Thought and Freedom

I would like to wish my dad (and every other dad) a happy father’s day.

To be honored with a special day, for something I enjoy being so much, is a special treat. For me, the joy of being Abigail‘s dad is worth far more than any single day could define.

Almost everybody has special memories of there dad’s. I would like to share one such memory today.

When I was in elementary school, I could not run fast at all. No matter how hard I tried, I was almost always one of the slowest sprinting boys in gym class.

This was very frustrating for me. I’d always gave it my all, but could not improve my time numbers.

My dad could tell I was very sad about this and he offered to help me practice my running. We went to the sidewalk across the street and ran and ran.

With his technique tips, I greatly improved my times. The next time we sprinted in gym, my scores were on the faster side of average.

So now I know to sprint on my toes! The help my dad gave me not only improved my sprint times, but helped me feel good about myself and helped me to learn that situations that seem hopeless from the start are usually something that can be succeeded at with the right technique and implementation.

Yesterday was a lot of fun. Jessica and Tracey went up on the Flying Dutchman Ghostly Gangplank at the Mall of America.

While they were climbing the ropes course, Abigail, my dad, and I hung out in Nickelodeon Universe below.

This is by far the best deal at the Mall of America. For $5.95, you get as much time as you want to spend in the Ghostly Gangplank. During that time, you can traverse the different levels, challenge yourself to a tightrope walk, and get a pretty good workout in the process.

Jessica and Tracey got lucky. While I waited in line for almost an hour, they were in the Flying Dutchman almost immediately.

But the main reason we went to the Mall, was just to hang out with family. We had a lot of fun!

The Mall of America always looks so festive over Christmas!

Here is Abigail and Grandpa (Mike Pearson)!

Abigail really enjoyed the Rainforest Cafe Store and the Toys R Us Express.

This Tree is as old as the Mall of America. It used to be in FAO Schwarz, but was transferred to the Rainforest Cafe after FAO closed their Mall of America location. My sister, Tracey, loved this tree because they both share a common name.

jessicapearson/archives/date-taken/2009/12/06/”>And here are some more pictures of our Mall of America Adventure…

I don’t think that there could be any song that is more appropriate this Christmas than “I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day.” For the seventh Christmas in a row, our nation, and the world, is wrapped into a struggle that has forever changed our lives.The fight against the Islamic Jihad, had spread from the Middle East, Somalia, and Indonesia, to New York, Pennsylvania, and elsewhere. As our nation reacted to the atrocities at home, we mobilized for war against Al Queda, and those who preached the destruction of the west.

Our soldiers began fighting back the enemies of the free world. Our allies were attacked in Spain, Britain, and more. With courage, we stayed in the fight, knowing that a better world could be made, if we prevail.

After seven Christmases of war, many have given up hope. They have proclaimed that the Wrong have indeed prevailed. Hope has given way to despair. It is easy to believe that there will never be peace again.

It was nearly a century and a half ago that a man, by the name of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, felt as many feel today. He began to write a poem, that would describe his journey from despair to hope.

To understand the context of this poem, you must understand the time and situation of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. He was a man with scars on the inside and out.

Just three years before, he had tried to rescue his wife as she burned alive after her dress caught fire by a candle. His face was so charred from the fire, that he could not attend his own wife’s funeral.

At the time of this writing, Longfellow’s own nation was in the midst of the greatest struggle it had ever faced. The civil war was in it’s darkest moments and the states were anything but united. Men fought and killed their own brothers and fathers. The tensions between the north and the south created an emotional chasm that appeared as though it would never be bridged.

Longfellow lived at a time when peace may have been desired, but peace was not visible, not even on the horizon.

In the midst of this dark time, Longfellow cried out in his writing:

“There is no peace on earth, for hate is strong and mocks the song of peace on earth, good will to men. “

This was in the context of a struggle that looked as though it had no end. Many believed that wrong would prevail, and the the Right would fail. They only saw death in the future. Though they believed their cause was just, they had no faith, because they could see no victory.

Longfellow was then reminded that there is hope. With a burst of the bells he was reminded that

“God is not dead, nor doth He sleep; The wrong shall fail, the right prevail With peace on earth, good will to men.”

With those timeless words, came encouragement, not just to Longfellow or the people of his time, but to the entire human race. We are reminded that there will be struggles and we will face circumstances that we see as all but lost, but in the end, the Right will prevail.

Take heart, our struggles here at home, and those of insurmountable proportions around the world, will be victorious. The wrong shall fail, the right will prevail, with the result being peace on earth and good will toward all men!

Merry Christmas!

I heard the bells on Christmas day
Their old familiar carols play,
And wild and sweet the words repeat
Of peace on earth, good will to men.

And thought how, as the day had come,
The belfries of all Christendom
Had rolled along the unbroken song
Of peace on earth, good will to men.

Till ringing, singing on its way
The world revolved from night to day,
A voice, a chime, a chant sublime
Of peace on earth, good will to men.

Then from each black, accursed mouth
The cannon thundered in the South,
And with the sound the carols drowned
Of peace on earth, good will to men.

It was as if an earthquake rent
The hearth-stones of a continent,
And made forlorn, the households born
Of peace on earth, good will to men.

And in despair I bowed my head
“There is no peace on earth,” I said,
“For hate is strong and mocks the song
Of peace on earth, good will to men.”

Then pealed the bells more loud and deep:
“God is not dead, nor doth He sleep;
The wrong shall fail, the right prevail
With peace on earth, good will to men.”

