Mike Nicholson

When girls wear t-shirts with messages or interesting designs on them, and I read those messages or appreciate those designs, do they think I'm checking out their rack?

Posted by at 1:03 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I've been making simple beer bread for years. It's evolved a bit over time and based on the most recent comments I've received, it's finally blog-worthy. Here are the two recipes. One a bit less unhealthy than the other.

Simple White Beer Bread

• 3 cups self-rising flour (or make your own)
• 3 cups all purpose flour
• 4.5 teaspoons baking powder
• 1.5 teaspoons table salt
• 1/2 cup Splenda (or sugar)
• 12oz of your favorite beer
• 1 to 2 tablespoons of butter

Simple Wheat Beer Bread

• 2 cups all purpose flour
• 1 cup wheat flour
• 4.5 teaspoons baking powder
• 1.5 teaspoons table salt
• 1/2 cup Splenda (or sugar)
• 12oz of your favorite beer
• 1 to 2 tablespoons of butter

The instructions for both

1. Preheat oven to 375
2. Mix the flour, salt, baking powder, and sweetener in a large bowl
3. Add the beer and mix until you have a lumpy dough. Don't be afraid to use your (clean) hands as this is very difficult with a spoon.
4. Add the dough to a bread pan and bake for 45 minutes.
5. Melt the butter in a microwave oven and brush or pour over the top of the loaf
6. Bake for an additional 15 minutes
7. Enjoy alone or with cheese (also makes a great bacon sandwich)

Posted by at 10:43 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

In a recent blog post to their health advertising corporate blog, Google responds to the scathing accusations of Michael Moore's Sicko by defending big pharma and recommending that they simply throw money at the problem and displace any other ads with their messaging... Seriously, wtf?

I'm no fan of Michael Moore, and although I haven't yet seen Sicko, I'll likely have the same opinion of it as I have had of all his other "documentaries", but this blog post is just awful PR.

Sure, I realize that all successful huge companies are at least a little evil. They have to be in order to crush their competition, but Google's been pretty good at their PR from this angle until now. It's a shame that some boob decided to pick a topic that the public is obviously going to care a lot about due to a blockbuster movie and the incredible momentum already involved in the next presidential election. That alone is a bad idea since you'll always make someone angry. They don't stop there, though. They decide to side with the target of that hugely popular documentary and against the 'little guy' getting screwed by ever hospital and every pharma. Many people will read that blog entry after having seen the movie and visualize Google right on top of the head of that poor child that can't get a transplant or the woman whose insurance would not pay for her ambulance. It's hard to recover from that damage.

What can they do now? All of those huge social network news sites like digg are already linking to the article, and the blogispheere is running in top gear. Just check out the 'links to this article' on the bottom of their page. They can't pull the article down, or remove the links or they'll receive even more criticism. They're stuck.

Anyway, if you're disgusted by them, try using a different product once in awhile. Give Yahoo! Search, MSN, or ask.com a try. It's nice to support the little guy sometimes.

Posted by at 11:17 AM | Permalink | Comments (4) | TrackBacks (0)

Here's a short local newscast video that shows 5 of the 9 local Jiffy Lubes totally ripping the newscast off.

Time to start marking my filters and checking my fluids a bit more closely before AND after each service.

Jiffy Lube ripoff video

Posted by at 4:17 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

As many of you probably know, Yahoo! has hack day events which I attend.

We have internal ones 4x per year, and have had one external one this past year. These events are one of the things that keeps Yahoo! sane for me. As big of a company as it is, Hack day is an opportunity for every developer to show off their wildest idea to the CEO and founders, and an opportunity to make a difference if your idea is revolutionary (even if it has nothing to do with your day job). Even if your hack sucks, at least you might be able to get a laugh.

If you were at the open hack day event in 2006, you know what I'm talking about. Nothing beats the taking a break from coding your Jean Luke Picard hack to play from Guitar Hero, have a pint of beer, eat some pizza, or rock out to a private concert with Beck.

Google seems to have liked our idea. They're doing a similar event: Google Developer Day. Or as I call it, The Lamest Event Ever. After all, who needs Beck, beer, partying into the wee hours, and crashing in your tent in the middle of campus at 4am; who needs 2 hours of cool / funny demos to a panel of the bay area's finest nerds when you can have a 30 minute coffee break from 3:00 to 3:30 and a 90 minute developer reception at 5:30.

