Major League Gaming

Major League Gaming. You've heard of major league baseball and other sports ... but gaming? Really? I was flipping through channels on the TV and I suddenly found myself on a channel about major league gaming. Apparently this is a very serious thing. It is exactly what you think it is: people playing games against one another. I imagine they must be playing for money and/or bragging rights.

The major league gaming logo looks like the one used for baseball except it has an xbox controller in it instead of a batter. Stupid? Yes. Very.

The show that I saw showed a Halo contest between two teams ... complete with play-by-play commentators! There were two teams trying to win and the guys on each of the teams had the most serious concentration on their faces. They wore huge headphones and had lots of collaboration among the team members. The teams even had matching t-shirts. Apparently I must have gotten lucky because I got to watch "the best sniper on the circuit" playing. Woo.

I really cannot believe that people actually play this seriously and that it's a big enough thing that it makes it on TV. I really wish I could have taken a video of this because it really was hilarious. The teams even have coaches and regular practice sessions. It's a pizza-faced nerd's wet dream come true.

Not surprisingly, all the players were guys and they all looked ... a bit lacking in social skills.

Major League Gaming

Gucci for Coco

I found out that Gucci sells a backpack for dogs.



I think that its pretty funny; I've never seen a backpack for dogs. I wonder how much a small dog can carry on it's back. Nevertheless it's an interesting idea, particularly now that Christmas is around the corner.

From Gucci's website the description reads:
dog backpack with side-zip pockets and signature web detail.
beige/ebony GG nylon fabric with brown leather trim and green/red/green web.

Gucci Dog Backpack

Post Gluttony Weekend

I had a fantastic Thanksgiving. Let's face it: who wouldn't have an awesome weekend eating wonderful food and spending quality time with the family? The turkey was beyond awesome. We had 30lbs of turkey (2 turkeys) and it's all gone. We finished the last bit of it and I'm already looking forward to Christmas when we get to make more turkey with my mom and dad (aka my in-laws.) We had a host of wonderful sides to go with the turkey and all turned out really well.

Unfortunatley, with the indulgences of the long Thanksigivng weekend now I've got to pay my penance. I had a ton of food, way more than I'd normally eat, and now I'm paying for it. The pants are a bit tighter, shirts are a bit harder to button up .. *sigh*

This week we'll try to eat more limitedly to pay the piper for our raving food rampage last week. Yesterday we had a surprisingly satisfying salad. It was comprised of all very healthy stuff: lettuce, red bell pepper, tomato, carrot, celery, bits of turkey breast. Maneesh brought a really healthy and addictive dessert: Fraiche frozen yogurt. I've never had Fraiche for anything other than a mid-day snack. Having it for dessert hit the spot and made me not feel guilty. We had toppings of raspberries and strawberries -- also really wonderful. Eating healthy doesn't have to be unsatisfying and unrewarding; last night was a prime example of happy and non-pudgy eating. ^_^

Gaming Weekend

I had a very lazy weekend. I spent it getting to know my Wii. :) I spent the better part of the weekend playing Rayman Raving Rabbids 2 and Super Mario Galaxy. I don't know which one I liked better but I do know that I logged in more time with the Wii this weekend than I have in a long time. Both games are super addictive and multiplayer. In fact, I'd be willing to bet my turkey weekend be spent continuing my gaming with my best friend: the wii.

Live.com Maps

Sometimes I get incredibly irritated with Google maps. Because it is a beta, just like all of Google's products seem to be, there are lots of bugs that exist, then get fixed, then come back. Irritating to say the least. One such feature that always is buggy is the print feature. When I try to print something sometimes it works and other times print doesn't show the map the way I've placed it on my screen. The satellite view for Google Maps is also bad. It shows very out of date footage. Some areas in the South of Market look like construction zones on Google Maps but in real life it is a completed building complete with commercial residents.

I finally found a solution to my problems: Live.com maps, or maps.live.com. They fix all of the aforementioned bugs that Google Maps has and also has a few neat features. I asked for driving directions from Palo Alto to Redwood City. The last direction listed was as follows:

Arrive at 1185 Broadway St on the right
The last intersection is Bay Rd If you reach Broadway St, you've gone too far

Not only do they tell me which side of the street I should expect to find my destination, but they also give me indications of when the destination is coming up and when I've likely passed it.

I give this two thumbs up and Live Maps is going to be my go-to mapping product.

Din Tai Fung

Din Tai Fung is this really yummy restaurant chain from Asia. They are really well known and have a branch in SoCal which has lines out the door. Previously it had been mentioned that Din Tai Fung was going to open at Vallco mall. I just found out, however, that the rumor was a lie. The owner of Vallco mall made the rumor up in a bid to attract new tenants to Vallco. Grr ... got my hopes up for nothing.

Gardening

This weekend I decided to play gardener. In the backyard we have a plant bed which used to house flowers until we decided to rip the flowers out. The previous owner had planted some flowers in it that neither Ming nor I really liked. I decide that this weekend I'd plant some fall vegetables in the plant bed.

I labored for what seemed like forever, but was likely more like around an hour and a half, preparing the soil and planting my precious seeds. I know nothing about gardening and have no idea if what I did was right or not. I ended up planting chinese celery, napa cabbage, and spinach. All are reputed to be fall vegetables so in theory they should all be ok to plant at this time of year.

I didn't take any pictures of my garden-to-be since it's really just dirt right now. I've been diligently having Ming water my garden so we'll see in a few weeks if anything sprouts up. If not, I can always try again since I've still got a ton of seeds leftover :)

Sprinkles Cupcakes

I had the pleasure of tasting a Sprinkles cupcake this past weekend when my sister's boyfriend brought me back some from SoCal. I'd never had a Sprinkles cupcake before but had heard a lot about them. Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes served them at their wedding. Oprah has mentioned them on her show. I took a bite of the cupcake and was in instant heaven. The cupcakes are so good. My sister's boyfriend brought me 6 on Sunday evening ... by Tuesday it was all gone. Yes, they are that good.

I just found out that Sprinkles is going to open a location in Palo Alto. Hurray! I can't wait until it opens and I'll be among the first in line to buy them.

Haagen Dazs Green Tea Ice Cream

Recently Pat and Anita asked for green tea ice cream with red beans. I had never heard of that combination before. I had had each item separately but never together. I did some research and found out that Haagen Dazs has a product with the two items together:



If Haagen Dazs mixes green tea and red bean together, then surely this must be a good combination. Sadly, I can't find this item on neither the US nor the Japan version of Haagen Dazs' website. I think this item must have been discontinued. :(

Weekend Warriors Part II

It has been a very long time since we have been weekend warriors. Ming finished his project a long time ago and I’ve been lagging on mine. I don’t have a good excuse for it other than laziness and me forgetting that I still had to do it.

My project is to make placemats for our dining tables. I bought the fabric a long time ago and it’s been sitting in a corner, collecting dust, waiting for me to make time to use it. I was finally motivated to get my placemats done when I realized that we were having a lot of people over and I wanted to be able to use our new dining table (but we currently don’t have enough placemats for everyone.)

The day I realized that I needed to get the placemats done was the two days before the party … so I had to get my act together. I stayed up really late on Friday cutting all of my fabric. The next night I attempted to sew all the placemats together. I spent 4 hours sewing it together and I still didn’t quite finish all 18 placemats (but I came close.)




The placemats turned out really well and I am happy with the way they turned out. The placemats did so well that I, unintentionally, inspired others to also create placemats for their homes. Placemats are an exceedingly easy sewing project and as long as you don’t try to create 18 all at once, it’s something that can definitely be finished in a weekend.

Now that I have finished my placemats weekend warrior project my next project will be to make a table runner. Hopefully the next weekend warrior project won’t take another month before it happens.

Gimme More

As I sat in traffic yesterday on my way home from work I happened to catch Britney Spears' new single, Gimme More. I was happy to hear a new track on the radio (instead of listening to the same thing over and over again) but I was disappointed by the song. It wasn't catchy and I got really bored listening to it. The beginning caught my interest (the first lyric being "It's Britney bitch") but then my interest quickly waned. I was hoping from something more from Britney, something along the lines of amazing new work, like Christina Aguilera. Britney's song has disapointed me and I hope it isn't one of those incessant songs played over and over again on the radio.

On the other hand, maybe I am getting old and just don't know what an "it" song is anymore. O.o No! Say it isn't so! I'm not old. I've kept up with the new songs .. and to prove it maybe I should go grab my dancin' shoes and hit up some club this weekend. ^_^

What's for Lunch?

