Andrei couldn't resist adding to it and sends in the addition of the 5lb burger + toppings in 30 mins entry.

Lastly the find on AHamburgerToday, the Grizzlie Burger. A burger wrapped in Krispy Kreme donuts. Oh my. What a wonderful breakfast to think about.

I did find this today though, an article on MSNBC about the current trend of crime investigation TV shows and how unrealistic they are.

I've had numerous conversations with people about how much I can't stand some portions of the CSI series. I'm not talking about the fake science and ease with which they do everything, it's the next step that annoys me more. The fact that the CSI investigators are working like the police detectives, running around to stop a crime before it happens, bursting into buildings unprotected etc etc. I can live with the fake science, but come on! Over the next channel we've got Law & Order that shows the CSI persona to part of the investigative crew, not the primary investigator.

Okay ranting done. Now back to everything else.

What we agree on, the bread. It's a more yeast styled, soft bread. Clearly not a pastry bread.

What we don't agree on, the shape and fillings. In my northeastern US world, the filling is a poppyseed roll, while his Texas roots claims it can be fruits as well.

Thanks to the US Postal service and my parents, a shipment of kolachi arrived last night. I brought in a bit of one roll for my coworker to try. He liked it, but claimed it wasn't kolachi. His look more like a donut/danish filled in the middle, while mine is more a long roll.

Our resident Russian coworker was brought in to mediate this battle today, and he agreed that what I brought in is in fact a kalachi (note he corrected my spelling of it). He even thought this was an excellent version of it, despite it being a grocery made.

The argument has now moved into the proper spelling while completely bringing productivity to a halt. Not that the holidays didn't already do that.

It's interesting how mis-information gets spread though. On the mountain the rumor was two of the climbers had been found alive. Getting down we discover one helo thought they saw two but it turned out not to be true. :-(

More later.

I think the owner was slightly embarrassed about owning it too that or Microsoft really skimped on some features for it. He was using the trademark white earbuds from an iPod with the system, and I know that's not because they're comfortable.

I asked if he's "squirted" music to anyone yet to discover he's found a distinct lack of Zune-ige in the area. He's been a bit disappointed by the inability to utilize that feature. This seems to ring true with an article recently on news.com.

It's that time of year again; Santa Con. This year was another excellent year with a only minor amounts of chaos included. No firecrackers that I know of, and all bars were able to handle the entire crowd of Santa's (from what I could tell).

Highlights for the day's events included the reindeer games, the botched Santa takes a Christmas boat journey (only a few got on the boats), and the disorganized chaos that came later. A couple of infidels tried to subvert the route, creating splinter cells of Santas.

It was a long day of drinking and I had to leave before many of the really crazy antics started up. Ahh well. Good memories none the less. Can't wait for next year!

Update: Helps to include the image. Oh and here are a few more galleries...

http://scotist.com/caco/santacon/Site/santacon.html
http://leler.com/gallery/v/santa06/

I don't find the culture to be that exciting, demanding, challenging, or enlightened. In fact I find it to be exactly opposite of what the silly "values" card and training give you. I can sum up the experience so far as: "Run to the beach, find a spot, dig your hole, build a wall, and defend against all costs. If needed, dig further."

The rest of the story makes it sound like these folks had never worked at another company. I find it hard to believe they're as clueless as portrayed.

Worth a read, if not for the tidbits that have confirmed my findings. There is nothing here job wise in the tech field, and that is sad. :-(

The Apple rep is pushing the purchase of new RAM in the form of one 512 or 2 256 sticks. Having had one of these machines in the past I know that little things make a huge difference with it, like matching the RAM provided a noticable speed change. More importantly though, as the couple was trying to figure out if they could afford upgrading it, I remembered I've got a 256 MB module at home. I offer it to them free of charge with a little convincing that I really don't need it. In exchange they're to do something nice for someone else.

Later that night at the Los Straitjackets concert, I was given two tickets free of charge by someone outside the venue. Apparently he bought a bunch of tickets and wasn't able to attend the show, and just gave me the tickets. Very cool. I enjoyed the show.

In August I took part in a week+ long sea kayak adventure trip off of Vancouver Island in Canada. Essentially we camped out under the darkest nights I've ever seen, paddled our way around the islands, and saw some amazing vistas. The water was slightly chilly, but overall it was quite nice. The nightly food was excellent, the trip guides did an amazing job on this end.

Oddly enough, no matter how much kayaking you do, it doesn't seem to prepare you for the impact a full loaded touring kayak will have on you. When it takes 8-10 people to lift a kayak (vs the normal 2), it suddenly sinks in. It also happened to be the first time I've ever felt really small in a kayak. Cruise ships passed by, dwarfing our little assembly of boats, while leaving behind a wake that would toss and turn many of us. I enjoyed steering right into these.

We saw a few killer whales from a distance, none up close. A lot of dolphins, seals, eagles, and deer as well. Most of which never got caught on camera due to their speed and short appearance times.

All in all, if you're looking for a pretty awesome vacation adventure trip, I do suggest checking one of these out. The outfit I traveled with Sea Kayak Adventures has done a pretty amazing job of figuring out where to go, what to see, how to pack, and what to eat. They even brought happy hour wine in a box for us!

Some photos from the trip are at the Johnstone Strait gallery. Enjoy...

Unfortunately I couldn't make it out, but I still hope to see you guys in November. Happy sailing!

Apologies to Engadget for linking directly to their image.

Right now I should return to IOKit classes.

Earlier this summer the heat kicked up, a lot. Enough to make me purchase an in-room AC with a tube out the window kind of deal. Only issue with that has been my windows open similar to a door, they open from a side and wedge out. This sucks because no only can you not put an in window AC unit there, it becomes near impossible to put an in room AC unit in as well (the tube vent just blows back in).

Enter the wonderful world of Home Depot and Lexan plastic sheets. I bought a big piece of lexan and cut it to about my screen size. Meaning it should just slide into place. After that I cut out a section for the tube to blow outside and whammo, life is golden. One aspect of lexan I was not aware of is it's thermal expansion abilities. As it gets hot, it expands like crazy, and the faux window is now current wedged into the frame.

The issue has been it's hot, and despite my best senses I didn't buy the 10,000 BTU unit (which cost an extra $300). Instead I've got an 8,000 unit which is just barely keeping my 12'x12' bedroom cool. Some of this is probably because the venting tube is warm, some due to the lexan not retaining the thermal heat very well, but I'm sure some of it is due to the lack of BTUs on the AC unit. Damn.

In the mean time, I'll continue to stick to my desk. Kayaking adventure in a few days, last manic run for stuff today. Yippie!

It is possible to eat 8 lbs of blueberries in less than a week, and (more importantly) before they go bad.

This experiment's costs:
8lbs of blueberries = $5.