So far I've had one doorbell-ring with two trick-or-treaters at 5:15 PM.

This graphic illustrates how the US Census organizes their data. The smallest unit is the "block". It usually corresponds to a city block, but in rural areas where population density is low, it can sometimes cover a mile or two.

Information at every level is available free from their website. I have been working mostly with data at the county and the block group level. Great stuff for further analysis of just about any map.

For example, I could download home values and overlay that on top of a map of the California fires, and very quickly come up with an estimate of the cost of damage. Pretty exciting stuff!

My Kind of Boss!

October 30, 2003 -- George Steinbrenner arrived at the Yankees' minor-league complex in Tampa yesterday at 9 a.m. and fired the first low-level staffer who came in the door after him... [full story]

This is the first commercial one-meter satellite image and was produced by the IKONOS satellite on September 30, 1999.

You can get your own copy, suitable for hanging in your den, or giving as a gift, directly from the Space Imaging web site for $14.95.

[This is a satellite photo from space, not an aerial photo from a plane!]


[close-up of the Washington Monument]

I initially bought a Remington electric razor 10 years ago just for weekends when I didn’t want to make the effort to lather up for a “real” shave. I got a good enough shave so that I felt clean-shaved enough to go out to a better restaurant. I would also pack it when traveling.

About a year ago the Remington got misplaced. After not having it for three or four weeks I realized a really missed it on the weekends, and decided to replace it. I ended up trying a Norelco 5801 XL cordless razor. Right away I noticed a much better shave than the Remington that I had been using, but I still just used it on weekends and when traveling.

Some mornings when I was running late I would just use the Norelco, sometimes even taking it in the car, because it is cordless, on the way to the train. I noticed that my 5 o’clock shadow might have actually been less than when I used a blade and lather. I started using the Norelco more and more, but my primary shave was still the blade.

My Norelco usage increased more and more, to the point now where I use it exclusively. I tried a blade shave last week, and my skin was irritated afterwards.

Dad had been using an old electric shaver that he got as a college graduation gift, but just for the weekend touch-ups like I used to do. For his birthday I got him the same Norelco I have, and I just checked with him, he is now converted to using it exclusively instead of a blade and lather.

By the way, the Remington showed up in a drawer in the upstairs guest bathroom a few weeks after I bought the Norelco. I have not used it since, and I am glad it got misplaced.

This is a very cool high resolution satellite image of the fires in San Bernardino on 10/27 from NASA. It is a big image, so it will take a while to load, but it is very detailed.

This is a pretty good map of all the fires in California. It is from the LA Times.

It is 12:30 AM in the morning and I am wide awake. It is going to be another long day tomorrow.

This one is so true!

If I had more time, I would have written a shorter letter.
- B. Pascal

If you can't explain it simply, you don't understand it well enough.
- Albert Einstein

Good judgment comes from experience; experience comes from bad judgment.
- F. Brooks

The first step towards wisdom is calling things by their right names.

He who asks is a fool for five minutes; he who does not ask remains a fool forever.
- Anonymous Chinese Proverb

If I had eight hours to chop down a tree, I would spend 6 hours sharpening an axe.
- Anonymous

They know enough who know how to learn
- J. Adams

Fools ignore complexity; pragmatists suffer it; experts avoid it; geniuses remove it.
- A. Perlis

Dr. Greene told me about this section of the USGS web site to download very high resolution orthoscopic satellite and aerial images, as well as other GIS data layers, for FREE!

Like a kid in a candy store!

Cool!

This is a modern theodolite similar to what we used in class last week. I think these go for between $5,000 and $8,000.

This one is even neater!

This is theodolite I found on E-bay that I think would be neat to have.

I am going to take a break from homework, and go take shower, get my hair cut, get some gasoline, and pick up some candy for Halloween.

We are just going to pick on left-over chili for dinner. I still have homework to do later this evening after dinner.

The lab exercise for my Maps and Mapping class on Friday was surveying using a theodolite (transit) and a survey stadia rod. We had to survey a number of different types of geographic features in the quad near our building.

We took measurements for two polygons (a garden, and the concrete pad for a large sculpture), two lines (a road segment, and the side of one of the buildings on the quad), and five points (lamp posts).

There are five values collected for each sighting:
1. horizontal azimuth
2. vertical azimuth
3. lower stadia height
4. crosshair height
5. upper stadia height

A polygon needs a minimum of three sightings. A line a minimum of two sightings, and of course a point just needs one sighting.

