An update to the earlier things to install list. I have been meaning to post this for some time.

• System Utilities
  
  • Launchy - Tab completion for starting windows programs.
  • Console - A better version of the windows cmd.exe shell
  • Unix-Utils - Allows Unix commands at the shell
  • Process Explorer - Replace the Windows Task Manager with something useful
  • WinDirStat - Keep disk usage in check
  • Eraser - Don't just delete files, kill them
  • Handle - Find out what process is holding the file handle and kill it
  • Taskbar Shuffle - Reorder running programs in the taskbar
  • Startup Control Panel - Allows you to disable stupid little programs that start at bootup without hunting them down in the registry
• Manipulate standard files
  
  • IZArc - Extract or create compressed files (replaces WinZip and WinRar)
  • Notepad++ - Useful simple text editor
  • Acrobat PDF Reader - Read PDF files
  • Microsoft Office - If you have a copy; otherwise OpenOffice
  • Gimp - For heavy duty image manipulation
  • Picasa - For simple image manipulation and viewing
• Network Apps
  
  • Putty - An ssh client to connect to a real computer
  • Pscp - An scp client so you can copy files to a real computer
  • Mozilla Firefox
    • NoScript
    • Adblock Plus
    • Session Manager
    • HashColouredTabs+
    • WorldIP
    • Flash Player - Flash must die, but can't live without it yet
    • User Agent Switcher - Pretend to be MSIE on sites that disallow Firefox (haven't needed this recently)
  • Pidgin - Universal instant messaging client
• Rip, Burn, and Play Media
  
  • FreeRip - For ripping your albums to mp3
  • ImgBurn - For burning CDs and DVDs
  • WinAmp - The music player of choice
  • Media Player Classic - The video player of choice
    • QuickTime Alternative - Quicktime is evil
    • Media Player Codec Pack - Codecs for DivX et cetera
  • iTunes - The music player for updating the iPhone
• Misc
  
  • Java Runtime and Dev Kit - Your browser wants Java
  • TightVNC - For remote control of your system
  • Xobni - If you are forced to use Outlook this plugin that allows efficent searching of your mail is absolutely essential
  • Password Safe - Store all of your passwords encrypted
  • Skype - Phone and chat

I have fallen criminally behind on this log. Time to get a few entries in here to update people on events from September forward. Note to self: just get them done. The perfect is the enemy of the good.

• 2009 September 12th: While in downtown Chicago acquiring our marriage license Sara and I took a detour over to The Sears Willis Tower. We went up to the skydeck where I took a few photos.
  
  
• 2009 September 13th: Amazingly Sara and I completed our wedding planning activities a little early and so we had time for a visit to the Chicago Botanic Garden. It was a beautiful late summer day. A very relaxing time before the impending flurry of wedding activity. My photos are here.
  
  
• 2009 September 19th: This weekend was my bachelor party. Woodfin, Castor, Ron, Constantine, and Tyler took me down to The Bourbon Trail where we visited the Maker's Mark Distillery where we took a tour. Later that evening we headed to Louisville for an expensive dinner at Z's Oyster Bar & Steakhouse. It was a great weekend and I am very grateful to my friends for organizing and attending my party.
  
  

The wedding was wonderful. I am very fortunate to be married to Sara and very fortunate that so many friends and family came together to help us have a wonderful day.

I love this photo because it shows so many people we care about having a great time at our reception.

Our wedding is drawing ever closer. I had better post some quick updates on recent happenings before things get so busy that I don't have time to. Post two of two:

• 2009 August 1st: After a long, and somewhat harrowing, drive to Fredericksburg, Virginia we were fortunate enough to see our good friend Lehmann get married to the lovely and kind Tara. We thank them for inviting us and wish him and his bride a lifetime of happiness. I took some photos which can be found here.
  
  
• 2009 August 2nd: At the wedding I mentioned that I had half a mind to get up early and explore the historical stuff in the Fredericksburg area before our drive back. Castor also expressed and interest and mentioned that he had never been to Washington D.C. That could not stand, so we picked up the Showalters who were bumming a ride with Castor to BWI and headed out.
  
  It was grey and overcast as we explored the National Mall. We didn't have much time, so we just hit the major spots: Washington Monument, WWII Memorial, Lincoln Memorial, and the Jefferson Memorial. We were constantly bothered by intermittent rain, but I got some photos of our Sterling. After our quick loop around the mall we got the Showalters dropped off at BWI and were back on the road by about noon once again.
  
