Houston, We Have a Problem (Matt's Blog) http://www.mattgates.com/blog/ en-US Copyright 2008 Wed, 30 Jan 2008 15:57:45 -0600 http://www.sixapart.com/movabletype/ http://www.rssboard.org/rss-specification Baby: Coming Soon! http://www.mattgates.com/blog/2008/01/baby-coming-soon.html http://www.mattgates.com/blog/2008/01/baby-coming-soon.html Wed, 30 Jan 2008 15:57:45 -0600 Christmas Photos!
 
I posted a few of the best pics from Christmas 2007 (check the thumbnails to the right).  Soon to follow will undoubtedly be baby pictures.  It's getting close!

]]> http://www.mattgates.com/blog/2008/01/christmas-photos.html http://www.mattgates.com/blog/2008/01/christmas-photos.html Thu, 03 Jan 2008 00:06:07 -0600 Merry Christmas! OK, slightly belated, but I haven't had time to sign on and write anything this week because my family was visiting for Christmas.  My parents drove down from Ohio and my sister flew in from Chicago.  This was the first Christmas Lauren and I have spent in Houston, and in fact it's the first time we haven't been home for Christmas since we got married.  So, it was very nice to have family in town -- made it feel a little more festive.  It was fun to spend a few days just hanging out, playing games, eating Christmas cookies and other yummy food, and just generally not doing much of anything terribly important or serious.  A fun time was had by all.

And, what Christmas wouldn't be complete without the arrival of Craig's annual holiday CD?  I admit I haven't listened to this year's rendition, "Get Behind Me, Santa!", yet, but might just have to do that soon...

Next thing to look forward to: Bowl Games!!  Should be some fun stuff coming up, leading up to the main event on the 7th.  GO BUCKS!!

 

]]> http://www.mattgates.com/blog/2007/12/merry-christmas.html http://www.mattgates.com/blog/2007/12/merry-christmas.html Sat, 29 Dec 2007 00:29:29 -0600 I am not silly! Ha ha ha hee hee ho ho ha ha ha! If you recognize the phrase above, chances are you were also a fan of the infamous Doctor Sbaitso, an old DOS game by Creative Labs.  The game is similar to ELIZA and emulates a "virtual shrink" that answers your questions aloud using text-to-speech synthesis.  The purpose of the game was really to showcase the digital sound capabilities of the Soundblaster 16, but with the right input you can get Dr. Sbaitso to say some really funny stuff.

Well, I found a copy of the good doctor online and thought I would post it here for anyone's enjoyment who's as nerdy as I am:

sbaitso.zip

I had some trouble getting the game to run correctly in a standard Windows command prompt, but using the DosBox emulator it worked fine:

http://www.dosbox.com

Enjoy! :)

 

]]> http://www.mattgates.com/blog/2007/12/i-am-not-silly-ha-ha-ha-hee-he.html http://www.mattgates.com/blog/2007/12/i-am-not-silly-ha-ha-ha-hee-he.html Tue, 18 Dec 2007 07:45:33 -0600 Yay, we don't suck The good guys prevail once again over Mr. Grumpy and That School From Up North.  OSU 14, Michigan 3.

A fun-to-watch and very old-school game, made even better by the fact that we won. :)  OSU/MU is a rivalry that never fails to disappoint.  Of course I had to text and call Lauren constantly throughout the game.  At least I had some neighbors to enjoy it with, rather than being stuck with the cats (Jalapeno being the 2nd Mr. Grumpy, it would have been perfect).

Once again, GO BUCKS!!

]]> http://www.mattgates.com/blog/2007/11/yay-we-dont-suck.html http://www.mattgates.com/blog/2007/11/yay-we-dont-suck.html Sat, 17 Nov 2007 20:30:37 -0600 Game Day! http://www.mattgates.com/blog/2007/11/game-day.html http://www.mattgates.com/blog/2007/11/game-day.html Sat, 17 Nov 2007 09:25:02 -0600 Cubicle, here I come! It's finally happened.  "Someday" arrived today.  HP has been threatening to close down the building I was in for the last year or so, and move my team from our lovely 10th floor windowed offices into 6'x6' cubicles.  After delaying the move date several times, November 16 was the one that finally stuck.  So today I packed up all my stuff and moved across the HP campus, to an old factory building that was gutted and rebuilt into a cube farm.  While the place is clean, quiet, and a lovely shade of beige, I do certainly miss the little things.. you know, the door that closes, the window that I don't have to stand up to see, and just the general sense of some semblance of privacy.

I would post some pics of my new home, but it's so exciting that I doubt you could handle it.  Beige, dare I say, is a pretty intense color.  Heh.  Seriously, it looks pretty much like any other little cubicle in a nice little row of cubicles and would probably put most people to sleep.  Let's just hope I don't fall asleep.

Anyway, I now have the weekend to watch the Michigan game, and ponder the fun I'll have on Monday in my sleek new 21st century office environment.  Luckily I only have one day of work next week before I take off to Ohio for Thanksgiving with Lauren and the family.  And of course if I still get bored I can always try to fax myself someplace more fun.

GO BUCKS!!!

]]> http://www.mattgates.com/blog/2007/11/cubicle-here-i-come.html http://www.mattgates.com/blog/2007/11/cubicle-here-i-come.html Work Fri, 16 Nov 2007 19:54:49 -0600 Baby shower For anyone who doesn't already know, Lauren and I are expecting!  Our first child, a boy, is due to arrive in February 2008.  We've been getting very excited and are having fun picking out baby things and trying to whip the nursery into shape.  Seems like stuff just keeps coming in.. our families and friends have been super generous with the gifts!  Thanks everyone!!

Lauren just started her third trimester and everything is going great.  She had a checkup this week and the baby still seems healthy, and is developing about 2 weeks ahead of schedule still.  Lauren is in Cincinnati at a baby shower this weekend.  I'll be joining her and the rest of our families for Thanksgiving next week.

 

]]> http://www.mattgates.com/blog/2007/11/baby-shower.html http://www.mattgates.com/blog/2007/11/baby-shower.html Baby Fri, 16 Nov 2007 00:45:18 -0600 New site http://www.mattgates.com/blog/2007/11/new-site.html http://www.mattgates.com/blog/2007/11/new-site.html General Fri, 16 Nov 2007 00:29:49 -0600