There is a spreadsheet they gave us to enter our measurements. This will calculate distances from the central control point to each sighting location. (We did not move the theodolite for any of these measurements.) We will then use these points to construct a map of the quad. I had to stop by Office Depot to pick up a protractor. That, and a calculator, is the only thing I will need to get the points properly onto my map.

Pretty neat stuff. I have also wondered how surveying worked. I think it would be neat to find an antique theodolite at an estate action or flea market. I would also like an antique sextant.

Our normal at-home (as opposed to sleeping, or away-from-home) thermostat setting in the winter months is 63º. This means that we normally wear a sweatshirt or a flannel shirt around the house.

I have been working in the office for a few hours today, and because of the two computers, two lights, the TV, my body heat, and the southern-facing windows, the temperature is 71º. In the office I am comfortable in just a t-shirt, but when I leave the office to go to another room, the temperature difference is really noticeable the second I walk through the door; almost like I want to put on a sweatshirt just to go down to the kitchen for a couple minutes.

Just because the thermostat is set for 63º does not mean that is the temperature of the whole house. The temperature in our bedroom on top of the dresser near the front windows is 65º right now.

As of right now they are saying that 500,000 acres are on fire, or have burned, in California. How big is that? It is equal to a square that is 28 miles on each side.

The other night I was combing through news stories on the web looking for cities that were burning in California, and then plotting them on a map to get an idea of the extent of the situation. Once I plotted about a half dozen points, I connected all the points to see what the coverage looked like.

I then came across some GIS data produced by the Fire and Resource Assessment Program of California. The fire threat map and the fuel load map both indicated a high threat and a high fuel load in the exact positions that I had just previously mapped out. It was a pretty neat exercise. I would have posted some high-res maps that I made, but I am running out of web space.

The Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) voted to recommend that children, starting between 6 to 23 months of age, be vaccinated annually against influenza, and the CDC accepted the recommendation. [announcement]

They are also recommending that any siblings, parents, and care-givers of these children should also get an annual flu shot.

(The ACIP is also the government body that says all kids must get shots for hepatitis, diphtheria, tetanus, pertussis, polio, measles, mumps, rubella, varicella, and pneumococcal. Seeing as how they have wiped out polio, measles, and mumps in just one generation, they must know what they are talkinga about!)

Sheri once told me that she thought it was funny when I was belting out Papa Roach's Last Resort while driving the mini-van. I mentioned that to her again tonight, and she laughed and said it is still funny to her.

Pepsi has a promotion right now for free NFL baseball caps. If you match two NFL teams under the caps of 20 ounce Pepsi products you can get a cap with whatever NFL team logo you want. They have 1,000,000 caps to give away, and the rules say once you have your first bottle cap, your chances of winning are 1 in 36. I got a match on my third bottle, and I just filled out the information they need to get my Chicago Bears cap.

I had a dream right before I woke up this morning were I was bummed out, but I didn't know why. When I woke up, the bummed out feeling stuck with me.

I feel OK now, but not really enjoying the afternoon. I am finishing up a project that is due tomorrow. Sheri is having lunch with a girl freind. I have the Bears/Lions game on TV. The Bears are winning 17-0.

I will only have to take one class spring semester, and then I will be done with my GIS Certificate. This is the description of the class from the course catalog:

459. GEOGRAPHIC INFORMATION SYSTEMS (3). Study of the conceptual framework and development of geographic information systems. Emphasis on the actual application of a GIS to spatial analysis. Two hours of lecture and two hours of laboratory. PRQ: GEOG 359 or consent of department.

It is only offered at one time during the week, and it is being taught by Dr. Greene. He is the one that I originally contacted about studying GIS, and is also the one that is currently teaching my Land Use Planning class. He has been my favorite professor at NIU.

I got my annual flu shot today at the Student Health Center on campus for $10. I saw them advertised at the local grocery store for $18.

I was up until 2:00 AM this morning experimenting with downloading orthophotos and opening them in ArcView.

If you go to the USGS to get orthos, or any other map product, they will redirect you to a commercial site where you have to pay for them. I found out in class that a lot of, if not all, states offer not just orthophotos but all kinds of digital cartography products. Contour lines. Roads. Railways. Land use. Hydrology. Census statistics. Toxic waste sites. Pipe lines. Soil types. Lighthouses. Various governmental boundaries. Etc. I found a ton of stuff at Ohio's Natural Resource Conservation Service site.

