Yep. I called it in the last post at half-time of game four of the Western Conference finals. I already knew that the Lakers were going to win games 4 and 5 and voila! We are back in the NBA Finals. Finally, I don’t have to hear any more about the Spurs.
Archive for May, 2008
Its halftime, the score is 53-47 with the Lakers up by 6. Kobe just made a jumper over Ginobili. One thing is for sure, the Spurs are one of the most annoying teams. Just watching a single half; I cannot stand the team. They are too sheltered by the media where all the broadcasters just seem to love the Spurs. All game long, all the analysts and commentators talk about how poised these Spurs are, how Parker is unstoppable, how Ginobili is due for a great game because he is a competitor and how Duncan has been bored in the regular season and needs a challenge that comes with the playoffs. Screw that! The Spurs are just protected by the referees and the NBA organization.
Continue reading ‘Ref’s deteriorating the game, screw the Spurs!’
Having more bandwidth is costly, having a lot of bandwidth is expensive! For this one week event, I brought in a 6 mbps link through Covad Wireless for $3,000. The $3,000 gives me this 6 mbps ethernet drop off with a full Class-C of IP’s for one month. What type of speeds did I actually get?
I was fortunate to get an inside look at the annual ICRA event, known as the International Conference on Robotics and Automation. It is a gathering of about 1200 engineers, about 98% male is the demographic, who spend an entire week listening in on intense workshops based on published essays, a couple nice lunches and dinners combined with a student party and a gravel pit where you have robots perform on the terrain. I was a bit let down because the robots at the conference were more about education or the Mar’s rover type of robotic vehicle. I was hoping for more artificial intelligence robots like the Honda Asimo of sorts.
For about $60 to $80 per month, you are able to get high speed internet access at home via DSL, cable or now FIOS through Verizon (limited to certain areas). To the right, you can see a speed test I conducted on a DSL connection at home. Sure it is a decent download speed but the upload is a bit slow. That’s the problem with most home connections, the download is fast but upload is slow. Even with typical cable providers of internet access, you have this as well. I think most DSL and cable access have download speeds of about 5-6 mbps and upload speeds up to 1 mbps.
When I typically walk into the Apple store, I spend no more than five minutes; browsing to see if they got any new accessories for the iPhone. However, I was stuck in the store this afternoon as it suddenly started pouring hailing rain. The store actually is quite interesting, when it is not crowded on a weekday. I can hop onto any Mac or laptop and actually figure the system out. The OS is nice, a bit dumbed down from the Microsoft XP, but I think thats the appeal. As a hardcore PC user myself, I would probably have trouble adapting and learning a Mac but for a new user to computing, I would recommend a Mac as they will pick things up that much more quickly. Sure, Vista is going for that approach, but its just a faulty crappy OS at the moment. I’m still sticking to my XP SP2.
Photoshop! What a wonderful software that lets you have complete control and being able to manipulate a photo. I have been playing around with Photoshop and air brushing images. Sure, it is cheating but how is that different from using make up and the correct lighting for normal photography? Its just the end product that matters. I see photos of Britney Spears of US Weekly that are photoshopped to the extent that it is so obvious that any novice can pick up on it. However, I must admit, she is very photogenic and is a perfect model to play around with.
By now you may have already heard of Kahlil Fong and his fantastic R&B style to sing Chinese songs. I heard lame attempts in the past but I think this guy actually got it. If you have not heard of him, then you will be in for a treat because this guy has got talent. His second album, Love Song, was released earlier this year and this was my initial impression of his musical style. His R&B style is almost reminiscent of John Legend; the vocals are probably less soulful but he does have good range and a good sense of the rhythm. Overall, I think his songs are enjoyable and will definitely stand out and attract more listeners ranging from the traditional Chinese pop fans crossing over to fans of other genres including people that don’t typically listen to foreign music.
