Will's semi-regular rant

Party Gone Out of Bounds

2006-06-05T13:46:00.000-05:00

Stardate 1988

Coordinates: Pacifica, CA

Party at Tim Markowitz’s (aka Dolphin-boy)

This ranks among the craziest Animal House type parties that ever took place. At least in our small town, anyway. I’ve been to a few wild parties in my time and this one still stands out as the best and worst party ever. We were mostly juniors and seniors in high school, and Tim’s family had gone to Hawaii for a couple weeks. Now, Tim was a good kid, a straight-A “smack”, and could have been trusted to stay home alone. The original intention was to just have a few friends over…but word got spread around Terra Nova H.S. that there was going to be a Partius Majorus at his place. I think it took place on a Saturday night but it’s been a long time and I can’t remember the details all that well. There may be some factual errors in this story. Whitey, if you ever come across this post, feel free to correct me!

I figure between 150-200 kids must have shown up. They had a large three-story home which was well packed with people inside and outside in the backyard, too. Alcohol flowed freely…seem to recall those punch bowls filled with random liquor stolen from parents. Kegs. Plenty of green stuff to go around (hey it is the San Francisco area…what did you expect?). It seemed like everyone was well behaved at first, but within a few hours there was plenty of collateral damage. There was one fight; some stoner got punched in the nose by a jock and blood spattered on the wall like a Pollock painting. Flower pots were overturned and their water & soil nutrients got ground into the carpets. Blinds were ripped from the window frames. His parents had an elevated Jacuzzi tub in the master bath; it got filled to the point of overflowing and soaked the floor underneath. Someone clogged a toilet and that overflowed too. Students were throwing anything that wasn’t bolted down (garbage, toilet paper rolls that turned into streamers, etc) off the balcony and into the neighbor’s yards. The cops came out two or three times to try and break things up, the last time they paid us a visit I was hiding in the backyard bushes with other kids while Sergeant McGruff searched the house. Their flashlights bounced in the windows and scanned around the backyard looking for us delinquents. It was cold, damp, and foggy in Pedro Point (quarter mile from the ocean), as usual. They probably succeeded in shutting things down at that point. We were scared to come back inside for a while. It wound down in the wee hours of the morning, after the ruffians were expelled, then we all hung out Breakfast Club style and bullsh!tted for a while. We got maybe a couple hours of sleep by crashing on the floor.

The worst part was the aftermath. We were all hung over and our bodies were useless. I helped clean up the following day, but it was overwhelming. Probably five to ten true friends stuck around to help, but it was way too much for us kids to handle. I helped clean up the neighbor’s yards (that was the Walk of Shame) and hauled bags of trash and bottles to the recycling center (who remembers the Bat-mobile?). Rented a carpet cleaner, but it didn’t help much, we needed professional help. There were a few days left to get things in order before his parents got home, but there was only so much we could do to make the house presentable. Water damage to the floors was way beyond our capability to fix. The punishment? Tim had to pay his parents back for the repairs by doing various jobs around the house they assigned to him for about a year. I don’t recall seeing him for quite a while afterwards, he was pretty much grounded and doing that pay-back work all the time. Was it worth it? Sure, I suppose it was!

Tivo Series 3, please come rescue me

2006-05-17T13:21:00.000-05:00

From the Hell that is a Scientific Atlanta 8300HD DVR. Time Warner Cable. My God, this thing is terrible. It is so flaky, I can’t rely on it to record my favorite shows, sometimes they just don’t get recorded, or get cut off 2/3 of the way through the program. Or just deletes recorded programs on its own, even though there is plenty of hard drive space. You can’t look up a show by title, other than picking the first character. Keywords – nonexistent. Tivo will often record a show it thinks you might like based on past recording history or keywords, which often lead to great programming being recorded that I otherwise would not have picked to record. I used to catch a lot of obscure documentaries and educational programs that way. Forget about it with this DVR, it only records what you tell it to. The user interface is so cumbersome and ugly you would think the engineers didn’t graduate from high school. It’s pretty embarrassing compared to a Tivo box. You would think since DVR’s have been widely available for about 6-7 years now, that someone would be able to come closer to emulating the Tivo experience. Anyway, since I have an HD TV, and gave up my HD DirecTivo by switching to cable, I am eagerly waiting for Tivo to come out with the Series 3 box which can record HD broadcasts. I don’t know why it is taking so long to come to market, they should have released this mythical box at least a year ago. I want it now!!

