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The official campaign site design and content are coming soon.  We are working double-time to make sure that it’s up as soon as possible, since we realize that people are already coming to the site looking for info on the platform, how to volunteer, and donating.

Thanks for your patience,

Tim, and the rest of us at Timhampton.com.

A co-worker sent the link for this farcical article earlier and I just read it.  I love it, and think others should see what babies have been doing to us all along.

Cracked.com: Six Shockingly Evil Things Babies Are Capable Of

FYI: My wife and I are expecting our first child ourselves.  The due date is sometime in mid-August (the 17th or 18th).  God help us.

Normally I’m not one for campaigns to end the “blank”-word, whatever that may be in the moment.  This one’s different to me though.  I have an uncle who is mentally-challenged and while I haven’t seen him since I was a little kid, I find that when people use the word “retard” in a derogatory sense (especially when talking about mentally-challenged people) makes me bristle.  Me and my wife were actually talking about this just the other day when we were watching the most recent episode of Burn Notice.

So after reading this article today about Sarah Palin, I decided to go to the website and pledge my support as well.  I’ve included a button below that will take you to the website.  It’s promoted by the Special Olympics association.

Just read an article written by a former co-worker of my wife’s, and fellow libertarian Tim Brownlee.  You can read it here: The Prime Directive.  He makes a very good point about the responsibility of the government in the affairs of Israel, as well as the church’s responsibility.

While I think the use of the “prime directive” term from Star Trek might make some people dismiss the overall premise of his argument, it actually sums it up quite well.  To go even further, I would say “do to others what you would want them to do to you” (a paraphrase of the Golden Rule).  Our country would really be a lot better off if our elected officials bore that well in mind when deliberating on the next big increase in government or opting to go to war against an object or ideal (e.g. War on Drugs, Global War on Terrorism, etc.).

We need elected officials at all levels of government who practice a brand of patriotism and responsibility that seems to be lost on this generation of bureaucrats:  Do what’s right, regardless of the personal political cost, to improve the lives of those you’re responsible for by ensuring that they have a fair shot to succeed or fail on their own merits.  In other words give people the chance to succeed as well as the chance to fail and let them make their own choices and mistakes so long as they don’t infringe on another person’s inalienable (i.e. existing with or without a government) rights.

There have been tons of stories and news segments about Tiger’s affairs and trysts.  It seems that whenever this sort of thing happens, whether in sports or in politics, the question always arises: “Does it matter that he cheated?”

Normally I would say no, given that he’s an athlete and not a governor or legislator, but he was one of the most respected men in his field and was a role model to millions of children and adults in this country.  Unlike some sports, golf is centered around honor and honesty.  You’re expected to be truthful even when no one’s watching.  Watch “The Legend of Bagger Vance” some time if you don’t believe me (great movie by the way).

The fact that Tiger cheated on his wife with so many women shows a clear trust issue.  Will he have his country club membership revoked?  Unlikely.  Will he have his sponsorships revoked?  Possibly.

In a game where amateur golfers skirt the rules all the time, the professionals are where they’re at because they’ve worked at being the best physically, mentally, and honor-wise.  Tiger Woods was no exception and it’ll be interesting to see how this situation will pan out in relation to his golf career.  The part that makes this difficult to watch is that he and Elin have two kids in the mix.

In a little while I’m going to head with a few people from work to the Extreme Makeover build site here in Hattiesburg.  MegaGate Broadband (my employer) is one of the sponsors and we’re providing the WiFi internet for the site and will be providing the family with a free year of telephone and internet service.

Hopefully I’ll get a chance to talk to Ty while at the site.  It was because of a radio interview that he did with Glenn Beck last year that I decided to finally get tested for ADD/ADHD.  If it hadn’t been for his amazing story of growing up undiagnosed with ADHD I probably never would’ve gotten tested and wouldn’t be where I’m at today.

Supposedly we’re not allowed to take pictures at the build site so I may not be able to post any pictures from my visit.  If for some reason I am able to take pictures though, I’ll post them here for all of you to see.

Update: I was thankfully able to take pictures at the site.  Here they are.

Just read an awesome article that Paul Thurrott at Windows Supersite just published over the Thanksgiving holiday weekend.  You can read the article here: Windows 7: Past, Present, and Future.

I agree with everything he has to say in the article.  Something I do know that Microsoft will have to account for in Windows 8 is the existence of Google Chrome OS, which I’ve written a little bit about myself: Google Chrome OS previewed to public.  The biggest functionality that consumers will demand of Windows 8 is the ability for it to boot fast.  They will also want to be able to run it off of a thumb drive or similar device instead of being bound to a hard drive.  And this needs to be implemented within the installer and not as a consumer level “fix”.

It’s possible to install from a thumb drive but users will want to be able to run their OS from a thumb drive as well.  This may very well require a move away from the Registry as Windows has used for years, just like they did with moving away from DOS to the NT platform.  In fact I wouldn’t be surprised if they emulated or virtualized the Registry in much the same way they emulated DOS in XP, or virtualized Windows XP in Windows 7(i.e. XP Mode in Windows 7).