After being with us for over three years, Cornilius the Mbu Puffer has, sadly, passed on.

When I turned on the lights to his tank today it was clear that something was wrong based on his skin tone. He was shockingly pale and clearly having difficulty breathing. I've seen this in fish before and so, because of this, his fate was very clear to me.

At just around 9:00 AM this morning, I received the instant message from Josie that he had officially passed away. :-(

We have some clue as to why he died. We suspect an abundance of a certain sodium preservative in the shrimp he ate. Either way, he's gone and there's nothing that can be done about it. I'm bummed, of course, as he was a really cool and rare puffer. The hard part will be breaking the news to Michelle and explaining why he is gone.

R.I.P. Corn.

I took the day off for my birthday to relax with my pests. Michelle woke me up bright and early with a very jubilant "Happy Birthday, Dad!" greeting. Josie made me my absolute favorite dish, Hot Summer Shrimp, and a deliciously refreshing Strawberry Jello-Poke Cake. Mitch was especially excited to help me blow out the candles on my cake. It was a wonderful birthday.

I took Michelle to see the Wiggles yesterday, which, of course, was basically Beatle-mania for toddlers. Finding that the Wiggles actually do perform live was refreshing. One of the Wiggles even did a tongue-in-cheek rendition of the intro to Stairway to Heaven, which definitely grasped the attention of the dads in the audience.

Mom, once again scored us great aisle seats, which made it possible for Michelle to dance in the aisle throughout most of the show. Michelle even made a friend and the two of them would, for some reason, hug one another from time to time.

After the show, we checked out a few novelty stores and, of course, the geyser fountains in the middle of City Walk. Michelle, thriving off the energetic atmosphere of the place, made certain to drag Dad throughout all of City Walk. She even managed to pull a few "ohhhh, what a cute little girl" comments out of a few of the visitors she hastily passed by. Afterwards we enjoyed some very good pizza together. It was good time.

Click the photo to see some photos of our evening.

Michelle invites her friends Jacob, Jake and Audrey over for a playdate.

Click the photo below to view 25 photos from Easter Sunday 2006.

I finally have a decent way of controlling my Mac from my Treo 650!

Thanks to Salling Clicker (only $23.95) by Salling Software, I can now play music, videos, and photos remotely via Bluetooth. I can also play presentations, read email, change system volume and remotely control my mouse.

Salling Clicker supports plug-ins such as the free and excellent Front Row Controller available from Snarb.tk. This has really made my day!

Here are some cellphone shots Josie took of Aidan and his new Gymboree pal Tyler, Aidan at his recent doctor visit and Michelle at her dance-tap class.

While on sabbatical, I found time to write a few new songs. To record my demos, which usually consist of a basic rhythm piano/guitar track, vocals, a drum track, and some accompanying melodic lines, I rely on my Mac and Apple's GarageBand. With every demo, I try to record the essence of them quickly, naturally and with as few technical hurdles as possible.

Songwriting is a very personal and private process for me. With kids around the house, it isn't always easy to get this privacy. To solve this problem, I began looking for an even smaller and more portable solution to facilitate quick single-track recordings, thereby giving me more options from where to record from.

I actually came very close to considering one of the new digital 8-track recorders until I remembered the iPodLinux Project and, best of all, the 'recording' capabilities that it enables on iPods.

The iPodLinux Project is an open-source venture set with the goal of making a Linux distribution that can be installed onto an iPod. For Mac users, there is a special iPod-Linux installer, that makes the process of installing Linux onto one's iPod very convenient. Installing Linux on my iPod was simply a matter of selecting my 'iPod' from a list and then clicking an 'Install' button from within the iPod-Linux Installer.

After booting my iPod into "Linux-mode", I went straight for the 'Recordings' option. I then configured a 'Sample Rate' of '96kHz', plugged in my microphone and began on some test recordings.

Given the fact that the iPod was not designed with this purpose in mind, I was actually very impressed with the sound quality. This set-up turned out solving my entire demo-recording predicament. I even tried out a few recordings using my iPod's headphones instead of the microphone. The sound quality wasn't as good as the microphone's but it was still acceptable, especially for demos.

All in all, I was very impressed with the work put in by the developers of the iPodLinux Project and the iPod-Linux installer. Beyond the 'recording' feature, there are loads of games and other features included to expand the capabilities of the iPod.

Before installing Linux on your iPod be sure to read the included 'Read Me' files and the helpful FAQ's provided on their sites. Ultimately, if you should find them as useful as I did, you may also want to consider making a few donations to help their cause.

Donations: The iPodLinux Project, iPod-Linux Installer

iLounge.com has a review of the forthcoming EyeBud 800 Wearable Display by eMagin.

This product brings to mind a scene from 'Back to the Future II' where the McFly kids are sporting TV/Phone displays not unlike the EyeBud. I'm not typically a gadget-oriented person but this is one product I have high hopes for.

When it comes to home media/entertainment set-ups, I'm personally holding out for one very specific thing. Integration.

Very soon, I'll be using my Mac mini home server for the centralized storage of all my ripped DVD's and video clips. From this point, the televisions (or monitors) in my home will act as hubs for the playback of my media. This integrated setup will actually reflect a lot of what my audio system is already doing.

As far as the iPod's are concerned. Well, again, they'll continue to act as portable modules that get pulled out when it comes time to leave the house.

Though much of the technology for this integration already exists, in my opinion, there are still a couple of hurdles to overcome. The first being wireless ethernet. Realistically, 802.11g is just not fast enough for heavy-duty video streaming and file transfers. At the moment, it works great for audio but it is far too slow for video. Choppy video playback and buffering issues are always extremely annoying. Finally, I'd much rather hold out for affordable 802.11n than to begin drilling holes in my walls and running tons of Cat 5 cable through my attic.

Another reason is Tivo. I'm very curious to see Tivo's response to Apple's Front Row and Microsoft's Media Center. Inevitably, some interaction will need to happen at either a hardware or software level. If done right, Tivo could expand interaction and compatibility with Mac's and PC's to the point where Tivo systems could effectively become the media hubs that we've all dreamt of. Now is the time for Tivo to take notice of the emerging HTPC (Home Theater PC) market and get involved while they still have our attention.

Though technology is constantly evolving and though there is never a perfect time to dedicate oneself to a specific format, it is still wise to gauge the market for certain key landmark developments. Once the wireless and DVR issues with home media systems have been resolved I believe one of those milestones will have been met.

Michelle and Aidan attended an Easter Egg Hunt with a few of their chums at Wheeler Park in Claremont.

Let's keep the momentum goin' guys! This is most excellent!

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Now that I'm back to work, Michelle and Aidan are quickly settling into a "normal" routine again. Michelle is displaying a great deal of enthusiam towards her new dance/tap class and her Gymboree art class. We're especially proud of her willingness to accept the classes more independently geared curriculum, though Mom is always sure to stay very near.

Aidan is getting ever bigger and is still quite the mellow and laid-back lil' dude. He's been expressing a great deal of interest in one of Sister's crafts lately, a rainbow mobile that hangs in our dining room. He loves to reach out and rock the mobile back and forth and does so with such intense concentration and determination.

Like Michelle once did around his age, Aidan has stopped allowing me to "hold him like a baby". He completely refuses to let me lay him down while holding him, opting instead to be held upright like the smart and curious baby that he is.

Both kids are very happy together and are always expressing a great deal of love and affection towards one another. Mom and Dad couldn't be happier right now!

Click the photo above for some great new pictures, including some of Michelle in the outfit Uncle Frank bought her during his visit to Vietnam.

My first day back at work. Taken by Chris Holland.