Robert Duda's Blog

MOTOROLA XOOM™

2011-02-28T13:56:00.000-06:00

I just bought the Xoom this weekend. Expensive? Maybe, but as most compare it to the iPad you are getting more for about the same money. It was $799, and then I got $200 off with a Verizon contract. Plans start for 1GB at like $10 a month. All that was awesome, I actually want 3G, plus I get a free 4G upgrade in the next few weeks when that is available, and I hate AT&T. Hardware wise you are getting a dual 1GHz processor, 1GB of RAM and 32GB of local storage. On the iPad the 32GB model with 3G is $729 with a single proc and 256MB of RAM. iPad2 is around the corner, so I have no idea how any of that might change.

I love the new Honeycomb Android OS. It feels professional. The built in apps/features work great. Being a previous Android Tablet user with my Galaxy Tab I already had an Android Market Place account. I soon as I signed into the Xoom with my Google account everything that was supported by Honeycomb was automatically downloaded to my device. Some apps were not compatible. All of the apps that made it work great. There have been a few I have found specifically designed for tablets.

Everything is faster and smoother. The transition between screens is seamless. The touchscreen is extremely responsive. A great plus is the widgets that allow you to scroll through the news (CNN App) and your books from the desktop are awesome. The task manager/recent apps menu is awesome. Right now, flash is not available but suppose to come soon. The browser is great, fully tabbed and sync with Chrome.

Email is a breeze. I set up a 3rd party provider email, Yahoo, Gmail and Exchange very easily. The Gmail app is actually a full blown Gmail client, like Outlook would be to Exchange. Very cool stuff.

Movies…I have run into an issue that I was able to resolve with another app. The movie player did not inherently play DivX AVI files. Well, having an iPhone I also have most of my videos as m4v files too. They play great. The video experience, minus the hiccup with DivX has been awesome. It has a mini HDMI that is supposed to play 1080 I haven’t tested. It can record 720p, which I have tested and it’s awesome. It has a front and rear camera, so far it has worked well with Google Talk and Fring. That’s all I have for now. Hit me up with any questions.

The Samsung Galaxy Tab

2010-12-11T13:44:00.002-06:00

First, this isn't going to be some iPad killer write up. As a matter of fact, I like the iPad. I have used one for a few weeks, but it didn't qualify for what I was looking for, at the time. Both the iPad and the Tab are comparable in price and they both have options the other doesn't. I will probably wait to get the iPad 2 when it comes out, but I have the Tab now and I will write about that, am I am sure I will keep it when I get the iPad 2.

First off, I got my Tab through Sprint. I have always hated AT&T and have been with Sprint for about 10 years with the exception of whatever carrier my job requires me to have. I got the $200 off adding it to my current account and they offer that $200 off for a new two year plan. I didn't like the fact that I had to get a separate data plan for it. I think they should have just added this to my current plan. I have been using the Tab for almost a month, religiously. I got it as Sprint released it so there were not very many accessories as I would have liked, such as a screen protector and case, but recently there have been many more accessories in circulation.

I like the design. It is a solid design, very sturdy and it fits nicely in one hand. This makes it easier for typing notes and the like. It features Android 2.2 (Froyo) which is pretty nice. This is my first experience with the Google OS and I like it. From what I have read Sumsung will also support upgrades to 2.3 and 3.0. It comes with a lot of standard apps including Google's navigation app, which I used to make a trip from San Antonio, TX to Dover, PA. It was a great app and had traffic updates integrated. It was quick to pick up a new route when I went off course to avoid traffic conditions.

The graphics are nice I have played DIVX, MP4, and WMV movies, all within the built in movie player. It handled the movies flawlessly with no lag, the audio is in full sync, and no skipping. I have a few games I have played on this as well. The accelerometer works great in the device and it is very responsive to motion. There is a small lag however when going from portrait to landscape mode, but it's not a hindrance at all.

The front and back cameras are nice, but am slightly disappointed that the front camera is only 1 megapixel; the rear camera is 3, not bad but I was expecting more. I have used the video conferencing in Qik, installed, and Fring. I can't figure out how to use the front camera for Fring, but in Qik it works well. I have Yahoo Messenger installed with the video add-on, but I have not used it yet.

