Devans Cosmos

Culo Evans 1997-2010 - That's All Folks

2010-12-31T17:43:00.000-08:00

I met Culo, then known as Jack, at the old Humane Society Silicon Valley in Santa Clara, CA, summer 1997.

December 5, 1997, almost 1 year

October 23, 2003, age 6

December 31, 2010, age 13

For the last 13 years, I've had to factor in the health and well being of my dog Culo into almost every decision made about my life. Everything from fabrics of clothing to furniture placement to work locations to vacations. Today, that lifestyle came to an end. My roommate, companion and walking buddy died at 9:30 am at Murphy Avenue Pet Clinic in Sunnyvale. The euthanasia (Euthanasia... What To Expect by DrTJDunnJr) administered by Dr. Karen Lee (Dr. Ken Stewart, Culo's usual vet was out) was very quick and humane. I was in the room when the shots were given.

Post Secret 9-13-9

I'm very sad and a little at loose ends now that Culo is gone. For instance, 6 pm used to be his dinner time. As I'm writing this, it's 6:15 pm but it doesn't mean anything special any more. I keep expecting to see him peeking at me around corners or nudging the back of my legs so I'll pet him. I still find myself watching where I step even though there's no little 25 pound dog I may smoosh. The mornings in the bathroom will be different since Culo will no longer put his paws on my lap to get petted. Or stick his nose into the shower steam to see what's going on.

Culo's last illness was an aggressive cancerous tumor in his nasal cavity.

Cancer in the sense of body cells that turn on the host and gradually destroy formerly healthy material.

The trouble started out as sneezes and weird wet sounds in his chest and throat area. By the end, the tumor almost totally blocked his breathing. Instead of switching to mouth breathing, sometimes Culo's whole body would shake in the effort to get air through his nose. To me, it sounded like a duck quacking. He would only pant with his mouth as a last resort. On the last day, he'd figured out a kind of perpetual throaty growl as a way to breath through his mouth. Poor boy was working way to hard at existing. The bloody globs he was exhaling all over the house didn't help. Some patches look like scatter diagrams.

The cancer also caused the bone in the front part of his head to crumble. In the last week, his face area noticeably lost its former shape and structure. The bump between his eyes became bigger and reader.. Plus a pinched nerve made his left eye bulge and forced his third eyelid to stick in the up position.

Bones in face shifted.

3rd Eye Lid Stuck

Even though I miss Culo, I'm so happy he's not in pain and discomfort anymore.

When I get his cremation ashes back in January, I plan to turn them into a gem such as Pet-Gems or LifeGem. That way, I can have him with me without it being creepy like taxidermy or an urn filled with dusty ashes.

It looks like my vet donates used pet supplies to Pets In Need Redwood City. Perhaps they'll take Culo's old stuff?

Sustainability Specialist Thomas Loxley Rosenberg Guest Speaker 2-19-10

2010-02-19T21:41:00.000-08:00

I made the following post at the CSix Cloud Computing Announcement Page. I'm copying here in case people don't see it there. Be sure to check out the Cloud SIG main website and Facebook page too.

Energy, Climate Change & Environmental Sustainability Specialist Thomas Loxley Rosenberg presented the following slides to the CSix Cloud Computing SIG during our regular Friday meeting 2-19-10.

Environmental Sustainability and Cloud Computing

Agenda

What is environmental sustainability?
The business case for environmental sustainability
Sustainability and IT
Sustainability and Cloud Computing

View and download presentation here.

The meeting notes taken by Taff contain some useful information discussed during the presentation.

Debra Evans comments on event

I met Thomas during a PinkSlipMixers.com event at B4Twelve Ultra Lounge in Palo Alto CA. I didn't see Google or Tesla Motors as promised, but I did meet someone interesting.
We did the typical networking routine of introducing ourselves and talk about what we did or are interested in.
I knew Thomas' area of expertise would be a good compliment to the Cloud Computing SIG
Luckily, Thomas agreed to give an exciting and informative talk on Environmental Sustainability and Cloud Computing
Even though Social Media and other Cloud based companies are considered green and environmentally friendly, that common wisdom isn't necessarily true
- Most IT hardware, upon which the Web depends, is not easily recyclable. In fact, some elements are toxic to humans.
- Data centers that online companies, such as Facebook, rely on coal power plants to run the servers.
Holistically managing the eco-efficiency (energy consumption, emissions) of ICT (information
and communication technologies), can reduce at least 15% of greenhouse gases produced by non IT sources.
Discussed how the CLUMEQ Supercomputing Center convective air cooled data center, in collaboration with Sun, has rethought the whole concept of managing server farms.

An innovative, energy-efficient cooling enclosure leveraging a 3-level cylindrical floor plan with up to 1.5 megawatts of cooling capacity and space to host up to 56 standard-sized racks. Free cooling conditions the air inside the silo by using cooler outside ambient air, along with a system of water filled pipes and coils, drizzle humidifiers and very high-efficiency fans.

Photos from Old Saratoga Post Office Cloud Computing SIG Meeting

Thomas L. Rosenberg, Taff Dirks, Julie McDaniel Setting up presentation laptop & projector

Thomas Loxley Rosenberg, Opening Presentation Slide

Thomas Loxley Rosenberg, What is Environmental Sustainability?

Mo Aidi, Thomas L. Rosenberg, Speaking to SIG Members after Presentation

Sherwin Deng, Taff Dirks, Thomas L. Rosenberg, Ed Leung, Speaking to SIG Members after Presentation

Cloud Computing meets Smarter Planet Initiative

2010-02-11T23:39:00.000-08:00

I made the following post at the CSix Cloud Computing SIG blog. I'm copying here in case people don't see it there. Be sure to check out the Cloud SIG main website and Facebook page too.

Earlier this week, I attended an IEEE Cloud Computing meets IBM's Smarter Planet Initiative event put on by the Santa Clara Valley Chapter Computer Society. The speaker, Lennart Frantzell, PhD of the IBM Innovation Center, San Mateo, has the goal of pushing technology until computers replace mankind.

Cloud Computing Adds Value in Specific Ways

The core of Cloud Computing made up of
- virtual machines
- high capacity broadband
- open source SW
- smartphones
- app stores such as Amazon Web Services (AWS)

I liked how Lennart Frantzell tied in current trends of smartphones and social networking to the growth of cloud computing. Without demand for more bandwidth and vendor neutral infrastructure by web users, the challenge of cloud computing activity may have stayed in the enterprise domain. Social networking is driving the growth of cloud computing.

Cloud Computing Globalization and Globally Available Resources

Frantzell explained how IBM Innovation Centers play a role in expanding the global digital infrastructure. A behind the scenes innovator in converting the world from analog to digital. The demo of one hospital based Cloud Computing implementation looked a lot like Big Brother. Wearable tracking systems allow computers to determine how well a doctor sticks to a predetermined checklist. Medical practitioners are at risk for being beeped at for failing to wash their hands long enough. The level of remote monitoring gave me shivers. Other remote management, like reading energy meters, are less intrusive.

Lennart Frantzell also discussed the differences between private clouds, public clouds and hybrid clouds and how they interact. Hybrid and public clouds can act as storage or computing capacity backup or fail over. Hybrid and public clouds give enterprises the flexibility to have an internal private cloud as well immediate ability to absorb short term spike in need.

Three co-existing Cloud Computing delivery models

Post by devans00

________________________________________
________________________________________

Abstract of Talk

As the world becomes more and more global, integrated and "flat", it is also facing an array of problems: a financial crisis, climate disruption, energy geopolitics, food supply hazards etc. This is coinciding with technological innovations such as the following developments that can assist in resolving these problems:

The world is becoming instrumented. There are a billion transistors per human, each one costing one ten millionth of a cent.

Cloud computing and mobile computing are changing how software is deployed and used throughout the world.

IBM presentations of their cloud computing offerings available on cloud homepage.

All things are becoming intelligent. Algorithms and powerful systems turn those mountains of data into decisions and actions that can make the world work better. Smarter.

As the world's leading globally integrated IT company, IBM is attempting to use modern IT technology to tackle many of the world's problems. In this presentation, Lennart Frantzell will talk about IBM's global smarter planet initiative in its quest to make the world a smarter place.

About the Speaker
Lennart Frantzell, PhD, is a technical consultant at the IBM Innovation Center, San Mateo. He works with IBM Business Partners and startup companies in the IBM smarter planet initiative. The IBM Innovation Centers is a world-wide network of IBM business partner centers that provide business- and technical support to help companies get started and deploy applications in the IBM smarter planet space.

Lennart Frantzell has expertise in Cloud Computing, IBM Industry Frameworks, IBM Tivoli systems management, WebSphere and other IBM middleware products. He has worked in artificial intelligence, object-oriented programming and computer games.

Silicon Valley Organizing Relief Efforts for Haiti

2010-01-15T15:22:00.000-08:00

Silicon Valley groups, individuals organizing relief efforts for Haiti | San Jose Mercury News

By Mark Gomez

mgomez@mercurynews.com

Posted: 01/15/2010 02:31:39 PM PST

Updated: 01/15/2010 02:59:22 PM PST

Video

Video from the Haiti quake aftermath

How to help

Links to charity organizations contributing to Haiti relief

Special Section

Earthquake Center: Map, more

Have your say!

Vote and comment:
How prepared are you for a large earthquake?

Donations for the relief effort in Haiti have been pouring in from throughout Silicon Valley as children, adults and companies have responded to the devastating earthquake that struck near the capital of Port-Au-Prince.

From the latest innovation of text donations to the old fashioned writing a check, valley residents have already pledged tens of thousands of dollars to help the stricken country.

"The money is coming in so fast," said Cynthia Shaw, spokeswoman for the American Red Cross Silicon Valley Chapter. "Locally, people have been very generous. Some companies are offering matching donations. The big thing we've noticed is the text to donate phenomenon."