For you, M.J. Pinto

2006-05-04T20:18:00.000-05:00

I've just updated my blog! Phew, that was difficult!

In all seriousness, I will put some more crap here soon. Honest.

Shame on you, Michelin!! (USGP con)

2005-06-19T14:22:00.000-05:00

And a secondary shame on you to the F1 teams running Michelin tires,,,you had choices available which would have allowed you to compete in the race. You should have swapped tires at the first pit-stop opporunity and dealt with the penalties.

(For non F1 fans - Michelin just made a debacle of the US Grand Prix in Indianapolis)

Michelin can't make a tire to handle turn 13 at Indy ? That is friggin' ridiculous. They have budgets in the millions of dollars just to produce tires for F1, not to mention their passenger tire R&D. Just because a couple tires blew out in practice doesn't mean they were all bad either. They could not tell conclusively why the tires failed. Could have been the car setups too. If they just lowered the downforce a bit that could have made all the difference in the world. I'm sure between the team engineers and the tire mfg. they could have come up with a better solution than boycotting the race.

I don't think the FIA or Ecclestone is to blame at all. Why should they compromise the race by slowing down turn 13 with a chicane or allowing the teams to switch all their tires before the race? Rules are rules. If Ferrari came to the race with a bad suspension piece that wouldn't allow them to run at full speed, they wouldn't listen to their request to slow the track down. Bottom line is that Michelin really screwed this one up. I hope their passenger car tire sales suffer for this. They owe the F1 fans a big apology. F1 is just starting to take off in America, and this is a big setback.

Don't Panic! (Or Apple's switch to Intel)

2005-06-10T16:16:00.000-05:00

Long time, no post.

Of course everyone knows about Apple's gargantuan announcement this week that they are dumping IBM/Motorola (about time). IBM has missed so many processor speed increases and failed to provide enough chips when they were sorely needed. I am actually glad to see Apple making this move. Intel is obviously a leader in the CPU market and already has chips that are way faster than anything in the IBM pipeline. Far as I am concerned, Apple can use anyone's processor as long as the speed is faster, they make the transition smooth (looks like it should be no problem to re-code the software) and they don't mess with the OS/interface.

I, along with many other Mac users, have been patiently waiting for the mythical Powerbook G5, but it was starting to look like we would be leaping over rainbows on our unicorns before that ever happened. Intel will pave the way for an affordable and faster Powerbook which is great news for us. And this should make for even better compatibility with Windows software since it will be running on essentially the same architecture. I don't see much to lose on this deal, we're going to have cheaper and faster Macs that should be able to run Windows software too. Why wouldn't everyone want to buy in on this? Even the Windows user has something to gain...you could boot up into XP to play that game that is not available on the Mac, then re-boot into OS X to surf the web with no fear of catching a virus. Better yet, you might be able to run both Windows and Mac simultaneously (I'm sure someone will figure out a way to accomplish it). I'm ready to buy a PowerIntelMacabook...so bring on the goods.

Top 10 things to do with my vegetative body

2005-04-11T08:02:00.000-05:00

If I should ever wind up in a vegetative state, I would like a minimum of 5 of the following 10 activities to take place before you pull the plug on me.
Hopefully one of these will jolt my brain back into action. If not, at least you tried. Don't starve me though, I'd prefer a lethal injection.

(In no particular order)

1. Take me on a roller coaster ride. Please strap me in real good since I won't be able to brace myself.
2. Toss me out of an airplane. Well, strapped to the back of a tandem instructor, anyway. Someone's gotta pull the ripcord. Unless they have a parachute that opens at the required altitude, then you can kick me out of the plane solo.
3. Get me a ride-along in a 2-seater Indy car. I think they have one at the Las Vegas speedway.
4. While in Las Vegas, prop me up in front of a slot machine. I'll bet nobody notices the unresponsive zombie until I start drooling on the machine. If I happen to get a jackpot, you can keep the winnings.
5. Another ride along : In a stunt bi-plane. They have one here at the Addison Airport. I want to do a barrel roll and a loop. Please don't kick me out of this plane, they don't fly high enough to use a parachute. Alternate mission: Land me on an aircraft carrier with "Mission Accomplished" banner.
6. I want to see all 6 episodes of Star Wars in a row at a nice movie theater. At least I won't have to worry about my butt getting sore from sitting so long, I won't be able to feel it.
7. Wheel me up to the top of the Empire State building. I didn't make it there on my trip to NYC.
8. I'd like to watch the Monaco Grand Prix from a yacht in the harbor.
9. If space travel is feasible at the time, send me up in a sub orbital Virgin Intergalactic flight. Or to the moon and back.
10. Use me as a prop in a haunted house. Or as a scarecrow. Just don't let me get sunburned or let birds poke my eyes out.

