Bring out all needed ingredients before beginning to cook. It's the fundamental idea behind what chefs call mise en place. I find this is especially useful as a home cook to determine whether I really have everything I need. If I can't find an ingredient, I can adjust the recipe or choose another dish, rather than scramble or get stuck with a half-cooked dish.
28 December 2008
Cooking Thoughts
This past week, I've had some good opportunities to cook for family and friends. I'm reminded of some basic cooking adages:
18 December 2008
Dan Nye Leaving LinkedIn
Various tech news sites (AllThingsDigital, TechCrunch, Valleywag, VentureBeat, Silicon Alley Insider, CNET News.com) report that Dan Nye is leaving LinkedIn from his role as CEO, as part of a four way executive shuffle. I wonder if some of the problems rumored on Valleywag were the cause of Dan needing to leave, or if there were other matters. It is a bit hard to believe that Dan leaving after less than 2 years on the job was some sort of regular plan or natural progression of the business.
Whatever it is, I hope Dan lands on his feet somewhere.
16 December 2008
Dentist Visit Today
Earlier today, in the afternoon, I went to see my dentist, who also happens to be a friend I've known since freshman year in college. She ended my appointment by saying that I had done what others often take 5 appointments to get done. To be specific, I had two fillings and a deep cleaning in all four quadrants of my mouth. I was in that dentist chair for nearly two hours.
First, let me say, my dentist is very knowledgeable and highly skilled. She also has all the latest gadgets and technology. I think she's a very good dentist and I generally enjoy going in for my appointments.
14 December 2008
First Live Xmas Tree
11 December 2008
Recruiting Agencies Keep Calling
Originally posted 14 November 2007, on my Facebook Live Blog:
Corporate recruiting has its own supply and demand market dynamics. When the number of available and fully qualified people (supply) is far less than the number of jobs open in the region (demand), the cost of acquiring talent, in other words, hiring great people, rises. As those costs rise, there are businesses out there, big and small, who find ways to make money while demand outstrips supply.
Such businesses are known as recruiting agencies, also called headhunters, staffing agencies, or in my world, just “agencies”. They are third party agencies (sometimes referred to as TPAs), most of whom charge a fee to employers when a job offer is made and the new hire starts. Big money can be made by these agencies, when the standard fee starts at a 20% equivalence of the new hire’s first year’s base salary. Some firms get 25% (not from me though). Executive search firms, who typically work on retainer, have total fees around 33% to 40% equivalence.
Corporate recruiting has its own supply and demand market dynamics. When the number of available and fully qualified people (supply) is far less than the number of jobs open in the region (demand), the cost of acquiring talent, in other words, hiring great people, rises. As those costs rise, there are businesses out there, big and small, who find ways to make money while demand outstrips supply.
Such businesses are known as recruiting agencies, also called headhunters, staffing agencies, or in my world, just “agencies”. They are third party agencies (sometimes referred to as TPAs), most of whom charge a fee to employers when a job offer is made and the new hire starts. Big money can be made by these agencies, when the standard fee starts at a 20% equivalence of the new hire’s first year’s base salary. Some firms get 25% (not from me though). Executive search firms, who typically work on retainer, have total fees around 33% to 40% equivalence.
07 December 2008
Random Thought: Space Station
Just a random thought for today.
How do they deal with it on the International Space Station when someone lets out a big stinky fart?
Such an enclosed space... special air filters? Reach for the oxygen tank? Space helmet?
Can't light a match.
Maybe the food that's sent up there is specially engineered to minimize the need.
Just wondering
How do they deal with it on the International Space Station when someone lets out a big stinky fart?
Such an enclosed space... special air filters? Reach for the oxygen tank? Space helmet?
Can't light a match.
Maybe the food that's sent up there is specially engineered to minimize the need.
Just wondering
Ted Turner Minces No Words about Big 3 Bailout
I like how Ted Turner bluntly states his sentiment on not bailing out the Big 3 American auto industry companies.
06 December 2008
Nice Sunny Day Today
It was quite cold last night, but today is a nice sunny day, with a comfortable chill in the air. Perfect for getting outside and running some errands.
04 December 2008
What is Twitter?
A few people have asked me about Twitter. If you already use Twitter, then you already understand. But for those that haven't used it, haven't read it, and don't know how it's different than Facebook or Friendster, I give one simple answer:
Twitter is the CB radio of the 21st Century.
Top 25 Talent Management Blogs
Fistful of Talent has offered a ranking of 25 blogs which they "believe represent the best of the talent/recruiting/HR/human capital blogs". It's a useful and fresh look at the jumbled world of recruitment blogs. My favorite, cheezhead™,is ranked number one. Good job, Joel and Vanessa!
03 December 2008
Dan Nye Interviewed by SFGate
The November 23, 2008 edition of the San Francisco Chronicle included an interview with LinkedIn CEO Dan Nye. It's an overall rosy, upbeat portrayal of LinkedIn's financial status and future prospects. The reporter did not dig for any dirt about delayed functionality or management in-fighting, as previously reported on rumor site Valleywag.
There's a link to the audio of the original 44 minute interview.
01 December 2008
Back At Work
The four day holiday weekend for this past Thanksgiving was a nice break. Now, I'm back at work. I've got three weeks of work to focus on, then I get two solid weeks off spanning Christmas and New Year's. It's a combination of holiday and vacation time that should be nice to have off.
Definitely a lot to get done at the office, so I've got to make these three weeks count.
Definitely a lot to get done at the office, so I've got to make these three weeks count.
29 November 2008
Sleep In Late
It is quite nice to just sleep in late in the middle of a long holiday weekend. It has been a while since I have been able to do so.
I also think being able to wake up slowly, meaning lay in bed half awake for a while, adds to the experience. I remember waking up slowly often when I was much younger.
Wal-Mart Stampede Kills One in New York
It's happened again and this time it happened in the U.S. A rowdy, ugly mob of early morning shoppers literally burst through locked glass doors at a Wal-Mart near Queens, New York, on Black Friday. A 34 year old temporary maintenance worker was savagely trampled to death, just hours after enjoying Thanksgiving dinner with family.
Just 15 miles away at another Wal-Mart, another worker was trampled, but not fatally.
27 November 2008
26 November 2008
Nice Post-Election Obama Stickers Available
MoveOn.com is offering stickers with this new graphic. Very nice.
24 November 2008
21 November 2008
Obama Campaign Logo
Two different newspaper articles here and here involve interviews with the original graphic designer of the Obama 2008 campaign. Sadly, the designer himself has yet to meet the President-elect.
I always felt the Obama 2008 campaign logo was strong and highly symbolic, but the precise colors seemed a bit off to me, as if the blue and red hues chosen were not dark or rich enough for my taste. It seemed that the animated version of the logo (which can be seen at the end of every official campaign video) used darker colors, but the static logo seemed lighter.
No matter, the highly recognizable logo played its part in the victory of Obama's historic campaign.
20 November 2008
Jobvite Customer Summit
Earlier today, I attended the First Annual Jobvite Customer Summit. The folks from Jobvite did a great job organizing and hosting the event. We got to meet many of the people from Jobvite, including our account manager, who I'd only spoken with by phone for so many months, but had never met in person before. We also got to meet many of the other customers of Jobvite. It was great to see my former colleague there from my former employer, where I had also implemented Jobvite just before I left.
We learned about features in the most recent and upcoming releases, and also was presented the high level product roadmap for 2009. It all looked like good stuff. Jobvite clearly is tracking the market, following tech and social media trends, and listening to its customers.
