Worst. Service. EVER.

Last night we went to a local restaurant for some dinner to celebrate my wife's birthday. We had some drinks, laughs, and some great food, but our server really sucked. We called in a reservation and were seated immediately upon arriving, and our drink orders were taken promptly. We ordered some appetizers and that's about when he apparently checked out. Besides waiting forever to take our actual entree order and never getting our waters refilled (which is a huge pet peeve of mine), we had to wait about 25 minutes to pay our bill (which was incorrect and had to be adjusted). At a point it almost became comical until we realized we missed the showtime for just about every movie playing nearby. As bad as that was, it reminded me of a recent experience that, to this day takes the cake on bad service.

On our way up to Yosemite to hike Half Dome, we decided to stop and grab some calorie infused breakfast at McDonalds in Oakhurst. We arrived there a few minutes before they opened and patiently waited in the car. After about 15 minutes a gentleman employed by the restaurant approached the door (after finishing his cigarette) and proceeded to bang on it until the person who was 15 feet away came to the door and unlocked it for him. I say "him", because even though it was now 5 minutes past opening time, we continued to wait. 10 minutes later the doors open and we get in. My friend was feeling like a burger and asked if they were serving lunch, the "jovial" doorbanger replied with a monotone "it's morning... we serve breakfast in the morning" while, without looking back extended his index finger toward the wall behind him. My friend pointed back in the same direction at the menus on the wall explaining that the lunch selections were up. My friend then began to give his breakfast choice, and mid-sentence the guy walks away and starts changing the sign to the "appropriate" meal. At this point we would have just left, but seeing as we had eight to nine hours of hiking ahead of us, knew we had to eat something and this was the last place on the way. After the grueling process of the three of us ordering we had to wait an additional ten minutes for our "fast food" all the while hearing about parties the employees attended, guys/girls they wanted to hook up with, and how much they all hated their jobs (comforting? no.).
After getting our food (and checking for spit), we noticed a sign posted by the soda fountain that made us laugh. It read:

PLEASE NO LOITERING.
Time limit 20 minutes
while consuming food

Here's an idea: SERVE the food in under 20 minutes and we'll get out of there lickity split! Honestly... a time limit? Aaaaaaaand... this is another reason why I try to avoid McDonalds.

Finally made it to the top!

A couple of weeks ago myself and two friends took to the mountain and hiked half dome in Yosemite. It's something I've wanted to do for a little while, but had heard from several people that it's a tough trip and was a little worried about being able to make it. So to prepare, I skipped dinner the night before and got a full 3 hours of sleep (insert sarcastic tone here). People weren't lying, it is quite a hike 18 miles round trip, 4000 foot vertical, and the infamous cables up the side of the dome at the end. Once at the top, the amazing view of Yosemite Valley was all at once trumped by the realization we had to go back down the cables and hike another four hours in the hundred degree heat. The whole way we were huffing, puffing, and grumbling; but in the end (and after a full days rest) we looked back and really felt like we accomplished something (although we all pretty much agreed never to do it again).

Bonus: This is what I saw when I took my shoes off after the hike, LOL.

How to make someone appreciate a desk job

I really don't like it when people complain about the weather.
It's just something that:

1. Everyone you're talking to is experiencing as well
2. There's nothing you can do about it

That being said, it's been a little slow work wise this week. And because of that, I got the opportunity to go out in the field instead of being stuck at my desk all day.

Monday morning around 8:30 I was asked to visit a site in Selma and take some photos for a project we're working on. I spent about two hours walking up and down the streets taking some photos and then on the way back grabbed an iced drink from Starbucks. It was quite nice and made the day fly by when I got back. So yesterday, when I was asked to go out to another site to take some measurements, I was more than willing to go. I jumped in the work truck and started to drive and it was at that point I started to doubt the "fun" of this trip. I looked at the rear view mirror and saw this:

Yeah... having even your eyeballs sweat kinda puts a damper on the novelty of being out in the field. Needless to say, it was nice to get back to the office that day.

I sold my soul to Gamestop

Times being what they are right now and with a load of fun things quickly coming up on the horizon; I decided to make some quick cash by trading in some old Gamecube games that have sat in my closet untouched for a couple of years now. I packed up my stuff in what turned out to be a unwieldy stack of Jenga pieces and headed over to Gamestop.

I decided to go a little out of my way in order to go to a less busy store with close parking. I got out of my car, grabbed the stack of games (which only fell over 18 times on the way there) and headed for the door. As I approached the store I could see one of the store employees shaking his head (that's never a good sign). I pulled an amazing elbow-to-foot door maneuver and got in, only to be told that they closed in 8 minutes and they couldn't help me. They directed me to the store down the road which was open for another hour and I reluctantly grabbed my stack and headed over there.

Upon arriving, I was greeted with the lack of parking I was expecting and had to trudge across the parking lot trying not to leave a breadcrumb trail of games as I walked to the store. After finally getting in and setting everything down, the transaction began... 25 minutes later and several "I can't believe you're selling these" comments from the clerk, we finally finished. All in all I sold 40 games and pocketed $95. As if that wasn't heartbreaking enough, due to a special Gamestop was having I could get an additional 40% value if I took store credit instead of cash. It came out to about $165. That's a $70 loss. Oh well and extra $100 in the pocket never hurt anyone. :)

Also, I've received the world's longest receipt. The Guinness guys are supposed to be calling me back anytime now... :)

Oh, how quickly we forget

I don't know if anyone remembers 17 years ago when the Vice President of the United States of America "corrected" a kid in New Jersey for misspelling potato (he said it was potatoe). This crap made international news. Everyone talked about it in the days following and to this day it's one of the few things I remember about that administration (I was in first grade when Bush Sr. was sworn in) <- don't judge :). I swung by a sandwich shop at lunch today to grab a quick... lunch, and came across the following sign:

I was so distracted by it that I started at the wrong end of the line (i.e. the paying side not the ordering side). I was quickly admonished by the cashier for breaking protocol and shooed to the correct side. This meant passing the sign a few more times. I walked to the ordering counter and fighting the urge to snap a photo. I placed my order and returned to the paying counter, causing me to pass the sign again. This was too much for my willpower to fend off. I tried to slyly take a picture using the old look at the menu mounted on the back wall and take the picture without looking; this resulted in a blurry white band draping across my phone screen. I glimpsed out of the corner of my eye and noticed the cashier totally saw me, and she did not look happy. But I still needed the photo, they misspelled the word not once, but multiple times and didn't even try to hide it (I see Patoto, Pototo, Patato, and finally Potatoe). So I took a second photo. I framed the shot, focused, and shot. Cashier, not happy. She gave me the dirtiest looks I've seen in a long time. Had I already had my food paid for and in my possession, I would have taken a picture of her too, but it wasn't so.

