Friday, February 28, 2003

kinda cool...shorterlink...does what it says.

posted @ 3:43 PM | archive_link | Comment

I flaked last week, but I am putting off working on my thesis right now, so this seems like a good use of time:

Friday Five
note: some gives it a thumbs down, but some are up for trying it...leave a comment with what you think
1. What is your favorite type of literature to read (magazine, newspaper, novels, nonfiction, poetry, etc.)?
It really depends on location. In bed, I am a fictional book (sci fi or fantsy) reader, on the couch or at my desk is best for technical books, the throne requries magazines or history books (yes, history books).

2. What is your favorite novel?
I hate questions like this (fil might be right). I would say Siddartha because every time I read it I learn something new about myself and my thoughts around spirtuality and religion.

3. Do you have a favorite poem? (Share it!)
Can't claim that I do...but I do like to bust out baby got back on a regular basis.

4. What is one thing you've always wanted to read, or wish you had more time to read?
5. New York Times, Sunday Edition
4. A good book on Chess Strategy
3. Design Patterns
2. Godel, Esher, Bach - an Eternal Golden Braid
and drum roll please....
1. The Bible (though I am not sure what version, King James, Gideon's, or another one).

5. What are you currently reading?
John Adams by David McCullough
Pretty intresting, if a bit tough to get into and read actively. Adams is a remarkably intresting charcter that got little to no air play in my us history courses. He is also on my list of historical people study in order to have historical mentors as through my lifetime.

Mmm...I don't think that was all together a complete waste of time...it was kind of fun to go and find links to things I hadn't thought about for a while. :)

posted @ 2:27 PM | archive_link | Comment

Check out this little USA today article. Running is tough!

posted @ 2:00 PM | archive_link | Comment

Thursday, February 27, 2003

I just got the iRiver MP3 player...seems loads better then the POS MuVo. Nice little LCD screen, simple and very usable software (my biggest worry), an FM tuner, and folder support for grouping "playlists" on the device. Only real complaints is the stupid plastic hook and lack of an arm band for running with it. Oh, and it was a bit more expensive than I would like, but then again what toy isn't?

posted @ 11:57 AM | archive_link | Comment

Wednesday, February 26, 2003

I have always dreamed of something like this happening. I hope they don't fuck it up and forget to do the following:

1. tie it into phyiscal mail as well.
2. make the UID possible for humans to remember
3. not address the security/privacy issue in a flexible manner through a multi access level system. Stranges go to one box, family to another, etc....

This idea + single rate phone calls = new era in human history. With communication boundries erased, the world totally changes and becomes a whole hella of alot level for a lot of people and ideas!

posted @ 12:22 PM | archive_link | Comment

The MuVo is the biggest peice of shit ever....DO NOT BUY ONE. This is the second one I am returning. I have yet to have mine work for more than 2 weeks, and have spent more money on shipping and time on the phone that this piece of turd is worth. My earlier rant about it was not enough, I am now fuck creative labs camp.

Now, for the upshot of this...the guys I bought it from, ecost, really have outstanding customer support. I just got off the phone, and they said sure, we will let you return it and sorry it sucked. Totally cool of them. Anyhow...back to the salt mines!

posted @ 11:21 AM | archive_link | Comment

Tuesday, February 25, 2003

I just did a kick butt 5 mile run. It went south along the coast and then double back through my little town and along my most favorite park in the area. Plus, I kept up a really good pace during the whole thing! I am really starting to catch stride! Yipee!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Wow, 5 miles is now an "easy" run. Scary!

posted @ 6:59 PM | archive_link | Comment

audblog audio post

posted @ 2:51 PM | archive_link | Comment

audblog audio post

posted @ 2:50 PM | archive_link | Comment

Last night I ***finally*** finished all of my donation letters for Team in Training fund raising.

If you are intrested in sponsoring my run and helping fund research to cure leukemia check out this letter and then donate online here. The donation is 100% tax free and will help find a cure.

