Foo = Family

First Day of KG

noreply@blogger.com (Adrian DeFazio) — Thu, 25 Sep 2008 04:36:00 +0000

My oldest kid started KG about a month ago. Of course it was an exciting day for him. He pretty much said adios to Mom and Dad and got right on the bus. I can't say there were any tearful goodbye's, except for maybe my wife. I can't believe he is already five and starting school. Time goes by way too fast...

Kids Music Review

noreply@blogger.com (Adrian DeFazio) — Tue, 22 Jul 2008 03:30:00 +0000

I've decided to start reviewing some of the music our kids have been listening to. My hope is that I can help some of you parents out their avoid the pitfalls that we have made in some of our music choices. Since I don't have the time to review every album my kids have, I'll just review four albums that my kids have been listening to the most.

They Might Be Giants - Here Come the ABCs

My Favorite Song: Alphabet of Nations
Wife's Favorite Song: Alphabet Lost and Found
Son's Favorite Song: C is for Conifers
Daughter's Favorite Song: Go for G!
Review: An excellent addition to the family collection. They Might be Giants have always been a quirky band. Most people are familiar with their work with tunes like Istanbul (Not Constantinople) and Partical Man Twisting from their Flood LP. I especially like how they have incorporated this aspect of their music into this kids CD. You can truly tell that their is some genuine artistry in the songs they have created. Our kids seem to enjoy the album.

BareNaked Ladies = Snack Time
My Favorite Song: Pollywog in a Bog
Wife's Favorite Song: Wishing
Son's Favorite Song: What a Wild Tune
Daughter's Favorite Song: Popcorn
Review: I'll be the first to admit that I've never been a BareNaked Ladies fan. Having said that, I have to say that this kids album is pretty good. A lot of the songs are catchy and the wife and I really like the melodies they have created. Our daughter is always asking for the repeat on Popcorn. She is ruthless about it, and eventually we crack!

Alvin and the Chipmunks [Soundtrack]
Son's Favorite Song: The Chipmunk Song
Daughter's Favorite Song: Bad Day
Review: The Magical Kingdom has sunk to a new low with the rehash of this classic. With the all new Alvin and the Chipmunks, the songs sound as if they have been over produced and over digitized giving the impression that the whole album is just over the top. What's worse is that the chipmunks synthesized voices are paired up with modern day hits. I'd rather take my kids to a Rage Against the Machine concert! I'm not even providing a link to buy this album, no one in their right mind should want to subject a child to this crap.

Choo Choo Soul
Son's Favorite Song: Bullet Train
Daughter's Favorit Song: Bad Day
Review: The juggernaut that is Disney must like torturing parents. Like the pulsating lights of a nightclub, the songs on this album never seem to end. Maybe it's just that they all sound alike? Whatever the reason, the songs just don't offer much artistry. ***WARNING*** Do not listen to this album for more than 1 hour at a time, serious side effects may occur. Our latest trip to the beach included about 3 hours of music imposed torture listening to this CD over and over again. It took me well over a week to recover from that overdose.

Music Genome Project

noreply@blogger.com (Adrian DeFazio) — Tue, 08 Jul 2008 13:15:00 +0000

A peer of mine told me about a website called Pandora. Pandora is an online radio station and is based upon what they are calling the music genome project. So what makes it so unique compared to your average online radio station? The interesting thing about Pandora is that it recommends music based on the attributes of songs and artists you like!

This is how Pandora works. You go to their site and create an account. After your account is created, you can create a radio station by typing in some artists or songs that you like. Based on your selections, the site will automatically pick music that has the same type of sound. It's not based on genre at all. It's supposedly based on musical attributes that each song is tagged with by the Pandora site. You can read more about it here.

You can create as many radio stations as you want. They can be based off a particular artist or song that you choose. That radio station will then only play songs with attributes that are like your particular song or artist selection. Another nice thing about the site is that you can give feedback on a song that the site recommends. You can either approve or disapprove of a song. If you disapprove, the song wont be played again. These are just a few of the goodies that the site offers, to see more, go to the site and test it out for yourself.

All in all, a great tool for those times when you want to find new songs and artists based on your musical preferences.

Fathers Day Gift

noreply@blogger.com (Adrian DeFazio) — Thu, 03 Jul 2008 14:00:00 +0000

My wife is always coming up with good ideas for gifts. This year for Fathers Day, it was a book that we can use to help think of things to do with our kids. The book is called Kids Love Virginia. The website for the book is Kids Love Travel.

