edvoidswarranties | blog

another stupid modern day alchemist

2009-10-18T19:59:00.001-04:00

A few days ago, I mentioned a lot would be said about Richard and Falcon Heene. I was right. I claimed Heene was a Dad who taught science by doing. Sadly, I was right on this, too. But this time, he was the experiment. The police in Colorado are going to press charges against Richard Heene because the balloon incident was a hoax. Falcon was never in danger. As the case was built, the police didn’t tip any clues to the media, who were pretty much played again. The police investigated Heene by lying to him to the way he’d lied to them. And through Scientific Method, Heene was exposed. Or at least that’s how the police are telling it now. Given the Sheriff's choice of clothes to wear for such an important press announcement, it’s hard to say who knew what what when.

Heene represented someone who explored science as an enthusiast. Whether or not he really did, whether or not he was teaching his sons the joy of experiments and results; it’s meaningless now. Heene could have had the cure for a disease, routinely fed the homeless, or invented drought resistant veggies, but now branded a liar and a cheat, he and everything about him will soon be filed away into obscurity.

It’s unfortunate when bad Science ends up in the news. I remember hearing about Cold Fusion while in High School, and wondering how it was going to change the world. It was fake. Why do people do this? Do they really think they can get away with such nonsense?

If Richard Heene wanted attention, he could have done something far more cool with the balloon. Instead, he’s made a mockery of others who really are weather enthusiasts and interested in environmental topics. More than anything, he disappointed the few of us who thought quirkiness might be a an innovative method to helping kids learn.

filed under: science

blog action day 2009: climate change

2009-10-15T20:31:00.001-04:00

The world watched today as a small weather balloon floated high above Colorado with fears six year old Falcon Heene was trapped inside, or worse, that he boarded and took off, but wasn’t inside anymore. A lot will be said about today’s story. Thankfully, Falcon wasn’t injured. He was located and was safe. Now people will ask “where were the parents, how could this happen, what kind of weirdo builds weather balloons?”

I’m eager to join this conversation!

Falcon’s Dad, Richard Keene, is a weather enthusiast. Who better to blog about on a Blog Action Day dedicated to Climate Change than a scientist/inventor/storm-chaser who includes his family as he conducts his experiments? Do six year olds always make good decisions? Of course not. Actually, go ahead and tell me at what age we start to always make good decisions. Seriously, what age?

Free thinking minds who’ve been taught to explore and investigate may not always understand the consequences. That’s how we learn. As parents we try to not let anyone get hurt on the journey to knowledge. However, let’s face it, the world is a dangerous place. I have a lot of equipment attached to my home which could easily electrocute an inquisitive child bent on fiddling with it. Am I am a bad parent because it’s not somehow out-of-reach? I love to cook and often cook with my children, encouraging them to try new foods and experiment with me. The stove controls can be reached by a child using any stool readily available in my home. Am I a bad parent?

In the United States science and math skills are declining. Richard Keene is a Dad who’s doing something about it. He has a passion and teaches by live action. My favorite anecdote buried in today’s story was how the family sometimes sleeps fully clothed ready to wake and go at a moment’s notice if they’re tracking a storm and need to be ready to chase it. Kudos to him for keeping his children interested in science and looking forward to what it holds, even through bedtime!

I was terrified at what I saw on CNN today because I watched, as a Dad, in horror knowing no one could help Falcon. But once it was known he was safe and I saw comments starting to judge the parents, I had to speak out. Falcon’s OK. Richard’s a weather enthusiast. Father and son both learned something about science safety today, and they taught us all to be more aware, didn’t they? I hope it all somehow inspires others to take action to be involved with your kids, promote math and science, and most of all, go hug your kids. Accidents will happen no matter what we do, but how we respond defines us.

So what does this have to do, really, with climate change? That’s simple. Like I said: take action to be involved with your kids, promote math and science, and most of all, go hug your kids. It’s their world to inherit. Think about your impact to the world around you and think if this is what you want THEIR kids to inherit.

filed under: blog, science, weather

ases solar tour 2009

2009-10-06T20:30:00.000-04:00

We were extremely honored to showcase our house this past Saturday as Tampa Bay’s Featured Home on American Solar Energy Society's National Solar Tour. Although this is the tour’s fourteenth year, this was the first one locally. The tour began at the University of South Florida’s Clean Energy Research Center with speakers presenting information about solar energy. After an hour, it kicked into high gear and everyone dispersed. With four busloads visiting us (two at once, at one point) and a number of independent explorers, we estimate more than 150 people dropped by to check out our solar solution.

This is what they came to see:

1    SMA Sunny Boy SB5000US Photovoltaic Inverter
22 Sharp ND-U224C1 224W solar panels
1    SMA Sunny Island 5048U Inverter
8    Discover EV305A Lead Acid Batteries
1    Alternative Energy Technologies AE-28 4x7 Solar Water Collector
2    SunRise 1050 Solar-powered Attic Fans

Since our go-live in mid-July, we’ve generated an average of about 22 kWh a day, which is about a third of what it takes to power our home in the summer. We recently had a 24 hour window in which we didn’t need any air conditioning, and the system came very close to providing all of our electricity needs (we netted a take of four kWh from TECO).

I spent the day explaining numbers like this, the return-on-investment model, how the system operates, and answering everyone’s questions. I even spoke to WMNF when they came by. It was a lot of fun and hope I can participate again in some way next year.

