The Daily Zuck

Where do you draw the line between company loyalty and the ease of use or functionality of a competitor’s product?  This question has been coming up more and more recently—not explicitly, just through my everyday interactions with others.  It is especially of interest to me since the very nature of my work at Microsoft as a “Technology Evangelist” is to share our technology with others.

What’s really cool about my job is I don’t just tell people “look, here is software that does something.”  I show people how to solve a problem or how to connect with others using our technology.  I show them what it does, how it works, why it is cool, and even the people that made it.  No other company ON THE PLANET is as transparent as Microsoft is in this respect.  And in the same token, I use what we make… of course, right?  My phone runs Windows Mobile 6.1—I do not have an iPhone.  My media player is a Zune—I’ve never even owned an iPod.  I could go on and on and bore you (My OS is Windows 7, Outlook runs my life, and Live Mesh is ridiculously awesome). 

But here is where things are getting tricky… My “decision engine” is Bing—it’s also my homepage because the pictures are peeerty, but when I’m looking for information I don’t rely just on Bing, I also use Google.  Why?  Because Google is a good search engine (for now) and sometimes finds the information I need that Bing does not.

	See what I mean?? Stellar choice for a homepage since the image changes daily. Note: it is optimized so you can search even before the image loads in case you’re on a slower connection… cool feature eh?
	This loads quickly, but seems almost childish in comparison.  Still, darn good search engine…

Now let’s cut to the meat of the issue… I feel like Microsoft has lost sight of what people want—notice I did not say the ENTERPRISE or the CONSUMER.  It’s people.  And since I have met many of the ‘Softies behind some of our coolest technologies, I am supremely confident we can do better.

First example: Microsoft Windows Live Messenger vs. Google Talk.

Ok this is just plain unacceptable.  First of all, Live Messenger automatically starts when Windows boots up.  I’ll let that slide since most IM clients have made that standard practice… it’s one of the first things I disable in the options. But worse than that, is the “Today” window on the left. I HATE pop-ups from websites… and I for sure do not need them from my programs.  Again, easily fixed in the options, but WHY force me to do this at all!?  If I wanted a portal, I’d go to a WEB SITE… like… MSN.  So back off with popups, ever.

It further infringes on my well being with more weird and unexplained frills than anything I’ve ever seen.  What the junk is up with all those icons at the bottom?!  Again, so unnecessary for an IM program.  Nor do I need to see an icon letting me know you’re giving to a charity, your status, AND what song you’re currently playing.  All I need is your status so I know if I can say “Hi, how’s life?” or proceed to the next friend.  Oh, also throw out the bottom advertisement (although I get why it’s there) and the ticker-style feed updating me as to what my “friends” have done lately.  And that brings up my final issue… who the heck are these friends in there?  Half of them come from email contacts, some from Live Spaces invitations, and some seem randomly in there.  Sure I probably accepted invitations at some point, but the fact that it comes from 200 different sources and I’m completely confused as to how to manage them…. NOT a good user experience.  And to be reminded I have an invitation by a banner on top, an email, and a live spaces message is OVER-kill.  At least delete the other notifications if you respond to one of them.  Long story short, I use messenger because I have friends on it and Yahoo! Messenger (one good move they’ve made, it interfaces with Yahoo!), but if I could avoid this program forever-and-ever, I would.

Now let’s see who has done it right.

Yes I know this is blurry, it’s just so you can’t start harassing my friends… you stalker you.

Right off the bat notice how simple this is… available contacts (green gem) all grouped on top, away contacts below that (yellow gem), and offline contacts below.  The search bar on top allows me to filter the names as necessary or it’s super easy to find someone by the pictures on the right.  Adding contacts is a piece of cake, no guesswork necessary.  AAAAND… no advertisements or links to 20,000 other Google services.

This has the USER in mind.  This has been DESIGNED to be clean.  This shows good judgment.  Is it simple beyond belief???  YOU BET.  Does it get the job done?  ABSOLUTELY.  And to boot, most of my friends have GMail which means they are at some point on GTalk wither they signed up for it or not… clever idea, Google.

