Weblog

Man of the Year

phil — 2007-03-26T00:46:06-05:00

I watched Man of the Year this weekend, and there was a crane show of Laura Linney pulling into the Wayne Avenue Garage here in Silver Spring. I guess they did actually shoot on location in DC. Funny thing was, the next shot of her inside the garage was, in fact, a different garage. Then the shot of her exiting was a different garage as well. Movie magic. The movie wasn't half bad but it was like it couldn't seem like it wanted to be more of a comedy or a political commentary/satire.

Finding Neverland

phil — 2006-07-01T11:08:05-05:00

Last night, I finally got around to watching Finding Neverland, which I've had sitting on my TiVo for a while. It's about J.M. Barrie's inspiration for writing Peter Pan. It explores the child in all of us, death, faith, family, and imagination. I really enjoyed it.

Speaking of TiVo, I just upgraded the failed 40 GB hard drive of my original TiVo with a new 120 GB drive. It was much easier than I thought it would be. I eventually ended up using these interactive TiVo upgrade instructions along with this book (there's 2nd edition out now), which I borrowed from a coworker. Now I can record in Best Quality and not have to worry about running out of space.

Now I return to my previously scheduled 4 day weekend. Happy 4th!

In the News

phil — 2006-01-31T23:11:15-05:00

So it's old news by now, but Disney bought Pixar. I love Disney/Pixar movies, and I'm glad the partnership didn't dissolve because I think they were a good pairing to deliver the kinds of movies they did. But now Steve Jobs is the largest single shareholder in Disney and, in case you forgot, the CEO of Apple. I also love Apple. I just hope Steve doesn't spread himself too thin and the quality of either interest diminishes.

I just read that Exxon Mobil Posts Record Profit for 2005. "Exxon's profit for the year was also the largest annual reported net income in U.S. history..." That's just sickening with gas prices the way they are. They used the hurricanes to overinflate prices.

And finally for tonight, ABC's Bob Woodruff along with a camera man was injured in Iraq. It's such a dangerous place over there for journalists and their crews, who I think are sometimes underappreciated during this war time. They are heros for bringing us the real truths of war. My prayers are with them and their families. ABC is sure having bad luck with their evening news anchors.

That's all for tonight. Bedtime.

Quarter Century

phil — 2005-12-22T10:20:59-05:00

It sounds so much longer when you put it that way. It sounds so old. Older than I feel.

I got a new digital camera, a very sleek, slim, and megapixel powerhouse Casio EX-Z750. I'm looking forward to being able to take this camera more places given it's compact size and hopefully snap more photos. And maybe even put them online!

Finally, I'm getting ready for Christmas and only have two more gifts to get. And I know exactly what they are. I do, however, have lots of wrapping to do. Merry Christmas to all and to all a good... day.

Rosa Parks

phil — 2005-10-28T23:35:31-05:00

What a great example of simple yet effective defiance of the discrimination of her time. In hopes that we all can stand up--or not in her case--for what we believe in, especially in the face of prejudice or violation of our rights. What a tribute it is to Rosa Parks to lie in honor at the Capitol Rotunda.

Quote about Google Print

phil — 2005-10-20T12:35:22-05:00

In the Google Blog was an op-ed about Google Print from the Wall Street Journal written by the Google CEO. I liked this quote:

Any copyright holder can easily exclude their titles from Google Print -- no lawsuit is required.

Seriously, we are so sue happy in this country. I think this service is pretty darn cool and much better than any search mechanism a standard library has. And how can't the publishers realize that they would profit from this? It's all about control.

Distaster Aid for All, as Long as You use IE 6

phil — 2005-09-09T11:38:04-05:00

This really irks me-- Disaster Aid for Windows users only?--especially now that I'm a Mac user. The article states that the FEMA online registration form for requesting disaster aid from Katrina requires Microsoft Internet Explorer 6.0 or above. So much for Section 508, which they inaccurately say they conform to. Oh, by the way, they don't accept applications via standard mail.

