Over the past few weeks I've been struggling with a bug in Google Calendar, and couldn't figure out why it was happening. It turns out that Google, as you would expect, tries to be too smart without understanding the consequences. Furthermore, the Google ego means that there is no bug reporting form. Whaaaa?

The bug goes like this: If you click on the calendar and create an entry, it will interpret the words in your entry and try to be smarter than you. For example, if you type "Meeting at 3 in Menlo Park" in the text box, it will create an hour long meeting at 3pm on the current day with the location of "Menlo Park". It will even ask you if you want a map.

Here's the bug: With Sentilla, we do a lot of work with Sun Microsystems... you know, those Java guys. Every now and again, we even have meetings with them. I type into the box "Sun Meeting at 3 at Sentilla World Headquarters". Next thing I know, Google Calendar says "event created" and I can't find it anywhere. Weird. I repeat this process 3 or 4 times. Same thing. Turns out, Google is putting the entry on Sunday (get it, "Sun") and calls the meeting "Meeting". Grrr. Damn you Google. Eric Schmidt was from Sun... Google, you can't be against Sun!

Anyway, the closing date for the academy was fun. We got to see the penguins in their last public feeding (they're funny looking). We got to play with eels and snakes and see a huge tank where they grow coral reefs. We saw some dry ice presentations (anytime you can play with dry ice, you know its a good day). And I had a staring contest with a giant turtle (see picture below).

The New York Times has listed San Francisco as one of 53 places to visit in 2008. Why? To see the new academy building. Yes, its that cool.

I'm off to Italy in the morning to talk at EWSN and then Switzerland and Austria to get some skiing in with Jan.

1. no cell-modem support. need this for traveling to work everyday.
2. battery is not replaceable. this sucks for airplane trips.
3. hard drive is 4200 rpms. this means it is slow, which kills performance.
4. no ethernet port. useful!
5. usb dongles. do i really need 15 things hanging off my macbook?

Apple also announced the MacBook Air case -- the world's thinnest laptop case. I have to say that this blog post is the funniest thing I've seen about the MacBook Air.

Time Capsule -- Can I bury it and have it backup my Mac wirelessly? Then dig it up 30 years later and realize that I wasted a lot of money 30 years ago. Steve reinvented iSCSI. All we wanted to do was use an iSCSI device to back up our MacBooks. But no, you had to brand some lame item. Oh, and Steve-o, AirPort Express has USB ports for hard drives -- why can't I use those? This is exactly why I hate Apple.

iPhone -- Yay, I can finally determine my location (within 2 miles) using Google Maps. (note sarcasm) Where is my file browser? Where is my ability to store the Caltrain schedule and view it without an internet connection? Who cares about multiple SMS and rearranging my icons? Grr!

The best part of the iPhone update is a feature not documented on any blog. Somehow they missed it. Apple changed from using the POP interface of Gmail to instead using the IMAP interface. The IMAP interface means your iPhone is always in direct sync with your Gmail account, which is tremendously useful.

iTunes movie rentals and Apple TV v2 -- This feature has so many flaws it isn't even funny. Only 24 hours to watch the movie (but 3 months to start watching, weird). HD versions are only available for Apple TV, not when downloading with iTunes to your PC. Oh, and did I mention that Netflix is letting you download movies for free and watch them whenever you want? Oh, and Netflix has 6,000 items now; iTunes will have 1,000 items by the end of February. Apple, just give up, seriously. This is a silly feature that I'll never use.

I thought MacWorld would top CES, but it seems like both have let me down this year.

Oh, and my vote is for Creative...

http://www.thinkcomputers.org/index.php?x=articles&id=67

I didn't know much about Aspen before going there. Like, for example, that every flight is delayed our canceled and getting in/out of Aspen is beyond crazy. The flight on the way in was delayed, almost diverted to Grand Junction, and had some sort of mechanical problem. It was one of only a handful of flights to land, with the other 20 or so flights diverted or canceled. Sometimes you do get lucky. As we're descending, the mountain out the window is staying the same distance away from the plane. Basically we're following the slope of the mountain down to the town of Aspen. Finally got to Aspen with a few hours to spare before the first of two sold out nights at Belly Up Aspen with 3eb, a nice small club that holds about 450 people.

The first night was fairly long with about a 2 hour set consisting of all the goodies, including Motorcycle Drive By, 1000 Julys, God of Wine, and all of the regulars (Jumper, Semicharmed Life, How's it Going To Be, Losing a Whole Year, etc). Great set. The second night, Steven Jenkins claimed to be sick and said he needed the audience's help. The set was only 80 minutes long, and has less of the rarities from the first night. Some pics taken with my iPhone are below.

