XHTML2 vs X/HTML5

Interesting debate gaining steam as these two specs are vying for buy in from those of us who will be developing in these “next generation” markup languages. Here is an interesting even handed opinion of both for those of you who are interested. I love the idea of having an “<nl>” tag.

GOOG-411 and the google phone

Who doesn’t love google? This 411 (information) service they now offer is pretty darn cool. I’m sure the phone companies love this. This will pair nicely with the google phone (aka “Google Switch”) rumors that abound.

Charles Schwab’s grading scale

While researching a stock today the Charles Schwab grading scale gave me a bit of a chuckle … I wish 4 B’s equaled an “A” back when I was in school.  Being the constant “B+/A-” student, I would have ended up cum laude at Schwab University…

Geeks, Heroes, and Alcohol

Every Monday night some friends and I get together – hanging out, watching tv, talking, etc.  We were excited about a new season and new shows, so we kicked it off at 8 with the season premier of “How I met your mother” (aka HIMYM) which is a terrible title for a sitcom, but the show is great.  HIMYM is a show about 5 friends in their late 20’s/early thirties living in NY. While the basic premise sounds an awful lot like “Friends” but it is very good and surprisingly fresh.

Also starting at 8 was “Chuck” a new show (highly touted by my friend Anthony).  Chuck is a nerd who is paired up with a beautiful CIA operative and thrown into the life of national security espionage.  During commercial breaks of HIMYM we’d flip over to Chuck – it had its moments, but I wasn’t overly impressed. Seemed a bit like “Alias” meets “40 year old virgin”.

Interestingly enough, the other “nerd meets attractive blonde” new comedy “Big Bang Theory” on at the same time was just fun.  The nerdiness in this is so over-the-top that it is hysterical (the nerds appear to be young CalTech professors, and the blonde is a waitress at the cheesecake factory).  I’m pretty sure I’ll be seeing that one again.

And Heroes – not as great as I was hoping – but I’ll keep watching.  I’m not sure how I feel about Hiro being in the 1600’s, but I guess he becomes the real “Kenesi” (I thought his father was the real one).   We met a couple new characters, Maya (somehow managed to kill everyone making them bleed from their eyes), Alejandro (Maya’s protective brother), the guy recruiting Mohinder (who turns the spoon to gold), and Claire’s new male friend (another flier).

I’m a disappointed that they are already repeating powers (Nathan already flies) but I assume they are going somewhere with it (Sylar and Peter’s powers while very similar were in fact very different – making them great foils).  Creative new powers like Issac being able to paint the future made season 1 not just seem like a retelling of the X-Men comics.  Hopefully we will see other new powers, and not just pairing existing powers with a new personality.

10pm on Mondays, the best show that no one has ever seen comes on – “Three Sheets” on MOJO.  This fantastic show chronicles Zane Lamprey as he does a pub crawl across the world.  If you get MOJO, do yourself a favor and check out this show (and if you don’t, you can watch a full episode on their website).  Very high production value (the high quality HD is lost online) and you learn something every show – it is just entertaining…

Photos for the imperfect world

A picture is worth a thousand words. I’m not sure what the story behind this clip is, but these clips tell a poignant narrative through the photography. (FYI – starts out with “false” nudity so watch at your own discretion… may not be safe for work)

JobBuddies

Sorry everyone, I forgot to announce this yesterday, but the JobBuddies have gone live.  I still think these guys are cute.  Should be a fun recurring project for me to keep designing new buddies as we continue to add more…

Congratulations to the Geiges clan

If “Connor” makes 3 (as in cmakes3.com), then I guess “unknown” makes 4.  Yup, Connor is going to be an older brother.  For those of you who know James and Taylor, feel free to congratulate them on this incredible news …

Talk like a pirate day

In case you didn’t know, today is a special day – International Talk like a pirate day.  While I don’t much care for silly holidays like this, I figured I’d let you know in case you run into people who take this “seriously” or stumble across things like flickr online…

Flickr (to be known today as “Flick-Arrr”) has decided to celebrate by altering their logo to have a pirate’s flag over the “r”. Well done friends. (I’m a little surprised that Google is not taking advantage of this opportunity as they pioneered the concept of altering your logo to celebrate certain days.