  
• 2009 August 8th: Brad, Sara, and looked around the Indiana State Fair after grabbing a few brewing supplies at Great Fermentations. We saw a lumberjack competition and ate bad food including fried Oreos.
  
  
• 2009 August 13th - 16th: Castor and I were the only two to attend GenCon this year. I spent a sizable portion of my time with the independent game designers taking part in their Games on Demand events. I played:
  • Godlike - A game about superheros in WWII
  • Story Cards - A game that attempts to fit any genre. Our group came up with a post-apocalyptic zombie storyline.
  • Kobolds ate my baby! - A fantastically silly game which is about trying to accomplish anything when you are a pathetic Kobold. The game suffered from too many players (11).
  • Don't Rest Your Head - A game about being a crazy insomniac.
  • My Life with Master - A game about being the self-loathing henchmen of an evil mad scientist.
  • Call of Cthulhu - A game based on the horror stories of H.P. Lovecraft. This particular scenario was set in the South Pacific circa 1944.
  • The Committee for the Exploration of Mysteries - A RPG without a GM. The genre is pulp action/adventure.
  • Danger Patrol - A game where you get to play characters from the terrible early days of Science Fiction. Think Buck Rogers, Lost in Space, etc.
  • Dogs in the Vineyard - A game where you play religious gunslingers trying to set things right in small towns in the old west. This is an older game designed by Vincent Baker. I have been meaning to play it for a long time, and I am glad I got the chance.
  
  I was also fortunate to be able have drinks with Jeff and his lovely wife Katie while I was downtown Indianapolis for the con.
  
  
• 2009 August 23rd: We took a detour because a portion of I-65 was closed and stumbled upon the Grand Kankekee Marsh County Park in Lake County, Indiana. We decided to stop, look around, and take some pictures.
  
  I didn't know anything about it at the time, but my research indicates that the marsh once covered more than half a million acres before the Kankekee river was straightened and had its grade increased from 5 inches per mile to 14 inches per mile in the first part of the 20th century. Interesting historical note: in the 1870s timber from the marsh was used extensively to rebuild Chicago after the great fire.
  
  
• 2009 August 25th: My little sister Chrissy is still working up here in the greater Lafayette area even though she is now a homeowner in Anderson. As a result she is living in our spare bedroom during the week. She moved in on the 25th and we are glad to have her.
  
  
• 2009 August 29th: Sara and I took a break from the wedding-planning related tasks. We tried Adelino's, the new tapas place in downtown Lafayette. The food was good and the sangria packed a pleasant punch.
  
  After dinner we walked up Main Street in time to catch the end of Lafayette Outfest. We watched the drag show and played with the hula-hoops. We even got our picture taken with Sylvia. There were lots of people there and everyone was having a good time. It made for a nice diversion from our stressful schedule.
  
  

Our wedding is drawing ever closer. I had better post some quick updates on recent happenings before things get so busy that I don't have time to. Post one of two:

• 2009 July 3rd: We joined my family for a patriotic concert at Conner Prairie. The Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra performs their Symphony on the Prairie series every year. Everyone made delicious food and there was lots and lots of fried chicken. My Photoset is here.
  
  
• 2009 July 15th: Sara and I joined Chelsea and her crew for a midnight showing of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince. Everyone went in costume. Sara went as Nymphadora Tonks, and I went as Remus Lupin. I have a few photos.
  
  
• 2009 July 24th: We traveled to beautiful Lima, Ohio to witness the nuptials of Jessica and Jon. Jessica and her family threw a fantastic wedding that really accentuated her wonderfully quirky personality and diverse interests. Check out the photos to see for yourself.
  
  
• 2009 July 25th: After a quick drive back from Ohio we attended our own wedding shower. My Aunt Mary and Uncle Mike very generously hosted a "couple's shower" for us at their beautiful house in Tipton. We received so many wonderful gifts; I am embarrassed by the generosity of our friends and family. Pictures of us opening packages are available for those that are interested.
  
  
• 2009 July 27th: We spent the evening hanging out with John over at Andrew and Elissa's house. It was a low key evening, but we wanted to say farewell to John before he set off on his great adventure in Portland the next day.
  
  
• 2009 July 31st: I had the day off in anticipation of heading to Lehmann's wedding early. Instead we headed to the car dealership early and purchased a new Nisan Versa. We took advantage of the Car Allowance Rebate System (a.k.a Cash for Clunkers) by surrendering Sara's 1993 Jeep Grand Cherokee to the trash heap.
  
  We are very happy with our new little car, and especially glad that we now have a vehicle that can reliably take us on trip outside the greater Lafayette area. It has also forced Sara to learn how to operate a manual transmission. She has taken to it like a duck to water and is quite good at it now.
  
