All…PC Mag’s top 100 sites led me to this really cool site where you can check out 360degree Panoramas of places all over the globe via VRQuicktime. Definitely worth checking out…especially the Mt. Everest Link.
http://panoramas.dk/
km
It’s been awhile since I’ve sounded off in the hallowed halls of Ben’s blogg. Great to finally have a bit of time to sound off on some stuff that’s been on my mind.
First though, let me just say that I’m thoroughly enjoying working in San Francisco. Staying at the Westin St. Francis in Union Square is just amazing, and the restaurants, history, culture, and views in the city make my evening stroll from the office to “home” a mini adventure. After work, I try to walk back to my hotel using different routes each day so that I can see as much of the city as possible. Sometimes I’ll stumble upon a “hole in the wall” bar or a cranny of a restaurant that is just too enticing to pass up and I’ll sit myself down for a beer or dinner. Other times, I walk a few blocks from my client location to the Ferry Marketplace which is an indoor market that has been renovated out of an old Ferry Building. It’s about the size of a football field I’d say, and inside are numerous vendors with all kinds of wonderful fares such as wine, cheese, breads, fish, and there are even a few restaurants such as the “slanted door” which is a highly ranked Vietnamese joint with an extremely posh/trendy interior that attracts all the local professionals, both young and old. Course, you’ll need an expense account or Daddy’s wallet to eat here. I, having the former, plan to frequent this joint soon. But, I digress…My real point is that sometimes after work I’ll stop by the marketplace and pick up a bottle of wine and some cheese/crackers and then bring that back to my hotel for an evening of CNN or just quiet reading. Very relaxing…and very me. The walk from my client (PG&E) to my hotel is about 15 -18 minutes, and takes me down Market Street, past all the homeless people, and through the shopping district to Union Square. Union square is beautiful, and once I get a small travel tripod for my digital camera I’ll take a nighttime picture and have Ben post it up for all to see.
Alright, onward. Lately I’ve been plagued by an annoying issue that I’m hoping someone who reads this column can help me with. I currently use my Mac Address book to store all my contact information. I need this information on my PC running Outlook and I also would like to be able to replicate this data with my phone (though now that I’ve purchased a non-pda cell phone I’m sure this is out of the question). Here’s what really irks me: I recently played with Ralph’s Samsung/Palm phone and the thought crossed my mind that this could be the solution to my problems (though at a hefty $500 retail price for the phone). With this phone, I could employ the palm desktop software on my PC and Mac, and store all my contact info in Palm’s desktop software rather than through the Mac Addressbook. This would give me all my contact info where I need it most, and also allow me to easily replicate changes made on one device to all of my other devices. Here’s the kicker. During my research, I discovered that PalmSource (the spin-off of palm that does all the OS coding) is no longer going to support the Mac OS natively (ie., out of the box). There seems to be all kinds of theories out there as to why Palm dropped Mac OS support, though the one that makes the most sense to me is that Palm knows Apple is coming out with a PDA of their own. Or, perhaps Palm wants to have Apple bear the expense of coding an interface with Palm’s devices. Whatever the deal, I’m w/out a good solution. I really hope that if Apple is going to come out with their own PDA, they do so soon!
that’s all for now. Now that the Mac is back (thanks to a very very quick screen replacement courtesy of Apple Care), I’m ready to return-hopefully I’ll be back more often with some updates on life in SF.
For now, I’ve got a host of “stuff” to do so that I can make it off to the beach tomorrow for some much needed Sun. Aloha,
km
What is the deal with SaranWrap anyway? Why is it so necessary that every kitchen I’ve ever cooked in has it? It doesn’t “cling” to anything, yet at some point I bought a roll of this flattened plastic for some reason. Perhaps I had an inkling of a hope that technology had somehow progressed to the point that I could indeed cover a bowl of beans with this plastic wrap in the effort to keep it fresh for another 24 hours. The pathetic irony is that I still haven’t learned my lesson. The roll of SaranWrap still sits in my drawer, mocking me every time I open it to get a gallon plastic bag, which actually do work. Perhaps that is my fatal flaw: I think that SaranWrap matters enough to keep it around…just like I think someone other than me is reading this.
I must say that all my birthday wishes made my day today, so thank you all for the memories.
As well, I feel that I am on a crusade to better inform others of the existence of this blog, as my excuse for others when they say, “You never tell me these things.” is “Go read the blog.” As for the rest of today, I will go and shop for Katie’s little sister’s birthday present, since the best way to celebrate your own passing of another year is to celebrate another’s. Wow, that was really sentimental and sappy. I must be in a good mood today.
I just received my replacement Sonicare Elite 7800 from Philips. I had been experiencing crappy performance from my original one and realized I would need to take advantage of the warranty. This became painfully clear when I placed the handle in the charger and nothing happened, no lights, no noise, nothing. It was really traumatic. After corresponding with Philips tech support for several days, they saw the light and sent me a replacement handle and head. It is pleasantly charging as I write, the little green blinking lights are once again winking at me as if they know something I don’t.
In other news, I have just received, as an early birthday present, the Olympus DS2000 Digital Voice Recorder. Now, it was advertized to me as the ultimate option in voice recording, both for its OS X software solution and the capability to transcribe into Word. Well, once again, don’t believe the hype. The transcribing can only be done with IBM’s ViaVoice. Sigh. Still, its very cool and the SmartMedia cards are cheap (I have chosen one on my wish list). So, thank you to Katie, Brenda, and Sparky. Whenever I speak, I think of you.
