Zubbles! The colored bubbles!

Now this is a good idea! Made with a special dye that actually disappears and doesn't stain, these bubbles are the culmination of 10 years of development.


Now Zubbles are going to take the toy industry by storm. Watch for them soon!

Intel creates a Tablet Telecaster

Yes, Intel has teamed up with Fender to create the world's first Tablet PC/Guitar hybrid. Personally, I wish it wasn't a Telecaster, as I'm not too fond of them. Gimme a Les Paul or Paul Reed Smith any day!

Who's fault is it when someone diesfrom online gaming?

Red Herring reports on a Chinese boy who jumped to his death re-enacting a scene from World of Warcraft, an online role-playing game he was addicted to. The boy's parents are suing the makers of the game, Blizzard Entertainment, for the death of their child.

Worse than that, the Chinese government is looking into how to restrict online game playing time for the entire nation to try to avoid similar incidents. Apparently, gaming addiction is big in China, and this is not the first fatality related to it.

But who is really at fault here? Blizzard? The parents? The boy? I can't say, but I will say that it should NOT be Blizzard. Just because they make a very successful game does not hold them responsible for people who have trouble telling reality from fiction. This law suit should be thrown out of court, in my opinion.

100 Most Often Mispronounced Words and Phrases in English

Very interesting site. How many of these words do YOU mispronounce? Check it out.

Does this mean what I think it means?

I shot this picture with my camera phone when we stopped at a gas station the other night. This sign was hanging over their garage.

Does this seem odd to anyone else?

What crazy holiday falls on your birthday?

Mine is "Run Up the Flagpole and See if Anybody Salutes It Day". What's yours?

History's 10 worst Software Bugs

As a computer programmer, I've seen my fair share of bugs. But none of my bugs have EVER killed anyone! Check out History's 10 Worst Software Bugs as compiled by Wired News.

e-paper coming!

Now this is cool! Imagine opening a magazine and seeing a video play as part of an article. Or having animated instruction manuals.

Gizmag reports that Siemens has developed a printable, low-cost, disposable video display that can be printed on paper, cardboard, plastic, just about anything!

Coming in 2007...Check it out!

Too many cooks? Open Source vs Commercial Part 3

(This is part 3 of my post titled Too many cooks? Open Source vs Commercial Part 1 and Too many cooks? Open Source vs Commercial Part 2)

There's no question that open source vs. commercial debate is interesting, heated, and neverending. I liken this debate to traditional bipartisan government politics. On the left we have the bleeding heart liberals, fighting aganst the man, struggling to make the little guy heard. On the right there's the corporate big-wigs, who support big business and share a laissez faire attitude.

Let's see...which is which? Not too hard to see that open source = left and commercial = right. The interesting part about all this is that almost all the people I talk to out here who are big open source supporters are also left leaning, Starbucks hating, Microsoft bashing, tree huggers.

Now I consider myself independent and non-partisan in my views. I believe in many Democratic ideals, as well as having some strong Republican views. Not to mention some of my Green Party and other leftist viewpoints as well. So you might say I am a political "mutt" with left and right wing leanings.

I like Starbucks, Microsoft, WalMart, Target, and all the other big businesses that have come to signify "the man", as well as Adobe, Windows, Macromedia, and other commercial software. I also like PHP, MySQL, Linux, Apache, and other open source software that I use daily in my career.

So where does that leave me here in Silicon Valley? Basically, nowhere different than anyone else. That's the magic of the Bay Area. Tolerance. Diversity. I have shared my views with many and have very interesting debates, but then continue with what we were doing. It's all good.

Which brings me to my conclusion on this entire topic. Open source vs. Commercial? Simple...it's all good.

The first annual World Usability Day

This is an important topic for everyone who has to deal with end-user products. So, basically, everybody. World Usability Day was created to help everyone know more about the ways to help create a better user experience of our world. Basically, take a user-centric approach to design.

Alternative uses for the bible

Interesting web page. I am not saying I condone these alternate uses for the bible, but I thought it was quite an interesting read!

66.2 MPG today!

Yes, my 19 mile one-way commute today netted me a whopping 66.2 Miles Per Gallon with my 2005 Honda Civic Hybrid! Ok, so I don't drive necessarily "fast". As a matter of fact, I usually drive in the right lane at around 5 MPH under the speed limit, only speeding up when people behind me get close.

