Conspiracy Theories

Blogathon 2003

Blogathon 2003 is an interesting online event taking place this weekend.

A little background about its beginnings:

Cat came to a realization: staying up all night to update her website could represent a lot more than a caffeine-and-cinema-drenched exercise in butt-numbness. Or, in the more eloquent words of Cat herself, "I've always felt the best thing about the web was its ability to affect the real world. The web can be a major force for good."

And I agree. I wish I had found out about it earlier, but it's not too late to sponsor someone (like @TypePad's Raymond Angel), nor is it too late to sign up (sign-up deadline is midnight tonight). Check it out.

Update: Looks like the event was a success! Hope I'll have time to get involved next year.

Sparing the Air

Today has been deemed a so-called "Spare the Air" day in the San Francisco Bay Area. Harmful ozone pollution levels will rise dangerously high if citizens don't curb their creation of pollution.

Isn't this the case EVERY day, though? If people would adopt a more proactive approach to things there would be no need to warn everybody about sparing the air because it would already be okay. Why not take the time to rethink how you could easily modify your transportation habits to include more walking, bicycling, and public transit in addition to your car (or better yet, a car you share)? Notice I didn't say "instead" of your car. Cars are useful, but people don't realize many of their transportation needs can be more easily fulfilled by other, more practical and environmentally friendly means.

Tourists should think about this, too. Renting a car in San Francisco is just not practical, even less with the opening of the BART extension to the airport. Gas is more expensive here, stations in the city are hard to find, and parking is scarce and expensive. Compare that with MUNI's $15 7-day passport (including the cost of cable car rides) or $9 Weekly pass ($1 extra per cable car ride). Add a few more dollars for BART trips to the airport or the East Bay. The new BART extension even allows you to transfer to CalTrain in Millbrae, where you can travel to San Jose.

Books by the Bay

It's happening this Saturday at the Yerba Buena Gardens (between Metreon and MOMA). Be there. (Click the graphic for all the details.) It is an annual event so don't fret if you're reading this after the fact.

Update: A lot of cool booksellers and publishers were there from around the Bay Area. I picked up a copy of the Golden Gate National Parks Guide, but I wish I could've gotten more, especially from the booth selling several Filipino books that interested me.

Tinkering with the Site

I've been tinkering with the templates, and also the categories, so you'll see minor changes now and then. Also, this means that some older articles get republished even though there are no major changes to the information. Sorry about that. When older articles get republished like that, I'll put the articles that are newer back on top again.

The Cardigans: Long Gone Before Daylight

If record companies didn't suck (in this case, Universal), I'd be able to walk into a store and buy The Cardigans' new album, Long Gone Before Daylight. At the very least I should be able to get it from the iTunes Music Store. But noooooo, genius record execs think they gotta wait and not sell it here in the US of A until they feel like it. Thanks a whole lot.

It's another part of the pathetic conspiracy of record companies biting the hand that feeds them.

It's been released since March 24th for cryin' out loud! Luckily, I could listen to two of the new songs (and see the videos) on Universal's Canadian music site (ohhh, the irony) via Real Networks' RealOne Player, thank you very much. I could also buy the import from Amazon.com, which I will when it fits into the ol' budget. I could probably find it in the Virgin Megastore's import section, too, if I want to pay the jacked-up price.

The two songs I did listen to, "You're the Storm" and "For What It's Worth" were solid Cardigans songs, and I'm looking forward to hearing the rest of the album.

Total Recall

The Republicans and other dissatisfied citizens wish to take governor Gray Davis out of office since our state is in such a big mess. Why is it that the governor is to blame, when other legislative officials should share the blame?

Not only that, but is the governor to blame for the burst of the dotcom bubble? He didn't start a bunch of half-baked companies which never actually did anything, thus falsely inflating our economy. It's so easy to waste time and find a scapegoat. The governor is an easy target since he's the public figurehead of our state. It's a lot easier than launching a recall against every California lawmaker, that's for sure.

