email me: chris@chris-karath.com
January 2010
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I want to hear your 
At Dan's Game Night.
-- Sent from my Palm Pre
Random Non-Sequiters
This morning as I was going out the door, I realized I was out of podcasts for my morning commute. Engadget is a podcast I usually listen to and I remembered I did have the Engadget WebOS app for my Palm Pre, so I thought I'd give that a try. I clicked to the Podcast page and the podcast started right up and it buffered quickly enough even while driving that I never skipped or missed a beat.
Nice App and a nice change to know that I don't have to be quite so mindful with preloading my MP3 player with morning podcasts now that I can also stream them from the internets straight to my phone while driving.
Let's Go Surfing
Friend Jeff was at Apparitions this weekend, and apparently employee Tom had been holding some Lantern Corps rings for me. Jeff picked them up. Sortof a bummer I haven't been by the comic store in awhile. My unread stack just got so rediculously huge, plus with @TheUniques moved across the state, it just has seemed a waste to keep buying the books without anyone reading them.
Since I have a Black Ring already (thanks to Tom), I now have them all (until the White Lantern Ring, ha)
-- Sent from my Palm Pre
The towel rod was a last minute addition that worked out well. Frees up some counter space and makes use of otherwisee wasted air space. I used the legs instead of bolting it to the wall or cabinet because, since I'm in an apartment I can't drill holes in those.
-- Sent from my Palm Pre
I saw 
-- Sent from my Palm Pre
Random Non-Sequiters
I just found out that our regular cafeteria short order cook is being transfered to our other office building. Bummer.
Let's Go surfing
Let's Go Surfing
- PlaceWidget Allows Venues To Show Off Their Foursquare Mayors With Pridesource: TechCrunch
Foursquare Place Widget that venue owners can use to show their "mayors" and comments.
Great Ad for a Star Sapphire story
See the random inserted Google Ad at the bottom lower left of the
attached Star Sapphire Story.
Let's Go Surfing
You may have noticed I've been blogging more again. Mostly that has been due to my using the custom sendto feature on Google Reader to send RSS post links directly to my handrolled blog engine. Well this evening, I refined that process a little and I am now using the sendto feature to compile multiple Google Reader posts to comment on, in one post much like I used to. Not as many pictures still, but expect my link posts and commentary to be back in a big way now.
- Google Docs: Now for Storage as much as Collaborationsource: ReadWriteWeb
This is pretty cool, but with USB sticks as cheap as they are, this almost seems not really that needed anymore. Lately I've been carrying around (2) 8 Gig sticks that take care of most of my mobile storage needs.
- Mobile Web Meets Internet of Things: Barcode Scanningsource: ReadWriteWeb
I'm still waiting for a nice barcode camera app on the Palm Pre. This is still something I think will really change shopping once a few retailers start participating in this, being in one store and being able to instantly get the price of the same product on the internet or at a competitor will really push low price retailing as a necessity.
- No, Seriously, a Working Star Trek Phaser With DIY Instructions [DIY]source: Gizmodo
See the link above for video of a "toy" phazer that actually will pop a balloon. Very Very Cool. Great for birthday parties.
- Marvel To Trade 1 Comic For Every 50 Destroyed DC Comics [Comic Books]source: io9
You know this is just kindof wasteful, wouldn't it be better to have retailers donate comics to some childrens hospital or library or something. Makes for an interesting headline, but this is a FAIL Marvel.
- Getting PreCentral on your Mobile Devicesource: PreCentral.net
Very cool, mobile version of the PreCentral Forum on the Pre. http://m.precentral.net
- Yelp Enables Check-Ins On Its iPhone App; Foursquare, Gowalla Ousted As Mayorssource: TechCrunch
Yelp is getting into the Location check-in game. Cool. There's alot more GR data on Yelp. Hopefully they add this to the Palm Pre version of the App soon, because right now the Foursquare app on Pre is driving me nuts.
