trendolicious

i'm home sick today -- which i'm putting out there only because i may be insane...but i've come up with a new word:



trendolicious

tren-do-li-cious (trĕn' dū lĭsh'əs)

something super cool and trendy - indicating it will be "trendolicious" for a short period of time.



This came to me when i got an e-mail (llama what?) from daily candy and after reading went to this website. The stuff on this site is soooo trendolicious.



thanks to maya for IM-testing my new word.



ok, back to bed.



Update: I think i have an idea why I may be feeling sickish lately (outside of the fact that everyone has been getting nasty colds lately): i think my new glasses aren't quite right. Vision is so important and my eyes are constantly refocusing and unfocusing which makes me feel like i live on a boat. good thing i had already booked an appt with my eye doc tomorrow.

good line

Ok, i just heard a comedian say something funny:



I'm from San Francisco (the comedian says)...and we know how to do one thing really well protest. We protest everything...we're the most progressive city in the world -- except in one area: Progress.



Hahaha.



On another fun note (via Apophenia):

only in san francisco

The Board of Education is expected to approve the school district's calendar for the 2005-06 academic year tonight -- but not before a spirited debate among parents over when classes should begin.



There have long been arguments among parents over whether school should start before or after Labor Day, with the former winning out the past several years.



This year, however, brings a new wrinkle -- the 20th anniversary of the Burning Man art festival in the wastelands of Nevada is scheduled for Aug. 29- Sept. 5. In an only-in-San Francisco argument, several parents are demanding that school start Sept. 6 so their children can attend the event.



-- San Francisco Chronicle

life is random

Source: http://www.drunkenfist.com/graf/minx.shtm



I got my ipod shuffle today. Unwrapping it I felt like I was opening a surprise gift. Which makes no sense -- since I ordered it two weeks ago and could see what was inside the box through the plastic window...but as usual, opening up a new apple product brings with it a certain sense of joy. So it was with "minx" (that's the name I gave my shuffle). It is sooooo light. The packaging is all green and friendly looking - but it kinda bugged me that the inside envelope says "Don't steal music" in 5 languages. I don't steal music, but I don't want to be told not to steal music and I always think positive messages (i.e. Support artists, buy licensed music) are better. The product itself is nifty, if a bit cheap looking. But who cares? I didn't buy this product to be an ipod. I bought it to be a replacement for my ipod in situations where I'd prefer not to bring my ipod because I wouldn't want it to get hurt. Like when I go to the gym or out running. Which I do, like everyday...hahahahahah.



Anyways, I plugged minx in and voila! I got a gift from apple -- 13 free songs in the form of the new iTunes music sampler. The songs were:

Blow It Out --- Features

All At Sea --- Jamie Cullum

Sunshine to the Rain --- Miri Ben-Ari

Lonely --- Akon

Golden Touch --- Razorlight

Every Time You Go Away --- Brian McKnight

Bigtime --- The Soundtrack of Our Lives

Laura --- Scissor Sisters

She Said --- Brie Larson

Jus Anotha Shorty --- O'Ryan

Sleeping With the Lights On --- Teitur

Reach Out, I'll Be There --- Michael McDonald

TKO --- Le Tigre



Three of my favorite songs (All at Sea, Laura and Sleeping with the Lights On) were on the sampler -- the Teitur (Sleeping with the Lights On) song was one I discovered last summer via iTunes. In general, I found the mix to be full of new, eclectic, fun music.



SAVE HUBBLE...

On another note -- I was listening to NPR this morning and they had a story about how the hubble telescope is being "killed." Basically, Hubble is falling apart in space and we have a few of options: (1) repair it by sending out a robot to fix it or (2) move to operating on two gyros instead of three or (3) let hubble fall into disrepair and out of service. Everyone wanted to "save hubble" (bumper stickers available here). I think it is interesting that hubble has taken on a life-like form in our culture -- everyone was referring to "saving the life" of Hubble or how "bush had killed" hubble by not funding repair "missions." Does a telescope have a life? I don't know -- it just seems like we have over-humanized this piece of machinery.

ask?

My morning begins with getting out of bed, brushing my teeth, surfing the net and checking e-mail. My home page is set to bloglines and it is my primary vehicle for net surfing. And so today, when i woke up and logged on, I saw the confirmation of the rumoured news -- Bloglines has been acquired by AskJeeves. My immediate reaction was this: hmmm, now this is interesting. When I think about where and how I use the internet, Bloglines and Del.icio.us and Flickr (outside of search and email) are at the core.



Jeeves' acquisition is interesting because:

- they will keep it branded as bloglines

- they plan to leave it alone

- they realize it's a good thing

- they intend to data mine the hell out of it. yup. They've got a lot of data on me -- they know what I read, they know what I link to (via my blog and via my del.icio.us links that I also subscribe to) and they know which sites I subscribe to but don't always read...They know if I read something and then blog about it... hmmm....



UPDATE: my original image was of the box on the bloglines homepage that announced the acquisition. then i went to the Ask Jeeves blog and saw the logo above, and had to have it. I always say I HEART something. Because well, that's what i say on IM. Yep. (i insert a graphic though...). Oh, and btw, that image? It's hosted by flickr. yep.



Update #2: I decided to pull my predicitions.

dvr + superbowl

the superbowl is today and i totally forgot about it. i'm really not a football fan, and so this day means only one thing to me: cool commercials. Typically I'll slog through the game just for the half-time show and the ads. but not this year! today i'm going out for a manicure / pedicure and then couch shopping with mike. While i'm out enjoying the day my dvr will record the game...and then when i get home and find out who won (i'm guessing the patriots...) by just flipping on the tv -- i'll be able to watch the game my way: speeding through the game to watch just the good commercials and the half-time non-peep-show (if it is worth watching).



excellent.



other notes:

- arizona beat stanford at McKale last night (72-90) ending the streak (stanford had beaten AZ at home the last 4 times).

- my ipod shuffle has apparently shipped and should arrive on tuesday.

let the games begin

My uncle always says: "If you are not living on the edge, you are taking up too much space." I think there is a lesson in there for Microsoft...



However, today MSN announced that they have taken their websearch product out of beta. For a v1 product it's pretty good -- indicative of a lot of hard work and innovation.



This is a good thing for users...my bet is that things are about to get really interesting...and that users will be the greatest beneficiary. Unlike other MS products, the consumer is the ultimate choice-maker (for free!) and they aren't going to be swayed by snappy marketing alone...they want, as MSN says (and Ask Jeeves): answers.

in need of sleep

but unable to sleep.... so i've been catching up on my blog reading and chatting with faraway friends all night.



On another note...This picture from APOD is really beautiful:

NGC 6946: The Fireworks Galaxy

Credit & Copyright: T. Rector (U. Alaska Anchorage), Gemini Obs., AURA