del.icio.us

Yesterday one of the guys I work with was showing me how to configure Entourage in OS X, and he needed some instructions from a webpage he knew existed.
He pulled up a browser window, typed in http://del.icio.us/hisname/ and was presented with a list of his bookmarks from which he selected the site he needed and we were done.

How strange to do that rather than go straight to Google?!

I'd heard of del.icio.us but never really thought about using it. Like most things online, I generally hold back until I'm shown something that impresses me, and yesterday was the turn of del.icio.us.

I signed up today, and have begun bookmarking my life:
http://del.icio.us/bendalziel/

I instantly installed the Firefox plug-in which makes everything so easy. It's such a clever idea; a way to explore the web without searching, a way to always have access to your bookmarks, another way to remotely hold data you need, another step towards the future of the net. It's a way to remember useful google search results I guess, and that's a good thing. I think I'm going to enjoy using it.

I always get the feeling though, that these applications should be interlinked. In a perfect world, I just want a single online identity, just one avitar, just one set of information. I'm fed up signing up to new communities and inputting the same data all the time. I want my Facebook, MySpace, Flickr, YouTube, Bebo, del.icio.us, gmail, calendar, hotmail, webmail etc. to have a single me. I'm fed up signing in. Would it be possible to establish an online framework into which these communities, applications and tools could plug-in? I know it's not good for the industry, but I love google because from one sign-in I get a personalised homepage, email, calendar, documents... The list is growing. I have such a rich online experience, I want it to be centered on me. RSS is helping, and I love my personalised homepage, but its too much work!

I want my blog to allow me to upload presentations and papers on the day I give them or hand them in; better still, I want them to link to the document so that I can edit it online. Thinking about it, I probably can...

I'm reluctant to buy a new USB memory pen because pretty soon I'm hoping I won't ever have to move anything around on it. Everything should be stored remotely and be accessible anywhere. This is probably going to happen faster in San Francisco as Google makes the city wireless. Thinking forward to Vista, there is so much I'd change about the file system of XP, I hope they've nailed it. There's no need to have a "My Pictures" folder - we have Flickr. "My Videos" - YouTube. "My Documents" - Google Documents and Spreadsheets. Bookmarks - del-icio-us. The other stuff will soon go onto remote web space. There has to be an easy way to make money out of this big transition. I'll let you know when I have the million $ idea.

It'd be really nice to have Picassa online. Somewhere to put your pics straight from the camera, store the original, but then save off edited versions, again remotely. I've got loads of photos I want to put online but they're at home and I don't have the tools to edit them here. That sentence shouldn't be happening.

Post-thanksgiving fun

Friday
When we got back to Encinitas on Friday, we took a little time out; I played basketball, we checked emails etc. but Madeline couldn't wait very long before we made our way over to Don and Edith's house. She's incredibly close to her grandparents; so long periods away from them are not a good thing.

We hung out at their house for a little while, chatting and drinking combo, before the time came to bring them back home for a family meal. Greg barbequed some tri-tip, which was accompanied by broccoli, jacket potatoes and salad. Madeline made some cookies and Greg took Don and Edith home. We tried to watch the new pixar film, "Cars" but we all slept through it. Lovely to have a good nights sleep, although the bed looked tiny compared to our Cal King!

Saturday
Lazy morning followed by compulsory trip to Gap outlet. Madeline, Emilie and Kathleen stocked up on fitness clothing and I got some new jeans. Big success. We had planned to go for a hike/meal in the afternoon but time was against us so we settled for just the hike. Beautiful lagoon-side hike, still sunny and ample photo opportunities.

We got so carried away with the camera we nearly missed the sun set. Only caught it from a distance, but still...

Emilie and Kathleen had raced off ahead of us with margaritas in their sights but as the saying goes, more haste less speed. They didn't manage to make their way over the road, never found the beach, couldn't get up to the bar, stepped in the stinking, festering lagoon water and were literally shit on. We don't know what the offending bird was because Kathleen was technically blind, (only sunglasses-too dark) and thankfully Emilie wasn't looking up.
While all this was going on, Greg, Madeline and I were strolling along the beautiful beach taking photos and wondering where they had got to. We picked them up from the other side of the lagoon some time later. Margaritas made everything seem a lot better, and we made our way home.

Madeline had arranged to meet up with Lilly, Amy, and George etc. so the rest of us went in search of pool. Emilie forgot her ID so we fell back on Denny and Anne, (family friends) who have a HUGE house with an amazing pool table! Denny cracked open the drinks, we played cards and were encouraged to go whale watching!

Another day over, we went back home, I met Amy, we had cookies, and went to bed.

Sunday
We were invited to breakfast by Edith and Don, and met them at Coco's around 10am. Good food all round, the American's really know how to eat! The afternoon was reserved for the San Diego Chargers game, playing host to the Oakland Raiders. Chips and guacamole made for another enjoyable afternoon in front of the TV.

