Fear, Greed and the Human Condition

Mondavi (Taken with instagram)

Sat, 11 Feb 2012 17:51:52 -0800

Mondavi (Taken with instagram)

Dropped the top in Palo Alto today! (Taken with instagram)

Mon, 09 Jan 2012 23:43:23 -0800

Dropped the top in Palo Alto today! (Taken with instagram)

I will own a Ford Falcon convertible one day… (Taken with...

Sat, 10 Dec 2011 16:24:28 -0800

I will own a Ford Falcon convertible one day… (Taken with instagram)

timeless

Thu, 11 Aug 2011 16:25:37 -0700

timeless

Best Alternative Energy source I can remember seeing

Sun, 24 Jul 2011 22:08:57 -0700

This just might knock high-altitude-wind energy off its’ pedestal in my mind.

I don’t know how I haven’t heard of this technology until now, but the EnviroMission Solar Tower is just amazing.

(image source)

It is basically a huge tube that creates a barrier between hot air close to the ground and cold air high up in the sky, and uses the temperature differential to “create wind” through some turbines that they have conveniently placed in the way!

This looks like a front runner for sustainable energy, even when you account for the energy to create it. They just signed a 30 year PPA with Southern California to build a 200MW (!!!) one in Arizona. Their CEO claims that the simple ROI is 11 years, with an 80 year expected life. I really don’t see a reason why we shouldn’t be putting these things up everywhere!

Besides ingesting the occasional cow, and the crazy amount of dirt they must suck in, I am having a hard time playing the contrarian on this one.

Original Link via HN

Your brain: practice makes perfect

Sat, 18 Jun 2011 18:34:00 -0700

Want to be smarter? Don’t read this list; go out and use your brain more! But if you insist, here it is…

1. Seek Novelty

2. Challenge Yourself

3. Think Creatively

4. Do Things The Hard Way

5. Network

From a great article on Scientific American. For “Do Things The Hard Way” the author is spot-on that GPS makes your sense of direction worse. I try to leave it off most of the time* since I noticed the same thing. It also sums up what I love about San Francisco. It feels refreshing living among such a great number of smart and driven people! It’s actually hard to go out and engage in a conversation without learning something novel!

*I need it when I’m on my cell phone, which is terrible

Hyundai on the same level as a Mercedes Benz?

Mon, 23 May 2011 12:19:42 -0700

I was walking to a restaurant to meet a friend on Saturday and couldn’t help notice that the valet’s for the swanky French bistro Cafe de Amis on Union Street had parked a new Hyundai sedan out front, right in front of a new Mercedes Benz S550!

I have seen many Porsche’s and Bentley’s in the two valet guarded spots they have out front (and a few Ferrari’s and Lamborghini’s) but never a Hyundai before.

When I tell my friends that Hyundai is taking over the car world they all think I’m an idiot, so this is great validation! They have good looking cars, the random people who drive them like their build quality, and they consistently match the performance and specifications of the current leaders for way less money.

This car was their new flagship the Equus, which is what the President of South Korea rolls around in, but nobody in the US has any idea it exists. Hell, I looked through their whole website last year reading about this beast but I can’t even pick them out on the highway; they just blend in. But it’s nice to see it getting a little recognition, even if everyone on the street did look at me strange when I was trying to get a picture of it.

Did you know that Hyundai’s had reclining rear seats? Seriously?

Jack Crossing has some AWESOME graphic design skills. Next level stuff...

Wed, 11 May 2011 19:00:06 -0700

Jack Crossing has some AWESOME graphic design skills. Next level stuff...:

he has a great Flickr stream as well

Essential Bay 2 Breakers resource...

Sat, 07 May 2011 18:01:55 -0700

Guide to all the Liquor Stores along the race course!

http://exercisingwhileintoxicated.com/2010/05/14/bay-to-breakers-liquor-store-map-2010/

A friend sent me an email discussing B2B which had a link from Joe Kukura in it, who used to write for SFist.com and now has an interesting blog Exercising While Intoxicated. He put together this awesome map last year, and I’m sure it will come in handy for the 55,000+ B2B runners this year.

You’ll Never Walk Alone! If you’re a soccer fan, you...

Tue, 03 May 2011 15:30:13 -0700

You’ll Never Walk Alone!

If you’re a soccer fan, you need to be familiar with some showtunes. Seriously.

One of them is the legendary song “You’ll Never Walk Alone” from the Rodgers and Hammerstein musical Carousel. The rumor is it started in Liverpool, but it has spread to several football clubs around the world, including the world renowned F.C. Twente!

Anyway, if you want to see what it’s like to have an entire stadium singing a showtune check out this video;

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y7xvegPH_Lw

LYRICS BELOW;

You’ll Never Walk Alone

When you walk through a storm

hold your head up high

And don’t be afraid of the dark.

