Cocktail Confessions

So I came across a new app today for my Droid phone.  Well, it’s ‘new’ to me, but I am to understand this app has actually been out a while now.

Iheartradio is a ‘free’ application you can download from the Android Marketplace and allows you to stream live clearchannel stations directly to your smartphone.  Since I live in the Los Angeles market, that means I can turn my phone into a virtual AM/FM tuner and get hundreds of stations, not just here, but all over North America.

It’s really great for those that like AM radio.  It streams stations directly from the source and it sounds just like a podcast of FM station, meaning, it’s crystal clear and sounds so much better than what yoru car radio can supply.  So within just seconds of downloading and installation, I am currently listening to the John and Ken show, from KFI, AM640!!

Awesome!

Well, for right now I’m holding off on getting a new Droid phone.  As much as I would like to get the Droid X, my current Motorola Droid (gen 1) is only 9 months old and I can’t justify in my mind spending the money on a new flavor just to say I have the latest and greatest.  I’d personally feel more grateful internally if I can last a whole year before I actually upgrade, and I may even get lucky and get the Droid X at a slightly cheaper price anyway.

But as these things go, I suppose as soon as I get the Droid X, a new Android phone will be announced that will even be better.  On the bright side, the long awaited update, Froyo (aka 2.2), is supposed to drop OTC this week which mean Flash is just around the corner.

And despite all those people that have the iPhone, a report was issued today stating that in North America, out of all the smart phones, that the Android OS is the most widely distributed.

Doesn’t Lady Gaga look like Marilyn Manson?  I don’t know why, but in this pick I can’t help but think that she does.  I don’t think she’s all that great looking, but she has a new spread in Vanity Fair this month, and it’s the best I’ve ever seen her (BTW: this isn’t one of the pics).  Me thinks she had plastic surgery in the past…..in the nose region.

Had a wonderful smoked brisket this weekend.  It was a lot of work, but my friends seemed to enjoy it pretty well and gave me accolades for my efforts.  It’s definitely a social thing though, and would benefit a group of guys hanging around sharing a case of beer and stories all day than doing it solo.  I took plenty of video’s and pictures of the process, and I hope to have those up soon here and on YouTube.

Speaking of which, my friend Brian made an excellent potato salad with blue cheese, chipotle, and smoked paprika amongst other ingredients and it was delicious.  He said he’d give me the recipe and I’ll post here in the future as well.

Er, why does Lindsay Lohan get released after 14 days of her 90 day sentence?  If it were any Joe Blow or Jane Doe, we’d serve the full time.  Pisses me off, this double-standard crap that so-called spoiled celebrities get to take advantage of.  It’s crap on all levels.

Worked on a HO structure model this Sunday during my personal down time.  I love my hobby of model building for trains.  It’s fun and relaxing, although it can be a long and arduous process.  Wish I had a bit more money so I could start my benchwork for my layout.

Started a new book: “The Art of Racing in the Rain”.  It’s a novel whose story is told through the eyes and soul of a 13 year old yellow Labrador.  Very touching and moving.  Dare I say I’ve already been moved to tears after the opening chapter?  I’ve been reading more books lately based on animals and have been enjoying them immensely.  I just finished ‘Dog Town’, based on true account of the Best Friends Animal Society in Kanab, Utah.

Finally, I really need to start my diet as of yesterday.  I have approx 2.5 months to drop close to 15 lbs for a wedding in which I am the best man.  I had an excellent meal and beer fest this past Saturday, so the last two days I’m just drinking water, coffee, and ice tea.

If you’re a Star Wars nerd like me, you’ll get that reference.

Anyway, apologies for the lack of posts lately.  I actually have a review of El Cid of Los Angeles already written along with pictures and video clips, it’s just a matter of me uploading everything and doing some final edits.