Google: You may have the market share, but we have the beer. We know what it really means to win.

Posted by at 11:20 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

While many people out there waste their thoughts and time with 'important' issues like genocide, nuclear proliferation, and global warming, a true tragedy has occurred below their very noses. The Pastafarians are being oppressed.

First, the Kansas school board refused to teach our creation story along site intelligent design and evolution despite the fact that the President of the United States demanded all views to be taught, and now one of our own has been suspended from school for wearing the most minor symbol of his faith.

I fear this is an organized campaign of oppression. How else would they know to go after us at our core issue: education? How would they know that endumbening us is our only weakness? Oh great FSM, when will the tragedy end?

Posted by at 10:40 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

I've heard for years hearsay that one environmentalist thing or another is not as simple as it seems: that what most people do to save the environment is actually hurting it. This hearsay included the following:

• Recycling plastic and glass has net negative energy impact resulting in more global warming than throwing them away.


• Paper grocery bags use many times the energy of plastic ones to produce again impacting global warming.


• Organic foods are lower yield and increase the requirement for additional farm lands leading to slash and burn of rain forests


• Hybrid cars do more net damage to the environment than an equivalent gasoline only car.

I've always wanted to take the time and really research some of these beyond what I've heard on the street. I've really wanted to get to the bottom of it. I never had the time, but it looks like someone did (well at least for the last bullet). They don't cite any sources, and it's only a university newspaper, but it's nice to know that I'm not the only one who thinks twice when they hear 'of course X is good for the environment!'.

Prius Outdoes Hummer in Environmental Damage

Posted by at 3:12 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Google topped the list of Fortune's 100 Best Companies to Work For recently due at least in part to its huge set of employee perks. I've always had my doubts about this list (since it fails to include any small companies which have by far the most upside and often great perks), but even in comparing huge organizations, who really has the best perks: Google or your local state prison? Lets see:

There you have it. If you're really after perks, you should be considering a major crime rather than applying to Google. It's a lot easier and much faster (as long as you plead guilty).

Disclaimer: I honestly have nothing against Google (other than working for their competitor), but they're fun to tease and they drive some rather entertaining search queries to my blog.

Update: Thanks to all the response from googlers that gave me some additional aspects to compare.

Posted by at 4:45 PM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)

• Pocket protectors
• Poor social skills
• Fear of the opposite sex
• Getting straight A's yet never finding a job
• Living in a bubble, totally unaware of the world around them
• Lack of personal hygiene
• Glasses held together by band-aids and masking tape
• Total obsession with hobbies (anime, video games, etc.)
• Stays at home every night

• Excellent social skills
• Plays WoW but still knows how to party
• No fear of booze
• Socially aware and active
• Great event planner
• Stylish glasses
• Can communicate with both normal nerds and normal humans

Posted by at 10:53 AM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)

My sister and her fiance, Reggie, are getting married in just under a year.

Typically amid the other more important planning the benefit of technology become lost in the shuffle. This has apparently changed. Shannon and Reggie have had a website created to capture the various electronic information about their wedding.

Although I'm not really that crazy about the look and feel of the site (that hidden main menu is terrible, for instance), I believe this is a great idea. There may be real money in easy to create micro sites for various occasions and events. Who wouldn't pay $60 per year for a website dedicated to their $20,000 B'nai Mitzvah, or perhaps for their 50th wedding anniversary party?

A see a void and an opportunity. Too bad that I'm too lazy to try to make a quick buck out of it.

Visit Shannon and Reggie's Wedding Website.

Posted by at 3:15 PM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)

What you see while you read Skymall.

Over the past few years I've seen both silly items as well as things I'd genuinely like if they were half the price, but the very flight I'm on now has charted new territory on both ends of the spectrum. First off, there exists an item in Skymall that is actually interesting and yet not ridiculously over priced. Yes, I may actually buy something from Skymall!

A cool tripod thinggy.