After the show, I went over to 39 Degrees at the Sky Hotel. It is known as being an apres ski place, but it seems to turn into a "hit or miss" ultralounge late at night. We apparently were there on one of the "hit" nights, with tons of beautiful Aspen-ites (who, of course, are not really from Aspen but from somewhere else like Chicago or Long Island). After people watching for a while, we noticed 3eb come in the door, Jenkins, Tony, the whole crew. They sat a few couches away from us, and a flock of girls immediately jumped all over there. Let's just say that Jenkins didn't look too sick with his drinks and his girls around him ;)

Anyway, back to the good stuff -- the skiing. The conditions were great and there were a ton of areas at Snowmass that we could track out even though the last snow was a day or two earlier. The temperatures were below cold; one morning it was -11 degrees outside. That's Farenheit. I thought about that for a second -- 43 degrees ABOVE freezing (75 degrees for those that can't do math) is warm and comfy. 43 degrees BELOW freezing is just bone-chilling cold. Think about instantaneous frost bite. After skiing, we had a beer out at one of the outdoor apres places, and I do think that my beer got colder once it was brought outside.

Then, of course, came the time to leave again from the illustrious Aspen airport. The snow was falling sideways and the visibility was about 5 feet in front of you. Flights eventually canceled and have to stay in Aspen for the night. Put on a flight the next day, and sat next to a nice lady from Minneapolis who relayed all the stars that she saw during her trip -- William H Macy, Felicity Huffman, Eva Longoria (apparently all the desperate housewives were there), and a ton of others that I don't remember. I realized that even if I saw most of these people, I wouldn't recognize them with the ton of clothes that will be covering them to keep them warm. Although I suppose William H Macy is fairly recognizable. But the problem with all of these people in town is that it was impossible to get a reservation to any restaurant. Everything was booked.

Overall a great trip, the skiing at Aspen was surpurb, and I'd definitely go back. Although next time I'd go during a different time, when it is less expensive and family crazy with the Christmas/New Year's holiday. I'm looking forward to watching the Winter X-Games, which are held every year in Aspen. Although don't think of visiting Aspen during the X-Games, supposedly they are more booked up than during Christmas.

Below is the last pic from Aspen, finally boarding the plane out of there. You can see the nice big snowy mountains in the background.

What Muneeb has done is to rally his friends abroad and in Pakistan to blog about the situation in Pakistan. Muneeb went to college at LUMS, Lahore University of Management Sciences, and former students are posting their thoughts online. The LUMS Blog has provided insight into the situation in Pakistan. I've never been to Pakistan and one day I would love to go; however, the information in the blog published on a regular basis lets me know what friends like Muneeb (and their friends) are going through. It is hard for someone here, in the United States, that has never been to Pakistan, to imagine what life is like there. Through the eyes of Muneeb and his peers, we all get a glimpse into what life is like for people my age in Pakistan.

Check out the LUMS Blog.

The short is--Moteiv is now Sentilla. Sentilla enables millions to create real world applications that was limited to a few thousand people before. And that's really exciting. See a video segment below of me on NBC talking about the company launch and its applications.

And just to make something clear--you do not drink directly out of the wooden spoon thing. You pour it into your hands first. Us Americans are silly and unrefined, we think you just drink out of it. No. You heathens!

Anyway, below, in order, are a few pictures. (1) is the main water supply at the bottom next to the temples. (2) is the sign above it that shows what you should do (in Japanese, of course). (3) is a picture of what the same thing as (1) looks like, just about 220m up in elevation.

Before kaiseki, we took a tour of one of the Geisha districts with the guy that showed the "Memoirs of a Geisha" crew around in preparation for the movie (I haven't seen it yet). A great time and highly recommended tour.

After dinner, we went out to a couple of bars and met some new Japanese friends. A picture of our new friends is below.