Silicon Valley residents have taken advantage of an effortless donation process that allows them to make a $10 donation to the American Red Cross by texting "Haiti" to 90999. The money is automatically added to their cell phone bills. As of Friday morning, Californians had donated about $1.5 million by texting their donations, Shaw said.

The American Red Cross has committed $10 million for immediate relief efforts in Haiti.

The Silicon Valley Community Foundation's Haiti Earthquake Relief Fund is matching up to $100,000 in donations from donors, corporations and the community. The organization met its first $50,000 match in 24 hours, with the matching funds provided by the Irene S. Scully Fund. The second $50,000 matching program, announced Friday, was provided by the Lieve

Roelandt Foundation. Donations will be sent to organizations working to provide critical assistance in Haiti, according to the Silicon Valley foundation.

"We're seeing the generosity of our community from all quarters," said Emmett Carson, CEO and president of the community foundation, adding that donations have been received from corporations, individual donors, kids and adults.

Other Silicon Valley companies, including Yahoo, have created matching donation programs for employees.

Some Bay Area residents have created their own personal giving pages to help raise money. Sheila Dowd of San Jose, who along with Cat Lincoln and Stefania Pomponi Butler operate Clever Girls Collective, a social media consulting group, wanted to make a small contribution. Because the women often have weekly online events, such as watching "Project Runway" and tweeting about who should be voted out, they used the opportunity to raise money online.

The women set up a giving page through firstgiving.com and promised to match $250 in donations. They got the word out to family and friends through Twitter and Facebook.

"Money is tight, but what do know how to do is organize people online," Dowd said. "We were watching Project Runway and at the same time make it socially conscious. We encouraged all of our folks to give money."

By Friday afternoon, the women had raised $620 and planned take advantage of the Silicon Valley Community Foundation's matching donation program.

The Stanford University School of Medicine, the Department of Medicine and Stanford Hospital & Clinics have offered a $25,000 matching program to the medical center community. Those funds will support patient care at Hopital Albert Schweitzer in Port-au-Prince, which withstood the Tuesday quake and is functioning as a major treatment center for mass casualties. It remains one of the few institutions providing care for the many thousands of individuals injured in the calamity, according to a Stanford press release.

The San Jose Giants will be donating $1,000 to the relief efforts.

Plastic Jungle, a Mountain-View based company, is allowing people to turn gift cards into cash donations for the American Red Cross Santa Barbara County Chapter.

Not all of the Bay Area's earthquake relief efforts are donation-driven.

At MedShare's 32,000-square foot distribution center in San Leandro, a 40-foot container filled with requested medical supplies was scheduled to ship to Haiti on Friday, sponsored by Rotary International. The supplies were donated by 20 Northern California hospitals.

The FBI is warning people to be wary of online scammers who are seeking donations through unsolicted e-mail requests.

Contact Mark Gomez at 408-920-5869.

How to donate

To make a $10 donation to the American Red Cross, text "Haiti" to 90999 and the money will automatically be added to your cell phone bill. Donations can be made online www.siliconvalley-redcross.org or over the phone, 1-877-727-6771.

To make a donation through the Silicon Valley Community Foundation"s matching funds program, go to www.siliconvalleycf.org and click on Donate Now or call 650-450-5444. Checks also can be mailed to Silicon Valley Community Foundation, 2440 West El Camino Real, Suite 300, Mountain View, CA, 94040, attn: "Haiti Earthquake Relief Fund."

To donate or learn more about MedShare"s relief efforts in Haiti visit the Web site at www.medshare.org.
To turn a gift card into a donation to the American Red Cross, visit sbredcross.givezooks.com/campaigns/aid-for-haiti

______________________________________________________________________

On Twitter

Media outlets that have staff in Haiti. Reporting and hopefully helping. Sometimes the mainstream media gets on my nerves. But in times like this, they have the resources and connections to get in there and make things happen.

http://twitter.com/CNN/haiti-boots-on-ground

http://twitter.com/nytimes/haiti-earthquake

Wyclef Jean and Family

I donated via text message to Wyclef Jean's YELE organization, text “yele” to 501501 to donate $5 to the Yéle Haiti Earthquake Fund. Not only has Wyclef been a champion for Haiti for years, his uncle, Raymond Joseph, is Haitian ambassador to the United States.

Mr. Joseph was the gentleman who elegantly slammed religious charlatan Pat Robertson who said Haiti made a deal with the devil. Mr. Joseph responded on The Rachel Maddow Show to Robertson's extreme hatefulness and ignorance with dignity and high self worth.

WATCH:

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Rachel Maddow called Robertson "the unintended consequence of the First Amendment."

WATCH:

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Besides a Red Cross or Doctors without Borders, he has the most credibility in sincerely wanting to help.

Stalking Horse is a Spoiler

2009-11-11T13:16:00.000-08:00

I didn't know there was an official name for a political spoiler until today. You know, the candidate that is similar to another, more popular candidate of one of the major parties. Usually the spoiler only differs in a hand full of points from the main party candidates. In all cases, the spoiler is always, without exception, running for ego driven, self-aggrandizement purposes. Otherwise, they'd focus on getting their "team member" elected and work with the major candidate's administration to get their points of views worked on from within the system.

The bad thing (at least when it's your party) about the spoiler is that they drain away enough votes from their ideological peer to allow the opposition party to win. Think Ralph Nader's affect on Al Gore's chances for United States president in 2000.

Thanks to Anu Garg's Wordsmith.org A Word A Day email, now I know the official word for political spoiler.

Stalking Horse 1

MEANING: noun:

1. Something used to mask the true purpose.

2. A candidate put forward in an election to draw votes from another or to conceal another's potential candidacy.

ETYMOLOGY: After the former practice of bird hunters of hiding behind a horse (or a decoy) until he had reached within close range of prey.
This week's theme: words about government, politics, and elections.

Stalking Horse 2

1. Something used to cover one's true purpose; a decoy.

2. A sham candidate put forward to conceal the candidacy of another or to divide the opposition.

3. A horse trained to conceal the hunter while stalking. A canvas screen made in the figure of a horse, used for similar concealment.

Culo in Bing Beanie

2009-11-09T23:23:00.000-08:00

Earlier today, I went to the Lunch 2.0 at Bing! Celebrating 6 month launch with Twitter at Powerset’s office in San Francisco CA.

Hallway Leading to Powerset on Brannen Street in San Francisco

For lunch I had green salad with balsamic vinaigrette, grapeful fruit salad, macaroni and cheese, Medateranian chicken sandwich with Kerns peach nectar drink. Thanks for the grub, Bing.

The most fun part of the event was dressing Culo in the swag beanie and taking some thuggish photos. So menacing, so cute.

Culo in Bing Beanie Looking to Left

Culo in Bing Beanie Looking to Right

Culo in Bing Beanie Looking For Escape Route

Culo in Bing Beanie Looking Like a Wise Old Man. Eye booger and all.

Culo Mean Mugging in Bing Beanie. Looking Through with Whole Experience

Climate Shill at Mother Jones

2009-10-25T15:09:00.000-07:00

Culo

In December, world leaders will meet in Copenhagen to hash out a climate treaty that will shape our planet for generations to come. Our special climate issue features four different children on the cover to dramatize the point that we're gambling with their future. ~ Mother Jones

MoJo's Next Top Cover Models

Wed October 21, 2009 3:09 PM PST

World leaders are about to start negotiating what's likely our last best chance to avert catastrophic climate change—a global treaty to bring down carbon emissions. The stakes are huge, and yet so far it's politics as usual, and conventional wisdom has it that there won't be a deal.

Want to remind your politicians (and your friends) that this is not about special interests, but the future of all of us? And also have a whole lot of fun? Try our interactive application where you can create a personalized cover of Mother Jones' special issue on climate. In less than 24 hours, Mother Jones readers have made close to a thousand covers. Here are some:

Jack

Polar Bear

Daisy and Mimi

Frosty, Thawing

Arnold Flowers

Susu Bereman

Cloud Computing and The Weirdest Clouds that You’ll Ever See

2009-10-24T22:01:00.000-07:00

Since I've been working on the CSix Cloud Computing SIG website the past two weeks, I have clouds on the brain. Although the clouds in the sky don't have much to do with

topics relating to educational, networking and career transformation opportunities in Cloud Computing, virtualization, IaaS, PaaS, SaaS, Software Frameworks and Web services areas.

I still like looking at them.

I loved this article on The Weirdest Clouds that You’ll Ever See on Webdesigner Depot. So many very amazing pictures of clouds.

Pooch Hotel Sunnyvale Grand Opening

2009-09-27T14:29:00.001-07:00

Yesterday, Culo and I had fun at the Pooch Hotel Grand Opening. We had a tour of the 30,000-square-foot facility, talked to a pet psychic and got to sample some restaurants and other products and services.

The prices are comparable to other local doggy daycares in the area, so I'll definitely check them out next time I have the need. Plus Pooch Hotel has other cool stuff like scented floors, aromatherapy, massages and other spa (spaw) services. One thing on the list of services that was unique. Limousine service will pick up within Santa Clara County, homes and businesses. Although the land and underwater treadmill and swim sessions may be rare too.

Located at 180 North Wolfe Road @ Central Expressway in Sunnyvale (only 5 minutes from the San Jose Airport), Pooch Hotel is set to redefine pet boarding options forever, with unparalleled amenities, an environmentally friendly mindset and a level of quality and care never before seen in the South Bay Area. Custom-made hotel suites, all within an eco-friendly facility make the Pooch Hotel a canine’s first choice. With All Day Play, our 8-hour daycare with 15,000 square feet of play space, and the Pooch Hotel Club with a customized exercise pool, underwater and land treadmill and dietary programs, guests are sure to remain fit and cared for throughout their stay. For the pampered pooch, the SPAW™, with aromatherapy bathing, paw-dicures, fur coloring, poochberry facials and tooth brushing, create a quality stay for all guests and delivery.

