Airline gripes

Attention all airlines: if you're not going to give us room in the economy/cattlecar part of the plane, please just do away with reclining seats. Who has the right of way, the person in front who wants to recline, or the person in back who doesn't want his (precious laptop) space to be invaded? As you can guess, I was the person in back.

And while we're asking United's Santa Claus for favors, how about (1) bigger windows, and (2) actually matching up windows to the seat rows? I mean, isn't it a wasted window if it's halfway between two rows?

On a positive note, I've arrived in Chicago, and although I just heard a wail from upstairs, I suppose I can't go play with my niece until tomorrow morning.

Thrifty's Ice Cream - a proxy for age

Jenny and I stopped by Rite Aid, or the drugstore formerly known as Thrifty's. One of the things they are locally known for is a mini ice cream bar that serves what is still called Thrifty Ice Cream. I remember stopping by after school when I was in junior high for 35 cent cones of rainbow sherbet. The server would use a unique scoop to place a cylindrically shaped block of ice cream on top of the cone, and you had to remember to push down with your tongue while eating, so as to save some ice cream for when you got down to the cone part.

When Jenny moved out here, I got to introduce her to Thrifty Ice Cream. By then, the price had gone up to $0.99. In fact, you can almost date people by their earliest recollections of how much a single scoop cone cost at Thrifty's. For me, that's 35 cents, possibly a quarter, in the early '80s. But I've heard from others prices as low as a nickel or dime.

Well, today, my apricot mango sherbet single scoop cone cost me $1.19, a twenty cent increase from the previous price. And today, I feel just a bit older as another Thrifty Ice Cream price is no more.

Jeep

Found a creative banner ad today that I liked. It's notable because:
1. I normally hate ads with moving things.
2. There's a phenomenon called banner ad blindness, where people have become desensitized to banner ads and block them out while reading the content. As a result, click thru rates are deplorably low on these ads.

Anyway, the centerpiece of the ad is: o|||||||o
With the right font, this totally captures the distinctive look of the front grille of a Jeep. The banner ad takes advantage of this by emulating an IM window, with the o|||||||o being used as an emoticon.

Not sure how to pull this directly into the blog, so here's a link.

WSJ - A New Taste

Great article from the WSJ about what is essentially monosodium glutamate, or MSG. For years, the tongue was thought to only identify four tastes, sweet, salty, sour and bitter. More recently, there's been more acceptance of a fifth taste, something on the order of savory or meaty. I'd recently been talking about this with family members, and it's neat to see this so well presented by the WSJ.

I especially like the teamwork approach of adding recipes and wine pairings to a well written article. It's nice to see the WSJ innovate. (Hopefully that trend will continue under the new ownership, once Rupert Murdoch takes the helm today or tomorrow.)

Anyway, here's the article.

Stuck on the 210 Freeway

Last night, Jenny and I were stuck on the 210 freeway for an hour and a half. We went from being so thankful about carpooling, since we were zipping by traffic, to being at a complete standstill (with fifty of our closest friends) as Sheriff negotiators kept a suicide jumper from making his leap.

From the SGV Tribune:

DUARTE - A man was in custody late Tuesday night after threatening to jump from a pedestrian overpass, officials said.

Francisco Sanchez, in his late 30s, surrendered to sheriff's deputies and fire officials and was taken into custody just before 8 p.m.

The incident was reported about 6:20 p.m. on the 210 Freeway at Buena Vista Street, according to California Highway Patrol Lt. Merritt Mielke.

Sanchez cut through chain link fencing on the Broadland Avenue overpass, and pulled himself through, according to CHP Sgt. Kevin Porter.

Sanchez has done this numerous times over recent years, sheriff's and CHP officials said.

Sanchez has two prosthetic legs from when he broke both ankles jumping from an overpass on the 605 Freeway in 2003, according to a 2006 article in this newspaper.

A Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department crisis negotiator was summoned to the scene, officials said.

Local fire departments also arrived at the scene and deployed air bags on the freeway beneath the pedestrian overpass in case the man decided to jump, Mielke said.

