14
Feb
2010

Olympics time again

Vancouver 2010It always seems that my blog gets more use when the Olympics are going on. Ironically, I’m very much not a sports fan except maybe for watching the Phillies. However, I’ve always enjoyed watching the Olympics, especially the Winter Games. I think it’s a combination of the fact that you get to see sports that you don’t see very often (many of which aren’t team sports that I find boring) and the fact that for a few weeks people from various countries actually get together and participate in something just for fun without political posturing and other such silliness.

So, get ready to see more blog entries over the next few weeks, and for the first time some tweets as well.

Posted by Michael in Randomness
18
Jan
2010

New Virus & Spyware Guide Update

At long last, I’ve updated the Spyware & Virus Prevention and Removal section of Michael’s Guide. The last update was several years ago and things have changed drastically in the past few years. Malware is nastier than ever. It poses as your anti-virus program, it blocks you from  removing it and much more. Hopefully this updated guide will assist you in preventing and maybe even removing this stuff. One thing that seems to have changed as well is that the average user may not always be able to remove these things without professional help, so prevention is stll the best policy.

You’ll be seeing many more updates to the site in the next few days. I’m slowly bringing it up to date and making it more useful.

Posted by Michael in Site Updates, Technology
14
Jan
2010

Genealogy Work Goes On

Despite the fact that I haven’t made any huge changes to my family tree site in a while, my genealogy research and work is not by any means dead. I’ve been working on updating my database and filling in many blanks in the Paull branches of my family tree, especially the Tulls. However, I haven’t had time to put any of that data in a web-friendly format yet. If you want info, please don’t hesitate to contact me and ask any questions you may have.

Posted by Michael in Genealogy
19
Oct
2009

Yankee Candle Village Fall Festival Photos

Yankee Candle VillageWhen you hear Yanke Candle you think candles, obviously. But Yankee Candle Village in South Deerfield, MA makes you realize what a huge empire this compnay has built. You could (and we did) spend the better part of a day wandering through the many sections of the village. The slightly imperfect candles of the discount room are a great deal at half off. OK, so maybe you don’t want an Apple Cider scented candle that red on one side and pitch black on the other, but a tangerine candle that’s filled just a tiny bit too high is a great deal!

My personal favorite was the Bavarian room. $6000 giant German stein anyone? And who wouldn’t love the Black Forrest room where it snows all year long?

The Fall Decorations and events of the Fall Festival made it that much more fun. As usual I took plenty of photos. You can see them right here.

Posted by Michael in Life, Photography, Site Updates
19
Oct
2009

Mount Snow Oktoberfest Trip Photos

Mount Snow FoliageMount Snow is a ski resort in Vermont, but before the ski season starts German beer, food, music and events take over. I am, of course, describing Oktoberfest. They also had an arts & crafts show and scenic ski lift rides to the top of the mountain. Despite rain on Saturday, Sunday turned out to be a very nice cold day. As expected, the Fall foliage was impressive to say the least. It also gave me a chance to really test out my new camera. It turns out that shooting photos while hanging on for dear life to the ski lift isn’t easy. But that’s what a love for photography and a terrible fear of heights will get you!

The photos are posted in my Photos section.

Posted by Michael in Life, Photography, Site Updates
19
Oct
2009

Orange County Choppers Photos & more

Orange County ChoppersI just added 2 new albums to my Photos section. The first is from Orange County Choppers in Newburgh, NY. You probably recognize the name from the Discovery show American Chopper. I stopped by the Teutels new “world headquarters” on the way to Vermont last week. They have a retail store which is fairly over-priced, but I did shell out for a keychain anyway. The best part of it is the bikes that are on display. They have many of the theme bikes they built on the show on display. There’s also a viewing area where you can see into the shop area.

I also added a small album of photos from the Bordentown, NJ Cranberry festival. Thrown in with that album are also a few shots from the Blackwood Pumpkin Festival in Gloucester Township and my backyard all from the same day.

Another important note… these are the first photos I’ve posted that were taken with my new Nikon D90!

Check out them all out here.

Posted by Michael in Life, Photography, Site Updates
05
Sep
2009

Photos from Newport Trip

Newport, RII was scheduled to be in Newport for a week on business but the trip wound up being unexpectedly extended into a second week. I used the opportunity to do a little bit of sightseeing on the weekend. Besides walking about 10 miles, I took tours of two mansions (The Breakers & Marble House), toured the Breaker’s stables & carriage house, walked part of the Cliff Walk and did some shopping. If you have to unexpectedly get stuck somewhere, Newport is a good choice!

Check out the photos here.

Posted by Michael in Life, Photography, Site Updates
04
Sep
2009

Western Maryland & West Virginia photos

Western MD Railroad

I just added 3 new photo albums. They are all from my trip to Western Maryland and West Virginia. We visited the Spruce Forest Artisan Village & Penn Alps restaurant. The bulk of our trip was spent in Frostburg & Cumberland, where we took a ride on the Western maryland Scenic Railroad. On the way home we spent 2 days in Charles Town and Harper’s Ferry. It was a fun couple of days. It was nice to send time in some very old, very small towns for a change and Harper’s Ferry National Historical Park is one of the most interesting NPS sites I’ve been to.

Posted by Michael in Life, Photography, Site Updates
04
Sep
2009

Photography Category

Since more and more my blog posts seem to be about adding new photos to my site, I’ve now added a new Photography category to the blog.

Posted by Michael in Photography, Site Updates
11
Aug
2009

Photos Getting Noticed

Knight Ridder

I post hundreds of photos on the site and usually don’t know if they are getting noticed by anyone or not. However, lately, besides all of the dozens of contacts I get regarding my genealogy work, I’ve been seeing more comments on my photos. It makes me glad that I take the time to post them. A pro photographer in Virginia commented on my Hampton Roads photos, a model builder used one of my photos as reference for a model and last week I granted license for use of one of my photos by a company in a case study. You can check that out at Lencore.com.

If you are interested in acquiring or licensing any of my photos, please feel free to get in touch with me.

Posted by Michael in Life, Photography

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