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May 2006

It Is What It Isn’t on Top Chef

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It is what it isn’t on Part 1 of the Finals of Top Chef. I can’t believe Dave Martin was eliminated in the QuickFire, leaving Harold and Tiffani. It just didn’t make sense.

I purposely haven’t read the judges’ blogs (yet) to understand their decision. Given the criteria for the elimination, Dave seemed to have the upper hand over Tiffani. Harold won two of the decisions, and Dave won the third. Tiffani didn’t win any, and most of her dishes didn’t wow any of the guest judges. Okay, okay, Dave screwed up on the last round and only made two dishes, not three as specified. So disqualify Dave from that round which Harold won anyway. Dave did get good reviews for his two dishes while Tiffani’s dishes got comments of “rubbery,” “fishy,” and “salty.” Seemingly, Tiffani finished last in each round but still made it past Dave. What’s cooking here? Was the decision based on drawing higher ratings with a finals of Harold going up against Tiffani? A finals of Dave and Harold wouldn’t be as exciting so was this the factor in Dave’s elimination?

So it is what it isn’t on this episode of Top Chef.

It was fun to see the last three eliminated chefs (Lee Anne, Stephen, and Miguel) return as “high rolling” guest judges. From the previews of next week’s final episode, it looks like they (along with eliminated Dave) will be playing a part in determining the winner.

Oh yeah, the polls are still open to submit your vote of who will be Top Chef.

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MacBook Pro Speed Bump

With the announcement of the MacBooks along comes a quiet speed bump to MacBook Pros. The 2.0GHz model goes to 2.16GHz while the lower end 1.83GHz MacBook Pro moves up to 2.0GHz.

You can also get the “glossy” screen option that is standard on the MacBook. According to MacNN, the glossy screen “makes graphics, photos, and videos appear with richer color and deeper blacks and is ‘great for watching DVD movies. If you prefer a display with anti-glare coating for a matte rather than glossy viewing experience, choose the standard widescreen display.'”

Maybe it’s time for a MacBook Pro…

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New MacBooks Released

Apple has just added new MacBooks to its computing family. Following Apple’s new moniker for laptops, the MacBook replaces iBooks as MacBook Pros replaced the PowerBook line. These new beauties are available in Michael Jackson’s favorite colors, black or white. They feature a 13-in screen and are supposedly 5x faster than previous iBooks. The iSight camera is built-in and of course, Front Row is bundled. Prices start at $1099 for a basic model

The black MacBooks are reminiscent of the old “Blackbird” PowerBook G3 line – a favorite of mine. I’d still go for a Pro for work use.

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Differences Between Blogging and Traditional Media

What does Dallas Mavericks’ owner Mark Cuban do after a Mavs game? He blogs of course! In his latest entries, he has some interesting thoughts and commentaries about blogging and traditional media, namely newspapers.

He does have a point about same old, non-original stories on the Net. Blogs are interesting because they offer various viewpoints and fresh perspectives compared to online news sites.

Although he does realize the financial limitations put forth on traditional media:

Bloggers drive blogs, share price drives traditional media. Blogging is personal, traditional media is corporate.
Which is exactly why blog readership is going up, while traditional media is consolidating, if not contracting. Traditional media goes to work, bloggers live their work.

So my takeaway from all of this is if you want good ideas to share, you first need to become a whiny millionaire then you need to buy an NBA club so that you can go to the games for free. Then after the game, still amped up, go home, think up good ideas, then write about them in your blog.

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High Tech Kicks

Wired.com along with Forbes.com discusses the infusion of technology with sneakers. And it’s not only Nike innovating in the high tech kicks space. Adidas, ASICS, Puma, Reebok, Brooks Sports, Geox, Mizuno, and New Balance all feature specialized technology.

The Adidas 1 features a computerized motor to adjust cushioning. The Brooks Sports Trance 5 has a heating, ventilation, and air conditioning system to prevent overheating. Nike’s Air Max 360 uses 65 layers of nitrogen-encapsulating microfilm to give the wearer the sensation of running on air.

Of course, further research is needed to verify these claims. I’ll take a pair each for evaluation purposes.

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Playing Around with WordPress

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Got the open source blog server WordPress running at work the other day. Gonna try to use it for some internal work we want to improve on. Installation of all the components (Apache, PHP, MySQL, phpAdmin, and WordPress) was okay, a little confusing at times, but not too bad.

Finding WP themes to match a project’s “style” is harder and more important than I thought. I figured any theme would do since it’s all eye candy but not really. The structure of the theme (number of columns, where data is placed, etc.) actually does make a difference on perception (and therefore) usage of the blog.

