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Monday Personal Notes

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• I went to the High Museum of Art in downtown Atlanta on Saturday morning and really enjoyed myself. I got to spend some quality time admiring the work of folk artist and Reverend Howard Finster. The Reverend made over 40,000 pieces of art - totally kitch and lots of colors - with inline dreams and prayers to God. See portrait of Elvis, United States map and trumpet angel.
• Speaking of art... The first video chain letter!
• I danced my face off on Saturday night with Jesse and Dalas Verdugo's little sister, Stacey. We danced so crazy and so hard for so long - I am talking soaked undergarments and total exhaustion the next morning. I need to get out more. It was a lot of fun, and thanks to Jesse who convinced me to make the drive to Athens.
• BOLLYWOOD - Starting at about 0:50:00 into Hum Dil De Chucke Sanam -- what an amazing dance scene! I watched this three times, back to back - really fast and really beautiful.
• Just as I enjoy Bollywood movies, my friend Derek likes Mexican TV shows (he has a good excuse - his Columbian girlfriend watches Spanish TV all of the time). He told me about this show called "Pretty Little Rich Girl" that sounded neat.
• Had a nice chat with a WFU student (Class of 2006, check out Groupvine) who really enjoyed the Center for Undergraduate Entrepreneurship that Page West is running. He raved about the resources, the space (open 24H), etc. Really cool to see that things are developing there.
• Prediction: Match.com to buy Vimeo or another video-sharing website to integrate moving picture community into profitable dating market. (This prediction stems from my belief that YouTube and Vimeo will have trouble being profitable, and my other belief that dating sites really need body language!)
• A customer made a suggestion at work that we do something for our brochures... "Take a picture of your small products next to a common item for reference - like a cigarette." -- How retro!
• How long has it been since you last got sick? (For example, a cold or a sinus infection. A partially-stuffy nose does not count if you have allergies.) I might start counting - I think I have been healthy for about six weeks straight.

Monday Personal Notes

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• definition of a Fanatic: A person who redoubles his effort after having lost his direction. via
• Here is a video clip of me walking around at work Friday afternoon.
• Do you know anyone who has actually owned an older model (ie early 1990's) Jaguar automobile? Everybody knows that they have terrible service history, but I want to hear from someone first hand.
  
• The internet is becoming much more human for me in 2006 - something that I have been thinking about. I use the web less and less for business and more and more for personal relationships. I have always used the web for personal relationships, but this year the personal relationships seem much richer. I think it started with Skype - I had some great weekend afternoons hanging out with Kevin in Guangzhou, China last summer. Now I crave services like Vimeo, Flickr and Bloglines to keep contact with my distant and new friends. Vimeo has especially opened my eyes to this. Watching someone in front of a camera builds a much bigger bond. I think it has to do with body language.
• I saw this Ralph Waldo Emerson quote on-line somewhere...

  Though we travel the world over to find the beautiful, we must carry it with us, or we find it not.

• BOLLYWOOD movie reviews...
  Aur Piyar Ho Gaya was Aishwarya Rai's first Hindi movie. She looks AMAZING in this movie - most attractive Bollywood female lead that I have ever seen. Great opening dance scene and funny relationship between her, her dad and her grandparents. Aishwarya travels to Switzerland to meet her arranged-marriage groom in disguise. Etc etc etc.
  
  Hum Tum was a recent movie - 2004 - about a cartoonist who falls in love with a girl but is too stubborn to admit his love. It was very romantic - I especially liked the song during their layover in Amsterdam. You would be amazed how much a Bollywood couple can accomplish during a six hour layover in Amsterdam - they went to museums, rented bicycles, took a boat ride, etc.
  
  I also rented another Telegu movie called Nee Manasu Naaku Telesu. Within the first few moments I could tell this movie was different - there was three times as much littering as usual! The lead character was on a train ride and he threw out the window two water bottles and an empty bag of chips. Gross. Otherwise cute, I didn't finish it - the songs were choppy and hearing Telegu wasn't helping my meager Hindi practice.

Monday Personal Notes

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• Last week was very productive at the office. I even got in about five or six hours of relaxing, creative design work yesterday afternoon (Sunday).
• Some songs I have been digging, in no particular order... Kaal - Tauba Tauba, Chris Brown - Yo (Excuse Me Miss), Cat Power - The Moon, Mattafix - Big City Life, Parineeta - Piyu Bole and Avril Lavigne - Knockin' on Heaven's Door.
• BOLLYWOOD movie reviews... Parineeta was GREAT. Probably my second or third favorite movie after Bombay, Swades and Pardes. You've got to check out the song Piyu Bole from Parineeta - you can download it from my website. Kaisi Paheli Zindagaani was also a great song from this movie. Indians write great movies - I am hooked.
• I also rented two other BOLLYWOOD movies - actually, one of them was in Telegu (at Rama's suggestion) and I watched my first Tollywood movie. It was interesting - now I know what people from Hydrabad look like. (Is that Racist?) The other movie was early Shah Rukh Khan, some of it was funny, no good dance sequences to speak of - I have only watched the first hour or two. Note to self - rent the movie Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge.
• Lost on Location: Behind the Scenes of 'Lost in Translation' -- this is really worth renting. I enjoyed it - **** out of **** for a DVD featurette.
• Speaking of Sofia Coppola, keep an eye out for the movie Marie-Antoinette -- it is in post-production now. Here is the trailer.
• Australian slang... arvo = evening, dag yo = cool, have a root = have sex (via Jess via Zach). Any others?
• Might be cutting my hair soon.
• Vimeo is fun - check me out in the developing Jess James featurette, Batman Project Part 2. I also make a cameo appearance in How to Sit on a Couch featuring Greg Case.
• Dreams scale well.

