Modern Day Da Vinci?

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I stole the headline from here, but I got the embedded code from youtube. All so that I could show you this:



That is pretty freaking cool.


In the category of other cool things:
Check out this awesome page of NASA photos from the recent shuttle mission. Pretty sweet stuff.

"The walls between art and engineering exist only in our minds.

- Theo Jansen

Windows Vista "Aero" vs. Linux's Beryl

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I found a cool video demonstrating the differences between Microsoft's new "Wow!" interface and a slightly older interface that has been available for Linux for a year or two now: Beryl.

Microsoft put Billions of dollars into Vista, and one of the main focuses was a redesign of the Window manager (now called "Aero"). Our video today will compare that with the Open Source project: Beryl, available for Linux. Microsoft should really be more careful with their money....

When you say "I wrote a program that crashed Windows", people just stare at you blankly and say 'Hey, I got those with the system, for free'.

- Linus Torvalds (creator of Linux)

DORA

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Yesterday, Lilly and I went to U.S. Department of Homeland Security where we filed her immigration paperwork through the DORA program. It was a surprisingly less painful than I thought it would be process. We showed up on time for our 10:15 AM appointment...went to the window...paid our fees...and we were told to return at 2:45 PM for a 3:15 PM appointment. D'oh!

We came back at 2:45 though, and all seemed to be going smoothly. We went in for our interview, and that's when we received the biggest shock of the day. It turns out that a Marriage License is, in no way, considered proof of a marriage by the immigration department! What? Apparently, they wanted pictures from the wedding, a copy of a statement from a joint bank accounnt, a copy of our lease, etc. I knew they would want this stuff in the long run, but I thought that would be in two years from now, not immediately!! Thankfully, we had our insurance cards with us (for our car insurance). That, combined with a spontaneous quiz on the part of the interviewer apparently convinced her that we are, in fact, married. I think we could of been rejected right then and there! (That would of sucked)

At any rate, it seems the process is going forward ok now. We were however shocked to discover a couple of unexpected things about how it will work though.

First off:
The filing of the I-485 is expected to take 90 days. No less. If there are any problems, then it will take longer and we will be notified of this.

Secondly:
The Travel Document we wanted to file and the Employment authorization won't even be processed unless the I-485 takes longer than 90 days!!!!

Thirdly:
We were faced with a choice of filing the Travel Document and Employment Authorization now, at the current rates, or waiting, in which case the rates will approximately triple as of July 1st (I think that date is correct..).

So, for the next 90 days, we definitely can not leave the country. This means no going back to Germany in the middle of September, and no employment authorization in the meantime.

However, with Lilly's clean background, I think we should be ok within the 90 days. We filed the Employment authorization, just in case, anyways. But we did not file the Travel stuff. We can file that later if we need to.

We had been talking about going to Germany in Sept./October to celebrate our wedding there. It's looking like we can't do that now. If we know we will get the 485 in time, we could do it in the early part of October. Maybe. Either way, it looks like we won't be coming back there until next spring because we can't reliably plan as it is now.

But, at least there's a chance we could be done with all of this in 90 days... (until 2 years from now...)

Techno Toys (The Software variety)

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The Google Photo/Picasso stuff has a nifty new feature:



Also, there is a really ultra cool extension available for Firefox that I just discovered today called Tab Effect. It, unfortunatly, requires Windows (it uses DirectX). I've been wondering when I would see this as a feature in a web browser though....

Finally, in my nerdy moment of the day, I finally have Basilisk II working. woohoo!

Here's a screenshot:

"It's like giving a glass of ice water to somebody in hell"

- Steve Jobs on porting iTunes to Windows

A June update....

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It's seemed like a long couple of weeks. My suburban was stolen. Now, we've realized that my digital camera was almost certainly in there, too. It's been depressing. But, it hasn't been disastrous. We bought my brother's 2000 Pontiac Grand Am (now he's driving our family's old Datsun). So, we have transportation. That's pretty good.

I keep hoping that the police will find the suburban though. Everyday that there is no word on it though, I feel a little less hopeful. I really liked that truck.

What really sucks is the sense of paranoia that it leaves you with. We went over to Rob and Stephanie's the other night for some BBQ, and we took our laptops along with us because I was feeling a little paranoid about what would happen if someone broke into our apartment and stole them! I know God will provide for all of our needs. I guess I'm just feeling a little bit violated right now after what happened.

Lilly and I went to my parent's church on Sunday to see a guy named R.T. Kendall speak. I've read a couple of his books before, and they've been pretty good. On the way out, we stopped so Lilly could buy one he had mentioned in the service. I ended up buying one, too. The one I bought is called The Christian and the Pharisee: Two Outspoken Religious Leaders Debate the Road to Heaven. I've been reading a little bit of it, and it's been interesting so far.

The book basically contains the substance of a series of letters written between R.T. Kendall (Southern Baptist trained Evangelical Christian leader) and David Rosen (A prominent Jewish Rabbi). It's full of scripture references as they discuss their points and their beliefs. He, R.T. Kendall, said in the service on Sunday that he really hoped and tried to share the gospel with David Rosen, but that he failed to convert him. He subsequently believes that this will cause many Jews to read the book....and subsequently be confronted with the gospel. It's an interesting point of view, but I like it. So far, I like the book, too. Maybe I'll write more about it as I read more.

Anyways, I'm going to travel to bed now. I'm pretty tired.

Good night....

And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.

- Romans 8:28