I’m frequently asked about new computers from our friends and family, and I’ve blogged about buying a new computer in the past, but this post is about the common things that you should download and install once you have that new computer, right after you do all of the Windows Updates and un-install all of the “trial” software that came with your computer. As with anything, you can take this advice or leave it, I’m really curious to know what sort of things you think I need to add to this this. Feel free to add anything that I’ve missed in the comments!

Microsoft Security Essentials. I won’t go through the discussion about whether or not Mac get viruses, they do; I will however say that you should have anti-virus software installed on your computer. This one is free, built by Microsoft, and works really well. This is the first thing I install on a new computer. (note: You’ll probably need to uninstall whatever “free 90 day trial” antivirus that your new computer came with probably Norton or McAfee)

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I’m in the market for a new computer… which one should I get?

Like a lot of people in the computer industry I get asked this question *a lot*. Friends, family, third cousins once removed all seem to hunt me down when they are in the market for a new computer. I don’t mind, but I’ve gotten used to giving the same answer. I’m posting my answer here as a reference to myself, them, and anyone else this might help…

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One of the great things about speaking for INETA is traveling to places that I’ve never been before. July is going to be a little different for me. I was born in Southern California and grew up just an hour north of San Diego in a town called Temecula. (Except for 3 years when I lived in Okinawa)

We moved from Murrieta to Tulsa in 2001 and I haven’t been back to California since then. It’s hard to believe that it’s already been 7 years! Aside from the people and family that are in California there are only 3 things that I really miss. So I’m really looking forward to meeting up with my Dad and having a good lunch while I’m there.

If you are going to be in the San Diego area in July… make sure to stop by the .NET User Group and say hi! We might even go grab a bite to eat afterwards… if I used to know you in Southern California… send me an email: blogger[at]calebjenkins[dot]com.

The topic is still TBD, but it will probably be one of these:

• ASP.NET AJAX with Visual Studio 2008
• Silverlight with Visual Studio 2008 + Expression Blend
• Developer Designer Zen (bringing two world’s together)
• Better Application Design with practical loose coupling

What would you want the topic to be?

We don’t watch a lot of TV at our house, but last night we just happened across “America’s Got Talent” I’ve never seen this show before. Most of the “acts” were just so-so, but I gotta say, this girl stole the show.

Maybe it’s because our Kaitlyn is also four, but I can definitely say that this girl is the *second* cutest 4 year old in the world. 

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One of the things that I do from time to time, is to look at my blog server logs, I noticed more in-bound google links for searches for Caleb, not Caleb Jenkins. Wow... According to Google, if you are looking for Caleb, out of all of the Caleb's on the planet, I might be the 7th likely choice - right after WikiPedia. Cool! Too bad for Live - they don't know who I am, unless you are looking for my full name.

Oddly enough, searches for Google Images on me, doesn't have any of my pictures.

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I feel like a real Texan now; I own a pair of (real) boots. Last week I won a pair of Twisted X Brand boots. This is the first pair of boots that I have ever owned (I don't count Dr. Martens) and they are very comfortable. I think that I've worn them every day since I got them. When we went to pick them up Rachel found that she like too... then we headed down to Fort Worth's Stockyard area.

The Stockyards are a very cool part of Fort Worth; it's a very old west style part of town (they run steers through the town twice a day). It just so happened that there was a rodeo going on that night. Neither of us had ever been to a rodeo before. This was a lot of fun, and the kids had a blast. We'll definitely go back again. Yee-Ha!

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This week has been crazy. I'm getting ready for my new job and trying to wrap things up for my old job. Saturday I was up working until 4:30 am. I told Rachel to wake me up in the morning for church. We have the best church in the whole world, I love it. When I woke up to an empty house at 10:05 am, I realized that she let me sleep instead waking me. Although she claims that she did try to wake me up... in her words, “Have you ever tried to wake you up? It's not easy!”.

OK, so I'm not the easiest person to wake up when I'm tired. It's true that when I was a kid and my parents needed to wake me up they once resorted to putting an ice cube in my hand. The ice cube melted, and I slept on... my son is the same way today, once he's asleep, he's posable... but I digress.

So, on the way to church, my son, who is brilliant and smarter than I ever was, asks him mother, “Where is daddy? Isn't he going to church?”. My wife, who is excellent at everything responded, “Daddy was up late last night working while we were sleeping, then when we were all waking up daddy was going to sleep.” - you can see where this is going. - My 5 year old son pondered this for a second then responded, “oh - Daddy is nocturnal”. (What is the record multisyllabic word used correctly by a 5 year old?)

Ah yes, wisdom of the wise. I am nocturnal (according to my 5 year old son)... although I have a standing rule for my self that I must at least go out side and look at the sun at least once a day (The details of why this rule even exists is way beyond the scope of this post, let's just say that this rule was put in to effect during my college days.... I have abided by it *mostly* ever since)

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So, there’s this ground breaking article on msn right now that concludes that having a common faith between married people can help the marriage, and that if your faith’s are different that can hurt it… Duh!

This weekend on labor day we were at Mazzios Pizza, my son Noah, who is brilliant and smarter than I ever was, was trying to describe something. He said that it was “exactly similar”. I don’t remember what he was describing, but I thought that it was a great phrase. Had to mention it!

One of those Canadians that I met at Tech Ed, was making a great point about the “gay marriage” issue. This isn’t a “gay marriage” issue, it’s a MARRIAGE issue. We all need to work on getting the marriage thing right, and includes, including God in our Marriages (and lives).
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