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2004-01-05T02:07:00.000-08:00

Breaking Radio Silence.

Wow, blogger is slowly but surely upgrading their UI...good stuff!

Travelling, and that is one of the best reasons to use a blog...

Anyhow, I am in AMD (Ahemdabad), India right now - where my aunt (in gurjathi she is called Massi) lives and where my Grandfather lived before he passed away. This is also where Gandhi-ji kept his ashram. I leave tomorrow morning to meet up with my cousin and brother in Delhi and then to Haridwar - the main purpose of the trip. Haridwar is the start of the Ganga river and where we are going to perform last duties for my grandfather. Kind of tough emotionally, but good because it is a chance to say good bye to him and properaly say put him to spiritual rest.

Before coming to AMD, i was in BOM (Bombay or Mubai now) visiting my aunt (in marwathi she is called Booaji) and cousin and his family. Spent New Years in a club in BOM dancing to indian techno, eating "handy food" and having a few indian beers. A bit before midnight, the club had belly dancers come out to entertain the crowd. Also, at midnight, no kisses, but rather hand shakes! While in BOM, i visited the Gateway to India, the Taj hotel, Rajabai tower, and a few museams. Oh, and I ate a freaking boat load!

My start point in India was CCU (Calcutta or Kolkata now) on the 26th night. I saw uncles (taujis and chachas), cousins, and friends. The majority of time in CCU was spent seeing various family members. With over 25+ first and second cousins it was a full few days. I also went out to a few night clubs and saw a bit of the tourist trappings that all cities have. I continue to learn more about my family history and slowly am being moved from young adult to full adult status. Two of my cousins in CCU, Vikas and Anurag, are my age and we get along really well - so that always make CCU a good time and visit for me.

Now jumping forward, after Haridwar my brother and I will be going to Jaipur, Pushkar, and Udipur - all cities in Rajasthan. Rajasthan is where my father's family is orginally from, and in previous trips we have visited our ancestorial havelis and temples. This time we hit the major tourist sites and see how well we manage completely on our own. After Rajasthan, I will go to the Agra solo to check out the lauded Taj Mahul - 8 trips to india and I finally get to see it! Then it is time to head home, re-adjust to california (& the usa), and then start working.

Food on this trip has been increadible - pani poori, sevi puri, tikkas (chicken, panner, kabobs), naans, chuna bathuras, and more. Plus, the singapore hawker food was pretty good too (oh yeah, i checked out singapore for a day on my way to india - not bad, not great). My low carb, high protien diet is wrecked, but i am really enjoying the both the vegitarian and non-vegitarian fare this time. Highlights have been pani poori in BOM, sevi poori in AMD, Chuna Bathura in CCU, some crazy kebob in BOM, and chicken tikka in AMD. Plus, the Naan is unreal everwhere! Controling sugar intake, so carb effect has been minimal...but I am looking forward to getting back on track.

Last thought - cell phones are all over the place here - less then 2 cents a mintue for national, and 20 cents for international to usa. Plus you can get a handset for $10 bucks! Unreal!!! Okay, time is done on this terminal...later!

2003-07-21T16:33:00.000-07:00

counting packets.

2003-07-20T23:49:00.000-07:00

Hey make sure you check out www.neelbubba.com/blog as I am posting the majority of my stuff there now a days.

2003-07-11T08:48:00.000-07:00

From Chris and Christina...Japanese-Matrix-Ping-Pong.

2003-07-09T20:36:00.000-07:00

I just posted a long story about my cousin's wedding...with pictures thanks to bubba blogger! If you have comments, you might want to leave them here...

2003-07-03T00:51:00.000-07:00

This says it all. Man oh man, is this what I am to be know for online?

Other intresting things I found from my site statsitics (provided by sitemeter...thanks!):

8% of traffic comes from .mil domains
2% of traffic comes from Microsoft.com (i wonder if billg has come by? lol)
1% of traffic comes from canada (thanks karen!)
~50% of visitors share my time zone (pacific standard time, -8 GMT)
73% of visitors use IE 6.X
19% of visitors use IE 5.X
4% of visitors' browsers don't support css or dhtml
~18% of visitors enter the site at the in and out page
~8% of visitors enter the site at the livejournal usage analysis page
A little less then 9,000 people visits have happened since I begain tracking them
A little less then 18,000 page views have happened since I begain tracking them

Definetly not an "a-lister" type blog, but not bad considering I am not all that intresting, have more typos & grammar issues then a 4th grader, and post sporadically at best. I am super curious about what other friends of mine see in their site stats. Karen? Chris? Neema? MC? Joe? Guy? Greg? Aaron?

2003-07-02T16:05:00.000-07:00

I just realized I haven't explicitly mentioned my other blog here yet. I will continue to use this one but will be more active in the other one. Why? Well, it was a VERY important concept I learned while working at Microsoft...eat your own dogfood. What does that mean? Well, simply put it means use the stuff you create...and use it heavily, even when it is still a work in progress. MS product teams do this with everything they write (or at least they try too) and imho it is a key to good software managment and design. You, the creator, find problems, edge cases, and brain farts far before your users do. You learn what potential problems (ie bugs, weird UI/UE) might be before they happen, and hopefully get to fix them before shipping your stuff out the door. More importantly, you learn what works and what doesn't in real life. Design decisions can look great on paper, but when you live with the consequences of your decisions every day you get a much better idea for how great/terrible they really are. Then you fix them. Then you do it again. Isn't software grand?

BubbaBlogger is not nearly as polished as I wish it was, but I am using it. If you want to too just let me know...then you can tell me what stinks about it and what doesn't. Of course, you could also just read my ramblings and curses about my own dog food instead...

Here are the links:

www.neelbubba.com/blog (yes, it is lowercase...breaking my previous naming conventions, but I am slowly but surely relenting on the idea that directory caps are a good idea in URLs).
www.neelbubba.com/blog/rss.xml (no void star, no crap, no excuses...I have it and it validates on winer's validator)

2003-06-29T23:16:00.000-07:00

Went to the town of rough and ready today. I am now the proud owner of a t-shirt that says:

"Where the men are rough, and the women are ready"

Town of Rough and Ready, California.

