I Love Pictureka
I've had the iPad for a minute and I can honestly say that Pictureka by EA is one fun family game. I'm not a big gamer when it comes to my mobile devices (that's what my psx is for) but after EA put a few titles on sale, I decided to spend a little.
Pictureka is a simple picture finding game but with a mix of great looney graphics, upbeat music and interactive game play it's a good investment for kids and grown ups alike.
Pictureka (Itunes Store)
11 Things to Accomplish in 2011
1. Read 12 books
2. Drink More Water
3. Run more often (3x per week)
4. Visit Europe, China or Africa
5. Talk to my Children and my Parents more often
6. Give back to the community (locally)
7. Participate in more "offline" social networking
8. Watch less T.V.
9. Create something new and useful
10. Dominate the 100 Pushups Challenge
11. Learn a new instrument, language or art
Things that I hit/missed in 2010
1. I did start flying lessons (win)
2. I read more (win)
3. I didn't create something new (fail)
4. I didn't go to Europe (fail)
5. I drank more water but I didn't hit my goal (win/fail)
6. Make someone else stronger (win)
7. Revisit Mexico or Aruba (win)
What are some of your goals for 2011?
Stop Whining!
In the past week, I have had several chats with close friends, family and peers.
As things in life seem to get a little tighter for the folks around me, it seems as though the main theme has been centered on "not giving up" vs "caving in".
In the past 12 months the economy has set a few people back. It has been devastating for some and eye opening for others. I am fortunate to have a lot of positive people in my circle from which I have drawn motivation. If you are not as fortunate, please look at this post as my way of paying it forward.
Having to cut back on a lot of things has forced me to put my mind into a place that it hasn't seen in many years. Although, I am fortunate to still have my health, family and sources of income, business has slowed down in a big way. Engines that once ran on their own have started to come to a stand still.
For most people this would seem like a negative but after a few great conversations, I have started to embrace the place that I'm in. I feel just as excited as the day I started my first entrepreneurial venture. I feel hungry. I feel eager to create something new, exciting and helpful. My mind is more focused than it's ever been.
The things that gave me my push years ago such as constant reading, networking, trying and failing and active listening have found their way way back into my life. Being an entrepreneur, hustler, go getter or what ever you want to call it has it's ups and downs. Sometimes it's takes a little rattle to take you out of your comfort zone.
If you are being rattled at home or at work or at school, embrace it. It's just a test. It's a reminder that we all should be 110% focused on innovation and getting to that next level all of the time.
Whining about the setback or the potential of being setback is just a distraction/excuse for not performing at your true potential. Yep, me included.
Let's get back to the grind or let's start a new one. Public Service Announcement = over 
Photo Source: Erik Johansson
My First UFC Fight
Last week I had the opportunity of attending my first UFC fight. I've been following UFC for close to a year and I jumped on the tickets as soon as I heard that UFC 88 Breakthrough would be in Atlanta.
For those that don't know, the UFC is a Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) association based out of Vegas and they are regarded as the largest in the world.
I personally jumped on the bandwagon to fill a void after boxing just started becoming boring to me. I would highly recommend catching a live fight if you have been following on PPV or SpikeTV.
That's me and UFC CEO Dana White above and a few more pics from that night below...
Me and Miguel Torres - current WEC Champion
Chuck Liddell - before getting laid out
Rashad Evans after laying out the Iceman
Certainly a night that I won't forget!
Mod Your Blackberry
Five years ago today, I was modding Nextel phones for a living. Knocking out i95's in 15 minutes and lining them up with l.e.d.s - until... I got burnt out!!
Today, I just did my first blackberry mod and I remembered why I decided to get out of the game. I just don't have time. Even though the berry turned out sweet, I can't see myself turning this into a business model. Instead, I'll point you to the video so you can learn how to break the warranty on your device yourself. Check out Blackberry Housings and get your precision screwdriver set ready.
Click here to see more Nextel throwbacks from five years ago!!
Any Great Father’s Day Ideas?
I have less than 1 week to appreciate my Dad!
Any "original" ideas on the table? These don't count!
What do you get the guy that already has it all?
Becoming A US Citizen Part VIII – The Interview
Today marks the eighth part in my Becoming A US Citizen Series. The whole process took 90 minutes. 15 minutes through security, 60 minutes of nothing but waiting and 15 minutes of interview time.
The questions mirrored everything on the N400 application. If you have an interview coming up, the best thing to do is try and not be nervous. The second thing to do is study your Citizenship Questions. As promised earlier on the twitter account, here is a list of the questions that were asked of me.