18 November 2008
Angry Investors Dogpile on Taleo
Taleo Corporation, a major provider of applicant tracking systems and a publicly traded company (NASDAQ:TLEO), is experiencing a figurative dogpiling by investor lawsuits. It has only been a few days since auditors reported questionable practices over the firm's revenue recognition in relation to the completion of professional services as the measure for the delivery of Taleo's software. This matter resulted in the delay of Taleo reporting its quarterly financial results. Since then, law firm after law firm began investigations, with one filing a shareholder class action lawsuit. Taleo is now struggling to stay listed on NASDAQ.
I am no fan of Taleo. When I joined my current employer, I inherited the Taleo Business Edition system already in place. After many weeks of bona fide effort to reconfigure it, adopt its processes, and partner with the vendor, I concluded that Taleo's system was ugly, clunky and buggy, designed for the lowest common denominator customers, and the vendor was lousy to respond to customer problems in a timely or knowledgeable manner, and the pricing structure discouraged company-wide usage. Besides, the hiring managers and my team of recruiters hated Taleo. I was happy to dump Taleo as a vendor.
I am no fan of Taleo. When I joined my current employer, I inherited the Taleo Business Edition system already in place. After many weeks of bona fide effort to reconfigure it, adopt its processes, and partner with the vendor, I concluded that Taleo's system was ugly, clunky and buggy, designed for the lowest common denominator customers, and the vendor was lousy to respond to customer problems in a timely or knowledgeable manner, and the pricing structure discouraged company-wide usage. Besides, the hiring managers and my team of recruiters hated Taleo. I was happy to dump Taleo as a vendor.
17 November 2008
Star Trek XI new trailer in HD
The new movie trailer for Star Trek XI is looking pretty good. Check it out in HD here. Or watch the low res YouTube version below.
Jobvite Garnering Press Attention
Applicant tracking system vendor, Jobvite, with whom I am a customer of at my workplace, has been garnering some public relations attention recently.
The September 2008 issue of Workforce Management Online included this article by Michelle Rafter, in which the new executives hired from Yahoo! HotJobs and the many competitors faced by Jobvite are mentioned.
The September 2008 issue of Workforce Management Online included this article by Michelle Rafter, in which the new executives hired from Yahoo! HotJobs and the many competitors faced by Jobvite are mentioned.
Minority Report 3D virtual reality user interface was real
This is both cool and geeky. Check it out. As reported on CrunchGear.
g-speak overview 1828121108 from john underkoffler on Vimeo.
g-speak overview 1828121108 from john underkoffler on Vimeo.
16 November 2008
Monster.com Rebuilding
Cheezhead reports: Monster.com hoping to ‘reinvent’ industry
Monster’s user interface has been so bad for so long, and their usage stats relative to other job boards have lagged, and now they are run by folks who come from outside the HR recruiting space… I am not holding my breath for any new site release.
It's possible there will be a pleasant surprise on 10 January 2009 with their rebuilt user interface, but I really doubt it will be good enough to stop their slide down in the fast changing job posting - career site market. If they are spending all their effort on just the applicant experience, then they are ignoring who pays the bills, the subscribing employers, who have suffered for a decade with an awful user interface.
Monster’s user interface has been so bad for so long, and their usage stats relative to other job boards have lagged, and now they are run by folks who come from outside the HR recruiting space… I am not holding my breath for any new site release.
It's possible there will be a pleasant surprise on 10 January 2009 with their rebuilt user interface, but I really doubt it will be good enough to stop their slide down in the fast changing job posting - career site market. If they are spending all their effort on just the applicant experience, then they are ignoring who pays the bills, the subscribing employers, who have suffered for a decade with an awful user interface.
Orowheat Breads Stops Using HFCS
I just noticed that Orowheat brand bread, which is widely available in supermarkets in the San Francisco Bay Area, has recently stopped using high fructose corn syrup (HFCS) as a key ingredient. For years, I ate Orowheat bread, but then I stopped when I realized HFCS was a commonly used ingredient in its various bread varieties, except for its organic specialty breads. I am glad to see Orowheat has responded to market pressures to stop using the nasty stuff.
The product labeling highlights both the omission of HFCS as well as the now popular claim of "0 grams trans fat". I actually don't recall if partially hydrogenated oil was in the ingredients list in the past. I'll guess it was and now it too is gone due to market pressures.
I would suspect there are still other questionable ingredients involved, given the likely need for a major brand to keep production costs down, but for now, we'll count this as a big win for the elimination of HFCS and trans fats from store shelves.
14 November 2008
Morford: Detroit must die. AGREED.
Mark Morford of SF Gate, in his Notes & Errata column today, wrote "Detroit must die: American cars are still uniformly god-awful. Why save them?" There is no reason to save them.
The Big 3 American auto makers AND the entire supply chain that supported all the ugly gas guzzlers for decades are hardly economic victims any more than any other industry.
There is no justifiable reason for the government to throw good money after bad in a bailout. There is no realistic chance that a bailout now will do anything but merely delay an inevitable deserved demise of these environmentally irresponsible institutions.
Detroit has been in steep decline for decades with no chance for a forseeable turnaround by the traditional auto industry. The government should use the money to fund R&D for startups to innovate, thrive, and hire the best talent, without the Big 3 in the way.
The Big 3 American auto makers AND the entire supply chain that supported all the ugly gas guzzlers for decades are hardly economic victims any more than any other industry.
There is no justifiable reason for the government to throw good money after bad in a bailout. There is no realistic chance that a bailout now will do anything but merely delay an inevitable deserved demise of these environmentally irresponsible institutions.
Detroit has been in steep decline for decades with no chance for a forseeable turnaround by the traditional auto industry. The government should use the money to fund R&D for startups to innovate, thrive, and hire the best talent, without the Big 3 in the way.
Civil Rights Groups Petition California Supreme Court to Stop Enactment of Proposition 8
Keith Kamisugi of the Equal Justice Society has published a press release describing how multiple civil rights groups are petitioning the California Supreme Court to stop the enactment of Proposition 8.
Put simply, the constitutional law of equal protection strongly trumps any simple majority vote which intends to strip away rights from a minority group.
The idea of civil unions with all the same rights but without the governmental recognition of the word "marriage" for same-sex couples smacks of the "separate but equal" racial divisiveness from decades past.
Protecting equality is of far greater concern than any rhetorically weak notion of "protecting" marriage.
Home Videos of CNN Obama Win Moment
CNN's AC360 blog entry briefly recounts their election night experience and, more importantly, links to an independent blog that is compiling home videos from around the world with crowds cheering the moment CNN announces Obama as the President-elect.
Very nice.
http://countdowntovictory.blogspot.com/
Very nice.
http://countdowntovictory.blogspot.com/
11 November 2008
Multiple Junk Mail From Farmers Insurance
We are getting deluged with multiple pieces of junk mail, the paper snail mail kind, from Farmers Insurance agents. Each piece of junk mail looks a bit different: some are post cards with varying designs, some are letters in envelopes, and each has a different agent's name (each claiming to be our neighborhood's agent), and each destination address is slightly different, with either different spellings of our names, or the address is expressed slightly different, including the 9 digit zip code showing some variations.
The disappointing thing is that we have been on do-not-mail lists for nearly a year and the junk mail in general has greatly subsided, until now. Obviously, Farmers Insurance has purchased some rather dubious marketing mailing lists and gone ahead and spammed at least the city of Belmont with repetitive and nearly duplicate junk mail. It's not cool. If we continue to get more of this junk mail, I may file a complaint.
Insurance agents are pretty slimy, eh? I buy my few, necessary policies online.
10 November 2008
50 HR Blogs
Alisa Miller of BSchool.com just published a nice current roundup of 50 HR blogs, including a handful of recruitment related blogs. A great way to catch up on the very latest thoughts in the HR space.