Interesting quote

Food for thought:

“They must find it difficult… Those who have taken authority as the truth, rather than truth as the authority.” – Gerald Massey

Zion Project

Sarita Hartz (an old friend of mine from JMU) has started up the non-profit organization Zion Project (www.zionproject.org) to help child girl soldiers in war-torn Uganda. Sarita was best friends with one of my close friends and we were both actively involved with IVCF.

I am genuinely glad that she is making a difference with her life… the humbling thought is what did I do today?

Find Madeline

I’m not sure exactly what happened that made it so the media over here started paying attention to the “kidnapping” of Madeline McCann, but I’m glad it has happened.

Due to my interest in Premier League Soccer (and Everton) I had been well aware of this situation for a long time. The McCann family lives in Liverpool and Madeline is an Everton fan (and looks as sweet as can be in her Everton jersey).

Her family (parents, Madeline, and twin siblings younger than Madeline) was on vacation in Portugal when Madeline was abducted from their hotel room while the parents dined downstairs.

Putting a “parenting mistake” aside (they should not have left the children alone) – this has been an awful tragedy for the family. Madeline has a very unique “tick” in her right eye that had many encouraged that she would be easily identified if they could get lots of pictures out and media attention. So a website (www.findmadeleine.com) was set up immediately and this has been front page news over there for a long time. Many celebrities (David Beckham, Sir Richard Branson, etc) have come out publicly to help raise awareness of the issue and encourage people to donate to the “Find Madeline” fund.

Holding out hope, and wanting to keep attention on the case, Madeline’s parents decided to remain in Portugal until she was found.

Interestingly due to the media craze, Portugal is being portrayed internationally as a dangerous place with an inept police department (can adversely effect tourism) so the government has been exerting political pressure to the police to wrap this up and end it. Due to this pressure and a lack of leads, Madeline’s parents were officially named as suspects (a trace of blood was found in the car they rented).

I find it difficult to believe that her parents were anything more than negligent, but I guess it is possible. I pray that she is still out there though and that someone will find this adorable girl and help reunite this family and let them heal.

Wiki craziness

After reading this repository of insanity, you are ready for any sort of trivia challenge – be it from your local pub or Alex Trebek …

Some days my job rocks…

Spent a little time creating these little guys today. They’ll show up on the SAJ site on Wednesday assuming all goes as planned … Very fun.

An insider’s perspective on the fall tv lineup

What to watch, what not to watch… If only there were a way to know what was good without having to sit and watch shows that may get yanked off the air. Well a friend of mine (well more like a friend of a friend) is out in Los Angeles and works on one of the ABC sitcoms (as a scriptwriter I think). Being an insider, he is familiar with the politics and buzz and this is his opinion of the upcoming season:

I’ve seen 80% of the new pilots, and I’ve read almost all the one hour ones, so here are my thoughts by network:

ABC

Pushing Daisies–(Wednesdays at 8)–best pilot since Lost and Desperate Housewives. I can’t really describe how cool this is. It’s funny, romantic, charming, with a great sense of humor. It’s fabulous. It’s about a guy who can bring people back to life, so he helps a detective figure out who killed murder victims to cash in on the reward, but when his childhood girlfriend becomes a victim, the world’s greatest unrequited love story begins. WATCH THIS OR I WILL DISOWN YOU.

Dirty, Sexy, Money–(Wednesdays at 10)–it’s like a new version of Dallas. I haven’t seen it, but I’ve read it and I’m really excited.