At the other end of the spectrum, I've found what may be the silliest product ever devised. It's a $100 hybrid iPod dock / toilet paper dispenser. Its right out of a Saturday Night Live parody commercial. Just thinking about this boggles my mind. For this to have ended up in Skymall at least the following must have transpired:

The Cadillac of iPod Docks.

• An inventor thought of this while sitting on the can in silence and decided it was a good enough idea to proceed investing his or her time into it.
• A corporation either decided to invest further in this idea or to purchase it from a freelance inventor (probably after much committee deliberation).
• A team of engineers poured hours and probably days of their waking lives into refining this device and perfecting the most cost effective design details and manufacturing processes.
• These engineers undoubtedly worked with one or more designers to ascetically design the perfect iPod musical toilet paper dispenser.
• A factory was selected and a team of poor Chinese factory workers was trained in the manufacture of these Cadillac of toilet paper dispensers. Just imagine how dumb those factory workers think Americans are as they toil their long work weeks away making them for us probably barely making enough to keep food on their tables.
• Finally, someone with enough brains to waddle their way through airport security, read the cataloge, and place an order, must believe that this is a good idea and warrants the $100 price tag but also the effort of tearing into their bathroom wall to run an electrical wire to their toilet paper dispenser.

Of course, despite my analysis, this may never have been intended for serious purchase. Perhaps it's only targeted at executives for a gag gift for executives with no time and people fill write the wrong product sku number into the order form.

Posted by at 5:06 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

An interesting kayak advertisement
at the Minneapolis airport.

Some art at the Minneapolis airport.

Do you see the odd pattern? People seem in a rush to stop standing at security only to sit down. After that they rush to sit down somewhere else! (the plane).

If Tom Hanks has taught me anything, he's taught me to enjoy the airport, even one in this sleepy town you hardly ever hear of has art to observe, pinball and video games to play, shoe shines, shopping, and an indoor, climate controlled walk that rivals the largest of malls.

So next time you're at an airport, stretch those legs, explore a little, and find some fun.

Posted by at 1:17 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

New York Times mentioned in an article that Google was kicking everyone's ass at recruiting of top notch talent. Based on my small, unscientific sample set of myself, my girlfriend, and a few friends, this appears to only partially be the case. Google prides itself on it's committee based hiring practice. This bureaucracy may be thorough, but it takes so long. Although this will weed out all of the unskilled and unl337 engineers, it also leaves an opening for others to steal their leads.

Per a Google recruiter that spoke with a friend recently, the average turn around time on an interview is now about two months. This means from your first phone screening to your offer, if everything goes well, you may have to wait two months. Although in the ideal world everyone can wait two months to compare the offer from Google against those from startups, Yahoo!, and Amazon, offers from other companies expire and sometimes you just need a job sooner than 1/6 of a year. In my friend's case, although she had started by applying to Google first, she had already screened, interviewed, accepted an offer, gave notice to her former employer, worked out her visa issues, started at her new company, and become productive all before Google even called her back in response to her screening. She's really talented too.

Also, it's important to note that Google managed to acquire youtube.com faster than they were able to process my friend's initial screening. Amazing...

Google: You missed out. Maybe it's time to streamline your hiring process. Actually, don't bother: we'll take the talent that can't wait for your slower-than-the-federal-government hiring process.

Google Applicants: If you really want a job at Google, the most efficient way is to apply to a company that Google is looking to buy.

Posted by at 11:19 AM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)

I've now had the privilege to see and touch (although not drive) one of those newfangled next generation electric cars: Tesla Motors came to visit Yahoo! last week.

I already knew the car was fast, equivalent of 130mpg, good looking, and nerdy-cool, (not to mention $100,000) but I learned a few more reasons it's awesome:

• It has a 125,000 mile warranty on the batteries. This means that the battery life is five times longer than the last wave of electric cars.
• Although it looks like an Elise and they do share a few parts, it has been built from the ground up to take full advantage of the engineering differences inherent in electric cars.
• The rumor from the Lotus test drivers is that it handles and performs shockingly well
• 250 miles range + only a couple hours to charge makes allows it to handle all tasks short of road trips
• It has about the same trunk capacity as a Miata (a lot more than an Elise)

But the biggest thing that they messaged to us is that this is only the beginning. The first car will cost $100k but expect cheaper, more reasonable cars to appear. $50k for a high performance sports sedan, for instance.