The built in mail app works well and has push capability. I have Microsoft Exchange, Yahoo Mail, Gmail and Rackspace Mail all set up on it and I have not had problems. The contacts are great, you can add Facebook contacts and there are many sorting options, including separating contacts by where they were downloaded from and you can link contacts, so if you have someones work email and personal email on two different mail accounts it will consolidate them for easier operation when sending mail and to whom. There is also calendar integration with exchange and all of my other mail accounts and Facebook, which means I don't actually have to log into Facebook to remember a birthday. I do have a question on keeping contacts and the calendar in sync. I will see new entries, at times, but I am not sure how often these sync up; not as often as email is delivered. I would have liked to have seen a manual sync for contacts and calendars. I have seen new entries to my regular Exchange client take at least a full day.

Browsing the web I have ran into few difficulties. Flash is on by default and can cause a lag in web pages loading faster if they are running flash. I have heard of other crashing the web browser, but I haven't crashed the default browser yet. I have however crashed Opera Mini and Skyfire. So far I have been using the Dolphin Browser and have not had issues with it. It does play flash video really well but there are some lags in resizing the video once it is playing.

The biggest let down has been applications. There are many in the Android market, but development has been slow and there are not as many apps as I would have like to have seen written to make use of the larger screen, but these are becoming more frequent as the Tab has been on the market in the US for about a month or so now. This has been my take on the Tab. I hope it helps someone make an educated decision on if this is the tablet for them.

Livestrong Challenge - Austin 2010

2010-10-30T19:05:00.000-05:00

On October 24 I rode in the Livestrong Challenge in Austin. Lance Armstrong was there; unfortunately I did not have a chance to meet him. Anyway, I have been riding a few months now, but this was my first organized bike ride and it was amazing. The morning was cool; it was overcast so we didn't get blasted by the sun.

Ever since I first got clips on my bike I have had problems with them. So, not even making out of the parking lot someone cut in front of me. I couldn't get out of my clips fast enough and I fell. I skinned my knee up a bit but I think my ego took most of the damage. After we got started I was a great ride. The scenery was nice and I was biking with some friends from work, so there was also good company.

First hill was coming up. Usually at the course I ride I big gear everything. It's typically tougher and I guess I like that type of thing. Wow, did I underestimate the hill. I ended up walking the last 20 meters of it. Little did I forget that these are the same hills that Lance Armstrong rides to train for the Tour de France. Riding more, second hill and I figured I am a bit wiser for the wear. I can't shift to the small wheel. So I walked the last 20 meters or so of that hill.

I eventually got the bike to shift into the small wheel on a straight away knowing there was a bigger hill coming up, but I'm stuck in the small wheel and can't shift back up. Last big hill and I made it just fine. There was a power stop just at the last 5 miles of the ride and I was able to get my shifting issue resolved, so the rest of the ride was great.

Coming across the finish line my family was there to cheer and show me they were proud. I was excited to see them. I finished the ride feeling like I had accomplished something bigger than myself, and it really was. During the ride I thought of those I knew that had recently had battles with cancer and of the family members I had lost to cancer.

A good friend of mine from work recently fought and won a bout with cancer. My brother is a cancer survivor as well. Unfortunately I lost my favorite aunt, Aunt Millie to cancer when I was young. I then thought about the number 28; the 28 million people who are fighting cancer right now.

Not wanting to leave this on such a depressing remark; my son and daughter want to ride with me next year! I think I may even have my wife talked into riding with us!

Mid-year Healthcheck

2010-07-18T20:06:00.000-05:00

So far, it has been a great year.

It turns out, get diabetes was probably one of the best things that happened to me. It was a great catalyst to enact some great changes in my life.

In addition to everything I had started doing, most recently, I quit smoking, well cigarettes. I still have a couple cigars a week, but I was a two pack a day guy and I feel much better. I am 4 weeks in to being cigarette free.

I had mentioned this before but I am eating better and I am floating between 185 to 190 lbs, which means I have lost a solid 40 lbs since the change of my diet. I am still biking 2 to 3 times a week and my resting heart rate is about 55. I think a lot of the changes in my life has motivated my wife to enact positive changes in her life as well. After a lot of family discussions she finally quit the job that has been driving her nuts for the last two years and she she is by far the most mentally sound she has been since I have known her. She has been excising like crazy, like up to 3 times a day. In the last couple of weeks she has lost almost 20 lbs herself. I am so proud of her.

