BK's Log - helloBK.com

Freescale tablet

2010-01-04T10:19:00.002-05:00

2010 should be the year of the tablet. If all goes well we may this this bad boy in stores for $200 before the year is out.

McDonald's food safety

2010-01-04T09:47:00.003-05:00

This posts title link goes to an article on McDonald's food safety methods. A topic that fascinates me. McDonald's is considered the safest food in the world due to its incredibly complete beef processing and testing methods.

Something new I learned here is how they handle the beef when they do detect E. Coli. Two hours around the detection the beef gets landfilled but four more hours get sold to another party whom resells them elsewhere. While I'm sure we would be assured that the four other hour meat is completely safe.... I sure wouldn't mind knowing who buys that....just to know. I'm sure that other business completely relies on McDonald's to keep their mouth closed about that detail.

Avatar 3D

2010-01-03T13:37:00.002-05:00

I saw this movie a few weeks ago and I forgot I wanted to blog about it.

The movie was definitely solid entertainment but what really impressed me was how far along 3D has come. I think the last 3D movie I saw might have been in the 80s with the blue-red glasses and it wasn't great.... as a movie or as a 3D effect. Though I can't remember what it was.

That event has led me to a lifetime of disdain for 3D movies as a cheap gimmick. So when fate forced me into seeing into seeing a 3D version of Avatar I am sure I frowned at the news.... but in the end I was completely blown away with how good 3D is now a days. Instantly transformed 3D movies from NO WAY to MUST SEE.

I imagine the trend will be to do a 3D version of all action flicks. After all, its a nice competitive advantage for theaters to boost their declining audiences.

Microsoft BizSpark

2010-01-03T12:19:00.003-05:00

Occasionally Microsoft does something that really impresses me - I guess I really shouldn't be all that surprised as any big company is going to stumble on a good idea from time to time.... after all there is a lot of brains at work there.

Today's good idea is BizSpark, a program designed to help software start ups get off the ground by giving them free software, support, and visibility via a networking program. At least for a few years its all free to give your company time to grow into something that can afford their tools.

Believe it or not all of this is a result of lessons MS has learned from piracy. Bill Gates has famously said that (paraphrased), that if people are going to steal software he would rather it be their software. If you are addicted to their tools and MS helps you turn into a real company, odds are very good that you will loyally buy MS products someday when you can afford them. Why wouldn't you? Pretty damn smart thinking.

Don't underestimate the power of that networking side of the program.... its designed to get you in touch with the people your start up needs to talk to....

When hiding from the law avoid logging into an MMO

2010-01-03T12:13:00.004-05:00

Here's a hot tip from BK to you: If your on the run from the law, don't log into your favorite MMO.

The title link goes to a story about a WoW player from Howard County, Indiana that fled to Canada after being charged with dealing in controlled substances. Blizzard was more then happy to help the long arm of the law pin down the guys exact location.

Sir Patrick

2009-12-31T09:57:00.003-05:00

Patrick Stewart -- best known for his role on Star Trek: The Next Generation as Captain Jean-Luc Picard -- can also now be addressed as Sir Stewart, sources announced yesterday (December 30). Being honored for his life's work, the British-born actor has always been England’s proudest space captain and so much more.

Long overdue!

Can you believe he's 69 years old?

Superior's Court

2009-12-29T12:06:00.006-05:00

The story you are about to read is a true one. There are some gaps in the story as this occurred decades ago and some of the wording isn't exactly the same used by the kids that were a part of these events. Enjoy!

At age nine I decided I wanted to be king. I no longer recall what inspired me to become king. I also didn't want to be king of any particular thing, I just wanted to be king. So I crowned myself King Superior I. I believe the name had something to do with a king supposedly being better or superior to everyone else.

At first all I knew was a king needed a court and my court lords must have lordly titles. So I recruited my playground friends to become my lords and I their king. We established elaborate rituals the likes of which I no longer recall. Each was given a cardboard card which I used a label maker to affix their court title to. The playground log fort was my castle where most of our activities took place.