Some services available to sample:

Psychic Counselor, Wellness Guidance, Spirit Communication, Life Issue Resolution, Pet Communication: Dani Brown, in2itvinsight@aol.com

Destino Spa of Palo Alto on hand to give pooch parents and their pooches massages.

Fresh strawberries and marshmallows with chocolate sauce from La Fondue of Saratoga.

Pinkies Nail Salon of Los Altos, human manicures and pawdicures.

Red velvet and chocolate mini cupcakes from Jen's Cakes of San Jose.

All proceeds from silent auction donated to the Humane Society Silicon Valley, HSSV and Pets Unlimited of San Francisco.

Surya the orangutan and Roscoe the hound dog video from National Geographic, 9-22-9.

I love this video so much.

Chip Somodevilla Chimp Senator Joe Wilson

2009-09-22T16:11:00.000-07:00

Chimp

Photo by Kevin Hill

To review an image on the LCD screen of a digital camera after taking a photograph. In common usage among press photographers. The act was dubbed chimping after photographers were caught making monkey-like noises when they reviewed a good shot in their cameras.

1. The photographer chimped his double-play shots from the first base photo position.
2. The photographer was caught chimping on the sideline after a play and missed the interception shot.

Urban Dictionary

Photo by Anak Brunei

Photo by Autumn Leaf

Picturing someone squinting at their camera while making monkey noises is hilarious. Common anywhere people are checking out the digital image just taken.

Photo by David Guan

I found out about the unusual definition of chimping while reading Behind the Picture: You Lie, says Joe Wilson online at 1854 The British Journal of Photography. Photographer Chip Somodevilla describes how he captured one of the first newswire images of Representative
Joe Wilson (R - SC) shrieking "You lie!" at President Brarack Obama during his speech to a joint session of the US Congress in the House of Representatives on September 9th.

Not only was Congressman Wilson's behavior a breach of decorum for how a representative of the American people is supposed to behave, even his wife Roxanne thinks he's a nut

Photo by Chip Somodevilla

Sadly, even though Wilson was in fact wrong and was formally rebuked by his peers in the House of Representatives, plenty of mental midgets and know nothing Republican numbnuts herald him as a hero and role model. Thanks to former far right wing insiders like Frank Schaeffer, we know that facts are irrelevant to certain segments of society, The 9/12 Marchers and the Far Right Subversives. It still bugs.

Imma let you finish & NetflixBehind Scenes

2009-09-17T17:44:00.000-07:00

My version of the Imma let You Finish graphic you can make at Kanyelicious. Like President Obama, I think Kanye West was a jackass for taking away Taylor Swift's glory when she won Best Female Video award at the MTV VMAs. So many people are angry at Kanye for his self absorbed jerkiness, the Urban Dictionary now has a definition for Imma Let You Finish. Last I checked 3887 people had voted up the word.

Kanyelicious

It's beside the point if I like Beyonce's Single Ladies video better or not, MTV decided to give Taylor Swift the award. Plus, is Kanye the only one who takes the award show seriously? Before high school, I had figured out that the "best" doesn't always win on those shows. Award shows tend to be public stroke sessions for the entertainment industry whether music, TV, movies or sports.

Today, one of my Twitter Tweeps sent around a link about Netflix operations. Daily Entertainment in a Unique Way posted a bunch of pictures of the Netflix employees and pictures of returned movies in a huge warehouse.

My favorite part is the calisthenics exercise breaks. I know my butt aches after sitting so long, so I could appreciate that job perk. I'm so addicted to Netflix, I can't image my life without it.

Twitter is slowly becoming like that too. TweetDeck on the desktop

and Echofon iPhone app

are my lifeblood to know what's going on. I've slowly but surely built a decent list of interesting people and organizations to follow. I get current event news before it shows up on media websites and I'm entertained 24/7.

Facebook Name Analyzer

2009-08-18T15:51:00.000-07:00

Fun name analyzer on Facebook. Sometimes the quizzes or analysis on the social networking site are lame, but this one is pretty fun. I can live with these results.

Cacography - Bad Writing - Spelling

2009-08-11T16:06:00.000-07:00

I love this word because I'm a bad speller. Who knew such a perfect word existed?

cacography

PRONUNCIATION:
(kuh-KOG-ruh-fee)

MEANING:
noun:
1. Bad handwriting.
2. Incorrect spelling.

ETYMOLOGY:
From caco- (bad), from Greek kakos (bad) + -graphy (writing). Caco is ultimately from the Indo-European root kakka-/kaka- (to defecate) which also gave us poppycock, cacophony, and cucking stool. Opposites of today's word are calligraphy (beautiful handwriting) and orthography (correct spelling). A related word is cacology.

USAGE:
"Before I could think of quitting, my boss enlightened me on the virtues of my handwriting, which was sheer cacography: 'Your writing is in direct competition with the Harappan script that still had the hope of being deciphered in the distant future.'"
Vikram Kumar; Positions Very Vacant; The Hindustan Times (New Delhi, India); Apr 15, 2008.

"They [Nerds Inc.] have taken advantage of cacography in a novel way. ... They registered more than 90 of the most probable misspellings of popular Web addresses afforded by the QWERTY keyboard, for processing by typo.net."

Thomas W. Holcomb Jr.; Nerds Inc. Turns Typos Into On-Line Advertising; The New York Times; Jun 2, 1997.

A.Word.A.Day with Anu Garg

If Media Were Any Good | The Smirking Chimp

2009-07-23T09:09:00.000-07:00

If Media Were Any Good
by David Swanson | July 22, 2009 - 8:51am

A week ago, I published a report on 1,200 photos of U.S. torture that I have examined but the public at large has not seen. I talked about the photos on a few progressive radio shows. I received calls from some advocacy groups that have been trying for years to get hold of these photos. But I received not one single inquiry from the corporate media. Even most good blogs ignored this story despite a handful of prominent blogs promoting it. This started me thinking and fantasizing: what would the world look like if we had major media outlets that were worth more than a warm bucket of spit?

Imagine if the media monopolies were busted, a diversity of private outlets were free to compete, and public media were developed, including free substantive air time for election campaigns. Imagine media outlets with democratic accountability. Imagine media outlets that judged a story important if the majority of the public said so, and not if those in power said so.

The majority of the public favors single-payer healthcare. Corporate media outlets are crammed with endless, often pointless, stories about healthcare that never mention single-payer. On Friday a House committee passed an amendment to allow states to create single-payer healthcare systems, and have you heard about that from a single corporate media outlet? Another amendment now up for a vote would create single-payer at the national level. Heard that one mentioned? Our existing media outlets (whose lead blogs follow more than bloggers admit to themselves) decide what's important based on the preferences of a small number of powerful people. And the fact that these preferences almost always differ wildly from majority opinion does not lead to any rethinking of the acceptability of this approach in a democratic republic.

The same treatment is accorded other people around the world by the U.S. media. Over in Iraq (remember that place?) an important deadline is approaching in the treaty that Bush and Maliki made, and which Bush misleadingly called a status of forces agreement in order to not call it a treaty. The U.S. Senate never consented to this treaty, was never asked to, and never demanded the right. But the Iraqi Parliament, which represented a public whose media -- even in the midst of a living hell -- better informed it of the treaty's terms than ours did, approved the treaty. But the parliament approved the treaty only on the condition that the Iraqi people be able to vote it up or down in a vote to be held no later than July 2009. Heard anything about this lately? Check your calendar, and then check your newspaper. What gives? If you could bring slaughtered native Americans back to life they could tell you the violations of their treaties were not heavily covered in the white man's press. The June deadline to withdraw from Iraqi cities was met in part by redrawing boundaries. Can you imagine the outrage if a foreign force did such a thing while occupying the United States? Some actions are deemed outrageous and others unworthy of extensive discussion. Some articles are written with that obnoxious air of "objectivity" while other articles are not written.

A democratic communications system that worked for the people rather than those in power, advertisers, and corporate partners would identify politicians by party and state but also by amount of money accepted from the corporations relevant to the issue under consideration. All the endless articles and chatter about healthcare would look different with the dollar figures inserted. A democratic media outlet would forego fluff and filler to engage in useful functions such as tracking whether elected officials fulfill their campaign promises, something I've done here and the St Petersburg Times has done here.

Democratic (small d) media would be very different from Democratic or Republican or Bipartisan media. It would treat laws as mandatory, not subject to the whims of those in power. It would treat enforcement of laws against those in power as more important than their enforcement against everyone else. Such media would not cover resistance to a war without noting that the war was (if it was) illegal. Such media would not cover the prosecution of low-level soldiers for crimes they were ordered to commit, without investigating their superiors and asking why they had not been prosecuted. Such media would not quote nonsensical statements by those in power about possibly investigating whether crimes had been committed without noting (when it existed) the publicly available evidence that in fact crimes had almost certainly been committed. And if a former vice president appeared on a democratic show and brazenly confessed to felonies, the producers would invite the attorney general to view the tape on the air and respond to it.

If Media Were Any Good | The Smirking Chimp: "Imagine media outlets with democratic accountability. Imagine media outlets that judged a story important if the majority of the public said so, and not if those in power said so."

The points in this article are so undeniable. David Swanson mentions two things that always get my goat. The fact that:

Lower level people are always taking the hit for higher level authorities who are in fact more guilty.

Politicians brazenly admit to crimes and nothing happens to them. Or they pretend that something that did in fact happen, never did. Either by bald face lying or the sin of omission.

If only there were real, blind justice in the world....

Even better would be bulldog journalists to hold some feet to the fire until the truth and accountability will out.

Iran June 2009 Election Uprising Graphic Novel

2009-06-29T18:10:00.000-07:00

Free downloadable political graphic novel, Persepolis 2.0: Iran's Post-Election Uprising: Hopes & Fears Revealed. All images repurposed from Marjane Satrapi's novel Persepolis.

Good memoir and peek into upper middle class Iranian culture, by the way.

Although images were created for Iran's 1979 Revolution, they apply to the aftermath of the June 2009 Iranian Election.

