Go Sharks, we are perfect at home!!!

My friends Dan, Chris and Jan and I purchased a 10-game plan for the San Jose Sharks. We went again last night and for the fourth time in 4 games, the Sharks won at home. Which means, we have a perfect home record. Unfortunately, it does not look as rosy for the Sharks in general. They have one of the worst home ice records. In light of this, we came up with a grand plan. We talk to the Sharks management and ask them to upgrade us to full season tickets ... for free. And while they are at it they should throw in some beers. I think that plan is fantastic. Let's see what the Sharks have to say about that.

Are you an idiot or do you park like an idiot?

Not sure? Well then, there is help for you, just check out the I park like an idiot web page" with easy to understand pictures to check. And while you are at it, check if you are also a complete idiot by looking at the "I am an idiot" pictures.

Halloween

$-0.95

Weird title for a post, you think? You are probably right, but I had to write about the amount we owe to PG&E for our first electricity bill after installation of our photovoltaic solar system.



Got the first bill and it did what it was supposed to: Eliminate our electricity bill. Unfortunately, PG&E won't cut us a check but the balance carries over and will be reset after the year is over (when negative). If it's positive we will have to pay some money but hopefully it will be very close to $0.

Innovate or Die Contest

Specialized Bikes and Google are sponsoring a contest called Innovate or Die. Invent something cool involving pedal power and you could win. I have a few ideas but I can't participate because I am a Google employee. Not creative? Well, at least take a look at the web site. I especially like the crankset driving planet earth. You can also check out videos of the entries. We need more like that.

New Sharks Season

Just like the season before, my friend Chris and I got a 10-game plan again for the Sharks 2007/2008 season. Dan and Jan are also in this year and we went to the first regular season game on Saturday (we already went to a pre-season game as part of our plan but pre-season does not really count). They beat the Nashville Predators 3-0 and it was fairly entertaining. One of the really cool things this season though is the new scoreboard. Apparently, the Sharks replaced the entire video and sound system and is one of the sweetest system I have ever seen. Clarity is fantastic, you almost end up watching the game on the display instead of looking down on the ice. Compared to last season it's like switching from an old black and white TV to a new HD flat screen. Very cool.

For the geeks among you, here are the details of the improvement (which cost ~16.5 million according to the San Jose Mercury News):

DETAILS OF IMPROVEMENTS

Center Hung Scoreboard
HP Pavilion plans to install a new high-resolution LED scoreboard. This new technology provides a clearer and brighter image than what currently exists. The existing video display is nine-feet by 12-feet; the proposed new display is approximately 18-feet by 24-feet, providing a 16x9 video aspect ratio that is used in high-definition television displays. Currently 21 of the 30 NHL facilities have new high-resolution LED Scoreboards.

LED Fascia Display
HP Pavilion plans to install full color, moving LED fascia displays. NHL buildings constructed during the past five years have these full color, moving LED displays to enhance the guest experience. These signs provide a very dramatic visual experience for the fans. They will also enhance the ability to provide flexible programming for events such as NCAA sanctioned sporting events that require specific guidelines for sponsorships and programming that HP Pavilion currently is not able to provide. The existing fascia display is the original fixtures installed when the building opened in 1993.

Seating Area Sound System
The proposed sound system would be a complete change to digital equipment and would incorporate outward facing speaker clusters as compared to the old style distributed speaker placement. This will provide a clearer or more audible sound quality with sound generated from the center of the building rather than throughout the building. The existing sound system was installed when the building opened in 1993. The system not only provides audio during events but it serves as the primary emergency announcement source in the seating area.

Rigging Capacity Upgrade
The proposed rigging capacity upgrade would increase the current capacity from 75,000 pounds to 150-200,000 pounds depending on the needed scope of work. This work would accommodate both center and end stage shows. When the building was designed, standard show loads were 40,000 pounds with large shows in the 60-80,000 pound range. Today standard loads are 60-80,000 pounds with large shows running 125-150,000 pounds.

HD Video Equipment Upgrade
The building opened in 1993 with analog equipment which is no longer supported by manufacturers. With the change to high-definition technology and digital equipment throughout the industry, compatibility issues with traveling mobile studio trucks has become a serious issue. A complete change is required to ensure reliability and interfacing with the new scoreboard and LED systems and TV trucks.

