Picture: The Sunset From Mars...
This isn't a new picture, but I just came across it. This was taken from the Mars Rover "Spirit" on May 19th, 2005. It's pretty amazing when you realize you're looking at a sunset from a planet other than Earth.
I find the picture simply stunning.
My Impression of IE7
Ok, so everyone is blogging about IE7—and probably rightfully so. It's been 4 years since a major release of Internet Explorer. I was a huge fan of Internet Explorer from 1998-2003. While IE4 went against the W3 spec in a lot of ways, it was a far better environment for building interactive web applications than any release of Netscape version 4. The only thing I thought Netscape managed to do better back then was w/their JavaScript debugging tools—which were immensly more useful.
However, back in 2003 I started testing early betas of Firefox. While I had tested the Mozilla browser and even Netscape v6, I really wasn't in love w/the Gecko engine (which is what all those browsers are based on.) Despite all the promise I kept reading about, I still found it slower and less responsive than IE. Firefox changed that though. The one of the original goals of Firefox was to cut out all the bloat that Netscape had been building into their browser (e-mail clients, HTML editors, etc.) and you definitely noticed the difference. Switching to Firefox as my main browser came unexpectantly to me—happening almost over night. I've really been using it as my main browsers since the v0.7x releases. It still shocks me how quickly I switched to Firefox, since I was such a huge proponent of Internet Explorer.
So, I've really been looking forward to seeing Internet Explorer v7 in a final state—just to see if they can make it worth it to switch back. Unfortunately, I've been really unhappy w/the new release. I really find the new UI unintuitive. Maybe this will change over time, but I think people used to using IE6 will be lost. Novice computer users don't adjust well to change. They're used to doing things in a certain fashion and radical change is hard for them to adjust to. I'm really surprised Microsoft didn't include an IE6 skin that could at least be selected for people who want the old look.
Funny Telemarketer Prank
I thought this was a pretty funny prank to pull on a telemarketer. There are times when I wish I could think this fast on my feet.
NOTE:If the above player doesn't work, try this link:
Bob and Tom - Telemarketer Nightmare
Saw Jeff Scott Soto fronting Journey...
Well, Sunday night I went to see Journey and Def Leppard with Jenn and a group of friends (Todd, Monica, Eric, Krista and some neighbors of Todd & Monica.) Jeff Scott Soto was singing for Journey in replacement for Steve Augeri (the current lead singer), as Steve is suffering from a throat infection. If you've never heard Augeri sing, if you close your eyes, you would indeed think it was Steve Perry singing. Augeri was an excellent choice to take over the reigns.
Anyway, I was pretty excited to hear Soto sing for Journey. I've been a fan of Soto's since his early work with Yngwie Malmsteen (I love his vocals on I'll See The Light Tonight.) Overall Jeff did an excellent job, but they definitely seem to alter the set to match his vocals. My only disappointment was that he didn't even try to sing any of the songs Steve Perry sang in falsetto (Open Arms, Faithfully, Who's Crying Now.) Those were the songs that I thought might bring Jeff some trouble, but I wanted to hear him sing them, as I've never really heard Jeff attempt to sing anything in that style (not saying he hasn't done it, I've just never heard it if he has.)
To my surprise Deen Castronovo (the drummer) sang those three songs. While he doesn't have the impact of either Steve (but who really does,) I was really shocked out how well he sang those songs. I never had any idea Deen had those kind of pipes. I've always considered him a kick ass drummer, just never knew he could sing like that.
September 11, 2006
Just wanted to give my condolences and well wishes to all those Americans who lost their lives on 9-11, to all the heroes that contributed to the rescue and safe evacuation of thousands of people from the World Trade Center, to those that were in the Pentagon and finally all the brave passengers of United flight 93—who after knowing the events that happened in New York and DC, made the decision to take down their own plane, instead of letting the terriorist cause more damage.
My Golf Game is the Model of Consistency...
Well, I played golf at Chapel Hill Golf Course on Sunday. It's a couse up near Mount Vernon, OH. It was my first time playing the course, so I wasn't sure what to expect. The golf carts were very nice—complete with digital scorecards & GPS. The GPS was definitely handy for a new course—since you always new the yardage to the pin. Using a cart on this course is almost a must, as the course is on very hilly terrain.