Since the Revolution in 1979, Iranians have coped with an increasingly repressive regime. Attempts for greater social and political freedoms have resulted in brutal crackdowns by the hardline government. The ensuing apathy and significant boycott of the 2005 presidential elections led to the election of the ultraconservative mayor of Tehran, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

Four years later Iran has become increasingly alienated and its people more polarized than ever before. The campaign of former Prime Minister Mir Hussein Moussavi galvanized voters hoping for change, especially among the youth – two thirds of Iran’s population is younger than 32. On June 12th 85% of eligible voters cast their ballots and what happened next changed Iran forever.

Put together by two artists, spreadpersepolis@gmail.com. Shanghai-based, Iranian-born and Belgian-bred Payman and Sina.

Iran Protester, I Ran for My Life - Jamileh

2009-06-19T07:37:00.000-07:00

Show support for democracy and free speech in Iran by making your Twitter icon green.

Below is the story of a young woman protester of the Friday, June 12, Iran Election. Apparently, the powers-that-be expected the population to buy that 39.2 million handwritten paper ballots in a country over half a million square miles could be tallied up in less than half a day.

How do you count almost 40 million handwritten paper ballots in a matter of hours and declare a winner? That's a key question in Iran's disputed presidential election.
International polling experts and Iran analysts said the speed of the vote count, coupled with a lack of detailed election data normally released by officials, was fueling suspicion around President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's landslide victory.

Weirdly enough, some Iranians weren't buying it and have taken to the streets in protest ever since the "official results" were announced.

Iranian Woman Protester 6-13-9

As with many social movements, the largest protester segment are students. It's not a bad thing since these are the folks with the time and energy to kick things off. When I marched against the Gulf War in the early 1990s, students and career activists made up the majority of protesters too.

As I mentioned in my Huffington Post comment:

The Iranian uprising reminds us that government or the state only have authority by the permission of the people. If the citizens think the trust has been broken because of vote or election fraud, it's their right to remind those in charge how tenuous their power really is. The Mahmoud Ahmadinejad regime can bust heads, shot and stab protesters all they want. It's up to the marchers and protesters who'll ultimately decide when they are satisfied, when it's over and when things will get back to normal.

Since I have no DirecTV service right now, I've been obsessively tracking the tweets from the street on Twazzup and Twitter. Clicking on the links has given me the chance to see some amazing pictures, great articles and moving videos. Iranian Green Revolution: Latest Eyewitness Reports on Iran Election Fallout blog is full of videos compiled from YouTube. My favorite may be the one where a young woman literally kicks a man (10 seconds) in uniform who is harassing and beating people whith his baton. The woman got beat too but at least she got her licks in. Her resistance in the face of political repression is very brave.

The biggest negative about American support on Twitter is when people pass on obvious disinformation in a misguided attempt to help. If you see a tweet that is the opposite of 95% of other tweets, such as "march for Tuesday canceled, stay home", then don't pass it on. The status quo party has many hackers on payroll to spread fear, uncertainty and doubt, FUD.

I've been a big technology fan my whole life but the democratization of communication that allows regular Iranians get their stories out to other regular people around the world, without any filters, makes me appreciate the Internet even more. The revolution may not be televised but it will be Social Networked. Going forward, there will be no such thing as a media blackout. That's a good thing.

Finally, on to the story....

Jamileh, a 25-year-old woman from Iran, describes her experience taking part in demonstrations against the recent election result that saw current president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad defeat opposition hopeful Mir Hossein Mousavi amid accusations of vote-rigging. Parisa describes how she returned home from a protest march, only to be disturbed by police who then arrested her brother.

The story of Jamileh

Friday June 19th 2009 by journalist Rajen Nair

I live in the city of Esfahan in Iran, a tourist place for worshippers of all major religions in the world. It has famous shrines such as the Friday Mosque, as well as Christian churches and Zoroastrian temples. The people here are peace-loving and deeply religious, but after the election result on June 12, the atmosphere here has become tense and scary.

For the past five days the city has seen huge demonstrations held by supporters of opposition candidate Mir Hossein Mousavi – and why not. Like millions of my fellow Iranians I had huge expectations from the outcome of this election. During the campaign the young electorate rallied their support towards Mousavi and, like many Iranians, I was expecting him to win the election. When the result came out, showing that Ahmadinejad had won by two thirds, I was in a state of shock and disbelief.

I voted for Mr Mousavi because I feel he is an enlightened person. I see him as a reformist who could help free our society from the dictatorship of Ahmadinejad. I must confess that women enjoy no freedom under Islamic Iran. The clergy expect us always to be covered with a Burqa and to wear gloves. They never allow us to mingle freely with boys. During wedding ceremonies, women are seated separately from the men.

I felt cheated when rumours spread that Ahmadinejad had won by rigging the election. Ask any youngster in the street and she or he would say that this election was rigged. I am very angry and so are young people of my generation. I can see this anger in people spreading everywhere and it is not just limited to cities.

I am glad that people are coming out in the streets demonstrating openly against Ahmadinejad's government without any fear. But I am saddened by the turn of events. One student belonging to Esfahan University lost his life in the demonstration. Innocent lives have been lost and Allah only knows how many more are going to get killed.

I took part in a demonstration and found that the protestors were generally peaceful. I noticed that it was the police guards that were unnecessarily provoking the protestors by wielding batons and using tear gas. So the demonstration sometimes turned violent though no fault of the protestors, but the police arrest protestors claiming rioting.

The recent events are extremely stressful and worrying for me. People are angry and I don’t think the government would be able to suppress this uprising. People are talking of a new revolution which will lead us to freedom and democracy. Every day people pour out into the streets in their thousands, to march and protest. At night people come out of their buildings onto their rooftops and shout: “Allahu Akbar.”

Our demand is that we do not want a partial recount, but a full recount of the election result to get to the truth. Life is normal no more . Ordinary citizens are scared to venture out into the street. Most shops pull down their shutters by 6pm, fearing violence between the demonstrators and police.

Yesterday evening I joined a demonstration at Hatim Nizar street, responding to the call given by our leader Mousavi to hold peaceful protests and march in memory of eight people killed. Most people wore black as we marched the streets silently, the majority of them were young boys and girls. After we walked a few yards I heard some commotion.

Suddenly people began running all over the place. There was confusion and panic. I could see people falling over each other. Baton-wielding police were charging us. I ran for my life using the opposite lanes and managed to reach home safely at night.

At around midnight I was rudely woken from my sleep. I heard the bell ringing repeatedly and banging on the door. No sooner had I opened the door than a few guards barged inside my flat, pushing me aside. They began questioning my 18-year-old brother and I.

They wanted to know whether we were supporters of Mousavi and had taken part in the rally. I lied and said we were not supporters of any political party, but they kept on pressing and were becoming rude and threatening. They refused to believe us. Then they arrested my brother and dragged him all the way down the street to the waiting police van. I kept pleading with them that my brother was innocent and to let him go.

My aged parents began wailing and neighbours gathered at our place. I had tears in my eyes, fearing what would happen to my brother.

Today, in the early hours of the morning, I visited the local police station. They say that my brother will not be freed until the investigation is over. Until then, I remain worried and fearful for his life. I pray to Allah that my brother is safe and will return back soon.

Helpful Twitter Job Search Links

2009-06-16T20:23:00.000-07:00

Social Networking sites like Twitter and Facebook can be used for things other than goofing around and wasting time. Although taking stupid quizzes, checking out videos and other links are still fun.

If you are looking for web application or software development project management work like me or any job really, here are a few sites to help you look for work on the Twitter platform.

WorkDigital: http://www.twitterjobsearch.com/

Jobzing: http://www.jobzing.com/job-sites/job-search-engines.html

How to: Find a Job on Twitter: http://mashable.com/2009/03/13/twitter-jobs/

How to Use Social Media in Your Job Search: http://jobsearch.about.com/od/networking/a/socialmedia.htm

Five Best Ways to Use Twitter for Your Job Search: http://www.thewisejobsearch.com/2009/05/five-best-ways-to-use-twitter-for-your.html

If you need help getting established on social networking sites and setting up a strategy for building your online brand, Inner Architect may be able to help. Susan Hanshaw and Dean Guadagni gave an excellent presentation, Using Social Media to Enhance the Project Management Experience, at PMI Silicon Valley last night. Great tips on how to get a lot out of existing sites like Twazzup.

Wheel of Marketing Misfortune

2009-06-14T17:11:00.001-07:00

Wheel of Marketing Misfortune, originally uploaded by David Armano.

This wheel is so true. I don't think they are all so bad.

Flashturbation and Death by Big Idea are the biggest poxes on the web right now.

Twitter Mosaic 6-4-9

2009-06-04T16:02:00.000-07:00

I love the Twitter mosaic. I haven't done one in a while so it's about time.

Get your twitter mosaic here.

Checked out New Mary Avenue Bridge

2009-05-25T22:52:00.000-07:00

After months of watching the span go up over 280, I finally biked over to the new Mary Avenue Bridge between Sunnyvale and Cupertino over I-280 on Sunday morning, May 24, 2009. You access the bridge in Sunnyvale from the intersection of West Homestead Road & Mary Avenue or from Meteor Drive in Cupertino, CA. It's an uphill ride all the way there, so I knew it'd be slow going. Happily, that means the ride back was downhill. Which was nice. Since it was still early in the day, I went to the Mountain View Farmers market later in the morning.

Some information about the bridge.

Roadshow: New Bicycle Bridge over I-280 is Striking Span - San Jose Mercury News

Silicon Valley has a brand new landmark, one that promises to attract the attention of anyone motoring down Interstate 280 through Cupertino and Sunnyvale. The Mary Avenue pedestrian and bicycle bridge opens today, and while the large, white span held up by 44 cables is striking during the day, you should check it out at night. That's when it will really glow, with lights illuminating the 90-foot-tall, 325-foot-long structure that crosses 11 freeway lanes. Think mini-Bay Bridge.

