Common Sends

Horizon Air: The Airline of My Dreams

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Mon, 02 Oct 2006 18:52:00 +0000

I recently had the unexpected pleasure of flying Horizon Air, a regional subsidiary of Alaska Air with hubs in Portland and Seattle. I found myself on Horizon on a short flight from San Jose to Moscow, Idaho (via Seattle) to attend my cousin's wedding. Not expecting anything different from Horizon, I was at first suprised by the flight attendant's laid back and personable style while making the standard safety presentation. She was cracking jokes and smiling, like she was actually having fun sharing boring mandatory information with us. I have to admit, over the hundreds of flights I have taken, I have come accross the occasional flight attendant magician or comedian, so this by itself was not enough to thoroughly impress me.

It was what came next that really blew me away. As you know, over the last several years airplane food and snacks have gone downhill, recently to a point I would describe as ROCK BOTTOM. We went from complimentary almonds and filet mignon to "snack mix" and $5 snack boxes.

So when the flight attendant handed me a generously sized bag of Tim's Cascade spicy sweet bbq potato chips (delicious) and offered me a COMPLIMENTARY glass of Red Hook ESB or wine from a local Washington winery, I was scared. Was this real? Was she trying to lull us into docile sheep because we were all about to die? Maybe so, because she came back without the beverage cart with the bottle of beer and asked me and my fellow passangers if she could top of our drinks, or if we needed anything else. And not in a fake, this-is-my-job-but-I-don't-really-like-you kind of way, but in a genuine I-am-the-host-of-a-party-in-the-sky kind of way.

So, no, we did not die, and yes, Horizon is for real. They are like a sparkling jewel among a field of lead. As flying becomes more and more of a nightmare, Horizon makes flying a not-so-bad experience. I mean really, who is going to make a fuss on an airplane when they are getting free alcohol and yummy snacks? Not me!

So my question to all you other "airlines" is...what is wrong with you!!!! Too bad Horizon is so small, otherwise I would fly with them exclusively.

Categories: horizonair, airplane, airlines

Google Eager to be Evil

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Mon, 25 Sep 2006 17:37:00 +0000

Google recently announced it is “eager” to work with the Republican Party and increase its presence in Washington DC. Google plans to raise money for Republican candidates and lawmakers in exchange for…well…anything Google wants. This news, coupled with recent press on Google supporting Internet censorship in China, is evidence that Google is in fact quite evil after all. What is interesting about Google’s new identity is that the company itself, at least its Mountain View headquarters, is filled with many liberal leaning, razor scootin’ nerds that in no shape or form support GOP shenanigans or censorship.

This begs the question: do corporations really take on lives of their own, with objectives, goals, and values totally independent of those held by individuals within the corporation itself? Before Google began its rapid ascent towards global domination, it gained the trust and user loyalty by being free, colorful, simple, and by-the-people-for-the-people-esque. Stories of Google’s “perfect” algorithm and magical campus reminiscent of Willy Wonka’s Chocolate Factory instilled a sense of respect and wonder for a corporation that other Fortune 500 could not pay to attain.

Alas, it seems as though there really cannot be such a thing as a “non-evil” corporation. Google is now experiencing an exodus from Eden, a fall from grace. I surmise more than a few political science professors are sadly shaking their heads thinking: “Aahhhh, Google…Absolute Power Corrupts Absolutely.”

But Google is not absolutely powerful; it is dependent on the loyalty of its users. Here is what some Googlers had to say about the news of Google’s increasing friendship with the GOP:

Well, I guess it's time to start avoiding the use of Google internet tools. There are other options for everything they do.

Our country has fallen, worshipping the corporate dollar.

Time to boycott google !
I have just deleted google from my system.

Sickening, I'm disgusted with Google...
ALTAVISTA is my search engine...

I have ZERO interest in any corporation that enables this regime any further.

Google is still the best search engine, but not for long.

You can write Google but it will do as much good as writing George Bush to complain AND probably will put you in a data base marked "ENEMY"

Interesting that you cant find any news about this on Google. Let the 4th Reich continue. Big Brother's dirty little cousin just showed up.

Google is apparently run by extremely stupid managers. What Republican paradigm do they wish to emulate, the corporate fraud or the corporate bankruptcy?

You can get Google results by using Scroogle.com with no tracking your results

Perhaps we still live in a democracy, after all.

