Steve Larsen

The Spotify Drinking Game - A way to enjoy the Adverts

2010-03-11T18:25:00.000Z

Moving into our new flat in Camden recently, we are presented with the opportunity to hold a housewarming party. During the last week Spotify has been the typical music source during the first week living there. We've noticed that every so often we get interupped with adverts that can get a bit annoying.

Being as cheap minded as possible we were trying to find a way to avoid the .99p day cost to remove the adverts for the party. At first we thought about all taking a shot when an advert comes on but we soon realised that after a very short while we would be out of alcholol. We'll perhaps reserve this option for smaller, more intimate parties. So for this Friday's party we came up with the following:

Most of you may know of the drinking game associated with card games where if 1 person starts some special action, placing their finger on their nose for example, the last person to repeat has to take a shot. Using that as our basic concept, the first person to hear the Spotify advert start playing must do the "action" and the last one must take a shot. That person then gets to set the next "action" for the next time an advert plays. This continues on until either you run out of alcohol; get bored; or the place starts to burn down and everyone has to leave.

You can of course take on other types of drinking game rules and try to incorporate them into the times the adverts come on. As this is the first time we've done this, we will certainly come up with other variants and ways to improve upon the game tomorrow night. Check back for updates

O'Reilly Drops eBook DRM, Sees 95% DECREASE in Sales

2010-01-23T14:57:00.003Z

The world's largest book publisher of tech books, O'Reilly, stopped using DRM on its books 18 months ago. Since then it's seen it's own sales of eBooks increase by 104%. When you think of DRM and tech books you might think "Wouldn't these types of people be copying these books and not be paying? They all seem to crack every other bit of software out there."

Seems like that theory is true.

If you look at US wholesale eBook sales from Q1-Q3 of 2009 you'll see that sales have increased nearly 200% compared to Q1 - Q3 of 2008 according to IDPF. O'Reilly is well behind the industry trend here.

It looks like DRM vendors will now have some useful information at their hands to show that without DRM you'll likely lose out on sales due to copied books.

=======================================

Now, I'd just like to point out how even though all these figures by themselves are true, it is all how you put them together to tell the story that then creates mis-information. Someone else may look at these figures and say that O'Reilly eBook Revenue is up 104% if you compare their numbers from the year prior. Well that's what O'Reilly did. And then Boing Boing decided to write about what they said and before you know it people start believing what is told without questioning it.

If you have enough figures, you can tell any story you want.

A Day in the Life of a Beta Application

2010-01-11T05:25:00.009Z

Since finally upgrading from Windows 7 build 7100 to a full fledged version of Windows 7 Ultimate, I've started searching out quite a few beta applications to install on the new system. Below is a list of the one's I've come across so far and installed. I've also included some that are just trial versions rather than Beta. The main link is as close as you can get to the download before actually downloading it and you can always navigate back from there to find more info on the product.

Are there any other great beta applications out there worth a look at? Let me know

Microsoft Office Professional Plus 2010 Beta

I just installed this a few hours ago so I haven't had a chance to start using the programs to get an idea for what's new in the software. But with 2010 the addition of MS Office Web Apps is probably one of the most unique differences. This of course coming about all because of the rise of Google Apps, something of which I use very often now. Microsoft has quite a bit of catching up to do in this area.

To see all the other benefits of the 2010 offering head over to the Microsoft site.

Mozilla Firefox 3.6 RC 1

This new release is built on Mozilla's Gecko 1.9.2 web rendering platform and adds quite a few new features over previous versions. One of the noteable benefits that isn't mentioned in the standard release notes is the improvement for those of you running Firebug. Previously when Firebug was installed the high-performance Javascript JIT compiler that speeds things up was disabled even if you weren't running Firebug on that page. This is now fixed on 3.6 and you can read more about it here.

Some of the release notes to make note of include:

Changes to how third party software to integrate with Firefox in order to prevent crashes
The ability to run scripts asynchronously to speed up page load times.
Users can now change their browser's appearance with a single click, with built in support for Personas.
Open, native video can now be displayed full screen, and supports poster frames.
Improved JavaScript performance, overall browser responsiveness and startup time.
Support for new CSS, DOM and HTML5 web technologies.

Google Chrome 4.0.288.1

The latest and greatest Google Chrome version can be found by downloading the dev version as found on the early access release channels page. You can also follow all the updates on their blog entitled Google Chrome Releases

Adobe Lightroom 3

I picked up this one the other week after reading through through the HDR tutorial over at Stuck in Customs. Along with Photoshop this seems to be one of the must haves for photo management.

Adobe Flash Player 10.1 Beta 2

One of the first problems I saw with this was that when going to TweekDeck to download the software, I was told to update my Flash player. I had to find the download elsewhere and then just install it as an Air application. I'm not going to list all the Adobe Beta applications but you can find the rest of them by going to their Labs download page.