Big Shots–(Thursdays at 10)–think of it as Desperate CEOs. I haven’t seen this one either, but I loved the script and the cast is great. It’s definitely an estrogen heavy take on men, but it’s a great companion to Grey’s I think. Speaking of Grey’s…

Private Practice–(Wednesdays at 9)–it’s the Grey’s spinoff. If they show enough of Kate Walsh’s legs, I’ll watch. Absolutely. Otherwise, I’ll be hesitant.

Women’s Murder Club–(Friday at 9)–ABC tries to do a procedural with Angie Harmon. Who knows?

Samantha Who–(Monday at 9:30)–Christina Applegate plays a woman who comes out of a coma and realizes that that she was a bitch and maybe that’s not who she wants to be. Probably the best sitcom they’ve got, but looking at what else they have, that’s not saying much.

Carpoolers (Tuesdays at 8:30)–Nobody I know who’s seen this thinks it’s funny. Actually I don’t know anbody who’s seen this. That’s a bad sign.

Cavemen (Tuesdays at 8)–Eh.

Cashmere Mafia (after Dancing with the Stars finishes)–the lesser of the Sex and the City clones coming this year. The better one (Lipstick Jungle) comes on NBC in January after football.

NBC

Chuck (Mondays at 8)–one of the two best pilots imho. Hilarious. You have to buy into the central premise, but it’s wonderful after that. Basic plot is that Chuck gets sent an e-mail that allows him to know all the CIA/NSA data, so he becomes the nation’s most important intelligence asset, despite the fact that he works at the Nerd Herd. (think Geek Squad.) I mean, you have to love a pilot that involves a ninja breaking into an apartment. Definitely check this one out.

Journeyman (Mondays at 10)–think a romantic Quantum Leap. guy keeps jumping back and forth to other parts of his life and wants to keep his 1997 girlfriend from getting on a plane that will crash and kill her. It’s confusing and I wasn’t big on it.

Life (Wednesdays at 10)–about a cop who was in prison for 13 years, is exonerated by DNA evidence and rejoins the police force. As police shows go, it was kind of interesting. A great lead character well played by Damien Lewis.

Bionic Woman (Wednesdays at 9)–when Katee Sackhoff isn’t on screen, it sucks. And that’s 65% of the time. Andy’s cigar smoking friend won’t help when he shows up in the second episode.

FOX

Back to You–this half hour sitcom with Kelsey Grammer and Patricia Heaton is expected to be a hit. Haven’t seen it, but buzz is good

K-Ville (Mondays at 9)–it’s a cop show set in New Orleans. Nothing else really matters. It’s not great, but the New Orleans thing will completely determine how you feel about the show

And there’s a bunch of reality shows till January. At that point, watch New Amsterdam and skip The Sarah Connor Chronicles.

CBS

Cane–(Tuesdays at 10)–Jimmy Smits in a Sopranos-esque family drama about a Cuban rum/sugar business. It’s ok. Hopefully it will get better. Consider watching.

The Big Bang Theory (Mondays at 8:30)–from the creator of Two and a Half Men. If you like it, you’ll like this.

Moonlight–(Fridays at 9)–it’s a detective show about a vampire, but it’s not from Joss Whedon. I saw the original pilot, and it was horrible. But they recast 3 of the 4 roles, completely reshot the entire thing, so I haven’t seen that version. I don’t know about it, but it has Jason Dohring (Logan from Veronica Mars), so that gives me hope.

Viva Laughlin (Sundays at 8)–a musical about a guy opening a casino in Laughlin. You’ll either buy it or not. Most people I’ve talked to haven’t. Even though Hugh Jackman’s in the pilot.

CW

Aliens in America–(Mondays at 8:30)–the best new sitcom. A nerdy teen has no friends, so his mom decides to get a foreign exchange student, thinking that will raise the kid’s cool quotient. She’s not ready for a Muslim to come into the family. Very cute, funny, and charming.

Gossip Girl–maybe the worst new show. And it’s full of so much estrogen, I will personally revoke your man card if any of you guys watch this. Kristen Bell’s involvement be damned.