If you have any question about the run, the program, or the experince please drop me a line!

posted @ 9:00 AM | archive_link | Comment

Monday, February 24, 2003

Check out the new content on the right hand menu...pages for the marathon, poker, bubba stuff, and a major update of my links page. Have fun....

posted @ 11:28 AM | archive_link | Comment

Its alive...its alive! Go download it today....:)

posted @ 10:58 AM | archive_link | Comment

Saturday, February 22, 2003

Okay, I am pretty stoked..I ran 9 miles this morning. It was a hilly course in Atascadero, but overall I felt really good. I can't believe I ran 9 miles already. Next week is 10, and from there it only gets bigger...in 2 months or so I will be at 20 freaking miles! Anyhow, you should be getting mail from me soon (if I have your email or mailing address) filling you in a bit more on Team in Training and the marathon. If you want to get a copy and you aren't sure if I have your info please email me your 411 asap!

posted @ 4:48 PM | archive_link | Comment

Thursday, February 20, 2003

Don't buy the MuVo as it is a POS. I am on my second one (the first one failed after the its second use), and it just crapped out on me. However, after futzing around with it for 20 mintues I got it to come back to life (not quite sure how that worked out, but hey don't question the small stuff) sans all the music I had copied over. Now, i am waiting for it to copy over music again (not to mention I have to hunt and for songs again...bastards!!!)

To compound all of this, I think it is all because the device firmware is crappy...it pisses me off royally when a company doesn't take time to do things right, and instead rushes off some crap that could have been good with a little more fit and finish.

In general, I have been ***very*** unhappy with creative products (also have a jukebox), and think today's experince has pushed me into the never again if I can help it catergory. As they say...Buh-bye Creative!

posted @ 9:56 AM | archive_link | Comment

Wednesday, February 19, 2003

This totally fucking classic. If I ever met him, I am going to buy him a beer!

posted @ 11:54 PM | archive_link | Comment

Tuesday, February 18, 2003

Oh, and another bites the dust! My friend Chris, an avid movie watcher and fellow geek has started a blog (maybe I can even claim I influnced him a bit?) to discuss movies and other things that occur to him. His site name is a refrence to a Clerks scene where one of the charcters, who works at a movie rental store, claims to not watch movies. If you haven't seen Clerks...go rent it....NOW! Oh yeah, his site is at:

idontwatchmovies.com

posted @ 10:11 PM | archive_link | Comment

I can't tell if I like this or not. Maybe if a few of my blogging buddies would sign up for it (hint, hint, nudge, nudge) it would be a worthwhile thing to try out...I will get the ball started and try it this friday. Deal?

posted @ 9:00 PM | archive_link | Comment

FYI (from haloscan.com):

Update We have found that the cause of the recent problems with the service were caused by a hardware failure in the database server. We are working to replace that server completely but in the meantime we have a backup loaded. No comments have been lost but we have temporarily disabled the posting of comments to the server until we have the database server replaced. Everything should be resolved and running Tuesday at the latest. Sorry about the problems and thanks for your patience as we resolve this matter.
they didn't say when tuesday though....;)

posted @ 12:53 PM | archive_link | Comment

Netgen (Threedegrees) goes big!

When I worked at Microsoft in Seattle, I was on this new team called Netgen. It was a crazy experiment which involved 7 new college graduates and a plan to do something crazy...ship a new v1 product from MS. The road to getting there was tough to say the least (actually that is the most I will say because I don't really know what I can say under my NDA), but it has ended well for the team! Over the last few days the product (now called Threedegrees) the team worked on has been getting some major airplay.

First to hit the stands was a Newsweek article (click the embbed link for a flash tour of the UI), then News.com had an article, and then it busted out big with a Slashdot article! Totally killer press and good initial reviews (well, minus the cynical slashdotters comments...) give me a warm fuzzy feeling. It also is incredible how quickly the news spread...go do a google search for "threedegrees" now and you will get reams of results. As little as 3 days ago a google query wouldn't even get you a link to the domain name in the results. Well, actually, maybe that is because one of the developers who left the team now works at Google? :) hehe...

