Life's Graffiti

Response to Windows 7 Article on ZDNet

2009-01-30T21:33:48Z

A friend of mine sent me a link to a ZDNet article about Microsoft giving away it's next OS for free. I think the author of the article, Andrew Nusca, is absolutely out of his mind and has no concept of running a business. It's not about being popular, it's about making money.

Nusca references a Gizmodo blog posting about why Microsoft should had out it's new OS for free. From the Gizmodo post, it states that Microsoft should sell it's new OS at a significantly lower price or simply give it away. The reasons for such are:

Poor consumer perception of Vista, especially with consideration to the Mac;
Vista’s resource hog ways with regard to the blooming Netbook industry;
The most important reason for ZDNet readers: Business users just won’t bite. Period.

The Gizmodo article makes valid points about Microsoft streamlining the available SKUs and making it less confusing to the customer. The article states that:

For starters, Microsoft needs to get rid of all the separate license types (OEM vs. upgrade vs. full) and trim the number of boxed configurations. Give buyers three versions, Home, Business and Ultimate, all at a reasonable price. $129 would be ideal for the first two, with $149 for Ultimate.

Vista probably would have been much more well received has Microsoft gone with a similar business model that Apple went with for OS X Leopard. One SKU period. But this is still not a story about popularity because in the computer world Microsoft still possesses 90% market share, and nearly 98% market-share in the business space.

Here's where the Nusca starts loosing it, he states that,

Microsoft should just allow Windows 7 and Internet Explorer 8 to show up as a Windows update, plain and simple. For those who don’t have high-speed connections, they can call in and request a CD to be mailed. Businesses can work out client licenses but shouldn’t get screwed, either.

That is just ridiculous! Simply just as an update?! Obviously Andrew Nusca has no concept of the logistical nightmare of upgrading an OS, especially one delivered as an update.

First who would qualify for this update? Windows Vista and XP owners? What about users that are still running Windows 2000? As a IT professional I have worked on over half a dozen sytem migrations from Windows 95/98 to 2000, 2000 to XP, and XP to Vista and it all takes months of planning and careful execution. Even critical patches takes weeks and sometimes months to prepare in a business environment. And for those home users that are patching on their own, who remembers the "bugs" during Vista SP1? Windows 7 is a major kernel change from XP and a derivative of the Vista/Server 2008 kernel. So the underlying system kernel may be similar it's certainly would not be as simple as sending out updates via the internet or via CDs, who uses CDs anymore anyways. Windows 7 Beta nearly fills up an entire DVD at 4GB, forget CDs.

In the article he also states:

This could be the biggest PR success of the tech industry.

“What of revenue?” all you penny pinchers ask. Well, the quick answer is that this is a short-term hit for a long-term solution: With a good product, Microsoft can reclaim the market share it lost to Apple and Co.

Let’s be frank: Just how much revenue does Microsoft get from consumer purchases (as opposed to the revenue from licensing Windows through computer manufacturers such as Dell, HP, and Lenovo)? I’m willing to wager that it’s not that much, relatively speaking.

PR success? Sure Vista was poorly received and it's probably better than most people expect it to be especially after Microsoft's marketing disasters (The Mojave Experiment and Gates and Seinfeld commercials). A PR success does not always translate to a business success especially when you cannot monetize the numbers. So what Nusca implies is that if Microsoft gives away it's product it will gain back 5% of the market-share it's lost to Apple in the last 3 years. I doubt it. Apple manages a vertical business model because that way it can control the user experience from top to bottom, and thus it can deliver a better product and user experience, and that's one of the main reasons why Apple has done so well in recent years. Though I would agree that Microsoft should not expect users to pay $300+ for an OS, not even more than $150 especially since Windows 7 is what Vista should have been.

Andrew Nusca further proves his inability to understand the business side of technology by stating:

So: Buy a new computer, get Windows 7 (cost paid by manufacturer). Keep your old computer, Windows 7 is free, assuming you can run it.