Categories: google, corporation, republican

$100 Laptops for the Whole World

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Mon, 25 Sep 2006 17:20:00 +0000

A monumental effort to bring computer technology to children in developing countries is being led by Nicholas Negroponte of the MIT Media Lab. His non-profit One Laptop Per Child has garnered $24 million in funding and support from Google, Quanta, AMD, 3M, RedHat, Nortel, NewsCorp, Brightstar and Marvell.

The goal is to design, manufacture and distribute $100 laptops to schools in areas of the world where computers, internet connections, and even electricity are rare.
The laptops are still in the design phases and distribution to ministries of education in several developing countries including China, Brazil, Thailand, South Africa and India is expected to begin in 2007.

By using a human powered design model, users will have to crank, pump, or pulley their computers for one minute for every ten minutes of use. This is a key innovation that will make widespread use of computers more viable even in remote villages and extremely poor areas of the world.

My question is this: why not give American kids these laptops as well? Why not make Americans earn their MySpace time with a little good old fashion sweat? Requiring one minute of furious hand cranking for every ten minutes of computer use could be just the right solution to America’s growing problems of obesity, fossil fuel addiction and excessively sedentary lifestyles.

Categories: laptop, OLPC, development

Bloggers scoop newspapers on Lonelygirl15 story

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Tue, 12 Sep 2006 16:25:00 +0000

The Lonelygirl15 news broke in the blogosphere on September 7th, the moment her fan site was updated with the confession that Bree and Daniel were indeed figments of our collective imaginations:

"Thank you so much for enjoying our show so far. We are amazed by the overwhelmingly positive response to our videos; it has exceeded our wildest expectations. With your help we believe we are witnessing the birth of a new art form. Our intention from the outset has been to tell a story-- A story that could only be told using the medium of video blogs and the distribution power of the internet. A story that is interactive and constantly evolving with the audience."

Their fan site has been intermittendly down since the news, so refer to danah boyd's blog for a copy of their confessional letter

So, with Lonelygirl's fan base sitting on the edge of their desk chairs with their fingers poised on their keyboards to furiously blog and comment about the controversy, the old skool media was taking a relaxing long weekend...what else could explain the fact that the Lonelygirl15 "mystery" story didn't break in mainstream newspapers until today, 5 days after the news broke!?

Maybe they took their time on this story because to the people who really care about it, it was going to be old news by the time newspapers could publish anyway. So why even bother to cover the story? Despite blogging's ability to distribute news from diverse perspectives several times faster than newspapers, many people still only have a vague idea of what they are.

So, for those of us still stuck in the dark ages, here is a list of some newspapers and newsstations that covered the story today. All of the headlines are almost identical, and the story itself is almost uniformly a syndicated article by Gary Gentile, an AP Business Writer. It really makes me wonder, do newspapers as we know them today really have a future? Blogs, independent and amateur news sources, and interactive discussions are the future of news. We are already seeing this with the growing popularity of Digg and other news aggregators.

September 12 Lonelygirl15 stories:

MSNBC: Web video-diary mystery again deepens

KOMO4News: Mystery Of 'Lonelygirl15' Continues To Deepen

GetOut: Online 'Lonelygirl15' mystery continues to deepen

SJ Mecury News: Online mystery of video-diary posting by `Lonelygirl15' deepens
Daily Bulletin: Bree, "Lonelygirl15" mystery deepens

SFGate.com: `Lonelygirl15' Online Mystery Deepens

Pioneer Press: `Lonelygirl15' online mystery deepens

Categories: lonelygirl15, blog, blogger

Lonelygirl15 Works on Labor Day Weekend

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Fri, 08 Sep 2006 21:48:00 +0000

While you and I were eating meat, drinking beer, watching baseball, and enjoying the last days of summer, Lonelygirl15 was revving up to cash in on all the hard work her (and her mystery crew) have been doing for the last several months.

What do you do with a blockbuster YouTube hit, watched by millions? Upload onto Revver, of course! From September 1 through September 4, Lonelygirl15 uploaded 8 of her more recent videos, generating a total of 11,975 views (and counting) over the weekend.

Interestingly, she did not upload her videos in order. Why did she upload "Bree the Cookie Monster" on Friday and “I Probably Shouldn’t Post This” on Monday? Why were her older videos not posted? Why is her Revver profile empty, whereas her YouTube profile is warm and inviting and includes a link to her MySpace account.

