An good piece of reporting from the L.A. Times? Wow!
Disneyland's Ride Upkeep Criticized by Park Workers
Park management's quote, "We have to ride these rides to failure to save money."
Monday, November 10, 2003
Sunday, November 09, 2003
We had planned a larger mountain bike expedition with friends this weekend, but canceled it believe the rain would make conditions difficult. Well, the rain didn't show up, so Dave and I decided to take advantage at go riding. Dave made the drive down to my place, and then we headed over to Palos Verdes.
The view from the top.
For some reason, the thought didn't cross our minds that we could just go down half way and then return to the top. So, the two out of shape geeks rode all the way down to the main road and then started the arduous climb back up.
The view from the bottom.
All in all, it was a great ride, if not an exhausting one. Clearly, this trail needs you to be in serious shape to be able to get back up the hill without much trouble. Since Dave and I are realists, we'll just park one of our cars at the bottom next time. :)
The view from the top.
For some reason, the thought didn't cross our minds that we could just go down half way and then return to the top. So, the two out of shape geeks rode all the way down to the main road and then started the arduous climb back up.
The view from the bottom.
All in all, it was a great ride, if not an exhausting one. Clearly, this trail needs you to be in serious shape to be able to get back up the hill without much trouble. Since Dave and I are realists, we'll just park one of our cars at the bottom next time. :)
Friday, November 07, 2003
This has got to be the best idea ever. Really. Okay, maybe not ever, but this Internet thing might just have its uses after all.
Tuesday, November 04, 2003
Whew. I’m exhausted.
You can tell you’re at a developer conference when it ends without a giant production. The last session ended and everyone went home. No song and dance, just good technical information presented at blinding speed. All in all, this is the best conference I have ever been to. Right now, Microsoft only holds these events when they have some major new technologies to show to developers to get us to start building our applications with an eye toward the future. They should really think about holding these things on a yearly basis.
Since my focus was on the conference last week, my educational performance suffered and I’m now trying to play catch up for the lost week, which has proven more difficult than I thought. My goal to keep my GPA high is in serious jeopardy after a lackluster performance on a math quiz last week and a psychology exam last night. I have ultimate respect for those that have completed their degrees while working full-time!
We have some very good news on the Disneyland Resort front this morning. You can read the whole update, but it essentially boils down to that new management has taken over the resort and in the short few weeks they’ve been in power, they’re already making changes that are focused on the customer, not on retail. Good stuff.
Back to the trenches…
You can tell you’re at a developer conference when it ends without a giant production. The last session ended and everyone went home. No song and dance, just good technical information presented at blinding speed. All in all, this is the best conference I have ever been to. Right now, Microsoft only holds these events when they have some major new technologies to show to developers to get us to start building our applications with an eye toward the future. They should really think about holding these things on a yearly basis.
Since my focus was on the conference last week, my educational performance suffered and I’m now trying to play catch up for the lost week, which has proven more difficult than I thought. My goal to keep my GPA high is in serious jeopardy after a lackluster performance on a math quiz last week and a psychology exam last night. I have ultimate respect for those that have completed their degrees while working full-time!
We have some very good news on the Disneyland Resort front this morning. You can read the whole update, but it essentially boils down to that new management has taken over the resort and in the short few weeks they’ve been in power, they’re already making changes that are focused on the customer, not on retail. Good stuff.
Back to the trenches…
Tuesday, October 28, 2003
Today was a very cool day. Besides expanding my wardrobe with three free T-Shirts, I had a great time playing with probably the coolest geek today on the market today. My colleague, Ivy, and I were able to ride the new Segways!
Ivy enjoys inner geekdom
While I haven't really figured out how I'd ever really use one of these on a day to day basis, it was great fun just being able to play with it for a few minutes. What's funny is that as soon as you step on to it, your natural reaction is to try and balance. Well, that actually makes it difficult to ride, when all you need to do is just stand there. Also, your natural reaction is to look down, which is also bad, as it's much easier to ride just looking out in front of you.
How not to ride a Segway: Don't look down!
It took both Ivy and I only a couple of minutes to get somewhat comfortable with the machine to be able to move it around the little roped off area they provided. It does have a very impressive turning radius, and is very responsive. If you ever have the opportunity, I highly recommend giving one of these a spin if only for the novelty!
Ivy enjoys inner geekdom
While I haven't really figured out how I'd ever really use one of these on a day to day basis, it was great fun just being able to play with it for a few minutes. What's funny is that as soon as you step on to it, your natural reaction is to try and balance. Well, that actually makes it difficult to ride, when all you need to do is just stand there. Also, your natural reaction is to look down, which is also bad, as it's much easier to ride just looking out in front of you.
How not to ride a Segway: Don't look down!
It took both Ivy and I only a couple of minutes to get somewhat comfortable with the machine to be able to move it around the little roped off area they provided. It does have a very impressive turning radius, and is very responsive. If you ever have the opportunity, I highly recommend giving one of these a spin if only for the novelty!
