Google Earth

Let me be the first to sing the praises of the utter coolness of Google Earth. Especially now that they have a free version.

If however you prefer to look up instead of down let me recommend: Celestia.

Many thanks ...

... go to all of my friends who got together to make the celebration of the 27th anniversary my birth so much fun.

I escaped the river without being turned into a redneck, either by the sun, or by the good ole boy on and around the river.

I must have forgotten to warn the group about the libationary skills of my wife (a.k.a. The Margarita Queen). I am glad that everyone made it home safely.

A special congratulations goes to Cliff and Chris for the announcement of their engagement. Although, we didn't expect it so soon ;-).

TTFN.

iTunes 4.9 With Podcasting Support

If it wasn't the case before it is now, Podcasts have hit the big time. Apple has added Podcast support to its newly released iTunes 4.9.

I would like to listen to the many cool podcasts that I have found, but I never seem to have the time.

Gentoo and e17

<geekSpeak>

I just wanted to mention that I have been building a new box at work for fun. I am of course using my favorite distro gentoo but, the item of note is that I am using enlightenment 17. I was a e16 user "back in the day" but, ditched it for Window Maker when active development stalled. The new version offers many reasons to switch from your current WM.

From the website:

"E17 is a next generation window manager for UNIX operating systems. Based on the Enlightenment Foundation Libraries (EFL), E17 is much more than just another window manager - it's an ambitious and innovative project that aims to drive the development of graphical applications industry wide for several years to come. E17 has not been officially released, nor is it supported yet. It's currently in a pre-alpha status and is under heavy development."

It is defiantly pre-alpha and not for the faint of heart but, if you feel up to the challenge I recommend it.

</geekSpeak>

The Onion 2056

The Onion 2056 is cool.

Justice

Killen was found guilty of the killings.

On top of the world, with a 270° view.

Had a great time in Ft. Mountain St. Park this weekend for Crease's birthday. My feet held up about 90% (I need new boots). The weather was gorgeous. The hike was awesome. The fauna was so dense in some parts that I had flashbacks to the Rainforests of Costa Rica. All of the gang gets my "cool to camp with" seal of approval.

Looking forward to many more outings to come.

Metathesiophobic Tendencies

I don't understand the "fear of change" phobia when it comes to technology. I can understand that some people adapt to new things on a different timeline than others but, when the advancement provides a dramatic improvement over the "old way" it should be embraced rather than rejected.

Like the commercial (who's product I can't remember) says:

You have to change the para-dig-um.

Sincerely,
Your resident Metathesiophile.

Oki

I am the proud adoptive parent of a loggerhead seaturtle named Oki. Erin adopted her in my name as a gift last christmas. They have recently updated their site to include my name as an adoptive parent.

She hasn't been seen since Feburary of this year but, you can see her movements up until then.

Asleep at the wheel.

Have you ever had one of those days. Lets say for instance that you just got back from a long trip. Maybe you have just been to Vegas for 5 days. When you get back the first day is great because you are still riding the wave but, on the second day you crash. I have crashed. I am afraid to close my eyes for fear that I will wake up two days from now face down on my desk with a drool encrusted beard.

I am looking forward to going hiking and camping this weekend for Crease's birthday. I haven't been camping in at least 6 months. I am treating the useless bone sacks below my ankles with as much TLC as I can between now and then so that I can participate without having to use a wheelchair.

Blog on the Road: Las Vegas, #5

So, after getting in bed about 6:00 I woke up and hit the road about 10:00 with Mike, Rhonda, and her Sister's family toward Hoover Dam. It was of course immense. We spent some time on the dam and then spent some well needed time resting in the air conditioned cafe.

Much thanks to Rob, Teresa, Robby, and Kate for showing me a good time. I had fun.

I spent the rest of the day exploring hotels. I think that the Luxor was my favorite in so far as overall ambiance. The Bellagio and Wynn are tied for "classiest". The Vencian had the best "outside replicated inside" section. The Bellagio had the best outside show.

The penny smashing was good today. I got nine for you Herschel.

At the airport now and my flight is boarding for the trip home.

I already have a reason to come back. I missed the Secret Garden Habitat and Dolphin show at the Mirage.

Blog on the Road: Las Vegas, #4

Does anyone else think that this guy is compensating for an inadequacy?

