Entries for July, 2005
July 3rd, 2005
Currently Playing on MSN Messenger
Posted by MikeyMike at 12:16 AM on July 3, 2005 in Tech, iPod.
Thanks to peggy:
If you are in MSN Messenger 7.x and want to show what song you are playing, do this:
To show your contacts what song you are listening to on Microsoft Windows Media Player:
1. Click next to your personal message, and then click Turn on "What I'm Listening To".
2. To turn this feature off, repeat step 1.
Notes
* The name of the song and artist that you're listening to will appear instead of your personal message (A customized message that appears next to the contact name in the MSN Messenger main window.) .
* This feature is compatible only with Microsoft Windows Media Player 9 or later.
* This feature is compatible only with Microsoft Windows 2000 or later.
* If you close Microsoft Windows Media Player, your last personal message reappears until the next time you listen to music with Windows Media Player.
BUT - it also works with iTunes! Just saw it talking to
Pegs and she says she is using only Itunes... So I tried it and my iTunes song displays too. Thanks Bill Gates!
Give it a try!
Wonder if
Roy could do this too in Tabulas??
Currently listening to: Daniel Lévi - Les Dix Commandements
Currently reading: Messenger Help
Currently feeling: singing in rain
Peggy's Penguin Paradise
Posted by MikeyMike at 02:08 PM on July 3, 2005.
So cute! Go visit
Pegs just back from her Melbourne adventure. Sorry that you where sick
Monkee!
Currently feeling: Penguins!
July 4th, 2005
Happy 4th!
Posted by MikeyMike at 10:18 AM on July 4, 2005 in Congrats!.
Well, it's America's birthday party and even though Mikey has to work, we can still celebrate, right? Was watching the
History Channel last night, and Washington was fighting with the British on Manhatten Island, back when it was mostly fields and mud flats!
Hope everyone is enjoying their freedom today and having some great food! (I love the Old Wisconsin cheedarwursts on the BBQ) =)
Currently listening to: I'm A Yankee Doodle Dandy
Currently reading: Declaration of Independence
Currently watching: History Channel
Currently feeling: Celebrate
July 5th, 2005
IGuy Mini Finally Out
Posted by MikeyMike at 03:19 PM on July 5, 2005 in iPod.
Finally the iGuy Mini is available for sale!
Here
So now you can amuse your friends, especially when he's "docked"!
"Hi! I'm the iGuy... taking a (data) dump"
Currently listening to: iTunes
Currently reading: iGuy Manual
Currently feeling: too much
Roy's plans for Tabulas 2.1
Posted by MikeyMike at 05:37 PM on July 5, 2005 in Tech.
Have you all seen the plans
Roy has for Tabulas 2.1, expected around August 1st? Lot's o' new features, especially for Patron (paid) Users! You can check it out
Here
What do you think? Email to your blog... Reading LJ, Xanga and Blogger posts in the Control Panel... More and smarter cross-posting... Amazon Lists... Custom templates for Community Admins... The lists goes on and on!
Mikey's Panda Express Fortune Cookies:
- TREAT A FRIEND TO FLOWERS
- GOOD THINGS ARE COMING TO YOU
Currently reading: Tabs 2.1 Update Plan
Comic-Con Comes to San Diego
Posted by MikeyMike at 07:11 PM on July 5, 2005 in Arts.
Yes, it's that time of year again! The wild and crazy Comic-Con(vention) will be at the San Diego Convention Center July 14-17...
The Convention Center is a beautiful venue that looks like a ship under full sail from some aspects. Many of the cities biggest conventions and trade shows are staged here, right by the harbour of downtown San Diego...
See a highlights video
Here
There are a TON of anime-related showings, including video! Read about that
Here
I just might go to break in my new Nikon D70 DSLR. Hopefully, I'll have some great pictures to share!!
Who else wants to go? Bring your Darth Vader outfit!