Reaper–a slacker discovers on his 21st birthday that his parents had sold his soul to the devil and now he has to become the devil’s bounty hunter. Even though it was directed by Kevin Smith, it wasn’t that good. No need to watch more than one.

Life is Wild–(Sundays at 8pm) Think 7th Heaven set in Africa. If I were a kid, I’d eat this up. As is, I enjoyed it, even though it wasn’t that great.

That’s pretty much it. Ignoring anything on cable and what not. Again, if you’re not watching Mad Men on AMC. Shame on you. You should be.

Hope you found it helpful… Looks like I’ll try to make time to watch “Chuck” and “Pushing Daisies” and likely not waste my time with the rest. And having not seen “Mad Men” on AMC yet, I’m thinking maybe I should…

Shopping from home in the year 1999AD

Check out this shockingly accurate (considering it was made back in 1967) clip from the video 1999 A.D.  This film’s creator predicted computer networks, video surveillance, online shopping, personal printers, online bill-pay, even email before their invention (and years or decades before their adoption by society).

Saltwater as a burnable fuel, could it really be true?

Mark this day. Science seems to have found a way to “burn” sea water. If they can turn this into a viable engine, this could be the answer so many have been craving. We may be able to run cars and other combustable engines off of sea water, the most plentiful resource on the planet. Cross your fingers that this proves to be as promising as it looks right now.

Celebrity commercials they’d like us to forget

Here is a little collection of old tv commercials starring celebrities before they were famous including Brad Pitt, Matt LeBlanc, Sarah Michelle Gellar, Keanu Reeves, Paul Rudd, Seth Green, Meg Ryan, Bruce Willis and Morgan Freeman
. Amazingly, I actually remember seeing some of these on TV…

(I figured it would be better to link to them than embed so many in to the page)

Compassion among men

This exchange happened this morning between two of my friends.

AB: My little girl is starting pre-school today. I’m getting verklempt. Somebody hold me.

JP: time to start having more kids. you guys are practically empty-nesters.

I love how compassionate and empathetic men can be with each other…

“Heroes” and Netflix

Heroes, one of NBC’s hits from this last season intrigued me.  Lots of my friends talked about it, but for various reasons, I never watched – until now.  My roommate and I are running through the first season of Heroes right now and loving it.  Netflix has already sent me the next few discs, so we are good to go and should be done soon (a season’s worth of tv in a couple weeks).

If you have never watched a TV series on DVD, you are missing out.  A plot driven series like Heroes, 24, LOST, or Soprano’s  is best experienced when you can watch it in order, without missing an episode (not unlike a soap opera).    A series like this is perfectly suited for DVD viewing – you get the linear/sequential viewing, as well as not having to wait a week to figure out “what happens next”.  In contrast, character driven sitcoms (Seinfeld, Friends, Simpsons, etc) are kings of syndication because once you know the players, each episode contains its own plot, so the order doesn’t make a difference.

Another benefit of the DVD?  It has been interesting to pause and rewind to see what sort of hidden gems we can find (like Issac Mendes’ paintings, etc.)  Oh yeah, one other thing – NO COMMERCIALS (easily saves 15 minutes per episode).

So give it a try.  Once Heroes is over, I’ve got my eye on Always Sunny In Philadelphia which just came out this week too…

BREAKING NEWS

CNN has reported that “Men want hot women.”

This revolutionary study ranks up there with women drawn to men with muscles, faraway objects are tougher to see, and smoking cigarettes costs you money.  I’m praying my tax dollars didn’t go to figuring these things out… (Seriously though, how do people get the funding to do this stuff).

Are you a “Professional Photographer?”

I’m flattered you asked, but no … I just play one on Flickr.

This weekend I hit the 200 picture limit on flickr.  I decided that it is worth it for me to go ahead and bite the bullet and upgrade to flickr pro.  I’ve loved flickr ever since Patrick showed it to me, and it is one of the best web apps out there in my opinion.  I think Yahoo! made a great choice buying them a few years ago.