What I like: The book is organized into different areas of the state. The book also has a special index called "activity index". This index categorizes all of the different activities. It then references each activity under the appropriate category and what area that activity belongs to. Great way to quickly find an activity in a particluar area!

What I dislike: I want to be able to further refine my activities. I'd like to filter on different criteria such as age appropriatness and cost. Maybe that's a little too much to ask for from a book? How about a secure website where people who have purchased the book can log into? There you could filter activity by anything you want (area, cost, age, etc.). Kind of like Carmax, where you can filter on a number of car related factors.

In this day and age, I don't see a reason why this shouldn't be possible. All in all, it's still a cool present that I'm sure we will use a lot. Thanks Honey!

Lawn mower update

noreply@blogger.com (Adrian DeFazio) — Sat, 28 Jun 2008 15:20:00 +0000

Just wanted to point out a reply to one of my last posts. Apparently, the batteries used by the Neuton mower are almost 100% recyclable. The person who replied also included a link to a kick ass website on the what's and where's you can recycle. I would recommend using this site Earth 911, it's an excellent resource.

Maybe battery operated devices and vehicles aren't as bad as I had originally thought.

Sand Boat 2.0

noreply@blogger.com (Adrian DeFazio) — Sun, 22 Jun 2008 12:01:00 +0000

The first incarnation of sand boat was built by my father in law. Being an architect, his design was impeccable. After the boat was built, I was impressed at how much his creation did look like a boat. After all, it was made of sand! His only flaw was that he built the boat during low tide. Alas, once high tide came, the sand boat was sunk.

I went through two iterations of sand boat to try and duplicate what my father in law had created. Needless to say, neither version that I attempted came close to the original. I'm chalking it up to my lack of experience in making things out of sand. After all, if I compare my sand boat attempts to software projects, new versions are supposed to improve on their predecessors, right?

On a lighter note, our beach time this year was great! Our first week was spent at Topsail Island. This beach is a little north of the city of Wilmington. Topsail Island is a pretty secluded beach. It has plenty of private houses to rent and only one ocean front resort hotel in the Villa Capriani. Our second week was spent at Holden Beach. It is very similiar to Topsail, except that it is south of Wilmington.

One special note of interest was the aquarium that we visited. There are three aquariums in North Carolina. If you want more info, check out their website: NC Aquariums. We visited the aquarium in Fort Fisher. All of their exhibits are educational and very professionally done. In addition, it was enlightening to read about the aquariums conservation efforts. Very impressive!

All in all, we had beautiful weather and a great time at the beach.

My problem with gas lawn mowers...

noreply@blogger.com (Adrian DeFazio) — Sun, 08 Jun 2008 23:34:00 +0000

In previous posts I've touched on the subject of a persons Sustainability and Carbon footprint in America. Instead of just complaining about the apparent lack of concern, I wanted to start posting ways that people are starting to improve their impact on our earth. This first post in many is about lawn mowers.

Back in college, I had a roommate who was a Mechanical Engineer and he was always going off on the harmful effects of lawn mowers. He always thought it funny that people were so worried about the effects of their cars on the environment, but didn't give a second thought about their lawn mower. What a lot of people don't realize is that gas lawn mowers have no restrictions on the amount of pollution they can emit.

Just doing a simple google on "lawn mower pollution" and selecting the first link will take you to a great article on what kind of pollution a lawn mower produces. The article is enlightening and in my opinion paints a pretty bleak view of the gas lawn mower. So what are some ways that people are ditching their carbon dioxide emitting problem? Here are my suggestions and opinions on a few:

Electric Lawnmowers - Products like the Neuton run on a battery and produce zero emissions. The problem I have with these is the battery that the mower runs on. How do you dispose of it? Is it recyclable?

Push Mowers - Probably the most environmental friendly of the mechanical kind. Their are plenty of options and varieties. Here is a good website.

Goats - No joking here. You can now rent goats in 11 states. Is your state one of them?

Doin Some Pickin

noreply@blogger.com (Adrian DeFazio) — Mon, 26 May 2008 17:00:00 +0000

We are fortunate to live in a part of the country where we are relatively close to the farming community. What's even more fortunate is that the local farms open their doors for families to come pick fresh fruit and vegetables. Not too long ago, we spent the day picking Strawberries at a local farm called Dansby's.
It was a great way to spend the day outside, and it kicked off a most excellent Mothers Day weekend.