In other positive news, I have finished my associates degree. It's through the University of Phoenix and I will be completing my bachelors degree within the next year to a year in a half. I still don't know if I should finish up with a degree in business focusing on in IT or a degree in IT focusing on Networking. A lot of the core classes are the same so I do have a little time to think about it. The University of Phoenix is a bit more expensive, but with my already hectic life it is the best option, coming out of this I feel far more accomplished and I am looking forward to shooting for the stars, even thinking about staying in for my masters degree too.

Coming up is our family vacation, it has really been a long time since we have taken one. This time we are going on a cruise. It's a 5 night cruise on Carnival. We are spending 3 of the nights on the ship but it should be great, there are tons of things for the kids to do. The two day trips we have are a day in Progreso on the Yucatan Peninsula and a day in Cozumel. In Progreso I would like to take the kids out to see the Mayan ruins. In Cozumel I am thinking about swimming with dolphins. That has actually been a life long dream, and I think the kids would totally be into it.

That's it for now. I am off to go ride my bike!

The ripple effect

2010-05-14T22:30:00.002-05:00

I think I had more to talk about that I originally thought. I want to share my most recent great achievement. I won the Rackspace Straight Jacket Award. This is the highest award that anyone can win at Rackspace. I am very excited about it.

Moving on…

Since I found out about having diabetes I have made many lifestyle changes. Not those kinds.

So, first, I changed the diet. No more table sugars, at all. Not that terrible. I was already drinking Diet Coke, but I discovered the world of sugar free chocolate. That was a blessing and a curse all at the same time. It was good, but I discovered having a couple of servings would keep you in the toilet most of the night and your gut will tell you how stupid a decision that was.

I am now in the world of carb counters. That was pretty hard. I truly didn’t realize that how broad that was and how hard it would be to give that up. Especially at work, we are always bringing in cake, or donuts, or pizza. It is very difficult to keep to the diet. I do the exchange system. I get three exchanges for breakfast, lunch, and dinner; I get one exchange for snacks three times a day. For those who are not familiar with exchanges one carb exchange is 15 grams of carbohydrates. Really want to see how little it is check out the nutritional value box on a box of cereal. Then look how big the serving is for that. It’s pretty small.

I have never considered myself a big guy. On the doctor appointment I found out about this I weighed in at 230 lbs. I never looked over weight. But, just from the simple diet change I lost 30 lbs. in about a month or so. I started feeling better.

Lastly, I started biking. I really good friend of mine gave me a road bike. A rather expensive one and I started riding. I am doing on average 6 to 8 miles a day. I have a short term goal of riding to work within a month. It’s about a 20 mile trip. I have to ride back at the end of the day too. I also have one long term goal. I would like to ride in the MS150 in October. It’s a big order but I know I can do it. I’m excited. Since biking I lost another 10lbs. I have also started to see the definition in my abs starting to return. I haven’t seen that since my first couple of years in the Army. It’s funny how this one thing instigated this change and I am already seeing more good than what I started with.

Life Changing Event

2010-04-13T22:41:00.000-05:00

About a month ago I was told that I am pre-diabetic. This came after some blood work (12-hour fast) I had that had shown my glucose level was too high a few months in a row. It stuck me weird I guess you could say. I was a bit upset. I got a glucose meter at the request of my wife the nurse; I changed a couple of things about my diet and got over it. I didn't think it was that big of a deal, after all, I was just diagnosed with pre-diabetes.

This week the VA set up a diabetes class for me with some other diabetics, a diabetic specialist and a nutritionist. The diabetic specialist really sank in the severity of my situation. She had relayed to me that the term pre-diabetic was like telling someone they're almost pregnant. Either you are or you're not. She said that this term was just something that was used to identify that you are not taking medication to control it because it's not classified as Type I or Type II. I was told that it can be controlled through diet and exercise but eventually I will fall into a Type I or Type II class whether its a month from now or when I am 80.

