Maggie, waiting patiently
There is a squirrel in that tree, and Maggie is prepared to wait as long as it takes...
Jul 8
Nov 9
We had team lunch out at the Embarcadero Center yesterday, and on the way there I noticed that Microsoft had setup a tent for the launch of Windows Phone 7 Series (Phone). It didn't seem too heavily attended, and on the way back from lunch, my curiosity got the better of me, and I checked it out for a few minutes.
I touched a Windows Phone 7 Phone yesterday
In line with the reviews that I've read, Windows Phone 7 seems decent. Everything moved at top speed, even the browser. Speaking of which, I checked out PopSugar, and it rendered well. The browser supports pinch to zoom, as well as double-tap to zoom, and it was a much more refined and pleasant experience than the last time that I tried Android.
It didn't seem like San Francisco was turning out for Microsoft in a big way, however. Pretty much everybody I see here has either an iPhone, a Blackberry, or a Droid (pretty much in that order). So, I think the market is already fairly saturated, and will be tough for Microsoft to break in to.
But, we'll see how it goes.
-Andy.
Jul 2
Testing the iPhone 4's flash
I saw Toy Story 3 (again, but this time in 3D) with Kevin and Koji. After the lights went down, I decided to try out the flash on my new iPhone. It was surprisingly bright!
But alas, the resulting photo came out a little blurry...
Jul 2
Apple is popular at Best Buy
For taking up so little floor space, the Apple "store within a store" in a Bay Area Best Buy was surprisingly crowded. On the other side of the Macs were 4 iPads, and the whole time I was there they were always being used.
Amazing.
Jul 2
New milestone: rolled over 36,000 miles
My car will be 4 years old in October, and while running around last weekend I managed to capture the 36,000 mark, exactly:
Feb 7
Is it raining?
While watching the big game, we heard a noise outside, and thought it might be raining. It turns out, we were close:
Not sure the cause, but that fire hydrant is really going to town.
-Andy
Jan 17
Sometimes I miss DSL
It's raining in San Francisco this weekend, which wouldn't be a problem normally. However, when I got home last night after taking in a movie, I found that my Comcast cable Internet connection was dead. After doing troubleshooting with a Comcast tech, it was determined that somebody needs to come on site in order to fix it (probably some rain water that got somewhere it wasn't supposed to).
Next available appointment? Tuesday between 1 and 3 PM. That's a long time to go without Internet, but luckily I have a backup:
That is a Verizon USB modem, attached to a USB hub, attatched to my iMac. Good enough to surf the web, but not to watch streaming video.
-Andy
Dec 22
At least somebody got some sleep last night
Sometime in the wee hours, I was awoken by some sort of strange alarm. I confirmed that it wasn't coming from my apartment, and hoped that it would go away. When that proved futile, I dressed, and emerged grogilly, into the hallway. I was greeted with a smell that was decidedly not good, and it was clear that a smoke detector was going off in an apartment across the hall. Another resident of my building was already on the scene. I tried knocking, but couldn't raise the awareness of the apatment dweller. A call to the landlord went to voicemail. I managed to wake up the buildings' maintenance fellow, but he didn't have the key to the apartment in question. Nor were his loud knocks heard by the occupant. At this point, we assumed that the apartment was empty -- surely nobody could sleep through this. So, our next call was to the fire department. They came in short order, geared up, and ready for battle:
The first fireman tried knocking on the door, louder than all previous knocks. Still, nothing.
The smoke was definitely getting stronger. Finally, in a last-ditch effort before taking an axe to the door, two fireman simultaneously knocked on the door. Surprisingly, this worked, and the occupant awoke, and unlocked the door. Apparently this gentleman had put a frozen pizza in the oven, and promptly fell asleep. So asleep that even as he pizza burned, his apartment filled with smoke, his fire alarm blared, and his door was knocked, all failed to wake him. The fireman were efficient and professional. The occupant was evacuated from the apartment, and the smoldering pizza was ejected out he window, to the sidewalk below. And just as quickly as they came, they verified that everything was safe and sound, before they were off again, to save the city from the next pizza, gone rogue. -Andy