I sent the link to a few friends and got an intresting universal response...how does this make you feel? Truth be told, I am excited...I helped design it and got it to the point where it was on a good path to ship before I left the team. Yeah it would have been fun to be there for the media swirl that is going on right now, but I have no real regrets about my decision. Plus, right now it is almost 65 degrees outside and not a cloud in the sky! :>

Anyhow, I am really curious to see what kind of respones it gets when end users get to start playing with it. The groups, winks, and launchpad were all things I was heavily involved with, so if you play with it and like/love/hate them let me know! :) Oh, and if you want to play with it go sign up here:

threedegrees.com

I am guessing they are going to ship the bits sometime this week or next. You need XP and a bunch of other things (don't worry, there is a handy dandy tool they ship to help get your system up and ready), but try it out if you have a chance!

posted @ 12:17 PM | archive_link | Comment

Saturday, February 15, 2003

I hate being confused. But I digress.

So, my long winded post generated a few calls to check in on my sanity, but overall...i think people understand I was just free flowing. Asynchronous communication is fasinating, cause you do not know what mind state (ie contextual assumptions) the author and the readers are in. Try your best to mean something one way, and it is still possible for people to take it another way. And, then there is the need to for ambiguity (perhaps obfuscation is a better term?) of personal information in a public outlet (i have some old post on it, but I am tooooooooo lazy to find it right now).

Anyhow, I don't think I will try to break the record tonight, but for now, I am going to go write about some thoughts in the thesis section of the bloggee, blog! Peace.

posted @ 11:24 PM | archive_link | Comment

Well...that was nice...I just ran 7 miles on a very hilly course. I kinda liked it...What the heck is happening to me? Anyhow, off to the bay area this weekend for a little QT with the family and friends. Wish me luck! ;)

posted @ 12:09 PM | archive_link | Comment

Friday, February 14, 2003

Hey Dr. Rogers!

posted @ 1:30 PM | archive_link | Comment

So, I feel like I haven't written a personal post in quite a long while. Somewhere along the lines I started writing my blog like "those other bloggers" who try to focus on content and cool links instead of letting people know what I am feeling AND what I think about those feelings. So, here is my go at it:

Right now I have been juggling a lot of diffrent things. I have a thesis to write. I have a marathon to train for. I have fundraising for cancer research to do. I have consulting work for my dad to take care of. I got a side project with some buddies. I have my future to figure out. I have my friends to keep up with. But you know what? I feel like something is missing. What is it though?

Maybe it is this whole crazy v-day thing. I don't talk about it often, but a girl I was once really in love with has her birthday on valintines day...and I realise that another girl I think is so amazing is slipping away. Plus, I haven't met a new girl that makes me do cartwheels in my heart for a long time. A really long time. Maybe that is what is missing?

Maybe not though. I mean all that stuff is a bunch of huey...love comes when it does, and not when it is forced or longed for. So maybe something else is missing? What? How come I am spending so much time thinking about what? My pops does things very straight forward...he just does them and worries about what they mean later. It has its benifits and draw backs...but overall, it seems to work for him. Of course, we are not the same person, so maybe it isn't for me.

Maybe nothing is missing, and human nature is meant to keep trying to add more or find more...after all evolution works in a biological manner, so why not in a phsychological manner as well?

Enough about that.

So, other things I am feeling and subsequently thinking about include...inertia. I only left the house to go running or to get food over the last 5 days. I have ***never*** been so introverted in my adult life. But it was easier to do stuff at home then to find things to do else where (I mean I am sure I could have called someone and done something social, but I didn't feel like it). I remember when I would do 50 things in 49 mintues...is that age catching up with me, or something else?

I noticed that when I write slowly I make very few spelling errors (still more than is acceptible, but I am the by product of spell checkers), and when writing things by hand, my script is exponentially neat. But for some reason, I like to write/type fast. Why is that?

Is this classic stream of councious writing or what? :)

I read 2 books in the last 10 days. One was pleasure: Wheel of Time book number 10, and the other was code...UI design with winforms. Talk about a little ying and yang action. Nevertheless, the process of reading was very pleasurible. My friend today commented on his lack of time to devote to reading and how he missed it. Little things in life are definitly nice, and easy to miss when you pack your schedule, or worse let something else packs your schedule.

My buddy quit his job in New York. Good high paying job, that most people would kill for...but I think he did the right thing. A little perspective, a little fun, shit...soon we will have morgages, families, and real responsibilities. We should take advanage of what we can now, don't you think? Mmm...what do I talk about now?