...its construction is a case of the car culture losing to bicyclists, joggers and walkers in an era when the car was king and the region was on a massive freeway-building binge.

The cost was high. At $15 million, it's believed to be the most expensive span of its type in the South Bay. Sunnyvale opened two pedestrian bridges along Borregas Avenue over highways 101 and 237 last week for about the same price for both.

Studies indicate that 265,000 people will use the bridge each year, 175,000 of them cyclists. And best of all, 35,000 of those will be commuters opting to leave their cars, vans and SUVs in the garage.

By Gary Richards, 4-30-9, mrroadshow @ mercurynews.com or 408-920-5335.

Bold Design on Mary Avenue Bridge between Sunnyvale and Cupertino is Turning Both Heads and Wheels - San Jose Mercury News

The bicycle-pedestrian bridge that almost didn't happen opened April 30 in Cupertino and was immediately hailed as both an iconic Silicon Valley structure and a bold statement about alternative transportation. The $14.8 million Mary Avenue Bicycle Footbridge, a white, steel cable-stay bridge spanning Interstate 280, connects the cities of Cupertino and Sunnyvale. It gives travelers a shorter route between De Anza College, Homestead High School, the Oaks Shopping Center and other destinations currently separated by the 11-lane highway.

The opening celebration brought together two cities, Caltrans, the Valley Transportation Authority, architects, engineers, residents and bicyclists. All of them played a role in taking the bridge from a pie-in-the-sky notion to a steel-engineered reality, even when it looked as if the project was doomed.

The plan all along was to create a striking bridge. All involved with the project knew building another overcrossing would work just as well. However, they wanted to make a statement with this bridge.

"Now that our bridge is open, other cities will see our bridge and be wowed by the design and not see bicycle and pedestrian architecture the same way we did 20 years ago," said Sandoval. "We can create a flair of beauty and functionality." Will Kempton, director of Caltrans, compared the bridge to the Sundial Bridge that spans the Sacramento River in Redding.

Bridge Facts

Cost: $14.8 million with 80 percent coming from VTA Measure A funds and outside grants. The city of Cupertino was the other major financial contributor and the city of Sunnyvale provided funds for the project.
Specifications: Span is approximately 440 feet long and 16.3 feet wide with 44 pre-cast concrete deck panels. The bridge has no center support. There are 44 German-engineered locked coil cable supports. Towers are 90 feet high and weigh approximately 57,000 pounds.
A feasibility study projected 265,000 people a year to use the bridge, 175,000 of them cyclists.

Construction: Work began Jan. 24, 2008 after nine years of planning. A topping off ceremony was held in November 2007.

Construction injuries: 0.

Landscaping: About12 acres of landscaping, native trees and bicycle trails with a public art plaza on the Meteor Drive entrance. The art by Tom Aidala features quails on boulders and a perched red-shouldered hawk.

By Matt Wilson, Cupertino Courier, 5-11-9

Manufactured Outrage

2009-05-24T10:07:00.000-07:00

I love today's word of the day at Urban Dictionary. This has been happening so much lately, I'm glad someone coined a word for it. The evening news programs are the masters, but other media outlets are just as bad.

Manufactured Outrage

A falsified righteous outrage at things that are basically unimportant and meaningless, frequently employed by politicians, political activists, or the media. Politicians and talking heads use it to garner support for their causes, to claim the moral high ground and to tar their opponents; the media often just uses it in a cynical bid to increase ratings.

Manufactured outrages of note include Nipplegate, the Monica Lewinski scandal, the 2009 tea partys, backmasked satanic lyrics, lapel pin controversies...

Just about any time you hear any politician, activist, or radio show host getting outraged about anything, really. The louder and angrier they get, the harder they're working at manufacturing it.

by Aquillion2 May 20, 2009

_____________________________________

An invention of the mainstream media, aka MSM, intended to drum up outrage at a statement or situation. The key characteristics of manufactured outrage are: prior to the media's intervention, the vast majority of the general population had never heard of the statement or had never found the statement or situation to be objectionable in any way.

by Ellsworth Dec 18, 2006

President Obama's Deadweight Problem

2009-05-06T12:14:00.001-07:00

Very clever animated cartoon. The reality is more like the GOP tugging on the rope while trying to pry President Obama's hands off the cliff.

clipped from www.cnn.com

Deadweight

Bill Mitchell

Devans00 Twitter Mosaic

2009-04-06T10:02:00.001-07:00

Here are the folks I follow on Twitter. A colorful bunch of technologists, funny people, hip hoppers, dog people, politics, women suff, words and other assorted geeks. The main criteria for folks I follow, don't Tweet so much everyone else gets scrolled off the main page when I go to the Twitter site. Nothing is more annoying than to have a screen full of verbal rubbish from only one fool. Unless, of course, a poster is live blogging an event. That's OK because it's only temporary.

More proof there's infinite ways to waste time and learn stuff on the interweb tubes.

Unfortunately, Sxoop Mosaic doesn't dynamically update like my other medallions and widgets. So this truly is a snapshot of the folks I follow.

Get your twitter mosaic here.

Hedge Funds and the Global Economic Meltdown

2009-03-21T21:36:00.000-07:00

This short video breaks down one of the fundamental causes of the most recent economic meltdown. The gist of video message is that a small, predatory group of rich guys, also known as the oligarchy, played the stock market system to make themselves bucket loads of money. The fact that the worlds' economies are spiraling down the toilet bowl is just an unfortunate side effect as far as these vampires are concerned. They got their money.

Some will claim that short sellers and naked short sellers (hedge fund manipulating stock prices by flooding the market with phantom stock) don't set out to destroy companies but I don't believe it. I'm generous enough to chalk the first company destroyed as a side effect up to an "oops, did we do that?" mistake. But the destruction of companies after that were definitely deliberate and planned. So much for counting on the market to do the right thing.

Despite what you may think about the invasion of privacy it was for protesters to go to the private homes of AIG bonus recievers, you can definitely understand the impulse after seeing videos like this one.

Since I'm not in the financial industry, I can't vouch for every detail mentioned in the video. But I can appreciate how Mr. Bagley took the time to try to break down the complex problem to a digestible level. I notice on many finance industry insider sites, those in the know spend a lot of time scoffing and looking down their noses rather than adding any productive information to the conversation.

___________________________________________

Hedge Funds and the Global Economic Meltdown from Judd Bagley on Vimeo.

Short selling hedge funds lit the spark that led to the global economic meltdown. Now they want to help craft the laws Congress will pass to fix our broken regulatory system. That's insane.

____________________________________________

A couple of sites mentioned:
http://businessjive.com/
http://www.deepcapture.com/

A good comment about the video:

Gregory Kohs: Very, very alarming stuff. It really sickens me that our small church struggles without a Sunday schoolhouse for our rapidly-expanding youth services programs, but these crooks can pull a few fast ones and walk off with their billions.

Best Week Ever - Baby Oragutans in the Hospital

2009-03-20T10:19:00.001-07:00

I’m going to explode from the cuteness of these photos. Especially the one where the baby oragutan is biting the crib railing. I used to do that!

clipped from www.bestweekever.tv

E-MAIL THIS TO YOUR MOM: Orangutan Hospies
By

Michelle Collins

Some people argue that man and ape are distant cousins. The following photos of baby oragutans should prove otherwise. You know why?

Above, two baby orangutans jus chillin’ at the Infant Care Unit on Orangutan Island. The center houses 23 baby orangutans who have been abused or rejected by their mother. You know which mother would never reject these guys? This mother. Because if the following animal ever miraculously came outta me, I would swaddle it and coddle it and probably crush it on accident due to my overwhelming affection for it:

Lotsa Pictures from Busy Weekend of March 14 & 15, 2009

2009-03-18T01:10:00.000-07:00

Too lazy to do a proper blog post, I made a slideshow in Photobucket of photos from my past weekend.

Saturday, March 14th
Second Annual P-Camp at Yahoo! HQ in Sunnyvale, CA

Design your Customer Before You Design Your Product - David Taber
Product Management & User Experience - Meghan Ede and Nancy Frishberg
Challenges and Opportunities in Product Management - Al Nevarez (System Logics: Organizing Your Offerings to Solve People's Big Needs by Dev Patnaik)
Social Networking at Work - Round Table

C J Olson Cherries 3rd Annual Chocolate Festival in Sunnyvale, CA

Sunday, March 15th
Post Secret Exhibit at Bedford Gallery in Walnut Creek, CA

Julien Breton - Arabic Light Calligraphy

2009-03-17T09:43:00.001-07:00

Who knew calligraphy could be so cutting edge and innovative? What a creative mind to figure out how to do this.

Link to Julien's homepage: http://kaalam.free.fr/. The paper and light calligraphy galleries on his site are beautiful too. He also has Flickr as well as Google images. See the master at work in his videos.

clipped from designllama.blogspot.com

Julien Breton aka Kaalam light caligrapher

-Insane, this is what this is about , this guy is taking it to a whole other level, check those visuals, no photoshop , no after effect, just a pix ( that might take 10 minutes something ) with a really long exposure, couple light torch of different shapes and colors and Julien Breton( A guy from Nantes-france) is doing is magic, check the precision, the colors, the intensity of his art, this is quality. i just love it , bravo mec.
more info

Dogs Waiting for Their Humans

2009-02-20T16:52:00.001-08:00

Pictures of dogs tied up while their humans shop, eat, whatever. I leave my dog tied up outside sometimes. Who knew someone may be taking his picture?

More pictures at the link below.

clipped from dwfth.tumblr.com

President BHO Spoofs Single Ladies & Whatever I Like

2009-01-24T18:16:00.000-08:00

Hilarious spoofs of President Barack Obama done to two recent pop tunes. Be sure you are someplace you can laugh freely when watching.

Enjoy

_____________________________________________________________

Beyoncé - Single Ladies SPOOF (Barack Obama)

_____________________________________________________________

T.I.- Whatever You Like SPOOF! (OBAMA- Whatever I Like)

_____________________________________________________________

I can't wait to see what this AlphaCat dude comes up with during the next 4 - 8 years.