I'm very excited about the next 5 years of electric car development.

If you're interested check out Tesla Motors' website and some Flickr photos from the event at Yahoo!.

Posted by at 2:35 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

aaaaaaaaaaaaaarggg!

Yee be needin' lessin's, you rotten scallywag.

Posted by at 8:46 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Do no evil, eh? Lets see how evil they'll be if we erode their trademark.

Google has recently sent letters to various media orgs requesting that they no longer use the word 'google' to mean search the Internet. They implied a threat of legal action. But… eroding trademarks is fun!

Remember: whenever you search the Internet, even with MSN or Yahoo!, refer to it as 'googling'. Whenever you photocopy those printouts, refer to it as 'Xeroxing' them. If we all work together, we can make google, and other well known trademarks, go the same way as 'go-kart' and 'monkey wrench'.

Posted by at 10:16 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

I was addicted to Meridian 59 in 1996, and lost a friend to Everquest a few years later. Those two games sure had a lot of something in order to be so life impacting.

Other games I’ve played are comical, limitlessly entertaining, and of little life impact. These include Zelda, Tetris, and Theme Park.

I believe I’ve found a game that blows away both of these groups even in their strengths. This game is called Progress Quest. My double Wookie voodoo princess is already level 2 and armed with a fine pointed stick. I’m playing on Expodrine, so please come and join me for a duel.

Posted by at 2:16 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

It has cool games and all, but it has so much more potential. This of course means nerds like myself would love to hack it up and make it run all sorts of other software. It would also be nice if the games still worked.

This brings back memories of the last Xbox. The last Xbox had what appeared to be an impenetrable security scheme. It used encryption that would take billions of years to crack burnt right into a chip. It was only a matter of time, of course, before someone found a flaw in a specific game's save routine that opened the door. The complex tech failed.

This time Microsoft has gone a bit low tech. They've encased the boot rom in a blob of epoxy! Amazing, isn't it.... all the complex encryption of the xbox did not stop me from modding it, but a small blob of epoxy on the new one will probably prevent me from ever modding an Xbox 360.

Thanks for the picture Gizmodo.

Posted by at 11:06 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Isn't it nice how light traffic is on Bike to Work Day? It makes it, ironically, a good day to drive to work.

Posted by at 1:53 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

On the topic of US patents: here is a juicy one. A patent for a crustless peanut butter and jelly sandwich. Do we need reform of patent laws? oooh yes we do.

Posted by at 3:57 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Reading a US patent is kind of like reading the first few books of the bible: There are really interesting nuggets, lots of text that dosen't seem to make sense, and enormous ammounts of repetition. Where the bible says 'begat' a half million times, a US patent will have blocks where every other word is 'Preferably' or 'Claim' or 'A method by which'.

Maybe lawyers aren't evil?

Posted by at 3:52 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Today was one of the days that make me wonder how I can better make the best of my short time on Earth. I spent the previous two days of the long weekend relaxing at home and doing exciting chores like preparing my tax documents for processing.

Today the weather was looking up and Winnie and I needed to leave the house. It was still record breaking cold, but at least the sky was very clear and sunny. This is not the best weather for Frisbee on the beach, but a sporting drive with the heat on and the top down seemed like a great idea.

With that, Winnie and I hit the road and took in some rays and saw some nice views. The trip progressed as is typical including a stop at the Ono Hawaiian Grill for some short-ribs. Typical, that was, until I saw something on the ocean horizon to the west of Devil’s Slide that I had never seen before.

There was a small white pointy thing in the distance. What could this be? An oil rig? No, there’s no oil out there! A ship? No, it’s way too big. An iceberg? No, we’re way too far south. It must be an island that I’ve never heard of.

That night some quick clicking with everyone’s favorite internet map site revealed that it is indeed an island. This small, white island is called Farallon's Island. It’s barren, desolate, pungent smelling (apparently), and beloved by nature-watchers. It actually became so white as a result of excessive animal derived white wash (a.k.a. poop).

As I surfed around to find out more about the island, I found many photo-blogs and sites about trips there to see the wildlife. These trips did not seem particularly inciting, as they almost universally included stories of massive seasickness, but they did seem quite memorable and adventurous.