1. What is the supreme law of the land?
2. What is the legislative branch of government?
3. Name two senators from your state.
4. Who is the chief justice of the Supreme Court?
5. What is the main belief of the Declaration of Indepencence?
6. Who wrote the Star Spangled Banner?
7. What did the Emancipation Declaration do?
8. What year was the constitution written?
9. Where is the White House (it's funny how she hit me with the hard questions up front)
10. In what month is the President inaugurated?
Not as easy as it looks huh? Here are the Citizenship Quiz Answers.
Want to be a citizen? Click here for your Immigration Forms
Becoming A US Citizen Part VII
Moving right along... I finally got a letter with an appointment for my interview. I started on Jan 14th and I'm very surprised at the speed of the whole process. Keep your fingers crossed. The sooner I get my passport situated, the sooner I can post more travel pics!
My First Big Jump…
On my list of things to do before I leave the planet is see the Great Wall of China. Since my passport game is temporarily shut down, I decided to complete a task that was a little bit more local. So I took another trip to Vegas to see it from another view, three miles in the air.
Skydiving is just one of those things that you know you want to do or you know you will never do. If you need a 30 minute rush of adrenaline that will last for hours, jump out of an airplane.
Everything was cool, until I lost my first parachute... Thank God for a sturdy reserve. The best way to see the Hoover Dam and the Vegas Strip at the same time, is up in the air.
Catch it on video
Xambox Review: Is this the future?
There are only a few things that I can say that I truly hate in this world. One of them is paper. I'm all for a paperless home and office but honestly, it's hard. You still have to file paper somewhere. The French have introduced Xambox.
The Xambox is part scanner, part filing cabinet. It will scan your paper, turn it into a pdf text file and then file it by date. What's really hot is, you can search for text and the Xambox will tell you exactly were the original document is.
Check it out!
Thanks Jim.
Becoming A US Citizen Part VI
Fingerprints are now done. The next step is my interview.
Catch up on the timeline here.
Becoming A US Citizen Part V
Letter number two. Someone wants to take my fingerprints. Maybe that someone read my Obama post.
February 29th is the date, write it down.
After All These Years, Why Now?
If you have been following my Becoming A US Citizen posts, you are all aware of my naturalization quest. There is a back story to all of this of course. My entire family became citizens years ago and back then, I really didn't see a pressing need. Most of the US citizens that I knew didn't exercise their right to vote or utilize their other perks. I've never wanted to take a side of being a democrat or republican. Most of my views are pretty mixed. For the first time, I've been following a candidate that I believe can make a change. I'm officially and publicly supporting Barack.
I'm supporting him not because he is black or white, male or female, democrat or republican, but because I think that he is the best candidate to take on the current state of this country.
If you want to do more research on his stance on the economy, education, the environment, Iraq and civil rights, check out his homepage. He is very charismatic and sincerely motivational.
Now, all I have to do is get processed before election day!
Becoming A US Citizen Part IV
I'm still impressed with the initial speed of this process but now comes the stretch.
... and the letter states
"You will be notified of the date and place of your interview when you have been scheduled by the local USCIS office. You should expect to be notified with 450 days of this notice"
That's right folks; 450 days.
What are the chances of naturalizing before election day?
Becoming A US Citizen Part III
The government has cashed their check.
This is moving faster than expected.
Becoming A US Citizen Part II
Cas Thompson has requested that you receive a Track & Confirm update, as shown
below.
Track & Confirm e-mail update information provided by the U.S. Postal Service.
Label Number: 7007 2560 0000 4696 5090
Service Type: Certified
Shipment Activity Location Date & Time
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Delivered MESQUITE TX 75185 01/18/08 5:45am
Notice Left MESQUITE TX 75185 01/17/08 1:19pm
Arrival at Unit MESQUITE TX 75149 01/17/08 11:32am
Becoming A US Citizen Part I
That's the mugshot of the passport photo that I'm sending off today. Along with the photo, I'm sending off my N400 and $675 bucks.
I'm the only one in my family that hasn't naturalized and rumor has it that the citizenship process moves a lot faster during an election year.
It looks like I'll have to renew my Jamaican passport as well. It expires this month which puts all international travel at a stand still.
I'm heading to the post office to start Project "Citizenship" - long overdue.... Project "Passport" is next week
Left Over Turkey?
I'm sure that you have a little turkey left over from Thanksgiving. If you're already tired of turkey sandwiches and turkey salad, try turkey and couscous.
@casthompson
- ... Eight Things You Can Do with Your Underused Personal Domain Name http://t.co/F8LCgx8w 2 hours ago
- ... i wish that I was laying here, right now! http://t.co/GUlt3CrM 5 hours ago
- ... I've been staying productive @SkillaFashion how's biz and family? 11 hours ago
- ... def not a bad spot at all @nicholasstewart 13 hours ago
- ... the old spice marketing team stays winning @nicholasstewart @un_lished @atlboricua http://t.co/Enl6TSDr 22 hours ago
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