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SkillsUSA AZ 2012

Spring brings the SkillsUSA Arizona Internetworking competition.  Besides being a mouthful to say it is a competition that I competed in during high school, and contribute a lot of my professional career to VICA (now called SkillUSA) and the Cisco Networking Academy.  I now chair the competition, and with help, try and provide some of the same opportunities to the students competing today.  This year we had less competitors, but it was still an enjoyable time.  I drove down on Monday, and then back home on Tuesday after the judging was over. Congratulations to Snowflake High School for having the winning student this year.

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Books | Jumper & Reflex

I don’t know why I didn’t know that the movie Jumper was based on a book.  I enjoyed the movie, so reading the book was an obvious choice.  I only wish that the books, Jumper and Reflex, were what we got on the silver screen.  The two books tell a great story and, while there are a few places or moments that are reflected in the book, the plot is very, very different.  The premise remains, a boy is able to teleport, and it follows his story of learning to cope with his ability.  The sequel, Reflex, is not portrayed in the film at all, and takes the story to a very different place.  The book had me going, and I finished very quickly.  While looking for the image of the book I found another book in the series (which appears to be detached to David’s or Davey’s story, but I’m getting it right now none the less) called Jumper: Griffith’s Story.  I would hope that it maintained the caliber of book that the previous two in the series were.  Definitely a good pair of readings.

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Books | Matched & Crossed

I was in a rut trying to decide which book to pick up next, and came across Matched.  Reviews touted it as something similar to The Hunger Games and so I decided to give it a shot.  It was much more love story, and significantly more a girls books than I found The Hunger Games to be, but still something that kept me engaged.  Matched follows a few characters in a dystopian society where most all agency has been removed and trends and predictions rule your existence.  A major part in this book is the Matching ceremony where people are placed with their best match in the Society for the opportunity to enter into a contract with them.  When the main character is matched something “goes wrong” and she is left to question the whole process.  Craziness ensues, and continues into the sequel crossed where the characters continue to define themselves, shaping what the third book will reveal.  Reached, the third book, is slated to be released November of 2012.  It reminds me why I do not like reading trilogies until they have all been released.  Much like Divergent, I have to wait for the sequels to come out, and I will probably end up revisiting the books again before the next one comes out.

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Books | Ghost In The Wires

The movie “Hackers” has always been one of my guilty pleasures for the absurd spin they put on the hacker scene, and the way they portrayed the actual hacking.  Then when I heard about a sequel to “Hackers” called “Operation: Takedown” I obviously wanted to see it.  This was in 1999 when I was in High School, and it wasn’t until watching a podcast interviewing Kevin Mitnick earlier this year that I learned how inaccurate the portrayal  of Mitnick was in the not so sequel “Hackers 2”.  Kevin then plugged his book, and I promptly purchased it on Amazon, and then downloaded it from Audible.

It is a descriptive autobiography about one of the world’s most sought after hackers.  It is interesting hearing it from his perspective where much more of what was done appears much more innocent in his eyes.  My wife even enjoyed hearing the end of his story.  I found it an interesting read, but I would imagine you would need to have some desire to hear the story in order to stick out reading it.

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Books | Micro

This book was a no-brainer for me to read when I saw it. I am a huge fan of Michael Crichton, and had heard about an unfinished work he was writing when he died. This book is definitely an homage to his techno-thriller works such as Jurassic Park. I feel Richard Preston did an effective job in finishing the story even though I feel I noticed where the transition occurred.

Micro takes place mainly in Hawaii, and is about a group of students who end up in a “Honey I Shrunk The Kids” situation, and a fight for survival ensues.  It takes many twists and turns, but has a few out of character plot points that drastically change the story from the usual pattern of Michael Crichton.  Overall I enjoyed this book and am saddened it is likely the last work by this author that will reach the book shelves.

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#30DaysofGOOD Challenge | November 2011

@GOOD on Twitter have monthly reoccurring #30DaysofGOOD where they focus on different things. Last month was health, and this month is photography. I thought it would be fun to keep up with it, and post the pictures I take onto our blog. Enjoy, and join in the fun. Follow me @wesmcb on Twitter to see my updates there.

Day 23 – Document a mentor | Camera – iPhone 4 | Photographer – Amanda | Here’s the newest life in our lives.

Day 22 – Document the thing you spend most of the day looking at | Camera – iPhone 4 | Photographer – Amanda | Here’s the newest life in our lives.

Day 21 – Document a neighbor | Camera – iPhone 4 | Photographer – Amanda | Here’s the newest life in our lives.

Day 20 – Document the inside of your fridge | Camera – iPhone 4 | Photographer – Amanda | Here’s the newest life in our lives.

Day 19 – Document a room in your house | Camera – iPhone 4 | Photographer – Amanda | Here’s the newest life in our lives.

Day 18 – Document boredom | Camera – iPhone 4 | Photographer – Amanda | Here’s the newest life in our lives.

Day 17 – Document something you made | Camera – iPhone 4 | Photographer – Amanda | Here’s the newest life in our lives.

Day 16 – Document a life | Camera – iPhone 4 | Photographer – Amanda | Here’s the newest life in our lives.

Day 15 – Document your commute | Camera – iPhone 4 | Photographer – Wes | During certain parts of the year it is completely black out, other parts of the year the sun is out already, but for a portion of the year this is what I drive to work looking at.

Day 14 – Document a friend | Camera – iPhone 4 | Photographer – Wes | Here are two friends at the park in Blanding, UT on the way home from seeing family.