And then it was pretty much time to go to the airport. Trouble free flight home, although we missed Madeline's TV program! I did some work and then went to bed. Exhausted!

Thanksgiving

We're just about to sit down for dinner with Madeline's family and Grandparents so I'll just quickly outline the events over the past 3 days. Madeline, Emilie and I flew down on Wednesday evening from Oakland Airport into San Diego. Madeline doubted we'd ever make our flight at times, but we cruised it, making time for a beer and burrito before we flew. We tried to help Madeline with her Berkeley essay, but still more to do before the Dec 1st deadline. Nice flight, drinks and peanuts a bonus.

Met by Greg and Kathleen at San Diego airport, where we tucked straight into a packed lunch before striding onto Big Bear; three hours, 11:30pm arrival. The drive up to big bear is very long, very steep and very tiring. Met by the gathered family, good to see everyone again. Time to catch up before settling down for the night.
Thursday = Thanksgiving. Found out from Wikipedia on Tuesday that it's basically the European Harvest festival but Americanized, (like the spelling mom? :-).

Got up nice and early, (woken by Chris and Jamal) then the boys went fishing, leaving the women of the family to prep the feast. Fishing was amazing, obviously we didn’t catch anything but it was so picturesque, warm and sunny.

Gone Fishin'
On the drive back from fishing, as we were deciding how much we could lie about the quantity/size of our fictional catch, we caught the women strolling around the lake, so we parked up and joined them.

Big Bear Lake
Back to the cabin for bumper pool, Super Nintendo (so cool! I remember playing SNES with Neil Sullivan when I was 10), Pride and Prejudice and relaxing. Thanksgiving food was brought out to the table; we gave thanks, and got stuck in.

After some pumpkin pie, we all headed down to a local school for the annual football game. The whole family got involved, including Madeline's 80 year old grandma who featured in one of the key plays leading to our victory! On the drive back, we spotted the sky turning orange, pulled into the side of the road and had an impromptu photo competition.

Sunset over the lake
As the evening set in, the competitiveness continued with a game of Pictionary; quite possibly the most frantic/disorganized/chaotic game I’ve ever witnessed.
This morning was a little more relaxed as a jigsaw took shape. I played with Chris and Jamal, we had some turkey soup and cleaned the cabin.

Chris

Greg Sweeping the Roof
The ride home was cramped but lifted by a visit to El Pollo Loco, (Mexican food). I played a little basketball, then Madeline and I went to see Edith and Don before bringing them back for dinner, and here we are! Mum, I’ll look into the Student loan, I hope everyone is well. Paddy/Tickle, we’re so excited!

Birthday weekend

Friday, we went to a bar to play pool, a local tried to get in a fight with me, I was beaten at pool, we came home and went to bed.
Saturday, we went to Treasure Island to take some photos:

Madeline had her hair cut, badly, and we went to Palo Alto. Grabbed some food as a warm up for the Stanford vs. Northwestern game, turned up to the game to discover it was on Friday night. Disappointment all round, miserable drive home via Ikea to lighten the mood. Met up with Emilie and Kelly in North beach, drinking, pool, fun. Attempt to go to Lesbian night at the Cat club, but too late and expensive.

Sunday, we didn't do very much. I played with photos, Madeline read, we shopped and then I cooked a stir fry. We've had better weekends...

Yesterday, (Tuesday) I went for a Korean BBQ with the guys for work which was lovely. It turned out to be a nice day so I spent a couple of hours at the beach unwinding, taking some photos and generally enjoying not doing anything productive. Madeline had a friend in town so went for drinks, and I worked on my programming assignment which is going well.

We fly out of Oakland tonight for a few days in Encinitas/Big Bear for thanksgiving. Back on Sunday to resume life in the fast lane!

New Wok!

I'll do a weekend blog on Monday sometime, but for now I'll report on the overwhelming success of my new wok (from Ikea on Saturday)/cookbook (from Melanie for my Birthday combo.
We went for the first recipe from the 'poultry' chapter which was Chicken and Black Bean something or other. We shopped for ingredients this morning and were pretty successful with the exception of the elusive and disconcertingly vaguely named "Chinese 5 Spice".
This is what went in it, (click the picture to see it bigger, with notes).

And it looked a little like this:

Tasted amazing, although the beans needed a little longer, and the ginger wasn't as finely sliced as it probably should have been, resulting in a Russian Roulette type situation with similar looking slices of onion. So big success all round; thank you Mel!

22

Yesterday was my birthday. First off a big thank you for all the cards, facebook/myspace messages and emails; a real delight to receive, especially when it was such a hectic day.

I was in work at 8am until I met with my professor at 12:20. Following guidance from him, I spent the afternoon in the Library preparing a demo for a presentation I would give later in the evening. I had class from 4-7, gave my presentation, got positive feedback, and went for a very quick beer with my programming team at Chevy’s. Back to class from 7-9:30pm where we had a number of talks on different algorithms, of particular interest was the talk on genetic algorithms.

