This trip was planned a little last minute. The resort was offering all inclusive stays at a steep discount, so we decided what the hell and jumped. However, what that meant is that we were pretty unprepared than we normally would have been. At the last minute a few days before we were supposed to leave, we decided that we should rent a car. This ultimately was the right decision, but it meant leaving without maps or guide books to help us....
Question – How do you take a 10 minute song and edit it down to a 3 minute video? The obvious answers are either “cut 7 minutes” or “very carefully.” What I didn’t realize is that Pilot in the Sky of Dreams (the great video I posted earlier) is really the 10 minute “epic” song on Threshold’s new album Dead Reckoning. Yet they managed to turn it into a great 3 minute video… without me realizing the drastic edits they had made!...
When it comes to successful rebirths of a video game franchise, the most recent stellar performer must be Prince of Persia. It came a long way from its primitive beginnings on early Macintosh platforms. Even then it was still a great game. Ubisoft did a remarkable job with the original remake (The Sands of Time) and eventually put out one of the most successful video game trilogy’s of all time (Warrior Within and Two Thrones) – all three of which I throughly enjoyed....
Man! We leave the country for a few days and it seems like everything decided to hit the fan! First off, fantastic trip. Much need rest, relaxation, sun, beach, and Mexican beer. Can’t ask for much more than that. I’ll have details and pictures later, so stay tuned. I currently have 14 posts in basic draft form (a 50% increase from where it was this morning as I began to peruse over all the news and events I missed), and that doesn’t include anything from the trip....
Finally! We have central heating and AC – which basically means we have no control over anything. Either heat or AC (no fan option). Which means usually a miserable one to two weeks biannually where they turn the AC off too early (fall) or wait too late (spring). Well today will be the best night of sleep all week as they finally kicked on the AC. While the humidity hasn’t quite crept up on us, its still much more humid here than anywhere in California (though not quite North Carolina or Alabama)....
We are now both set for our transitions back to California. I accepted a job with the TMOS project at the San Jose Lockheed office (more on the project later…) I must say I am very lucky to have worked on the GPS project for four years right out of school. It has been a great experience and I’ve learned a great deal from the fantastic people on the project both in Gaithersburg and Colorado Springs....
This story has been all over the news lately – Bees are disappearing for no explainable reason. Just take a moment and realize that a large percentage of our food is dependent on a small insect who’s function we can’t artificially replicate. This is just one of the handful of things that if happened, we really couldn’t fix. Another example is a asteroid collision – maybe in a decade or so we’ll have the early warning system and then some sort of divert capability....
When I stumbled across this, my first reaction was “You have to be crazy!” I haven’t been either sky diving or bungee jumping, and I don’t really care to. Joel actually when sky diving between high school and college… He did a tandem jump, and was unaware during the jump, but their primary chute failed, so they had to deploy their reserve. That is something I’ll simply avoid for a long while....
For those of of you that are emotionally strong, TubeWad as a good breakdown of some shows that have had the brightest candles but the shortest wicks – shows that got canceled well before their time. Its really sad actually how much good stuff there is on the list (and how much I’m more than intimately familiar with). Before I add a few thoughts, let me point that while we have potentially numerous squandered classics here, we are now suffering through the 14th season of Survivor (I shit you not)!...
I have a argument to present for the few TV executives out there who happen to stumble across this. Given the following: I watch TV via a DVR device (ReplayTV). I time shift virtually all of my TV viewing so I can skip all commercials. Therefore TV advertising is not reaching me. I employ a nifty little browser plugin to block almost all internet ads (Firefox+AdBlock). Therefore Internet advertising is not reaching me....