A Sig Alert had been issued and traffic in both directions of the 210 freeway was held up for almost two hours.

Sheriff's Temple station Lt. Mike O'Shea said he did not know exactly where Sanchez was taken Tuesday, but he said it was almost certainly a mental health facility of some kind.

"There's nothing criminal about trying to kill yourself," he said.

- Brian Day

My random musings:
- Earlier that evening, I had called the Denver shooter a coward, not only for killing others, but also for taking his own life. What a selfish act from a pathetic coward, lashing out like a little baby.
- If a person has tried numerous times to commit suicide, is it morally wrong to just pull the airbags and let him succeed? Don't get me wrong, we prayed for the man, and were content to hear that he survived.
- The freeway is really dark at night when everyone turns off their headlights.
- Why weren't we allowed to exit the freeway? We were at least 3 exits and more than 2 miles west of the incident.
- I didn't understand people who would honk out of frustration. Of course, I had the pleasant company of my wife next to me.
- We each read through our entire Google Reader lists on my Blackberry while waiting, plus we made it through the Marketplace evening report podcast.

Blogs I read

I'm curious to know what blogs you all read. I thought I'd open up this discussion with a list of some of my personal favorites.

Xanga blogs - baw5t0n for his photos, jibae and suejeanne for being thought-provoking, jammasterjake for making me laugh/shake my head.

Bottleneck Blog - in LA, traffic's a way of life
Irvine Housing Blog - great analysis of the current real estate implosion (along with lots of pictures of nice gourmet kitchens)

Fake Steve Jobs - always hilarious

A VC - musings of a New York venture capitalist
Silicon Alley Insider - news on the tech world in general, and New York's Silicon Alley in particular (bonus - written by the once-famous Henry Blodget)
WSJ's Walt Mossberg - gadgets blog

NYT's David Pogue - more gadgets blog

The three latest blogs I've begun to read:

Born Again Birdwatcher - if I ever learn to recognize birds before I die, I will die a happy man.
The Sartorialist - not sure how I came across this, but I've been feeling a desire to acquire some sense of style.
Forum Blue and Gold - Really good Lakers blog (you New Yorkers may prefer the Knickerblogger).

I'm always open to new reading suggestions. Anyone got any great blogs to share?

Why the Wii is revolutionary

The Wii is revolutionary in that it is made for non-gamers. Does it have the best graphics? No. Does it have the fastest processor? No. Does it have the most realistic looking and acting driving simulator? No. The most intense and hair-raising World War II game? Nope.

Does a 70-year old grandma care about any of the above? Nope. But can this grandma instinctively learn to Wii bowl? Yup. And that's why retirement communities are buying the game systems, even to the degree of a company called Erickson setting up multi-state tournaments across their communities.

Inducing more physical exercise would be enough reason to encourage these folks to bowl away. And any laughter and emotional uplifting would also be beneficial to their spirits.

The Symptoms

Hmm, symptoms....that's a lot of scrabulous points.

Err, I digress.

On a scale of 1-10, with 10 being most severe:

Thursday (late night at work):
sore throat: 2

Friday:
sore throat: 4
sinus mucus: 4
fever: 7

Saturday:
sore throat: 7
sinus mucus: 7
cough: 1
fever: 8

Sunday:
sore throat: 10
sinus mucus: 8
cough: 1
fever: 4

Monday:
sore throat: 10
sinus mucus: 8
cough: 2
fever: 3
aches: 2

Tuesday:
sore throat: 4
sinus mucus: 4
aches: 2
blocked ear: 7 (one and a half ears)

What will tomorrow bring? (Hopefully not a return of that ear blocking stuff - it's really disconcerting to be speaking to someone without knowing your personal volume level.)

How to suppress Facebook Beacon

I'm not as worked up as many people are about the Facebook Beacon advertising/privacy invasion program. That's probably because I work in the Web 2.0 world, and I realize that most of the cool stuff on the web is paid for by advertising, not by users.

However, if the Facebook Beacon program really bothers you, Nate Weiner has blogged some instructions on how to stop it from working, at least from within Firefox (IE users, I guess you're on your own).