Second Example: Microsoft Internet Explorer 8 vs. Google Chrome

This is a good time to note Microsoft is well aware we have stupidly long names for our products… but whatever, I had all but given up on our “branding” teams until “Bing.”  Anyway, back to browsers.  I’m not going to say that Chrome is really better than IE8.  But they have introduced a couple specific innovations that are making it a quick favorite of mine…

1) It makes excellent use of space… even the tabs on top are built into the window bar, and on my 13” screen, this is a welcome addition for more space to see actual web sites.

2) The homepage or new tab shows a list of most often opened web sites… WOW I never thought this would be a big deal since we have “favorite” bars, but this has been a welcomed feature.

3) It remembers my passwords for the 20 different social networking sites I am a member of.  Yes, IE8 does too… but it prompts me all the time about this in an intrusive way and rarely actually fills in the password until I click the password box manually.  Seriously, don’t offer to help any more if you’re going to be that lame.

4) Inline spell check… so as I type in GMail or Facebook chat, it is spell checking for me as I go.  Sweet.

And while IE8 does a great job with most websites and may be the “quickest” as some tests show (scroll to the case studies), it has disappointed me twice in rather major ways…

1) I tried selecting a seat on an airplane for a trip I had just purchased.  IE8 crashed every time, on multiple machines.  Firefox saved that day for me.

2) GMail sometimes goes into an infinite refresh loop upon loading in IE8… my own Grandmother showed me she had this issue.  She already had Chrome installed which turned into my first experience with the browser.  Funny how that quick experience now has me using it on my machine quite often.

These are just a couple examples of products that compete with Microsoft’s offering that I find rather attractive.  In the end, I probably still won’t be parading around with an iPhone and my decision engine of choice is Bing.  But, I have decided choosing a product blindly based upon brand loyalty (in my case, also my employer) is narrow-minded.  When there is such a disparity in product functionality, I have decided to use what works best for me.

KNOW THIS, however.  The program teams are insanely smart and the final product you see may not really be what they originally imagined or intended.  Microsoft is a business and sometimes the best product is not necessarily the most profitable (unfortunately).  So if they have to have an advertisement on Live Messenger in order to keep that team afloat, so be it. 

I just have the right, just like you, to choose another IM client.

That’s how my friend LT described the new Ducati Monster 1100… and I could not agree more.  See for yourself:

	From this angle, you can see the headlamp has been redesigned from the perfectly circular design to this angled oval.  It allows for a triple-arc lighting pattern that better illuminates the road ahead… it’s a win in my book both in styling and functionality. You also notice the rear view mirrors have a sort of antenna-like appearance.  I’m still on the fence on whether or not this looks cheap or futuristic.  It does complete the front appearance, so I’ll give it a pass for now.
	Here you can notice a few of my favorite elements.  First is the single-side swingarm rear tire assembly.  What does this mean?? The rear tire looks like it’s just floating as seen from the right side which is just downright SIIIICK and very “Ducati-esque.” You also can clearly see the trellis frame (the triangles tube part in the front).  This gives the bike its amazing rigidness and stability without sacrificing maneuverability.
	Last but not least, from the rear we see another of my favorite features… the dual canister exhaust (one on each side).  These have a low growl indicative of a Ducati but not overpowering. The rear taillight is also LED based which I like for its brightness.

One thing to keep in mind is that even though this bike has a 1100cc engine, it isn’t quite as powerful as a Japanese bike (liquid cooled, higher compression ratios, etc.).  It does have a good amount of torque that’s predictable at most of the gears—which I loved when I test rode it.  Now don’t get me wrong, it MOVES, but you don’t have to get the RPMs as high as some bikes.

Think of it as something in between a total cruiser like a Harley and a crotch-rocket superbike like a GSX-R.  It’s fast, incredibly nimble, high-tech, and let’s not forget gorgeous.  I like this even better than the Streetfighter.  Good job Italy… other than that whole leaning tower of Pisa thing, you guys are awesome designers!

Now one final question… if one were to get this “Monster” in bright red as shown (the quintessential Ducati color), what jacket goes best with it?