Photos: Inauguration of President Barack Obama

2009-01-23T20:02:00.001-08:00

clipped from www.boston.com

The Inauguration of President Barack Obama

Yesterday was a historic day. On January 20th, 2009, Barack H. Obama was sworn in as the 44th President of the United States of America - the first African-American ever to hold the office of U.S. Commander-in-Chief. The event was witnessed by well over one million attendees in chilly Washington D.C., and by many millions more through coverage on television and the Internet. Collected here are photographs of the event, the participants, and some of the witnesses around the world. (48 photos total)

33
40 years after their silent protest at the 1968 Olympics, Gold Medalist Tommie Smith hugs Bronze Medalist John Carlos, and their wives Delois Smith and Charlene Carlos after Barack Obama is officially sworn in as the President of the United States. Photo taken in the Smith room at the Sheraton Boston in Boston, MA. (Boston Globe/Stan Grossfeld) #

Great photo essay of Presidential Inauguration day. A summary of everything that happened that day, including reactions from people around the world.

Air and Simple Gifts for US Presidential Inauguration

2009-01-21T14:37:00.001-08:00

For some reason, I really enjoy this piece of classical music composed for the Barack Obama and Joe Biden Presidential and Vice Presidential Inauguration.

clipped from thecaucus.blogs.nytimes.com

A New Williams Work for a Momentous Occasion

By Anthony Tommasini

clipped from graphics8.nytimes.com

Air and Simple Gifts

Itzhak Perlman on violin, Yo Yo Ma on cello, Garbriela Montero on piano and Anthony McGill on clarinet.

clipped from thecaucus.blogs.nytimes.com

The cellist Yo-Yo Ma, who was asked by the inauguration committee to organize the performance, invited three illustrious colleagues to join him: the renowned violinist Itzhak Perlman; the superb young clarinetist Anthony McGill, a principal player in the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra (and among the few black artists to hold a principal chair in a major orchestra); and the fiery Venezuelan-American pianist Gabriele Montero. The intrepid performers had to cope with performing outdoors in temperatures hovering in the mid-20s. Ms. Montero, especially, looked to be freezing and wore woolen gloves with the fingers removed. But they all managed remarkably well.

He got the mood right, I thought, in this contemplative occasional piece.

Link to video of song on New York Times. Introduction by Dianne Feinstein the senior U.S. Senator from California.

United States of America President Barack Obama & Vice President Joseph Obama

2009-01-20T11:49:00.000-08:00

So long President Elect. Hello United States of America President Barack Obama & Vice President Joseph Biden. Today the Obamas and Bidens were rock stars and that's OK. Tomorrow, their noses will be to the grindstone, digging America out of the hole we seem to have fallen into under the less than steller leadership of the presidential administration that ended at noon ET today.

I love the pomp, ritual and ceremony surrounding the Presidential Inauguration. It gives us humans, social creatures that we are, a way to participate and affirm our beliefs in the symbols and concepts that make up American Democracy.

There were so many goosebumpy moments during the day. Including Aretha Franklin's My Country Tis of Thee to seeing the masses of humanity from all around the globe is managed to get themselves to the mall to witness the inauguration in person. I head that access to the mall was even cut off because capacity had been reached. So everyone who wanted to come didn't even make it.

I got up super early so I wouldn't miss any of the action. Since I started watching soon after 4 am PST, I even got to see the Obamas leave the house to go to church service at St. John's Episcopal Church. It seemed like there were crowds of people cheering them everytime they left their vehicle, The Beast. Sometimes even when the Presidential Couple were inside, riding along.

I followed the events with a combination of old media and Web 2.0 social networking technology. I switched back and forth between C-SPAN and C-SPAN 2 satelite subscription on TV. I fluv C-SPAN because they'll just let the camera roll without endless commentary, switching away to stuff I don't care about and commercials. A thinking person can only take so many talking heads and people telling you what to think or feel when certain things come on screen. It's like TV without training wheels.

Online, I had a combination of the CNN/Facebook integration, Twitter, Yahoo Instant Messenger and the web browser going on. There was a lag on CNN, so if I liked a scene on C-SPAN, I could just flip over to the CNN window and watch it again. It was also fun and funny to read the scrolling comments beside the live video feed. A lot of people were watching the inauguration on the down-low at work. Also, you could respond to your Facebook friends as they made comments about the inauguration in real time.

Twitter was good for finding links to cool stuff. I put in the word "Obama" and got to see everyone's comments with the word, not just people you are connected to. I learned about this feature during the election. The web browser was good for getting information such as the name of the designer of Mrs. Obama's inauguration ensemble, how to avoid getting trampled in the crowds, examples of wacky art inspired by Obama or word clouds of various Presidential Inaugural speeches.

President Barack Obama Inaugural Speech Word Tag Cloud

Needless to say, most of the speeches and musical presentations were very moving and inspirational. Including the ones given at the Inaugural Luncheon. By the way, I hope Senator Ted Kennedy is OK and will recover from his siezure. Luckily Senator Robert Byrd didn't have a medical emergency after all. I'm sure both senior life long Democrats would hate to kick the bucket on the new guy's first day on the job.

Besides President Barack Obama's Inaugural Address, I really enjoyed Reverend Joseph Lowery, a civil rights hero and Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) co-founder . Especially the call and response part at the end.

The Rev. Joseph E. Lowery gives the benediction at the end of the swearing-in ceremony at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, Tuesday, Jan. 20, 2009. (AP Photo/Ron Edmonds)

Text of Rev. Lowery's Inauguration Benediction
By The Associated Press

Text of the benediction by Rev. Joseph Lowery during President Barack Obama's inauguration, as transcribed by Congressional Quarterly Inc. (CQ) Transcriptions:
___
God of our weary years, God of our silent tears, thou, who has brought us thus far along the way, thou, who has by thy might led us into the light, keep us forever in the path we pray, lest our feet stray from the places, our God, where we met thee, lest our hearts drunk with the wine of the world, we forget thee.
Shadowed beneath thy hand, may we forever stand true to thee, oh God, and true to our native land.
We truly give thanks for the glorious experience we've shared this day.
We pray now, oh Lord, for your blessing upon thy servant Barack Obama, the 44th president of these United States, his family and his administration.
He has come to this high office at a low moment in the national, and indeed the global, fiscal climate. But because we know you got the whole world in your hands, we pray for not only our nation, but for the community of nations.
Our faith does not shrink though pressed by the flood of mortal ills.
For we know that, Lord, you are able and you're willing to work through faithful leadership to restore stability, mend our brokenness, heal our wounds, and deliver us from the exploitation of the poor, of the least of these, and from favoritism toward the rich, the elite of these.
We thank you for the empowering of thy servant, our 44th president, to inspire our nation to believe that yes we can work together to achieve a more perfect union.
And while we have sown the seeds of greed — the wind of greed and corruption, and even as we reap the whirlwind of social and economic disruption, we seek forgiveness and we come in a spirit of unity and solidarity to commit our support to our president by our willingness to make sacrifices, to respect your creation, to turn to each other and not on each other.
And now, Lord, in the complex arena of human relations, help us to make choices on the side of love, not hate; on the side of inclusion, not exclusion; tolerance, not intolerance.
And as we leave this mountain top, help us to hold on to the spirit of fellowship and the oneness of our family. Let us take that power back to our homes, our workplaces, our churches, our temples, our mosques, or wherever we seek your will.
Bless President Barack, First Lady Michelle. Look over our little angelic Sasha and Malia.
We go now to walk together as children, pledging that we won't get weary in the difficult days ahead. We know you will not leave us alone.
With your hands of power and your heart of love, help us then, now, Lord, to work for that day when nations shall not lift up sword against nation, when tanks will be beaten into tractors, when every man and every woman shall sit under his or her own vine and fig tree and none shall be afraid, when justice will roll down like waters and righteousness as a mighty stream.
Lord, in the memory of all the saints who from their labors rest, and in the joy of a new beginning, we ask you to help us work for that day when black will not be asked to get in back, when brown can stick around ...

(LAUGHTER)

... when yellow will be mellow...

(LAUGHTER)

LOWERY: ... when the red man can get ahead, man; and when white will embrace what is right. That all those who do justice and love mercy say Amen.

AUDIENCE: Amen.

LOWERY: Say Amen.

AUDIENCE: Amen.

LOWERY: And Amen.

AUDIENCE: Amen.

(APPLAUSE)

Just watching the Obama's and Biden's walk part of the Inaugural Parade makes me that more impressed with First Lady Michelle Obama and Dr. Jill Biden (by the way, I love see their names). Both wore heels and skirts with bare legs showing while walking a couple blocks down the street. Warriors, I tell you.

Obama and Biden Invited Me to Presidential Inauguration

2009-01-09T11:06:00.000-08:00

Embossed Metallic Engraved Seal

Earlier this week, I got a very official looking invitation to the Presidential Inauguration coming up in 11 days (YaY!). It includes a fancy embossed metallic seal on cardstock. You can tell it's the real deal because the back is pressed in.

Back of Embossed Metallic Engraved Seal

I wish I could be there, but no way could I hang in a crowd of an estimated 1 million to 5 million people with only a few port-a-potties sprinkled around. In the snowy cold no less. True, watching the first African American being sworn in person is a once in a lifetime, never to be repeated again event, is worth the hassles to plenty of people, but I'm not one of them. Although some of the goings on look really good and I hope they show the events on TV.

Envelope for Presidential Inauguration Invitation

Embossed Cardstock Presidential Inauguration Invitation

Monday and Tuesday Events related to the Inauguration.

Inaugural Schedule from the Presidential Inaugural Committee 2009 website.

The following events will take place in the nation’s capital between Sunday, January 18th and Wednesday, January 21st:

Sunday, January 18th President-elect Barack Obama will kick off the schedule of official inaugural activities in Washington, D.C., with a welcome event on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial on Sunday afternoon. The event will be free and open to the public.