Monopoly secrets

I enjoy playing Monopoly. I'm not sure if I'm any good at it, but I should now be better at it, having read this statistical analysis that presents a strategy for playing. The quick summary:

1. Try to complete railroads.
2. Go for color group monopolies on sides 1+2.
3. Build 3 houses.

Future, please come quickly!

One thing I hate about traveling is carrying a shopping bag full of power cords. This is no exaggeration. I literally drop from 4-10 power or USB cords into a plastic bag. The common list includes separate chargers for 2 cell phone chargers, razor, toothbrush, laptop, and iPod. (There used to also be chargers for the PDA, GPS, and Bluetooth headset as well.)

This past weekend, I even convinced my cousin, who has been traveling on business a fair amount lately, to buy a portable power strip, so that she could charge more gadgets at once in a hotel room.

I just saw this review for a charging pad, and I can't wait for this technology to be more widely available. Imagine having one of these charging pads in the car, one in each hotel room, one at each office desk, etc. Then, whenever anything needed a charge, I'd just drop it on the nearest pad.

Of course, I'm taking the article at its word when it says that there's no radiation produced by this process. For such cool technology, I'll suspend belief.

Verizon Wireless is opening up!

Not that this helps me, since I made the switch to AT&T this past summer, but Verizon Wireless, formerly the cellular company that was the most restrictive of what devices and services could be used on their network, is finally opening up.

 

VZW was always the slowest to roll out cool phones. VZW allowed Bluetooth phones (later than everyone else), but only for Bluetooth headsets, not to transfer cell phone pics off their phones (so you’d have to pay their 25 cents per pic download fee). VZW had GPS phones, but the GPS functionality was locked to their own service that charged a monthly fee (as opposed to free Google Maps).

 

So why the big change? Could it be that devices like the iPhone and the Blackberry Curve are luring more customers away from VZW than they’d like to admit? Could it be that they’re afraid of Google’s plans to spend $5 billion to buy wireless spectrum that would allow them to start a competing open network?

 

Incidentally, Sprint PCS announced a similar move about a month ago, but since they’re Sprint PCS and nobody uses them anymore, it didn’t matter. Now, with VZW opening up, we’ll see changes coming to the cellular industry at a more rapid pace.

 

When I was a kid, Ma Bell (mother of Verizon today) would only allow people to use these clunky primitive phones on their network, for supposed fear of unauthorized devices breaking their phone lines. Maybe it really had something to do with being able to rent people these brick-phones for monthly fees? And here we are, twenty years later, again at the mercy of VZW/AT&T deciding what can or can’t be placed on their network (and how much we’ll pay for the privilege).

 

Thank you, Steve Jobs. Thank you, Google. And VZW? Oh how the mighty have fallen.

WSJ article on tithing

The WSJ has an interesting article titled The Backlash Against Tithing. It doesn’t sit too well with me, because I don’t particularly agree with the reasoning of either the anti- or pro-tithe camps, at least as given in the article.

Anti-tithing arguments:

Many Christians who don't read the Bible literally say that by tithing they are not misreading the text, but rather interpreting it differently.

My thoughts: Well sure, if you’re going to determine what’s literal and what’s not, then you can throw out anything the Bible says and keep only what suits you. I don’t know if that’s religion. It sounds more like justification for you living your life just as you want.

The anti-tithing movement has found support in some unlikely places: theologically conservative divinity schools and church pulpits. At Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary in Wake Forest, N.C., professor Andreas Kostenberger challenges tithing in classes on the New Testament. He teaches that if you add up all taxes paid by the ancient Israelites, they exceed 10%, and that in the New Testament there's no percentage rule. He says pastors perpetuate the 10% figure out of "pragmatism, tradition and ignorance, quite frankly."

My thoughts: It’s misleading to call tithes taxes. You’re purposely making people think in a modern day context of taxes to a government, where we’re used to the amount of taxes that we pay going up and down all the time. By the definition of the word, tithe means tenth.

Mr. Rohr, 35, is now supporting his family by driving trucks. He says he still believes what he wrote to Mr. Engel: "All decisions to give and how much to give are between the believer and their God, not meant to be used as stumbling blocks or judgments against others."

