Joe Enos
.NET Developer
Phoenix, AZ
http://www.jtenos.com
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Tuesday, June 30, 2009 22:07:04
Firefox 3.5
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Today was the official release date for Firefox 3.5, the most advanced browser to enter the market. The Mozilla project is by far the most important community in the web today - their goal is to ensure open internet standards, a necessary step in providing the best experience for all parties. They've taken the next step in that goal today.
After only about 12 hours, there have already been over 2.8 million downloads of Firefox 3.5, nearly 1 million in the U.S. alone, and is currently being downloaded at a rate of about 40 per second. (Stats available at http://downloadstats.mozilla.com/). That's some amazing work - it proves how much people care about Firefox, and how excited we all are at the idea of a new version of the product.
Below are some highlights of the new version:
Faster Javascript:
Speed has been a major concern for all browsers lately. One of Chrome's big selling points has been its speed - same for Opera. The web is becoming more and more javascript and AJAX intensive, and javascript speed is a big factor in the overall user experience. Firefox 3.5 is more than twice as fast as Firefox 3, and many times faster than Firefox 2. Javascript speed is dependant on what you're doing, so there is no single "fastest" browser - but Firefox is absolutely back in the same ballpark as Chrome and Opera, and surprisingly Internet Exploder 8, which is putting up a pretty good fight in the recent browser wars.
Private Browsing:
Safari, Chrome, and IE8 all already have this feature, allowing users to browse with zero trace left on the machine once their browsing session ends, and Firefox now has this option available as well. This is targeted toward people using shared computers, who don't want any cookies, temporary cache files, or history of their session left on the machine for unscrupulous people to find. It's also for people who want to "want to shop online for gifts for their spouse without them finding out", and let's leave it at that.
Enhanced Tabs:
Tab organization has improved significantly. Tabs can be dragged between Firefox sessions, in case you want two windows open and want to move one tab between windows.
HTML 5:
HTML version 5 is an exciting new standard that is still in progress. However, Firefox has implemented several new features that will be part of that standard. For example, new <audio>, <video>, and <canvas> tags are now available. Video tags will replace the majority of Flash videos out there, allowing browsers to play multimedia (things like YouTube, Google Video, or Today's Big Thing) without using the Adobe Flash Player. This will allow standardized video formats, along with a standardized user experience. The canvas tag allows for scriptable rendering of images - so far, it seems to be limited to simple drawing, like a simple paint program. However, I'm sure there will be interesting uses for this before too long.
For a more detailed explanation of some of these new or improved features, visit http://www.mozilla.com/en-US/firefox/features/. Although a lot of the new stuff is just catching up to Chrome, Firefox's stability, incredible user community, platform independence, and ability to adapt itself through thousands of addons make it the best browser out there right now. |
Tags: browser tech
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Tuesday, June 16, 2009 11:39:03
Opera Unite
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Last week, the makers of Opera, one of the top mobile browsers and a reasonably successful full-scale browser, promised a new technology that would change the web forever, without providing any additional details. This announcement caused all kinds of speculation, from enhanced cloud computing, to advanced syncing software, to personal web servers. It turns out that personal web servers is what it was.
Today, Opera announced the new feature, called Opera Unite. It promises an easy and safe way to share files, media, web sites, and notes, without a lot of technical knowledge that's typically required for such an undertaking. Of course, hosting a personal web server is not anything new, but it has never really been anything that the average person has been able to do. Opera's goal is to bring this technology to the everyday user.
There's plenty of support out there for easily sharing files with people. Social networking sites like Facebook let you easily share things like pictures and videos, with no technical knowledge required. Sites like Flickr are designed to let you share and organize photos, again with no technical knowledge. However, all of these force you to rely on other companies to host and store your data. If they are undergoing maintenance, or if by some chance get attacked and lose your data, then you're out of luck. Hosting your files locally gives you full control over your data. Store what you want, where you want, and you don't even have to upload them to a central server. You're not limited to file sizes, picture resolution, or anything other than the size of your hard drive and your outgoing bandwidth.
There are plenty of concerns with this technology. First and foremost is security. I haven't found any information on exactly how this will work, but I can only assume that this requires opening a port on your PC (and router) to the outside world, which exposes you just a little bit more to hackers and other low-life dirtbags out there. I'm sure Opera is doing everything they can to keep your system safe, but hackers get more and more creative every day.