Acoustic Improvements
Above the soffit of the penthouse suites exists large flat surfaces that cause sound to bounce back into the seating area creating serious sound reverberation issues. A solution has been identified that will encompass installing sound deadening panels from the soffit to the underside of the roof structure. This will create an area between the new panel and existing wall to act as a “sound trap” to significantly reduce reverberation in the seating area. This reduction of the standing waves created by the slap off of the back wall will improve the clarity of the sound system and the systems used by touring shows.

You can compare Apples and Oranges

You have probably heard the following before:

You can't compare apples and oranges ...

or

You have to compare apples with apples and not oranges ...

or any variation thereof. But those people were wrong. Scientific research has found out that you in fact can compare apples and oranges. Read about apples and oranges on the Improbable Research web site.

Solar Rocks

A couple of months ago, Sonja and I purchased a photovoltaic solar system. Yesterday, after going through all the rebate approval processes, they system was installed and turned on for the first time. Was a lot of fun watching the old meter go backwards.



As part of the process we needed to upgrade the roof before we put the panels on top of it. Since it's been a tradition to make reasonably sized project somewhat bigger in the process, we also decided to re-roof. After having the old composition shingles torn off (that was outsourced), I started to re-roof the house.


That is hard work but thankfully, my friend Dan helped out. If it weren't for him, I'd still be working on the roof. It's not exactly difficult work but it's hard work physically, of which my back keeps reminding me.



But it's all good now. We are having the sun pay our electricity bill and (for the first time) I used the Google massage perk. Was very nice and my bacl already feels better.

Was this really necessary ?

The other day, as I was leaving work and heading to my car, I noticed that a police car had pulled over a guy in BMW. They had turned onto the Google parking lot and two cops were busy writing up the guy. There was only one problem, the BMW was blocking my car, so I could not get out. The BMW driver, nice looking guy in his 40s (I owuld guess), starts his engine to pull forward about 10 feet so I can get out. Very nice of him you may think. That's what I thought but one of the cops (almost violently) disagreed. The moment the BMW driver started his engine, the cop starts running towards that car and yells at him to shut off the engine. Not being shy, I offered an explanation to the officer (or whatever rank he may have had) that he is just trying to let me out. The cop didn't care, apparently the very mild mannered guy in the BMW (he looked very scared at this point) posed a flight risk and had to remain where he was. The cop tells me that they are almost done (in a minute) and that I can then get out. Well, turns out that a minute takes really long in "police world". Apparently, the super-eager cop was training a new cop who was learning to fill out a ticket which turned out to be more difficult that one might think, judging by the time it took. Well, finally, after about 10 minutes in my world, the two cops walk up to the car one on either side, trainee on driver's side and Officer Rambo on the other (with his hand on his weapon). Meanwhile, I was getting a little irritated. I did not know why they had pulled that guy over but I guess it was for running a stop sign or a red light, or speeding. Certainly not a felony of some sort since the BMW driver remained in his car. Anyway, after another 2 minutes they finally let the poor BMW driver go. Officer Rambo thanked me for my patience and I thought for a moment to ask him whhat harm would have been done by letting the BMW back or move forward about 10 feet, so that I can get out. I decided otherwise, since Officer Super-Hero didn't seem to have his best day. But you have to ask yourself, "was this really necessary?". It certainly did not kill me to wait and I am sure the BMW driver deserved the ticket but the whole "hand on weapon" thing was a little over the top and not letting the guy move was very much showing a lack of common sense.

All you ever needed to know about Economics ...

Found this through a blog from a co-worker. It's on Youtube. Watch it and everything will be clearer (have no fear, it is very funny):