If you must kill me, please make it quick

2005-03-23T12:27:00.000-06:00

This whole Terri Schiavo fiasco is driving me nuts. I have really mixed emotions and no clear answers on this one, I'm sure a lot of people feel the same way.

I can agree to some extent with both the parents and the husband. I know technically she is in a vegetative state, but how can anyone be sure that a cure could not be found in the future? Well, if the republican "numb nuts" would allow stem cell research, there would be a much higher chance of ever finding a cure. If stem cells could jump-start brain cell growth, reconnect nerve connections, etc., maybe there would be some hope. As it stands right now I don't see her ever coming out of her present state. But let her survive a few more years, once we get some progressive thinking back in the White House, and maybe there is a slim chance for improvement or recovery. At least there is a one in a million chance, if she dies then there is obviously no way to bring her back.

I think the parents should have some decision-making rights here. They gave her life, so they should have some input, no matter that she is/was married. If there was a unanimous decision between the parents and husband to end her life there would be no issue here. If congress wants to butt in and start passing laws, then make a law requiring that families be united in making these type of decisions. I think most families in this situation would agree to euthanasia, but if the parents want to hang on to a glimmer of hope, I don't see any harm in keeping her alive (I sure hope they are paying the medical expenses, I'd hate to think that somehow taxpayers are getting stuck with the bills). If it was my son or daughter, I wouldn't want the spouse's decision overriding mine, unless I agreed the case was truly hopeless.

IS there no more humane way to let her expire though? This whole starvation thing is kind of disturbing. They say she has no feelings/emotions but surely there is a better way to die peacefully. No water seems pretty cruel too. I just wish people would make a decision here and get this over with. Either let her live, or use a lethal injection. That would be more dignified. And let's get the laws straightened out so this doesn't happen again. Legalize euthanasia too...

Apple Buying Tivo? Film at 11...

2005-02-23T17:13:00.000-06:00

This is surely the best possible takeover scenario. There is an installed base of 3 million Tivo users. Tivo’s platform is already based on linux which is a close cousin of Apple’s OS X. It would be a piece of cake for Apple to code a version of OS X for the Tivo box. Tivo’s platform is so similar to Apple (user friendly, simple to understand and yet very powerful). I would suspect a lot of Tivo users already own Apple products (at the very least an iPod). For Tivo owners that have not used an Apple machine, this would be a great way to introduce them to OS X, iTunes, Quicktime, etc. I imagine Apple could use the guts of the Mac mini to power a new, more powerful Tivo box. Apple wants to expand their “digital hub” concept and bringing it to the TV is the next logical step. Apple has also stated 2005 will be the year of HD video. This whole thing just makes so much sense that it just has to come true. Apple is sitting on about $4 billion in the bank and this should turn out to be a fairly cheap acquisition considering Tivo’s recent stock plunge.

Here is what we need on our new App-Vo box :

Integration with iTunes (playback over home network, and ability to browse iTunes music store on your TV)
Quicktime (to view Mpeg4 streams such as movie trailers, etc)
Google search / Sherlock
IPhoto
Ability to send recorded TV programs over network to your computer for storage/ burn to DVD
“cheaper” HDTV (come on DirecTV, do you really expect that many people to shell out $900 for your HDTV Tivo box – I am waiting for something less than $500)

I’m sure there are plenty of ideas I’m not thinking of at the moment. More about this later.