Slideshow

filed under: solar, tampa

solar

2009-10-02T15:47:00.001-04:00

We wanted our new home to be as efficient as possible. We were fortunate, the builder we selected used energy-efficient materials and methods as part of their normal processes. To extend what they were doing during construction, we applied mastic to seal the duct-to-vent connections, upgraded to 16 SEER heat pumps with variable speed air handlers, and selected extremely light colored roof shingles to reflect light and heat.

Still, we knew it would be costly to operate a large two story home where air conditioning is an indisputable need. So after construction, we added ceiling fans to many of the rooms, tinted the windows to block ~50% of radiant energy, installed frame-mounted plantation shutters to block as much light and heat as possible, replaced nearly all of the incandescent light bulbs with CFLs (Compact Florescent Lighting), and jumped in to solar energy with both feet.

Our solar installation consists of four discrete technologies. We installed twenty-two photovoltaic (PV) panels on the south roof to capture the sun's energy, rated at a maximum output of 4.928 kilowatt hours. The grid-tied inverter converts the PV energy into electricity. This electricity augments Tampa Electric (TECO)'s feed from the street and also charges our battery back-up system. The eight lead acid batteries in a cabinet provide UPS-like back-up electricity to our critical load items such as the refrigerator, the microwave, telecommunications equipment, and the solar hot water heater. The solar hot water heater works by sending water to a 4'x7' panel on the roof where it's heated and returned to the insulated holding tank. To help reduce the extreme heat in the attic, two self-contained solar powered attic fans pull hot air up and out anytime it's light outside and the attic temperature is above 86 degrees.

Each morning as the sun rises, the panels begin generating energy. The first priority is the batteries. Once fully charged, the energy from the panels feeds the house. Excess electricity is placed back onto the electrical grid, spinning our meter backwards and crediting our account because of our net metering agreement with TECO. Should we experience a disruption of electrical service, our back-up system engages. The solar hot water pump is on a critical load circuit, so as long there's sunlight to re-charge the batteries, we'll always have hot water and electricity.

filed under: green, photovoltaic, solar, tampa

first tooth out

2009-09-16T20:18:00.001-04:00

It’s been several months since my last blog entry. There’s been a ton to do with the move to Tampa, and for better or worse, blogging wasn’t at the top of the list. Finally, things are starting to return to normal.

Yesterday at 5am, my daughter woke me to remind me time is always marching forward. She’d had a wiggly tooth down in front for a while, and she couldn’t wait for it to come out. She was so excited.

Her first tooth is out now. There’s no going back. She says she already feels older. I know I do.

filed under: tampa

recipe: roasted chicken breast with black beans and saffron rice

2009-04-13T20:16:00.001-04:00

Summary: This is roasted, split chicken breast and a Spanish style accompaniment. Prep time is minimal, probably less than about 10 minutes: stage the ingredients - then start cooking. Total time from start to plating is about forty-five minutes.

Rinse the chicken breast and place rib side up (and skin side down) on a pan lined with aluminum foil. Lightly season with soy sauce, season salt, and garlic salt. Use the soy sauce first so it doesn't wash away the dry seasonings.

Start the black beans first. They will take about thirty to forty minutes. Heat the pan to medium high heat. For up to ten minutes, sauté in butter: no less than half a small white or yellow onion, no less than half a green pepper, and some minced garlic. Add a bit of salt and pepper when you place everything into the pan. Drain about half the liquid from the can, pour the remaining beans and liquid into the pan, then fill up half the can with water and pour that in, too. Stir every so often as the liquid reduces. At about fifteen minutes before serving, add a quarter cup of water and lower the heat to medium. At this time, liberally squeeze some lime juice, stir, shake a few drops of Tabasco into it, and stir again. As it continues to reduce, it takes on a paste-like quality. This is what you want.

To roast the chicken, place rib-side up in a pre-heated oven at 500 degrees (or higher). At fifteen minutes, remove the chicken from the oven, flip it over using tongs (do NOT pierce the chicken to flip it), season again with soy sauce, season salt, and garlic salt, and place it back in the oven to roast for another fifteen minutes. This could optionally be done in a broiler. and may shave a few minutes off the cooking time. All gas and electric ovens and broilers differ in temperature control and efficiency; just know you should cook the bottom side of the chicken first for about half the time, then the top. Cooking the breast side up for the second half produces a really nice salt encrusted coating on the skin.

For the rice, I love Vigo saffron yellow rice. For a two person dinner, go with the five ounce package. The package suggests one and a quarter cup of water and I found that works well. Boil water, drop rice, add one or two tablespoons of butter (I use one), stir for a minute until boiling again, cover, lower the heat, and no peeking. At about twenty-three minutes, it's ready and should be served right away.

Final summary: Prep the items, start the beans, then the chicken, then the rice, and it will all end at the same time.

filed under: recipe

recipe: seared tuna with haricot vert and jasmine rice

2009-04-12T20:35:00.001-04:00

Summary: This is seared tuna with steamed green beans and rice. Prep time is minimal, probably less than about 10 minutes: portion the tuna, optionally trim the ends off the beans, make some sauce. The tuna marinates for about thirty minutes and cook time is no more than twenty minutes. Total time from start to plating is about an hour.

