Category: Random

“In a retrieval once thought unattainable, scientists have recovered and identified proteins in a bone of a well-preserved Tyrannosaurus rex that lived, died and was fossilized 68 million years ago. The scientists say the success, attained with advanced research techniques, opens the door for the first time to exploration of the molecular-level relationships of ancient, extinct animals, instead of just relying on their skeletal remains. Dinosaur fossil hunters are planning nine expeditions this summer to search wide and deep for more specimens as promising candidates for similar tests. A few large dinosaur bones already in laboratories might be examined for surviving traces of organic matter.”
– International Herald Tribune

Jurassic Park here we come! You guys go first though, ok? I’ll take the second helicopter over. No, really.

I’m not a professional video guy, but I’ve done enough video work over the years to pick up some of the basics. One guideline in shooting video, and subsequently editing it, is that shooting the same scene back with cuts is a visually jarring experience for the viewer because the head (and sometimes body) of the person jumps from one place to another with each cut. Anyone remember Max Hedroom? What’s interesting to me is how the emergence of sites like YouTube have taken jump cuts to a whole new level – and in the case of comedy or a monologue written in a broken up style, it actually works quite well. Here’s a great example of what I’m talking about…

My friend Mitch works on a feed lot in southern Alberta, and he borrowed my Canon GL2 video camera for a while. I thought he was just using it to make videos of his cute daughter Mia, but he also used it for this “feedlot reality TV video” that, frankly, is one of the most disgusting things I’ve seen in my life: a cow has an 80 pound abscess (from an injury) and to help the cow they need to drain the abscess…and this is a video of them doing just that. It’s not for the squeamish, but it’s also interesting in a gross kind of way. 😉

<video has been pulled>

That’s something called a “Fathead“, which I’d never heard of before today. Great name for a company, stupid name for a product. They’re vinyl images that stick to your wall, can be removed and re-applied easily, and they have Star Wars images. Cool.  I stumbled into the site through one of those random click-fests that one sometimes finds oneself in while “smurfing the interweeb”. The Darth Vadar model sells for $119 USD,  or you can buy two for $144. They also have a Chewbaca version, a Yoda version and a few others. Or you can just deny your inner geek and get a Dallas Cowboy Cheerleader instead. What I want to know is when are they going to get UFC Fatheads? Too bad we covered our walls in the TV room last year in new posters…I gots no room for a Fathead!

I just finished eating a banana, and it was the best one I’d ever eaten. Why? I just finished a 72 hour fast. Prior to tonight (Sunday night) I haven’t eaten any food since Thursday night. Why the fast? Primarily for detoxification purposes and to stabilize my digestive system – I have a lot of gastric issues, with all sorts of foods bothering me, and sometimes it’s nice to punch the reset button on my body. Water fasting is my fast of choice – people who fast without water are in for some serious suffering. I’ve been experimenting with fasting over the past year, and the physiological responses my body undergoes is very interesting. As long as I keep a sufficient level of water in my body, going without food is surprisingly easy. Sure, there are some hunger pangs, but for the most part it’s not difficult for me to fast. On day one and day two of a fast, I find that I’m more mentally alert and can think very clearly. Dropping from 204.5 pounds down to 197.5 pounds is just a side benefit.
I’d like to write a longer entry on fasting at some point, but I have to get an article finished for the Two Inch View before I can eat my first real meal in three days. Mmm. Food.

CES for me is all about making contacts, and I came back with a stack of business cards that will doubtless prove to be highly valuable. Since I don’t have one of those handy business card scanning things (do they actually work?), I had to rely on the next best thing: my amazing wife who used her 100+ words per minute typing skills to enter all the business cards into an Outlook contacts folder that was then exported to a PST file, which was then imported into Outlook. You know, now that I think about it, Ashley’s far better than a business card scanner because she’s self-correcting. I’m a lucky man!2