I found out that I was using my glucose meter wrong. Well, not so much I was using it wrong as I was using it at the wrong times. I would use it after meals consistently. That was wrong. I was told I need to use it before meals and/or when I wake up in the morning to find out what my blood sugar is doing before I replenish the batteries. I learned a lot about how sugars react with the body, what exactly diabetes is and what my normal glucose readings should be. We spent a lot of time going over diet information and counting carbs. I am using a plan where I get 45 grams of carbs per meal (3 times a day) and 15 grams for snacks (3 times a day). I check the food label on everything I buy at the grocery store now.

This has definitely been a lifestyle changer for me. Tonight I went into a restaurant with my family and it literally took me 3 times longer than usual to pick out what I wanted to eat as I was doing the math to find out how many carbohydrates each item or combination of items had and what I could substitute for what to make it work. I can tell you the days of me eating a 32 ounce steak and the fattest potato the restaurant has, just because I could, are over. Right now, I am not sure how I feel about the whole thing. It still kind of feels like a dream.

I am very fortunate that this was caught early and I am still able to control this through diet and exercise. I'll just keep chugging a long day by day, living healthier and making wiser dietary choices. My heart goes out to those who do have to live with this and especially those who need to control it with medication. This is a new chapter in my life. I hope to give it a happy ending.

What I did for my Mom on Mothers Day

2009-05-31T02:07:00.001-05:00

I wanted to write this on Mother's Day for my Mom. About 3 or 4 months before my Mom passed away I got her, her first and only tattoo. She had gotten a Morning Glory (the flower) on her left shoulder. She was ecstatic with it. She said she had always wanted to get a tattoo and I was very happy to be a part of that for her. That was in 2001. After she passed away I always wanted to do something to memorialize her life. Just this last Mother's Day I got my Mom's signature tattooed on my right forearm. It looks great. It is something that was unique of my Mom that I was able to make a part of me. I actually had gotten a copy of her signature off of the waiver that she signed for my to join the Army at the age of 17. This signature means a lot to me on many levels.

My Wife

2009-04-11T20:36:00.003-05:00

I wanted to write about my wife for a minute. She is absolutely the most wonderful woman in the world. Never had I met another single person with the level of compassion that she has. Let me tell you a story...

My wife is a school nurse for a school in Judson ISD (independent school district) here in San Antonio. This is one of San Antonio's poorer school districts. Last year there was a girl that continuously came into her office with lice. Audrey sent her home a couple of times. The school's Christmas (holiday) party was this particular day and the girl came in with lice, again. Audrey ran out to the local pharmacy and bought a lice treatment kit. She made it back to the school and treated the girls hair so she could go to her classes party.

A spicier side of compassion:

On another occasion Audrey ran out to HEB, a Texas grocery store. When she was checking out she had over heard some of the employees, baggers, making fun of her bagger. It was obvious that the bagger was mentally challenged and this upset Audrey. She walked over to the baggers and asked why they were making fun of this other bagger. A few rude things were said to her. She responded with "do you know what's really funny? This guy is working his ass off doing the same job as you, who's really the retard?"

My wife is truly one of a kind. She always thinks of everyone before herself. I could not be more in love than anyone! She's the best!

Octomom - of course!

2009-02-25T21:13:00.000-06:00

It’s been awhile since I’ve written in this so wanted to catch up. There’s been a lot going on life lately. I had just recently gotten a surgery to remove an infection from a lower back so I have some time. Some subjects have been in the news lately about octomom. I think that she is absolutely despicable but this only highlights what others are doing as well. This whole incident has just brought to light single mothers of abusing welfare. It was just irresponsible of her and the doctors to allow her to have an additional eight children to the 6 she’s already had. To the best of my knowledge in Vitro fertilization is expensive enough as it is how could someone like this afford in Vitro fertilization but not be able to afford taking care of her children. As I said before this is just an example of most parents on welfare; why it is then most welfare parents feel that it is OK to continuously have children that they cannot afford. They know that they currently do not have money to afford their children what their children deserve and but so they continue to have more. Where is the logic in that? My wife and I would like more children but know that we could not afford more children at this time so we don’t have them nor would we expect anyone else to pay for them. I think that the fact that she is getting so much notoriety from this is appalling. Her existence is appalling. She lives with her parents in at three bedroom house and is forced her parents to declare bankruptcy, and that was before she had these last eight children. The governments of the states continue to let this happen. I think that if you are on welfare and then you should not be allowed to have any more children; I think that if you file for welfare that you need to dismiss all rights to having kids while you were getting government assistance. Now along to the doctors, it is absolutely irreprehensible to believe that the doctors who performed the in Vitro fertilization saw nothing wrong in this. Why would any doctor believe that they should allow one person to have eight children at one time even if they did not know the parents financial situation, especially if they knew that the person was a single parent. This is just absolutely appalling all together…and you the tax payer get to pay it off.