I like the look of the first one, but the patches aren’t my thing.  The second one has this super-stylish futuristic look that I feel would match the bike really well.  And lastly, we have the 80’s logo vintage style.  With a front and center logo, though, it seems a bit gaudy and trying too hard to say “hey look at me, I’m a Ducati jacket.”  What do you think?

I thought it was reserved for the senior citizens that can barely walk any more, but apparently hip surgery is not as uncommon as I expected for the younger crowd.  Well after over a year and a half of multiple opinions from orthopedic specialists, the ultimate recommendation was arthroscopic surgery to fix what they call “femoroacetabular impingement” and a torn labrum.  This pretty much means part of my femur has grown and restricts my leg from moving (painfully) and it probably caused the tearing of the cartilage that keeps everything in place without slipping out… kind of like a suction cup.

So I trekked back to Cincinnati to see the specialist that reconstructed my knee in 2006.  First of all, he did a GREAT job.  And second, the facility he works in was so much more personal and attentive than any place I visited in both Boston and Seattle—which surprised me since both of those cities are rather large and have excellent medical programs.  Also, my family lives here and since they expected 3 weeks on crutches… I wanted to be here in case I needed help.

Well I had the surgery on Monday, in fact this is the exact operation… not just a random clip of someone else, that’s MY hip you see here.  Crazy eh??

It turns out the labrum was not totally torn, it was very frayed though and there was a lot of scar tissue.  They removed what they could and did some other crazy things.  So time will tell if this was successful or not, but for now, I’m glad I did it just in case it did work.

More bad news, however…

I also have a distinctive circumference tear in my shoulder labrum (yep, same kind of cartilage as in my hip).  Luckily, this can also be treated with arthroscopic surgery and has a significantly higher rate of success.  The problem is I can’t do it until I’m off crutches which is weeks away.  So I have not yet decided if I will wait until I’m back in Seattle to do it, extend my trip here and do it, or come back here later in the Summer to do it.  Nothing sounds too appealing…. narf.

Soon enough, I’ll be back up to full-sports capability, and THAT will be exciting!

Some bloggers seem to start with grandiose aspirations of becoming either amazingly insightful or so highly relevant that everyone and their mother will check out what he or she has written.

Some bloggers write for themselves, a lethargic experience perhaps to let out some emotion with the notion that someone out there will read it.  Or no one, really doesn’t matter.

And some bloggers know that the internet is filled with absolute drivel and that they are just having a good time and do not mind contributing to the madness that is the world wide web.  Ahhh yes, that’s my category.

What credibility do I have?  What substantiates any of these claims?  Well, you could say that I blog professionally and therefore have some sort of experience with this topic.  True.  But, I maintain that this is all opinion… just about everything I write here is just a few crazy thoughts with some fun facts sprinkled in for good measure.  Add photo-stitched or opportunity driven photos, personal stories I probably shouldn’t share publicly, and outlandish shenanigans (at least outlandish for me)… and you have “The Daily Zuck.”  I have managed to stay true to my original goal “a probably not-daily, random, and totally interesting weblog.”

That last part, though, has caused me to wonder.  “Totally interesting,” you say?? Yes, yes I do.  But has it been interesting to you?  I’ve noticed myself doing a lot more product mentions recently (cars, motorcycles, gadgets, future concepts) than original writing… here are some good examples of my more original write-ups:

Moses was Superman all along!  The evidence is incontrovertible, go see for yourself.  Whacky?  Perhaps.  Awesome?  For sure.

And re-reading it always makes me smile.

Dinner Tables and Discussion Dynamics is an analysis that made me feel like John Nash when he realized how to approach game theory and reach the best outcomes using equilibriums.  I’m no Nash, but I at least drew pretty pictures for everyone…

Good Strategy or Deceptive Practices was my attempt at figuring out if Seattle gas stations are trying to fool us all, or are trying to help us.  Or maybe they really just don’t care and I’m over thinking this completely.

However with 6 comments on this post alone, I feel like it hit a chord with some people, so it snags a “best of” spot.

