Bucket List Item #36

Bucket List Item #36: Present at a national conference

This one is actually very attainable. In fact, I've already come close twice. The first time, the hosting organization (which shall remain nameless) lost the presentation proposal.  We had an initial conversation when the organization received the proposal, but then I never heard anything back. When the presentation date loomed closer, I contacted the organization about dates, times, etc. That is when we discovered the error. By then, all the spots had been booked. Oh well. Next time.

The second time I came close, my submitted proposal (to a different organization than the first) had made it through at least one round rounds of approvals but was denied on the final round for whatever reason. No hard feelings. I'll just try again.

I've been to several national conferences over the course of my career. I've seen great presenters and I've seen sessions that inspired me to apply. That is, afterward I thought, "Well, heck, I can do that."

Now that we're in a new fiscal year, I plan to apply to several national conferences as a session host. I've got a variety of topics I'd feel very comfortable discussing and/or demonstrating to a crowd of folks. I'll let you know how it goes and which conference(s) I'll be presenting. Should be fun!

Chromebook after a few days

Those following me on Facebook know that I brought home a Chromebook (Samsung $249 jobbie) from work to try out over the long weekend.  After just a couple days, here are some random thoughts so far:

1. The 11.6 inch screen is bright and clear. As a tech dude, though, not being able to mess with screen resolution drives me a bit crazy.
2. The keyboard is not bad. Chiclet keys are responsive though feel a bit flimsy - as if I could accidentally hit the space bar too hard and it would come flying off.
3. Since I use a MacBook Pro primarily, I sorely miss the backlit keys. But, I do understand that is a feature not found in most laptops. Still, hard to get used to not having it.
4. It is well known that Chromebooks do not do Java. They do Javascript, but not actual Java. Many educational sites use java-based activities.
5. But, worse as far a education goes, the device does not support Shockwave. Shockwave is **NOT** Flash, despite many, many people thinking they are the same. So, sites like ExploreLearning cannot be used with a Chromebook. Sorry, no Gizmos for those classrooms. 
6. Emily (10 yrs old) says the camera did not do well in certain light. She says she likes the camera in her MacBook much better because the Chromebook was not very clear. She said she had to be VERY still to get a good photo.
7. Emily did say, though, that she likes the Chromebook. She has used it the most and watches YouTube videos and now that she has seen "SumDog" on it, will probably play that on it as well. haha!
8. The OS takes a little getting used to as far as figuring out what the different settings are and how to enable/disable certain things. 
9. Google play seems a bit confused by the whole thing, which is odd since it is a Google Chromebook and I am accessing the Google Play store. For example, the media player asked me to install an uploader. But, you can't install it because it is a Chromebook. Then, why would the default player that comes with the Chromebook ask me that in the first place!? A bit silly, no?
10. Most of the Chrome Games on Play appear to be browser/Flash/HTML5 based, so I randomly selected a few. The only one that seemed to have trouble was Need for Speed World, but that looked more like a server issue on their end. Knowing EA, the game probably doesn't even exist anymore.
11. The Chromebook is super light. I envisioned the thing to be a modified netbook from days gone by, but really, in it a lot less than that, literally. Since everything is based on chips, there are no moving parts that I can tell. There isn't even a fan on it. Of course, if all you are doing is surfing the web to run the apps, it really doesn't need one.
12. On the upside, my MBP runs very hot when playing certain browser games (like the one where you match candy. You know, the one everyone seems addicted to these days. Including me.), but the Chromebook never heats up beyond a slight warming. Of course, it doesn't play as smoothly, either. But, hey it works.
13. Like all laptops, you have to figure out where certain buttons are and what they do. Instead of CAPS LOCK, there is a magnifying glass to instantly bring up Google search. Function Keys have been replaced with back/forward/refresh and other items.
14. The touchpad works much like the MBP: two finger-click to bring up the alternate menus, swipe up and down to scroll, etc.

I'll be playing with other features and posting more info later, but this is a start. Thanks for reading along!

Bucket List Item #28

Entry #28: Anonymously benefit someone in a major way (bills, car, house, etc).

I think it is important to give back and/or to share one's passion about something with other people. You may or may not know that I give away a LOT of baseball cards over on my trading card site. That's because I think it's fun. But, that is also not anonymous.

Some the greatest pleasure comes from helping someone who doesn't know they are being helped. One day, after I am in a position to do so, I plan to help someone in a major way. I would like to be able to pay off a house for someone who is struggling, or buy a car for a family in need, or provide some other significant monetary benefit.

This is actually very high on my priority list. Almost directly under "pay off my debt" as far as things I truly hope to accomplish before the Good Lord calls me home. I have the faith to believe it will happen, too. I believe each person has several purposes, reasons, call it what you want, for being on the Earth in the time period they were born here. And, I believe that is one of my purposes.

I'll keep you posted.

Bucket List Item #29

Bucket List Item #29: Be on TV, in a movie, etc.

Yeah, that's me in the picture at the top of this post. A couple colleagues and I took a trip to Chicago for some Windows Sharepoint training back in '09. While we were walking around after a day's class, we saw that Bill Engvall was in town and decided to buy tickets to see his show. The seating was general admission, sit where you want. Once everyone was seated, we were told that he show would be recorded for an upcoming DVD and TBS Special. We were told to only watch Bill, don't look at the camera, don't do anything crude. Basically, we were told not to be stupid on TV.

We had great seats. We sat on the aisle in the first section near the top. You can see the rail behind me dividing us from the next section up. This turned out to be perfect. Not only did we have a great view of the stage, but the camera came up and down the aisle next to us. We played our part: we laughed, we watched the show without looking at the camera, and we didn't do anything stupid (that I recall, anyway).

Fast forward and we're watching the special on TBS. And POW! There we were! It was surreal seeing myself on the screen, and also in that I knew many friends and family would see me on the screen. I enjoyed every minute of it.  The photo above is actually from a friend who wrote recently and shared the pic on facebook.  He said, "Is that you!?" Yes. Yes, it is.

Bucket List Item #10

Since I don't write on this blog as often as I would really like to, I decided that a fun way to create some posts would be to add an entry for each of the items on my "Bucket List." I am basically going to jot down my thoughts as to why that particular entry made it to the list in the first place.

Bucket List Item #10 - Go to Australia

Ever since I was a very small child, I've had a special place in my heart for koalas. Back then, it was because they are cute and cuddly, or seemingly so. Remember, I was a kid, so I knew them from TV, the little NatGeo animal cards we would get in the mail, and from stuffed animals.  As I've gotten older, I still like koalas, but I think it is more for the fact they sleep 90% of their lives and the one food they eat basically keeps them "out of it." Nice.

There is just kind of appeal to me about Australia. I want to see Sydney, of course, but I also want to take a ride through the deserts, watch the sunsets there, and get a feel for what the locals really think about Foster's Beer, Outback Steakhouse, and Crocodile Dundee.

Even though this is on my list, it's not a "high priority" item. I mean, sure, if I win a trip or something, I'm gone. But, there are other things ahead of this in my list as far as priority goes. Still, if I even get the chance to go, I'll jump on it.