to "Grand Theft Auto" — are conventionally described as "thrill-seeking" crimes. Isn't it possible that kids no longer need real-world environments to get those thrills, now that the games simulate them so vividly? The national carjacking rate has dropped substantially since "Grand Theft Auto" came out. Isn't it conceivable that the would-be carjackers are now getting their thrills on the screen instead of the street?

Crime statistics are not the only sign that today's gaming generation is doing much better than the generation raised during the last cultural panic — over rock 'n' roll. Math SAT scores have never been higher; verbal scores have been climbing steadily for the last five years; nearly every indicator in the Department of Education study known as the Nation's Report Card is higher now than when the study was implemented in 1971.

By almost every measure, the kids are all right.

Of course, I admit that there's one charge against video games that is a slam dunk. Kids don't get physical exercise when they play a video game, and indeed the rise in obesity among younger people is a serious issue. But, of course, you don't get exercise from doing homework either.

Saturday I did laundry and cleaning and other boring household crap. I dropped rebecca off at the metra and I DID pick up my projector though... as fedex left it at my office after I left on friday... I is very nice. We put it in place of michael's and it is brighter and a bit more crisp... I can't complain by any means. We can use it with many of the lights on. I had to test it by playing GT4 you know, just to make sure it worked. It seems to be ok, more testing required. (We did surpass 50% completion though).

We also had a prenatal appointment with Caroline and Jaren saturday afternoon in the burbs. We went to rebecca's folks house, had tacos. I like tacos. They were good. I need to do that more often. The prenatal appointment went well, heart beat is all good. We also talked lots about doctors, etc with them and it was a great chance for rebecca's folks to get their questions answered about how this is all gonna go down. Baby is doing well, we can feel it moving and kicking nearly every day now. It is pretty dope.

We drove the audi a lot this weekend and it is kinda annoying that the AC is broken... but what can you do... grrr. Stupid part is $1097 from the dealer. Bastards.

Sunday was again stay in and lazy. It was nice. I can't complain. We watched Haute Tension on DVD... it was kinda weird. More horror than thriller, but I thought it was good. All the shots are really dark. Kinda creepy. But I enjoyed it. Rebecca didn't, and the baby was moving around alot. That was interesting.

Monday we went out to my parents place and rebecca's parents met us up there. We went over to Babies 'R' Us and registered for the baby showers. Picking out baby stuff is fun. We picked out a bunch of stuff. You can see the stuff here. You should all buy us stuff.

We BBQed a bit after the torrential downpour that came through and then watched the fireworks. The rain was great, I love big rain. Anything red on doppler is good by me. The BBQ was good (go fake hotdogs!). The fireworks were launched from the other side of the lake due to fire concerns with all the dry stuff, which turned out to be a non-issuee due to the rain... but because of that it was slightly less than perfect, but not bad at all.

I was walking around the house before dinner and was looking at Kevin's car... and noticed a tire was low... and upon closer inspection, had been driven SO low for SO long that it had actually cracked the rubber on the sidewall and was likely to become a big problem REALLY soon... so we swapped his spare... Then came the revisit to the question of does kevin need rims... honestly, I want to push the rim thing cause I want him to get more into the car. But he has destroyed nearly EVERY RIM HE HAS EVER HAD, so I am not sure that is a good idea overall. We'll see.

So overall, very nice weekend. I didn't get any packing done, but I'll deal with that later. I didn't get any flooring or paint picked out, but I'll get that done later. I guess.

back to work...

toca2 is more realistic, and it is more fun, and competitive... but it isn't as big as gt4. it is lots of fun on the projector. I need to buy a projector.