JohnA lifeBlog

Add me to the ho-hum crowd in regards to today’s Apple product announcements. The first thing I noticed is that they dropped the $499 model… that was the sweet spot for many switchers. Secondly, they seriously nerfed the mac mini by removing the dedicated video card and settling for “Intel shared graphics”.The funny thing is that Apple themselves disparaged shared memory video on the G4 mac mini page. My current mac mini plays World Of Warcraft just fine, I wonder how the new one will perform.

As for the iPod Hi-Fi… well, let’s just say that Bose already has the “mediocre audio product at a premium price” space cornered, so Apple should look elsewhere.

Finally, I leave you with this delightful gem of a video…

I’m not George Clooney. For one thing, I’m younger. Second, I’m not an international movie star.I’m okay with the fact that I am not attractive. Well, not really, but that’s for me and my therapist to work out. But there are bunches of little things that constantly remind me that it’s a beautiful person’s world. And I mean things other than every single woman I ask out choosing to self-immolate rather than share a magical evening with me.

For the longest time, my MySpace(tm) profile picture was this one taken by a customer at the Firehouse on New Years Eve.

With that profile picture, I’d get maybe one “visitor” every couple of days to my profile.

A few days ago, I changed it to this South Park caricature. Almost immediately, the number of visitors I received on MySpace went to around 10 per day.

So, the question is, was the first picture so awful that people were scared to click it? Eh, who knows.

I should be glad I’m single… apparently it’s much less expensive than the alternative.

I am so happy that I’ve never had a job where I was told such a nonsensical untruth. In fact, I can recall some of the best times I’ve ever had were work-related.I’ve decided to simply share some of the best times I can remember, in no particular order

1. Spinning “Cookies” in the Ameritrade parking lot - Jonathan, Barry, Will, Christy, and I were on site at Ameritrade’s primary call center in Omaha, NE for almost 6 months. 6 months in a place with nothing but grey and white is enough to destroy a man. Thankfully, we had a understanding and talented project manager in the form of Will Mosbey. Will, understanding the need to relieve pressure built up during the day, took us on a videotaped wreckless driving spree. In the HUGE, empty Ameritrade parking lot at around 11pm, Will would accelerate our rental car to 45 MPH, then engage the emergency break while spinning the steering wheel. I believe our record was pulling a 1440º (yes, that’s 4 complete circles)The next morning, Felix, the director of the call center for Ameritrade, told us that security saw someone doing “cookies” in the parking lot. Since what we were doing was technically called spinning “doughnuts”, we were able to honestly answer no, we most definitely were NOT spinning cookies in the parking lot.

   It was captured on video tape… man I wish I had a copy.

2. RedCelsius Orbit RTM Party - During my time at RedCelsius, we managed to ship two major revisions of the product I was architect on. The first release, Sparse, was celebrated in a low key way, mainly because we had to immediately begin work on Orbit. 30 days later, we shipped Orbit, and to celebrate that mind-numbing, free-time-robbing achievement, we had an absolute blow out at “Celebration Station”. Basically, it’s like Dave & Busters, but with more “theme” rooms. And the magic words were this… “Open Bar on Fred’s AMEX.” I’m convinced that there is nothing better in this world that that phrase. Anyway, the day started out fine, with us having a few beers and playing pool. Then it became shots and racing games. Finally, we ended up downing pitchers and pitchers of mixed drinks, and then we saw it… the 6 person networked Dance Dance Revolution cluster. Yes, it happened, and no, there is no physical record of the event (I think… we’ll find out if any RedCelsius alum ever tries to run for office)
3. JavaOne MIDP contest awards ceremony - When Ed & I went out to JavaOne while working at RedCelsius, I entered a contest sponsored by Motorola & Nextel to develop, in a closed environment in only 6 hours, a compelling and functioning Java MIDP (cell phone) application. The rules were clear, and I created a really cool application that would allow you to check your dvd library through your cell phone, so that you can avoid buying the same movie twice. Let’s be honest, that was pretty impressive considering it was client / server in 6 hours. So, two days later, I am invited to the awards ceremony. Once I arrived, I was told that I received an “honorable mention”, with the prize being some kind of hokey premium.. Ah, but there was an open bar. So, I decided that would be my honorable mention prize. As I got drunker and drunker, the “winners” presented their products. Both the 1st and 2nd place winners developed their products using existing frameworks or libraries available on the internet, which was clearly forbidden by the rules. So I began to comment on the issue. After people began to notice, one of Nextel’s PR people came over to me, and said that she understood my concerns, and would like to talk about the more outside where it was quieter. I almost fell for that one, but thankfully, my friend and co-worker Ed jumped in, saying to me quietly, “You know, John. The only reason she is doing this is to get you out of here.” I realized that he was right, sat myself back down, and told Ms. PR to get me another martini.I’m fairly certain I gave my “honorable mention” t-shirt to Jonathan
4. RedCelsius “Going Out Of Business” Bowling Party – Oh, this was a fun one, but it’ll have to wait for another day.

