bees...bee

A little ironic that CNN's story about a bee attack is flanked by an HP ad with a bee on a postcard.

no parachute

7:30am in the east coast now. The guy is supposedly going to demonstrate the technique but will parachute the rest of the way. Saving the actual attempt for the future.

Why do I have feeling he is going to do the actual no parachute attempt now on live tv. He is a daredevil.

Update: 8:32am... heavy fog is delaying the attempt. Still time for it to happen.

9:19am... he's about to do it... but I have to head to work. I'll check the news later. I forgot the plan calls for a special landing 'runway'... so perhaps this is just a demo.

The Oscars

MOVIES / AWARDS SEASON
‘No Country for Old Men’ Wins Oscar Tug of War
By DAVID M. HALBFINGER and MICHAEL CIEPLY
Published: February 25, 2008
“No Country for Old Men,” Joel and Ethan Coen’s chilling confrontation of a desperate man with a relentless killer, won the Academy Award for best picture.

Nice win by Diablo Cody for Juno. While I miss Billy Crystal's openings, Jon Stewart was funny enough and overall liked the show.

But... in the tributes to those who passed away... they had Heath Ledger but not Roy Scheider? You've got to be kidding me.

While one will always remember Roy Scheider from Jaws, his appearance in 2010 is one of my favorites.

let it snow let it snow let it snow

Actually substantial amount of snow coming down. Again I don't question that it can make things hard for people, but I do like seeing the snow.

all year round...

As truly 'on demand' programming comes to be, the right way to go... now if they could have more shows like the reimaged Battlestar Galactica and less Ford commercial new Knight Rider... don't get me wrong I like the new Mustang and other Ford cars but man was the new Knight Rider show one huge commercial.

ADVERTISING
Ending Tradition, NBC Dismisses Fall Debuts
By BILL CARTER and STUART ELLIOTT
Published: February 20, 2008
NBC Universal’s move to a year-round schedule of staggered program debuts could alter an American cultural cycle that dates to the days of radio.

look both ways

Whether or not it was caused by an iPod, cell phone or some other electronic device. Actually in this case looked like he was just spacing out. Be sure to look both ways before stepping into the street.

Nearly saw someone killed right in front of me. Steps right off the curb... city bus honked several times. A split second difference could have been a totally different day for this guy who managed to get back on the sidewalk before getting hit. He basically 'woke up' after the 3rd honk.

ok.. let's move on - bye bye HD-DVD

Maybe if I seriously considered it technically the same or in some ways superior to Blu-ray then I can understand its existence... but what a waste of time. Let's move on with it. Don't bother with any posts as to why it was good.... good riddance. Ok, if it helped drive the cost of Blu-ray players down a bit... sure. I'll give it that. Was going to eventually get a PS3 anyway.

Toshiba delivers its Betamax address by ZDNet's Larry Dignan -- Toshiba officially dropped its plans for HD DVD Tuesday after Wal-Mart, Best Buy, Netflix and a parade of others abandoned the high-definition video format for Sony’s Blu-ray. The statement indicates the obvious–HD DVD was doomed. The writing on the wall has been there for a while with the wheels really beginning to fall off the wagon [...]

mild weather

Another warm break in the weather. Supposed to have been raining all day but seems more on and off. Looking at the forecast I wouldn't mind seeing warm then freezing cold weather back and forth all year round.
Just as long as it wasn't hot and humid.

New York City Taxis

Not my first choice in transportation in New York City, the buses and subways work great, but sometimes you may need to take a cab. Just recently many cabs have started accepting credit cards for payment. One of the first times I tried paying by credit card I was reading the screen following the instructions for credit card payment, I had already swiped my card when the driver said something to the effect it was 'oh you wanted to pay by credit card? too late' that he had 'turned off the machine'. I said I had already swiped my card and he sort of just gave a 'well, uh'. I saw my payment confirmed and that was that.

Sort of puzzled as to why he would 'shut off' the option so quickly after we stopped, but my payment went through so whatever.

Find out later, it is one of the ways a driver tries to prevent a transaction.

Here are the regulations about it from the official site: http://www.nyc.gov/html/tlc/html/passenger/taxicab_serv_enh.shtml

Here are some horror stories from Gothamist on the subject.

let it snow

Actually a bit of a winter wonderland now. Unfortunately warmer temps tomorrow may make everything just one big slushy mess.

at least it is sunny

American Experience - Grand Central Terminal

Growing up PBS was a big part of my tv viewing. From Sesame Street to Cosmos to Nova and many other educational (and interesting programs) I continue to watch its programming. Just seeing the intro to American Experience - Grand Central Terminal I'm hooked.

14 inch chicken breast?

14 inch chicken breast?......... ewww

Haven't posted a product safety story in a while. Here's one from the Olympic angle....

Wary U.S. Olympians Will Bring Food to China

cool job

Cool job...

PARIS JOURNAL
No Quasimodo, He Brings Music to Notre-Dame Bells
By JOHN TAGLIABUE
Published: February 8, 2008
A 40-year-old chemist by training, Stéphane Urbain became the keeper of the bells of the Paris cathedral in 2005.

Sarah Silverman + Matt Damon

Big fan of both. This video had me crying/laughing