I almost forgot...

I finally had my jury trial this week. It was a DUI case, and from what people have said around the office, a rather tough one. However, it went well, and I was able to get a conviction. My temporary license requires an ADA to sit with me, but I conducted voir dire, the opening statement, the direct examination, and the closing by myself. You don't see a cross-examination there because the defendant choose not to testify.

It was a really good experience for me, and I can honestly say the only time I was nervous was the period between the jury returning and the verdict being read. It was only a minute or two, but it was pretty nervewracking while it lasted.

I really do enjoy being in court, although many of my classmates have no interest in regular court appearances. Many would prefer to draft wills, trusts, or contracts. Many of them want to do tax work or other "desk jobs". I don't expect to be Denny Crane any time soon, but I really like the adversarial nature of trying cases.

I don't just like the actual court appearance part either. I also like the contest involved in plea negotiations and settlement offers. One of my favorite classes during law school was Alternative Dispute Resolution. The main emphasis of the class was on negotiation. I think my sales and business background helped me out, because I did very well in it. My internships have also given me the opportunity to push settlements in the real world.

Soon, I'll be doing the real thing. It's a good feeling, and I'm definitely ready to get out of school and begin the next stage in my life.

And here is the Mac version...

I posted a little while back about my free backup utility, and complained it only worked on Windows. Luckily, BackityMac has come to my attention, and will be backing up my MacBook Pro periodically from now on. If you have a Mac, feel free to give it a spin.

Oh No!

Not a pretty expression on anyone's face, especially mine. I've been known to do it before, specifically after a hard drive crash. And no, I didn't have the "glad my stuff was backed up" happy ending. An acquaintance came over today to see if she could salvage anything from the remains of her hard drive. As it turns out, the drive was history, along with every photo she'd taken for the last two years or so. Luckily, now there are great solutions available to prevent this type of disaster, and it won't happen to me again.

SyncBack, by 2BrightSparks is currently backing up all of my documents to an external hard drive. Even better, it will re-sync all of the data every 3 days, at 3:00 AM, automatically. More often? Less often? At a different time? You bet. The scheduling flexibility is great. Best of all, there's a free version. Downsides? There's no Mac version, although I think iSync might do what I want it to, but probably not for free. I have to look into it more, but I think it requires .Mac to do the stuff I want it to do.

I don't think I have to worry about my hard drive tanking my data again. It's a good feeling.

Great Apple Article

I thought this was very informative, and a great insight on the iPod phenomenon. It opened my eyes a bit, and I'm already a believer. I really do think the "halo effect" is working. It seems obvious that Apple is now more appealling than in the past, especially as a brand. The marketing behind the iPod is great, and the iPod is marketing for Apple itself. They have the appeal of Air Jordans back in the early 90's, complete with muggings.

I just hope they keep up the good work on their computers.

Well, that sucked.

As many of you probably know by now, Wichita State took a pounding from GMU.  It probably didn't help that we shot terribly, and GMU shot lights out for most of the game.  I love college basketball, but it's tough when my teams lose.

That being said, WSU had a great year, and it looks likely to continue next year.  Hats off to Coach Turgeon.  Here's hoping there's more success next year, for WSU and the Jayhawks.

Things are looking better in Wichita

I can't root for KU again until next season, but I still have my other b-ball team. Wichita State looked pretty good against Tennessee, especially considering Tennessee played a solid game as well. Now we're in the Sweet 16. Look out Roy Williams, the Shockers are hot.

It is a sad day in Lawrence....

....the mighty Jayhawks have struck out.  

It really is a shame.  Bradley played like we played in the Texas game.  The 'Hawks played like they did in the OTHER Texas game.  There's always next year, I suppose, but it really does look like it's going to be a good one.  In the meantime, I can root for my alma mater, the Wichita State "Fighting Turgeons".  They're looking pretty good against Tennessee right now.  I hope they can hold it together.

Rock Chalk.....Wu Shock?

The MacBook Pro Has Arrived

I picked it up tonight.  So far I'm pretty impressed.  There's an obvious problem with some kind of CPU noise but I've already applied a workaround for it.  I think I'm going to be pretty happy with it.  I'm ordering the RAM upgrade tomorrow.

It's a relief to finally have it.  I've been waiting too long.

Ironically, the warranty on my Powerbook expired today, but I'll post more about that later.

STILL waiting for my Macbook Pro

I'm getting anxious. I've heard some nasty rumors about bugs in the early machines. However, the one I've seen in person looked great, and seemed to run really well. Unfortunately, the warranty on my Powerbook expires tomorrow, so that will probably affect the resale value when I get around to selling it.

The good news is RAM for the unit is getting cheaper all the time. I found 1GB sticks for $99 a piece, with free 2-day shipping from ZipZoomFly.

The sooner I get this thing the better.

Here Come the Jayhawks!

