Well, I watched part of Superbowl XXXVII, but I'm afraid it was pretty boring. The whole game was basically over before halftime. The halftime show, itself, was also nothing special. No Doubt is so 10 years ago, it's strange that they were picked. Sting was cool, but I don't think the duet combination was a good idea. I missed Shania except for the last few seconds of her performance, but I've read some interesting articles about whether or not she was lip-synching.

I briefly heard the Dixie Chicks at the beginning, and they were awesome. In fact, I think they were the best part of the whole fiasco. None of the supposedly übercreative commercials were all that great this year. In fact, none of the people I've talked to at work even understand the Levi's buffalo ad. Betty thought they were sheep, not bison. Sandra missed the whole bold concept, so was left wondering "why?".

I'm the new Primary pianist in our ward. I watched part of Pres. Bush's State of the Union Address the other night, and I liked what I heard. I didn't listen to all of it, but it made sense to me. I did, however, find it funny that the double-tongued Governor from Washington State could on one hand laud the President for his tough foreign policy and at the same time lash out at his budgetary irresponsibility. It's like he was trying to blame the Republicans for 9/11 or something. Duh, every state is feeling the effects of 9/11. Why try to blame it on anyone except for those responsible?

Darlene had another birthday (her "49th") recently. I just passed the 3,300 mark on Seti. Still in the #4 spot.   =)

We ate lunch today at the Sparks Marina. Becca saw some ducks and liked to walk in the gazebos.





Found this cool site (The People's Cam) where anything you type will appear on their computer's screensaver, which, in turn, is streamed back to you via webcam. Pretty spiffy.

I think most of us are used to seeing computer screens (and TV screens, for that matter) at a certain aspect ratio. Anything other than what we're used to isn't "normal". Recently many people have jumped on the DVD wagon, and all the headaches and new terminology that it involves (letterbox, widescreen, aspect ratio, anamorphic, full screen, 4x3, 16x9, 1.78:1, 1.85:1, 2.35:1, etc.) What many people have missed, however, is the issue of non-standard screen resolutions on computers. A "normal" (industry-standard, on the majority of consumer's computers) screen resolution has an aspect ratio of 4:3, which simply means that the screen width is 1.3333 times the height at any given resolution (4/3 = 1.3333). Some common resolutions that you're probably already familiar with include:

• 320x240 (Pocket PCs; also the size of most streaming videos)


• 640x480 (the smallest of the "average screen")


• 800x600 (the undisputed choice on most users' screens)

All of the preceeding sizes are the same 4-to-3 aspect ratio (do the math: 800/600 = 4/3 = 1.3333). The problem is once you start to foray into the more advanced (higher) screen resolutions, an inconsistency creeps in and starts to confuse people. Take a look at the following list of typical choices found on many advanced video cards:

• 640x480 (4:3 = 1.3333)


• 800x600 (4:3 = 1.3333)


• 1024x768 (4:3 = 1.3333)


• 1152x864 (4:3 = 1.3333)


• 1280x960 (4:3 = 1.3333)


• 1280x1024 (5:4 = 1.25)


• 1400x1050 (4:3 = 1.3333)


• 1600x1200 (4:3 = 1.3333)


• 1920x1440 (4:3 = 1.3333)


• 2048x1536 (4:3 = 1.3333)

Notice the problem? The problem is that 1280x1024, while a common screen resolution among advanced users, isn't the correct aspect ratio. So what does this mean? It means that if you choose 5:4 as an aspect ratio, everything you view on your screen will be "squished" or "stretched" (depending on how you think). Images will be too tall and not wide enough. People will look unnatural, like the tall water aliens on Star Wars Episode II. Of course, any astute person upon trying 1280x1024 would have to notice the problem straight away and quickly switch back to 1280x960. That, of course, is the whole point of this observation. Any 1280x1024 user reading this should switch, immediately! Only compounding the problem is the fact that many wallpaper creators seem to misunderstand this whole concept, and mistakenly provide their wallpapers at this incorrect resolution. They really ought to choose 1280x960 instead. In the near future I'm going to start offering my own wallpapers, and I'll make things right.   =)

Here are some more non-standard aspect ratio resolutions:

• 848x480 ( = 1.767)


• 1280x720 ( = 1.778)


• 1280x768 ( = 1.667)


• 1600x900 ( = 1.778)


• 1600x1024 ( = 1.563)


• 1920x1080 ( = 1.778)


• 1920x1200 ( = 1.600)


• 1265x1024 ( = 1.235)

If you're using any of the above, once again please note that they are not standard aspect ratios and hence images will appear distorted.