Start with the sauce: it's one third each peanut sauce, soy sauce, and ginger sesame. Make one cup if feeding two to four people.

Rinse the tuna in cold water and place the portioned tuna is a tupperware container with tall sides. Drizzle sauce over the top, invert the tuna, repeat so you get both sides. Refrigerate covered for about fifteen minutes. Unrefrigerate for about fifteen minutes. Times can vary, but don't let it marinate for more than an hour or sit unrefrigerated for too long. It's good to have it not super cold when you go to sear it.

For me, the jasmine rice takes exactly twenty minutes, but follow the instructions on the bag. Mine suggests one cup of rice to one and half cups of water. Boil water, drop rice, stir for a minute, cover, lower the heat, and no peeking. At twenty minutes, it's ready, but it can sit for at least another five if off the heat and kept covered.

Haricot verts are skinny green beans and sound way cooler than pole beans, but they’re generally interchangeable. The time to steam the green beans will vary depending on the size of the pot, the amount of beans, and how crisp you like them. In all cases, it's less than twenty minutes from start, so start the beans after the rice is going. You can season the beans with salt and pepper, I prefer to steam them without seasoning and simply drizzle some of the sauce on them right before serving.

Bring the pan for the tuna up to medium to medium high heat. The tuna is seared in a pan, flipping it every two minutes, liberally drizzling the sauce on it after each flip. If your tuna is like mine and thick cut, sear up to five minutes for rare, nine minutes for medium rare, and twelve minutes for medium well. Drizzle the sauce on it one last time at plating.

For a nice touch, toast black and white sesame to garnish the rice. Toast them in a frying pan over medium heat. For me, the white ones brown after roughly nine to twelve minutes of pan time. You have to keep an eye on them or they'll burn. Stir them around every few minutes. When toasted to how you want them, remove them from the pan and place into a small container until the rice is plated.

Final summary: Prep the items, start the rice, then the sesame seeds, then the beans, then the tuna, and it will all end at the same time. Enjoy!

filed under: recipe

turkeynado

2009-04-10T20:25:00.003-04:00

We have Tornadoes in Atlanta. Again. This one looks like a giant turkey when rendered in 3D. The software is probably the coolest weather software I’ve ever seen.

filed under: parody, weather

3.14

2009-03-14T16:53:00.001-04:00

The US House of Representatives recently passed Resolution 224 “Supporting the designation of Pi Day, and for other purposes,” making today, March 14th, Pi Day.

It’s a shame Tom Selleck wasn’t sought as the spokesperson. In my opinion, he personifies the PI acronym. Happy Pi Day!

filed under: holidays

chickenhawkanado?

2009-02-18T21:07:00.001-05:00

When tornadic storms look like angry animated chickenhawks … –>

See?

filed under: parody, weather

1234567890

2009-02-13T09:54:00.001-05:00

We're still in the first half of a 13 month time and date extravaganza of events spanning August 8th, 2008 (8/8/08) to September 9, 2009 (9/9/09). Crazy eights kicked it all off and just recently we celebrated a leap second.

Today marks 1234567890 in Unix time. At 23:31:30 UTC (dinner time on the US East coast), we will have ticked away 1,234,567,890 seconds since Unix sysadmins started counting seconds. It all started on January 1, 1970 when the calendar rolled over and closed the era of the Space Race, free love, and no bras and exchanged it for hairy lambchops for the sides of men's faces, bell bottom pants, socks you could pull up to your knees, and well, lots of other stuff.

Ironically, Unix time started before UTC and Leap Seconds and even before they called it Unix. Happy 1234567890'ing!

filed under: holidays, time

bullet-resistant clothing, but is it dry clean only

2009-01-26T20:27:00.001-05:00

During the presidential inauguration, I wondered (out loud, too) if Obama was wearing a bulletproof vest. The next day, Wired posted a story suggesting he was indeed wearing bullet-resistant clothing.

Here are two videos posted on VBS.tv in which host Ryan Duffy of The Vice Guide to Travel visits Bogota, Colombia to see how clothes like this work. While there and filming at Protección Personal Especializada, Miguel Caballero (aka the Armani of Armor) has him try on a jacket - and then shoots him from less than two feet away. Through the adrenalin overload, Ryan manages to laugh it off, then pockets the flattened bullet as a souvenir.

I am SO behind on this technology. Until as recently as today I thought my Scott eVest was cool!

Note to self, add a jacket to my birthday wishlist!

filed under: innovations, politics

legislative wish list for 2009

2009-01-18T14:08:00.003-05:00

Wednesday, January 7, 2009 marked the first time since 1981 when all the living presidents convened at the White House. It was history in the making to see the POTUSes gather for something un-funeral and un-disaster related. And it was extra special because it included the President-elect. We live in an amazing country which can transition leadership peacefully and in an organized manner.

After the photo opportunity, the who’s who of the Executive Branch met for lunch. Although I’m a self-proclaimed food expert, Industrial Margineer by day (though officially designated a Product Manager by my company) and Dad, blogger, and plausibly deniable undercover super secret presidential confidant the rest of the time, I can't say or not say what was served for lunch.

I can say, if I was asked, you know, "hypothetically," by our new president, what lesser explored issues are on my mind to address in 2009, I have a quick list off the top of my head.

