Blog

CNET.com posted an item yesterday listing the top 10 can’t miss, tech-related clips on YouTube.

For various reasons, I felt like sharing four of the clips here on TWR. As you may have noticed, I posted one yesterday that showed Jon Stewart hilariously discussing Alaska Sen. Ted Stevens’ “the Internet is a series of tubes” speech during a recent episode of “The Daily Show.”

Today, I would like to share this humorous look at Microsoft history. This features Bill Gates getting hit in the face with a pie, Steve Ballmer going ape-shit crazy to Miami Sound Machine’s “Get on Your Feet” in 2000, and some of those madcap moments during various trade shows and conferences when Windows shows the world how really craptacular it is.

Enjoy…

Tomorrow, I will post the other two clips. They aren’t funny, but they are very interesting clips from the early 1980s featuring Steve Jobs:

Steve Jobs talks about the future of computers in 1981

Steve Jobs introduces the Macintosh on January 24, 1984
(no, it’s not the Super Bowl commercial).

CNET.com posted an item today listing the top 10 can’t miss, tech-related clips on YouTube. For various reasons, I felt like sharing four of the clips here on TWR. One is hysterical, another is funny and the other two are “historical” clips of Steve Jobs—one from a 1981 news segment and another from the Macintosh introduction on January 24, 1984 (no, not the Super Bowl commercial).

I will post all four over the next few days, but here is the hysterical one featuring Jon Stewart discussing Alaska Sen. Ted Stevens’ “the Internet is a series of tubes” speech during a recent episode of “The Daily Show.” Even non-geeks should find the end of this clip hilarious.

Enjoy…

Tomorrow: A comedic Microsoft retrospective.

In an effort to beat the heat at the Jersey Shore, I went on another 21-mile bike ride a little earlier than usual this morning. Ride time was 81 minutes and my average speed was again about 15.5 miles per hour. However, on one of the side streets I take near the beach, a permanent “your speed is” sign was recently installed. The sign said I was doing 20 m.p.h. when I went by it, but I was passing a slower-riding girl on a bike at the time so I don’t know if that threw the radar off or not. The speed limit is 25 m.p.h. on that road so I would like to break the speed limit at some point this summer.

Today’s ride brings my summer cycling total to 95 miles, so I am nearly halfway to my goal of 200 miles by the end of the summer.

Well, I redid the lead vocals for this song and made some changes to the backing vocals, as well. Still not satisfied with the vocals, but I’m tired of recording them and tired of remixing them so this will be the final demo version of this song that I publish.

What Would You Say? (Version 3) – 6.3 MB/4:21

Philadelphia Phillies first baseman Ryan Howard, the 2005 National League Rookie of the Year, won this year’s Century 21 Home Run Derby during All-Star Game festivities at Pittsburgh’s PNC Park on Monday night.

He is the second Phillie to win the event in as many years, joining teammate and 2005 Derby champ Bobby Abreu.

Way to go, Ryan!

Who is Kyle MacDonald…and why am I congratulating him?

Well, Kyle is responsible for one of the most ambitious and entertaining projects thus far in Internet history. About a year ago, the Canadian came up with an idea to make a series of trades with the ultimate goal of trading for a house. The dream started with the most usual of items…one red paperclip. Hence, Kyle started a blog devoted to his quest at www.oneredpaperclip.com.

Kyle posted the picture of the one red paperclip on his Web site on July 12, 2005, and wound up trading it for a fish-shaped pen. The pen was traded for a door knob, which was exchanged for a camping stove. The stove was traded for a generator and the generator swapped for a Budweiser beer keg, which was exchanged for a snowmobile. The snowmobile was traded for trip to Yahk in remote British Columbia and swapped that for a supply truck, which was exchanged for a recording contract. The recording contract got Kyle and his girlfriend close to a house…it was traded for a year’s rent in a duplex located in Phoenix, Ariz.

And that’s when the project began to reach epic proportions. The year’s rent was exchanged for an afternoon with rocker Alice Cooper, who was brought into the project by the woman who lived in the other half of the Phoenix duplex. However, Kyle’s next trade raised eyebrows among many of those who followed his exploits…the afternoon with Alice Cooper was swapped for a KISS—as in the rock group—snow globe.

There was a reason for this trade. Earlier in the process, actor/writer/director Corbin Bernsen (of “L.A. Law” and “Major League” fame) had offered a speaking role in a movie he is making as a trade item. But Kyle never mentioned the offer on his site because he didn’t have anything Bernsen would really want in a trade…

…until he came across the KISS snow globe.

You see, Bernsen is a huge snow globe collector. How huge? Apparently, he owns more than 6,500 snow globes. And Kyle traded Bernsen the KISS snow globe for the movie role.

And on Wednesday—one year to the day that the red paperclip first appeared on his blog—Kyle will realize his dream of trading that one red paperclip for a house.

