Your What is What?

"My Loony Bun is Fine Benny Lava"

Melody...haunting. Will be stuck in your head for days. Words...hilarious. Who put the goat in there? And the dancing is classic.

want :: slanket

I wouldn't leave the couch - or the house. Its like a wearable sleeping bag. Genius.

My Alma Mater Beat Your Alma Mater

Carnegie Mellon's Tartan Racing Wins $2M DARPA Urban Challenge

I was at the race last year and it was a blast. I'm bummed I wasn't there to see my alma mater win the prize, but its good enough knowing we beat Staford :-)~




More Info:

• DARPA Grand Challenge
• Tartan Team Photo Gallery
• Wired article: DARPA Urban Challenge posts

so wrong its right

hilarious. perhaps a good Halloween gift for those pesky kids

more cats - strange

ok, I will admit cats are strange. But this one takes the cake. Wait until about 20 seconds into the clip. Whole different cat, my friend,


Cat Confused By Scratching - Watch more free videos

Animal Farm coming to Life

I think I remember reading about this in Animal Farm...'"When cats begin to speak with each other, 4 legs good and 2 legs now bad"

Sign of Armageddon?
Holy crap - they are having a conversation. What are they saying about us? When will the world domination begin? Acck!

japanese insanity

old, but a classic. I still hurt myself laughing every time I watch this.

form + funct-yuuuum

I don't like sweets, but how cool would it be to have our wedding cake be a lego cake?

You, too, can make your own--thanks to Betty Crocker

bonus points: make a Lego Millennium Falcon cake :-)

Is 85 *Really* Better Than 84?

Christmas is right around the corner....check out ThinkGeek for the full specs on this insane Swiss Army Knife. 85 tools. I don't even think I can *name* 85 tools let alone use them.

good commercial

I actually think this commercial is pretty good - Mountain Dew "Halo 3 Game Fuel" ad

Ridiculously Cool

Can't wait to see BodyWorlds at the Tech. September 27, 2007 -January 26, 2008. Saw the first exhibit in Chicago a few years ago...this one should be even better!

cutest picture evar

heeeeeee!
(picture found here)

halloween is coming up

all the neighborhood dogs will be laughing at your dog....

mental atrophy ahead

i'm going to be busy catching up on season premieres on the weekends....

• beauty & the geek - september 18
• america's next top model - september 19
• heroes - september 24
  
• house - september 25
• ugly betty - september 27
  
• nip tuck - october 30

do not want :: lego lameness

Legos are sacrilegious. They are not meant to be toyed with. haha. I'm all for form+function and incorporating things I love into my everyday life, but these uses/implementation of Legos are just plain LAME.


looks fake! ridiculous

want :: I heart beckham

I don't typically find him that attractive, but yuuummm.

madness

from xkcd:



this was my Sunday night, and about 4 nights last week.....

where's my 12-sided die now?

ok, I took the surveythe following survey at CNN:
What Hobby Best Suits Your Personality?

found at
http://www.cnn.com/SPECIALS/2007/leisure/quiz/index.html

here is the result I got (I'm sure, along with millions of other people who took the quiz)--this is supposed to be what hobbies I should be looking at/relevant to me.

TECH

You no longer buy gadgets to prove you're cool, or on the cutting edge of any new trend. Now you buy the newest gadgets because you need them to hack (modify, upgrade, or otherwise enhance) your ongoing projects. You already enjoy playing video games(ok, true), coding your own Web sites(true again), or setting up a network of Tivos (will 7 Macs do instead?). ******You might like hobbies like building homemade liquid cooling systems for your computers******, creating a customized media center, writing video games or applying your technical skills to upgrading cars.


Good god, if I'm making homemade liquid cooling systems for my computers, I NEED A *NEW* HOBBY.

want :: MareNostrum

This is the MareNostrum - the 9th biggest supercomputer in the world-- and it belongs to the Barcelona Supercomputing Center. Its installed in a former chapel oodles of glass and steel.