We happened to go through town on their Succession Celebration day. The day is a celebration of their seceding from the union for 3 months over taxes and states rights.

It is really amazing what is out there to be discovered.

2003-06-27T12:00:00.000-07:00

Excerpt from this New York Times article:

"Online registration will be available at www.donotcall.gov [not up yet], officials said. The trade commission has staggered phone registration to handle the large volume of calls expected. Residents of states west of the Mississippi, including Minnesota and Louisiana, may register by phone starting Friday at 12:01 a.m.. The entire country will be able to register by phone as of July 7. The phone number is (888) 382-1222. The registry will go into effect Oct. 1."

about frigging time

2003-06-26T15:00:00.000-07:00

When you download stuff of the P2P network of your choice go ahead and move it out of your shared directory!

2003-06-26T14:37:00.000-07:00

Intresting cell phone adoption data point.

2003-06-26T12:37:00.000-07:00

Well, I am migrated to the new blogger. How fun! Now go read this (from chris...pretty funny) and this (well don't read that if you don't want to read about Harry Potter V).

2003-06-22T23:12:00.000-07:00

Oh, and other thing swiming in my brain...new harry potter...spent the eveing reading book 5.

Do not read if you don't want to hear or discuss harry potter V until you have finished reading it

Is it just me, or does harry seem a lot more aggitated about life, ron/hermoine seem much more secondary in the story, and that sirus/dubledore are pulling 180s in their relationship with harry? I am sure it is all for a reason, and I am only about 250 pages deep, but overall the entire book style seems vastly diffrent then the previous four. Of course I haven't read the four books in quite a while, and I am sure I have forgotten more then I remember. Terrible analysis on my part, but reading this so far, I haven't felt the same draw I felt to the previous books. Of course I did read 250 pages today, so I guess I can't say I am not eagerly consuming and enjoy it at level that is not common among most books I read.

2003-06-22T22:55:00.000-07:00

Proof, submitted by my "friend" Rama, that I have been a dork for quite a while. Note the date...January 1995...that was a long time ago in an age where email was not nearly as prevelant or depended on; pine was the reader, bbs were the file sources, and 486s ruled. Still debaiting if those will be the "good ole days" or if today will be the "good ole days" of technology in 25 years. Today the web is every where, i use a windows and office for most everything, and i have tons of spam & pop ups everwhere I go. Back then i got homework questions answered by email, used the unix shell and mosaic/netscape for everything, and didn't know what spam was. Today MP3s have changed music, IM has ruined my productivity (in a good-bad sort of way), and most people can't use their computers as they would like too. Back then computer games changed entertainment (consoles too!), girls ruined my productivity (in a bad-good sort of way), and most people couldn't use their computers...period.

Mmm...

2003-06-21T00:06:00.000-07:00

Today was rock solid...

Hit the greens with my roommate Greg today. I am still a sucker pimp when it comes to golfing, but my last three holes were promising...laid up 25 yards of the green on the 7th hole; on the green on the 8th hole, and 10 yards off to the left of the green on the 9th. Now if only I had a short game... I think the bug is catching and I can't wait to go out again soon. Still playing with all irons, but soon (~1 month?) i hope to start hitting my woods on a full length course.

Also checked out the Concert in the Plaza in downtown SLO...man the place was going off. Families, 20 somethings, and old people all drinking, grooving and having a good time. Way cool. Never been in SLO for the summer, but already it is looking like a lot of fun...now I just need to finish my pesky little thesis.

2003-06-18T21:41:00.000-07:00

You can thank Karen, Nikki, MC, Walter, Blake & all the other crazy msners for the new msn im client. Highlights include:

File transfers work...all the time (caveat: both people must have MSN IM 6)
Custom Emoticons
Background skins (ala 3d's skins)
Games! I will beat you at tic tac toe.
Character Tiles

Have fun!!

2003-06-17T19:17:00.000-07:00

Okay joe here you go:

You are Neo, from "The Matrix." You
display a perfect fusion of heroism and
compassion.

What Matrix Persona Are You?
brought to you by Quizilla

2003-06-17T09:57:00.000-07:00

Long time no talk, how you do'in?

2003-06-12T00:56:00.000-07:00

I couldn't resist...I sent in a resume. Boy has it been a long time since I have done that. Worst case scenario, it will be good practice for my cover letter writing skills. *grin* I wonder how many emails his post generated?

Special shot out to Travis for the quick turn around on a resume critique...good eyes, good eyes.

Oh, and I have been forgetting to share Caroline's Vegas rule, so here ya go:

Trips to Las Vegas are always more fun with a big group people who are of the same gender.

Kinda true from my past experinces...

2003-06-11T22:12:00.000-07:00

Wow, I won!

2003-06-11T20:43:00.000-07:00

This is just wrong.

2003-06-10T10:35:00.000-07:00

I want one! From meta filter.

2003-06-10T01:11:00.000-07:00

Guy had asked me to add him to my blogroll quite a while ago and I kept forgetting...until today. IncidentIy, I checked my blog's page rank in google (was a 6, now it is a 5) and I realised I need to get my blogroll rolling on the front page to spread the love. It is quite intresting to see how much of blogging is an ego related exercise. Did I mention I am a blog daddy? lol...geek humor is terrible.

2003-06-09T23:54:00.000-07:00

A new section of the website is now up...go to www.neelbubba.com/Marathon for more information about my running adventures then you probably ever wanted!

Also, I updated the in and out page with a new secret item...animal style fries. Yes, I have already tried them...complete heart attack in a single serving container!

2003-06-05T12:37:00.000-07:00

404. From Adam Curry's Bloggy Blog.

2003-06-05T12:21:00.000-07:00

A while back I posted a link to the kid pretending to be darth maul. The video was all over the net and travis just sent me this wired article that talks about it and the blogger that interviewed the kid. As travis says, "you crazy bloggers."

