Thanks Giving

Ahhh, the family trip. This year after Thanksgiving 14 of us terrorized, uh, I mean travelled to SeaWorld in San Diego for a day of fun. I thought I would chronicle the trip with pictures as usual, but pictures alone just doesn't pass on the ambience of the day. We had some fun, ate some good food, got wet, twice, and had some crazy laughs along the way, (thanks Bernie).
We topped the day off with a family picture with one of the Budweiser Clydesdales. Appropriately named, Bernie.

And the winner is...

The NBA's Utah Jazz no longer play in the Delta Center. For 15 years the 'Delta Center' has been synonymous with Utah Jazz basketball and major events in Salt Lake City. With Delta's recent bankruptcy filing they no longer have the millions of dollars a year to sponsor a major arena. So, in steps Energy Solutions of Salt Lake City. They are the new sponsor and the new name is... drum roll please... "Energy Solutions Arena". A big difference. It will be very hard for us locals to change to the new name.
The funny thing about this whole change is what this company actually does. Delta is an airline. Everyone knows Delta. Energy Solutions buries nuclear waste in the Utah desert. They clean up toxic waste. WTF? Larry H. Miller may have several very successful businesses but sometimes he makes some wacky decisions. This is one of them. I would think he would know that you would never ever want to associate your most recognizable brand name with a company that disposes of toxic nuclear waste. Ever.

Tracking the Zune

Yes, I am obsessed with Microsoft's new Zune MP3 player.
But not in a good way. I am joying in it's demise.
So, I have been tracking it's sales popularity on the Amazon electronics bestsellers list.

Here are the results since it launched:

Sales Rankings on Amazon.com Electronics

Day 1 = #6
Day 2 = #12
Day 3 = #13
Day 4 = #18
Day 5 = #26
Day 6 = #53

That is for the black Zune. Neither the brown or white zune are listed in the top 100.

Oh, and for comparison, Apple's iPod holds 5 of the top 10. Including #'s 1,3 and 4.

Ouch!!!

Too good not to share! CNN video of a Zune review. At the end of the review the CNN anchor holds up her iPod shuffle and points to the Zune and says, "Why would I want to buy a Zune?"
Priceless

Blue Screen of Lightheartedness

There is the ability to laugh at oneself and not take oneself too seriously and then there is stupidity.
Microsoft falls into the latter catagory.
Check this out. Microsoft offers a 'prank' Blue Screen of Death screensaver from it's own TechNet web site.
Anti-Virus software vendors are not laughing. McAfee is even blocking the download of this software saying, "We are intentionally detecting this as Joke.Bluescreen.c, as it's meant to scare people."
Microsoft's official line, "It's intended to be lighthearted."
Duh.
Someone seriously needs to 'reboot' the entire company. They are doing some of the silliest things lately. Like the Zune. It released today. I went to zune.net to download the Zune marketplace to compare it to iTunes and it took me 10 minutes to find the download page. There is an obscure pic on the main page that refers to the marketplace but you go to that page and there is not a download link. I guess MS doesn't really want people to download music they just want them to buy the player.
Duh.
I can't imagine this thing being successful. I just don't get it. I will laugh at anyone that buys a Zune because I will know they are stupid. If you really sit down and look at it there is not one good reason to buy one and there are 10 reasons not to buy one. And I'm not saying the iPod is the only alternative. If you don't want an iPod, fine, there are other players out there that seem decent. But, it would actually be a dumb move to buy a Zune. I suppose I should delineate some of those reasons here to support my assumption that Zune buyers are stupid but I just don't want to spend the time. So, if you disagree with me and feel I've jumped to a conclusion, go ahead, buy a Zune and let me know how it goes. heh heh.

Announcing: New MirrorTalk Messages

Inspiripics is proud to announce the latest addition to the MirrorTalk line of elegant and inspirational vinyl decals. Click here for ordering info.

Will it Blend?

Here is a local company called Blendtec with a huge following on YouTube.
They make blenders and they claim to be able to blend ANYTHING.
They posted some of their blending videos and have had millions of views.
Check out this video to see it for yourself.
Scary.
This thing is so powerful I think I would be afraid to use it.
And remember, DO NOT TRY THIS AT HOME!!!

Orson Scott Card - Empire

I ran across this article in Wired today. Orson Scott Card's next novel, 'Empire' is also an attempt at a franchise including a video game a possible feature film and other media. I haven't looked forward to a book coming out in a long long time and I think after reading a bit about it that I might be interested in this one. Even though the story is political in nature, red states fighting against blue states in a near future American civil war, it sounds interesting.
I also liked OSC's feelings about video games. Some of his thoughts mirror my own over the last few years. I hope that someone somewhere is feeling the same way and will do something about it. Although I have to say that after being in video games development for 7 years I don't see anything changing anytime soon.

Rummy

A lot of people have been blogging this today. I saw it and couldn't resist. OSX really is a powerful OS!!!

Rockin 16th

KJ is 16.

I'll just let that hang in the air for a moment.

Ok, I can breathe again. No drivers license yet. Thank God for new laws that make a new driver drive with an adult on a learners permit for 6 months before they can get the real thing. KJ has till February. Me? I'm in denial about the whole driving thing. Can't bring myself to throw him the keys and say, "let's go get a coke." But I'll have to soon.
Dating? Ever try taking a large dog for a walk and the dog takes you for a walk by pulling you down the street by the leash? That's what we've got. A 16 year old that can't wait to get married. I just hope the leash doesn't break ;) No official first date yet, but it can't be far off.

So, we decided to blow the doors off and take KJ to a BLUE MAN GROUP concert for his birthday. They just happened to be in SLC on his birthday. I think he really liked it. And, yes, Mike I am still trying to regain my hearing from Monday evening. It was stinkin LOUD!!! I guess loud means good. Whatev. I took video on my nifty new phone but I'm not going to post it, who knew that cell phone video was basically worthless!!! What a croc. We had dinner at California Pizza Kitchen pre-concert. Here's a pic from dinner. Oh, it was KJ, Mom and Dad, and Aunt Raquel for the evening. It was fun. The music, the humor (reminded me of Mike) and the company were all excellent.

Happy Birthday KJ!!!

Hallow-meow-een

Another Halloween has come and gone. Shelby did a great job as a leopard this year.