(pictures from the navel of narcissus)






- 10,240 CPUs
- 20TB of RAM
- 280TB of disk storage
- runs on SUSE Linux.

just plain embarassing

Miss Teen South Carolina 2007 answering a question durig the interview portion of the 2007 Miss Teen USA pageant.

hot :: ladies

Padma Lakshmi
- actress
- writer
- model (Emanuel Ungaro, Ralph Lauren, and Alberta Ferretti and done ad campaigns for Roberto Cavalli and Versus - favorite of photographer Helmut Newton)
- Host - Top Chef (Bravo TV)
- formerly married (just until recently) to Salman Rushdie





Heidi Klum (aka "The Body")
- model
Victoria's Secret, Sports Illustrated,
- mother
- Host - Project Runway (Bravo TV)
- entrepreneur
jewelry designer (Mouawad), Birkenstock, sunglasses
- photo 1, photo 2, photo 3,





to be contiuned tomorrow...

hot :: dudes

Justin Timberlake
- musician
- entertainer
- fashion trend setter
- funny guy (see SNL hosts and Dick in a Box digital short)






Hugh Laurie
- Actor - Dr. Gregory House on House, Jeeves and Wooster, Blackadder, Friends (he was Emily's dad)
- musician (plays piano in scene with Dave Matthews on an episode of House), again plays during Inside the Actor's Studio
- author (The Gun Seller)
- all around funny guy (guest host on SNL - hilarious)




Adrian Pasdar
Actor - Nathan Petrelli - Heroes







Tom Ford
- Designer
former Director, House of Gucci and YSL, Tom Ford Designs
- Tom Ford's Style Rules
- The Man Behind the Brand




Tom Colicchio
master chef and restuaranteur:
- James Beard nominee
- Top Chef, head judge (Bravo TV)
- Craft restuarants





ladies to be posted tomorrow... :-)

just plain wrong

want :: mac+beer = G3 beer server

Genius.

x commercial

Ecstasy Commercial a la zoloft. pretty humorous.

How to: fix a stuck pixel

How to Fix a Stuck Pixel on an LCD Screen

I have a feeling this may come in handy. very soon.

holy rollerblade superhero

CRAZY. ASS. STUFF.

keep the little ones interested in reading

...or adults, too.


"The Cave"
would love to see this in the kid's section of my local library.

see Sakura Adachi for more cool designs.

pimpin'

obvious question: where does one buy sheets for this bed?

Draft Vader Crochet Helmet

sing with me, now...
"too much time on my hands...."

kitty to the rescue

How to stop a cat fight. I should use this method.

want :: new imacs+software

(picture from gizmodo - check it out for a hands on review of the new products)

I just got a new mac, but the shiny factor on the screen and keyboard is high enough to make me want to buy. Speculation is the new, glass screens mean TOUCHSCREEN coming soon?

i heart the japanese

OMG.

fastest car doesn't always win

I've been "racing" with other cars to and from work since I bought my new car. My car is only 200 HP and a 4 cylinder engine, so in the spectrum of cars, its not *that* impressive. But its not the speed and power that counts.

I like the feeling of acceleration and speeding down the freeway--but jammed packed during rush hour on the way to work doesn't really let me play. However, coming home at 8 (or 10) pm is a different game--lots of room. I haven't been actively seeking these speed challenges, it just happens. And I should say that I am not engaging in (or endorsing) any type of risky or careless behavior--its just a game, so to say.

Speeding down the freeway just doesn't work. You need to gauge the traffic flow, the freeway on/off ramps, anticipate people' s behavior. Its almost like a 2-way Tetris, where the other pieces also can move/change orientation, affecting how you move. So the boys in their Toyotas, Acuras, etc have no finesse--its purely about speed for them. But being able to move across the lanes, holding back until a space opens up and then speeding past the "opponent" who is stuck behind AND between cars is pure elation. Knowing when to slow down, down-shift, lay back and wait--then move. It pretty much is a game of cat and mouse that requires thinking ahead, being patient and knowing when to strike (and not get pulled over!).

12-sided cyber dice, anyone?

Duels - my latest waste of time. Can't seem to make my avatar a girl. Maybe no place for the weaker sex in Phyrra – City of Duels. heh.

more like me

GirlGeeks!

Homer for Science

Check out the file photo the Xinhua News Agency form China decided to use in it's article on
"Two new genes found for multiple sclerosis"

Click on the link to see the whole effect. Ridiculous.

stangest. video. EVAR.

