This is one addicting game.
whatever
I purchased a very funny kids book called whatever this afternoon. It’s about a little boy named Billy “who can be very difficult to please”. No matter what his dad shows or does for him, Billy only responds with “whatever”. Our 6, 4 and 3 year old really enjoy it.

Company has interesting vacation and expense policy
I was browsing the website of a company and found my way to a page that listed a few of the main reasons someone might enjoy working for this company. Of those listed this one stood out. This sounds like a great company to work for.
Can you guess the company? Read the description below and click here for the company behind it.
Rules annoy us. We believe in freedom and responsibility, not rules.
For example, our vacation policy for salaried employees is “take some” – there is no limit on vacation as long you get your work done. Similarly, our travel expense policy is “travel as you would on your own nickel.” That’s it. No soul-sapping policy manuals for us.
I worked for a company that allowed an average of $75/day for food when on business trips. This gave us the flexibility to eat cheap for a few days and then enjoy a very nice meal one night. The policy was later changed to “not more than $75/day”. This didn’t go over very well with the employees. One employee made a point when he expensed $75 worth of cinnamon bears as a days worth of meals. I’m sure the company had good intentions on the change in policy. But to the employees it felt like a vote of no trust. Companies that trust their employees to make reasonable decisions usually end up with employees who make reasonable decisions. But when employees feel rules are put in place because they are not to be trusted should understand that employees will act out in a similar manner.
Flight Patterns
Dave Winer linked to this video of flight patterns.
This makes it easy to see what times of the day are the busiest to fly.

My Top 5 Reasons for not getting an iPhone
5. Too expensive – Add a case, belt clip and extra battery and you’re closing in on $650 for the least expensive model.
4. My Motorola Q is a few weeks old and working quite well, thank you.
3. No removable battery – Not an absolute deal killer but pretty lame.
2. No Exchange Server support – I can’t give up having access to my corporate email. It frees me up from having to drag my laptop around. I could give up Messenger, but I don’t have to with my Q.
1. AT&T Coverage at my house is very poor – Verizon is the only carrier that provides acceptable coverage at my house. This isn’t Apple’s fault, but is a definite deal breaker.
Having said that, the iPhone is lust worthy. I’d buy one in a heartbeat if it came to Verizon and I could access my corporate email.
But “Freebird” is ok
Digg linked to this great sign at a guitar store.
Ed Bott says Vista is Windows 95 + 12 years
I won’t hide the fact that I’m down on Vista. I had high hopes for the latest OS from Microsoft, and given the massive Microsoft hype-machine, I figured it would be a substantial improvement over Windows XP.
It didn’t take long to realize I was dead wrong. I’ve written about my problems with Vista here, and here and here. Several friends swear that Vista runs fine for them and that might be the case but my experience with it has been atrocious.
Ed Bott from ZDNet says that Vista is following down a very similar path traveled by Windows 95. In short, both products saw massive hype, followed by long beta programs, then incompatibility issues, followed by service packs that eventually made for a decent OS when Windows 98 came around. It took three years to get it right.
I tend to agree with Ed. But my expectations have changed drastically since Windows 95 arrived. I’m no longer willing to put up with constant driver problems, heavy handed DRM, degraded performance, and software compatibility problems. Since Windows XP works well for now I’ll stick with it until Windows 2010, Vista is stabilized.
My Favorite Picture
I can’t think of many items I still possess after ten years but this picture is one of them. Kim’s brother snapped it just outside of the St. George temple.
Without a doubt this is my very favorite picture. I’ve taken it with me to every job I’ve had since we’ve been married which is at least half a dozen. I never put it in a frame, but I’d pin it to my wall or bulletin board. It’s hard to believe it’s held up as well as it has given its age.
The reason I like this picture so much is that it captures how I’ve felt about Kim the past 10 years.
Always Hiring
I drove by the Taco Bell on the way home from work yesterday. They recently updated their look with a more modern looking building and fancy new sign. The sign read: “Always Hiring”.
I understand there is a high percentage of turn-over at most fast food businesses, but if you were looking for a job, would you apply at a place that’s always hiring? When I first read the sign I took it mean, “We are always hiring because people are constantly quiting”.
Zune Theme
For those of you who have decided to stick with Windows XP, but want a different look give the Zune Theme a try. It’s a little darker but not so dark. Unlike some of the other themes I’ve tried this one is very polished and doesn’t include any annoying bugs. I replace the default desktop it comes with but leave everything else as is.
I installed it about five months ago and really like it. It was created by Microsoft so it’s easy to install and doesn’t require any third party software.
You can download it directly from Microsoft here.