Me and todays economy.

2008-11-28T09:28:00.003-06:00

Back in the north east! I'm sitting at my wife's sisters and her husbands house in Pennsylvania. I love this area. The air is crisp and it's definitely cold. Thanksgiving is a wonderful time of the year for family to get together. Right now my wife and her sister are shopping for the black Friday sales.

Since my last post I've been going back to school while continuing to work at Rackspace. I think it will offer some challenges but I have been wanting to complete my degree for a long time. I am going to the University of Phoenix. The work isn't terribly hard, yet. I still have to take algebra and statistics. It's been a while since using a lot of these skills.

Also, since the last time I wrote in here my landlord has filed for bankruptcy and stopped paying on the house I am living in. Which is great, I've always been a fan of moving, and right around Christmas; that just makes the holidays merrier. Of course, that was sarcasm. This is just an example of what is wrong with our economy right now. I pay my landlord and obviously she isn't paying her house note with it, so my family has to suffer. I have always been patriotic, but this is getting absurd. I have a couple of credit cards, I pay my bills on those credit cards. The banks which these credit cards are through is getting a government bail out that I (and you) are paying for via taxes. They still want me to pay my credit card balances so I am actually paying them twice. Who's the big winner there? We are in terrible shape and something needs to give. Higher level executives are making terrible decisions, giving themselves raises while their company go to the toilet and no one gets in trouble, but the government is giving their company money to bail their companies out of the crap they dove into head first. Like the motor industry executives, they flew their private jets to their congressional hearing, they got a tongue lashing, but no one is getting in trouble. I do understand why the government should bail out these companies, because the employees and their benefits. No one is responsible but everyone bares the burden of saving the countries economy. What do we get in return, squat! We can be late on our payments, lose our houses and go to court for fraudulent credit spending and we'll get raped. The banking industry does it and they get rewarded, their execs keep their money and get more of our money because they're greed and suck at their jobs.

Ok, I'm done for now.

Great Customer Visits

2008-09-04T11:00:00.000-05:00

I'm sitting at a Bistro right now in San Jose, CA on a customer visit. I'm staying at the Sainte Clair Hotel in the downtown area. Being a Systems Engineer for Rackspace I find myself in awe of a lot of these places. This is the heart of Silicon Valley, pretty much the birth place of modern technology. Just a block or two up from the hotel is the Museum of Technology. Right near the site of my customer visit are large campus' and even the headquarters for companies like Adobe, HP, Yahoo and even a couple of our competitors. So, back to what I was writing about. The hotel is very beautiful, and reasonably priced for this area. San Jose is by far no metropolis but a decent sized city; as soon as dawn breaks you can watch the city start coming to life. The city crews are out with motorized street sweepers getting the city ready for the day. The weather is gorgeous and from my hotel room I can see the mountains. I love the mountains; especially the Rockies. As I sit here and the city becomes alive people are walking by to start their daily activities. With all of this going on the city still has a quiet electricity buzzing through the air, you can feel the energy coming from it and are a part of it. Despite the fact I have not yet been married a month I feel really good about being here. This is the beginning to a great day. I feel content, energized and at peace. That's the way all customer visits should start.

Married

2008-08-18T20:59:00.002-05:00

On August 9th I (we, if you include her) got married! I love it! We have been together over 5 years and I think it was about time. We have trudged a long hard road and have finally reached the next chapter in our lives.

The wedding was great.

Our church, Trinity United Methodist, was very beautifully decorated and the ceremony wasn't too long. It was perfect! We had our best friends and their family as our wedding party and pretty much all of our families were there. San Antonio Budget Bridal did our flowers and cake, they did a great job.

Then the reception.

