Random Thoughts 7/6/11

• I came home to my five-year old telling me "yo momma" jokes.  What in the world?!  My momma is your grand-momma, so watch out, shrimp!
• I had the opportunity to go down to Ottawa and visit my grandmother on the fourth.  One reason for the trip was to bring her back up to KC for a family get together.  Another reason was so I could trouble shoot, update, and backup her iPad.  I love that my 86-year old grandmother uses her iPad every day, taking it to church and around town.  She emails and plays scrabble (Words with Friends) with us and, for someone who didn't have any significant computer experience and hadn't even typed since 1941, I think she's doing fantastic!  Technology is wonderful!
• Here's an article about Eurocopter's answer to Sikorsky's high speed helicopter.  Sikorsky has the X2, so naturally the Euro-solution is called the X3.  The X3 is exactly a new design, but rather a major modification of an existing helicopter, specifically adding two forward-facing propellers on each side of the helicopter.  These high speed helicopters not only have military and business applications but also would make a significant impact in search and rescue.  More on the very cool, 300 mph X2 prototype here.
• My daughter has had her tricycle moved to the kitchen.  There's nothing quite like stirring dinner on the stove while having a metal toy rammed into your ankle by a giggling two-year old.
• We're getting closer on moving up the road to the other house.  It's all very slow going, but the pieces are starting to fall into place.
• Please remember that an acquittal in our system is not the same as being innocent.  That verdict worked out exactly like I had predicted for the reasons I predicted it… and it still stinks.
• Cool iPhone apps that have helped me pass the time in recent months:  Tiny Tower, We Rule, Words with Friends, Burn the Rope, 7 Little Words, and Shanghai Mahjong.