Monday, October 27, 2003
Ah, Fall, the time of year when a young man’s thoughts turn to code. This week, I’m one of 7000 code monkeys enjoying Microsoft’s Professional Developers Conference (PDC) here in Los Angeles.
The brown tint from the photo is from the smoke in the air.
Microsoft only holds these conferences when it has a major release, so this is the first PDC in three years. The conference is centered around Windows “Longhorn” which is the next release of the Windows platform. All I can say is that Microsoft is certainly getting the job done with this new version that looks spectacular and more importantly, really unifies all the data on your computer and network into data that is so easy to find that it almost finds you! Of course, these were controlled demos.
How many people can we fit in one room? All of them.
The 3 ½ hour keynote presentation was long, but it was packed with great information. One highlight was a very well produced “Behind the Technology” video ala VH1. Microsoft really poked fun at themselves and Apple and Oracle in the video, and it included humorous interviews with Bill Clinton, Warren Buffet and P. Diddy.
The Uber-Geek, Mr. Bill.
Bill Gates spoke to the attendees for about 45 minutes and gave an overview of Microsoft’s direction of the various new initiatives within the company. Gates is a very good speaker, and I especially appreciate his no nonsense approach to delivering the details to the developers. Other conferences that I attend tend to get too wrapped up in their own hype, but this one so far has set a very cautious and realistic tone with an underlying current of excitement.
The biggest surprise was rifling through the myriad of junk given in my conference materials to find a full version of Microsoft Office Professional 2003. That’s right, a full version. Schwing! We also received the latest build of Windows Longhorn, which I may get around to running if I can find some time.
I’m looking forward to the next 3 days!
The brown tint from the photo is from the smoke in the air.
Microsoft only holds these conferences when it has a major release, so this is the first PDC in three years. The conference is centered around Windows “Longhorn” which is the next release of the Windows platform. All I can say is that Microsoft is certainly getting the job done with this new version that looks spectacular and more importantly, really unifies all the data on your computer and network into data that is so easy to find that it almost finds you! Of course, these were controlled demos.
How many people can we fit in one room? All of them.
The 3 ½ hour keynote presentation was long, but it was packed with great information. One highlight was a very well produced “Behind the Technology” video ala VH1. Microsoft really poked fun at themselves and Apple and Oracle in the video, and it included humorous interviews with Bill Clinton, Warren Buffet and P. Diddy.
The Uber-Geek, Mr. Bill.
Bill Gates spoke to the attendees for about 45 minutes and gave an overview of Microsoft’s direction of the various new initiatives within the company. Gates is a very good speaker, and I especially appreciate his no nonsense approach to delivering the details to the developers. Other conferences that I attend tend to get too wrapped up in their own hype, but this one so far has set a very cautious and realistic tone with an underlying current of excitement.
The biggest surprise was rifling through the myriad of junk given in my conference materials to find a full version of Microsoft Office Professional 2003. That’s right, a full version. Schwing! We also received the latest build of Windows Longhorn, which I may get around to running if I can find some time.
I’m looking forward to the next 3 days!
Wednesday, October 22, 2003
One month to the day. Yep, what a loser. Truth is that this last month has been wrought with personal discovery and exploration. Whatever the hell that means. Actually, the last 5 years of my life have largely been focused on a divorce that almost happened, reconciliation, two wonderful children, and finally the divorce that did happen. Recently, I realized that my life was on hold for those 5 years, and in fact, whatever motivation and potential I did possess had been completely sapped. So, the last month was time to reflect on the past and the future, and I had some great help from my close friends on the issue.
To this end, I have made one decision in my professional life. I concluded that sitting through a college level programming course would be the equivalent of slashing my wrists with razors over, and over, and over. In what should have been obvious, the reason I haven’t been moving toward my educational goals is simply because I found no enjoyment in them whatsoever. So, I changed the goals. I’m now focused on completing a Bachelors of Science degree in Physiological Science. I haven’t been this excited about my education in, well, I never have been this excited about my education. Of course, my sentiment will likely change after the first few chemistry, biology and physics courses. We’ll see.
Diet update: Surprise! I’m still on the Atkins diet, and we’re now in Week 7. Who would have thunk it?
Start weight: 236 lbs.
Current weight: 214 lbs.
Total loss: 22 lbs.
To this end, I have made one decision in my professional life. I concluded that sitting through a college level programming course would be the equivalent of slashing my wrists with razors over, and over, and over. In what should have been obvious, the reason I haven’t been moving toward my educational goals is simply because I found no enjoyment in them whatsoever. So, I changed the goals. I’m now focused on completing a Bachelors of Science degree in Physiological Science. I haven’t been this excited about my education in, well, I never have been this excited about my education. Of course, my sentiment will likely change after the first few chemistry, biology and physics courses. We’ll see.
Diet update: Surprise! I’m still on the Atkins diet, and we’re now in Week 7. Who would have thunk it?
Start weight: 236 lbs.
Current weight: 214 lbs.
Total loss: 22 lbs.
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