Microsoft SQL Server 2008
or
Microsoft SQL Server Express 2008

I've had to get SQL Server for a trial install of AspDotNetStorefront that I'm working with from time to time on projects. The full version is available on a 180-day trial whereas the Express version is its own product available for free.

Microsoft .Net Framework 4 and Visual Studio 2010 Beta 2

Whilst I was downloading the above products I stumbled over here to get the newest .Net framework and the new Visual Studio Suite to go along with it. To read about 6 things that might surprise you about what .Net 4 has to offer head over here for a read.

Skype 4.2 Beta 3

One thing about Skype for me, I hate it as an application for chat. The main problem I have with it as a use for this is the lack of integration of a chat history. This is why I prefer using Google Chat for all means of instant messaging. I do however use Skype for calls and even have a dedicated Skype phone on 3 mobile bundled with an unlimited calling plan to the States for under £2 a month.

My Android Apps - Year in Review

2009-12-27T22:41:00.003Z

I've had my G1 for just over 1 year now (13 Dec 08) and have seen the Android Market develop from an all free service into what it is now at over 20,000 applications. I thought I would put together a little review of all the apps I currently have on my phone along with a few that I've uninstalled. Finally, I tossed in a few that I haven't had a chance to use but that look promising.

Let me know if you have any others that are perhaps better choices that the ones I'm using now. Or maybe there's a killer app out there that I'm missing. Let me know.

Communication
PdaNet free edition - June Fabrics Technology
Status - Installed

This is essentially my internet connection at home right now. The newest 2.15 version is a big improvement over its predecessors. Although, it still is a bit buggy on my phone and has crashed a few times both on the phone and on the PC. I hope this one will just improve over time and become more stable with another release or two.

Skype Lite Beta - Skype
Status - Uninstalled

This is the biggest disappointment out of any app I've tried yet. Quite surprising from a large company like Skype. The program never stays logged in, doesn't offer true Skype use as you would expect. (It’s not free as it uses up your local minutes to make calls)

I've ended up buying a dedicated Skype mobile phone with 3 and that is working very well.

Google Voice - Google Inc.
Status - Uninstalled

I managed to install this on my phone when I was in the States back in August. I tried it out whilst there and it seemed to work quite well. I suspect if I were over there I would be using it and have it still installed.

Phonalyzr - Martin Drashkov
Status - Uninstalled

I remember this being one of the first apps I installed back in December last year. It provides some interesting data into your phone usage and provides it in a graphically appealing way. Don't remember if there was an export option but that would be an ideal option.

Finance
Finance - Google Inc.
Status - Uninstalled

A fantastic app that allows you to track your portfolio from your Google finance page. I've only uninstalled this as I never used it much but if it were something I needed it would surely be installed.

Health
CardioTrainer - WorkSmart Labs Inc.
Status - Installed

This is by far one of the best apps I've downloaded. They have really developed this over the year and added a lot of useful features. It's just over 3mb so it can be a bit heavy on the resources but it's a fantastic app that lets you track your movement during sports and also whilst in vehicles.

GoalHappy - Paul Bibby
Status - Installed

Great little program that lets you set daily, weekly, and monthly goals. It's quite new to the market only coming out the other week. I'll be looking forward to future developments and hopefully see it develop a bit more. It still needs to support landscape display and could use with a bit of graphic design to really make it stand out. Hopefully the developer will have some more time to develop this one.

Multimedia
imeem Mobile - imeem, inc
Status - Uninstalled

This is the first music app that I started using. It won't allow you to choose the exact track you want to listen to but streams music similar to the track or artist you first chose. I've since not reinstalled it but probably would if I needed some free streaming music.

Spotify - Spotify
Status - Uninstalled

If I wasn't a cheap skate I would be using this premium application. I use it all the time on my desktop but after finding out it needs a monthly subscription I uninstalled it. I've went many a year without paying for music and I think the trend will continue to live on.

News & Weather
TV-Guide UK (free) - Jersey Productions
Status - Installed

A well rounded app here for the basic stations you'll find on freeview. It has a reminder feature where you can set a timed alarm before your favourite shows come on. For the future, perhaps integration with a full featured website would be nice to allow for easier mass scheduling of reminders.

BBC News - Jim Blackler
Status - Installed

If you want to see the BBC news feed then this is the app for you. It allows viewing of all the news feeds that you would see on the website but in a faster way.

Productivity / Tools
AnySoftKeyboard - Menny Even Danan
Status - Installed

A couple weeks ago I decided to swap out all the keys on my laptop and configure them into a Dvorak keyboard. This app allowed me to add a softkeyboard onto my G1 as well so that I could keep the practice up. I still haven't mastered it yet, but I can see the massive potential of a Dvoark keyboard over a typical QWERTY one. I just wish I had started learning on a Dvorak from the beginning.