In brief, here are a couple things in the meantime:

1. Work has been extremely slow as of late.  I’ve actually been watching paint dry and counting air molecules to pass the time.
2. Been enjoying new Bud Select 55, the low calorie beer, although I can’t seem to get a buzz from it.
3. Watching a lot of Netflix lately.  Love the streaming feature.  Watching Sparticus (Season 1) and Weeds (Season 3).  Tried watching Jack Black’s and Michale Cera’s “Year One”, but it is soooo bad.  Also started watching the first season of True Blood.
4. Gonna try and smoke a brisket this weekend with my new smoker.  Never did one before, but we all gotta start somewhere, so I’m thinking I may buy a brisket after work today and cook/smoke it for saturday.  I may buy a 6lb brisket from El Toro Meats to start with.  It’s $6.99 a pound, so a 5lb brisket is upwards of $35!
5. I know I’m lacking in the Big Brother updates.  I’m about 4 episodes behind as of this writing.  I’ve watched them all so far, so I need to do a brief synopsis later in a combined entry (maybe later today if I’m bored).

Check out this really cool ‘steampunk’ USB drive (pictured left).  It’s 8GB in size and it’s creator says the design was inspired by an old country sign….Er…okay…I don’t see it, but I love the end result anyway.  I just love this Jules Verne looking stuff.  It’s so much more interesting than all the other streamlined tech out there these days.  It’s a piece of art in my book.

The creator gives it an esitimated worth of $300, which for an original piece of alternate Americana technology, it’s tempting (if I had the extra money). *Image courtesy of ChipChick.

Lastly, although I’m really enjoying my new Kodak Playsport, it seems Panasonic just announced their own shoot-and-share handheld HD flash camcorder.  The TA1 currently has a pre-order (release date is tentatively Aug 17) price listing of $169, which is in line with all the others in this category, but has few things really stand out for me: 1) It’s Panasonic, and they make great stuff.  I think their plasma televisons, DVD players, and old school VCR’s are top notch, especially for their price, so I doubt you be assured the hardware is strong.  2) The stand alone camera is 8MP whereas all the otehrs in this category are 5MP.  3) It’s Skype enabled (how sweet is that?)  4)  And finally, someone has added a front facing LED ‘light’ used to help illuminate recording in low light conditions (double sweet!!).  Hopefully this additional features will prove to be worthy enough to be included in future incarnation by the other developers for the next generation of these hand held devices.  If so, I can see myself upgrading in about a year from now.

This is more or less a quick entry on the state of affairs over here at my blog.

I’ve got a few things lined up in the coming days and weeks including some additional video’s and a podcast I just recorded with my buddy Brett who visited from Idaho this past week.  I’ll have some new recipes up soon, including Cuban burgers (that were a hit at this Friday’s last BBQ), grilled zucchini boats with a bacon gremolata, a new cocktail recipe dubbed ‘The Camel Toe’ for you vodka and tropical drink lovers, and a refreshing watermelon sangria.

I’ll have a few stories to share that took place with my friend Brett, especially our afternoon visit to Turq’s in Dana Point where we get talked to death by druken senior citizens, some additional video of the San Clemente Pier, a review of the Original Pedro’s tacos, some random shots at Cook’ Corner, Dana Point Harbor, S.C. Pier, and more.

This upcoming weekend, my wife and I are going to the Huck Finn Jubilee up in Victorville, CA with our friends Brian and his fiance Shea as well as my college friend Sam and his wife Alicia.  We’ll be there for the beer, food, and good ‘ole bluegrass music and banjo championships.  I expect to get some good vittles there and hopefully taste some good brews.

On the technical side of things, I just upgraded the NextGen Gallery here to v1.5.3 and I also finally purchased a ‘shoot & share’ video camera in the form of the purple Kodak Playsport along with a 8GB SD card.  I’ve posted a few videos up at YouTube, and I hope to not only use it this weekend at the Jubilee, but also do some grilling recipe and preparation “How-To” videos here in the future.  I also have to finish the Earthbox series that I began a few weeks back.  I already have some great jalepeno peppers and tons of cilantro that we are using.