This, of course, made me crave adventure. Am I making the most of my time? Did I just waste a (cold and rainy) weekend? No matter crying over spilt milk… Who’s up for excitement? I’ve never climbed a mountain before…

p.s. Thanks for the great picture John Harker

Posted by at 1:08 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

One of the funniest things that I've ever seen on any forum anywhere!

I can't get the image out of my mind. how did this guy not notice?

http://forums.corvetteforum.com/showthread.php?t=1249782&highlight=towed&forum_id=26

Posted by at 11:23 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Now you too can feel the noodily touch of the Flying Spaghetti Monster.



Isn't he cute?  now bid dammit!

http://cgi.ebay.ca/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=6011889705

Please check out this auction and let others know about it.  We're trying to raise some money for the National Center for Science Education.  This group is fighting the teaching of intelligent design in the classroom which is disturbingly becoming more common in parts of the united states and can use all the help we can muster.  If we work hard we might just be able to surpass Madagascar in science education in 2006!

Yar!

Posted by at 10:51 PM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)

As many of you know, I'm a car guy. Well, more specifically, I'm a driving guy. Being a driving enthusiast I've always had a dream car. For some a dream car is a great looking car, a fast car, or a car that can drive over a school bus. My dream car is the most fun car to drive.

The car that believe to be the most fun to drive changes as my knowledge of automobiles evolves and new vehicles become available in the United States. Being that these are my dream cars, I've never actually driven any of them. My opinions on 'fun to drive' are based only on magazine reviews and specification lists. Perhaps someday I'll know for sure.

My first dream car is one I probably shared with almost everyone at the time. In the early 1990s I discovered the Ferrari F40. At the time this was the production car with the highest top speed and the fastest acceleration. It is still considered by many to be the most fun to drive super car ever made. Its lightweight and single function design made it unique. It was probably the only super car ever made with no carpet and probably the last super car made with almost no onboard computers. It was just two turbos, an engine, some metal to deflect the air, and a pair of seats.

The next car that I dreamed about is painfully obvious. In the mid 1990s the new fastest car emerged. This was none other than the McLaren F1. This car featured neat vertical doors, a cool 3 seat configuration putting the driver in the center, and, of course, a carbon fiber CD player. The McLaren, however, had one painful problem. It retailed well into the seven figures. It was about ten times the cost of the Ferrari F40. It was, and still is, completely unobtainable.

It was at this time that I began to race my car in various auto crosses and go real fast during track days. My dreams took an interesting switch. I now dreamed for a car that I may someday actually be able to purchase. Coincidently a very pure sports car was released that very year.

This beautiful automobile is the Lotus Elise. It is lighter than a Miata and considerably more powerful. The reviews stated that although it can turn hard enough to pull you into the side of your seat with more than your own body weight, it cannot be your only car. Its sub fifty thousand price tag, and performance near that of many Ferraris won me over. I almost put money down to join the waiting list, but luckily I decided not to.

It did not take very long for me to find an even more pure sports car. In idle chatter with someone at a race track, I discovered the Lotus 7. As it turned out this ugly car was still in production under the new name of the Caterham 7. The new models featured modern suspensions and engines. This car was also cheap. One can be acquired used and CA street legal for under $20,000. This would have left me enough for a Honda civic beater car, which would be necessary considering the roof for the Caterham 7 was an option I was not planning to buy. This automobile had one small negative, though: it was a kit car. I would enjoy the build, but I'm no mechanic and I'm sure the quality would reflect that lack of experience.

But alas, it turns out that an even more absurdly sporty car exists. The designers of the Ariel Atom built this automobile from the ground up and included even fewer unnecessary features than the Caterham 7. Features that they left out include any possibility of a roof, doors, side panels, a wind shield, and bumpers. Even the headlights and parking break are options that you must specially order. By having none of these pansy features it is amazingly fast. It can accelerate from a stop to 60 in 2. 9 seconds, it can complete a quarter mile in less than 9. 5 seconds, and it can run a lap around most race tracks faster than the mighty McLaren F1. At $35,000 to $45,000 it's more expensive than a Caterham 7, but at least it's built by professionals, and it looks a whole lot prettier (kind of like a Formula 1 car with headlights).