That deserves recognition! Either frown upon the lack of spell checking for a business sign or celebrate the brazen disregard for the social norm of "correctness". But either way you've got to give them credit. I am a little curious to go back tomorrow and see if it's still there.

PS: I did not take pleasure in pissing the cashier off, nor did I take the photo to piss her off. I am not the muckraker you may think, but it was a funny enough story to update my month long blog drought. :) I'm baaaaaaack!

/double double checking he didn't misspell any words on this post

Quality Control took Valentine's Day off

Every year as Valentine's day approaches and in the weeks following I become addicted to Sweethearts. There really is no explanation for it, the texture equivalent of chewing chalk.

One thing I noticed this year, during the consumptions of pounds of these talkative little treats was, Necco's quality control department must have taken the holiday off. I could only read the message on about one of every four hearts out of the box. Some of the "ink" was way off center, others were pock marked, some completely blank, and others were cracked in half.

Below is a sampling of a single box (they all looked like this), I didn't pick the bad ones out, I just poured them out and flipped them over:

But seeing as this is about the only time of year these things are relevant, I can understand why half-assing them might be acceptable, oh wait, no... I can't.

Netflix/Latitude/Recite [Tech Tuesday (Really late)]

Here comes another onslaught of Windows Mobile applications I've found rather interesting in the past few weeks.

Netflix
First is the Mobile Manager for Netflix released on the Windows Mobile Access page (thanks @windowsmobile) . Its a small application that connects you directly to your Netflix account. The application gives you the ability to view your queues (both DVD and instant) as well as add movies to either. Another nice feature is the ability to view trailers for most movies from your search results without having to go through your phone's browser.

Registration is required for download, but as always your Windows LIVE ID is will be your ticket (same ID as Windows Live, Hotmail, Xbox LIVE, etc).

Microsoft Recite
Next up is Microsoft Recite. Currently billed as a "technology preview" its still a bit of a bare boned application. You basically record a reminder message such as "Get eggs, milk, and bacon at the grocery store." Then when you want to search your recordings you simply speak what your looking for like, "grocery store" and the program will search your notes and play back the most relevant message. I tried it a couple times making a few dummy "reminders" and then searching them and it worked flawlessly (that is, until I tried to actually show people how it works). It's a pretty cool application (when it works), and up until this point I've been taking pictures of things I need to remember (serial numbers, registration codes, etc), so this might be a more convenient way to go.

@WMExperts has put together a great article going a little more in depth about the application.

Google Maps Mobile 3.0 with Latitude
Google released an update to their Google Maps Mobile application that now includes Latitude functionality. Latitude basically allows you to quickly see where your friends are (via GPS or cell tower triangulation) and their current Google status (same as Google Talk). It also allows you to quickly IM, call, or search around thier location by clicking their location pin.

Location sharing is controlled via "sharing requests" which are similar to Myspace or Facebook friend requests. You can either accept or deny the request and when accepted you have the option to share your "best location" (usually within 30 meters of your actual location if using GPS), "city level location", or you can hide your location from them (i.e., stalk them :) ). One of the nicest features is you can control your sharing level per friend, so if are sharing with close friends you can share your exact location and share only city level location with acquaintances. You also have the ability to shut off location sharing at anytime (it doesn't always have to run).

It's fun seeing what your friends are doing, but the downside is if you leave the program running it tends to drain your battery. Still, even if you don't use the Latitude functionality, the Google Maps Mobile applications other features definitely make it a must have!

Facebook: "Your soul... is mine!" (not really though) [UPDATED]

The twitterverse was abuzz today with grumbles and ramblings regarding the new Facebook ToS (terms of service). The feeding frenzy started by an apparent post on The Consumerist. At first glance the new ToS basically gives Facebook perpetual rights, and the right to sub-license (give to a third party) anything you post or upload...even after you cancel your account.

There seems to be a bit of an apocalyptic tone to the original post (which was actually posted almost two weeks after the February 4th update), which caused the panic. The truth of the matter is, we live in such a litigious society that companies are having to take some drastic measures to cover their assets. Yes, the new ToS appears to give Facebook godlike rights, but only when promoting Facebook or Facebook branded products.

There is an excellent counterpoint article written by J. F. Quackenbush on Wet Asphalt (I'm thinking that's a nom de plume) that breaks down the ToS update and what Facebook could and couldn't legally do. You do have to wade through a bit of flaming (against the Consumerist article author), but it's still a good read. Favorite quote from the article:

I just think it's idiotic that hordes of Facebook users, many if not most of whom are regularly participating in all manner of digital piracy, are now all aflutter with the fear that Facebook is going to steal all the money they could be making by selling pictures of their cats.

This ToS seems even more benign than the original Google Chrome ToS, but as I've said before: read the Terms of Service before you click "I Agree"... especially if you disagree.

Update: Here is Facebook's official response to all the hubbub.