Blog on the Road: Las Vegas, #3

Well as it turns out I was able to turn it on for another night, and how!

I WALKED to Freemont Street. Walked is significant because it is a 10 mile round trip. Walked is also significant because I watched the sunrise on my way home. I saw the "real Vegas" enroute. I passed about 10 wedding chapels, 5 strip clubs, and saw one of the famous Welcome to Las Vegas signs. Freemont street was definitely an experience. I think that I enjoyed this area more than the strip.

The only bummer is that I had some where between $20 and $40 lifted (or dropped) out of my pocket.

Blog on the Road: Las Vegas, #2½

I forgot to mention the best part. While at the DLP party Elvis asked me to jump on his Harley and cruise for chicks with him.

Blog on the Road: Las Vegas, #2

So, Mike and I were talking with the Dell Reps on Wednesday and although the put off my questions about my headaches related to my 3300MP they did hook us up with passes to the Huey Lewis and the News private party that was hosted by DLP (Texas Instruments) among others.

The party was in Rain (watch out for audio) at the Palms. There was free food which was surprisingly good and free Beer, Wine, and Absolut and 7up. The Absolut and 7 had the highest octane and I figured that 7 was a good number so that is how many I decided to drink. No need to mention that I was hurting the next day but, at least I was functional.

I ended up not seeing Heuy or his News at all. I hungout poolside all night (which incidentally is the pool that MTV is currently shooting from) and met a local. He was a bar back by night and an 8th grade Math teacher by day. He said that he made 67k a year cleaning up drinks to support teaching AP math, which he enjoys. We ended up meeting some Germans which we hungout with the rest of the evening. Nadia from Hitachi, if you are out there you owe me a DVD player.

The bottom of my feet are going to peel off soon. Each of the smaller blisters that I got the first night have teamed up to form one big blister. They are even talking about forming a union. They demand that Dr. Scholls be signed as their exclusive healthcare provider.

I am gearing up for another night on the strip. I am not sure if I can make it two more nights but, I am going to give it the old college try. I am going to need to channel the partying stamina of Buckelew and the tolerance of Kari Krieg to make it happen. I am going to try to find the WPT tournament tonight to pick up some tips from Daniel Negreanu so that I can bring Pops back to his right full owner. Wish me luck.

Blog on the Road: Las Vegas, #1

So far, I have learned two fundamental truths about this town:

1) Nothing is truly free.
2) Only Las Vegas Blvd. has true sidewalks.

I learned the second as a direct rusult of learning the first. You see, Wednesday morning I woke up at my normal EST time of about 7:30 which is of course 4:30 Vegas time. I battled the demon imp that was holding my eyelids open for a couple hours but, had to get out of bed around 6:30. I found the Health Club in my hotel (Imperial Palace) and asked if I could use on of the treadmills. They wanted a "daily use" fee of $20. So, I went outside to run. Whenever I tried to veer off of the strip, the sidewalks went Shel Silverstein style within a block and a half.

I have only fed one of the reverse ATM machines so far. It was a Monty Python Holy Grail themed one so I consider it money well spent. As for table games one of the comedians described it best on the PA of the Flamingo Hotel. He said, "If you want to learn how to play Roulette it is a lot like Blackjack ... You put your money on the table and the dealer picks it up."

TTFN from the land of neon.

Do you see what I see?

When Herschel came to visit the other day he was excited to see what the view from the other side of my webcam looked like. Well for the rest of you here it is. As you can clearly see, I subscribe to the mad scientist philosophy of desktop organization.

Bright light city gonna set my soul
Gonna set my soul on fire
Got a whole lot of money that’s ready to burn,
So get those stakes up higher
-Viva Las Vegas!

I am going to Vegas in a couple of weeks. I have never been before. I am getting more and more excited as the days go by. I am going to be there for 5 days which should be about enough time to see 0.05% of it.

I would like to introduce you to Miss Suki. This is Herschel's "other bitch". It is currently in a hundred pieces in my garage, which has been rechristianed MAN LAND.

Ontology is Overrated -- Categories, Links, and Tags is a very cool read for anyone interested in Tags or any of the sites that use them such as: del.icio.us, Spurl, Flickr, Gmail, etc.