That was for you non-believers-who-haven’t-been-reading-my-archives (SHAME ON YOU!) to get a glimpse at the less product-oriented super-hype and more original and perhaps even insightful thought provoking pieces I have done.

With that, I’m curious to ask you avid readers: what has been your favorite?  AAAND, do you think I should switch platforms off of Windows Live Spaces (this blog’s current home).

Oooooh and I need a good closing tagline--like “Max out.”  Only better than that…

Ooooh my goodness… perhaps I’m a fickle fellow since my head is on a crazy swivel that just swings in any direction of anything pretty (cars, bikes, girls, etc.).  Good thing I keep my thoughts to myself most of the time… but anyway, i digress.

In this edition of “HOLY MEATBALLS THIS LOOKS AMAZING!” we have the Ducati Streetfighter set to debut this Spring:

Here we have it in red.  I usually don’t like red bikes as I feel they’re a bit flashy (wait, I guess all bikes are kind of flashy… right?), but this one just looks oh so right in this devil’s passion red.

Although the black one is pretty amazing and would probably be my choice…  Anyway, it’s a naked bike with an 1099cc engine putting out 155 hp.  That’s only like 20 shy of what my entire CAR puts out.  This equates to 0 to death in 2 seconds flat……… so if any of my enemies are reading this, feel free to buy me this one and I’ll be out in a hurry.

I really like these pictures… they’re available as wallpapers if you like.

I fancy the day in the future that I can just go out and get one without worrying about my finances.  OOOK here’s the deal!  Everyone go out and by frivolous things.  This will jumpstart the economy and in turn save your job if you’re company is having layoffs.  Clearly, this is the best idea ever.  Who’s with me!?!?

Oh yes that’s right, I did something pretty dumb.  I bought a drum set… BUT, in my defense, it’s awesome.  Take a look at the album!

View Full Album

This is one of those lifelong pursuits that I haven’t pursued lifelong.  It’s more one of those things that whenever I saw a kit in a friend’s room or the high school band area, I’d jump on it and play until they kicked me out.  Heck I used to play our drummer’s when I was in a Dave Matthews cover band in HS (laugh it up, yep) after everyone went to take a break.  They made sure to close the door—I was bad.

I’m still pretty bad, actually, but I’ve seen worse.  So I jumped in and started taking lessons a few months ago and have loved it… so much so that I now have this kit in my place. 

“A drum kit in your apartment!??! You’re crazy!”  Yep, but here’s the kicker… it’s electric!  The super cool part is that this kit has ultra-realistic drum heads made of a fine mesh material.  The pickups can tell the difference between hitting the snare drum in the center or towards the rim, or even a rim shot.  It’s that cool.  And of course it’s sensitive enough to tell how hard I am hitting it.  Even the bass drum is a real mesh head that utilizes the same bass kick pedal as an acoustic set (I went with the DW 5000 series for both the kick and hi-hat).

This is where the problem begins… real kick means real stomping which means despite its silent nature, it’s real noise transmitted DIRECTLY to the neighbor living below me.

As you can see the assembly process in the album above was a bit lengthy and I finished around 11:30pm the night I did so and eagerly jumped in with headphones on to play.  I didn’t realize my neighbor was banging on my door and my concierge was calling my cell.  Apparently they weren’t all that pleased….. oops!

Enter the concept of a drum riser… this was a project completed in one weekend out in Snoqualmie along with the man, the myth, the legend himself; my friend Jason.  He has a garage and most of the tools we needed… although he said I’m not a man until I have a drill, so I bought a corded one (his cordless would have run out of juice).  Why would it run out?  Oh, maybe it’s the LITERALLY FIFTY 1 3/4” holes we had to drill in two 5’ x 4’ pieces of plywood.  Hah.  Let’s just say having more torque and unlimited power was a worthy investment.

Here’s the end result:

Looks AWESOME… right?  It’s pretty much a HUGE shock absorber based on the concept of bouncy tennis balls… YES those are 25 tennis balls supporting the top pieces of plywood.  The balls fit in but not through the 50 holes I made in the plywood pieces.  I was amazed at how strong this is, easily supports the set, the plywood, and me.  The concept is simply to avoid having direct contact with the bass pedal and a surface that transmits sound through the floor.