Any Cut - Jeff Hamilton
Status - Installed

Great program that's been on my phone since the beginning as well. It provides you with the ability to create shortcuts to directly dial or sms a person for example.

Download Crutch - ouroborus.org
Status - Installed

Vital app to allow you to download any file from the web on the android. By default you'll find that almost everything doesn't download properly, but this app does the trick!

G-Mon - C. Knuetter
Status - Uninstalled

A pretty powerful WarDriving app that constantly scans available networks and places them in into a csv or kml file for processing. It is able to display all access points including all those with the same SSID.

I've had it hang and not process a large kml file before and had to force close the app. I would continue to use this though despite the problem if I needed such a thing.

IcViewer for PDF,Word,PS - Derie Li
Status - Installed

This app will upload a file attachment and create a readable format for your G1. I've had some issues this this app with it hanging and then crashing from time to time. The file will need to just be re-opened and then it's viewable. Any better options out there?

mAnalytics - mugitek
Status - Installed

A very thin integration with your Google Analytics account. It will give you the basic stats of any of the accounts you have linked to your login. Hopefully further development will open up more stats that you can view in this app.

MountUSB - BK Mobility
Status - Installed

Quick one touch key that will connect your phone as a removable drive on your PC. Certainly a necessity that I constantly use without fail.

NewsRob - Mario Kamp
Status - Installed

This app integrates into your Google Reader account and lets you read your feeds in a bit easier way than using the Google Reader mobile website. It's a bit basic but does the trick.

Voice Recorder - Mamoru Tokashiki
Status - Installed

Install the widget to your home screen and you have the perfect little button to start recording at a touch of a button.

White Noise Lite - TMSOFT
Status - Installed

A nice little app that I use to listen to the sound of the beach at night. It has a few other not so pleasant sounds as well but does exactly what I want it to with the beach sound. It takes me back to the evenings spent sleeping on the beaches in the Greek Islands.

Shopping
OI Shopping List - OpenIntents
Status - Uninstalled

From what I recall this is a pretty thinly featured shopping list app that will help create your shopping list. I'm sure there are some other full featured apps out there.

I recall seeing some that already have built in items where you don't need to type much. Also, sharing of the list with other people so that you can tick off items on the same list. Ideally an app that has a website with a full set of features would be ideal rather than just a dedicated android app. What is the best shopping list app out there?

ShopSavvy - Big in Japan, Inc.
Status - Uninstalled

All the talk on the street is that this is one of the best apps out there to compare an item you see in the store. I've not had much use for this as all my shopping is done online anyways but suspect this can be a great tool for anyone doing a lot of shopping in stores to find a good deal.

Pkt Auctions eBay - Bonfire Media, Inc
Status - Installed

If you trade or buy on eBay this is a must have app. The most recent update now includes messages as well. The app is coded to work from the eBay API so there's a lot of features this one can present to you.

Social
Foursquare - Joe LaPenna
Status - Installed

This has got to be one of the most talked about new sites out there right now. Even though I don't live near one of the 100 or so supported cities, I'm adding locations to my town frequently but it registers as the biggest city supported next door to me, Bristol. I think I would get more use out of it if I were back in London but I can see the potential for this to soon be in nearly every city.

Swift App for Twitter - Sebastian Delmont
Status - Installed

I've started using this app just recently in the last month or so. I like the looks of this one and seem to prefer it over Twitdroid. A new release was just made that included some useful additions like conversation following and img.ly support. It doesn't allow viewing of any lists you may have created yet or the option for multiple accounts. I suspect future development will see some of these and other features included.

Facebook for Android - Facebook
Status - Installed

This recently had a complete facelift and reconstruction to it. Lots more built in functionality but there's still more to expect over the iPhone app that's out there. Let's hope to see some more leaps forward with this one.

Travel
London Underground - Visual IT Limited
Status - Installed

I use this just for the tube map it provides. My next one is for actual tube status and line closure information. This does also have a tube status feature built in, but it keeps it in a menu option which I find annoying when I just want to see a list of the statuses. It does have a great route finder built into it though so it's not all just about the map.

iTubeStatus - Julfikar Damani
Status - Installed

I use this for exactly what the app is named for, TubeStatus. Open it up and you're immediately presented with a list of all the tubes and great visual indicators letting you know which lines have delays or service bulletins. Just remember to fire this app up before you go underground as you're likely not to get reception down there.

UK National Rail Train Live - lochmagic
Status - Installed

If you travel in London on the trains then this is the best app I've found so far. It tracks all the trains coming and going at the stations. It even pulls up stations nearest you based on your location which makes it easy to find the stations without typing in a search query.

