Waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaalt!

If you found Michael as annoying as I did in Seasons 1&2, then you'll certainly enjoy this!

Credit Cri$i$

Still trying to figure out the credit crisis? Here's the best explanation I've seen yet, probably because it's done in a visual way my brain can comprehend.



http://vimeo.com/3261363

Out of the Closet

I like to think I'm a different kind of husband. The kind that listens, can dress himself, can do chores around the house that don't involve a gas-powered engine, cooks, and makes a damn fine 5 cheese penne (Barefoot Contessa-Family Style). Then again, when I had to get my wife to put this together for me, I realized I'm slowly devolving. At least I could still pick out the socks on my own :)

Travelin' Man

One of the coolest parts of working for a company is when I have the kind of job that allows me to travel just often enough to enjoy a breath of fresh air at a new location, however, it does not require a constant schlep from place to place that quickly becomes draining.

Right now I find myself in such a pleasant position, especially considering I current tap out this post from Riviera Beach, FL!

Over the years I picked up some of my own traveling best practices for me. Given my "unique" habits of nutrition, fitness, and other rituals, you mileage with these may vary.

1. Packing as little as possible without limiting my activity options. When I first started traveling I figured I should pack work clothes, after work clothes, and workout clothes. This approach resulted in a suitcase (if I actually could fit it in only one) that was not only of backbreaking heft, it elicited sufficient ridicule from co-travelers to cause me to change my approach. I now continue to err on the conservative side and figure in "creative reuse" to my wardrobe planning. This trip I set a new record for decreased weight and decreased ridicule, so I must be figuring something out.

2. Pack GOOD snacks. Off-site meetings are notorious for cookies, crackers, and all kind of break time garbage that does little to satiate and lots to blood sugar spikes (and crashes). I'll stack up on kashi, odwalla, and other low-glycemic index bars to snack on during the breaks. The difference is most noticeable at the end of the day where I used to be antsy for dinner, I can now concentrate to the end.

3. Be realistic about how much spare time will be available. I originally packed books, planned blog posts, and the latest Toastmasters speech book to take on during the oodles of night freedom and travel time. Due to the needs to wind down at night and other pop up activities, I will now just bring a book to read. I travel lighter and with a more focused attack I make great progress through that one book. (Btw, "Art of Deception" is quite interesting right now)

4. I'm liking Southwest. The crew doesn't feel like they're on a forced march, the boarding process works for me, and the prices seem right...especially since they aren't hidden!

And now, up, up, and away!
Jonathan

Building My PC 10 - Deneument

I built this PC nearly one month ago and am happy to report I am extremely happy with the outcome.

Given the original requirements of looks, volume, and speed we excel on all fronts. The Antec case fits beautifully under the desk and you'll only know if it's on if you're sitting right next to it. The only downside there is I have to enter the office to make sure its off, where as before the whir audible from the hallway could answer that question.

Speed-wise the computer feels completely fluid. iTunes, the worst performing application prior to the build, once again responds to our commands. Switching users between Jackie and I takes about 5 seconds which is about the time it takes for us to switch chairs anyway. 

I finally "stress tested" the computer by running Command and Conquer 3: Tiberium Wars. (Previously I could only play on the old PC for 5-45 minutes before the computer turned itself off) With the settings on "High" the game runs beautifully. Although my weary RTS patience is a story for another blog.

From here on out I'm going to be a build-my-own kind of geek. I like having the comfort knowing I got the best performance for the price. Plus, if something goes wrong I feel that my familiarity with the parts means I'm freed from any Geek Squads or cross-world Tech Support. 

Here are some final notes:

• The PC transfer functionality that Vista provides to transfer files from an old PC to a new one proved quite useless to me as it quickly hung up on some files (likely due to wonky permission settings I didn't have the patience to look into). I went with just pulling my files across the network or dumping them on the external hard drive (where they should have been in the first place if I wasn't such a lazy bum about backups)
  
• The "Back Up My PC" functionality with Vista proves equally disappointing. I can't seem to tell it exactly what to back up, I can only click vague boxes that say, "Music", "Video" and "Additional Files". The idiot-proof "Back up entire PC" would probably work fine, but I do not yet have a hard drive big enough to handle such a data feast.
• The only DOA part was the Microsoft 2000 Curve keyboard. Then again, for $15 I wasn't exactly going for high end equipment. I returned it to Newegg.com last Monday and by Thursday the new keyboard had arrived. I always felt wary of returning items from online retailers and this effort represented by first attempt. It was quick, painless and from a return-ship on Monday Newegg.com had this new keyboard under my fingers again by Thursday. 

And finally, special thanks to BenM for helping me get Vista up and running!

Sequel, Roll Out!

UPDATE: Looks like the early bird got the worm. I'll repost once I find a link that works.

Well, since this is already online there's really no point in watching the Superbowl anymore...



And yes, I will watch this once a day for the next five months.

Roll here for the rest of the trailers: Dark Horizon's Trailer Summary

I give #2 (the honor, not the excrement) to G.I. Joe, although doesn't that dodge-the-missile-while-flipping move feel suspiciously familiar from Transformers 1?