Moved!

I've moved!

Visit my new blog here: http://lance.langwell-ball.com

How Many iPods?

This is just unbelievable

"How many [iPods] did we sell last quarter? Some of the estimates were getting astronomical - 8 million, 9 million. I'm really pleased to announce that last quarter we sold 14 million iPods .. that is over a hundred every minute, 24/7 throughout the quarter."

From Engadget's live blog of MacWorld

Ways to avoid the tube

2 great ways to spend less time in front of the TV.

1. Get rid of cable or at least cut back to the most basic service available. I get Charter’s most basic plan which includes the networks, PBS, CSPAN and a few random other things. As much as I miss it, there is no A&E, there is no HBO, there is no Food Network. Now that I mostly only get crap TV, I watch a lot less. And it’s cheaper!

2. Get a really small TV and put it behind doors. I got a 17 inch flat screen TV, put it on a shelf and built doors for the shelves so it can be closed up. The less you see it the less you will turn it on.

Turn off the TV and do something!

See more progress on: watch less television

Absolutely the most exciting programming I've done in a while

Even though I don’t get to do this for my day job (all java all the time), I’m now hacking away at RoR apps at night. Check out http://langwell-ball.com/indexed-search.

See more progress on: learn ruby on rails

Taking a Drawing Class

Last fall I took an intro to drawing course which really got me started. We used the Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain book.

This winter/spring I’ll be taking a life drawing course to expand on what I got out of last fall’s class.

See more progress on: learn to draw

Incredible Sidewalk Art

Check out these chalk drawings by Julian Beever. Simply amazing.

The Coma

What would it be like to be in a coma? I just read Alex Garland's novella The Coma - a haunting, quick read exploring just that. Carl, who is beat unconscious on the London's underground tells the story from his comatose state. Through memories, fantasies and complete nothingness he pulls himself from the underwater world of his coma back to consciousness. If you've got 2 hours to kill, it's a fascinating read.

Slip and Slide

Slip and Slide
Originally uploaded by lanceball.

Renny and Tori playing on the slip and slide in Greenville.

Cherry Trees

Cherry Trees
Originally uploaded by lanceball.

Katie took the kids down to Ridgeway this summer to see Mamie. She also took some video and had a fun time with iMovie when she got back. Here's her movie.

Gran on the Swing with the Kids

Gran on the Swing with the Kids
Originally uploaded by lanceball.

From our trip to Greenville in May. This is in Gran's backyard.