Boyzoid's Blog & Stuff

Over the last month or so, I sat down to try and write this article several times. Each time, I was so over come with emotion that I simply could not finish it. After the influx of email, Facebook and Twitter messages I have received recently, I decided I need to get this done.

When I was younger, my father once told me, "If you surround yourself with good people, you will never have anything to fear." I do not think I ever really understood what he meant by that until recently.

The last few months have been some of the most difficult and trying times I have ever experienced. I am not sure how I would have fared without the support of my family, friends and the Adobe developer community. After the death of my father, my family was astounded at the level of support offered to us by people they had never met. More than one of you brought tears to our eyes with your kind words on my father's online obituary. The donations made by so many have also helped alleviate some stresses as well.

The kind words and offers of assistance given the recent news from Alagad have been even more overwhelming. Words are not enough to describe the gratitude I, and my family, feel for everyone who has extended a hand.

I used to think that the saying 'you are judged by the company you keep' was unfair. After the last few months, and seeing how incredible the people I have surrounded myself with truly are, I have started to hope I will be judged by the company I keep, because you guys are an amazing bunch, and I am both honored and humbled to be in your company.

Even though I feel it does not seem adequate, Thank You, everyone. The Adobe developer community rules!

You may be too young to remember, you may not even have been born yet, but, today marks the 30th anniversary of a significant event.  An event so memorable, that 30 years later people, like myself, can remember every detail, every moment as the event unfolded. An event so improbable, that 30 years later, it is still labeled as one of the greatest upsets in the history of sports. Of course, I am referring to the 'Miracle on Ice'.

For those who may not know what I am talking about, the 'Miracle on Ice' occurred during the 1980 Winter Olympics in Lake Placid, NY. It was a hockey game between the United States and Russia. At the time, the Russian hockey team was the best in the world, most of the players had been together for over 10 years. The United States was basically a group of college kids who had not played together for more than 10 months. 

Up to this point, the Russians had won the gold medal in hockey in every Olympics, except one, since 1956. That one exception, they lost to the USA in Squaw Valley in 1960. In the four Olympics after Squaw Valley the Russians went 27-1-1 and outscored their opponents 175-44. In 1979, the Russians beat the NHL All-Stars 6-0.

For me, this game had significance not only because I was, and continue to be, a huge fan of sports and the Olympics, but because we beat the big bad Russians. At the time, things were not going well in the US. This game gave us all a glimmer of hope for the future. I know it sounds silly, but that is what I remember at the time.

At the time, the names of the some of the payers, Jim Craig, Mike Eruzione, Ken Morrow, Mark Johnson, Neal Broten were more well known than some of their counterparts in the NHL. 

Some images I have etched in my memory are Jim Craig skating around the ring with an American flag draped over his shoulders, Mike Eruzione, standing atop the medal stand, gesturing for the rest of the team to join him on the podium, and who can for get Al Michaels' brilliant commentary of the last 10 seconds of the game which still gives me chills and culminated in 'Do you believe in miracles? YES!'

There are certain events in our lifetime that we will never forget where we were when they occurred. For some it was Kennedy's assassination, the Space Shuttle Challenger disaster, 9/11, etc.. The 'Miracle on Ice' is one of those events for me, however, there is one glaring difference - it was a happy memory.

When I was a kid, one of the things I really looked forward to around Christmas time was my father getting the electric train set out. We did not have a big elaborate set, but the track was attached to a 8x4 piece of plywood, with lighted billboards and trees.  My dad even painted it green with a 'road' going through it.

What does this have to do with the Wii my kids got for Christmas?  Well, 2 years ago, my parents gave me the train set that we used to have as kids.  Unfortunately, the track was in bad shape, and the transformer plug was so dry rotted, you could see the copper wire.   This Christmas, I was determined to get it running. 

After a trip to a local train shop, I was able to purchase some new track and a new plug for the transformer.  Thanks to help from my father-in-law, the new plug was soldered on (I don't do solder) and the new track assembled and the train was running like new.  When we were looking to see how the wires needed to be attached to the transformer, I noticed the copyright date on the instruction manual, 1971. The trains set is 36 years old, and still running like new, even after not having ANY maintenance in those 36 years. I will say that I plan on taking the train to that shop to get a 'tune up' so that maybe my grand-kids can enjoy the set as well.

This, to me, proves the old saying, 'they don't make them like they used to'.  How many toys that you or your kids got this Christmas will still be operating in 2043?  I would venture to guess not too many.

It appears as if some of the ncie things about CF are being picked up elsewhere.

I don't think there is a CF developer alive who has not bowed before the God that is <cfdump>.

Now its available for PHP.  Check it out here.

Thanx to JJ for showing me this.

Call me a sucker.  But I am trying for more free stuff. This time an iPod Nano.

Just go to http://ipodnanos.freepay.com/?r=22640974 and sign up for an offer (I would suggest the Rhopsody offer, its only 99 cents).  If you don't see an option for Rhapsody on teh site, look in the e-mail you'll get from FreePay.com.

I feel a bit better about this offer since I know someone who has gotten stuff from FreePay.com.

Please help!

 I just came across a site called The Oops List.  If you are anything like me, you won't be able to stop at one picture.

My favorites are the 6 images below..each had 'Why Women Live Longer' in the file name....so true.

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 I would like to take this opportunity to thank everyone who has clicked any of the Google ads that appear on this site.  As I am typing this, I am looking at my first check from Google for the 'click-throughs' from my site.

  OK...it took since October to get my first check, but I never thought I would have enough traffic to generate any cash from Google.

 Why not?  I do.

Check it out.

This is a transcript of a 'conversation' Joe Rinehart had with the cf_eightBall, and has been re-printed with his permission.  The names have not been changed to identify the guilty. (OK, one name was changed, at Joe's request).  While I haven't verified, I suspect alcohol may have been a precursor to this conversation...at least I hope it was.

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