But guess what? Arnold Schwarzenegger is not going to "terminate" any of our problems. Puh-lease, don't get me started. No, Californians, we must simply bite the bullet, and deal with the mess our lawmakers got us in. It's only July, but you should make a mental note for November. If your local state representatives haven't been doing their jobs, don't vote for them in the next election. Or how about this, why don't you try actually voting, instead of leaving it up to less than half of the state's voter eligible population to decide who runs the state? That's right, I'm challenging YOU to get off your couch and at least educate yourself about the issues, and make a difference at the polls.

Better yet, write your local lawmaker and give 'em a piece of your mind. You know what that's called? Lobbying. It's what corporations spend millions on to gain the influence of our politicians. While you and I may not have the big bucks, we do have the opportunity to speak our voice, which can be louder than corporate dollars, if we really want it to be. Of course, letter writing takes time. That's why at the very least you should be voting. It's the minimum responsibility we have as citizens to help govern our state, and of course, country, too. In the meantime, this recall business is just yet another waste of taxpayer time and money better spent on actually solving the problems in question. What? Actually work on solving the budget problem? That would just be too easy.

Ace of Diamonds (Baseball Diamonds, That is)

Jason Schmidt is one of the best pitchers in baseball, hands-down (or up, if you prefer). The Giants finally have the bonafide hard-throwing ace they haven't had in years.

If you're a Giants fan, make it a point to watch him pitch. Three consecutive complete game wins, while allowing one run, is an accomplishment I don't think I've ever seen done by a Giant pitcher in the seventeen years I've been a fan.

I'm definitley rooting for the guy to win twenty games and help bring the team back to the World Series. What makes Jason Schmidt even more of a feel-good story is that he recently lost his mother. I'm amazed the guy is able to even take the mound, much less do what he has done. I suppose baseball is good therapy for him.

Why Would I "Syndicate This Site"?

Along the sidebar near the bottom you'll see a link that says "Syndicate This Site (XML)". If you're wondering what the heck that means, this information is for you. If you see other web pages that have a little orange button that says "RSS" or "XML" then this is the same thing.

The special Web page that loads when you click on the link is used by news-reader computer software to 'subscribe' to multiple Web sites. Personally, I use NetNewsWire for Mac OS X. Check out this page or this page for a big list of programs that make use of these feeds.

Once you install a newsreader program, when you see a site that you want to subscribe to, you click on the subscribe link or orange button, then copy the web site address that appears in your browser's address bar. Or you can right-click (control-click with a one-button Mac mouse) and choose "copy link" or other similarly worded command.

Then in your newsreader, paste the link in the appropriate place. Usually, you have to click a subscribe button or choose a similar menu command. Refer to your program's instructions.

Using a newsreader allows you to read headlines and/or excerpts of any sites you subscribe to without having to open up a ton of web pages. Essentially, you're skimming articles and you can visit the web page for the full article if you wish. You save time and focus on reading that which interests you most. The best of both worlds!

The World is a Blog

I'm sure a lot of people have seen this already, but I haven't. It gives you a nice global perspective of the world of blogging.

Walnut Creek: It's Not Just a Suburb Anymore

Actually, it still is, but that doesn't mean it's not worth visiting. Especially if you need to get out of the fog for a while and experience yuppiedom, if only briefly. If you like strolling around downtown shopping and restaurant districts, then you'll enjoy this.

Their downtown area has lots of shops and restaurants, and it's easily accessible from Walnut Creek BART, either on foot or via a free (I think) bus ride. There are many local businesses, as well as an area where what could have been an indoor mall or a cheesy outdoor strip mall has instead been seamlessly blended into the rest of downtown. This way, you are led unknowingly into the area with the highest concentration of chain stores. How convenient.

The farther you walk away from the BART station, the closer you get to the area of name brand stores, anchored by Nordstrom's and another department store I had never heard of before. It was a super hot day when I went, so stopping for a sundae at Ghirardelli's was nice. Also, not only is the Barnes and Noble two stories, but it also has outdoor seating on the second level. I wish all bookstores had outdoor seating on a second level.

A Century Theatres complex is under construction and an Apple store is opening soon as well.

Next time I go there, I'll take some pictures and post them on the site. Also, I'll get more specific directions. In the meantime hop on BART and get over there! Don't forget your sunscreen, too.