Kerner.net

MAKE - Technology Crafting

I'm a huge fan of MAKE. I very rarely do any of the projects that I read about and I haven't subscribed to the print magazine (although I'm very tempted). O'Reilly gave out some copies for me to give away at the Macromedia User Group and my wife's comment was that it was like a craft magazine for guys. I scoffed at the idea, but now I have to admit that she was absolutely correct. The fact that yarn has now hit the MAKE scene is disturbing in many ways. Read about knitted robots

MAX 2005 - Anaheim

I've been getting ready to leave for a week of learning, networking, and fun at what will probably be the last Macromedia conference. I've been going to Macromedia conferences for years (several in San Francisco, New York, Salt Lake City, New Orleans, etc) -- actually the only one I've missed in a LONG time was the Orlando one after the Allaire merger.

I'm hoping that this will be a great conference. I'm especially excited about the Flash platform (mainly FlexBuilder 2 aka Zorn) and Flash Lite -- I've got a Flash enabled phone now.

I'm also hoping there will be some good Southern California food to be consumed. If you have SoCal eateries to suggest let me know. I'm mainly going to be in Anaheim and Orange County, but I may have a car so LA isn't out of the question. I'm pondering trying to find some good BBQ.

Santa Fe: Sugar's BBQ

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Originally uploaded by kerner.

Sugar's BBQ is the ideal sort of BBQ restaurant -- basically a metal shack in the middle of nowhere with great food. Situated in Embudo, on the highway between Santa Fe and Taos, Sugar's is one of Gourmet magazines top 10 drive-ins. There is no indoor seating, just a bunch of tables with umbrellas to the side of the metal building. Behind the building they smoke the meat -- across the highway is the Rio Grande. We thought Sugar's was so good we went there for lunch two days in a row. First after Bandelier and the museum in Los Alamos and then after hiking at Ghost Ranch.

The food at Sugar's is not fancy, but it is probably the highest quality food we ate anywhere on the trip. In our two meals we ate the signature Sugar Burger which is a burger topped with lettuce, tomato, onion, green chiles on one side of the meat and bacon, cheese, and mushroom on the other. The BBQ meats are served two ways as a sandwich which is well sauced -- and slightly spicy with a hint of the New Mexico green chiles -- and in a burrito served with a straight green chile sauce. You have your choice of brisket or pork for the bbq. I didn't get a chance to try the ribs as they're only served on the weekend.

If you're in Santa Fe take the time and drive to Embudo for a meal at Sugar's (they're open from 10am - 7pm).

Santa Fe: Ghost Ranch

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This is a Flickr badge showing public photos from kerner tagged with ghostranch. Make your own badge here.

Our second day out of Santa Fe we journeyed north once again, this time to Abiquiu (pronounced "ab e que") and Ghost Ranch the home of Georgia O'Keefe. The area is now owned by the Presbyterian church and is a conference and retreat center.

There are several trails on the ranch for hiking and Sarah and I hiked one of the shorter hikes that actually goes away from the lodge -- the Chimney Rock trail. The Flickr badge shows images from this hike and other parts of Ghost Ranch. The pictures don't really do justice to the scope of the landscape. We took several sets that can hopefully be stitched into panoramas, although they were hand held so they may not work too well. Does anybody have software suggestions -- ideally for the Mac?

I think doing a retreat or a conference at Ghost Ranch would be amazing. It is by no means posh accommodations, but it is very affordable and you can't beat the location (okay, so it's not that accessible, but otherwise it's great). I may go hide away there to do some reading at some point in the future.

Free iPod Nano!!!

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Originally uploaded by kerner.

Slightly more than a year ago I started on the quest to get a free iPod. So many people scoffed at the notion of getting an iPod for free, but I know other people who had gotten them so I figured why not. My free iPod arrived today. I opted for a white 4gb Nano.

To prevent the scratching fiasco that all iPods have (it's not just the nano that has this problem) I've ordered a skin from Invisible Shield.

Now that I've got my free iPod my next quest is for a free XBOX 360s. Remember if you sign up that you will get lots of spam -- these things aren't really free -- you pay with your personal information to advertisers.

Welcome 417 Readers

A few months ago I was interviewed by Evan Fisk of 417 Magazine for a story about food blogs. I haven't seen the article because for some reason our October issue hasn't shown up yet, but our friend Tammy Kirks let me know it was out.

If you're looking at the main page of the blog you'll notice that it hasn't been about food much lately, but that will resume shortly. I'm finishing up a series of posts from our vacation in Santa Fe last month, and have several new food series that will be starting this fall.

Welcome to Kerner on Food.

Moving On, Sort Of

I've spent the last five years working at Educara. We've put together some great software and worked on some amazing projects. I've had the opportunity to work with some great people (both clients and staff). The past two years Dick and I have been focusing very heavily on building a team that could take over our daily functions. That focus is the reason I'm able to make this change.

I've felt called to ministry for a long time. I spent six years working as a youth director at our church in Columbia (unpaid, but it was worth it). I'm also serving on two teams for the Missouri Annual Conference of the United Methodist Church -- focusing on youth and young adults.

In November I will be joining the staff at Schweitzer United Methodist as the Director of Media Ministry. The main focus on the position is building a team to do this area of ministry. This position is a great opportunity to use my skills in management, media/software development, and ministry. I feel very privileged to be able to use my gifts in service to my church.

So what happens at Educara? Not much changes actually. Since the position at Schweitzer opened up in July I've been quietly delegating my day-to-day responsibilities to the other members of the team. I've still been doing a little production work, but all of that will taper off and any remaining production will be passed on to other people. That said, I'm not completely leaving Educara. I'm going to stay on in an advisory role and as board member focusing on business development and product strategy.

Onward!

Mizzou

Mizzou
Originally uploaded by kerner.

Before the tigers got trounced by texas

Lifeblog test post

Lifeblog test post
Originally uploaded by kerner.

I'm just testing a post from my 6682 through lifeblog.