I did have one bummer issue that happened over the weekend.  This past Saturday my Behringer 502 USB mixing board died on me.  I was actually right in the middle of recording a podcast with Brett and at about the 40 minute mark there was a slight pop in my earphones and when I looked at the screen for status I noticed a flat line on Audacity.  The board is just over a year old (March ’09)  and I purchased it through Amazon.  Of course I don’t have the box anymore, so I’m gonna try and get an RMA straight from Behringer, and looking at their support website it appears that they make you jump through hoops for repair. *Sigh*.  The good news is I picked up my Zoom recorder and was able to finish our podcast, but I’ll have to mash the two files together and do some additional editing before I get the next episode posted….maybe in another week since this weekend is already claimed.

It’s been a few months now since each of these handheld ‘shoot and share’ flash camcorders have been released to the consuming public with plenty of both professional reviews written and video examples available to compare out on YouTube.

Unfortunately, I still cannot decide between the Sony PM5 or Kodak Zx3 to purchase for myself and I have never agonized so much over such a simplistic decision.  It’s not like I’m buying a new car or house.  We are only talking about a sub $175 camera.

From a previous posting I gave what I call a half-assed review on my brief experience with the Playsport and that I was somewhat impressed.  Mind you, I didn’t have a chance to shoot under water (it’s waterproof up to 10 feet), or accidentally drop it (it has a rugged exterior), or do any advanced features such as using the HDMI port.

I haven’t had any luck playing with the Sony PM5 at all.  All the Best Buy’s in my area only seem to have it listed on their websites but not in their stores.  The one I did get to see in person at a local MicroCenter didn’t have the cables or batteries to power it on, so I couldn’t do anything with it other than hold it.

The pricing for both is about a $20 dollar difference.  The Playsport generally retails for $149 (sans SD memory) and the PM5 is $169 (sans memory as well).  Depending on the day of the week, or on pure chance, I have seen both ‘unofficially’ listed cheaper at various websites, especially the PM5.  It’s weird to me that model color seems to effect the price as well, especially amongst the Sony.  Sony models in white and pink seem to be listed cheaper as they are the more unpopular of the flavors.  Not sure why, and I really don’t care if I hold a pink one or a blue one.  I’ve seen the pink one as cheap as $137 online, then jump back up in price the next day,  Same with the white model listing at $145 one day and then back up the next.  The Playsport fluctuates on occasion as well.  I’ve seen a white Zx3 for as low as $127.  Unfortunately none of the major online or retail stores had discounted either one over Memorial Day weekend.  I was fully prepared to commit to one or the other if there was a decent sale this past weekend, but alas, there wasn’t.

Kodak Playsport

I need to make a decision soon, as I could have used one this last weekend when I went to Travel Town up in Los Angeles.  I ended up using the video option on my Motorola Droid phone which worked just fine, but kind of a hassle to get the video off the phone, convert it, and then do some editing before I posted to YouTube (I’ll have those up shortly in an upcoming post so you can see).  I also want to use it for both some BBQ’ing vodcasts and model train builds I’m doing as another hobby.

In examining their features, both have some solid pro’s….and some solid con’s.  It’s a wash to me, but for some reason I keep drifting back to the Bloggie PM5, but just by a hair.  If I can’t find a good deal in the next few days online or in person for the PM5, I may just opt to go with the Playsport anyway, and I won’t be bummed.  See, between my wife and I, and some various engagements coming up with my friends and this very website, I’m finding more and more reasons to buy one sooner than later.  As a matter fact, we are planning to go to Victorville in about 2 weeks time for a Bluegrass and Country festival and I’d love to shoot some content.  I also have a friend coming in town next week, and Id like to use it for some goofing around we’ll be doing ourselves.