Finally! Something to take up all my excessive free time.
Right.
Finally! Something to take up all my excessive free time.
Right.
09 November 2008
Why Obama's Victory Speech Remain Subdued
Bob Schieffer of CBS Face The Nation helps explain why Obama's election night victory speech was not one of his usual soaring and intense oratories, but an intended measure of restraint, as was exercised throughout the campaign.
08 November 2008
Mistaken Email Address Or First Stage of Identity Theft?
Yesterday, somebody using my first name and last name, and an email address extremely similar to one of my personal email addresses, registered onto a web based food delivery service. Whoever it was then proceeded to order two dishes from a Thai restaurant.
I know all this because for some reason, I received the email confirmations for the delivery service registration and the Thai food order (which I presume was delivered to and paid for by the original registrant). Strangely, while the email address registered was not exactly my email address, I have since learned and repeatedly confirmed that my email provider resolves that particular address to mine. All this was apparently possible because the delivery service registration process does not include an email address confirmation step.
Brightkite or Loopt?
I am just starting to decide whether I want to use either Brightkite or Loopt as my primary GPS iPhone 3G powered location specific social network.
Brightkite seems to have the most buzz right now with its integration with mobile Twitter. It is designed to be compatible with most cellphones, even older ones. But in order to do that, it somehow relies on built in text messaging, which for me means it could impact my iPhone's AT&T account allowance limit on SMS messages.
06 November 2008
Significance of Obama's Election
The news media has been focused for the past 36 hours on how Barack Obama is now the first elected African American president-elect. There have been lots of quotes from African Americans who exclaim how they never expected to see this in their lifetimes. I am pleased to witness this momentous occasion. However, I think the news media is missing the mark slightly.
For at least a week before the election, it was quite clear based on all reputable polls that Obama was significantly ahead. The news media was forced to portray the McCain campaign as still competitive for sake of keeping up ratings, along with covering the last ditch effort by the GOP.
For at least a week before the election, it was quite clear based on all reputable polls that Obama was significantly ahead. The news media was forced to portray the McCain campaign as still competitive for sake of keeping up ratings, along with covering the last ditch effort by the GOP.
Fantastic, Pivotal Victory Speech
Awe-inspiring, utterly historic, election victory speech by President-elect Barack Obama in Chicago.
This embedded video is the entire speech, from one fixed camera.
I watched with great pride as an American. I held my wife's hand while experiencing this great moment. We have restored HOPE.
Amazing.
05 November 2008
We Dodged a Bullet
The election is completely over and the vice presidential candidacy of Sarah Palin is now completely nonviable.
What's interesting is that the news media is diving head first into previously embargoed information from campaign sources about how badly Palin got along with the McCain campaign, and how much of a dummy she really was. Those early weeks when Palin was held back from the media was clearly the best decision, because she would have caused immense damage to the McCain campaign.
Word is leaking out now that Palin did not know what countries are covered by NAFTA (that would be Canada, the U.S., and Mexico), and she didn't know that Africa was a continent as opposed to a single country.
Other reports indicate her fundamental misunderstanding of the First Amendment's rights to free speech, freedom of the press, and freedom of association, wrongly assuming the First Amendment is degraded when a public official, such as herself, is criticized by the media, when they attacked her for questioning Obama's associations with questionable individuals.
It has now leaked that Palin was prepped for her first media interview with Charlie Gibson, but refused to be prepped for the interview with Katie Couric. Her lack of preparation totally showed. Palin's non-answer to Couric's question about what newspapers and magazines she reads to shape her world view now makes a lot of sense. She obviously didn't read any.
Also leaking now is Palin going on shopping sprees for herself and her husband using funds from a major donor, as well as credit cards from campaign underlings, who now want to be reimbursed. All this spending was far beyond the already reported $150,000 spent by the RNC.
McCain made a huge gamble in picking Palin without properly vetting her, and he simply lost. Most Americans sensed this already, but the truth is coming out now.
We certainly dodged a bullet, that of a Sarah Palin vice presidency.
She is being treated as a scapegoat now. And, in my opinion, she has little chance of re-emerging as a national candidate in future.
LinkedIn Layoffs
TechCrunch has just reported that LinkedIn "will be cutting 36 of 370 employees, or around 10% of the company." These days, it's not a surprise. As a customer of LinkedIn, I have a slightly concern about LinkedIn's financial health, but I don't feel that they are about to go out of business. Obviously, it's a tough world for VC backed startups right now.
My speculation is that since the bulk of their revenue is from companies which are recruiting, the number of such employers willing to renew their job postings and search subscriptions are probably starting to drop. LinkedIn would presumably start cutting back on customer service people, perhaps on some sales and marketing folks, and any dead weight. Every company has at least 5% dead weight amongst the staff.
In HR, we have a saying, "there is such a thing as good attrition."
My speculation is that since the bulk of their revenue is from companies which are recruiting, the number of such employers willing to renew their job postings and search subscriptions are probably starting to drop. LinkedIn would presumably start cutting back on customer service people, perhaps on some sales and marketing folks, and any dead weight. Every company has at least 5% dead weight amongst the staff.
In HR, we have a saying, "there is such a thing as good attrition."
04 November 2008
Holding Breath for Prop 8 Results
Initial results from just 30% of California precincts show Prop 8 winning by 53.1% of the vote. CNN exit polls predict Prop 8 will lose with just 48%. Let's wait and see.
The big hope is that the more rural precincts have tabulated their votes first, while the bigger, more urban precincts will report later in the night.
Hopefully, that means Prop 8 will eventually be defeated. We'll see.
The TV is turned off.
Thank You John McCain
I have great respect for John McCain's service to the United States. He is an honorable man, a brave soldier and POW, and an accomplished senator.
His campaign clearly was not honorable in many ways, but given he faced such a gigantic tidal wave of a political opponent from Obama's campaign, McCain's campaign was forced to take chances. Unfortunately for McCain, his campaign came across as erratic, rather than risk taking.
McCain will still serve as Arizona's senator and one of the most powerful members of the Senate for another two years. He will continue to serve this great country. The United States is certainly better off with McCain as senator and even as a presidential candidate.
I just wanted to mention here a side note. CNN is doing a pretty good job. We are watching CNN exclusively tonight. The hologram gimmick is pretty worthless, and I'm convinced CNN is more committed to being an entertainment channel over being a news channel.
YES WE CAN
I am absolutely thrilled that Obama has been elected President of the United States!!! CNN has just called the election for Obama the moment the polls officially closed for California, Oregon, and Washington.
This is a momentous occasion. It's great to be alive to witness these events, to experience it with my wife. Clearly, an historic event.
I don't have anything deep to express, just to document my joy, my hope, my feelings.
McCain is giving his concession speech right now and I'll pay attention.
Next big moment will be Obama's acceptance speech.
My New Favorite Breakfast
I discovered my new favorite breakfast.
It doesn't sound so good in words, but it was delicious.
It's the "meatless soyrizo scramble" with eggs, corn, green onions, a soy substitute version of chorizo (normally a greasy, spicy Mexican sausage meat often served as a crumbled meat), melted pepperjack cheese, with spicy black beans on the side (instead of hash browns as specified in the menu), and my choice of light rye toast, plus a large glass of fresh squeezed orange juice, at Rudy's Can't Fail Cafe in Emeryville.
02 November 2008
Even Racists Voting for Obama
James Hannaham of salon.com writes how racism not only continues in America, but is revealed to be complex and flexible, when people are faced with the prospect of voting for or against Obama with a multitude of interests in mind.
I find the article interesting, enlightening, and fairly agreeable to my views of how racism seems to operate in America.