My thoughts: I find this argument to be fair. No pastor should ever insinuate that tithing is necessary for salvation. But I could then also say that all righteous living is between the believer and their God, not meant to be used as stumbling blocks or judgments against others. And then, where does accountability and church discipline come in? There must be a balance here, with an encouragement to do what is right, along with a reminder that God’s grace is sufficient when we don’t or can’t.

Pro-tithing arguments:

"If everyone gives 2% of their income because that's what they feel like giving, you aren't going to have money to pay the light bill and keep the doors open," says Duane Rice, an official with Evangelical Friends International, a denomination that believes that tithing is required by the Bible.

My thoughts: Tying tithing to light bills is tying income to expenses. In my mind, the primary purpose of tithing is not to financially support a church’s operations. It is an act of obedience in following a command from God. It is a recognition that all we have comes from God and belongs to God.

For Judy Willingham, of San Antonio, 12 years of tithing came to an end earlier this year. She says she gave a tenth of her pay to Cornerstone Church because the pastor, the Rev. John C. Hagee teaches, "'If you obey God and you tithe, God will return it to you 30, 60, 100 fold.'" Steve Sorensen, director of pastoral ministries at Cornerstone, says the church requires its paid and volunteer leaders to tithe, and teaches new members to do so, although it doesn't make them show proof of income. "When you tithe, God makes promises to us, that he ... is not going to let anything bad or destructive come about," says Mr. Sorensen. For those who don't tithe, he says the Lord "is not obligated to do those things for you."

My thoughts:Classic health and wealth Gospel. And Mother Teresa was a millionaire, because she gave so sacrificially, right?

When he objected to his church's instructions to tithe, Kirk Cesaretti took it up with the church leaders. In response, he received a letter from the pastor and elders of Hydesville Community Church in Hydesville, Calif. "At this time, we believe your concerns do not warrant any change in our church policy or positions," the letter read. The letter closed with a verse from Hebrews 13:17: "Obey your leaders, and submit to them; for they keep watch over your souls; as those who will give an account. Let them do this with joy and not with grief, for this would be unprofitable for you."

My thoughts:I’m thinking the letter more clearly laid out the Biblical reasons for tithing, but it’s probably unnecessary to give the old parents’ “Because I said so” argument. The guidance of pastors and elders is not infallible. Only the Bible is inerrant. For church leaders to hint that people should just keep quiet and listen to their leaders, they are dangerously close to seizing authority that belongs to God alone.

eye.fi

I just saw a new product that sounds amazing. If you're like me, it's fun to (1) take pictures, and I definitely want to share them, but it's a hassle to (2) sit at a computer and copy them off the memory card, and then (3) upload them to a photo sharing site.

What if there were an SD card that would do (2) and (3) for you? That's what the new Eye-Fi will do. It has built in Wifi, so once you set it up on your home network, it'll automatically upload your pictures wirelessly in the background whenever you're in range of your home network and your camera is turned on. That's it, no computer necessary. It's $99 for a 2 GB card (compared to about $15 for a good deal on a normal SD card).

I will post a review after I get this.

Product website here.

Amazon listing here.

WSJ review of the product that convinced me.

How to opt out of Facebook's new social advertising

There's been a lot of news lately about Facebook implementing a new system for advertisers. What's interesting/scary about this is how your non-Facebook purchases (for instance, at Amazon.com, Blockbuster.com) will be pulled in and shared with your Facebook friends. This is NOT cool with me, so you'd think that this was an opt-in program. No, it's an opt-out, so if you ignore or miss the chance to opt out, all your Facebook friends could potentially be notified of your latest hemorrhoid cream purchase or sappy chick flick rental.

I mentioned that there is an opt-out mechanism. Unfortunately, Facebook has decided not to give us a global opt-out. Instead, when you are making a purchase at a third party website like blockbuster.com (or any other site that is part of this program), you'll get a quick popup that asks if you want to opt out. If, like me, you use a popup blocker, you may never see this. Or, you may just ignore it and close the box. (Even shadier, if you do nothing, the window closes by itself in 15 seconds. Well, unless you explicitly click the opt out button, you've just given Facebook your consent to broadcast your purchase information to your Facebook friends.