I believe my super car quest is at an end. The atom has it all: looks, light weight, scary fast, and less than the cost of a new kidney. I will have one... oh yes I will.

Something this frightening is better not kept to oneself. Once I scrape together the necessary 4. 5 million pennies to buy one, who wants a ride (or a drive)?

Posted by at 1:28 PM | Permalink | Comments (6) | TrackBacks (0)

I am very disappointed with the response of our government to the people of New Orleans in the wake of Hurricane Katrina. I've read articles where photographers comment that they have to throw away most of their photos due to the presence of bodies (in respect to the dead) and other articles which comment on crowds forming for evacuation and supplies. When these crowds dissipate, bodies are left behind. People are dying in line.

Some people might comment that there is no way to help because all the roads have been destroyed. Well, for they should see what our grandparent's government was capable of. Back just after WWII, the soviets blocked access to Berlin. The US along with France and Brittan, both recovering from incredible destruction, supported the entire city of Berlin through the air drop of everything from food, to milk, to candy for the children. Why in this modern day and age can we not do this let alone go beyond it?

I'm so disappointed in the so called progress that we have made.

For more information on the Berlin Airlift:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Berlin_airlift

Posted by at 12:30 PM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)

I watched hitch hikers guide to the galaxy recently, not the recent movie, but instead the dated miniseries adapted from the radio recording.

Anyway, it started me thinking. If anyone hasn't seen it, the movie is partialy about the answer to the ultimate question, the meaning of life. The answer stated in the movie is a joke, but it started me thinking.

I suppose I'm just having my quarter life crisis, but I still wonder. I've come up with a few options but none seem satisfactory.

• life is about fun and leisure

A good example of this option would be moving to Maui and operating a para-sailing boat until I die. this is AKA retire right away. It is appealing, but has an empty feeling to it.

• make the most money

The one who dies with the most toys wins. Similar to option one, but at least you're working and making a more significant contribution to the world.

• make the biggest mark

one way to attain immortality is to be spoken of long after your death. The best way to accomplish this varies by your skill set but everyone has the option. It can be attained through science (Avogadro did well), through art, or even through service as Mother Theresa found. This is getting a bit more appealing.

Posted by at 9:10 AM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)

I was talking to a friend about our lives. We're both quite busy. I was reminding her that there is always time to party. This reminded me of something I learned in my 'touchy feely' religion class in high school.

My teacher went to the front of the room where he had the following items on the table: a large jar, a pile of large rocks, a pile of pebbles, a pile of sand, and two beers.

He asked us in which order we should add the items to ensure that they all fit into the jar. He acted as we directed and first placed the large rocks inside, then the pebbles, then poured the sand. With a quick shake, everything seemed to fit. He finished by pouring the beers in as well.

When we asked why he did this, he explained that the jar is a symbol that represents our life. The large rocks are the important things, such as family, the pebbles are the less important things, such as career, and the sand represents the small nit-picky things in life. If you focus on the sand first, the big rocks wont fit.

Of course we followed with a question about the beer, and he said that no matter how full our life seems, there is always room for a couple beers.

Posted by at 3:02 PM | Permalink | Comments (2) | TrackBacks (0)

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Posted by at 9:56 AM | Permalink | Comments (2) | TrackBacks (0)

I want to make an open source XML parser. I will call it FreeDom.

Posted by at 1:36 PM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)

I'm considering doing something kinda evil:

Someone was nice enough to give me one of her Gmail invites. The first thing I did, of course, was check the price for a Gmail invite on eBay. They seem to be worth as much as $100. Amazing eh? Now I'm considering doing some very complex math to figure out how to maximize my profits by spawning and selling Gmails... does this make me evil?

Posted by at 8:33 PM | Permalink | Comments (2) | TrackBacks (0)

Am I the only one who is sadder that Ray Charles is dead than President Regan?

Posted by at 11:48 AM | Permalink | Comments (2) | TrackBacks (0)

Hi everyone.

I'm stuck at work on a Friday night. How sad. I'm beginning to fear I have no life.

