This is the version info it’s reporting:  Mozilla/5.0 (Windows; U; Windows NT 6.0; en-US; rv:1.9.1) Gecko/20090615 Firefox/3.5 (.NET CLR 3.5.30729)

And here are the release notes.

Before installing I did some research to see which extensions (addons) would be compatible after upgrading.  Many of them supposedly supported the latest versions of Firefox, but in reality some did not.  I thought I’d share my findings in case it might help somebody else…  so here’s a list of the extensions I have installed on my PC, version info, and 3.5 compatibility:

I’ve only had it installed long enough to discover these incompatibilities…  I’m sure I’ll be able to find some dev versions of the extensions, like the one for TMP.

The final version should be released sometime this month.

UPDATE:  I’ve found compatible versions of Paste and Go (v3 instead of the previously listed v2) and Fasterfox Lite, and have updated the table above accordingly.

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(click here if you don’t see the album above)

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After mowing & edging Saturday I planted one of the back flower beds:

Yup, pretty much the same as last year.

Today I knocked out the following:

Installed 2 new bracket for hanging backets — the old ones weren’t big enough.  The screws holding them in were rusted and it took quite a bit of muscle and WD40 to get them out!

Last year I planted some basil, but decided this year to put it in a pot so I can take it in when it gets cold next winter.  A coworker had given me some oregano, and I bought some more basil and some flat leaf parsley.  So I put them all in one pot just outside the back door, next to one of our rosemary bushes:

I also replanted our other back flower bed — purple shamrocks (which are perennials) and white caladiums (which I learned this year are NOT):

I also planted a tomato plant in a Home Depot bucket that I drilled some holes in - I didn’t have a pot big enough, and wasn’t ready to dig up a spot for a mini garden just yet.  I think where I had it last year (where the herbs are now) didn’t get enough sun, so I’ve got it on the back (west) side of the house where it’ll get plenty of sun.

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GARDEN CITY, N.Y. (AP) — A rifle-toting convenience store owner said he decided to show mercy on a would-be robber after seeing the man collapse into tears and claim he was only committing the crime to support his starving family.

The Long Island store owner provided the bat-wielding man with $40 and a loaf of bread and made him promise never to rob again.

SOURCE (and additional details)

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Here are a couple pics:

More pictures available here.

I already had a flight booked on 6/13 — I can’t wait to get over for a visit!!  :)

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5/20 update - apparently Cinemark is now calling it “XD” instead of “XD3″.

… when you spend half an hour trying to research the difference between Cinemark’s new XD3 (link, link) and IMAX formats so you can get the absolute best moviegoing experience for the new Star Trek movie coming out this week.  :) (and then blog about it!)

Though I haven’t been able to find technical specs to do a side-by-side comparison, I did learn that the XD3 screen is 70 feet wide, while IMAX is about 72 - so in that respect they are pretty comparable.  (I emailed the box office at the IMAX and Cinemark Plano West where the XD3 is — we’ll see if I get a response)

I did a quick search on Twitter and with the exception of one negative item, everybody had good things to say.  (I had a good laugh over several tweets (link, link) RE: Hugh Jackman’s “mutant ass” on a floor to ceiling screen [Wolverine]!)

Price-wise they are the same ($12/ticket).

So I guess at this point I’m leaning towards giving the XD3 experience a shot, mainly because we really like this Cinemark theater in West Plano…

UPDATE 1:

A few minutes ago I received the following email from the manager of the Cinemark IMAX in Dallas:

Basically the difference between the two formats is XD3 is digital, IMAX is not. XD3 is a form of presenting feature films in a digital arena on a larger screen. The XD3 screen is a little bigger than the standard 75 ft.

Our IMAX theatre is the largest theatre in the city. Our sound system is unsurpassed, boasting forty speakers and over 10,000 watts of sound, however both presentations have perfect picture quality.

Thank you for your inquiry into our theatre, and I am sure both systems will meet your expectations. Whichever one you decide, Cinemark Theatres will appreciate your business.

Thank You!
IMAX House Manager

UPDATE 2 (2pm 5/4):

I just received the following from somebody Cinemark’s corporate office:

Visually, you can’t lose in either format. Personally, I LOVE the JBL
Sound system they installed in the XD3 auditorium. Plus, they have all
new oversized seats and wider rows…so that adds to the comfort level.
I believe the IMAX screen is taller…but I think XD3 is wider. The
IMAX auditorium holds maybe 200 people…XD3 holds around 500. So,
that’s kind of exciting to be a part of a large group.

Having seen the movie a couple of weeks ago, I have been counting the
minutes waiting for the chance to see it again in a large screen format.
You will be amazed!

My vote is for XD3. Visually it’s a tie. Comfort and sound win.

HAVE FUN!!!