When I first saw Roboquad, I knew this was the coolest robot ever. Now, thanks to the folks at RobotsRule.com, Roboquad just got better.

They have designed a system of controlling your pet robot by voice, through the internet, using Skype. To make it an even better house spying machine, they attached a wireless camera to the head of Roboquad.

This video is not only a great introduction to Roboquad. Along the way, you will meet some of the other great WowWee Robots including RoboPanda and the famous RoboSapian.

On the same note, I would recommend any of the Robot gifts from WowWee for that Christmas gift for that guy or girl who has everything.

A little bit of history for you. ..

By the United States in Congress assembled.

  PROCLAMATION

 It being the indispensable duty of all Nations, not only to offer up their  supplications to ALMIGHTY GOD, the giver of all good, for his gracious assistance in a time of distress, but also in a solemn and public manner to give him praise for his goodness in general, and especially for great and signal interpositions of his providence in their behalf:

Therefore the United States in Congress assembled, taking into their consideration the many instances of divine goodness to these States, in the course of the important conflict in which they have so long engaged; the present happy and promising state of public affairs; and the events of the war, in the course of the year now drawing to a close…Do hereby recommend to the inhabitants of these States in general, to observe, and request the several States to interpose their authority in appointing and commanding the observation of  THURSDAY the twenty-eight day of  NOVEMBER next, as a day of solemn THANKSGIVING TO GOD for all his mercies: and they do further recommend to all ranks, to testify to their gratitude to GOD for his goodness, by a cheerful obedience of his laws, and by promoting, each in his station, and by his influence, the practice of true and undefiled religion, which is the great foundation of public prosperity and national happiness.

  Done in Congress, at Philadelphia, the eleventh day of October, in the year of our LORD one thousand seven hundred and eighty-two, and of our Sovereignty and Independence, the seventh.

  JOHN HANSON, President

  Charles Thomson, Secretary

Read more about the origin of Thanksgiving here.

I just want to say Happy Birthday to the most wonderful person in the whole world: My Wife, Jessica Pearson. I hope that her birthday was absolutely incredible. She is the most fun person I know, and she has a heart bigger than the entire internet (that’s a lot of fiber optics!).

Seriously, she has been so wonderful to me and I am glad I have a day that I can celebrate the wonderfulness that she brings to the world.

Happy Birthday Jessica!

Summer is over and we are quickly heading towards Thanksgiving. With that season upon us, it is never too early to begin looking for those perfect gifts for friends and loved ones.

This list will give some of the best and most sought after gifts. It will also give some gift ideas for guys who have everything. And by the way, use this list to buy yourself a gift while your at it!

Over the next few week, these

Digital Photo Keychain

It’s no secret, but digital cameras are in. Most people have one (or 2, 0r 3, etc.). Now that he has a digital camera, make his pictures more mobile.

A digital photo keychain is very cool and very convenient. You can show the latest holiday photos to coworkers, or save those funny pictures from that practical joke that was played on your friend.

It’s a great ice breaker as well. When other people see an electronic gadget that they don’t have, it makes for a great conversation starter!

Digital photo keychains range in price from $19.99 on up.

I want to wish everyone a happy new year! Hope this year finds you all blessed and in good health.

I just want to wish everyone a merry Christmas!

I will be spending time with family and friends, hopefully playing lots of Settlers of Catan, and taking lots of pictures with my camera!

Hope you have a wonderful Christmas!

I love the holidays, and after seeing the Grinch that Stole Christmas, you may be in the mood for the following:

Bits Bytes Chips Clocks
Bits in bytes on chips in box.
Bytes with bits and chips with clocks.
Chips in box on ether-docks.

Chips with bits come. Chips with bytes come.
Chips with bits and bytes and clocks come.

Look, sir. Look, sir. read the book, sir.
Let’s do tricks with bits and bytes, sir.
Let’s do tricks with chips and clocks, sir.

First, I’ll make a quick trick bit stack.
Then I’ll make a quick trick byte stack.
You can make a quick trick chip stack.
You can make a quick trick clock stack.

And here’s a new trick on the scene.
Bits in bytes for your machine.
Bytes in words to fill your screen.

Now we come to ticks and tocks, sir.
Try to say this by the clock, sir.

Clocks on chips tick.
Clocks on chips tock.
Eight byte bits tick.
Eight bit bytes tock.
Clocks on chips with eight bit bytes tick.
Chips with clocks and eight byte bits tock.

Here’s an easy game to play.
Here’s an easy thing to say….

If a packet hits a pocket on a socket on a port,
and the bus is interrupted as a very last resort,
and the address of the memory
makes your floppy disk abort
then the socket packet pocket
has an error to report!

If your cursor finds a menu item
followed by a dash,
and the double-clicking icon
puts your window in the trash,
and your data is corrupted cause
the index doesn’t hash,
then your situation’s hopeless,
and your system’s gunna crash.

You can’t say this? What a shame, sir!
We’ll find you another game, sir.

If the label on the cable
on the table at your house
says the network is connected
to the button on your mouse,
but your packets want to tunnel
on another protocol,
that’s repeatedly rejected
by the printer down the hall,
and your screen is all distorted
by the side-effects of gauss,
so your icons in the window
are as wavy as a souse,
then you may as well reboot
and go out with a bang,
cause as sure as I’m a poet,
the sucker’s gunna hang!

When the copy of your floppy’s
getting sloppy on the disk,
and the microcode instructions
cause unnecessary risc,
then you have to flash your memory
and you’ll want to RAM your ROM.
quickly turn off your computer
and be sure to tell your mom!

Gene Zeigler