How to Refurbish Gym weights

Refurbishing older weights is not a hard thing to do. Newer weights can cost a lot of money but if you have a chance to bring life into some older weights, go for it.

I had a few weights that had rust on them from being in the basement and garage. You could still see some of the red paint but the rust red was way more prominent. This image has one weight with a little rust and another covered with it.

Take care to remove any dust or dirt that is on the weight first. Rust can be a dust magnet. Using a rag or brush should be enough to remove loose dirt. You might find it a bit easier to use a damp rag but do not be temped to use a wet rag. You want to keep the surface as dry as possible. 

One of the better ways to remove the rust is with a wire brush. It will take some time to remove but its worth it. To speed it up, get a wire brush cup for your drill. I used a wire brush cup on my Ryobi hand drill and it made the job much easier and a bit quicker.

Take your time taking the rust out. There is no right or wrong way to remove the rust. Be patient and slow and it will make a difference. Be sure to use caution as well, wear eye protection and be in a ventilated area, wear a mask if needed.. Do not breathe in any of the produced dust that is airborne.

The temptation to begin painting right away will be great but before you do, brush and wipe off the weights again. This will ensure that you have a clean surface and will not see any loose particles mess up your paint job.

With a clean surface, it is time to paint. Krylon Fusion paint dries to a hard top layer. I have found it resists scuffs and scratches well. It can be found in many colors and Stain Black matches well with common weights.

Paint the weights with even passes. Start before the object and continue slightly after the object. Try to paint the indents and center first and then paint the rest of the object. The paint has a cure time so read the side well for application directions. The cure time also depends on the paint and air conditions. I painted each side once, waited over an hour, painted it again, waited 2 hours then flipped it over and did the same on the opposite side.

If you wait too long, you may have to scuff the paint to get it to adhere again. This is not a project that can wait for the next day but needs to be done on the same day, so start early.

This KRYLON paint is awesome. The lower weight has two coats and looks complete and very durable. These weights have been given new life and will be in use for quite a long time.

Setting these old weights alongside the newer ones, you can hardly tell the difference in the finishes.

30 Day HIIT Workout Challenge.. Update

 30 DAY HIIT WORKOUT CHALLENGE

Hi all and welcome back again. Lets give you an update on my 30 Day Workout Challenge. I was able to complete 2 and a half weeks of the routine and learned a good deal about myself. The first few days of the 30 Day HIIT body weight routine were tough, really tough. The complete routine calls for 2 round but I was not able to do two complete rounds, it was just too much. Just doing one full round round left me completely exhausted but I was really pushing it.

When I practiced the routine I did half the reps and the whole routine and I was beat. My Achilles heal, those darn Burpees. Those things are super tough to do and you cannot cheat. Took me almost 45 minutes to get through Day one.

As I got further in, I found that I could feel my whole body engaged and my blood was flowing. It felt good and the consistent sweat was also a good indicator. I found myself looking forward to the routine, except for one exercise.. those darn Burpees.  Just in case you don't remember what all the exercises were, I put them down below again.

This HIIT is pretty good and does target the whole body and I do recommend it. I had to stop doing it after 2.5 weeks. Why you ask ? Those darn burpees. My shoulder just could not take it. You know how they say push through the pain or no pain no gain. I took that too heart. I had no problems with the pushups or mountain climbers but as soon as I would go through the burpee motion, pain in the shoulder would stop me from completing those reps. I looked up how to do a burpee and common user mistakes and it helped a little bit but not entirely. My last day I did the routine, I felt something in that shoulder and that was it, no more. I actually had to stop working out for 3 weeks altogether to make sure I had healed and was no longer in danger or damage to the shoulder. I did a little research and not everyone can do Burpees. It is a touch exercise and it can put some tough stress on your shoulders and and biceps because of the nature of the exercise.

