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Justin Ball Technology, skiing, bikes, and everything else since 2005

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Tag · 57 posts

Interesting

43 Social Profiles

One challenge any community site faces is how to let users express themselves. It is hard to express the sum total of any individual on a web page, but in the virtual world that…
November 11, 2009 · 43 photos
None Of Us Is As Dumb As All Of Us

If you are accustomed to working in an office you’ll be familiar with the myriad of conference calls, meetings and ‘brainstorming’ events that waste most people’s days. While most…
May 14, 2009
Twitter – The New Borg

I’m not a twitter power user but people frequently ask me what it is and why would I use it. I used to tell them it was a ‘micro-blogging’ service. Of course that explanation…
March 15, 2009
Words Fail Me

http://www.kutv.com/content/news/watercooler/story.aspx?content\_id=fb5ec53b-e22b-47eb-8a03-0d06ad4c4fbf
November 11, 2008
It’s Your Head Not Your Butt That Matters

I’ve been writing code all day, again. Luckily I enjoy writing software. There are moments when I and the computer don’t get along. On those days I consider becoming a garbage man…
October 13, 2008
Marginal Improvements Make People Happy

I saw a recent post on Slashdot that got my attention – What Google Engineers do for Fun: Computerized Lego Art Project. I have to admit I am a total Lego nut so whenever I see…
October 11, 2008
Muffins

When you are not especially mobile because you trashed your knee and you aren’t supposed to bend it more than 30 degrees or else you might tear open a newly sewn together wound…
September 1, 2008
Open Any Document in Google Docs Via a Url

We are looking at ways to integrate the new Teachers Without Borders site with Google docs. Turns out that you can open: documents – .pdf, .doc, .txt, .html, .rtf and .odt…
August 28, 2008
Appreciate the Little Things

I took sort of an actual bath today. I love to shower so it really stinks that I have to find alternate means to clean up. I managed to sit in the bath and shower off a bit this…
August 27, 2008
Found Some Stuff

I managed to find my riding glasses and my bike computer today. Neither were cheap, but it is interesting how little you care about that stuff when there is a gaping hole in your…
August 27, 2008
Ways to Not Make Use of Your Health Insurance – Cyclist vs. Rattlesnake

Over the years I have seen a couple of bike wrecks. In one the rider’s frame was snapped in half and he took a LOT of skin off his back. It was a good thing he had a helmet. It…
August 22, 2008
Something to Think About

My wife took the girls to Ogden today. While driving through the canyon the driver in front of here was driving erratic and she noticed that their hands moved a lot. When she got…
August 18, 2008
Rode Stoddard Creek Friday (A few Fridays ago)

These days I only manage to ride motorcycles with my dad, brother and brother-in-law about once a year. This time we made our way to Stoddard Creek. Its about 60 miles north of my…
August 17, 2008 · 71 photos
Teeth Whitening = Pain

A few days ago I broke one of my bottom front teeth. Luckily it didn’t hurt, but I figured I should get it fixed. That started a serious of events that led to one of the more…
August 14, 2008
Outsourcing My Religion

I got up at 6:30 am this morning so that I could serve in what is know as a ‘calling’ in my church. I have done this for two years now. Anyone that knows me knows that I don’t get…
July 27, 2008
Snakes in the Grass

Last week right before we left for Yellowstone I went out to work on the sprinklers for the garden. I threw on some flip flops because that was easy. While walking around I felt…
July 2, 2008
Blackmarket Bread

Listening to the news in the car this morning there are protests in Egypt because the high price of fuel has driven up the cost of grain which has driven up the cost of government…
May 13, 2008
PicLens on ThePlanCollection.com

David Wiley pointed me to PicLens a few days ago. It is fun way to view online images. Immediately I saw the potential use for viewing house plans. We already have data feeds in…
April 19, 2008
Interesting Things From Today

I ate pickle soup. It was awesome. Try new things you might be surprised. Evolution is bullshit. If it were real mankind would have evolved such that his hair did not migrate from…
April 2, 2008
Battlestar Galactica

I will show my true geek here. Battlestar Galactica will be back on the air this Friday night. I am so excited. When I was a kid I watched the original series all the time. I will…
April 1, 2008
Chocolate

On the way back from the Mountain West Ruby Conference we dropped by xocolate in Salt Lake. They have a mole chocolate made with something that will set your mouth on fire. I…
March 30, 2008
How Mortgages and Housing Hurt the Economy

I had always assumed that the potential for default on risky mortgages was a problem, but I didn’t realize how far reaching it could become. Here is an article in the New York…
March 20, 2008
Utah Flat Tax

So the follow on to the Tax date is the fact that we paid taxes this evening. This year Utah citizens have the option of either a flat tax rate of 5.35% or the standard 7% rate…
March 20, 2008
The Internet Currency

A long time ago people figured out that if you used coins for trading instead of chickens you could build up a complex economy. The coins usually consisted of something precious…
March 18, 2008
Automatically Geotag Photos

I know that adding GPS to cameras will add cost to the unit but it seems like the perfect marriage. With the GPS data embedded inside the exif data you won’t have to tag your…
March 18, 2008
Journal Writing Sucks, Blogging is Cool

The LDS cultural has encouraged personal history and journal writing since its inception. Ever since then the vast majority of the members have ignored this council and the…
March 16, 2008
Turn WordPress Into Social Butterfly

I have been pitching this idea of a distributed social network to everyone that can stand to listen to me. I realize that the conversation around WordPress and the future of…
March 6, 2008
Content Connected to Geography

