Uber-Geek - WiFi Shirt

Ok, I don't wear t-shirts... but if I did, I might be tempted to wear this one. Right up my alley!

Here at ThinkGeek we're pretty lazy when it comes to technology. We expect our gadgets to do all the busywork while we focus on the high level important tasks like reading blogs. That's why we hate to have to crack open our laptops just to see if there is any wi-fi internet access about... and keychain wi-fi detectors, we would have to actually remove them from our pockets to look at them. But now thanks to the ingenious ThinkGeek robot monkeys you can display the current wi-fi signal strength to yourself and everyone around you with this stylish Wi-Fi Detector Shirt. The glowing bars on the front of the shirt dynamically change as the surrounding wi-fi signal strength fluctuates. Finally you can get the attention you deserve as others bow to you as their reverential wi-fi god, while geeky chicks swoon at your presence. You can thank us later.

It will show the current WiFi Signal around the wearer - see ad above. I might have to get some of these to give away in my WiFi classes!

Yes - I am a geek... as if you didn't know that already.

Week in DC & Conference Weekend

This week was spent in Washington DC, well actually Sterling, VA - where I was teaching the first AM-105 class - it went very well, with 13 students attending. No plan ever stays the same after entering the 'fray' - but the course outline I worked up seemed to work pretty good this week, only about 1 hour off on Wednesday's class (inserted the first hour from Thursday morning) and the rest worked very well.

Home today to a BIG list of "To Do's" - that's what Saturdays turn into when I'm gone all week. But it does feel pretty good to do the 'check off' as I finish up items from the list.

Jill is working this weekend, but the Boys are coming with me to General Priesthood meeting tonight, then will be here tomorrow for Conference - then off to Grandma's for dinner tomorrow afternoon.

It sure feels good to be back in town and have an entire week NOT on the road, ok... we are driving down to Las Vegas this coming weekend to see McKinley, oh, and Karrissa/Joe as well as the BYU-UNLV football game.

One of these weeks I'll spend and entire week sleeping in my own bed...

Family Weekend - Yea!

This weekend started with Dinner at the Foundry Grill up at Sundance for Grandma Parsons birthday - G&G as well as Jill and I had an enjoyable meal.

We then went to attend Timpanogos' Homecoming Football game (they lost to PG 24-21 - a fairly close game) and got to watch Alysha do her Cheerleading thing. She is definitely good ad it!



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Then on Saturday after finishing the development work on my latest class - we got to go and watch Brent play in his first BYU game against cross-town UVSC (no contest at 20-4) in the new IPF (Indoor Practice Field) - there were actually quite a few people watching the game from the sidelines. The 'real' season starts in the spring, but they are holding three practices a week, plus weight training three times as week as well. The coach mentioned to me the change he has noticed in Brent's physique with all this working out.


Brent is ranked #5 on the defensive line - and currently is slated to play in 'man down' situations, but at the game Saturday got in more than a quarter's playing time and did a good job. I'm just thrilled that as a freshman he gets any playing time at all! Quite the proud papa I've become.


This was a great chance to try out my new birthday present, a Nikon D40 with an 18-200 VR Zoom lens. The lighting in the IPF wasn't great for capturing 'stop action' photographs... that and I'm still trying to learn how to use this new camera... but I did get a couple shots of Brent's first outing for BYU Lacrosse.

BYU's Lacrosse took 1st place in their Lacrosse League in 2007 - and made it to the cover of Inside Lacrosse Magazine!

Jill and I are looking forward to being the 'supportive parents' and traveling to watch Brent's Lacrosse games this year. First trip - Virginia and Maryland in two weeks!

Finished AM-105 Course Development!

Whew! - Finally, after about 6 weeks of on-again, off-again work I completed the new 5-day training course for AirMagnet that covers all of their latest products. This is a combination/upgrade of a couple of classes I've been teaching awhile - but it was a pretty intense week getting all the over 650 slides in the PowerPoint presentation, as well as a 42-page lab exercise manual all completed.

I'm now on my way to DC for the first teaching of this new class - With lots of 'stuff' - I'll have 4 black pelican cases full of classroom equipment plus a box of all the student binders - quite a load for my little rental car in DC.

FCC Radio Certified - Call Sign KE7OXL

Well - I've achieved a 'life-long' goal. Every since I was a little boy in Sacramento California, listening to my small crystal radio at night (When I was supposed to be sleeping) - I wanted to be FCC Certified to use HAM Radios. (but that 5 words per minute in Morse Code looked to be way to difficult for something I'd never really use) But this spring the FCC changed the rules to no longer require Morse Code - I now had a chance.