PalmOne - Treo 650 vs. Treo 300

2005-01-26T08:59:00.000-06:00

In case you are on the fence, this is the most worthwhile upgrade I have made in a long time. I had a Treo 300 for the last two years (I won it on a CNET radio contest!!) and had to put up with many of its flaws, which are completely solved with the 650. Where the 300 was basically a palm pilot with a phone hacked into it, the 650 is designed from the ground up to be a phone first, with the nice addition of Palm OS thrown in. It is an example of fine engineering, much better design than the 300. The 300 actually feels like a toy in comparison. If you are still using the 300, please run out and get the 650. I wouldn't be tempted by discounts on the 600, it probably isn't worth it, you are going to get a whole lot more out of the 650. Note to Sprint customers - Sprint doesn't advertise this very well, but if you have had the same phone for 18 months and your payment history is good, you can get a $150 rebate when upgrading your phone.

Problems w/Treo 300 that are fixed on the 650:
- You won't lose internal memory if you let the battery run down. This has the be the biggest problem with the 300.
- Many 300's were afflicted with a battery drain problem when roaming/ searching for coverage. I took my 300 on trips to California and New York, and was hit with this problem both times, which drained my battery, erasing all my phone numbers and installed applications. Frustrating to say the least, especially since I was away from my computer and could not reload data. 650 has much better battery life and will not run down when roaming.
- Screen resolution - very lacking on 300. Try to read a (Mapquest) map on the 300 - pretty much useless, the graphics are all fuzzy and low res. Web sites are actually very usable on the 650, pictures and text very sharp, and web browser has a lot of nice features (Java, ability to download files, etc)
- HotSync is much faster, used to take almost 10 minutes on 300, now takes about 1 minute. Probably due to the faster processor more than anything else. 312 MHZ is faster than a lot of old PC's. Great speed for such a small device.

Cool features on the 650:
- Listen to MP3's!! Comes with RealPlayer built in. It's not going to replace my iPod, but still a neat feature.
- Bluetooth headsets
- Expandable memory (SD cards up to 1GB are available, probably higher capacity in the future)
- Lithium-Ion battery lasts way longer than the crappy NiCad in the 300.
- Can access corporate email and VPN (who needs a Blackberry??)
- Very user friendly interface, almost Mac-like.
- Camera and Camcorder built in. Only VGA resolution, but takes decent shots. Camcorder records audio too, and is only limited to available memory.

Please help our alcoholic cat, Boxter

2005-01-16T18:50:00.000-06:00

(my wife wrote this story)

Dear friends...
Alcoholism is a family disease. The disease affects all those who have a relationship with a problem drinker and/or pet. Those of us and other pets closest to the alcoholic suffer the most, and those who care the most can easily get caught up in the behavior of another person/pet...such as digging up the houseplants, scratching the furniture, and biting for no apparent reason. We react to the alcoholic's behavior. We focus on them, what they do, where they are, how much they drink, how much cat food they eat, if they are abusing their catnip mice. We try to control their drinking for them by placing glasses out of reach of their paws. We take on the blame, guilt, hairballs, and shame that really belong to the drinker. We pick the cat-hairs out of their glass. We put them to bed when they fall asleep on the sofa. We can become as addicted to petting the alcoholic, as the alcoholic is to alcohol.
We have recently discovered that our new family member, Boxter, has a problem. We have taken up a collection to send him somewhere to get some help. We all have to support him and love him through this difficult journey.

The kitty 12 step program:
1. We admitted we were powerless over the effects of alcoholism or other family dysfunction, such as obsessive sofa clawing.

2. Came to believe that a power greater than ourselves could restore us to sanity...or at least a nice can of Fancy Feast in a pretty glass compote can restore it.

3. Made a decision to turn our will and our lives and our rubber mouse over to the care of God as we understand God and rubber mice.

4. Made a searching and fearless moral inventory
of ourselves and our litter box.

5. Admitted to God, to our selves, and to another human being and/or feline the exact nature of our wrongs, such as inappropriate biting.

6. Were entirely ready to have God remove all these defects of character...including inappropriate 4am wrestling with other household felines.

7. Humbly asked God to remove our shortcomings....and our short cat-hairs from the kitchen counter.

8. Made a list of all persons and/or kitties we had harmed and
became willing to make amends to them all by bringing them dead bugs.

9. Made direct amends to such people and/or kitties wherever possible, except when to do so would injure them or others, like bringing them live, poisonous bugs.