Unfortunately, my downstairs neighbor claims he can still hear it.  Now, I went down to see if I could while he stayed up wailing away on the kit… and I heard nothing.  So either my ears are dead from all the drumming, or he’s Superman.  I’m leaning towards the latter since I’m only 25 and he’s in his 40s…. but that’s beside the point.  The point is, it’s still a work in progress.  Maybe I’ll add some foam or something?? Any ideas?

Meh, doesn’t matter… he’s cool.  He saw my Red Sox caps and told me he has season tickets to the Mariners and would take me to the Sox games…. SCORE!  Also, he’s flexible about the drumming and said as long as I’m done by 10pm, we’re good.  So overall, it seems having a kickass neighbor wins over any engineering project—but it was fun to build and I’m still going to try to deaden the sound.

So I had 20 emails this morning in my inbox from Microsoft friends saying “you’re on the homepage!”  (Thanks, friends).  Turns out our intranet homepage published a story about Channel 10.  Here’s a screenshot of the page (blurred out the other stuff because, well, not allowed to show it publicly).

The story MAY be released publicly, at which point, I will post here for those that care.  And for those that don’t.  Although if you don’t care, what are you doing here, anyway??!?

I was in Paris this past July with my EvNet colleagues and we had a chance to take a short tour of the city.  Of course, we embarrassed ourselves a little bit with our many MANY attempts to get the perfect “Crimes Against Gravity” shot.  (Yes I came up with that name, yes I know it rocks).

Here’s my favorite:

I think this was taken with Larry’s camera on a timer… either that or it’s two images spliced together using Photo Stitching (Larry really likes that capability as well).

That’s me on the left, Nic in the middle, and Larry trying to push Nic out of the way on the right.  That’s my team, cool eh?

Check it… ok so I probably should have taken more than the 5 or 6 photos I did to make it more full, but this came out pretty nicely.  Another notch on the Live Photo Stitch belt:

Check the title… enough said.  Until then, learn more:

I haven’t really jumped onto this whole netbook bandwagon… honestly I’m not all that interested in a tiny PC just to surf the web.  Or whatever.

But this is just one SLICK PC:

What caught my attention:

• It looks really cool… no, not just because it’s small and only 1.4 lbs, it LOOKS very well designed.
• It has a super-high resolution screen packed into an 8” size… (1600 x 768)… If that looks as good as I hope, then ROCK!
• Colors!  Ok, so I don’t care about the plural of that so much as the maroon one.  I like red/maroon if you haven’t noticed… my zune, my laptop, my backpack, and all those pictures I have redeye.
• GPS included, internet not needed (USA and Canada)
• 3G internet possible, but you’ll need a plan for that I’m sure

Point is, this is something I would actually consider using if I were a student or taking notes at meetings instead of the full fledged laptop.  Yes, I have fallen for a netbook.  Mark this day.

Oh, and when Windows 7 comes out, this is going to be sooo much sweeeeeeeter!

I’m usually closely watching the release of Windows Mobile phones, but I can’t resist sharing my enamor for the design of this little gem:

This is the Motorola Aura and it’s currently carrying a $2000 price tag, so you won’t see me rockin’ it anytime soon (and I’m a full QWERTY fan to be honest).

But all I have to say… is kudos to the designers.  The juxtaposition of a retro chromed out car with HAL comes to mind, and I dig it.

The colors over Times Square in this New York sunset were pretty amazing… so I made a quick stitch of it:

Pretty cool eh?  EEEH??

PS: make your own with Live Photo Gallery.

It’s just one block away… I’ve already gone twice… and got the same thing: Double ShackBurger, Unsalted Fries, Coke, and a Concrete Shake.

Don’t judge me!  I don’t live in NYC and am taking advantage ok?  Pretty much it’s a decent burger and fries, and a jolly good shake.  I give the ShackBurger a 6.6, the fries a 7, and the shakes an 8.  But the experience is pretty darn good, I give it a 9… despite it being on the expensive side of “fast” food.