Maybe, the Revver poster is an imposter. Did this clever person sign up for Revver with Lonelygirl’s name and post the popular videos to cash in on her fame and popularity? I’m sure we will hear more about this soon.

In the mean time, will her diehard fans continue to sit on the edge of their seats in front of the YouTube? Or will they Rev it up to help lonelygirl raise money to support her mysterious cult-like religion? My guess is that YouTube will remain the main outlet for the Bree and Daniel saga, but that more and more people will try to cash in on her growing fan base.

Categories: lonelygirl15

Why Americans are horrible drivers

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Sat, 19 Aug 2006 00:41:00 +0000

I recently took a two week road trip through the Southwest with my two friends from Germany. Driving 3000 miles with them on the highways of the good old US of A gave me some insight as to why we have traffic jams even on 6 lane highways.

Unbelievable to most Americans, German highways have no speed limit and are almost exclusively only two lanes wide. Accidents and extreme overcrowding are the only times when German highways experience traffic jams.

Ok, now I will reveal to you the secret as to how German highways could possibly function better than ours:
The left lane is the FAST lane. If a Mercedes is gaining ground behind you at 140 mph flashing its lights and honking its horn, you GET THE HELL out of the left lane. There is absolutely NO passing on the right. This makes for smooth sailing, easy passing, and free and open highways no matter what speed you choose to drive.

In America, drivers think they can sit in the left land going any old speed they choose. If someone coming behind wants to go faster, that's just too bad. They can pass on the right or just slow down. "It's not my problem." This attitude creates blockage of lanes and makes it impossible for faster traffic to pass. It creates "herds" of cars straddling the lanes, passing and weaving any old way just to get ahead of the pack. This is dangererous, inefficient, and ineffective.

In America, we have a speed limit. If everyone really adhered to it, there would be no problem. Drivers in the fast lane would never be going faster than the speed limit, so cars behind would not need to pass on the right. The problem is, some people adhere to the speed limit, some people don't. It is perfectly acceptable to drive about 15 mph above the speed limit, and some people get away with going 20 or more mph above the limit. Sticklers driving in the left lane at 65 mph don't feel the need to move over for speedsters to pass them. Or is it that we simply don't look into our rear view mirrors? I just don't know.

Next time you're driving, do an experiment. Drive in the left lane and every time you gain on the car in front of you, keep driving and tailgate them. See how many people actually move over and let you pass. It's no wonder Americans pass on the right.

Wal-Mart couldn't hack it in Germany

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Sat, 29 Jul 2006 23:32:00 +0000

After a miserable performance during its 8.5 years in Germany, Wal-Mart is closing up shop.

Why did the Wal-Mart business model not work in Germany? Simple. Because Wal-Mart couldn't beat German discounters' "every day low prices." Without its low prices, Wal-Mart has nothing.

When I spent a year in Germany and took a globalization course, the Wal-Mart effect was discussed in class. My classmates were confused and baffled about the concept of Wal-Mart. "Why would I drive to the edge of town to wander around in a gigantic store, when I can get the same stuff down the street?"

The German discount model is small, corner grocery stores, dollar stores, and drug stores that offer extremely deep discounts with which Wal-Mart could not compete.

Why do we insist on shopping in gigantic warehouse stores that we have to drive our SUV to and fill up with a month's worth of stuff?

Why not fill small, neighborhood stores with cheap stuff?

via NY Times

Categories: walmart, wal-mart, bigbox, germany

Social Networking Site with a Purpose

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Fri, 28 Jul 2006 18:48:00 +0000

eLIFELIST is a new social networking site with a mission: get the most out of life.
Every successful person you will ever meet will say that the the way to get the most out of life is to make goals, write them down, and think about them everyday.

eLIFELIST builds on this principle and makes it potentially more effective and accessible. Here's how it works:

1. sign up for an account

2. make a list of things you want to accomplish in life

3. browse other users. See what's on their lifelists and "add" items to your list if you want to accomplish it too

4. communicate with other users. Maybe someone can help you accomplish a goal. Motivate someone else to accomplish something that you have done

Why I like this concept:

Social networking sites are broad, aimless and cluttered. eLIST has a single purpose: get the most out of life. Setting goals is a tried and true method for success, and eLIFE makes the process fun, interactive and social.

Stop wasting your time trying to get that perfect MySpace background, and go climb a mountain!

