Blog Master G

My thoughts are with those suffering from being hit by Hurricane Ivan.

Pretty incredible what Mother Nature can do. It really puts things in perspective.

Oh yes.

Study Shows Beer Has Same Benefits As Red Wine: “Beer drinkers can toast the news that their favourite beverage possesses the same benefits as red wine, the alcohol long celebrated for its antioxidant properties.

“Researchers at The University of Western Ontario have found one drink of beer or wine provides equivalent increases in plasma antioxidant activity, which helps prevent the oxidization of blood plasma by toxic free radicals that trigger many aging diseases, such as cancer, diabetes, heart disease and cataracts.”

To the first of the day!

The thing that’s crazy to me about all these hurricanes sweeping through Florida and the gulf states is all the television anchors who put themselves in the midst of 100-plus mile-per hour winds to get the best shots. Last night, A_nderson Cooper was in Mobile, Alabama talking about how the entire city had evacuated, but here he was, covering the hurricane.

Panama City Beach, Florida is on CNN this morning, and anchor is anchoring himself against a tree to keep from blowing away.

Of course, it’s all about the ratings and viewership. It’s exciting. We like to see people in the middle of danger. I wonder how long before a news reporter is swept away by a hurricane some day?

H2 not big enough for you? No worries. Just fork over 100 grand or so, and the new International CXT industrial-size truck built on a dump-truck frame — with dump-truck functionality — can be yours. It’s street legal and you don’t even need a commercial license to drive it. It’s 2-1/2 feet taller than the H2 and 4 feet longer.

Yeah, baby, now we’re talkin’. So get the fuck out of my way and watch yoself before you get in my way.

Sarcasm aside, I must admit this thing is pretty bad-ass. What I like about it is that it seems to serve a function: Big hauling. This is something the H2 cannot claim. Sure, the H2 in its original Hummer form serves a military function, but I’ve seen more H2s in cities than scaling walls or moats. In other words, I think people with the means to purchase this truck will do so for business, not just for show. I don’t think we’ll see any rappers or NBA players cruising the CXT anytime soon.

“Born out of a 20-ton hauler and other International ® severe service trucks used by the construction, government and waste industries, the International CXT is built on the same platform as dump trucks and snowplows. As a result, it is a vehicle unrivaled in capability, size and appearance. It hauls three times the payload of consumer pick-up trucks, is all-wheel drive, uses air brakes for unmatched stopping ability and offers towing, dumping and tilt bed capability. Additionally, it features a spacious interior with crew cab design that seats six and can be customized to meet owners’ specific needs – from paint color to air seats to flat screen TVs.”

Wow. I’ve only barely begun to use it, but I can see that the future of Web browsing and searching is about to change. It combines the best of the Web under one hood: the power of the Google search, IMDB, Amazon book search, and more. You can search and browse through your own search history, bookmark sties, etc.

A9.

I remember reading about it way back when, but had no idea what to expect. From the Why use A9.com page:

“The web is easy to use, but using it well is not easy. We are inventing new ways to take search one step farther and make it more effective. We provide a unique set of powerful features to find information, organize it, and remember it—all in one place. A9.com is a powerful search engine, using web search and image search results enhanced by Google, Search Inside the Book™ results from Amazon.com, reference results from GuruNet, movies results from IMDb, and more.

“A9.com remembers your information. You can keep your own notes about any web page and search them; it is a new way to store and organize your bookmarks; it even recommends new sites and favorite old sites specifically for you to visit. With the A9 Toolbar all your web browsing history will be stored, allowing you (and only you!) to retrieve it at any time and even search it; it will tell you if you have any new search results, or the last time you visited a page.”

This search tool, combined with Firefox 1.0, to which I just upgraded yesterday, is about to bring a whole new experience to the Web.

The PR firm behind A9 must have a huge marketing campaign in full swing, too, since I even got an email from them via my contact form today, pointing me to this article from BusinessWeek Online: Can Amazon Go Beyond Google?

A9 is one URL worth remembering.

(It even contains an element of Alexa, the Presidio, San Francisco-based Amazon subsidiary where Jen used to work!)

Yesterday marked two years to the day since Happy Dingo McGee became a member of our household. Jen, Stella, and I have been better off for it, as he’s ensured that we’ve all stayed on our toes. He’s provided us with so many laughs. Happy has made many friends as our ambassador to humans, being the 35-pound lap dog that he is.

We’re glad you’re part of this household, Little Buddy.

Here’s Happy when he was still behind bars at the Marin Humane Society:

Happy’s original name was Bobby McGee. That quickly changed. It only took two days after adopting Happy to send out the official email about him.

My thoughts on Atkins exactly. Eat a burger and a pound of bacon, but stay away from that apple ’cause watch out! It’s got carbs.

Fatkins

I was saddened and shocked today to learn of the death of Jennifer Crimi, our first neighbor here in Saratoga Springs. She lived across the hall from us in our Caroline St. apartment. She died May 16, 2004, shortly after she moved out of her apartment near us.

Jen and I are glad we had the chance to know Jenn, for what little time we did. She was always cheerful and greeted us with a smile. She even joined us for my birthday party back in April. Jenn had a traumatic brain injury, similar to one someone in my own family has experienced, so I felt like I could relate to her.

I remember the day she moved out. I gave her a hug and my business card so she could call me one day; I really expected to see her again.

Life really is precious. You just never know.

Rest in peace, Jennifer.

Fall is in the air. The temperature is really starting to drop, and there’s a noticeable chill in the air. Sure, it’s only about 50 right now — nothing compared to the sub-zero temperatures we’ll hit come January — but when you’ve been soaking in the 80-plus sunny days, it’s a shock to the system.

Seasons are pretty awesome; they really help to mark the passing of time and make you feel alive. But the East Coast is weird. According to my in-laws, we’re going to have to call an oil (or gas, in our case) company about a “heating contract” to make sure our heating system is up to par; the company will also be on call 24-7 during the winter months in case it should decide to stop working. I guess that’s better than freezing.

Sure, I’ve lived here during the winters before, but this will be my first winter as a homeowner, so I’ll get to do other fun things like plow. Everyone thinks I’m crazy, but I’m actually really excited about that. We got a sweet snowblower as part of buying our house.

Until then, it’s time to start bundling up.

On another note, big congrats to Karen and Bill on their new baby boy, Andrew! I’m really happy for you guys. Congrats!

The best story from around the world yesterday:

Fathers’ rights activist dressed as Batman scales wall of Buckingham Palace: “LONDON (AP) – A protester dressed as Batman scaled the front wall of Buckingham Palace on Monday afternoon, reaching a ledge near the balcony where the Royal Family appears on ceremonial occasions, campaigners and witnesses said.

“The protester was identified as Jason Hatch, 33, from Gloucester, a member of the Fathers 4 Justice group, which is campaigning for greater custody rights for divorced or separated fathers.”