He fails to realize that NOTHING is free to the customer. He assumes that the manufacturer will just give customers Windows 7 for free, but it's built into the cost of the hardware software bundle. If he knew anything about the hardware manufacturers he'd quickly realize that even the "free" software and trial ware that comes with a computer comes at a cost the the consumer. The manufacturer will either pass the cost onto the customer by including it in the price, or it will pass the costs off to the third-party vendors that want their trial software pre-installed on the system as a means of try-before you buy. And if the customer doesn't want trialware installed on the system, he/she is usually charged a $50-100 fee to get the computer system with only the OS installed and no "free" software pre-installed.

Sure the perception is that it's FREE but you are paying for it, and buying new hardware is much more costly than simply buying the software and upgrading your system. There's no way that Microsoft is going to give it's OS away for free to hardware manufacturers.

As for the users that are on Windows Vista or XP, they are still stuck with their existing hardware, which may or may not run Windows 7 to it's full capability - obviously depending on how old or powerful their hardware is.

Nusca's argument is, "They won’t need to convince XP holdouts — it will be a no-brainer upgrade."

However, Microsoft will still be left with a bad PR situation by handing out it's new OS, because there will be those users out there that will want to install the new free operating system on their old machines. So consumers will now be left with the choice of trying to reinstall their old OS to bring their machines back to a useable state, or they will be forced to upgrade to newer hardware. The later option would definitely not be perceived as FREE to any user.

So no Mr Nusca, giving Windows 7 away for free is NOT a "no-brainer upgrade."

Alright, now that I've clarified why it's not a good idea for Microsoft to be handing out Windows 7 for free, beside the fact that it would be financially irresponsible of the company, there are a few suggestions that could be used to make the new operating system a success.

Throw out the old licensing model. For too long Microsoft has relied on it's old pricing model to sell it's operating system. Each SKU has different features, at a different price point and even different hardware requirements. Make it simple and reduce the number of SKUs to 1. Like Apple with OS X, sell your OS, the core of your user experience. Don't try to bundle your OS with additional features. Sell features separately.
Stop trying to appease the LCD (lowest common denominator). Who are you kidding Ballmer? Vista runs like crap on the minimum required hardware specs and most of the features are unavailable to people trying to run Vista on the minimum available. Make sure you put required specs as your minimum specs for Windows 7. If MSFT is at all concerned with customer perception, this is the single easiest way of ensuring that 90% of your customers are happy with the new OS.
Deliver your operating systems when there are vast improvements to the underlying functionality of the kernel and stuck with it. For too many years Microsoft tries to reinvent itself and push it's products to the market. I understand this is how Microsoft looks at growth, but rather than trying to reinvent yourself and try to sell new operating systems make your operating system solid and sell feature packs.

Until that time comes I'm going to remain using a Mac in my personal life and supporting Microsoft desktops and servers for my professional career. And I will continue to recommend an Apple computer to any home user that doesn't want to deal with the hassles and disappointments of Microsoft.

Oil Dependency

2009-01-23T20:27:51Z

I was listening to a 60 Minutes podcast regarding the oil in Saudi Arabia, and they were talking about how much oil the Saudi's have; approximately 130 billion barrels of oil in their reserves. Apparently the only other place on the planet that rivals that amount of oil in reserves is Canada. And a big portion of the oil that is produced in Canada is from the oil sand region of Northern Alberta.

The Saudi's have funded a project in which they had to build a road out into the desert and they literally had to move a sand dune in order to build the drilling platform on which they will harvest the oil from. A problem they have to overcome is that there is not enough pressure in the well to actually pump the oil out, so they also built a pipeline from the ocean to the well site in order to pump salt water into the well to increase the pressure. With the world's current consumption of oil, they estimate that this well project has enough oil in it to sustain drilling for more than 50 years.