See related post: 5 Reasons to hate MySpace

Categories: myspace, socialnetworking

Photo Documentary: Ugliness

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Thu, 27 Jul 2006 23:17:00 +0000

photo courtesy of citying

We like to look at photos to remind us how beautiful the world is, but sometimes we need to see images of how ugly we have made the world. Send your photos and videos of pollution, trash, landfills, and other ugliness here so we can make a collective documentary

How I got a free imac g5

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Wed, 26 Jul 2006 18:14:00 +0000

There are two types of people in this world: those who believe in free lunches, and those who don't. I am one of those people who is always in search of the free lunch. I don't believe they are easy to come by, or that they require absolutely no work on my part, but every once in a while, it is possible to get something worth more than what you paid for it.

It all started one fateful day in January 2005 when I clicked on one of my junk mails that said something like "claim your imac g5."

You have probably seen a banner, popup, or gotten an email similar to this. Many of them probably come from MetaReward, a silicon valley company. Here's how it works:

MetaReward's clients are advertisers. Clients create "offers" (sign up for Netflix, get discount $30 worth of ink cartridges, sign up for a credit card etc.) which are then outsourced by MetaReward to "publishers," who are separate companies that use the banners, emails, and popups provided by MetaReward. Publishers are paid by MetaRward for each completed offer.

The basic business model is that clients are only paying for new customers (performance based marketing). New customers are generated because they are obliged to complete offers in order to get the "reward" at the end of the tunnel, which can be gift cards, TVs, camcorders, computers, and other high end prizes. MetaReward supplies and manages the rewards, so neither the publisher nor the advertiser is dealing with rewards directly.

Here is the trick: you have to pass a gauntlet of different "steps" where different offers must be completed. Most people will complete a few offers, then give up before they earn the reward. So, new customers are generated and the advertisers are happy. Customers completed some offers, so the publishers are happy. No reward was given out, so MetaReward got a free lunch for that one.

This a a brilliant business model, where everyone stands to gain

Get YOUR free lunch:

1. Find a program that uses MetaRewards. I got my imac g5 through ExclusiveRewards.com, which is now defunct. A good way to see if you can complete all the offers without spending too much money is to "go to next step" even if you haven't completed the first step. It will let you go all the way through, so you can look at each set of offers you will have to complete. Some publishers make you sign up for really expensive offers by the end of the gauntlet. Others are not as bad.

2. Be diligent. Because of MetaReward's complicated business model using multiple parties, sometimes your offers don't go through in the computer, get mixed up, or delayed. Don't give up!!!! This is where most people lose interest and give up. Maintain contact and all of your records, and MetaRewards will eventually sort it out.

3. Be patient. You will not get your reward today, or tomorrow. It will take you between 3-6 months for you to actually have your reward sitting at your doorstep. If you are not the kind of person who is willing to wait a few months to get a free computer or TV, then don't bother with it.

Offers I completed to get my imac g5:

1. discover card (make one purchase, any amount, keep for 30 days)

2. Sharebuilder account (make a deposit, any amount, keep open for 30 days)

3. Blockbuster online ($14.95/month, keep account open for 30 days)

4. Ink BLVD (buy $30 worth of discount ink carteridges)

5. Dentalplans.com (discount dental plan, choose from a variety of plans. Mine was $189 for 18 months)

6. Book abot tax liens ($29.95)

Total amount spent: about $300
Reward: imac g5, worth about $2000 dollars!

Categories: freestuff, mac, apple, imac,

4 minutes a day for perfect health

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Wed, 26 Jul 2006 07:31:00 +0000

ROM Time Machine

Doesn't this look like a medieval torture machine?

Well, it is actually a unique piece of exercise equipment that is supposed to do as much as 20-45 minutes of cardio, 20-45 minutes of resistance, and 20 minutes of stretching in only...wait for it...4 minutes.

When I first stumbled across it, I didn't believe it. After reading the Q&A as well as the independent studies conducted on the effectiveness of the ROM, I began to believe that it was possible. I will not even try to explain it here, but go to the website and see for yourself.

So what's the problem? Why don't I have one? It costs over $14,000! No payment plan!

I would love to hear stories from people who have a ROM.

Categories: ROM, fitness, health, workout, weightloss, exercise

My most popular JumpCut video

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Tue, 25 Jul 2006 20:36:00 +0000

Why is this my most popular video?

How to make popular online videos for free (no software or camera needed)

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Tue, 25 Jul 2006 20:17:00 +0000

So you want to be an online video star? You have no video camera or video editing software. Not to fear, JumpCut, Video Downloader, and FireFox are here!