Some of the local farms around Roanoke are pretty small. They are usually family run and try to cater to the local community. Besides being able to pick your own, some offer an alternative. There is a farmers market in downtown Roanoke every Saturday that some local farmers show up to. They have a pretty good website: Roanoke Farmers Market

I would recommend anyone visiting the Southwest Virginia area to try and visit the farmers market. Not only can you get great product, but your supporting the local farming community!

Kids love Nature!

noreply@blogger.com (Adrian DeFazio) — Sat, 10 May 2008 16:43:00 +0000

Recently the family and I went on a hike in the George Washington and Jefferson National Forest. The particular hike we did is called the Roaring Run Trail. I'll I can say is that the whole family had a blast.

The hike starts with a walk through of a pre civil war furnace. It's a huge structure and pretty impressive. You then have to climb a few good hills that include some switchbacks to get to the main attraction. It's a beautiful waterfall that is about 30 feet high. If we had been prepared, we could've stayed the whole day.

All in all, it's only about a two mile hike (if you do the loop). We took some pictures that you can check out below:

Sustainability

noreply@blogger.com (Adrian DeFazio) — Wed, 30 Apr 2008 03:07:00 +0000

Why do the Europeans always seem to have one leg up on Americans when it comes to sustainability? I was listening to Marketplace on the way home today and heard a story on sustainability. It seems that Germany is leading the way in promoting renewable energy. If a German uses Solar Panels or Wind Turbines for a home and feeds that into the power grid, they get paid by the utility companies to do so!

What's even cooler about this is that it's a law! The only questionable practice I see is the utility companies passing those costs back to consumers who don't use renewable energy. I don't know if I'm board with that practice. It doesn't make sense to me to charge people who might not have the discretionary income to afford a renewable energy source.

Now if the U.S. would only step up to the plate and enact similiar legislation. Maybe then I would pony up the cash for the renewable house. Of course, with the questionable practices of Sams Club, I would have to find an alternative provider.

My Dander is Up

noreply@blogger.com (Adrian DeFazio) — Tue, 22 Apr 2008 03:05:00 +0000

On the eve of Earth Day, I've got two things that have got me up in arms:
1.) Consumerism
2.) Environmentalism

Consumerism
I'm going to say one thing about Americans and debt. Stop buying! You can't blame anyone but yourself for the debt you have incurred. Sure we are under a constant barage of commercials from different sources (TV, internet, radio, etc.), but it isn't making you buy. How about considering an alternative to always buying new? I would recommend second hand shops. We buy alot of our kids clothing and toys from these kind of shops. Get off your high horse and start reusing!

Envionmentalism
Let me start off by saying that I think the Toyota Prius and any other "hybrid" vehicle is a complete waste of money. They shouldn't even qualify as a hybrid. I just don't get what the big deal is. The gas mileage sucks for a so-called hybrid, they are more expensive than a regular compact (making it unattainable to the masses), and what the hell do you do with that big ol battery when it reaches eol? Come on you bureaucratic car companies, get off your asses and give us something truly "hybrid". If your like me and you can't wait another 50 years, here are some tips:

- Find an alternative option: Bike, Car pool, use the bus, work from home (hell yes I think all of these are realistic options)
- Move to Portland, Oregon. They practice what they preach.
- Read the Lorax and get inspired!

No Recycling in Roanoke County, WTF???

noreply@blogger.com (Adrian DeFazio) — Thu, 17 Apr 2008 00:19:00 +0000

I've been in Roanoke for a little over a year now and am still in shock over the fact that Roanoke County doesn't do curbside pickup of recycling. Here we are living in the 21st century and there are still places in the U.S. where recycling isn't taken seriously. I don't care what your political affiliation is, there is no denying that Americans are the most wasteful of any other nation.

Given that, our family has decided to take things into our own hands. We are storing our recyclables thanks to some bins from suncast. We will be taking them to recycling centers around town. Check out CVC for info on how to recycle in the Roanoke Valley (Yeah the chair freaks me out too).

Of course, this poses another problem in that it increases our carbon footprint due to driving more.