My best childhood friend was my right hand man and he was given the title of Overlord. Because he was over all of the other lords. There was a hierarchy where higher ranked lords could command anyone lower then them. Overlord was a bright lad and often gave sage console to his king.

We had a problem where the commoners (the kids not part of the court) would enter my log castle while I was holding court. Overlord suggested that a king need knights and knights could keep the commoners out of my castle. What would I have done with out Overlord?

By this time many of the commoners were starting to take a great deal of interest in this strange going ons that were a part of our day-to-day affairs. So when I set out to recruit the toughest kids as my knights... their were many takers.

Overlord informed me that the knights need a captain so no lord had to oversee that they were doing their job. I decreed that there should be weekly tournaments (play ground games) the results of which would be used to select the best person for knight-captain every week. These were very popular, even the commoners came to watch.

The knights were incredibly serious about defense of the castle. When recess hit the knights always made sure they were at the front of the line out the door or ran faster then anyone else so they could assume their post before any commoners reached the castle. Even during the weekly tournaments a few were left at the castle to keep everyone out of it. This caused issues where a few of the commoners ran to the teacher on playground duty to inform them that we weren't letting them play on the log fort. For what ever reason the teachers never did anything about it. I guess as long as no one was getting beaten then they didn't care to intervene in every little dispute.

It is a good thing that I was a good natured little boy. I had decided early into my reign that I would, of course, be a good king. The knights never beat anyone, no one was ever bullied, at worst I would command someone to give me their cookie but they could always refuse. Not that was wise if they hoped to retain their rank. Being reduced in rank meant someone you just bossed around was about to be able to boss you around - clearly not something desired!

One day it became clear that everyone wanted to be part of the new IN crowd and become a member of The Court. The athletically-bent kids wanted to be knights so they could play in the weekly games. The more cerebral kids wanted to be lords as lords had power over the knights whom likely used to pick on them. But I realized that we couldn't have everyone in The Court or it wouldn't be special.

I finally made a decree from the top of my castle to the common folk. I declared that anyone that wished to be considered for The Court needed to show their desire by bowing to me when ever I passed by them through out the school day. Each day one person that bowed to me would be admitted to The Court but if you ever skipped bowing to me I would make you wait longer. So it was important to bow at each and every opportunity.

A sizable percentage of kids started immediately bowing to me in school hallways. Teachers became very puzzled by this odd behavior. When a kid was pulled aside by a teacher to ask what he/she was doing the conversation would go something like this:

Kid "Bowing to the king."

Teacher "The king of what?"

Kid "The King of The Court."

Teacher "What court?"

Kid "I don't know... just The Court..."

The kids didn't have a clue what it was about but they knew they wanted in.

They let the kid go all the more puzzled but not really sure if they should or could do anything about this but definitely concerned about the odd behavior that seemed to suddenly infect so many kids.

The teachers would question me and I would tell them "they bow because I am king and thats what people do for their king". There really wasn't anything more to it then that. Not against any rules so the teachers were completely paralyzed on what they could/should do about this situation. So they did nothing and the bowing went on.

Life in The Court went on with people bowing to me, lords lording over other lessor lords and knights, me promoting/demoting people on whims, the lucky new person being added to the court, knights protecting the castle, court rituals, and of course, my demands for the cookies of others.

Likely the meanest thing I did was to people who didn't bow to me. If someone refused to bow to me I would start picking their friends to join The Court but leaving the un-bower out. As all of The Court only hung out with other members of the court this left the person who refused to bow friendless and alone. It didn't take long for nearly every kid in the school to start with the bowing.

Parents began to call into the school asking why little Timmy wasn't able to be a knight. Or to complain about how little Sally was up crying all night because she was not a lady when all of her friends were! I don't know how many parents called in but it was enough for finally the principal to act. I was summoned to her office.