San Francisco Half Marathon

A while ago I mentioned I was going to run another marathon. While that's not going to happen for another few months (in November in San Jose), I have been following a training plan for about a month now and yesterday I was scheduled for a 13 mile long run. My friend Steve wanted to run the San Francisco half marathon, so we both signed up. After getting up really early (4am) we drove into San Francisco and lined up to get started around 5:45am. Our goal was to run the whole thing in under 2 hours, which meant we had to run a mile pace of around 9 minutes.
The route led us along the Embarcadero, Fisherman's Wharf, through Crissy Fields and up to the Golden Gate bridge (tough climb), across the brodge to the Vista point, back over the bridge and down into Golden Gate Park where we finished after 13.1 miles. We did in slightly under 1 hour and 58 minutes. That was definitely fun although the crossing of the bridge was a very wet affair. Not exactly warm but definitely good for running. Now I am off to more training, increasing mileage on my weekend long runs and doing speedwork during the week. Hopefully I can get into a good enough shape that I can run a new PR. I am currently stuck at 3 hours 51 minutes which I ran 5 years ago. I am hoping to beat 3 hours 50 minutes and get as close as possible to 3 hours and 45 minutes. Wish me luck!

Faceball

I love this: http://www.faceball.org
What is it? According to their web site: "... at a deeper level it's a vehicle for the release of personal animosity, and the Shaming of the Weak." Funny!

Biodiesel -- my first filter change

The other day I went to a gas station (Valley Oil in Mountain View, CA) that sells pure Biodiesel, well B99, so virtually pure Biodiesel. Anyway, a little more expensive than the B20 from Rotten Robbie but it's environmentally even better. Now, when you switch to Biodiesel fuel filter clogging after a few tanks of Biodiesel is pretty common. So I went ahead and changed. Thanks to the Cincinnati TDI Club it was super simple. They posted a video online on how to change the fuel filter. Took a mere 15 minutes and everything was done. Car runs great and I am still doing something good for the environment.

It's finished ...

... well almost, only missing the drawer handles. My first piece of furniture that I built out of a pile of wood.

Side table
Originally uploaded by jmeyer

Biodiesel, Part 2: Environmental Activism

I am on my second tank of B20 biodiesel now and things are working fine so far. Gas mileage increased a bit to an average of 43mpg but not sure whether that's because of the biodiesel or I was simply driving a bit more conservatively. Either way, I thought I'd buy a few stickers and boast a bit about the fact that I am doing something good for the environment.

Image019.jpg
Originally uploaded by jmeyer

On that note, the San Jose Mercury News had an interesting article about trying to do good for the environment. It mentioned California's efforts in trying to build up a greener fleet of vehicles. The chose to go with a bunch of vehicles that are capable of running on regular gasoline or Ethanol-gasoline blends like the Chevy/GMC Flexfuel vehicles. When those vehicles run on such blends they put out much less CO2 albeit at higher cost which the taxpayer has to pay for. However, one problem they did not consider is that there are virtually no fueling stations that carry such blends so that these Flexfuel vehicles are solely run on regular gasoline. Not only are they less efficient than the previous (smaller) fleet vehicles they now output more CO2, at higher cost. Talk about misguided environmental activism.

This is my problem with all these alternative fuels like ethanol, hydrogen and natural gas. The infrastructure simply isn't there yet and they require engine modifications or simply different engines altogether. Overall not very practical. Biodiesel on the other hand doesn't have these drawbacks. No engine modifications are required and if you are ever in an area where there is no Biodiesel available, you simply get regular diesel for one tank. The worst that can happen is that the fuel filter gets clogged which is not that tragic.

So, instead of wasting all that money on the new fleet that currently can't fulfill its potential, they should have invested that money into solar or by fuel efficient vehicles. Oh wait, that pretty much means they would have had to purchase Japanese cars instead of the American POS. Not sure what the reasons were but I very much hope that doing good for the environment from the government is hindered by who makes the car...

My first piece of furniture ...

Over the past few months I have been taking a "furniture design and construction" class through Santa Clara Adult Education and this is the result:

Image018.jpg
Originally uploaded by jmeyer

It wasn't really much of a class but rather a weekly get together of people who wanted to build something and like power tools. By signing up for a class you get to use a machine shop with lots of tools that are also suitable for larger projects. Cost (~ $10 for a 3 hour session) is very affordable, downright cheap if you consider what it would cost to rent or even buy all the equipment. The instructors are laid back and help you out when you get stuck or things get tricky. Other than that you on your own on what you want to build. I built a side table that my wife liked and I worked off of a picture from a Pottery barn catalog. I improvised here and there but I think it came out ok for the first piece.

Losing your pants is NOT worth 54 million dollars!

