Why I've been neglecting this blog lately

 

In short, I've been kind of busy:

1. I got married
Andrea and I finally tied the knot in a small family ceremony in San Francisco. With a little help from a college buddy who's now a minister, we commandeered the steps of the City Hall rotunda, so the photos make the event look much more formal and planned than it actually was. To the left is an artist's rendering of the ceremony.

About nine members from Andrea's family came to the U.S. to participate in our union, along with the Phoenix contingent of my family. Everything worked out perfectly. More wedding pictures here.

2. I got an XBox 360
You know the old saying that it takes Microsoft three tries to get something right? Well they nailed the game console the second time around. This is a really well-designed system, with lots of power and an easy-to-use interface. I've always been partial to PC gaming because of the ability to download demo games and the fact that the keyboard-and-mouse combo is the best way to play first-person shooters. The XBox's hard drive and Internet connection takes care of the first problem, and while I still long for the free-look option of the mouse, playing with a controller isn't so bad. The nice thing about consoles is the economics -- you pay $400 every few years or so for a really powerful system that guarantees games written for it will work properly. No more worrying about having to upgrade the graphics card or memory. Now, my desktop computer won't feel obsolete as quickly.

And Microsoft did a great job designing this system. Connecting and playing with friends is a snap. Now I can finally use the video-game option on my Blockbuster rental plan. And -- aside from the original Quake, which was a breakthrough is so many ways -- Gears of War is probably the best game I've ever played.

My XBox even has its own blog. No, really.

3. The job
As I mentioned here earlier, Investor's Business Daily promoted me to Assistant Technology Editor, which has handed me a ton of responsibilities. Favorite part of the job: writing headlines. Least favorite part: dealing with angry reporters who swear I've ruined their masterpiece.

4. The election
Now the the Democrats have retaken congress and restored some level of sanity back into Washington, I won't have as much to rant about. It won't be enough to undo six years' worth of damage, but at least we have some semblance of checks and balances in the federal government. Let's hope the Dems don't blow it. 

Are nominations open yet for this year's Darwin Awards?

Man hurt after lighting firecracker in buttocks

Too cool for words.

Photosynth

Wal-Mart opts for ‘Christmas’ marketing

Wal-Mart Stores Inc.’s Christmas cheer seems to be a hot trend this season as several other retailers including Kohl’s Corp. and Macy’s, a division of Federated Department Stores Inc., are also stepping up their Christmas marketing. The moves respond to mounting criticism from religious groups that staged boycotts against Wal-Mart and other merchants after they eliminated or de-emphasized “Christmas” in their advertising.

Because there's nothing Jesus wants more than to see his birth turned into a way for retail chains to boost shareholder returns -- during a traditional pagan holiday, no less. Cha-ching!

Link

Real ‘OC’ Starts Objecting to Its MTV Portrayal

"This is not depicting our town the way it should be depicted,” said Lisa Arthur, who has two children in the school and one who graduated. “Our town is about art and culture, and school should be about education."

Really? This is Orange County we're talking about, right?

 

Source: Real ‘OC’ Starts Objecting to Its MTV Portrayal - New York Times

GOP: Rumsfeld stepping down

Wow, that was fast. 

Link

Better than I could have possibly imagined.

Finally, a return to sanity.

Vote today

 If the Democrats can't win in this environment, they just can't win.

Link to Political News - MSNBC.com

Restore hotkey functionality to Windows Desktop Search 3.0

It's not as simple as it should be, but it's possible.

Strange but true

Here's a mountain range in Canada that looks like a carved profile of Egyptian royalty. UFO conspiracy theorists, start your engines! The Mars face has nothing on this.

Link

Windows Desktop Search 3.0 is out

This is a great free application, and the newest version promises faster indexing. It uses the same underlying technology as the search function in Windows Vista, which also is tightly integrated with Office 2007.

But as some have pointed out, this new version of WDS is a step backwards in some ways -- it doesn't index network-mapped drives and the hotkey functionality no longer works. So if you're a big user of either of those, you may want to hold off a bit.

Link

Transforming a 2D image into 3D

Very cool. Sort of reminds me of Microsoft's soon-to-launch Photosynth.

The nut jobs in San Francisco are going to ruin it for everyone

Davis Freeberg details a recent town hall about Google's efforts to bring free wireless Internet access to San Francisco:

The lunacy of San Francisco politics can take several forms and town hall meetings are sure to attract some of San Francisco’s craziest nut jobs. While I was surprised not to see San Francisco’s representative from the 12 galaxies, Frank Chu, attend the meeting, I did get to see Chris Sacca from Google face a parade of activist oddballs who neither understood technology nor the positive social impact that free wifi could bring to some of the city’s most disadvantaged citizens.

At the meeting, Sacca did an excellent job or remaining calm and explaining the technology in language that anyone could understand, still these local political gadflies seemed to feel that EarthLink and Google providing free WiFi to the citizens was akin to killing kittens because, they attacked Sacca with a venom that was absolutely shocking.

Some of the crazier demands that were suggested at the meeting included a “requirement” for every San Francisco renter to sign a lease addendum with their landlords before being allowed to install a WiFi card in their PC, forcing Google to agree to transport kids back and forth to the Zoo in their Google busses and a requirement for EarthLink to pay the electrical costs for running computers in order to prevent brownouts.

Another argument for requiring more science, math and logic courses in school.

Link

Court Told It Lacks Power in Detainee Cases

Where have I read this story before? Oh that's right, here.

Firefox still faster than IE 7

Or so says former Microsoftie Robert Scoble. Alarmingly, IE was especially slow in rendering AJAX-heavy sites such as Google Maps. So much for Steve Ballmer's vow that the company would own Web 2.0.

Judging from the beta I've used, IE is a big improvement, but still no Firefox. One big problem: IE breaks compatibility with some Web sites. So it's basically the worst of both worlds.

Microsoft designs an iPod box

Video: MS iPod

Old but funny.

I spoke just a little too soon

It looks like Sony is formally recalling batteries in its own laptops.

Link

Partying like it's 1991

My work e-mail has been down the entire day. On the whole, I think it's actually made me more productive, at least today. But, boy, has it reminded me how dependant we are on e-mail. How did journalists do their job before? I can't remember life before e-mail.

Kuo: White House ‘Seduces Christians’

More on the Bush's No. 2 guy on "Faith-Based" initiatives:

In some ways White House power is like [J.R.R.] Tolkien’s ring of power. When you put it on, it feels good and it’s dazzling. But after a while it begins to consume you in ways you don’t realize. That’s the nature of White House power. I have no doubt that Christian political leaders have gotten involved for all the right reasons. I just think over time it becomes harder and harder to stand up against that ring of power and the White House, to say no and walk away.

Source:  Newsweek, via MSNBC.com

Sony laptop battery recall widens

The massive global recall of batteries made by Sony Corp. widened Wednesday as Japanese electronics maker Fujitsu Ltd. said it is recalling 287,000 laptop batteries that are at risk of overheating or catching fire.

Isn't it interesting that one of the few laptop makers not to issue a recall over Sony batteries is Sony itself?

Link