Singing in the Rain, with a Stormtrooper

Singing in the Rain, with a Stormtrooper: 

Makes me reconsider joining the 501st.

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Contents of My Camera Gear Bag...

Just a little insight on what I pack for the random photos I take.

• Maxpedition Remora Gearslinger
• One of the following cameras:
  
  
  
  •  Sony DSC HX-5 (rapid shots, panoramas, simple point and shoot photos)
  •  Sony DSC H50 (my High Zoom, infared capable point and shoot) Sony stopped making infrared capable P&S cameras btw B.(
  •  Sony α NEX-5 (for my leisure and as a go between for a P&S and DSLR when I need the power of a DSLR with the portability of a P&S) 
  • Nikon D80 (to satisfy my DSLR needs)
• Sony GPS Image Tracker GPS-CS3KA (automaticlly logs location of my photos as well as getting the right time zone even when my camera(s) times are not in local time)
• Various Gorillapod tripods.
• htc EVO 4G/ SE Xperia X10a for mobile instant upload photos
• Otterbox cases for ipod classic and for general usage.
• respective batteries
• nPowerPeg for my batteries (Replaced my Power Monkey eXplorer Solar Charger)

Yearns for:

• any of the draganfly UAVs if and when I can afford one. Base models from Draganfly I think start from $8k and up depending on model. Wish there was a consumer level one...
• a Sony α DSLR

Advice for soon to be veterans or Vets continuing higher education.

If your on your way out of the military to continue school, have some fail-safes in place.

1. Have a rainy day fund in place if your not going to work part time.  Reason being that the VA takes roughly 2 months after you enroll in classes to start payment. A Student loan should be a last resort.
2. Fresh out the military we don't qualify for FAFSA (If you start school in the same tax year, should apply anyway). 
3. Some schools partake in the Yellow Ribbon Program, funding may be limited to quantity or a cap on funding¹.
4. Army Reserves offer a $4000 Tuition Assistance provide that you have a good GPA².
5. Scholarship(s) there are many veteran friendly groups out there, especially for those who have been deployed. Try Military.com for sources.
6. Take advantage of DANTES and CLEP exams, they save you a lot of time and money if you know your stuff.
7. Weigh your options closely some colleges/universities accept MOS and militray professional development training for college credit, such as DeVry and University of Phoenix and some not as much like Cal State University San Jose or City College San Francisco...

In my opinion, the system is broken so don't apply for that $3,000 emergency check if its still available³. Convert your Montgomery GI Bill to the Post 9/11 GI bill if you still have time left or haven't used the bill yet.
VA is like any other government run agency slow and imbecile. If your are deployed currently or still Active Duty, and are lucky enough to get classes done, DO IT NOW, its free and might as well chisel away classes as early and quickly as possible.

I miss Active Duty, but not its shenanigans and the idiosyncrasy that come with it.
As a friend I did a tour recruiting preached to me, "Don't let college/(and/or the military) get in the way of your education", most cases its mainly you and sometimes them⁴.
Footnotes:
¹ Depends on school and agreement with the VA, DeVry has $10,000 per fiscal year per student so it seems, whereas Academy of Art University is $4,000 per year.
² You may not be eligable if you are enrolled in Chapter 33 (Post 9/11 GI Bill)
³ The $3,000 emergency check is not offered anymore, regardless the VA is slow to process anything and very quick to ask for it back.
⁴ I am in no way responsible for how you chose to live or are living, the decision and actions all depend on you and yourself.

Helpful links (maybe?):
Reserve Tuition Assistance found on Military.com
GoArmyed.com
WEBS for Army Reservists

From Yesterday's Offthegrid

See the full gallery on posterous

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Albeit AT&T's standards, the Xperia is a good platform

I just got off the phone with Sony Ericsson Customer Service. It seems as though due to AT&T's Android standards, the home screen is limited to 3 instead of the usual 5 or 7. Also Creatouch is missing (Custom wallpaper app). I'm surprised that AT&T still won't let go of its Navigator software which asks for a monthly free when google Navigation and waze are free apps... Aside from the grafted crapware, the phone is great for being what 1.6 or donut has to offer. Still I am eager for the update to 2.1 or 2.2, truely making this phone a better world travel phone. I think I have more headaches with AT&T's limitations than with the iPhone or Android. I must say that the Motorola Backflip, although great idea was a bad choice for AT&T's 1st Android phone and being that its also an entry level phone, I feel that it was rushed and still has a lot of bugs (I had it for 2 days during GDC about the same time the backflip came out).

I digress, I miss my old unlimited data plan, I'm still tinkering with the Xperia at the moment, more later when I find the time.

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Sony Ericsson Xperia X10 on AT&T

Liking the Xperia X10 aside from AT&T's Android Market limitations.

 

 

I'm missing the following applications:

ESPN

UrbanSpoon

Open Spot

Dialer One

Locale Location

reTweet

Square

Real Signal

Vlingo

Local Eats

 

Must be another way to load these apps on my phone aside from the Sideload Wonder Machine.

 

EDIT:
I think I found the problem, most of the apps need OS 2.0 or higher.

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Ft Mason Docks Fog and the Golden Gate

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146 Is so much better.

via twidroid

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