My tepid coffee to become more tepid---er

Rumor has it, over the next year several Starbucks in Fresno will be closing down. And several of them happen to be the ones I frequent the most. When we bought our house, we had a checklist of things we wanted: a nice area, good schools, and easy access to Starbucks: check, check, and check. If and when the proposed Starbucks closures happen I may have to...*gasp*... give up my morning fix, as the one remaining on the way to work will now be packed and is not in a very convenient shopping center. I know whine whine whine, but other than me being grumpy until noon, you have to think about the other ramifications: even though Starbucks seems a bit over saturated in some areas, they still provide jobs to people, particularly college students. The benefits and perks of working there were great, as well as having it on your résumé coming in to your next job (you'd be surprised how stuck on that one fact interviews get).

Below is a map of the proposed "siren slaughter" in my area, lets hope its just a rumor.

XIII [Winning Wednesday]

Back in 2003 I purchased a game called "XIII" and didn't really know much about the background of it. I was drawn to it by its unique cell-shaded style. After playing through the game I was totally enthralled by it. The game itself is based on the first five volumes of a Franco-Belgiam comic series by the same name. Last Sunday (Feb. 8th), NBC began a two part mini-series based on the same comic. Needless to say I was very interested when I saw the previews for it.

The basic premise of the game/mini-series is a man with no memory, awakes to find himself accused of assassinating the President of the United States and is being hunted by the US government. Although his memory is lost, all of his training and instincts are in tact. Throughout the series he must regain his memories and prove his innocence. If you're thinking this storyline sounds a lot like Robert Ludlum's The Bourne Identity, that's because the writer Jean Van Hamme (art by William Vance) was inspired by Ludlum's book.

I just finished watching part 1 via Hulu and have to say this is definitely worth checking out. The final part of the mini-series is on NBC next Sunday from 9pm to 11pm (at least on the west coast) and stars Val Kilmer (as The Mongoose) and Stephen Dorff (as XIII).

If you missed part one its available on Hulu: XIII mini-series part 1 and NBC.com (requires installation of a plug-in).

Microsoft My Phone and Google Mobile Sync [Tech Tuesday]

Switching phones has often been a bittersweet thing for many people. On one hand you have a nice shiny new phone, that can do a bunch of new things. But on the other hand you have to re-enter your contacts and other vital information. And what about your pictures? Music? Ring tones? Most of the time they're gone when you switch phones and you have to take the time to download them all over again.

Some carriers have tried to alleviate some of the pain in getting a new phone by allowing you to sync to their network's servers. Microsoft and Google are trying to make it even easier by providing the service themselves. Coming out in the near future (Date still TBD), Microsoft is releasing the My Phone beta on an invite only basis. The first version of My Phone (formally known as SkyBox), will synchronize the following (up to a max of 200MB) contacts, calendar appointments, tasks, photos, videos, text messages, music, and documents between your phone and your My Phone web account. Any synchronized information will be available to view from a password protected webpage. Syncing all of the information to a new phone, would be as easy as a click. A future release (v 2.0) will also add the ability to completly manage your phone remotely (add applications, change ringtones, etc.). Details are still a bit few and far between as Microsoft "accidentaly" leaked the website early, but rumors are that more information will be given at this month's Mobile World Congress (Feb 16-19).

For those of you who want something now, Google has released the Google Mobile Sync Beta. Blackberry users had the privelage of Google Mobile Sync for sometime now, but now iPhone, Windows Mobile, and Nokia phones are supported. GMS basically syncs your Google Calander and G-mail Contacts with your phone. The WinMo and iPhone versions use the ActiveSync protocol and stays up-to-date throughout the day based on a user defined interval. This also takes care of the problem of switching phones by easily transfering the information from an old phone to the web to the new phone.

If you've been using Outlook to store your contacts/calander events, there is an easy way to transfer your information to Google.


sources:
http://i.gizmodo.com/5148541/microsoft-my-phone-free-mobileme+style-syncing-for-windows-mobile

http://www.google.com/mobile/default/sync.html

http://www.microsoft.com/windowsmobile/myphone/moreinfo.aspx

Hidden embarassment [Life's "metagames"]

For the most part, I am pretty proud of my musical diversity, I have things in my collection ranging from the 1930's group "The Ink Spots" all the way to some of today's mainstream and indie groups.

There is however, about 2% of my music collection that I am, well... ashamed of. Some of this comes from "Zune freebies", some are residual from a time when my wife and my collections were combined on a single computer (I'm not saying my wife has bad taste, but to have Brittany Spears in my collection is something I often have to explain), and some are guilty pleasures (Third Eye Blind much?). This didn't used to be a problem, as I was able to keep my collection secret from others. But since I bought my Zune and joined the "Zune Social" (which displays your favorites, most played, and recent plays), these little awkward gems occasionally come floating to the top.

The Zune software does a nice little job of taking the album art of several albums in your collection and making a mosaic of them as the background while the player is running. No matter how many times I refresh it, there is at least one of these "shame albums" hidden somewhere in the "quilt". This has led to a little game I play; I call the game: "WTF? Musical Where's Waldo". It goes like this, at any given point I will look at the player and try to find the album that I need to cover with a post-it. Here is a screen shot I took, see if you can play along (click the picture for a blown up version). Look at the album art and when you come across one that makes you say "Why the hell does he have THAT?", you've won!

A point of contention [QotD]

I find myself constantly having to defend my stance on this position. I try to be open-minded of other people's points-of-view and take the time to hear their side of the argument, but on this one point I have stalwart conviction: Twizzlers are far better than Red Vines. Like most arguments these days I have no good facts or evidence to back up this claim, I just know it.

But which do you prefer? Write a comment to defend your candy of choice.*



*Please note: any comments indicating you prefer Red Vines will be either edited or completely deleted (of course I'm kidding, buy you are wrong)

100th Post!

So today marks my 100th post on Tepid Coffee and Stale Muffins. I'd like to take the opportunity to thank everybody for stopping by and reading my rants and mindless jabber. I'm glad its at least entertaining enough to keep some of you coming back.

To celebrate I thought I have a giveaway!!!! Unfortunately... I don't have anything to give away. Instead my thanks will have to be enough. :)

So sincerely, thank you for taking time out of your day to hear what I have to say.

Google Earth 5.0 [Tech Tuesday]

Google Earth has been around since 2004 and even before that (2001) as Keyhole's Earth Viewer. During its transition from a simple GIS viewer to the modern marvel it is today, several features have been added. 3D landscapes, Google map integration, and "Street View" are just a few. In its latest iteration (5.0 beta), Google Earth has added some of its coolest features. Among them are;

• Historic Imagery - the ability to use a slider to look at aerials from differant years to see how areas may have developed
• Ocean Floor and Surface data - you can now actually go under the surface of the ocean and explore
• Simplified touring with audio recordings

If you haven't downloaded before or its been a while since you've taken the Earth for a spin, now is a great time to do it. The free (non-commercial) version is available for download here: http://earth.google.com/. It may seem like a lot of information at first, but it definitely becomes addicting and you'll find yourself checking out famous landmarks or places you've been, into the wee hours.

If you get tired of touring the globe, a few releases ago Google Earth also included "Sky view" which allows you to "explore" space as well. And if that still isn't enough check out Google Mars.

Both of these require an internet connection, but if you're reading this blog you most likely have that covered. Enjoy!

Neither snow nor rain nor heat... [craponomics]

Back in 2001 (after September 11th and the anthrax mailings), The United States Postal Service ran an ad campaign quoting a translation of Herodotus' Histories which has often been falsely attributed to the USPS creed and went as follows:

We are mothers and fathers. And sons and daughters. Who every day go about our lives with duty, honor and pride. And neither snow, nor rain, nor heat, nor gloom of night, nor the winds of change, nor a nation challenged, will stay us from the swift completion of our appointed rounds. Ever.

Terrible weather may not stop the mail from being delivered, but according to the USPS, one force seems to be able to halt the courier's work... The economy. The USPS is now discussing cutting down their delivery schedule from the typical six-day model (Monday - Saturday) to a five-day model.

I think its interesting that the Postal Service is blaming the economy for the downturn in demand. With competitive rates from parcel carriers such as UPS and FedEx (but with better tracking options and automatic insurance) and the widespread use of the internet, it seems to me as if the USPS has ran its course much like the Pony Express. With e-mail, electronic banking, fax machines, and the aforementioned couriers; I honestly haven't "mailed" anything in quite some time. (But someone still needs to deliver your magazine subscriptions.)

Side note: The USPS seems to have taken down the link to their TV campaign from their website.

Also for the record, the USPS is not a government agency, they are simply an independent private corporation protected and heavily regulated by the federal government.

Seriously?... How to Grind? [WTF?]

For those of you who couldn't care less about me whining about my broken toy, I will share this little bit of joy with you. On my iGoogle homepage I have several little boxes that I don't really pay much attention to very often, but are there in case I get really bored. Case-in-point: the How to of the day, which displays the title of three "How-To" articles the change everyday.

The other day I went to search for something and out of the corner of my eye I caught the title "How to grind". I kind of laughed thinking to myself "surely they are talking about skateboarding" (this is specifically addressed in the "article"). Nope.

If you need a laugh [or lesson], please check out this story. This shows the dark side of user generated content (and why Wikipedia is not a reliable source for your research paper). But you have to give credit to the person who could actually type the following line and still hit the save button:

If repositioning does not work, you may want to excuse yourself for a few minutes to let things settle down.

Bonus: it comes with Tips, Warnings, and a video tutorial.

http://www.wikihow.com/Grind

Why I am WISHING for an RRoD...

Keegan got up a bit early this morning and since I was off today, I decided I'd take him downstairs to watch a DVD with me while mommy slept. Since we had a finite space for entertainment components (and the DVR takes up three quarters of it), we decided to sell our DVD player and just use the Xbox 360. This little arrangement had worked out fine... until today. I went to turn on the 360 to put in a disc and that's when I saw it...

(Sign you are about to have an 8 lb paperweight)

Now at first this didn't bother me, because I saw this same error message (E74) the other day and just took the Hard Drive off and put it back on and then everything was fine. Not this time though. It has now been a full 12 hours and every time its the same result. I looks like its officially dead.

So that got me a little upset as it was, but I remembered Microsoft had automatically extended their warranty period for the 360s because of their horrible failure rate (around 16.4% last year when they extended the warranty). So I did a little research and found out the extended warranty only covers the infamous Red Ring of Death (RRoD), which is three red flashing lights. My error is covered under the standard warranty... which expired JANUARY 2ND!!! So now I have a few options here:

• Pay the out of warranty repair fee ($95 or approximately HALF the cost of a new system)
• Buy a new system (yeah... right)
• Try to fix it myself (voiding the extended warranty)
• MAKE it get the Red Ring of Death (oops! shit! I thought that was a bag of microwave popcorn)

Regardless, I always kind of felt like I was biding my time with the console until it crap out on me.

Wait... what's this dusty white thing with the glowing blue light? /Sings: Baby comeback...

Yeah... Nice try! [WTF?]

Today my office informally (read: pay for yourself) went out to lunch to celebrate one of our co-worker's last day. Since it was her lunch, it was her pick of the restaurant we would eat at, she chose Romano's Macaroni Grill. I wasn't too excited about the pick since Natali and I had gone out to dinner there and the service was sub-par at best. But I figured, its not my lunch and maybe the lunch service will be a little better. We got there and the restaurant was practically empty. There were only two other tables of customers and our group of ten easily doubled the number of patrons. We quickly learned why the restaurant was so empty, the lunch service is no better than the dinner. Despite the sparse number of eaters, it still took us over an hour to get our food (which is our entire lunch break), even every person except one ordered salads or sandwiches! I usually judge our service based on the number of times I have to slurp out of the bottom of my water cup. ( Total number of water refills during the 90 minute lunch: 1). Of course because of the size of our group (even though we split the bill in to two halves of the table) the gratuity was added into the bill automatically (at 18%, which is way more than I would have tipped for the ridiculously bad service).

Side note: My method of tipping at a restaurant goes as such: you start off at a 15% tip. You earn "points" for good service and lose "points" for bad service. At the end of the dinner, your tip is 15% +/- the number of points. (everything ends up relating to a game for me)

We quickly divided up the bill and everyone gave their cash so I could put the bill on the card (I forgot to go to the ATM). My original receipt had two totals on it: the first was the bill and tax ($53.70) and the second was with the bill, tax, and 18% tip ($62.65). I stuck my card in the folder and handed it back to the server. When he returned, he had the two receipts (my copy and the original) folded in half on the left side and the "restaurant copy" on the right side facing me. Since we were now 20 minutes past when we should have been back at the office, I quickly added the the $9.00 tip to my "charge amount" and signed it. I set it down grabbed my jacket and headed toward the door... WAIT! I went back and looked at the receipt. The charge amount included my tip! I scratched out the tip amount and wrote a big "0" in both the "tip amount" and "additional tip" (WTF? and why is this one "optional").

I'm still a little pissed about that. The Caesar salad that I didn't order, almost cost me twenty bucks!*

I actually ordered a chicken plate, but instead got a caesar salad, since it was taking so long and I didn't have time to get my actual order. :(

ETA: I don't know how I didn't see this, but on the back of the main receipt is... yep, you guessed it a "Guest Experience Survey". I get to complain AND I have a chance to win $1,000! :)

Fresno (No. 1 for a good reason!) [Winning Wednesday]

It's nice to open your paper and actually see a "good" story about your city.

Among large California (the most populous state in the US) cities, Fresno tied with Huntington Beach for diverting the most trash from its landfills.

"In 2006, both cities sent 71% of solid waste to recycling programs, according to the most recent data available from the California Integrated Waste Management Board".

That's pretty awesome! It's nice to make the top of a list that doesn't involve air pollution, murder, or methamphetamine.

Source: The Fresno Bee

Today's lesson: humanity

I was at Starbucks this morning (I know...BIG surprise), purchasing my morning coffee. As I reached the line there were two people in front of me and the first was finishing up her order. In the 15 seconds it took me to walk to the line and pull my wallet out of my pocket six people fell into place behind me, including a few "regulars" I recognized. My brother works at this particular Starbucks, so the baristas know me and were pouring my coffee as I walked in. Several of the other people in line were [actual] coffee drinkers and the barista scrambled to get their orders ready ahead of time as well. As the coffees started piling up on the counter the first lady took back her card and began to walk away. The cashier said thank you and as she was about to help the next customer she glanced at the register and noticed there was a balance of 80 cents. The cashier kindly called to the previous customer and alerted her of the situation. The customer explained she'd have to go to her car to get the balance and walked out with an embarrassed look as the line came to a halt.

Let me break here and give you a bit of a sidebar. I know its not fair to "judge a book by its cover", and this is something I try to follow. The things that most people get caught up on like (skin color, tattoos, sexual orientation, etc) don't really cause me to prejudice myself. However, there are a few things that I still need to work on. If people have any of the following, they have basically start "in the hole" and have to prove me wrong:

• NASCAR stickers on their car (I know, I know, its a sport...)
• Ponytail on men over 40 (I think they look ridiculous on men period, but have a particularly hard time with the 40+ crowd)
• Bushy mustaches (men or women :) )

Back to my story...

As the women made it to the door, a man handed the cashier a dollar. It was one of the regulars, a retired man, probably 5'3, bright yellow nylon jumpsuit, long grey ponytail, and a bushy mustache. The cashier thought initially thought (as did I) the man was being rude and trying to sneak in payment for a newspaper. He quickly explained it was to cover the lady's balance. The line began moving again, and when the woman returned she was elated that someone had come to her assistance and promptly thanked the man.

I felt kind of bad. I saw this man everyday, and every time I saw him I rolled my eyes. Not anymore... now I just have to work on the NASCAR stickers.

SIDENOTE: As I was typing this, it began to feel like a cheesy email forward. If this was an email forward it seems like it would probably end with "...and the woman pulled a gun out of her purse and handed it to the man. She then explained with a tear in her eye, 'I was going to use this on myself later but your kindness has shown me humanity still has some good...'" :)

Just send me a message on {insert social network}!

The other day, some friends and myself were trying to make some plans to have a "gaming night" via Facebook's message board. These nights usually involve Call of Duty 4, Rock Band 2, pizza, and lots of alcohol.

As we were trying to make plans another opportunity came up that I thought one of my friends might want to do, so I text messaged him to see if he was interested. After a few minutes a response came by way of the Facebook board. It was at this point I realized there are entirely too many ways to get a hold of each other. So many, that it almost makes it impossible to effectively communicate. I did an inventory of ways to "send me a message":

• Facebook Profile
• LinkedIn Profile
• G-mail
• Google Talk
  
• Yahoo Mail
• Microsoft LIVE Space
• XBox LIVE
• Zune Social
• Microsoft Messenger
• Yahoo Messenger
  
• Twitter
• Blog Comments
• Raptr Profile
• 360voice.com/gamerDNA profile
• Work email
• Text Message
• Voice mail
• Work phone
• House phone
  
• Cell phone <---At least I think my phone can receive calls

And I know that I probably forgot a bunch of other ways to "reach" me, but my point is, out of all of those, only about five actually are read on a consistant basis: Talk, Twitter, text messages, phone calls and G-mail (although almost everything else filters into my G-mail account). So if you sent me a message and I haven't responded to you, it is because either A) I didn't get it, or B) I got it, but am too lazy to go to the appropriate website to respond

So how about you, can you think of all the ways people can "communicate" with you?

Fact Friday: Me

What this guy has done in his lifetime:

My wife (Thinking Blonde) took this from another blog she reads (Seriously), and it has appeared on several others.

It is Friday... I am on a break... I am bored... and have nothing else to post. So I will steal it too. :)

The things that are bold, I have done. The things that are italicized, are things I want to do. Stuff that's regular text, I haven't done nor do I feel compelled to do. Enjoy.

1. Started your own blog
2. Slept under the stars
3. Played in a band <---Only if Rock Band counts :)
4. Visited Hawaii
5. Watched a meteor shower
6. Given more than you can afford to charity
7. Been to Disneyland
8. Climbed a mountain
9. Held a praying mantis
10. Sang a solo
11. Bungee jumped
12. Visited Paris
13. Watched a lightning storm at sea
14. Taught yourself an art from scratch
15. Adopted a child
16. Had food poisoning
17. Walked to the top of the Statue of Liberty
18. Grown your own vegetables
19. Seen the Mona Lisa in France
20. Slept on an overnight train
21. Had a pillow fight
22. Hitch hiked
23. Taken a sick day when you’re not ill
24. Built a snow fort
25. Held a lamb
26. Gone skinny dipping
27. Run a Marathon
28. Ridden in a gondola in Venice
29. Seen a total eclipse
30. Watched a sunrise or sunset
31. Hit a home run
32. Been on a cruise <----Dinner cruise in San Diego, but not an actual cruise
33. Seen Niagara Falls in person
34. Visited the birthplace of your ancestors
35. Seen an Amish community
36. Taught yourself a new language <---- Does C# count?
37. Had enough money to be truly satisfied
38. Seen the Leaning Tower of Pisa in person
39. Gone rock climbing
40. Seen Michelangelo’s David
41. Sung karaoke
42. Seen Old Faithful geyser erupt
43. Bought a stranger a meal at a restaurant
44. Visited Africa
45. Walked on a beach by moonlight
46. Been transported in an ambulance
47. Had your portrait painted
48. Gone deep sea fishing
49. Seen the Sistine Chapel in person
50. Been to the top of the Eiffel Tower in Paris <----I've been under it though
51. Gone scuba diving or snorkeling
52. Kissed in the rain
53. Played in the mud
54. Gone to a drive-in theater
55. Been in a movie
56. Visited the Great Wall of China
57. Started a business
58. Taken a martial arts class
59. Visited Russia
60. Served at a soup kitchen
61. Sold Girl Scout Cookies
62. Gone whale watching
63. Got flowers for no reason
64. Donated blood, platelets or plasma
65. Gone sky diving
66. Visited a Nazi Concentration Camp
67. Bounced a check
68. Flown in a helicopter
69. Saved a favorite childhood toy
70. Visited the Lincoln Memorial
71. Eaten Caviar
72. Pieced a quilt
73. Stood in Times Square
74. Toured the Everglades
75. Been fired from a job
76. Seen the Changing of the Guards in London
77. Broken a bone
78. Been on a speeding motorcycle
79. Seen the Grand Canyon in person
80. Published a book
81. Visited the Vatican
82. Bought a brand new car
83. Walked in Jerusalem
84. Had your picture in the newspaper
85. Read the entire Bible
86. Visited the White House
87. Killed and prepared an animal for eating
88. Had chickenpox
89. Saved someone’s life
90. Sat on a jury
91. Met someone famous
92. Joined a book club
93. Lost a loved one
94. Had a baby <---Well not personally, but my wife did :) 95. Seen the Alamo in person 96. Swam in the Great Salt Lake
97. Been involved in a law suit
98. Owned a cell phone
99. Been stung by a bee
100. Read an entire book in one day

That's me. Feel free to use any of this information against me in a court of law.

I just threw up in my mouth and LMFAO at the same time!!!

Disclaimer: It is midnight so this post might be just a bunch of misspelled words put together on the page in no particular order. Also the video on here is slightly NSFW, depending on how strict your workplace is (but if its that strict you probably shouldn't be surfing the internet right now anyway).

Natali and I were watching a DVRed episode of House last night that was recorded back in September. I had the requisite popcorn in one hand and Twizzlers in the other. Normally we use the "skip ahead" button to jump ahead 30 seconds at a time during the commercial breaks. I was jumping forward when we caught a glimpse of a Trojan box on a magazine page which piqued our curiosity (I know real mature huh?). So I hit the "back" button and went to the beginning of the commercial.

Here it is in its entirety, but please pay attention to around 0:35 (this video is mildly NSFW):



Nat and I literally turned and stared at each other. Did she just...ugh!

• A: this commercial is on midday, why?
  
• B: TMI!
• C: You are old
• D: DO NOT roll you eyes at some "silly youngsters" just before you are about to tell them where you got your fingertip electric toothbrush that you giggidy giggidy yourself with
  

If that wasn't enough fun, please please pleeeeese go to the youtube page and read through some of the comments.

But does it come in pink?

I was perusing my RSS feeds while at work (its up on the side of my screen) and came across an article from Gizmodo.com called "Win 7 Beta Tip: Gadgets Are Integrated Directly onto the Desktop, But Are Slightly Buggy". I was curious, since I've been using Windows 7 for several days now (and so far LOVE it) and have also been following gizmodo's reports as they've been putting it through its paces. I clicked on it and quickly read through the article, realizing that the tip wasn't really news to me, but the critique was helpful (I'm still a stubborn XP user and have had all of maybe an hour hands on time with Vista).

Something to note, (you'll see the pun in a second), is Gizmodo tends to be very pro-Apple, as it rightfully should be considering their target demographic (techies and graphic designers). So it interested me when I came across the part of the article that said

[The] Notes gadget is not installed by default—I was surprised to find it missing, but instead I found a program called Sticky Notes that is apparently intended to replace it. Accessible from the Start Menu under Accessories, the Sticky Notes will actually resize to its contents unlike the Vista gadget. It’s an overall improvement, but the notes lack the ability to customize your font and the ability to change the opacity. But it does bring Windows 7 up to OS X's Stickies in desktop-level sticky note functionality. (emphasis added by me)

It was pretty funny to see that particular sentence regarding Windows 7. Here is a new product that is basically a "do or die" situation for the Windows operating system (another Vista would likely kill them), and here a respectable tech blog (Gizmodo, not this one, obviously) is debating how well it emulates "technology" from 1977.