One bit of semantics which could help with understanding all this is a definition which I learned while attending a special multiculturalism workshop as an undergrad at UC Berkeley. An African American friend of mine at the time, also of mixed heritage, succinctly pointed out, "Racism is prejudice plus power."
Perhaps the two most important inferences from that definition is that prejudice and racism are not exactly the same, and that racism is far more than thoughts and biases, but when actions are taken based on those thoughts and biases which negatively impact another. This could happen consciously or subconsciously, intentionally or inadvertently.
And, perhaps further, it is then easy enough to say that even highly prejudiced people can and do still choose to vote for Obama by applying the power of their vote based on far more than a singular bias. Racists in other areas of their lives, but for a brief moment in the polling booth.
The Growing Irrelevance of the Culture Wars
Peter Beinart of the Washington Post focuses on how Sarah Palin is "Last of the Culture Warriors" as a beacon of how the culture wars are growing in irrelevance. A really good read and a striking perspective of how times really are changing. The brief history lesson of the parallels to the 1920s and 1960s are fascinating.
Eating Thanksgiving
I've had the privilege to cook the family Thanksgiving dinner for at least the last 15 years. I always target the serving time for 6:00 P.M. because I was raised with the idea that Thanksgiving dinner is served at dinner time.
Over the years, I've learned that many other people serve and eat their traditional Thanksgiving dinner much earlier in the day, as early as 2:00 P.M., some even earlier at 1:00 P.M. or even 12:00 Noon. Others at 3:00 P.M. or 4:00 P.M.
I've wondered for a long time why such a discrepancy in the tradition among families. There was one year, 1999, when I asked as many people as I could why some people ate earlier in the day. Most could only state that it was the way it was. That's their family tradition and that's it. A few would mention something about taking the full afternoon to eat the large meal.
I had my own private theory that since senior citizens tend to eat dinner earlier than others, and Thanksgiving often included celebrating with seniors, that the roast turkey was served early for their sake. But that would only explain a serving time as early as 4:00 P.M., not 1:00 P.M.
I've heard some people actually take advantage of this discrepancy, allowing them to attend two or more Thanksgiving celebrations, in which one party's meal was served early, while subsequent parties' meals were served later.
A quick search on Yahoo! Answers reveals similar questions posed by people, asking others when they serve and eat. Interestingly, most people seem to answer 2:00 P.M. or earlier, and a few people point to the advantage of completing the meal early, so they could either watch nationally televised football games (Army vs Navy, or Detroit Lions), or go toss their own football, or enjoy a walk with the remaining daylight. Some mentioned the practice of serving the turkey early in the afternoon and then serving the dessert, typically pie, in the evening.
Having been the Thanksgiving cook for so long, I usually experience the day as an opportunity to flex my cooking skills and also a cathartic break from my hectic career oriented life. An evening serving time allowed for most of the daytime to anticipated and enjoyed food preparation.
Switching to a high temperature roasting method some 7 years ago did reduce the turkey cooking time significantly, as did the shrinking of the number of relatives attending a few years ago, but the annual tradition of cooking has always been something I've looked forward to.
So, what time do you usually serve/eat Thanksgiving Dinner, and why?
30 October 2008
Just 5 Days Left
Wow, just five days left. Under a week to go. Count down the days on just one hand. Not long to go until...
... until we can all breathe again, clear our heads, have a good night's sleep, move on with our lives and look to the future.
This presidential election campaign has been grueling, not just for the candidates criss-crossing battleground states from rally to rally, fundraiser to debate. It's been tiring for all of us, the electorate, the viewing audience. Nearly two years of campaigning. Non-stop news stories, talking head pundits, political advisers turned news analysts, man-on-the-street sound bites, angry mob interjections, and carefully nuanced biased video biographies of the candidates. Daily polls, and polls of polls, electoral college maps, swing states and county by county splotches of red and blue from 2004.
Taken all together, digested all at once, it's stressful, sometimes gut-wrenching. The anxiety is reaching a high boil. It could boil over with the intensity promised by the 24 hour news channels.
And yet, it's fascinating.
It's gripping, thrilling, inspiring. Already declared historic, before we've even reached the finish line.
The prospect of a true pivotal point in the story of our nation. A moment of truth. A tipping point. An inflection point to reveal a new era. Hope and optimism for something different, a new tone, a new attitude.
Like listening to the overture before the opera's first act. We hear the themes, we can taste what is to come, before actually seeing, living, and experiencing the actual show.
There are very real, important things happening for both myself and my wife. Things that will need attention and understanding. Some study, some preparation, some planning.
I have decided to wait for the election to pass, or perhaps more accurately, to let the 100 year flood of news hype and media attention to drain away with the election, so I can once again breathe, clear my head, and finally focus on important matters at home.
... until we can all breathe again, clear our heads, have a good night's sleep, move on with our lives and look to the future.
This presidential election campaign has been grueling, not just for the candidates criss-crossing battleground states from rally to rally, fundraiser to debate. It's been tiring for all of us, the electorate, the viewing audience. Nearly two years of campaigning. Non-stop news stories, talking head pundits, political advisers turned news analysts, man-on-the-street sound bites, angry mob interjections, and carefully nuanced biased video biographies of the candidates. Daily polls, and polls of polls, electoral college maps, swing states and county by county splotches of red and blue from 2004.
Taken all together, digested all at once, it's stressful, sometimes gut-wrenching. The anxiety is reaching a high boil. It could boil over with the intensity promised by the 24 hour news channels.
And yet, it's fascinating.
It's gripping, thrilling, inspiring. Already declared historic, before we've even reached the finish line.
The prospect of a true pivotal point in the story of our nation. A moment of truth. A tipping point. An inflection point to reveal a new era. Hope and optimism for something different, a new tone, a new attitude.
Like listening to the overture before the opera's first act. We hear the themes, we can taste what is to come, before actually seeing, living, and experiencing the actual show.
There are very real, important things happening for both myself and my wife. Things that will need attention and understanding. Some study, some preparation, some planning.
I have decided to wait for the election to pass, or perhaps more accurately, to let the 100 year flood of news hype and media attention to drain away with the election, so I can once again breathe, clear my head, and finally focus on important matters at home.
28 October 2008
Speak Out Against Prop 8
One of the most succinct and effective ads from the No on Prop 8 folks.
Some additional thoughts: Discrimination is for dumbasses. Leave the California Constitution alone.
Sarah Palin: A Gift to Democrats, More Than Realized
Earlier this evening, I was reading in TIME magazine Joe Klein's interview and analysis of Barack Obama and his campaign: Why Barack Obama is Winning. Klein emphasized how Obama has run a "no-drama" campaign, reflecting both the candidate's personal temperament, as well as an underlying campaign strategy and ability to stay on message which the electorate seems to have found appealing throughout this lengthy campaign.
A day or two ago, Jack Cafferty on the CNN website posed a simple question to the audience: Was Palin as VP pick a mistake? An onslaught of online respondents basically said yes. Some went further to say that Palin was a "gift" to the Democrats. The moment McCain erratically* chose an inexperienced, unknowledgeable governor from a far flung rural state, he not only handed the election gift to the Democrats, he also gave himself a scapegoat for his likely loss to the surging Obama campaign.
26 October 2008
Biased Anchorwoman Confronts Biden
Anchorwoman Barbara West of ABC affiliate WFTV in Orlando, Florida, posed some direct and confrontational questions to Democratic vice presidential candidate Joe Biden during a brief satellite interview. West's questions expose her blatant bias for the smear tactics of the McCain-Palin campaign. She repeatedly scrapes at the bottom of the barrel with misleading questions about whether Obama is a Marxist and if Biden is embarrassed about the ACORN controversy. While Biden responded substantively, he also called her out for the slimy quality of her questions.
