Mon, 30 Jun 2008

By Request


Dude snoring on the 5 Fulton So I've gotten a few requests for blog posts. I've narrowed down the best request themes and will start posting those categories this week.

The first category is an easy one, and I already do this. Basically it'll be the equivalent of "stories about SF that make Jim C glad he lives in Livermore".

The second category- and I've had many more requests for this- is to start putting up stories about the bus- or bus adventure posts. I'll be introducing those too.

The hard part for that 2nd category is getting pics to illustrate. I can get pics, I just don't want to get a restraining order if I take something too personal. I'll have to black-bar the eyes like on that show Angie watches about what not to wear. . . .

So later this week I'll introduce the terms, nicnames, stereotypes, and nomenclature used in my bus stories. The pic on the right doesn't need any explaining though- it speaks for itself.

30 Jun 16:55 | /general | 0 comment(s)


Bad bad parents (Shaq Sucks)


via Dean H:

30 Jun 13:58 | /humor | 0 comment(s)


Sun, 29 Jun 2008

Euro '08


The finals will be on in a bit. I'm actually looking forward to the game. Spain/Germany should be a good matchup. Germany's favored, but Spain has a lot of momentum coming in.

I'm just glad I don't bet money on soccer. This tourney through out all the old rules on betting. I would have lost on Holland losing to Russia and I almost always bet on Spain losing-- even though I like them.

Betting against Spain is like betting with "the house" in Vegas. The math and stats are usually against them. Hopefully they buck that trend for good.

29 Jun 12:24 | /futbol | 0 comment(s)


Tue, 24 Jun 2008

Anne, you there?


Anne, I know it's still a bit too soon to call me since you broke up with your soon-to-be-convicted ex, Rafaello, . . . but next week is open, you have my contact information.. . .

24 Jun 13:57 | /humor | 1 comment(s)


Mon, 23 Jun 2008

Sandvine in the News


Via arstechnica: Sandvine: close to half of all bandwidth sucked up by P2P - http://tinyurl.com/54ynjo

but note--

... we should note that Sandvine has an interest in showing that P2P traffic is clogging the tubes. The company sells gear to ISPs that, among other things, helps to throttle Internet traffic based on the needs of its customers.

"Half" is a lot, I'm still not sure about that, and yes the article mentiones a German company saying it's actually more. . . .

btw- isn't Skype technically a p2p app?

23 Jun 20:41 | /tech | 2 comment(s)


Fri, 20 Jun 2008

Boccalone Open


New Boccalone place in ferry bldg I went to get a sandwich for lunch at the Ferry Building. I wanted to try the new Boccalone place since I saw something about it opening recently (although I can't find where I read that originally now).

Some quick thoughts:

It was packed and not very organized. They had two lines, but they weren't doing a good job of herding people along - they'll get better at it though.

They seem to be overpriced. $9 for a Lonza sandwich that didn't have a ton of meat on it? Well, ok, I'll forgive you since you're in the Ferry Building, but for now, Luca's on Valencia has nothing to worry about. . .

I see on my receipt they snuck in a $1 breadstick (I had also ordered a salumi sampler) .. . very sneaky sis . . .

The meat's pretty good. . . my sandwich is a nice stack of contrasting but complimentary flavors - I should try it again sometime when the peaches are more ripe. . . .

Not sure I'd stock up on meats there- again, I'll hit up my fave- Luca's in the Mission . . . Meats @ boccalone

Out of 5, I'll give them a 3 for now on my "meat-ho"™ scale. I'll try them again when they have the kinks worked out. Don't get me wrong though- the meat's good stuff.

One other thought on the herding people along thing- I had to wait for my sandwich, so they gave me a receipt and a number, so I stood there and waited- but they don't call out numbers. They just put the sandwiches in these basket things for the counter staff. One of the guys there had seen me waiting and asked what my order was and took care of me. But it took a while. They should either not use the numbers, or stick to it. . . .

20 Jun 15:17 | /food_and_drink | 2 comment(s)


Tue, 17 Jun 2008

Going Back to SF on Weds


I'm leaving TX tomorrow to go back to SF. I won't be posting again until at least the weekend.

Hopefully traveling through SAT won't be filled with what my replacement calls "amateur hour" like the last time I flew out. Anyhoo, I'll see y'all when I see y'all.

Taco Haven- SA

17 Jun 12:51 | /travel/tx | 0 comment(s)


Mon, 16 Jun 2008

Some Quick White Wine Recs


I went to a nice wine tasting (and olive oil tasting) on Saturday night in Austin.

I just wanted to post what I thought some of the standouts were.

These are pretty affordable too. All 4 of the ones below should beare readily available in Texas.

Albert Mann Vielle Vignes 2004 (Auxerrois), Alsace, France

Praxis (Viognier), Lodi, California - although I think I liked the next one more-- buy this if you can't find the Pere Anselme.

Pere Anselme 2007 (Viognier), Languedoc, France

Craggy Range 2006 Te Muna Road Vineyard (Sauvignon Blanc), Martinborough, New Zealand

There were some others that I liked as well, but I think I'll buy the three imported ones listed above as soon as I get back to SF. Although . . . SF's not 100 degrees right now so I'll try not to stock up too much.