2003-06-04T13:40:00.000-07:00

Greg says:
god im a geek... im ordering a programming book to read in my spare time

bubba (finisher) says:
i do it all the time.

Greg says:
yeah.. you're a geek too

2003-06-04T01:43:00.000-07:00

Some more marathon details:

Pictures:
Pic 1
Pic 2
Pic 3
Pic 4
Pic 5
Pic 6

Video:
Clip 1
Clip 2

Sorry for the click to see...but I am still working on building a final site for all things Marathon related...

Thanks to the support team that was out in full force to help me cross the finish line!

2003-06-03T00:02:00.000-07:00

2003 Goal List:
...
~~run marathon~~
...
more details forthcoming

2003-05-30T02:00:00.000-07:00

Okay, this is gonna be (most likely anyway) my last post until after the marathon on Sunday. I leave for San Diego tomorrow at noon (on a bus with the team) and come back on monday night. Our coach told us we would be feeling all sorts of odd pains and hear diffrent noises in our joints this week because it is game time. Funny how much of sports is a mental thing, something I have always known but am constantly reminded of at game time.

Anyhow, here are the top 5 questions I have heard in the last week:

q: You nervous?
a: Naw (you believe me?).

q: How far are you going? YOU are going to run that?
a: Yup...no, really, no shit. I swear. Really.

q: What do you think you are going to feel like at the end?
a: jello + high + accomplishment

q: You going to do another one?
a: Probably. Maybe. Here, lets just get this one out the way, okay?

q: Did you know that you get a beer at the finish line of the race?
a: Its the little things like this that re-affirm that there is a supreme being.

"Nothing great was ever achieved without enthusiasm." - Emerson.

FINISH LINE HERE I COME!
(sorry for yelling, but I am excited!)

2003-05-29T15:06:00.000-07:00

My roommate Greg now has a blog (well he has had one for a few weeks). Go read it (and laugh...).

Update: I shouldn't type urls...cut and paste is my friend. :>

2003-05-27T14:24:00.000-07:00

I have been lightly blogging as of late. It is funny though, because as of late there have been many funny interchanges with my friends that would be perfect for blogging, but I alwasy forget them before I get infront of the computer. Anyhow...

I went up to the Bay Area this weekend for a myriad of events. First off was sloshball (softball with a keg at second and a cup of beer in your hands at all times) with the BSE crew. Lots of folks were in town because of memorial day and a wedding, so it was a bit of a reunion of friends from college. In case you didn't know sun+keg+movement == funny shit...some of the "plays" would were so bad they were awesome. After sloshball, I headed over to the folks for some dinner and to get ready for Grady Green's (I love that name) graduation party. Grady has one of the biggest families I know of, and they were out in full effect. After a few turns on the Kariokie machine I had to call it quits and get some sleep.

Sunday was a family bbq with my uncle and his family. My cousin Millane and her hubby were out from NYC, so it was really nice to catch up with them. Then it was off to Tim & Katie's wedding. Now this was a huge reunion...it was out at Boundary Oaks golf course in Walnut creek and half the wedding attendees went to Cal Poly. With an open bar and a great DJ, the scene was a bit out of control. I heard (but haven't confirmed this) that the Bride & Grooms room were decorated quite nicely while everyone was dancing away. Hehe. This was a great wedding to start out wedding season with...bring on the rest of them...gulp!

Monday morning was spent improving my xbox with my buddy rama and getting some work done with my dad. Then on my way home I went to the (future) Klayko's house for a little Memorial day BBQ. Always a good time when Chris & Christina are hosting a shin dig. Finally, on the way home I stopped by Aromas to see my friend Scooter for a bit before finishing out the drive.

Whew....good weekend.

Now this week is the week...the week before my big date with 26.2 miles. This sunday i am going to be running, walking, and if need be crawling 26.2 miles in San Diego. I am really excited and can't wait to nail the race shut. Agenda for getting ready includes lots of pasta, rest, and some very light running. More on the race when I write next...

2003-05-22T19:56:00.000-07:00

Buffet on Taxes. I guess being rich doesn't make you a finacially conservative when it comes to taxes. Cool. From andrea's photo blog.

2003-05-21T23:33:00.000-07:00

So I am getting ready for a redesign of the site...I am trying to find a list of all CSS2 compliant browsers...anyone know where you one exists? I haven't found one yet.

Also, for everyone that hates my current style sheet...I just checked and it validates. With some warnings, but it should work more than it does. :<

2003-05-21T12:44:00.000-07:00

Cool bio 2 points for creativity.

2003-05-21T11:18:00.000-07:00

Check this out...San Luis Obispo vs. Seattle. Seattle friends...come visit!!!

2003-05-19T15:29:00.000-07:00

Today's Laugh. Via rub-a-dub rama and because Klayko requested it.

2003-05-19T10:05:00.000-07:00

Today's Laugh. Via J-Dub in the big D.

2003-05-18T22:00:00.000-07:00

I bought an iQuarium this weekend for Brusier because he has survived so long.

It never fails to amaze me how much the iMac influnced industrial design . Funny enough, it appears that the iPod (along with iTunes and the Apple Music Store) is changing the music world. I wonder what Apple will try to change next? Video Games? Sex? Cell Phones? I can't wait to see...

Defintion: iProduct -
(1) refers to products that are shipped in multiple colors (often blue, orange, red, green, translucent) skus that gives the consumer "choice" on which version they want to buy thus making commodity purchases a little more intresting.
(2) an attempt to cast something as a cool new take on an existing technological gadget space. Homage to Apple's unique ability to ship "revolutionary" new products that aren't totally new, but rather a near perfection of how the technology/gadget should work.

2003-05-18T19:44:00.000-07:00

Note to self...it is true, nothing is scary then a women's scorn. Seriously.

2003-05-18T19:42:00.000-07:00

I met Aaron in a class at Cal Poly when I was speaking about Blogging and my thesis/project. I guess I must not have sounded as silly as I ususally do, because he started up a blog. Anyhow, he is an avid poker player, so soon I am going to take his money (shh don't tell him), but until then he still has enough money to pay for webhosting for his site...so check him out. Oh, and did I mention that today is his birthday? The big 22...man, getting old is a bitch, huh? lol.