The principal, at that time, was an incredibly caring and kind lady. I had a fondness for her and she for me. She looked at me with great amusement and amazement at this thing I had done. A thing I had never actually meant to do, I just wanted to be king! She explained to me how The Court needed to stop as it was causing problems. I wanted to know what rule we were breaking. I wanted to know if I was required to be friends with every kid in school. Much to her credit she didn't try to strong arm me or make any threats. Maybe she thought it wouldn't work. She let me return to class with the situation unresolved.

Time passed and the school board started to be contacted by concerned parents whom kids couldn't get into this court thing. Finally I was summoned once again to the principals office. This time she had a man there that I didn't know. I was told he was a lawyer for the school system. Mr. Lawyer explained to me that I was breaking the law as public elementary schools could not have exclusive clubs. I don't know if that's true but either way it wasn't an official school clubs so really it didn't matter. However I was a little intimidated by this man and I always had a healthy respect for the law...and I was getting tired of being king so I agreed to bring an end of The Court about.

Open rebellion immediately ensued! For the first time ever the lords refused an order of their king, they would not disband! They didn't want to give up the power that they had. Calls were made to make The Court a secret or outright defy the law! Everyone felt like they were a part of something special and its a hard thing to just quit something that many worked hard to get into. Except for me, I didn't care, I no longer wanted to play anymore.

It took some time to recover from my shock that everyone cared so deeply. I was in no way expecting such a strong reaction. I didn't have much of an understanding of human nature at that age but I sure learned a lot in my days as king.

I saught out Overlords console on the matter. Loyal as ever he fully supported his best friend and also one of the few people that couldn't care less if he was Overlord or not. He told me to announce that I was no longer king. And so I did, I gave one final speech from the top of my log castle, to the largest crowd of kids ever assembled.

I want to say that some kids cried but maybe that was just my imagination. Some of the lords tried to keep it all going but it was done with out their king.

And thus ended the reign of King Superior I, the one true King of Pine Elementary School.

Session canceled today

2009-12-26T09:38:00.000-05:00

No table game today.

2009 Vaporware

2009-12-23T12:33:00.004-05:00

And here I always thought Vaporware was limited to software only...I guess not everyone feels that to be so. A lot of stuff I'd never heard of in here. Click the title link for full details.

10. Spotify in the U.S.

9. Pixel Qi’s display

8. Mitsubishi 73-inch LaserVue HDTV

7. Penny Arcade Adventures: On the Rain-Slick Precipice of Darkness, Episode 3

6. D-Link Xtreme N450

5. TextMate 2

4. Black Mesa

3. Red Scarlet Camera

2. The CrunchPad

1. StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty

"Inhale the fail!"

Obama appoints new cyber-czar

2009-12-23T12:21:00.002-05:00

Obama sure has a thing for former Bush administration officials. I guess that's a good thing.

This guy was formerly Chief Security Officer at Microsoft and also at eBay so I'd have to guess he's a pretty solid choice.

Game company stats

2009-12-23T12:12:00.003-05:00

Some stats on game makers and where they live.

Game developers by location (North America only):

California 46%
Washington 9.5%
Texas 5.5%
Elsewhere 39%

Voice talent for STO

2009-12-23T10:40:00.004-05:00

Leonard Nimoy adds his voice talent to Star Trek Online, along with Zachary Quinto. The above video is Nimoy reading what sounds like the opening dialogs. Which is an interesting combination of events from old and new Trek.

Not that this casting has swayed me in the least but I am starting to look forward to this even if its an MMO.

Fanboy matrix

2009-12-21T12:41:00.000-05:00

Even die hards begin to reconsider Firefox

2009-12-21T12:38:00.001-05:00

To be clear, I've always been an advocate of the Mozilla Firefox browser. I use it as my primary browser across all my workstations, in fact. In view of the above reasons, though, could it be time to rethink the use of this popular open source Web browser?