Marion has been working on this idea of connecting information to a location for quite some idea now. WhereIGo has made some of the technology that is needed to make it happen…
March 4, 2008
We’re All Gonna Die

In the cosmic scheme of things life is little more than a blip between birth and death. Luckily for us as a species the blips are coming online faster than they are fading out…
March 4, 2008
Note to Facebook, Myspace and Other Social Silos: DIE

I wrote three Facebook apps and I have ideas for several more. The most successful was the House Plans application I did for ThePlanCollection.com, but in the Facebook world you…
March 4, 2008
Really Neat Photography

Most of the cool photos you see are manipulated via photoshop these days. Miss Palmen, a 44-year-old Dutch artist, creates her art the old fashion way and the results are amazing.
February 26, 2008
The Uninsured

I saw an ad on TV last night (while learning about the history of drug addiction on the History Channel). It was sponsored by the AMA but highlights the health care crisis in the…
February 12, 2008
Payday Lenders Suck

I was just reading in the Deseret News this morning that payday lenders have filed 27,000 lawsuits in the State of Utah since 2005. In the Provo judicial district this account for…
February 3, 2008
Utah WordPress Meetup

I spent this afternoon with some really cool and interesting individuals from around utah. Matt Mullenweg, the original developer of WordPress was in town and was willing to come…
February 3, 2008 · 4 photos
Weather Control

I am not sure if this is cool or totally freaky, but the Chinese have figured out how to kind of control the weather so that it doesn’t rain on the Olympics this summer. All this…
February 3, 2008
Internet Failure

By total chance I found this article about the internet failing in two continents. This hurts the economy of several Middle Eastern and African countries which sucks. Wasn’t the…
January 31, 2008
Professionals and The Enterprise

Professionals and the enterprise Under threat of divorce if I didn’t hang my Christmas lights this past Christmas I braved the elements and managed to put them on the trees. Of…
January 30, 2008
A Modern Prophet

President Hinckley passed away sunday night. He was 97. It isn’t possible to say enough good about a man whose example to all was unity, peace, and to “do a little better” and…
January 29, 2008
The Logistics of Life

I stopped to get gas this morning, nearly froze and spent $92 for 30 gallons of gas. My truck isn’t big, but it drinks a lot and it has two tanks.I only drive it about 12 miles a…
January 29, 2008
The Master Simulator Made Me do it

Robots evolve good and evil attributes. Interesting.
January 24, 2008
Do We Need Help With Elections

Perhaps it is time for the UN to monitor our elections.
January 10, 2008
Indulgenc.es

My second Facebook application is up. I and Marion built something to help you and your friends enjoy the lighter side of life. Try out Indulgences.
January 10, 2008
Government 2.0

I really and truly heard the term Government 2.0 on the radio this morning. I shuddered and it wasn’t from the cold. However, I listened to the broadcast anyway despite my disgust…
January 9, 2008
Top Selling Stuff on Amazon Brings Tears

I am always looking for a deal so I keep trying to find one on Amazon Grocery. The problem is that you can waste a lot of time trying to find something you would really buy. So I…
January 7, 2008
In Meetings at the Hewlett Foundation

I like the title of the post because it almost sounds like I am important (which I am not). I am sitting in a meeting at the Hewlett Foundation. A year and some months ago I was…
December 11, 2007
Tips to Prevent Identity Theft

About a year ago my account’s office was broken into. The only thing the thieves took were the hard drives from the computers. That is scary for someone like me because the…
November 10, 2007
Complaning About Perspective

I love NPR. I was listening to it last night on the way home and Will Bowen of Christ Church Unity was on talking about his no complaint for 21 days program and the purple…
November 8, 2007
Flickr as Web 2.0, bla, The Soviets were like Nuke 2.0 way back in the 70s

I watched Dr Strangelove late at night a couple of weeks ago. It is dark humor and a movie in classical Kubrick style. The irony in the movie has so much to teach modern society…
September 17, 2007
For the People Who Don’t Live Here

My deepest sympathy goes out to all those who don’t make their home in Logan Utah. There are few places that offer as much in the way of the outdoors as here. This past weekend we…
July 10, 2007
My wife is pretty cool

So I am downstairs helping my wife do cleaning and restoration after my tornado children destroy the downstairs family room again. She says to me, “don’t you want to buy a big TV…
June 6, 2007
Ruby made me fatter so I had to do something

For years I have relied soley on typing to keep me in shape. Most of the frameworks I have used managed to help me keep the pounds off. They required plenty of code and my fingers…
July 21, 2006
I get tired after I eat

Now I know why. I knew that it was logical to sleep after lunch.
June 2, 2006
Engineers are almost perfect but not quite.

Engineers are almost perfect. No really. When we are successful you get a pat on the back. When you fail you kill people. Here are some of the worst mistakes.
June 2, 2006
Things that go boom

When I was a boy scout ( a long time ago) someone tried to heat a can of beany weenies in the fire. In the infinite wisdom of a 13 year old they didn’t crack the lid. One…
June 2, 2006
Thankful for Memory Today

On the way into work I was listening to ‘The Infinite Mind’ on NPR. It was a story about Caris Corfman an actress who lost her short term memory after surgery to remove a brain…
June 1, 2006
Well you’re a genius

I like to listen to NPR on the way in to work. This morning they ran a piece discussing what is Genius. It was especially interesting since it the commentator pointed out that…
September 22, 2005
Domain camping and the debate about the about me

So I have owned this domain name for several years now and haven’t done anything with it which is something I really should be ashamed of (I’m not). There are other people out…
September 12, 2005

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