EDIT: I found some more technical details on how the server connects to the world, and it turns out that you don't need to open ports. Users from the outside world connect to a central Opera server, and your home server also connects to that server, asking if anyone is making a request. So your home server just connects via normal outgoing channels to the server, instead of someone connecting directly to you. This has the effect of being safer, but also means that if the Opera servers are down, then you lose connectivity to your server, which was one of the benefits of having a home server in the first place.
One complaint that has already come up is the fact that this is not scalable, the way centralized servers are. You are limited to your network's upload speed, and your PC's performance. Multiple people connecting at the same time will experience pitiful download speeds, compared with the majority of the web. However, thinking about your target audience, I'm sure this is fine for most people. The people who use this won't have thousands of people connecting to their site - probably just a few, and probably not all at once. If you are planning on running a full-fledged business or multimedia center for the public, then this probably isn't for you.
This solution requires that the host keep their computer on and connected at all times, if they want their data available for download/update. This is an unreasonable requirement for users on laptops, and many others who don't want to leave their machines on 24 hours a day.
Data would be protected via passwords, but from what I've seen, there is no encryption of the requests and responses, meaning basic hacking techniques would succeed in stealing passwords, and therefore data. Obviously, sensitive materials should not be stored in any way where the application can see it.
Although Opera claims that they do not monitor people's files, they do have the power to block users who they have received complaints against - people sharing copyrighted materials, for example. This may be too much power for a software company to wield. This type of control currently exists only with your ISP, and that's really where it belongs.
I predict that Unite will be a good start to this self-hosting phenomenon. However, Opera has enjoyed only very limited success as a browser, and I don't see the majority of the community adopting this first attempt at a simple home web server. I'd expect to see other similar products arise from competitors, each with their own benefits, and a clear winner not determined for years to come. And until home servers are commonplace the way desktops/laptops are, and a new bandwidth paradigm is reached, I don't expect this to be widely used. |
Tags: browser tech
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Sunday, June 14, 2009 15:20:43
Desert Code Camp 2009
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Yesterday I attended Desert Code Camp here in Phoenix. This was a full-day event, taking place at DeVry University.
This was a great event, targeting programmers from all environments and languages, in a "by the community, for the community" format. The speakers are real-life experts in their field, and are there to teach, demo, and provide insight into their particular technology. Classes ranged from the basics, like intro to OO, to specific sessions like the new FILESTREAM feature in SQL Server 2008. Technologies ranged from specifics like Microsoft.NET or Ruby, to general techniques like table-less CSS web design.
I attended seven sessions: On-Site Optimization, Tableless Layout with CSS, Aspect Oriented Programming in .NET, ASP.NET MVC 101, ASP.NET MVC Advanced, New Features of C# 4.0, and Optimization Patterns: Reducing Memory Footprint in .NET.
Of these sessions, I was especially interested in aspect oriented programming, led by Andrew Wilson, and ASP.NET MVC, led by Scott Williams. Aspect oriented programming has always been somewhat of a mystery for me - I've worked with attributes, and even built my own on occasion, but never really understood how some of the popular frameworks like PostSharp worked - this session helped me to understand what is actually going on behind the scenes with these attributes. ASP.NET MVC seems to be an up-and-coming technology that potentially has a bright future in the .NET world - it still seems a little strange to me, coming from a WebForms background, but I think I'll give it a shot - it could be fun. The two hours of live demos and Q&A beats out reading half a dozen tutorials online.
Code Camp is always free to the community, sponsored by outside companies - I really didn't see any advertising anywhere, so these companies apparently are anonymous to the community. DeVry of course was a big part of the success, providing their campus and several classrooms for the event. Lunch was free - there were probably close to 100 large pizzas from Domino's, and dozens of Subway sandwiches, and there were muffins and danishes for breakfast.
I don't know when the next camp is coming, but I will definitely be attending. I highly recommend it to anyone in the software development industry, whether you are interested in hearing about new technologies or techniques, or if you just want to meet up with your peers throughout the valley. |
Tags: programming phoenix social tech
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Thursday, June 04, 2009 10:45:56
Bing!