Last weekend I went to a 'cram course' on Saturday morning at the BYU Law School Library all morning, then finally took and passed the FCC Technician Class license exam! - Good thing I've been teaching RF in all these WLAN classes for a couple of years - that was a tough exam.

Here is my FCC Approval

I just received notification of my 'official' Call Sign - KE7OXL - I think this might be a nice hobby to get into. There are volunteer HAM operators that work with the Utah County Sheriff's department - perhaps I'll get involved there, or with the emergency preparedness folks in the Stake to provide emergency communications.

Now I have to learn how to use my radio transciever! They are no longer simple little walkie-talkies...

My goal of getting 50 professional certifications by the time I'm 50 is going strong. This one makes #49... just one more to go.

Now I need to get working on visiting 100 countries before I die...

It's your birthday... It's your birthday...

Well, I'm now 48 - what an Old Man. At least I'm not bald... yet...

I remember when I got baptized in Norway all those many years ago the Mission President said to me something about "being alive in the year 2000" - and I calculated I'd be like... 40... an Old Man - and here I am at 48 and still kicking!

I received MANY text, e-mail, voice mail, cards, and phone calls wishing me a Happy Birthday - thanks to you all for remembering.

After flying home from Minneapolis last night - Jill, Alysha and the Boys were all home waiting for me - with gifts and a nice Key Lime Pie! - Janet got me a BYU tie, and Jill showed her thoughtfulness and had picked out some books and a DVD collection - All of which I would have picked out for myself. I guess living with a guy for 25 years lets you know what he likes!

And the best gift of all came from my son Brent - lets just say I'll have many many years of continued laughter on my future Birthday's remembering his phone call to the Insurance Company...

One year older and wiser too...

Eight Habits or Facts - Tagged by Karrissa

I was tagged by my daughter Karrissa to write eight habits or facts about myself. (Ok, not tagged explicitly - but the implication was there)

Here they are:

1. I have to 'pat' the right side of the airplane door opening with two taps - on the way into each airplane (kind of saying to the plane, I know you are there and please take care of me) and then again on the way out to say "Thanks" - always with the right hand.
2. When I drink from a water fountain I have to count to Seven.
3. I like to sleep in the WAY DARK - and then if I wake up to go the bathroom in the night, I pride myself to make it to the bathroom without turning on the lights. (think how many hotel rooms I've been in...)
4. I can only do creative work in the morning - after lunchtime I can only do things - not any think.
5. I sing out loud when I'm driving somewhere alone. It's usually multiple renditions of the same tune, in different keys, with different voices. Each voice challenges others to sing it better.
6. I can't help myself from crying when things touch my heart - so I have a hard time telling anyone what I feel.
7. I really like to eat Pork and Beans (with the little pieces of pork fat removed) with Ruffles potato chips like little spoons.
8. I hate to talk to people on the plane - up in First Class the people understand this 'rule' and keep to themselves. It's a big reason I like to get upgraded to First Class - well, that and the flight attendants bringing you drinks and snacks and the wide seats where you don't have to the people next to you touch you.
9. I like the challenge of holding a conversation with someone more intelligent than myself.
10. Just about every day I think of a thought, or wish to capture a picture, or remember a joke to share with my Wife - but I usually forget.

Ok, so I came up with 10 - now the gauntlet is down...

Like Karrissa, I too don't know who to tag so if you read this, consider yourself tagged. It is fun to think of eight weird things about yourself and even more fun to read them about others!

Tomorrow's My Birthday -

Tomorrow is just another day of teaching. I'm in Minneapolis teaching one of our Wireless Hacking courses... oh, sorry, that is Wireless LAN Security Assessment Toolkit courses.

The town has lots of great architecture. Downtown as well as here on the East side of the Mississippi river. Some famous architects have done quite a job here. Though over the years the architecture has NOT stayed very consistent. Each generation continues to change.


I'm teaching in the Alumni Building - Wow - with over 6 miles of wood lined interior, walls sheathed with over 75,000 feet of beaten copper sheets, and a river and waterfall inside. But outside is a 'weird' look.

They have the Red Cross inside taking blood donations today - and it reminded me that I can't give blood any more and how the 'silly' Doctor wouldn't let me give any more platelets to Lynn while he was dying of leukemia because my blood had traces of Hepatitis... Sometimes I miss having a brother to share stuff with. Having my boys around has been a great substitute though.

Well, I'm back home tomorrow night!