To practice, I downloaded four orthos of Toledo. I could see all of the criss-crossing sidewalks of the University of Toledo. Cool! Each ortho, I think, is 7.5 minutes by 7.5 minutes, and I only downloaded four of them.
(7.5 minutes x 8 = 60 minutes, or 1º.
Most USGS map products are either 7.5 x 7.5 minutes or 15 x 15 minutes, so to cover 1º x 1º with 7.5 minute maps you would need 64 of them. To do the same with 15 minute maps you would only need 16. Of course the 7.5 minute maps are larger scale, so their is more detail on those.)

I could just see Byrne Road. I was going to download some more so I could see Mom and Dad's house to the west, but the FTP server became unavailable, so I took that as a sign that it was time to go to bed.

The orthos are georeferenced, which means there is latitude and longitude information embedded in the image. ArcView takes this information and then puts the individual images together to form one big seamless mosaic picture. Cool!

We drink a lot of iced tea. I make a 3 quart pitcher about every day. To try and cut down on caffeine, we bought a box of Lipton decaffeinated tea bags the other day and I made a pitcher just with those. Blech! I couldn't finish a glass. Sheri said it just tasted like water, but I thought it had a soapy taste. Back to the regular.

This is just for my future reference: In Naperville you can not park your car in the street overnight. If you have overnight guests, have your driveway seal-coated, etc. and need to park in the street, you can get permission from the Police department by calling 420-6157.

We were up too late on Saturday, which means we slept late today, which means it is almost midnight and I am wide awake. It is too late to take a melatonin. Tomorrow is going to be rough.

Sheri is running some errands, and then she is going to pick us up some dinner from White Fence Farm. I just happened to notice their ad in a pile of papers I was throwing away. They have been cooking chicken since the early 1920's. [history]

They have a pretty limited menu, which is a good sign. Especially since they have been doing it for so long. They do one thing, and do it better than anyone else, or at least that is what I am hoping.

We bought decafeinated tea bags yesterday to make decaf iced tea. Blech! I would rather drink plain old ice water.

The next exercise shifted from Amelia Earhart's last flight to producing different maps of the African continent. It looks like it is going to cover major cities, countries, rivers, wildlife, topography, population, population density, diamond mines, and power generation and usage.

I am working through some instructional exercises today for ArcView. All of the exercises are based on Amelia Earhart's last flight in 1937. There are planned versus probable flight paths. Bathymetry data and images (water depths). Country and city layers.

I might post a finished map if it turns out to be something interesting to look at.

He didn't listen to his mom about keeping his finger out of his nose.

This is what your thyroid gland will look like if you don't get enough iodine. The condition is called goiter.

My ears have been ringing very loudly for the last couple of hours. At first I think I even felt a little spacey. Now it is just my ears.

I had planned on buying a Major League Baseball regulation Rawlings baseball if the Cubs went to the World Series. I wanted it to just fiddle with and toss around while watching the games. Well, they are not going to the World Series, but I still had the urge to have a baseball just as a sort of worry stone to fiddle with while talking on the phone, watching TV, etc. The problem is they are $15, and with out a World Series, it wasn't worth it to me. At Wal-Mart tonight I found a cheapie MacGregor baseball for 97¢. It has a synthetic cover instead of leather. The core is cork and rubber instead of pure cork; and the core is wound with nylon instead of at least 85% wool. But for 97¢ it will do just fine.

But if the Cubs, or the White Sox, make it to the World Series next year, I am still going to buy a real baseball.

Two movies arrived in the mail today for us from the Wal-Mart DVD club: Band of Brothers disc 3, and Band of Brothers disc 4.

Band of Brothers is an HBO miniseries about the US Army's Airbourne Paratrooper rifle division Easy Company, and their mission in WWII France during Operation Overlord.

It was produced by Steven Spielberg and Tom Hanks, and based on the book Band of Brothers: E Company, 506th Regiment, 101st Airborne From Normandy to Hitler's Eagle's Nest by Stephen E. Ambrose.

A lot of money was spent on sets, special effects, props, etc. in order to get a very realistic look.

There are 10 episodes, and on disc 1 and 2 there have been two episodes per disc, but there are 6 discs in the collection instead of 5, so maybe the last disk is a special 2 hour final episode.

HBO maintains a very informative and historically accurate site about the events portrayed in the series.

It has received a lot of awards and is highly rated. Very good and I highly recommend it.

I had the opportunity to be a good Samaritan today. On the way home there was a bad three car accident that I was the first to call 911 and report.

