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New user? Sunday, February 24, 2002
Whatever dude
Dave sez: "Feedback to Google, lose the cute animals. ... Google made a name for itself for not being commercial, for having integrity. It's a great name, don't tarnish it this way."
Wow, Dave must really hate the Olympics. I don't get it, what's not to like about the Olympic ideals personified by cartoon bunnies, bears and foxes?
Lame!
It's All or Nothing
CANOE 2002 Games: One-shot deal
Go Canada Go!
Great Day for Canada!
If you could only have seen me watch the last five minutes of the hockey game, you would understand how much it means to me that Canada's Men won the gold medal in Hockey today. I haven't cried that much since my grandfather passed away.
I'm so happy, I'm euphoric... I've got to be the happiest man in California right now. :-)
But at the same time, I'm disappointed that I'm not at home with my family. I can visualize Cheryl jumping out of her seat with every Canadian goal, screaming. I can see my dad with his arms raised in his chair. My mom, freaking out. Cyan, excited because the Oilers won (it's always the Oilers playing when she's watching) and because everyone else is so excited, and poor Xavier not able to get any sleep in the early afternoon because of all the noise.
Then I think of my grandpa, who, if you'll let me be spiritual for a moment, was probably in the stands in Salt Lake today cheering on the boys and keeping track of the stats in his program. Grandma, home in Sherwood Park, Alberta, watching the hockey game because she knows how big it is, not because she loves to watch hockey. Uncle Troy and my cousin Micheal high fiving each other and screaming their voices away. Auntie Shirley and my cousin Eric hugging after the bedlam subsided in Nanaimo, BC. I'm sure Auntie Linda was crying too. Ashley was screaming, no doubt.
To have seen the game on the CBC, oh, that would have been great. I wouldn't be surprised if Don Cherry shed a tear after the game. I hope my mom remembered to tape it for me like she said she would. ;-)
It must be crazy right now in the downtown cores of all the major Canadian cities right now - absolute joy. I would love to be there right now... if I could just hop on a plane and land in Vancouver to join the parade.
And thank you to the Canadians and whoever else sang "Oh' Canada" during the final 30 seconds of the game in the stands.... because it was about our country and our pride and retaining the rights to our culture, not about hockey. Thank you to Wayne Gretzky for standing up for his country, drawing the line in the sand so clearly that all Canadians KNOW what side he's on.
And of course, thank you to the NHL players for playing hurt, playing hard, playing fair and playing to win!
Oh' Canada!
New HDTV Encryption Obsoletes Sets
Slashdot: New HDTV Encryption Obsoletes Sets
Dad... I told you so. I told my friend Nainesh too. But neither listened to me, and both have the same 32" Panasonic HDTV that's now worthless.
Damn I hate the MPAA.
Canadians erupt in celebration
CANOE 2002 Games: Canadians erupt in celebration after gold-medal in hockey
"A lot of people have been saying Canada has been taking a back seat in international hockey lately -- obviously that's not true. It just solidifies the fact that Canada is the best hockey nation in the world."
Saturday, February 23, 2002
SilverSurfer in SoCa
I'm at the office setting up my new Apple QuickSilver G4/733/640/40/DVD/CDRW with 17" LCD Studio Display. Damn this thing is nice! :-)
Laguna Hills is a really nice area. I think it reenforces how much I thought SF was a cramped, smelly dirty city. This might be suburbia but at least there's grass and trees.
I went to the Irvine Spectrum last night... that place is wicked. My friend Justin would love the anime store there. There's a store there called "Extreme Machines" that sells all kinds of fucked-up stuff like street luge equipment and offroad skateboards, motorized scooters, etc.
Russian Cross Country and American Media
I was still in Canada when the story about the Russian female cross-country skier hit. They mentioned something which 0 out of the 5 American media outlets I've seen haven't, which I think it's pretty damn significant...
The Russians aren't necessarily pissed off about the skier being DQ'd - they're pissed off about not being told until it was so close to the race that they couldn't find a substitute skier to take her place, forcing them to withdraw from the race they've dominated for years.
If you're a Russian, and you've seen Sale and Pelletier get a gold they might not have deserved, Sarah Hughes win gold after placing 4th in the short program, and a 3rd period game-tying goal not reviewed in the semi-final game against the USA, I think you'd be fuming too.
Boingo and cheap WAPs
On Feb 13th, I read (on Glenn Fleishman's 802.11b Networking News weblog) that Boingo was giving away free WiFi cards to new Boingo subscribers at gate B4 in SeaTac airport.
