1000 hp Nissan Patrol climbing a mega-dune

Dubai looks like fun.

Bearded Dragons are famous for their large spikey beards and ability to turn them jet black as a display of dominance, anger, or to attract a female.  Our very own Big Daddy rarely has reason to display his beard, the few times I’ve seen it were when we held him up to a mirror so he could attempt to intimidate the “other dragon” (Kalani says he was protecting his family).  However, today I was giving him a bath, and he either got really mad at me, or wanted to mate.  (lower-left picture below)

When someone sends you an email asking if you’d like to catch dinner and the game, courtside, the answer is “Yes, please.”

Following are a few short clips from television intermixed with video from my camera phone. At the beginning you can see us taking our seats in the lower-left corner of the screen (I’m in the purple shirt). A few scenes are shown both from my phone and the TV.

We just watched the documentary “More Than a Game” — the story of LeBron James and his highschool teammates.  The film covers everything from their start as 4 best friends on an 11 yr old AAU basketball team all the way through their senior year and third state championship (beating the Nation’s #1 team Oak Hill Academy along the way).

The director/creator of the film started it as a college project (the original assignment was a 10 minute short).  He was from Akron and had heard about this local group of kids who started playing together at a young age and decided to all play for the same highschool.  The coach and highschool administrators allowed him to follow the team their junior and senior year as a fly-on-wall cameraman.  He does an excellent job of capturing the essence of the team as a unit, each player’s story (not just LeBron), and their mentor coach (the point guard’s father).

I purchased the movie on Amazon.com and expected to learn a lot about LeBron James intermixed with a highlight reel of game footage.  What I got instead was a wholesome story of friendship, family, and sports as a catalyst for something greater than “the game”.

While we weren’t state champions or anything, some of my fondest memories and closest friends were made on my highschool basketball team (and thanks to Facebook, I can stay in touch with them).  I think Tia liked the film as well, she also played sports in highschool (and college).  “More Than a Game” highlights many of the character-building aspects of sports which makes me hope our kids enjoy athletics as much as their parents do.

Price Comparison: iPhone vs Pre vs Droid vs Nexus One

On January 5th Google released its media hyped “iPhone-killer” the Nexus One (built by HTC).  Being the kind husband that I am, I decided to gift my G1 (the first Android phone) to Tia, which left me with no choice but to upgrade to the Nexus One (N1).  I ordered Tuesday morning right as they went on sale and received the phone Thursday afternoon.

Compared to the iPhone 3GS, the N1 has a larger screen, more memory, and a faster CPU — which makes it the first phone in my opinion that can truly compete with Apple.

Note:  The Nexus One is not to be confused with the recently released Motorola Droid.  They both run the “Android” operating system from Google, but they are two different phones.

Below I will provide a short overview of what I love about the N1 followed by a short video demonstration:

• Free turn-by-turn GPS navigation
• Google Account Integration:
  • Gmail
  • Contacts / Calendar
  • Google Talk
  • Google Voice
  • Picasa
• Facebook Integration
• Speech-to-text synthesis
• 20,000 Apps (mostly free)
• Wireless Internet Sharing –> laptop
• Brilliant User Interface
  • Interactive Widgets
  • 3.7″ Screen
  • Touch / Multitouch

My favorite apps: (all of which are free, except for the Nintendo emulator)

• Google Maps (w/ turn-by-turn GPS Navigation)
• Facebook – I’m not much of a facebook’r, but the seamless integration here is pretty neat.  For example, when I go to call someone in my address book, it shows me their latest Facebook update.
• Locale – Automatically changes your phone settings (e.g. ringer / volume / brightness) based on your predefined criteria (GPS location, time of day, etc).  For example, Locale turns off my ringer when I arrive in downtown Houston each morning for work.
• Nesoid – Nintendo emulator.  (play those nostalgic NES games in your downtime)
• Pandora – Internet radio.
• ShopSavvy – Scan a barcode on a product and it gives you a map of local stores selling the item (w/ price).  It uses the phone’s camera to scan the barcode.
• Shazam – The phone can “listen” to music and tell you what song is playing (with the option to purchase it).
• Where’s My Droid? – Text your phone a secret word and it will ring for 3 minutes to help you find it.  Also provides an enhanced option to have the phone text you back a link to Google Maps with its location pinpointed.
• Scriptures – Instant access to the Bible, Book of Mormon, Pearl of Great Price, Doctrine Covenants (and Koran).
• Wireless Tether – Turn your phone into a wifi hotspot for your laptop.  (requires that you void your warranty and install custom software)

Google Maps – Facebook – Locale

Nintendo Emulator (running on old G1) – Pandora Internet Radio

ShopSavvy: (scan your bar code and find the cheapest / nearest retailer)

Where’s My Droid? – Shazam

Scriptures – Wireless Internet Sharing – YouTube

I’ve also grown fond of the following widgets:

• Webcam Widget – View webcam images on your phone.  I use this to tap into my home surveillance system (first image below, green background).
• Facebook Friends Status
• Pandora Control
• Weather / News
• CalWidget

Webcam Widget(s) – Facebook Widget – Pandora Internet Radio

Weather / News – CalWidget

It’s only been a few days but I’m extremely impressed with the build quality and user interface of this thing. Definitely a huge improvement from the G1.  If you’re in the market for a new phone you should seriously consider the N1 (especially if you use Facebook / Gmail / Google Voice / Picasa / Google Calendar / etc).  Also note that the even though the Motorola Droid runs Android (like the N1), the Droid’s much more expensive with slower hardware.  However, if you want a physical keyboard (which the N1 lacks), then the Droid is your best bet.

My N1 in action: