Free iPod?

Yes that's right. A company called FreePay has set up an amazing system where cutomers sign up for offers (often free for 30 days), get 5 other friends to sign up and you get a free iPod. It's really not a scam as I know at least 4 people personally who have gotten their iPods this way.

I know it sounds weird and there's no pressure, but if you wanna help me get my 20GB color iPod ad get started on getting your own, then just click on MY link:
ipods.freepay.com/?r=15244865
and sign up for an offer. Everybody gets different offers but there's usually a free 30 day trial thing for something that if you don't cancel before 30 days you're good.

So...do it...
Nathan's Free iPod site

**update**
And to qualm Josh's fear of spam, I honestly have not recieved any after doing this...that I know of. But it's cool...I guess you just hate me.

Library Age

I have explained my views on this to a few people and most of them seem to not like it for some reason. I know two of them are librarians and most of the rest enjoy reading a lot, but why can't they see this possibility. As an admitted hater of libraries, I admit that this is probably an extreme view, yet still in my opinion, a likely fate for these sanctuaries for books.

I'd give it 15 years before it all really starts to happen, but my theory is that one day, the library as we know it will disappear. Due to the high cost for the government to run these buildings (money that could and should be put towards education) they will be shut down. Many will protest this decision, but with the fast advancement of book indexing such as Google Print, research and book renting can be done online by easily searching book databases.

Not to leave the book aficionados without anything to read, the government funded libraries will become warehouses that people can rent books from using the internet. The books will be mailed to them for free (as the shipping charges will still be far cheaper than paying thousands and thousands of librarians to help you). Of course some usual libraries will remain. Probably university libraries and famous ones like the Library of Congress.

Rest in peace all you librarians...

**update**
As stated by Joel and Emily, books are much easier to read on paper. Yes, I agree and that is why you can order them from the warehouses, duh! All I'm saying is that now we live in a visual society. Cultural stories are no longer told and passed down in folk-tales and poetry. Our culture is predominately passed on through movies now. That is what our generation likes and wants. (Don't get me wrong, I still love music!)

New Lappy

The rumors you hear are true, I have a new laptop! Right now I am in the process of getting all my programs and files in order and getting the old laptop ready to sell (luckily I already have a buyer). Here's the specs on my new beauty:

OS: Microsoft XP Professional 32bit (for now)
Screen: 15.4" WXGA at 1280x800 px
Processor: AMD Athlon 64 2.2GHz 512KB L2 Cache
RAM: 768MB DDR 200 pin PC2700
HDD: 60GB 5200RPM
Optical Drive: DVD +/-RW/R and CD-RW with dual layer support
Video: 128MB ATI Radeon XPRESS 200m w/HYPERMEMORY!!!!
Wireless: Integrated Broadcom 802.11 b/g
Ports: 4-USB 2.0, 1-4pin Firewire, VGA out, S-Video out, PCMCIA. Expansion Port 2, LAN and Modem, and a 5-in-one Card Reader

Best, you've got to be the best. You've got to change the world...

I had a really interesting discussion a couple nights ago about competitiveness. Anyone who knows me knows that I can get a little intense in any competitive situation and the person I was talking to was the same way. What we discussed were the pros and cons of being like this and I think I learned a lot about myself.

cons
The main focus of being competitive is to do your best in everything and to win. The problem is when your life becomes winning. When nothing matters to you but success. You forget about God's real plan for your life and turn to searching for approval in the eyes of man...which is basically how the worlds sees success.

pros
I personally think there's a lot more pros...at least I hope there is! Not that there's anything wrong with not being competitive, it's just who I am. Sometimes when I think about my future I just have such a desire to accomplish so much. Kayla asked me the other day what my worst fear was and I said it was not accomplishing what God has for me. I have such a desire to do my best in everything I do (except school a lot of the time). When I think about marriage and having a family I want so bad to do it so well! Maybe it's not competitiveness exactly, but I'd say it's a side-effect of it. I hope that passion gives me the drive to make it through all the trials God has for me. I hope it will drive me to do greater works than Christ did.

Top Ten

I would like to take this opportunity to share with you all my top 10 favorite t-shirts that I do not own:

10 Just like Val's wallet...classic.


9 Dragons are soo cool!


8 Just made me smile enough to like it. I mean seriously though...it's a good point!


7 Cheesy but educational and a good laugh for at least 15 minuets.


6 You've all heard me talk about this one I'm sure. It just can't be said enough!


5 For Neil. Too bad it doesn't have handlebars.


4 Indeed, he always was a little too curious. (the bottle reads "ether")


3 John Jenkins has this shirt...maybe that's the only reason I think it's funny.


2 I know it's naughty but I just couldn't resist...please forgive me.


1 This is another one from Busted Tees, the same place I got my "Secede" shirt, and I just love almost all their shirts. This one is especially great!

Rocket Scientists

Ok, so I know I'm not the most humble person in the world, nor am I the least outspoken. The reason this "T's me off" is the heedless lack of any real information or facts in the conversations.

So with the recent landing of the shuttle and the watching of Fox News during our break time, some angry old men at Cedarville started ranting about NASA. First they talked about the shuttle and how it is outdated. "Why don't they just get rid of it!" or "I can't believe they aren't using a new one." This conversation quickly turns into a bashing of NASA's fallacious use of their "unlimited" budget. "You know they just get whatever money they want...I can't believe they waste all that money just to fly up and down to the space station." I really couldn't believe my ears.

First of all, NASA is of course in trouble with it's outdated (and yes, expensive) shuttle program. The problem is that it doesn't have a replacement. It really doesn't even have one lined up yet as there are no viable replacements yet. So expecting NASA to just "put the new one up there" is simply a dumb statement. Secondly, the reason they don't have a replacement is because they are actually on quite a shoe string of a budget. In 2004 their budget was $15,470 million. This may sound like a lot, but with the president calling for moon bases and Mars missions (they never got all the money they were supposed to), their allotted (that's right...Allotted, not desired) budget is barely enough to keep going with only $959 million to study new space crafts (not much in the experimental aeronautics industry).

I guess I'm saying all this because I find it annoying that just because some guys watch Fox News they think they know everything. I am known to rant on about technology, but I do try to stay up on actual information. And when I don't know about a topic, I shut my mouth...most of the time anyway. So just to set the record straight, NASA has a tight budget and is doing an amazing job with the money they have...just not as good as Burt Rutan.

(props to the "It Takes A Rocket Scientist" article in the February 2003 issue of Popular Science)

Spiritual Stuff

As many of you may have heard me say before, my spiritual life hasn't been exactly spectacular for about the last 4 months. I feel I have been working my way out of it and have learned a lot being tested in this time of my life. It just seems that for every good thing that has happened something bad comes with it. It's like running in sand.

I don't want to make it sound like I am complaining as I know I have an incredibly blessed life. I have great family and incredible friends, a wonderful church, excellent jobs, and so many unforgettable experiences! I just want let you all know kinda what I'm going through and although life is great, I'm definitely trying to figure out a lot too. It's so hard to hear from God; especially when you're afraid He's going to say no to something you really want.

Just pray for me guys. I know I got plenty of awesome people backing me up...and Jesus too.