But hey, I'm in no hurry. I think this will be my first tank that lasts over 500 miles. And it's only an 11.9 gallon tank, so it really goes a long way.

H.Y.B.R.I.D. - How You Bypass Rising International Dependency

The point of a hybrid is not simply economics, even though it does make a difference. Those of us who buy into the hybrid technology are not necessarily trying to save money on gas. We are buying into the future. We are supporting the research and development of cleaner fuels and less emissions. Maybe the current hybrids aren't perfect, but they will keep getting better. And if no one buys into the technology first, it will never get developed.

So are hybrids a farce? Not the big 3 (Civic, Prius, and Insight). Others are using hybrid technology to increase performance rather than improve efficiency (Accord, Ford SUV, etc). Those may be a "farce" but they still do get slightly better mileage than their regular counterparts (like 1-5MPG better - not much).

As for batteries, yes they may be an issue...but we just don't know right now. They are rated to last the lifetime of the car. All we can do is believe that and hope for the best. But it shouldn't be the reason not to buy into hybrid technology. And I am not overly concerned with resale value as I plan to keep this car as long as I can. It's a Civic. It'll last.

Yes, I paid a premium over the regular Civic ($22k vs. $19k) and I may not see that exact amount returned to me in gas savings...or maybe I will. Only time will tell. But that's not the true reason to jump on the hybrid bandwagon. It's about caring about what our current vehicles are doing to our environment...it's about reducing our dependency on foreign oils...it's about supporting the development of newer cleaner fuel alternatives.

Support change. Support environmentally consciuous technologies. Support Earth.

Why high gas prices don't bother me

I recently bought a 2005 Honda Civic Hybrid, and I couldn't be happier. You may notice at the top of my blog page, there is a banner image that shows my current Miles Per Gallon. This is done through a web site called Greenhybrid.com. Every time I get gasoline, I make a note of how many gallons I put in, and how many miles I drove. Then I enter that info on their site, and this image is automatically generated for me to use as a signature, or anywhere else. It averages all the tanks I enter into the site.

Keep an eye on that number...it is climbing up rapidly! Since I moved to San Jose, my commute to work has increased from 4 miles to 19 miles, mostly highway driving. This has boosted my average round trip MPG from low to mid 40's to upper 50's! Yes, I use more gas daily, but I am using it way more efficiently.

From home to work I now typically get 58-60 miles per gallon. It drops to around 56 by the time I get home, but I can live with that!

Church of Reality recognized by IRS

The IRS has recognized the Church of Reality as a religion. What is the Church of Reality? Here's a quote from their site:

The Church of Reality is a religion based on the practice of Realism, believing in everything that is real. Our motto is, "If it's real, we believe in it." Since no one knows all of reality, the Church of Reality is about the pursuit of reality the way it really is. We commit to being intellectually honest with ourselves and with others so that we can cut through the mythology. We want to know about the way things really are in the real world.

Well, at least it's not a religion based on unknowns and fiction, like many other religions in the world. But it's still a "religion", which to me means it's a man-made organization of like-minded individuals who grasp on to an idea about man's creation/evolution/existence.

Personally, religion is a farce to me. What one person believes about how we got here is his/her business. I am more of an atheist than anything else, and by that I mean I do not believe in any one organized religion that explains why we are here or how we got here. Is there a god? Who knows. I actually hope there is not. I don't bow down or worship anyone or anything but life itself. If anything, I am my own god because I am at the center of my own belief system.

Get LinkedIn!

LinkedIn is a cool site for building your network of colleagues, references, friends, etc. You get linked to their friends, and so on, and so on. Great for job hunting, or keeping track of professionals in your industry!

Les Paul goes digital!

The Gibson Digital Guitar is a genuine Gibson Les Paul, with all of the features and capabilities of a traditional Les Paul, with revolutionary digital technology. Plug in an Ethernet cable and get digital control over each string! Now THIS is the perfect combo for geeky musicians!

Move complete

Well, the move is complete and we are now living out of boxes. Comcast came out and hooked me back up, so I can get online once again.

Our two cats, Artemis and Kramer, were a bit traumatized by the whole experience, but they seem to be settling in now. All in all, it was a very smooth move.

Goodbye, old apartment...

Ah the emptiness!

Truckin'

The movers are here!