Others
Screen Crack - Laan Labs
Status - Uninstalled

Another one of the early apps I installed. I even managed to convince a few techie friends I really did crack the screen. Mind you, I don't recommend doing what I did and actually dropping it on the floor and picking it up with the program activated. It might have very well been a real cracked screen if I was unlucky.
I've used but uninstalled

OpenTable - OpenTable, Inc.
Status - Uninstalled

I used to use OpenTable all time when I lived in Chicago. If I was dining out more frequently and back in London I'm sure I would be using this app to find all the 1,000 point opportunities it has for restaurants.

Mobile GA - Actual Metrics
Status - Uninstalled

I tried using this app as it seemed far superior than mAnalytics but could never get it to even connect to my account. Fail

Never Installed
last.fm - Personal Radio - Last.fm Ltd.
Status - Never Installed

A very popular service, although it’s one that I've never used though. I wonder how it compared to the likes of Spotify, Pandora or imeem.

Mobile Defense - Mobile Defense
Status - Never Installed

This looks like a full fledged app to add an additional level of safety to your phone. It gives you a lot of options to safeguard your phones data in the event of loss.

I would really like to have the opportunity to install and test this app out. But currently it's only available in the United States.

Watching 4oD without the Adverts

2009-12-20T15:30:00.003Z

I've started watching more shows online these days rather than sitting in front of the TV and flipping through the channels. I began with BBC iPlayer watching Spooks, Paradox, Merlin and a few others. I then started watching some shows over at 4oD last night. I quickly became annoyed at the amount of adverts! I remember back when 4oD used to be a program on your PC and you could download the show and watch them advert free. These days have changed I've soon found out.

Because I connect to the internet on my laptop by tethering my G1 phone to it, my internet sometimes gets lost and I have to reconnect. If this happens when I'm watching 4oD, the show will have to be restarted and I'll have to go through the 3 adverts at the start of the show. If I was far enough along, the 2nd set of 3 adverts would then also have to reload.

Being that this happened a few times I needed to find a fix to this problem. And I have...

The FAQ page on the 4oD site gives some advise to those people using Ad-blocking software and a way to check to see if they're having problems with it. What this also does, is provide some vital information that we need to easily block the ads from showing on the shows.

Some of you may be familiar with what a HOSTS file is. For those of you that aren't, it's your computers first point of call before it travels out to the internet to a DNS server to translate the URL you type into a set of numbers computers can communicate with. Think of it as a complex form of turning a phone number like 1-800-COLLECT into 1 800 265 5328

Essentially, what this would allow you to do is to tell your computer that when you type www.google.com for it to go to www.bing.com instead all the time. In this case however, we want to tell our computer to look at our own computer for the answer, yielding no result at all.

Locate your hosts file (you will need to have administrator rights and change it from read-only)

Windows - C:\windows\system32\drivers\etc\
Mac - /private/etc/hosts

Add these 2 entries on new lines at the end of the file

127.0.0.1 realmedia.channel4.com
127.0.0.1 imagec16.247realmedia.com

I've just finished watching all 6 episodes of The IT Crowd flawlessly with absolutely no adverts on it at all.

Sorry 4oD

Summer in Review "Part 1 - Lyon to Morocco"

2007-09-10T20:12:00.000Z

I last left the adventures in the southern region of France, just before I was heading off for continent #3, Africa. The 3 weeks, with the 2 guys
NederBoyz I met back in Verona in October '06, were packed with a few interesting events.

* A 3 day journey into the desert was filled with synchronized diving lessons
Syncro Diving, some fun spinning around on playgrounds
Fun getting dizzy, visiting the local petting zoo
Moroccan Petting Zoo (WARNING GRAPHIC CONTENT), the customary ride on the camels
Camel Ride, and a lot of driving. One of our camels, Gert, went a bit crazy at one point and got loose in the camel caravan
Camel Caravan we were riding in. After an exciting few minutes, David almost jumping off and nearly in tears, and Booy just a few inches short of getting his leg bit, we were back on track. Arriving at our oasis
Saraha Oasis, we were later welcomed by the Sahara with 8 hours of constant rain. In the morning, I carried up the snowboard to take a ride down the massive mound of sand
Sandboarding. Had it not been for our quick thinking guide that threw a wet mattress I would have ended up running into a concrete hole with 2ft rebar protruding from itself.

* We just returned from our 3 day desert trip and the boys and I went to the local football match
Football African Style between Kawkab Marrakech and Olympique Safi. After narrowly getting involved in a fight just 5 rows behind us
Rumble in the Stands and a rather poor match, we figured we could head over to the Hostel International place they stayed at the other day...turns out they were booked. We went into the center of town and after finding out 10+ hotels were booked on a Saturday night around 12am we were a bit worried. We found someone on the street that was willing to take us back to his house for 100 dirham each, but after about 20min of consideration we declined the offer. We wandered around a bit more and stumbled upon Hotel Central Palace
Hotel Central Palace which we thought was full before, and were able to get it for a bargain of 50 dirham each. It had a wonderful rooftop terrace with a view of the D'Jemaa el-Fna.