Back to Canadian oil. Canada sits on one of the largest oil reserves in the world but the problem is that it is all trapped in oil sands. A heavy sticky, almost tar like consistency which makes it difficult to extract and process. A lot of oil is harvested by way of digging up oil sands (strip mining) and then extracting it from the contaminants by heating it with steam or hot air. There is another process in which they pump steam or hot air down into the well in order to separate the oil from the contaminants (sand,soil, etc.). The problem with these processes is that it requires a lot of energy to heat water into steam to then pump into the wells or to process the extracted oil sands. Natural gas is typically used to heat water into steam that is used for this process but it's inefficient and costly.

There has been talks of the government and oil companies looking at getting nuclear reactors online to generate power to heat water that will extract oil. I know environmentalists and tree-huggers will be up in arms if a nuclear powerplant program ever gets put into place in Northern Alberta around 2017, but it will actually make more environmental sense to do so. Burning Natural Gas to heat water is not as efficient, and produces a lot of carbon waste into the atmosphere.

CANDU Reactors, Canadian designed reactors are amoungst the safest nuclear reactors in the world. The fact that they are able to use spent fuel rods from other types of traditional reactors and use semi-refined ore material means they are extremely efficient and cost effective ways of generating power, as well as recycling nuclear waste.

There's misconception that nuclear power spews radioactive particals into the air or that they produce tons of toxic waste. This simply isn't true. The smoke stacks that are commonly associated with nuclear plants are actually steam chimneys, so really it's just hot water that is being pumped into the atmosphere and not carbon dioxide, soot and other environmental contaminents like in convential coal burning generators. The only thing that a CANDU reactor does produce in very, very small amounts is Tritium, which is a radioactive isotope of hydrogen, but this also occurs naturally in nature when cosmic rays interact with particles in our atmosphere. Tritium particals are captured within the reactor to help sustain the nuclear reaction so very little is "leaked" out. The waste or spent fuel rods from CANDU reactors are actually quite safe and have lower levels of radiation that the material going into the reactor.

I believe that building of these reactors might also serve to help us as a contenient by weening us off our reliability on oil and provide a cost effective method of generating electricity to power all of our vehicles and homes in the next 50 year

I think it's about time to get a program like this running to make the extraction of fossil fuels less harmful to our environment, more efficient and cost effective in North America. To cut back on foreign dependency of oil resources and start putting money back into the hands of people that live here, rather than building empires of wealth in the Middle East. I believe Obama made an interesting comment during his inauguration, he said it was time to stop funding our enemies, and that's really what's been going on for the last 60 years. Our governments and corporations have been complacent upon pouring wealth into areas that were once merely tribal villiages and now they have enough wealth to begin a war against the West, as they put it.

I do not hate the Middle East, I have many friends of Middle Eastern decent but there's just too much turmoil that has happened in the past decade that's affecting the world and we're funding it all by buying their resources. If we can cut off the economic arm of a country or area that harbor terrorists, do you think they will be able to continue attacking? They require money to buy guns, bombs and setup a network of terror. They would realize soon enough that they need us more than we need their oil. We cannot continue to live in fear, we cannot continue to be attacked, we cannot sustain sending more resources - troops and supplies - to deal with a problem that could be dealt with by severing relations. The US has an embargo against Cuba, so why can't we just have an embargo against the Middle East, at least until they realize that biting the hand that feeds you isn't the way to live. They don't "Western influence" in the Middle East so let's just get out and let them sort it out themselves.

Sorry for the rant, I've had this article in draft for over a month now, and I just wanted to get it out. It may not end off the most politically correct, but I am tired of hearing about a war I want no part of and a conflict that shouldn't affect me but it does. Everytime I hear that innocent people are dying around the world I think to myself, why can't we all just get along and what did those people do to deserve it. Peace and love to all.

Sources:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CANDU_reactor
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tar_sands
http://www.encana.com
60 Minutes Podcast on Saudi Oil - MP3 File

Why Mac?

2008-09-25T18:59:26Z

So over the past few weeks I've been recommending more and more people to do the Swtich to a Mac. I'm am certainly not an Apple fanboi, Microsoft has pretty much been paying for my living for the past 10 years. And I recommend Apple computers for several reasons and I thought I'd share a list with you in case you're also in the market for new computer.