Breathalyzer/alcohol/inebriation testing tools should be standard equipment for every mode of public transportation. How many more times do we need to hear about alcohol-scented pilots turned away by TSA before something is done? Who's watching ferry boat captains or bus drivers or taxi drivers or train engineers? Ummm, nobody, huh? So let's protect the passengers (who may be crossing state lines) with a federal program to simply not allow the engine to start unless the person responsible is really ready to go.
We should pay taxes by the mile, not the gallon. As the US does more in the coming years to mandate increases to vehicle fuel efficiency and alternative energies, state tax coffers will begin to take a hit as we buy less fuel. Since 2004, Oregon has been leading the idea to charge by the mile instead of the gallon to ensure their state doesn't miss the boat and find itself out of revenue for state-provided services. Most states are set up to check emissions, so the framework exists for an annual mileage reporting system. Even states (or counties) without emissions testing require vehicle insurance; insurance companies could easy be proxied to check odometers. To keep states happy in this Federal system, they could decide how much they wish to charge per mile. There's probably a number of technology ideas which could help with this, too.
Collegiate athletes shouldn't be permitted to go pro unless they finish their degree or sit out two years. We're talking about big money, big business, and big egos. Athletes use publicly funded universities as a stage for their future. There's no problem with that, because the same thing is happening through interning and scientific research at the same universities. Competition is fierce on the playing field and just as much as in business. But we never hear about someone being permitted to sit for the Bar Exam or being invited to medical residency before finishing school.
Q. Would you like a federal license to go pro (which requires drug testing, by the way)?
A. Finish school.

I doubt these will ever be popular ideas. But I think they'd make our country better.

filed under: innovations, parody, politics

beautiful meatball

2009-01-16T19:32:00.002-05:00

I remember a Cosby Show episode from years ago in which Dr. Cliff Huxtable (Bill Cosby) and his son Theo (Malcolm-Jamal Warner) were watching MTV together. The good doctor pronounced the music videos he'd seen were nothing short than the realization of someone's nightmare.

This week, my wife was shuttling our kids around and as she typically does, was listening to music on the radio. Marilyn Manson's Beautiful People began to play. My daughter, who just turned 5 this week, really likes music with a harder edge. She picked up the song pretty quick and began to sing out loud to my wife. But she didn’t quite understand the lyrics. The squeaky voice from the back of the minivan chanted her version, "the beautiful meatball, the beautiful meatball ...” It seems she’s not the only one to misinterpret the lyrics.

Yes, Bill, Kids Say the Darndest Things. And you were also spot on about the nightmare comment. I found the video for this song.

Take a look, and at two minutes and fifty seconds in, is he screaming about people, or meatballs?

filed under: bill cosby, kids, malcolm-jamal warner, marilyn manson

innovation wish list for 2009

2009-01-05T22:36:00.006-05:00

Today was my first day back at work in over a week. Now it really feels like a new year, and work is cranking right along. But hang on a moment! I've been waiting, patiently, for many things, and for a long time. Another year has ticked by and I never expected 2008 to bring flying cars or jetpacks or anything like that, but seriously, where are the following innovations?

Where’s my refrigerator with a barcode/RFID reader for inventory management? When I pass food items through the fridge door, the system should make note. Why can’t the LCD screen outside on the door warn me when the milk is about to expire, or the leftover Chinese food I tagged myself with disposable self-stick barcodes two weeks ago is toxic now? How else can I check to see if I’m low or out of something if the big box commanding my kitchen can’t tell me? Opening the door and rooting around inside is so, well, 1950s.
While we’re at, where’s my microwave with the same barcode/RFID reader? Why can’t I just wave the little package in front of the microwave and have it program itself? I didn’t make this up, I know these things are out there. I assumed I’d need an Ethernet connection to download the latest barcodes and RFID signatures, so I built my house in 2000 with an Ethernet jack just below the microwave (and one behind the refrigerator, too). But all seems quiet on the connected appliance front. Come on now, it’s not like I’m trying to get a self-unloading dishwasher.
Why can’t Tivo offer a one hour buffer instead of just 30 minutes? I could hack my DirecTivo HR10-250 to do it. I can probably use the same code to hack my Tivo HD, too. Come on, Tivo, storage is the least expensive it’s been in years and I’ll happily give up space for the gigabytes of kid shows occupying that buffer space now.
Why can’t I pay for things with my mobile phone yet? Everyone in Japan has done this for years. In fact, they can buy Jack Black (see photo above) right out of a vending machine with their phones, so if the technology is secure, inexpensive, and scalable, where is it in the US?
Why do children still die in cars when they’re left alone in the vehicles in the heat? Google, you seem to solve everyone’s problems, how about this one? How hard is it to put something into a car to detect movement, a heartbeat, weight in a carseat – and set off an alarm or automatically roll down the windows when the temperature exceeds a dangerous level? If Ford can make a car which can park itself (never mind BMW has offered this for a few years already), why don’t we have methods to protect passengers who can’t speak for themselves?
And where are U-Turn signals for cars? This idea may be older than me!
I really want the new house I’m building to be as green as can be. Australia has dual flush toilets everywhere. Why doesn’t Home Depot carry ANY (not even one model)? Sure, they have one posted right now on their web site (it’s perpetually out of stock). Try to buy one in a local store. Take a tape measure to see how far the plumbing department’s representative shoots their eyebrows into the air when you ask for this. My favorite is how they advise you to just jiggle the handle to simulate a lesser flush. I thought Orange was going Green?
And this last one is reaching because it’s new, but wow, I sure would like some photovoltaic solar window tinting. I’ll have East/West facing windows in Florida primed to capture electricity to help power my home (or feedback onto the grid). I’m already going to have to tint the windows anyway, why not juice ‘em from the outside?

