Last year I read a book I really enjoyed. It was called "The Code Book: The Science of Secrecy from Ancient Egypt to Quantum Cryptography". It was basically the history of cryptography in a nutshell. One of the subject that I found completely fasinating was the use of "Enigma" machines during World War II to encrypt messages. Germany had some brilliant minds creating these devices. Well there are only a view in existance today. So it's something I could get my hands on and play with, that was until I found a Virtual Enigma Machine. So now I can play with one to my geeks/hearts content.

Update: There is quite an interesting discussing on the Enigma at digg.com if you'd like to read more about it.

So as someone that takes public transportation to and from work every weekday I have to say that Google Transit, is something that has been desperately needed. The first time I took the train to work, it was so confusing. I wasn't sure of the schedules, didn't know where to catch my connection at, it was tough. However there was an amazing sense of accomplishment when I did finally get to work. Currently it just seems to be handling the Portland Area, however I hope that LA Metro contacts google and becomes a "Participating Transit Authority".

This is a great post on where to, and where not to use AJAX in your applications.

I really think that I am going to have to start to subscribe to Make Magazine. They have some of the coolest articles on how to make cool things. The latest article to catch my interest is " HOW TO - Make a Pintoid", it's about how to make a pinhole camera out of an Altoids tin ... Brilliant. This was one of the winners of the Altiod's "Tin Million Uses" contest.

Update: Well for those that just care to use their empty Altoid tins for use with their iPod. Ten uses for the Altoids tin with an iPod, should be right up your alley.

Some of you make remember that awhile back, I had a rant going about the fact that Microsoft should make Anti-Virus software. It just seems like a natural progression, if you create an Operation System, you should also protect it. Who knows the bugs in the software better than the people that wrote it. Well Microsoft has finally announced an public Beta of it's anti-virus safety.live.com which is Microsoft's new betaware site. Of course don't be surprised if you surf to the site using firefox and click the "full servuce scan" button and you get the "Whoops. The scanner doesn't work with your web browser or operating system". They are after all microsoft.

Today I am home sick, I have the starts of a cold or a flu, something. So I got to see the daily ritual of getting the Boy ready for school.  Wow, I have even more respect for my Beautiful Wife (and I have tons of respect for her).  So as you've read earlier the Boy can now ride a two wheeler, no training wheels required. His riding has really clicked, and that is all he wants to do, so this morning he comes in at 6:00am, and tells us he is ready to ride his bike. Nevermind that it's still dark and 48 degrees outside. Anyhow we get up and get ready for the day, and notice the Boy isn't anywhere to be found in the house, we go outside and there he is riding his bike in his PJs and socks. He says "it's okay, I put my socks on!" So here is where the trouble comes in, the kid part of me wanted to grab my bike and ride with him and the adult part, said, we have to get him off the bike and ready for school.

Well he made it to school on time, but is expecting to go for a ride after school. It's a good thing I've been riding more lately, the Boy has just taken off with it. He is pedaling standing up and riding in circles. If he gets much faster, I am going to have to let some air out of his tires

Yesterday was a day for bike riding. First thing in the morning, I got up, got ready and headed over to Mom and Dad’s house to pick up Dad. We threw the our mountain bikes on the back of the trusty Camry and headed over to Marshall Canyon for some uphill torture and some downhill bliss. We spend about 30 minutes riding up the hill and about 15 minutes riding down it. The ride was nice with the exception of Dad’s crank arm kept popping off. The first time, as were we working on, a group of rides we passed while they rested and waited for a friend came by, and they asked if we had everything we needed to fix it, or if we needed help. That was so great. I would like to thank them for the offer. I’ve ridden road bike for many years, and in all of my flats at the side of the road, I’ve never been asked if I needed anything.  Anyhow we got Dad’s bike fixed and headed up the road a little more. After a little bit his crank got loose again, so we did another trail side repair and decided to head down the hill. Which is the great thing about Marshall canyon, uphill going downhill coming back, so we warped back to the car, then about an 1/8 of a mile from the car, it came off again, so we just walked it. It was a lot of fun.

Later that afternoon the Little Boy and I are washing the car and our bikes. He did a great job, and was so darn cute with his determination to get the grill of the car completely dry. Anyhow we washed both of our bikes, his first and then mine. Well those shiny bikes just begged to be ridden, so I showed off for the Little Boy some, and did some wheelies in the street. Well he is a Boy so he had to show off to me.  Recently I’ve been working with him to ride his bike without the training wheels, and yesterday he felt it was the day to cement it. He must of worked on it for an hour, riding down the driveway, and he got it! The first time he got it, and knew he got it, he stood up over the bike, put one fist and the air and said “Yeah Baby!”. I don’t know who had a bigger smile, him or me. In true Boy fashion, once he had going forward down, he started working on his skids. I am proud to tell you he pulled off a 7 1/2 long skid (Yes I did measure it).  It was definitely a good day for a ride.