Ease of use. It doesn't take much to learn how to use a Mac from a PC. Sure there are a few things you have to learn going from one operating system to another but it's really a non-issue once you sit in front of an Apple computer and use it.
Support. Anyone with a Mac knows how easy it is to get support for the computer. You walk into an Apple Store and ask an Apple Genius to help you out and 9 times out of 10 they are able to provide you with answers on the spot. In case there are more technical questions involved people can sit in for a free seminar at an Apple Store and learn more about certain features. Did I mention most questions are easily answered for FREE by a knowledgable person in the store? Can you take your Windows PC into BestBuy or your local computer store and get the same level of support? Probably not.
Software. A lot of people over look what software is included or available on the computer by default. Most Microsoft PCs come with a whole bunch of crappy trial-ware. Macs actually comes with stuff that you can use built in. So when someone says to me, but I can get a Windows PC for hundreds less, I ask them, how much it will cost them in software to get the same features available on a new Mac? Microsoft builds an operating system, Apple builds and experience. Since Apple moved to the Intel processor a few years back the whole issue of "oh it's not available on a Mac" is almost a non-issue now, especially if you use Bootcamp, VM Fusion or Parallels to run Windows on your Mac. But most people will not use this feature most of the time, because Macs are just that fun and easy to use.
Style. Let's face it, Apple makes some of the sleekest and sexiest machines on the planet. That is because they have one of the best industrial designers in the world working for them, Jonathan Ive. You see Apple computers on nearly every TV show because it just looks good, even shows were you don't see the distinctive Apple logo on the case of a laptop, it's mostly because they don't want to pay the royalty to use the brand in the show and they cover the logo with a generic sticker. But regardless, you still know it's an Apple and it still looks sexy as hell.
Reliability and Security. Apples are more reliable and secure than Windows PCs because they are built on a solid foundation, the Unix kernel. That's not to say that Apple Computers are impervious to attacks and viruses, but since they are a small segment of the market they are targeted less. And plus there's more security built into OS X vs Windows. With either operating system I recommend all my friends and family run an anti-virus software program.
Flexibility. Apple's OS X is a flexible platform because it does it all in one package. For the average user the default install is perfectly fine. For the more experienced and technical user there's a plethora of features that can be enable for development or running Opensource software. When you really learn about OS X you are actually learning two operating platforms, Apple OS and the underlying Unix.

Well that's my rant for now. If you have questions about getting an Apple or why a Mac vs a PC feel free to message me. I'm not a guru but I am knowledgable enough in both operating systems to give you a very informed decision. There's really no one solution that fits for everyone, but there is the best solution that fits you. And more often that not I believe it's Apple.

Product warning - bike locks

2008-08-14T20:06:45Z

My brother recently got his bike stolen right in front of the building where he works downtown Calgary. He had it adequately secured but when he got off work, he didn't find his bike, instead he found his Specialized Bike lock cut in half. But the appearance of the cut it didn't even look like any of Specialized anti-theft material and cable did anything to stop the thieves. No only did it not keep his bike secure they don't guarantee their locks against theft. So if you have a nice bike or anything that you want secured for that matter, I'd recommend staying away from Specialize.

There customer service was pretty horrible too. Below is the reply that he received from them. The person that responded went as far as to send my brother a YouTube link of a bike theft video.

Please pass this message around if you know anyone who owns a Specialized lock.

===========================
Andy,

first of all, let me express my deepest sympathies for your loss, I have had bikes of mine stolen as well, and it sucks. It's a horrible feeling.

secondly, I saw an interesting documentary recently about stealing bikes. This guy tried to prove how easy it was to steal a bike. So he locked his bike up in VERY heavily traveled intersections in NYC, walked away for some time. Then came back with various kinds of industrial bolt cutters, grinders, chainsaws, the most conspicuous & ridiculous things you could imagine to cut the lock off. He did this 12 times in a row.