Thank goodness!!! NOt sure if you have heard, but there was this judge in Washington D.C. who apparently lost a pair of pants in a dry cleaning shop. After some back and forth with the shop owners (first they could not find the pants, then they did) the judge decided to sue the shop owners for damages in the millions, over 60 million to be precise which was later reduced to 54 million. WTF. The guy based his case on a sign inside the store that said "satisfaction guaranteed". He argued that because he wasn't satisfied that this is a case of fraud and sued for damages. He even threw in some $10,0000 or more for future rental car costs because he will now have to go to a dry cleaner farther away. WTF again.
And according to some of the news reports he even rejected settlement proposals from the dry cleaners ranging from $3,000 to $12,000. How dumb do you have to be?
Anyway, the judge in this case denied him the millions claiming that this was unreasonable. Really? I don't think this required a trial to find this out. Nobody got hurt (at least physically) and if a loss of a pair of pants is mentally a desaster for someone then that person should seek some other help than money. Anyway, finally common sense won over one of these dumb lawsuits. And the guys who sued is a judge which makes it even more ridiculous. Just do a Google search on "washington pants lawsuit" to read all about it.

Environmentally Friendly

Today, I did a good thing for the environment. For the first time I refilled the fuel tank of my little 2003 Volkswagen Golf TDI with biodiesel. It was B20, meaning it's a blend of 20% biodiesel made from soybeans and 80% petrodiesel. That's the recommended blend to start with before moving on to B99 or even B100. Felt good, and didn't cost more than regular diesel. Rotten Robbie is one of the first chains to run a few gas stations that sell biodiesel. Anyway, what are the benefits of biodiesel? Check out biodiesel.org for all the details. In a nutshell:

• Pure biodiesel reduces CO2 emissions by up to 78%.
• The CO2 released into the atmosphere when biodiesel is burned is recycled by growing plants, which are later processed into fuel.
• According to biodiesel.org, scientific research confirms that biodiesel exhaust has a less harmful impact on human health than petroleum diesel fuel.
  

Now if that doesn't make you feel good, what does? What are you doing for the environment today? I think I am turning into a little Eco-terrorist ...

Contextual Shortcuts (my former Yahoo! project)

Today, Yahoo! turned on Contextual Shortcuts in Yahoo News. It's pretty cool and good to see that my former project remains alive and that the work I did lives on. Check out the Yahoo Search blog post about it.

Another one that falls into the "ridiciulous" category ...

Almost forgot to write about this. A few weeks ago my wife and I decided to go out and buy a new mattress. Our old one had served its purpose and started to become uncomfortable. We kind fo knew what we wanted and headed over to one these mattress chain stores. We settled on a Tempurpedic which is really nice and cost us about $1500.00. Not cheap, but hey, sleeping well is important. But if you think this is expensive, think again. I tried a mattress which cost $15,000. How ridiculous is that? And it wasn't even more comfortable. Kind of squishy and you kind of needed a ladder to get on top of it because it was so thick. Apparently, it's so expensive because it is handstitched. Who cares, it's covered by sheets anyway, so you won't even see it. Maybe they last longer? The mattress we bought is supposed to last 10 years, to make up the difference in price through longevity, the super-ridiculously-expensive would have to last 10 times as long, which comes out to 100 years. That's too long for my taste.

Heavy Machinery

Image008.jpg
Originally uploaded by jmeyer

Ben, Chris and I were making a run to the Guadalupe Mines in San Jose, dumping some old concrete. There was this big loader and we enticed Ben to sit on it so we can take a picture ... Don't we all love heavy machinery?

Running another Marathon

Before Sonja and I had children I ran a few marathons. I had done the Silicon Valley marathon in San Jose, the Rock'n Roll in San Diego, Big Sur and the San Francisco marathon. Then our two boys came, work somehow got more busy and the time to train for a marathon wasn't quite there anymore. And to be honest, I sort of lacked the drive to go out 4-6 times a week and run a lot of miles. I have decided to change that now and run again. Other people can do it, so I should be able to do it as well. It's just really good to be in a good shape and just be able to go out and run 10 or 15 miles without suffering. I signed up for my second Silicon Valley Marathon in San Jose which will be held November 4th.

