Saturday post of miscellany: Call your Mom, and Jeremy Lin is kind of a big deal

via sports.yahoo.com

This past week I called my Mom.
I'm probably not alone in feeling like I don't do it enough.
So consider this a tip. Not an overly complicated one, just one that will likely do many of us some good, personally &/or professionally. Call Your Mom.
I hope to do it again this weekend.
If you are exceptionally keen, or have that much time on your hands, you can comment about how it goes, talking to Mom.

And no, my Mom isn't Jeremy Lin.
She knows who he is, and although she's proud of him, it hurt a bit when his 7th win in a row as a starter came as a buzzer-beating 3-pointer against her homies, the Raptors.
Just wanted to give the guy some Blog props for his second straight Sports Illustrated cover. Y'know, because if I don't blog about him, no one'll know who he is...

Excuse Me, You Have Something On Your Forehead : The Picture Show : NPR

via npr.org

Wasn't sure if a Slideshow would translate onto my Posterous and even now not sure what the output would be. But this seemed a timely way to try: a 15-year project by photographer Greg Miller of the ashes drawn on foreheads for Ash Wednesday (yesterday). Inneresting props (a 15-year project!) from a non-Catholic who respects the tradition.

For Lent, we're giving up...

via coldplay.fanfire.com

Today is Ash Wednesday, the beginning of Lent, a Christian tradition of 40 days of giving something up.

A few years ago I spoke with a Catholic friend about Lent. I asked her what she was giving up. Her answer: "I'm not telling you."
That stuck with me. So I too am not telling you, at least not as a web broadcast.
Not sure how much a stickler I'll be to this. I'm such a pushover when people ask me about stuff. So if you ask me in person I'll probably tell you.

The overall principle to me is that our practice, any practice, and especially a religious one that is fraught with purpose and meaning... if it's worth doing (in this case, refraining from doing) there should be some visible fruit. So I hope there's some fruit, as far as strength of character or peace or something, that's visible in the thing Dana & I have agreed to practice for Lent this year.

This Coldplay reference is because Vancouver radio station Cfox.com hosted a poll for what people are giving up for Lent. The runaway leader so far: Coldplay.
The morning team was joking that Coldplay is the Nickelback of the UK.
Please discuss.

Happy Pancake Day! Only one show in town?...

http://www.google.ca/url?sa=t&source=web&cd=2&ved=0CCYQFjAB&url=http%3A%2F%2F... is the big clunky link to the only retailer in town, at least that I've found, who's doing anything for Pancake Day. Even then, it wasn't readily apparent on dedutch.com and I heard about it first by chance on a radio open phones segment.

Pancake Day, aka Pancake Tuesday, Fat Tuesday, Mardi Gras and Shrove Tuesday, is a Christian church tradition to clear the pantry of food the day before Ash Wednesday, the first of 40 days of fasting or giving something up that you find tempting, binding or distracting. Pancakes were often what was made to clear up stock of stuff that'd otherwise go bad. In short, though, to me it's totally the annual religiously justified excuse to pig out and party.

So it surprises me that there isn't more going on out there as far as deals and such. Unless I didn't see them. Till I see any better I plan to take my family to enjoy a crazy Dutch pancake or three.

Anyone seeing anything interesting out there for Fat Tues? Please comment!

Monday geekery: Best free anti-virus/anti-malware program for Windows [3rd Edition] | Freeware Reviews | dotTech

via dottech.org

Ask a simple question, get a freaky big chart...
Now that I've crossed over to the dark side and am computing on a PC (or WAS I on the dark side?...) I asked my brother Hin, a network admin in Toronto, about anti-virus software. He sent me this handy-dandy article with charts and numbers to gloss over.

There's an anchored link to Final Verdict and I totally skipped to that.
Wouldn't you?

Anyway, thought this post might help anyone who's faced with this (computer) life-threatening dilemma that's solve-able in a freebie way.

Incidentally, my brother went with Avira and AVG.
I've installed Avira and nothing else. So far no whammies.
Great that they all start with "av" so those of us who remember things by first letters can be that much more confused.