http://javworld.com/JAVBlog/weblog.php en-us http://javworld.com/JAVBlog/weblog.php http://javworld.com/JAVBlog/weblog.php?id=P177 I started a new site that covers news on South Winchester Boulevard in San Jose. It's called South Winchester News. While I'm out and about, I take pictures of new things that are happening, do some research on them, and then write an article. So, if I see a new business, or a business closing, or some construction happening, I'll write an article about it. I've even started being journalistic and called some people. I even convinced some people to help. My friend Scott, who lives... http://javworld.com/JAVBlog/weblog.php?id=P176 I was at the Bone Marrow Registry Drive at The Tech in San Jose. The news crew from KTSF came. I'm in the very last half second, looking goofy holding a sign. http://javworld.com/JAVBlog/weblog.php?id=P175 This Thursday I bowled a 233: After my handicap was added, it was a 279. I think this is the highest I have ever bowled. And no, this was not Wii bowling, this was real 10-pin bowling at Homestead Lanes in Cupertino. My highest 15-pin bowling game was 310. This sounds impossible, but the highest score in a 15-pin bowling game is 450. I think that was my only score above 300. http://javworld.com/JAVBlog/weblog.php?id=P174 Here's me playing dodgeball. You can't tell from this picture (or maybe you can), but the throw was absolutely horrible. http://javworld.com/JAVBlog/weblog.php?id=P173 Apple announced new iPod shuffles today. These iPods are half the physical size, and double the storage size compared to the previous shuffles. It's so small, there's no room for any buttons. The buttons are included in the special headphones that come with it. Because of the greater capacity, we made it easier to navigate through playlists and songs. The iPod uses text-to-speech to announce playlists and track names and artists. It supports 14 languages. iTunes tries to figure... http://javworld.com/JAVBlog/weblog.php?id=P172 In our cafeteria, we now have salt and pepper grinders: I don't like fresh ground pepper. Grinding pepper ends up giving you huge chunks of pepper. I prefer my pepper ground in the factory where it can be ground into a fine dust. But I can remotely imagine some people thinking it's better because it's fresh. Whatever. But I cannot understand fresh ground salt. I can't imagine salt can go "stale". It's a mineral. How could it get stale? And I imagine huge chunks of... http://javworld.com/JAVBlog/weblog.php?id=P171 The Simpsons had their first ever broadcast in high definition last night, and it was awesome. I had been noticing for the last few years that the opening credits, which were probably produced around 1989, had started to look technicolor. The storyline of the new opening credits is slightly different, but it's mostly the same but the image quality looks amazing. Of course there were always gags in the opening credits that made it different every week, most of the opening credits were... http://javworld.com/JAVBlog/weblog.php?id=P170 A while back I started growing a beard to see what it would look like. Turns out, it made me look evil. So the beard had to go. My dad was visiting for a few days. He said I should get rid of it. He was a smoker who was trying to quit, so I made a deal with him: for each day he did not smoke, I would shave off one sixth of my beard. Most normal people would shave it off evenly, but not me. I shaved it off, one sixth at a time, from left to right. This is a picture from day 3. http://javworld.com/JAVBlog/weblog.php?id=P169 Tom Jones came to Apple yesterday. He was the secret special musical guest at our Beer Bash. He performed some old favorites, "It's Not Unusual" and "What's New Pussycat?", some songs from his new album, and some Christmas songs. A good time was had by all. http://javworld.com/JAVBlog/weblog.php?id=P168 My wife wondered what I would look like with a beard. So I grew one. Then everyone who saw me called me the evil John A. Vink. Apparently there was some Star Trek episode where Captain Kirk grew a beard and then became evil. I'm not really a science fiction fan, so I'm not sure I ever saw that episode. Turns out my wife didn't like it, so it's gone now.