Oh, I know...last night I went to bed (stone cold sober) at 8pm. I just didn't feel like being awake anymore....and I woke up at 8am today (granted I woke up 3 times in the middle of the night, but easily went back to bed each time) and just started up again like nothing happened. 12 hours of sleep should have made me taller, or smarter, or something...don't you think?

My good friend is running her 1/2 marathon on sunday. How crazy is that? She is going 13.1 miles...who the heck does that for shits and giggles? I guess, the truth of the matter is she is helping change the world, and that is worth every step and every ache.

I have this really nice pen that I have been using to do everything in lately. It was a graduation present from an dear and close friend, who unfortunetly has drifted away geographically and emotionally. But I can't blame him, he has had a lot happen. A cross country move. A high profile job. A tough personal life. A lot...and I know that he knows that we are always going to be there for each other.

I wonder how long a blogger post can be, before I hit some hard coded character limit? I wonder if the client ui will prevent me from entering text past that limit? I think I will do a copy to the clipboard to make sure this ranty narrative is saved in case I do break blogger. I wonder how big a clipboard item can be? Not that I am worried about hitting that limit...when you can cut an paste whole webpages with graphics from IE to Word...who would have thunk it?

Am I feeling anything else? I think about my old job a bit, and what the friends and not so friends i met up there are doing. I wonder who I will still talk to in a year? In 5 years? In 25 years? Will we tell stories about how we knew each other back when we were fresh out of college before we did X and Y, and while we still partied hard and let people know who we really are? Remember the time....

How come the internet doesn't work right? I can't use my webcam with half of my friends, and things seem to be really sketchy in general. I mean, if we got to the moon and back (well, sadly we didn't manage to get everyone back from space...), how come we can't make some little 1s and 0s work consistently? I know, I know...I should know better being that I am a computer science major and all, but it is like the whole statistical birthday problem. You know, if you have ~20 people in a room, it s 50+% chance that two have the same birthday. It doesn't make sense, but it is true.

Why does water taste good sometimes, and not so good other times? And how come no matter who much I brush my teeth and how short of a time I sleep my mouth still has funky morning breath after sleeping?

If I got skinny, would people still call me bubba? How long am I going to go by bubba? Two of my roommates call me neel now a days, and I have taken to signing some mail as "neel." Who determines the use of a nickname? I guess I do, if I start introducing myself as neel, slowly people will adopt it...kind of like corporate branding of sports venues. But then again 3com stadium is not really 3com....it is Candlestick.

Well, i think i wrote enough to either a) make people ignore me, b) cause enough people to bitch me for something I said that I will be busy for days, or c)rambled on enough to make people wonder what is wrong with me.

That was fun.

What are you feeling and what do you think about those feelings?

posted @ 12:35 AM | archive_link | Comment

Thursday, February 13, 2003

Google, good or bad?
Notes:
With nothing but good things to say and feel about them, I was caught by suprise by this article...since the site doesn't definitely prove anything I don't take it too seriously, but, this might prove to start some further inquires by known organizations/individuals that will prove something. I mean, at the end of the day, corporations aren't out to make people feel good and smile (at least not many...), but rather they are there to generate revenue and continue to expand operations (funny....kind a like real living people). From dave.

posted @ 1:02 PM | archive_link | Comment

Wednesday, February 12, 2003

Bill Gates Memo
I got this from davenet when poking around his stuff. I still don't know what to make of it. Maybe all the negative hype about Bill is over rated and we have all taken the easy route of calling him and MS the evil empire. I mean, it is sooooo much easier to propagate a negative opinion about something than it is to propagate a positive opinion about something with an established negative opinion, right? Or maybe the hype isn't overated and there was some other intention driving this letter, afterall we don't know what the context or thinking was behind the letter he sent was...