I’m not asking for anything weird here. All of these are possible. Will 2009 be the year?

filed under: innovations,tivo,rfid

a new howto section at edvoidswarranties

2009-01-02T16:14:00.005-05:00

One of the original reasons I had for starting to blog was I wanted a place to document and post details about the modifications I’ve made to Tivos, Windows-based cell phones, my home network, etc. I thought others might find some of it interesting. For one reason or another, I haven’t posted anything like this at all.

Today, I started a subsection of my site dedicated specifically for this. I don’t plan to post tutorials frequently, but when I do, I want them to be easy to find. I created a new subdomain for this. The how-to guides I’ll post to http://howto.edvoidswarranties.com/ won’t be included in the same RSS feed as http://edvoidswarranties.com/; they’ll be syndicated on their own.

But at least now when I tell tall tales of how I can watch live TV via my mobile phone or how I’ve made it possible to watch my High Definition home movies on my HD Tivos (via network attached storage) - just as if they’d been broadcast in HD – I’ll finally have a dedicated place to post instructions you can follow to do the same, should you choose to want to geek out, too.

My first post in the howto section is how to set up two blogger feeds into the same domain, in this case, edvoidswarranties.com.

filed under: blog,howto

the year in rewind

2008-12-30T22:26:00.007-05:00

2008 has been an amazing year of change.

Personally
I stepped into Social Networking this year by joining Facebook and Twitter, quitting Myspace, posting to Flickr, and beginning to blog. I'm still not sure what to make of Twitter, but Facebook has been a real trip. I've reconnected with a number of people and can now remain in semi-real-time touch with everyone there. The cross section of friends ranges from family to past and present co-workers, neighbors, and schoolmates going back as far as elementary school. Some of my connections are people I’d never have found otherwise. My wife joined Facebook soon after I did. As an example of how it's permeated our lives and vernacular, my son was eating dinner one night and said, "Mom, I like this dinner so much I'm putting it on my friends list!" A few other quotes this year from both kids can be found here and here.

Family
At home, the year's biggest news is we signed a contract to build a new house in Tampa, FL. They're pulling the permits now and will hopefully pour the slab in January. If all goes well, we'll be moving this summer. Early in 2008 we dumped DirecTV and switched to Tivo HDs. This was a significant move because it meant not having to re-hack and update the DirecTV Tivos each time DirecTV issued a software update. The hacks were necessary to attempt to maintain feature parity with non-DirecTV Tivos. By switching, it meant everything would work the way it was supposed to and I didn't have to risk bricking a DVR. Ironically, a primary reason for starting to blog was to document and share hacks and tricks for Tivos and other hobbies, and about the same time I finally started blogging, the software builds of the products I’d been hacking stabilized enough to the point where I no longer needed to tinker.

This summer we took the kids to their first concert: REM's final US tour date in the US - or at least it was the final date when we saw them. I don't know why, but REM returned in the fall to play a few cities and I was able to see the concert in Dallas with my sister, her husband, and some of my friends.

Earlier this month, my son lost his first tooth. I played a joke on him with a molar of mine. I told him the Tooth Fairy brings a cash reward or a new tooth to replace the old one. Without him seeing, I swapped his tiny tooth in the box with my wisdom tooth (I have no idea why I kept it, or even how I knew where it was when I suddenly wanted it), and when he went to look under his pillow for his score, he just stared it in disbelief. My daughter's reaction was priceless, "How is THAT going to fit in your mouth?" she asked him, eyes as wide as his. The laughter waned quickly, so we gave him his real reward, a Bakugan toy. Both kids went to the dentist today and continue to be cavity-free.

Career
In August, I helped lead some changes two years in the making (some of the ideas I actually had since 2001, long before I started this role). I'm helping pick up the pace, too, so we don't have to wait two-plus years between innovations. It's sometimes frustrating being an agent of change, but I believe it's all for the right reasons. I have a fantastic boss, grand-boss, and great-grand-boss, so I'm empowered to accomplish as much as I can, providing I can convince everyone else it needs to happen.

In 2007 I traveled quite a bit. We have corporate goals to reduce our travel spend, and I slashed my trips considerably. On the road in 2008, I cut my actual air miles flown by more than half what I flew in 2007. Still, I was fortunate to get to visit three countries outside the US (England, Japan, and United Arab Emirates), one of them previously unvisited (UAE). I blogged both about traveling to Dubai and what it was like while I was there. In the US, I flew once on Delta SkyMiles to Dallas (for REM), and we took a road trip in April to see family and friends in the mid-West and mid-Atlantic. I had the opportunity to visit three Gordon Ramsay restaurants outside the US (York & Albany, Maze Grill, and Verre), spend time with work-friends around the world, and even made some new ones. We're collaborating more and more with video-enabled technologies, so I expect 2009 to see less travel, and more face-to-face, or at least monitor-to-monitor. I'm even planning to build an unique (and hopefully aesthetic) background in my new home office just for video meetings.

