techno.blog("Dion")

Cameron just wrote about his thoughts on the Casio EXILIM.

I also have one, and have had a similar experience.

• I love it being so small. We even take it with us when we go on multi-day backpacking trips
• It is very easy to take pictures, and they always come out really well unless….
• My ONLY complaint is with night-time shots. They come out pretty bad. If you have had a cup of coffee, or haven’t had your cigarette, then it will all be blury. If you are steady, then it will be grainy. If you want to take a lot of night shots then I would be careful

Now I just wish that my phone, camera, iPod, … were all in ONE package this small!

Norm blogged about how his high school buddy was borked out of his GI Bill.

G.I. Bill doesn’t pay for one MN Marine

A Minnesota marine served his country for more than four years. But when Erik Barstow came home and tried to go to college with money from the G.I. bill he couldn’t. At first he thought it was just a paperwork snafu but 5 Eyewitness News shows why he now blames his recruiter.

I have run into this myself, with a friend in Colorado. He was promised $ for grad school, and at the last minute they screwed him over, and it was the recruiters fault there too.

How can we do this to people that are risking their lives? (NOTE: You can be against the war but NOT against the troops…. like the bumper sticker says: “A patriot against the war”)

We love villains and heroes… and they are often the same person, separated by events and time.

However, the ref was awful…. and it makes sense when you see this…

What a roller-coaster game this is.

- First we go up 1-0 through a great Michael Owen goal
- Then we do the usual, and sit back and the pressure comes on us
- Rooney gets injured and has to go off
- They score to even the game 1-1 in the last 7 minutes
- We end up with extra time
- Then score to go up 2-1, and it looks over
- Lampard sneaks one in to bring it 2-2
- Penalties
- Beckham misses
- They miss
- Sudden death penalties after we are even on 4-4 after 5
- WE LOSE! :(

I have been quiet on the ole blog over the last few days as I am in the middle of a move from Boston across the country.

It is always a pleasure moving isn’t it? We did it ourselves. Packed the truck, and drove the truck.

The drive was uneventful, but was made better due to the following:

• iPod w/ FM tuner: We were spared the routine of hunting through stations telling you about the pork belly prices, as we were able to play DJ with the iPod. The truck was obviously not going to have a CD player or anything, but FM it did had… and we were saved.
• Amish: One of the funniest sights that I had was in Indiana. I was at a service stop, and saw an Amish family (in full garb) rushing to a video game area of the mini-mall. Not only was it comedy to see these people enjoying the games so much (I thought they were all about dissing “new fangled gismos”), but they also chose to play a DRIVING game. The last thing that I would want to do after a day on the road is play a game that has you… DRIVING!

I am glad to say that we arrived safely, with car in tow, and look forward to moving into our new house tomorrow morning!

Then, after a quick week I will be flying out to JavaOne. I hope to see anyone there!

At New York Kennedy airport today, an individual later discovered to be a public school teacher, was arrested trying to board a flight while in possession of a ruler, a protractor, a setsquare, a slide rule and a calculator.

Attorney general John Ashcroft believes the man is a member of the notorious al-gebra movement. He is being charged with carrying weapons of math instruction.
“Al-gebra is a very fearsome cult, indeed”, Ashcroft said. “They desire average solutions by means and extremes, and sometimes go off on a tangent in a search of absolute value. They consist of quite shadowy figures, with names like ‘x’ and ‘y’, and, although they are frequently referred to as ‘unknowns’, we know they really belong to a common denominator and are part of the axis of medieval with coordinates in every country.”

As the great Greek philanderer Isosceles used to say, ! “There are 3 sides to every triangle.”

When asked to comment on the arrest, President Bush said, “If God had wanted us to have better weapons of math instruction, He would have given us more fingers and toes.

thanks to David for passing this over

How could they do it. Watching it you felt it was going to happen… and it did.

Beckham misses a penalty, Gerrald kicks the ball in the only bad place in the park. Oh my god. This is like life as a Red Sox fan. At least we have 2 more games to catch up.

All the family was in. Flying in from all over, fighting delays based on weather, and making it just in time the night before Emily’s graduation day.

The day was a great one, and I was so proud of my wife! Having excuses to get people together like this is always a pleasure (like weddings etc).

After the ceremonies, we got to listen to Kofi Anan, secretary general of the UN. The speach was fantastic. He discussed his thoughts on what was happening in the world now, how the UN is needed more than ever, and the direction we need to go in to aim for more peace and equality in the world.

He managed to put down Bush… but in such great subtle ways. For example:

All great US leaders know that you can’t just take your forces and take over a country just because …..

What a pleasure to listen to him. I wish his address could have been on mainstream T.V. Surely there were a few seconds where they could slip it in between the Reagan coverage?

I love the Darwin Awards. The 2004 selections have now been made.

Yes, these are (apparently) all true. They are finally out again. It’s an annual honour given to the person who did the gene pool the biggest service by removing themselves from it in the most extraordinarily stupid way. Last year’s winner was the fellow who was killed by a Coke machine which toppled over on top of him as he was attempting to tip a free soda out of it.

It is a scary world!

I had a lovely Sunday travelling. Man it is such a pleasure. :/

I was meant to fly from Boston to DC to San Diego.

Right off the bat this was not the case, as the flight from Boston to DC was delayed, and I wouldn’t be able to make my connecting flight.

I got onto a flight to Chicago, and was going to make a connection to L.A., and then get to San Diego.

Needless to say, the plan wasn’t perfect, as every single flight I was on was delayed. I spent more time sitting at an airport, and on a stationary plane… than I did in the air!

What really took the biscuit, was when the Customer Service people in L.A. managed to rebook us on a flight (since we missed that connection too) and somehow double booked us on two days. The boarding pass for my wife had the wrong day on it, although they DID let us get on the plane and take our seats (good security).

They then yanked us off before the flight left, and it was too late to get on another one.

Luckily there were rental cars, so I booked one of those… and waited patiently for the baggage people to work out where are bags are, and how they will get them to us. Eventually they agreed to mail them to the hotel, and I hope they come soon!

It was such a pleasure driving from L.A. to San Diego at 3a.m. which was crazy late for my body clock that was still on the east coast.

Oh well, as soon as my clothes come I can head out to Microsoft TechEd and see my first MS conference!