Studio711.com – Ben Martens

Group Texting On Windows Phone

In Windows Phone 7.5, there was an option to receive group text messages and see all the other recipients. In Windows Phone 8, that was removed and it was incredibly confusing to receive a group text message. After getting the [collapse]original message you start receiving replies from people you’ve maybe never even talked to before.

That was all fixed in the latest update which I received on my HTC 8x last week. Go into Settings > Applications > Messaging and then enable Group Text all the way at the bottom. It seems crazy that it took so long for this feature to return, but I’m glad it’s back. The update also enabled the FM radio that has been lying dormant in the phone.

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benmartens September 3, 2013 Gadgets

Sleeping

I’ve hesitated to write this post because I know it will change, but for the past ~2 weeks, Elijah has been going to sleep amazingly easy. Or maybe we’re just getting better at learning his queues. When 7 or 7:30 rolls around, we go through a ~20 minute routine and the last step is actually putting him to bed. Lately that has only taken 2-3 minutes. We can lay him down even if he’s awake and just walk away. He falls asleep on his own!

There are so many opinions and books out there about how to teach your child to fall asleep on his own and go back to sleep when he wakes up at night. I picked one and read through it to make sure we weren’t starting with any bad habits. The book implied that up until 4 months old, it’s a crapshoot. At that point they start to have the biological capability to make it through a night without feeding but their circadian rhythm doesn’t develop until somewhere between 7 and 10 months. If that’s all true then I’m taking this as a complete bonus and expecting to return to the tough bedtimes and difficult returns to sleep after night feedings. But for now, it’s awesome!

On a typical night he goes to bed at 7:15 and then wakes up around 1 and 4 for feedings. We haven’t slept through a night since June 15, but we’re thankful for how much easier it has gotten in that time frame. Now we’re looking forward to his little tummy getting big enough to hold enough food to get him through the night. We probably have a ways to go yet.

benmartens September 2, 2013 Family

Paternity Leave

My employer has good benefits for women taking maternity leave which isn’t too surprising, but they also have benefits for guys. New dad’s can take up to 12 weeks off within the first 12 months from the birth or adoption! The first four weeks are paid and the rest of the weeks would be unpaid. I’m taking the four weeks off and today is my last day of work. I won’t have to go into work for the entire month of September! It’s a huge blessing and we’re looking forward to taking advantage of it. There are no major plans but we’ll be catching up on projects around the house, having a visit from my parents, and enjoying some small day trips. I’m sure that October 1 will come all too quickly.

benmartens August 30, 2013 Commentary

Save the River

On my latest drive through Stevens Pass, I saw a few signs for savetheriver.org. After checking it out, I learned that the Snohomish Public Utility District is attempting to put a dam in the Skykomish River. The dam will supply 30 megawatts (power for roughly 10,000 homes.) The dam itself seems like a neat idea. it can be inflated and deflated as desired to let debris, salmon and water flow past the dam. The dam would only be inflated in the winter when the flow is the highest.

Of course environmental protection groups do not like the idea of adding a dam to the river and they have a pretty good argument. The river is part of the state’s Scenic River System and much of the PUD’s power already comes from hydro dams.

That being said, this design seems like a pretty good compromise design. It provides power and helps decrease the use of fossil fuels for power without having a huge impact on the land. If this isn’t good enough, I wonder how the environmental groups propose that the PUD should move to more renewable energy sources? The comments I read were all just renewable energy in someone ELSE’S back yard.

benmartens August 29, 2013 Commentary

NE 160th St and 405

We live just off the intersection of 405 and 160th St. Recently, a bunch of flowers appeared on the bridge. I finally searched for what it was about and thought it was this story about a fatal hit and run accident on 405. Unfortunately it looks like it might have been this other story about a teen who jumped or fell off the bridge and was run over by multiple cars. Occam’s razor suggests that second story is a suicide since he was wearing all black and it’s pretty hard to fall over that railing. So whichever event those flowers are for, it’s a lot of sadness happening close to home!

benmartens August 27, 2013 Links

BOB Stroller Review

After months of research, Tyla settled on the BOB stroller for jogging. I wasn’t thrilled with the price (we traded in Tyla’s first car for less than the cost of the stroller!) but after checking it out, I was impressed with the build quality. Even the 20% off coupon at Babies R Us wasn’t enough to match the screaming deal on Amazon. We ended up with the slightly more expensive Stroller Strides version because it comes with a free week of Stroller Strides classes which she is already planning to do anyway.

Unboxing was very simple. I just had to pump up the tires and attach them to the stroller. One tricky bit was that we have a Graco Click Connect 35 car seat. BOB isn’t making a car seat adapter for these new Graco seats but they say the Chicco adapter will work. I picked up a used adapter from a friend at work and it works great. While Elijah isn’t quite old enough to go jogging with Tyla yet, the car seat adapter will be handy to use for more casual walks.

We’ve heard lots of people who love these strollers and keep them for a long time so hopefully we get our money’s worth! I’m already thinking about how I can modify it a bit to add some LED lights for visibility while she’s jogging.

benmartens August 26, 2013 Family

Birth Costs

How much does it cost to have a child at the hospital? We had some wild guesses going into this, but I think we’ve finally received all of the bills related to the birth. Now remember that Elijah’s birth was probably one of the more expensive ways possible, but still, this will at least give you a ballpark idea. All of the doctors and companies involved billed our insurance for $36,224.50. Our insurance said “Ehhh…. no… how about your charge us 52% of that and we’ll call it good?” And then, obviously we didn’t have to pay 19k since our insurance picked up a good chunk of the tab.

How much would you pay to have a healthy wife and child? It was definitely money well spent! We’re very thankful to have such incredible medical care available within walking distance of our home.

benmartens August 23, 2013 Commentary

Scorecasting Review

If you enjoy sports and statistics, there’s a book you need to read and it’s called Scorecasting. The tagline for the book is “The Hidden Influences Behind How Sports Are Played and Games Are Won” and that’s a pretty good description. I tell people it’s like Mythbusters for sports colloquialisms. Does defense really win championships? Does home field advantage exist and if so, what causes it? Are the Cubs really cursed? When should you punt? They go into very rigorous detail to answer each question. That rigor can create for a bit of slow reading in a couple spots, but overall, it’s a winner!

benmartens August 22, 2013 Books

Golden Steer Recommendations

A friend and I were recently talking to a third guy about the Golden Steer butcher in Bellevue. I’ve tried a lot of things from them and they are all delicious, but if you’re going there and feel overwhelmed, here are my favorite purchases in no particular order:

  • Bacon hamburgers
  • Bacon sausage
  • Pepperoni stick
  • Beef kabobs
  • Boneless rib eyes
  • Beef hot dogs
  • Any of their brats and sausages

I’m getting hungry just thinking about this. Luckily we have a rib eye marinating in the fridge right now!

benmartens August 21, 2013 Commentary