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Recently Microsoft released a new decision engine (a.k.a. search engine), known as Bing, which is supposed to be the next big competition to the superpower Google. The most recent so-called Google-killer, Cuil, which was hyped like crazy in the media and blogosphere, was an incredible failure in the market. Bing seems to be strong right out of the gate, and looks like it may succeed where others failed.
What makes Bing different from Google is the advanced decisioning engine, that aims to provide usable information rather than just links to external sites. For example, searching for a vehicle make and model (i.e. Ford Mustang) on Google provides an excellent result, first with the official Mustang page on fordvehicles.com, then the Wikipedia entry, news results, enthusiast sites, books, etc. The same search on Bing starts out with vehicle information, including MSRP, fuel economy, user ratings, and links to local listings for sales and service. Then comes the official Mustang page along with the other top search results, then sub-sections for specs, dealers, parts, recalls, videos, images, and additional information. All of this is of course easily available in Google by clicking one of the "related searches", but it's nice to see all of that one one screen.
Some other nice features of Bing are:
- A search history on the search results page, so you can see or repeat what you've recently searched for (Google has this on a separate page).
- Previews of each result by simply hovering over the preview button.
- One-click conversions from normal web searches to images, videos, shopping, news, maps, etc. This is almost identical to Google - not very original, but it's so useful that I wouldn't want to use a search engine that didn't have it.
- Search suggestions as you type - again, not original, but I'd expect it to be there on any search engine that competes with Google.
- A unique and simple name. In order to be part of the vernacular, you need something that can be used as a noun or a verb, like Google (have you googled it?), something recognizable and fun (bada-bing!). Bing's predecessor, Live Search, just didn't have the creativity, and others like Cuil, Yahoo, and Ask.com really don't roll off the tongue the way Bing does.
- Travel deals when searching for hotels, airfare, etc.
- Enhanced video search, allowing multiple search options, and providing small previews of videos without loading the whole thing.
However, all the cool features in the world wouldn't mean anything if the search results were no good. Google has been the most popular because it gives better search results than anyone else - it constantly crawls the web with a ridiculous number of servers, doesn't rely on meta tags, and consistently gives exactly the results you're looking for, in a fast and simple interface. From what I've seen the past few days, Bing's search results are as good as Google's, and with the additional features, and promise of continued growth from Microsoft, the only other software company on Earth on Google's level, I'd say Bing is here to stay.
One particular query that hit home for me - Googling "joe enos" has consistently provided my site as its #1 search result. However, some time recently, I've dropped down to #2, with some joker in California getting the top pick with his business's local Yahoo overview. Bing has me at #1, where I should be.
But don't take my word for it - try it for yourself. If you're using Internet Exploder, select Live Search as your search provider, and it will automatically use Bing, or go here for instructions on using Bing directly. If you're using a real browser like Firefox, you can add Bing to your search providers with the following plug-in: https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/12205. Google Chrome also has the option for Live Search, but you can select Bing directly by following the instructions found here. Safari on a Mac requires something called Glims, and it doesn't look like you can set it at all on a PC. Opera users can right-click on the search box at bing.com and add a search provider from there. Or of course, anyone can search from http://www.bing.com/.
For articles and blog entries about Bing, just Bing it (or Google it), and you'll find hundreds of people talking about it - some good, some bad, some neutral. Here's a few to get you started:
- Bing Survives the Search Engine Achilles Heel: Programmers
- Bing.com Traffic Analysis (a.k.a. People Hate Bing)
- To Bing or not to Bing
- First of the Bing Commercials
- Bing vs Google Bandwidth Comparison
- Discover Bing
- Bing: A Visual Tour of What's New (PC World)
- Bing Helps Overcome Search Shortcomings, Still No Google-Killer
- Bada-Bing!
- Bing Is Only 'First Step'
- How Useful Is Microsoft's New Search Offering?
- Bing (Geek News Central)
|
Tags: searchengine microsoft tech
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Wednesday, May 27, 2009 22:43:58
In-Browser Live Messenger
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Recently I've been looking at the Live Messenger API, the programming interface for Microsoft's instant messenger. It's a pretty interesting concept, and I plan on learning more about it in the near future. One of my goals is to display my current personal message on my site - I change it every few days, and always try to come up with something witty or creative (Today's is "Vai kads reali latviešu valodu?" - you can translate it here).