2003-05-18T16:07:00.000-07:00

Yesterday's run was really good. It was supposedly 14 miles, but I think it might have been closer to 13. I ran it really well and felt pretty top notch after it was done...it is amazing that 4 months ago I would have scoffed at the idea of running a half marathon before 11am on my Saturday morning! Nowadays I don't think about if I could run it, but rather about how fast I am going to run it. Crazy!

On a more serious note, while the physical accomplishment is a great reason for joining Team in Training the reason it exists is to help find a cure for Leukemia, Lymphoma, and other blood related cancers. My friends Travis and Jude just finished up their Triathlon with TNT, and in the wrap up letter they shared this:

"There’s one more story we’d like to share about the weekend. On Friday night everyone had dinner together as a team (carb-loading!), and after dinner team honorees spoke of their struggles and triumphs with blood-related cancers. The last speaker was a participant from another team in the Bay Area, just like us. He told the crowd that just the day before he had been diagnosed with lymphoma, and would not be able to compete in the race on Sunday. Never had we heard such a sudden gasp from so many people. In that moment we were both reminded once again of the uncertainty of life, the gift of health, and the larger meaning of our involvement with Team-In-Training. It’s not just about getting in shape, or having a personal triumph; it’s about saving lives, and trying to make this world better for people who are suffering."

Why am I writing about this? Simple...I wanted to plant a seed a motivation...it might not take root this year, and maybe not even next year...but at some point I hope you check out the Team in Training Chapter in your area and consider committing to "help save lives one mile at a time."

2003-05-16T17:45:00.000-07:00

Down in LA with my little brother helping him move into his new appartment. He freaking lives at melrose place...pools, college kids in bikini's and board shorts , and lots of beer make up his new appartment's landscape. He is stoked!

E3 yesterday was a bit disapointing. I didn't feel compelled to play anything and was only blown away by one demo...Ninja Gaiden by Tecmo. Unreal graphics engine and cinema production. I was only at the show for a few hours, and perhaps that contributed to my disappointing take away. Or maybe I am just to tied to my favorite genre of games (fighthing ones) and nothing was outstanding in that area (doa online, bfd). On a side note, I saw capitalism at its finest...because both E3 and Lakers were going on at the same time, so parking was at a premium...to the tune of 85 dollars for lots close to the Centers. Unreal.

Newport Beach is a lot of fun...go check it out if you have a chance.

And a heartfelt good bye to the Lakeshow for this year....don't let the door hit your Jlo glasses off your face on your way out.

2003-05-15T09:07:00.000-07:00

Gonna go hit E3 with my friend James. Later...

2003-05-15T01:22:00.000-07:00

I liked it. Hedionism of Zion was a bit much, the CG was a bit overwhelming, but the action, the fun, and the umfoof was there for me. Warning...don't read this if you don't like spoilers...

(really don't)

I am envisioning a matrix parallel to another matrix. Too much symmetry between the "real world" and the "matrix" for it to be chance. Other thoughts: Exceptiong handling anyone? Locke vs. Decarte? Christ, Judasim, & other religious arches? Doplegangers?

Sleep time...as I have to go to E3 tomorrow. Tough life, huh? lol.

2003-05-13T21:46:00.000-07:00

Word of advice...don't try to run if you don't have your asthma inhaler. The lungs just don't work too well...like breathing through a straw. YUCK.

2003-05-13T21:45:00.000-07:00

Dude...the spurs won by pure luck, and I am happy. I still can't believe the in-out-in-out on that last shot.

2003-05-13T01:27:00.000-07:00

I was thining about diets today and came to the conclusion that the run your ass off diet is much better then the starve your ass off diet. What do y'all think?

2003-05-12T11:54:00.000-07:00

Typing Monkeys. Thanks to rama for this little gem.

2003-05-11T17:30:00.000-07:00

Just scored 8 tix to the matrix reloaded sneak preview on wednesday night...ye-haw!

2003-05-10T18:15:00.000-07:00

I ran 21.9 miles this morning...the longest run of the season (well, until the marathon). I am tired and my body is sore. But i did it and I am proud of that.

2003-05-09T12:30:00.000-07:00

So I just finished watching the animatrix part 4. I am completely amazed by the Wachowski brothers. They have done so much deep thinking and planning around the story, the charcters and the alternative universe they created. Lots of things are going to be building the story of the matrix in the next 6 months...so here is a highlevel timeline since the first movie:

The Matrix - Sets up the story and builds an amazing following. (March 1999)
The Matrix Revisited - Shows the depth of thinking that is going into creating the upcoming movies, video game, and anime shorts. (Nov. 2001)
The Final Flight of the Osiris - A 9 mintue CG short done in conjunction with Square (final fantasy games and movie). This was the intro to the Animatrix, a project that the Wachowski brothers put together to help fill in more of universe they created. It was shown before the screenings of Dreamcatcher (March 2003) as a special teaser.
The Matrix Reloaded - Next week the second movie of three is released. Easily one of the most anticipated movies of the year. Trailers are availible at the main site, but again I can't link directly to each one (there are about 11 of them). There is also more media coverage on this movie then I have seen in recent movie history. (May 2003)
Enter the Matrix - Since the Wachowski brothers don't sleep they decided to sim release a video game with Matrix Reloaded. Intrestingly, it is not a rehash of any of the movies, but rather another expansion of the Matrix Universe. It was directed by the brothers, and features 1 hour of new film footage to help build more info for people to digest. (May 2003)
The Animatrix - Nine anime shorts, 4 written by the Wachowski brothers, all directed by big names in the Anime world (I am a geek, but not that far in yet...so I don't know much about the directors). They released 4 online to download for free and in June 2003 they will release a DVD that contains all 9 (good upsale!). I would link to each dowload, but the site is flash and frames so it doesn't play nice with links...go there and get them yourself. (June 2003)
The Matrix Revolutions - Not much is known right now, but supposidly the first trailer will show after the credits of Matrix Reloaded. Also, the Matrix Reloaded is supposed to leave people hanging pretty bad...so this is going to be a painful wait. (Nov. 2003)

Is that it? Man, those guys sure are lazy. Riiiiiight. Some other intresting things I found while surfing that are matrix related:
Hack the Matrix - Use this guide to help your hacking.
Matrix Fan Site - I am sure there are many, but this one has cool fade in and fade outs. lol.
Keanu Web - I shit you not...

