I watched less of the Winter Olympics than I thought I would. Probably because there weren't enough stories about the venues themselves. Fortunately, some folks who are over there for the events have been blogging away and providing great info on Torino, Turin and Italian culture.
One blog is run by a NBC Sports crewmember, Little Lost Robot. I love his stories about venturing into the marketplace, behind the scenes stuff with the NBC crew and a great video of his driver.
When I visit Italy, I hope to head up to Torino.
Saturday, February 25, 2006
Friday, February 24, 2006
Cold And Flu Supplies
I feel so guilty that during the past three weeks, I have gone through so much "facial tissue."
I say it that way because I use Puffs instead of Kleenex. The type of tissue you use can really make or break your comfort level while enduring a cold, fever or flu.
While I was in St. Louis two weeks ago, I had to use the tissues provided by the hotel which eventually irritated my nose. Wen-Yi gave me a packet of tissues to use and those were much better. The packaging said Kimberly-Clark Taiwan and the rest of the text is in Chinese script.
As mentioned last week, I've found that I really like the new Tylenol Cold & Flu Severe and Tylenol Cough & Sore Throat medicine. Both are in liquid form and offer an unusual almost instantaneous cooling effect in the sinuses.
In the past, I've used Alka Seltzer Plus Cold, orange flavor, but the Tylenol stuff seems more heavy duty.
I need to restock on Puffs very soon. I hate killing trees to help me sneeze.
Hmmm...that rhymes.
I say it that way because I use Puffs instead of Kleenex. The type of tissue you use can really make or break your comfort level while enduring a cold, fever or flu.
While I was in St. Louis two weeks ago, I had to use the tissues provided by the hotel which eventually irritated my nose. Wen-Yi gave me a packet of tissues to use and those were much better. The packaging said Kimberly-Clark Taiwan and the rest of the text is in Chinese script.
As mentioned last week, I've found that I really like the new Tylenol Cold & Flu Severe and Tylenol Cough & Sore Throat medicine. Both are in liquid form and offer an unusual almost instantaneous cooling effect in the sinuses.
In the past, I've used Alka Seltzer Plus Cold, orange flavor, but the Tylenol stuff seems more heavy duty.
I need to restock on Puffs very soon. I hate killing trees to help me sneeze.
Hmmm...that rhymes.
Blogger Widgets!
Google showed support for the Mac by posting some new widgets. One for sending quick posts to your blog, another to read email and yet another to view your Google search history.
Get the widgets here:
http://www.google.com/macwidgets/
Get the widgets here:
http://www.google.com/macwidgets/
Wednesday, February 15, 2006
Freedom of Speech Will Not Be Stopped
The Danish cartoons Muslim extremists are protesting against can be found here:
Outsidethebeltway.com
michellemalkin.com
Both of these sites said they were victims of Denial of Service attacks to their websites because they continue to keep the cartoons posted at their websites. While that's a denial of Freedom Of Speech, I certainly wish that was the only thing the Islamic protesters were doing. At least people wouldn't be losing their lives in a DOS attack.
Outsidethebeltway.com
michellemalkin.com
Both of these sites said they were victims of Denial of Service attacks to their websites because they continue to keep the cartoons posted at their websites. While that's a denial of Freedom Of Speech, I certainly wish that was the only thing the Islamic protesters were doing. At least people wouldn't be losing their lives in a DOS attack.
Saturday, February 11, 2006
WInter Olympics Torino 2006 Opening Ceremonies
I watched most of the opening ceremonies for the 2006 Winter Olympics in Torino Italy last night.
My point of reference for the Winter Olympics Opening Ceremonies is the 1994 Winter Olympics in Lillehammer, Norway. Many people consider that to be the best Winter Olympics to date. The opening ceremony celebrated the history and folklore of Norway in a very imaginative way.
Here are some of my observations:
- As a guy, all the stuff with fire was pretty cool but I still don't understand what it had to with the Games or Torino Italy.
- Same goes for the Ferrari spinning around on the ice. Nice car but yaaawwwwwnnnn...
- NBC News anchor Brian Williams helped with announcing while the atheletes marched into the stadium. Instead of focussing on the atheletes or Olympic trivia, Williams noted the Muslim cartoon issue when the Danes walked out, China's human rights history and other political tidbits. It's a freakin' sports event. The Cold War is over and hey, let's focus on the athletes. TVSquad.com had the same opinion. Time to flip over to Battlestar Galactica.