Here's what you need to do:

1. download the Firefox browser if you haven't already.

2. Go to Video Downloader and install video downloader.

3. Go to YouTube or other video sites and find videos that you like.

4. To download a video, click on the icon on the bottom right hand corner of your firefox window. A box will pop up. Right click on "download link" and then "save link as." Change the extension to .flv, and save to a folder or your desktop.

5. Go to JumpCut and get an account. Then click "upload" and upload your .flv files that you just downloaded.

6. Your video clips will go into "my stuff" in your jumpcut account. You can create your own videos by adding music, effects, and re-editing the videos you found on YouTube. Jumpcut provides all the editing tools and they are easy to use.

If you don't believe me, check out the videos I made (My Jumpcut movies) with no video editing experience and not video camera!

My most popular video on Jumpcut...why is this?

If anyone knows how to upload these .flv files on to online video sites other than JumpCut, let me know!

For even more information on this topic, check out this post: 10 Interesting Things you can do with YouTube or Google Videos

Categories: jumpcut, youtube, video, videoediting

Five reasons to hate MySpace and one reason to love it

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Tue, 25 Jul 2006 04:00:00 +0000

MySpace is the world's most trafficked website. Yes, we use it. But do we like it?
Personally, MySpace is the website I love to hate. Here are five reasons I hate MySpace and one reason I use it anyway:

1. It's hideous. Flashing gaudy ads, and people's even more flamboyant customized backgrounds make the site a complete eyesore. Beyond that, it is cluttered, busy and difficult to find what you want. Call me retarded, but I often cannot figure out how to log in, even though I've done it a million times.

2. It is losing its focus as a social networking site and leaning more to a free promotion and marketing site for budding artists of all kinds. While on the one hand I believe in this cause, I don't like it when a band invites me to be my friend. This is spam in my mind.

3. Mystery profile views: who is viewing my profile? Is that too much to ask? I know there is a hack to make this possible, but why is it not a regular feature of MySpace?

4. It sucks! Because it so popular, MySpace often crashes and takes forever to do anything.

5. Crappy search parameters. When looking for a specific person, I have often spent an hour or more looking through profiles because the search parameters are not flexible enough. Why not just have a simple Google-like keyword search function?

Number one reason I use MySpace: Everyone else does! There are dozens of social networking sites, but no matter how much better they are than MySpace, they are relatively useless if your friends aren't there.

How did MySpace grow to dominate the social networking space, despite its flaws? I am interested to hear your feedback on this.

Categories: myspace, socialnetworking

GDiapers, hippies and our future

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Mon, 24 Jul 2006 00:59:00 +0000

An aritlce in today's NY Times Magazine on a new kind of diaper called GDiapers raises some interesting questions. The product is an alternative to disposables and cloth diapers, and it works like this:

"A $25 starter set comes with two pairs of washable “pants” (in “groovy” red, orange, blue or green) and 10 removable liners; when a liner is soiled, it’s flushed down the toilet. A refill pack of 32 flushable liners costs $14, roughly the same as 40 Huggies."

The point of the article was that although GDiapers is an eco-friendly product, the product developers marketing the diapers in the US (it is an Australian product) are choosing to de-emphasize this point and instead highlight efficiency and ease of use and cleanup as selling points.

Basically, the argument is that marketing products too heavily to the "treehugger" consumer limits their appeal to mainstream consumers. I agree with this point wholeheartedly, but the more interesting point is, why is this the case? Do we not all care about the environment? I think the problem is that in the infancy of "green products," they got a reputation for being overly priced and not as effective. They also tend to come from small unknown brands so consumers are less likely to trust them.

Although the "treehugging" subset of consumers are attracted to products that advertise earth-friendly qualities, this may be a turnoff to other consumers. Instead, many people are immediately attracted to price and convenience. (Why use a mop and bucket when I can use a Swiffer?)

The postwar boom in consumer products has always been based on the premise of life getting easier, more convenient, and more luxurious. A product that is not marketed with these premises in mind risks losing its audience.

So.....why would I buy a dirty hippie poop diaper when I could buy an easy 1-2-3, colorful, attractive, no mess, no hassle diaper? I wouldn't.

I think the real point is that in the current era of environmental chaos and risk, companies need to make all of their products as environmentally sustainble as possible. PERIOD. That should be objective number 1. BUT, that's the end of it. Don't talk about it, brag about it, and try to wrap it up in hippie leaves and sell it. Just go on marketing your products as you always did, and people will buy them. And the world will be a better place!