I don’t have anything to blog about in my present, so I guess if I want to continue to blog, it’ll have to be about my past.

It sucks, I’m only in my 20’s and I’ve already lived the best years of my life.

I think I’m going to take a break from blogging for a while. I mean, nothing happens in my life.I work. I come home. I eat dinner. I watch a movie. I go to bed.

Who wants to read day after day of that?

Personally, I’m more looking forward to tomorrow, which is the observed date for Single’s Awareness Day.I hate Valentine’s Day. In my entire life, I’ve only had one (1) good Valentine’s Day. The year was 1999, and I was with my fiance at the time in Buffalo, NY. We were there visiting her grandfather, who was at a cancer treatment center.

Since I had rented a car, we decided to take a road trip up north. We ended up at Niagara Falls, the romance capital of North America. Our first stop was at Hard Rock Cafe, Niagara Falls, USA. We had lunch, and purchased two of the exclusive, only available for one day per year Valentine’s Day Hard Rock Cafe pins to remember the trip.

Shortly thereafter, we traveled across the border, and visited Hard Rock Cafe, Niagara Falls, Canada. Seriously. We bought two of their pins as well, then went on a walking tour of the Canadian Niagara Falls National Park. The US falls were frozen over, and absolutely gorgeous.

We made out in front of the falls for what seemed like hours. We then went and bought some souvenirs, stopped at the “across the border” casino, played some slot machines, and finally returned to the hotel late that night.

When we got back, she gave me her gift. Something she couldn’t afford to buy me, and something I’d wanted for years… a PalmPilot professional. She didn’t have a job at the time (we were both in college), and yet she managed to save $300 to buy it for me. It was the most generous gift I have ever received, even to this day.

Sigh. Sometimes memories do more harm than good.

Thank you, Bobbi Brock, for giving me so much of yourself when the world was tearing you apart from all directions.

Itty bitty living space.So, my new iPod arrived today, so I’ve been spending my time violating the DMCA by converting a variety of videos into iPod video format. At this moment, mac Mini is converting “The Breakfast Club”, while my PowerBook is converting “Napoleon Dynamite”.

Yeah, I’m breaking the law. I’m circumventing “access controls” that are specified on the aforementioned DVDs to create mp4 files compatible with my video iPod.

Do I worry? No. I realize that my protected fair use rights override these false descriptions of impropriety. How do I know? Simple. The fact that the MPAA / RIAA has so far refused to bring any device shifting lawsuit to trial says that they know that they will fail should they do.

So, more power to the rebels. Continue to exercise your basic constitutional rights. I’ll be right here with you.

I’m lazy. As most of my readers realize, I hate the mundane, including the basics of cleaning up my apartment.Enter Roomba. I bought said Roomba from woot.com, and have been nothing but pleased at its performance since. Roomba cleans the entire pad, and is obediant with regards to the two invisible walls that keeps Roomba from trying to clean my home theatre cable mess.

Is it perfect? No. Is it “good enough” to help me keep my place clean? Without a doubt.

Enjoy technology, friends. There is something good for everyone. Plus, I mean, if it fails your needs, its batteries will die soon enough.

Since I’ve been nursing the flu for longer than I would have hoped, I’ve had a terrific chance to analyze my pathetic life, and figure out what steps I should take next, and how I should approach the aforementioned steps / opportunities.The first thing I realized is that I should set up an area where I could post all of the music / audio I’ve posted on my blog in one central location. Why? I’ve realized that music means so much to me, and it has had such a tremendous place in defining who I am, that I should attempt to share those feelings and emotions with others. Those of you who read my blog do not do so in a vacuum… in fact…

I welcomed several thousand new visitors courtesy of the Woot.com blog several days ago. Little did I realize that my dining room pics would land me in the historical Woot.com! archives. Serves you right for ignoring me all these years.

But the real deal is this… I have plenty of life decisions to make, and I need to begin organizing them into something that looks like, at the very least, a plan of action. At the worst, it could be some kind of childish PTA list. What do I need to do? Let’s find out:

• I absolutely, positively need to buy an electric bike. I try to be all hippie, etc. But the truth is, I need this bike more than it needs me.
• Buy a Canon EOS Digital Rebel. If I want to be a “pro” photographer, I need a digital SLR.
• Learning to pilot an aircraft… I got this passion from my father as well as my co-worker Loyd, who is a member of the Experimental Aircraft Association, and one of the founders of the local EAA chapter.
• Our new business venture should make us all independently wealthy in the next few years. One of the things I’d love to do is open a botique movie theater catering to adults, including a full service kitchen and bar. I wonder if Merced would consume such a delightful offering…

Aside from the above, I seek to create a terrific environment in which me and my brother, who is going to be living here soon, can hope to progress in a positive way. I am excited.

Even though I hate being sick.

Flu

102º fever and body aches is no fun. More once I’m no longer on my death bead.