Ryan Thomas Goodenough

Well, this is a hard one to describe…but I’ll try.

Microsoft (which is never known for innovation) has come out with a new computer called the Surface. It really brings new meaning to the term “desktop computer.” Basically, Surface functions as a large, touchscreen computer using the multi-touch technology that first appeared in the iPhone. It’s very difficult to explain, so I suggest following the link and watching the videos.

At $5-$10k right now, it’s a bit out of reach. But given a few years, I can really see this being deployed widescale. Bravo Microsoft!

Today was my first day at AIER and it was great! After lunch, Eric took me on a walk down to the lake. It was very beautiful.

Speaking of lunch, I had a nice piece of salmon, black bean and red pepper couscous, and some fresh salad greens. There was also some cream of chicken soup and chocolate cake with vanilla frosting.

You know, there are a lot of things that shoe manufacturers try to guarantee with their shoes: waterproof and water resistant materials, durable design, etc. I would also hope that comfort is one of those unspoken guarantees.

However, when I was shopping for golf shoes yesterday, I noticed that Nike went so far as to explicitly guarantee comfort with one of their golf shoes. However, I’m a bit nervous when it’s only a “45 day limited comfort warantee” (it’s the third item on the list). Why would a company ever say that? 45 days!?

For those of you who watched the season finale of Extreme Makeover: Home Edition, you might like to know that the house was right outside of Albany, in one of the suburbs. They even went to our Sears for all their shopping needs. It’s quite the impressive house!

Another big event that occured while we were at Emily’s house was that the new bull (remember the last one?) arrived to make more Bingos and Baracks (the other calf).

Last week, Emily’s parents took us on a short trip to Greenwood Falls near her house. It was a beautiful waterfall with a large natural pool at the very top. There were even some hiking trails that would be fun to go up sometime.

[cpg_album:47]

Sorry for the delayed iTunes Free Single review, but I was at the mercy of dial-up for a week or so. That being said, it was sort of nice to be able escape from the Internet for a while. But boy, cable is nice!

This week’s single is “Home” by Great Northern. At times, it reminds me of a few Robbie Williams tracks without Williams’ ego or…odd song writing. The song ends up being a very pleasant trip–nothing to make you rave about it to others, but nothing to avoid. This is definitely a song that I think I would rather hear live, as it has that feel to it.

Of course, I am very jealous that the UK market gets Shiny Toy Guns’ “You Are the One” for their free single. That being said, the album is going for 7.99 right now–sounds like a good pickup to me!

This article ended up making me think quite a bit. Basically, Connecticut is considering passing a law that requires sex offenders to register their IM screennames and email addresses. If they do not register this information, they can face up to 5 years in prison. Read the rest of this entry »

I found this interesting article on MSN today about some of the rather “evil” practices that banks like to perform on their customers. One of the ones I hate is how long it takes for my bank to deposit money into my account. As the author writes, banks take out money almost immediately but take forever depositing. I also thought the part about banks charging overdraft fees on pending transactions was another “Oh yeah! That happened to so-and-so” moment. They love taking our money, don’t they?

I happen to really like my phone, the SE S710a. I do plan on getting an iPhone when it comes out, but before I do, I want to share some hints for how to sync iTunes with their S710a (or any phone that uses a memory card). Check out the instructions now: Read the rest of this entry »