I kept in the back of my mind, no pain no gain. That is not always true. Somethings you have to endure and push harder. That last rep, those extra pounds or the last mile. You have to listen to your body and not ignore it. I ignored mine for a bit because I wanted to finish. As I got further along I then started to feel hurting and not sore outside of the workout session. The shoulder was harder to move and it was getting harder to pick things up on that side. I found that I had not only a problem with shoulder but with the bicep as well. When I felt a real tight / twinging filling that one night, that did it. I found myself stretching the bicep and shoulder as well as using the massage gun to get back to where I was. When I do this again, not if, I am going to substitute the Burpees with another exercise. I am not sure what I would do in place of it, but there has to be something that can replace it.

One of my big take away from this besides don't quit is listen to yourself. You are the only one that can say if your in pain, can go farther or have reached some kind of limit. Limits are meant to be pushed but need to be done with caution. Everyone has a different limit and physical ability. You are not expected to walk a mountain trail after a few walked of 8k-10k steps. Its progression and perseverance that get you some where. Keep watch on your progression and push yourself but remember to be your trainer and observer at the same time and listen to yourself.

 

30 Day Challenge HIIT Routine

1st SET

30 Jumping Jacks

20 Squats

10 Pushups

30 Second REST

2nd SET

30 Mountain Climbers

20 Lunges

10 Pushups

30 Second REST

3rd SET

30 Pulsing Squats

20 Burpees

10 Pushups

30 Second REST

4th SET

30 Bicycle Crunches

20 Cross Jacks

10 Pushups

30 Second REST

Repeat ALL, starting at Set 1

https://www.experimentsinwellness.com/best-hiit-workouts-at-home/amp/

30 Day Workout Challenge.. Yes another one 🙂

    Hi everyone and Welcome Back... Lots of stuff has happened since I have posted like a new roof / porch, multiple projects around the house getting worked on and lets not forget COVID. All of this together has given us lots of stress and worry over a long period of time. Trying to exercise to keep in shape and do projects around the house, has been what I call, Yo-Yo fitness. Sometimes you feel too tired to work out or there is too much stuff to move around to get the weight bench and weights out. I even have bands that are good for some exercises but uncomfortable for others. I decided to try and get back into shape without weights or bands, using only body weight and modified body weight exercises. I have relooked into mobility training, full body training and how Hollywood stars train for roles. Most of what I found shows the stars training with simple moves and not straight to weights with multiple sets training, nor running for miles or training to exhaustion. Armed with this information, its a great time to pick a good routine to restart with, and we have several.

Getting in shape should be a whole body feeling. It is not always practical to get straight to a body building routine of bench pressing or bicep curls and a ton of isolation movements. It seems a good start is bodyweight exercises that push your limits. If you cannot pick yourself up or pull yourself around with just your own weight, are you in good shape ? That's one of the a few reasons to start a 30 day challenge with body weight moves and the KISS method. Keeping It Short and Simple and not needing any equipment is a way most anyone can get started to get back in shape right away.

Now what do I do ?

My research found lots of routines to try including those to get your stomach flat or you buttocks tight. Those routines, however great, will not give you a full rounded workout. Look for something that would get you feeling warmed up quickly and make you sweat. You never want to try a full routine right out of the box because you don't want to hurt yourself right at the start. I ended up finding the routine below and tried it twice, separate days apart and felt good about it. When I tried the routine, I took my time with it and didn't rush and didn't do the full reps but did just half the count each time. I felt confident that this was a good routine to start with, it gave me that good full body feeling.

Below is the routine and link for this 30 Day Challenge and this routine is one of the TOP 10 HIIT in the article. I felt this routine was the best to try and felt the most rounded.