Just food for thought for all of my microsoft hating and loving friends (of which there are many).

posted @ 11:30 AM | archive_link | Comment

Fil just told me filblogger is getting some loving...I can't wait to see it!

posted @ 9:47 AM | archive_link | Comment

he is unique

posted @ 12:28 AM | archive_link | Comment

Tuesday, February 11, 2003

Not the business I imaged starting What will those crazy kids think of next? From boingboing

posted @ 10:46 AM | archive_link | Comment

Monday, February 10, 2003

Matrix, Animatrix, and more
Pretty cool geek stuff...the matrix movies are coming out this year (two films in one year, pretty crazy stunt) and to build hype they also have a set of animated shorts (both anime and CG) to fill in more detail about the matrix. The first bit is availible now for free download as will the next 3 installments, but after that it is pay to see via dvd (yo, your first four hits are free man). If you are a geek, have at it...

posted @ 10:10 PM | archive_link | Comment

Great Concept...and execution
First time I have ever been to Mark's site...pretty good day to end up there.

posted @ 8:35 PM | archive_link | Comment

the spoils of victory, take 1

posted @ 12:41 AM | archive_link | Comment

Sunday, February 09, 2003

Oh, and i forgot to mention...I survived the 7 (maybe only 6.5+) run yesterday morning. Knees hurt a bit for the first time and asthma was a bit hairy (forgot my inhaler), but other than that I felt good and stoked that I did it! Christina went on her biggest run yesterday....the 17 mile loop in Monteray...very curious to here how that went!

posted @ 11:19 AM | archive_link | Comment

I love gadgets
From my new favorite blog - www.gizmodo.com. Note: it is babelfish translated from korean, so just look at the pictures and drool.

posted @ 11:17 AM | archive_link | Comment

Friday, February 07, 2003

Done and Done. I won. 2-1. I owned raquetball, and she owned tennis...both expected outcomes. Bocce ball was a bit of a race, but not a real challenge. Now, lets get the peanut gallery's reactions...

Klayko will say...great job...you beat a girl. way to go stud.
Travis will say...yeah, what Klayko says, ha!
Romani will say...lily, how could you let women all over the world down and lose to bubba?

I think that about sums it up folks...have a good weekend! ;)

posted @ 4:42 PM | archive_link | Comment

cklayko says:

Did you kick that girls ass?

bubba (who needs vin?) says:

the comp is today.

cklayko says:

I hope you got a full night sleep and big breakfast for the big compettion

Travis says:

LOL

bubba (who needs vin?) says:

lol

Travis says:

you gotta be focused, intense. it's going to take everything you have to pull
this off. you gotta WANT IT!

bubba (who needs vin?) says:

hahahaha.

cklayko says:

dig deep man

bubba (who needs vin?) says:

r-ball will be no challenge.

bubba (who needs vin?) says:

tennis will probobly go to her.

bubba (who needs vin?) says:

and bocci ball will decide the winner.

Travis says:

damn, then you're screwed

cklayko says:

I look forward to your next blog that depicts the results.. Make sure you go
into detail on each of the events

cklayko says:

you know.... "as sweat rolled down my face, I threw the last bocci ball which
seemed to tumble like hay thru a kansas plain, it finally collided with her red
ball it nocked it clear an I tasted sweet victory...

cklayko says:

Bubba I think you should change your IM name just for the day to "eye of the
tiger"

Travis says:

i think he's giving us the silent treatment

cklayko says:

no he is just stretching the days competition..

cklayko says:

come on man talk to us your making my day a lot more enjoyable...

bubba (who needs vin?) says:

sorry.

bubba (who needs vin?) says:

was working on something.

bubba (who needs vin?) says:

you guys kill me.

cklayko says:

your bocci form?

bubba (who needs vin?) says:

no, i had that down after learning to easily beat you in hawaii

Travis says:

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOHHHHHHHH

Travis says:

smells like a challenge, sucka!

cklayko says:

LOL

cklayko says:

at least there is some diginity lossing to a guy...

Travis says:

and so it comes out...

bubba (who needs vin?) says:

haha....

bubba (who needs vin?) says:

sigh, i have tears from laughhing so hard.

cklayko says:

your not alone

cklayko says:

my stomach hurts I've been crying all morning cause of this

Travis says:

any chance we can get a live video feed of the proceedings? is there going to be
an opening ceremonies?

cklayko says:

Yes hook up that web cam

cklayko says:

I want this shit documented

Travis says:

is there a bet for this? or just a "gentlemen's" bet?

cklayko says:

no travis you mean a "women" bet

cklayko says:

lol

bubba (who needs vin?) says:

beer, im names for a week, and some other shit.

cklayko says:

what is going to be your IM name if you win or lose?