I have a bead on matrix tickets for a 10pm showing on wednesday night (I would get to see it a full 2 hours and 1 mintue earlier then most of my friends)...if you live in the slo area drop me a line if you are intrested in going!

2003-05-07T23:29:00.000-07:00

I am hooked...capcom vs. SNK 2 EO is my new vice. Move all other vices down one on the totem pole. My only gripe: I can't connect to my friend Vic because our router's don't like each other (i think they are both "5 tuple" routers, but am not sure). I even tried putting my xbox on the dmz, but it failed (doesn't help that both of us are behind not one, but two NATs - our routers and an ics connection because we are using laptops as the wirless bridge in our living rooms). Man oh man...if only they had built live support into marvel vs. capcom 2...then I would never have to leave the house. As my friend travis pointed out...I have sunk to a new level of geekhood. Long live geeks!

2003-05-07T13:03:00.000-07:00

Wells Fargo gets my digital thumbs down for the day. Their online branch directory does not include the phone numbers (just addresses!)...I had to bust over to yahoo to get the info I really needed...pretty weak sauce experince.

2003-05-06T21:35:00.000-07:00

All you crazy blog writing friends of mine...sign up for blogtree so we can start our own forest!

2003-05-06T21:32:00.000-07:00

Nuns in motions. My friend Kristin never ceases to amaze me with the Circuit Traning Gym she opened!

2003-05-06T17:38:00.000-07:00

Shoryuken.com - Your Street Fighter Competitive Edge I shit you not that is the title of this site. And even worse...I am going to be a regular visitor now that I own Capcom vs. SNK 2:EO. I know, I know...I have a problem. But look, I am not alone! :)

2003-05-06T13:35:00.000-07:00

Tapwave sounds cool.

2003-05-05T21:45:00.000-07:00

I am sick...this sucks.

2003-05-02T15:25:00.000-07:00

GOOD LUCK TRAVIS & JUDE!

(for the record they are nuts...this weekend they are running the Wildflower Olympic Distance Tri)

2003-05-02T15:20:00.000-07:00

Copious update, part II:

I got into downtown Seattle around 9:30pm and we were out in full force by 10:30! We headed to an old stand by, Tia Lous, to meet up with who ever was game to play. I got to see TONS of old friends and dance with some good looking ladies. After closing down Tia Lous, we hit up the local hot dog stand to get fuel for a late night venture to afterhours. We were home in time to catch the 5am news. :)

Saw a bunch of friends, and there were some pretty funny observations that I wanted to record in the blog, but unfortunetly I don't remember them any more. :( I think I am going senile...

On sunday night, the boys and I met a JLo look alike and the best part was her name was Cristina Lopez...hehe.

Monday night was spent with two very good friends, Vic & Jenn, that also happen to be engaged. Vic and I are total Street Fighter II devotees, so we played the newest iteration, Capcom vs. SNK 2, for a while. I could go off on its high and low points, but over all being able to connect to a live human player at any time makes it ridiculously addictive. I ordered a copy and started getting my xbox live set up as soon as I got home. I know fear for my thesis and social life. *grin*

Tuesday night I had dinner with Karen. We went to an old favorite, wasabi bistro, where I got to be reminded of a fateful night there about a year ago. Lucky for me, Karen still puts up with me (of course I do have to put up with her, so it is more than fair) and it was really good to get some QT in with her. She is working like mad on MSN messenger, and I can't wait to see the next release...it will be pretty killer.

After dinner we caught up with more people and caused some more trouble in the Seattle downtown scene...

Before heading back to SLO on Wednesday I hit up the Pike's Place market for breakfast. Then headed over to my old team's offices to say hello and catch up on the latest happenings. It is amazing to see how much had changed in the last 6 months.

All in all, it was a most excellent trip. Saw lots of great friends, got to play with some cool stuff, and had fun expanding my mind. I have one more big update, but I am going to need to draw something for it, so I will get it up later.

2003-04-30T23:52:00.000-07:00

I owe a copious update...consider this part 1:

On Friday Trev bones & I set out for our longest run of the training...18 big miles. We decided to do a lapped course, so we ran Pisatch twice. Before heading out we stashed drinks, gummi bears, and energy bars along the path. Trev trucked the distance and finished in 2:36 and I was "just" behind him at 3:46. 18 miles under the belt with no major negative side effects other than some soreness that is to be expected. One point of note, was my first 2 miles were painful because of my left shin...don't know exactly what happened, but it slowed me down pretty bad. My thinking is that I was running a bit diffrent because of a conversation I had with a friend about how her coach makes instructs them to run. Nevertheless...it was pretty amazing run!

Saturday was Open House at Cal Poly. One of my favorite events on the Central Coast. My buddy Ryan and I emceed the event and managed to get some laughs and fun out of the crowd. Plus, we exchanged shamless promotions on stage for free food from the zillion's of clubs out selling stuff to make some cash for their coffers. Fun & Filling (expecting a low blow from klayko on this). The Indian Students Association was a large presence this year with three acts on stage...and all were very, very good. I have an intresting relationship with my cultural heritage that is not always as deep as I would like it to be. I will save my thoughts on that for a future post.

Saturday afternoon I headed up to Seattle via the Santa Maria Airport (SMX). I had a heart breaking loss along the way...my In-N-Out burger managed to leak grease and weaken the structure of its to go bag. It ruined the stack of papers beneath the bag to my dismay. Worse, when I picked the bag up and made my way to the terminal the burger broke free and landed on the floor...it was a HUGE bummer. I have never hated on In-N-Out before, but they need to do something about their bags so that this doesn't happen to someone else. Okay, so maybe it isn't that big a deal, but it sure did suck.

