We live in a beautiful city! We got home tonight at nightfall and discovered a buck standing in our neighbours yard. It was looking the other way then, it turned and watched us. He didn't know what to make of the car. I tried to take a picture but it was too dark. What I would do for a digital SLR...
We sat in the car and watched the buck with our son (our daughter was fast asleep). At first our son was excited then, he seemed scared of the buck. I think he was reacting to Michael's fear of getting the kids out of the car. Michael was worried about the buck attacking us. Michael is afraid of a deer attacking because he spends too much time watching random videos on YouTube, including deer attacks. So, Michael got out of the car and clapped his hands. The buck looked at him then, turned and walked away. Wow! Bucks are majestic.
Tuesday, August 26, 2008
Monday, August 25, 2008
Virus
I had my first encounter with a virus a couple of nights ago... I want to share my experience so that we can all learn from my lapse in judgement.
On Facebook, I got an email from a friend that had a link and an innocuous one line sentence saying that I should check out a video. The link was long but I clicked on it anyways. The link looked like YouTube. Above the video section, it said that I needed to download the newer version of Flash. I clicked the link and decided not to save it but run it instead. It is not one of the smarter moments in my life. I got an error saying that it could not download the newer version. I thought nothing of it at first but then, my computer started acting funny. On Facebook, the screen kept turning off. For example, while I was typing an email my cursor kept disappearing and the top of the screen would turn to a lighter colour like it was no longer the main screen being used. This is when I got worried so, I automatically disconnected my computer from the Internet. Michael looked at what was running on my computer and researched the funny looking items on the Internet. He discovered that I had downloaded a worm. This worm copies itself and automatically sends an email to the entire friends list in Facebook. He followed the directions on how to remove it and I changed my password on Facebook. We, then, ran an anti-virus software on the computer which took the rest of the evening.
Here are the three top things that we can all do to avoid getting a virus:
1. Use an updated anti-virus software
2. Don't download or run .exe files
3. Don't open any links that look suspicious or ask the person who sent the email if they sent it before opening the link or file.
On Facebook, I got an email from a friend that had a link and an innocuous one line sentence saying that I should check out a video. The link was long but I clicked on it anyways. The link looked like YouTube. Above the video section, it said that I needed to download the newer version of Flash. I clicked the link and decided not to save it but run it instead. It is not one of the smarter moments in my life. I got an error saying that it could not download the newer version. I thought nothing of it at first but then, my computer started acting funny. On Facebook, the screen kept turning off. For example, while I was typing an email my cursor kept disappearing and the top of the screen would turn to a lighter colour like it was no longer the main screen being used. This is when I got worried so, I automatically disconnected my computer from the Internet. Michael looked at what was running on my computer and researched the funny looking items on the Internet. He discovered that I had downloaded a worm. This worm copies itself and automatically sends an email to the entire friends list in Facebook. He followed the directions on how to remove it and I changed my password on Facebook. We, then, ran an anti-virus software on the computer which took the rest of the evening.
Here are the three top things that we can all do to avoid getting a virus:
1. Use an updated anti-virus software
2. Don't download or run .exe files
3. Don't open any links that look suspicious or ask the person who sent the email if they sent it before opening the link or file.
Tuesday, August 19, 2008
Say "Cheese"
My brother-in-law came to visit us for a week. It was great to have him stay with us and get to know the kids. During his visit he took many, many pictures with his digital SLR, a Canon EOS Digital Rebel. He took some incredible photos!
It takes me back to my teenage years. During high school, Michael and I used to go and take pictures with our manual, old fashioned SLRs. We fancied ourselves amateur photographers. Amateur is correct! We got some nice photos but they were far and few in-between. When I grew up I envisioned having a black room in my house. I worked at Black's and was skeptical of the new, fandangled, expensive digital cameras. I take it all back.
The bonus of having a digital camera is the ability to take as many photos as you are willing to download and not have to worry about having to pay for the devleopment of the film. I would love to invest in a nice digital SLR. It fits in so well with my scrapbooking.
It takes me back to my teenage years. During high school, Michael and I used to go and take pictures with our manual, old fashioned SLRs. We fancied ourselves amateur photographers. Amateur is correct! We got some nice photos but they were far and few in-between. When I grew up I envisioned having a black room in my house. I worked at Black's and was skeptical of the new, fandangled, expensive digital cameras. I take it all back.
The bonus of having a digital camera is the ability to take as many photos as you are willing to download and not have to worry about having to pay for the devleopment of the film. I would love to invest in a nice digital SLR. It fits in so well with my scrapbooking.
Saturday, August 16, 2008
fbFund
A couple of weeks ago, a user requested a Facebook interface. Michael started looking into creating a Facebook Application and 7 days ago he discovered the fbFund Developer Competition. The fbFund is a competition by Facebook to encourage the creation of "innovative and engaging applications on Facebook Platform." So the countdown has begun...