Fast-Forward
I'm really, really looking forward to 2009. Thanks for reading!

filed under: facebook, twitter, flickr, tivo, gordon ramsay, restaurant review, r.e.m., bakugan, delta, blog, tampa

second thoughts

2008-12-28T12:18:00.005-05:00

I thought it was just me, but the days really are getting longer. At midnight on New Year's this year, we'll all be adding an extra second to the time. Leap seconds were introduced in 1972 to reconcile the difference between the slowing speed of the Earth's rotation and the time tracked by a network of atomic clocks (which keep track of the time by observing Cesium-133 oscillations).

At 23:59:59, the time will increment to 23:59:60 before rolling to 00:00:00. If you won’t be lip-locked at midnight this year, this planned anomaly can be seen on any GPS’s NMEA stream or at time.gov. The degree of likelihood you might do actually watch for this is inversely proportional to the odds you’re likely to kiss anyone in the first place.

Whether or not you believe in linear time, now that you know you have an extra second, make good use of it. These only come around every few years.

“Time, time, time, see what's become of me”
Hazy Shade of Winter, 1966
Simon and Garfunkel

filed under: time

unpause

2008-12-26T20:55:00.005-05:00

It’s been less than two months since my last entry, but it sure feels like it’s been a lot longer.

filed under: blog

restaurant review: verre by gordon ramsay (dubai)

2008-11-02T22:26:00.005-05:00

I’m very lucky to have an opportunity to visit my third Gordon Ramsay restaurant in a month. This time, I was in Dubai in the United Arab Emirates.

Verre is located inside the Dubai Creek Hilton and is adjacent to the Glasshouse Mediterranean Brasserie, the hotel’s general purpose restaurant. I had two breakfasts and a dinner at Glasshouse during my Dubai stay. The dinner was good, but the breakfasts were, well, English style, and therefore something I really don’t happen to like (for reasons I won’t blog here because they’re irrelevant). I’m told the kitchens are run separately, but both are “overseen” by the same crew. I can’t see how this can possibly be true, because Verre was lightyears different from Glasshouse.

I’ll start with the two things working against Verre – the ambiance and staff. Because it’s inside the Hilton, there’s only so much within their control. There was no table overlooking the kitchen as in other Ramsay restaurants(unless it was in the kitchen itself which I did not see), and the dining room is basically a giant rectangle. Although decorated nicely, it did not have the flair of the the other Ramsay restaurants I’ve visited. And although I never thought I’d say this about any restaurant, the staff was a bit aggressive. There were at least five purple-shirted people working the restaurant, plus a maitre’ d and a manager. At some point in the evening, every person visited my table at least once either running food, bread, refilling my water, or just making sure all was well. At first I thought this was great considering service outside the US sometimes requires flares and arm waving, but I was eating by myself. Mid-way through the meal, I began to wonder if if this would be distracting if I was eating with others. I noticed patrons around me giggling and frustration at the constant visits and explanations as each item is presented to the table – possibly because the accents of some of those delivering the food were so difficult to understand.

Verre is a hybrid fine dining restaurant. I suspect if I wandered into one of Gordon Ramsay’s UK fine dining restaurants wearing jeans and a golf shirt, I may be chased away. But at Verre, I was ok. I’d like to think this is the best of both worlds because you shouldn’t have to wear a jacket to enjoy a fine meal. I ordered the “Fillet of Angus beef with braised onions and salsify served with pomme puree and port jus.” I figured this was a steak and potato, and although fish is touted, I didn’t want fish.

Just after ordering, canapes arrived. One type was fried with a sour cream center, another was a tomato and possibly onion puree. There were a few varieties altogether. Although each was introduced, I struggled to identify what some were and simply didn’t understand the accent of the person running the food or I’d have written it all down; but every one of them was good. Shortly after I finished the canapes, a shot of butternut squash and mushroom soup (possibly a bisque) arrived in an espresso cup. It was frothy on top and the flavors were really well balanced.

Finally, my main course arrived. It was a filet mignon (probably 8oz) with potato puree on the side. The potatoes were similar to mashed potatoes, but basically annihilated in a food processor. I’d have preferred a bit more imperfection and chunkiness, but if they were shooting for silky-smooth and buttery, they nailed it. The filet was cooked a bit more than medium rare (which is what I ordered), could have used a touch more seasoning, and it was surrounded by six to eight little bits of pearl onions and what I believe was asparagus stalks, broiled in au jus. I was surprised the steak was so small, but that just may be I’m so used to US restaurants and the typical US portions size. The steak was topped with sunny-side up little egg. It was ironic the Glasshouse couldn’t figure out breakfast and here was a perfectly cooked egg next door – just 1/4 the size it should be to really eat it. It was cute, but I wasn’t about to try that with my filet so I scooched it over to the side of the plate.

I skipped dessert which was a good idea since they brought complementary little chocolates and a couple of chalk-sized meringues in a small glass.

All in all, it was a very good dinner for a hotel restaurant, though I’d have expected a bit more for a bit less from a Ramsay restaurant, even in the fine dining category. Had all the little creative and tasty extras not come along, the main course would not have scored as high a rating from me.

The lone entree and a glass of bottled still water came to 278 Dirhams (service charge included).

