Ben’s List of Free Programs

Ben’s List of Free Programs   7-Zip http://www.7-zip.org/ Open Source compression / decompression program that handles almost any format (rar, zip, bz2, tar, etc.).  Better than WinZip. CamStudio http://camstudio.org Screen recording application (use Handbrake to encode output file to a usable format) CHIRP http://chirp.danplanet.com Open source program for programming amateur radios (great for BaoFeng and … Read more

Mossberg 500 Shotgun

  Kris actually hit some targets! In January I picked up a Mossberg 500 and finally got a chance to shoot it this weekend.  Dave & Melody (and their puppy) came along and showed us a great shooting spot not too far out of town.  This was Kris’s first time firing a gun and she … Read more

Perspective on Gun Deaths

Here is an estimated breakdown of how people will die in the United States this year. Death by a person controlling a gun: 31,000 Death by Car Accident: 32,000 Death by Suicide: 38,000 Death by Influenza and Pneumonia: 50,000 Death by Nephritis, nephrotic syndrome, and nephrosis: 50,000 Death by Diabetes: 69,000 Death by Alzheimer’s: 83,000 Death by Accidents: … Read more

23rd Day of Advent

Last Sunday our Scripture Reading was Psalm 23, it is a solemn reminder that we constantly live with death.  There isn’t a second of relief from the possibility of loved ones or ourselves dying at any moment.  But it also is a comforting passage, as Christians we are comforted by Jesus Christ.  Because of Christ’s … Read more

BitCoin Bubble

Source: Bitcoin Charts, April 5, 2013 I learned to recognize bubbles from William Bernstein’s short history of bubbles in the The Four Pillars of Investing…  here are a few, along with some more I found on Wikipedia…  Tulip Craze  South Sea Company  Mississippi Company  Railway Mania  Florida Land Boom  Stock Market Bubble  Poseidon Mining Bubble  Japanese … Read more

My Plan to Pay Off the United States Debt

Current U.S. Debt: $16,800,000,000,000 (as of 4/7/2013) [1] Earlier this week I calculated out how much national debt we have per employed person (155,500,000 employed people as of Feb 2013 [2]) in the U.S.: $108,039. Add in the all the state and local government debt [3] and it’s $115,756 per working person. I have a … Read more

Christian Homeschooling Parents in Danger of Deportation: You Can Help

My readers from California will spot the irony in this… Over 73,000 Signers Support German Homeschooling Parents in Danger of Deportation Christian family seeking asylum; Obama wants to deport. Here’s a German family, the Romeikes, that believe in homeschooling their children, but in Germany that means jail-time and their children will probably be taken away. … Read more

BaoFeng UV-5RA Quick Review

Got my $44 UV-5RA Chinese built ham radio.  For the price I couldn’t pass it up just to see how good a ham radio this cheap could be. Update 2014-05-11 It has been a little over a year since I first wrote this and BaoFeng has released several versions of this radio,  UV-5RE, UV-82, FB-F8+, UV-B5, GT3, … Read more

Setup Your Own ActiveSync Server With Zimbra and Z-Push

(Updated: June 8, 2013.  I’ve updated this post to clarify based on some questions I’ve received). For the clueless, ActiveSync is the protocol that allows you to sync your Mail, Calendar, Contacts, and Tasks with your messaging provider.  Your two options to have an ActiveSync server is through a cloud solution (e.g Gmail, Outook.com, etc.) … Read more