At the end of a storm is a golden sky

And the sweet silver song of a lark.

Walk on through the wind,

Walk on through the rain,

Tho’ your dreams be tossed and blown.

Walk on, walk on with hope in your heart

And you’ll never walk alone,

You’ll never, ever walk alone.

Walk on, walk on with hope in your heart

And you’ll never walk alone,

You’ll never, ever walk alone.

Virgin America giving out free 5 Hour Energy #sweet

Fri, 29 Apr 2011 08:22:59 -0700

This could be bad. I wonder how many I can get?

So much for my two week streak of no caffeine!

This isn't crazy it's California! (Motorcycle through traffic)

Thu, 28 Apr 2011 19:20:00 -0700

This isn't crazy it's California! (Motorcycle through traffic):

This European person seems to be beating traffic!

25 Everyday Things You Never Knew Had Names

Thu, 28 Apr 2011 18:54:35 -0700

25 Everyday Things You Never Knew Had Names:

I felt good about knowing a few, but bad about not knowing the majority

Persistent Anthony Bourdain fans: Thank you! (@NoReservations)

Mon, 25 Apr 2011 22:38:19 -0700

I’ve been told for years that I would love Anthony Bourdain, who has a TV show on the Travel Channel.

Having also not had cable for years (and been smugly proud of it) there was no way for me to check him out.

But last week I had the pleasure of listening to him on Harvard Business Review’s IdeaCast. I was pleasantly surprised at his rags to riches, dishwasher to TV host story and enjoyed his musings on social media, travel and honesty and just raw appreciation for his fortune.

I caught about half of his show tonight in Sardinia, Italy where he was eating boiled blood out of a goat stomach and cured fish roe. He looks like a genuinely fun person to be around and passionate about the cradle-to-grave journey of the food he eats. Inspirational!

Best quote: “Eat what the locals eat!”

Best advice: “Be a good guest”

Best Lesson: “Work hard and show up on time”

The Undivided Mind [Imaginary Foundation]

Sun, 24 Apr 2011 19:27:32 -0700

I am lucky enough to live in San Francisco, so was able to go to this gallery on opening night with my buddy Charlie. It was just as impressive as it looks.

This link is an awesome virtual space that lets you experience the countless hours that went into putting scientific equations over every ft^2 of this art gallary.

Check it out —> http://www.panomatics.net/theundividedmind/

Here are some pictures I took that night. It started off with the Fibonacci numbers painted by Haight Street down Fillmore to Fifty 24 gallery.

Stephen Hawking over the door.

I think they had free wine too! Great time was had by all obv.

Hostest with the mostest - Taylor Stevens @ The Family Dog

Sat, 16 Apr 2011 12:24:05 -0700

Hostest with the mostest - Taylor Stevens @ The Family Dog

New Drug Smuggling Sub Found!

Fri, 15 Apr 2011 13:00:05 -0700

Last one was found in Columbia, this one was in Ecuador.

[photo by Christoph Morlinghaus]

Quick Stats:

Twice as long as a city bus
Diesel-electric propulsion with fuel ballasting capability
Kevlar and carbon fiber hull construction
6,800 nautical mile, 10 day range on surface
18 hour underwater time limit from 249 lead-acid batteries
9 ton cargo hold (~$250mm of cocaine at street value)
$5mm construction cost (estimated)

Best part for me?

[photo by Jim Popkin]

Seeing incidental contact protection in front of the bus bars and a ISO 3864 high voltage symbol!!!

Who says that people that take a 16 foot tall sub out into the ocean that will only withstand 68 feet of water pressure aren’t concerned about safety?

from Wired

Choices, Choices

Wed, 13 Apr 2011 22:07:28 -0700

Lauryn Hill and Dave Chappelle are performing tonight at 1am in Oakland (3 hours from now). I gotta be out of the house by 6am tomorrow. Since when was I this responsible? Damn you Bay Area and your permanent state of having something awesome going on!

[hat tip to @matthewfong for the ticket info]

It's your lucky day.

Wed, 13 Apr 2011 19:21:05 -0700

I was reading a document today prepared by Dow Chemical about metal particles in lubricant and what they mean.

[Chromium and Molybdenum usually come from bearings, Aluminum and Copper are heat exchangers, etc.]

This tidbit made me laugh…

Also, their Lubricant Technology Center is in Texas, and they had this quip about the weather…

Hipmunk luggage tag arrived just in time for my flight to...

Wed, 13 Apr 2011 01:43:45 -0700

Hipmunk luggage tag arrived just in time for my flight to Atlanta this weekend!