If you’re not familiar with OmniFocus or David Allen‘s Getting Things Done methodology, please take the time to read ‘The Psychology of OmniFocus’ which is a better write-up than I would be able to put together on how GTD works and specifically

The last thought is that with this post (and the associated task ‘Write a blog post’), I will for the first time in longer than I can remember, be caught up with all of my overdue tasks. I’ve written about having challenges keeping up with tasks before and I have improved, but I seem forever behind. That’ll change when I wake up tomorrow and when I get to work on Monday, but if I can continue to keep due dates to a minimum, I may actually start getting to those things I’ve haven’t been able to get to. One can hope.

I don’t have anything against them, personally. You see, their terms of service is the problem. I like the flexibility and control of hosting my own domain and host it on a computer in my living room over the home’s Internet connection. Any typical consumer provider doesn’t allow you to host servers and want to require you to pay more for a commercial account (if they even offer one). DSL Extreme had very reasonable terms of service and generally allow their customers to do whatever they want as long as you don’t make trouble for them (e.g., hosting a spamming service).

So, between now and March, I need to decide if I should go back to plain ol’ DSL or switch to Verizon and move my services off my home server onto a hosted one somewhere. Fortunately, Verizon left the copper pair for our phone when they pulled the fibre so switching back to DSL is an option that shouldn’t normally be possible. I’m not looking forward dropping the bandwidth to a third of what I’ve gotten accustomed to, but I’m also not liking the idea of moving my services to someplace else.

Thanks, Verizon, for causing me this trouble. Please reconsider your decision as there are others that are being inconvenienced by it.

For the sake of those that may have not thought about backups, please take a moment to back up your data right now. Don’t worry, I’ll wait.

While you wait for your first copy to complete, don’t think you’re done. Make sure you follow the 3-2-1 rule of backup:

• 3 backup copies of any data you don’t want to lose
• 2 different media types
• 1 copy at a different location (off-site)

Personally, I recommend CrashPlan for backups. It’s free software for basic use that lets you backup to any other user of CrashPlan (if they agree) over the Internet. Currently, I back up from my main server (the one you’re reading this on), to the upstairs computer, a machine at work, and to my mother-in-law’s computer. In the spirit of encouraging safe data, if you have a reasonable amount of data, let me know and I can be a backup destination for you (don’t worry, I’d be unable to read the data as it’s encrypted by the software).

Protect your data, folks.

Honestly, I’ve been growing frustrated with the time it takes to “keep up” with things like Facebook, Twitter, and Google Reader. I first blogged about doing Reader “chores” three years ago and since then I’ve increased the number of feeds I followed and added Facebook to the mix. So, while I may have some DT’s going cold turkey I really am looking forward to what I’ll be able to fill the time with.

Of course, I’ll still “surf” as appropriate for work and will continue with email, but if you look for me online, I probably won’t be there. You’ll see me again in June. Unless I realize I really can live without it.

I should note that to keep hassles and complications to a minimum, I go out-of-my-way to not check baggage whenever possible. In the dozen-or-so flights I’ve taken with it, there’s only been one time there wasn’t enough room and I had to have the bag checked. No biggie, but I have learned to take the first available space I can find as I board the plane. Since you exit the plane in the reverse, it actually works out well since my bag is generally closer to the exit from where I’m sitting.

The question is if that is not the correct thing to do or if I’m breaking some form of etiquette in flying. Am I preventing someone from having their bag near where they’re sitting? What if the compartments in my vicinity are full and I must put my bag further back in the plane? Am I denying those passengers their (entitled?) space?

What are your thoughts? First come, first served? If you disagree, does it help my case that, due to my aisle preference, I am usually the last ‘zone’ to board?

This was my first international flight and the first time I’ve had to contend with jet lag. My trip over went that big a deal and I adapted rather quickly. Coming 8 hours back may be interesting. I’ll likely try to take a nap and see if I can reset my body clock to west-coast time but I imagine I’ll crash rather quickly this evening.

The whole experience has been interesting. The last time I was away from my home for more than a week was when I was 13. This time ’round, i have a wife and family. They’ve been understanding but it’s been tough for all of us for me to be gone as long as I’ve been.

On the plus side, with two weeks of experience in London, I’m all set to come back with the family. It’ll be like coming back home.

My original Friday flight was canceled and while I was able to extend my hotel and move my flight to Monday (tomorrow) that has just been canceled. Currently, I’m on hold with my company’s travel agent to determine what options exist. One possibility may be to take a train to mainland Europe (Chunnel to Paris, probably) and then a train to Spain or elsewhere that still have operating airports.

I had fun yesterday visiting the Science Museum, Natural History Museum, and the Victoria & Albert Museum. I enjoyed it as I was just going to be here for a few days more. With no significant change in the conditions of the volcano or the airflow, there’s a chance airports could remain closed for an additional week or more. What was a inconvenience is now becoming a real problem.

I’ll try to keep my Twitter feed (public WiFi access permitting) updated with major developments.

I’ll have to spend some time getting adjusted to the interface but I’m really looking forward to how this platform develops. I really think Apple has another hit on their hands.

One of the other reasons for me, appears to be the same for many of my friends: sharing. With Facebook, Google Reader, Twitter, FriendFeed, and related social sites, it has become exceedingly easy to just share a link to an interesting article, video, or picture rather than produce anything yourself. I’m not complaining, I’ve discovered by way of friends many interesting things. It’s just unfortunate that it has become the de facto expression of people (including myself).

If you still blog, kudos to you. Please keep it up. The Internet will become a very boring place if everyone just keeps recycling the same ol’ thing.

Fortunately, my kids do not act as I did in their ability and work ethic at school. They do so well, in fact, that my daughter, who is in 7th grade, has excelled for years to the point the school counselors have commented how they haven’t seen performance like this (regarding consistence performance on the standardized tests). That, alas, is where the problem lies.

“What?!” I can hear you say. “Your daughter is at the top of her class and that is a problem?” Unfortunately, yes. The problem is she struggles against the pace of teaching in the classroom. She’s ready to move on upon first presentation of a concept while the bulk of the class still needs to work to get it. This has been the case for years. We even tried years ago when she was in 3rd grade to get her to be advanced to 4th. We were talked out of it by the principal due to “social adjustment” concerns. We were encouraged by a good 4th and 5th grade teach (the same one both years) but the situation didn’t improve too much.

When she began middle school in 6th grade, things got worse. As expected, some subjects were interesting and others not so much, but they all were not enough of a challenge to keep her interested. As her parents, we want to make sure that our kids perform to the best of their ability and get every opportunity to do so. We sought options and guidance. We spoke with counselors (who made the above statement) and while we got assurances that it is important to challenge kids who excel, we learned that the unspoken bottom-line is that the modern school system is geared to focus on the “bottom 10%” and just aren’t as committed to doing anything substantial for the remaining 90% and especially not for the top students.

I don’t have any problem with ensuring underperforming students improve. Schools should do what they can to help every student learn. The ugly truth is that at the administration level, the motive is to improve the performance on the earlier mentioned standardized tests. Kids at the bottom pull down the average and that average determines how much money they will get. Kids at the top? They’re great! They help us look good. So let’s spend ALL of our effort on the ones that are hurting us. Again, I want help for the kids that are struggling. I also want help for those that are looking for more.

As a result of the ongoing saga with school administrators, we have decided that it is time to strongly consider homeschooling. We’ve thought about it for years, but generally thought we could work with (and sometimes within) the system. That just isn’t the case. If our daughter wants to learn, it’ll be up to us to help that happen.

This will require some significant adjustments, but, then again, isn’t that usually the case with parenting?