I just so happened to have a flight from SeaTac to San Jose yesterday, leaving from gate B8, so of course I stopped by the Boingo kiosk and chatted with the nice folks there. The card they're giving away is a Lucent Orinoco Silver. 40/64-bit encryption. You have to sign up for 3 months of Boingo-Pro at $24.95 a month to get it. A darn good deal I'd say. Unfortunately, with no locations near Laguna Hills, CA or Victoria, BC right now, it just didn't make sense for me to sign up.
Boingo is still officially Windows-only, but if you're willing to be "creative" (trust me, it's still dead-easy) you can get on their network with a Mac. I talked on the phone with Jon Rietmuld, their Sr. VP of operations, who gave me all the info I'd need to get hooked up.
I kind of wish I had signed up anyway, just to get the card, since I wanted one for my dad's PowerBook, but, it's too late now. No rainchecks (I asked).
BTW, Glenn's site also pointed me to this wicked deal on Linksys WAPs. Sorry for not posting this link earlier, I'm not sure if the deal is still on, but if it is, check it out. I picked up a Linksys WAP/4port Cable/DSL router for about $132 with free shipping.
Okay, I'm only 'sort of' back, and other info.
A few people have commented that I must either love, or be sick of moving by now. I should mention that at this point, I have no intention of moving anywhere. Victoria is my home. The plan is for me to be down here for 2-3 months and then work from home (in Victoria).
So that means I'm going to be away from my family (again). Again? Yes, again.
One of the number of personal things I didn't share on this site is that I was actually living alone in SF since autumn. The reasons for that include but are not limited to: wanting to be able to send Cyan to pre-school (we couldn't even afford it in SF), wanting Cheryl to have support from our families during and after her pregnancy, and that they were much happier living in Canada close to family, friends, and familiar things.
It's been a rough time for me, living alone. I'd never done it before. I may have almost gotten used to it, but I've never accepted it. Family life is the way for me. :-)
SMB Browser for OS X
Thanks to Mr. Barrett for linking to SMB Browse, a Windows Networking Neighbourhood-type browser for OS X.
I don't think I need it here at work but it's great to know such a thing exists.
What a doofus
CANOE 2002 Games: USA coach: Canada's hockey style "stupid"
Uhh... Herb Brooks is a jackass. Last week he made a dumb-as-fuck comment before they played Germany in the quarter-finals, something about "that's why they lost WWII". He's a throwback to 1980, only there as a figurehead. It's a good thing the USA team is so good they don't need a smart coach.
Aussie tv show a hit
CANOE 2002 Games: Aussie tv show a hit - except with Canadians
Hey there! He doesn't speak for me... from the sounds of it that show would be hilarious to watch! :-)
I love this quote:
(In case you didn't get the joke, the Germans aren't particular great at Curling)
drug amnesty for ice dancers
Ice Dream Night 14 reader feedback
The reader had an idea for making the ice dancing routines more interesting for 2006:
Jail the politicians
There's a candidate for leader of the Tory party in Ontario that wants to make homelessness a crime, and the homeless forcibly removed from the street. Like Michael Cohen, I think that position is absolutely disgusting. Nowhere does it say you don't have the right to choose to not live in a house. If you want to live outside, then in a free country I believe you should be free to do that.
However, if someone begs for money (often in the middle of a street with moving traffic) or pees on the sidewalks like many homeless people in San Francisco, then I think that should be considered breaking some sort of bylaw, and something should be done. If there isn't a bylaw prohibiting that in SF, they should make one! I'm scared of running over the homeless there, and damn it stinks downtown!
Sun Media Columnist Michael Coren: Are there no prisons? Forget the homeless, let's jail the politicans
Xavier is growing!
Xavier was weighed on Thursday. He's up to 11 pounds, 14 ounces, from 10 pounds at birth and 9 pounds, 8 ounces when he left the hospital. And he really isn't that chubby of a baby either, not like Cyan was. He's just BIG.
He doesn't fit into newborn clothes, we're having to put clothes for babies 3 months old on him.
Kenya split over Bush abortion policy
BBC News: Kenya split over Bush abortion policy
Ahh... freedom. Freedom the burden of birth control, thanks to the anti-abortion lobbyists who helped pay for Bush's laywers that got him into DC via Florida.
Gretzky gives Canada winning edge
CBC Sports: Gretzky gives Canada winning edge
It will be a war tomorrow.
Friday, February 22, 2002
Canadian Women get their gold
Dad and I listened to the gold medal hockey game last night on the radio driving down to Seattle. Thanks CBC! :-)
What a game. 30 mins penalties for the Canadians and 12 mins for the US. When the Canadians weren't killing penalties they were dominating the play, and even with 2 2-[wo]man advantages and a dozen other popwer plays the US could only score twice.
Congrats Women!