* One thing to be aware of is the low sign postings. I failed to see this one
Dangerous Moroccan Road Signs when I was sending a sms to our host.

We continued on our way to enjoy the wind swept Essaouira coast, the coastal metropolis of Casablanca, and the developing coast or Rabat. Of the 3, I think we all would agree that Essaouira was the most relaxing. We hung around a few days longer than we first planned for, making sure to get in some games of sand football.
Football on the Beach

We made our way back to Chefchaouen where the boys visited before I met up with them in Marrakech. It was a nice little town known for it's blue-rinsed houses.
True Blue City

We then made our way to the Tangier port to head off to Spain. We had heard conflicting stories about Tangier, some loved it, some hated it. We didn't stick around too long to get a definitive self evaluation of the town, but.... When we exited the taxi at the port, we were greeted by a very helpful man that wanted to offer us assistance on finding out correct ferry to take across to Spain. As the boys had come from Spain to get to Morocco they were going to do quite well on their own they told him. He persisted of course, as did we that we wouldn't be in any need of his help, but he followed us around the entire port and handed us yellow customs forms to help us in our journey. These are available to anyone for free of course when entering/exiting the country, he however, felt that they commanded a fee because he was the one that gave them to us. Even after he had given up in trying to get money from us, a fellow friend of his tried one final time to try and persuade us into giving him something for them, we kindly declined...again.

This leads us back to Europe, and the town of Tarifa, Spain, where I'll pick my story in "Part 2 - Tarifa to London".

Another visit to France - Lyon

2007-04-16T01:53:00.000Z

The train from Zurich to Lyon lasted about 5 hours. Along the way it passed through Luscerne, a town I've heard from a few people is a great place to visit. From the looks of it I wish I had a chance to stop there for a few days. The city is reminicient of Napa with all the vineyards on both sides of the train tracks, running up the mountain. Toss in a lake down at the bottom of the mountain and it becomes a great place to relax. An hour later there's about an hour stop in Geneva for a change of trains. I stopped by Claudes, my host from a month or so ago, just to drop a note in the mailbox to say a quick hello. He was out of town, nearing the end of a 2 week trip in China at the time so I had to try and find space in the mailbox to fit the note in. After arriving in Lyon I contacted Alain to meet up with him and eventually his girlfriend. The two of them were supposed to stop by for a visit in Mevege when I was there but with the poor weather they never made it.

Lyon is one of the few european cities with a great bicycle system that makes is almost free to get around the city. The only negative part of the systems is when you are returning late in the evening and have to find a station that has open spaces much further from your destination that you would like.

A great restaurant we dined at in Lyon as suggested by Alain
Food in lyon, Le Petit Frere. 13.5, 20 euros. Appertif, wine, starter, main, cheese, dessert.

Return to Europe - Zurich

2007-04-15T18:43:00.000Z

I'm going to try this time to keep a more frequent supply of information posted now that many people are getting the updates sent directly to their inboxes. Sign Up if you're not already.

After a long (5 week) visit back to the States I'm back in Europe. My original plan was to visit Mayrhofen, which is near Innsbruck in Austria. Plans changed however and I spent nearly a week in Zurich. The weather was fantastic, clear skies, temperatures above 20° every day.

Early in the week I spent most of the time around the lake relaxing. I walked down a good portion of the lake on the west side, past the Chinese Garden. I wandered through the city a bit as well of course.

On Wednesday there was a gathering of HC and CS members in the park. To every one's surprise, Tanja, my host from Monday evening, had arranged for a columnist from a local newspaper to show up and interview people for an article on Hospitality Club. I spent some time talking to the columnist, so much that she had reached her 3rd page of notes by the time we were done. This will probably be my European debut in the newspapers over here. I'm keeping in touch with a few people in Zurich to get a copy of the article when it's published.

Then on Friday, I ventured up to the top of the Uetliberg Mountain. The climb was only just shy of 470m but the route I took seemed to be the steepest way to go. The Sears Tower is 442m to the roof, and it seemed like climbing those stairs would have been just the same amount of effort.

To top it all off, here are the links to more photos from the previous weeks I've just added.

Surprise Return
White Sox Opener
Zurich

Basler Fasnacht

2007-02-28T14:00:00.000Z

A big Carnival celebration going on in Basel. It ranks on the Top 50 Festivals in Europe. Come and have a look at the 4 day extravaganza. It lasts from 4am Monday to 4am Thursday the 1st of March. Keep an eye out for an Orange Jacket, that's me.