CES, and Vegas in general, is a mentally and physically draining experience. I made it back last night after nine hours of travel (left my hotel at 12 noon in Vegas, arrived in Calgary at around 9pm), and my home world never looked so good. Ashley brought Keiko with her to the airport, which always brings a smile to my face when I see them. Returning to Calgary was harsh in terms of weather – it was about -20 Celsius. Vegas is more exhausting than any other place I’ve visited. Spending one day in Las Vegas is like spending three days anywhere else – it really did feel like I was away for 15 days instead of only 5 days. It’s a combination of the noise, crowds, lines, smoke, advertising, blinking lights, traffic, and drunk people – all things that I find draining. I think it’s because I’m a borderline introvert/extrovert – in the Myers Briggs test I was an xNFP, where the “x” represents that I was one point introverted, but so close that I have tendencies of an extrovert as well. Over the years I’ve come to realize that I’ll often be an extrovert in small to medium-sized groups groups, but like an introvert, I require time alone to recharge my batteries – a true extrovert is recharged by being around other people, and being alone drains them. In Vegas the only time you are alone is in your hotel room (perhaps an elavator), so Vegas is 99% drain for me. I feel very glad to be home with Ashley, and back in my office (chaotic though it may be at the moment). I was so decimated from yesterdays travel I slept in until 10:30 AM this morning, so I haven’t had the most productive day. The Vista Lab and CES were great experiences though – I came away with introductions and business cards from 50+ people who have products, services, or connections that can help me do things what I do even better.

One of the things I like about Christmas time is how everything seems to slow down…I get less email, less phone calls, less things that need immediate attention. I can relax, spend time with my friends and family, and not feel like my work life is piling up. It gives me a chance to re-charge my batteries, take it easy, and prepare to take on the new year. With all the travelling I’ve done over the past 90 days, I feel like my work/life balance has gotten out of whack and I need to focus hard on getting through reviews, getting my office organized, and making Thoughts Media more successful in 2007 (no complaints here though, I’m paying my bills).
What’s funny today though is that we’re getting a “white Christmas” about 72 hours too late – it was a brown and sunny Christmas, until today. Then it got cold, and started to snow. Here’s a picture I just took:

I always enjoy Christmas time, because it means spending time with my family getting away from the stress of constant incoming email, and not staring at my table of review items that are taunting “Review me…review me!”. This year promises to be extra fun because Ashley and I bought presents for each other that the other doesn’t know about – quite often we want such specific things the other person knows what they’re getting. I’d tell you what I bought Ashley, but she reads this blog so that won’t be a good idea. 😉 Some random thoughts…

• This Christmas we had the opportunity to reach out and help three groups of people in three specific ways, and we feel extremely blessed to have the financial resources to do so. I’m not a believer in being generous only at Christmas – responsible stewardship of our resources is a year-round task – but this time things just kind of fell into place. It brings Ashley and I tremendous joy helping others – I think people from the richer nations in the world would give even more if they knew what giving felt like (only a small percentage of the population gives on a regular basis).
• My cold is finally breaking today – the past three days I’ve had congested sinuses, swollen glands and a touch of a cough. I very rarely get sick – I think the last time I had a cold like this was when I was in Scotland in 2004. I’m really hoping that when I wake up tomorrow it will all be gone. Here’s hoping! I haven’t been very productive lately because of this cold – it’s hard to think straight. I took some Benadryl yesterday morning, and I didn’t realize it was the “drowsy” version. I was half comatose for most of the day, feeling veeeery sluggish and more or less brain dead. Watched a lot of TV – The Lost Room miniseries was very cool!
• I set up the R1800 printer last night – the geek paralysis was broken – and did a few test prints, including my first 13 x 19″ printer. STUNNING quality. I did a sunrise print on Epson semigloss and it looked amazing. I’m doing up a print for my mom, a 13 x 19 print of a sunset over the ocean in Hawaii, and I’m confident it’s going to turn out fantastic.
• Today is the day that a very cool piece of hardware is supposed to show up. I’m not sure if I’m allowed to say what it is yet, so I’m not going to say anything…other than I’ve been told it’s coming with 2 GB of RAM and two 400 GB hard drives in a RAID 1 array. Mmm. Tasty!

“The body of missing CNET editor James Kim has been located, authorities announced Wednesday. Arrangements are being made to transport Kim to an undisclosed location, according to police. Kim had been missing in the remote southwestern Oregon wilderness for 11 days and was found at approximately noon Wednesday about half a mile from the Rogue River, authorities said. Kim, 35, left his family’s stranded car Saturday morning searching for help and never returned. “He was very motivated…he traveled a long way,” Josephine County Undersheriff Brian Anderson said at a press conference Wednesday afternoon. The Kim family has asked not to be contacted at this time.”

A very sad story – most of it transpired while I was away in Hawaii. I feel like I knew James, having linked to his reviews, news stories and videos over the years. It’s shocking when something like this happens, even more so when it happens to someone I consider to be a peer of mine in this industry. There are many lessons to be learned here (such as staying put when people are looking for you), but James tried to save his family and I have nothing but respect for that.