No one said a thing, no matter how ridiculous his efforts were. Well, actually a bike messenger stopped once, and recommended an easier way to cut off the lock. Even police were simply walking by, & ignoring him.

There is no such thing as a cut proof lock, when criminals can use industrial grinders with impunity. All a bike lock really does, is discourage impulse theft. When a pro with powerful equipment wants to steal your bike, they usually succeed.

Those photos you provided, show that someone used an extremely powerful tool on your lock.

again, my deepest sympathies...

-Andrew

p.s. I found the video I was talking about, on YouTube-

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5TNTq3nhuh0

Specialized Customer Service/Online Store

1137 South 3800 West

Salt Lake City UT 84104

877-808-8154

===========================

MacBook Pro Upgrade

2008-08-09T23:34:20Z

I just upgraded my hard drive and my OS on my MacBook Pro last night. Finally got all my settings, files and applications moved over and it's working great.

Installed a Seagate Momentus 7200.3 320GB hard drive - it's super fast!
Installed Mac OS X 10.5.4 Leopard

Used a Thermaltake BlacX Drive dock to transfer files from my old hard drive to my new one after installing the OS on the new drive. Use Migration Assistant to move everything over. It was easy and the only thing I really had to update / fix was Norton AntiVirus, and Norton Live Update Client to 4.0.4, I was getting errors when I tried to update my virus definitions. Click my link if you are also having problems with Leopard and Norton Antivirus giving you Microdef errors.

After it was all said and done I had to seeif my new drive is really worth it. I found this Mac benchmark application called BenchX that I ran on my previous drive and then I compared it to my current drive. You can see the comparison for yourself here.

XBench is a how brew project so I decided to donate to his efforts, and it's the first time I've donated to Freeware. I feel good about it because this guy has worked hard to provide the community with a great tool and is even hosting these results on his site.

Anyways, the new drive is FAST! I recommend it to anyone who's looking to upgrade their laptop hard drive with a larger faster one. My MacBook Pro is certainly snappier now, and I actually have storage space now to put virutal machines on here. If you want to see my system comparison click here

Manually Update to iPhone 2.0 Firmware

2008-07-11T08:46:37Z

1. Download iTunes 7.7 from Apple.com manually and install it
2. Download the 2.0 Firmware from here:
http://appldnld.apple.com.edgesuite.net/content.info.apple.com/iPhone/061-4955.20080710.bgt53/iPhone1,2_2.0_5A347_Restore.ipsw
3. Sync your iPhone to iTunes to backup your data
4. Go to the iPhone page in iTunes and Option+Click the "Check for Update" button
(if you're sharing this tip with your friends, and they have Windows, they have to Shift+Click the "Check for Update" button)
5. Select the 2.0 Firmware (the file you saved in step 2)
6. Allow your iPhone to fully upgrade, this could take up to 15mins. DO NOT REMOVE while it's updating.
7. Once it has done updating it will give you a message in iTunes that after it restarts it will reconnect the iPhone
8. Select "Restore iPhone" from last backup after the iPhone reconnects to iTunes otherwise you'll lose all your old data! This make take another 5-10 mins.
9. Another message will appear telling you that the iPhone is being restarted and will connect to iTunes when it has restarted.
10. It will take about 5-10 mins to resync your settings and contact information.
11. Go to the Applications Tab in the iPhone menu, and check "Sync applications"
12. Now enjoy your apps from iTunes Store and sync your iPhone to get the latest applications on your phone.
13. After this is complete hit the Sync button again to sync contacts, music, videos and applications (this could take up to 20mins depending on how much stuff you had on before)

iTunes 7.7 - App Store

2008-07-10T10:07:33Z

Apple iTunes 7.7 is now available. You can preview the apps in the Apps Store by upgrading to iTunes 7.7 first, then do a serach for AOL, you can then navigate to the App Store from the navigation buttons at the top. iPhone and Touch update should be coming out tomorrow. YAY!