Toddlers and College

noreply@blogger.com (Adrian DeFazio) — Mon, 02 Jul 2007 18:42:00 +0000

Has anyone else experienced a flashback to college through your kids activities? I have had two sepereate instances where something my kids are doing have reminded me of my college days.

The first came when my son Aidan started doing jigsaw puzzles. I never cared much for them, but I had a roommate in college who used to devour them. These weren't the 500 piece puzzles mind you, more like the 5000 piece varities. Granted I never actually saw him at play as he was a complete night owl. Sure enough though, by the time I woke up he had managed to complete at least a small part of the puzzle. Anyway, I googled him the other day and found out he has made himself quite a name in the flash world. His website Levitated.net is an amazing mix of art and technology. I've added his site to my favorites list. Maybe there is something to these jigsaw puzzles afterall???

The second came in the car while driving around town. Of course the kids are the number one priority so we try to keep them entertained by listening to childrens music. A highly recommended one is They Might Be Giants. Which brings me to my point. These guys were a favorite of some college friends of mine, and brings back good memories of the times spent at College. Who would've thought they would start making kids music? Now matter, it's great stuff!!!

COTS vs. Custom Development

noreply@blogger.com (Adrian DeFazio) — Sun, 24 Jun 2007 14:47:00 +0000

This is going to be a debate that will continue for the foreseeable future and one that I'm faced with right now. I'm currently on a project where the customer is are going with custom development. I do think this is the right decision. The main reason is that the company has enough unique business rules that don't fit in well with what a Commercial Off-the-Shelf package can offer.

I can't say that everyone at the company agrees with my opinion. So who is right and who is wrong. How can you determine what the right solution is? How much time should be spent coming to the conclusion? So many questions, but not alot of resources availabe to answer them. Is this something that is gained through experience?

My past experience tells me that even going with a COTS, if you have enough unique business rules your going to have to customize the solution anyway. This can of course effect any future uprades to the COTS solution. So your essentially blocking your upgrade path. Wouldn't it make sense to develop a custom solution at that point?

Isn't software supposed to make your life easier?

Austin vs. Roanoke part 1

noreply@blogger.com (Adrian DeFazio) — Sat, 23 Jun 2007 05:38:00 +0000

I'm sure this will be the first post in many to come...

I think almost everyone knows how great of a town Austin, Texas is. So when we moved away about 6 months ago for Roanoke, VA, I wouldn't exactly say we got a resounding thumbs up. I could go on for hours about how great Austin is:
it's a young progressive city
a great night life
outdoor activities galore
most importantly a huge tech bed.

Having said that, I do believe Roanoke has a lot of good qualities that we are just beginning to discover. Besides the over-the-top friendly locals, you get a laid back lifestyle and a great family oriented city with plenty to do for outdoor enthusiasts. Even with our kids being 4 and 1, you can still enjoy a good day hike. I'll post some pictures in a while.

I would say the biggest thing I miss about Austin is KGSR! One positive is I can at least stream it on the web...

The Bitch is on!

noreply@blogger.com (Adrian DeFazio) — Sun, 08 Apr 2007 13:33:00 +0000

I've finally had time to post some of the pictures from the weekend trip from my last entry. Chris was the catalyst for us to meet a couple of weeks back in Philadelphia. This in itself is significant, considering all of us are spread throughout the country.

It was great that all of us were able to make it. Hopefully we keep to our promise of getting together a little more frequently. As one of us so well emphasized the whole weekend, "The Bitch is on!".

In Memory of Chris

noreply@blogger.com (Adrian DeFazio) — Sun, 04 Mar 2007 23:59:00 +0000

Recently I met up with some old friends from high school to mourn the passing of a good friend. He passed away in a motorcycle accident in Texas. Not only was he an excellent guy, but an extrodinarilly gifted artist. You can see some of his work here: http://mayerartconsultants.com/artist_lyonhome.htm

I think one of the things that most impressed me about Chris was his outlook on life. From the times I was around him, never did I see the guy without a smile. He had a passion for all sport teams affiliated with Pittsburgh (rightfully so, considering we grew up there). In addition, his love for bands such as Van Halen was over the top.

At the time in our lives that we knew each other, we were exact opposites. Looking back, I could have learned alot from Chris as he was just an all around good guy.

At the time of his passing, we only lived 4 hours from him. I kick myself that we didn't make the effort to go and see him. They always say that hind sight is 20/20, in this case it couldn't be any farther from the truth.