Mow the Lawn

Those wacky british are at it again.

mmm – beer

Good news of the day – Beer hydrates better than water.

woo hoo

It pains me to see my baby this way

Here is the source article.

Great Roger interview regarding the Pre

A much more “restrained” interview this time with Roger. (scroll down to see the video)

the fine print

From Boing Boing Gadgets
(2) Requires new two-year AT&T wireless service contract, sold separately to qualified customers; credit check required; must be 18 or older. For non-qualified customers, including existing AT&T customers who want to upgrade from another phone or replace an iPhone 3G, the price with a new two-year agreement is $499 (8GB), $599 (16GB), or $699 (32GB).

Math Geek Humor

Oh. My. Good.

Use a pun,
Go to prison.
…it’s the law.

NHTMMSWTF* #31

Woman bites lover’s penis off in car crash

*NHTMMSWTF = News Headlines That Make Me Say What The F#$k

Mac Geek Humor

NHTMMSWTF* #30

Voters in Swiss heartland ban nude hiking in the Alps

*NHTMMSWTF = News Headlines That Make Me Say What The F#$k

Rips my heart out

Survivor of war loses dog to random violence
There is no excuse for a senseless killing of an animal. Unfortunately the scum will be out on the streets in no time at all. Not sure I would have exercised the same restraint.

UPDATED – Landon’s road to higher education

UC San Diego – Acceptance denied
UC Irvine – ACCEPTED
UC Santa Barbara – Acceptance Denied
UC Santa Cruz – ACCEPTED
UC Davis – Acceptance Denied

WOO HOO – UC Irvine was his first choice. He is an Anteater now. He won’t admit it, but I think he is happy.

Landon’s road to higher education

UC San Diego – Acceptance denied
UC Irvine – ??
UC Santa Barbara – ??
UC Santa Cruz – ACCEPTED
UC Davis – Acceptance Denied

Shoot me now

From Boing Boing – Star Trek cologne

Safari 4 first impressions

It seems faster
It works with the Palm internal websites
Do not get the fascination with the whole Cover Flow thing – seems like eye candy with minimal value added.
Got it working with 1Password – which by the way is the most awesomest app ever – via the latest beta build.

The tabs on top are disorienting as hell – makes me nauseous to use them. Thank god for this note describing how to get back to the “normal” tab view

Going to use if for a week or so and see how it goes. I have Firefox customized with probably way too many add-ons. Let see which ones I miss.

The Big Picture

If you are not familiar with the Boston Globe’s Big Picture you should check it out. Each “episode” consists of 20-40 large pictures – some of which are stunning.

Needless to say, the first picture in the recent Carnival episode was, ummm, eye catching.

Deserted Island Discs

It is time to update my Deserted Island Discs (DIDs).
This is a list of the albums you NEED to have with you if you were stranded on a deserted island.

3 Rules:
1) You can not pick a Greatest Hits disc
2) Can only have 10 discs
3) There is no number 3

Did a pass through iTunes and came up with this as my starting list (in alphabetical order). This is to give you a sense of scope of music I am working from

- A Fine Frenzy – One Cell in the Sea
- AC/DC – Back in Black
- Against Me – New Wave
- Alanis Morissette – Jagged Little Pill
- Anna Nalick – Wreck of the Day
- Annie Lennox – Diva
- Arctic Monkeys – Whatever People Say I Am, That’s I’m Not
- Bad Company – Bad Company
- Beatles – Revolver
- Boston – Boston
- Bowling for Soup – A Hangover You Don’t Deserve
- Bruce Springsteen – The Rising
- Chalets – Check In
- Cheap Trick – At Budokan
- Chumbawamba – Tubthumper
- Death Cab For Cutie – Plans
- Def Leppard – Pyromania
- Depeche Mode – Violator
- Dixie Chicks – Home
- Eagles – Hotel California
- Fleetwod Mac – Rumors
- Foo Fighters – Echo, Silence, Patience, & Grace
- Foo Fighters – In Your Honor
- Good Charlotte – The Yound and The Restless
- Gorillaz – Demon Days
- Green Day – American Idiot
- Matchbox Twenty – Yourself or Someone Like You
- Midnight Oil – Blue Sky Mining
- Pink Floyd – The Wall
- Police – Sychronicity
- Queen – Night at the Opera
- Raconteurs – Broken Boy Soldiers
- Rush – Permanent Waves
- Sheryl Crow – C’mon, C’mon
- Snow Patrol – Eyes Open
- Spoon – Gimme Fiction
- Sting – Brand New Day
- Styx – The Grand Illusion
- Talking Heads – Speaking In Tounges
- The Cat Empire – The Cat Empire EP
- The Corrs – In Blue
- The Swell Season – The Swell Season
- Tool – 10,000 Days
- U2 – Joshua Tree
- White Stripes – Icky Thump
- Yellowcard – Lights and Sounds

And my final 10
(drumroll please)
- The Beatles – Revolver
- Boston – Boston
- Bruce Springsteen – The Rising
- The Eagles – Hotel California
- The Foo Fighters – Echo, Silence, Patience, & Grace
- Green Day – American Idiot
- Pink Floyd – The Wall
- The Police – Sychronicity
- Queen – Night at the Opera
- Rush – Permanent Waves
- U2 – Joshua Tree

Ok, I cheated. It is a Bakers 10. I notice that most of these albums are from my younger days. I think that is a result of the positive memories the music on these albums has.