The city of Kipling, Saskatchewan, has offered Kyle a three-bedroom house in exchange for the movie role…sort of. The town is going to take advantage of the publicity surrounding the project and stage an open “American Idol”-style audtion for the movie role. In addition, the town is going to erect the world’s largest red paperclip to mark Kyle’s achievement.

So, congratulations, Kyle MacDonald. Well done!

AP Story: Blogger’s quest ends with keys to house

I have wanted to post a couple of times this past weekend, but just never got around to it. So here is a wrap-up of the weekend.

Tour de BK ’06 Ride #4
I rode another 21 miles on Saturday, averaging 15.5 miles per hour in what were really ideal cycling conditions…in the 80s with cloud cover and hardly any wind at all. That brings my total amount of miles logged this year to 74. I would like to reach the 200 mile mark before the summer is over.

Geek moment: “Doctor Who” season finale
The second season of “Doctor Who” wrapped up last Saturday with a brilliant finale that pitted the Doctor against longtime foes, the Cybermen and Daleks, and featured the last regular appearance in the series by companion Rose Tyler (Billie Piper). Here’s a clip of the first 9 1/2 minutes of “Doomsday.” The last 4 1/2 minutes or so are classic “Doctor Who,” with a standoff between the Cybermen and Daleks.

Kevin Barry continues to shine in Braves’ bullpen
Rider’s Kevin Barry pitched four more scoreless innings of relief for the Atlanta Braves on Friday night, allowing no hits while striking out five and walking one. Over the first three games of his major league career, Barry has yet to surrender a run while giving up two hits and two walks while striking out eight in nine innings of work since making his major league debut with three scoreless innings at Yankee Stadium on June 25. His efforts were noted in this Braves Report from the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

“Pirates” plunders box office, takes down Spidey
Despite reviews claiming—among other things—that it is a “Bermuda Triangle of bad,” “Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest” took in an estimated $132 million during its three-day opening weekend, shattering the previous three-day mark ($114.8 million) held by 2002’s “Spider-Man.” What is funny about this is that in the current season of “Entourage,” the fictional “Aquaman” movie took down Spidey’s box-office record. I had seen some people criticize that element of the storyline since it seemed rather outlandish. Well, guess what? If “Pirates” can do it in real life, then a fictional James Cameron-directed “Aquaman” can do it in a TV show.

What is even more interesting is that a third “Pirates” movie is expected by next Memorial Day weekend…just a few weeks after the spectacular-looking “Spider-Man 3” opens on May 4. The movie industry is going to be flying high next May.

I was going to head out to the Jersey Shore last night so I could stay at my parents’ place and go on a bike ride today. Well, I’m still heading out there today for a bike ride, but my plans last night were changed by a phone call from my friend Jimmy.

Jimmy has a pretty good job that every now and then gives him access to tickets in the second row of Citizens Bank Park…RIGHT behind home plate. Well, just before 5 p.m. yesterday, Jimmy calls and asks if I want to go sit in these Diamond Club seats to watch the Phillies play the Pirates…and post-game fireworks! Now, he has offered me chances to go before, but for one reason or another I could never make it. This time, though, I was all in.

The photo above was taken from my seat, which, by the way, is wider than the normal seats with padding and extra leg room. And there is also a cup holder and small tray between each pair of seats to hold the food and beverages you can get by placing orders with the servers that wait on you hand and foot. So Jimmy wound up giving me a very cool day-after birthday gift. Thanks, Jimmy.

Of course, he may have totally ruined any future trips to the ballpark for me. I mean, I can just see myself at a game up in the terrace level and waiting for somebody to bring me my food and drink before realizing, “Oh crap…I have to get it myself? What is up with that? And why is the field SOOOO far away? Ugh.”

It was amazing standing at my seat at a Major League Baseball game and actually hearing the “Star-Spangled Banner” come out of the singer’s mouth before hearing it echo through the ballpark’s public address system.

Granted, the Phillies lost 3-2, but what else is new? The good thing, though, was that the game was over in about 2 1/2 hours and the fireworks were over by 10:09 p.m., so at least it was an early night. By the way, the fireworks were great, as usual…except for the choice of music. What the heck does Kelly Clarkson have to do with either baseball or patriotism…or even good music?

(Sorry, Musar girls…just don’t get the whole K.C. thing.)

Anyway, here are more pics from the game…

I finally got around to writing lyrics and recording vocals for one of the two songs I wrote during Memorial Day weekend, when I was basically confined to my apartment thanks to car problems. Hence, the instrumental “Untitled 2006-05-27” has now become “What Would You Say?”

Enjoy!

What does “Nineteen Forever” mean?

Well, it’s a title of a kick-ass song from Joe Jackson’s underrated 1989 album, “Blaze of Glory.”

So why “Nineteen Forever?”

Well, it includes this lyric:

You better believe it – you know my dream’s still alive
You can love it or leave it
But I’m never gonna be 35

And, today, I turn 35.

That line of the song always stuck with me…like I was supposed to accomplish something by the time I reached 35. If so, I guess I have a year to do something meaningful…before I hit 36.