Tuesday October 28th 2008
t the beginning of last week, Google released its first competitor to the iPhone: the Android-powered G1 is its name. T-Mobile is the only service provider for this phone right now. Curious to see the G1's features (again), I clicked through a link to the T-Mobile website for a G1 feature tour. The T-Mobile website was using an embedded Youtube video to show off the G1's features, and that is appropriate since it's a Google phone and Youtube is owned by Google. But the funny thing is that on this big release day for Google's hyped entry into the superphone market, the T-Mobile webpage with the embedded Youtube video served up this:
FAIL
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Wednesday October 22nd 2008
fter two weeks of hearing the media, blogs, and peasantry proclaim McCain's bid for the White House dead, and Obama's coronation inevitable, today I read that an AP Poll (if I am not confusing polls with the college football top 25) has McCain and Obama in a dead heat. This puts me in a bind. I don't know what to think when I let the mainstream media do my thinking for me. I am lost without the media's color commentary keeping me apace with what is going on in the reality that surrounds me.
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Wednesday September 24th 2008
oving into autumn I don't like the daylight hours shortening, but I like the cooler weather. It's usually this time of year, right before it gets too cold, that I find my outdoor running being at its best. Right now my regular distance is six miles.
Google's Chrome has been an extremely responsive and reliable browser, but I am now running Iron (link: translation courtesy of Google! oh, the irony). Iron is built off of Chrome's source code, but strips out the privacy concerns: Google tracking where you go, Google tracking your keystrokes, Google gathering all your personal and private information. Iron takes all this stuff out, but in running Iron you are trusting the Germans behind Iron to not be collecting the same information for themselves. Iron is free and the code is available for review, so if privacy is compromised by the browser, the world will be made aware.
This news video of a 7 year old who stole his grandma's car for a joyride is one of the most hilarious videos I have seen this year.
Joe Biden's snaffu #1,685 is too good not to post: Biden and Obama criticize Palin for once support the Bridge To Nowhere, but when a congressional amendment proposing that the money for the bridge be reallocated to Katrina rebuilding efforts, Obama and Biden voted against the amendment, favoring the money going to construction of the Alaskan bridge. Even CNN reported this.
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Saturday September 20th 2008
f I'm right, tomorrow is the first day of autumn. It's a great time of year: wake up and it's cold, low or no humidity, no need to run the air conditioner, football, sunlight getting softer, the best running conditions of the year, and holidays approaching.
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Wednesday September 10th 2008
ince I'm paying $30/month in HOA fees, I figured that I might as well get my money's worth and skim over the gripping portions of the HOA bylaws. In the "Architectural Guidelines" section, item 11.2 says, and I quote: "House and grounds must be maintained in an ascetically pleasing state at all times". Sucks to not have been able to read the bylaws first before buying a house in the neighborhood. Being the compliant citizen that I am, my weekend project is to burn all the grass from my yard, cast some stones here and there, and keep a stack of saltines by the front door in lieu of a welcome mat.
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Tuesday September 9th 2008
ow is this even possible, if Bulgaria is putting a serious hockey team on the ice for Olympic qualifying?
Slovakia defeats Bulgaria 82-0 in women's ice hockey. Slovakia tallies 139 shots. Bulgaria did not shoot on goal a single time.
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Wednesday September 3rd 2008
moved into my first house a couple weekends ago, and have been working on fixing the water heater. After work and an early dinner on Labor Day, I went out to the garage to attempt some quick work on the water heater before heading out for a run. My work complete, intending to re-enter the house from the garage and get dressed, I discovered that I had locked myself out for the first time. My keys, wallet, and cell phone were inside and I had not yet created copies of my house key to hide outside. Half-naked after 5:00pm on a holiday, I could not think too long on the inconvenience. Not wanting to break the door from the garage to the house, figuring that repairs to the door and frame would cost more than a locksmith's fee, I realized it was time to meet the neighbors. Being in a state of undress, this required some strategery as I had first impressions and awkwardness to think of. I ruled out the old lady next door and the single (I think) mom next door. I had seen a guy across the street who had taken out the trash, tattooed and in a tank top, so I figured he was best equipped to feel comfortable answering the door and feeling as everything was normal. From there I found a yellow pages entry for a locksmith that is 24/7 and phoned in my request for entry into my house. My neighbor across the street told me his story about how he locked himself out of his house when he first moved in, and kicked in the front door.
