Skylin tried out a dance class today. She loved it.
Wednesday, August 31, 2011
Friday, August 26, 2011
Pawn Stars - Gold & Silver Pawn Shop
In Las Vegas for the weekend and stopped by the Gold & Silver Pawn Shop - as seen on the History Channel's #1 show - Pawn Stars. It was a fun place. Business is certainly booming for these guys. I bet they make more off merchandizing than they do the transitional pawn shop items.
Outside.
Line to get in.
Sign outside.
Inside.
Me and the guys.
Chumlee poster.
Olympic medals.
Receipt.
My purchase - a Rick Harrison bobble-head doll.
Wednesday, August 24, 2011
Monday, August 22, 2011
Shawn Jr.'s First Day of School
Today was Shawn Jr.'s first day of school - ever! I dropped him off at Cain Middle School this morning. It felt very odd. As you know, we homeschool our children so Shawn has never been to school. For all you parents out there that remember sending your child to kindergarten on the first day, this was our first day of school with Shawn. Now obviously it is not the same. Shawn is a very capable 13 year old young man and is certainly ready to take on this experience. But it is still hard for Mom and Dad.
Shawn was a little nervous, for sure. However, he was really taking it in stride. He even sucked it up and took a picture with his sister this morning. He certainly had a better attitude than Brittany did on her first day. As you may remember she was furious. If you don't remember, read the blog entry - Brittany's first day of school.
Shawn has been homeschooled for the first 13 years of his life. He also just enjoys being at home, hanging out. Going to school every day and managing that schedule will be tough. But I know he is ready. Shawn is really smart, he is competitive and takes pride in everything he does. This year will be an adjustment, but I am sure he will do great.
Shawn Jr and his big sister!
The crazy traffic lined up for the first day of school.
Shawn headed into school.
Please pray for Shawn Jr and our family. This is a big change. School has many trials that he will need to overcome.
Good luck son - we are here for you.
Shawn was a little nervous, for sure. However, he was really taking it in stride. He even sucked it up and took a picture with his sister this morning. He certainly had a better attitude than Brittany did on her first day. As you may remember she was furious. If you don't remember, read the blog entry - Brittany's first day of school.
Shawn has been homeschooled for the first 13 years of his life. He also just enjoys being at home, hanging out. Going to school every day and managing that schedule will be tough. But I know he is ready. Shawn is really smart, he is competitive and takes pride in everything he does. This year will be an adjustment, but I am sure he will do great.
Shawn Jr and his big sister! 
The crazy traffic lined up for the first day of school.
Shawn headed into school.
Walking into school.
Please pray for Shawn Jr and our family. This is a big change. School has many trials that he will need to overcome.
Good luck son - we are here for you.
Sunday, August 21, 2011
Some Like it Hot
We have had 50 days over 100 degrees in Dallas this summer. The picture above is from the 10 day forecast. Every day is over 100 degrees! Down right painful.
Attached is a readout from my car a few days ago - 113 degrees!
The Rise of the iPad - the Death of the PC
For about a year now have been telling all of my friends in technology that the PC will soon become irrelevant. We will all move to personal devices like a smartphone or tablet. We will all have "thin" devices and all the real application processing will happen in the "cloud" (the fancy new hosting/Internet buzzword). In fact, some would say - that time is now. I am writing this blog from my iPad. The picture above was taken from my iPhone, edited with PhotoShop Express on my iPhone and emailed to my iPad. Taken with a personal device, edited on a personal device and posted from a personal device.
Just look at the Dell laptop in the picture above - it looks so bulky and old. Amazing that this type of device was the cutting edge for portable computers just a few years ago. By comparison, the form factor and speed of the iPad is just incredible. Even compared to my new and very speedy Apple MacBook Pro, the iPad makes for a much better experiance. In fact, we almost never use a laptop. When I need to get on the web, I reach for my iPad 95% of the time. I cannot remember the last time I used a laptop in bed to brows the Internet. I am convinced that 5 years from now tablets will overtake laptops as the preferred device for personal use and business use will not be far behind.
The iPad is really an amazing story. The iPad is a device that Apple made to fill a market that, at the time, did not exist. For years hardware and software makers tried to make different table/touchscreen computers. In fact, I was reminded this week that Microsoft and HP had designed a number of touchscreen computer/devices years ago. The idea of a personal, touchscreen, interactive, lightweight tablet computer has been around for years but no device had any meaure of commercial success. In fact, even when the iPad was released, most reviewer questioned if it would be adopted. Boy has it! It has been a game changer.