Until then, I've at least incorporated an in-browser messenger client on the left side of my site - it's the button that looks like this:
You can contact me via IM using this link whenever I'm online, even if you do not have a messenger client installed on your machine. Kind of a cool feature - I'm not sure how long it's been around, but it's new to me. |
Tags: microsoft social tech blog
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Saturday, May 23, 2009 20:06:49
Product Review: The Big Skinny Wallet
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A few weeks ago, I decided to try a product called The Big Skinny, a revolutionary wallet designed to be significantly thinner than the typical wallet. It's one of those deals that appears to be too good to be true, but at a reasonable $24.95 and a money-back guarantee, I figured I'd give it a shot.
The site includes a picture comparing a normal filled walled with the Big Skinny filled with the same number of cards and bills, and the picture seems doctored or somehow fake, like the food on TV commercials. However, it really is that good.
From the site, comparing a full regular wallet with a full Big Skinny:
Actual, with an empty regular wallet and a full Big Skinny wallet, containing 27 cards:
The 27 cards:
A skinny wallet means a more balanced seat - a big bulky wallet can lead to back problems and other pain. I've noticed a significant decrease in discomfort while driving or sitting for a long time.
The wallet itself appears to be pretty tough. The design I chose, the "Thin Super Skinny", is made of an ultra-thin nylon microfiber material, which looks like it will hold together pretty well. I am slightly concerned with the stitching - after only a few weeks, there were a few loose threads. I cut them off, and it seems to be fine now - I guess only time will tell how long the wallet lasts, but it's looking good so far.
The only complaint I have is that their website is less than professional - I actually bought mine through Amazon, for the same price and same shipping.
There are plenty of competitors out there, but this brand and style seemed like the best deal. Overall, I would definitely recommend this wallet. |
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Sunday, May 17, 2009 13:50:43
2009 TV Renewals
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This has been a great year for television - one of the best years in a long time. The shows I've followed this past season included:
24 (Fox)
Season 7 was a strong season, much like the rest of them. Definitely a redemption after the 2008 season was skipped. This show was never in any jeopardy of being cancelled - the next season has been planned out for awhile.
House (Fox)
This was the second season featuring the new cast, and they still didn't get their names in the opening credits. The season was pretty good, mixing the "patient of the week" plots with the personal storylines of the characters. This one also was in no danger of being cancelled, but just officially got renewed in the last few days.
Chuck (NBC)
An extraordinary show, mixing comedy with action and adventure. The second season provided more character growth and plot twists, leading to a game-changing finale that begs for another season. Chuck had the most amazing fan campaign ever, with an incredible number of fans contributing to the cause to save the show. First was the Finale & Footlong campaign, where Chuck fans purchased $5 Footlongs from Subway on the night of the season finale in support of one of the show's top sponsors. Also as part of that campaign, Zachary Levi, the star of the show, led a group of 600 people into Subway in Birmingham, England, and actually got behind the counter and made sandwiches for the fans. Next was the Have a Heart, Save Chuck campaign, where fans were invited to donate to the American Heart Association in the name of the show, and pass the acknowledgement to NBC. As of May 15th, the campaign had raised over $14,000 from fans, and is still open for more contributions. I have no doubt that these two campaigns played a major role in the show being renewed, which it has been, for a third season, and I'm proud to have played a small role in this campaign, buying from Subway, blogging, tweeting, buying the DVDs, and donating to the AHA.
Bones (Fox)
This season of Bones wasn't the best of the series, but was still strong. The season finale was a hotly-debated episode, with many fans, including myself, speaking out about how much they hated it, and some defending it as a great episode. There was a small danger of the show not being renewed, which would have been a real shame - but it was officially picked up a few days ago for its fifth season.
Battlestar Galactica (Sci-Fi)
This was the fourth and final season for the re-imagined series. With a planned ending, we knew the show was not coming back next season. However, there is still an upcoming TV movie and a new series in the works, both related to the show.
Hell's Kitchen (Fox)
This is the only reality show I've ever been able to watch. Ramsay's anger, whether it's real or not, makes the show worth watching. The show is getting a little bit repetitive - it's the same challenges, menus, and "surprises" each year, just with a different cast of loser contestants, who seem to get worse each year. I don't know if this show has much more life in it, but next season is definitely happening.
Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles (Fox)
A great show, definitely underrated and underwatched. The story and characters are a little different from the movies, which allows the show to develop in its own universe without having to conform to the story of the three previous movies and the upcoming Salvation movie. The season finale was excellent, bringing together elements of the entire series to date into a cliffhanger climax. Last I heard, no official decision has been made about the show, but things really aren't looking good. If Fox doesn't pick it up, it wouldn't surprise me to see it picked back up by someone else, maybe the Sci-Fi channel.
Edit 5/18: Turns out Terminator was officially canceled yesterday, so Sci-Fi seems like the only hope for that show's future.
Dollhouse (Fox)
This was the first year for Dollhouse, a new science fiction show on Fox. It's an interesting concept, and has a small, but loyal, following. Nielsen ratings have been terrible, but DVR and online viewing has been significant, which probably is the major reason the show is being picked up for a second season.
Lie To Me (Fox)
Another rookie show on Fox, Lie To Me is kind of fun, following the various jobs of a group of people who serve as lie detectors, contracting with governments and private companies. They've been picked up for a second season, so I'm hoping they can continue to keep the stories fresh and interesting next season.
Scrubs (ABC)
The eighth season of Scrubs was significantly better than the seventh, which was a craptacular mess. My guess is that NBC attempted to sabotage the show in season 7 by intentionally making it terrible, since it was moving to ABC for season 8. But this year was back to being funny again, even though it isn't back to the quality of the earlier years. The season finale probably should have served as a series finale, since it wrapped up some of the characters' stories, and really left you with a sense of completion and satisfaction. Also, several of the main characters (Zach Braff as JD, Sarah Chalke as Elliot, and Judy Reyes as Carla) are not coming back, except for possible small transitionary roles. ABC has decided to pick up the show for a ninth season, focusing on a new set of characters, probably including some of the new interns introduced this year. The show will have to change quite a bit, but I'm hopeful that they'll be able to make it work.
Overall, I couldn't be happier with the outcome of this year. It looks like only one of my shows (Terminator) is being cancelled, which I can live with after the satisfying finale. With Chuck and Dollhouse both being saved, and the top shows like 24, House, and Bones coming back, next year promises to be another great year for TV. |
Tags: tv
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Saturday, May 09, 2009 20:05:09
My Vacation
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I just got back from a week's vacation in southern California, my first real vacation in a long time. Since I'm pretty much a loner, I went alone - this has really has never worked in the past, but this time I had everything planned out, so I was hopeful.
I can sum up my vacation as follows: pretty much sucked, but had a few good meals. If you want more details, continue reading (this is a long post, so if you don't want a bunch of boring details, you can stop here).
Day 1 (Tuesday):
This is the 4th time I've made the drive from Phoenix to L.A., and it seems to be getting easier each time. The 6 hours on the road really was no big deal. I recorded some movies and TV onto my iPod a couple weeks ago, to prepare for the trip - maybe that helped a little. I listened to a few episodes of Wings, and Back to the Future Part III on the trip - a great way to kill a couple of hours without getting bored.
First stop: Shakey's Pizza. I got into town around 1pm, so I was just in time for the lunch buffet. Excellent pizza and great Mojo potatoes - this is worth the drive by itself.
After checking into the hotel, unpacking, and kicking back to rest for awhile, it was time to head for Dodger Stadium to watch the Dodgers and Diamondbacks. The Dodgers won 3-1 - nothing really exciting on either side - the D-Backs just couldn't get anything big started on offense.
I was a little disappointed with the stadium in general. There was really nothing of any interest anywhere - nothing but the same concession stands and mini-stores along the entire stretch of the walkway, and two mediocre team shops and bars at either side. No historical monuments, entertainment exhibitions or exhibits. I had a Dodger Dog and garlic fries, two of the most popular food items, and both were just so-so. There was nothing special about the hot dog; the fries were different from what I've ever had, but the garlic seemed to be a little over-the-top. It was good, but a little garlic goes a long way, and these were just flooded. And to top the night off, getting out of the parking lot can only be described as 'Every man for himself'. It was ridiculous - no sense of any organization whatsoever - occasionally, lanes would appear, but as soon as one person got tired of waiting, they'd form new lanes in various other directions, which killed the first lane, and it went right back to anarchy. You really had to fight your way through a dozen or so times, or else you'll be sitting there all night. No support whatsoever by the employees, and no physical structure that would allow an orderly exit. Overall, I'd have to say this stadium is nowhere near the quality of either Chase Field in Phoenix or Angel Stadium in Anaheim.
