Dis'n'dat

- Remembering the night the Berlin Wall fell- CNN; I recall this pretty well. I was in high school, taking German. So it was pretty darn relevant in my world. (taking Germany poorly actually... but taking it) I wound up going to Germany in 1990 for a week or two, so I had a double dose of history. Little did I know that U2 was in East Berlin trying to record an album... I just recall seeing the news and how Trabants were being welcomed to the west. I had no clue of the history or of all the super tension... just that something huge was happening.

- Make Cookies in 90 Seconds with Your Waffle Iron- LifeHacker; Ever see an idea and go, 'that is so amazing, I gotta try it like yesterday'? Thats how I felt when I read this.

- Surely, This Remote-Controlled Bowling Ball Is the Devil's Contraption- Gizmodo; That just takes the fun out of it.

- Does Charlie Weis get canned for losing to Navy again?

- Boy howdy Sundays are a lot easier to take when I don't have fantasy football to keep up on.

- Baby started to laugh proper yesterday, not 100%, but getting there. She was great all weekend with lots of people in and out of the house!

- So I got my Ngata jersey Saturday just in time for the game yesterday. Turns out he was out due to the sprained ankle from the previous week- when I ordered it. Lovely.

- Don't even get me started on the Ravens game... I still feel like I was kicked in the chest this morning.

Frosty

First good frost of the season hit over night... cooling down, and it is always amazing how sudden changes in temperatures feel so dramatic. The bedroom will feel cold on a morning like this, when the temps are in the 30s... but two months from now it will seem comfortable. I know we adjust to relative, but it still amazes me.

In any case- I love having a usage garage on morning like this. Will also love it when it snows.  =)


Dis'n'dat:

- Just found out that my jersey I ordered arrived in NYC this morning at 1:12am, USPS tracking is finally working right!

- Best Antivirus Application?- LifeHacker; I am really curious to see the outcome of this. Its like they read my mind- or blog.

- HD Media Player Battlemodo: Apple TV Killers- Gizmodo; In the back of my mind I really want to build one, but buying one isn't out of the question. Also, if I can hook up a NAS like the LaCie one. If I can replace my TiVo, TV box, and get HD in the process... holy hanna. I will take it!

- Under the lights at Calvert Hall- Baltimore Sun; I don't know why they didn't install lights when they built the new stadium on campus... I am sure the neighbors would have raised a stink or something... this is a test case for future lights next summer I bet. Maybe they can move football games to Friday nights, that would rock.

- I wonder if the Ravens have any sort of interest in reacquiring previous employees like Phil Savage and George Kokinis. Both fired from the Browns after being hired from the Ravens. Hmmmmmmmmm... but the Ravens do have a philosophy, company wide, of 'next man up' which means there is always someone waiting to fill your shoes who has the training and preparedness.

Disn'dat

- Happy half birthday to baby yesterday. She turned six months old.

- Congratulations to my mom who is retiring today. (whew!)

- I wonder if there is, is a wa to develop, a personal wiki/blog/information center. A place to enter in information daily to sort out thoughts and information. For example I want to be able to store away links to cool photography information, and still record ideas and thoughts about various topics. Hmmmm, a mash up between a blog and a wiki... a personal biki.  (trademark pending) I think that would be be a lot more helpful than me sending daily blog entries. It could host my calendar, have links to maps on where I am going, remind me of upcoming events... Not a personalized Google home page, but not a Yahoo Mail box either. Something that is highly editable, able to be commented on, and some functions available for feedback.

- LaCie's Network Space 2 will assimilate your data, resistance is futile- Engadget; That actually looks pretty damn cool. I am going to have to start seriously thinking about a NAS. If I didn't need to edit and publish photos, I would be all over this. I would have a super cheap, light weight laptop for access, and devices that 'hang off' like my Zune.

- The Gadget Buyer's Decision Making Flowchart- Gizmodo; See above.

- DIY 9V Battery-Powered USB Charger- LifeHacker; That is pretty damn cool.

- Super Spit Balls- Gizmodo; And I've been making myself all these years like a sucker.

- Furniture Suitcases Are Living Rooms to Go- Gizmodo; Now THATS an idea to rest on. Not so good for actual, ya know, traveling though.