....?

2008-03-25T16:21:57Z

My life has become somewhat complacent. Sure I don't need drama but I need a challenge, a goal, a rush of adrenaline, or maybe just a good vacation.

Over 30 now and there's so much I've wanted to do that I haven't yet. Wonder how much it will cost to fly to Australia and New Zealand?

JT Live at Staple Center

2007-09-19T17:23:38Z

My bro came down from Canada for a semi-impromptu visit because he got 4 tickets to the Justin Timberlake concert tonight. He and his gf are staying for a week and it's good to see my family when I do since I haven't seen them much lately.

Can't forget to buy ear plugs. A stadium full of screaming females is not easy on the ears.

I'm looking forward to the concert since it's the first "pop" concert I've been to since ColorMeBad and Paula Abdul in the early 90s. I wasn't a big fan of Justin's when his first album came out but I have to give him props now. His sound has refined and I have to admit I enjoy it. Probably helps that Timberland produced most of the album and I really like the Maestro's work.

My co-worker went to see the concert on Sunday and Timberland showed up and did an awesome encore performance and Kanye West even popped by for a cameo performance. Hopefully tonight's show will have big surprises too. Only in a city like LA do you get a big name performer cameo out of the blue.

More Banksy

2007-09-19T15:32:32Z

Banksy

2007-09-19T14:44:56Z

One of my favorite artists. He is truely a person for the love of art not the love of money. /Respect

M.I.A.

2007-07-25T05:03:54Z

Damn, I've been M.I.A. on all my social networks. I can't get online at work because the proxy blocks me and when I get home I'm much too tired to get online. Here's a list update and hopefully I'll get my account configured for IM Posting and maybe I'll update more often in the future.

In the past month I've:
- adopted a new phone plan and an iPhone
- been driving too much
- not been sleeping much
- working out less consistently
- been laying out on the beach
- been more financially responsible
- been really into investing
- wanted to change career paths
- been M.I.A.

Fitness Guidance Please

2007-05-25T10:59:45Z

I've been keeping a pretty strict workout regiment for the past 6 months. Well minus a 1 month stint where I couldn't workout due to fractured ribs from a botched snowboard trick. Well anyways, I've been working out 4-5 days at least. I've been taking in a lot of calories to bulk up, and I am starting to notice a difference in my build and my strength and endurance. But I haven't done much for cardio. With my increased uptake of calories and protein I think I'm feeding some muscles but not really stripping down the "extra" layer in my mid-section. I mean I'm a thin guy to begin with so I don't have a lot there but I want that ripped factor, I mean killer ripped like Bruce Lee or Brad Pitt in Fight Club.

So now do I diet or do mad cardio? Some experts tell me the only way to get there is to diet and other say that working out and cutting down on calories are the way, but is there a way to maintain bulk AND lose "insulation"? My arms are lean and vascular it's just the lower part of my torso I really want to rip up. Upper ab part seems fine.

Any fitness guru's out there that can offer a word of advice?

On a related note, I have not been working on my lower body partly because I'm lazy to do long lower body workouts, and partly because I hate walking around like I have something stuck in my ass for a week because my legs are in pain. I guess I just have to do it, I think next week is the week I take off from upper body for a week (I hear that's good for allowing muscles to recover and grow) and I'll focus on running, biking, squats, jumps and lunges. Any recommended exercises for really getting big calves? My quads are pretty strong but they could use a bit of bulk which isn't difficult for me, but calves have always been a week point. I feel like Johnny Drama talking about it. My calves are quite long muscles so even when they are at their peak they are never tennis balls unless I flex. Do I need some elective surgery?

Well off to bed, it's too late now.

Alternative Wedding

2007-05-24T21:36:40Z

This by far is the most unique and fun looking wedding I've ever seen or heard of.