This blog started focusing on KU Basketball a while back, so I made a conscious effort to get away from focusing too heavily on one subject.

I'm done with that nonsense now.  I want to talk about KU.  We looked GOOD today.  I can't get over how much Julian Wright reminds me of Julius Erving.  All he needs are some really skimpy shorts and an afro.  The dunk he made after the steal today was simply amazing.  And the 360 he iced the game with wasn't too shabby either.  He's really exciting to watch.  He seems so animated when he's out there.

The three-point shooting was great today too.  It's probably safe to say this was my favorite game to watch of the Bill Self era.  All is good in Lawrence, KS.

Especially because school's cancelled tomorrow.   

Shatner at Law

I just saw a TV spot for a KC law firm with William Shatner as the pitchman.  Gotta love Shatner.  A few years ago I couldn't stand him, and from the early previews of Boston Legal I thought I would dislike him even more.  Boston Legal, as crazy and unrealistic as it is, has really given me a new appreciation for William Shatner.  Mainly because it's so crazy and unrealistic.  Shatner plays a pretty convincing crackpot.  

He does a pretty good job selling the firm, too.  Too bad I can't remember the name.  I was so excited to see "Denny Crane" I forgot who the ad was for.  Maybe he's *too* effective, if that's possible.

I'm feeling better...

...which is a good thing.  Hillary and I were going to watch a movie tonight but couldn't find it.  So Hillary is watching A Nightmare on Elm Street instead...

...which is a bad thing.  She was highly surprised to see Johnny Depp in it.  I happened to know it was his first starring role in a movie.  It's amazing what you pick up from VH1.

Good Deal

I think I'll get the chance to pick up my MacBook Pro next week.  CompUSA is starting to get shipments of them, and it will feel good getting a brand new, high demand, relatively top of the line notebook for $500 below MSRP.  

I also found a good deal on some 1GB RAM sticks for less than $100 bucks.  That's a good deal for this particular type of memory.  The prices have been dropping as more manufacturers are releasing PC2-5300 SO-DIMMs.  It should scream once I get 2GB's in there.

Rough Night

It's been a long time since I've been this sick. I picked up the flu from someone. It could be my in-laws, it could be the kids from Hillary's school, it could be kids from the law school. It could even be Scout. Personally, I think I got it at work from some of the defendants. I've been told by attorneys to not shake hands with the defendants, but I hate to be rude.

But then again, I also hate the flu.

MBP: MIA

I'm running out of patience waiting for my new laptop. I hope CompUSA gets them in stock soon. I had a chance to play with a MacBook Pro at the Kansas Union and it seemed remarkably fast. I'm going to dump 2GB of RAM into mine, which should help things even more.

I am a little concerned because Intel is supposedly releasing improved versions of their CPU's later this year. I suppose I'll just throw mine on eBay when the time comes around.

I really wish they'd release something with a 6 hour battery though. Battery life has always been one of my main concerns with laptops, and I don't think the MBP will get me past 3.5 hours.

Edit: CompUSA is starting to get them in stock. I think I'll pick mine up over spring break.

This is a test of the Blogger Widget

I'm seeing how useful this will be.  I doubt it will be too great, because apparently I need to know html to links and pictures.  Needless to say, I don't know html.  This could be a good time to learn it.

Photoshop Editing

I read a post on the D70 forums about salvaging pictures by doing things in Photoshop which are traditionally not encouraged. Boosting saturation and contrast really high, adding grain, blur, etc. It's a cool technique. I am by no means a photo editing pro, but it seemed to work in this photo of my nephew. The first is after some standard editing. The second is after what many people would call over-editing.

I like the effect. I didn't pull it off as well as this guy, but then again he appears to be pretty talented.

Redesign

I decided to change the layout of my blog, and I think I like the results. My last layout gave me some good mileage, but I think I like this one much better. The color scheme is cleaner, the fonts are easier to read, and on top of it all I dumped the AdSense boxes due to a helpful suggestion. So far my net income from Google AdSense is $0.00. Granted, not many people read this, but I'm not going to junk up my site with ads, especially for free.

I hope you enjoy the changes.

Simplicity

This article makes a lot of sense to me. I think there will always be a market for highly complex and involved games, but the market for those types of games is necessarily limited. The only people who can truly take advantage of these games must have sufficent time, dedication, and interest to learn the nuances and complexities of them. That pretty much describes teenagers.

I used to enjoy video games, but I've recently found I don't have the time or patience to beat the high learning curve some of these things have.

That's why so many people like PopCap Games. They make games my mother enjoys playing, and trust me, there are many more "mothers" and their equivalents around than die-hard gamers. I think Apple lately has proven "simplicity" should not be equated with "lack of features". I think "simplicity" can be better compared to "elegance".

Of course, there are always exceptions. As complex as it is, apparently World of Warcraft is bringing in $90 million every month for Blizzard. Amazing.