UPDATE 3 (5/9):

And finally, a couple days ago I got this response from the Plano West Cinemark:

I am not sure if anyone responded to you on this…if not…sorry for the delay.  Both formats are a superb way to enjoy the movie and neither will leave you disappointed. That being said, the major technical difference is that IMAX is on film and XD is digital. Both deliver a superb image. The auditorium in an IMAX has a steeper rise so you will feel closer to the screen even if you are sitting a ways back.  The screens are close to the same size but the IMAX auditorium is much smaller, so the screen may seem even bigger since it is in a relatively smaller room.

I’m impressed I got responses at all!!

We have tickets for the 12:30 show Saturday 5/9 at te Plano West XD3 theater.

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Can people catch swine flu from eating pork?
No. Swine influenza viruses are not transmitted by food. You can not get swine influenza from eating pork or pork products. Eating properly handled and cooked pork and pork products is safe. Cooking pork to an internal temperature of 160°F kills the swine flu virus as it does other bacteria and viruses.

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Me wading in the ocean with a mimosa

Sitting on the deck was nice, but I wanted to be close to the ocean. So I dragged my chair down and sat where my feet were getting wet. :)

I was off to the right when this was taken…. but check out those waves! Some were 10 feet tall!

Kyle, Lori, Chris, Adam, me, Keith

Here’s a slideshow of all the pics we took:

And here’s a direct link to the album. I haven’t touched any of these yet, and there are quite a few that you’ll probably go “huh?” — just remember Keith had the camera. ;-)

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Here is Kirk’s new photo site, for those that don’t already know it.

I bet you can’t guess which one is my new wallpaper!  :)

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I’ll put pictures and more details up soon, but in the meantime here’s a shot I took off our deck Saturday morning before we left:

(original full-size pic here)

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TIRED, burned out. Need a break.

Vacation can’t get here fast enough.

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First up: Tivo

The story here: when we bought our house back in November, 2007, we were pretty overwhelmed with the prospects of a mortgage and all the new expenses and responsibilities that would entail. So we started cutting back on all kinds of things to save money — one of the things we cut was our TV service. (we had AT&T U-Verse at the apartment) So for over a year, all we had here at the house was broadcast TV. I got a couple of the digital TV converter boxes for a while, and the picture quality was great — but we still only got about 5 or 6 channels (not counting all the Spanish crap).

So a month or two ago I finally broke down and upgraded our FiOS service… We originally just had internet service - 5 Mbps download, 2 Mbps upload. But with our upgraded service, we ended up with 20 Mbps download & 5 Mbps upload internet, the FiOS “HD Extreme” TV package (not that we have an HD TV yet, but the only way to get a TV + Internet package deal was to go w/ this one.  we already have dirt cheap VOIP phone service so we didn’t want it through Verizon), a DVR, and a set top box for the bedroom.

For those that may not know, our first DVR was a DirecTivo box (DirecTV satellite with a Tivo DVR) years and years ago (it was just in time for the Janet Jackson “wardrobe malfunction” fiasco of 2004 - we rewound that incident at least 20 times!). No other DVR we’ve had has ever compared - including the FiOS Multimedia DVR. I did some checking, and found a TivoHD at Sears for a really good price ($100 cheaper than anywhere else), and discovered the price of a monthly Tivo subscription + FiOS cablecard (required for the Tivo to work with their service) came out to about the same price as the FiOS DVR monthly rental fee. So whenever I got my tax return, that was my first purchase.

We’re Tivoing fools once again. :) Other DVR manufacturers, please take note of the best remote ever made - the way it fits in your hand, and the intuitive layout of the buttons. Plus all the features/functionality mentioned here. :)

Next up: the HTC Touch Pro

Back in August I made the huge leap from a basic flip phone to a smartphone with the purchase of a Treo 800w.  I loved it for a while, but had numerous problems, went through at least one replacement, and finally had Sprint swap it for a Mogul.  A couple coworkers had that phone and I was convinced I would like it - but quickly grew to hate it.  It was SO slow, and eventually I started having hardware problems.  I’ve spent the last 6 weeks (or more) going back and forth to the Sprint store.  I’ve gone through 2 replacement Moguls (after my original one).

So finally this past week the manager of the Sprint store I’ve been frequenting approved a free upgrade for me to an HTC Touch Pro.

I won’t get into all the juicy details (I’m sure there’s already way too much geek speak here for most of my readers), but suffice it to say that this phone kicks the Mogul’s ass!  I’m still learning how to tweak it (haven’t had much time to scour the internet with so much going on at work), but straight out of the box it’s a million times better than the Mogul.

And the best part is that I didn’t have to use my “upgrade” to buy it — it was free for me!  (as it should be considering what I paid for the piece-of-crap Mogul!)