1st SET

• 30 Jumping Jacks
• 20 Squats
• 10 Pushups
• 30 Second REST

2nd SET

• 30 Mountain Climbers
• 20 Lunges
• 10 Pushups
• 30 Second REST

3rd SET

• 30 Pulsing Squats
• 20 Burpees
• 10 Pushups
• 30 Second REST

4th Set

• 30 Bicycle Crunches
• 20 Cross Jacks
• 10 Pushups
• 30 Second REST

Repeat ALL, starting at Set 1

https://www.experimentsinwellness.com/best-hiit-workouts-at-home/amp/

I addition to the routine, I plan on doing two more things. The first thing is to cool down for 5 minutes so as to get the heart rate back to normal. This should give the body time to normalize itself before moving on. The second thing to try is to Meditate. Consider it just one more rest and reset if you will. Just as much as you work out and rest your body, your mind should be given that comfort too. When it comes to meditating, many use music, silence or a special candle. I am going meditate for 5 minutes and try all 3 over the course of the 30 days and see which one fits best. In order to help concentrate, use a timer, watch or phone app to count down the 5 minutes. I wanted to use my fitness tracker to see how my heart rate fares from day one to day thirty but it has wondrously decided to glitch out and become useless recently. My tracker has worked great for at least 3 years now and has recently decided to randomly shut down, start to track a fitness routine, indefinite heart rate monitor and deplete the battery fast. My tracker use to last days but now it last hours so I will be on the lookout for a new one.

Day one of this 30 Day Challenge starts tomorrow July 5th. Thanks for hanging in there till the end and I hope you are going to try this too. Be sure to come back to hear about my progress and Best of Luck if you do too.

New MAC MINI

I have a new toy. A new MAC MINI. I have been trying to learn Android programing on my DELL but it is too old to keep up with the Eclipse software and the Android Virtual Devices that I would try. I actually timed how long it took to start a Nexus 7 AVD and it was about 7minutes just to start it up. The MAC MINI that I have now is running OS X With a 2.3 GHz Intel i7 with 8gig of DDR3 RAM. So far so good. Running Eclipse and other software has been great. They only real issue I have had are related to getting use to the MAC OS. I already have an IPAD 2 and have been used to that but this is not quite the same thing.

It is strange to see the power coming out of such a small machine. My Dell XPS is about 10 times bigger in physical size but has less processing power. I have to give my Dell props. It is over 5 years old and is still running strong. It has seen its change of video cards as well as a hard drive update but after those changes, it was up and running and going strong. I still use it and so does my family, its not like its gone but it was time for a change for me.

You might be wondering, why the MAC MINI and not an IMAC or even a Chromebook. I looked into getting a Chromebook but I could not find someone that was using one to do Android programming. I do like the IMACS but I also like upgrading when I can. The MAC MINI allows for a user update to memory and hard drive where as not all of the IMAC line does not. The 21inch IMAC does not allow user updates but the 27in IMAC does allow some user update. I also had an extra screen and extra keyboard to use. The biggest choice I thought I had to make was, magic mouse or trackpad. The winner there was the magic mouse and I find it is awesome.

I look forward to getting to know my MAC MINI better and running more programs on it.. IWork's, iMovie, Evernote, Parallels and more.  Its the beginning of a long road.. paved with an Apple..

Happy Halloween

Its Halloween.....Today is the day for kids to go out for some candy and scares. Cos-players can abound everywhere for contests, parties and just to dress up. So go on out there and enjoy yourselves and have a great time.

 Here is a nice pic I found from DeviantArt.net. Check it out and others there.

And what about some Transformers cos-play videos.. Nothing says Happy Halloween more than being your favorite bot and then Roll Out :-) Check out the YouTube video below and more here

This is also a cool video.. 

I'll leave you with a bonus.. The bots getting down

HAPPY HALLOWEEN

Loss of Some Good Google Services

I have been personally using google services for quite some time now. There are different services out there by many companies and some simply are better than others, that's just saying things fairly and keeping perspective. I will say that Google services, like Google Docs, Google Plus and Google Maps are constantly being added to and developed further. If there is anything that you want to see in a product is Development. I used others that are flashy and glitzy and that's where it ended. They promised future enhancements and they never came through. Some things do come to an end at times and we are never all happy about the same ending. Who wants their favorite TV show to come to an end, how about the best season your having or even a relationship. Nope, I bet everyone has at least one of those that they don't want to see with an ending. But products have their way of ending, either with evolvement, termination and sometimes both.