The Unique Wedding Blog

Thanks for the great laugh too caffeineguy

Finding my way

2007-05-21T02:05:07Z

Ever get the feeling like you're not where you're suppose to be? And not sure where you should go?
Swimming in the ocean but not getting any closer the shore, just floating towards an endless horizon.
Sometimes it's like finding little oasis in the desert,
something that sustains you for a moment but not permanent.
I'm not looking for the next fix, I'm looking for the final solution, a direction, a map.
Let me chose my destination and travel there, or just leave me under the stars
until my legs go tired and weary, then let me sleep.
I shall dream for it may give me the compass I need.

Game 2 - NHL Post Season

2007-04-13T14:10:16Z

Sunday 10am PST on NBC. I can't miss my home team, the Calgary Flames playing the Red Wings in the NHL Playoffs. Don't know how well throwing back some brewskies with my breakfast will taste though.

Soundtrack of my life game....

2007-04-13T06:54:01Z

Directions:
1. Open your iPod.
2. Put it on shuffle.
3. Press Play.
4. For every question, type the song that's playing.
5. When you go to a new question, press the Next button.
6. Don't lie and try to pretend you're cool.
7. Don't skip songs.

I cant find my iPod so I used winamp...

The Soundtrack to my Life

1.) Opening Credits:
Snow Patrol - Grazed Knees

2.) Waking Up:
Sarah McLachlan - Black(William Orbit Mix)

3.) First Day at School:
Ryan Star - Iris (Rockstar INXS Cover)

4.) Graduation:
Dido - Aira (Trance2000 Remix)

5.) Fight Song:
Gigi D'Agostino - L'Amour Toujours (Radio Edit)

6.) Breaking Up:
Gym Class Heroes - Cupid's Chokehold (LP Version)

7.) Happiness
Jack Johnson - Never Know

8.) Life's Okay:
Rob Thomas - Streetcorner Symphony

9.) Mental Breakdown:
Tool - Lost Keys (Blame Hofmann)

10.) Driving:
ATB - I Don't Wanna Stop

11.) Flashback:
Linkin Park - Somewhere I Belong

12.) Getting Back Together:
All American Rejects - Happy Endings

13.) Wedding:
Linkin Park - X-ecutioner Style [Soooo NOT the song that would be playing at a wedding]

14.) Birth of a Child:
Fort Minor - Where'd You Go

15.) Final Battle:
Death Cab for Cutie - Your Heart [I think I want to swap songs for 13 and 15]

16.) Death Scene:
ATB - In Love with the DJ [WTF?! This Soundtrack of my life is starting to sound pretty f*ed up]

17.) Funeral Song:
Timberland feat. Keri Hilson - The Way I Are [Crap I'm writing my own soundtrack in my next post]

18.) Religious Views:
Sarah McLachlan - Possession [Rabbit in the Moon Mix]

19.) End Credits:
Mandy Moore - I Wanna Be With You

Ok some songs were on the money then near the end of the soundtrack I think we switched music producers and he was not even watching the same film. I don't often do these silly things but I figured I'd like to know what I have on my iPod right now.

The Partnership

2007-04-11T09:40:17Z

Being a business owner is stressful, so much so because your livelihood depends upon your motivation, innovation and work ethic. I give all the props in the world to those successful entrepreneurs out there that have managed to make ends meat venturing on a path less taken. I worship those that take it a step beyond and are able to build an empire upon it. Am I sitting on a goldmine? Absolutely, my partners are terrific and we have a very good business plan laid out in front of us. Will we succeed? Of course, it will be a short amount of time when we can relax a bit and really enjoy the fruits of our labor, but until that time I'm not getting much sleep and I'm doing everything it takes to make this company succeed. In 72 hours I've had a total of 8 hours of sleep, my mind won't stop churning.

Video

2007-04-10T09:12:10Z

Catchy little UK video.