So, in no particular order, here we go again:

• Kodak has an edge in both being waterproof and more rugged body. Kodak +1.5 (I have a tendency to drop shit…a lot)
• Kodak has an HDMI port: Kodak +.5 although I doubt I’d use this feature, thus the 1/2 point.
• Both on have built in video editing software that self installs to a PC and both suck.: wash
• Sony has built in USB arm, whereas Kodak needs an additional cable.: Sony +.5
• Sony has a 270 degrees swivel lens for self shooting and protection.: Sony +1
• Both have a 5MP camera, neither have a Macro lens or flash.: wash
• Sony has a ‘slightly’ larger LCD screen: Sony +.5
• Kodak LCD has special ‘glare feature’ saturation filter: Kodak +.5
• Both have 4x digital zoom controls: wash
• Kodak has 1.5 hr typical battery life whereas Sony has 1 hr: Although this data is unconfirmed and a bot sketchy at best. Pricing out additional batteries (you’ll need them for long weekends) shows that the Kodak brand tend to be cheaper.  Kodak +.5
• Sony can use both SD cards (class 4) or Memory Dual Stick Pro: Sony +.5
• Both suck in low light conditions: wash
• Kodak takes ‘slightly better’ stand alone pics due to Sony’s delay between pressing the button and shot being taken.: Kodak +.25
• Kodak files don’t like MAC (I could care less), but Sony mounts three (3) drives when plugged into PC and doesn’t play with new Win 7 without converting the files, meaning extra steps if I move off of Win XP. Kodak: +.5
• In the audio tests I have heard, I think the Sony sounds better.  Both have mono mic’s, and neither has an external mic jack.  Sony: +.5 for personal taste.
• In the video tests I have seen, I also think the Sony has a richer and more saturated color and also sharper picture compared to the Kodak.: Sony +1
• Model color palette.  Kodak has 3 colors to choose from where as Sony has 4.  I could care less.: wash.
• Both shoot in 4 different quality modes: 1080p, 720 & 480 @ 30fps, and also 720 @ 60fps.: wash.
• While both have some internal memory, neither are enough to take anything credible, so expect to buy additional class 4 SD memory for both.: wash
• Kodak is $20 cheaper on all accounts: Kodak +1

So based on my completely unscientific rating system the final tally is: Kodak = 5.25, Sony = 4.  Actually that is quite surprising for me and this has been a real eye-opener.  It’s possible that in the long run the Kodak may be slightly easier to run in terms of video conversion to .WMV and cheaper batteries.  While I may never use the waterproof feature, I’m glad it’s there as friends may accidentally spill drinks on it and I won’t be afraid to use in the rain.  I also have a tendency to drop objects, so the rugged casing may be a bonus in my favor and of course the base cost makes it slightly more attractive as well.  I may miss Sony’s superior color and sound and slightly larger screen offerings though, but I now think I’m leaning towards the Kodak.

Taking all this into account, I may now be actually be leaning towards buying a Kodak Playsport.  Tell me what you think below in the comments.  I’ll hopefully purchase something by the end of this week.

possible Droid 'Shadow' seen in the wild.

It’s been a little while since I last did a technology posting here.  As a matter of fact some of my recent free time has been occupied by my continual research into ‘share & shoot’ flash camcorders (but that’s another post).  However, I was squealing like a little school girl today when a few ‘leaked’ images of the upcoming Droid II surfaced on the web today as well as some of its rumored specs.

Now, first and foremost, remember, the keywords here are ‘rumored’ and ‘leaked’ and may not be the final product released.  As happens many times, there are pre-production prototypes shopped around and tweaked before things go golden and make it to the public, but everything I see so far looks very promising.

The only major drawback is that I just got my original Droid back in the late November or early December time frame making my device only about six months old.  When I got my phone, I signed a new two year contract which makes me ineligible for a free upgrade for at least 18 months as of this writing, unless I want to pay a small penalty and upgrade when it does come out ‘possibly’ this summer.

