Here’s more info about Ellison Onizuka of the Challenger. This is taken from my fraternity’s “Wall of Fame”

Today marks the 20’th anniversary of the Challenger explosion. I was home sick that day and remember watching it live on TV. I was in the 6th grade. I imagine this was the first national tragedy that I remember. I remember flipping through the channels and nothing was on except soap operas and this was in the days of 12 channels. So I decided to watch the launch. I recall that these were very frequent and routine. I remember that these became some anti-dramatic that many stations stop covering the launches.

Last night, I had a wonderful time attending my third Father-Daughter dance. It is always very special time. It was held at the school that my daughter attended pre-school last year. Her current school does not have one. I think my wife will organize one next year.

Interestingly enough, it was renamed from “Father-Daughter Dance” to the “Sweet Heart Dance”…an obvious turn towards to politically correctness. However, I didn’t see any Mother-Son couples.

Yesterday, I got my 1098 for my mortgage and decided to do my taxes. I typically do them early…mainly, because I typically get a refund. My taxes are very simple and easy to do.

The first year that I did my taxes, I did them manually. It wasn’t that bad but I wouldn’t do them that way every again. Ever other year, I have always used TurboTax. Each year, the software got incrementally better.

My son’s 3rd birthday was a few days ago. My wife thought a train table would be a good gift. She did a lot of research and found a one at Pottery Barn that she liked:

It was pretty expensive. I can’t remember exactly how much it was…I think it was around $250-$300 (plus shipping).

I looked around on the internet and found another design:

I was pleasantly surprised to find in my email yesterday:

As part of the acquisition, we are announcing the discontinuation of the FolderShare subscription services. You will be receiving a refund for your subscription at a pro-rated amount. Changes will go into effect early November; FolderShare subscribers will be refunded the pro-rated subscription fee in the week of Nov 7th.

It seems others are pleased, as well.

My wife just got “published” in this week’s Everyday Cheapskate newsletter.

FREE MAGAZINE. I get an excellent magazine called Creative Ideas. It is free from Lowe’s Home Improvement center. It has tons of ideas on how to conquer do-it-yourself projects to beautify your home. They also have a woodworking magazine that has plans to make furniture and storage pieces. Both are free; you just need to sign up on their Web site or you can pick them up at the store. — Roxanne Y., via e-mail.

Didn’t realize this…but FolderShare is now free. This comes about 2 or 3 weeks after I upgraded to ther Personal edition for $50/year. But I am not bitter, because now I know I can get more friends and family using it for its convenience.

Here is the background on the acquisition. Pasted from https://www.foldershare.com/info/company/aboutUs.php

Microsoft Acquires FolderShare, a File-Synchronization Technology Provider

Deal aligns with Windows Live goal of connecting customers to the people and information that matter most to them.

REDMOND, Wash. – Nov 3, 2005 – Microsoft Corp. today announced it has acquired FolderShare, a leading service in the emerging space of file synchronization and remote access technology that helps customers access information across multiple devices. FolderShare customers will continue to be able to enjoy the service at http://www.foldershare.com. Financial details of the acquisition were not disclosed.

One of my recent favorite utilities just got acquired. Microsoft just bought FolderShare. This deal happened nearly immediately after the heals of Microsoft’s accouncement of http://www.Live.com and the company’s future strategy.

I found this very surprising because Microsoft already bought Groove. Groove seems more aligned with “corporate” and “development” cultures needing P2P. In contrast, FolderShare is simple “personal” P2P client. FolderShare has developed a very simple, stable and fast utitity to keep folders in sync.