LIVE VIDEO STREAMS (with audio)

Barfüsserplatz 1
Barfüsserplatz 2
Marktplatz / Rathaus
Greifengasse

Après-Megeve

2007-02-16T15:02:00.000Z

The time has passed rather quickly. It's already been over 5 months since I left for Europe. It seems like a long time to see a lot but there's so many things I've been thinking of doing still. There's only a few more weeks left here in Megeve, it all finishes up around April 20th.

A few places have been thrown around from travel talks with friends, Asia: Thailand, China, Japan; South America: Ecuador, Brazil, Peru, Argentina, Chile. I really want to make it to Cuba, a trip very few Americans can say they've done. But all those places are a far trip away from the vast array of opportunities I have so close to me here in Europe. I think this summer might go something like this...

Head to San Sebastian, Spain to meet up with Sabrina Harper who's at culinary school there. Make a few stops along the way to Covilhã, Portugal to visit Anna Hardaloupas who's been teaching there. Get a glimpse of Porto and Lisbon from there. That should take me to the middle, end of May, at which time Morocco would be next after a flight out of Madrid on EasyJet. The staff here at Stanford want to make that a place for a bit of a reunion and everyone so far seems to be on board with that.

By now, the start of summer will be just around the corner. Chancee will be finishing up her masters over in NY and will be going to Croatia to visit the family. I've got to try to convince her that driving all across Europe for the rest of the summer is the best idea. She's coming to Megeve in just a few days, Feb 20th, so I've been preparing my persuasive essay as of late. My host from Vienna, Darko, grew up just outside of Split in Croatia and he's said there's many hidden treasures to be found in the country.

From Croatia I'd want to head back to Slovenia as the 24hrs I spent there back in Oct just wasn't quite enough time. An eastern European tour from there, driving down through Bosnia, Serbia, Macedonia on the way to Greece to catch some sun on the beaches there. Then shoot back up heading through Bulgaria and Romania. From there I'm not sure which way to head. Do I go further east and go towards Moldova, Ukraine, then Belarus or go back west a bit to Hungary, Slovakia and Czech Republic, the last two places I've visited already for a bit. Going the bit more western route, it would be a bit closer to visit Poland. After either of those routes the same Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia route would be up on the itinerary.

Of course, all of these plans don't encompass the idea of traveling around Europe and refereeing soccer tournaments. That's a whole different set of travel plans. Possibly something to do another year. There's many more years to come exploring the vast world. I've even been looking at a trip to catch a glimpse of the Aurora Australis from Antarctica rather than NZ or AUS. Click on the image to see a real un-edited photo of it!!

Waiting to get into the swing of things

2006-12-21T00:03:00.000Z

Over at Sylvana we're still waiting for our first guests to arrive on Thursday. It's only going to be 2 of them and they won't even be eating here the first two nights. All the other chalets have guests now. The Rond Point is full up, loaded with kids and vegetarians with about 4 different menus for the chef to have to deal with over there. The others, L'Etrier and the Clochettes next door have just a small group of people to deal with.

There's still a few more things needed to get sorted out so that every thing is ready for the first group of guests that arrive on Sunday. We're looking forward to getting into a steady rhythm for the daily routine. We've been all scattered about, being sent to the other chalets to get things up and running for them.

Friday's are our day's off for the whole company. We're going all try and head to the slopes for some much desired skiing and boarding. I know I need as much as I can get as I'll be soon guiding the guests around.

First day of skiing

2006-12-16T22:08:00.000Z

Today was our first day of skiing. We headed off to the slopes around 10am and I was there until 3:30 in the afternoon. The day started off quite slowly with 4 falls in a matter of about 300m right from the start. No one I was with knew I had only skied for about 5hrs back in HS. We made our way over to the second set of lifts to the red "olympique" run. The pistes are rated from the very easy green, easy blue, difficult red, to the very difficult black. Olympique was a red rated piste. I arrived to the top of the Rochebrune peak at 1754m and knew this wasn't the time to give it a go. I took the lift right back down.

After getting to some more level snow I finally met up with Sumo. He's one of the ski instructors from ESI that works closely with Stanford Skiing and the guests. A few of us spent the rest of the day taking lessons from him. By the end of the day I almost felt like I could go and takle that olympique run. I didn't however, a few more days on the green and blue slopes.

Come Stay in Megeve

2006-12-08T22:32:00.000Z

For those of you wanting to come to stay in the French Alps this ski season, look no further. While I'm working in Megeve, I'll be allowed visitors 1-2 (maybe 3) at a time. There is a list of particulars from the company on the do's and don'ts.

I'll be at the Sylvana location for the season (address in contact details). I have a room to myself. It's very small and space on the floor is available. There is also a chance that space could be available with some of the other workers. If you're lucky there might even be an open room (not likely though).