This picture was taken at the Fushimi-Inari shrine. The shrine is incredible, mainly because you don't know what you're getting into, and once you do, you're amazed that anyone would put so much work into it. You arrive by commuter train, walk through a small village, and then see a ton of temples. You'd think the fun would end there, amazed by temples built a thousand years ago. But no. Instead, I decide I'll take a walk through the woods. As I move further from the temples, I see some orange torii in the distance. I walk though them, taking tons of pictures, thinking they're very cool. As I keep walking, I realize that the torii don't end--they are now going up steps and seem interminable. I stop taking pictures, because at this point I'm concentrating on my health (keep in mind that it is 95+ degrees and 120% humid, and I'm walking uphill at 1pm). I keep walking for what seems forever, when I stumble upon an opening with a tea house and shop. Whew, I must have made it to the top. Nope. I'm now at the start of a loop--a loop that is about 5 or 6 kilometers long--that winds up the mountain. Walking up the loop, I see shrine after shrine on the side of the path (all still covered by torii, mind you) with graveyards to accompany each shrine. The top is about 4km from where I spotted the first torii in the distance in the woods. And this is just the beginning--I haven't talked about any of the weirdness that you encounter, such as the multitude of fox statues (who are there to dedicate the way to the god of cereal grains--yes, cereal grains) or the nifty drinking stations. I'm told that the shrine is featured in "Memoirs of a Geisha", but I've never seen it. I'm also told that some 3 million Japanese flock to the area over the 3 days that comprise the new year around Jan 1st.

Want to know more? I have a ton of additional pics to show when I get back.

Written at 8:37pm, Sunday August 26 in Kyoto.

The rest of the document has my fortune written out for me. You can see my fortune below. Now if only I knew what it meant... (keep reading)

(Hint: put your mouse over the fortune above)

I've been saying that alcohol is a medicine for years! Profit...How did they know I work for a startup??? The one I find amusing is the soul mate "will come." What if I was married and got this fortune? Scandalous!

Written at 5:11pm, Sunday August 26 in Kyoto. ]]> 2007-08-26T06:47:30Z 2007-08-25T23:32:04Z tag:,2007:/2.136 2007-08-25T23:32:04Z

On to Howie Day...

I was waiting for the Muni tonight and decided that I should listen to Howie's old Australia album on my iPod. I love this album and think it has such great potential, such interesting composition.

I thought about the good days, when Howie was a young kid from Bangor ME that just wanted to play good songs. And when I thought about that, I remembered when Howie played at the spur of the moment in Ithaca for only $1 cover. I sat in the front, recorded the show, and thought about how much talent this young kid from Maine actually had. I recorded the whole show and have uploaded it for all to listen.

Listen to Howie Day 2001-02-18 >>

After the show, Howie and his former manager, Jamie Shea, came to our house at 410 Dryden Road in Ithaca. I was amused when I realized that Howie could not even buy beer--he sent us out on a mission to buy beer for him. We also ordered pizza, and when the pizza came, Howie paid by pulling out a large wad of $20 bills.

But that wasn't the end of the night. A close friend and musician that I believe in more than anything to this day started playing with Howie. Yes, this musician was Will Jacobs, who played Idioteque by Radiohead, taught it to Howie, and we heard the song throughout the rest of the tour. These days I barely hear a word from Will, and it is unfortunate to think that his talent isn't applied to music.

Howie went on to great fame, signing a record deal, releasing a big record that was recorded with the Verve in England, and promoting the careers of many who dealt with him. People like Shawn Radley promised the world to Howie's fans, yet they rarely delivered and did not recognize those that sold the first 5 copies of "Australia". They were along for the ride, taking hold of their position at SFX Boston and riding it to bigger and better things without regards for the fans. I would normally blame them for this, but the artist has a larger impact.

After Howie was signed, he became reclusive and unpredictable, especially after drinking. The impact of signing a record deal went to his head, and he was unable to deal with the responsibilities that come with such engagements. As a company, my company has raised money, yet you can't count on such money to be available forever---it is an investment, and it is your job to make such an investment worthwhile to the shareholders.

But Howie continued to move on, making music that was less than spectacular compared to the Australia release. I saw Howie in 2004 at the Warfield in San Francisco with his band and recorded the show. The full thing is available here. In October, 2005, Howie was signed up to play a breast cancer benefit concert in Washington DC with Bowling for Soup, Michael Tolcher, and Pat McGee Band. Howie was the 2nd headliner. He failed to show up. Few were surprised by his absence.

Unfortunately, the 2005 show was the beginning of the end. Pat McGee Band did a cover of "Collide" and introduced a new verse:

i met you backstage
you looked half my age
i had to lock you
in the bathroom of my bus
even the best hair falls sometimes
even rockstars commit crimes
and if you call the cops this time
my cell phone
and your foot
collide

After this, Howie was arrested for causing trouble on a jet to Boston. He claimed he was on "sleeping pills" and alcohol, and the combination caused him to turn violent.

Howie went to rehab to try to clean up his act, claiming that he'd be able to make a comeback. I love his voice and what he can do with a Line6 pedal for looping, but I'm not convinced that he has what it takes. He's currently in Indianapolis recording a new album as part of his deal, and we'll all have to wait to see if it hold water....