So what is are your DIDs? Which would you add/subtract from my list?

The Plug

aka – Lessons in Home Repair.

First – did you know there is a reset button on the bottom of your garbage disposal? Did you also know there is a hole/slot that you can use to manually turn the motor?
Several weeks ago the garbage disposal stopped working. It would make the motor noise but would not turn the blades. Hitting the reset pin did nothing to resolve the issue. Was talking to a neighbor and he mentioned the hole/slot that you can use to manually turn the motor. Lo and behold I had the correct torx screw driver to fit in the hole/slot. I rotated the motor by hand in the reverse direction and unstuck whatever was jamming the works.
Disposal back to grinding things and all is well in the world

Jump forward to last weekend. Disposal stops grinding the leftovers. Tried the steps outlined above and no joy. Figure it must be time to replace the disposal. After a quick call to my handyman hotline (aka my dad) I learn that all I need to do is disconnect the hoses (inflow from dishwasher and outflow to the sewer) connected to the disposal and rotate the disposal counter-clockwise to release it from the mechanism that holds it in place.
Making note of the make and model of the disposal I head off to Lowes. In no time flat, and $90, I have a new disposal that is ready to be installed into the place it does it’s magic.

Steps to install seem pretty straightforward – no need to RTFM (read the fracking manual). [you see where this is going, don't you] Lift and rotate to hang it from the mechanism that holds it underneath the sink. Connect the plug with a couple of wire nuts. Hook up the two hoses. Flip the switch and hear the sweet sound of a 1/2 hp motor doing it best to make leftovers into little bits.

Jump forward to Tuesday morning. Woke up to some water on the counter next to the sink. Figured it had to do with the fact I ran the dishwasher last night. Easy cleanup and started thinking what could be the problem.

Jump forward to Friday morning. Woke up to lots of water on the counter. And on the floor. And in the lower cabinet. Definitely has something to do with the dishwasher and pretty sure it has something to do with the disposal because that is the only thing that has changed. But not sure how the pieces fit together – or in this case, don’t fit together.

Time to call my handyman hotline – who by the way is in Norway and was driving back from a week of skiing in a storm. Figured it was best to call back when he reaches his destination.

Called my handyman hotline back and quickly described the going-ons. His first question to me – “did you remove the plug?”. Me: “what plug?”

Seems not everyone that installs a disposal has a dishwasher so not everyone has a hose connected to the top opening. For those unfortunate folks they plug the opening so that they don’t have water, etc. spilling out under their sink. Makes sense.
But see, I have a dishwasher, so I have a hose that connects to the to opening. And when the dishwasher runs it tries to expel the excess water into this little opening – the opening that is plugged. AAAAAHHHHH – Lightbulb moment.

So, remove the top hose. Insert screwdriver. Hit with hammer. Hear a satisfying pop. Reach into the disposal and remove plastic plug.

Lessons learned
1. My handyman hotline is getting old and left out critical data. Yep that must be it, because the fact that I did not RTFM is not my fault. He should have told me about the plug. Yep, that is it. Not my fault. Nope. No way.

Personally – I would drink it

Ran across this article awhile back – The Many Uses of Vodka. I don’t see myself using the Grey Goose for the ideas suggested in the article. Time for Costco run and cheap spirits.

Consider this your educational blog entry for today.

Megapixel Myth

I was having a conversation with Connor last night regarding a point and shoot camera that is listed has a 15 Megapixel (Canon G10) camera versus a DSLR that is listed as a 10 Megapixel camera (Nikon D80) – which one gives better pictures.
First thought is the point and shoot would do better – it has more megapixels, right? This article helps explain why megapixels don’t matter – size matters.

Great commercials

Ran across these commercials that are floating around the web – thought I would share. Definitely not for the kids and borderline NSFW.

From BoingBoing – also checkout the “outtakes“

Those wacky Norwegians are at it again.

Movie Reviews

Saw a few movies over the holiday break. In order of likeness

Slumdog Millionaire : Rating A : After coming within one question of winning 20 million rupees on the Hindi version of “Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?” 18-year-old Mumbai “slumdog” Jamal Malik (Dev Patel) is arrested on suspicion of cheating. While in custody, Jamal regales a jaded police inspector (Irfan Khan) with remarkable tales of his life on the streets, as well as the story of Latika (Freida Pinto), the woman he loved and lost. Danny Boyle’s film was nominated for four Golden Globes, including Best Picture (Drama).