Anyway, I played the front nine pretty poorly, or more so I should say I played 3 holes on the front poorly. I played 3 holes on the front, +10 over par. However, this was mainly due to hitting some balls out of bounds and losing a ball or two to the course. Those penalty strokes add up quickly. I ended up +15 over on the front nine.
My game's been all over the place this year. A month or so ago I was playing extremely well. Most of my game was in sync and I was playing the best golf I've played in years. Then all of the sudden everything went down the tubes. In just nine holes, every aspect of my game went in the toliet. I went from doing everything well, to pretty much doing nothing well. I've been struggling to find my swing again for the past 3 weeks or so.
Steve Stevens Flamenco A Go-Go
I was talking w/someone recently about guitar work and he brought about Flamenco style music. This immeditately made me remember Steve Stevens excellent Flamenco/Rock album called Flamenco A Go-Go.
This album is a really great intrumental album with lots of influences from around the world. A did a quick You Tube search and came across the video for Dementia. While this song is probably the most traditional sounding songs on the album, it's still a very tasteful piece.
Steve Stevens - Dementia (Live)
New and Improved--now built with LylaCaptcha!
In order to try and prevent the spamming issues, I finally had to do something I didn't want to do—and that's implement a Captcha process to the comments.
When you wish to post a comment, you'll now be required to fill in the text you see in the image right below the comment box. This is to help ensure that it's a real person entering in the comment and not just a spam bot. If this doesn't help with the problem, the next step will be either to require a valid e-mail (in which you'll have to go through a verify process the first time you post) or I'll start approving all comments manually. I really hope I don't have to turn off commenting altogether, but I'm tired of deleting 20-30 spam messages a day.
For those of you wondering, I used LylaCaptcha for my captcha needs, which worked on really well. I was going to type up a "how-to", as the documents on the LylaCaptcha site aren't as straightforward as they could be. Once you figure out what you need to do, it's very straightforward, but I found I had to really do a lot through trial an error. Anyway, the reason I'm not doing a write-up is Brian Rinaldi already wrote what I ended up doing in a blog post titled Adding Open-Source LylaCaptcha to BlogCFC.
Being Thankful for Being Hot & Cranky
Leave it to something like the Air Conditioning (AC) going out to really realize how lucky and sometimes spoiled most of us are. Here in Central Ohio, we've had the hottest 3 days we've had in a long while—certainly the hottest 3 day stretch I can recall for May in this area. It was 88 degrees on Saturday and it's been in the 90s the past Sunday through Tuesday. Today's expected to be 89 degrees, with a high probability of T-storms—which at least should cool things off. If 90 degrees doesn't sound hot to you, also consider that we Ohioans put up w/very high humidity levels as well. Heck, the last few nights it's still been in the 80s at 11:00 o'clock.
Anyway, all these hot weather brings me to my point. Having your AC go out during a heat spell really makes you realize just how lucky you are to have modern amenities. Too many times in my day-to-day life I forget just how lucky I truly am and spend time concentrating on issues, while most of the world would love having only that to worry about—when they're struggling with surviving.
Anyway, it's times like this, when a luxury amenity I've come to take for granted goes away, that I really understand just how fortunate I am to be living in this day and age. I really appreciate all my parents did for me to put me in the opportunity to succeed in life.
Jenn's Birthday was Saturday
Jenn had her birthday on Saturday. I took her to the Cirque du Soleil show Delirium. The show was fantastic. We were in the 3rd row on the flow dead center of the stage. While it was great getting to see everything up close and personal, there are a lot of visuals that are projected on a sheer screen in front of the stage. Being so close to the stage, you couldn't really follow what was going on with the screens. Idealistically you probably want to be 50ft from the stage in order to order to see how the performers interact with the visuals on the screen. The best way I can quickly describe the show would be to call it a "modern day Opera."
After the show, Jenn & I went to Champps for dinner. Apparently there's a potato famine that I'm unaware of because I order both Potato Soup and Mash Potatoes with my meal and both times the server came up to me later and told me it would be a 15-20 minute wait, but I could get a substitute. Ended up getting a salad—which certainly is the healthier choice—and then got a free piece of cake for Jenn—which we split, ok I ate most of it—in place of my Mash Potatoes.
We then got back to the house and watched Hotel Rowanda—which was a very good movie, but started off a little slow.