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HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!   :)

Keith’s Birthday Dinner in 2006

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Here’s the house we’re renting on the beach…

House Exterior	Large open Deck
Gulf View	Kitchen
Kitchen	Living Room
Living Room	Downstairs Bedroom 1
Downstairs Bedroom 2	Downstairs Bathroom
Upstairs Master	Upstairs Master
Upstairs Bedroom 2	Upstairs Bedroom 2

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Gently used — like new condition. Includes 2 DTV converters with their respective remotes.

We tried to save money by going this route but were going nuts without a DVR, so we’re back to FiOS TV and no longer need these.

DTVPal Manufacturer Details: http://www.dishnetwork.com/dtvpal/tr40CRA.shtml
DTVPal Review: http://news.cnet.com/8301-17938_105-10022685-1.html

DTT900 Manufacturer Details: http://www.zenith.com/dtv/dtt900.html
DTT900 Review: http://reviews.cnet.com/tv-hdtv-tuners-receivers/zenith-dtt900/4505-6487_7-32887594.html

(click here if you don’t see the graphic above)

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My cousins, Lori & Chris, drove down to visit from Michigan the week after Christmas.  It was AWESOME to get to relax and hang out, catch up, and just spend some quality time with family.  They live entirely too far away, and we never get to see them enough.  (although we’ve got just 48 days ’till our next Gulf Shores trip, woohoo!)  We also welcomed the new year with them along with a group of friends.  I think that was the longest stretch of paid time off I’ve ever had — and oh how I needed it!

January flew by without a lot of excitement.  Somewhere in there we found a new home for Dallas the cat.  It was kinda cool having him around sometimes; but I don’t miss him, so he’s better off where he is now.

The very first part of February I started feeling pretty crappy.  Stuff has been going around the office off and on for weeks (maybe a couple months), and I’m fairly certain I picked something up from one of my coworkers.  I came down with a fever and other unpleasantness (don’t make me try to spell that D word) on Friday, 1/30, which just happened to be the weekend the Shaws (Keith’s sister & family) came to stay with us for Kaylee’s gymnastics meet.  Unfortunately I was down for the count — but after about 36 hours of sleep over the course of the weekend I was feeling better by Sunday.  Then on Monday I had a Remicade infusion (I didn’t want to reschedule, and hadn’t had a fever since Fri), which ended up lowering my immune system even more, so whatever nasty bug I’d been fighting came back in full force.  The rest of the week went by in a blur; I missed 2 days of work and worked from home that Friday, and wasn’t back to my regular self ’till about Tuesday of this week.

Which meant that I was sicker than a dog on my birthday, Saturday (2/7).  NOT FUN!  Oh and I also ended up helping Keith’s mom move that day.  :)  We came home with some extra furniture as well, though we’re still not sure what we’re doing with all of it (sofa, chaise, queen size bed, & 2 dressers).

Luckily during that time we rejoined the civilized world and had FiOS TV installed.  We’ve had FiOS internet for as long as we’ve been in the house (November 2007) — but during that time we’ve been getting by with just broadcast TV.  Sure, we had digital converter boxes and the picture looked great most of the time, but we only got about 6 channels, and if the wind blew you couldn’t even get NBC.  (it sucked!!)  Not to mention the lack of a DVR…  Seriously folks, once you go DVR you never wanna go back!  So anyway, the install date coincided with when I was laid up on the couch, so at least that worked out.

UNFORTUNATELY….  This week has been very difficult at work.  Of course I had loads to catch up on after being out (and completely out of it) for so long.  But then yesterday we had a Reduction in Force.  My job is ok, but we had to let a lot of incredibly talented people go thanks to this horrible economy.  Telligent’s culture is unlike any I’ve experienced before, so most of my coworkers are much more than just people I work with - they’re friends, and even extended family.  It was an extremely long, difficult day.  I really can’t begin to tell you how taxing it was…

So now I’m just trying to regroup, and refocus.  It feels like the house went to shit while I was sick!  We’ve got extra furniture out the wazoo; dirty dishes, dirty floors, dirty laundry a halogen (I think?) light bulb on the back patio that needs to be replaced, a leaking toilet that needs to be fixed…  And it’s already past 1pm.  :(

So I guess it’s time to get some coffee going and move!

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I’m also a penny pincher…  So I get most of the books I read now through PaperbackSwap for free, or at places like Half Price Books.

Well there’s a book that was just released within the last few months, the 3rd and final book in this series, and it’s only available in hardback - and of course hasn’t trickled down to my free/cheap sources yet.  So I’ve been drooling over it for a while….  Well today on my lunch break I ended up at Border’s, escaping for a bit, and remembered suddenly that I had a Border’s gift card my old boss had given me for Christmas two years ago — and I just happened to have it in my wallet.  Lo and behold, it was just enough (with 78 cents leftover) to buy this book!  WOOHOO!

Yes, I’m also easily amused.  :)

I owe you guys a real blog post soon - I promise it’s on my radar…  ;-)

Oh in case anybody’s interested, the book in question is Mistborn 3: The Hero of Ages.

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Gulf Shores

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