Science on Track to Make us Gods
I have been seeing a trend for sometime now of humans applying their intelligence for the improvement of other species. You’re probably more than familiar with genetically tweaked fruits, insects, etc. Recently though, it seems to be more and more about us. That’s right! we are trying to improve the human condition by…(drum roll)…improving humans!
Here is my evidence that we are increasingly on the path to change our species: Read the full article »
Delicious Anime – Watch Anime Online for FREE
This story appeared on Digg:
“Delicious Anime allows you to watch your favorite Anime series Online! and it’s FREE! It has over 350 Anime series and it continues to grow everyday. Don’t waste your time on downloading when you can watch Anime ONLINE!”.
They have a sweet looking collection of Animes including my personal favorites: Naruto, Death Note, and Bleach. Avatar is there too…not that I like it or anything (I categorically deny liking it!)
Making my first longbow
Around May 2007, I walked into Archery Only, an archery shop in Newark, CA. I rented some equipment and spent a couple of hours on their shooting range. I was hooked! A couple weeks later, I was the proud owner of a brand new compound bow. Months have passed and I have gradually increased the draw weight on my bow until I reached my target 70 pounds (for those of you not into archery, that means it take 70 pounds of force to pull the string back). My girlfriend has been to the range with me a couple of times and is marginally interested in the sport. She has carpal tunnel problems and needs a light bow (unlike my 4 pound monster compound bow).
This long prelude was simply meant to justify my recent endeavor, I have built her a longbow out of home depot redwood! It works so well, I was almost tempted to keep it as my own and buy her something else…almost…
Back to the USA…
Well, Vancouver was far less of a hassle than I expected. The consulate had my passport ready the same day and I was left with a couple of days to do some sightseing. Also, Budget car rentals at the Vancouver airport gave me over 100 bucks worth of coupons for all kinds of things from the Aquarium, the museum, McMillan space center etc. In short, I had a blast. I even had time to visit Whistler. I’ll be posting my videos and pictures shortly.
One more trip to Vancouver
Here we go again… I am leaving in 2 days for Vancouver again. This is a repeat of last year’s visa stamping thing at the US consulate there. It should go much smoother this time since they already have most of my information on their computers. I guess we’ll see if I am staying 6 days or a month and a half like last time 
On a brighter note, I have been mucking around with Ubuntu on an IBM Thinkpad T42. I have to say that so far, it pretty darn good after running automatix and bringing over the Tahoma font from the NTFS partition. Performance is acceptable and the features are just amazing. I will be taking this laptop with me to Vancouver and working remotely through VPN, which incidentally was a breeze to configure on Ubuntu. Read the full article »
Morocco Underground
These days, I am learning more and more about my own people. This video sums up to stuff you don’t see on TV. Nobody here is wearing white dresses or long beards, just twenty somethings having fun. Exciting stuff, including a dropped lawsuit against Hard Metal band due to intesive riotting/protests. I guess Morocco will be shedding its 3rd world label any decade now…
Nokia 770 vs UMPC
Well, I’ve had a couple of weeks to play with my N770 and here is why I think Nokia is going to nail UMPCs to the wall:
- Form factor: Bigger is NOT better when you have to lug it around! 1.7 pounds!! If i need a bag then i might as well carry a nice compaq presario with me. You know, the pretty skinny grey ones selling for 600 bucks…The Nokia on the other hand is barely noticeable in my inside vest pocket! Weight and size are perfect!
- Ease of use: I have to admit, XP has it’s usefullness when treated to a mouse and a nice keyboard. Mobile OS, it is not! The challenge here is that mobile applications have to be built for mobile use. I mean, sure, MS Streets is nifty, but it is no tomtom! Let’s face it, the screen is way too cluttered for a driver who can barely look at it while driving!
- Price: 500 to 1000 dollars…or 369 dollars…well…
Back from Morocco :’(
I spent 2 wonderful weeks in Morocco between Tangier and Casablanca. I took a few pictures and they’ll be coming up soon along with some videos. I was having so much fun, I forgot to take pictures 
I spent most of my time there visiting family, helping my parents prepare their retirement residences, and eating as much Moroccan food as I could. The remaining time was spent watching satellite tv, which by the way blows the doors off anything we have here in the US. My parents have a motorized dish that gets most the European satellites and Hotbird alone has some 500 (good) channels on it!! I am green with envy
As far as being setup with marriage candidates 
this was done somewhat discretely with some minor brain washing on my mom’s part (love you mom! ) but nothing really interesting. Plus 2 weeks is barely enough to get over jet lag, let alone get to know someone well enough to decide on marriage…
Look forward to pictures from modern day Morocco in the coming days…
Home sweet home, here I come!
Christmas gifts for friends and coworkers: Check!
Vacation request from work for trip: Check!
Passport + Visa: Check, Check! (see Vancouver posts)
Packing: …
I may not be blogging much until I come back January 7th, but I’ll have some nice pictures from Morocco for you, so be sure to check back around then.
Busy Busy
There is finally snow on Tahoe and I am busy as a bee. It seems like all my weekends are booked till xmas. I’ll try to get some snowboarding in this Sunday but this is far from last season’s weekly trips
On the plus side, ’tis the season and all that, so Merry Christmas, Happy Hannoukah, Feliz Navidad, and Merry Quanza to all 
Snow season starting soon!
So, I’ve been living la vida loca for a while since I got back from Vancouver. Things are quieting down a little. Looking forward to the snow season, when I’ll be driving to Kirkwood at Tahoe almost (maybe even every) weekend!
Oh, yeah, going back to Casablanca, Morroco, for a couple of weeks. I’ll try and plan a nice new year’s party for my folks.
Coming home July 16th!!!
I am finally going home!!
Visa clearance granted, going home Saturday morning and then it’s paaaaaarty!
Day 37, still in Vancouver
Still in Vancouver. Day 37, still no news.
I sent the consulate another email hoping they can shed some light on what is taking so long. How hard can it be to figure out I am not a threat. I have lived in the US legally for the last 7 years for christ’s sake!!
Frustration mounting. Not sure I can wait much longer. It would be sooo easy to find a job here and move my stuff over! 
Still in Vancouver
I have been in Vacouver for 34 days waiting for my visa from the US consulate. I can’t believe I have been stuck here for so long. If this goes on much longer, I am moving to Canada!