Unfortunately, some of Google's services are showing their endings. Lets take something that was used long ago, Google Notepad. It allowed us to keep simple notes and store them but without much flair. It was simple and useful but ultimately was retired and its replacement was to use Google Docs. Google Docs had more functionality then and has even more functionality now. We can create Documents, Presentation and Spreadsheets. The spreadsheets are still coming along. Most recently Google Keep was introduced. Its kind of like the older notepad. Someplace where you can put your notes in and store them for a bit and get at them readily on your mobile device.

Lets talk about Google Reader. In my opinion, one of the best places to follow stories on the web. Yes you can kind of follow stories on the web through Google Plus but its not the same at the moment. It might get there one day but its not there yet. Instead of having a true alternative, we are forced to use other services. Not really a good idea to have your followers find an alternative product like Feedly.

The iGoogle site was somewhat similar to Google Reader in a way. It allowed you to see your email, the weather, some items from reader, current movie times and more. I say it was similar because it was many different things in one area to view almost all at once but alas it is also being retired.

I am also going to miss Google Latitude. I used it to verify my mobile location, where my friends were/are at and simply helping to find one another. I liked it and it felt less intrusive than Facebook and other services that seemed so much more public. I am starting to use Waze more and hope that it shows more features like Goggle Latitude, especially since Google now owns them, so we are going to have to wait and see.

Last two things that are on the current "short list," among other things is Google Catalogs and Google Checkout. Google Catalogs was a nice idea. I had a few favorite catalogs that I would look at and some that I had not seen in quite some time. I never did feel the urge to buy from it. Why you ask, because it was not so easy. I felt that it was just a way to look at stuff and not purchase so what benefit did it play to Google, not much that I can see. Google Checkout is being removed but believe it is because of the push for Google Wallet. Seems like most places I turn to are looking at different payment methods. The easier it is to pay with something and still be secure the more users have a tendency to use it, it kind of makes sense.

We don't always know what companies are planning or thinking. Look at all the Samsung Galaxy devices, Apple iPads and upcoming smart-watches and see innovations at work. Development has a way of bringing things new to us and bringing older items to a rest. Lets hope that with every item that is retired, a new product that out ways with more benefits comes to bring new life.

The official Google blog regarding what is to close as of March 2013 is below.

http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2013/03/a-second-spring-of-cleaning.html

iPhone 5 or Galaxy S III

My dear wife, my oldest and I are due for new phones soon. My honey has had her eye on an iPhone since they came out. Problem is, we are with T-Mobile and they don't sell the iPhone. ( That's another story entirely ). We are due for a renewal soon and that usually comes with a new phone. I know my honey is getting the iPhone, that's a given. My honey deserves it. My oldest is going to get a new phone too but that choice will be easy. Most likely iPhone 4 or iPhone 4S. That choice depends on the deal at the time. Myself on the other hand will be going by choice and by cost. I don't want to spend more than what we spend on the  iPhone for my honey but if I can save some money I will do that as well. Its not easy putting down  money for 3 phones with Christmas right around the corner. So I am looking at the Pros and Cons of the iPhone as well as the Galaxy S III. I am also comparing them price wise, which right now they are about the same.

The two devices are really good. Good cameras, solid devices, and good software. The iPhone has been out longer and is more polished at the moment but the S III is a very strong competitor. 

Along with the phones is the choice of Carrier . Verizon or AT&T. I know that Sprint has the devices as well but around my travel area Sprint does not have the best of signal. Right now, Verizon has the best signal compared to AT&T but they are also more expensive. Do I risk the chance at dropping a call but saving a few dollars. Hmm.. What a thought that is... Everyone knows that you pay for that answer at the moment you need the phone the most.