Day 13 – Document hopfulness | Camera – iPhone 4 | Photographer – Wes | This is the scale at work where I weigh in.  It is going to the left which instills hopefulness.

Day 12 – Document the highlight of your day | Camera – iPhone 4 | Photographer – Wes | This was the highlight of my weekend because a friends came up and we got to stay up way too late and play it together.

Day 11 – Document your favorite shoes | Camera – iPhone 4 | Photographer –  | Hoping Amanda will fill the gap on this one..

Day 10 – Document your coffee break | Camera – iPhone 4 | Photographer – Wes | Hmmm, don’t drink coffee..  Here’s my morning shake and a little TRS.

Day 9 – Document inspiration | Camera – iPhone 4 | Photographer – Wes | While I do like this picture it is not the picture or event that is inspiration.  The inspiration is the woman in it.  It has been a pretty interesting year, and she has dealt with a lot.  She is truly inspiring.  So many other things should be on here, namely my wife and kids.  They keep me going everyday, and there are many pictures of them underneath so here are a few other random things.  A scale, it has been motivating as I am trying to lose weight.  It sure is motivating to see that slide to the left.  A sunset, there’s just something about them that is indescribable.  Thirdly is a picture from the Wallow Fire where I was live streaming a press conference.  It was such an intense expereience and few weeks, but I was inspried to keep information posted to http://wallow.us during those few weeks.

      
 

Day 8 – Document something funny | Camera – iPhone 4 | Photographer – Wes | Not much to say about this one.  We were helping Mylea with her goat for 4-H, and had some time to kil before we hauled it back to the ranch.  This is what Rustyn found.  Today’s honorable mention is my Great Aunt Gwen.  My uncle Jeff has given her a hard time  that he was going to dye her hair purple for years.  This is what the family brought her right before Halloween.  The other is a picture of Jeremy Clarkson from Top Gear which is both a funny show, and it is also a funny screen grab.

   
 

Day 7 – Document autumn | Camera – iPhone 4 | Photographer – Wes | Yesterday found me home not feeling well, and getting Rustyn feeling better as well, but the weather did not disappoint.  While I would have hoped for a drive into the mountains, not scarred by the Wallow Fire, for some leaf coloring changing goodness this is what we ended up getting.  It snowed again, and this is what my Autumn is looking like.

Day 6 – Document art | Camera – iPhone 4 | Photographer – Wes | It seemed odd taking pictures of pictures, kind of like some Inception action going on.  I ended up choosing the work done by a high school auto class with a plasma cutter.  It was a Christmas present a few years ago.  The honorable mention is another plasma cut cow head, and a pencil drawing done by Kim Trickey of my father and grandfather at his last roping before he died of cancer in Reserve, New Mexico.

   
 

Day 5 – Document something new | Camera – iPhone 4 | Photographer – Wes | I totally called that yesterday with my daughter in the dress!  Last night the wind blew in the first snow of the season, which I was always told growing up that you didn’t eat the first snow of the season because it was cleaning everything out of the air or something like that.  Looks like old man winter decided to join us.  It is pretty chilly outside this morning with the wind blowing.

Day 4 – Document something old | Camera – iPhone 4 | Photographer – Amanda | Alex is obviously not old, but her blessing dress was the same one worn by her mom.  Not that her mom is old, but to an infant that is a pretty old dress.  Something old, and something new.  Honorable mention goes to the Salt Lake Temple when we went up to see Chubbz get sealed.  The other two are the carnival (which I’d rather no know how old the rides are, and the other is our football field.  Again, it’s not the field that’s old, but the past time of Friday Night Football!

      
 

Day 3 – Document happiness | Camera – iPhone 4 | Photographer – Wes | I went through a few pictures recently taken and this hit me and what happiness really is.  I have a few pictures of my kids with huge smiles on their faces, my mother riding on of her new colts, and my mom and Rustyn wrestling yet this is by far the winner.  After all, it envelopes all the other pictures mentioned above.

         
 

Day 2 – Document a pet | Camera – iPhone 4 | Photographer – Wes | My wife informed me that she in fact had taken the picture below so I submit one of my own.  This is a baby goat born on the ranch in 2011 that was named Tangled.  It was the runt of the littler, or whatever you call goats born at the same time, and still to this day is smaller than the rest.  Below it are two honorable mentions that I had to post up as well.  The first is Rustyn holding Tangled as well, and then the other is Luna and Ko resting.

  
 

Day 2 – Document a pet | Camera – iPhone 4 | Photographer – Amanda | This is my son’s pet, Little Bit. She is a miniature horse that my parents won in a silent auction. If you can’t tell, they are friends.

Day 1 – Document Street Style | Camera – iPhone 4 | Photographer – Wes | Here is a photo I took on my way to DJ a Homecoming dance. It was very cold and gray when I left town, and the further I drove towards Sanders, the prettier the sunset got. Here is the road on my way.


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New Category | Sunsets

I love taking pictures of sunrises and sunsets here, so I’m making a new category dedicated to them.  I’ll play a bit of catchup and post a gallery of some here (All taken with the iPhone 4).

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Trick or Treating!!

Trick or Treating!! That’s what Rustyn was saying anyway. Last night Rustyn and Alex got dressed up, and got to trick or treat. Mylea came along as well and we had a really good time. When we dropped Mylea off at a party we found Rustyn was a ‘bit’ wet so we had to cut the fun short, and headed home. It was fun being home for the trick or treaters though as we are usually out. Thanks Sally and Shelia for Alex’s great costume! She work it all night, and loved it!