So which screen resolution do I choose? The only logical choice, of course. (I have a 19" monitor.) Assuming you have normal eyesight (with or without the aid of eyeglasses), there is only one "best" choice for each size of monitor. The choices are:

• 14" monitor = 640x480


• 15" monitor = 800x600


• 17" monitor = 1024x768


• 19" monitor = 1280x960


• 21" monitor = 1600x1200


• 23" monitor = 1920x1440


• 25" monitor = 2048x1536

If you're the proud user of anything larger than that, I can't offer any suggestions. No one I know uses a monitor that big. (Televisions don't count.)

You may have noticed that I have purposefully left out some common Macintosh resolutions so far. Apple, in true fashion, had to try something different (different isn't necessarily better). Thus, the screen resolutions on some Macs include choices such as:

• 512x342 ( = 1.4971)


• 576x720 ( = 0.8)


• 640x400 ( = 1.6)


• 832x624 ( = 1.3333)


• 1056x792 ( = 1.3333)


• 1152x870 ( = 1.3241)

What we they thinking? Most of these aren't standard aspect ratios! I was glad to see that in the later incarnations (iMacs, OS 9 and X), they've conformed to the more "standard" choices that the majority of us use.

On a different note, I must say that the new Windows XP Tablet PCs are pretty cool. Handwriting and voice recognition both still suck (no surprise), but overall these machines are still pretty cool. The three (3) I'm testing are all Motion Computing M1200's (they're slow - 866 MHz), but they're nifty. Here's what could be improved upon, however:

• the things run hot (back panel hot to the touch)


• no contrast control


• no handle


• batteries don't last very long


• only runs at 400 MHz on battery (only 200 MHz with power-saving "features" enabled)


• only runs af full-rated speed (866 MHz) when plugged-in


• they're still a little too heavy


• can't see them outside - need anti-glare screens


• the Tablet Pool game has a bad lag when played over even a fast (100 Mbps) network


• the pen/orientation calibrations don't seem to stick - and they aren't very accurate either

I do love, however, Windows Journal^TM and all it's built-in templates. I do like the Write Anywhere feature, and how you can change screen orientations on the fly. I love the "MS Tablet Pool" game (although I suck at it). I also love the fact that Journal will import a PDF almost perfectly, and then (of course) allow you to write in it, highlight it, print it out, etc. Pure brilliance!

I absolutely love Blue Diamond's Chocolate "Almond Breeze", a non-dairy beverage made from real almonds. It has no lactose, only 1% fat, and is cholesterol free. Mmmmmm. Today I jumped into the Number 4 slot on our Seti team. Muahahaha.

People really need to learn how to use listservs. They're really not hard to use, if you read the instructions. There is a sophomoric exchange happening today on the [topinfo] listserv (administered by NTIA, U.S. Dept of Commerce), where a lot of people are flooding the list with unsubscribe requests, flames, and criticisms of each other. One such comment:

From:  Shava Nerad <shava@efn.org>
Sent:  Tuesday, January 21, 2003 8:35 AM
To:  TOP Email List
Subject:  [topinfo] For those with short memories

[topinfo] is a list out of the NTIA office of the Dept of Commerce for grant info related to the Tech Opportunity Program there.

If you forgot how you got on this list, check out: http://www.ntia.doc.gov/otiahome/top/

The poeple running the program now *understand* why you need technical assistance...;) You can stop demonstrating your need by flooding everyone's mailboxes with useless messages.

Please don't reply to the list that you shouldn't be on it.

If you want off the list, send an email to leave-topinfo@osmmail.ntia.doc.gov, just a blank message.