So help me out readers.. what are you thoughts.. iPhone or Galaxy S III.. Verizon or AT&T...

iPhone  or SII

vJournal for Evernote

I almost always use my iPad for work. If I leave my Bluetooth ear piece home, I am ok without it. If I forget my iPad, I am sure to head back home for it. There are a few iPad apps like notability, note taker, Evernote and even the default note app that I use often. The other day, I found an app called vJournal for Evernote. It looked like an interesting app. I have wanted to keep a journal of my daily en devours.  I thought it would be an easy way to keep a journal of the things i do on a day to day basis. My love for it was a bit short lived. On day one, I thought it was fun. I put a few items in it posted them and I liked it. Then I tried to edit a post found out I could not. I tried to find a pen setting , there is none. I tried to add a picture, no such luck if you don't have the paid version. I did not remember seeing a paid version when I saw it. I did go back and check and saw that there was a paid version. It is not that expensive and after reading the description, it doesn't look like you get more than with the Free version. I did like that I can put a check box next to typed text, but that's is where it ends.

My notes were saved to an Evernote document online so I could access then through my Evernote apps and on the web. That is a good feature of Evernote and nothing new by way of the Journal app. I could now review a posted note and edit a note, all through Evernote. In the end ,I found no true use for vJournal for Evernote. It did not really add any feature to Evernote that it did not already have. Use it if you like, but I will be using the space on my Ipad for something else. In the mean time, I will continue my saving of notes and more, right through Evernote.

To see more information on vJounal for Evernote, Click here
To see more information on Evernote, Click here.

My Cellphone Service Let Me Down...Again

I have had T-Mobile for a number of years. My family have have used these phones on their service: Motorola V360, a Motorola CLIQ, LG G2X and an HTC G2. Each phone has had their issue towards the end of their life cycle.. With the V360, if you were on Bluetooth and the other person put on their speaker phone, you could not hear them. The CLIQ started rebooting on its own after a year. The LG G2X hangs at times and needs to have the battery removed to clear it. The HTC G2 ran down my battery so fast in 4G that an extended battery was necessary and I can not use 4G all the time. These issues have come, except for the V360, towards the end of the phones life cycle. The phones are used so often you have to expect some things to go wrong with them. But, the service should work no matter what. I have found that T-Mobile is not always the best at giving you a strong signal. I am sure that you can say that about Verizon, Sprint and AT&T at times but I don't subscribe to them so I cannot say for certain. I can say that during this past weekend storm and during the time we had an earthquake in South Eastern United States, the people around me with Verizon service were talking but I could not get a call out, or see available service. Just this past weekend my family and I were traveling towards Atlantic City and were stuck in traffic. Power-lines were down, trees were covering some of the roads, traffic was every where. So I turned to my trusty phone with GPS and maps.. NO SERVICE. .. OK, so I tried my GPS on the Cell Phone, but it would not work because it had no service. ... Hmmmm... I looked over and the car next to us and see people on their phones... Verizon customers... I see other people on their phone and complaining. .They were on T-Mobile and Sprint... I tried and tried and tried restarting, going back and forth from air plane mode and also trying to get on WIFI for a minute to use WIFI calling but nothing.. Luckily one of the teens in the car had a bedazzled Verizon phone.. She had a good signal. She was able to get online and get directions for us. She had 2 bars, where we had none. It was embarrassing. 2 hours later, when we finally got signal, it was only 1 bar.. no data.. 1 additional hour and we were in a place that gave us 4 bars and data.. Too late.. I don't want that again. Not for a second time during a time that I really, really needed it to work. When my contract is over, I need to switch. My family is too important to me. Some might think its over kill and I am over reaching but put yourself in my shoes.. If your in a bad place and need help, where do you turn to now a days.. Not to a pay phone. ( Just try and find one ) You turn to your cell phone. Remember, without a signal, your cell phone does you no good at all.