Ending part 1 because I got a boot load of work to do today. In part 2 expect to hear about the seattle trip & other goodness...

2003-04-24T20:58:00.000-07:00

My buddy (name with held for his own protection) pointed out how funny MSN search is...look at the results for google and cnn.

2003-04-24T15:12:00.000-07:00

Audioscrobbler.com & Synapses look like cool ways to generate suggestions on what to listen to next...nice when you have a huge digital music collection.

2003-04-24T11:36:00.000-07:00

TiVo's Home Media Option...looks like I may finally break down and buy a freaking tivo.

2003-04-24T09:39:00.000-07:00

Been getting ready for the seattle trip...really looking forward to seeing all the great friends I made up there. Plus, stomping around my old hood will be most excellent. Leaving seattle was a tough thing to do, and the friends up there certainly didn't make it any easier for me to leave.

My thesis is going aight. My advisor came over on monday night and I showed him my work. He wants me to start changing gears and focusing on writing the thesis, and spend less time on the implementation work. Fair enough...and I will probobly wrap up bubbablogger in the week after I get back from seattle. My friend Joe was nice enough to license me his FTP code and I intergrated it a few days back...so right now I just need to finish up some style sheet work and a couple of modifications I want to make and then it will be done. I am debaiting releasing it to the world, but probobly won't because a) I don't want to support it & b) it is not full featured enough to be intresting to most people.

Running has been going pretty good. I have developed a few pains that have me slightly worried. My right side hurts like a side stich, but deeper after running for a few miles. I try to breath and strech it out, but it doesn't work so I ususally just ignore it with mind over body thinking. Additionally, my mid section has a couple of sore spots, which doesn't make any sense to me...Legs are actually pretty good considering my milage base. I am starting to use my second pair of shoes (right now just walking around in them to break them in) which means that game day is getting close. A month and a week. Holy shit...this is going to be awesome. My pace gets better and better and tomorrow (not saturday) I am going to go for the longest run yet...18 miles yo. Who would have ever thunk it?

Been hanging out and doing the thing too. Went out on the town last night with Trevor, H-bomb (Heather), and A-bomb (Autumn). It was Heather's Birthday and she was pretty celbrated out by the end of the night. Pretty fun night...going out on a school night is just fun in general.

In blogging news...I can't believe how much has changed in the last 4 months. Winer's @ Harvard. Sixapart has funding. Blogger is Google. By the end of the year, AOL, Yahoo, and perhaps even MSN will have blogging intergrated into their product line ups. A hellofalot of people know what blogging is now, and even more are blogging themselves. Glad I got to play on the edge of the mainstream addoption...

2003-04-24T09:20:00.000-07:00

Three words that should be in a row: pink denim jacket.

2003-04-23T21:19:00.000-07:00

Playing with the WMP9 music blogging plugin and W.blogger. W.blogger is pretty nice, but I wish it had a better ui for viewing previous posts. Actually, I think it needs a few ui changes...but I really do like rich client blog editors...

[Listening to: Busted Stuff - Dave Matthews Band - Busted Stuff (03:48)]

2003-04-22T08:57:00.000-07:00

I don't know if anyone else has ever noticed how much the buying on the internet is like shopping in flea market or third world country bazaar (except you get stuff you **might** actually use as opposed to the shruken heads or cool lama wool rug). You can almost always pay less then a) what the msrp of any item is & b) what the retailer of your choice is asking for the product when you first arrive to their site. Example: go to dell, select something...then open up a new browser window and go to google...type "dell coupons". You will come up with almost 100,000 matches...but more importantly the first page or results will get you free shipping, 10% off, or $50 off of $500 (or sometimes all three). Try this with Staples, Amazon, Buy.com, BestBuy, or pretty much any other major e-retailer. Pair this technique up with mysimon or similar service and you can get prices that are amazingly low while still having the confidence in retailer you are purchasing it from. And if you want to get advanced...starting thinking about sales tax implications when selecting your merchant...

2003-04-20T11:00:00.000-07:00

Travis and I had a good time this weekend. We geeked and talked about life stuff that we had not had a chance to do in quite a while. My favorite part of the visit was our run. We busted out a ~11-12 mile run and talked about everything and then some. It was the first time I had articulted some of the thoughts I have been having for a while and it was good to get travis's take on them. Plus we got to be boys and make stupid jokes and laugh at all the funny shit that has happened since our last talk. From the physical point of view, the run wasn't in record breaking time but it was good to get pushed by running with someone who is faster than me. Thanks for coming down Travis.

My friend Chelsea was in town on thursday night. Chelsea and I have a long standing friendship that has gone through some pretty big ups and downs but some how we have managed to remain pretty darn close. Her visit was full of laughs, fun and good food...we had dinner at Rosa's in Pismo Beach. The food at that place is pretty unreal. I had only been there one other time (for my friend klayko's graduation dinner), but I only have myself to blame for that. I had this steak that was rolled with garlic and mint and then simmered in a red sauce; knifes need not apply for that meal...it was increadibily fork tender. C-dawg had this artichoke pasta that was full of tasty goodness. After dinner, we caught a flick (pretty good, but had its cheesy ass moments) and played some darts downtown. A really good night out on the town.

So changing gears...

So it is funny what you learn from books. Not textbooks, but books about life, history, and the such. I just finished "what should I do with my life" and one of my biggest take aways was on becoming a parent. I have always been leary of the responsibility and of the impact it will have on my "freedom." But, the part of the book that spoke about becoming a parent, and what it meant to some of the people featured in the book was pretty amazing. Part of me doesn't want to be a spoiler, so I won't quote an except or paraphrase what I read. Nevertheless, I think my long standing relectuance to have children has been whitled down to near nothingness. Don't worry mom and dad, I am not talking about going out and doing this tomorrow, but rather when the time and situation is right, I will not balk at it. This is from the guy that 6 years ago swore that having kids was not part of my master plan.