- Everything That Was Cut From Avatar: Sex, Drugs And Suicide [Avatar]source: io9
Interesting scenes that were cut from the movie. I'm not sure I'd really want to see a longer version of Avatar in one sitting though.
- Avatar vs Modern Warfare 2: Billionaire Earnings Fight! [Movies]source: Gizmodo
Neat chart that shows a comparison of Avatar and Modern Warfare 2 earnings to date. They are closer than you would think.
- This Will Be The Year Adobe’s 2 Million Flash Developers Come To The iPhonesource: TechCrunch
Not native on the iPhone, but Adobe is going to create a Flash to iPhone converter so you can develop in Flash and run the results as an app on iPhone.
- The Ultimate Guide to Ebook Readers We Care About [Readers]source: Gizmodo
Nice guide to the various eReaders.
- How To Create An RSS Feed For Your Site From Scratchsource: MakeUseOf.com
Nice breakdown on how to create an RSS Feed.
McDonald's starts dishing out free WiFi at most of its U.S. restaurants
source: Engadget
Just saw 5 out of 7 of Wave 11 at Walmart. Couldn't pass up Katma Tui or Shark. Debated hard on Jon, but I have so many Johns already. Question was very nice but since I have the DCD, I also passed. Steppen Wolf I came close to buying out of Super Powers nostalgia, but I decided to hold off for now. No Deadman or Cyborg Superman, which is ok since DCD versions of those that I have are also good enough.
-- Sent from my Palm Pre
NYTimes: The Madness of Crowds and an Internet Delusion
From The New York Times:
The Madness of Crowds and an Internet Delusion-- Interesting article. Flawed thinking but interesting.
HUGE: Google Considers Pulling Out of China in the Name of Free Speech
source: Mashable!
While this could just be Google getting their hat handed to them by that Chinese Search engine, Bandai or whatever it's called-- maybe, just maybe they have decided that their minor operations in China (again since they are getting clobbered) aren't worth the negative PR they get for censoring Chinese Search results.
I have my doubts that the "Do No Evil" policy is the prime motivator here though.
Looks like someone has a case of the Mondays.
Office Space will be an eleven year old film next month. I'm guessing you have to be mid 30s for that film to have it's maximum relevance. I'm sure there are plenty of people younger, that like the film, but if you are mid thirties you can remember office life before and after Office Space.
Has much changed in the last 11 years since this film?
Blake Lively as Carol Ferris - sigh
Blake Lively Loves 'The Green Lantern' - CinematicalThe more I hear about this movie the sadder I get.
Action Figure Insider ? Best Toy News on the Web! DCUC Wave 13 Official PixI still don't have the DC Direct Blue Devil, so that might be an interesting get. Negative Man would be a good pickup. Not even sure who the Kirby looking figue in the center is. Trigon build a figue would be nice, but probably not worth getting all the rest of these figures that are DCD dupes.
-- Sent from my Palm Pre
Alienation at Work
source: Jon Taplin's Blog
Found this quote amusing:
And of course it's socialism. These ignorant motherfuckers. What do they think group insurance is, other than socialism? Just the idea of buying group insurance! If socialism is a taint that you cannot abide by, then, goddamn it, you shouldn't be in any group insurance policy. You should just go out and pay the fucking doctors because when you get 100,000 people together as part of anything, from a union to the AARP, and you say, "Because we have this group actuarially, more of us are going to be healthier than not and therefore we'll be able to carry forward the idea of group insurance and everybody will have an affordable plan..." That's fuckin' socialism. That's nothing but socialism.
Full article at the link above actually has more to do with Job dissatisfaction.
Facebook's Zuckerberg Says The Age of Privacy is Over
source: ReadWriteWeb
Actually it probably has more to do with the fact that all this user data is far more valuable to companies and organizations than it is to individual users. ie: Companies will pay more for your data to be public, than the aggregate of individual users will pay to keep it private.