The devistation is really--well, devistating. It's hard to imagine that our good ol' US of A could be hit by such a disastar and fall so flat on our asses when it comes responding to it. There are really not enough words.

Here's to hope... and web standards!

Counting on Your Fingers

phil — 2005-09-07T17:17:04-05:00

And you thought you could only count to 10 on your fingers: Intuitor: How to count to 1,023 on your fingers. Cool!

Sailboats

phil — 2005-08-22T01:15:39-05:00

Out on the Chesapeake. Ahoy!

Home Is Where Your Nana (Mom) Is

phil — 2005-07-26T22:56:35-05:00

In memory of Irene Makara (November 26, 1926 - July 22, 2005)

Where do you call home?
Coming home—she was always there
She heard us when we called
Her angels were born to fly
But when we got too high
She was there to catch us when we fell

Only a phone call away—
For recipes, concerns, advice... for love
We are very fortunate for her tender care
Yet we were a handful, we were
Her support was never-ending
Her love is eternal

You can call her bi-partisan—
No, she didn't vote, but she didn't take sides
Everyone shared an equal place in her heart and she in ours
Always there to listen
Only words of soft-spoken wisdom
She was on time�all the time
If only her kids could do the same
A religious woman, who always had faith that God would keep us safe

When you think of Mom...
She did the cooking, and did it well!
Mmm... good food
Bingo
QVC
You's kids!
Pennsylvania Polka
Holiday meals
"Tea for two, two for tea"
Passive, not a fuss
Philly fanatic, oh no!
"Haw Dawg" fanatic, oh yeah!
A sweetheart with a sweet tooth
One of "the Nanas"

A Mom for us all—
A grandmother, great grandma, mother-in-law, sister, aunt, friend...
A dedicated wife who shared the love of two with family for 25 years
A care-giver for her children
And her children's children
Anytime, all the time
Her grandchildren were a sparkle in her life
And she in theirs

She is a tree of life
Like a tree in a forest—
No different from others outside
But a massive amount of strength and courage inside
That branches out to others
Rooted from the heart

The inner peace she carried with her was clearly felt by all
If only all in the world could know such peace

Look into the evening sky
The brightest star you can see
Will be her everlasting light

Home is where your Mom is
Home is where your Nana is
She will always be with us
We will always be home

Written by Debb, Philip, and Allison Makara

Super Cool Keyboard

phil — 2005-07-18T14:00:22-05:00

Woh, this is totally cool! It's a keyboard whose keys are all individual LCDs. Each key changes based on your OS, language, or application currently running. Each key is also programmable. (via SimpleBits)

For Children and Adults, Too

phil — 2005-07-16T01:17:45-05:00

I just returned from seeing Tim Burton's Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, which was delightful--delicious even--and creepily funny, made possible by none other than Johnny Depp. But before coming home I stopped to pick up Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (Book 6). I feel like a kid in a candy store. Time to start reading.

Using Blogs for Market Research

phil — 2005-06-23T12:46:19-05:00

Blogs Growing Into The Ultimate Focus Group - Yahoo! News - A interesting article about how companies are using / can use public blogs of their target audience to gauge their needs and response to products. Apparently, they use some parsing technology to categorize blog writers by their writing style and what they write about.

Flickr is Moving

phil — 2005-06-20T16:26:03-05:00

Flickr, recently acquired by Yahoo, is moving its servers from Canada to California. Physically moving. To be supported by Yahoo systems people. And look what they're doing to minimize downtime...:

Actually, we are renting big server trucks with high speed satellite Internet connection. These will allow us to provide Flickr services right on the way to our new location. So we are going to have only two downtime windows: when we move servers in and out of the trucks.

...

Plus whenever they have to turn the engines off to refill their gas tanks.

Wow. That's frickin' cool -- a mobile server room.

Downing Street Memo

phil — 2005-06-17T10:23:10-05:00

I wonder if the authenticity of this memo will be shot down just like Dan Rather's and the Newsweek report. There are too may questions and too little answers.

It's not winter anymore, I know. But I'm busy, ok. So put up with the snow a little longer. My site's refreshing to look at on a hot summer day, isn't it?