Out of a possible five stars in each category, Verre scored:

Atmosphere:	Food:
Service:	Value:

My opinion: Check it out, if it’s on your way.

filed under: restaurant review, dubai, gordon ramsay, urbanspoon, verre

dubai: the destination

2008-11-02T15:07:00.005-05:00

Dubai is a fast growing city in the United Arab Emirates. One person mentioned to me UAE is expected to run out of oil within the decade; UAE’s website suggests this will happen within the next 20 years. As a result, UAE is transforming Dubai to be an international playground. Going to and from the hotel to the office last week, I noticed signs for a planned Six Flags, Legoland, and some sort of Marvel characters theme park. The signs for this are down the street from the world’s tallest building (Burj Dubai) and the mall where you can snow ski.

I didn’t even try to count the number of buildings I saw under construction, and the bit of Dubai I saw was only a fraction of what’s there. It seems like the entire city one giant construction project. If you’re a crane operator or experienced in architecting or building hi-rises, this is definitely the place to be. Because everything is seemingly starting from scratch, it’s conceivable this is the best possible place in the world for unlimited opportunity.

The whole world says Dubai is and will be world’s international playground. But while in town, I heard stories of low hi-rise occupancy and the challenges of filling existing locations when new ones become available every day, properties using money laundered foreign investment money, and forced relocations of ultra-low income blue collar workers illegally residing en masse in what are supposed to be single family villas. Something no one mentioned but I noticed on my own was the smog. I can't imagine what the air quality must be like on summer days. I snapped a picture from the roof of my hotel (that's where they placed the pool) at sunset and snapped another picture from ground level inside the taxi going to work. In both, it's easy to see the air quality is terrible. But this is Dubai after all, if they put their mind to fixing it, I wouldn’t be surprised if they find a way to resolve this.

It seems Dubai may not be as rosy as everyone claims but one thing is for certain: UAE is betting everything they have on building this playground. Time will tell how it turns out.

filed under: travel, dubai

dubai: the journey

2008-11-01T19:09:00.005-04:00

This week, I visited Dubai in the United Arab Emirates for the first time. From the beginning, I knew this trip was going to be interesting based on who was traveling with me. I couldn’t actually count of course, but I’d say 15%-20% of the people flying with me were construction workers, military contractors, or maybe even mercenaries. Actually, my first thought was the Ultimate Fighting Championship was staging a match in Dubai. The size of these guys, their bicep circumferences, and their tribal tattoos really did scream cage-fighters, but the khaki bags, fat black digital watches, and military-style boots hinted these folks weren’t flying for Ultimate Fighting. They were absolutely not the heads-down, acne-riddled late teens / early twenties soldiers with new boots I see all the time on their way to bootcamp or their first deployment. These were older, serious people. The two next to me in the plane were on their way to Qatar, working as military contractors for the US Army repairing war-damaged equipment.

Because this trip was rather suddenly decided, I hadn’t really read much to prepare. I was originally supposed to go to Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, but that changed when I was in London earlier in the month. Dubai is nothing like what I anticipated Riyadh to be. Once off the plane, I breezed through Passport Control and actually walked right by Customs. There was no documentation to fill out on the plane, and just a single, quick line at the passport desk. From the point at which the plane landed until I was standing in front of an ATM to withdraw Dirhams for my taxi, I believe it was less than 30 minutes (I didn’t check a bag).

Conversely, departing Dubai was a completely different story. I had to pass through the first line at X-Ray & metal detectors to get to the second line at check-in/ticket counter. Then I had to pass through a quick third line to show the boarding pass so I could stand in a fourth line at Passport & Immigration Control. After that, there was a fifth line for X-Ray & metal detectors to proceed to the gates, which was followed by a sixth line just outside the actual gate. Once through the sixth line, I was finally in the gate area waiting to board. For Delta, this means waiting until they call the boarding zone, and one last seventh line while waiting to board. I was in lines one through six from the moment I arrived at 9:15 PM until I entered the gate area at 11:15 PM for my 11:45 PM flight. I didn’t even have time to shop for souvenirs.

The flights to and from ATL were non-stop, each more than 14 hours in the air. Neither of my standby-to-upgrade requests cleared, so I was in coach in both directions. I was lucky to have a bulkhead seat on the way to DXB, but was in a standard coach seat on the return. The flight back was really the more difficult of the two red-eyes, because I was up at 7 AM local time and working at the office until 4 PM. I did the math in the taxi to the house at 7:30 Thursday morning. I realized I last got out of bed at 11 PM Tuesday night Atlanta time (there’s an eight hour time difference between Dubai and Atlanta).

Getting to and from Dubai was certainly easier with non-stop flights, but I can’t say it was an easy trip. Should I ever return, I now know more of what to expect when traveling.

filed under: travel, dubai

r.e.m. in dallas

2008-10-25T10:03:00.005-04:00

I’m a big, big R.E.M. fan, and this year, I got to see them twice on the same tour. I arrived in Dallas on Friday, October 24, 2008 for a twenty-four hour stay in the pinnacle of rock around the clocktober. My flight was slightly because of bad weather in ATL, but it didn’t faze my enthusiasm once I was on the ground.

Sharon picked Mariano’s Mexican Restaurant, whose proximity to the Nokia Theater was perfect. A quick dinner with family and friends and we were off to the venue.