Just when the HTC Incredible made me green with envy, the new Droid, aka ‘Shadow’ looks even more impressive than the current hard to find HTC.  So without further ado, let us all begin to salivate on Droid’s upcoming big brother:

• 4.1 or 4.3″ TFT screen (this replaces Droid’s current 3.7″ screen).
• Possible that the current prcessor will be dropped for either a 1GHz Snapdragon or a 720MHz OMAP3630 which is an upgrade from the current Droid 3430 (this new chip will reduce overall power consumption).
• It’s rumored to be 9mm thick which indicates the physical keboard will now be gone thus making it lighter.  Not sure I like this myself as I tend to fat-finger using the touch screen and often find myself using the slide out keyboard out of habit now.
• Motorola Motoblur will be included which is an intergrated front end UI that melds many of the popular social networking services (Facebook, Myspace, YouTube, etc) into one sign on account.  Also look for an optical trackball like the newer HTC models are sporting.
• It will most likely launch with Android OS 2.2, codenamed Froyo, but if you have a regular Droid or like phone most everyone will be getting this upgrade OTA in the coming weeks anyway, so it’s not really a selling point to me.
• Kinda vague, but I’ve seen reports of anywhere between 2 and 8 GB of internal memory.
• The camera will be upgraded from 5 MP to 8 MP with 720p video recording.
• An exciting new feature is the ability for 1080p output via a HDMI port.

*Note HDMI port and overall thickness.

If it indeed released this summer (meaning next 2-3 months) that will make my current Droid only about 8 or 9 months old.  It’s a pretty significant upgrade and I feel like I was one of the last people to jump on the smart phone bandwagon.  I use my Droid and many of its built in apps daily, especially the maps and GPS functions.  I like Buzz and gmail contacts and messaging a lot, so do I dare spend the money?  But as these things tend to go, and more and more often than before, whatever current flavor of the month is, it will soon be made obsolete by the newest and slickest phone just around the corner.

Anyway, your thoughts?

I finally bought a Zune 16HD after many month of self debating on whether to buy one, hold out for a new model, or go with a flash camcorder instead.

Well, today Microsoft introduced the Zune 64 GB HD to the world, commanding a retail price of around $350.  And what does 64 GB get you?  About 16,000 songs, 20 hours of HD video, or 25,000 pictures on average.  That quite impressive, but also complete overkill for someone like me who hasn’t used an MP3 player in roughly two years myself, and just recently noted I only have about 100 pictures on my Droid phone…and that’s only because the phone has a camera, otherwise, there would probably be none.  I can’t see myself transferring thousands of pictures to a MP3 player and carrying it around for what?  I tend to email pictures to people, or share via Facebook or Web Shots, and even occasionally on a small USB thumb drive, but to have thousands of digital images on a portable jukebox?  No, not my thing.  I’ll use it strictly for music, podcasts, and the occasional video.

My very first MP3 player only held 256 MB of music which was plenty for listening to music at the gym for about an hour when I work out.  The biggest hassle was after a few weeks, maybe getting tired of a few songs, and changing a few of them out.

My second MP3 player was a Creative Rio which had a 4GB internal hard drive.  It was really cool, with its docking stations/charger/auxiliary output ports, although it’s bulky shape and weight could prove to be a little unwieldy at times.  Even then, I don’t think I even filled it up 25% and had hundreds of songs on it.  I still possess it, although it hasn’t been touched in about 3 or more years.

So why the Zune now?  And why not the 32GB model, or iPod, or some other cheaper third party player?

