As a kid, I can remember watching Lee Majors and Lindsay Wagner as they heard with their super sonic hearing and bent big pieces of steel. I remember the beginning of each show when it played through the starting music you would hear, “we can rebuild him”. As a kid, of course it was a television show but I always did wonder about the future of technology. As an adult, 30 years later I have read the uses done with a robotic arm in space and the medical industry. We’ve surely come a long way folks!

While working on my web site the past few weeks I was thinking about what has taken place in our society and what our future has yet to hold for us. I thought back to the bionic couple, reworded it a little, and it kept me going. I was determined to complete the restructure of this web site because is it not only a classic and simple look, it also is the beginning of a new chapter as apageor2 will be branching out into other areas beyond just web design.

There are two projects we are researching. One we can teach disabled persons virtually. The second project being researched is how to advance virtual learning in our local community.

For the past many months I have been toying with two different instant messenger tools to test out their differences. As for myself, I have accounts with Yahoo, AOL Instant Messenger, MSN, and ICQ. The convenience of using Pidgin or Trillian will gather all information together into one simple program. There is no need to opening up every instant messenger, instead I only have to open up just one which brings up all of my contacts for each account.

For example when a new user begins an account on Trillian or Pidgin they are presented with a dialog box and asked what account they wish to add. In this example, the user would choose Yahoo. A new dialog box appears which the user then enters their Yahoo account name and password. The tool then begins to see all of the contacts (or buddies) on their list. The user can then follow this same procedure for AOL instant messenger, MSN, ICQ and other accounts which they have.

When the user has completed adding all of their accounts, they can then set all of the preferences of the program or look at the window of the buddy list. The buddy list is long, narrow, and easy to move around. Pidgin and Trillian set up icons in the status bar where your volume control is. To open the buddy window, double click the icon. To close, click the X in the top right corner.

To send someone a message, you need to double click the person’s name, a second small window will appear. You then type a message, press enter or click the “Enter” button then your instant message will then be sent to them. In some cases, your message may not be received. For example, your message will not be read if the intended person is offline, invisible, or if the person is set to away and does not want to speak with anyone.

Two more very important things to note with these instant message tools. Trillian has a basic application version and a paid version. As for Pidgin, it is a free application. The second issue I noticed regarding Pidgin is the application moves a lot faster than Trillian when running.

In essence, it is user preference for what application is used. The best thing I suggest is to try them both out and see which one is liked over the other. Here are the URLs to both web sites to download the free software and learn more about them.

For Pidgin: http://www.pidgin.im

For Trillian: http://www.ceruleanstudios.com

The anticipated arrival of Windows 7 will not be released until June 3, 2009 however there is a pre-beta of this operating system. With this pre-beta, end users can download, install, and get a feel for what the new operating system will be like. There are many statements how performance can be improved using the new operating system. I decided to research Windows 7 and see for myself.

I found an article explaining the new operating system. Here is a small excerpt from it:

“Through reduced background activity by minimizing the number of services running at startup, the number of disk operations, the reading and writing to and from the the registry, and the indexing of files, Windows 7 promises to increase the performance of the operating system but also to consume much less energy.” (Pociu, 2008)

You can read the rest of the story here.

Resources:
Pociu, Andrew. Windows 7 Improves Performance and Energy Efficiency. [December 2008]

For the past 32 hours I have spent probably 12 of it online surfing for information looking online for basic documentation on a business plan. Why, I am restructuring my business and I had hoped there was somewhere on the Internet that would provide me with a generic set up for a business plan to guide me. It has been at least five years since I wrote the first one. At any rate, there was no luck. I did however stumble across a great search engine along the way called About.com that gave me a break down of each section which I was then able to study from.

I will include the link to where those documents can be found at the end of this writing. I would like to add, the author provided detailed information on each section so someone who had no clue regarding business would understand. One of the issues I have discovered with documentation is it is either not fully detailed with samples or the information given is written as the author anticipates the reader to be a person of experience.

As I rebuild this business plan I will share some personal thoughts and experiences I have had. For now, here is the link to the business plan documentation I am working with so you can follow along with my journey.

Here is the first link to the Executive Summary

Iowa and Nebraska are currently experiencing blowing snow with very high winds that cause temperature to drop well below zero. This is a very dangerous temperature for children, elderly, and anyone who attempts to be outside for long periods. It is important to prepare yourself, your family, and stay tuned to the weather under these types of conditions.

There is a list of things which can be done. For your vehicle be sure to have an emergency kit in case something were to happen and you are caught on the side of the road. You can purchase a kit at any automotive store however you also can prepare one by using items from your home to save money. An emergency kit will include:

- cell phone
- blanket(s)
- emergency flares and reflectors
- shovel
- jumper cables
- flashlight with batteries (and spares just in case)
- bag of cat litter for traction
- extra clothing

Keep your vehicle filled with gas during the winter months. Should you ever get stranded during a blizzard, it is best not to physically leave your vehicle. Instead, light emergency flares and set reflectors on the outside of the vehicle to inform authorities of your location. You can run your vehicle’s engine for 10 minutes then turn it off. Use your cell phone to contact roadside assistance. If you are hurt, dial 911 for emergency assistance. You can contact the local police for assistance as well.