Turning a new page

2007-04-03T09:26:51Z

Had the most terrific date today. The chemistry is amazing. We have so much in common and when we are together it seems like time comes to a standstill, because we certainly don't watch where the time goes, sitting down for a 3 hour sushi dinner probably didn't make the server happy, but whatever we had so much to talk about. We barely got out in time to get Pinkberries for dessert. I wish I didn't have to end the night with her but alas my new crush does not have as free of a work schedule as I do. Ended the night with some innocent xox. If it weren't for the fact that I was out with a woman tonight I'm sure more than a few of you now are calling me a fag. LOL. (Sorry no offense to my homosexual friends for the derogatory term, but you know I'm all GLADD friendly and stuff haha)

She's smart, beautiful, funny, intelligent, sweet, down-to-earth. I don't know if there is any astronomical phenomenon going here but I think the Cosmos is definitely aligned right for us. Someone pinch me because I hope this isn't a dream.

1.5 down the drain

2007-03-27T19:31:55Z

''I'm glad Eddie came out of the crash OK, but my dream car got destroyed,'' Sadek said. ''I went to my trailer for about 15 minutes and I thought,'There's people dying every day. A lot of worse things are happening in the world.'''

Crashing one of the world's greatest automotive masterpieces on a practise lap. Only celebs get away with such crimes.

Mammoth Photos

2007-03-21T08:21:45Z

	The Couples Alva, Kenji, Chris and Rose
	Gondola Ride Alain and Kenji
	Chris and Rose
	Gondola Ride Other Bench Alva, Rose and Chris
	Top of the Hill Alain at the summit
	Strapped up and Chillin Taking it in before bombing down the hill. Kenji and Alain
	Mammoth Mountain A view from the top
	Soon to be Weds Alva and Kenji

PK'ed at Mammoth

2007-03-21T07:35:06Z

Well this weekend I was pretty much PK'ed at Mammoth. The first run I did I took one of the bigger hits (jumps) and I didn't get enough speed to clear the tabletop and I wasn't expecting to extend from my grab so soon. So I caught my part of front side edge on the tabletop of the landing and I couldn't hold it so I fell front first into the icy landing. I used my forearms to break my fall, but unfortunately I had my left fist in front of my chest and since ice doesn't give way as easily as powder or slush. I pretty much landed my chest on my fist, which really hurts. I got up right away and I even rode the rest of the day and the next day too, heck I was even back to taking hits the second day out. But I was experiencing some pretty sever chest pain when I wasn't boarding. After coming back to LA and going to see a doctor yesterday, he confirmed that I fractured some ribs hence the pain. So it doesn't look like I will be working out this week. I was given a prescription of Vicodin to ease the pain at night and it really helps, it didn't make me too drowsy or 'loopy' yesterday but after an hour of taking it in the evening today, it made me a little light headed. I won't be taking day that's for sure. Other than taking some Advil during the day and Vicodin at night there's not much else they can do for me. Doctor told me that they used to wrap the ribs but they found out that people weren't able to expand their lungs enough to get rid of fluid or phlegm in lungs and this usually leads to pneumonia. So I just gotta tough it out and let my body heal itself.

So what has this taught me? Don't go for big air on my first run, check out the landings first, then go for it! LOL. Right now it hurts to cough or sneeze, painful to lay down and to laugh, and it feels like my heart is literally aching.

i want cake!

2007-03-13T19:14:54Z

Yay me! 30, offically right now.

good deal

2007-03-09T00:53:03Z

A co-worker of mine was trying to sell his excellent condition, 15" MacBook Pro.

2.16GHz Core2Duo
100 GB HD
Upgraded to 2GB RAM (comes only with 1GB)
Apple's Extended Warranty (3 years)

Total Value Retail: ~$2700 (tax incl.)
Total asking price: $1300

I was already planning on buying a new Mac this year so this is a very easy decision. I could have opted for a bigger brand new 17" MacBook, but why when I have a large monitor at home and I don't need something that big on the go since I have a desktop that I'd use for intensive tasks. Plus, gives me more reason to convert my desktop over to a MacPro at some point in time. I'm going to play around with video editing and music producing and DJ'ing with my new Mac. I can't wait to get home to play with it. :)