Top ten things to do in a heat wave

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Sun, 23 Jul 2006 23:00:00 +0000

Friday night was the hottest recorded night temperature in the San Francisco Bay Area. Lows did not drop below 70 degrees throughout the night.

With temperatures reaching the high nineties and even three digits this weekend, in an area where residential air conditioners are rare, beating the heat is a difficult task. Here is a list of things you can do to stay cool (in no particular order):

1. Go see An Inconvenient Truth

2. Immerse yourself in cold water (shower, pool, ocean, sprinkler, hose...anything!)
3. Keep the curtains drawn and the windows closed until it gets dark, then open everything up
4. Sleep on the ground (heat rises, so it will be coolest closer to the ground)
5. Buy a large box of popsicles and eat one once an hour
6. Go to work and get ahead (if your work is air conditioned)
7. Get a personal fan with water spray mister and use it all day
8. Drink lots of room temperature water and sports drink (cold drinks will actually make you hotter)
9. Wear light colored breathable cotton, not synthetic fabric or dark colors
10. Wear sunscreen when you are outside (nothing will make you feel hotter than being sunburned and hot)

Mount Humphreys: Snow in Arizona?

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Fri, 21 Jul 2006 23:36:00 +0000

I took this picture May 7, 2006 on top of Mount Humphreys, the tallest point in Arizona, at just over 12,633 feet. The hike to the top and back took 6 hours, with a total elevation gain of over 3000 feet. I was surprised at how much snow was still on the mountain by May. In this picture, the snow melted into a weird icy-pointy formation that I thought looked really cool.

Categories: snow, arizona, mount, humphreys, hike, , peaks

Blogger Categories....Delicious!

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Fri, 21 Jul 2006 22:24:00 +0000

For anyone who has seen categories on other people's blogs and wondered how you can do it on your blogger blog, check out Freshblog and follow the instructions. I tried it, and it is fairly easy to do. This is my first post with the category function, which uses delicious to create categories using tags.

Try it yourself!

Categories: categories, delicious, blogger

4 Texas Holdem Myths Busted

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Fri, 21 Jul 2006 18:54:00 +0000

With the Texas Hold'em craze sweeping the nation, by now you've probably played online, with a group of friends, or even in a casino. But have you been able overcome your beginner mistakes and taken it to the next level to win game? Or are you frustrated because you always lose. Here are some common myths about Texas Hold'em that will help you to avoid some commonly made mistakes:

Myth #1: "I've already bet so many of my chips, it's too late to fold!"
Truth: It's almost never too late to fold and sometimes it is better to fold when you know you will lose the hand, than to keep betting more of your chips just because you feel like you've "already committed."

Myth #2: "If I always fold my hands, I will never win any money"
Truth: You will only start to win big money when you learn how to fold at the right time. If you don't have decent cards in the pocket, don't play the hand, even if you really want to.

Myth #3: "You have to bet a lot of chips to win a lot of money"
Truth: Actually, the opposite is sometimes true. If you have an awesome hand, it is tempting to bet too high, people will get scared and fold, then you will end up winning a very small pot. Instead, bet conservatively at first, and try to lure people in.

Myth #4: "bluffing is about keeping a straight face when you're lying"
Truth: bluffing is more about how and when you bet. If you've been playing conservatively for a while, and you really need to win a hand, it may be time for a bluff. In a bluff situation, you have to bet strong, and make how you bet be believable based on the cards on the table. If someone is calling your bluff and you have a really weak hand, don't waste your chips, just fold.

Check out I had outs, a poker blog with links to lots of other poker related blogs to learn more about Texas Holdem

Categories: poker, texas, holdem,

Favorite online video site?

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Fri, 21 Jul 2006 16:52:00 +0000

These are the top ten video sites according to hitwise

1. YouTube: youtube.com
2. MySpace Videos: vids.myspace .com
3. Yahoo Video Search: video.yahoo.com
4. MSN Video Search: video.msn.com
5. Google Video Search: video .google.com
6. AOL Video: video.aol.com
7. iFilm: ifilm.com
8. MetaCafe: metacafe.com
9. Grouper: grouper.com
10. GoFish: gofish.com

Which one do you use and why?

I use YouTube because they have the most content.

I use Revver because you can download video streams and you earn ad revenue from your own video uploads.