Samsung Pocket Imager SP-P300ME

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I saw the Samsung Pocket Imager (SPP300ME) at the 2006 Consumer Electronics Show. As with the Mitsubishi PK-10 Pocket Projector, these small projectors really interest me. Here are some pictures and notes I have found about the device.

• Size: 127mm x 93mm x 50mm
• Weight: 700g
• Inputs: SVGA, Composite Video
• Battery Power: 2.5 hours
• Display Device: 0.55" DMD
• Brightness: 25 ANSI Lumen
• Contrast Ratio: > 1000:1
• Light Source: LEG (R, G, B)
• Resolution: 800x600
• Lamp Life: > 10,000 hours
• Scan System: Progressive
• Focus Range: 0.4 - 3.0m
• Throw Ratio: 2.0
• Image Size: 12" - 63"
• Fan Noise: < 30dB

This comparison chart was in a PowerPoint slideshow compiled by Samsung for 2006 CES.

	Samsung SPP300ME	Mitsubishi PK-10	Epson EMP-750	Toshiba ??
Dimensions	127x93X50	123x97x47	276x193x70	130x100x67
Volume (mm^3)	590,550	560,757	568,560	871,000
Weight	700g	450g	500g	550g
Resolution	SVGA	SVGA	SVGA	SVGA
Brightness	25 ANSI lm	250 lux (17 lm)	> 20 lm	300 lux
Contrast Ratio	1000:1	300:1	?	1500:1

This bite-sized small projector is not yet available to purchase.

To my IT friends

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This post is dedicated to all of my computer-savvy friends across the globe (if you read my blog, you know who you are). You and I know what it is like to help people in our offices when they have computer problems.

People ask us about internet problems, spreadsheet formulas, printer issues and page margins. Without our help, business would resort to the old-fashioned way. Or, worse yet, users would click themselves in circles and waste hours of valuable time.

You and I keep things in our small office running. It is a thankless task that many take for granted, except for me. Thank you.

Monday Personal Notes

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• Last Thursday I went to the Atlanta airport to help my grandparents change gates and take them to lunch during a long layover. My grandfather is legally blind and my grandmother is losing her memory. Watching over senior citizens - even for a short period of time in the airport - was very hard work in a dynamic environment like an airport terminal. It reminded me of being with a very drunk friend in college, how you have to watch and make sure that they don't get into any sort of trouble despite their good intentions. My Aunt Cathy must work pretty hard to keep them well at home in New York state.
• Later that day I took a nap in my car. I guess some people do this a lot. I had never done it before. It was great.
• Did you know that strawberries have more Vitamin C than oranges?
• Hindi movie reviews... First- the underdog, Shaadi Ka Laddoo. This means "The Wedding of Larry" in English. It was good, a little slutty but it had two great songs. The opening sequence was one of them - great use of 'toon animation. Next, Dhadkan. It was very different from other Bollywood movies - it felt trashier and more like a soap opera. The songs, the over use of close-ups, the spotlight monologues. I fast-forwarded through a lot of this 4-hour movie and it worked out to a great one hour. Don't miss Chapter 14 and 17. Mahima Chaudhry is really beautiful in these movies. Next movie - Dil-Se, which means "With all my Heart", had amazing scenery from North India hill stations. But the subtitles were bad, so the movie was pretty confusing for me. Finally, Gadar: Ek Prem Katha... This cute Muslim girl got the mess beat out of her by Sikhs and Hindus at the very beginning. I had a hard time following this film but would like to watch it again another day.
• Speaking of Bollywood... Bitter Bollywood Fued Ending featuring Viveik Oberoi and Ashwarya Rai. Oberoi comes from a very wealthy Indian family, and Rai is the most famous female movie star in all of Bollywood history.

  Rai is a superstar in India. She has made more than 30 movies, served on the Cannes Film Festival jury and features in international ad campaigns for leading jewelry, cosmetic and cola companies.
  
  The break up has not hit Oberoi too hard. He has begun working out and has lost eight kilograms (18 pounds) since the romance ended, the Hindustan Times reported.

• I am so addicted to Flickr - I was logging in four or five times per day - that I have given it up for one week. I had to announce it, otherwise I would cave it. This was encouraged by Zach's bet with Kunal to not watch TV; Zach hasn't watched TV in three or four weeks and played chess all through the Super Bowl last night. Inspiring stuff.
• Work is going really well, I just need to focus a bit more this week.
• Jess James and I just finished a little Vimeo dialogue experiment. She lives in Sydney and I live in Atlanta. See for yourself - Jess and Nick's Batman Project.