Day 10 - Countdown to Christmas

Most of you over the tender age of 35 can recall images of Santa with his pipe. Although currently out of vogue, I suspect pipes will have a resurgence of popularity someday – possibly to the extent that cigars had a decade ago. Pipe smoking was always regarded as a genteel pastime, a dignified pleasure enjoyed by men of worth who earned their lot in life and deserved the peaceful swirling bliss that only a well-packed pipe could deliver. People like your favorite grandpa, the tenacious sea captain, the entire English department faculty, or indeed – Santa Claus.

Over the next few days I’ll post photos showing the image of Santa savagely, perversely manipulated by Madison Avenue to promote very un-Santa-like products. Stay tuned.

The Easiest Way to Help Find a Cure

Hi Folks! Feel the urge to somehow ‘give back’ to humanity, but simply don’t have the time? Got a computer that’s powered on most of the day, but not always in use? Then let your computer(s) donate their time instead! Step on up and join The Unreal OC team on World Community Grid.

If you're already a member of WCG and want to join The Unreal OC team, then click HERE.

If you'd like to join WCG and become a team member of The Unreal OC, click HERE.

World Community Grid's mission is to create the largest public computing grid benefiting humanity. Donate the time your computer is turned on, but is idle, to projects that benefit humanity! The WCG (World Community Grid) provides the secure software that does it all for free, and you become part of a community that is helping to change the world. Once you install the software, you will be participating in World Community Grid. No other action must be taken; it's that simple!

As of this posting, there are over 417,000 members of WCG with over 1,130,000 devices (computers) donating time on the network, worldwide.

Ema and I are donating CPU cycles during the times our three home computers are on, but not in use, to Help Conquer Cancer, which is just one of the programs offered through the WCG. But, as you’ll see from the WCG Web site, there are other humanitarian and scientific projects that you can choose from as well.

Choose your cause, download the free software, and you’ll automatically become a member of The Unreal OC team!

I’ll post periodic status reports on this blog, but you can also visit the WCG site anytime to see how our team is doing and to check your individual contribution.

And by the way – tell a friend! Anyone can join WCG, and The Unreal OC team. Once we get about a dozen members we can join in on team challenges, but more on that later.

Ema and I will be talking more about this during our next podcast, but you can also send us an email with any questions and we’ll be happy to help.

Thanks!

~Tom


How Grid Technology Works
Making a difference has never been easier! Grid technology is simple and safe to use. To start, you register, then download and install a small program or "agent" onto your computer.

When idle, your computer will request data on a specific project from World Community Grid's server. It will then perform computations on this data, send the results back to the server, and ask the server for a new piece of work. Each computation that your computer performs provides scientists with critical information that accelerates the pace of research!

World Community Grid runs on software called BOINC (Berkeley Open Infrastructure for Network Computing,) developed at University of California, Berkeley, USA with funding from NSF (National Science Foundation).

Pei Wei Asian Diner - Seal Beach / Los Alamitos Review

Pei Wei Asian Diner in Seal Beach opened just about one year ago and serves up tasty Asian fusion cuisine for a decent price. The chain is owned by the folks at PF Changs, and that influence is apparent in the quality of food, the service, and even the attention to the decor with dark, angular Asian forms and plenty of wood, stone, and water environmentals. There’s seating available inside, but my daughter and I opted for take-out and ordered from the menu attached to the front counter. We were taking home food for the whole family, and as always, finding something other than corn dogs or grilled cheese that my four- and six-year olds will eat is a challenge. Happily, I saw that Pei Wei offered very reasonably-priced kids choices including the Lo Mein which is chicken with egg noodles. For the rest of us I ordered the shrimp fried rice, the honey seared chicken, and sweet and sour chicken on fried rice. Brown or steamed rice is included, or you can opt for fried rice with any entrée for only one dollar more. All three of these large-portioned main dishes were packed in easily-resealable clear lid containers which made both food identification and carting the left-overs to work a breeze.

Taste
All of the food was excellent, in par with what I remember about PF Changs typical fare. I would have liked to see more egg in the fried rice, but that’s a matter of preference, and for my wife, who doesn’t like egg all that much, she’d probably like to see less. Unlike the majority of food we get from our other local Asian take-out, Pick Up Stix, the food at Pei Wei was distinctively flavorful and fresh. It’s common that carton carry-out food can taste rather homogenized as if all the food came from the same pot. This is especially the case of Asian foods where several flavors are held captive in a single box and the time from pan to plate allows all the flavors to congeal. Somehow the food we brought home from Pei Wei avoided that problem, or perhaps it was just so good that our taste buds were giddily preoccupied and we ignored it. Within a few bites we knew that Pei Wei was going to replace Pick Up Stix as our Asian food choice. With competitive prices, kid-friendly foods, and potentially addicting vittles, we’ll be back soon for sure.

Got a New Hammer

I bought this $90 hammer for $12 with free shipping on Buy.com. I love Buy.com. Two weeks ago I bought a power accessory kit for my iPhone for $3.95 with free shipping. I was at Circuit City yesterday and saw the iPhone car charger - just one of the three power accessories that came in my kit - for $39.

I suppose the only thing I don't like about Buy.com is that, by offering new items at below-yard-sale-prices, I feel obligated to purchase things I really don't need. In fact, in a brilliant marketing maneuver, Buy.com has somehow reversed the effects of 'buyer's remorse' to produce guilt when I don't buy something.

Right now I'm feeling guilty about not shopping for my wife's Christmas gift yet. I wonder if she'd like a hammer? Naw. . .I have a sneaking suspicion she'd use it to make sure I wasn't around to celebrate the new year.

Until next time. . .

- Tom

Are You Being Manipulated by Your Candidate?

I may be the last person people go to for political advice. Primarily because I just don't follow politics, so I'm about as far from an authority as you could find. It took Senator Obama to make me sit up and take notice - to root for the candidate with integrity.

Today I'm angry. I'm angry because of McCain's blatant mischaracterization of Obama. How many times during the debates and McCain's speeches did you hear him mention the $3 million earmark for the "overhead projector for a planetarium?" Look, I knew from the first time I heard that that it had to be false - who wouldn't assume that? Overhead projectors go for $29.00 on eBay - Less than $200.00 brand new! More importantly, what does that say about the person making that claim? McCain is banking on people listening and reacting instead of listening and thinking. That's manipulation my friends, and like so many politicians, McCain is attempting to manipulate the public.

The "overhead projector" was in fact the main projection system for the planetarium in Chicago, IL. The earmark was used to replace the 40-year-old existing projection system. This earmark was both justified in the interest of science and education as well as potential revenue for the city from tourism. The point is that McCain wasn't misinformed - he knew exactly what the earmark was for, but chose to exaggerate the story to draw people away from his opponent. Do we want a president who purposefully misleads the people of this country to promote his agenda?

One final point. Integrity isn't something you can claim you have, and it isn't something you can buy - it's earned. You earn it by demonstrating honesty. We don't need a maverick in the White House, we need a president with integrity - you choose.

2002 Toyota Avalon

I'm selling my 2002 Toyota Avalon - $9,750. 00. Details HERE.

Sallys Audio

I've been working with The Salvation Army to help them sell some of their donated stereo equipment on CraigsList. I price this stuff to sell, so if you're interested, follow THIS link and check out the booty. . .or is that bounty?

Items are updated throughout the week, so subscribe to the blog to keep informed of new items.

Thanks!

Tom