USB to DVI displays

2009-12-21T12:33:00.004-05:00

In case you were looking for a way to do the thing in my next post. These are $96 a monitor.

They plug into a USB and run a regular monitor. Don't expect a lighting fast refresh rate but they do work.

Popular Workspaces 2009

2009-12-21T12:05:00.004-05:00

Every year lifehacker shows off some of the coolest workspaces. I think the one pictured above is my favorite this year. While I would love to do this... I find I really don't use more then two monitors. OK, maybe I could find a use for three but eight... I don't think so. Eyefinity setup would be the only thing it would be good for.

Click the title link to see all of this years best workspaces.

MW2 Callsign Generator

2009-12-21T11:45:00.004-05:00

Click the title link to make your own!

X-Men: First Class Origins

2009-12-17T15:50:00.002-05:00

Bryan Singer returns to X-Men with....

'X-Men: First Class Origins' picture, which is kind of cool. I'm very excited" said Singer. 'First Class' looks at the early days of Cyclops, Jean Grey and others at the Xavier Institute for Higher Learning.

Who said?

2009-12-15T14:42:00.000-05:00

Today I have a joke for you:

It is near the Christmas break of the school year. The students have
turned in all their work and there is really nothing more to do. All the
children are restless and the teacher decides to have an early
dismissal.

Teacher: "Whoever answers the questions I ask, first and correctly can
leave early today."

Little Johnny says to himself "Good, I want to get outta here. I'm smart
and will answer the question."

Teacher: "Who said 'Four Score and Seven Years Ago'?"

Before Johnny can open his mouth, Susie says, "Abraham Lincoln."

Teacher: "That's right Susie, you can go home."

Johnny is mad that Susie answered the question first.

Teacher: "Who said 'I Have a Dream'?"

Before Johnny can open his mouth, Mary says, "Martin Luther King."

Teacher: "That's right Mary, you can go."

Johnny is even madder than before.

Teacher: "Who said 'Ask not, what your country can do for you'?"

Before Johnny can open his mouth, Nancy says, "John F. Kennedy."

Teacher: "That's right Nancy , you may also leave."

Johnny is boiling mad that he has not been able to answer to any of the
questions.

When the teacher turns her back Johnny says, "I wish these bitches would
keep their mouths shut!"

The teacher turns around: "NOW WHO SAID THAT?"

Johnny: "TIGER WOODS. CAN I GO NOW?"

Star Wars Force Unleashed 2 Trailer

2009-12-14T16:25:00.001-05:00

Sometime in 2010...

Shatner and Palin on The Tonight Show

2009-12-14T16:19:00.001-05:00

ROFL!

24k Gold PS3

2009-12-12T14:46:00.004-05:00

Just in case your still looking for a gift for BK....this is on the top of my Xmas list. $5,000 you can bring a little happiness to my world. Dig deep friends, and give from the heart!

Google Goggles

2009-12-10T16:33:00.002-05:00

Visual search system on Android phones. Take a picture and Google will preform a search on the object.

I'd love to hear how well this works (or doesn't).

3D Blu ray players

2009-12-10T16:27:00.003-05:00

Nvidia making the most of out of their 3D Vision tech, now plans to offer a Blu-ray player in 2010. Course it will require a 120hz TV to work. He also hints that PS3's might be able to be updated to support this.

American Army game tax bill

2009-12-10T16:23:00.004-05:00

Here's a contract I needed in on.... $32 million to build and support the free shooter American Army. Really its considered an recruitment expense for the Army and it does a hell of a job which is why it was expanded beyond the original $7 million it was funded.

I just realized that I never tried this game....

America's Army year-by-year budget summary
2000--$3,500,000
2001--$5,600,000
2002--$1,862,985
2003--$2,600,000
2004--$3,866,482
2005--$1,288,552
2006--$4,050,748
2007--$2,788,137
2008--$3,887,450
2009--$3,395,702