Day 2 (Wednesday):
This was the whole point of the trip: Six Flags Magic Mountain. My plan was to hit all of the roller coasters a couple times over the course of two days. I've never done any real coasters other than the one at California Adventure (Disneyland), but I remember really enjoying that one. I started my day by going on two rides (Viper and Superman The Escape), and was kind of having a good time, but for some reason I was a lot more nervous than in the past - my heart just wouldn't stop pounding, and my legs were a little wobbly. I got in line for my third ride (Tatsu), only about a 10 minute wait, when I felt a little dehydrated - so I jumped out of line to get some water. I came back about 10 minutes later, and the ride was stopped due to some technical difficulties - they said it may be awhile before maintenance came out, so they recommended just coming back later. So I leave, and walk directly under a couple cars full of people hanging upside down, stranded while waiting for maintenance. I don't know how long they were there, and I don't know if I would have been on that particular run of the ride, but I think that stuck a bug in my brain.
I thought nothing of the problem, even laughed it off a little, and headed toward another ride - The Riddler's Revenge. There was really no line, just a couple of people in front of me, so I'd be off and flying within a matter of minutes. But something about the looks of the ride got to me - it was a stand-up ride, which for some reason freaked me out a little. Right about then, I started thinking about the technical problem from the other ride, and for some reason started thinking about the roller coaster scene from Final Destination 3 (note: don't watch that clip if you ever want to ride a roller coaster again). So I turned around and left. Luckily, the place was so empty no one really noticed, other than the handful of people still in line. I considered checking out a few other rides, but each one that I considered brought the same anxiety, and even panic, something I'm really not used to feeling. I know that there's almost no chance of anything going wrong on one of these rides - they run hundreds of times every day with no incident - but for some reason my brain kept telling me that 'no chance' is much better than 'almost no chance' of something going wrong. Combine this with the fact that the park isn't layed out very well, and the fact that I'm a little out of shape and not used to walking this much, including up steep hills, in the direct sun, and I just decided that it was time to leave.
I know I'm getting into incredibly personal and embarassing stuff here - I feel comfortable telling this to you because I don't keep any secrets from you - I wouldn't tell this to just anyone...
Back to the hotel, and I decide to check out the hotel pool. I haven't swam swum? been swimming for at least 15 years, and I really didn't know if I still knew how (I don't). The pool only has a 5 foot deep end, so I was able to keep my feet on the floor whenever I failed at actually swimming. Luckily, I was by myself, so no one was around to see me make a fool of myself.
Then the highlight of my day: dinner. The hotel clerk recommended a place called Wood Ranch BBQ & Grill, which was right up the street. I head out, and have a great dinner of Tri Tip beef, smashed sweet potatoes, mac & cheese, and apple cobbler. Excellent stuff, highly recommended if you're ever in the southern California area.
Day 3 (Thursday):
I spent the day at the beach, with the goal being to sit around all day relaxing. It was about a 45 minute drive to Malibu Beach, which wasn't too bad. I discovered a few things. First of all, sand is not the easiest thing in the world to walk through. Second, my body is apparently immune to sunscreen. Third, sitting in a beach chair for hours on end is not all that comfortable. I did get some reading in - two recent Dave Barry books: Dave Barry's History of the Millennium (So Far) and Dave Barry's Money Secrets (Like Why is there a Giant Eyeball on the Dollar?). Both pretty good books - if you're not familiar with Dave Barry's work, I'd suggest checking it out - I've read about 10 of his books, and they're all pretty funny.
At around 4pm, I decided it was time to head out. Of course, it was L.A. rush hour, which meant the 40 mile drive was now about an hour and 45 minutes.