If there was a solid business model around a private Facebook, they'd probably still be going that route.
[Dial2Do] About to sit down to dinner with
About to sit down to dinner with Jennifer for a pot roast that we've been cooking all day. Should be tasty.
I sent this email using my voice. Listen to it here: http://dial2do.com/1y95dn4f ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------Sent on behalf of Chris Karath with http://www.dial2do.com - Send Text Messages, Emails and more - just phone and talk.
[Dial2Do] This is a test. This is only
This is a test. This is only a test. Had this been an actual message
it would not have started with the words this is only a test.
http://dial2do.com/1y8sejhf ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Sent on behalf of Chris Karath with http://www.dial2do.com - Send Text
Messages, Emails and more - just phone and talk.
Airnergy WiFi power system gives RCA a reason to exist (video)
http://www.engadget.com/2010/01/09/airnergy-wifi-power-system-gives-rca-a-reason-to-exist-video/
Charge your gadgets by harvesting free wifi from the air. Cool.
He can't get out. I need to let the cat out of the bag.
-- Sent from my Palm Pre
Palm CES 2010 presentation video
source: PreCentral.net
Lots of great stuff coming to WebOS.
SlingPlayer to be Flash based, Will Work With webOS 1.4
source: PreCentral.net
Cool.
The 20 SF Movies We're Most Excited To See In 2010 [2010 Movie Guide]
source: io9
Great run down of upcoming sci-fi and genre movies for 2010. I used this to update my upcoming movies calendar.
-- Sent from my Palm Pre
Here's a website I think you'll like: Live from Palm's CES 2010 press event -- Engadget
Video recording coming to all webOS devices in February (updated: Flash, too!) -- Engadget
Video recording coming to all webOS devices in February (updated: F lash, too!)
http://www.engadget.com/2010/01/07/video-recording-coming-to-all-webos-devices-in-february/
Very Cool.
-- Sent from my Palm Pre
My take on 2010
source: Flash In the Pan:
What will the new year bring? Neck problems, blisters, impaired vision and general laziness. Did you see the movie WALL-E? We are so rapidly approaching this society it scares me. Yes, they are a few exceptions out there---the fitness buffs, the anal retentives, the workaholics that will embrace technology into their lives and use it as a positive. But for the rest of us, it's just a easier way to make ourselves obsolete. The only thing technology hasn't and should provide for us is transportation. Flying cars, Star Trek transporter beams, Jetson elevator tubes and dare I say it: hoverboards. Hey Apple, Where's the app for that?Friend jeff wrote the above snippet post, read his entire post here..
I'm inherently more tech driven, so I'm a little more excited about each little advance in tech.But January is a good time for self reflection, so I'll use Jeff's post as a conversation starter: What do you think about the state of Mobile, computers, web and all this social hubbub that's swirling around us now?
House Bingo
Jennifer and I gave her Dad several seasons of House MD DVDs this year for Christmas. To go along with them, I made up some House Bingo Cards you can use while watching.
I'm not a House fan myself, so I used a House Drinking game that Jenn found elsewheres on the internet as the basis of the cards.
There are 10 different cards in one PDF. Download PDF here.
Two Macs in the House as of this week
So as mentioned in some previous twitters and flickr posts, Jenn and I have two macs in the house now. Mac one is Jenn's netbook running a hackintosh Snow Leopard. Mac 2 is a PowerPC 1.42Ghz mac mini running Leopard that we just got for the living room, primarily as a media center and hobby machine.
I've been out of the Mac scene for many years now, and normally glance right past all those Mac Software app stories in my Google Reader, but now that we have a couple (and maybe soon a third... since Jenn's hackintosh turned out so well I'm thinking of getting the same model and having her show me how to do it.)...
What software apps are a must for us to add to these shiny new (for us anyway) Macs?
DC Universe Classics – The Class of 2009
source: thefwoosh.com
Really fantastic Overview of all the DCUC figures from the past year. Lots of pics. If you like Action Figures, do give the above link a look.