Thanks again for the party invite Megan, Cory, and Kevin; and the hosts S&R!

16 Jun 16:12 | /food_and_drink | 0 comment(s)


Wed, 11 Jun 2008

SF vs SA - Howdy Edition


The differences between a typical jog in San Francisco versus a typical one in San Antonio.

in SF:
I usually initiate the 'nod' or a wave or venture a 'hello'

On the last jog/walk I went on (mostly in the park):

-only 1 'nod' back

-2 nai ho's back (from the two cantonese women who recognized me from the bus and who chuckle at my attempts to learn cantonese)

-and 3 suspicious scowls from various russian men and 1 russian couple

oh, the honkys who wear their north face fleece vests or the women who have their pony tails pulled through their hats are too serious to say hi back (they must be from the East Coast)

... there's more to read here ...

11 Jun 16:30 | /travel/tx | 3 comment(s)


Tue, 10 Jun 2008

Monday Night La Tuna Group


I joined my parents and their friends for their weekly Monday gathering at La Tuna for Burgers and beer. Quite nice.

Monday night La Tuna group

10 Jun 10:42 | /travel/tx | 0 comment(s)


Mon, 09 Jun 2008

Twitter Fail and the WWDC Nerds


There are tons of articles and posts about how Twitter has lots and lots of problems. KC sums it up well here (and also here in a more serious way).

They've been down *a lot* recently. I don't care that much, but I do think it's interesting to follow as I'm a casual user of their service.

This week is Apple's WWDC and Twitter has a blog post up about how they're anticipating the load and are making some changes to handle it. Because lord knows, all the geeks are out in force . . .

And something interesting happened this morning.

I have twitter set up to 'post' anything I share in my google reader feed as a link. Basically, when I'm reading various blogs, if I find something interesting, I mark it as shared and people who follow me on twitter see the link (or they can look at the shared links I have on various pages on my site in those sidebar widgets).

So this morning, I'm cruising through my feeds and I read a snarky post on a financial blog I read called Infectious Greed. Here's the post. Anyway, I thought it was witty and I clicked share, which 20 mins later sent it through the tubes™ and it went out as a 'tweet'.

So just a few moments later, some goober called eggmanjohn posted a tweet basically telling me to stop harvesting traffic.

He's obviously trying to follow WWDC and iPhone news and is tracking it on twitter. So he must think I'm a problematic user trying to get more eyeballs or worse, someone whose spam can either a) mess up those trying to follow iphone and wwdc or b) mess up twitter itself (zomg!)

Twitter needs some serious work, and people need to stop treating it so seriously. It's just a fun site for now- nothing more (until they get their kinks worked out at least, then the power of it could shine through).

09 Jun 12:01 | /tech | 0 comment(s)


La Tuna Tonight


Those of you in SA-
My parents and their friends always go down to La Tuna on Mondays for burgers & beer. I'll be there from 6:30 - ? tonight if you're interested in dropping by.

google map

09 Jun 10:38 | /travel/tx | 0 comment(s)


Sun, 08 Jun 2008

Savage Espresso


Nespresso le cube I think I've changed my mind on the Nespresso Machines- and pod machines in general.

I used to hate the pod machines when I first tried them out long ago, but I was playing with my dad's newer Le Cube (from Nespresso) and realized it makes a consitently nice shot of espresso with a super thick crema. It may not be right for me, but they're better now that I thought they were. Now if Illy would just get their overdue machine to market, I'd like to try that one out as well.

There's no way in hell I'm trading in my Rocky and Silvia, but I agree with my mom that it's nice to not be rudely awakened at 5am by the sound of a grinder.

The real reason my mom likes the machine:

08 Jun 18:43 | /food_and_drink | 1 comment(s)


Tue, 03 Jun 2008

Transportation Strike


I wonder if any tech companies based in Hyderabad will have a lot of problems starting tomorrow due to a planned transportation strike which includes cab drivers.

As part of employment, a lot of tech jobs (and job offers when recruiting) include transportation to and from work in India. The way a lot of companies do it is to hire out groups of private cabs to come at scheduled times to pick up or drop off small groups of employees who live in the same neighborhood and/or have similar shift times.

It's key for US companies too as their offices in India typical have overnight shifts to match our business needs- especially in Customer Service and QA teams. Free rides at 3am is necessary, especially for the female workers.

That article I linked to above mentions protesting a 12.5% increase in the VAT. That's a pretty big increase.

03 Jun 12:56 | /tech | 0 comment(s)


SF Quote


I liked this quote from the Mayor of SF who was talking about his budget cuts, but I liked it in a wider sense:

"The reality outside our 47 1/2 square miles is very different from the reality within it," Newsom said.

from this column.

03 Jun 11:15 | /general | 0 comment(s)


Going to TX


I'm going to San Antonio this week. I'll be there visiting family and working remotely for about two weeks.

Unrelated, Christine of the WhitePants sent me an email today:
Well, my favorite site ever (thanks, Kenneth for guiding me to it all those years ago) has posted my very own submission. Holler!!! Check it out here. First a "review of the day" on yelp, now a p-a note. Well played.

03 Jun 00:18 | /travel/tx | 1 comment(s)


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