I bought a new pair of running shoes and have already started running again. And I started planning/searching for routes to run. There is now a handful of web sites that let users draw routes on maps (Google Earth let's you do it as well). I have tried the USATF web site and walkjogrun.net and they work reasonably well. I already planned a 15 and an 18 mile run for later in my training plan. Let's see how that goes. Anyone interested in joining?

My first 6 weeks @ Google

Tomorrow I will have completed my first six weeks at Google and I have to say I love it. I work on a very interesting project that has nothing to do with JavaScript. The food is as good or better than I expected and I haven't grown tired of it yet. So far I have managed to avoid the Google 15, the (apparently) average number of pounds new employees gain because of the abundance of food. And I have reduced my coffee consumption significantly, which should work out for me well in the long run. Compared to Yahoo! which features staffed espresso bars I now have to make my own espresso drink and more often than not I pass on coffee altogether. And in the spirit of getting/staying healthy, I decided to pick up running again and try for another marathon but more on that in another post. Anyway, Google is pretty cool, so far I have no regrets leaving Yahoo! And, drinking Koolaid once an hour isn't really that bad ...

In-Between-Jobs-Project, Part 7: Another plan change ...

and a ladder
Originally uploaded by jmeyer.

This one is for the ladder leading up to the platform. The original plan called for something very steep (vertical) which wasn't suitable for our 2-year old. So I changed it and build a ladder/stairs. Works well and it gave me a good reason to finally get a table saw. What can I say, I love power tools.

In-Between-Jobs-Project, Part 6: Getting crowded ...

it's solid
Originally uploaded by jmeyer.

OK, here we go, nearing completion. Installed the 12' long 4x6 swing beam which will hold one swing on either side. The swings are ordered and will be installed as soon as I get them.

In-Between-Jobs-Project, Part 5: Every once in a while ...

getting closer ...
Originally uploaded by jmeyer.

... it is a good idea to look at the plan again. But so far so good, got hte basic structure up and the slide installed. The boys already did a test run and it works great.

In-Between-Jobs-Project, Part 4: More help ...

you can't do it without help
Originally uploaded by jmeyer.

After I built the two sides it was time to assemble the basic structure. After that, a bunch of 2x4s needed to be cut. To make hauling wood back and forth easier on my old back I recruited my two boys again. They were very eager to help. And it was much easier to keep them busy this way and away from the tools ...

In-Between-Jobs-Project, Part 3: Almost Done ...

Look, almost done
Originally uploaded by jmeyer.

... well, not quite but in the picture you can see the first of two sides. The plan calls for 6 4x4 redwood posts set in concrete. I slightly modified that. INstead of putting them in conrete (which makes the whole thing unmoveable), the whole structure rests on pressure-treated 4x4s. I know, I know, you shouldn't expose kids to pressure treated stuff but no worries, they will be covered. Anyway, that pressure treated 4x4s are then anchored in the ground using big construction stakes (scary looking nails (3/4 " thick and 3 feet long). That thing ain't going anywhere...

In-Between-Jobs-Project, Part 2: Find a site and hire helpers

Jonas hard at work
Originally uploaded by jmeyer.

After we got the pile of wood we now need to figure out where to put it. Oh yeah, and hire help. We recruit from our own family. Even though Jonas doesn't quite know the difference between centimeters and inches, he more than makes up for it by being big and strong (for a 2-year old).

Now that we leveled the site, we can start building the structure. The plan for it I bought on the Web. Makes it much simpler than trying to guess the dimensions from just a picture. Plan was cheap too, only $14 and it gives you the list of things to get (pile of wood, etc.).

In-Between-Jobs-Project, Part 1: A pile of wood

A pile of wood
Originally uploaded by jmeyer.

You may (or may not) remember that I did a little post-IBM project between my jobs at IBM and Yahoo!. This time I am not redoing a bathroom. before starting to work at Google I decided to do something nice for my two boys. I bought a pile of wood and turned it into a playstructure.

My new job ...

... will be at the best company to work for in 2006, according to Forbes Magazine. Yes, you guessed right, it is Google. I am leaving Yahoo after 16 months and will be heading over to Google in a couple of weeks. I have my last day at Yahoo! on Wednesday, will then take some time off to build a play structure in the backyard for my two boys and then show up at Google towards the end of the month. It was an interesting time at Yahoo! but hasn't quite matched my expectations. I am pretty fired up about joining Google and will let you know how it goes ...

