Umberto's First Road Trip

Well, this Thanksgiving we decided to head down to Houston (sadly, our previous plans to go to Venezuela didn't pan out). Since we would be gone 5 days, we decided we needed to take Umberto with us. I'm glad to report he made the 4 hour trip each way without any problem. He also was surprisingly well adjusted at both my family's home and Amy's family's home. The break was great and now it's time to study for finals for me. In fact, I've been studying for my Wills and Trusts exam all day. Please, wish me luck. 

Bath Time...

Here's another shot of our little guy, this time bathing. I hope this doesn't upset the censors. Anyway, he likes to bath in the sink but he also likes to follow us into the shower. We think it's great.
And no, pictures of the him with us in the shower are not coming anytime soon.

Umberto Appears...

Well, I thought it was about time to include a picture of our little feathery friend. Here's our pride and joy in one of his favorite poses. He likes to climb on top of his toys and do the splits between two of them. Don't ask me why. Anyway, we love this little guy. 

Arrested Development R.I.P.

Well folks, I've never been closer to wanting to end it all than right now. Another great series (this time, one that I actually watched) has been axed by the Fox network. I don't understand why they can't throw it into another time slot and just give it another chance. They know it's great. I know it's great. What's the problem. Seriously. People, watch it!!! I know they gotta make money and all that, but I honestly believe the audience out there for this show is a lot bigger than they think.
I know lots of people at school who watch it all the time. I mean, every now and then when the network actually decides to show a new episode. Hint, no one will watch it if you only show 5 new episodes in three months. Come on. People only tune in when something is there. A show needs to gain momentum. But I honestly think the viewers are there. They just aren't being watched by the Nielson people.
True, Fox did let it go three seasons, and with such low ratings there is something to be said for stickin with it as long as they did. But a chance in a better time slot wouldn't have hurt. I mean, Monday nights are tough.
Anyway, there is hope in that Showtime is thinking about picking it up. Heck, I don't see why UPN or the WB doesn't jump on that. A critically acclaimed show that gets as many viewers as they are used to getting. Sounds good. Buffy made the jump and went on for two years. I think Arrested Development could do the same.
NETWORK EXECUTIVES, IF YOU SHOW IT, I WILL WATCH. PLEASE GIVE THIS SHOW THE RESPECT IT DESERVES AND PICK IT UP FOR 5 MORE YEARS. YOU WON'T REGRET IT!!!

Just Back From San Antonio

Well folks, I just got back from San Antonio and the Lone Star Classic mock trial competition. While I didn't actually compete (I was an alternate), the competition capped off a great experience practicing and learning a little something about real trials. Our team made it to the semi-finals, only to lose out in the end by two points (out of 100). I had a great time, learned a lot, and made some new friends at school and I'd say it was well worth all the work. I'm sure a few pictures will follow soon enough...

The newest addition to the Breeden Bunch

Though it's a little late (but only because he was extremely early), this is a pic of little Braxton. Braxton is my sister Vanessas's first son and he's my first nephew. He was born Aug 17, 2005, about 2 months early so he's about as tiny as they come. We're glad to have the little guy with us. 

Tablets, Chess, and the idiots at Ubisoft

So, I recently got a tablet PC. Pretty cool. For those who don't know what a tablet is, it looks a whole lot like a notebook or laptop but has some added functionality. Specifically, the screen responds to a stylus, kind of like a PDA, only laptop size. There are several different types. Mine has a keyboard and has a screen that swivels and lays down on top of the keyboard. Others have removable keyboards or no keyboard at all. Basically, it is totally cool.
But mine has one limitation, no CD or DVD drive...

Which brings me to the chess part of this post. Lately I've been playing a lot of chess and I've been looking for a good chess program to play against the computer to learn as well as play online with friends and others. For years, the default standard in chess on the computer has been Chessmaster. The most current version is CM 10, which is supposed to be pretty good. I've been playing the demo that I download and I like it so far, though it has very limited functionality. There are other options out there like Fritz, but it is quite a bit more expensive and I'd like to stay in the $20 range.

So Chessmaster 10 would be my first choice.

Now, I don't mean to make this very technical, but there exist programs that make the computer think it has a CD drive and you can put files into them and they will act like a CD drive, they're called drive emulators. A good free one is Daemontools.
The benefits of an emulator include the ability to put a CD image (such as a game or other program) on your harddrive and then simply put the image in the emulated drive. This allows you to not have to carry around a bunch of discs or even be able to find the right disc. You don't end up leaving your discs around and scratching them. It can also save valuable battery power in laptops because they don't have to physically spin the CD in the drive.It's also the only way I can use programs that come on discs on my tablet PC...

Which brings me to the idiots at Ubisoft.
They apparently put so much copy protection on their discs (like Chessmaster) that it makes it impossible to even install the game on a computer with a drive emulator or even a CD burner. WHAT!!! I don't know if they even sell computers without CD burners anymore. Anyway, I think it's needless to say that sales of Chessmaster can't be that good. I went to 2 stores recently and they don't even sell it.

So basically, Ubisoft, in an attempt to thwart piracy, has made is so impossible to use their software that, even though I would like to buy it based on the demo I've played, I won't.
Way to go Ubisoft, you've prevented piracy, but you lost a customer.

Let's give it a go

Well, here we go, my first attempt at putting it all out there. Actually, I'm not going to put a whole lot out there for now, but I thought it may be good to just say hello and get this ball rolling.
It's another lazy Friday for me, and after checking out my friend Kendall's blog I was inspired to start my own. I doubt I'll have as many great travel pics as him, but I hope this helps everyone keep up with us and our humble existence here in Dallas. Thanks for checking in, and we hope to see you again soon.