Currently listening to: Soundtrack from Star Wars
Currently reading: Comic Con Programme
Currently watching: video clip
Currently feeling: force be with you
New Dolphin type Found in Oz
Posted by MikeyMike at 11:17 PM on July 5, 2005 in Usual Crapola.
Monkee, you got more to worry about now!
SYDNEY, Australia - Australian researchers said Tuesday they have identified a new species of dolphin living in the coastal waters of northern Australia.
The Australian Snubfin Dolphin, which is related to Irrawaddy dolphins found along the coasts and major rivers of Asia and northern Australia, was formally identified as a new species thanks to genetic research carried out in California, Queensland state researchers said in a statement. More Here
Currently listening to: They Call Him Flipper
Currently feeling: dolphin vocalization
July 7th, 2005
Happy Birthday Juzer (Julie)!
Posted by MikeyMike at 01:30 AM on July 7, 2005 in Congrats!.
Happy sweet 17 to Miss Julie (
Juzer)!
Currently listening to: Happy Birithday Dear Julie
Currently reading: Juzer's Wish List
Currently feeling: Celebrate
'Some fatalities' as blasts hits London
Posted by MikeyMike at 02:22 AM on July 7, 2005.
Damn!
The current news is "over 90 casulties". And that bombs were set off after rescue workers came to assist previous vicitms... We don't even know if this is the end of it yet.
The Brits are a proud and couragous people, as we are already seeing from news coverage. Hearts go out to our British cousins...
12 minutes ago
LONDON (Reuters) - A number of people were killed in a series of explosions on London's transport system at rush hour on Thursday morning, causing chaos in the British capital, police and transport officials said.
Several blasts hit the underground network and police said there had been at least three explosions on buses in the city.
A source at the Metronet consortium that runs part of the capital's underground network said "there were three explosions and there have been some fatalities."
Home Secretary Charles Clarke said the blasts had caused "terrible injuries."
The causes of the incidents, a day after London was awarded the 2012 Olympics and as leaders of the Group of Eight rich nations met in Scotland, were unknown but police said many of the city's underground stations were affected.
"It is too too early to state what has happened," a London police spokesman said. "I cannot comment on reports of bombs, but we have had multi-reports of explosions around London." More
Currently watching: Sky News
Currently feeling: angry
July 10th, 2005
Tabs is back!
Posted by MikeyMike at 10:51 PM on July 10, 2005 in Rants.
Just tried again and now it works! Been down all day for me...
I did start a Friendster group for Tabulas users... I think the chance of both Tabulas and Friendster going down at the same time is pretty remote. Yes, I know we have a Forum with a different url... But I don't think that
Roy or anyone else said anything about Tabs being down there either... I think it's also cool to have a Tabulas Friendster Group to help spread the word about Tabulas to the wider community.
You can join the Friendster Tabulas Group (if you are already registered there)
Here
Glad Tabulas is back!! =)
Currently listening to: chattering hard drive
Currently feeling: relieved
July 11th, 2005
FANTAcising Puppy
Posted by MikeyMike at 04:29 PM on July 11, 2005 in Usual Crapola, Kawaii.
Got this one from
Roy. He has quite a collection in the cuteness Puppy/Kitty picture department...
Now, just how did they get the puppy in the Fanta bottle?!
Currently listening to: I'm Too Sexy (for my Fanta bottle)
Currently feeling: infinite cuteness
Scripps Softball!
Posted by MikeyMike at 08:39 PM on July 11, 2005 in Scripps.
That time of the year! Scripps IS will be playing a little softball (plus eats). Weather has been really good, so perhaps I can take the D70 DSLR out for a little action photography...
Game Location Map (Isn't Google Maps cool??)
Currently listening to: Take Me Out to the Ballgame
Currently feeling: batter up!
Most Kawaii!
Posted by MikeyMike at 10:56 PM on July 11, 2005 in Arts, Kawaii.
