Gee Why

Remember when video games were much simpler? Check out DBoi demonstrating some retro gaming, playing Adventure on an Atari.

Awesome graphics! If you want to relive your Adventure days, check out this site or this Flash recreation.

Technorati Tags: games, Atari

Went to check out the new Pier 1 Imports in Kailua on their Grand Opening day. Saw some nice things but only bought a seat cover that was on sale.

Here are some pictures. The front of the store is still missing its sign.

Technorati Tags: Pier 1 Imports, Kailua

If you want interesting insight about using Macs to run the next Microsoft OS, Vista, be sure to check out I, Cringely’s latest column. If true virtualization is achieved in the next version of OS X aka Leopard, then users can run both OS X 10.5 and Vista concurrently. This could have the side effect of securing Vista since hackers would have to deal with OS X’s security in order to get to Vista.

Given Microsoft’s difficulties with data security and its long history of troubled OS introductions, there is the very real possibility that the Apple version of Vista will be by far the most stable. For awhile it might be the ONLY stable version. So Apple could, in a way, be Microsoft’s savior.

Interesting possible turn of events.

Technorati Tags: Apple, Macintosh, Microsoft

TBS is running funny commercials for their showing of the Lord of the Rings trilogy. Each commercial pokes fun at the various Middle Earth characters. The best one has got to be “Secret Lovers” featuring Frodo and Samwise. Here’s a YouTube version if the Windows Media format at TBS gives you trouble.

My wife always thought the two were a little too close if you know what I mean. What do you think?

Don’t know if this works or not, but here is a technique to turn negative thoughts into positive reinforcement. The author describes this technique as mental kung fu (or judo) where you redirect the negative thoughts into positive thinking.

If your inner voice says “I’m a dork” or “this sucks,” then maybe this technique will help ease the negativity. Either that or you could just “ah, firetruck it!” and head over to Club 939 or Elements Hawaii for some relief.

Talk about Lean Six Sigma and poke yoke! Toyota manufacturing goes to great lengths to produce high quality automobiles. Their kaizen, or continuous pursuit of improvement, is ingrained at every level of the organization. Here’s an example of Toyota’s training activity to learn how to paint cars.

Students practice paint jobs by spraying water in front of a one-way mirror, where a video camera on the other side detects erroneous movements. Cups are placed at the bottom, and the water that fills up in each of the cups must be even to prove the apprentice has carried out his moves accurately.

Very impressive use of Six Sigma.

Technorati Tags: six sigma

Here’s a quick followup on my previous post about having a Computer in Your Living Room. This guy used a Mac Mini and El Gato’s PVR hardware and software to setup a living room computer to watch DVDs, videos, and television. Sounds expensive but seems like he had a good (and easy) experience with this setup.

Read his review.

Pulpconnector T offers this article about corporations and business being hurt and helped by blogs. The voice posed by bloggers have been able to both positively and negatively affect corporate images, causing increases and decreases in sales.

Much truth in the article, and I think companies have figured out they should be monitoring the blogosphere for critical voices. Looking at the logs of Pulpconnection, I do see some interesting things. The day Microsoft released their Mac Office 2004 11.2.3 update, I mentioned it in a post. Then I had a follow-on posting about my experiences with the update. Both of these were viewed several times by IP addresses linked to Microsoft.com.

I try to help out local businesses like Club 939 and Elements Hawaii by creating a buzz by letting people know what’s going on with these businesses. Not sure if it’s working, but not real tough for me to try to help, you know?

Anyways, there is proof that your voice does matter and is heard.

In this guy’s estimate, each web page done for a corporate web site costs approximately $10,000. That’s $10K per page!!

He explains how the true cost of making a single page includes the time of all involved (clients, vendors, stakeholders, etc.). But then, he goes on to say why it’s a good move for businesses to spend this kind of money as part of its marketing strategy.

Now that I think about it, that $10K figure could be right. I know of one organization that spent big bucks for web hosting and site design. For their moolah, I think there’s like three pages of useful content.

Google is launching its next free service, Google Calendar. Set your schedule and share calendars with others.

If you already have a Gmail account, you got a Google Calendar. Give it a shot.

Technorati Tags: Google

CNNMoney.com has an overview of the best jobs in America. Factors include growth, pay, and stress level. Here’s the top ten:

1. Software engineer
2. College professor
3. Financial adviser
4. Human resources manager
5. Physician assistant
6. Market research analyst
7. Computer IT analyst
8. Real Estate appraiser
9. Pharmacist
10. Psychologist

Here’s the Top 50 list. Ever consider a career change?