10. Continued to take personal inventory and, when we were wrong, promptly admitted it, and be willing to stop eating the dried flower arrangements in the living room.

11. Sought through prayer and meditation and bags of kitty food to improve
our conscious contact with God, and our food bowls, as we understand God, and our food bowls, praying only for knowledge of God's will for us and the power to carry it out by using our food bowls.

12. Having had a spiritual awakening as a result of these steps, we tried to carry this message to others who still suffer, and to practice these principles in all our affairs and trips to the vet.

Please make checks payable to Kris or Will O'Connor...all donations are welcome. It only takes $600 a week for 4 weeks to see a kitty saved. You can be a part of that magical recovery. We are not an official non-profit, so therefore your donations are not tax-deductable...however, please do not let that dissuade you from donating.
We thank you for your prayers and good wishes for Boxter's recovery and our potential new hot tub.

:o)

-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Kristine Kratt-O'Connor

Automatic Climate Control problems - Subaru Outback H6 2001-2004 models

2005-01-11T07:58:00.000-06:00

Just in case anyone is having problems with their air conditioning, check this out. I had an RF modulator installed in my car so I could listen to my iPod (my Mcintosh stereo does not have a cassette deck). To make a long story short, the car stereo shop did a crappy installation job (didn’t put all the dash panels back correctly, left greasy paw prints everywhere, and now I find out they left something unhooked…glad this place went out of business!). This happened about 1 week after I bought my car, and the A/C never worked right ever since. I’m real glad I finally took the time to figure this out.

(keep in mind this only applies to auto climate control systems, not manual A/C)

If you are having symptoms like:
- Full blast heat in the morning (feels like Sahara desert wind coming out of the vents)
- Temperature keeps getting cooler even though it is cold outside and you want heat…it seems like it gets cooler the more you drive, pretty soon you are turning up the heat to 83-85 degrees just to keep warm
- You might get frost on the inside of the windshield close to the vents on a cold, humid day

The problem may be the aspirator tube (flexible hose) that reaches from the A/C head unit down to the evaporator box. It seems that when the stereo was removed to install the RF modulator, the hose was pulled off of the temperature sensor connector. Since the sensor is close to a heater vent under the dash, it is getting bad temp. readings. (ie on a cold day, the heater is blowing right on the sensor so it thinks the cab is getting too warm, then it kicks on the A/C to compensate, and the car will keep getting colder). The sensor is also mounted near the transmission “hump” so it picks up heat from the drivetrain, which overtakes the cold air blowing on it from the vent. So it is an easy fix, just locate the hose (it may have retracted a bit under the dash) and re-connect it to the sensor. I’ll post some pics or diagrams later. If this was helpful to you please post a comment.

Something weird to think about

2005-01-07T19:53:00.000-06:00

OK, this is a weird random thought. What if you suspended a long garden hose from a satellite in geostationary orbit down to earth. Wouldn't the pressure at sea level force air into the vacuum of space? we would surely die.

Subscribe to my blog - see link at bottom of page

2005-01-04T17:58:00.000-06:00

Please sign up for automatic email updates, the more people I can get to subscribe, the more often I will update this site (technically that should be the other way around, but give me a break!)
You can also get the RSS feed at http://willsrant.blogspot.com/atom.xml

Free Automotive Repair advice

2004-12-30T10:30:00.000-06:00

The internet is all about sharing knowledge, right? Well here is my little contribution. I have 15 years of work experience in the automotive industry, 5 years at a nation-wide repair shop and now 10 years in a full service fleet leasing company (we handle everything from purchasing vehicles, maintenance, auction sales, etc). I have fairly comprehensive knowledge of everything to do with cars, and am well informed in the latest automotive trends and technologies. My knowledge extends from hot rods and 60's era muscle cars, all domestic and most import brands, to exotic and racing cars. Over the years I've owned GM & Ford products, Toyota, Nissan/Infiniti, and my current favorite cars are Subaru's. I drive a 2003 Ouback VDC wagon, and my wife has a 2003 Forester XS.