If you want to visit, let me know the possible dates so that I can put it on the visitor calendar and send the details.

Work and Borat's Mom in London

2006-11-27T19:44:00.000Z

After two months traveling around Europe I headed back to London for a month before I leave for France on the 9th of Dec. I had to get back early to attend an interview to receive my National Insurance Number. Everything seems to have went well and hopefully it should be on its way. The next issue now is to figure out how to get my EHIC card (European Health Insurance Card) so I can travel in the EU and be able to get medical care if needed. I need the NI number to get the EHIC card supposedly.

I spent just over a week walking into places, calling around, looking for a live in job at a pub. I ended up finally getting a call back from a recruiter who knew of a position available at a pub in NW London near the Hampstead tub stop on the Northern Line. I had a tril shift on Tuesday the 16, and started full time on Saturday. The name of the place is The Old Bull and Bush. It was renovated in what some might know as a typical Lincoln Park yuppie renovation. It used to be an old style place as it dates back to 1721, one of the oldest pubs here in England.

During last week I had heard that there was going to be a group of three women coming into the restaurant to have lunch. Some flowers arrived and they were addressed to Mrs. Baron. Turns out this is the same Baron Cohen from the well known British Actor/Comedian Sacha Baron Cohen, better known as Borat. I happened to miss here that day as it was my day off but again today she had a group of 12 friends in for one of their birthday parties and I had the opportunity to speak with her.

Work is calling me back once again. I much preferred the 3 months off with traveling to having to work again. I hope the time in France will be a little less hectic than it is now. I'm earning quite a bit though because I just don't have time to spend anyting so that's a positive.

Travel Photos

2006-10-26T13:50:00.000Z

All my travel photos can now be found here on this site. There will be a link to the right directing you there from now on.

Location of Travel Photos

Last day in the UK

2006-10-05T21:25:00.000Z

Tonight is the last night in London with Charlie. We take off for Milan, Italy in the morning. Have 4 days planned driving around with her and 2 of her friends from South Affrica. We head right for Venice, spend 1 night there. Then off to Florence for the next 2. On the way back to Milan we're going to head up the northwest coast through Cinque Terre. This is where Greg and I were supposed to visit during last years Euro Trip but could't fit in.

Job in France

2006-10-01T22:56:00.000Z

The word just came in...I'll be working in France this winter season from 10th December until the end of April. The only downside to this all is that I'll have to head back sooner than expected from traveling around. I have to get my NI number for this job and I'll need to be back in London on 7th November. I'm going to head to the jobcenter office tomorrow to try and get it sorted out sooner.

Birmingham Photos

2006-09-25T17:44:00.000Z

Have a click on the link above for photos from Saturday night out in Birmingham. It's not my site despite it saying Steve's Site...another Steve from that night. I'll be getting more eventually, there were over 400 taken from that night.

Interview on Thursday

2006-09-24T15:19:00.000Z

I was checking through emails and found one from the hiring folks for a winter job in France. I have an interview scheduled for noon on Thursday the 28th which I hope goes well because I haven't been able to schedule any other interviews yet with similar type jobs.

Dublin - Meet with Liz

2006-09-11T23:09:00.000Z

A rendez vouz with Liz at the airport took much longer than expected. Her flight into London was delayed over 2 hours and she missed her connecting flight. I was on the phone with Lisa-Anna trying to figure out when she would arrive but she wasn't much help and knew as much as me...nil. At about

We finally make it to the LPA where Liz and her friend Rebeka are studying for the semester. I spend some time waiting there while Rebeka sorts our her lost luggage from her transfer in Charles de Gaul. Arriving back towards the centre of town we pick up a taxi and head to the main building of the LPA. The girls find out that they will be living in the same house together and are of course very excited. Just a few minutes earlier I was informing them of my experience in France where my friend and I were the only two who had a family that lived near each other.

The drive to the host family in *** was scenic. We were driving along the coast of Dublin by the *** Sea. The family was quite receptive and offered myself dinner and future accommodation if I were to return to Dublin and need a place to stay. Paul was Christine's??? partner whom had a son named Peter and Sue who joined us for dinner. Peter is about 20 years old while Sue is 29 and a curator at the National Gallery. Paul is retiring as a partner from Ernst and Young after over 20 years of service.

Liz and I made our way towards the Temple Bar area and met with Chris from couch surfing at ??? Bar .. She was with Dan whom she met earlier in the day. Chris had just returned from a few weeks in Morocco and had just become an Irish citizen after many years of effort.

Upon returning I was walking along the south end of the river and I noticed many drops of blood on the corner of the street. After the 5 minute walk from that point to the Hostel I came to realize that a group of German students from Frankfurt were the recipients of an attack over a mobile phone.