If you can't read the signature file, I'm sure the grant application would be an undue challenge! ;)

Shava Nerad
shava@efn.org
/* no association with NTIA other than profound gratitude for work they've done with Lane County, Oregon and Oregon Public Networking */

If people knew how to use listservs, this wouldn't have happened. A little education could go a long way in the real world...

In other news, it came as no shock to me (and I'm sure neither for many others) that clones are not duplicates. Just because you can clone a person or an animal, doesn't mean that they'll even remotely look like the same creature, let alone act like it.

We bought and tried some Splenda sweetener (sucralose). It's no-calorie, no-carbohydate, no fat. It's safe for diabetics, it's both Kosher and Halal, and it tastes great! Mmmmm. Misti is now the Primary President. Found it funny that the Spaghetti Bowl has it's own website. Grape-flavored Pedialyte tastes pretty good (to me), but Becky still doesn't like it.

I was looking at the website for a company I used to work for years ago (Tri-Rentals), and was pleased to still see a couple of familiar faces. I worked for them when they were still located in Tempe (they've apparently moved into Phoenix proper), and I also worked a summer with them in Albuquerque.

Dave's in the mission field now. He left the MTC on the 15th. We recently watched "Scooby Doo", "Ice Age", and "The Perfect Storm" (Mark Walberg, George Clooney).

Now that Dave already knows, it's okay to say that our family's pet dog Winston (a male English Bulldog) died, I believe on 12/27/2002, but that's an unconfirmed date. There's nothing worse than a canker sore on the side of your tongue that hits your teeth.

Becky has the croup right now. She went to the pediatrician today and got some medications. She's doing better tonight after her fever finally broke. She's starting to feel better with the anti-inflamatory and antibiotics. Barking congested cough - had a rough sleepless night last night.   =(

After listening to Faith Hill's new album now for a few weeks, I've reconsidered my previous assessment. I think it's a decent album, but Misti made the startling observation that it's really not a country album. There's not a single song on this album that even remotely sounds "country" - this is a pop album.

I just passed the 3,000 mark in Seti, and am now in the Top 5 in our group, beating out Glenn Gifford, the long-time holder of position #5. I just bumped him down to slot #6. Muahahaha!

We are now pleased to be attending the 11:00a-2:00p time slot for church (last year we had 9a-Noon) - sleeping in is nice sometimes. Of course, there is a rumour that they're splitting the ward next week, so we may end up in an entirely different ward at a different time slot... Yesterday we got our car washed, and today we almost didn't recognize it! I'm currently drinking some Nutrilite Acerola Cherry drink from Amway - did you know that the acerola cherry can contain over 80 times the Vitamin C of an orange (by weight)? Crazy.

I just started some new distributed computing projects lately (Project Dolphin and Distributed.Net's RC5-72 and OGR-25 projects). I also just got interesting the internet game "Nomic" that's been around for over 20 years, and I'm just now hearing about it... How'd THAT happen?

Saw some people at church today that we hadn't seen in awhile, like Eloise Mathews (don't know her married name), and some of Traci and Cory's friends (don't know their names, either). I don't know if they're in our ward or just visiting, though. Some Christmas photos are now up!



Just wrote a letter to David in the MTC earlier today. He's only got a few days left there before he goes off to Wisconsin. My folks' fence partially blew down during the recent wind storms. We recently watched some repeat movies again, including "The Fugitive", "Independence Day", "Harry Potter and the Sorceror's Stone", and "Star Wars: Episode II". Good flicks, all. I recently just passed the 2,800 mark on Seti. I should be at 3,000 within a week!

For New Year's we stayed home and hung out with Marci's kids, watching "Like Mike" and eating popcorn. We watched the ball drop at midnight on ABC's previously recorded "live" coverage, and saw some of the fireworks in downtown Reno from our balcony. I tuned in to several live webcams in Las Vegas, Seattle, Los Angeles, and San Francisco to see what was going on there (as well as watching live coverage on television), and grabbed a couple of cool shots:








Also recently watched "K-19: The Widowmaker" with Harrison Ford and Liam Neeson. Also just recently passed the 2,600 mark on Seti@home. Happy New Year to everyone!