Just trying to get through life without looking stupid

Duh nuh nuh nuh nuh nuh nuh nuh BATMAN! The blockbuster hit of the summer appears to be Dark Knight. I usually wait for three people to recommend something to me before I think it's worth doing and this movie surpassed that mark long ago. Unfortunately I still haven't seen it, but that situation should be rectified in the next week.

I received an email with a link to some exclusive clips and thought I'd share them with you. Watching these just makes me want to see this even more. Who's with me? There's also a game you can play. My high score is 17610. Can you beat me? Unlikely.

When we were walking along the beach at low tide, we were startled when streams of water started shooting up around us. Most were only about a foot high but some shot four feet up in the air. We couldn't see what was causing it, but after some research, I think I have figured it out.

The mystery animal is a Pacific gaper clam, also called a horse clam. They live 6-12 inches under the surface and have a long "neck" that sticks up to the surface as a siphon. When they are startled, they quickly retract the siphon which shoots water up into the air.

It was hard to get a photo since each shot happened so quickly. I took a bit of video which is embedded below. I don't know if you can pick out the streams of water. There's one at 0:03 seconds in the lower right quadrant, one at 0:08 on the right middle, and one at 0:14 on the left side.

A recent article in Computer World talks about the hype around the iPhone and compares it to sales figures of Windows Mobile and Blackberry. Windows Mobile soundly beats the iPhone in adoption, downloadable applications, etc.

But if you hold up an iPhone and a Windows Mobile device to a crowd, which one are they going to grab? The iPhone. I've seen them. I've played with them. Sure it has a pretty interface, but there are pretty interfaces for WinMo devices like my HTC Touch (pictured.)

Apple gets plenty of press every time they release new features, but Windows Mobile has been around forever with push email technology to conserve battery life, broadband EVDO coverage, and gobs of other things. In my view, the iPhone is playing catch up.

I love my Windows Mobile phone and would never trade it for an iPhone. I know some of you have them though. Really, what's better? Are there any technical reasons why you have that instead of a WinMo phone? I know that hype sells products, but is there still a solid product left when the hype wears off? What features does WinMo need in order to catch up?

All you Facebook addicts out there might be interested to know that a new Facebook design is on the way. They have been working on it for a few months, but now you can finally use it.

To switch your profile over to the new design, visit http://www.new.facebook.com and from then on, when you go to facebook.com, you should see the new design.

It's quite different so give it a week or so before you make your judgement. You've put a lot of hours into the old design, so anything different is going to be a bit tough to use at first, but I think you'll like it.

What a weekend! As I mentioned in the last post, the whole crew headed to Fort Flagler State Park on the northeast part of the Olympic Peninsula. Tim, Chelsea and I got there on Thursday night. We set up the tents, had a quick fire and then headed for bed.

On Friday we explored the beach area a bit and played a lot of cornhole. Throughout the evening, Tyla, Andy, Stephanie, Matt and Laura arrived. For dinner on Friday, we took our Mexican aluminum foil food packets down to the beach and ate in front of a gorgeous sunset.

Saturday was the day for the big hike through many of the old fort installations. It's hard to imagine the amount of firepower that was aimed out into the Puget Sound. I would not have wanted to be on the receiving end. It's no wonder that the bunkers are all still in tact. I don't know how you would have gotten close enough to take them out. We followed that hike up with cornhole, another gorgeous sunset, and some great dinner courtesy of Laura.

On Sunday we packed up the campsite, spent a few more hours walking along the beach at low tide and finally headed home. We had to wait over an hour for the ferry back, but it was a smooth trip. I'm sure ferry rides get boring after a while, but it's still pretty new to me and you can usually find me out on the observation decks.

With eight people at the site, it was the biggest camping trip I've had out here. From early morning walks on the beach to late night chats around the campfire, it looked like everyone was having a great time. There were well over 1000 photos snapped on various cameras throughout the trip. I've picked through the ones that Chelsea and I took and posted some in the gallery. A few of my favorites are shown below.

This weekend is our second camping trip of the year, and it's a big one! Our campsite is packed as full as they allow. Campers include Laura, Matt, Andy, Stephanie, Tyla, Chelsea, Tim, and me. Chelsea, Tim and I are getting a heard start on everyone else. We actually arrived at the campsite last night and everyone else is coming this evening.

The popular state parks fill up very quickly. We find the more popular parks by looking far ahead and seeing which ones are booking up. Washington has a great online booking system which makes this easy. On the last day of 2007, we hopped online and reserved a campsite at Fort Flagler. It's over on the Olympic Peninsula so we'll be hopping on a ferry to get there.

The website lists some interesting history for the park:

Fort Flagler, along with the heavy batteries of Fort Worden and Fort Casey, once guarded nautical entrance to Puget Sound. These posts, established in the late 1890's, became the first line of a fortification system designed to prevent a hostile fleet from reaching such targets as the Bremerton Naval Yard and the cities of Seattle, Tacoma and Everett. Construction began in 1897 and continued in one form or another until the fort was closed in 1953. The property was purchased as a state park in 1955. Fort Flagler is named after Brigadier General Daniel Webster Flagler.

As you probably guessed, our weekend will be full of good food, good times, and plenty of cornhole! Pictures will be abundant next week. Have a great weekend!

Washington recently started enforcing the handsfree law for drivers. While I don't think this unit would qualify, I'm sure it would cause a stir as your driving down the road with it pointed at your head. Or what if you're at the mall, your phone rings, you pull this out of your holster, point it at someone and say, "Here, this call is for you." Instructions are available if you want to build your own.

While I'm on the topic, I question the success of the handsfree law. Personally I'm just as dangerous when I'm talking on a handsfree set as I am holding the phone to my ear. I believe the issue is the distraction that is caused by the conversation, not the act of holding the phone up to my head. The conversation demands my attention so that I can respond where appropriate. While driving in theory is higher priority, it can easily get shuffled into the background of your thought process.