- Oh hey, Alberto Tomba ran in with the torch. Finally, something related to Italy! Hopefully he wasn't partying the night before.
- Yoko Freakin' Ono? Uh, She's not Italian and she doesn't have anything to do with the Olympics and yet there she was, talking about world peace and John Lennon. Good thing I was chatting on the phone with my friend, Wen-Yi, at the time. Couldn't figure out who it was that then sang Lennon's "Imagine." I was too busy enjoying a nice conversation with Wen-Yi.
- The dancers climbing onto a wall and forming a huge dove was pretty cool.
- I loved the fireworks.
I watched from 8pm to 10pm but then I had to decide between watching the ceremonies or flipping over to the SciFi Channel to watch Battlestar Galactica. After hearing Brian Williams talk about current world events rather than Olympic history I focussed more on BSG.
As compared to the Lillehammer Games, I'd score these opening ceremonies as a C-. Hopefully the sports events provide the magic the opening ceremonies didn't.
My point of reference for the Winter Olympics Opening Ceremonies is the 1994 Winter Olympics in Lillehammer, Norway. Many people consider that to be the best Winter Olympics to date. The opening ceremony celebrated the history and folklore of Norway in a very imaginative way.
Here are some of my observations:
- As a guy, all the stuff with fire was pretty cool but I still don't understand what it had to with the Games or Torino Italy.
- Same goes for the Ferrari spinning around on the ice. Nice car but yaaawwwwwnnnn...
- NBC News anchor Brian Williams helped with announcing while the atheletes marched into the stadium. Instead of focussing on the atheletes or Olympic trivia, Williams noted the Muslim cartoon issue when the Danes walked out, China's human rights history and other political tidbits. It's a freakin' sports event. The Cold War is over and hey, let's focus on the athletes. TVSquad.com had the same opinion. Time to flip over to Battlestar Galactica.
- Oh hey, Alberto Tomba ran in with the torch. Finally, something related to Italy! Hopefully he wasn't partying the night before.
- Yoko Freakin' Ono? Uh, She's not Italian and she doesn't have anything to do with the Olympics and yet there she was, talking about world peace and John Lennon. Good thing I was chatting on the phone with my friend, Wen-Yi, at the time. Couldn't figure out who it was that then sang Lennon's "Imagine." I was too busy enjoying a nice conversation with Wen-Yi.
- The dancers climbing onto a wall and forming a huge dove was pretty cool.
- I loved the fireworks.
I watched from 8pm to 10pm but then I had to decide between watching the ceremonies or flipping over to the SciFi Channel to watch Battlestar Galactica. After hearing Brian Williams talk about current world events rather than Olympic history I focussed more on BSG.
As compared to the Lillehammer Games, I'd score these opening ceremonies as a C-. Hopefully the sports events provide the magic the opening ceremonies didn't.
Friday, February 10, 2006
Blogging The Commute
Saw this at TUAW.com this morning. Some guy has a video blog of his daily commute between his home in San Francisco and Apple's headquarters in Cupertino, in the morning and in the evening.
If you look closely at when he leaves work in the evening, you can see, as he drives on Mariani to turn onto de Anza Blvd, a building across the street with slanted concrete in front of the windows. That's the building I was in while working on Apple's eWorld project. My apartment was a few blocks behind that, on Stelling Road.
A side note, that building, now owned by someone else, was the first business building for Apple and was known as Mariani 1. The original Mac OS X project, Copeland, was on the second floor.
If you look closely at when he leaves work in the evening, you can see, as he drives on Mariani to turn onto de Anza Blvd, a building across the street with slanted concrete in front of the windows. That's the building I was in while working on Apple's eWorld project. My apartment was a few blocks behind that, on Stelling Road.
A side note, that building, now owned by someone else, was the first business building for Apple and was known as Mariani 1. The original Mac OS X project, Copeland, was on the second floor.
Thursday, February 09, 2006
MacGyver Returns
Ever since the clever Mastercard commercial featuring Richard Dean Anderson reprising his MacGyver role was released during Super Bowl XL has been talked about quite a bit, especially on the internet.
If you aren't familiar with the show, MacGyver was this pretty darn resourceful guy who could do things like make a laser out of gum wrapper, a pin and his ever present Swiss Army Knife. When someone adapts and improvises things using various odd parts, that person is said to have "MacGyver'ed that."
Wikipedia.org has a great list of all the things MacGyver made on the show. This is one of the many reasons why I like Wikipedia.