Brent Parsons - BYU Lacrosse 2008 - #47

Brent has worked hard and made the BYU Lacrosse team. Here is his 'bio' from their web site. Way to go Brent! I am looking forward to watching the BYU Lacrosse team play this year.

Boston for a Week

Ok, ok, I know some of you would really like to spend a week in Boston. But for me it was just a week of 5-days of training for AirMagnet. A 3-day AM-103 class followed by a 2-day AM-202 class. I did take the 'T' around a couple of nights over to a Mall area in Cambridge to pick up a new watchband (twice when the band broke after the first evening) and a book to read.

I like cities where walking is expected. It's nice to walk around - each night I tried to get 4,000 - 5,000 additional steps on my 'constitutionals'.


The flight home had some spectacular clouds - nice to see God's handiwork at 36,000 ft.

MAR-Mesh Training in Dallas

This week I'm in Dallas Texas at Todd Lammle's Globalnet Training facility taking a class on how to install and implement Cisco's Mobile Access Router (MAR) and their Wireless LAN Controller based Mesh network (1500).

Todd asked me to come down to sit the class and help teach the RF sections - and learn to use this equipment. Either to teach this class in the future, or to work on the Mine's systems next time I'm down in Safford on a Site Survey. It's good to spend some time in a classroom and not be 'in charge' - but to be more of a resource and to learn new stuff.
We have LOTS of equipment in this class - each student 'pod' has over $25,000 of Cisco hardware and we build out an entire mobile system using MARs, Routers, Switches, Access Points, WLAN controllers, and lots and lots of cables. Just configuring all the devices and keeping the 'logical' diagram of what is connected physically to what straight is a bit difficult.

Yesterday I spent all afternoon configuring this big set of stuff... only to erase all the configurations and then start all over again this morning to build a working network again. (This morning only 2 hours to get my set of equipment all operational)

Tomorrow we add more MARs, more access points, and the mesh network into the mix... fun! (OK, I am a geek! - but it is way cool when the 'tunneled - encrypted - crossing over a mobile - roaming - network' actually works!)

Two Weeks on the Road...

Yep - another two weeks out teaching Wireless on the Road!

First week was at AirMagnet corporate headquarters - boring...

Then right after class on Friday afternoon, I drove directly to SFO (San Francisco Airport) for a delayed flight to LAX - then on another delayed flight (long 16 hours) to Sydney Australia.

Hotel Novotel - Rockford Darling Harbour Sydney

I took a taxi from the airport after clearing customs - to the Hotel Novotel in Darling Harbour - but my room wasn't ready, so I continue to read a book in the lobby until the room was ready a couple of hours later. So I was really ready for a 4-hour nap to help reset back to the local 'jet lag' situation.

Sydney CBD from Darling Harbour at Night

I woke up in the afternoon and went for a three hour walk around the city - Darling Harbour, Chinatown, Shopping District, and got a bite to eat. Walking back through the Darling Walk I stopped and worked my way through this series of photos of the earth... by this french photographer. Yes - they were 'tainted' with the stench of the Global Warming is going to kill us all... but they were actually very good photographs. I like them so much I bought a large book with many of them to take home to show the family.

Class this week was held at a local college - University of Technology Sydney - Haymarket campus. Just a couple of blocks from my hotel.

UTS Haymarket Campus

There was not Internet in the classroom, and the hotel charged $25/day for net connection - I wasn't about to pay for that! (well I did for my last night and morning so I could catch up before heading home) - so I Downloaded lots of things from iTunes (free TV shows and the like) so I'd have something to watch on my iPhone on the flight home.

My iPhone did work great here in Australia - about every night someone called my cell phone to wake me up at 2 or 3 am - it was great fun! But it was nice to be able to talk with Jill. I'd planned on using Skype, but at $25 per day... Even the texts from Alysha came through - but AT&T has a pretty expensive data plan for international connections.

Here are some photos from my week, including a 'round' toilet bowl!

It was 'weird' to have a toilet bowl going the other way

I'll be leaving to go to the airport in a couple of hours for a long flight back to SFO then on to SLC - it'll sure be nice to be home after being gone so long...

Chinese Gardens by my Hotel


A fun type water fountain in Darling Harbour

Home...well, for four days at least...

I had four days at home this week... let see, other than work each day I was involved in the following:

Wednesday evening we had a dinner at the Riverside Country Club for my Father's 70th Birthday - it was attended by his family, and we had a good dinner, with good family time. Dad received a nice binder with 85 things his family remembered him by that Janet put together. (Thanks Jan) and I got him a GPS to play with. (good for getting home when you have 'old-timers')

Thursday after work I took Brent up to Sandy to play Lacrosse with his 'Adult' league, then Jill and Karrissa joined us and we had dinner at Chilli's on the way home.

