OK, Ava is a colicy baby.  If you ever wonder what she is up to lately, she is doing one of three things; sleeping, feeding, or crying.  I want the ga-ga, goo-goo.  It sucks and it is definately a good form of contrception.  We have been dealing with it with advice from our doctor.  We have changed formulas several times and we have some medicine that we give her.  I have found 5 essential gadgets for any parent of a colicy baby.

1. DVR - This is a must really for any parent.  If your baby starts fussing or you need to attend to their needs, just press pause.  I never watch anything on time anymore.  Plus it's a good source of programs that you recorded during the day and you are up at four in the morning feeding your child and there is nothing but info-mercials on.
2. Swiffer SweeperVac - Babies, especially colicy babies, love white noise sounds.  They love the sound of vacuums, washers, dryers, hair dryers, etc.  It reminds them of being in womb where they could only hear these types of sounds.  Running the vacuum next to Ava's bouncer keeps her from not crying (for a little while anyway).  I am in search of some sound effect CDs that have some of these sounds.
3. Video Monitors - These are better than regular sound monitors because you don't have to go in the room with every sound.  You can just look right on the monitor to see what they were  doing.  A definately good investment.  You can also get a video monitor like Scott Hanselman and interface with it to get the output on your PC. 
4. Multiple Monitors - This sounds wierd and it may not work with your colicy baby but Ava loves the glow of computer monitors in a dark room.  When she is fussing, she stops to enjoy the glow of multiple monitors, especially when you have 4 computers running at once.  I don't know if this is just Ava since she must have the computer bug like her father.  Ahh, a prodigy.
5. iTunes with Visualizations - What does Ava like to watch on those multiple monitors?  iTunes with the Visualizations turned on.  She will stare at that for almost a full hour without fussing.  Maybe she needs her own Mac :).

This post is a duplicate from the istu blog.  The original can be found here.

Bill Wagner, a Microsoft Regional Director for Michigan and partner in SRT Solutions, blogged the other day about CodeMash.  He mentions he gave one attendee advice on how to convince his company's management personnel that certain decisions were not the right ones.  He said that he tried a bunch of avenues and that his company would not listen to him.  He said that you should "vote with your feet".  Basically leave the company if you are not happy with their decisions.  I really agree with this advice and I liked how he put it. 

If you are not happy with the decisions that your company is making then you should leave.  This is not to "show them a lesson" but rather for your own sanity and career.  If you are not happy with decisions and they are out of your control, that will a negative attitude for you and have a negative affect on your morale.  It may even drive you to seek a new career because you may start thinking that your career choice is making you unhappy.

If you are a consulting company or contractor, take this advice to heart as well.  Remember that they are not only hiring you but you are hiring them as a customer.  If you are both not happy (as in marriage), then it will not work out.  Make sure you know who you are "getting into bed with" and if you don't like it, vote with your feet.

I posted a heads up that this was coming, but Rocky Lhotka just released the VB version of the CSLA.NET 2.1 Handbook on his web site.  You can get the VB version today and the C# version will be available real soon.  I'm gonna wait for the C# version but I am going to get one as soon as it is available.  Best thing is that I can read it on my Sony Reader when it is available.

Lenovo has posted more drivers for Windows Vista and the X60 tablet on their web site today.  They include drivers for the monitor, trackpoint, and power management amoung other things.  I am in the process of installing them now.  One step closer to selling my old tablet.  You can get them here.

Frank LaVigne posted a picture of the Best Buy displays for Windows Vista.  One word sums it up for me.....lame.  Come on Microsoft, lets see....five years in the making, the biggest upgrade to your operating system to date, and the largest risk Microsoft has taken and this is the display you have come up with?  I realize that Best Buy has had some constraints in the display size, etc., but listen paper flyers, small posters, and a couple of shelves does not really scream inviting.  How about using some technology?  How about using some of that marketing budget?  This display just screams Windows 3.1.

OneNote 2007 has a cool new feature where you can share your notebook with others in a live setting.  They call it a Live Share Session.  To host a live sharing session, you select the section you want to share (you can't just share one page), and go to the Share menu item.

This will open a Start Live Session toolbar on the side.  You can then optionally enter a password which will be required by users after they go to a session.  You then select Start Live Session.

Once that is complete, the Current Live Session toolbar is shown where you can invite participants via email.

When you click on the Invite Participants link, a new email message will open with an attachment of the shared one note file.

When the invited participant recieves the email, they will be entered into the Live Sharing Session and their email will show in anActive Participants window.  You can allow editing by the participants if you are hosting the session.  I found that this is a little obtrusive though and really only allows for one person at a time to edit.

This is a really good way to share white boards virtually.  You can find out more information here: http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/onenote/HA100907501033.aspx#2.

I have built (using Typepad) and released the "istu", the Innovativ Studios company web blog.  You can find it at http://blog.innovativstudios.com.

This blog will talk about Innovativ Studios news, the company, the applications we are building, experiences in the consulting world, entrepeneurship, design, development, and our opinions on the happenings in the software world.

This blog will remain more personal, although some of the posts will be duplicated as they apply to both worlds of my life.  Please feel free to visit the blog or subscribe with this link: http://feeds.feedburner.com/istu.  I look forward to hearing your comments and feedback.

I came across this offer on the Microsoft MSDN site.  You can get a Sprint Palm Treo 700wx for $99 with a 1 year contract.  This is a great deal since the phone usually runs $299 with a 2 year contract.  The link for this deal is here.

The new Apple iPhone that Steve Jobs unvielled today at the MacWorld Keynote is just amazing.  While I was watching the keynote, I thought that maybe I was transported into the future somehow.  This thing is simply amazing and I can't wait to get my hands on one, even if that means that I need to switch back to Cingular.  Everything is so simple to use and the technology is so futuristic.  It makes my "Smartphone" look like a DOS machine. 

The multi-touch technology is simply awesome.  I love the random access voicemail where you can listen to any given voicemail from a particular person and you don't have to listen to them in order.  The interface is simplistic and only shows the necessary information at any given time.  The 3D effects are soooo cool.  Plus it has all the features I need in a phone.  Push-email, contacts and calander syncing.  The coverart interface and video playback are not bad either.

I really can't say enough about how impressed I am with this phone.  It makes everything else so outdated.  Apple's stock has currently gone up $6 since the announcement 2 hours ago and it keeps rising.  Check it out for yourself here.

Way to go Buckeyes, now you upset my daughter.

But seriously, the Gators played really, really good.  I think that you can give Urban Meyer a lot of the credit.  Their offense ran some crazy plays.  There were formations that I have never even seen in my life and didn't even think were legal in football.  Lots of different looks that teh OSU defense could not stop.  The Gators defense performed really well too.  They held Troy Smith to 4 for 14 and 35 yards....the worst quaterback rating in BCS history.  Chris Leak played the best I have seen all year, even if he looks like Tiger Woods younger brother.  This was the worst finish to a football season yet.