Soon afterwards, the Obama-Biden campaign promptly canceled a subsequent WFTV interview with Biden's wife, Jill Biden, citing the unprofessionalism of Barbara West.
The Drudge Report has posted a link to this YouTube video as its headline story for the moment.
And some people think all media has a liberal bias. Geesh.
And some people think all media has a liberal bias. Geesh.
25 October 2008
High Fructose Corn Syrup Propaganda
The TV ads put out by the Corn Refiners Association in support of high fructose corn syrup continue to drive me and many others crazy over how blatant commercial propaganda is spewed to the public. I've read online that the mere mention of HFCS in an online article, or perhaps even a blog entry like this, will result in the receipt of a stern and lengthy email or letter from the corn refiners touting the so-called misperceptions of the highly processed sweetener. The propaganda campaign is clearly serious business for these guys.
24 October 2008
Apple and Google donate to No on Prop 8
The San Francisco Chronicle is reporting that Apple is donating $100,000 to the No on Prop 8 campaign. This is great news and good for the Apple brand. Turns out Google also donated a significant amount. Eric Schmidt is the CEO of Google and also sits on Apple's board of directors, so this is all probably not a coincidence.
Interrupted Sleep Cycle
It's almost 4 A.M. and I seem to have badly interrupted my sleep cycle. I took a much needed nap yesterday from around 5 P.M. to around 7 P.M. and I've been up ever since. I tackled a work related report and finished it close to 3 A.M. I feel almost wide awake, although there are some sleep cycle physical sensations, probably related to the circadian cycle. Fortunately, it's now Friday, so the weekend is just around the corner to hopefully get myself back on a regular sleep cycle.
Unintended Ripple Effect From Bachmann's Comments
Bloomberg news is reporting how Michele Bachmann's recent comments are negatively affecting her re-election campaign, as well as the campaigns of other Republicans in the region. Her comments may even be affecting the presidential election outcome for her state.
She was an idiot to mouth off with McCarthyism on the brain.
She was an idiot to mouth off with McCarthyism on the brain.
23 October 2008
Disgusting Extortion Tactics By Prop 8 Supporters
The San Francisco Chronicle has just run an article about threatening letters sent to California businesses from the supporters of Proposition 8 to extort them for donations with the threat of publishing their company names in a list. This is absolutely disgusting behavior by these hate-mongering, so called "Christian" leaders. This is quite upsetting!
Really, this sort of bigoted power mongering tactic should result in the revocation of the tax-exempt status of the churches involved. For literally millenia, the Catholic church and others have severely abused their institutional power, resulting in the slaughter of millions, the obscene oppression of women, the destruction of nations, an ongoing philosophical war against science and scientists, and the continuing discrimination against gays. I do not understand and certainly do not support major churches having tax exemption in the U.S.
Church and religion is supposed to be about bringing people together, giving meaning to people's lives, and promoting peace. Any goals behind that, no matter how cloaked in "morality", is a self-serving sham.
I am voting NO on Prop 8. The abuse of church influence must be stopped here and now. The hate must end.
21 October 2008
Embedded Instant Messenger
Recently, I've been trying to embed a live chat widget into my blog. For the past week, I had a meebo widget called meebo me installed. Earlier today, I swapped it out for the newly released Yahoo! Messenger Pingbox widget.
Meebo is a browser based thin-client IM tool that aggregates different platforms, including Yahoo! Messenger and Google Talk. It worked fine but I didn't entirely get used to managing multiple IM dialog windows within a single browser window.
I do most of my IM with just a small handful of people on Yahoo!, including some of my co-workers. Having found the new Pingbox widget from Yahoo!, I decided to chuck meebo and try out Pingbox.
It seems to work fine, except I'm noticing that when I view my own blog through Safari on Mac OS X Leopard, the browser sometimes crashes. It complains that it is Flash related. I'm unclear whether the problem is with Pingbox or it's something else. Since Pingbox was released just a couple days ago, and it's the newest widget on my blog, I am assuming that's the source of the problem.
If anyone knows more about this, please let me know.
20 October 2008
Unfair. Unnecessary. Wrong.
The tradition of marriage is stronger for everyone when people have the right to marry who they choose. A right currently protected and guaranteed by California's highest law, the state constitution.
Learn about the fact vs fiction spread by the out of state, hateful sponsors of Prop 8.
Stop the ugly, prejudiced effort to eliminate this right.
Unfair. Unnecessary. Wrong.
19 October 2008
McCarthyism Rears It's Ugly Head Again
Minnesota Republican Representative Michele Bachmann recently spoke with Chris Matthews on MSNBC Hardball to discuss Obama's associations with questionable individuals. She ended up calling for the national media to produce an expose style investigation into liberal members of Congress to determine whether their activities are pro-America or anti-America. The spirit of this idea and the tone of Rep Bachmann smells very badly of McCarthyism. It is also indicative of how desperate the McCain campaign has become. Very sad.
We should remain vigilant to prevent such insidious ideas from becoming mainstream.
Colin Powell Endorses Obama
Colin Powell gives a well articulated, impassioned, and significant endorsement for Barack Obama, given Powell's extensive prior service in the military as an Army General and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, as a Republican, as America's top international diplomat in the role of Secretary of State in the early Busy Administration, and even as a prior donor to the McCain campaign. The video is well worth watching.
17 October 2008
Having a Voice: Taking a Stand
One of the many reasons I like to blog is the importance I feel it is for me, and anyone, everyone, to have their voice heard, or at the very least, to have a voice. Perhaps I won't discuss politics at work. Perhaps I won't talk HR-shop with friends. Perhaps I won't dwell on food with family members. But I know I have at least one reliable venue where I can express myself on my own terms.
We are living in times which seem to be a pivotal moment in our lives and our society. The presidential elections, the financial markets volatility, the economic recession, the culture wars, the war on terror, and the frighteningly forgotten climate crisis. How we address and eventually resolve these and other heavy matters will have deep and long lasting effects on our lives and the lives of our descendants.
I can think of no better time than the present, and no better forum than my own blog, to take a stand on some matters. Things that most of us keep to ourselves.
2008 Election - Well, it's no secret I support Barack Obama for president. I deeply respect John McCain's decades of service to the country and I admire his courage and endurance for his lengthy POW experience, but he is 8 years too late. He would have been a better president than W., but unfortunately he lost to Karl Rove in South Carolina back in 2000. Now, he is too old and politically weakened by his on-again, off-again relationship with the Republican party. Obama may not bring as much experience as some people would like, but his style of inspired leadership, his cool temperament, his multi-cultural upbringing, and his ability to rally so many young and previously jaded voters, is what I believe the country needs to get back on track.
Public Schools - For all the parents, politicians, activists, educators, over the many years and decades, who have tried to fix our schools with so many tries and so many failures, I must say that it is clear to me, the underlying root cause of underperforming schools is simply the excessive power exercised by the teachers union to unfairly protect the employment of underperforming teachers. When competition and business driven performance is introduced to schools, improvements are made. Teachers, like all workers, deserve some degree of employment protection, but not at the expense of the schools' performance. The teachers unions should be limited in their influence. Charter schools and vouchers are good ideas and can work if intelligently implemented.
Abortion - I am pro-choice. There has to be a balance between valuing unborn life against valuing the right to privacy. I've grown up with Roe vs Wade as the law of the land. I remember the pro-life protests during the 80s and early 90s which culminated with the bombing of clinics and murder of doctors who performed abortions, thus disenfranchising most protesters who could not associate with such violence.