Reading this book made me think of another book that I always found to have a suprising take away from. 7 habits of highly effective people. All the great points and rhetoric about how to become effective and happy were awesome, but I truly loved the author's little blurb on love. It is only a 1/2 page or so (bottom of page 79 of the soft copy version), but it makes a lot of sense to me.

Anyhow, need to get some serious shit done today and for the rest of this week as I am heading up to seattle on saturday. I can't wait to play in my old school hood with my buddies up there...this is going to be a long ass weekend!!!

2003-04-19T23:04:00.000-07:00

Bingo...I've got rss! Now everyone leave me alone and stop asking for it...

2003-04-19T22:54:00.000-07:00

Trying another post, because voidstar is not creating any items in the rss feed (though the channel info is being created).

2003-04-19T22:49:00.000-07:00

Test link to see how voidstar's rssify script works on my blog. Cross your fingers...I might have a rss feed working.

2003-04-18T20:15:00.000-07:00

Travis pointed me to espn page 2 today...where I found this hiliarious article about the Boston Marathon.

2003-04-17T10:59:00.000-07:00

My friend Seb is conducting a survey on blogging...please help him out! The results will be presented at blogtalk, the first big blogging confrence in Vienna. There are surveys for both bloggers and non-bloggers.

Update: I need to learn how to read. It is Lilia Efimova's survey and not sebs...but that shouldn't matter...take it now!

2003-04-17T10:51:00.000-07:00

Good article questioning the design of the new Nokia phone that has many salivating.

2003-04-17T09:48:00.000-07:00

My lungs felt like they were going to explode today. I don't know what the dealio is, but it was not cool. I still pushed myself hard and got in the high 9s for a 5 mile run this morning. My coach and assitant coach both got some viral thing and they described running with it like running with a half a lung...and that was what I felt like today...I really, really, really don't want to have gotten whatever they got.

Tomorrow my buddy travis is coming down so we can geek out together. He wants to know about blogs...and it will only get geekier from there. :) I am totally stoked about his visit! Hopefully the weather will be kick ass tomorrow so we can go enjoy the best thing on the central coast...the sun and the beach!

2003-04-16T14:17:00.000-07:00

I have been reading Po Bronson's new book entitled, "What should I do with my life?" (a fast company article about the book with excerpts). It is pretty intresting and is akin to a shrink refelecting about his personal career, the lessons he learned from his clients and how the two are related. I don't know that reading it will help anyone answer the question, but it certainly serves as a good start point for the discussion. Here is a quick excerpt:

"Lately, I've found myself talking about what I call the Brilliant Masses. The Brilliant Masses are composed of nothing less than the many great people of our generation, the bright, the talented, the intelligent, the resourceful, and the creative - far too many of whom are operating at quarter speed, unsure of their place in the world, contributing far too little to the productive engine of modern civilization, still feeling like observers, all feeling like they haven't come close to living up to their potential. The Brilliant Masses are mostly intellectually motivated, so if they cross over and get involved, their commitment is conditioned on being respected, and conditioned on a minimum of unnecessary idiocy, and conditioned on winning/succeeding. They like being cerebral. In their tribes, it's cool."

2003-04-16T01:01:00.000-07:00

Fuzzy Rappers. This is some pretty funny shit...you need quicktime, but watch this and feel free to laugh out loud. From davezilla.

2003-04-15T13:10:00.000-07:00

Sweeeeeeeeet. From the leet internet surfing skills of my main man Ezar, the code monkey!

2003-04-14T22:45:00.000-07:00

Giants get another win tonight! I was scared during the top of the ninth, but they pulled it out beautifully. Damn, they are sizzling right now!

Hit up a short 3 mile run today, but for the first time I got into the 9s for my pace. High 9s, but the 9s nonetheless. It is really good to feel and see progress through training.

2003-04-14T21:24:00.000-07:00

In Searching the Web, Google Finds Riches. A nice little NYT peice on Google with some numbers on their revenue...

2003-04-13T22:30:00.000-07:00

guywilliamwelch.com. Another one bites the dust...welcome to the blogging world.

Honestly, Guy is one of the smartest and wittiest people (almost said guys...) I know. He has a very grounded yet unique take on the world. Plus, his dry humor could give a brit a run for the money. Do I have high expectations for mr. welch? Yes. Will he deliver? Yes.

2003-04-13T21:37:00.000-07:00

BAM! Bottom of the 12th and the Giants sweep, let me say that again, SWEEP the dodgers.

2003-04-13T21:26:00.000-07:00

Blogging and Baseball...america's new favorite combo (up there with garlic and fries, jack and coke, and in and out).

2003-04-13T21:21:00.000-07:00

HOLY SHIT! Out at Third again...god it sucks to be a dodger fan tonight!

2003-04-13T21:12:00.000-07:00

I hate the ump tonight.

2003-04-13T21:11:00.000-07:00

So I can't spell, google still loves me.

2003-04-13T21:07:00.000-07:00

YES! I am watching the top of the 11th...2 on with no outs to start out...and NO DODGER RUNS!

2003-04-13T18:42:00.000-07:00

Yesterday's run was hardcore. For those of you who know San Luis Obispo we ran from Broad & South (meadow park) to the Avila Beach exit (San Luis Bay Dr.), out to the gated community, and then back town. The first 12 miles were solid at ~11 mintue mile pace that felt good. Then I started to feel the distance and by the time I got to 15.5 miles I slowed down to a walk. I was a bit bummed since the last 4 miles brought me up to just under 12 mintue miles. Plus my legs were just done at the end. I still have a month and a half to get the endurance down, but it was a bit of reality check about how long 26.2 miles is going to be. Regardless, I felt like a champ for doing 16 miles before noon on a Saturday.