Its Bjork, so no surprise, I guess.

bandwidth speed - fun with Mr. T

Determine Your Bandwidth Speed With Mr.T.

cat vs. helicopter

I hear you

icon hilarity

from songbirdnest.com - a desktop web player, a digital jukebox and web browser mash-up.

Pure GENIUS

I bought a new car this weekend, a VW Passat - Wolfsburg Edition (mine is metallic gray), and I was amazed by all of the nifty gadgets and features. Albeit, my last car purchase was 8 years ago, but I have been in enough new cars to know the latest and greatest features. However, my absolute FAVORITE feature is the grocery bag hook (see left). It is pure genius. It prevents your grocery bags from rolling around in the trunk, and it is so simple. My only gripe: there is only one hook--why not another one of the other side of the trunk?

selling my cat....

on zazzle :-)

Happy 25th, :-) (Smiley is Quarter Century Young)

The emoticon is 25 years old!

Scott Fahlman, a research professor of computer science at Carnegie Mellon, created the emoticon while at CMU 25 years ago. "It has been fascinating to watch this phenomenon grow from a little message I tossed off in ten minutes to something that has spread all around the world," said Fahlman.

Read the original Bboard thread in which :-) was proposed.

CMU wins robocup 2007!

Carnegie Mellon’s Soccer-Playing Robots Bring Home Gold, Bronze From RoboCup 2007
My second alma mater :-)

• cmu robot soccer site
• open source downloads
• official results page
• small-size robot league
• robocup official site
• robocup 2007 - atlanta site

quote of the year

"I wish some Fortune 100 company would just sue us. That's the way to go."

While meandering through the sea of folks at Techcrunch9 last week, I heard the quote above--by far the most hilarious thing I've heard in a long time. I wish I could have recorded it as a sound bite, but just hearing it was enough to keep us talking about it (and all things crazy) all night long.

to have (a career) or to hold (a little squishy baby)?

1:08 am - just purchased and upgraded our seats for our honeymoon in Japan. Makes it a bit more real now--something to do AFTER the wedding.

I'm typically a huge worrier (I blame my Dad, the German influence that had me reading military time on my watch at the age of 3). But at least I'm always prepared. But this whole wedding thing has been pretty stress-free. Sure, we hired an awesome designer/planner who also happened to be a UCSB alumnae, and also shares a freakishly similar design ideas and overall aesthetic--a bit creepy but I'm sure she can use elements from her own wedding to make ours just as great.

So dress: done
bridemaids (and groomsmen on my side): done
bridesmaids; dresses: done
ceremony location: done
ceremony date : done
colors : picked
honeymoon location and date: done

we're working on the design elements for the invites, etc. we're trying to go web 2.0 but not thinking my aunt in New Jersey can handle it. So old fashioned invites with a splash of less traditional aspects coming up! and we are confined to 120 folks for the shindig, so making the list fit will be difficult--some people I would like to invite just won't be getting the invites. and conversely, some family "friends" wil be getting invites against my request. Eh, I just want to show up and have a great party.

We did block rooms at some great hotels in the city, and our planner is negotiating our after party at a really great bar in a very nice hotel after the reception ends--we're keeping that party going until 6am--or don't consider yourself a friend :-)

We do tastings next, as well as picking our photographer, which I think we actually agree on! Then comes the cake--yuck. I'll let him pick that since it really doesn't matter to me.

6 months and a few days from now. strange. I'll have a different last name, and a different salutation, and start thinking about having a family. If there was only a way to have your career, a baby, and just have it ALL. As sad as it has become, I am beginning to listen and trust these wise soothsayers, (or career minded women who had kids at the height of their career). Pick one or the other! But why can't I have both? I'm stubborn, assertive, tenacious....oh wait, those traits don't really make me sound like a good mom, do they--just a work-o-holic.

Deep packet inspection at the Techcrunch party

Oh, where to start. First, if you don't know what an IDS or deep packet inspection is, nevermind the title.

I'm an avid reader of Techcrunch (many, many times a day) and welcomed the opportunity to attend the Techcrunch 2.0 party at August Capital tonight. Yes, my company was one of the sponsors, but I got the tixs over a month ago, before I knew we were sponsoring.