Isn't this a kawaii pic?
This is from a
site by a young guy named Andy Gray living in Japan with his Japanese wife and three young daughters. The first two in this picture are his two year old twin daughters. The little girl in the background looking on emphasizes the sisters half Japanese appearance, wouldn't you say?
He has quite a few excellent pictures on his photo blog, and makes for quite interesting reading, if you are interested in Japan as it is now.
Here's a small quote from this page:
Mari and Maika at Play 2005-05-25
Mari smiles, Maika piles small rocks and an inquisitive girl moves in. This is the first official photo posted in the new and improved Japan Window Photoblog!
Currently listening to: Turning Japanese
Currently feeling: Kawaii fever
July 13th, 2005
NatGeo: China's Great Armanda
Posted by MikeyMike at 11:34 PM on July 13, 2005 in Geographica.
Here's an excerpt from the great article in the May 2005 National Geographic magazine. It's a little-known part of world history that has many ramifications, especially if these armadas had been continued... Many places in Asia with concentrations of ethic Chinese were originally settled around this time...
Exactly 600 years ago this month the great Ming armada weighed anchor in Nanjing, on the first of seven epic voyages as far west as Africa—almost a century before Christopher Columbus's arrival in the Americas and Vasco da Gama's in India. Even then the European expeditions would seem paltry by comparison: All the ships of Columbus and da Gama combined could have been stored on a single deck of a single vessel in the fleet that set sail under Zheng He.
Six centuries later I left China with photographer Michael Yamashita in search of Zheng He's legacy, a 10,000-mile (16,093-kilometer) journey that would carry us from Yunnan to Africa's Swahili coast. Along the way I came to feel that I had found the man himself.
More
July 14th, 2005
New Hello Kitty Gear
Posted by MikeyMike at 12:25 AM on July 14, 2005 in Tech, Kawaii.
You know your want it! See it all
Here
July 17th, 2005
What Kind of American English Do You Speak?
Posted by MikeyMike at 01:07 PM on July 17, 2005 in Geographica.
Ripped off from BIRTHDAY BOY Adam... I mean borrowed from
HK1997 "Ya'll" go wish him a Happy birthday! Maybe he got a new gun rack for his pick-up truck?!
As Granny on the Beverly Hillbillies would say "You must be some kinda' Yankee carpetbagger!" I have lived in South Carolina and Virginia though...
Wonder how it would do with people whos first language isn't (American) English??
Your Linguistic Profile:
|
60% General American English |
25% Yankee |
15% Dixie |
0% Midwestern |
0% Upper Midwestern |
Currently listening to: Yankee Doodle Dandy
Currently feeling: how ya'll doin'?
Freddy & sister Millie
Posted by MikeyMike at 02:20 PM on July 17, 2005 in Usual Crapola, Arts.
Don't know if you heard these commercials for Sobe LEAN drinks... These two -
Freddy and Millie are so damn funny!
Here's the
site where you can listen to their commercial ads...
I think this one is the funniest...
Inspector Number 5... =)
Currently listening to: Freddy and Millie
Currently feeling: :P
Panda Baby Boom
Posted by MikeyMike at 03:31 PM on July 17, 2005 in Geographica, Kawaii.
Baby Pandas everywhere (well, for slow breeding Pandas, it's A LOT)
July 12, 2005—Forget sharks: The summer of the panda is upon us, and it's padding in on 20 pink paws. Last week alone five giant panda cubs were born in captivity: one at Washington, D.C.'s National Zoo and two pairs of twins (one of which is pictured above) at China's Wolong panda reserve.
A newborn giant panda is about as big as a stick of butter and lacks the familiar black-and-white markings for its first month or so of life. Successful births in captivity are extremely rare—and extremely prized by conservationists, given the species's dwindling numbers. About 1,600 giant pandas remain in the wild, plus about 160 living in zoos and breeding centers, according to the National Zoo. More
Here
Plus:
GIANT ASS FISH !!