There was what I believe to be a representative of the Garda (police) taking notes of the incident. The whole exchange of information is quite interesting as the Germans are not completely fluent yet in English so their supervisor was translating as the students were speaking in German.

Dublin - Day 2

2006-09-10T21:47:00.000Z

There were some cultural events going on at the tournament including some Chinese dancers and singers that I had the opportunity to watch and hear. Around 2pm I decided that I had watched enough and it was time to get something to eat. As I was leaving I walked past a game going on at the cricket grounds that I first passed by before getting to the football pitches. I took about an hour to watch what was going on and picked up on a few parts of the game. Still don't understand it fully though of course.

While walking to the bus to get back into the city centre, I noticed the Guinness building towering above all the rest in the distance. I took the bus back towards the polish internet café where it is only €1 per hour. The hostel costs €1 for 15 minutes!

I went and ate at Eddie Rockets and had a tuna melt along with some fries. (€5.75, 3.45). Their wireless internet, that seemed to be open, refused to allow me to connect.

Dublin - Day 2

2006-09-10T11:02:00.000Z

Note to self – Don't get to breakfast at 9:45 when it finishes at 10...there's no milk left by then....well on a busy Sunday morning anyways

After a few pieces of toast with some of my favourite jam, blackcurrant, orange juice, and a small bit of cereal I could manage to eat with the drops of milk that was left I made my way out to Dublin. I hopped on the first bus that came by the stop and I knew it was headed off my intended path once it turned right across the river. I had a nice stroll in front of me, maybe 20min, through some residential areas of Dublin on the east side of Phoenix Park, where I was headed. I'm guessing that it was the Polish part of town from overhearing the mothers speaking to their children. There was also a church service going on it what seemed to be Polish as well.

After finding the park it was a long walk towards the pitches that the games were being played at for the tournament(see below). There seems to be 7 pitches of games going on. Not a huge tournament from what I can tell but it is in its 10th year.

Arrival to Europe

2006-09-09T21:06:00.000Z

No delay on the flight arrival this morning into Dublin. There was some trouble with the airport crew trying to align the stairs for us all to get off the plane. Once that was complete, I was then heading through the airport to pass through customs. The last time I came through to London I was of course in the non-European Union line and there's quite a bit of inspection of ones passport, maybe an inquiry or two of what you will be doing, where you're staying and what not. This time however it was the EU line for me, not a sole waiting in line. I walked right up and the agent didn't glance at it for more than 5 seconds and I was on my way. I suppose the only bad thing with the new passport is that it seems I won't be getting any stamps of all the countries I'll be visiting.

After waiting for what seemed to be everyone else's luggage to come off the plane I finally received mine. I realized I might have been better off with a larger roller suitcase to consolidate the backpack and small roller one I used all into one. I made my way out of the airport towards the bus, taking the 748 to the hostel I am staying at, Four Courts Hostel. I opted to buy the 3 day Rambler pass for €10.50 instead of the €5.00 one way. I took the bus past a few parks where some youth football matches were going on. There's a tournament this weekend that I'm going to go and watch tomorrow.

After dropping off my luggage at the hostel I walked around Dublin until about 4pm. I went and picked up a UK plug for my new laptop because the power converter I bought did not have the typical 3 prong US but only the 2 prong. Luckily the laptop adapters are 110-240V switched, as is my mobile phone charger as it turns out. The Isobar power strip I brought with unfortunately is not 110-240V so I'll need to get one of these sent over.

I spent an uneventful evening at the hostel. Getting in bed around 10pm sleeping until the next morning.

Departure Day

2006-09-08T21:31:00.000Z

After a fun filled morning spent at city impound lot for a car that was parked during street cleaning times things finally came together and I was on my way. As usual it was last minute scrambling to get things packed up and moved out of the old apartment. Still have a few things if anyone is interested.

My flight out of O'Hare is scheduled for 7:25 and I'm waiting around the departure gate right now. The 6 outlet power strip came in handy as there were a few people looking to charge up their phones and laptops from the limited outlets available.....

A US Ref, in Italy, with Danes

2006-08-28T15:29:00.000Z

I woke up this morning on what would have been another day of work and received an email from the tournament director of the Limone Cup in Italy. Henrik has invited me to referee in the tournament this October. The timing is just about perfect because I will be in Italy the weekend before with my friends from London the weekend before. ~~For the days inbetween I'm going to be trying to find a place to stay with people from Couchsurfing or sites like that.~~ It looks like I have found a place to stay in Pescantina, Italy not too far from Sirmione where the tournament will be held.

He is also assigning for a tournament in May called the Norhalne Cup in Denmark and has invited me to attend that as well. I'll have to wait util its closer to the day to see if I'll be able to go there.