Again, the highlight of my day was dinner: another recommended restaurant from the hotel clerk - Spumoni Italian Cafe. I had the Lasagne Napoletana and a vanilla cannoli with chocolate syrup and chocolate chips for dessert (no, I'm not back on chocolate, but on vacation, all bets are off). Excellent dinner again.
Day 4 (Friday):
My original plan was to spend the first half of the day back at Six Flags, then head over to Hollywood to catch the new Star Trek movie at the Mann Grauman's Chinese theater in Hollywood. The first part obviously didn't happen - I didn't really feel like going back to Six Flags. And it turns out some knothead decided to play Wolverine for another week at Grauman's. So instead, I went to the giant screen at Regal's Edwards Valencia 12 in Santa Clarita, for a 1pm showing of the movie (full review found here including spoilers).
But first was lunch at Cousins Burgers, aka greaseville. It wasn't terrible, but I was expecting more like Fuddrucker's or Islands, and instead got an incredibly greasy burger and fries that really weren't worth the price.
After the movie was dinner: Outback Steakhouse (I know I can get this back home, but I really felt like a steak, and it was right next door to the hotel). I had the 9 oz. Victoria's Filet with a bleu cheese crust, which is the most expensive steak on the menu (by weight) - I was actually pretty disappointed. It really wasn't any better than the regular sirloin or strip steaks, maybe even less flavorful than those two. Sides were a sweet potato which was decent, and the garlic mashed potatoes, followed by the Chocolate Chocolate Tower (I figured that I already had half a million calories on this trip, what's another thousand...). Not up to par with the last two nights, but still a pretty good meal.
Day 5 (Saturday):
I had a hot air balloon ride scheduled for 6am in Temecula, which is about 130 miles from Santa Clarita, mostly freeway, but a significant of main roads as well. This means I set my alarm for 2:30, never a pleasant experience. I'm on the road by 3, and arrive at the South Coast Winery in Temecula at around 5:45. Setup took a long time, but we were finally up in the air at about 7:15. With my newly confirmed fear of heights, I was a little nervous about the whole ordeal. The basket was only about waist high, which is a bit unnerving. But I did manage to get over this and get on the balloon.
There were 11 people on the balloon, including the driver, so it was pretty cramped. It was an interesting experience, but I really didn't find it amazing or spectacular in any way, the way I've seen it described. The burners were obviously hot, which made the cabin reasonably uncomfortable. The burners were also pretty loud, and were firing more than half the time; even when they were off, there was still the hiss of the gas line. So the ride really wasn't silent the way I've heard it described either. The views were pretty nice, but not really any different from what you'd get on any scenic lookout point on the road, and since we were shoulder-to-shoulder, it was difficult to get a good look, or to get decent pictures. The pictures that I did manage to get can be found at:
http://www.jtenos.com/photos/20090509_balloon/
After the ride, we all shared a bottle of champagne from the vineyard, before sitting down to breakfast. This was actually the first time I've had champagne, and don't really see what the fuss is all about - it tasted like sparkling cider with a strong after-taste. For breakfast, I had some fine food from the winery restaurant - scrambled eggs with chorizo, Portuguese sausage and fried rice with bits of breakfast meats. A fine gastronomical ending to my vacation.
Overall, I'd say that the balloon ride wasn't anything special, but the company that provided it, Magical Adventures, did an exceptional job. If you are interested in riding a hot air balloon, I'd suggest checking them out.
For the trip home, I tuned into A Few Good Men, Lethal Weapon 3, and Dude, Where's My Car on the iPod. After a grueling week, I was definitely ready to get home. Stop #1: Babbo's Italian Eatery for dinner, back to my normal routine.
Summary:
I think this week confirmed that taking vacations alone is really no fun, even with a plan. I still have one more week of vacation to use this year, so I don't know what I'll do. It was nice to get a week off of work, and I actually have confidence that they can survive a week without me now. But I really didn't get the relaxation I was hoping for, so I'd consider this vacation an expensive failure. |
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Friday, May 08, 2009 16:59:52
Star Trek
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When the trailers for the new Star Trek movie came out, I was skeptical about the quality of the movie. My main concern was with the re-casting of characters that we have come to know over the past 40 years, and how they could not be replaced. In addition, I believed that they were simply going to paint over the craptasticness of the movie with lots of special effects in order to confuse the audience into thinking that it was a good movie.