So, if you have any questions like:

1) what type of car to buy - send me a note with the makes/models you are considering and I can provide some feedback that may help you decide which way to go (factors like cost of maintenance, reliability, resale value, rebates, etc).
2) my car is in the shop for repairs- am I getting ripped off? I have a good idea what repairs should cost (parts and labor) and if the repairs are really necessary
3) DIY repair questions
4) Performance upgrades / tuning

Reply to this topic, or send me an email (email address is located at top left in the page title). Please be as specific as possible. I will post reply here in the blog in case anyone else has similar questions. Shoot me any auto question you can think of, if I don't know the answer I will at least try to point you in the right direction.

...Will

Best gift to give displaced San Franciscans

2004-12-22T17:09:00.000-06:00

My wife and I are San Francisco natives that were forced out by the dot com craze 4 years ago. (That still pisses me off, more ranting on that later...)
If you are looking for gifts to send to your ex Bay Area friends, look no further than Boudin Bakery.
It is nearly impossible to get good sourdough anywhere else in the country, and Boudin will ship loaves just about anywhere. You warm them in the oven and it tastes real fresh. My mother in law sent us a "subscription" where we get 2 loaves sent automatically every month. It doesn't cost too much and it is well worth it. Check it out!

Tivo Haiku

2004-12-15T16:02:00.000-06:00

Tivo

Friendly bouncing man
Greetings from digital realm
Please push buttons now

Harsh, cold, wet outside
Rainbow chest will keep you warm
Got blanket. blank stare

Time will waste away
You can not raise your body
Try hard as you may

Thumbs up, Thumbs down low
Silver box makes decision
Leaves present below

Why do we watch this
Programming always lacking
Anything worthwhile

Life is now wasted
Remember the big blue sky
Please turn off power
Lift me from this comfy couch

© 2004 Will O'Connor

Cell phones on airplanes - BAD IDEA

2004-12-15T13:29:00.000-06:00

Now we are hearing the FCC/FAA are thinking of approving cell phone usage in flight. I feel this is a lousy idea. Don't we all want peace and quiet on the plane? What if you are trying to sleep and you have to listen to some jackass corporate schlub making a business deal for 2 hours? Or the spousal spat? This could get real ugly. We keep hearing about road rage and in-flight incidents, and this could lead to more. Not to mention the security issue, do we really need better ways for terrorists to communicate with their crew on the ground, or worse yet, give them an easy way to chat with each other in different parts of the plane? I say leave phones off the plane, allowing usage while taxiing is fine, but once in the air shut them off. Now in-flight internet access would be great, nobody is going to complain about being able to send emails. Just keep away from the porn and respect other people's privacy!

Satellite iPod, here is what Apple needs to do...

2004-12-15T09:21:00.000-06:00

There is a rumor that Apple and Sirius satellite radio may be working together on a new iPod with satellite radio functionality. I sure hope this happens, because I am tired of FM radio (I won't even mention the names of the evil conglomerates that own all the radio waves) and want to get a sat. However I already use my iPod in my car and don't want to add another gadget to my dashboard. I am also an investor in Sirius, although I have not bought a receiver yet. I would buy a Sirius iPod in a heartbeat. (Note to Apple - please throw a cell phone in there too, or I am going to run out and spend money on the Treo 650 - which I would rather give to you)

Here is what I could envision with the Sirius iPod :

- Live updating playlists - as you listen the iPod could be recording the sat feed at the same time, much like a Tivo , so you could repeat the last song heard, jump back a few minutes in a talk show interview, etc. You could also see the song's ID tags to know the band, album name, etc.
- Flag a song for immediate download from sat (or if that is not possible, flag it for future download in iTunes). I can't imagine a better way to increase music sales, imagine being able to download that great song you just heard right away. I usually forget what songs I want to download by the time I get home.
- How about a short text description of the band, album, recent news of the artist, etc. Could be embedded in the song.
- iPod could remember what Sirius stations you like, what songs you liked (you could rate them while listening) and recommend songs by those artists or similar ones next time you sync up with iTunes.
- Schedule recordings, and be able to listen to songs stored on iPod's drive while it is recording something else (Tivo functionality again). Here we would need the iPod to wake itself in case you are asleep or away from the unit.

Anyway, I am sure there are many more ideas that I haven't thought about, but this could be a truly revolutionary product, and profits for both companies would be huge!! (hmmm....think Apple might want to buy Sirius? You heard it here first!)

Feel free to chime in with your thoughts, hopefully someone will read this!

Will