Capital punishment - I generally oppose the death penalty, as do nearly every industrialized country in the world except the U.S. The idealist in me says in order for our society to say murder is wrong, we have to also uphold the idea that we won't also murder convicted criminals. I am willing to be pragmatic for extreme cases, specifically mega-mass murderers. I did not shed a tear when Timothy McVeigh was executed. Nor Saddam Hussein, although he was not executed in the U.S.
Foie gras - the vegan extremists who want to ban this French delicacy have used fattened duck liver as a wedge issue to ultimately slip and slide the country down the path of banning all meat. They mistakenly attribute human sensitivities with how the ducks are fed and twist it into misled public support. The city of Chicago was desperately embarrassed by their foie gras ban, which was repealed last May. The worse episode was when a California purveyor of foie gras products had his store severely vandalized and his family video taped by eco-terrorists.
Same-sex marriage - as many of my friends know, I am an enthusiast of weddings, and I appreciate the significance of the marriage begun during those weddings. For the government and society to restrict the right for a person to choose who they can marry is simply a grave social injustice. When the state of Massachusetts began allowing same-sex marriage, the thread of society certainly did not unravel. When California began allowing same-sex marriage, there was absolutely no detriment to my marriage. I actually believe my marriage is stronger by the institution of marriage being more in line with the principle and constitutionally protected right of equality. Proposition 8 must be stopped. Over the centuries, the concept of marriage has always slowly evolved - it wasn't always about love and wasn't always about individuals choosing on their own who to marry, so it is misnomer to say there is a "traditional" marriage concept. Prop 8 is an insult to our sense of fairness and it represents a prejudice and repression that remains an ugly side of our society.
Globalization - we are so far beyond the opportunity to stop globalization, it is actually a bit ridiculous that it continues to be protested. International trade and the deep economic interdependencies between countries and continents have rapidly developed for so many decades, we are at the point where tiny countries that most Americans haven't even heard of are engaging in modern commerce and are raising the global competitive bar. All the fear and loathing of globalization should be redirected at fostering stronger international ties while also boosting our education system so American workers of the future have a decent shot at being competitive. I support free trade, I support jobs being moved in and out of the U.S. (there is such as a thing as in-sourcing, where foreign companies hire Americans into good local jobs), and I support smart regulation to protect Americans from dangerous products and unhealthy food.
Creationism - whether it's called intelligent design or creationism, it is junk science and has no place being taught in public schools. The rhetoric is so flimsy when it comes to intelligent design, I'm pleased most Americans don't buy into it. The tiny towns in rural America which fought to have textbooks in schools which tried to mistreat evolution as an unproven theory look backwards and ridiculous. As Carl Sagan so eloquently stated in his book and PBS TV series, Cosmos, "Evolution is a fact, not a theory. It really did happen." It is the rock-solid foundation of our understanding of the immensely diverse and beautiful world of biology, a repeatedly proven phenomena which is highly consistent with the science used to develop modern medicine that we all rely on, and it does not have to be inconsistent with widely accepted religious principles.
It feels good to express some of my views. Whether you agree or disagree, that's not my concern at this moment of writing. Feel free to comment here or discuss. You should have your voice heard. I hope to express more of my views here.
We are living in times which seem to be a pivotal moment in our lives and our society. The presidential elections, the financial markets volatility, the economic recession, the culture wars, the war on terror, and the frighteningly forgotten climate crisis. How we address and eventually resolve these and other heavy matters will have deep and long lasting effects on our lives and the lives of our descendants.
I can think of no better time than the present, and no better forum than my own blog, to take a stand on some matters. Things that most of us keep to ourselves.
2008 Election - Well, it's no secret I support Barack Obama for president. I deeply respect John McCain's decades of service to the country and I admire his courage and endurance for his lengthy POW experience, but he is 8 years too late. He would have been a better president than W., but unfortunately he lost to Karl Rove in South Carolina back in 2000. Now, he is too old and politically weakened by his on-again, off-again relationship with the Republican party. Obama may not bring as much experience as some people would like, but his style of inspired leadership, his cool temperament, his multi-cultural upbringing, and his ability to rally so many young and previously jaded voters, is what I believe the country needs to get back on track.
Public Schools - For all the parents, politicians, activists, educators, over the many years and decades, who have tried to fix our schools with so many tries and so many failures, I must say that it is clear to me, the underlying root cause of underperforming schools is simply the excessive power exercised by the teachers union to unfairly protect the employment of underperforming teachers. When competition and business driven performance is introduced to schools, improvements are made. Teachers, like all workers, deserve some degree of employment protection, but not at the expense of the schools' performance. The teachers unions should be limited in their influence. Charter schools and vouchers are good ideas and can work if intelligently implemented.
Abortion - I am pro-choice. There has to be a balance between valuing unborn life against valuing the right to privacy. I've grown up with Roe vs Wade as the law of the land. I remember the pro-life protests during the 80s and early 90s which culminated with the bombing of clinics and murder of doctors who performed abortions, thus disenfranchising most protesters who could not associate with such violence.
Capital punishment - I generally oppose the death penalty, as do nearly every industrialized country in the world except the U.S. The idealist in me says in order for our society to say murder is wrong, we have to also uphold the idea that we won't also murder convicted criminals. I am willing to be pragmatic for extreme cases, specifically mega-mass murderers. I did not shed a tear when Timothy McVeigh was executed. Nor Saddam Hussein, although he was not executed in the U.S.
Foie gras - the vegan extremists who want to ban this French delicacy have used fattened duck liver as a wedge issue to ultimately slip and slide the country down the path of banning all meat. They mistakenly attribute human sensitivities with how the ducks are fed and twist it into misled public support. The city of Chicago was desperately embarrassed by their foie gras ban, which was repealed last May. The worse episode was when a California purveyor of foie gras products had his store severely vandalized and his family video taped by eco-terrorists.
Same-sex marriage - as many of my friends know, I am an enthusiast of weddings, and I appreciate the significance of the marriage begun during those weddings. For the government and society to restrict the right for a person to choose who they can marry is simply a grave social injustice. When the state of Massachusetts began allowing same-sex marriage, the thread of society certainly did not unravel. When California began allowing same-sex marriage, there was absolutely no detriment to my marriage. I actually believe my marriage is stronger by the institution of marriage being more in line with the principle and constitutionally protected right of equality. Proposition 8 must be stopped. Over the centuries, the concept of marriage has always slowly evolved - it wasn't always about love and wasn't always about individuals choosing on their own who to marry, so it is misnomer to say there is a "traditional" marriage concept. Prop 8 is an insult to our sense of fairness and it represents a prejudice and repression that remains an ugly side of our society.
Globalization - we are so far beyond the opportunity to stop globalization, it is actually a bit ridiculous that it continues to be protested. International trade and the deep economic interdependencies between countries and continents have rapidly developed for so many decades, we are at the point where tiny countries that most Americans haven't even heard of are engaging in modern commerce and are raising the global competitive bar. All the fear and loathing of globalization should be redirected at fostering stronger international ties while also boosting our education system so American workers of the future have a decent shot at being competitive. I support free trade, I support jobs being moved in and out of the U.S. (there is such as a thing as in-sourcing, where foreign companies hire Americans into good local jobs), and I support smart regulation to protect Americans from dangerous products and unhealthy food.
Creationism - whether it's called intelligent design or creationism, it is junk science and has no place being taught in public schools. The rhetoric is so flimsy when it comes to intelligent design, I'm pleased most Americans don't buy into it. The tiny towns in rural America which fought to have textbooks in schools which tried to mistreat evolution as an unproven theory look backwards and ridiculous. As Carl Sagan so eloquently stated in his book and PBS TV series, Cosmos, "Evolution is a fact, not a theory. It really did happen." It is the rock-solid foundation of our understanding of the immensely diverse and beautiful world of biology, a repeatedly proven phenomena which is highly consistent with the science used to develop modern medicine that we all rely on, and it does not have to be inconsistent with widely accepted religious principles.