All three drivers were just sitting in there cars not moving. A women in a smallish pick-up truck had the glass of the back window shattered; probably from her head. Not good.

I just got back from Wal-Mart. They have their stinky artificially scented holiday stuff stocked in the craft department. I could smell it two departments away. Cheap synthetic fragrances always give me a bad headache. The imitation pine and cinnamon stuff they always have around the holidays is the worst. (Fresh real pine is one of my favorite smells though.) Old Spice after shave gives me headaches too, and not just if I am wearing it (which I would never do). If some one is 10 to 15 feet away from me and wearing Old Spice, my nose will start to burn, and if I stay around long enough, get a headache.

Just a reminder: If you send an e-mail to im2xlt-subscribe@yahoogroups.com, each post I make will automatically also be sent to you via e-mail.

Beautiful!

The Cubs are not going to the World Series. Oh well. Maybe the Loveable Losers will make it next year.

The Echidna is a member of the monotreme family which are mammals that lay eggs, produce milk for their young, and are avid photographers.

Mom, this is the replacement sweatshirt I picked out for your birthday. The word "Northern" is made of cut out letters that are stiched on. The word "Illinois" is embroidered (right word? The letters are made of just thread. No cut-out letters.)



If you don't like it, let me know now while I still know where the receipt is.

The following times are the end of civil twilight for tonight for selected cities.

Chicago        6:39 PM CDT

Birmingham     6:40 PM CDT

Naperville     6:41 PM CDT

DeKalb, IL     6:44 PM CDT



Daytona Beach  7:19 PM EDT

Columbus       7:22 PM EDT

Toledo         7:23 PM EDT

Sydney, OH     7:26 PM EDT

Grand Rapids   7:31 PM EDT

I prefer civil twilight times rather than sunset times. Sunset is a technical term for:

...when the upper edge of the disk of the Sun is on the horizon.

Civil twilight is:

the time after sunset when there is natural light provided by the upper atmosphere, which does receive direct sunlight and reflects part of it toward the Earth's surface. Some outdoor activities may be conducted without artificial illumination during these intervals, and it is useful to have some means to set limits beyond which a certain activity should be assisted by artificial lighting.

So at sunset there will still be usable light for you to finish cutting your grass, etc. Civil twilight is when it actually gets dark.

I compiled this list just because I thought it would be neat to illustrate how far east or west you live in a time zone effects what sunset time you will experience.

A sample pack of Nivea For Men facial moisturizer was included in my latest Wired magazine. I tried it and liked it, so today Sheri picked up a cleanser, and the moisturizer that I sampled for me.

If you have not done so already, go to this page (http://toolbar.google.com/) and click on the "Download Google Toolbar" button.

It's primary purpose is to let you do a search without first going to the Google.com web page. If I had to guess, I probably do about 20 - 30 Google searches each day, so it saves me quite a bit of time not having to type www.google.com each time I want to do a quick search. (Is "having" a word? I don't think so, but I am going to use it anyway.)

There are a ton of other features on the Google Toolbar that I love just as much, if not more. One of them is a pop-up ad blocker. Have you ever been to a site where they keep opening up new windows trying to sell you something? (Rhetorical question. I know you have.) The pop-up blocker stops those from appearing. It will also keep track of how many pop-ups it has stopped too. My count is currently 1,242! There are a number of pop-up stopper programs. The good ones cost between $10 and $30. This one is great, and it is free.

The other two features that I use on an everyday basis are:

"Search site" button
"Highlight search results" button

I don't have time to explain them right now, but if you are interested, let me know and I will talk about them in another post.

Go install it now! It is a very small download (440 kB), so it will only take you a few seconds with a broadband connection, and a couple of minutes with a dial-up connection.

Oh, another cool feature is that the toolbar will automatically update itself as new features are added or bugs fixed. Cool!

I would like a pair of nice brass dividers for map reading.

I prefer to use my favorite, and worlds best, mechanical pencil (Pentel PS535 0.5 mm "Sliding Sleeve Sharp for Pros") for everyday writing, note-taking, etc. I needed some replacement leads, and instead of the normal #2 equivalent leads (HB), I decided to try one step softer (B). I love it! It makes a world of difference. You get a much darker line. You don't have to press as hard. It is easier to write on soft paper, like newsprint, without tearing it.

Two minor minor drawbacks:

1. I go through leads quicker.
2. They can break sometimes while in the storage part of the pencil.

They don't break for me while I am writing, though, because of the sliding sleeve feature of my pencil.