That said, however, I wore my Azureus shirt to promote the company--knowing this was one our key demographics. The minute I walked onto the back patio, I knew it was going to be an interesting night,

I had at least 20 guys stop to talk to me, giving me business cards, ad telling me how much they love the product (much to my fiance's chagrin). I did meet some great folks, one of them being the guy who ran sourceforge for the past 5 years before leaving for another company (splunk). I'll collect on my t-shirt next week :-)

I was amazed at the power of the t-shirt (thanks, Zazzle! met one of the guys from there, too--good luck on the funding). Also, everyone's eye balls were at chest level, reading "who's who", reading name badges and stuff (my friend Jon, who's very anti web 2.0 decided to "re-brand" and write "Jon xxx, not ajax enabled on his name badge). I talked to an editor from Wired, my past colleague Dan (who is now the CEO of pageflakes--should stay in touch more often), Guy Kawasaki (whom I worked with at an event when I was at CMU), the community person from a competitor that could come in handy later, Lawrence from the facebook api group, David from StumbleUpon (good luck in your new gig!), etc. Notice: everyone I talked to are men. Not one female stopped me to ask about my company or tell me how much they love the product. Must work harder on reaching out to the female demographic.

So, my pictures from the party are here.
We left early, but for all of the ladies looking to find a nice 2.0 guy, I'm sure the party is still going....

Return iPhone - Be Shunned

I've been a gadget girl for some time, but I feel I've reached a breaking point: I bought an iPhone last week and returned it today. Much to the chagrin of my friends, colleagues and behold--Apple employees.

In the interest of full disclosure, I must state I did not wait in line for the iPhone, but I did drive down to the Apple store when they called and said the one I asked to be put "on the list incase you get any iPhones at that store, remember to write down my name on said list, and then actually have some left by the time you get to the bottom of the list" was waiting for me...for another hour.

That was last Friday. The next day we went to a party and a dinner and a woman asked if she could take a picture of me with the phone--you know, cause no one else would believe that she met someone that actually owned an iPhone. Uncomfortable.

I had a pit in my stomach at that point. I wasn't showing off my phone or telling people I had it. I was almost embarrassed. I felt like maybe I shouldn't have bought the thing. But wait, it's cool, right? And the nifty map feature got us to the party on time when all my fiance brought with him was the address (that's another entry later). Fingers together, then stretch them out. Scroll, scroll, scroll. There it is. But where the hell are we and how do we get there?

I usually call my best friend, Mark, and dish all the dirt/news once or twice a week. Suspiciously, I kept "forgetting" my iPhone at home, missing calls. Rather than calling him and bragging about the phone, I called him today--to tell him I returned it. It was almost cathartic and forgiving. But not before retelling about my walk in the valley of embarrassment--ultimately ending at the Apple store today.

Before I walked down there, I told my co-workers (3 of whom have one) I was returning it. I think they thought I was crazy--why was I returning it? Eh, I'm just going to go return it. I didn't use the iTunes feature at all. I figured a 5th iPod was excessive. Or I was exhibiting a lack of commitment.

I walked in to Apple store..everything seemed to move in slow motion (no kidding). 4 Apple employees behind the counter, and a few others milling. I said "Hi, I'd like to return my iPhone" and began to take it out of the bag. All employees behind the counter turned to me and one of them said "What's wrong with you?" I KID YOU NOT. Not what's wrong with the phone, but what's wrong with ME.

I told them I tried, I really did. Even in my quasi-embarrassed state, I did send emails and surf the web while I was at Frys Sunday. But it wasn't compelling enough for me. The keyboard, sure it gets easier to use (slide and release) as you use it, but there is just something so familiar about a tactile keyboard. Call me old fashioned, but I like my keys clickable. The Apple folks didn't seem to understand. Their retort "Well, the keyboard isn't going to change." AS IF I needed to change to accommodate the iPhone. Oh geesh.

I then lamented about a lack of GPS feature (which I was reminded was not offered on the model--thanks, guys). The map feature is cool, yes, but take it a step further with GPS and tell me where I am so I can get where I need to be. Knowing where you need to go is only half the problem--the other half is knowing where you are when you start. somewhere between 85 and 280, but closer to the surface streets, so I won't know how to get where I'm going unless I know where I am. Simple enough.

