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Monday - August 29, 2005

I Left My Heart in San Francisco

Scott and I are in San Francisco this week for a work-related conference. This is the 3rd year I've been, and we always have a good time. Later in the week, I'll try to post some pictures if we go anywhere interesting.

Posted by jcraven at 8:30 PM | Misc

Friday - August 26, 2005

MT 3.2 released

Six Apart has released Movable Type 3.2. The full announcement can be found here. I'll probably hold off on upgrading for at least a week or two just in case......

Posted by jcraven at 8:31 AM | Tech

Thursday - August 25, 2005

DirecTV's new non-TiVo DVR

Phillip Swann got his hands on one of the new R15 DIRECTV Plus DVR. This is the first non-TiVo DirecTV DVR that will come out in October. It's sad to see TiVo go, but I'm curious to see some of the new features.

Posted by jcraven at 12:23 PM | Tech | Television

xbox 360 available for preorder

EBGames is taking preorders for the xbox 360. Somehow I doubt Lara will let be drop $700 (plus tax) for the bundle though. I guess getting one free is my best bet.

UPDATE: Gamestop has their bundles ready too. Click here. Their top bundle is a whopping $1,200. OUCH

UPDATE UPDATE: Gamestop has also created a $2,000 Omega bundle. Do they really think all those games are going to be available at launch?

Posted by jcraven at 9:35 AM | Tech

Tuesday - August 23, 2005

Rescue Me picked up for a 3rd season

I always like to see my favorite shows get renewals. This time, it's Resue Me. Full story. If you haven't checked it out, go rent the Season 1 DVD. I think it's one of the best dramas on TV right now.

Posted by jcraven at 5:11 PM | Comments (1) | Television

Monday - August 22, 2005

Voodoo Knife Holder coming in Sept

I want one for Christmas. Full story, courtesy of Gizmodo.

Posted by jcraven at 4:34 PM | Comments (3) | Tech

Friday - August 19, 2005

Power Ranger faces murder charge

Weird.....

Orange County Superior Court Judge John Conley ordered 26-year-old Skylar Deleon, who once starred in the "Power Rangers" TV series, and his wife, 24-year-old Jennifer Henderson Deleon, to stand trial for the murders after a two-day preliminary hearing in Santa Ana, south of Los Angeles. Full story.

Posted by jcraven at 3:11 PM | Television

Thursday - August 18, 2005

Mystery solved

OK, if you are under 30, you have probably been wondering who that old guy is in the Chrysler commercials. Turns out it's Lee Iacocca. Now on paper, this might have seemed like a good idea, but I think there's a huge population of viewers that have no idea who he is. Apparently, others agree here and here.

Posted by jcraven at 8:35 AM | Television

Wednesday - August 17, 2005

Xbox 360 pricing released

Microsoft Corp. said its next-generation Xbox 360 game console would cost $299 to $399 when the device is launched this holiday season.

The $299 version will come with a wired controller, but will not have the 20-gigabyte hard-disc drive, wireless controller, headset, Ethernet cable and wireless television remote control included in the $399 version.

source: LA Times

Sign me up......

Posted by jcraven at 1:15 PM | Comments (1) | Tech

Elvis is alive!

This is both the saddest and funniest thing I've seen in a while. Elvis the cat was hit by a truck and lost the use of his rear legs. His owner built a robot device that allows Elvis to move around by pressing to different directional buttons. Video here.

Ok, so Dave pointed out it was an April fools joke, but the video is still funny damnit.

Posted by jcraven at 9:25 AM | Comments (1) | Tech

Monday - August 15, 2005

SanDisk USB SD Card

Now this is just freaking cool. Lifehacker has details about the new USB SD Card by Sandisk. Full story here. I may have to go out and buy a camera that uses SD cards, such as the Canon SD500.

Posted by jcraven at 10:57 AM | Tech

Friday - August 12, 2005

The votes are in

Big Brother (SPOILER WARNING) revealed the voting results from last week. Kaysar won an amazing 83% of the vote, so he's back in the house. I'm glad the rest of America finds Eric annoying too. Hopefully someone on that side of the house wins HOH, so they can put up Maggie and Ivette.....