A new first, filed my taxes today...
For possibly the first time in my life, I actually filed my taxes before April! I'm usually so last minute about filing, but decided I'd try to get a jump on it and get them done this weekend. So, I've officially filed my taxes. I'm just waiting on electronic confirmation.
The Pittsburgh Steelers are Superbowl Champions!
Wow. I'm really stunned. I'm still in a bit of a haze. I can't believe the Steelers finally won another Superbowl. We've been so close so many times under Cowher, and I'm just a little numb right now from exhaustion. Yes, exhaustion. I haven't been able to sleep all week and have been on pins and needle since the AFC Championship game.
As far as the game goes, I was just sad to see the refs have such an affect on the game. There were a lot of questionable calls on both sides of the ball. I can certainly understand how Seahawks fans might feel cheated, but trust me, I've seen too many of those calls against the Steelers this year. The Steelers have had that "Chopblock" penaltly called twice on us this year after we throw an INT. It's a lame rule that needs to be reviewed.
Anyway, I'm so ecstatic about the win. Thanks to all the well wishers who called the house after the game. I appreciated it!
The Steelers Going To The Superbowl!
Here we go Steelers, here we go!
The Steelers are going to Superbowl! I'm so damn excited, I can't calm down. It's been 10 years since the Black-n-Gold last represented the AFC in the Superbowl. They need to come out and execute like they've done the past 3 weeks. Fortunately, Detriot is a short hop from Pittsburgh and they have 2 weeks to prepare.
Here we go Steelers, here we go!
Holy Smokes! What a game! Go Steelers!
Well, I've finally calmed down enough to post about the Steelers game yesterday. Jenn & I were on the edge of our seats. I think it's a real a shame that the game was even close at the end, because the Steelers completely dominated the Colts and the officiating was horrendous. I won't harp on that though. I will say, it's games like that when I understand why there are people who are convinced the games are fixed. I don't believe that, but that game was very poorly officiated.
Jenn & I were really on the edge of our seats for the finally 2 minutes of the game. We went from total exhuberation when the Steelers sacked Manning on 4th and 16 on the 2 yard line, to the complete and udder disbelief when Bettis fumbled the ball. Cowher absolutely made the right call, it was just a fluke result. The Colts still had 3 timeouts left at that point. The correct call was trying to put the game out of reach by putting up a 10 point diferential. Anyway, it took Jenn & I both a good 3 hours to really calm down. Jenn was still telling me later that night that she was still feeling the results of the game. This was the first time she's ever felt this kind of emotion over watching a sporting event. I'm so lucky she's enjoying watching Steeler football with me (although she'd probably argue how "enjoyable" it was once Bettis fumbled.) However, the emotional swing you feel as you go from knowing you've won the game, to thinking you've lost it, to watching Vanderjagt miss a FG he makes 99 out of 100 times to give you the win is something you just don't experience in any other spectator event. I love football.
I can't say enough about how well Cowher had that team prepared to play that game. He came out throwing the ball when the Colts were expecting us to run and the Defense had the Colts completely on their heels. Lebeau had a beautiful game called. For those that don't watch the Steelers on a weekly basis, you wouldn't have noticed this, but the Steelers tend to use a lot of motion with their Defensive Backs to try and confuse the QB. Generally speaking though, Manning is good at adjusting to that. Lebeau used very little movement before the snap—which I think Manning was relying on to try and figure out the blitz schemes. If you notice, it wasn't until very late in the game that you saw Manning started to call more audibles on the line. Heck, I even heard Archie, Peyton's father, on NFL Radio this morning and he admitted that Peyton had to resort to "drawing plays in the dirt--playground style" in order to counter the things Pittsburgh was doing do them.
Tony Levin kicks ass...
For some reason I was in the mood to listen to the first Liquid Tension Experiment album today. Tony Levin is such a fabulous bass player. He really has such a unique and distinct sound—I just love the way he approaches the bass. The LTE albums are both great, but I prefer the first album.
Anyway, for those of you who don't know much about Tony, he's played with just about everyone under the sun—from John Lennon to King Crimson. He appeared on a majority of Peter Gabriel's albums as well.
Some of my work favorite by Levin is on the Bozzio Levin Stevens albums—which consist of Terry Bozzio, Steve Stevens and of course Tony Levin. I highly recommend getting these two albums: