themelvinator’s Weblog

We are in a new age of information. E-mail is the aging medium, instant messaging is sort of the norm. Twitter has become the new form of communication for the early adopters. Some may think that twitter is just “a bunch of Silicon Valley people talking to each other”, but as of recent events of the earthquake in China, that is not entirely the case. Thanks to tech blogger and technology socialite Robert Scoble, people heard about the quake before major news vendors reported on it. Another example was back in April when a student from the University of California-Berkeley got arrested in Egypt and twittered, “Arrested”, in which set off events for his release.

Mark my words, in the next few years, Twitter will be the next Facebook. It just astounds me of how technology evolves, how information is disseminated and how people form a sort of “external” community.

To end this post, I would like to say that my thoughts and prayers go to the families in China and to the people involved in the relief effort.

Until next time…

One of today’s clips will first feature the classic “Life” cereal commercial that I grew up with…

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Here is a commercial for the original Nintendo Entertainment System… [P.S. who ever bought the little robot (R.O.B. - Robotic Operating Buddy) that was only made to be used to play like two games?]

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Here is one from the many “Time to Make the Donuts” commercials from Dunkin’ Donuts that features Tattoo from “Fantasy Island”. (Who doesn’t remember “Fantasy Island”, and the famous lines, “The plane! The plane!”).

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The last clip is from Alka Seltzer that is hilarious…

Until next time…

May 1st, rent is due (for most of us) and today is also RSS Awareness Day. RSS stands for Really Simple Syndication. This is a way that information is “fed” into a presentable way that could be custom tailored by you, the user. Information can consists of news, blog entries and other frequently updated content. One way to explain this is when you watch CNN on television, you have up to date news, stock prices, sports scores and other tidbits of information. Now think of this for the Internet. You can subscribe to blogs that you read, podcasts that you listen to and news reports; all tailored to your own whims. Another example is on Facebook. When you first login, you come to the “notification page”, this page has recent activities of your friends on Facebook. This is an example of a feed.

Perhaps you have seen the little orange button on websites with the white arches, the one on the right side of my blog column? This is the RSS symbol, which you can click on to subscribe (and this is not a plug to subscribe to my blog, REALLY. But you can, if you want). But first, you need a program called an RSS reader, feed reader, or sometimes called an RSS aggregator. I use Newsfox, which is an add-on to my web brower, Firefox, but there are many other programs you can use, too. Then it’s as easy as subscribing through the RSS reader and whenever information is updated, it will appear in your reader. Easy as 1-2-3.

Until next time…

Credit to Drea W. for the picture…

Last night was the 2nd incarnation of “Blast to the Past”. It was great to see everybody dress up and have fun. Special thanks to Angel for coordinating and her roommates (Drea, Erin, Felise and Amanda) for hosting this event.

The day started with thinking of what to wear. I initially picked Indiana Jones, sort of a blast to the past figure. Then as the day progressed, I changed to an 80s stock broker. Tim and I both went to the local Goodwill store and shopped. Overall, my outfit was less than 10 dollars… so I was happy. Then an unforseen event; my stock broker pants at home did not fit me anymore, so I resorted to some other pants, which did not have the buttons that supported my suspenders… so I had to tie the ends to my pants. I got a few laughs (thanks to Ryan for bringing my self-esteem down, I could always count on you). Needless to say, I had to improvise and decided the stock broker look was out. I decided on random 40s news reporter (couldn’t have guess with the digital camera around my neck, thus the improvised “Press Pass” stapled to my shirt).

As for the pictures, I took about 60. I was a little disappointed to find that about half of them were pretty much not useable. I posted the good ones on Facebook…

Overall, the party was awesome and I had a very good time.

Until next time…

Last week it was about cats. I was going to use an animal that rhymed with last weeks subject, but opt-ed out. I am trying to get hits here and I don’t think you can win any popularity contests with rats (no offense to rat lovers out there). I thought it would be fair to feature man’s best friend instead. Thanks Steve for finding this clip. Enjoy!

Until next time…

In case you are wondering what Hardy Heron is; it is a new version of Ubuntu Linux, which is being released tomorrow for download. Ubuntu is one of many distributions of Linux that runs on desktops, laptops and servers. I have been running this distribution for a few years and I think they are doing a great job. I think the only drawback for tomorrow is going to be slow servers, because everybody and their grandma will be trying to download it. (Okay, maybe not their grandma’s… you never know, though). Overall, I am just excited. In case anybody wants to take the Linux dive, and has a spare computer or dual-boot with another operating system, I would recommend Ubuntu 8.04, a.k.a. Hardy Heron as their Linux distribution.

Until next time…

I went to the Swing Dancing (aka taxes are done, let’s dance) party. I had a lot of fun, and it was the first time that I swing danced.  I have played swing in high school/college in jazz band but dancing to it was a different thing. Thanks to Jade and his roommates for hosting, it was awesome! Definitely will be up to learn more about swing… I guess practice makes perfect!

Until next time…

It’s that time of the week again and here are two video’s about cats. Enjoy!

Until next time…

Spending a few minutes trying to think up of a blog post today. Just sent in my taxes and realized that I am getting some money this time around. Go stimulus check! School is definitely school. So far, (it’s almost the end of the semester) I am well ahead of things and ready to finish this semester off. I am planning to take some summer school and full time in the fall.

Now on a weird subject, some things that irk me. It bothers me when people drive through the parking lot across the painted lines, or for that matter, go the wrong way that the parking lane is indicated. I experienced this today as I was grocery shopping. It’s funny, some of the drivers just look at me and stare like I did something wrong, while they are driving through parking lot lines. Maybe it is just me, or that Tucson has some of the worst drivers… that has yet to be determined.

I finally am caught up with Battlestar Galactica, care of hulu.com. In case you are wondering, Battlestar Galactica, or BSG, for short, is an awesome show. I think people label the show just a geek show thanks to the original series, but it so much more! The characters are so diverse (with Edward James Olmos, Mary McDonnell and an amazing cast doing an exceptional job), and the story line is awesome. I encourage anybody to check out the show, but a tip, start watching it from the Mini-series, then to the first season on.

Tomorrow is my favorite time of the week, my day off (Friday). Have no plans as of yet. Maybe just a lot of plain-old “goofing off”.

Until next time…

Sorry I haven’t posted anything recently; seem like this has become more of a YouTube blog that a blog based on my life experiences. I will promise to put more of an effort to write.

This weeks video is based on the new Starbuck’s coffee that they released this past Tuesday. I haven’t personally tasted it, I am curious though; I’m not really a big fan of Starbucks. The only thing I usually order is the hot Chai tea, even though it is summer… I get the weird looks here in Tucson in the summer. Anyway, I thought this is cool, I have been hoping for a bitter tasting coffee at Starbucks, I prefer Donkin Donuts or Buggler’s Bagels coffee. Enjoy!

Until next time…