Thanks for the good times T-Mobile, but soon we will be parting ways. I won't be going to Sprint and no way am I going to AT&T. So I hope Verizon has some good phones coming up soon, cause I am gonna be a looking.. Could be an Galaxy III or an iPhone, but only time will tell.

Then and Now

Our house is finally up for sale. Its funny how once I thought that sentence would change my outlook on many things but it did not. Everything that lead up to it did though. We have gone over the whole house and finished up the little projects that were left partially finished before. Its not like we wanted to leave somethings unfinished but when you have 3 kids, you have to change your priorities a few times here and there. A little screw here, some touch up paint there, replace that little board and done. I have found over years that I am good at putting up flooring, installing cabinets, comming up with creative solutions and I really can paint. I look back at that changes done to the house and see memories, changes in my family and in myself, material things that I thought mattered at one time but do not matter so much now. That list goes on and on and on.

We learned a lot besides being able to do things in the house. We learned how to get along in tough times and we learned to communicate more. When your the only male in the house, it helps all the time to communicate. The kids have had their share of projects as well and thats a jungle of time as well. So far we have had several people come and see the house and we have gotten some positive feedback as well. I hope that keeps on comming as well as that one offer that means the house will be SOLD.

I keep this in mind every day and it helps me get through the good and the bad:
-- Everything is possible with God
-- Family should be a priority in life always, not just when it is easy or convenient
-- Never say you can not, keep trying until you have exhausted all possibilities, then ask for help.

I look forward to the future in our new house, wherever that may be, and all the new memories that come with it. Hopefully they are all good, but I understand that a few blah moments always seem to find their way in at times. My Wife, Mom and Dad and our kids have come through on several occasions and I am very thankful for all their help and understanding.

Time with your Family

Christmas is coming soon and so is more time spent with your family. I know, I know. Your hear that phrase and some guys and gals have to find an excuse. I have to..., I am needed for..., I made plans with... If you have ever listened to anyone's advice, this is one of those. Spent more time with your family. Not just at Christmas but all the time. If you don't, you will miss out. I enjoyed some extra time with my family lately. Some Christmas shopping and movie time with my honey, some basketball time with my oldest and middle child, and some cartoon time with my youngest. I have to admit, I don't do that as much as I should. Everyone has things they have to do and responsibilities. I am not saying to drop everything, but I m saying to make some time for the people most important to you. I went with my family to the Koziars Christmas village recently. It was a 2 hour drive and we got lost but we had fun. We saw displays I had never seen before. Christmas was captured in hand made displays and in the spirit of many who where there. We even got to share some hot chocolate, yummy cookies and warm oh so soft pretzels. I will remember most of all the smiles on my family's faces from the first photo till the last wave goodbye of the village. Those are the moments that are priceless and can never be repeated the same way again.

I wrote this post almost a month ago. I tried to follow my own advice and spent more time with the family and friends and this post had to wait. I don't feel bad that it was not posted before Christmas passed, but I do feel happy that in this New Year I remember all the good things of last year, and there is plenty of that.

HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYONE

Walking around on Halloween

Halloween came and went so fast. Getting ready for that night meant alot to my girls. After much costume searching, we were ready. That night the kids were uniquely dressed. We walked around dressed as a Sassy pirate, the Queen of Hearts, and Harley Quinn - the Jokers crazy side kick. My honey did not dress up this year since her back is still bothering her, although she still looked cute. I finished my costume and walked around as the Rocketeer. Yes, the Rocketeer from the Disney movie of the same name. I spent two months on this costume and boy did I learn a lot.

It all started as an idea. I was talking to my honey and she gave me the idea to make it. She thinks I can make just about anything so I figured, why not go for it. I used my iPad and started to draw and draw. A few days later I had my sketch and a few more days later I had my build drawing. Before starting I got the OK from the creative department, my girls. They loved the idea and if it was up to them, I was supposed to make it fly. I loved their enthusiasm and it got me pumped..