This week HP gave credence to this view. Just a few days ago, HP (the world's leading PC maker) said they are considering selling off their PC division because of decreasing profit margins and the "tablet effect." Basically the Apple iPad is disrupting HP's (and all other PC makers') entire business model. Furthermore, HP announced that it was killing off its much hyped TouchPad. This is the tablet device running iOS - the successor to the Palm OS. As you may remember, HP purchased Palm for over $1B several years ago. (You remember Palm - the company the basically invented the PDA with the Palm Pilot.) HP used its hardware expertise and the PDA touchscreen software talents and intellectual property of Palm to create a tablet that could compete with the iPad. The result was the TouchPad. It seems logical that HP and Palm could come up with a tablet that is capable and appealing. For the most part - they did. The TouchPad is a solid, workable first generation device. The kind of device that would have been GREAT before the iPad. The problem is, no one wants to buy a tablet that is not made by Apple. Apple is casting such a dominate shadow over the industry that nothing in the tablet market can compete.
I hope that changes. I hope Google, Microsoft, Samsung, Dell or a combination of those companies can make the next great tablet device. The market needs an iPad competitor. The market needs real competition.
Until that time, I will keep reaching for my iPad.
The iPad is really an amazing story. The iPad is a device that Apple made to fill a market that, at the time, did not exist. For years hardware and software makers tried to make different table/touchscreen computers. In fact, I was reminded this week that Microsoft and HP had designed a number of touchscreen computer/devices years ago. The idea of a personal, touchscreen, interactive, lightweight tablet computer has been around for years but no device had any meaure of commercial success. In fact, even when the iPad was released, most reviewer questioned if it would be adopted. Boy has it! It has been a game changer.
This week HP gave credence to this view. Just a few days ago, HP (the world's leading PC maker) said they are considering selling off their PC division because of decreasing profit margins and the "tablet effect." Basically the Apple iPad is disrupting HP's (and all other PC makers') entire business model. Furthermore, HP announced that it was killing off its much hyped TouchPad. This is the tablet device running iOS - the successor to the Palm OS. As you may remember, HP purchased Palm for over $1B several years ago. (You remember Palm - the company the basically invented the PDA with the Palm Pilot.) HP used its hardware expertise and the PDA touchscreen software talents and intellectual property of Palm to create a tablet that could compete with the iPad. The result was the TouchPad. It seems logical that HP and Palm could come up with a tablet that is capable and appealing. For the most part - they did. The TouchPad is a solid, workable first generation device. The kind of device that would have been GREAT before the iPad. The problem is, no one wants to buy a tablet that is not made by Apple. Apple is casting such a dominate shadow over the industry that nothing in the tablet market can compete.
I hope that changes. I hope Google, Microsoft, Samsung, Dell or a combination of those companies can make the next great tablet device. The market needs an iPad competitor. The market needs real competition.
Until that time, I will keep reaching for my iPad.
Saturday, August 13, 2011
Josh's 3rd Birthday
Today was Josh's 3rd birthday. It started out a little rough. We were telling him Happy Birthday this morning and he kept saying "It's not my birthday - I am playing the Wii." Then he said, "You have to be old to have a birthday." Eventually he got into the celebration mood. We went to his favorite place on the planet - that's right - Chuck-E-Cheese!!
Josh and Chuck
Happy Birthday
We ended up just getting a cake at Chuck-E-Cheese. However, yesterday he was debating between 2 different cakes - a Cars cake or a Josh Hamilton Yankees cake. I know - a very confused young man.
Riding the big truck with Skylin
Opening his first gift
Chilling out in the back yard by the pool at his new Cars table and chairs
Crashing hard at 9:30 pm (very early for him)
Thursday, August 04, 2011
Triniti Is Baptized
Several weeks ago Triniti accepted Christ and became a Christian (4 down and 2 to go). Tonight she was baptized at Lake Pointe Church.
Her certificate of completion for Young Christians Camp.
Triniti and I just before she gets baptized.
Wednesday, August 03, 2011
John Helms Turns 60 and The Pedestrians Reunite
Over this past weekend my parents came down to Texas to celebrate my father's 60th birthday and watch my brother's band, The Pedestrians, play a reunion concert at Theater 166 in Carrollton, TX. It was a great weekend.
Happy Birthday
Birthday Cake.
Dad and Uncle Steve taking a break.
The gang celebrating.
The Peds put on a great show at Theater 166. My brother is the drummer.
The Peds playing a new song - "Rain"
The Peds playing "When the City is Quite." This song was played at my grandmother's funeral. Appropriate because she shared a birthday with my Dad.
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