Put those idle CPU cycles to work, boy!

In case anyone wants a neat little program to eat up those spare CPU cycles, go to the Folding@Home Project homepage. This program runs in the background of your computer and takes up CPU cycles that would normally be wasted by the System Idle Process and put them to better use: namely, performing protein folding operations with the hope the data gathered will assist researchers with finding cures for sundry medical ailments (cancer and Alzheimer's Disease to name a couple).

If you are interested in finding out more about Folding@Home or installing the software, go the above link and click on the FAQ and Download links on the left sidebar. I'm a member of the Maximum PC Folding@Home Team, which is team #11108 (the software will give you an opportunity to choose a Username and, optionally, a team number upon execution or installation). Check out my current folding stats and ranking here.

Perspective

This quote is especially appropriate in light of the recent Memorial Day weekend. I know I'll probably catch flak from any liberals, Bush-haters, or anti-military readers, but I'm posting it anyway. Next time you feel the urge to heckle an elected official (or anyone with a non-leftist worldview), throw a pie in their face, curse at them on national TV, or burn our precious flag, keep this in mind:

"It is the soldier, not the reporter, who has given us freedom of the press. It is the soldier, not the poet, who has given us freedom of speech. It is the soldier, not the campus organizer, who has given us the freedom to demonstrate. It is the soldier, who salutes the flag, who serves beneath the flag, and whose coffin is draped by the flag, who allows the protester to burn the flag.”
-- Father Denis Edward O’Brien, USMC

Bleh

I'm not feeling particularly inspired, but I should post something as I am absolutely horrible about keeping my blog up to date.

For starters, my friends have gotten me to get on the MySpace bandwagon, as the link to the right will show. If you're lazy, you can just click here. I've also added a new webcomic link to User-Friendly, a webcomic geared toward humor of the open-source/Linux/tech support variety.

The wedding date creeps inexorably closer. Less than 6 weeks away, now. Emily is stressing out about it, as I'm sure most girls do with their respective impending weddings. As with other big occasions in my life, I don't think I'll become anxious until the evening before.

In Tim's Good News, I finally got an Internet connection at the house--yay for 3 Megabit/second ADSL. Emily and I also just bought a mattress for our master bedroom (I've been sleeping on my old full-sized bed in the other bedroom, if, for some unfathomable reason, you're curious). We purchased it at the Original Mattress Company in Pineville, NC. This particular store has one of their regional factories attached, and the salesman showed us how they make the mattresses. In short, I highly recommend them for any mattress needs you may have.

Unfortunately, the air conditioning unit in my car failed again. This time, it was a roughly $310 repair, with a damaged high-pressure line being the culprit. This, combined with the last failure (a bent condenser assembly), puts my A/C repair costs for my car at around $1,000. Otherwise, it's been a great car, but A/C is must-have with the muggy summers we get down here in the Carolinas.

One of the more surreal moments I've had recently was Emily and myself purchasing our wedding bands. It really brought into focus the gravity of what we're entering into with this covenant of marriage. I keep screwing up and failing to be the best husband-to-be for her, yet she is sticking with me. Let me say this: if you find a woman who loves you that much, hold onto her with all your strength; those good ones don't come around often.