Category: Family

Mobile Internet and the Modern Family Road Trip

I’m currently typing away on my MacBook, connected to the Internet via a mobile EVDO connection that’s allowing me to surf the web at 65 miles per hour on the I-75 highway through Kentucky.

It’s kind of surreal to think about just how much has changed from the road trips of my youth, where our time spent in the family station wagon consisted of coloring books and games of calling out the states of license plates. I recall fondly trying to re-fold state highway maps before you miss your exit.

Now, however, I’m able to amuse myself by watching streamed television courtesy of Hulu, while the GPS automatically calls out directions to attactions, hotels and fuel stations.

I don’t even have to wait until I get home to have the film from my camera developed, as now I can take snapshots of interesting things I see along the way, then upload them to a photo hosting site like flickr or even just email them to friends and family directly.

Times have certainly changed, and I for one am enjoying it one digitally mobile mile at a time.

The Zune, Xbox 360 and Christmas

I found a good use for the media sharing capabilities of Microsoft’s Zune and XBox 360 during the family gathering for Christmas this year: musical slideshows.

I have a Zune with the monthly subscription that allows me to play unlimited music from Microsoft’s Zune Marketplace. However, if you also have an Xbox 360 connected to the same network as the system you have the Zune software loaded onto, you can play downloaded subscription music remotely through the 360 media player.

Additionally, you can share photos from the same system, so I had a slideshow going of old family Christmas photos on my HDTV in the family room, while a multi-hour playlist of Christmas favorites played through the home theater sound system. It made for a nice bit of background while we spent the holiday together.

Major Meister

Major Major Major Major

There should be some celebrating going on in Columbus, Ohio tonight as my sister just received official word that she will promoted to the rank of Major in the US Air Force in the coming year. She previously won Public Health Officer of the Year in 2006 and continues to receive outstanding reviews from the Air Force.

Of course, now the race is on for my brother, a Captain in the US Army who became a commanding officer in South Korea in 2006, to reach Major prior to the next time he sees her. Otherwise, she’ll be SURE to make him salute her.

Halloween 2007 at the Meister House

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This year’s Trick or Treat event at the Meister House was our biggest yet, with over 200 kids visiting our Halloween display. Like most years, we had a steady stream of people coming for the first time only to come back later in the evening to bring friends and family back to see all we’ve setup over the last few weeks.

The streets in the area were filled with people for much of the night, resulting in our newest neighbors running out of candy, making a quick trip to buy more, then running out again all over the three hours the city officially recognizes for the night. We had an oversized bowl of candy, as well as several others around the garage area, all of which were empty by the end.

Our two biggest additions this year, Jason and Joe, went over extremely well with both the kids and adults. We joked that next year, we’re investing in high speed photo printers and digital cameras so that we can charge people to have pictures taken, much like the amusement parks do.