It was awesome! We had gotten the catering and the reception hall at Anne Marie's. They did an awesome job, the food was incredible (prime rib and salmon) and my bride and I were very well taken care of, they made sure that my bride and I ate first and we always had a drink. The DJ was a little less than desirable. Our photographer was Chris Pichado and he did a great job; he was very professional and personable, a big hit with everyone; especially the kids. It helps that we work together and I liked him already, but he was really great, everyone at the wedding said so too.

The best part of the entire day was my bride. She was so very beautiful. She had a David Bridals dress that was white and apple red. He son Isaiah walked her down the isle. As we started sharing our vows I almost started crying.

Overall; it was a great day, I couldn't have asked for a better day. There was some stress with hair (hers) early on, but it was wonderful nonetheless. As soon as I get some pictures I will post them on my main site: Robert Duda (dot) Com.

I know it hasn't even been 10 days and I still feel wonderful being married to my one. I know we were made for each other and she is lucky enough to have me the rest of her life too, LOL.

Names for Tattoo's

2008-07-20T14:09:00.000-05:00

IT's been awhile since I have written in my blog.

My wedding is 3 weeks away. Wedding numbero tres. This is it for me. No more down the road. This one is very different. After my last two marriages I have learned about myself and what I can and cannot tolerate and what I truly want from my life mate. I pretty much said that before. That is supporting what I wanted to write about.

I have always been against getting a significant others name tattooed on one’s body. Just me, never been a fan, ever! Kids, parents, blood relatives I have never had issue with, they are a part of your life forever, but significant others can come and go. I am living proof of this; I have been married twice before!

But...
I got Audrey's name tattooed on me yesterday. WHY???

One, like I had said, this is it for me. Next, I know that Audrey is my one. I have absolutely no regrets. It looks great. The location I have it can be seen by all, but at the same time would not be seen while I do business.

Going back to why, I guess an easier question to answer is why I hadn't before.

I have never felt a feeling of completion until now. As much as I have ever wanted to tell myself I had, I hadn't. A lot of it I contribute to youth; having no understanding of what forever was, and believing that I could change someone, or that someone would be will to change for me.

Audrey knows everything about me and I her, for the most part; we've only been together 5 years, and we're both in our 30's; it's kind of hard to cram 30+ years into 5. She accepts me for me and I, her for her. There is absolutely nothing that either one of us cannot love, respect or accept.

We were meant to be and the only name I will ever have on my body is the name of my soul mate, Audrey!

Getting Married...

2008-06-19T20:29:00.002-05:00

...for the thrid time. I'm really looking forward to it. A lot can actually be said this being my 3rd time. Well, obviously, I'm good at getting married; expierienced is the word I believe. Seriously, at this point in my life I know what I want in the woman I want to spend the rest of my life with. She is absolutely perfect. First and foremost she loves my kids like her own. She's totally hot! She is into anything I want to try. (Keep your minds out of the gutter) She is truly my best friend! I literally can and do talk to her about anything. I feel free in my relationship with her. I've felt trapted before in previous relationships. I know I can honestly speak my mind at all times with her. She is the BEST! For the first time ever I can honestly say that I am in love!

Linked In

2008-05-10T20:11:00.001-05:00

I have just recently found 'Linked In'.

I think this is a great site. It is like 'My Space' for mature professionals.
I had a 'My Space' account and it sucked. My daughter loves it though, so 'My Space', not for me. I got more spam to that mail account that I do to Yahoo; I had two bands a day wanting to be my 'friend'. I made 'friends' with some people from high school but nothing ever came from it, we never went beyond them accepting my invitation. we didn't have anything in common anymore. I've moved since high school and have mature a lot in the last 15+ years.
The professional relationships I have made since high school are far more important to me than anything I had in high school. In my professional life I have moved several times as well. Through 'Linked In' I am able to keep in touch with a lot of people that I have worked with and grown to respect through the years. In being "linked in" I can find out what they have been up to since we last met and find other contacts and other people I had worked with with them. Not unlike 'My Space', but for those who are more mature.

First Post

2008-04-24T15:40:00.001-05:00

Hi,

I have been messing with blogging software and so far, just using blogger to host it is easier, I am not saying that I have given up, but I promised myself I would have something in the form of a blog by mid-year. So here it is :-)