Travis says:

NO, not IM names!!!!!!!!

cklayko says:

lol

bubba (who needs vin?) says:

probobly beat by a girl.

cklayko says:

I'm fucking crying.. my coworkers are asking what the fuck I'm doing

cklayko says:

let me and travis help you with that one

Travis says:

oh bloody hell. this is WAY too much fun

bubba (who needs vin?) says:

aight gentlemen....i need to be off.

 

posted @ 8:25 AM | archive_link | Comment

Thursday, February 06, 2003

So tomorrow, I have a challenge (well...maybe not really, more like a commitment), I am going to destroy my friend Lily at three sports. She drove down from Santa Cruz today (she had never heard of the term "granola" before...shesh...and is a child of the 80's for crying out loud!) for our raquetball, tennis, and bocci ball. She is ultra competitive, but has no chance at taking me on. In fact I was thinking of spotting her a sport...but her ego is toooooooo big for that! Anyhow...it is almost game time...i can already see the tears welling up in her eyes!

posted @ 10:42 PM | archive_link | Comment

Is it just me, or does sweet N low taste even worse after microwaving it?

posted @ 12:42 PM | archive_link | Comment

shell beach

posted @ 11:23 AM | archive_link | Comment

Wednesday, February 05, 2003

i want one

posted @ 12:06 PM | archive_link | Comment

it has been almost a year and half since the 9/11 tragedy occurred. Today while surfing, I found this
link (from new york times rss feed) that talks about the plans for the new structures to re-build the area. The ultra interesting part was the right hand side java link (pops a java script window and requires free registration, so I can't just embed link) that shows the proposals for the memorial and reincarnation of ground zero. Flash, and bandwidth heavy, but I highly recommend taking a look.

Human nature amazes me. The ability to re-create something positive from such a painful experience speaks volumes of why life is so great. No matter what happens to individuals or society we seem to overcome it and make as much positive as possible. A very important thing to learn and remember from the personal point of view.

posted @ 11:06 AM | archive_link | Comment

Monday, February 03, 2003

This weekend was absolutely killer! Friday night I was out to a Poly Rep fund raiser at Tortilla flats. I managed to find my old plaque on the wall from my 21st birthday night...YIKES! It was good to kick it and see all the new reps, as well as find out what is cooking now a days. Poly Reps was a club I was a memeber of during my undergrad days at Cal Poly and one of my favorite experinces and memories.

Saturday was the big day...i ran 6 miles in the morning during our first Team in Training full team run! Not only did I run 6 miles, I did so with out stopping! HOLY CRAP! Who would have thunk it...Needless to say I was very excited about the accomplishment and can't wait to hit next weekends 7 mile run! During the week I have four 3 mile runs on my plate, but feel fairly confident about that distance now, so it is just a matter of streching well and then knocking them out. I still can't believe I am running a marathon.

Saturday afternoon I drove up to bay area for Chris and Christina's Engangment party. I was supposed to bring up Christina's little sis, but unfortunetly she got some food poising (her aunt thinks she was just really hung over...funny family!) Anyhow, the party was at Chris's and I didn't know what to expect...I had never been to an enagment party before. After arriving, I discovered that my name tag was MIA and Chris's little sister took me to find Chris and it. That is how I found out I was a groomsmen! Chris's exact quote was classic, "I like to f*** with you," which pretty much describes how we goof around with each other. To say the least I am really excited about being in the wedding, also another first, because of how close I am to both Chris and Christina. I know most of the other guys in the wedding party, and it looks to be a very rocking group!

At night, I caught up with my folks for a nice dinner at our favorite chinese food joint. Mom just got back from India, so I got the 411 on her trip and I gave them an update on how everything is going for me. Pretty soon after dinner was done I was face down sound asleep in bed.

Sunday was spent at Dad's office getting some work done and working on my fundrasing letter for Team in Training (Oh, and come to my blog soon will be an online donation system...;) and then I saw Eric and Jen before I headed back to good old SLO town.

All in all, it was a pretty darn nice weekend.

posted @ 9:28 AM | archive_link | Comment