Currently feeling: panda mania
Digital photo kiosks are dandy, but not all are created equal
Posted by MikeyMike at 06:49 PM on July 17, 2005 in Tech, Arts.
Something that's getting to be more of an issue... Those photo kiosks that are everywhere now... they aren't all created equal, that's for sure - even maintenance can make a huge difference. Cost isn't always a sign of quality either. Think of car repair!
So, what's a body to do... I've use ophoto.com and shutterfly.com in the past with good results (plus you can share those online photos with friends and have *them* pay for the prints that they want!
)
But, I'm too impatient now... some places like Ritz allow you to upload over the Internet and pick up those photos within an hour(!) Convienient indeed. But how's the quality and convienience? Here's a good article that explores that topic and shows what to look out for...
By REBEKAH DENN
SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER REPORTER
There was a time when one-hour film processing seemed like a great deal.
The P-I printed out 12 test pictures from a CD at a variety of local digital print kiosks. See how they rated.
Then came the digital age, with instant images on the back of the camera, but nothing to pack in your wallet, hang on the wall or pass around work.
Now there's a new breakthrough: digital photo kiosks.
They advertise do-it-yourself prints in minutes. As an added bonus, most allow idiot-proof, on-the-spot editing -- from cropping to adjusting colors to eliminating redeye.
Sure, we could print our digital photos at home -- if we want to become Photoshop pros to do the editing and invest beaucoup bucks in a high-quality printer, ink and paper that will stand the test of time. (Industry analyst Kerry Flatley says cost estimates for quality home 4-by-6 prints range from 50 to 70 cents apiece.)
Or, we could drop off our memory cards, CDs and the like at the same one-hour counters where we used to take our film. However, we don't like to leave our personal electronics with strangers, and that whole concept doesn't scream "added convenience."
So the P-I recently tested how various do-it-yourself digital kiosks measure up against traditional printing techniques. More
July 18th, 2005
Nest Box Cams
Posted by MikeyMike at 09:12 PM on July 18, 2005 in Geographica.
This is great site from Cornell Lab of Ornithology! They have a collection of web cams at the nests of birds from around the United States. Now obviously, most of the time nothing is happening in the nests, so most have "greatest hits" stills for the cam. Very interesting if you are interested in birds and birding... See the
NestBoxCam Page
More great birding information from
Cornell Lab of Ornithology including the awesomely comprehensive
All About Birds
Currently listening to: A Nightingale Sang in Berkeley Square
Currently reading: The Sibley Field Guide to Birds of Western North America
Currently feeling: chirp!
Corrinne May on AZN
Posted by MikeyMike at 11:10 PM on July 18, 2005 in Arts.
My gurl Corrinne May talking on her MySpace.com site about how random TV is... seeing herself on the AZN (US Cable channel aimed at Asians) channel hopping one night... You can check out her blog
Here
MySpace has a cool "space" for artists, including a music player, etc. You can see Corrinne's
Here
And sure, I have
Vienna Teng on my MySpace Friends list too! =)
Currently feeling: la la la
TV Networks Try To Attract Asians
Posted by MikeyMike at 11:42 PM on July 18, 2005.
Yes, there IS a AZN cable TV network aimed at Asians in America... read about it right
Here (See Adam!
)
The producers had a warm, fuzzy vision for their Chinese reality show: Expatriates return to the mainland to run, jump and perspire through mazes and obstacle courses. Along the way, they discover home, themselves and the value of teamwork.
The cable TV channel planning to show the program wanted a slight modification: Martial arts enthusiasts gather in China to fight each other, and the winner gets two weeks of study at the Shaolin Temple under a kung fu master.
Last week, House Films and AZN Television parted ways, citing "serious creative differences."