- You and Bono, alone in a restaurant- @U2; Yikes... I don't know if I would know where to start. Mostly bumbling and stammering. Then most likely a frantic call to my buddy Matt or Sherry to have them ask questions they had been saving up. (after a photo or three)

- Pushkar Fair, sometimes you just learn about something new. Once again, thanks to the Big Picture.

New age fandom

I am finally admitting I am not a cutting age fan anymore. Back in the mid-late 90s, sure enough. Even in to 2001/2002 I felt comfortable with tech and being a fan of something. I knew website, how to search like a fiend, and generally jump on a discussion list easily. I ran a private U2 fan FTP server for many years and served up gobs of rare material. And it was a rare treat to have a friend call you from a show to share a song live... Instant messaging was the rave.

Then there was a shift... slow and steady. FTP was replaced by Bit-Torrent, discussion lists were overtaken by Forums and boards, and everyone knows how to run a search. YouTube popped up and everyone was sharing videos from the vaults. Instant messaging got replaced by texting on phones. Instant knowledge of setlists was easy, and photos were easy to transfer and share with friends. Quality be damned! You could fit a crapload of music on a portable device... Blogs were in.

Now there is another shift, to super instant communication- Twitter, FaceBook status updates, texting with ease... all sorts of tracking available- example if you own a Blackberry and attend a U2 show you can see where are others are if you register. Seriously. I watched one show being streamed live via video shot by a fan in the stands. 1000Mikes makes it possible to stream live audio of a show. Taking and posting photos instantly is done with ease. Heck, even the Edge does it. (though I think a PR person vets them first)

If you aren't on top of the tech wave, you are under it.

Mobile phones, or mobile communication platforms, have changed the way we interact... the way we are fans. Small chirps are it, just small slices of other things.

I honestly don't know if I want to jump on board to all that. Between my job change, my family life shift, and my lack of needing short hits off the information stream- I am no longer a new age fan. I am under the wave and I am ok with that.
My buddy Matt says I should jump in to Twitter, and he is probably right... just like he was right with Flickr in 2003/4. I just don't have the time, energy, and interest to take up another stream of information flowing in to my life.

Call me an old fuddy-duddy.

Dis'n'dat:

- There is something deeply satisfying about making a cup of tea and eating home made banana bread for breakfast.

- Here are two scary tech inspired Halloween costumes. #1 #2

- Woman To Live Stream Her Child Birth- Gizmodo; Speaking of instant communication. Good lord- thats insane. I wonder who is sponsoring the event... ya know- to offset the costs.

- Holiday Lighting Win- FailBlog; Hahahahahahaahhaahaha- thanks Steve.

Feel better...

To baby who was up just about every 30-45 minutes last night.

She is home with mom today... not feeling well at all. Hopefully it is teething, but we shall see.


Dis'n'dat:

- Baltimore Tea & Coffee- Seems my little $1 off per can return has been squashed by the state health inspectors. You could bring an empty tin for tea back and have it refilled. Seems that isn't exactly healthy... I guess I can see that. Still, it was good while it lasted. I must have gotten $20 off during the lifespan of my tins.
The new sales don't even involve tins now, they are all vacuum sealed bags. Not the same...

- Nothing Makes You Feel Insignificant Like a 648-Megapixel Image of Our Galaxy- Gizmodo; Wow.

- Whole Baby Wiimote Peripheral Confirms I'm Trapped in Bizarro World- Gizmodo; That is just super scary.

- Are DVRs actually going to save the network TV model?- Engadget; Now thats just crazy talk.

- I am about THIS CLOSE to upgrading my old WinXP box to Win7. I just need to find about 2-3hours to make sure it goes smoothly. Been hearing issues about the install, but I am not too concerned... well, I am, but not really.
My biggest debate is which anti-virus/malware/spycrap software to use. I used to get McAfee for free with my old work... will have to check if there is a program to get it from my new work as well. Otherwise I am looking at either AVG or the MS Defender.
Still going to keep my copy of UBCD4Windows handy though!

- Wonder whats gonna happen to the Black and Decker jobs in Towson. I know a couple guys there... hope things don't get made redundant.

- Calvert Hall getting respect in the polls... for the first time in I don't know how long, they are ranked higher than Loyola in football. Wow. Thanksgiving is going to be DARN interesting- at least it looks better than it has in a while.

- Ordered a Haloti Ngata jersey. Can't wait for it to show up.