Wiki-monkey
Saturday, July 29, 2006
The wiki-monkey book club
Just finished The World is Flat, which is a must-read for anyone in the tech or business field. Gives an overview of where business/technology is trending and how we got to this point. Lots of insightful information on outsourcing, insourcing, off-shoring with political views on China, India, the middle East sprinkled throughout.
"Flat" is somewhat of a misnomer, but probably just a concession to give the book a unifying theme. It refers to "flatting the competitive landscape" thanks to the increasing technological advances.
At 566 pages, this isn't going to be a quick read. I struggled to finish it in two days and only subjected myself to the pain because I had to return it to the library by Friday. I ended up eating the $.25 daily fee just to finish it, and had to scramble to the library to avoid another fee.
The other book I'm finishing up has nothing to do with tech, business or finance. It's Animals in Translation which largly talks about animal behavior and its parallels to autism. It's a fun read and fairly engrossing. ¶ 11:33 AM 0 comments
"Flat" is somewhat of a misnomer, but probably just a concession to give the book a unifying theme. It refers to "flatting the competitive landscape" thanks to the increasing technological advances.
At 566 pages, this isn't going to be a quick read. I struggled to finish it in two days and only subjected myself to the pain because I had to return it to the library by Friday. I ended up eating the $.25 daily fee just to finish it, and had to scramble to the library to avoid another fee.
The other book I'm finishing up has nothing to do with tech, business or finance. It's Animals in Translation which largly talks about animal behavior and its parallels to autism. It's a fun read and fairly engrossing. ¶ 11:33 AM 0 comments
Tuesday, July 25, 2006
Zune?
As a gadget fan, Microsoft's announcement of Zune made me happy. No matter how ugly, unusable or terrible the product is ... the fact that it's out there means that Apple needs to take notice.
1) Ipods are overpriced. No secret there. If Microsoft delivers a capable product at a lower price point, everyone wins. I've been obsessing about a free ipod for years, mostly in part because I refuse to overpay. Maybe in the future we won't have to.
2) Ipods are meant to be replaced every 4 years. Hence no removable battery. Zune being out there will provoke Apple to make drastic changes, but it might.
3) Severe lack of features and innovation. No FM tuner, no wi-fi / bluetooth. No reason to innovate since the rest of the field is not a threat.
Microsoft putting their full backing behind Zune is only going to amp up competition and hopefully drive prices down. Even in spite of the lackluster name bestowed on the ipod-killer. The whole scenario screams of Xbox vs PS2 battles, with the Xbox looking very healthy in its 2nd iteration. ¶ 9:49 PM 0 comments
As a gadget fan, Microsoft's announcement of Zune made me happy. No matter how ugly, unusable or terrible the product is ... the fact that it's out there means that Apple needs to take notice.
1) Ipods are overpriced. No secret there. If Microsoft delivers a capable product at a lower price point, everyone wins. I've been obsessing about a free ipod for years, mostly in part because I refuse to overpay. Maybe in the future we won't have to.
2) Ipods are meant to be replaced every 4 years. Hence no removable battery. Zune being out there will provoke Apple to make drastic changes, but it might.
3) Severe lack of features and innovation. No FM tuner, no wi-fi / bluetooth. No reason to innovate since the rest of the field is not a threat.
Microsoft putting their full backing behind Zune is only going to amp up competition and hopefully drive prices down. Even in spite of the lackluster name bestowed on the ipod-killer. The whole scenario screams of Xbox vs PS2 battles, with the Xbox looking very healthy in its 2nd iteration. ¶ 9:49 PM 0 comments
Sunday, July 23, 2006
casino
No not Vegas. Heading down to Pechanga next week on assignment. Starts at 2am sharp, and apparently my room is comped. woot-woot. No free money to gamble with though. Hopefully the mini-bar isn't off-limits :D
¶ 2:29 PM 0 comments
Tuesday, July 04, 2006
it ain't over til it's over.
This chat with Steve reminded me why I cannot stand it when someone says "It's over" prematurely. I'm 99.9% sure that if Ken doesn't insist and coming along and watching Game 6 with us, the Giants take it. [sure that's an immature take, but boohoo this is my blog]
[22:16] kofman23: so schmitty doesn't throw 97-99 anymore?
