Monday, March 28, 2005
Virtual Hunting
Scary -- "Shoot to Kill Using your Computer Mouse" http://www.channel3000.com/technology/4316659/detail.html. What is this world coming to?
Wednesday, March 23, 2005
VoIP & 911
Interesting. I haven't been following news on VoIP much since I don't use it at home (even though Matt thinks I should convert over). Today, I read in the news that the state of Texas is suing Vonage, accusing them of deceptive practices after an incident in which a kid unsuccessfully called 911 because her parents had been shot from a break-in in their home. Instead, the girl got a message saying that emergency services weren't available from that phone line. Turns out that, in most cases, when you sign up for VoIP with Vonage, you have to go through an extra process to get 911 to actually work on your phone...but even then, it's not completely fail safe. See, the problem has to do with a conflict between the fundamental information that an emergency call center needs (your location) and the major selling point of having VoIP (the portability). See the conflict? See--even if Vonage used, say, your billing address as the address associated with your account, who says you can't just pick up your box, head to Hong Kong, and make a phone call from there? If you called 911 from there, they'd have no idea. Anyway, I just found this all interesting. Here's an interesting editorial on this topic with suggestions on what can be done.
Seattle 360
Found a cool site showing panoramic 360 degree views of all sorts of places in Seattle -- VRSeatte. Using quicktime, it groups all the various views they have by neighborhood. Check out my neighborhood, Capital Hill or the view from the Jose Rizal Bridge---you can see my view from work in addition to our company headquarters, that strange brick building that looks like a hospital.
Sunday, March 20, 2005
Robots
Forgot to mention--I saw Robots in freakin' IMAX on Friday night with Jigna, Eric, Karen, Mark and Matt. This was my first time seeing a movie in IMAX since I was a kid. Man! I really need to start looking out for movies in IMAX from here on out. Anyway--great movie to watch in IMAX just to get an appreciation for the details captured in the computer animation. Cute movie, didn't totally blow me away--I was probably more wowed by the whole IMAX experience if anything. And damn--like, EVERYONE seemed to be in the movie, whether it be a major part (Ewan McGregor of key character) or a tiny one-line part (Jay Leno). I do think it was better than Shark's Tale--very inventive, classic in the story telling (in that, there aren't current pop culture references), has a good lesson for the kids, animation good. But as I said, nothing that totally blew me away. If you're going to watch it, check it out on IMAX. Otherwise, you're not really missing out on anything if you wait to watch it on DVD.
Long time no blog
Hi again--sorry for the long break. I just got busy and everytime I looked at things I wanted to blog about, it got bigger and bigger...and then enough time had passed that it didn't seem worthwhile to blog about anymore. It's a lot harder to blog infrequently.
Well, I got back from Big Sky and had a fantastic time. It was relaxing and we had gorgeous, sunny days everyday. Montana has a beautiful landscape and you really get that feeling of being out in the "great American West" when you're there. We didn't get any new snow while we were there...but with the mountain up so high already in elevation, all the snow that had fallen the week before was still rather soft. On our last day, a group of us went over to West Yellowstone and tried something new: cross-country skiing! It's so funny how all of us tough snowboarders who had just gone down a black diamond bowl from the Peak the day before were freaking out about coming down a teensy little hill on our cross country skis. All in all--great trip, would love to go back.
Otherwise, since coming back, just doing the usual with work and hanging out with friends.
The girls and I tried out another spa place the other week---Banya 5, which only opened less than a year ago. Somewhat similar to the Korean spa experience in Tacoma, this one is a bit smaller and done Russian style. There are only 3 pools of different temperatures--hot tub hot, lukewarm and chilling. In addition to the soaking pools are a wet steam room and a dry sauna. The services are limited--you can choose between either a basic massage or a combination salt scrub and honey massage. They only have 2 areas to do this, separated by curtains, so their ability to take in a lot of services at one time is limited. I went with the combination scrub and massage and LOVED it. I had this Russian woman who meant business---boy, she really worked my muscles and gave me a good scrub: exactly what I wanted. All in all--great experience. Pros: good location (it's in the city!), has a variety of days (there are all men, all women and coed days), clean, people are very friendly, services are excellent, reasonable prices. Cons: limited services, only 3 soaking pools which are rather small, doesn't provide free robes for use. I'd definitely recommend this for city dwellers who just need a quick place to relax and chill with friends after work.