By the way, all but one link in this post goes to a Wikipedia.org page. It's that cool a website.
If you aren't familiar with the show, MacGyver was this pretty darn resourceful guy who could do things like make a laser out of gum wrapper, a pin and his ever present Swiss Army Knife. When someone adapts and improvises things using various odd parts, that person is said to have "MacGyver'ed that."
Wikipedia.org has a great list of all the things MacGyver made on the show. This is one of the many reasons why I like Wikipedia.
By the way, all but one link in this post goes to a Wikipedia.org page. It's that cool a website.
Wednesday, February 08, 2006
The "Peaceful" Riots
The riotous protests by Muslims to the published cartoons featuring the image of Mohammend continues.
Michelle Malkin is all over this and includes a transcript from a Danish television interview of Alan Dershowitz. Like her, I don't always agree wth Dershowitz but he is on the money with his comments on the whole debacle.
The Iranian prime minister is calling on people to rename Danish pastries as Mohammed pastries. Go for it. I'd rather they did that than burn buildings or kill people.
It may not be PC to say this but man oh man, some people need to learn to relax.
Michelle Malkin is all over this and includes a transcript from a Danish television interview of Alan Dershowitz. Like her, I don't always agree wth Dershowitz but he is on the money with his comments on the whole debacle.
The Iranian prime minister is calling on people to rename Danish pastries as Mohammed pastries. Go for it. I'd rather they did that than burn buildings or kill people.
It may not be PC to say this but man oh man, some people need to learn to relax.
Retro TV
Hill Street Blues has finally made it to DVD with the release of the first of six seasons last week.
So far, I've watched the first four episodes. Hill Street Blues was probably one of the finest television series ever and still holds up today. The only parts that look dated are the hairstyles (big 80s hairdos), eyeglasses (again, big was in) and the cars. The acting was brilliant and the scripts were superb.
I also bought the first season of The Rat Patrol. This series was only on TV for two years, 1966 through 1968. I watched it during 4th and 5th grade, while our family lived in Tempe, Arizona.
Also while living in Arizona, I would sneak out of my bedroom around 10 pm at night and watch reruns of The Wild, Wild West with Dad. The first season of that show will be released on DVD in June.
The final two seasons of M*A*S*H will be released on DVD this year (May and probably December).
With all these releases of old TV shows, it's no surprise that this segment of the DVD market is the most successful. Nostalgia always sells.
In my humble opinion, these are the best shows that have been on American TV:
M*A*S*H
Hill Street Blues
The Dick Van Dyke Show
Seinfeld
The Mary Tyler Moore Show
So far, I've watched the first four episodes. Hill Street Blues was probably one of the finest television series ever and still holds up today. The only parts that look dated are the hairstyles (big 80s hairdos), eyeglasses (again, big was in) and the cars. The acting was brilliant and the scripts were superb.
I also bought the first season of The Rat Patrol. This series was only on TV for two years, 1966 through 1968. I watched it during 4th and 5th grade, while our family lived in Tempe, Arizona.
Also while living in Arizona, I would sneak out of my bedroom around 10 pm at night and watch reruns of The Wild, Wild West with Dad. The first season of that show will be released on DVD in June.
The final two seasons of M*A*S*H will be released on DVD this year (May and probably December).
With all these releases of old TV shows, it's no surprise that this segment of the DVD market is the most successful. Nostalgia always sells.
In my humble opinion, these are the best shows that have been on American TV:
M*A*S*H
Hill Street Blues
The Dick Van Dyke Show
Seinfeld
The Mary Tyler Moore Show
Monday, February 06, 2006
Pickles for Valentine's Day?
Slashfood.com was pushing pickles as a very romantic gift for Valentine's Day. Be it Pickle of the Month or a four month subscription to receive all of the flavors in Van Holten's Pickle-in-a-pouch.
Seems odd? Well, the writer of the story confessed to giving his sweetheart a jar of rollmops for Valentine's Day. Yeah, nothing says hot romance like a jar of herrings.
Seems odd? Well, the writer of the story confessed to giving his sweetheart a jar of rollmops for Valentine's Day. Yeah, nothing says hot romance like a jar of herrings.
Observations From Super Bowl XL
Seattle has the "12th Man"? Uh, no, Texas A&M does, see ya in court, Slick.
Best ads were probably Mastercard's "A Narrow Escape" (featuring Richard Dean Anderson reprising his "MacGyver" role), Hummer's "Jennifer Loves the Robot," Budweiser's "Clydesdale American Dream," FedEx's "Stick," and Aleve's clever Leonard Nimoy ad.