Inside, the venue was cozy. There really wasn’t a bad seat in the place, and we were in the first row of the second section, literally against the wall and behind a railing. I was worried about the seats when I purchased the tickets, but these were really great seats, even if they were off to one side.

Old 97’s opened for R.E.M. There was some Old 97’s fans in the audience; they were hopping around and singing. Every song sort of sounded the same to me, but I wasn’t listening too closely.

R.E.M. took the stage around 9:30. They opened with Living Well Is the Best Revenge. From memory, they played a number of songs from the recent album, such as Man-Sized Wreath, Supernatural Serious, Hollow Man, Sing for the Submarine, and Horse to Water. They also played (not in this order): Seven Chinese Brothers, Electron Blue, Ignoreland, Exhuming McCarthy, Disturbance at the Heron House, It’s the End of the World as We Know It, The One I Love, What’s the Frequency Kenneth, Walk Unafraid, Imitation of Life, Losing My Religion, and of course, they closed as they always do with with Man On the Moon. They also played two songs right in the middle which sounded new, but I didn’t recognize at all.

If I didn’t know better, they seemed a bit tired. I know they’ve been on the road all year and have just two or three more concerts, then they’re done. It seemed to me they were just going through the motions. There were fewer addresses to the audience than the Atlanta concert in June and Michael had fewer happy recollections. Instead, Michael seemed to go out of his way to stir the pot by remarking more than once how they knew they were in George Bush’s backyard and made sure to pad the playlist with protest songs. He also went on to explain how he lived in Texas as a child and didn’t like it. As a result, they were heckled a bit – something I can’t even fathom happening in Atlanta. The concert ended just before 11:30. The Atlanta show had higher energy and they played longer, but I’m still very, very happy to have had the opportunity to see them again. They’re without question my favorite band and I can’t wait to get to see them again.

filed under: dallas, r.e.m., remdallas

restaurant review: stoney river (roswell)

2008-10-22T02:03:00.006-04:00

October is Anniversary month. My wife and I were married in October, as were my parents. This year, they came to visit as they celebrated their 40th. We went to Stoney River in Roswell for dinner and it was a fantastic evening.
I called ahead to hold a table just for after 7 PM. Even though it was a Monday, we didn’t want to risk a long wait. Funnily enough, my Dad called ahead as well, but after me. When he explained he was celebrating his 40th wedding anniversary and would like to hold a table, he had quite a laugh when they addressed him by name. The apple didn’t fall far, Dad.
We were greeted and seated promptly. There was a large party of co-workers seated nearby finishing their dinner. They were a bit loud and some were jawboning into mobile phones. It was tough to hear our server when she initially greeted us, but as soon as they left, the ambiance was much nicer.
Diving right into it, may parents split a Spinach Salad ($7.99) and my wife and I split a Head of Lettuce salad($6.99). Yes, it really is about 85% of an entire head of lettuce. My parents enjoyed theirs and ours was excellent, too. The lettuce was amazingly crisp (which illustrates a simple-to-do but often overlooked quality of iceberg lettuce). The tomatoes were fresh, the bacon crisp, and they remembered the extra blue cheese dressing I’d requested.
Next, we all had Filet Mignons. My Dad went for the 10oz Lodge Filet with burgundy mushrooms ($30.99) and the rest of us all ordered the 10oz Lodge Filet Oscar ($46.98). Stoney River doesn’t use any breading in their crab cake, so what arrived basically amounted to a filet with lump crab meat on and next to the steak. Both were the steak and crab meat were nicely seasoned and complemented each other (the crab cake even had bit of a southern drawl when it told the filet how nice it was). My wife and I both had baked potatoes; my Mom had the caramelized onion mashed potatoes.
The dinner was served at a well designed pace. We were able to eat and converse without rushing either.
The really nice surprise, however, came when instead of our server arriving to offer coffee and dessert – she just brought it! As anniversary gifts, we received the Almond-laced Top Hat (vanilla ice cream, raspberries, and triple sec sauce topped with a crispy almond sheet) and the Chocolate Fudge Cake (with vanilla ice cream and nuts). We ordered coffee and four wheel barrow assists so we could make it back to the car.
It was a spectacular evening and Stoney River really came through to help us celebrate. The service was very attentive, and we really enjoyed the experience. Stoney River has now firmly cemented itself as our #1 spot for special occasion dining on Atlanta’s north side. The food was just a bit more expensive than I’d like to see given the area and competition, and when busy, the acoustics were a bit rough, but the food and service were absolutely top notch.

Out of a possible five stars in each category, Stoney River scored:

Atmosphere:	Food:
Service:	Value:

My opinion: Book it!

filed under: restaurant review, roswell, stoney river, urbanspoon

so, so glad they never made “who’s rattlin’ my cheney”

2008-10-14T19:18:00.005-04:00

Weeks ago, I promised myself I would remain completely out of the public debates related to the upcoming 2008 Presidential election. However, I found something too impossible to not comment. It seems Tina Fey and Saturday Night Live aren’t the only ones in the entertainment industry parodying the woman who may become the next US Vice President. Hats off to Larry Flynt for producing “Who’s Nailin’ Palin.” The First Amendment never fails to surprise! I really have to wonder if the book in the picture was on the list of items "questioned for banning” in Alaska?

filed under: politics, parody