I've also decided to quit the X Gym after giving it a lot of thought. I gave my notice the other week and my last workout will likely be in the first week of April. I've been there since August and it's really been a great experience. At the end of the day, though, I really need to have a regular cardio workout I think rather than a weight lifting one. It also kills me knowing that I have a $20/month membership at Gold's and that the XGym costs me 10x that. If I have an off week and just don't feel like going to the gym, it really costs me a lot of money to make that sacrifice...and I just didn't like the financial obligation I had to something that isn't as important to me as other things I'd rather spend money on. Funny thing is--2 days after I gave notice, I went to a Sonics game with Matt where my seat won a random drawing for a 6 month free membership at 24 hour fitness--I think that's a sign. I'll still be working out...but instead, I'll just be attending aerobics classes instead and have $200 more in my pocket each month to spend on other things.
I'm so sad KU lost to Bucknell in the first round of the Tourney. Ugh. Poor Jayhawks.
Well, I got back from Big Sky and had a fantastic time. It was relaxing and we had gorgeous, sunny days everyday. Montana has a beautiful landscape and you really get that feeling of being out in the "great American West" when you're there. We didn't get any new snow while we were there...but with the mountain up so high already in elevation, all the snow that had fallen the week before was still rather soft. On our last day, a group of us went over to West Yellowstone and tried something new: cross-country skiing! It's so funny how all of us tough snowboarders who had just gone down a black diamond bowl from the Peak the day before were freaking out about coming down a teensy little hill on our cross country skis. All in all--great trip, would love to go back.
Otherwise, since coming back, just doing the usual with work and hanging out with friends.
The girls and I tried out another spa place the other week---Banya 5, which only opened less than a year ago. Somewhat similar to the Korean spa experience in Tacoma, this one is a bit smaller and done Russian style. There are only 3 pools of different temperatures--hot tub hot, lukewarm and chilling. In addition to the soaking pools are a wet steam room and a dry sauna. The services are limited--you can choose between either a basic massage or a combination salt scrub and honey massage. They only have 2 areas to do this, separated by curtains, so their ability to take in a lot of services at one time is limited. I went with the combination scrub and massage and LOVED it. I had this Russian woman who meant business---boy, she really worked my muscles and gave me a good scrub: exactly what I wanted. All in all--great experience. Pros: good location (it's in the city!), has a variety of days (there are all men, all women and coed days), clean, people are very friendly, services are excellent, reasonable prices. Cons: limited services, only 3 soaking pools which are rather small, doesn't provide free robes for use. I'd definitely recommend this for city dwellers who just need a quick place to relax and chill with friends after work.
I've also decided to quit the X Gym after giving it a lot of thought. I gave my notice the other week and my last workout will likely be in the first week of April. I've been there since August and it's really been a great experience. At the end of the day, though, I really need to have a regular cardio workout I think rather than a weight lifting one. It also kills me knowing that I have a $20/month membership at Gold's and that the XGym costs me 10x that. If I have an off week and just don't feel like going to the gym, it really costs me a lot of money to make that sacrifice...and I just didn't like the financial obligation I had to something that isn't as important to me as other things I'd rather spend money on. Funny thing is--2 days after I gave notice, I went to a Sonics game with Matt where my seat won a random drawing for a 6 month free membership at 24 hour fitness--I think that's a sign. I'll still be working out...but instead, I'll just be attending aerobics classes instead and have $200 more in my pocket each month to spend on other things.
I'm so sad KU lost to Bucknell in the first round of the Tourney. Ugh. Poor Jayhawks.
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