Microsoft must be doing something right if one of the major factors in buying Mac or Windows in the future boils down to "Sticky preference"

BTW: Regarding the post title: yes, you can change the sticky note color to blue, green, pink, purple, white, or yellow.

How did they not see a month delay ahead of time?

Being both "gamers"and snowboarders, my brother and I were really excited about the upcoming snowboarding game, Stoked. It had been a while since either of us had purchased a snowboarding game and Stoked had some exciting features, great reviews, and an awesome price point ($20 less than most Xbox 360 games).

We originally heard about the game back in November, while following the PAX event, so needless to say the wait has been a while. I may seem a bit nerdy to get excited about a game (especially, from a small developer), but its no more nerdy than getting excited about the next Twilight movie. Anyway, we'd been keeping an eye on the game and the development process, getting ever more ready for its release, and today was the day! Back in December on its official blog, posted December 4th the game's developer announced the game's release date as January 20th, 2009. Earlier today I got an e-mail from ign.com (an entertainment website) that detailed the upcoming releases this month, Stoked wasn't on there.

I did a little investigation and checked ign's release date site, strangely it said the game was being released on January 26th... Huh? So I went to gamestop.com and found the game but it said it was being shipped on FEBURARY 24th???? I decided to go straight to the source and went back to their official blog here is what was posted:

Dear Fans,

Stoked is a highly anticipated title and has been subjected to aggressive testing to provide the consumer with the best play experience yet. As a result, Stoked is being held, and will come to consumers in February 2009. The official release date is February 24th.

We deeply apologize in advance to our fans and loyal supporters for the delays. Thanks for your support and we assure you it will be well worth the wait...

This was posted on January 20th at 11:52 am... TODAY! How can a company not foresee a month long delay sooner than the day it is supposed to be in the hands of its consumers?!?!? What could possibly have happened at the last minute to cause this? I don't know, but it all seems a bit sketch.

But on the bright side I get to keep playing the waiting game for free in the meantime.

Photo taken from developer blog at http://gettingstoked.com/blog/2009/01/20/stoked-delayed-until-february-24th/.

Tech Tuesday: Microsoft Photosynth

Photosynth is a project currently in the Microsoft "Live Labs". The idea of it is that it takes several uploaded photos and using reference points, creates a photo "quilt". By using the free software to view these quilts you get a sort of 3D perspective of a particular site. Developed to help splice together tourist photos to create the essence of "being there", this technology has recently been pushed into the limelight; as CNN partnered with Microsoft to present a Photosynth of the inauguration today. To view some of the other synths available, or to make your own you'll need to download two applications: Silverlight (for web viewing) and the actual Photosynth application. Both applications are free.

One of my favorite synths is called The Nose (MacDuff the golden retriever).

A few things to know (taken from http://photosynth.net/learn.aspx):

This first version of Photosynth has some limitations that you need to be aware of:

1. All synths are uploaded. They're big, so you need to use a broadband Internet connection.
2. All synths are public. Your photos will be visible to everyone on the Internet.
3. Like the viewing experience, the "synther" only runs on PCs (XP and Vista).
4. You'll need to Sign Up for a Photosynth account. It uses Windows Live ID.

For tips on how to get the best results when making your own synth, check out our guide or just watch the How to Synth video.

Note from me: You already have a Windows Live ID if you use any of the following: Xbox LIVE, Zune Social, MSN, hotmail, Windows Live Messenger, XNA Creators Club (basically if you have ever done any anything with Microsoft before)

If anyone reading this does a Synth, post a link in the comments. I'd be really interested in seeing it! Get out your digital camera and get to shooting!

Source: http://livelabs.com/photosynth/
Photo: by Tan_Nguyen

You know you're in the middle of a recession when...

...you book a trip on "Best Tours" bus line and end up in a Wal-Mart parking lot.

Note: there are a ton of parking lots closer to major highways and restaurants than this particular Wal-Mart, leading me to believe this was neither a rest stop nor pick-up. Also in the shopping center of this Wal-Mart, there is nothing but a cigarette shop (closed), beauty supply shop (closed), pizza parlor (closed), and a McDonalds (waaaaaaaaaaay on the other side of the shopping center, about 2000 feet away from the bus). My conclusion, this was the destination of this trip. :)

I'm worried about my marriage

My wife has been infatuated with another man. I've tried to give her the benefit of the doubt and look away. But now I've found the bastard IN MY HOUSE! And what's worse is, it appears my in-laws are actually encouraging the relationship; since they are the ones who invited him into our home. Please if you ever see this man around town, give him a stiff kick in the nards! :)

A Testament to my efficiency (or messiness)

WARNING: This post contains some disturbing material, I apologize in advance and hope you don't lose all respect for me.

I decided that while Keegan was taking a nap to day I would clean out my car. This is quite a task and usually only happens two to three times a year. If you know me, you know I like statistics, and even better if they are stupid stats.

So I present to you, Stupid Useless Statistics from me cleaning out my extremely messy car:

• Number of tools recovered: 1 (philips screwdriver)
• Number of writing utencils recovered: 4
• Number of water bottles found: 7
• Number of paystubs found: 3
• Amount of money recovered: 27¢
• Days between today and date of oldest newspaper found:135 (September 3, 2008)
• Capacity of cups/cans containing caffinated beverages (in fl oz): 616.8 (4.8 gallons)
• Number of cups/cans from above that were not Red Bull, Starbucks, or Cherry Coke Zero: 0
  

• Dollar amount of reciepts (excluding ATM reciepts): 675.44 (60 found)
• Percent of dollars from above reciepts used to purcase fast food: 46
• Smallest "total" amount on a reciept found: 0.54
• Number of days old of the oldest piece of trash (with a known date): 146 (Vegas bus ticket)
• Grossest thing found: An entire Jack in the Box taco (<--yeah, it grossed me out too)
• Number of owners of that car that will try to make less of a mess: 1

So as you can see from the photos what I did was actually quite impressive. I managed to fit all of that in my car in a very compact space. I dare you, no... challenge you to try and fit all of that in the front passenger seat of your car.