What do you have for lunch? I'm working at home today so I had leftovers for lunch. What did Ming get for his lunch? He wasn't relegated to eating leftovers like me. Instead, he came home for lunch and had a taiwan toast sandwich with slices of slow roasted pork tenderloin and heirloom tomato. Hmm ... I must be doing something wrong if I had leftovers (from 2 days ago no less!) and he got such a tasty sandwich. O.o

Adina Juices

Last night I went to a launch party and they mixed drinks with a mixer I'd never heard of before: Adina. Adina has now become one of my favorite drinks to consume. I found out it is made out of all natural ingredients and only has 70 calories per serving. Excellent! I found a tasty drink that actually doesn't contain a bunch of nasty corn syrup or added sugar. My two favorites are the Pomegranate-Mangosteen drink and the Chai. Mmm ...

Definitely look up this drink if you haven't. It is totally worth it. The website is: http://www.adinaworld.com. Adina was started by one of the guys who started Odwalla, to give you an idea of how good the drink tastes.

For the lushes out there, Adina is really good if mixed with Vodka. :)

Dog For Rent

I've started walking Coco daily. She needs the exercise and I could stand to lose a few pound myself. ^_^ I've noticed that wherever we go, we never fail to attract a ton of attention. Kids, senior citizens, and even people in the car stop to take a second look. I've had people in cars stop and, from their car, start talking to me about her. Timid children come up to me, in Circuit City of all places, and ask to pet her. Coco is a chick/men/kid magnet! Everyone wants a second peek and many people even double back just so they can stare at her for a little longer.

Given that she attracts attention from everyone I think that I should start renting her out to my single friends. She is guaranteed to attract the attention of some lovely lady or a hottie guy. ^_^ Coco could totally be used as the ultimate pick up tool. I should totally start my own business renting her out. She gets exercise and someone else gets a new way to pick up someone -- and I can sit at home and watch more TV. ^.^

French Fry Cravings

For some odd reason I have a craving for french fries. I was all set to run out to McDonald's last night AFTER dinner and go pick up a large order of fries. I didn't give in to the impulse but this morning I am still left craving fries. Does anyone know of a good place for fries in downtown Palo Alto which willl satisfy my cravings?

New Toy - dSLR

I got a new toy yesterday. I got a Nikon D80 - a dSLR camera. I stayed home all day waiting for the UPS man to arrive with it and, when he did, I promptly ripped the package open and got the battery charger out to charge the battery. 2 hours later I had a charged battery and a camera ... but no way to take pictures. I didn't know where Ming kept the memory cards so I had to wait at home with my new toy but no way to use it. Is anything more unfair than a new toy sitting in front of you but you being unable to use it?

Ming finally came home and showed me where the memory cards are and then I promptly began to snap pictures. It is such a cool new toy. I haven't had a new camera since I bought a new one on my 2003 Japan trip. That camera has since completley died and is in some pile to Goodwill. The new Nikon, however, is a happy little thing and has a huge lens. The zoom is incredible and I can't wait until the weekend when I'll have time to properly play with it in the daylight.

Alma Mater Makes Bendable Battery

My alma mater, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, has prototyped a bendable battery. That sounds so cool ... here's the full story:


It's a battery that looks like a piece of paper and can be bent or twisted, trimmed with scissors or molded into any shape needed. While the battery is only a prototype a few inches square right now, the researchers at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute who developed it have high hopes for it in electronics and other fields that need smaller, lighter power sources.

"We would like to scale this up to the point where you can imagine printing batteries like a newspaper. That would be the ultimate," Robert Linhardt a professor at the Center for Biotechnology and Interdisciplinary Studies at RPI said in a telephone interview.

The development is reported in this week's online edition of Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

Unlike other batteries, Linhardt explained, it is an integrated device, not a combination of pieces.

The battery uses paper infused with an electrolyte and carbon nanotubes that are embedded in the paper. The carbon nanotubes form the electrodes, the paper is the separator and the electrolyte allows the current to flow.

Students at the school in Troy, N.Y., were the inspiration for the work, said Linhardt, whose students were working on methods to dissolve paper and cast it into membranes for use in dialysis machines.

Meanwhile, students of Pulickel Ajayan in RPI's materials science department were trying to make carbon nanotube composites using polymers.

The two groups got together and realized they could use paper instead of polymers and combine the two projects.

Then came Omkaram Nalamasu's students, also at RPI, who said the project — a thin sheet black on one side and white on the other — looked like an electrical device.