After watching the movie, I'd have to say that I was only partially right. There were many things that I didn't like about the movie, but overall I'd have to say that I did like the movie in general.
If you haven't seen the movie, then do not read below this paragraph. I'll just leave you with my opinion that while it's not really Star Trek the way we've come to know it, it's still a pretty good movie. I would, however, rank it 8th best in the movie series (6-8-2-3-4-7-5-11-9-10-1).
***SPOILERS AHEAD***
***SPOILER ALERT!!!***
Casting:
I knew going in that the characters of Kirk, Spock, McCoy, Scott, Sulu, Chekov, and Uhuru were tied to the original actors, and it was hard to believe anyone else in those roles. However, since they had to re-cast them anyway, I think they did a pretty good job.
Characters:
Separate from the actors portrayals of the characters is the concept of the characters themselves. Much of the dialogue and the actions of the characters goes against what we know of them. This can only partially be attributed to the alternate timeline; the rest is an overwrite of the characters, which has to be expected given a clean reboot of the series, so I can't be overly critical of this.
Time Travel:
They've already done it in 3 of the movies (4, 8, and I'm counting 7, even though it was only back a couple hours). When I first heard that they were going to do time travel again, and bring back an older version of Spock, I thought that this was really unnecessary, that they could have done something else better. But it turns out that the introduction of an alternate reality leads to all kinds of possibilities, including sequels where events don't need to unfold the way we remember them, because it's a completely different timeline. I'd say this was an excellent way of avoiding having to conform to the traditional Star Trek story.
Cadets:
Maybe I missed something, but when you have a brand new ship that's the flagship of a fleet, you wouldn't assign a bunch of cadets with zero experience to run it. McCoy was a cadet who for some reason was a senior medical officer, second only to the chief. Kirk was a cadet who wasn't even invited on the ship, and became first officer and captain in a matter of hours. I would expect that a ship with hundreds of people on it would have a better chain of command. After all, in a normal day, there have to be a second, third, maybe even fourth shift, which means three or four levels of officers that should be in the chain of command before a cadet even is considered for the job, even if it is someone the captain likes. And being permanently promoted to captain and given command of the flagship, skipping the ranks completely, after a single successful mission, seems ridiculous.
Misc.:
I didn't like the 'stick a bug in his head to get him to talk' idea. That was already used once before, and really shouldn't have been done again.
The interior of the ship looked ridiculous - every part of it. What were they smoking when they came up with that design?
How many times do they need to change how the transporter beam looks?
I loved the 'red shirt' that came along for the parachuting ride - great homage to the original show. |
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Thursday, May 07, 2009 20:43:23
Scrubs Finale
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Yesterday was the finale (season/series?) of the NBC sitcom Scrubs. It was a very strong episode, and did a good job wrapping up the series, assuming it doesn't come back next season. Stars Zach Braff and Judy Reyes, as well as creator/producer/writer Bill Lawrence have all confirmed that they will not return if there is another seasonEDIT: There's all sorts of rumors out there, so apparently this wasn't necessarily true - but I did read it somewhere as if it was fact..., but last I heard, it was still up in the air whether ABC was going to continue the show.
Scrubs has always been very character-based, with the long-term focus of the show being the growth and maturing of the young doctors, and the relationships between all of the characters. The comedic style is a mix of slapstick and exaggerated characteristics of each character. In addition to the comedy, Scrubs has a dramatic side, much like M*A*S*H, discussing the seriousness of life in a hospital, including sickness and death. While this wasn't the main focus of the show, it brought an element of realism to an otherwise silly and implausible show.
The core cast has been there since the beginning, but every couple of years they introduce a group of new recurring characters. The casting has always been great, from the main characters to the short-timers to the one-time guest stars (typically patients). This season, a new group of interns was introduced, who are funny and interesting, for minor characters. I suppose it's possible that a couple of them could step up in place of the ones leaving, so I'm sure the show could go on. The last couple of seasons haven't had the quality of the first few, so with a great finale in the books, I think that they should just end on a good note - I'd have nothing against a spin-off, but after eight seasons, if they do spin-off, I'd like to see an entirely new show in a different style, much like Frasier after Cheers.
Here are a couple clips from the show:
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