   A great feel good movie.

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button : Rating A- : David Fincher directs this adaptation of F. Scott Fitzgerald’s classic tale set in the early 20th century that follows Benjamin Button (Brad Pitt), a man who was born in his 80s and continually grows younger. The story throws linear conventions upside down to explore love, loss and memories from the perspective of a character living under incredibly unique — and unexpectedly difficult — circumstances. Cate Blanchett co-stars in this Golden Globe nominee for Best Picture (Drama).

   The thinking movie. Great makeup and SFX

Gran Torino : Rating A- :Crusty, inflexible Korean War veteran Walt Kowalski (Clint Eastwood) must confront his Hmong immigrant neighbors – and his own long-held prejudices – when the family’s teen son, Thao, tries to steal Walt’s beloved 1972 Gran Torino. Walt soon assumes the unlikely role of guardian angel to young Tao and his sister, who are vulnerable to disturbing gang influences in this intimate drama from 78-year-old director Eastwood.

   Great Clint movie, but the previews portray the movie differently than it actually is.

MOTD – The Gaslight Anthem :: The ‘59 Sound

Found these guys because they were listed as the album of the year at emusic.com. Figured if so many people liked it I should check it out.

Pretty darn great. Some great toe-tapping music.

For Strength

I thought I had talked about my recently acquired love of Guinness but could not find a post – so here it is.

When we adopted the black lab and named him Guinness a neighbor gave me a four-pack of Guinness as a gift.
Prior this I had not been a really big fan of Guinness/Murphys/etc. Just felt they were too, well not sure what I thought but it was not my drink of choice. Well, one four-pack later and I have seen the light and Guinness has become my drink of choice.

Fast forward to this fall. Guinness is also the drink of choice for several of the developers that I work with. They enjoy their Guinness in style with their official Guinness Glasses. I thought the glasses were pretty gosh darn nifty and some day I would have to get me some.

Fast Forward to Christmas morning. Guess what Beverly got me for Christmas? My own set of Guinness bar glasses. It has been awhile since I got excited by a gift – this one got me exited. Thanks very much dear, now I can drink in style.

Hi. My name is Jess …

and I am a Twitter/Facebook/blogging addict.

Thought these 5 Stages of Twitter Acceptance was apropos. I like to think I am at Stage 4+.

If you have lost anyone special

I found Annie’s blog via Wil Wheaton awhile back. She does not post often, but when she does her writing is great.

She has talked about her step-mom’s passing in the past and in this post she shares her thoughts on the pending anniversary of her death.

Money quote – Call your parents. Ask them how they are. Tell them you like them a lot.

Great conversation on gay marriage

Caught Mike Huckabee on The Daily Show the other night. The second segment was awesome.
Money quote – “Religion is far more of a choice than homosexuality”

A matter of perspective

I was talking to my sister-in-law this morning – my sister-in-law that lives in Norway – about the weather there. She “complained” that it was warming up – it was almost at 30 degrees fahrenheit.
I had to laugh – if it got to 30 here we would not be complaining about it being too warm

Yet another way for guys to compete

Hurry and order your Erectile Quality Monitor.

Money quote – obtain an erection via your stimuli of choice

Borderline NSFW.

Thought it said men’s taste

An Article in Scientific American says “Recent research suggests that the contraceptive pill … could affect which types of men women desire.”
It has something to with the man’s smell and how the pill affects a women’s sense of smell.

Wanted to say something witty, but drawing a blank – any whoo – The more we know, the less we know.

Will history be a harsh judge?

Not that I am a “kick a guy when he is down” kinda of guy – but you reap what you sow.

Pretty much everything I read that is political I take with a grain of salt – some a really big grain of salt. So I read this article with that caveat and was not focusing so much on the drinking, but more the current situation in the US that might lead one to drink.
If the president is drinking or not does not really matter. I think the fact that “With less than two months remaining in office, George W. Bush, witnessing a devastating defeat for the Republican Party, worse favorability ratings than those of Richard Nixon at the height of the Watergate scandal, and the most devastating economic situation since the Great Depression” – that could lead you to drink, or at least be less than happy.

We can argue that the seeds of what we are seeing now were planted years, if not decades, ago. We can argue that we are seeing/not seeing positive results in Iraq. We can argue that we are successful/not successful in Afghanistan. We can argue that we are in a recession/depression. We can argue that this is all the fault of the Republicans/Democrats.

Bottom line – the buck stops with the President of the United States and this President has not measured up. I find it hard to build a case that supports a claim that Bush will be leaving behind a positive legacy.

I hope that one positive that comes out of our current situation is that we learn that having too much power that pulls us too far in one direction – to the right or the left – is a bad thing. I believe that a significant majority of the citizens of the United States live in the middle. Not too conservative. Not too liberal. They want our country to do the right thing, be a good global citizen, and perform in a manner that reflects well upon it’s citizens.
I hope that the next administration can move us in that direction.

BTW – image from here.