The fbFund is extra motivation to create the Facebook Application but it does require more work. I think we can win this competition if we can get all of the pieces together and ready by the August 29th deadline. Michael is creating the working prototype and screenshots. I am writing our business plan summary/application, business model and team resume. The kicker will be the 2-3 minute video elevator pitch. Who should be in front of the camera? How can we create an interesting video that will capture the fbFund committee's attention? We have had to make some difficult decisions regarding the direction of our business plan and the look of our interface. We are a great team because we see things in very different ways and complement each other. It is fun to work side-by-side on all aspects of the fbFund application.
Our to do list is enormous so the earliest that either of us has gone to bed is 2am. Most nights I am up until about 4am. Crazy, eh? Coffee has become my best friend. I am not a coffee drinker so, a big mug of mocha at 8pm keeps me going and going! It is an exciting time here at the Kountr headquarters!
The fbFund is extra motivation to create the Facebook Application but it does require more work. I think we can win this competition if we can get all of the pieces together and ready by the August 29th deadline. Michael is creating the working prototype and screenshots. I am writing our business plan summary/application, business model and team resume. The kicker will be the 2-3 minute video elevator pitch. Who should be in front of the camera? How can we create an interesting video that will capture the fbFund committee's attention? We have had to make some difficult decisions regarding the direction of our business plan and the look of our interface. We are a great team because we see things in very different ways and complement each other. It is fun to work side-by-side on all aspects of the fbFund application.
Our to do list is enormous so the earliest that either of us has gone to bed is 2am. Most nights I am up until about 4am. Crazy, eh? Coffee has become my best friend. I am not a coffee drinker so, a big mug of mocha at 8pm keeps me going and going! It is an exciting time here at the Kountr headquarters!
Wednesday, August 13, 2008
Enjoying each moment
I just read ". . . And Motherhood Marches On" and realized that I do not write enough about what is most important to me: my family. Everyday I am amazed at how fast my 9 month old and 2 1/2 year old grow and change.
Just 4 weeks ago I was shocked when we met our friends newborn. She was adorable and a newborn. Until then I still considered my youngest to be a newborn but man, was I wrong. My 8 month old who ate solid food, smiled, rolled around and babbled certainly was not a newborn. It shook my reality. I realized just how fast time flies and that I have to enjoy every fleeting moment. All I can do is take it all in one day at a time to avoid feeling overwhelmed and verklempt. "Talk amongst yourselves. Discuss."
Just 4 weeks ago I was shocked when we met our friends newborn. She was adorable and a newborn. Until then I still considered my youngest to be a newborn but man, was I wrong. My 8 month old who ate solid food, smiled, rolled around and babbled certainly was not a newborn. It shook my reality. I realized just how fast time flies and that I have to enjoy every fleeting moment. All I can do is take it all in one day at a time to avoid feeling overwhelmed and verklempt. "Talk amongst yourselves. Discuss."
Sunday, August 10, 2008
Business Plan Started
Writing our business plan is such a daunting task. Last night I did the preliminary research on what should be included in a business plan. Then, Michael and I sat down and started to flesh out the major sections of our business plan. I was very overwhelmed by the whole thing. The idea of writing a 20 page document on Kountr in 3 weeks on top of all of the other tasks, both personal and Kountr related, is daunting. After sleeping on it, I realized that writing a business plan is much like a science research paper. For example, the Executive Summary is the Abstract. With that in mind, it feels much more attainable.
I started researching the details for the business plan tonight. Four hours of rummaging through Facebook is enough for one evening. I found that we do not have to complete a formal business plan for the fbFund. Each section is required for the application but in a questionnaire format rather than in one text document.
This is going to be a crazy, tiring week. Oh so exciting. It's a good thing that I am a night owl. The good old days of staying up all night to study and sleeping in the next day! I miss the sleeping in part. LOL Although sleeping in is nothing compared to playing with the kids. Good night all!
I started researching the details for the business plan tonight. Four hours of rummaging through Facebook is enough for one evening. I found that we do not have to complete a formal business plan for the fbFund. Each section is required for the application but in a questionnaire format rather than in one text document.
This is going to be a crazy, tiring week. Oh so exciting. It's a good thing that I am a night owl. The good old days of staying up all night to study and sleeping in the next day! I miss the sleeping in part. LOL Although sleeping in is nothing compared to playing with the kids. Good night all!
Friday, August 8, 2008
I'm back!
It has been way to long since my last post. We have been busy... from sickness to an out-of-town visitor. Kountr was put on the back bench for couple of weeks but we are now back in full force. Michael and I are working towards a developer competition at Facebook. We were already in the process of making a FB application from feedback so this competition is a bonus. It also adds a lot more to the list of things to do. I am working hard at our Business Plan. It is going to be a lot of hard work! I have lots of more to blog about, both personal and Kountr related, but so little time. I'm back!
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