Build Living Content

Building a web site used to be one of the first signs of competency in the web. Like building computers it demonstrated to people that you at least knew enough to be dangerous. Now that web sites have become complicated and usually include a smattering of programming language and flash elements it is now a science more than art. For those of you who don't want to deal with Microsoft Frontpage or heaven forbid, Adobe Dreamweaver there are now alternatives at your disposal. One of the most promising tools for building content is Sprout. All flash based and web driven it allows the average individual create some nice looking sites. Of course, it doesn't take the design part out of the equation but someone with "a good eye for design" should be able to patch some stuff together rather easily...

[ winamp is currently decoding: Watch Out [Ft. Debra Andrew] by Ferry Corsten ]

Two days in Mammoth - AKA Drunk Guitar Hero

Some last minute ideas work out better than expected... A late night trip to Vegas, a second movie on the heels of the first... For we who wait for snow a last minute trip to worship at the altar that is Mammoth Mountain is always a great idea.

With only three days of planning some co-workers and I set out on the 11 hour pilgrimage. Feeling good after securing lodging and taking a Friday away from work we all packed clothes and gear into our respective cars and set out.

My friend Dana and I had en epic day on Friday, everything from finding parking when we needed it to finding seats in crowded restaurants during the late night rush. The snow that day was great and even though we only boarded a half day it was a great start to a new season.

Once the rest of our group showed up on Friday night we got down to business at Roberto's and began some serious imbibing. After we all had two Jack & Cokes and two Cadillac Margaritas we headed off to the condo to get our game on. Take it from us, Guitar Hero is a lot better when the world is slightly out of focus...

Saturday was just as good as Friday - just longer. By lunch I was pretty beat and in usual form I was making some sloppy mistakes afterwards. We managed to keep it going 'til closing and that came not a moment too soon.

Sometimes it seems a little silly to drive all that time when we have local mountains not more than an hour and change from home but there's something appealing about a real road trip. Between Schat's, Mahogany Smoked Meats and pizza at Giovanni's, it's a trip worth making. Not to mention that the snow is better, even when there's 12,000 people around during the President's Day holiday.

Last but not least, my trusty Suunto X9i captured all the action. Here's what a Banzai run to Mammoth Mountain looks like through the eyes of Suunto and Google Earth...

The Future is Blu... Whatever.

Well, by now the fall out of the Warner Brother's announcement made at CES is becoming painfully obvious. There are already shouts of victory from the Blu-Ray camp and the HD DVD group is definitely back-pedaling as they slash prices on their media and their hardware.

Now, this news is bittersweet for me. I was a staunch supporter of HD DVD (for my own tech geek reasons), so for now, it looks like my side has lost. Oh well, I was on the right side for the DIVX vs DVD debacle but that was a little obvious. Of course, when you hear about Sony's "pay-offs" it's not hard to realize why Blu-Ray got the leg up. The down side is that my format of choice has lost, but on the other hand... now that it looks like we have a clear winner we can get on to the business of lowering prices and fattening up the movie libraries.

While I may be tempted to revisit such releases like "The Fifth Element" or possibly the "Lord of the Rings" trilogy I will not be re-buying everything. After all, that would be expensive - at currently count I have 1132 DVDs... The only real drawback to this whole thing is that the only way to get the new lossless audio formats is to upgrade my receiver - damn. Don't get me wrong, I love buying new gadgets but I was hoping just to skate by on a new player, alas, that is not going to be the case.

I'm still hoping there will be a miraculous turn around in this whole thing but when you pony up millions of dollars like Sony did, you expect to keep everyone in the fold. My hats off to you Sony, it was a pretty good coup.

As a closer, I leave you with this brief clip detailing the derailment of the HD DVD format. Its insight is priceless. (Warning, the following clip contains some expletives - small children might find it hilarious even if they don't get the gist of the various references made)

Bonjour 2008

Christmas is over and I'm back at work - after 11 days off I almost forgot I had a job. I almost didn't take the time off because Karen has been short staffed at the store but I figured I needed a serious break away from work. Of course, being off was a great excuse for getting out to the snow and breaking in my new Burton gear as well as playing the living crap out of my new XBox 360. Yes, Karen was kind enough to get me my new toy all the while I have been hemmin' and hawin' about the purchase for months now. In typical Karen fashion I now have a deluge of XBox accessories and gear and I have been having a blast playing Halo 3 with my nephews all the while chattering with them over the headsets. Playing 'til late and getting up late and sprinkling some movies in between everything was a perfect way to spend some time away from the old grind. Best of all I didn't touch a computer the entire time I was on vacation so I really got the benefit of being "unplugged" for a change.

The only downer of the whole thing was Karen got the flu over the New Years so we stayed home but we had a blast playing Lego Star Wars - The Complete Saga until the wee hours of the morning.

Now that the new year is underway I'm going to continue my pledge to do one useful thing a day, seeing as how it worked out so well for me last year. Matter of fact, last year was the most productive I've been in a long time.

So, for those of you want to meet me in some distant battlefield - look me up. What I lack in skill I'll make up for in witty dialogue...

[ winamp is currently decoding: Love Comes Again (Original Mix) by DJ Tiësto ]