The Time I Met Vader & Chewie

Posted on January 30, 2012 by Ammon

Did I ever tell you about the time I met Darth Vader and Chewbacca? I didn’t!?! Well, it was only the best day of my life!

Yup, that’s little me with them in the picture above. Just chillin’ with Vader and Chewie, no biggie.

In reality, I have absolutely no memory of this day and if it weren’t for this one polaroid, I never would have remembered that this meeting even took place.

From the look of the smile on the face of my 4 year old self I’m pretty sure that this was the highlight of my life up to that point.

What I do remember is that I, like many children of the 70s, loved Star Wars with a passion. I watched the movies, I re-enacted my favorite scenes with the toys, I read the comics, I listened to the records, I the wore t-shirts & pajamas, and slept under the sheets.

Such an encounter couldn’t have been anything less than magical.

What’s the best thing that’s ever happened to you that you can’t remember? Sound off in the comments below.

All images are from my flickr, unless otherwise noted.

Darth Vader in Commercials Compilation (VIDEO) (blippitt.com)

Weekly Photo Challenge: Hope.

Posted on January 28, 2012 by Ammon

This week NASA shared a super-duper high resolution image (8000 by 8000 pixels!) of the Earth with the world. In case you missed it, here it is. I feel it ties in perfectly with this week’s WordPress Weekly Photo Challenge: Hope.

Photo courtesy of NASA’s flickr.

I am moved by the beauty and majesty of our precious planet. What a wonderful world we have been given! It gives me hope for the future.

I didn’t take this picture, but I hope that some of my tax dollars were spent in paying for it.

Want to participate in the challenge? Head on over to The Daily Post and follow the instructions below.

1. Each week, [they] provide a theme for creative inspiration. You take photographs based on your interpretation of the theme, and post them on your blog anytime before the following Friday when the next photo theme will be announced.

2. To make it easy for others to check out your photos, title your blog post “Weekly Photo Challenge: (theme of the week)” and be sure to use a “postaday2012″ or “postaweek2012″ tag.

3. Subscribe to The Daily Post so that you don’t miss out on weekly challenge announcements. Sign up via the email subscription link in the sidebar or RSS.

Now, take a picture that captures this week’s theme and post a link to it in the comments below.

An Amazing High Resolution Photo of the Earth from NASA’s New Polar Satellite (littlegreenfootballs.com)
NASA’s New Satellite Captures Amazing Hi-Res Image of Earth (mashable.com)
NASA’s New Blue Marble (mossandfog.com)
The Most Amazing Highest Resolution Image of Earth Ever (gizmodo.com)
NASA releases the highest resolution photo of Earth ever taken (technologytell.com)
NASA Releases New High-Definition Image of Earth (science.slashdot.org)

Retro Skills: Clean Out Your Mouse

Posted on January 26, 2012 by Ammon

Image via Wikipedia

Over the years I’ve acquired quite a few valuable technical skills. Many of them are as useful today as they were back when i learned them.

The art of de-gunking a computer mouse is not one of those skills, sadly, and has not held its value.

For my kids’ sake (in the event that they should ever find themselves trapped in the past and the only way to get back to the future is to perform an intricate series of mouse clicks and the darn thing just isn’t responding), below are detailed instructions courtesy of an old 1990s Macintosh Classic factory manual I found several months back.

It’s amazing that so much care went into describing such a mundane and now obsolete process. That’s part of what made Apple’s culture the way it is today.

What’s the most irrelevant technical skill you mastered? Sound off in the comments below.

All images are from my flickr, unless otherwise noted.

10 Awesome Accessories Featuring the Vintage Apple Logo [RAINBOWS] (mashable.com)
Weekly Photo Challenge: Wonder (slightlyinsightful.com)
Retro Mouse Merges New Technology with Old-Timey Wrist Pain (techland.time.com)

Hot Links: PopRocksCandy.com

Posted on January 16, 2012 by Ammon

Sometimes a website is so ugly, it’s awesome. This isn’t one of those times. It’s just plain horrid.

Check out PopRocksCandy.com and see how many of the biggest web design mistakes it’s guilty of.

What’s the ugliest site you’ve seen lately? Sound off in the comments below.