It feels good to express some of my views. Whether you agree or disagree, that's not my concern at this moment of writing. Feel free to comment here or discuss. You should have your voice heard. I hope to express more of my views here.
15 October 2008
Last Debate Photo Emerges
The last presidential debate was more engaging than the previous two. McCain stepped up his game and did much better than before. But, it wasn't the game changing performance he needed.
As the debate ended, Obama, McCain, and moderator Bob Schieffer stood up to shake hands. Because of the table shape and size, after Obama and Schieffer first shook hands, McCain found himself too far from Schieffer to reach for a handshake, so he briefly made a face and gesture as he changed course to step around the table to reach Schieffer.
The television camera's perspective clearly showed what McCain was doing and his behavior was easy to see as light-hearted jest. This photo's perspective captures the moment in a manner which conveys an entirely different connotation. Some may think this is a Photoshop'd image, but the moment did happen.
12 October 2008
Collapsing Economy affects Global Warming
The San Francisco Chronicle has published an article detailing how the economic woes are expected to affect the next administration's global warming response programs. Hopefully, popular demand for a large enough effort to address global warming will be there.
11 October 2008
Brokers with Hands on Their Face
This funny image blog captures photos that have been on the front pages of newspapers and news sites all last week. Every day, another broker with their hands on their face. Obviously, their anguish is a visual representation of our pain, as we watch our portfolio values nose dive, our 401(k) funds evaporate, our net worths trampled to crumbs.
Is Kim Jong-il still alive?
While reading the Wikipedia article on North Korea's Dear Leader, Kim Jong-il, I learned there is one Japanese researcher who has recently published his surprising analysis. An English language article from Japan Today summarizes the Waseda University professor's contention that Kim Jong-il has been dead since August 2003 and all subsequent public appearances and summit negotiations have been with imposters. The UK's TimesOnline also has an interesting summary article on the matter.
Earlier today, CNN reports that North Korean TV has broadcast a series of photos showing Mr. Kim visiting a women's artillery, but no date is given of the photos.
Even if the professor is incorrect, the Dear Leader has not made a public appearance for more than a month, and missed some important national events, raising speculation of his dire health status. However, last week, as reported by the New York Times, the North Korea's state-run news agency claimed Mr. Kim watched a soccer game along with other party officials. No photos or useful details were provided, although a propoganda quote was included.
Earlier today, CNN reports that North Korean TV has broadcast a series of photos showing Mr. Kim visiting a women's artillery, but no date is given of the photos.
Just a month ago, CNN called Kim Jong-Il "one of the most mysterious leaders in the world". CNN video on last month's 60th anniversary celebration depicts the massive parade and other government officials, but no current footage of the Dear Leader.
What is clear is the combination of such a reclusive government regime and the personality cult that inspires and controls the entire country's population through horrific living conditions, creates conditions in which an imposter leader is both feasible and perhaps even necessary.
10 October 2008
Terrifying Analysis and Outlook on Global Economy
A major venture capitalist firm has put together some hefty analysis and internally delivered a dire outlook to the global economy and how it will affect business conditions for their invested companies.
The scariest point they emphasized is how the recovery period to this downturn is expected to be very long, perhaps 15 years. Other pundits in the media have recently been saying one to five years for a recovery. This is scary. Terrifying.
But I'm not selling anything. Let it ride.
Did We Forget The Environment?
I totally understand how the economy is the number one issue for Americans in deciding who to vote for president. Each of the other top issues in the latest poll, I sort of understand why they're so high on the list.
I think what we all can agree on is that this is the longest, most dragged out presidential campaign in history. Thanks to all those states who moved up their primary and caucus elections so early in the year, the exploratory committees and candidacy declarations came very early. It seems like ages ago when there were 8 or more candidates debating at a time for each party. Have we already forgotten the time when Hillary and Rudy were both considered the inevitable nominees? Obama and McCain were long shot candidates then.
But it wasn't some dream that is fast fading from memory. The deep concern, the outrage, the word of mouth enthusiasm was quite real. We were finally listening to Al Gore. Environmental conservation was finally mainstream. Perhaps expensive gas and a cratering stock market have permanently distracted us from carbon dioxide levels that are still rising, plastic waste formations the size of Texas swirling in the Pacific Ocean, and disgusting smog shrouding Beijing, Shanghai, and just about every major city around the globe.
Or, it is simply the public's attention must always move on to another topic, the next concern, the scandal around the corner, the expected unexpected outrage.
I must admit, the environment is not number one on my list, but it's probably third for me. After leadership and the economy. Let's hope Al Gore is asked to serve a prominent and influential role in the next administration.
09 October 2008
07 October 2008
Welcome Back, Blue Angels!
Hooray! The Blue Angels are back in San Francisco for this coming weekend's Fleet Week! I don't work within the city limits of San Francisco anymore so I won't get to hear the thundering sound of freedom as the jets rehearse and perform later this week. Boo hoo to Supervisor Chris Daly who previously tried to restrict the Blue Angels from performing here. Let the jets fly! Photo by Frederic Larson at The San Francisco Chronicle.
06 October 2008
MSNBC liberal bias
We've been watching a lot of CNN lately for coverage of the presidential and vice presidential campaign. Generally, CNN seems to be fairly balanced, although it's occasionally apparent CNN's mild bias for Obama. At least CNN tries to be balanced, including Ed Rollins, David Gergen, and other Republicans in their analyst panels.
Tonight, I flipped the channel to MSNBC for variety's sake. I've known about the liberal bias on MSNBC, especially given their on-air personalities like Chris Matthews, Keith Olbermann, and Rachel Maddow. What surprised me tonight, though, was how blatant the bias is. There's very little balance. Including Pat Buchanan every once in a while doesn't offset the continual bias you can easily detect.
I find the sarcastic comments regarding Palin and McCain to be refreshing, but I have to remind myself that this is supposed to be a news channel.
I'm almost thinking Fox News, with its conservative bias, at least comes across as a quality news organization. The concept of balance is even in their slogan, "We Report. You Decide."
Well, we'll probably be back watching CNN again, with MSNBC an interesting side show on occasion.
Tonight, I flipped the channel to MSNBC for variety's sake. I've known about the liberal bias on MSNBC, especially given their on-air personalities like Chris Matthews, Keith Olbermann, and Rachel Maddow. What surprised me tonight, though, was how blatant the bias is. There's very little balance. Including Pat Buchanan every once in a while doesn't offset the continual bias you can easily detect.
I find the sarcastic comments regarding Palin and McCain to be refreshing, but I have to remind myself that this is supposed to be a news channel.
I'm almost thinking Fox News, with its conservative bias, at least comes across as a quality news organization. The concept of balance is even in their slogan, "We Report. You Decide."
Well, we'll probably be back watching CNN again, with MSNBC an interesting side show on occasion.
Olbermann: Terrorists? It's Palin doing the pallin'
Olbermann responds with gusto to Sarah Palin's accusation of Obama's link to Ayers. Check it out. Here's the transcript.
More Money Troubles for LinkedIn
Apparently some employees of LinkedIn were hoping to sell some stock, but the tanking stock market is not going to let that happen, according to ValleyWag today. In the fast changing social networking market, I've felt LinkedIn is a bit slow to innovate, and now it looks like it's stumbling over its financial opportunities. Currently, there's no better rolodex application in the Web 2.0 market, but things could change in the next 2 years.
