Dillan is intense
When it comes to running in the backyard, my younger boy Dillan doesn't play around.
When it comes to running in the backyard, my younger boy Dillan doesn't play around.
For those not in the know, Cameron is a creeper. A monster from one of his favorite computer games, Minecraft.
Oh, and the house with all the decorations in not mine. I just wanted to give an idea of how they roll in my neighborhood. They don't play around.
I don't know what it is, but as soon as I started building a large sand castle a group of little kids began forming around me. They were all very interested, asking lots of why/how question, but there was one question that became a common theme...
"Can I knock it down?" I told them that they could knock it down once I was done and suddenly they could think of nothing else."Are you done? Are you done? Can we knock it down now?"
They were becoming restless and I began to fear for my own safety. So I declared it finished before they took me out. It was all I could do just make them wait until the camera was out and I had started recording.
Cameron's school is putting on a play about bugs and each student had to pick a bug that they wanted to be. Cameron chose the dragonfly, so I threw together this costume using cardboard, pipe insulation, and zip-ties. What do you think?
My son, Cameron, who's about six and a half now has been using an old HP Pavilion that we bought back in 2006. Its been through multiple upgrades over the past few years, but it finally kicked the bucket a few weeks ago -- something with the onboard graphics. You could only use it for about 20 seconds before the screen would become distorted and unusable. I thought, enough with the upgrades, its time for a new computer!
This was an unexpected expense, so I was on a budget. That meant no new Apple computer or big box Windows pc. With those two out of the picture, there was only one option left -- a Newegg build with Ubuntu. Besides, you're never too young for Linux, right?
Here's my parts list:
Parts I salvaged from the HP:
Total cost: $206 shipped
You may have noticed that listed the power supply twice. That's because I ordered a MicroATX power supply to use in the MicroATX case, but it turned out that the case uses a normally sized power supply. Doh!
I threw all the parts together and then booted it up with an Ubuntu 10.10 dvd. All of the hardware was immediately recognized, including the wireless card which I was pleasantly surprised by. Then, a few keystrokes and about 20 minutes later, I had a brand new computer -- fully functioning and ready to go. I opted to include the third-party packages during the install, so once it was done I just installed Chrome and set up a few extras for my son, like bookmarks for Lego.com, Nickjr.com, and a Lego Star Wars desktop background. This was definitely my easiest Ubuntu install to date.
Once he came home from school, I told him that after he finished his homework, I had a surprise for him. He finished his math and spelling in record time, so I took him upstairs and showed him his sweet new Linux box. ;) He was really excited, especially when he saw the Lego Star Wars background.
Check it out. My son made a paper laptop. He drew songs on the screen (iTunes) and an (upside down) apple on the back, so I named it the "MacBook Paper". The little blue thing on the side is a disc that's being burned. I think it's awesome!
One after another, people kept stopping by and telling us that our pumpkins were the best they'd seen in the neighborhood. Amy carved the haunted house pumpkin and I carved the other with the skull on the front and "Day of the Dead" on the back, and Cameron did the Batman pumpkin. The boys were dressed as Batman and a race car driver. Dillan, the race car driver, was not a happy camper. I'm not sure why, but he was just in a pissy mood all evening. There were a ton of kids in the neighborhood this year. We bought two huge bags of candy and gave out every last piece. I think Halloween is one of my favorite things about this neighborhood.
Cameron's having arts and crafts time, and he says he's making a Batmobile. I joined in and made a paper Millenium Falcon.
Cameron and I walked around checking out a bunch of really cool cars at a local Cars & Coffee style meetup.
I have many loves: my boys, my wife, my dogs, my mac, the internet, cars, gadgets, and most recently, my house.