Payson Canyon Cliffs Above Maple Dell Camp

Friday afternoon I went with Troy Monney from our Ward's BSA committee and we cooked up a Steak, Fajitas, Baked Potato & Ice Cream for the scouts and their leaders final dinner after a week at the Maple Dell scout camp up Payson Canyon. It was a nice drive down - then I brought back the church-owned propane grills.

Saturday morning we held our annual Ward Breakfast at Northridge Park - we used the grills as well as lots of work Jill put into making the Breakfast happen. My cold was getting worse, so I stayed in and read the latest Harry Potter book all day.

It is by far the best of the series, it answers all your questions, and (without giving up anything) has a nice ending - of course you had to have a bit of a tear-jerker in there somewhere, but I really did enjoy this one the best. I'd previously watched Harry Potter 5 with Jill in Richmond, then read Harry Potter 6 on the plane back, then finished the series with Harry Potter 7 on Saturday.

I'm now in Sunnyvale for this week, teaching at AirMagnet corporate headquarters for the week, then right after class Friday night I head up to SFO to fly to LAX then on to Sydney, arriving Sunday morning.

I'll be teaching all of next week in Sydney at the Technical University some wireless courses. Two weeks on the road again... this is starting to get old... especially when you have a cold. I don't remember being sick for quite awhile. This is no fun being in a hotel and having a sore throat, running nose, stuffed head - hopefully it will get better soon.

Colonial Williamsburg & Capital One

Sunday morning we drove down from Richmond, VA to Colonial Williamsburg to spend the day visiting the old buildings and seeing how folks lived back in the 1700s in Virginia.

It was a very 'polished' visitor's center and sales area selling tickets for the various things available in the area. We were only spending one day - so we opted for the simplest plan. They have reconstructed, or renovated an entire city that existed on this sight back in 1760-1790.

We were able to meet and talk with folks who work full-time as 'historical characters' - those who actually do the same things, with the same tools, as they did 250 years ago. Gunsmiths that make ALL the parts of a flintlock rifle from raw materials (400 hours of work per gun), Tailors who do all the stitching by hand with original fabrics, basket weavers, taverns, smithing, silversmiths, cabinet makers, brick makers, apothecary, surgery, etc.

I really enjoyed hearing how they actually make things, how long it took, what they used for raw materials, and the local economy at the time. Very very interesting!

I then did some private consulting with Capital One - on setting up Wireless LAN policies and how to configure their Wireless Intrusion Protection System for two days. Jill got a break to rest and spent some time at the local Mall.

Our experience in Virginia was very eye-opening. Many of our pre-conceived ideas of what the area was like were totally overturned! They place 'reeks' of history - and yet feels so very Rural and not built up as much as I would have imagined. And the trees... there are trees EVERYWHERE.

Thomas Jefferson's Monticello

Since Jill is out with me this weekend, we thought to go down to Monticello on the way to Richmond to 'check out' Thomas Jefferson's Monticello. I've always wanted to visit - and this seemed like a great opportunity to do so!

I had heard of a special event this morning, the Director of Horticulture at the Monticello Foundation was giving a walking tour of the forests and trees of Monticello - so I signed us up! I knew Jill would enjoy it - and I've never been very good at understanding the differences between trees. This area of Virgina Piedmont is all forested! Way Forested! - We walked along a path around the Monticello area learning about the different types of trees. The forest we were in was an abandoned fruit orchard, and in just 60 years - the natural forest trees have totally taken over the site. Oaks, Poplars, Hemlock, Ash, Elm, and a wide variety of other trees. It was a great 2 1/2 hours of walking through the forest.

There was over 1,000 feet of 'kitchen vegetable gardens' along the side of the main house.

Then on to the actual house of Monticello - yes it is old - like 237 years old - but still in amazing shape. It was the 'cutting edge' in design and technology. check it out at https://www.monticello.org for more information.

I was expecting to be more impressed with Thomas Jefferson from this visit, but like I was sharing with Jill, I left more disappointed. The man who wrote the Declaration of Independence supposedly abhorred slavery, yet own over 600 in his lifetime. He was given over 5,000 acres of prime farmland, but with all his skills he died totally penniless, in debt for over $100,000 (and in 1826 that was a LOT of money) making his family sell everything and still not have nearly enough to pay off his debts.

