Go Team!

I'd like to think Victoria's outfit (and Twinkle's) was partly responsible for the NC State victory over Clemson.

But since she didn't put this on until after the game, I guess I can't say that.

Victoria and Delaney both cheer "Go Team!" and Delaney is excellent at making "Wolf Hands".

Labels: family

Posted by Chris on 1/29/2005 08:15:00 PM :: Permalink   

New Star Wars Pez

A few more Pez dispensers I'll have to add to my collection are coming in April. Pez is releasing more Star Wars dispensers to coincide with the release of Episode III. They'll add the Death Star, a new Chewbacca, Emperor Palpatine, and General Grievous.

There will also be a limited edition Emperor Palpatine with glow-in-the-dark face. You know you need that.

Labels: pez

Posted by Chris on 1/28/2005 10:10:00 AM :: Permalink   

Why TiVo is TiVo

Good listing of a few of the things that make TiVo stand out from other DVRs in NYTimes.com: Circuits.

At least on all of my units the buffer is 30 minutes though, not 45 as mentioned in the article. Not that there's anything wrong with that...

Labels: tivo

Posted by Chris on 1/27/2005 09:17:00 PM :: Permalink   

I Can Name That Tune in 10 Seconds

This is one of those things that would be pretty cool technology-wise and just a geeky thing to have, but I can't think of many times in my day-to-day life that I would actually use it. Sure, it'd be cool for party tricks, though.

Your cellphone can name that tune

I'm sure there are lots of more useful applications of the technology, though. Posted by Chris on 1/27/2005 09:14:00 PM :: Permalink   

Going Around Your Elbow

Ever feel like you're "going around your elbow to get to your thumb?" Well, if you're in Norway, do it the MapPoint way.

Better sanity check those directions from the web site next time. Posted by Chris on 1/27/2005 10:54:00 AM :: Permalink   

Pre-K Programming

One recent morning when we were just about to leave for preschool, my daughter Delaney happily offered up, "You know one good thing about being late for school Daddy?"

"No, what's that?"

"You get your lunch box first at lunchtime! Everybody puts their lunchboxes in the bin and when you get there late, yours is on top. So you're the first one to get your lunch!"

Not that she eats much of her lunch anyway, but at four years old she's already using a LIFO queue! I'm sure she'll be tackling binary trees next. Posted by Chris on 1/26/2005 02:40:00 PM :: Permalink   

Lies, More Lies, and Halo 2 Statistics

I've added a feed for my recent Halo 2 stats in the right sidebar under 'Sharpes-R-Us'. I don't play that often and certainly not that well, but if you're interested, you can see how badly I won or lost. The game titles link to the Bungie site with more info on each game (hit percentage, medals won, etc).

It's an RSS feed, but FeedBurner makes it browser-friendly as well. Unfortunately Firefox and some versions of Safari don't interpret the XSLT and the line-breaks for each game's scores will be run together. IE displays it better. But why not just subscribe to the RSS feed and your aggregator will tell you when I play? Another benefit is that your corporate firewall may block the Bungie site, but probably doesn't care about the RSS feed!

If you're on Xbox Live, how about posting the link for your RSS feed as a comment?

And if you're really into stats don't neglect Bungie's GameViewer link on your game stats page. I overlooked this for quite a while (you have to tie your GamerTag to a Passport and be logged in), but it will show you a view of the map and where each kill took place for the entire game.

For even more statistical overload, checkout the Halo 2 RSS Excel Workbook. Download it, point it to your RSS feed and bury yourself in numbers, graphs, pie charts. I'll just share one overall stat that shows I have a lot of work to do. In 14 online matchmade games my kill per death ratio is 0.71. In a game where it's "kill or be killed", that's not very good. Posted by Chris on 1/26/2005 01:11:00 PM :: Permalink   

To Google is To Live

Wow! I'm quite disappointed and upset.

I just penned a lengthy and witty post with tons of links about how cool searching was, how I use it, why you should too, and where it's going with the integration of RSS and search engines.

Then sometime after hitting the 'Publish Post' button it disappeared. Poof! My browser doesn't have it, Blogger doesn't have it, and Sharpes-R-Us doesn't have it.

So guess what, you're not getting it either.

Here's the short version:

• A surprising number of people don't use search engines.


• Google is working on searching video and closed captioning.


• RSS and search engines will be way cooler than Google News Alerts.

You'll have to fill in the details yourself, I don't have the heart or the time to write it again. And, yes, I "know" I should have cut and pasted it somewhere safe before trying to post. Maybe next time. Posted by Chris on 1/25/2005 02:11:00 PM :: Permalink   

Meet The Lascivious Biddies

I first heard a song from this group on Adam Curry's Daily Source Code podcast and really liked it. The next day he played another and I liked it. A few days later, he played a third song that was quite different, but I really liked it as well. At this point, I had no choice but to order the CD. It's great.

