http://virb.com/kraemer Geniant in Dallas and a Ruling Elder at Town North Presbyterian Church (PCA) in Richardson, Texas. Articles and posts on Information Architecture and Design are available at http://markup.thekraemers.com.]]> Virb 2.0 (@kraemer) en http://virb.com/kraemer/photos/1306776 ]]> Mon, 11 Jun 2007 21:36:43 -0700 http://virb.com/kraemer/photos/1306776 http://virb.com/kraemer/photos/1293395 ]]> Mon, 04 Jun 2007 08:46:30 -0700 http://virb.com/kraemer/photos/1293395 http://virb.com/kraemer/photos/1283190 ]]> Mon, 28 May 2007 22:45:34 -0700 http://virb.com/kraemer/photos/1283190 http://virb.com/kraemer/photos/1283173 ]]> Mon, 28 May 2007 22:35:00 -0700 http://virb.com/kraemer/photos/1283173 http://virb.com/kraemer/photos/1273970 ]]> Wed, 23 May 2007 00:07:11 -0700 http://virb.com/kraemer/photos/1273970 http://virb.com/kraemer/photos/1273969 ]]> Wed, 23 May 2007 00:07:09 -0700 http://virb.com/kraemer/photos/1273969 http://virb.com/kraemer/posts/text/76503 Ruff Weather Pet Door" (please pardon the pun; it wasn't my idea) for the dog we're adopting this weekend. I wasn't able to finish at the time, but I finally did tonight. Now medium-sized dogs and small robots may freely exit and enter my house. The job was particularly rewarding because 1) it was terrifying for me to cut a hole through the wall of my house to the outside and its nice to see the reward pay off considering the risk and 2) I was able to use my Dremel to shorten the supplied 8-inch screws and re-grove the slot in the head of the screw that I accidentally stripped when using the drill. It's always fun to find uses for the Dremel. Anyway, we're all looking forward to 6 year old Pepe the terrier/chihuahua mix joining the crazy Kraemer clan this weekend.]]> Wed, 06 Jun 2007 21:46:43 -0700 http://virb.com/kraemer/posts/text/76503 http://virb.com/kraemer/posts/text/63938 Northpark Apple Store, expecting to leave my MacBook Pro for service. Other than them giving me a new iPod just for fun, I couldn't have expected better results. My MacBook Pro had been acting up a little bit for the past several weeks. First of all, the "C" key was feeling mushy. I feared a spring or rubber foot underneath had worked loose. This happened on a Dell I owned before; they fixed it by replacing the entire keyboard. Besides the mushy key, my machine had been running extra hot and cutting off without warning when the battery life showed less than 30 minutes. I figured the battery was defective, even though it didn't match the description on the Apple page about the battery exchange. Before leaving for the store, I made a reservation at the Genius Bar online. Because it was a Tuesday, there weren't very busy. I then showed up, as instructed by the confirmation, 5 minutes before my appointment. At exactly 7:15 (my appointment time) a genius greeted me and quickly fixed both problems. He used a dental tool to pop the "C" key back into place properly, and replaced my defective battery with a brand-spanking new one. I was very relieved that I didn't have to leave my machine to have the entire keyboard replaced. UPDATE: A few days later my machine is running cooler, it shuts down gracefully when the battery runs dead (I've tried it twice since getting the new one), and of course, the "C" key is back to its springy-action self. I couldn't have been happier with my Genius Bar experience.]]> Sat, 02 Jun 2007 11:20:58 -0700 http://virb.com/kraemer/posts/text/63938 http://virb.com/kraemer/posts/text/60204 Wed, 30 May 2007 22:37:14 -0700 http://virb.com/kraemer/posts/text/60204 http://virb.com/kraemer/posts/text/49555 Tactics II which was actually a very generic scenario. As the name implies, the focus was on military tactics. The "red" army battled the "blue" army on a grid-based board of an island with varying terrain. It was much like a military academy pure tactics training excersise. There was no historical insight to be gained. But other titles I (and my friend) owned were much more detailed. Luftwaffe was the battle for air supremacy in World War II Europe. I was first introduced to the classic battle of strategy between Rommel and the British Eighth Army and "the Desert Rats" in Afrika Korps. Panzer Leader and Panzer Blitz were greats too, particularly suited for turn-based board games. I even used the basic concept of these games (a grid or hex-based map with "units" labeled with speed, potency, and other attributes) to create my own "bookcase game" for a 7th grade Texas History project. I designed "Red Flag: No Mercy, No Quarter" with the Battle of the Alamo as the scenario. The Texican's objective was to hold out 10 complete turns (days) until reinforcements would have shown up. The Mexican side objective was to penetrate the fortification and anhilate the Texicans. Sadly, Avalon Hill no longer exists as a company (the brand was bought by Wizzard games) and it's difficult to find sets complete with all original pieces. Boardgamegeek.com seems to have an extensive catalog of the old titles. It was fun looking through them and seeing the old familiar cases and boards. I still have Luftwaffe here at home with all the pieces intact. If you're ever up for a game, let me know!]]> Tue, 22 May 2007 23:57:27 -0700 http://virb.com/kraemer/posts/text/49555