Here's the instructions on how to opt-out of this stuff from within Facebook:

1. Click on the 'privacy' link on the upper right hand corner of any Facebook page.
2. Edit your settings for 'External Websites'.
3. Opt-out.

Thus far, I don't have any companies listed here. But if you happen to see something about me and Preparation-H, would you please warn me? And as for the sappy romantic comedies, in my defense, I was introduced to John Cusack by one S. Hahn during my formative years (college). What can I say?

Why I hate flying around the holidays

Two weekends ago, I went to Seattle on a quick Veteran's Day weekend jaunt. We were pushing the envelope for getting back at a reasonable hour, considering our flight was to arrive at 11 pm on Monday, and we were traveling with two teachers who had to be up super early the next morning. After both of our flights were delayed, we ultimately got in at 12:30 in the morning, killing us for the next week (including the non-teachers).

I hate it when mediocrity is deemed acceptable. From the Times:

Workers at American found that printers that produce adhesive tags for bags were often dirty. That made bar codes hard to read, leading to misdirected bags. Regular wiping of the printer heads helped, but even with a clean printer, the bar code readers are only about 90 to 92 percent accurate, said Denise P. Wilewski, manager of airport services for American here.

“We never hit 100 percent — 90 percent is acceptable,” she said.

Airlines are fond of saying that they have a success rate of more than 99 percent in getting luggage to its destination along with its owner. And every big airline has stepped up efforts to improve its operations.

But the baggage problem is getting worse. One in every 138 checked bags was lost during the first nine months of this year, compared with one in 155 bags a year earlier.

What if one in every 138 children were stillborn? What if one in every 155 toys had lead paint? The 99 percent standard is meaningless. We're not talking baseball here, where one hit in three at bats equals success. Just get it right, guys. Fix it.

Quick Commute

Fastest commute ever today. Got to work in just over one podcast + 3 songs. (That would be about 28 minutes, versus a normal 50-65 minutes on a normal day.)

I know I shouldn't need this in California...

But heated car seats are great! Especially on a frigid 57 degree morning!

The Writers' Strike

Let me preface by saying that I'm not normally a pro-union guy (even though I tend to be liberal). However, being in the whole Web 2.0 world, I agree with the general idea that content creators should fight for ownership and/or fair revenue shares of what they create.

Of course, this video states it much better than I can, considering that it's written by one of the Daily Show writers. What a great way to demonstrate your point.

Help Wanted - DW Developer

Data warehouse developer needed in Pasadena, CA.

Pike Place Fish Co

Pike Place Fish Co
Originally uploaded by hoish

Just got back from a Seattle trip. More to come later, but for now, here's a picture of the famous Pike Place Fish Company, where they call our orders to each other while tossing around the fish. We had some nice grilled salmon and halibut, and everything was very fresh and delicious.

Blu-ray vs. HD DVD

Why is it that Sony always seems to lose out in these format wars? I remember in the Eighties, when my cousin Hoon convinced our other cousins to buy Betamax players. Lo and behold, the rest of the world chose VHS. I had a somewhat early Sony digital camera, which used Sony's Memory Stick for photo storage. I've since learned the error of my ways, and my family is now a Canon (Digital Elph) and Nikon (DSLR) family, happily reliant on SD Cards.

And now, the speculation is that Howard Stringer of Sony is ready to cave on the Blu-Ray format. Does this have anything to do with Walmart's decision to sell $100 HD DVD players on the Friday after Halloween?

Why is Sony always the kid who has to do things his own way, who can't play nice in the consumer electronics sandbox? When will they figure out that people aren't willing to live in a Sony-only world and won't put up with proprietary incompatible formats, even if they come embedded in XBox360's?

I've even neglected to mention the stupid UMD format that works in Sony's PSP game players. How many movies are they selling these days in the UMD format? Not many, I bet.

Sony, take a page out of Phillips' book and look at the success of the original Compact Disc, used even in your ubiquitous Discman players.