He was a great man, yet lived like the pinnacle of society, the top of a large pyramid of humans to give him the ability to live his lifestyle - and didn't see why more people couldn't be like him. It is the ultimate in egocentricity...

I was very impressed with all that was accomplished and the many advancements - but can't ignore the costs to all those around him.

He was a prolific letter writer, in one year alone, over 1,200 letters - all written by hand and with copies made for each. He also kept meticulous records of every 'penny' he spent in his lifetime, yet ended in such horrendous debt. It boggles the mind!

We had an enjoyable time learning even more at the old visitor's center a couple of miles from Monticello, then drove on to Richmond for dinner and to catch "Harry Potter 5" - both Jill and I loved it!

Tomorrow is Williamsburg, VA - it should be quite fun.

Teaching in DC

Ok - just another week teaching Wireless classes - this time in Washington DC - well, actually just out by the Dulles (IAD) airport. I had a total of 30 hours at home (it was sublime and we got to go and watch Ratatouille with all the kids on Saturday - then home for a great meal (thanks Jill)


Well - the classes went well - I did get to go by the famous 'Wegman's Flagship' store, it is a fantastic supermarket - well very upscale supermarket. Jeff from my office has convinced Ryan that this is the 'only' store to buy food at... and we should have one in Utah!

I was able to go into Alexandria on Wednesday evening to have dinner at the 'Charthouse' right on the Potomac - with the guy who we rented space for the WLSAT class earlier in the week.


Friday after class - after packing up all four cases, I was able to get over to IAD to pick up Jill, and timed it so well she was only waiting under a minute when I pulled up!

We drove down through the back-country of Virginia down to Charlottesville, home of UVA - it was an eye-opening drive across beautiful rolling hills of the Appalachia Piedmont area of Central Virginia. Tomorrow... Thomas Jefferson's Monticello.

Home, Arizona, and New Zealand in 48 Hours...

Since we had a Ward Picnic by Timpanogos Temple on Wednesday night - it was very good by the way (check out pics at Karrissa's Blog) - I was unable to get down to an Open Pit Copper Mine outside of Safford Arizona on Wednesday night. So...

Early Thursday morning I drove up to the SLC airport ready to board a US Airways flight to Phoenix at 5:15am (that's getting up WAY EARLY if you ask me) - then the flight was cancelled an I had time in line to ready an entire book (Ranger's Apprentice III) - Then luckily was able to get on a Delta flight at 8:45 to PHX - rent a car, and drive three hours across the Arizona mountains to Safford.

After meeting up with the Phelps Dodge mine engineers and getting dressed in Steel-Toed Boots, Bright Orange Vest, Hard Hat, and Safety Glasses - drove out into the dessert to conduct an RF Site Survey of a new mine location. (this was a gig with Todd Lammle) - The temperature in the truck while doing the survey showed 124 degrees (51C) - now that is pretty hot!

Got back in the car and drove the 3 hours back into Phoenix to spend the night in an Airport Hotel ready for a 6:00am flight back to SLC.

Friday Morning - bright and early (yet still over 100 degrees in Phoenix) returned the rental car and flew back to SLC - picked up the Honda Element and drove to work for a couple of hours. Then home to pack for a week in NZ and then Jill was nice enough to drive me back to that wretched Airport for a United flight to LAX.

Arriving in LAX I was forced to transfer over to the International Terminal (a story in itself) and at the Air New Zealand counter found that United's computer glitch had deleted my flight record. After a couple of hours on the phone, fighting with the staff, etc... I was finally on a late night (1:00am) flight to Auckland... fast forward 13 hours later. (wasn't that easy... just say fast forward and it all disappears)

I took a taxi to the Bed & Breakfast on Ponsonby Road just outside the Central Business District of Auckland at a place called Amitees. I've stayed her before and it's a nice, albeit small, little place to stay. Though it is very close to walk from here to the venue where I'm teaching.

One night after class I decided to try out the Fish and Chips at "Aucklands Best" - you choose the actual fish fillets from an assortment on ice in the store window - then they battered and fried them up for you on the spot. I have to admit - it was very good! I chose an Orange Roughy - not something I would have thought would make good fish and chips - but it came highly recommended. They wrapped it up in the standard newspaper way. I was amazed on how delightful it was - hot, crispy, yet NO STAIN from any excess oil on the newspaper. Amazing.

Here's some of the new fruits I saw on the way to class yesterday. It's the middle of winter here - like Seattle winters - cold, rainy, and grey.

Well, a couple more days and I get to come home! - Yea!