Also learned that WP supports many different plugins that add features to your blog. Have to look through the various plugins and try some of them, especially the ones that help draw out important or the latest information.

Hope to have a solid start for next week.

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Poll: Who Will Be Top Chef?

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The Top Chef finals in Las Vegas are coming up so who do you think will become the Top Chef?

Who will be crowned Top Chef?
Harold Dieterle. Silent, confident, and skilled.
Tiffani Faison. Ambitious and determined.
Dave Martin. Emotional and passionate about the craft.
Who cares? Didn’t you hear Britney Spears has another bun in her oven?!


Free polls from Pollhost.com


Although I haven’t had a chance to watch the post production Top Chef reunion episode for clues (it’s still on my time shift recorder aka VCR), our household opinion is that Tiffani will be the Top Chef. She has won several of the Quickfire contests and has done well throughout the series. Harold is good as well, but I think he’ll come up short. Likable Dave, who the judges describe as the “wildcard,” is too mercurial, and you’re not quite sure how he’ll perform.

Reading through the judges’ blogs, it feels like Gail Simmons is apologizing for Tiffani’s on-screen behavior while Tom Colicchio implores Tiffani to understand how her personality impacts others. Are the judges rationalizing their choice for the Top Chef winner? We’ll find out soon enough!

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Component Versus End-to-End Model

Walt Mossberg talks about the competing models of building digital devices, the component model and the end-to-end model. Microsoft uses the component model where various companies supply hardware and software components designed to work on a common reference platform whereas Apple has been a stalwart with the end-to-end model. Sure, Apple gets components from various suppliers as well, but the overall design and integration is architected by Apple.

An interesting read, especially the comments about Apple working on a “media-playing cellphone and a home-media hub.”

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Britney Couldn’t Help It

Call it friggen ragin’ hormones or just call it basic human behavior, but Britney Spears’ second pregnancy was unavoidable. You see, according to this study, men like Kevin Federline are genetically irresistible. Just check out K Fed’s prominent jaw and beard – two traits suggesting high testosterone levels and masculinity. It’s human behavior for women to go after guys like this so Britney simply couldn’t help it.

Either that or Britney heard motherhood makes women smarter. How better to get even smarter by becoming a mother of two – twice the brain boost!!

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Ideas for Hawaii’s Second Apple Store

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While out running and letting my mind wander, I got to thinking about the possibility of Apple opening a second store at Kahala Mall. What’s a good location for an Apple Store? Then I remembered that the Consolidated Theaters in the mall were still closed after the freak floods damaged the complex. Hmm…

How about redoing the theaters into a massive Apple Store? Not quite like the glass cube Apple Store in New York, but you get the idea. That’s too much space you say, and I would agree unless Apple started branching out into its fledgling media markets. You know, the one where Apple is involved with music, videos, television shows, and movies. Movies you say? Apple doesn’t do movies yet. With Apple’s partnership with movie companies and Apple’s push towards HD and the adoption of QuickTime and high quality codecs like H.264, why not make a move towards movies with a movie theater?

Customers can go see a movie then visit the adjoining Apple Store that’ll be selling movie soundtracks on iTunes by the way. So bring your iPod with you to get instant downloads after the movie. Or thinking more progressively, why not let the people buy the movie they just watched in the theater? Pay an extra $20 to get an iPod-playable version of the just released flick! Go get coffee at Starbucks while your iPod downloads the movie. Go ahead, let your friends watch the show. That $20 you paid covers the cost of admission for two so not all ticket revenues are lost. Also, don’t forget that Apple’s DRM, Fairplay, is still in the mix preventing pirating of these movies.

How about television shows? Would you pay a few bucks to watch a television show (without commercials) on the big screen? How about if the show was an advanced showing that didn’t air on network TV yet? Say $4-5 to watch two shows like Desperate Housewives and Grey’s Anatomy on Saturday before they air on ABC on Sunday night? Would that attract viewers? Don’t know. How about including exclusive content that can’t be seen anywhere else. Would that entice people? You’d be among other fans watching the shows so there’s an instant community of fans to talk shop.

I like it!

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Confirmed, Britney is Hapai

It’s no longer a rumor. On The Late Show with David Letterman, Britney Spears admitted that she is preggers again with her second child. (No Madonna isn’t the father, just found this picture on-line and felt obligated to use it to boost ratings).

Perhaps, her hubby Kevin Federline cannot multitask, but boy he sure does one thing good.

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