I use Jumpcut because you can "grab" other people's videos, upload your own, and "remix" them all together using their simple editing program directly on the website. Having no video editing experience, I was making popular videos after my first try. The problem with jumpcut is, it's still really buggy, which can be frustrating when you're trying to make a video.

Sujeet and Carrie: My Heroes

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Fri, 21 Jul 2006 00:13:00 +0000

Featured in the latest issue of Time Magazine, Sujeet and Carrie (left) are a young couple with Downs Syndrome who were recently married in New York. Both Sujeet and Carrie have overcome challenges and believed in themselves. Sujeet was the only special education student at his high school to ever make the honor roll. He has a black belt in karate and plays 6 instruments. Carrie is a an inspirational speaker to the DS community, a singer, and also has a black belt in Taekwondo. Both have their own websites where they highlight their achievements and goals.

Carrie and Sujeet plan "to continue with our speeches, to continue to make a difference in this world for people with special needs, to have some fun time too. And to take care of each other."

I was really inspired by Carrie and Sujeet's story, and I think they have some lessons to teach all of us:

1. Believe in yourself
2. Believe in other people
3. Believe in love
4. Set high goals
5. Have courage to achieve them

Subway's Secret

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Thu, 20 Jul 2006 21:19:00 +0000

Jared Fogle, the now famous "regular guy" that lost a couple hundred pounds by eating Subway sandwhiches, has been Subway's spokesperson for quite some time now. Good for him. Subway has also made good contributions to the American Heart Association, and offers low fat fast food to America.

BUT... Subway is trying to hide a dark secret that I will reveal to you right now: You can make sandwiches at home, yourself, very easily and cheaply. You can lose weight on your own, with your own sandwiches.

Steven Snyder calls attention to a very telling scene in the movie Super Size Me

"The saddest moment of the film is an interview Spurlock has with an overweight teenage girl outside of a publicity appearance by Jared of the Subway commercials. Referring to Jared, this girl bemoans her situation, speaks of her admiration for a man who could go through with it and lose the weight, and then seems almost on the verge of tears as she says that she can’t afford to eat subs for every meal in order to slim down.

And this heartbreaking moment speaks to more than just the issue of weight loss. Why is she so overweight to begin with? Why does she feel so powerless to change her habits? And, most dramatically, why is her only solution a diet program through another fast food chain?"

I couldn't agree more with Steven. People have become so detached with where food comes from, what food we should be eating and how we can make it ourselves. Children should be taught more nutrition and health in school, then they would not be crying in despair about not being able to eat at a restaurant everyday in order to lose weight.

Is Google evil? Are we evil?

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Thu, 20 Jul 2006 17:57:00 +0000

The Coalition Against Biopiracy nominates Google for worst corporate offender. Google and biopiracy? Here is the story:

"Reasons for this nomination:

For teaming up with J. Craig Venter to create a searchable online database of all the genes on the planet so that individuals and pharmaceutical companies alike can 'google' our genes - one day bringing the tools of biopiracy online.

Google, in co-operation with Craig Venter, are developing plans to make all of our genomes googlable to facilitate the brave new world of private genetically-tailored medicines. Google are reportedly making their massive computing power available to the J Craig Venter Foundation for gene sequencing to generate a gene catalogue for all the genes on the planet. Individual users will then input their own genetic sequence for a read out of their genetic predispositions analyzed against the existing database. Think Google already know too much about you? Think how much they are soon going to know...

Google's motto, "Don't be Evil," may soon take a backseat to a new mission statement unveiled by CEO Eric Schmidt in early March 2006: "We want to be able to store everybody's information all the time." Already causing concern over the way it uses (or could use) the vast amount of Google-user information it has collected and stored over the years, the company has now set the sights of its all-seeing eyes even higher."

Does this sound like a real life Gattaca to anyone else? What are the possible implications of this?

Driving sucks

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Thu, 20 Jul 2006 17:46:00 +0000

This is a humorous mashup commercial I made to support public transit:

Drinking and Driving in America

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Thu, 20 Jul 2006 16:47:00 +0000

Drinking and driving is a serious problem that has yet to see realistic policy solutions. My solution: switch the drinking age to 16 and the driving age to 21. This will force cities to seriously act on needed public transportation projects and improvements. It will also allow bored suburban teenagers to experiment with alcohol in safer settings: with their parents, older peers, and in public. Let's be more honest about the root of two of America's largest problems: binge drinking and automobile dependency.