Posted by jcraven at 9:28 AM | Television

Thursday - August 11, 2005

TiVo download service

engadget has screenshots of the beta version of TiVo download service here. Yet another feature I'll never see using my DirecTV unit, but still cool.....

Posted by jcraven at 4:01 PM | Television

Monday - August 8, 2005

Marino Inducted

Ariel pointed out that I forgot to mention this..... but this weekend Dan the man was inducted into the Hall of Fame. Check out the official page here. Not a huge surprise, but definitely a milestone.

Posted by jcraven at 10:38 AM | Comments (2) | Sports

Are you ready for some football?!??!

Tonight: 8:00PM on ABC

NFL Preseason Football : Chicago Bears vs. Miami Dolphins (Sports) Pro Football Hall of Fame game, from Canton, Ohio. CC Stereo (Live)HDTV

Woohoo!

Posted by jcraven at 10:30 AM | Sports

Friday - August 5, 2005

Vote now

OK, I admit it, I watch Big Brother on CBS. I feel dirty. Regardless, everybody needs to go out to the poll here, and vote for Kaysar so he can return to the show.

Posted by jcraven at 4:33 PM | Comments (1) | Television

NBC finally did something right

According to PVRBlog, NBC will resume airing shows for exactly 30 or 60 minutes. In the past year, they have had shows that start (or end) a couple minutes early (or late). This caused many headaches for the TiVo crowd, including myself. I'm glad they're finally listening to their viewers.

Posted by jcraven at 8:40 AM | Television

Thursday - August 4, 2005

Carnivore heaven

Last night, a group of coworkers and I went to a restaurant named Chamas in downtown Durham. I had never been there, or to any place quite like it. Chamas is one of several Churrascarias in the area. For the uninitiated, a Churrascaria is a restaurant that specializes in meat.

We started off the meal with a selection of goodies from the 30-item salad bar. Although quite tasty, this is not why you come to Chamas. When you're done with your salad, it's time to bring on the meat. Each diner has a little coaster with a green side and a red side. Flip the card over to green, and Gauchos carrying an assortment of meats will stop by to fill your plate. You can have as much or as little of any variety that you wish. Of course, since I do not eat beef, I stuck to the chicken and pork which were all fantastic. In addition to the the chicken, pork, and various cuts of beef, they also have lamb. But that's not all. They have these fantastic little dinner rolls filled with cheese. Also they include mashed potatoes, and fried bananas to cleanse your palate between the various meats.

Finally, don't forget to try their house special, a mixed drink called Caipirinha. They're even nice enough to include a recipe here. A couple of these will really get you in trouble.......

For a mere $24.95, you should definitely check this place out next time you're in the area.

Posted by jcraven at 9:03 AM | Food

Where to buy

On a related note, anybody know where to buy a decent bottle of cachaça in the US? I'm looking for price of $30 or less if possible.

Posted by jcraven at 9:00 AM | Comments (2) | Food

Wednesday - August 3, 2005

Now officially using Vonage

So it took over three months, but our home phone number has finally been ported over to Vonage. We seldom use our home phone, but I like to have the number to give out instead of our cell phones.

April 22, 2005 Letter of Authorization (LOA) Received
April 22, 2005 Transfer Sent to Carrier
August 1, 2005 Carrier Approved Transfer
August 2, 2005 Completed LNP Transfer

If you are interested in signing up, let me know. If you are referred, we each get a free month.

Posted by jcraven at 10:01 AM | Tech

Tuesday - August 2, 2005

Dukes of Hazzard mania

Since Dodge announced there are no plans to build a "General Lee" edition of the new 2006 Charger, these guys decided to build one themselves. Pretty cool, and it's nice and politically correct (sans confederate flag). Also for the guys that still own a '69 Charger, KBB reports the price has increased on the R/T version from $28,200 in January to $43,900 last month, a 56% increase.

Posted by jcraven at 11:08 AM | Movies & Music

Monday - August 1, 2005

Spring cleaning

Saturday, we spent most of the afternoon cleaning out the garage. You can see the amazing organization in the following two pictures.....

Posted by jcraven at 8:35 PM | Misc