Their sound is heavily influenced by jazz, but they're hard to classify. The songs vary greatly, but on all songs they really seem to be having fun. I think the "Get Lucky" CD cover describes it better than I can:

I like smart music, the kind that doesn't tell you everything it knows the first time you hear it. I like uncategorizable music that can't be squeezed into smug little pigeonholes. I like serious music that isn't afraid to be funny - and vice versa. If that's what you like, too, then you've come to the right band, and the right album. Or, to put it another way, you just got lucky.

Another bonus is that they're RIAA-free!

You can hear samples and download full-length MP3's at The Lascivious Biddies Headquarters. Posted by Chris on 1/21/2005 01:57:00 PM :: Permalink   

I Won! I Won! I Finally Won!

I finally won a game of Halo 2 on Xbox Live! Rumble Pit (8 players on a map, everyone for themselves) on Ivory Tower map. And I was one of the lowest rated players in the game (ranging from 3 to 7). After the win, I'm now ranked a 4. Woot! Posted by Chris on 1/17/2005 11:05:00 PM :: Permalink   

'Get Guinness on the Phone' & 'How to Bypass News Registrations'

This is messed up. A Romanian woman gave birth today. The baby weighs just over 3 pounds but is doing well. The kicker? The mother is 66 years old (or 67 depending on which article you read). The world's oldest woman to give birth. Is that really something you want on your tombstone?

This was no accident. Oh no. She was artificially inseminated. Hmmm, by the time her daughter graduates from high school, she'll be a spry 84!

Another story with photos, but a word of warning -- the photos of the mother and tiny baby disturbed me. I'm not sure which one had more wrinkles.

And if these news sites keep asking you to sign up for a (free) subscription or registration, I recommend you either pick a different news source or use the BugMeNot extension for Firefox or you can go to the BugMeNot site and perhaps get registered credentials to use. This will save you the time and hassle of filling in their forms with bogus information just to read a news story. Posted by Chris on 1/17/2005 09:49:00 PM :: Permalink   

The BitTorrent Effect

Wired has an excellent interview with Bram Cohen, the creator of BitTorrent. At five pages, it's a good read.

BitTorrent is freeware, but asks for a donation after you've used it a while. Apparently, he gets enough donations via PayPal to support his family. He completely understands that BitTorrent has both legal and illegal uses, but he stays out of the reach of lawyers - not by fleeing to another country, but by not downloading a single piece of copyrighted material himself.

He is no more guilty than Xerox is for making the photocopier.

I think the MPAA and the RIAA and TV networks and whoever else will have a hard time really shutting down this P2P or whatever P2P technology comes next, especially given that most of these sites reside outside of US legal jurisdiction. As stated in the article, a cease and desist letter addressed to Sweden is meaningless.

What the companies need to do is figure out how to make the content appealing enough, affordable enough, and accessible enough for these same consumers to obtain it via legal means. iTunes is a great example of this. But I really like that Bram pointed out that all of these "problems" and legal battles are over the distribution method for this content. And the distribution problem will be a short-lived one. While it used to take an hour to download a megabyte over the phone line, you can now swap DVD quality movies that are over a gigabyte in less time.

It's the content explosion. iPods hold your entire music collection (tens of thousands of songs) in the palm of your hand. I carry a half gigabyte of miscellaneous stuff on my keychain. Data is data and it's going to get pushed around the Net. Not much use in trying to stop it. Posted by Chris on 1/13/2005 08:57:00 PM :: Permalink   

Return from Kenya - "What now?"

My brother Tim returned from his mission trip to Kenya just before Christmas. After some time to adjust back to our sleep schedule and some time with family over the holidays, he started assembling his pictures and video from the trip.

This past Sunday he spoke at his church, Wellspring Community Church, and presented a couple of videos. The children he ministered to already knew Jesus, and they were basically holding a Vacation Bible School in three different areas around Nairobi. Few, if any, of the children or teachers had Bibles but they could all quote verses effortlessly. Tim left his Bible with the head master at the second school they visited. This man led hundreds of children at the Nairobi Language Institute, but didn't even own a Bible himself!

The first school they visited was in Kibera. Kibera is the second largest slum area in the world, and clearly the poorest of three areas they visited. Living conditions are what we would consider unbearable. They lacked what we think of as the bare necessities, though there was joy in these kids' hearts that you don't often see in the United States.

All three areas were poverty-striken and only the last school in the video even resembled what we think of as a school. They actually had a two story building and electricity. The first schools crammed 80 students into rooms that were no more than 10 ft. by 10 ft. and the only light was from a window on one wall. In these sardines-in-a-can conditions, the children were very well-behaved and once settled in to the classroom, they would quieten down and listen attentively for the duration of the class.