Go Sharks!

The guy in the picture is my buddy Chris at the Shark Tank, home of the San Jose Sharks. We have been enjoying a 10-game plan and it was the last regular season game. Although it was fan appreciation day and they were handing out prizes left and right, we didn't win anything. The game was pretty exciting, although the Sharks lost in overtime. But the good thing is, they qualified for the Stanley Cup playoffs. Can't wait to go to the next game.

An Inconvenient Truth

If you haven't already, go watch it. It's Al Gore's documentary about Global Warming and I think it's very well made. Watching it leaves you with this feeling of sadness and depression. I hope as many people as possible get to watch this and maybe start worrying about it so that eventually a politician with an interest in the environment and its protection gets to be the president of the United States. Oh yeah, and tonight, I hope Al Gore wins the Oscar for his film. That would be well-deserved and add extra publicity to his cause. Hopefully, there are not too many oil companies sponsoring the academy awards.

And if you really think about it, there is so much we can do. But as long as the government doesn't promote alternative fuel/energy the people are unlikely to change here in the U.S. unless it hurts or helps their wallets. So make alternative fuel cheaper by subsidizing it. Pay half the cost for solar electricity and require every new house built to have some form of alternative energy usage, whether it is using solar to heat water or produce electricity. Just like Al says, we have the technology, let's use it.

What I do at Yahoo!

What I do at Yahoo!
Originally uploaded by jmeyer.

Here is a screenshot of what I have worked on at Yahoo over the past 12 months. It's called Contextual Shortcuts and it's running as part of Yahoo! Mail. As of today, you will have to use the old style interface, we are hoping to add it to the new Yahoo! Mail Beta sometime this year.

You can read about what it is in the Yahoo! Mail help pages in the Shortcuts section.

The system has many parts to it but in short the Contextual Shortcuts platform tries to indentify interesting and relevant pieces of text and then offer you an in-place user experience that is appropriate for the detected item. For example, if we detect an address, we will show you a map and let you add it to your address book. If we find the name of a place (e.g., New York City) we offer you Search results and a map. All of this without requiring the user to leave their current context (that's one of the reasons we named it Contextual Shortcuts).

We are adding more features and improving detection right now and if all goes well you will see this elsewhere too. Wish us luck.

Back to the roots - another name story

I started this blog a while ago because I thought I'd share my experiences using my first name here in the U.S., especially in coffee shops. Now, that doesn't happen that often anymore, simply because I now get my caffeine fix at work. One of the more enjoyable benefits at Yahoo! is the free coffee. We have fully staffed espresso bars where you can get everything from a simple espresso to something more complex like Low Fat Sugar Free Vanilla Half Decaf Latte with Extra Foam. Personally, I'd like to outlaw the latter but unfortunately I don't have a lot of say in this. Anyhow, the name problem in coffee shops went away but one problem that still lingers is the email problem. The email problem is this. I sent someone an email and end it with the line

-Joerg

Clearly, I don't know how to spell my own name because a large number of people (especially first timers) will start their reply with Jeorg. Drives me nuts. Makes me wnat to butcher their name too. Now how hard is it to get Joerg right? It's only five letters and only 4 if you were to use the proper umlaut ö. Do people not proof read? One thing everyone should do is to at least get the name right. But maybe that's too much to ask.

Super Bowl XLI, the Inverted TiVo Experience

Everyone always talks about the Superbowl ads and how great they are. So I programmed my TiVo (it's really a Comcast DVR but everyone knows what TiVo is) to tape (oh excuse me, record) the Superbowl, all 4 hours and 5 minutes of the broadcast. And as I was watching the Superbowl yesterday it dawned on me that A Superbowl TiVo recording is probably one of the only shows, if not hte only, that people fast-forward through, just to get to the commercials. In a way, it's inverted TiVo. Kind of odd, isn't it. Oh and by the way, most ads were rather boring, except for the Bud commercials. They are mostly funny or cute but the beer still sucks. With that, congrats to the Colts and too bad for the Bears. At least Rex Grossmann lived up to the very low expectations that compared him to one of the worst quarterbacks in SuperBowl history, even before the game had started.