  We got everything worked out at the dealership and were on the road to Lehmann's wedding by about noon.
  
  

Some June updates:

• 2009 June 6th: John and I went down to Vintage Indiana in Indy to hang out a bit since he is moving to Portland soon. While we were there we ran into Orion and Sarah. We all had a good time at the festival. Afterward we got some food and sobered up at The Old Spaghetti Factory. Matt joined us there for dinner and conversation. Photoset here.
  
• 2009 June 13th: Sara and I drove down to Indianapolis where we met up with Jeff and Katie as well as their friends from work. We all enjoyed The Italian Heritage Society of Indiana's annual street festival despite a short interruption by rain. There was plenty of delicious Italian food as well as a procession to Holy Rosary Church. Photoset here.
  After the festival Jeff and Katie invited all of us back to their house. They were amazing hosts and it was a lot of fun sitting on their back porch shooting the breeze with so many bright people in the warm June evening.
  
• 2009 June 18th: We threw a dinner party in honor of Jessica's impending nuptials. Lots of Sara's grad school friends were in attendance. The party was very purple on account of that being Jessica's favorite color. The pièce de résistance was the very purple cake (both inside and out) which can be seen here and here.
  
• 2009 June 20th: Sara and I made an appearance at The Taste of Tippecanoe. We had some good food before planting ourselves on top of the parking garage to watch the fireworks. Photoset here.
  

My little sister, Chrissy, got married on May 30th. Sara and I helped out with bridal party type duties. The wedding was beautiful and the reception was loads of fun.

We wish Chris and Chrissy a long and happy life together. The photoset is here.

I forgot one update for the first half of May. On the 9th Sara ran in the first annual Jay Cooperider Memorial 5k. Follow the link to see the photoset.

Things are moving very quickly. We have been exceedingly busy. A quick list of non-work updates follows.

• 2009-05-07 : A flying trip to Chicago to witness the Chicago Blackhawks' game four playoff victory over the Vancouver Canucks
• 2009-05-08 : Watched the new Star Trek movie with Josh, et al
• 2009-05-09 : Attended Ohler's Cinco de Mayo party
• 2009-05-13 : A trip to The Rathskeller in celebration of Brad's Birthday.
• 2009-05-15 : Farewell lunch for Liz; Help Jeff pack
• 2009-05-16 : Help Jeff and Erin move; attend Tyler's graduation party
• 2009-05-22 : Attend Jill and Evan's rehearsal dinner
• 2009-05-24 : Attend Jill and Evan's wedding in Chicago

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We went to see Randi talk on Monday. The photoset is here. I was somewhat disappointed. Randi gave a very meandering talk with no central thesis. It was more like story time with "grandpa Randi" than a lecture. Michael Shermer did a much better job when he presented a Woods Lecture a few years ago.

In other news: chess has suddenly become a popular recreation activity at my workplace. This has re-awakened the long dormant chess circuits in my brain. It is interesting to me that lots of my friends and co-workers don't know me as a "chess person". Once upon a time it was a major part of my life.

My father taught me to play at a fairly young age. Once I got over losing my first game, I enjoyed playing chess a lot. My parents were always looking to get me involved in activities, but I was a socially inept child. When placed on a sports team I would just sit on the field and pull weeds. In a stroke of genius they realized that they could get me involved by sending me to summer chess camp run by the legendary Mike Zabawa. I remember him as a very intimidating man, kind of a hard-ass, but I learned a lot from him.

I played great deal of chess in middle school and early high school. Hell, I even started the chess club at my middle school (Zabawa's club across town was so good that my middle school had never even bothered to form a club). In the later half of high school I became more interested in role playing games like Dungeons and Dragons and socializing with girls and forgot about chess for a few years. In college Ryan and Andy were very into chess and we would play game after game after game just to kill time in the dorms. Once grad school started I didn't play again for a long time. Now everyone at work is interested and I am experiencing my 3rd chess era.

I think the moral of the story is that I am a big nerd.

Last night Castor and I went down to Indy for a meet and greet with The Amazing Randi at the CFI center along the canal walk. We listened to Randi tell stories and exchanged a few brief comments. At the end of the session Randi was kind enough to pose for photos with us.

This evening he will be giving a lecture at Butler as part of the Woods Lecture series.

Last night Sara and I stopped by the opening of the Tippecanus Rex show at the Tippecanoe Arts Federation. The photoset can be found here.

Apparently most artists in the area are convinced that the Fowlers were in some way associated with witchcraft.