Such is the real-life drama behind creating television shows for Asian Americans. Over the past year, at least a half-dozen English-language, 24-hour cable and satellite networks targeting Asians have started or announced plans, such as Comcast-owned AZN and MTV's three channels for Indian, Chinese and Korean immigrants. They are all clamoring to reach markets with large Asian populations; the Washington region has about 414,000 of the nation's 12 million Asians, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. More
Here
"Xbytes"One of AZN Television's original productions. Showcases the hottest electronic gadgets from Asia.
Currently watching: AZN
Currently feeling: You numba One, Joe!
July 20th, 2005
Shark Week
Posted by MikeyMike at 07:31 PM on July 20, 2005 in Geographica.
It's that time again!
Shark Week on the Discovery Channel... And, this is the 30th anniversary of the movie Jaws Chomp!! VVVVVVV
Shark Week
Puzzles
Currently listening to: Theme from Jaws
Currently reading: Jaws
Currently watching: Jaws
Currently feeling: Jaws
July 25th, 2005
March of The Pengiuns Opening Wide
Posted by MikeyMike at 06:09 PM on July 25, 2005 in Geographica, Arts.
This is sure to be an exceptional film! It has opened everywhere (wide) since last Friday, so don't miss it on the big screen, as "art" films like documentaries don't tend not to last long. Yet another sign of the quality of this movie, Morgan Freeman does the narration.
I was reading about what it took to make this documentary, and the French men that made it spent 13 months in Anartica at a small research station. One guy partially lost feeling in his right hand and ear after being caught in an exceptionally strong blizzard, but said it was worth it to be able to witness the magnificent struggle of the Emporer penquins determined to create another generation...
See the offical movie
Site
Currently feeling: pengiun sounds
News Corp.'s Place in MySpace
Posted by MikeyMike at 07:10 PM on July 25, 2005 in Tech.
I didn't know MySpace was that big! Now it's been bought out buy News Corp. (FOX). Very interesting article about what makes MySpace different in the Social Relationship "space"... (of course, nothing replaces
Tabulas for us, right?) Here's
MySpace
In less than two years, MySpace has emerged as one of the hottest sites on the Web. It has more page views than Google (GOOG ). And with 22 million members, and a growth rate of 2 million a month, it stands to rival MSN (MSFT ), Yahoo! (YHOO ) and AOL (TWX ) as one of the major destinations on the Web.
With a heavy focus on music, it has become a part of daily life for teenagers and young adults nationwide. Members create highly personalized home pages loaded with message boards, blogs, photos, and streaming music and video. People use it to stay in touch with friends and meet other people. Driven by the expressiveness of its members, the social-networking site has emerged as an important channel for online advertising. TV shows and new music are often debuted on MySpace.
"I've been in the Internet space for 12 years, and I've never seen a company grow and catch on at the rate that MySpace has," says Fox Interactive President Ross Levinsohn. The deal reflects Fox's ambitions to establish a premier presence on the Web.
REMAKING THE SHOW? MySpace has quickly beat back other social-networking sites such as Friendster. It has more than 14 million unique visitors a month, compared with Friendster's 1 million, according to market researcher comScore Media Metrix.
Why has MySpace succeeded where others have generated buzz but then failed? The answer is, partly, a matter of geography. It emerged from the L.A. music and club scene, drawing on Anderson and DeWolfe's friends for early support. It wasn't concocted by Silicon Valley tech types or New York bankers. It was born in a city that's geared toward media and entertainment, not technology or finance. And like other great exports from Southern California -- such as Hollywood and surfboards -- MySpace tapped into the country's psyche.
Where other sites tried to be useful, sensible, and safe, MySpace endeavored to be exciting and fun. The early users included lots of models and musicians. As it happened, MySpace also has exploited technology to the max, making use of blogs before many rivals did. But the technology has always had a point -- allowing users to customize their sites and let their personalities shine through. And MySpace never sought to overly control the often riotous self-expression that followed.
More
Currently feeling: so Cal