A few factors come into play:

•  
  • I commute about 30 minutes to work, and 30 minutes back home, 5 days a week.  My car has Sirius/XM radio built into it and I’ve had a yearly subscription for the past two years.  The subscription is roughly $143 a year, and to be quite honest, even though there are over 100 stations, I only listen to about 5 on a regular basis, and even now find them somewhat tedious.  Sirius/XM would like to have you believe they are relatively commercial free, but I’ve noticed a lot more commercials popping up lately, so depending on the channel, there really is no difference from terrestrial radio.  After my contract is over this term, I may cancel it, because I just find it boring.  The shows I really want to listen to come on during the workday, and it’s blocked there anyway, so I basically pay a yearly fee to listen mostly on my commute to shows I don’t particularly care for any longer.
  • I drive a Ford with built in Microsoft Sync technology, so it basically plugs into the auxiliary port for hands free, voice commanded instructions.
  • Comes with a HD radio tuner built in.  I haven’t heard HD radio yet, but I understand it is CD quality audio and there are a few stations in my area have been promoting their alternative side bands.
  •  As much as people swear by MAC and all the flavors of iPod, I can’t get over the fact that Apple has a very strict DRM policy, and songs you purchase from iTunes basically only work on one portable device and can’t really be shared without a ton of hassle.  Not to mention Apple only recognizes their own proprietary format whereas I have a bit more flexibility with the Zune.
  • The Zune will tie into my PC, my car, and my Xbox 360 for a truly shared experience.  I’m a MS guy.
  • I already have tons of music in both MP3 and Wav formats, not to mention my friend Joe recently let me ‘borrow’ his terabyte external drive chock full of music from all genre’s.  Yes, you read right, he has a full terabyte drive full of music.
  • I listen to Podcasts at work.  A lot.  I’d also like to listen to them on my commute and on the job.  I’d rather put them on a device built to handle them than to keep putting them on my Droid phone and the required management there.
  • My wife already owns an older Zune, so I can also raid her library of songs as well.

Finally cost.  With the recent release of firmware update 4.5 and the 64 GB model, the price of the 16 and 32 have dropped.  I was able to find it at WalMart for $169 which BestBuy is obligated to price match.  I am also a BestBuy Rewards Zone member, which means I earn points on every purchase, and I also had an unspent gift card left over from Christmas that I have never used.  So my final cost in the end today was $0, and I still have money left over on the gift card.

I’ll probably use the remaining balance on some future video game, better headphones, or have it go towards a flash camcorder I am still eyeing.

Since I still have yet to decide on what flash-media camcorder to buy, I am fortunate enough to have my friend Brian lend me his Kodak Playsport this last week for a test drive.  For those that don’t know what flash-corders are, they are basically pocket sized video recorders that instead of using tape or CD media, save the files digitally to internal flash or SD cards.

They generally retail for sub $200 and target people on the go who who want to record video clips or still pictures on the go without lugging around a larger, more professional camera or camcorder.  They aren’t meant to make you the next Cecil Demille, but for those that like to share memories via FaceBook, YouTube, smaller emails and the like.  Features are generally limited and is really meant to do one-touch recording on the fly.  Think social sharing teens, soccer moms, and dads on the hunting trip.  If you understand this, then you should know what to expect and what not to.

The big three are considered to be Kodak, Sony, and Cisco.  All the others are poor imitators, and you get what you pay for, so don’t expect superior quality in both recordings or durability if you go with one of the off-name brands.  Out of the gate, I eliminate all the Cisco ‘Flip’ brands because of the cost factor.  There is nothing that the Cisco ones do any better than the Kodak or Sony models other than cost more.  They may have made it virtually ‘idiot proof’, but with the various Flips, you sacrifice pure 1080p HD recordings and as a reward for stripping down to the most basic features, you actually pay more.  That being said, many people do like their Flips for their simplicity, and no one can argue their marketing machine made a splash as the Flip Mino and new HD Slyde are practically household vernacular…but that doesn’t make them the best.