Why you ask?  Because they have mastered the aesthetics.  The trays are metal and new-age looking, everyone’s shirts are fun and available for purchase (yep, I bought one), and the typography especially is just plain clean.  I love it when the details are all well thought out like this, and hope to one day be able to do the same in my own business—whatever it may be.

Just another one of my “it’s all about the experience” examples.  It matters more than you know!

PS: I took these pictures using a Canon SD770 IS… SICK camera.  Of note, however, is how incredibly fast using an SDHC III card is in transferring the pictures to my SSD based hard drive using a card reader in a Dell XPS 1330.  Yeah, I’m a PC.

It’s no secret that Audi is one of my favorite car brands… Porsche isn’t bad either, you know, if you’re into that whole “performance” and “good looking” sort of car, but no one likes that… obviously.

BMW has a history of making interesting motorcycles as well.  For example, most of their bikes use a drive-shaft instead of a belt or chain drive, pretty slick eh?

Well behold these shenanigans:

The projector headlights are pretty nice… some would even say, “urban” looking.  The tailpipes swooping up to the upper rear are also a nice touch, which is juuuuust high enough for a good lean angle.

It looks so symmetrical, I have to wonder if it rides really well with a great weight distribution… think BMW will give me a shot if I ask nicely?? Pretty please?

A single seat reinforces that this was made for style, and for you by yourself.  Then again, if you have enough money to buy it, obviously you don’t have a girlfriend or wife, because you have money, haha.

My day was pretty normal overall… I was in LA at PDC2008 wrapping things up.  Had a decent lunch, shot some video, played Rock Band 2 with a bunch of awesome nerds, and I even managed to catch an early flight home with Fillo.

Sweet.

I ended up going out with my friend Paul to get a bite and put my camera on the table.  I usually do this because in my back pocket, the camera is likely to be crushed and break the screen or lens.  You already know where this is going… yes, I left it on the table as I walked around to say hello to some friends.  Paul mentioned he noticed it and thought to put it in his pocket, although it remained just a happy thought rather than action.  A few minutes later, yes, it’s gone—but like I said, you knew that already.

What’s really ironic about this is that I removed the camera from my rear pocket as not to crush it.  I didn’t put it in my front pocket because that’s where my keys are, so clearly that would lead to scratches.  In the end, I would trade a horribly scratched casing or even a broken screen instead of it being gone altogether.

I’m still rather upset about it because I had pictures on there I haven’t copied and it was an expensive camera and even memory card.  But, I saw this and smiled briefly and thought I’d share it:

Silly penguin… trying to fly are we? HAH!

It all started when a contact of mine told me about a slick Entertainment and Devices event going on in NYC... I figured, sounds perfect for Channel 10 or Channel 8, so I booked it.  The bad news is it's clear across the country so that's quite the travel, the good news is my best friend lives there as do many of my friends from my Israel trip in January.  I'm glad I still keep in touch with a few of those guys... heck even last time I was here, I ended up on Ronny's couch for a couple nights.  Add into that my favorite "main character" from Boston moved up to NYC a little bit ago, and even my ex-girlfriend, and you have quite the mix of work by day and play by night.

I landed at JFK early... already a good start to the trip.  I hopped in the cab and told him to head into the city.  A few minutes into the ride, half joking I said to him "so you take credit cards?"  And to my surprise, he said "no!"  Pointing to the reason I was surprised I said to him, then what's this sucker right here for?

He told me "oh dat?? Um, it be broken."  I asked "so this green light means it doesn't work?" And he continued to blunder through by trying to make light of it saying "Ah yes, dat be broken all de time mon.  Tree dousand dolors and it nevah wohk."

Meh, whatever, if he wants the cash that badly then by all means I'll oblige.

(the picture is blurry because I didn't feel like having him question why I'm photographing the very object he just explained was broken and thus seem as if I'm questioning his honesty... so I turned off the flash, hit the button, and put it away)

I notice for the 43 millionth time that the driver is talking on his cell--mighty animated-like at that--to what I have to assume is another cab driver.  Because honestly, who else has the time to talk continuously the way they do??  I imagine if they got all tech-savvy, they have a conference call number they dial in whenever they feel like talking.  The cabby chat room sans-internet.... brilliant! 