Monday, January 19th - Martin Luther King, Jr. Day

In 1994, to further commemorate a man who lived his life in service to others, Congress transformed the Martin Luther King, Jr. holiday into a national day of community service. To honor Dr. King’s legacy, the President-elect and Vice President-elect and their families, joined by Americans in communities all across the country, will participate in activities dedicated to serving others in communities across the Washington, D.C. area. That night, on the eve of the Inauguration, there will be a youth concert at the Verizon Center in downtown Washington, D.C.

Tuesday, January 20th - Inauguration Day

The President-elect and Vice President-elect and their families will participate in the traditional inaugural ceremonies and events. For the first time ever, the length of the National Mall will be open
to those wishing to attend the swearing-in ceremony. Festivities will commence at 10 a.m. on the west front of the U.S. Capitol and will include:

Musical Selections: The United States Marine Band, followed by The San Francisco Boys Chorus and the San Francisco Girls Chorus
Call to Order and Welcoming Remarks: Senator Dianne Feinstein
Invocation: Dr. Rick Warren
Musical Selection: Aretha Franklin
Vice President-elect Joseph R. Biden, Jr. will be sworn into office by Associate Justice of the Supreme Court, the Honorable John Paul Stevens
Musical Selection: John Williams, composer/arranger with Itzhak Perlman, (violin), Yo-Yo Ma (cello), Gabriela Montero (piano) and Anthony McGill (clarinet)
President-elect Barack H. Obama will take the Oath of Office, using President Lincoln’s Inaugural Bible, administered by the Chief Justice of the United States, the Honorable John G. Roberts, Jr.
Inaugural Address
Poem: Elizabeth Alexander
Benediction: The Reverend Dr. Joseph E. Lowery
The National Anthem: The United States Navy Band “Sea Chanters”

After President Obama gives his Inaugural Address, he will escort outgoing President George W. Bush to a departure ceremony before attending a luncheon in the Capitol’s Statuary Hall. The 56th Inaugural Parade will then make its way down Pennsylvania Avenue from the Capitol to the White House with groups traveling from all over the country to participate. Later that day, the Presidential Inaugural Committee will host ten official Inaugural Balls.

Wednesday, January 21st The newly-inaugurated President and Vice President of the United States will participate in a prayer service.

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Edited 1-10-9 to Add

Wow, the $25 tickets sold out in 1 minute.

Gone in 60 seconds _ inaugural parade tickets

By NAFEESA SYEED – 01/09/09

WASHINGTON (AP) — Tickets for the inaugural parade? Gone in 60 seconds.

The Presidential Inaugural Committee put 5,000 tickets on sale Friday at 1 p.m. and they sold out in less than a minute, with 94 percent purchased online and the rest by phone, said Albert Lopez, a Ticketmaster spokesman.

"It was a blazingly fast on-sale," Lopez said of the tickets, priced at $25 apiece for bleacher seats.

Unfortunately a lot of tickets were bought by scalpers which majorly sucks. According to some Huffington Post commenters, some people are framing their invitation. I thought I was over the top by scanning in my invitation.

Big change from when George W. Bush had to cower in his limousine to avoid the rotten vegetables, eggs and snowballs thrown at him during his inauguration parade.

I found out more information about the engraving on the invitation. Very cool.

The Presidential Inaugural Committee Requests the Honor of Your Presence… by Way of Copper and Steel

December 31st, 2008

Reported in the New York Times, New York-based printing firm Precise Continental was awarded to make the million invitations for the inauguration of President-elect Barack Obama. Engraving was the type of printing by which the invitation’s design was incised into the surface of a hard plate, traditionally copper, by a hardened steel chisel called a burin. To make a print, the engraved plate was then fully covered with ink which was afterwards wiped off the surface, leaving only ink in the engraved lines. Sheets of paper picked up the ink within the engraved lines, resulting in a printed design. As you can tell, engraving takes steady hands. Engraver Augusto Lovato is Precise Continental’s “steady-handed man,” with a magnifying glass, scrutinized the copper plate and “expertly cleaned the serifs and curls” of the invites’s lettering. Each sheet of paper was individually fed with clean hands during the printmaking process. With metal playing a key supporting part from the start, the inaugural ceremony’s invites were handled with both precision and care.

–Nate Burgos

Hazen designed artwork inspired by Barack Obama’s presidential campaign for the
Manifest Change competition and exhibit.

Lance Wyman designed art piece inspired by Barack Obama’s campaign.

"I volunteered my time because I believe in Barack Obama. One of his special qualities is his ability to listen as he inspires change. My image is an expression of this important dialogue with the American people. "OBAMA'08" is formed by outer energy, the red, white and blue of America. "OBAMA'08" is also the center that inspires the energy of an American environment of change."

- Lance Wyman

Atticism

2009-01-02T08:31:00.000-08:00

Attic Greek coin showing Athena's Owl

- the style or idiom of Attic Greek occurring in another dialect or language.

- attachment to Athens or to the style, customs, etc., of the Athenians.

- concise and elegant expression, diction, or the like.

- An expression characterized by conciseness and elegance.

Origin:
1605–15; Gk Attikismós a siding with Athens, an Attic expression.

Dictionary.com. Unabridged (v 1.1). Random House, Inc.

- A pure and refined style of expression in any language, originally the purest and most refined style of the ancient

Definition taken from The Nuttall Encyclopædia, edited by the Reverend James Wood (1907)

- A witty or well-turned phrase

Merriam-Webster Online. 2 January 2009

- Its original simplicity meant that it remained universally comprehensible throughout the Greek world. This helped maintain vital cultural links across the Mediterranean and beyond.

Wikipedia

I like this word because I aspire to write in this style. Unfortunately, I get too wordy at times.

Steampunk Gift Guide 2008

2008-12-11T21:14:00.001-08:00

clipped from blog.makezine.com

This year I've tried for a somewhat more accessible array of items that are best
thought of a 'gifts for the Steampunk' rather than 'Steampunk gifts' as I think
that will be of greater utility those those of you choosing presents for the
Steampunks in your lives!. - Jake.

Girl Genius Comics

Set in an alternate world of mad science, Zeppelins, and mechanical servants
called "clanks," our hero, Agatha Heterodyne must navigate a feudal landscape of
power hungry Barons and criminals who seek to enslave her for talent with all
things mechanical and sciencey.

There are strong female characters throughout, the writing is clever and quick,
and the pages are beautifully inked and colored.

I like the Steampunk torch and Girl Genius Comics the best. The compass and lanterns are examples of great industrial design with their graceful lines.

Grandboss

2008-11-23T12:11:00.000-08:00

Grandboss

The boss of your boss.

It was annoying to have to submit a TPS report to my boss and my grandboss. It's enough to make a dude blazy.

Urban Dictionary

This is a word that should be used by as many people as possible. A lot easier than saying my boss's boss.

Social Networking Changes the Playing Field of USA Elections

2008-11-02T13:13:00.000-08:00

All the stories about attempts to disenfranchise American citizens, making sure their votes don't fairly count, has me down. A lot of tricks designed to prevent people from voting used to be limited to Black or poor communities. Now, the-group-that-shall-not-be-named, are bold enough to block people from voting everywhere.

Mashable, one of the people I follow on Twitter (he usually Tweets techy stuff) send out a great link about leveling the presidential election playing field a bit. He, or one of his minions, sent out a great link to The Ultimate Election Day 2008 Toolkit. In addition to the Twitter Vote Report I mention above, it has YouTube and other social networking sites that are tuned into the United States of America Presidential Election on November 4th. Definitely worth a bookmark. I'll try to blog the post so there may be more information above this one.

I've been busy with election stuff since the original post. I've done Senator Barack Obama phone banking (lots of people calling from one location) at the Palo Alto City Hall during the Rally for Change, Swing State GOTV (Get Out the Vote) Phoning at the Silicon Valley Campaign Headquarters and I've done some GOTV phoning at home. The thing about phoning Florida, Montana and California, the temperament stereotype is true. If the person has a friendly, good, upbeat attitude, they are an Obama supporter. If they are mean, nasty, rude and grumpy, they are a John McCain/Sarah Palin supporter. So far, I haven't run across anything to contradict this cliche. Even counting in the people who were in a rush and couldn't talk.

This is by far the most work I've ever done for any candidate at any level of government. Here's some pictures I took. Wish I had other candid shots of the HQ, but I was kinda busy. I feel like the polls are too close to relax and make assumptions how things will end. I plan to get back on the phone calling this afternoon, to try to make more of a difference. I don't want to wake up once the results have been tallied and think, Why didn't I do more?

My favorite links to track what's going on with the election:

The thing I like about all these sites is that the "what's interesting" filter is other humans, not some production editor in some mainstream mass media outlet. Sure there are a lot of kooks and people who didn't pay attention in school but you also find out about stuff you wouldn't have otherwise. Like this morning I caught part of Obama's speech in Ohio live on C-Span. The TV guide said something like "C-Span weekend programming". If it wasn't for Twitter, I would have missed it.

Twitter Helps Us Protect USA Democracy

2008-10-26T10:50:00.000-07:00

Use your Twitter Account to help make sure the November 4th election is fair. Anyone with a Twitter.com account can use their cell phones or their computers to send a message and notify voters and election monitors around the country. The main webite page with all the details: http://votereport.pbwiki.com/, http://twittervotereport.com/ and follow Vote Report on Twitter. Tweet the Vote!

Even if you don't want to participate on the backend of setting up or running this project, send any notes about voting irregularities to the universal tag (or hashtag) #votereport. A quick rundown on how you can participate.

Ways to Use VoteReport

Twitter: include #votereport and other tags to describe the scene on the ground
For individuals with serious legal issues or someone you know is being prevented from voting

- Tweet #EP{two-letter state code} - e.g. #EPNY for New York, #EPOH for Ohio - and a brief message about your problem, and we'll tweet back with next steps. We have a whole coalition of voting experts supporting us.