I’m torn between the lower end Sony Bloggie and new Kodak Playsport.  Both have pros and cons that on paper seem to cancel each other out.  From what I have read the Bloggie has superior video qulaity whereas the Playsport has better audio pickup.  Both have 4 recording settings that are identical, have zoom features, have editing software, have the ability to take 5 megapixel still shots.  Bloggie has a built in USB connection, whereas the Kodak uses a cable.  Kodak is roughly $40 buck cheaper and is has one additional feature that extreme outdoors people may indeed like…it is waterproof up to 10 feet under water making it ideal for the beach, skiing trips, and backyard pool parties.

So now that you get the idea, here are my preliminary findings on the Kodak Playsport:

1) Lowlight conditions do not favor this camera.  We used it once at night in my backyard with the only light source being some tiki torches, bleed over light from the kitchen to the backyard, and some decorative overhead hanging lights.  The Kodak did not fair very well.  I suspect the Sony may not do much better as neither has a flash or floodlight function.  Perhaps too much a battery drain?

2) However filming at dusk seemed to be okay.  The raw format for the Playsport is .MOV files, friendly to Apple and Quicktime applications.  The following video was taken at the San Clemente, CA pier this past Sunday at roughly 6:30pm.  I think the colors turned out pretty well, and the raw playback footage on my PC (prior to YouTube uploading and conversion) was nice, albeit it somewhat shaky (more on that in a second).

3) Now the shakiness.  You’ll note that even with EIS turned on, it stills seems very jerky even though my panning was fairly smooth.  I have heard this from other people as well and that the Sony Bloggie may indeed do a better job at image stabilization.

4) Here is the second video taken just a bit later.  Again, looks good other than a bit shaky:

Miscellaneous stuff: comes with a wrist strap and a very small and somewhat generic manual.  Visiting the Kodak support page, I noticed that a new firmware patch was released in March of this year, shortly after the the Playsport went public.  Too bad I couldn’t find anything at the Kodak webpage that informs users what the firmware upgrade actually does, but here’s to hoping it addresses the EIS and the reported false battery charged readings.  That is, some people are stating that the battery doesn’t seem to charge 100%, or even if the indicator does register that the internal battery is 100%, only minutes after use, the icon shows it’s already 25% spent which may make some users wary how the long the battery life actually is.

The nice thing was that that plugging in the Playsport to my PC via a USB cable, Windows XP detected it immediately and there was no additional software I needed to install.  I was able to go in to the media storage and quickly drag and drop the .MOV files over to my PC.  That was pretty seemless.  I did not have a chance thus far to play with the actual camera for taking still shots, nor did I use the included editing software that is built in to the Playsport to alter my videos.

Now I also created a YuoTube account and uploaded both movie’s there as you see embedded above.  One thing I did note…the raw .MOV files are much sharper than the YouTube videos you see here.  I assume YouTube has some type of conversion and compression process and in the end you may notice a bit more pixelation and muted colors.  That could be because YouTube uses the .FLV format or something else.

As technology constantly evolves, as do widgets and plugins, so must this website if I want to maintain something relevant. 

Thus, as I do on occassion, came a time for a routine patching and maintenance to the site.

For those that are interested, you’re either as geeky if not more geeky than myself, or you are so utterly bored and pathetic at this very moment, you’re desperately still reading this as to fill some void in your life undoubtedly caused by unresolved mommy issues.  If it is indeed the latter, and you’re still reading this without being insulted, then my friend….stop what you are doing right this instant and grab yourself a strong drink.

Maintenance notes:

• Upgraded WordPress to current version 2.9.2 from the previous 2.7.1.  Kinda a big deal, but only to allow other plugins and widgets to operate normally.
• Blubrry Powerpress: Now v1.07.  Still need to incorporate more functionality into this site, but at least I have a place to possibly host future podcasts and video casts and register them properly with iTunes…if that day ever comes.
• NextGen Gallery: Now v1.5.3 that adds additional features and interface for picture galleries, slideshows and the like.
• Tweetable: Now v1.1.8.  This wouldn’t work previously with the 2.7.1 version of WordPress, but will now.  I haven’t activated yet as I need to register the application with Twitter, and place a widget in the margin to accept incoming Tweets.  Oh, and as of right now, you can still follow me on Twitter @alonedisciple.
• YouTube: Registered for a channel under the name ‘jaysonolson33′ that I have uploaded a few videos I plan to embed here if they are not a direct vodcast.
• GoWalla: A mobile social check-in application on my Droid phone that has the ability to also be tied into Twitter.  You can see where I am at if I happen to check in.  Also under ‘jaysonolson33′.
• Google Buzz: Once again, created under the moniker ‘jaysonolson33′, you can find and follow my Buzzes (many with pictures).  I hope the WP plugin ‘Socialable’ adds this soon enough.

More often than I would care to admit to, the usual way our department treats is weekly Friday departmental lunch selection for is like trying to figure out who Paris Hilton is dating this week.  So many times, with all us accepting the ritualized anarchy that is our decision making process, we all stand up from our veal pen like cubicles like prairie dogs and stare blankly at each other as we all begin to say “So, where are we going today?”

It rarely ever comes together smoothly, and there is always someone who inevitably will drop out or complain they don’t like the place we all hoo-humingly decided upon.  “Not that place again.” “Didn’t we just go there two weeks ago?” “Ugh, the lines are too long and I don’t have enough cash.” are just a tip of the iceberg when it comes to the myriad of complaints and excuses we all throw out in trying to agree on a single place.

I get frustrated with this practice a lot as I generally don’t care where we go, or develop an attitude that I must partake in this tired indecisive banter every week.  Sometimes we spend so much time talking over each other throwing out names of tired and not so true places that we end up wasting a good solid ten minutes of our allotted 60 minute window.

Today, we all agreed upon trying a new selection tactic.  Something revolutionary, and yet so simple in practice.  I like to now call out, “Let’s let the wheel of fate decide.” in a determined and stoic voice, my Droid smartphone held up high in the air like Moses bearing the stone tablets before his wary people. “Let us look upon the written word that is (drum roll for effect) URBAN SPOON!”

My friend Brian introduced me to this fine little gem of an app that he had previously downloaded to his phone.  Currently available on both the Android (v2.0 OS and up) and iPhone platforms, Urbanspoon, is like the old Magic 8-Ball sooth-saying toy you had as a child.  Based upon your current location (thanks to the GPS coordinates of where you are standing) you shake your phone to activate the internal accelerometer.  Like a nickel slot machine at an Indian casino without smallpox, three simulated wheels rapidly spin and soon begin to settle upon the categories: city, genre, price.  City is self explanatory, genre is the cuisine type (Japanese, Indian, German, etc), and price is ranked from $ thru $$$$. 

We all agreed today that the ‘Wheels of Fate’ would dictate our lunch plans.  We all huddled in silent anticipation around my Droid, our eyes locked and wide as I shook the phone.  Clickity, clickity, clickity…..the simulated sound began to gradually slow. 

1st up: Tustin.  2nd wheel: Italian.  Finally price: $$  Urbanspoon had selected the “Pizza Shack”….and to our mutual acceptance and nods, we all agreed, no questions asked.  The ‘Wheels of Fate’ had spoken!

With address, phone number, and a 83% favorable review, we drove off to our dictated eatery.  And surprisingly, we all enjoyed it.  Seven of us attended todays outing, each one of stating we had never once been to the Pizza Shack before albeit it was only a mere two miles from the place we had all worked for years.  Sharing four medium pizzas with traditional toppings in an atmosphere not unlike a low rent college sports bar, we all commented on how good it actually was.  Not just the food per-se, but the atmosphere as well.

With this little tale all told, I thank my friend Brian for the the suggestion and highly recommend that if your smart phone can handle it, go ahead and download Urbanspoon.  A little shake of the wrist and a little random luck can break the doldrums that is choosing a place to eat and may lead you to something new and exciting.