Yeah, we suck!

Okay so we definitely suck at keeping this thing updated. Thought I should though since I was complaining about other people not updating theirs and I wouldn't want my glass house to break from all my stone throwing.

So here's an update of our fabulous lives...

...Brian

Brian has finished his first year of his Masters. He spent an awesome time this summer in New York and has some great stories and pictures from that trip that maybe you will see some day. Currently he is working his butt off at one too many jobs and trying going to school. He will be needing lots of support, which I will be supplying! One of his new jobs is working at the UI Sustainability Center, which is a really amazing opportunity for him and he's really enjoying it. We're not seeing much of each other, but we still do see each other sometimes and are having a blast together (can't believe we've been married for almost four years)!

...Kelly

I finished up my Masters in Teaching this June. I'm happy I did it and really glad its done. Started being a TA for the chemistry department again (which is really nice...happy to be back in the Chemistry department). I also started taking a Nuclear Reactor Operations class to learn how to become a Reactor Operator. Yeah, you read that right. I started training on Friday and am looking to take the exam in January to get my license. It's been a really amazing experience just this week and I'm looking forward to learning doing more everyday.

The above picture is a picture of the core of the WSU reactor (the windows in the back are to the control room...that's where I sit!). The blue glow is from electrons moving faster than the speed of light through water, creating something kind of like a sonic boom. On Friday I got to actually start up and bring to full power the reactor. I myself created this glow...I'm a little proud. This new goal for me is something that is really exciting. I am really passionate about something for the first time in a while (at least since the whole education program bust). It's definitely something that I wasn't planning on in the beginning but is going to be really beneficial for Brian and I.

Be prepared in the next few months to hear a lot about this, and to learn more than you ever wanted to about reactors and nuclear chemistry...

...get excited people!

New Google Toys

So there are a few things in this world that I despise. First, dumb voicemail messages (see "After the Beep") Second, group projects. Third, syncing (see "Why Can't Microsoft Play Nice?" and "I am a Syncing Fiend").

The voicemail hatred should be self-explanatory as well as my syncing woes. The group projects thing ... basically it comes down to logistics. By the time the group figures out what time to meet, who should take care of what, when to collaborate, etc. etc. I feel like most of the time I could have just done the project myself. While I'm never going to get away from voicemail, group projects or syncing at least the good people over at Google have understood my pain and decided to make them easier to deal with by creating:

Google Voice (Thanks for the b-day present Turchins). Imagine never having to check your voicemail again to hear, "Hey it's me. Call me back." Thanks to Google Voice, you'll never have to again, unless you want to. Basically what Google Voice does is transcribe your voicemails and sends it to you in a text and/or email. You can read it instantly and then decide whether you want to call the person back or shun them forever. "Awesome!" you say? Wait, there's more. You can filter your calls to different voicemail messages based on who is calling. So now I can have a standard greeting play for whoever but let Kelly know I'm not ignoring her calls, I'm just in class. Plus, you have the option of signing up for a Google phone number that can then route your calls to your cell, your home phone, a business phone, or any combination based on who calls. Best of all, it's free.

Google Mobile and Google Sync. If you have Gmail, use Google Calendar, and have a smartphone, you definitely need to check this out. Before I had to use Outlook or something else to sync contacts, calendars and mail to my phone. Not anymore. After installing a free app on my iPhone and setting up my existing accounts I was all set to sync, no computer software needed.

Google Wave. I totally stumbled across this by seeing an ad on the side of a website for a Google Wave book for developers. "Google Wave? What's that?" I asked myself. Then I asked Google. After seeing a few videos on it here and here, I requested an invite because I had to have it. I was working on a group project at the time and we were having a really hard time working out times to meet and exchange information and files. Google Wave would have solved those problems. It's better to check it out for yourself but basically imagine combining e-mail, instant messaging, photo and file sharing, in a completely collaborative environment all through your web browser. I'm still figuring out all the quirks and I don't really have anyone to 'wave' with to test it out on a real project but I can't wait until I do.

In the end, thanks Google, for taking the things I hate and turning them into toys I want to play around with.

P.s. It's not from Google so it doesn't really fit the theme of the post but Prezi, is the next toy I want to use for a presentation sometime. Powerpoint and other slide based presentations just became obsolete.

Testing iPhone app