I was able to make the rocket and head piece with PVC piping, paper mâché, gorilla glue, construction adhesive, Plexiglas, glowing fans, batteries, paint and also a helmet. I started out making the rockets. It took some time so that I could get that coned out look on them. I then shaped it out to be a backpack with some more piping and Plexiglas. With the shape in place I formed out the center and other spots to put in some glowing fans. Fans in place and the jet pack solid, I could now put in the wiring and shape capacitors on the outside. It was coming together nicely and it felt good. Throughout this whole time, I looked for a used helmet but that was easier said than done. I wound up getting a new one that I could modify, the costume would not be complete without a good helmet. Next was the painting and my honey suggested Krylon spray paint. That paint is great for crafts and plastic. Needless to say i finished on Halloween day and could not wait to go out with the kids and help them score some candy. We got so into the Halloween spirit that I forgot to put on my costume tan pants and went in jeans. I have to say, three full bags and a backpack of candy later, we were happy. I got such a kick out of stopping and showing my costume off and putting on that blue Rocketeer glow out of the center fan. I even got some candy for myself, it wasn't much but it felt good. Check out the pics and let me know your thoughts.

They backpack has 3 glowing fans and are activated by a control switch in the right palm.

The helmet is a full face helmet with the addition of a custom made fin.

I want a Tank

Why should that be a problem. I want a tank. Not a full size tank but the Desktop size Tankbot sold by Desk Pets International. They are small, hold a rechargible battery that will be charged by USB and you can control it via your Iphone or Andriod phone. I have seen these before at an expo and it was hard to buy them then but soon they will be available at Radio Shack and Toys R Us.  Check out the video below to see it in action. I myself want the Yellow one, or the Red one.

Halloween and Custom Costumes

I want to be this and I want to be that is what you usually hear for Halloween. My 3 girls are each different and sometimes you get a princess, a frog, a dinosaur, a princess again, a super hero or just about anything else. My honey and I usually get dressed up with them. She has more creativity in her little finger than I have in my two hands. It is fun and exciting to see the kids just as excited for you on Halloween. We usually buy costumes right off the shelf, except for a time or two, but this year it is different for me. I am making my own costume and it is time consuming to say the least. I am learning that not all glue is the same, plastic doesn't always bend and there are more things to use for sculpting than plaster. I also found that there are some pieces that you just cannot go and buy used easily. It should not be that hard to buy an unwanted and used motorcycle helmet.. Really.. I don't want to give away what my costume will be just yet but I can say, if it were real, I would be on my way to the stars. Hint Hint..

The big G has been busy

Google was someone's dream. In time that dream has become a grand reality. Woorkup.com has visualized the 102 companies that were acquired over time by Google and it is an amazing list. Check it out here.

My IPAD 2 fun with a Pogo Stylus and Note Taker HD

I have had my IPAD 2 for several months now. I have less than 10GB left out of 32GB already having filled it with apps for productivity, entertainment, and leisure, you need a few minutes of down time at work and can sneak in a fun app. The best thing I have that simply enhances my use of the IPAD is a pogo sketch stylus. It has helped me write, draw, annotate, sketch and play better in several apps. Of the apps that I have used the stylus successfully more often, Note Taker HD is one of them. Note Taker HD is a note taking app the allows typed notes in addition to hand written notes. You can use your finger to create notes but it is much easier with the stylus. I was able to take a picture of a follow me trail from a book one of my kids have with the IPADs built in camera. It's one of those grids that you have to find the right path to get out. I imported the picture into Note Taker HD, and then my daughter could try it over and over on the IPAD, no pencil or eraser mess. They loved taking turns using the stylus instead of their fingers. When the were done I output there done trail to a PDF file for them to print later.
There are several stylus on the market but I found the pogo sketch to be better than others. It has a soft fuzzy tip that glides over the screen whereas others are rubber and tend to drag on the screen. The IPAD display also stayed cleaner and had much less smudges as well, that is a bonus. Check out the stylus yourself and let me now what you think.