And over about 18 months, the groups developed the projects, into a battery, a capacitor, which stores electricity and a combination of the two.

Ajayan sees potential uses in combination with solar cells, perhaps layers of the paper batteries that could store the electricity generated until it is needed, he said in a telephone interview.

Perhaps it could be scaled up and shaped into something like a car door, offering moving electrical storage and power when needed.

That might be an expensive proposition, however, cautioned Peter Kofinas, an engineering professor at the University of Maryland.

"The advantage of a flexible device would be that you could roll it in a film or a sheet. However, carbon nanotubes are very expensive," said Kofinas, who was not involved in the research.

"So from the commercial standpoint, this would be very expensive if you want to make a large sheet out of this material," he said via e-mail. In addition, he said, "It does not look like it performs better than currently available batteries and supercapacitors in the market."

Because of its flexibility, however, it does have potential, Kofinas said.

The research was funded by the New York State Office of Science, Technology and Academic Research and the National Science Foundation.


http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070813/ap_on_sc/paper_power;_ylt=AsZ8r161EVftxDeuRxfIFLZj24cA

Dinner for 1 -- It's Lonely

Tonight I had dinner on my own since Ming had a work outing that included dinner. Normally I make a pretty decent dinner when there is two of us. I guess that having dinner with someone else really motivates me to make a presentable and tasty dinner. Since I had dinner by myself I wasn't really in the mood to cook anything. I wanted some quick and that wouldn't take a lot of time. What did I eat for dinner? I cleaned out the leftovers in the fridge and whatever I could find in the pantry. My dinner turned out to be kinda sad:

- Rice a Roni (don't ask why I have this in my pantry)
- frozen won ton that I'd made a few weeks ago
- left over ground pork dish

Yes, that was a very sad and lonely dinner. I'm glad I don't have dinner by myself very often otherwise I'd probably end up withering away to nothing since my meals would all be a bit sad and pathetic.

Caveat Emptor when Buying Appliances

Appliances come in a dizzying array of color, sizes, and features. These days whenever you set out to buy something simple, let's hypothetically say a refrigerator, you are faced with an onslaught of marketing material. All of the literature out there is from the manufacturer trying to convince you that his product is the best because it has a tons of bells and whistles.

Now, hypothetically, say that you just want a refrigerator that keeps food cold and lasts a long time -- not too much to ask right? This isn't as easy of a hypothetical task as it sounds. The biggest problem lies in that all of the refrigerators are actually all made by the SAME company. O.o Yes, Whirlpool is the "mother ship" and owns all of the other little brands (excluding the European and Korean brands.) How is one to decide which refrigerator is the best one when they're all made in the same factory and seemingly the only difference is the brand-name badge?

I don't have an answer to this hypothetical buying situation. The only thing I know is that Sears brands Kenmore as their own and it used to be a brand of quality. In this hypothetical situation I was trying to avoid buying any Korean made stuff because they have a bad reputation for breaking down, etc. -- think Japanese products 20 years ago. Korean appliances aren't there quite yet and were one of the types of products that I was trying to steer clear of.

Uh oh ... I mean steer clear of in my hypothetical situation. ^_^

So the hypothetical situation ends up in me purchasing a new refrigerator made my Kenmore (I even bought the Elite brand since I got suckered into a few of the bells alnd whistles like tilting drawers). When I got home I, being the curious person I am, wondered who made Kenmore appliances. Does Sears actually have a little factory of elves who make them or do they contract it out? It turns out that Sears contracts their work out. Uh oh. Not good. I quickly did more research and found out my beloved new refrigerator is made by none other than LG. Ahh!! The very refrigerator maker I was trying to avoid is the one who made my fridge. grrr!!

Caveat emptor. The next time I buy any major appliance I'll have to take along this handy website about appliances to help me make my buying decision.

Fresh Fish

I went to the supermarket this weekend to buy some fish for dinner. I've been trying to eat more fish because it is healthier and less fatty than the other land roving animals (although it doesn't mean that I'm going to turn down a side of ribs.) I was appalled at the poor selection of fish at the supermarket. Even at my favorite fish market, the selection of fish was very poor. I have decided, instead, to try to buy fish directly from the source. I am going to take advantage of our proximity to Half Moon Bay and make a trip out to the fishing docks and buy some fish directly from the fisherman. I'll let you know how my outing goes ... TBD