Oh wait a minute, he's talking to me..... "I sorry mon where you be goin again?"  I remained silent for a moment not quite sure if he was talking to me or his cellular buddy, but then I answered.  He then immediately continued his conversation as if he were already mid-sentence.  Yes, must be another cab driver on the other end... who in the world would tolerate such a hiatus in this heated of a discussion.

I called Nick (best friend) to let him know I'm heading into the city.  He, of course, was at work.

The things I get to do for work, hah.  Definitely thanks to Tina Wood for putting this together and the “Boy Banders.”  Check us out on MySpace and Facebook, oh yes.

 
4 Softies and a Pizza Guy: PDC 2008 from Max Zuckerman on Vimeo.

Original post from Channel 8 can be seen here too…

Here's a taste of something to expect within the next few days.... take a crack at guessing what this was for if you like.  The end result will be hilarious (I hope haha).

Update coming when the final project is complete....... staaaay tuned.

Perhaps by the time I can afford one, Ferraris will look like this:

While it probably will never get produced since it's just a concept project...... it's still very cool looking.  A supercar-motorcycle hybrid that leverages computers to balance and counteract huge gusts of wind to avoid flipping.  Yeah, I'll have one of those, please!

Black is the new red, though... someone send Ferrari the memo!

I've always been detail oriented... and this, while not minor, shows you how a simple change can yield a dramatic difference.  On the left is a new pair of Puma's I just bought.  On the right, I swapped out the original red shoelace for a white one.  With the sole having the white edge, it really makes the shoe look a lot better in my opinion.  Just call me SUPAFLY!

I strongly believe that the design of the products and services we use has a huge impact on the way we perceive them.  I'm not saying prioritize form over functionality, but at least make it a priority.

It's probably worth every penny... the Audi TT-RS coming out soon was spotted at Nurburgring.  It just so happens to be my favorite color: black as sin.

Aaaaamazing.

I just got back from one of those "amazing life experience" style trips in Paris for the Imagine Cup 2008 finals.  They are going to be in Cairo, Egypt next year which is going to be awesome as well.

Anyway, here's just a quick sneak peek at the beauty Paris had to offer... pretty much anywhere you went, there was something this amazing to see:

My manager, Larry, took this picture of me and used Windows Live Photo Stitch to put a few shots together to create this amazing wide screen shot.  So cool....

Here is another one with one of my favorite coworkers (he's on the far right):

As my guy friends who have girlfriends have said "hey, it's ok to look as long as that's it... right?"  Right.

So while I'm really not in the market for a new car, I can't help but follow automobile news like Car and Driver, Autoblog, Motor Trend, MSN Autos.... I'm always looking, reading, looking at the sweet sweet sweeeeet new pictures, and thinking to myself which ones I would go for and which ones are just plain duds.

Which car has my attention in the "out of this reality" dream world?  That would clearly be the Audi R8.  Yes I understand it's not a Ferrari, and true if we're talking unreal dreams, why not go for the new Lamborghini?

But this super-car is an iconic new figure that has even won Automobile Magazine's "Automobile of the Year" award (and about 20 others).

Seriously.... can you look at this thing and not drool?

Alright, maybe I'm on the market a little bit for a car... but it would have to be something more in my price range, which even this is pretty outrageous but about 1/3 of the cost of the dream above:

This is the Audi TT-S.  I'm not sure if the rumors or specifications are final or not yet, but I'm hearing they will pump out 265 hp out of a 2.0 liter turbocharged inline 4 cylinder engine.  The very same engine that usually is quoted to have only 200 hp (haha, I say only but even that is a nice feat of engineering those crazy Germans accomplished).

Notice the strip of daytime running lights on the bottom of the headlights?? Those are LEDs, which are , of course, in line with the 2009 lineup of Audis which usually have some sort of unifying look.