So I continued to tell them I just wasn't that in to the phone and I could see the exchange of looks like "boy, I can't believe she's doing this." and "don't you think she'd try to sell it on eBay since we keep running out?" Alas, to keep my dignity, I just said I guess I'm really not a first gen buyer, and look forward to the next rev.

As I walked out of the store, I felt like I was in a bad, teen movie where the cool kids make fun of the lonely geek walking away. I could almost hear the giggles. Made me feel like I don't belong with those Apple folks. Hope that's not the case, since I own more apple products than I do have fingers. They need me! Maybe I'll go back again one day, but for now, I'll stick to my 60GB iPod for my daily Apple (iTunes) a day.

Beauty is in the brain of the beholder

The shower provides an opportunity to ponder, dwell, daydream or zone out as the water drapes your body. Its been a source of epiphanies, revelations and decisions, but most recently its been a place where I find myself questioning the simplicities of life.

For example, how does an object, person, song, etc that you at one time thought you found attractive or beautiful suddenly become unattractive (or vice versa)? How do I find a song I really disliked on a cd to all of a sudden be enjoyable, and on the most played list on my iPod? How do I find someone I thought was attractive to be unattractive all of a sudden?

The only thing I can think of is a changing frame of reference--or a confluence of experiences all of a sudden merging in to one, large representation of that object (smell, song, person). I really disliked avocados until I was an adult, and I believe one evening, at a party at my neighbors' house in Santa Barbara, events, people, smells created this new world where I experienced avocados in a new way. I had tied them to a good time, happy places, and an overall pristine evening. I've loved avocados ever since.

What about people? its so easy to vacillate between indifference, lust, and (dare I say) hate? More commonly, its indifference to lust/intrigue. Just like those dreams about that person in your calculus class that you never really noticed, and you go to class the next day and you have these strange sensation/feelings like you are attracted to them? What is about those dreams that makes us notice or change our feelings?

I found one of my co-workers to be attractive, physically, and then I got to know him and found him to be even more attractive --mentally and emotionally. That, in turn, made me find him even more physically attractive. But how? Why? My eyes still saw the same person--nothing changed physically. But every day I wake up and see him next to me and I get all gushy again, even though he's the same person I met 8 years ago. Consequently, how do you "fall out of attraction" with people? What in the brain changes or manifests itself in a mutant manner when seeing that same person?

My favorite words

I actually do use them in conversation when possible. Although eminent domain is really hard to get into an every day conversation. :-)

• “network participation”
• visceral
• rubric
• valmont
• eminent domain
• diaspora
• bifurcate
• confluence
• mitigate
• enumeration
• proclivity
• latency
• stagnation
  

"Leaves are falling all around, It's time I was on my way.
Thanks to you, I'm much obliged for such a pleasant stay.
But now it's time for me to go. The autumn moon lights my way.
For now I smell the rain, and with it pain, and it's headed my way.
Sometimes I grow so tired, but I know I've got one thing I got to do... "

What Would You Do?

On the plane ride home from LA tonight, I was on one of those commuter (2x2, 15 rows) flights. I had the window seat and a guy sat next to me. I hate/fear flying, so I take a little xanax before the flight and I'm usually fine (even asleep) before takeoff. Well, we had a mechanical issue at caused a delay, and after sleeping the whole time we waited on the tarmac, I woke up as we were just about to take off.

I noticed the jackass next to me abused his personal space and had his right leg all up in my space. He was trying to sleep, and had the typical "I need to sit with my legs far apart cause I got junk" wide sit. I was pretty tired, and this guy just rubbed me the wrong way, so I decided I needed to reclaim some of my space. What to do, what to do.... should I :

• gently nudge his knee and hope he gets the picture?
• pass gas and hope he wakes up and shifts position?
• turn on the light to annoy the crap out of him because he's trying to sleep?

Well, I did all three. He was so passive aggressive, he was taking up the space cause he could, and out of spite. The minute I turned on the light (keep in mind its a small plane, its dark outside and in the cabin, and he's leaning in my general direction) he woke up and moved further into my space.

What a jackass.

"What's that?"
"A dress."
"According to who?"
"Calvin Klein."