After the run I took my coach's advice and tried out the fabled ice bath. I filled the tub with 75% of the ice from the freezer and started to water all the way to the right. FREAKING COLD is an understatment. But after sitting in it for about 10 mintues my legs felt much better and I am now a firm believer in the mythical power of the ice bath. My one additional piece of advice is to augment the ice bath with a nice hot water bath a few mintues later. Anyhow...

The rest of the weekend was pretty chill. Watched 40 days and 40 nights which was pretty funny. Had a bit of a chick story hidden among the obvious guy humor movie it was packaged as. Also caught Blue Crush. I know, I know...but I had to see the surfing (riggggggggggggggght). One thing to say about the movie...I think living in Hawaii for a little while would be awesome. It is so beautiful that I can't believe it is real some times. Plus if I could find a Kate Bosworth I would be a happy man. Lol.

In other news, I got my taxes done and mailed this week. Over the last few years I have tried a bunch of approaches from tax software to H & R Block, but this year I did it by hand. Why you ask? A good friend's Dad started working at the IRS and he relayed to me that Tax software often screws up people's tax returns and that the individual is still liable for all mistakes. When I took it to H & R Block I was very unhappy with the quality and throughness of my return. So I took the time to read and learn the tax law and went ahead and filled out the forms. It was actually pretty straight forward and I couldn't believe how easy it was to actually do them by hand. I did have my Dad's CPA review them, but now that I have done it once by hand I am pretty confident about the whole process. If you have a full copy of Adobe Acrobat (not just the free reader) you can download all the forms from the IRS and easily fill them out and submit a clean typed copy (actually even if you have the free reader you can fill them out on the computer and print, but it is really nice to be able to save the digital copy). Something to consider if you have pretty straight forward tax situation.

Anyhow, back to the Giants game. GO GIANTS...sweep (kinda...yesterday's game got rained out) the Dodgers!!!

2003-04-11T16:26:00.000-07:00

Tomorrow I have a 16 mile run. That is going to be a doozy. I am carb loading a bit tonight (bread, and lots of it) and going to take it easy so I can nail the run. The cool part about it, is I used to run distance at about 15 mintues a mile. Now I am down to 11-12 mintues. So if I had to run 16 miles when I first started training it would have taken 4 hours...now it should take right around 3 hours to get it done this weekend. That is some cool progress in my opinion. Oh, and yesterday's run was almost a new record for me...it was 4 miles long and I did the first 2 right under 20 minutes, but on the back 2 I slowed down and finished the whole thing at 10:30 pace. I think I will be able to get runs less than 5 miles to under 10 minute miles soon. I am pretty excited about that because I have never broken 10 mintue miles in my life. Have a good weekend everybody!

2003-04-11T01:22:00.000-07:00

I shit primes for breakfast.

2003-04-10T15:26:00.000-07:00

Getting air play is cool.

2003-04-10T12:11:00.000-07:00

Blah. Actually double that Blah, Blah. Thats all I got.

2003-04-07T23:53:00.000-07:00

So we had a little party this weekend. Totally bitching (except for the day after's hang over and clean up chores) with lots of great friends from the area and out of town coming to the event. Like the previous Big Bad Birthday Luaus we roasted a pig, made lots of jungle juice, and made sure people got lei-ed. The weather cooperated...sorta....it was nice and sunny, but a bit too windy to be called a nice day. Anyhow...as the saying goes...a picture is worth a thousand words...so go here to see 50,000 words or so about the party.

Oh, and best part about the party...we raised over $600 for TNT and the Society. Thanks to everyone that came out and helped celebrate our birthdays and support the cause!

2003-04-07T17:19:00.000-07:00

Gas Protection Thanks Garrett.

2003-04-03T14:21:00.000-08:00

Get involved. I think I might wet my pants from laughing at this.

2003-04-02T01:48:00.000-08:00

Oh forgot to mention...knocked out a great 7 mile run today. Time was getting closer to breaking 11 mintue miles...and if I did that I would be SOOOOOO excited. Only bad part was some pretty nasty side stiches that slowed me down at the begining and the end. Need to talk to the coach about those...and probably need to start eating bananas. G'night.

2003-04-02T01:46:00.000-08:00

Got my second surprise of my b-day...a bunch of friends that live in SLO town were waiting for me at Firestone to celebrate the b-day during dinner. Not only did they surprise me with their presence, but they also caught me off guard with a ton of water guns that were used to soak me in assorted places. By the end of dinner I was completely soggy, but totally full of great food and good vibes from my friends. Plus Darnell, the man that keeps firestone running day in and day out, took a couple of special jabs at me over the mike to make sure everyone knew that 25 might as well be 30. Rat fink. :)

I also spoke with my Grandfather in India. He is 90 years old and still goes to work every day to make sure things get done. He has had an increadible life and never ever ceases to remind me about what is important. I am going to attempt to see him (and all of my relativies in india) this year after I finish up my master's thesis work and before I start my next challenge. Being born and raised in America but having the majority of my relatives in India has always been a challenge as I don't get to see or interact with them as much as any of us would like. Plus the cultural and language diffrences between the countries contributes to the challenge of communication. I wonder what (if I have any) my children's relationship with India will be like.

All in all it was a great birthday with many friends and family making time to call, write, or IM me happy birthday wishes. I felt really loved and can't believe how lucky I am to have so many good friends and family members in my life. I am truly blessed and need to make sure I never ever forget that. Thank you to everyone that shares sooo much with me.

2003-04-01T11:08:00.000-08:00

Today I am the big 25. Maybe not wiser, and probably not smarter, but definetly older.

My folks popped a good birthday surprise on me on sunday night...after we got back for dinner about 30 friends were waiting to ~~scare the shit out of me~~ surprise me. Mom got my favorite cake and everyone hung out and had some food and drinks for a while. Then we kicked on the HT and drooled for a while. I forgot how great the picture quality was on the Grand Wega II.

Saturday was spent running (10 miles again...felt good overall though I walked a bit more towards the end than I wanted), driving (first to the cupertino, then to san francisco), and playing (hit up Steps of Rome for dinner, The View for round one of drinks, The Skylark for round two of drinks) in the sf. Not a bad weekend.