Blogger Changes, So Do I

Heads up! I just want you to be aware that my blog will be changing addresses soon. Blogger is soon to discontinue supporting FTP blogs, which is how mine is set up. So you will no longer be accessing my blog at http://brian.borups.org/blog. I have yet to figure out what I'm going to do but here are some of the options as to where my blog will land:
http://bborup.blogspot.com/
http://doggieb.blogspot.com/
http://blog.borups.org/

None of these are actually functional yet. :(

Every Trail - Windy Pass

My brother has a cool iPhone application that he likes to use on hikes. He used it on our last hike to the Windy Pass summit. It allows him to take photos along the way and record where the photos were taken and the path that we hiked. It's pretty cool. He uploads the files to a webserver and it creates a map like you see below.

Windy Pass

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I'm Looking But Don't Look at Me

Okay I'm 41 and single. I've been on plenty of singles/dating websites. Since I just had a birthday, one of these aforementioned websites (ldspromise.com) sent out an email notifying me that I can access their website freely for 7 days. I had forgotten that I even had an account with them but I thought, "what the heck?" and logged in. I had also forgotten that on this site the members can mark their profiles so that their photos are not displayed to their "matches" at all or that they are displayed only at some future time that they decide. This is a pet peeve of mine. Why on earth would anyone mark their photo to only be displayed after a certain amount of time?! Eventually I will have to see this person if there is going to be a relationship. Normally I prefer to go out with women without bags on their heads! And honestly showing a photo later is not going to increase their chances with me or anyone else. In fact, I immediately have just deleted these matches in the past.

I mean I always put my photo our there on my profile. Sure I choose one in which I think I look better than my average photos. But I do not consider myself some hot stud. It's just me. I just think it's fair that they know who they are talking to. And fortunately everyone finds different things attractive in different people. Or at least I'm still banking on that one.

So, does this make me vain? Am I missing something? I just don't get it.

Sobering Statistics

We live in a world full of information and sometimes we don't realize how fast it's changing. While this video is maybe a little alarmist, they are interesting things to think about. Hope you enjoy it.

Me Unplugged

Twice this week I have lost power for extended time. On Sunday the power was out from around 9:30pm to after midnight. And then Wednesday morning the power went off very early in the morning and didn't come on until I was at work.

Normally it seems that when I loose power at my house it doesn't take too long for it to come back on. Last Sunday when it went out, I was in the middle of rearranging my furniture and cleaning since I was hosting FHE the next evening. I carefully felt my way around the furniture in their unusual locations until I got to the kitchen and found my emergency flashlight. I then lit candles through out the first floor. It was almost like I had regular lighting. But what I didn't have was TV, computer, music, etc. So I had to find a way to entertain myself until the power returned. I started reading a neglected stack of magazines. That didn't last long. Soon I turned to my new iPhone and started playing a little Sudoku and texting a friend who was also lacking power. But when the power on my phone started to get low, I decided that I better save some juice in case it might have to be my alarm clock for Monday morning. Eventually I decided the power was not coming back on anytime soon and went to bed with a headlamp and a book. It was a quiet evening until I was awoken just past midnight from the noise of my television downstairs.

During all this quiet time, it just made me realize just how noisy my daily life is. When I'm at home my TV is generally running or there is music playing. And when I'm at work, it's a rare occasion that iTunes is not busy. It made me think that maybe I shouldn't be so disturbed by the quiet and that I should spend more time without all the distractions. Since that thought the power is back and so is the noise. But maybe I'll turn off radio when I drive. Maybe. And even if I don't at least I'm going to be more grateful for electricity.

I iPhone

So I did it. I've been talking about it and talking about it. But this time I actually did it. I bought an iPhone!

The past two weeks I have been without my home phone. Thanks MStar! I have been considering dropping that phone line anyway and just using a cell phone. So doing without it for two weeks was just the push that I needed I guess. My previous phone was a little Motorola flip phone. I could never hear really great on it and I never loved that phone anyway. So I guess it was time for a new one.

Today in church I was already finding new uses for my phone. No, I'm not talking about playing games during sacrament meeting. But I decided to see if there was an application for my phone that would allow me to count attendance at church. Sure enough there is a Tally Counter. Unfortunately I didn't get it downloaded in time for this week. But I'll be trying it out next week. Also my "man bag" as I like to call it, was significantly lighter today. Now I can use my iPhone instead of my old scriptures.

When I signed up, I did it on my brother's family plan where they already had unlimited text messaging and more minutes than they ever use. Thanks, Ben! And I'm dropping my home phone soon. So in the end even though I had to buy the phone, I will be saving at least $20 a month. Ye haw!

Off the Charts!

Not to brag or anything but LOOK AT ME! I'm sitting pretty at a 2108 skill level and here's the proof. Elisa (skill level 2000) and Sarah (skill level 1900) got nothing on me. They are pretty the only player that I ever play any more. Actually I was surprised that I could get over a level 2000. You can see in the screen shot above that the chart really isn't made for someone with my skills. Now, I'm addicted to see just how high I can make it.

This post was brought to you with tongue planted firmly in cheek.

Wii Have a Problem

I've been telling my family that I think I broke a rib while playing Wii Tennis. I was kind of kidding but not really. The right side of my chest hurts when you press on it in a certain spot. It hurts when I roll over in bed or twist to get up out of bed. So I'm pretty sure that I do have a broken rib. The question is "Could I have really broken it while playing Wii?" I decided to take that question to the Internet. Apparently a broken rib is one of the less serious problems that you could have. The site, Wii Have a Problem, chronicles the various injuries that people have actually inflicted on themselves, others, or even inanimate objects while playing Wii.

Here are the people injuries: Damage Report

Is That Bad?

Once upon a time I thought I was a pretty good tennis player. At least I really enjoyed playing. It's been several years now since I've even picked up my tennis racket other than to reach something on the shelf behind it. But now I have a Wii and my tennis skills are as tight as ever! I've been working almost every day to make "pro." Oh and let me tell you, I am really close. Less than 100 points to go! The problem is that playing this much Wii tennis makes me think that I can play the real thing again probably even better than before. My nephew (whose name shall remain anonymous) once told me that after playing Rock Band that he thought he could really play the drums or guitar for that matter. I now understand the phenomenon. They make video games so real any more that I can see how this happens. After all when I play Wii tennis like real tennis, I sweat! It's actually one of the reasons that I bought the system to begin with. But now I find that I justify it as "exercise." Is that bad?! I just know that I haven't been making it to the gym as often as I was in my pre-Wii days. Maybe I will feel better about it once I try wearing my heart rate monitor while playing. Or maybe I just need to buy the Wii Fit.

A Wii for Mii

I just ordered myself a Wii gaming system. Last Monday, I went to my singles FHE at Ryan's house. He brought out the Wii and we had a little fun playing tennis, boxing, and bowling. I particularly liked tennis. Maybe it was because I got a few smoking fast serves in. (And I was the only one who could do it!) When it came to boxing, I got knocked out by Carol. I think she might have been taking out her frustrations on me. The next day I found myself a little sore. My serving shoulder is still a little tender and my left leg hasn't quite recovered from all the lunges in bowling.

I just received an e-mail saying that it was now shipping. I just hope my muscles are ready for it when it gets to my house. :)

Take That Apple

With the announcement of the new iPhone, I thought everyone should remember about the competion too. See Microsoft's anwer to the iPhone:

This has been around a while but it's still funny.