What does it mean to have a life anyway? I've asked some older super-nerdy coworkers about this recently. They do not understand me at all. It never occurred to them during their days of non-stop PhD research that they had no life and it still never occurs to them as they work 100 hour weeks. Having a life must be an invention of my generation.

I've also discussed this topic with non-nerdy people. They too are just as confused at this idea of 'having a life'. Perhaps having a life is not only a product of my generation, but of nerds in my generation. Either way, I'm beginning to lose mine. I wonder if I should not care and just let work consume my life, or if I should fight it and fall behind on my career.

We'll find out soon enough. If I'm to keep my new years resolutions, then I'll at least be exercising, which is a part of a life... right? Also, I'll be applying to JET in the summer I think. That's even more like a life. I'll have one year of unlimited crazy experiences and memory generation.

Now my mind wanders to more complex topics.... is having a life about the meaning of life? If the meaning of life is not working, then this seems to be the case. But I'll save this argument for another time and another blog.

Posted by at 7:18 PM | Permalink | Comments (4) | TrackBacks (0)

Today the US banned Ephedra. This is the first herbal supplement to be banned. yay FDA. You're finally starting to deal with the herbal supplement scam that's been pissing me off for years. This is just the beginning I imagine. Yay now people will stop dying from herbal supplements that they take instead of real drugs. that 'if its natural it's not bad for you' myth will start to die,

Posted by at 6:35 PM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)

The new death tolls in Iran are 20,000 to 30,000 dead in the 6.5 quake that just hit them. That's just as strong as the quake that I felt in CA just a few days ago. The only difference here is that we had 2 deaths. That's a 10,000x higher rate of death. Gosh, I'm glad we have building codes.

Posted by at 12:08 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Hey everyone.

Well, summer is 1/2 over. It went by so fast.... It's also getting close to my big decision time.

For several months now I've had the strong wanderlust urge to travel. To solve this I came up with a plan including JET, backpacking across Europe, and generally bumming around the world for a few years working along the way. This would be an incredible experience, but it came to a stop when I realized two things. First, traveling for this long will destroy my already progressing career in the computer industry, and second, I almost have enough money to buy a house.

I cannot decide for the life of me. Should I follow my urge and take off for several years in an attempt to learn about others as well as myself, or should I take the responsible route and buy a house, keep working 9 to 5, and begin to settle down.

To make matters more complicated, I have little time left to decide about traveling. I was going to begin with JET due to its structure and guaranteed employment, but the selection / assignment process is extremely long. To leave in July 2004, I would have to apply within the next 1.5 months. Anyone have any advice?

Posted by at 1:17 AM | Permalink | Comments (3) | TrackBacks (0)

Today, I received many nice graduation gifts. I received a pen all the way from France, a nice watch all the way from Switzerland, and a nice valet for holding my new pen and watch (a coincidence gift series, not planned I don’t think). Anyway since these were nice things, they came in nice boxes. The pens came in a box that was made out of metal covered in leather. It said Paris on the front and Thailand on the back. The watch came in a similar metal box covered in stretched leather that read Switzerland on the top and China on the bottom.

I understand that nice things have to come in nice boxes, after all what difference does a five dollar box make in the larger purchase of a some odd hundred dollar pen, but still the concept of a nice leather and metal box only to hold a gift for a presentation still seems silly.

What is the proper treatment for these nice boxes? Should I toss them as I have with all of the not-nice boxes that contained my electronics, toys, and tools and so fourth while they waited to be purchased? Should I store them just in case I ever need to mail them anywhere on the off chance that they prove defective? Perhaps I could use them for a mean gag gift. I could put a Bic pen in the nice box and give it to a friend on their birthday. As silly as these justifications for keeping the boxes sound, I cannot part with them for the sheer respect of the thoughtful design and careful manufacturing that went into them.

The realization that someone, or some group of people, spent hours (or days) designing, analyzing, and possibly testing these boxes makes me wonder further. Furthermore, there are dozens of people working in the high-end box factories of Thailand or China who survive on minimal wages working long hours in a factory free of OSHA regulations. They work their butts off making boxes that cost more than their day’s wages so that silly Americans can have a nice box for their pens and watches that they present to others as gifts. No wonder so many people in those countries hate Americans.

Posted by at 5:47 PM | Permalink | Comments (4) | TrackBacks (0)