Apple Tablet What if?
What if the Apple Tablet isn't a computer?
Would an unconnected Apple Tablet be very useful? Would Apple even release a Tablet that didn't have 3G connection given what will be their competition with the Kindle?
Does Apple think people are ready to pay for a second 3G device along with what they pay for their iPhone? Would AT&T even want a larger screen 3G device from Apple given how much they hate the smaller iPhone's data connection usage already?
I don't think so. Yet everyone expects a tablet from Apple at the end of the month.
What if that tablet from Apple was actually a touch screen your iPhone slid into? Not a computer in it's own right, but instead a larger video screen sleeve that made your existing iPhone or iTouch Better?
Done this way, you wouldn't need a second data connection. AT&T would be harder pressed to stop them (as this is an accessory for an approved device on their network) And it's an automatic upsell.
Apple may have a hard time convinciong an army of iPhone and iTouch users that they also need a Tablet, but what iPhone or iTouch user wouldn't think about ADDING a larger touchscreen sleeve to their existing device?
Apple doesn't usually create markets, they refine them. The above might be a way for them to refine their existing product instead of creating a new competeing product.
Those are just my Sunday morning musings, what do you think?
These were tasty as you'd expect. After scanning nutrition facts you quickly discover they have no nutitional value but you have to love a cereal whose primary, first listed ingredient is simply: Sugar.
My reccomendation: Make them part of your unbalanced breakfast today!
-- Sent from my Palm Pre
It takes up far less space than the Full siza linux tower did.
-- Sent from my Palm Pre
Jennifer's side of the office. Dual monitor, dual laptops, and a cat assistant.
I still have to build a proper room divider too.
-- Sent from my Palm Pre
Thoughts about Foursquare
Left the apartment today to go get a haircut. Decided I would give the WebOS Foursquare App another try out in the field as it were. I figured my odds were pretty good of becoming the "mayor" of Borics. (People who check in at a location more than anyone else are given the title: mayor of that location. I figured if I added a new location, I'd probably autmatically be mayor right?) There was no Borics in the GPS found list of venues when I got there, so I tried to add the location. The app didn't seem to have any automatic discovery of location. I wasn't quite sure which cross street I was at either, so I opened Google Maps and then went to the web version of Foursquare to add the venue. When I added the name and cross streeet, Foursquare found a Borics further up the road than the one I was at. Basically a really poor experience with the WebOS Foursquare app so far. Maybe Foursquare works better on iPhone, but until they get a better WebOS app, I doubt I'll be creating any venues to check in at again.
Hopefully someone becomes the Twitter of this "location/check in/commenting" thing soon. It's a really neat idea, essentially creating comment sections for places and locations.
Here's a website I think you'll like: 411beanies.com/1capt/kilo5.jpgI don't have these Wave 12 yet. But they look nice from this Captain Collector picture.
Hello sexy triple-boot netbook. Snow Leopard, Windows 7, & Ubuntu 9 .10
source: Uploads from shatteredhaven
My girlfriend is has mad hawt skills.
Live-Action Star Blazers Trailer Gives Us Goosebumps [Star Blazers]
source: io9
Very Cool looking. I hope a decent dub hits US shores too.
District 9's Neill Blomkamp Explains Why He Won't Make Big Budget Movies [Neill Blomkamp]
source: io9
Interesting, it seems that the District 9 guy has a Kevin Smith frame of mind: Make small sucessful movies for a genre audience that are small enough to stay out of the studios meddling radar. Here's hoping that there are more movies like this and Moon that are Sci-Fi Quality on the Cheap.
From A Geek’s Geek: Daniel Raffel’s Favorite New Projects, Products and Features of 2009
source: TechCrunch
Really nice round up of products and services from 2009 that will likely come into their own this year. Give the above link a look, and check out any of the services you aren't familiar with.
-- Sent from my Palm Pre