I want to get a couple more mechanical pencils and load them with colored leads. Probably a blue and a red. I wanted to put it on my Amazon wish list, but they don't carry them. This is a link to Office Depot's listing.

The PS315 is basically the same pencil, but with a blue barrel instead of black, it doesn't have the decorative metal band midway down the barrel, and the clip isn't attached quite as elegantly. The PS315 does have grooves that go around the barrel, where as mine does not. This might make it easier to hold onto for extended periods. My pencil is $9, and the PS315 is $8.

I just called the Lake County Division of Transportation and ordered the bike trail map that was produced by NIU's cartography lab. They will send one to you for free if you call 847-362-3950. You could probably also request one via e-mail at DOT@co.lake.il.us

Instead of a normal lab today for my map class, we all went to the cartography lab and listened to the head cartographer talk for an hour about the history and of cartography and how it is done now.

I was surprised to find out that they don't make makes with the GIS software that I am learning. Instead they primarily use a graphics program. The NIU cart lab uses Macromedia Freehand MX. They do a lot of maps for not-for-profit organizations, state, county, and city governments, as well as any University maps.

I have wanted to have a graphics program at home, and the fact that they use it to produce all of their beautiful maps was enough of an endorsement for me. I went to the campus bookstore (I had to go there anyway to exchange a shirt for Mom) and picked up the student version. On Amazon the software goes for $385! The NIU bookstore sells it to students for $99. (Thanks Sheri.) Yeah me!

I had a few nice graphics programs when I had my Macintosh, but I never got around to buying one when I switched to the PC world.

I have a dedicated reader from Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, and would love to know who it is. Please send me and e-mail or leave a comment to introduce yourself. Thanks!

Yeah! The neighbors behind us took out their above-ground pool. They must have done it yesterday while I was at school. I just noticed this morning.

The looks were bad enough. The worst part was on nice comfortable summer evenings with the windows open, when it was cool enough not to have the air conditioning on, all you heard were the filter pumps all night long.

These are the next two assignments that are due in my Operations Management and Information Systems class.

Assignment 4

Assignment 5

Wow wow wow wow wow!

I have been in contact with the Naperville GIS department to request sample data files. Man, did they come through!

One CD is nothing but a huge aerial photo of the city. It is the entire city, but I can zoom in and see grills in people's back yards!

The other CD has:

water shed basins
streams
water (don't know if that means water mains or ponds, lakes, etc.)
municipal boundaries
parcels (with land use, zoning, voting districts, etc. as attribute data)
railroads
roads (including names and address ranges)
topographic data (2 foot contours!)
vegetation type

This will keep me entertained for a while.

I just heard them say that they are not going to announce any exit poll results until the polls close at 8:00 PM PDT.

There are hundreds of orange Asian ladybugs flying around here today.

I have not seen any stories about exit poll results from the California governor race. Still looking.

Bobak's Sausage Company

Bobak's Sausage Company, the best and most authentic Polish sausage maker in Chicago (according to the people interviewed in this Chicago Tribune story) is opening a store/restaurant in Naperville!

The Polish immigrant community are their core customers. That means something to me. I can hardly wait.

Ensley's hospital picture.

This is a fun simple little on-line game called RSVP.

This company camouflages cell phone towers to look like trees! How cool.
[Link leads to pictures of other camouflaged cell phone towers.]

I am going to join the ILGISA (Illinois GIS Association). It should be good for networking, as well as very interesting.

This is pretty good. It was actually sent to me by a female freind. Thanks Marianne!

---

Finally, the guys side of the story. I must admit, it's pretty good. We always hear "the rules" from the female side. Now here are the rules from the male side. These are our rules! Please note... these are all numbered "1" ON PURPOSE!

1. Learn to work the toilet seat. You're a big girl. If it's up, put it down. We need it up, you need it down. You don't hear us complaining about you leaving it down.

1. Sunday = sports. It's like the full moon or the changing of the tides. Let it be.

1. Shopping is NOT a sport. And no, we are never going to think of it that way.

1. Crying is blackmail.

1. Ask for what you want. Let us be clear on this one: Subtle hints do not work! Strong hints do not work! Obvious hints do not work! Just say it!

1. Yes and No are perfectly acceptable answers to almost every quest! ion.

1. Come to us with a problem only if you want help solving it. That's what we do. Sympathy is what your girlfriends are for.