Adelphia earned major bonus points for adding ABC HD to their lineup the Friday before the game. Pennsylvania, Steelers, Super Bowl, people wanting more HD channels on Adelphia, pretty much something that had to be done and by 5pm Friday February 3, it was a done deal. By the way, I watched the second half on ABC HD (my parents don't have HD) and it was friggin' nice.
As one sports website said, the Seahawks had enough good moments but not enough of them.
The problem with the Seattle Seahawks team colors is that the dark blue is nothing compared to the very noticeable Steelers yellow. The yellow Terrible Towels versus that odd muted yellow-green tinsel thang the Seahawks fans waved. The Steelers fans were far more noticeable.
Aretha Franklin was doing a duet with Aaron Neville for the National Anthem with Dr. John on piano? Very strange pairing but wow, Aretha certainly gives an incredibly emotional performance.
I missed the Rolling Stones halftime performance. But hey, with forty years of concert performances, I'm sure Mick, Keith, Charlie and Bill have the whole thing down and it was excellent. Still, to see a 63 year-old strutting around the stage like some teen sex symbol was odd.
Roethlisberger did score that touchdown in the first half. The football did touch the end zone. The ball briefly went onto the line before Ben pulled the ball toward his chest to prevent a fumble.
That play that had Randle El throwing the ball for a touchdown was probably the play of the game. It's one of those razzle-dazzle plays that rarely works but Randle El is a former quarterback and was able to beautifully pull the play together. I loved how Cowher and company gambled in this game to prove the old Bear Bryant saying, "Make things happen."
I thought Jerome Bettes would do something symbolic for his retirement announcement but when you are standing on a podium with so many millions of people watching and holding that trophy, that's enough. Bettes is a class act. Good luck on your future!
Best ads were probably Mastercard's "A Narrow Escape" (featuring Richard Dean Anderson reprising his "MacGyver" role), Hummer's "Jennifer Loves the Robot," Budweiser's "Clydesdale American Dream," FedEx's "Stick," and Aleve's clever Leonard Nimoy ad.
Adelphia earned major bonus points for adding ABC HD to their lineup the Friday before the game. Pennsylvania, Steelers, Super Bowl, people wanting more HD channels on Adelphia, pretty much something that had to be done and by 5pm Friday February 3, it was a done deal. By the way, I watched the second half on ABC HD (my parents don't have HD) and it was friggin' nice.
As one sports website said, the Seahawks had enough good moments but not enough of them.
The problem with the Seattle Seahawks team colors is that the dark blue is nothing compared to the very noticeable Steelers yellow. The yellow Terrible Towels versus that odd muted yellow-green tinsel thang the Seahawks fans waved. The Steelers fans were far more noticeable.
Aretha Franklin was doing a duet with Aaron Neville for the National Anthem with Dr. John on piano? Very strange pairing but wow, Aretha certainly gives an incredibly emotional performance.
I missed the Rolling Stones halftime performance. But hey, with forty years of concert performances, I'm sure Mick, Keith, Charlie and Bill have the whole thing down and it was excellent. Still, to see a 63 year-old strutting around the stage like some teen sex symbol was odd.
Roethlisberger did score that touchdown in the first half. The football did touch the end zone. The ball briefly went onto the line before Ben pulled the ball toward his chest to prevent a fumble.
That play that had Randle El throwing the ball for a touchdown was probably the play of the game. It's one of those razzle-dazzle plays that rarely works but Randle El is a former quarterback and was able to beautifully pull the play together. I loved how Cowher and company gambled in this game to prove the old Bear Bryant saying, "Make things happen."
I thought Jerome Bettes would do something symbolic for his retirement announcement but when you are standing on a podium with so many millions of people watching and holding that trophy, that's enough. Bettes is a class act. Good luck on your future!
Friday, February 03, 2006
HMS Daring: iPod Enabled
Oh, so your new Honda Accord (as of 2005) or BMW allows you to connect an iPod to the stereo system? Bah! The British Navy has you beat.
The newly launched HMS Daring, is boasted to be amongst the fleet's deadliest ships:
Ah, but what about creature comforts for the crew?
Lord Nelson never had it so good.
SOURCE
The newly launched HMS Daring, is boasted to be amongst the fleet's deadliest ships:
Among the battery of state-of-the-art equipment is a new Principal Anti-Air Missile System, which can trace and destroy hostile objects as small a cricket ball travelling at three times the speed of sound. Its range is effective over a radius of several hundred miles.