Pogo Sketch by Tenone Design

I bought my Pogo from Microcenter. You can see their product link here. The Note Taker HD app was purchases through the Apple app store. You can check that out here.

The Illusive ASUS Transformer and Apple IPAD 2

I have been trying to decide for some time to purchase a tablet to go along with my Dell net-book. I was considering the ACER ICONIA Tablet or the IPAD 2. I went a few times to Best Buy to take a look an no where could an ACER be found, although there were plenty of Motorola XOOM tablets at each store. I was able to see an IPAD 2 behind protective glass but no ACER tablets. Then I saw a commercial for an ASUS Transformer. After seeing what it could do, I really really wanted one. I waited for the day that they were announced and thought they will be in stores soon and I will be able to make a final decision. To this day, I have yet to see one in the store. They are in demand and the supply is so short that it will be sometime in August before one even makes it into a Best Buy, or so I have heard from a few people. I even tried ordering one from KMART only to be told at the last step, OUT OF STOCK. Doesn't look like KMART likes to update their on hand stock often.  So off I went with a friend to the Apple store.

I had looked at the IPad2 before but with the idea of it being a cool gadget. Now I had the chance to actually use it and run it through some steps and I loved it. The apps on it were easy to use, the screen was responsive and it was really light. I asked if they had one in stock but they did not. With this experience in mind I headed to Target and Best Buy. I tried the XOOM and the ACER ICONIA there. I did not like the glare from the ACER's screen nor did I like the wierd response from the XOOM. After about an hour, I decided... I want an IPAD2.

For several days I called Best Buy and I finally got one. I could have ordered it online but it was the thrill of getting it at a store and having it in your hand. I have been using it for days now and there is no turning back. I will post more on my experience with it in the new future..

The Gift of Sound.. Priceless

Imagine what it could be like not hearing a sound, not being able to communicate with your new born baby. It is hard enough not to understand what a new born wants and I could not imagine adding the complication of not being able to hear. Here is an article of an 8month old that has Cochlear Implants and they were turned on for the first time. Just look at the expression on Mom and Baby, you can feel the love and excitement from both of them....

Check here for the full article..

Get a fan, a camera and a good story.. now you have a mini Movie

Fans most often have higher standards of what they would like to see in a movie. Take IRONMAN for instance. We want to see IRONMAN and Tony Stark do his thing his way, not so much the directors take on it. I think they did that with the first movie well. ( I have yet to see IRONMAN 2 but I hear it is good. ) Lets look at the HULK, the first big screen movie of it did not hit the mark. There were too many faults with the CG of the HULK and the story line was pretty bad. All they could do to try and save the HULK was a reboot in the follow up film.

Now check out a short fan film for Street Fighter below. It was done by fans with a low budget but with really good intentions. It looks like it has the makings of a potentially good movie or even a TV series. Maybe.. just maybe..

Andriod Market searches a bit easier with AppsStoreHQ

I have a Motorola CLIQ and I like Android. Outside of the battery getting drained quicker than my phone from years ago its not that bad, but then again it does sooo much more and I use it sooo much more. I have downloaded many apps and found some useful, and some not. Finding those apps hasn't always been easy. So I went looking for an easier way and came across AppsStoreHQ.

AppsStoreHQ has apps listed on the web that are in the Andriod Market. At first glance you will see it broken down to Category, Price Range, Rating and Relase Date.  If you know that name of the app, just type it in the search box and let them do the rest. I did a search for an SMS app I use called Handcent and I found it right awy. I was able to read a small discription of it, see pictures if there were any posted, check out some user reviews and even scan a QRcode to get the app from the store. Don't take my word for it, go and check it out for yourself at AppsStoreHQ.com