Good, Bad and Undecided

GOOD

• CSI, Monk, 30 Rock and House
• order
• rain--lots of it
  
• sense of humor
• the color red
• intelligence
• secret, harmless, unpursued crushes
• clean, warm sheets right out of the dryer
• music
• being part of a team
• a comfy, worn in pair of jeans
• Kona, Tokyo, Munich and Chamonix
  
• manual transmission cars (bonus: the power of shifting from 1st to 2nd gear)
• books, books, books
• anything medical
• other people's babies
• a genuine smile
  
• laughing until it hurts
• sharing something new with someone
• self confidence

BAD

• the color blue
• migraines
• people who click their pens constantly
• Britney Spears, Paris Hilton and Tara Reid
  
• being late
• talking during someone's presentation/speech
• gin (the drink)
• tapioca, pudding, chocolate, flan and cottage cheese
• arrogance
• condescending treatment
• “would you like cheese with that?”
• blocking aisles
• parents who don’t pay attention to their children
• parents who assume others will supervise their children
• kids shoes with wheels
• ants
• smoking
• broken promises
• indecision
• the color blue
• head games
• golf
• gold jewelry
  
• insomnia

UNDECIDED

• cork wedge shoes
• PhD
• hardwood floors
• abstract art
• corned beef
• new car (update 7/29: new car = good)
  

List 2 : Wishes

If I had a magic wand, I would (in no particular order):

1. go to go to medical school
2. learn German, Japanese and Spanish
   
3. be more cognizant of what I say
4. buy my parents a house
5. be more disciplined about exercise and paying bills
6. learn to be more fashionable and stylish
7. balance my impulsiveness and overly cautious tendencies
8. relax
9. focus more on myself than pleasing others

"it's a p2p servant model"

List #1 : Fears

I have a few, I guess

1. Flying
2. Death
3. Speaking to small (2 or more people) groups or one on one
4. Being alone in life
5. Childbirth
6. Not being accepted by peers
7. the unknown
8. failing

"No magic tonight..."

Cut from the same cloth...but on the bias

I'm a female that has always been surrounded by males. Growing up, I was the biggest tomboy (and I still have a strong tomboy streak) and loved to hang out with my friends, all guys, in the neighborhood. Instead of dolls, tea parties and braiding my friend's hair, I was playing soccer, GI Joe and anything that had to do with dirt or mud. I felt comfortable. I felt like I belonged.

Jump ahead to high school. My peer group consisted of girls and guys, but my closest friends were guys--including my best friend. He and I are still very close, talking 1-2 times a week and seeing each other whenever he is here or I head out to Hawaii. The last 20 years has taught me a lot about guys, but by no means do I consider myself any expert. Now, in my mid-thirties, I'm learning ALL men share a certain number of characteristics, no matter how those men play into my life. My observations, for what they are worth....

Men:

• can't make a decision to save their lives
• are wimps when it comes to pain
• don't pick up on subtleties provided by women
  
• secretly want to relinquish control (see point #1)
• want a "dirty" clean girl
• have a soft side, often rivaling that of women

Technically Ignorant

I have a few websites I visit daily...sometimes habitually on a daily basis. Cuteoverload, Flickr, Fark, and TechCrunch, to name a few. I enjoyed TechCrunch's myriad of posts on the technical shortcomings of Google within a month-long time span. Not because I don't like Google, but because I am a believer of being humble, modest and humility sometimes being the great equalizer. Yesterday's post about Walmart illustrated another example of a big company being humbled when they launched their new, video download service and failed to do simple QA on browser compatibility. Here is a screenshot from my visit to walmart last night:

Either Walmart has a twisted idea of how to get publicity in an already overly-congested online video market, or they have the WORST QA ever. Are you telling me that no one at Walmart, whether in QA or not, is running Firefox? Come on, Walmart. You may be the sharpest knife in the drawer, but even my 10 year old cousin would know to check browser compatibility. Geesh.

Then I read today that Google can't get simple map directions correct. They indicate a 10.4 km trip (that's 6.46 miles for the rest of us that have no frame of reference for kilometers, or any metric unit of measurement for that matter) for a (what should be) very short journey from a hotel to Google's Sydney headquarters--which happens to be across the damn street. Do the math, folks, and keep it simple, stupid.

"It's on the list."