Here’s a photo from a meeting i had with him a previous year…

1. No more worries about going over your limit. On a recent trip to Canada my phone malfunctioned and i could only communicate with texts or my data connection.  Each text was 50 cents and they added up fast.  It made me realize that staying within my contracted limts was very desirable.  Because the phone was under warranty i had the unexpected overages refunded (thank you AT&T!) but i learned the value of the “unlimited” terms.
2. Perk programs. I have used my phone to enter Coke points into my account.  I no longer end up with bottle caps or pieces of cardboard in my pocket waiting for me to get close to a computer.  As a bonus, the website that is used to enter points takes an awfully long time to use even with a fast internet connection (damn Flash programmers).  It also requires multiple clicks.  The downside of texting in codes is that it bounces back with a message telling you how many points you earned – with unlimited texts that’s fine.  But sometimes the reply comes back long after you sent it.
3. Contests. This year i used my phone to text in codes from the McDonald’s Monopoly contest.  I didn’t have to fill my wallet with the game pieces.  I input the codes and the return text told me if i collected a piece, won a prize, or just advanced on the board.
4. Twitter.  You can send a text to a number that will be forwarded to anyone that subscribes to your updates. Twitter is a way to micro-blog.  You write posts that are less than 140 characters.  Mine is set up to also update my Facebook status with my tweet.  So i can update friends while walking to my car, filling my water bottle, or any other time that can use another task to make me feel uber-busy.
5. Coupons.  Yes, coupons.  I signed up for coupons from the Seattle Ikea.  It was originally a contest entry but they sent promotions eventually. Do i want junkmail in my cell phone SMS inbox?  Not really.  As soon at the Viagra ads and Nigerian spams sneak through i’ll be pissed.  But tell me when i can get 20% off on a piece of furniture with the character Ä in it and i might be pleased.
6. Google stuff.  I don’t use it enough but this might be even faster than logging onto the web with a phone.  Check out Google’s SMS tools.  Easily check the weather, definitions, airport conditions and delays, calculator, translations and flight status.  Seriously, this might be the most underused text tool ever.
7. Track your finances.  If you use Mint you can keep on top of your balances by sending text messages.
8. Follow any RSS feeds using notify.me.  You can get a text message when new blog posts, comments or deals on your favorite website are posted.  I set up one to send me a text when someone posts a new comment on zieak.com.  And i also added the feed from my Facebook notifications.

In reaffirming the greatness of our nation, we understand that greatness is never a given. It must be earned. Our journey has never been one of short-cuts or settling for less. It has not been the path for the faint-hearted – for those who prefer leisure over work, or seek only the pleasures of riches and fame. Rather, it has been the risk-takers, the doers, the makers of things – some celebrated but more often men and women obscure in their labor, who have carried us up the long, rugged path towards prosperity and freedom.

I consider myself a Maker. I read Make: magazine and contribute to Instructables. I tinker, tear apart and build.  I suppose i also consider myself a doer and definitely at times have been a risk-taker.  I can’t say that i consider myself one that carries the nation up a rugged path toward freedom though.

I found it more valuable to put today’s speech in perspective by reading George W. Bush’s inaugural address from 2001.  Time will tell what kind of a leader has just started his term.

I’m just saying this – speechwriters don’t make the decisions for the president.

Take the race for State House District 7 in Fairbanks.  There is a 1 vote differnce.  They’re recounting.  If it ends up a tie then a coin toss will determine the winner.  Anyone that wanted Kelly’s challenger Kassel to win and didn’t hit the polls is realizing that they should have cared just a little more.  Those wishing that Kelly continue on feel the same if they didn’t leave the house on election day.

I’ll remember this story to tell my apathetic friends next time they mention that they don’t vote.

I’m following this race rather closely because Karl Kassel was the Parks and Recreation Director in Fairbanks for a number of years.  He also was raised near Rochester so we have a thing or two in common.

I’m not jealous of the troubles he has inherited.  A troubled economy, an unwinnable war, and citizens with high hopes.

I just picked up a new Diebold counter for the paper ballots that Alaska uses. The Pool is the only voting place in Petersburg. I wonder if we’ll be hearing a lot about Diebold in the next few weeks.

Nice to see my peers getting involved in the local politics!  Congrats to all of them!

She has so much in common with Optah, Angelina Jolie, and Jennifer Anniston now!

We’re all a little bit savvy about US politics.  We know there are two major parties and that everyone else seems to be called “Independent” by the media.  So as you go down the checklist you see Democrat, Republican, Libertarian… ah! Independent!  That’s me!  Take a look at the number of Alaskans registered in the parties in 2006…

• Democrats 66,218
• Libertarian 9,382
• Republicans 111,526
• Alaskan Independence 13,542
• Green 3,712
• Republican Moderate 5,168
• Veterans Party 1,478
• Independent 243,319

That’s right – more “Independent” voters in Alaska than all the other parties combined.  But “independent” in this tally is actually those that checked “nonpartisan” or “undeclared” on their form.  I am certain that many new voters accidentally register for the Alaskan Independence Party thinking they are saying they are an independent.  When they read their first election booklet then they get their first glimpse of the platform that the “independent” candidate has.

Happened to me.