As often happens on these mission trips, Tim came back telling of how he felt that they ministered to him as much as he did to them. His message centered around "What now?" (you'll hear the Steven Curtis Chapman song in the slideshow). What do we do now for God? What are we sacrificing for Him? Is going to church once a week really a sacrifice? Is tithing enough? Look at how the children in Nairobi live. They have nothing, yet they have everything. Sometimes to me it seems I have everything, but feel like I have nothing.

Where are our priorities?

What are we sacrificing?

What now?

The video and the slideshow were accompanied by Tim speaking at church, so there's not a lot of text in these clips about what he did, what their life was like, how the team witnessed to the children, and how the children witnessed to the team. Even so, I think you'll appreciate the imagery and get a feel for the kind of welcome they received.

*** Tim's Trip to Nairobi Kenya *** -- videos and pictures

Labels: family

Posted by Chris on 1/11/2005 02:55:00 PM :: Permalink   

Inside The Pez Office

You've no doubt seen the PezCam in the right sidebar. It's your view into my world -- though I'm rarely seen on there since I sit behind the desk and typically out of camera sight.

But now you can get a look at why it's called the PezCam and the PezOffice. See for yourself. I've been collecting for over eight years now and the office walls are the best place to display them.

Co-workers often bring their children by to stare at the colorful walls laden with candy they can't have. And if I ever run out of questions while giving an interview, there's always the topic of Pez.

Labels: pez

Posted by Chris on 1/06/2005 01:27:00 PM :: Permalink   

Yet Another Reason To Dislike Cable Companies

As if you needed another reason to dislike your local cable company, read about how they are hiding products from you that would get rid of the need for the dreaded cable box and simplify your life. And don't forget that you can still ditch cable and come close to TV nirvana with a DirecTivo. Posted by Chris on 1/05/2005 11:24:00 AM :: Permalink   

The Return of 'Alias' and '24'

With their premieres delayed until January so they could air rerun free, it's been a long off-season for fans of Alias and 24.

But this week they're back! Alias airs tonight at 9pm on ABC. Don't miss the best show on TV. 24 airs on Sunday and again on Monday.

From TV Barn:

Shows of the Week: “Alias” and “24”

Buckle up, because the two most intense white-knuckle thrill rides on television are both open for business again. And they’re taking new riders. Step aboard; don’t be shy.

There are changes this season for Sydney Bristow, Jennifer Garner’s hi-karate spy gal on “Alias,” and Jack Bauer, Kiefer Sutherland’s roguish bane of all things terrorist on “24.” For starters, each show is on a new night: “Alias” (9 p.m. ET Wednesday, ABC) moves to Wednesdays, right after “Lost,” beginning with a two-hour premiere. And “24” launches at 8 p.m. ET Sunday on Fox 4 with two episodes, followed Monday night by two more episodes, including one airing in its new time slot of 9 p.m. If I had to choose which one to watch, I wouldn’t. For the first time since “Alias” and “24” debuted in tandem in 2001, I’m recommending you watch both. Every episode. By the way, neither show is planning to air a rerun, and “24” won’t take a single week off between now and the two-hour finale on May 23. Look at it this way: It’s time your kids learned to cook dinner and do the laundry by themselves. Builds character.
continued …

Posted by Chris on 1/05/2005 10:05:00 AM :: Permalink   

Recording Capacity: 136 hours

I just completed upgrading our new DirecTV R-10 TiVo from 70 hours to 136 hours. This was the simplest mod I've ever performed. In the past I had used Hinsdale's How To when upgrading my Series 1 box with a second drive. The process is much more streamlined now and since I was simply replacing my single drive with a larger one and not saving any recordings, I followed the shorter Weaknees guide.

Simple and quick. And now our R-10 has extra capacity. I will say that the R-10 is of much lower build quality than the Series 1 Hughes or Series 2 HDVR2 models I have. The sheet metal is thinner, the panel buttons don't feel as solid, and even the screws holding the case together are inferior. I guess this is how they double the storage to a 70 hour model and still sell it for $99 to all customers.

The R-10 has a few key features: it is running the 6.1 software which includes folder support and menus are much faster. My older unit had also become very noisy. It also supports LBA48 so I could have opted for a larger drive (up to 320GB), but I'm cheap and wanted a quiet drive. The best deal for a super quiet drive happened to be for a Samsung Spinpoint 160GB which is still an upgrade from my modded Series 1 which was 120GB and double the stock storage of 80GB.

It's TiVo. I think we'll be happy!

And I finally got credit for converting someone to TiVo through the TiVo Rewards program. Unfortunately, DirecTV TiVo referrals don't count. But if you get someone to sign up for standalone TiVo service, the referrer can get credit to use for some cool stuff. I just wish they had started this program a few years back.

Labels: tivo

Posted by Chris on 1/05/2005 01:04:00 AM :: Permalink   
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