In the rear we have a slightly modified underbody specifically modeled for the "S" in "TT-S."  You will also notice a quad exhaust as opposed to the standard dual.  Finally, one of those added touches is the retractable spoiler that automatically deploys at 80 mph--or at the touch of a button for us speed limit abiding citizens that just want to look cool as we blow by the under-speed-limit-driving Seattle-ites.

Finally just to throw in some price practicality (if that's possible from an Audi lineup), check out the 2009 Audi A3:

Pictured here is actually the European only S3, but you get the idea of the new front fascia which includes the daytime running LEDs (although notice these are on top of the headlight rather than lining the bottom).

Personally, I would love to see the S3 in a US incarnation for two reasons:
1) it's two door... and I prefer that
2) the engine really kicks up the power in the S3 model vs. the A3 US options which include the 2.0T 200 hp turbo inline 4 and the 250 hp naturally aspirated V6... although the power boost may be most beneficial in the upper speeds, which for me isn't that important since I've never even considered a "track car."

I actually really like the A3 personally and find hatchbacks to be oh-so-convenient for hauling larger than usual items... but it seems I'm pretty much the only one of my friends and consultants that thinks this is a nice looking car, so I will stick with mine for now.

But chances are when I do go for something slick and new, an Audi car will be one of the top choices on a very short list.

It all started with a text message I received on Thursday: "Party tomorrow night, but I have a situation... will call you tonight."

Naturally, I was intrigued...  first, about the mentioned "situation," and second, about the party.  I already had plans to go to the big bash birthday (Chaos Girl's) but wasn't sure how long I would stay there with or without other plans, but that's beside the point.  The plan thus became quick birthday party shenanigans, then to the party which I had found out was a "James Bond" theme and that you either look the part or get bounced at the door.

Clearly, I chose to look the part because:

• I have a very nice suit that I used to wear all the time in Boston for all my shady business deals etc. but have not even worn once here in Seattle
• Bond wears an Omega watch... I wear an Omega watch.  Coincidence?  Yes, actually, it is.  Although it's a badass watch and I think it's one of best things my father has ever given me.
  
  Omega even makes a special edition James Bond 007 branded watch that has the 007 logo on the seconds hand and the scope background face-plate.  Slick, but to buy that would border on obsession.... which I may be, but I still wouldn't actually do anything more than refer to it right here right now.
•  
•  
•  
•  
•  

• I have a bow-tie
• Nerds like me look decent dressed up... it's true, look:
  
  Don't get any bright ideas about the girl... she served her purpose as a Bond girl for this photo, but not my Bond girl.

Anyway this was an awesome party and I ended up home around 5am in one of those "what a night" kind of states.  Rockin.

Saturday was a bit more relaxed but fun nonetheless... I was invited to a birthday party (what's up with May birthdays??) literally in my very building.  I didn't even have to wear shoes to get there--a fact I found out too late since I did in actuality wear shoes to make the 4 floor trek via elevator only to find out all guests must remove their shoes at the door.  It was a fun scene but I ended up across the way in a little mini-party that had developed at another condo.  We all ended up on the roof, which was educational for me because I realized there's a grill out there.  Why is this important??  This summer... you, me, rooftop, steaks (a la esh).  That's how it's going down... pencil me into your schedule.

Faaaaaast forward to Sunday afternoon for my favorite non-evening event of the weekend: Dublin vs. Trinity (my team) lacrosse.  Now, since a picture is worth 1000 words... this is what happens when you give me a stick, and my opponent has the ball.  Don't mess.  Needless to say, but I'm saying it anyway, the ball was no longer his moments after this picture was taken.  Man I love this game........

I'm the green/white crazy looking character waving around a metal pole ominously.  Mini-fact of this paragraph: the metal pole is actually called a "crosse" hence the name "lacrosse" and terms like "crosse checking."

Apparently, I can fly.... sweet.

The weather was amazing so I ended up riding the Harley around Lake Sammamish and then finally brought it back to my place instead of leaving it at work... which means I now have my car in Redmond and my bike in Seattle.  How will I ever have both in the same location you ask?  The super-nerd bus that takes Microsofties living in Seattle directly to Redmond of course. 

So all in all it was a spectacular weekend that I am thinking is a Seattle-first of many to come.