Innovate or Die, Cable TV Style

by philrw

2012-08-06

500 words - 3 min read

What’s my problem? Why does my stomach churn at the idea of watching live TV? Why does the idea of paying a cable or satellite company $100+/month for them to spew commercials and this reality TV crap at me disgust me?

We can only buy the cable channels we want in packages. So it’s like $80/month to get a couple desired channels and the rest of the lineup is filled with garbage.

This post is an exploration of my negative feelings towards paying for TV service.

Zen and the Art of Keeping Your Cool While Driving

by philrw

2012-07-31

257 words - 2 min read

Auto Personal Rants and Raves

Attention Broomfield Police Traffic Enforcement: Make some $$$ ticketing impatient drivers who pass on the right shoulder during rush hour. This has happened to me twice in the past month: I will be driving at the average speed of traffic (i.e. leaving lots of space in front of me to avoid excessive brake usage) during my commute on US-36 from Louisville to Westminster in the afternoon/evening. Agressive/impatient drivers will tailgate me for a while and, unable to avoid the temptation of the open space in front of me, will pass me.

Hulu Plus launches on Apple TV

by philrw

2012-07-31

17 words - 1 min read

Personal Rants and Raves Tech

Heck yeah! I’ve been waiting for this for years. Thank you!

Hulu Plus launches on Apple TV.

Philips MediaConnect Ad Fail

by philrw

2012-07-26

40 words - 1 min read

Rants and Raves Tech

computer ad

For your consideration:

That is a picture of a 17-inch Apple PowerBook G4, circa 2003.
“Supported OS: Windows 7 / XP / Vista”
“But,” you say, “Macs can run Windows natively now.” True, but they couldn’t back then. Plus, WTF?!

Mooseish Grin

by philrw

2012-07-23

37 words - 1 min read

Personal Rants and Raves

The lady taking my lunch order today didn’t ask me my name, but instead whether I preferred “Philip” or “Phil.” I was wearing my badge. Imagine that; there are smart and/or observant people out there after all.

Undercurrent – The Fridge Of Tomorrow: Shrinking The Distance Between Idea and Execution

by philrw

2012-06-20

149 words - 1 min read

Tech

I’ve considered this before. There are a couple problems with scanning the items’ barcodes as they enter and exit the fridge: To be more efficient you need two barcode scanners, one for incoming and one for outgoing: toggling the mode back and forth with a button will get old fast. Even with two barcode scanners, it gets old fast. What we need is passive RFID in product packaging. That will make building smart fridges a whole lot easier AND make tracking their inventory and expiration dates automatic. Howabout simple scanning the barcode of every item you buy at the grocery store as you put them away in the fridge/pantry and then scanning them as they get thrown away/recycled?

"A Four-Letter Limerick" or "Nantucket Sound"

by philrw

2012-06-14

31 words - 1 min read

Personal Poetry

Writing lim’ricks is more than just luck:
It takes patience and skill not to suck.
So when taking the time
For a four-letter rhyme,
One should certainly use the word “darn.”

Audi A3 e-tron Sighting in Denver

by philrw

2012-05-24

106 words - 1 min read

Auto Personal Tech

I saw this vehicle on my drive to work this morning: My phone took too long to get into the camera mode and snap a pic, so I got him just as he was turning west towards Golden (apparently the turn signals aren’t functional or the driver does not know how to utilize them in such an advanced beta test vehicle). The decals say “Audi A3 e-tron” and “Audi electric mobility.” The vehicle has Colorado plates, so it looks like it must be one of those 17 pilot cars nationwide.