All images via my flickr

82-Year-Old Grandma Tries Pop Rocks for the First Time (neatorama.com)

Advice for the New Year from Thomas Jefferson

Posted on January 3, 2012 by Ammon

Image via Wikipedia

In September of 1785 Thomas Jefferson wrote a letter to his nephew, Peter Carr. Jefferson imparted sage guidance to the young Carr in the correspondence which can be of benefit to any who read it.

Below are seven of my favorite axioms from the Founding Father’s letter.

“Encourage all your virtuous dispositions, and exercise them whenever an opportunity arises; being assured that they will gain strength by exercise, as a limb of the body does, and that exercise will make them habitual.”
“There is no habit you will value so much as that of walking without fatigue.”
“Rise at a fixed and an early hour, and go to bed at a fixed and early hour also…Sitting up late at night is injurious to the health, and not useful to the mind.”
“A strong body makes the mind strong.”
“Husband well your time, cherish your instructions, strive to make every body your friend…”
“He who permits himself to tell a lie once, finds it much easier to do it a second and third time”
“If you ever find yourself environed with difficulties and perplexing circumstances, out of which you are at a loss how to extricate yourself, do what is right, and be assured that that will extricate you the best out of the worst situations.”

Jefferson’s counsel to his kinsman rings as true today as it did over two hundred years ago. I find them especially applicable now at the beginning of a new year when so many of us take the time to analyze our lives and strive for improvement.

Which of Jefferson’s tips would benefit you the most? Sound off in the comments below.

Thomas Jefferson… (pjchamp.wordpress.com)

No Longer Running on Empty

Posted on January 1, 2012 by Ammon

I can’t begin to express how excited I am for the New Year! I love the feeling of optimism and encouragement that permeates the very air during this time.

While I enjoyed participating in last year’s WordPress Post a Week Challenge there definitely were times when I felt like I was running on empty.

However, you can’t argue with results. And for the first time ever, I managed to blog at least once a week for an entire year!

During 2011 I averaged a respectable 1.3 posts per week. Maybe one day I’ll graduate to the Post a Day Challenge, but for now the Post a Week Challenge is about all I have the bandwidth to do.

Here are a few of the highlights from last year:

Being featured on MormonDaddyBlogs
Having a post highlighted on the 9rules Noteworthy Content of the Week blog
Having a post highlighted (again) on the 9rules Noteworthy Content of the Week blog
But, nothing came close to being as cool as getting Freshly Pressed

That said, I’m extremely pleased with my blogging results for 2011 and look forward participating again in the Post a Week Challenge for 2012!

I’ve explained why I blog and thanked you for reading, so what I really want to know is this—Will you be blogging this year? How often will you be blogging in 2012? Sound off in the comments below.

All images are from my flickr, unless otherwise noted.

Blogging Posts To Read Before You Pop the Bubbly… (pushingsocial.com)
This Is Why I Blog (slightlyinsightful.com)
2011 in Review : Blogging (mraybould.wordpress.com)
Looking Back at Post a Day 2011 – How’d You Do? (karpediem92.wordpress.com)
Posta Week 2011 Wrap Up (thedeezone.wordpress.com)

New Year’s Resolution

Posted on December 31, 2011 by Ammon

Image via Wikipedia

For as long as I can remember I’ve been setting, but not accomplishing New Year’s Resolutions. I spend the period between December 26^th and New Year’s analyzing all the ways I’ve let myself down (it’s like my own personal Festivus minus the aluminum pole and the feats of strength). Then I make a new, huge list of all the changes I want to make in the coming year.

Sure, I give it the “old college try”, but every year it always ends the same way. I do OK for a couple of months until discouragement, laziness, and the overwhelming nature of trying to change too much at one time derail me from my progress.

A couple of weeks back I included one of my favorite Stephen Covey quotes in a post.

“What one thing could you do in your personal and professional life that, if you did on a regular basis, would make a tremendous positive difference in your life?”

What strikes me the most is the singular nature of Dr. Covey’s question. “What one thing”, he asks. I’ve thought about this quite a bit and determined

So, this year I will be working on one resolution only. That’s it. Not one for each aspect or role in my life (family, spiritual, work, personal, etc). Just one. Period.

My goal is to exercise at least three times a week.

Image via FoxTrot by Bill Amend

I’m going to keep it simple and not overcomplicate things. It’s not that I’m totally out of shape. I just don’t like the shape I’m in—much too round for my liking.

If you haven’t said so before, what one thing could you do that would have the most impact on your life? Sound off in the comments below.