Then I drove home, and stumbled into the house completely drained and very hungry! I hadn't seen Madeline all day and was yet to open any presents, but it was worth the wait. Madeline had prepared a lovely meal, and had my present laid out on the table...a scrabble board spelling out the words "Stanford B'Ball Tickets"!!! There was a little confusion as I misread it as Stanford Ball tickets, which would have been a little disappointing, but after clarification, euphoria set in!

So this Saturday, we're going down to Palo Alto to watch Stanford host Northwestern. It's an evening 'tip-off' so we're hoping to sneak a little Thai food in either pre or post. Best thing ever! I don't like to go on about it, in fairness it's a little embarrassing, but check out the Stanford Men's Basketball website, and think about any premier sports teams in Durham. How much cooler would Grey rugby be with press conferences?!

So for my birthday, I decided it was time to replace my dead camera, to make these entries more visually appealing. Although it should be here by Thursday, I’m not holding out much hope because of Amazon.com payment issues. Should it ever arrive, I will be the proud owner of a Panasonic DMC-FZ7!

It's nice to have had an afternoon with little else to do but pen a blog. I had lunch on a bench in the quad, sat in the warming sun, listening to the Ricky Gervais podcast and watching humming birds dart around. Yesterday I fell asleep on a different bench but in a similar situation. That takes my "locations I've fallen asleep in, on campus" up to 3: the J Paul Leonard Library, the Ceasar Charves Student Center and a bench in the quad. I wonder where the 4th may be...

I'm going to do some revision for a biology exam I have tomorrow, then go to a class from 5-7 and then home. Hope eveyone is well. Ben x

Midterms, Caffine and "Rugby"

It's been a while, so I'll quickly recap on some of the goings on in our “exciting” lives!

Two weekends ago, (3rd-5th Nov) I was deep into midterm stress, and Madeline was preparing for the GRE. The GRE is the exam I took earlier in the year, in London as part of my application process, and with Madeline applying to Berkeley and SFSU, she has to take it as well. We spent almost the whole weekend on a Starbucks 'bar' crawl, studying, drinking coffee/chai tea and soaking up the Star-B's lifestyle. It turned out to be an awesome weekend, both productive and relaxing. We love sitting at a table in the window, and watching the busy city rush by, particularly in the early evening. It’s one of the real highlights of city living, which never fails to fill me with delight. It’s like we’re in Central Perk, but in San Francisco...and without the big park...or Gunther...

The following Tuesday I had to give a presentation on Computational Complexity, Madeline did the GRE on Wednesday and I had my big Biology midterm on Thursday. Solid week.

We started last weekend with a fairly hardcore drinking session on Friday night. Madeline and I headed out to play pool, try some different bars and just unwind after what had been a busy week for us both. We made friends with an English bar manager at our local, found a band playing in a bar/launderette, and kicked some ass in doubles pool with a random couple.
Saturday morning was one of the lowest points in my life. I think it must have been a bad pint, because I felt as close to death as I ever have. Sleep saved me from some of the pain, but when we finally woke up, I found I was an hour late for the trial match I was meant to be playing in for Berkeley on Treasure Island. A quick bagel and milk breakfast saw me arrive 'ready' to play in the third half. Apparently I scored Berkeley's 100th ever try, but other than that I left despondent with Rugby, deciding to hang up my boots for a little while - they played me on the wing which was the final straw. It's a completely different game to what I enjoy, and what I'm used to. It's slow, physical and unintelligent rugby. Pretty much all the backs moves aim directly towards the break down which we've just come from, to speed up the awkward period in between rucking, (badly) or malling, before ultimately rucking. The American guys who are new(ish) to the game are all like Army Alex in the freshers trial match. Loud, aggressive and mildly inappropriate. Their American Football background is reflected in their inability to remain calm when contact training is mentioned in training, and the whole squad is taking it more seriously than an NFL team in the build up to a Super Bowl. This is pre-season, (it starts in January/February sometime) and on Monday they met for a video analysis of the pitiful display of rugby we'd tragically been a part of on Saturday. As a coach, I'd be trying to forget it ever happened, not freeze framing every slow phase and terrible running line/support/lack of it.
A final note on rugby before I bring this rant to a close and feel a little better, is that there seems to be a bit of a discipline problem. Not a Charles getting sent off in the Flood-lit cup kind of problem, more a, "I really can't cope with all this physicality without getting a little bit hurt and lashing out" problem. The controlled discipline of rugby and how to cause pain without being sent off are foreign concepts here.
There are some great guys, some very talented individuals, and some great intentions, but I'm not enjoying it enough to make it a worthwhile commitment. I guess what I'm trying to say is that it's not GCRFC, and that will forever lead to disappointment with rugby in the future.

This week is the final week before a well-earned thanksgiving break. We're both exhausted and eager to relax with Madeline's family for a few days. We fly down on Wednesday, take a day in the family cabin up in Big Bear, and fly back up over the weekend sometime. Lovely!