- Tag for additional issues: #machine - use this tag to signal a problem with a voting machine

- #registration - use this tag to signal problems with the registration process, people being turned away for paperwok reasons

- #wait:time - use this tag to signal a long wait. Add a colon and the wait time in minutes - e.g. #wait:30 for half an hour, #wait:120 for two hours.

SMS: Send text messages to 66937 starting with the keyword #votereport plus other hash tags (above)
iPhone: We expect to have an iPhoneApp in the App Store by election day
Phone: Call our automated system to report about conditions, using any touch-tone phone
Talk to a human to report bad conditions you've observed, please call our partner 1-866-OUR-VOTE.

If you needed any proof about how effective and powerful Twitter is for leveling the mass media and mass communications playing field, all you need to do is read this Fox News headline from Sunday, October 26th: U.S. Army Says Blogging Site 'Twitter' Could Become Terrorist Tool. The fact that Fox News hates Twitter gives Twitter all the credibility it needs. In case you hadn't caught on, anything Fox News hates or feels threatened by gets labeled terrorist. Too bad for them that they cry wolf too often by throwing the word Terrorist around so much. Now it's a joke whenever they use the word at all.

Twitter Vote Report Mission Statement

On November 4th 2008, millions of Americans will go to over 200,000 distinct voting locations and using different systems and machinery to vote. Some voters will have a terrific experiences, and others will experience the same problems we have been hearing about for years - long lines, broken machines, inaccurate voting rolls, and others will experience problems that we haven't heard about before. Using either Twitter.com, iPhone, direct SMS, or our telephone hotlines, voters will have a new way to share these experiences with one another and ensure that the media and watchdog groups are aware of any problems.

As news outlets and blogs will report on Election Day stories, we are building an invaluable resource for thousands of voters to get immediate help. From questions like "where do I vote" or "how do I make sure that my rights are being upheld," Twitter Voter Report augments these efforts by providing a new way for voters to send text messages (aka tweets) via cellphones or computers which will be aggregated and mapped so that everyone can see the Nation's voting problems in real-time.

Imagine a nationwide web map with pins identifying every zip code where Americans are waiting over 30 minutes to vote or indicating those election districts where the voting machines are not working. Collectively we will inform each other when when the lines too long and ensure that media and watchdog groups know where problems exist.

My Sarah Palin Name

2008-10-15T21:24:00.000-07:00

Last night, I tried to make the following Tweet on Twitter, but it was rejected.

Track, Bristol, Willow, Piper, Trig? What would you be named if you were born to Sarah Palin? Find out here: http://tinyurl.com/5kscfh

I'm thinking there is some kind of filter on the service. Putting in Governor Palin's kids' names somehow triggers it. Anyway, I thought the post was pretty neutral. It wasn't like I called Governor Palin's children her props or something like that.

I just wanted to point out the fun Sarah Palin Baby Name Generator. Where else could I find out "if you were born to Sarah Palin, your name would be:

Flex Gunship Palin

Who knows, Flex Gunship Palin you just might be president one day!" I'm kind of scared of my own name. Aggressive but powerful. Sounds like the name of a comic book anti-hero.

What is your Sarah Palin name?

Skeuomorph

2008-10-06T22:46:00.000-07:00

SKYOO-uh-morf

A design feature copied from a similar artifact in another material, even when not functionally necessary. For example, the click sound of a shutter in an analog camera that is now reproduced in a digital camera by playing a sound clip.

A skeuomorph can be employed for various purposes. Since people are used to the click sound of a camera as feedback that the picture has been taken, it is now artificially-produced in digital cameras. Other examples are copper cladding on a zinc penny (for familiarity) and wood finish on a plastic product (for a more expensive look).

From Greek skeuos (vessel, implement) + -morph (form)

A.Word.A.Day with Anu Garg

An ornament or design on an object copied from a form of the object when made from another material or by other techniques, as an imitation metal rivet mark found on handles of prehistoric pottery.

Dictionary.com

A derivative object which retains ornamental design cues to structure that was necessary in the original. Skeuomorphs may be deliberately employed to make the new look comfortably old and familiar, such as copper cladding on zinc pennies or computer printed postage with circular town name and cancellation lines. The word derives from Greek, skeuos for 'vessel' or 'tool' and morphe for 'shape'.

Wikipedia

Skeumorphs are Material Metaphors

Efforts to make the new look comfortably old and familiar, or simply habits too deeply engrained to wash away.

Archaeologists, who make an academic practice of studying material culture change, while not the first to notice that yesterday’s functional features become today’s stylistic decorations, were at least the first to name the phenomenon:

Skeuomorphs are material metaphors. They are informational attributes of artifacts which help us find a path through unfamiliar territory. They help us map the new onto an existing cognitive structure, and in so doing, give us a starting point from which we may evolve additional alternative solutions. They provide us with "a path" instead of "no path" at all.

Skeuomorphs and Cultural Algorithms by Nicholas Gessler

For some reason, I find Skeuomorph a fascinating word. It's fun trying to think of other examples other than those above.

A horse on a Mustang car
A carriage on the side of an RV
A pocket watch pocket in jeans
Molded plastic with fake looking screw heads
Digital knobs, buttons, switches and sliders that duplicate the ones that existed on the original physical device being emulated
Stone or metal decorative features that simulate wooden or timber structures like studs or crossed corners
QWERTY keyboard. Originally laid out to prevent physical keys from getting stuck when popular letters were together in the original typing machines.
Plastic sandals that look like fabric or leather
Spoke patterns on hubcaps and rims to copy the old carriage wheels
Molded trigger on plastic guns
Molded furniture that looks like wicker or woven cane
Gesture that people use to get someone to to roll down a car window. Miming a circular hand crank
Canopy bed simulating a private cave
The concept of pages in word processing software and web pages on the internet.
Bookmarks is as archaic as web pages.
Wood grain on cheaply made products
Lights shaped like candles
Shopping cart icons on ecommerce web sites
Reel-to-reel tape icon used to represent a tape such as a voice mail message
Old fashioned key or lock to represent security
Concrete outdoor furniture that looks like wood or metal
Manila folder icons on computer
Video gambling machines that simulate one-arm slot machines
Floppy disk icon button which stands for "Save" in computer applications
Taj Mahal architecture that simulates traditional Mongolian tents (gers or yurts)
Calling the strings of instruments like guitar, harp, violin, cello or bass gut even though they may be made of steel or nylon

Face for Radio

2008-10-06T10:26:00.001-07:00

Some people can't appreciate character.

clipped from ihasahotdog.com

Shake it Like a Polaroid Picture

2008-10-05T17:10:00.000-07:00

20 Minutes at Great Glass Pumpkin Patch

2008-10-04T16:59:00.000-07:00

I was supposed to volunteer for OneBrick at Great Glass Pumpkin Patch 2008 but it didn't work out. At least I got a few pictures to compensate for driving down to the Art Center lawn in Palo Alto this morning. There were patches of about 20-50 pumpkin-esque or squash like glass sculptures all over the lawn. Long lines of people were waiting to get their chance to pick some.

Sprinkles Stanford Mall Visit

2008-10-04T15:02:00.000-07:00

After reading articles where the likes of Halle Berry, Heidi Klum (Seal's wife) and other celebrities sing the praises of Sprinkles Cupcakes, I wanted to try them myself. Unfortunately, all of the closest stores were in Southern California. Low and behold, a branch was opening near where I live at the Stanford Shopping Center.

Finally, after over a month past the original opening date, it's open. Friday, 10-3-8, was the first time I could make it. So I went to the side of the mall with Max's Opera Cafe and Schaub's Meat, Fish, & Poultry, where Long Life Noodle Company & Jook Joint used to be. (I used to like their lemon chicken with pickled water chestnuts and ginger drink but I'd rather have the Sprinkles.) I thought all of the Grand Opening hoopla would have died down by now but nope, there's a line out front. Reaching from the Sprinkles Cupcakes front door to Bang & Olufsen next door. I should count myself lucky. The Bang & Olufsen sales guy said that on weekends, the line reaches to Oilily, next to Brooks Brothers.

After all the build up and waiting in line, I was seriously hoping the cupcakes would live up to the hype. I'm relieved to say that as far as I'm concerned, the cupcakes are as wonderful as advertised. No plasticy, chemically tasting Safeway cupcakes here. In fact, the cakes tasted lightly of cornbread to me. This is a good thing.

The flavors are distinct. The coconut lemon tastes of both coconut and lemon. Usually a sign of high quality ingredients. The flat square chocolate sprinkles on the chocolate cupcakes actually melt when they land on your hand. I'm guessing high chocolate liquor content. When I got home, the cupcakes were divine. Even the next day, the cakes were still yummy.

All in all, I'm glad I got to try Sprinkles Cupcakes. I will probably go back soon if a holiday party or some other special occasion comes up. Or if I want to try another flavor. Unfortunately, I didn't find out about the flavor schedule (a guide to what flavors are available on which days) until afterwards. Now I can time my future trips better.

Damn there's a line at 6 pm on a Friday afternoon! The crowd looks to be half teeny boppers and college kids (lotsa disposable income) and half adults and families.

Watching people getting served and eating at the counter while waiting in line about 30 minutes.

First look at THE Cupcakes when you finally get into the door.

Unfortunately, the store is too dim and writing is too small to read the menus. So you have to read the pegs on the cupcake boards or ask the workers what's what.

Inside the countertop by the front window are these little cupcake pillows. Cute part of the Sprinkles Cupcake ambiance.

More miscellaneous stuff to buy. So you can take home part of the Sprinkles Cupcake experience.

Funny looking wooden sporks to eat cupcakes. Ah, sporks, the universally inappropriate eating utensil, aka, foon. Neither adequate as a spoon or fork.

Rolling on the Grass Laughing

2008-09-30T12:54:00.001-07:00

This picture says it all. ROGL indeed.

clipped from ihasahotdog.com