1. A headache that lasts for 17 months is a problem. See a doctor.

1. Anything we said 6 months ago is inadmissible in an argument. In fact, all comments become null and void after 7 days.

1. If you won't dress like the Victoria's Secret girls, don't expect us to act like soap opera guys.

1. If you think you're fat, you probably are. Don't ask us.

1. If something we said can be interpreted two ways, and one of the ways makes you sad or angry, we meant the other one.

1. You can either ask us to do something or tell us how you want it done. Not both. If you already know best how to do it, just do it yourself.

1. Whenever possible, please say whatever you have to say during commercials.

1. Christopher Columbus did not need directions and neither do we.

1. ALL men see in only 16 colors, like Windows default settings. Peach, for example, is a fruit, not a color. Pumpkin is also a fruit. We have no idea what mauve is.

1. If it itches, it will be scratched. We do that.

1. If we ask what is wrong and you say "nothing," we will act like nothing's wrong. We know you are lying, but it is just not worth the hassle.

1. If you ask a question you don't want an answer to, expect an answer you don't want to hear.

1. When we have to go somewhere, absolutely anything you wear is fine...Really.

1. Don't ask us what we're thinking about unless you are prepared to discuss such topics as baseball, the shotgun formation, or sports cars.

1. You have enough clothes.

1. You have too many shoes.

1. I am in shape. Round is a shape.

1. Thank you for reading this; Yes, I know, I have to sleep on the couch tonight, but did you know men really don't mind ! that, it's like camping.

I was looking all over the web for a site to convert latitude and longitude coordinates to UTM coordinates. Would you believe the only site I could find was in Australia? They use a different datum than my coordinates are in, but any differences in end results will not matter for my purposes.

My day didn't start out too good, but it got better. I was running just a little bit late getting out of the house, but then there was a lane that was closed before I got on the highway. That added at least 10 - 15 minutes to my commute. By the time I got to campus, the parking garage I normally park in was full, but I didn't know it was full until I spiraled all the way to the top. Another 5 minutes wasted. I drive to the next closest lot, which normally has open spots, but that was full. Crap. I dig in my back-pack for the campus parking map, but I must have taken it out. I just start driving around campus looking for the yellow commuter lots. I pull into three or four and they are all full. I finally find a spot on the street right about the time class is starting, and it is about 1 mile away from my building!

I get to class about 12 minutes late. The professor is still talking about the exam we had on Monday. Cool, I didn't miss any new material. From what I have heard him talking about, it sounds like the test scores were not good. He walks over to me as he is talking with a stack of what looks like about 10 to 15 exams and asks if I am Brad. I nod and say yes, but he is admittedly bad with names. I didn't think he knew mine. Crap. I must have really bombed the test. I was a little bummed out after I took it on Monday. I knew I didn't ace it, but I was pretty sure I could get in the "B" range, and I was crossing my fingers that I wasn't in the "C" range. He hands me my test, and on the top in big red ink is a "60". Grrrr….. I page through it really quick looking for red ink to see what areas I messed up, but not wanting to look too long so other people don't see how poorly I did. I then stick it in my notebook and close it. He keeps talking about how he is confident that everyone in class can bring their scores up, and he wants us all to do well, and that he doesn't like to give bad grades, etc. etc.

He then puts the grading scale on the board. An "A" is 55 and above. Huh? I dig my test out again. The numbers were points not percentages. Yeah! I got an "A". There were 70 possible points on the exam. I looked at the guy next to me and it looked like he had a 17. Yeah! So that was a good way to start turning my morning around.

In my next class the professor announces that the University can give students a free copy of Microsoft MapPoint 2004! It is a $300 piece of mapping software that I was actually thinking pretty seriously about buying. Yeah yeah yeah!!!

Near the end of the class he is talking about programming custom functionality in MapPoint using Visual Basic 6.0. I raise my hand and ask if you have to have Visual Basic 6.0, or if the free version of Visual Studio .Net that I just got this week will work. He says it has to be Visual Basic 6.0, and that he has copies for anyone that wants it! Yeah yeah yeah!!! It was only myself and one other guy that stuck around after class to get the software. As he is handing us the 4 installation disks and 2 manuals that come with it, he tells us that the normal price of the software is $1,200! Holy crap. What a great day this turned into!

I am looking forward to watching the Cubs again tonight. I am not normally a baseball fan, but I will usually watch the World Series, and a few of the games in the playoff. It's even more enjoyable now that a Chicago team is in the playoffs.