How times change. I can remember a time in the not-so-distant past where AOL disks would show up in the mail on a daily basis. Flash forward less than a decade, and here we are with a bevy of internet service provider options. You name it, DSL…cable…satellite, mobile wireless, and even ol’ clunky, dial-up can be tracked down in 2010. The question is: where to start? How about right here at this link about internet providers. ISPcompared.com has a bunch of slick content on their site. Here is the one that jumped out at me. They have a tool with which you can gauge your internet speed. Here is the result of my test. Oh snaps! I’m closer to the T2 than to the T1, you Bresnan suckaz! Note: I don’t care for Bresnan much…between the spotty cable “reception” and the broken HDMI out on my DVR, I am not a proponent of Bresnan. The internet connection is screaming fast, however. Moreover, venting about Bresnan is good times Anyhow, the above link has some other good material. Using the Broadband Internet Service Lookup Tool, I managed to plug my info for Bozeman in and see my options. Unfortunately, looks like the Verizon deal might be worth a second look. Unfortunate, since Verizon’s customer service is actually worse than that of Bresnan. Tech support FTL. On a lighter note, check this out… It is completely Martian to me when I see or hear about somebody using dial-up. But…a ton of people do. God only knows why…with prices like those. Also, I assumed my parents were the only people left in the world not using webmail. That list made me laugh…I wonder if swantron@juno.platinum.com is taken? I couldn’t be that fortunate…I’d probably end up with robot_ninjaaa69@juno.platinum.com. Which is very awesome.

Guess who hasn’t been smoking? This guy.

Times are tough. Tougher than stale beef jerky…and believe you me, homie, that is some tough stuff. Last year saw nearly 4 million foreclosure filings. December 2009 showed a 15 percent increase in filings from December 2008…which itself was no ‘smooth sailing’ time in the ‘being able to pay the bills’ game. What’s a guy to do? What is the alternative to throwing in the towel? Write paid blog posts like this? Hardly. Introducing Home Loan Modification. Well, the government has made it easier to stay in your house. Say what you will about them, but they did something correctly here. The Making Home Affordable program, oddly refered to as HAMP, might be your answer. Meet some criteria (primary residence, under $729,750 mortgage, and at least a year old) and you are ready to roll. How do you do this? With the help of American Residential Law Group. That’s how. Getting an attorney is going to be key in this process. Said attorney will act as the negotiator between the lender agent and the holder of the loan. Speedier process, better results. Plus, an attorney can help you whip out the hardship letter, and advise you how to hit the 31% of gross mark that a healthy mortgage targets. Don’t foreclose…hit one of those links and save yourself some trouble.

Kate and I went to Billngs last weekend to grab the wedding dress. The Olive Garden was, in fact, breath-taking…after we were able to eat. As it happened, my sister, cousin Keri, Katie, and I attempted to drink all of the beers in Billings. As it also turns out, Billings has a large population. Billings also has a lot of beer to quench that collective thirst. For the loss. Anyhow, early-ish-ish in the night…we found out about these three elegant gentlemen: Uncle Jeff’s favourite urinals in the world. Mine too, now. We Swansons have great taste.

Hola Mundo! See that blue LED? Pretty hard to miss. That is essentially the Arduino version a ‘hello world’ program. In other words…I’m live, suckaz. For what it is worth, that is my Mini 9, on Linux, talking to that microprocessor…no easy task. No hard task either, because our nerd-ass community is awesome. So is the command prompt. Open source ninja. For the EE win.

watcha wanna do wanna be a ballah shot calla balla who be dipppin in tha benz wit tha spoila on an off with tha… Uncle Sam just channeled Diddy. It’s all about the Benjamins, baby…and the Benjamins are all about the security, baby. Hit the Treasury Department’s site and check them out. I’ll leave that url for the reader to dig up. The last thing I want is the damn govmint seeing this site on their damn backlinks. Freedom of damn speech, for the damn loss. FTDL. Meme fail.

I can speak with some gusto here. Gangster 101: LED Taillights. Break that down…Gangster, 3 digit number, (coincidentally, binary…for the math win) electrical engineering, and automotive. Step up! Better yet, Step Up 2, to the Streets! We’re getting all sorts of math gangster whip on this mamma jamma… Silverados are sick…Silverados with led tail lights are far sicker. Far, far sicker. I would know. As an owner of two GMC/Chevy vehicles, I know a thing of two about ill rides. My SS…ill as a polio victim. My Yukon…ill as a malaria victim. Poor analogies, but required to get my point across. It seems like only yesterday that I bought the Silverado SS. Twenty inch rims, before twenty inch rims were cool. Well, maybe not before they were cool, but most definately before twenties were common. Oh…the good ol’ days. On a side note, also the days of car loans. Don’t miss those days at all. In a round about way, let me say that I started rocking the second gangster whip after rolling around in a whip with some gangster potential. Some gangter potential, to say the very least. The Yukon became very, very gangster after buying new rims and tires on craigslist, for less cost than tires themselves. Gangser, a la ballin on a mamma jammin budget! Once I magaged to get the rim situation squared away, lights were the next to go. Why go bulb, incandescent stee-lo? Nope. LED is the way to go. Light emitting diode. Like the Arduino. For what it is worth, LEDs are the only thing I have mastered on the Arduino…save that thought for a different post, however. LEDs suck far less juice, look far better, and last far longer. Pretty much a win win win situation. That would be FTWWW, if anyone is keeping count.

I am an amateur plumber. Amateur plumber EXTRAORDINAIRE. Not really though…my last experience with plumbing involved thirty feet of plumber’s snake and a horribly corroded, angled, 60 year-old, cast-iron pipe to the plumb-out. Not that I’m venting, or anything. Regardless, I’ll turn that lemon into some lemonade. To the max. I have a great deal of respect for some awesome (and functional) kitchen set-ups. When putting together a dynomite kitchen setup, step one is to figure out how to incorporate some stainless steel sinks. Note the plurality…there is no such thing as a ’too many sink’ situation. Peep this… I’m jealous. No kidding. That good looking fella pictured above is a Mr Direct sink. We have a remodel looming on the horizon, obviously. I’d gladly shell out some loot for a sink of that caliber…and by caliber, I both mean the high quality of the sink, and of the width of the steel, or the ‘caliber’ of the metal. Sinks FTW, Austin Powers quote in 2010 FTL. You win some; you lose some.

Q: Guess who is pretty dang pumped that he or she didn’t drop some loot on a Drod Eros last week? A: This guy. This guy right here. This guy, married to Verizon. This guy, handcuffed to Verizon Wireless, and thus, pumped to see a sick-as-shit Android phone drop. This non-Motorola-liking guy, right here. HTC Incedible, in the house. Upon initial reviews, this sucker is making the other Android suckaz look like clunky piecez of shit. Things that make you go…hmm. One month. Stay posted.

With my wedding day quickly approaching, so are my days of coming up with anniversary gifts…like it or not. While other days are more self-explanatory, (Valentine’s Day flowers, St. Patrick’s Day Guinness Stout, et. al.) I am at a loss when it comes to the whole anniversary thing. I’m fairly certain that wood, coal, paper, and whatever else is mandated by wive’s tale is not going to cut it in the ol’ Swantron household…what am I to do? Got it…watches. It works both ways! Check out this bad-boy… Pretty sure Katie would love to see me in a Citizen Eco Drive like that. Classy. The nerd slash 3rd grader in me would totally go for something more this flavor… Tons of buttons…I like it. Plus, it has a “comp” button. Whatever that does, I approve. So maybe, I should refine this whole thing by saying a watch would be great for me. More diamonds for my bride-to-be. Either way, I want that Casio.