Scientifically Funny - Nailing jelly to a wall

I have been enjoying the blog from Improbable Research for a while and found a post today that investigated the feasibility of nailing jelly to a wall. It is scientifically funny.

When seemingly good ideas backfire ...

... or the 101 dumbest moments in business. Check it out.

Painful Presentations at Work

We have probably all witnessed one of these, either at school, at work or at some event in our spare time. A painful presentation. What makes a painful presentation you may ask? Here is my list of things that indicate a painful presentation:

1. The presenter apologizes for the readability of his/her slides. Never a good thing, if you know it's unreadable, don't use it or break it into more than one slide. Making good slides takes skill and a few tries but everyone who gives presentation should know that a picture says more than thousand words and is a good thing. On the other hand, too much text on a slide and too many slides make for a bad presentation.
   
2. Soft-spoken presenters. I know not everyone can have a booming voice and assert himself well and look confident. However, if the entire audience has to collectively hold their breath to be able to hear the words than you are witnessing a painful presentation because a listener spends all his concentration on making out the words.
3. Presenters that can't speak the language. I know, sometimes they don't have a choice but to me it's the same issue as #2. It is so tiring to make out the words and try to understand what the hell is being sad that I lose interest and look out the window. The inability to master a language coupled with a monotone voice simply sucks.
   
4. A presenter who tries to be funny but who is not. Yeah, I know, we all like to be comedians but very few can pull that off. So , unless you have a good feel for an audience and what kind of style they respond to, keep to your roots. After all, in my line of work, most presenters are scientists or engineers and teh majority is not funny.
5. A color-blind presenter. How can you tell? Look at the slides. They may be readable but looking at them makes you want to vomit or reminds youof wallpaper from the seventies? Than you are witnessing a presentation by someone who is blind, color-blind or simply has bad taste.

So, I think you can survive a presentation if only one of the above holds true and the presenter can offset one shortcoming like crowded slides with being a good speaker. But if you can check off more than one of the above issues in a presentation then it is time get out. Reminds me of the Southwest slogan: Want to get away? All I can say is run, run fast otherwise you will be wasting an hour or more of your life that will never get back. What else can save a bad presentation. Well, free food of course but it'd better be good or else your brain and your stomach will hurt.

Cool bike, but ...

The hyperbike probably won't fit in the bike lane and I am not sure I want to take this on the road and take on a Chevy Suburban.

The 8 foot wheels are super cool though. I just have my doubts about stopping when going superfast.

He did it again!

Do you remember Marco Materazzi? He was the cheesy, Italian defender that got head-butted by Zinedine Zidane in the 2006 Soccer World Cup Final. And oh well, it happened again. In a Serie A game in Italy, he got head-butted again by a guy named Delvecchio after allegedly provoking him. Makes you wonder what on earth he always tells the other players. I started playing soccer when I was 5 years old and kept playing on teams until I was 27. I never played professionally but games were still competitive and occasionally tempers flare. Unfortunately, provoking others is part of the game but in 20 years of playing I have never wanted to head-butt someone. And I have been called many things in games. For instance, when I was 14, my team was participating in a youth tournament in Denmark. We were well on our way in beating a norwegian team when things got a little nasty. Many fouls, yellow cards but we scored another goal. It was then, that the other team got frustrated and started calling us Nazis just because we were a German team. That didn't sit too well with us but we didn't head-butt or beat up the other players even though we wanted too. Having said that, it's unfortunate that Zidane and Delvecchio didn't keep their emotions in check. But I can't help to dislike Materazzi. Instead of standing up to others like a man he does it behind the referees back and when the other player touches him, he goes down as if shot with an AK 47. I think Materazzi is the epidemy of soccer. Instead of focusing on skill and being physical within the limits of the rules he chooses provocation to unsettle his opponents. One of these days he will get head-butted again and maybe then, getting up won't be as easy for him. I for one won't feel any sympathy for him.

Want to buy an island?

If you have enough cash or are in good standing with a bank you can buy the "Principality of Sealand"!! Wikipedia has a nice article about it. For anywhere between £65,000,000 and £504,000,000 it can be yours ... and it's butt-ugly too.