(For the record I keep the back seat clean, so I don't lose my son like that banned IKEA commercial)

WWJD [2GC]? (What Would Jesus Do [to get chicks]?

I was on my way back to work from lunch yesterday when this truck cut me off at the last second in order to get in the turn lane (that I was in). I pulled up behind the truck a little perturbed but minding my own business when I noticed the "Jesus Fish" [1] on this truck's bumper. I chuckled to myself immediately thinking of "the Golden Rule" ("...do to others what you would have them do to you..." [Matthew 7:12 NIV] <---Yeah...from the Bible). Then immediately to the right of the fish sticker I see another bumper sticker that says "The number one cause of divorce is MARRIAGE" [2]. That made me laugh a little harder considering the proximity of the two stickers and the HUGE recent debate over the sanctity of marriage (CA Prop. 8). My curiosity was now piqued and I went from sticker to sticker reading what they said. Here are some of the highlights: [3] "A, B, C, D, E, F*CKYOU", [4] "P*SSY RULES", and then finally to top it off, [5] a picture of Jesus' face, looking directly at all of the other stickers.

Now look through them again, in order: Jesus fish, marriage=bad, f*ck you, p*ssy rules, Jesus.

I don't know if my camera captured it, but I think he miiiiight be crying.

Winning Wednesday: Twitter

So most people by now have heard about Twitter. For those that haven't, in a nutshell its a "micro-blogging" service that allows you to shoot "what you're doing" into cyberspace. You can subscribe (follow) to anyone's tweets and get updates in a variety of ways. There are several client applications available for a variety of platforms.

I had heard about Twitter for months, but just chocked it up to being a Facebook status updater. I've been using it now for about two months and I have to say I am addicted. Its a lot of fun, most of the time people make rhetorical posts and aren't expecting a response. People are using the service to not only update people on what they are doing, but also to get important announcements, savings opportunities, and even political information. If you are interested in a particular subject or company, you can follow their PR person's tweets and get real-time updates on what's going on. Here is a list put together by Sam Houston(@samhouston) of gamerDNA (snagged from @fourzerotwo) that lists gaming companies on twitter. You never know who you'll find with a little searching.

Here are a few tips to people who may be new on twitter:

• if you see the at symbol (e.g. @ignium) that is reffering to someone's twitter username (and is usually a hyperlink, just click to go to their profile).
• you can send someone a reply by using @username
• if you want to send someone a direct message that no one else can see (similar to a text message) type d in front of the username then your message (e.g. d ignium Hey!).
• if you want to "group" posts from multiple users together start a "hatch tag", and example of this is people at airports wanting to know what other people at airports are doing used #boardingLAX. This grouped all the posts of people boarding at LAX together.
• the official list of twitter commands is HERE.

If you have any questions feel free to leave it in the comments or shoot me an email or tweet me (http://twitter.com/ignium). I also post my tweets on the sidebar of this page.

To my surprise I received this email earlier today (I'm sure he follows all of his followers).

More info about twitter:

Twitter Wikipedia page

About Twitter page

Tech Tuesday: Windows Live Writer

This is a product that has been around for a while, but I’ve just recently come across it while installing the Windows 7 Beta (which I’m using as I type). It’s called Windows Live Writer and is basically a word processor specifically designed for blogging.

It has the very familiar feel of Blogger’s online editor (I’m sure the other blogging services are nearly the same as far as editing) but also the ability to save a local draft of any post. What’s the benefit of this? I generally use a laptop for my personal computing needs and because of this, when I’m out and about I don’t always have an internet connection. This allows me to write posts even when not connected, like say, on my lunch (where I have 30 – 60 minutes) as opposed to on my break (15 min) and then I can just plug it in when I get back and… SHAZAM! Post published! It may seem like a little thing, but its nice to take my time and I am not restricted to Starbucks or McDonalds to use their free internet.

You may also be wondering, “Why not just use Word?”. Well my friends, that’s because I have tried using Word and then copying and pasting the post into Blogger. First of all, it takes extra steps. Second: unpredictable results, your formatting tends to get “lost in translation” and you have a jumbled mess instead of a post which adds extra steps, now that you have to go back and fix it. This is quicker and easier.


Set up is a breeze which basically involves typing your blog’s URL (in my case http://tepidcoffee.blogspot.com), my user name, and password. The program does everything else from there. It even downloads a “theme” which customizes the colors of Live Writer to those of your blog. You have the ability post using the basic editor (equivalent to the “Compose” tab on blogger) or you can even edit the source code (Edit Html), and even preview your post (offline too!). Another nice thing for you people who refuse to listen to me when I say “stop using Internet Explorer!”, is that Live Writer has the same real-time spell checker (which Firefox has built in) that you’re used to in other MSFT products like Word (red squiggly lines under misspelled words).

Windows Live Writer is part of a suite of products called Windows LIVE Essentials which is available for free and includes the following nifty programs:

• Windows Live Call (added VoIP feature to Messenger)
• Windows Live Messenger (formerly Microsoft Messenger)
• Windows Live Mail (formerly Outlook Express)
  
• Windows Movie Maker [Beta] (haven’t spent much time with this yet)
• Windows Live Photo Gallery (essentially Microsoft's version of Picasa)
• Windows Family Safety (similar to Net Nanny)
• Windows Live Writer (um… what I’ve been talking about)

To download the suite or for more information visit: http://download.live.com/ and is available for Windows XP (SP2 or higher), Vista, and 7 beta.

It’s free so it’s at least worth a look! Happy blogging!