[22:16] skuotor: 95 tops. usually 92
[22:17] kofman23: i still remember the 02 series
[22:17] kofman23: he was freakin crazy
[22:17] skuotor: he was AWESOME
[22:17] kofman23: 97 with location
[22:17] kofman23: and the NCLS vs stl
[22:17] skuotor: and then ken ruined it
[22:18] kofman23: fucking ken
[22:18] kofman23: ken ruined it man, he screwed up the karma
[22:18] kofman23: i knew it was over
[22:18] kofman23: then he had the nerve to disagree with me in the car
[22:19] skuotor: wasn't felix rodriguez's fault at all. ken fault ¶ 10:24 PM 0 comments
[22:16] kofman23: so schmitty doesn't throw 97-99 anymore?
[22:16] skuotor: 95 tops. usually 92
[22:17] kofman23: i still remember the 02 series
[22:17] kofman23: he was freakin crazy
[22:17] skuotor: he was AWESOME
[22:17] kofman23: 97 with location
[22:17] kofman23: and the NCLS vs stl
[22:17] skuotor: and then ken ruined it
[22:18] kofman23: fucking ken
[22:18] kofman23: ken ruined it man, he screwed up the karma
[22:18] kofman23: i knew it was over
[22:18] kofman23: then he had the nerve to disagree with me in the car
[22:19] skuotor: wasn't felix rodriguez's fault at all. ken fault ¶ 10:24 PM 0 comments
Sunday, July 02, 2006
HK AVR745
Saw the Harman Kardon AVR745 at Fry's today while looking at some components for my bro's computer. Thing is pure sex. Billions of inputs, HDMI included. Upscaling to 720p, 1080i, etc. This receiver can handle anything you throw at it. At $3,000 it's also the cost of a high-class hooker. (not that I would know)
Damn. I need this thing to be at least 1/3 off. Fo sho. Very tempted to pull a Ron Artest and work at Best Buy to get the discount. Ron Artest isn't that stupid, even tho MJ made fun of him which provoked him to break MJ's ribs. He doesn't want to pay retail. "Retail is for suckers" - Kramer (Seinfeld S5.E2). The trouble with latching on to something at the beginning of its shelf life is that discounts are nowhere to be found. Hence pulling the Ron Artest move. Luckily this thing is so out of my price range I'll never be tempted to buy it. I sold my PC speakers with the intent to buy the Logitech Z-5500s, and now I want a world-class receiver / speaker setup!!! ¶ 7:58 PM 0 comments
Saw the Harman Kardon AVR745 at Fry's today while looking at some components for my bro's computer. Thing is pure sex. Billions of inputs, HDMI included. Upscaling to 720p, 1080i, etc. This receiver can handle anything you throw at it. At $3,000 it's also the cost of a high-class hooker. (not that I would know)
Damn. I need this thing to be at least 1/3 off. Fo sho. Very tempted to pull a Ron Artest and work at Best Buy to get the discount. Ron Artest isn't that stupid, even tho MJ made fun of him which provoked him to break MJ's ribs. He doesn't want to pay retail. "Retail is for suckers" - Kramer (Seinfeld S5.E2). The trouble with latching on to something at the beginning of its shelf life is that discounts are nowhere to be found. Hence pulling the Ron Artest move. Luckily this thing is so out of my price range I'll never be tempted to buy it. I sold my PC speakers with the intent to buy the Logitech Z-5500s, and now I want a world-class receiver / speaker setup!!! ¶ 7:58 PM 0 comments
Saturday, July 01, 2006
upsets
Dammit Brazil... I wanted to see this team of superstars squander their talent for at least one more game. France did dominate the match throughly until the last ten minutes when the Brazilians woke up. I'm pulling for Zizou and Henry to take it all the way.
Anyways I was a bit shocked at the lack of effort of Brazil. So immediately afterwards I fired up Winning Eleven 10 for the rematch. And promptly got killed by France with Zidane scoring the winning goal. The realism of the animation still amazes me. Unfortunately they tightened up the AI and Ronaldinho isn't allowed to waltz through the entire defense anymore. Plus you can't take out your frustation by slidekicking the keeper when he lines up for a kick... I loved doing that in FIFA, it was worth the automatic yellow card. They should put it back as an option - Allow slidekicking of goalie after he denies the shot for the umpteenth time. ¶ 7:53 PM 0 comments
Anyways I was a bit shocked at the lack of effort of Brazil. So immediately afterwards I fired up Winning Eleven 10 for the rematch. And promptly got killed by France with Zidane scoring the winning goal. The realism of the animation still amazes me. Unfortunately they tightened up the AI and Ronaldinho isn't allowed to waltz through the entire defense anymore. Plus you can't take out your frustation by slidekicking the keeper when he lines up for a kick... I loved doing that in FIFA, it was worth the automatic yellow card. They should put it back as an option - Allow slidekicking of goalie after he denies the shot for the umpteenth time. ¶ 7:53 PM 0 comments