05 October 2008
Bak Kuh Teh at home
We cooked bak kuh teh, which is a Singaporean pork rib herbal soup. Literally translated, bak kuh teh means, "pork rib tea". My wife did much of shopping, prep work, and plating. I handled the boiling and simmering, the timing, and adding the flavor packets, courtesy of Prima Taste. Without the box kit, I think we would have been working on a version from scratch for some 6 to 8 hours. A lessor known aspect of Singaporean cuisine, at least to outsiders like me, is the laser-like emphasis on the quality of all dipping sauces which are always made homemade using fresh chopped chile peppers and other ingredients. My wife prepared two different dips using two different viscosity grades of soy sauce, along with fresh thai chile peppers and garlic. Combining the tender simmered pork, the peppery herbal broth, the fresh cilantro, the savory-spicy dips, and steamed white rice, into a single mouthful, was quite the gastronomic indulgence for this weekend.
04 October 2008
Mee Siam at Home
Earlier today, I was showing my wife some photos of Singaporean food on Facebook.
The outcome was quite nice. My wife remarked it was better than the version of mee siam we had last weekend at Kopitiam in Lafayette.
"Stay Hungry. Stay Foolish"
"Your time is limited, so don't waste it living someone else's life. Don't be trapped by dogma — which is living with the results of other people's thinking. Don't let the noise of others' opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition... Stay Hungry. Stay Foolish." -Steve Jobs, commencement speech at Stanford, June 12, 2005. This highly popular speech has been widely viewed and frequently quoted, especially the closing line. Like many people, I am a great admirer of Steve Jobs. If you haven't heard the speech, I encourage you to watch the video, or read the transcript text.
03 October 2008
I'm Impressed with Katty Kay
I am impressed with the post VP debate political commentary of Katty Kay from the BBC who was a guest pundit on Charlie Rose. Her comments were comprehensive, articulate, insightful, and accurate. I hadn't heard of her before. Some people on Twitter mentioned her a few weeks ago when she appeared on Chris Matthew's cable news channel show.
02 October 2008
Palin and Biden on separation of church and state
Katie Couric asks Sarah Palin and Joe Biden each about the separation of church and state, giving a glimpse of how each may perform in tomorrow night's vice presidential debate. To me, it's quite clear, Biden delivers his answer in a more coherent manner than Palin.
01 October 2008
LinkedIn is struggling financially
ValleyWag is reporting a serious rumor that LinkedIn is having difficulties at multiple levels: financially, with feature development, with management culture, and potentially inaccurate public relations. As a former colleague of Dan Nye, their CEO, and as a current business customer of LinkedIn, I hope things improve.
McCain's Arizona ranch for sale
John and Cindy McCain's massive Arizona ranch is now for sale. Looks like a great place if you're worth over $100M and raising kids in the desert state. I like the outdoor amenities.
"I like all kinds of music!"
When asked by Katie Couric what newspapers and publications does she read, Sarah Palin refuses to specify, repeatedly stating, "all of them". She blatantly dodges the question. It reminds me of high school and college, when a guy would ask a girl, "what kind of music do you like?" and she would answer, "all kinds!" Oh, really?!?
29 September 2008
Stampede! A travesty, again and again
I don't know why this catches my attention, but I've blogged about human stampedes twice in the past (on my old tribe.net blog here and here), and unfortunately, some new episodes have occured with atrocious numbers of deaths.
2008: 35 die in Indian temple stampede (includes references to other recent events)
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20080930/ts_nm/us_india_stampede
2008: 35 die in Indian temple stampede (includes references to other recent events)
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20080930/ts_nm/us_india_stampede
2007: 7 die in Chinese superstore stampede
2005: 1,000 die in Baghdad bridge stampede
2005: 5 hurt in London IKEA stampede
2004: 3 die in Saudi shop stampede
Whenever I'm in the middle of a huge crowd, I'm always wary of which way to escape in case of stampede.
Dancing with the DOW
After cooking up some tasty dinner for my wife and myself, we end up watching Dancing with the Stars. Frankly, I don't have much interest in the show. But, after watching Brooke Burke dance, the show had my attention. Unfortunately, after watching Kim Kardashian dance, the show utterly lost my attention.
It's been quite a day with the big bailout bill going down in defeat in the House of Representatives, dragging the stock market down the toilet with it. Like many people, I took a significant hit in my portfolio today, but I believe I'm still young enough to just ride it out, so I didn't sell anything. In fact, I picked up some stocks, including one component of the Dow, hoping today's startling bad news and the abrupt reaction in the stock market represented a buying opportunity, with hopes that the market will climb back up at some point in the coming weeks or months.
Sarah Palin is most certainly taking some heat in the media and I think it will drive more Americans to watch this Thursday evening's vice presidential debate than last Friday evening's first presidential debate. I doubt either Palin or Biden will let slip any devastating gaffes, but I think people do want to see how Palin handles the gargantuan pressure that will be on her shoulders. Biden has the lower bar to jump as he is known for gaffes. Palin has the much higher bar to get over, given her awful interview with Katie Couric last week and now a new bewildering interview with Couric, with McCain himself sitting next to Palin, like her chaperoning father.
I suspect the financial market will get much worse before it gets better, but ultimately, I am optimistic that Americans will find a way to survive and even thrive in a down economy. I tend to agree with how interdependent the economy is between banks and the various supply chains and jobs and such, and I do think there is risk for a fast moving domino effect. However, Americans won't just sit still and take the hit without a response. Corporations and vertical markets and regional markets will innovate and adjust.
The supposedly ancient Chinese proverb and curse (Wikipedia indicates it may be an early 20th century British invention or misinterpretation), "May you live in interesting times" comes to mind.
I think we are so fatigued from hurricanes, political campaigns, stock market crashes, suicide bombings, superhero movies, prematurely melting glaciers, reality TV, tiger/bear/shark attacks, forest fires, and Howie Mandel, that a gigantic asteroid could knock the moon out of orbit in a spectacular sky shimmering explosion and no one would blink an eye.
Let's hope for the bet.
28 September 2008
A Good Long Nap
Today reminded me how much a good long nap can be so beneficial. Earlier today, I wasn't thinking I was all that tired and I had no intentions of taking a nap. After a short morning walk, a slightly late lunch and some afternoon web surfing, I put my head down on the pillow for just a moment and then found myself sleeping for a good five-plus hours.
The mid-afternoon temperature outside was slightly warm and I had the bedroom door to the outside open and the fan gently blowing in the fresh air. As the evening approached, the temperature nicely dipped to a cooler range and the crickets on the nearby hillside began their chorus of chirping in unison.
I probably would have slept longer except for my wife waking me up, pointing out how I was drooling all over my pillow. Yeah, the sign of a good long nap.
I feel refreshed, at a lowered state of stress, and calm. This overall physical and psychological sensation reminded me of when I used to take long naps in college. Between intense study sessions and occasional socializing and partying, I often would take long naps to mitigate the pressures of college life. Come to think of it, I also took naps when I used to ride my mountain bike a lot.
It's hard to believe I started college 20 years ago. Where has all the time gone? I've certainly accomplished a lot in those 20 years, lived in many places, lived with many great people, and traveled to fascinating destinations around the world. Yet, for right now, for this moment, I'm most proud and most comfortable with my good long nap today.
25 September 2008
Replay of Usain Bolt's 100m Dash Early Celebration
Jamaica's Usain Bolt was absolutely amazing at the Beijing Olympics, winning gold at both the 100 meter dash and the 200 meter dash. Many questioned his early celebration before crossing the finish line for the 100 meter run. Here's a closer look at that episode with some special footage.
24 September 2008
Sarah Palin's Witch Hunting Pastor
Really weird, wacko stuff! Palin recently expressed admiration for a witch hunting pastor. No wonder McCain's campaign won't let Palin take questions from reporters.
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