Her PAAMS air defence missiles are the size of a public phone boxes, weigh
two thirds as much as a small car and from launch accelerate to a speed twice
that of Concorde in under 10 seconds.
Ah, but what about creature comforts for the crew?
HMS Daring's 230-strong crew should be happy too. She and her sisters will be the first "gender-neutral" warships to enter Royal Navy service, and the Hotel Facilities, as the living quarters are known, are the most opulent ever fitted in a British warship. Mess decks are replaced by individual cabins, each with their own I-pod [sic] charging points, CD player, internet access, five channel recreational audio and larger berths.As TUAW.com put it, "I can almost hear the cries now, 'Damn the torpedoes, men, it's new music Tuesday!'"
Lord Nelson never had it so good.
SOURCE
Thursday, February 02, 2006
Banned? But I Watched It Yesterday.
The Chinese government has decided, ahead of the planned February 9 release in that country, the movie Memoirs of a Geisha.
The problem with that ban is that many people in China have already seen the movie. This may be a little hard to believe given that neither the movie remains unreleased in China and the DVD for the movie has not been published anywhere yet.
Thank the huge amount of movie piracy going on in China for that ban having no strength behind it. According to Cinematical.com, roughly 95% of the DVDs available in the country are of pirated movies.
Ah, sweet irony.
Now maybe the Chinese government will finally start to really crack down on movie and software piracy.
The problem with that ban is that many people in China have already seen the movie. This may be a little hard to believe given that neither the movie remains unreleased in China and the DVD for the movie has not been published anywhere yet.
Thank the huge amount of movie piracy going on in China for that ban having no strength behind it. According to Cinematical.com, roughly 95% of the DVDs available in the country are of pirated movies.
Ah, sweet irony.
Now maybe the Chinese government will finally start to really crack down on movie and software piracy.
Signs of the Time
Nikon said it will stop production of all film cameras except for two, the F6 and FM10.
Western Union, after 145 years, will no longer send telegrams. If you go to their website and click on the option to send a telegram, you will see this:
Western Union is still here for awhile. They refocussed their business on money wire transfers years ago. According to the news story, "Revenues are now $3 billion annually."
Western Union, after 145 years, will no longer send telegrams. If you go to their website and click on the option to send a telegram, you will see this:
Effective January 27, 2006, Western Union will discontinue all Telegram and Commercial Messaging services. We regret any inconvenience this may cause you, and we thank you for your loyal patronage. If you have any questions or concerns, please contact a customer service representative.
Western Union is still here for awhile. They refocussed their business on money wire transfers years ago. According to the news story, "Revenues are now $3 billion annually."
Wednesday, February 01, 2006
Does Insurance Cover War Injuries?
This past Sunday, ABC News' Bob Woodruff and cameraman Doug Vogt were traveling with Iraqi security forces filming a news story. Their vehicle was hit by an Improvised Explosive Device, severely injuring both. They were evacuated to the US military hospital in Germany and arrived today in the United States for further treatment in Bethesda, Maryland.
Vogt is fairing much better than Woodruff, who is said to barely be opening his eyes. Woodruff was supposed to take over as co-anchor of ABC News.
So, what happens with Woodruff's medical bills? Will his health insurance provide coverage even though the injuries were sustained in an area where a state of war exists?
READ
Vogt is fairing much better than Woodruff, who is said to barely be opening his eyes. Woodruff was supposed to take over as co-anchor of ABC News.
So, what happens with Woodruff's medical bills? Will his health insurance provide coverage even though the injuries were sustained in an area where a state of war exists?
READ
Cool Little Apps
Once in awhile, out comes a cool little application that does a small thing yet does it well. That's the case with coconutWiFi.
This little app allows Mac users to quickly see a list of discovered WiFi networks in the computer's wireless range and select one to use. The program will also tell, through color-coding, which network is open or closed. Keep in mind however, that some states or local governments view using someone else's network without permission as tresspassing or worse.
This program was written by a 22 year-old student in Germany. Cool stuff.
This little app allows Mac users to quickly see a list of discovered WiFi networks in the computer's wireless range and select one to use. The program will also tell, through color-coding, which network is open or closed. Keep in mind however, that some states or local governments view using someone else's network without permission as tresspassing or worse.
This program was written by a 22 year-old student in Germany. Cool stuff.
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