Owning a house has definitely already come with its inconveniences, challenges, and adjustments. Probably the most challenging part is avoiding paying too much attention to all the things that need to be fixed, changed, or that just up to par in the house. I'm looking forward to a day when I can just come home and stick my feet up.
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Friday July 18th 2008
he idol of oil...
At St. Ann's Parish in West Bridgewater, Massachusetts, the Rev. Edward McDonagh has decided to institute a drawing for a $50 gasoline card at weekly mass.
The drawings are symbolic gestures and not intended to boost attendance, he said.
"When Jesus was at the wedding feast of Cana, the groom ran out of wine, he produced the wine for them," he said. "In that spirit, we feel that this might be comparable."
Source: Yahoo! News
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Friday July 18th 2008
hrift and thought on the part of an NBA rookie:
Timberwolves rookie Kevin Love, 19, whose contract guarantees him $5.4 million for the next two years, won't be buying a Cadillac Escalade or similar luxury sport utility vehicle like many of his teammates. "Maybe a Prius, because gas prices are so high," he said. "I'm all about saving money so I can have some security. I'm not chasing money; I'm chasing the game."
Source: Pioneer Press
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Monday July 14th 2008
here are, quite naturally, some things that I do in my free time for which I might feel guilty later, because I can say that I wasted time: for example, playing Half Life for a couple hours straight or watching a full two hours of America's Got Talent. But then there are activities after which I do no feel guilty, one of my more common such activities being running, getting exercise. Today I spent a few hours watching the Home Run Derby, and while watching the first seven out of eight contestants seemed like a waste of time, that all changed when Josh Hamilton's turn came.
Josh Hamilton, who grew up in Raleigh, was drafted first overall in 2003 by the Tampa Bay Devil Rays and was touted as someone who would be a great baseball player. But right away he fell into heroin addiction and poverty, leaving baseball behind and losing millions of dollars that he was guaranteed if he stayed clean and played the game. Then in 2005 he started to turn his life around. He became a Christian, fought his drug addiction, and returned from idleness to baseball. Last season was his first in the Major Leagues, and his return was impressive as he hit well and displayed the natural skills that earned him his accolades coming into the 2003 draft. His off-field life was impressive too as he retained accountability in guarding himself from returning to his previous lifestyle, and while he shared his story with struggling kids in America.
Now he has emerged as a great baseball player, and he set a record tonight at Yankee Stadium with 28 home runs in the first round of the home run derby (pitched to by a 71 year old who used to pitch batting practice to Josh when he was a teenager, and to whom Josh promised that he would take with him to the Home Run Derby if he ever made it there). The next closest competitor hit 8.
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E l s e w h e r e
Scientists find bugs that eat waste and excrete petrol (link added 06.16.08)
Crude oil is being created from genetically modified bug excretions.
Read it
Pringles can designer buried in his work (link added 06.03.08)
Designer of the Pringles can was cremated and his remains kept in a Pringles can.
Read it
P o e t r y
Contented Wi' Little, And Cantie Wi' Mair - Robert Burns
Contented wi' little and cantie wi' mair,
Whene'er I forgather wi' Sorrow and Care,
I gie them a skelp, as they're creepin alang,
Wi' a cog o' guid swats and an auld Scottish sang.
I whyles claw the elbow o' troublesome Thought;
But Man is a soger, and Life is a faught.
My mirth and guid humour are coin in my pouch,
And my Freedom's my lairdship nae monarch daur touch.
A towmond o' trouble, should that be my fa',
A night o' guid fellowship sowthers it a':
When at the blythe end o' our journey at last,
Wha the Deil ever thinks o' the road he has past?
Blind Chance, let her snapper and stoyte on her way,
Be't to me, be't frae me, e'en let the jade gae!
Come Ease or come Travail, come Pleasure or Pain,
My warst word is:- ' Welcome, and welcome again!'
S t o r y
R e a d
