Thursday, April 27, 2006

Mmmm Chocolate

While wandering around after dinner we found this dessert shop with tons of snacks - including this eye catching chocolate-fall that has 3 kinds of chocolate, 24 feet of vertical movement, 2 tons of chocolate and 157 billion Weight Watcher points.

TLAs and Beyond

I'm used to seeing and using TLAs; but this conference has more of the alphabet in use than any I've seen. At one booth a presenter was spewing what seemed like random letters for more than 5 min. There would be the odd connecting word or adjective, but it was mostly letters, "Our HDTV has HDMI with H.234 and IPTV. You'll love the 1080p and 2k in full HD .... " Or something like that.

Here are the ones I've spotted in the past few days - how many do you know:
HD, HDV, HDMI, 2k, 4K, SAIT-2, HD-SDI, HDD VD, NLE, 180i, 180p, SD-SDI, NTSC, PAL, VBS, RGB 4:4:4, XLR-BMP, 10 bit 4:2:2, 24F, 24p, VTR, RS422, BD-ROM, DVB-S/2, IP QoS, PVR, DVR, VOD, STB, IPTV, DRM, OMA, VOD, DVB-2, DVB-H, S-DBM, T-DBM, 1080p, 2540p, 1020p, 720p, 1080i, ASI, SDTV, JPEG2000, MPEG-2, MPEG-4, H.264, MPEG-4 AVC, PIP, DVB-S2, MPTS, QPSK, SATA II, RAID, J2EE, DTV, EIA-608B, NTSC, PAL, 292M, VANC, ISAN, VC-1, Ad-ID, VoD, DLP, SXGA+.

TTFN

What would we do?

Here is a job that everyone would miss if the non-native community did not do this job that Americans will not do - smut vendor. In this convention city every corner has people who slap, snap, and wave smut related papers at all who pass by them. All the SVs I've seen have been possible non-docs of Latin American extraction. Where are the Americans for these jobs? What will happen on May 1st? Will no one slap the papers at tourists?

Wednesday, April 26, 2006

Odd Jobs

I sure hope it pays well. This is a job that could go either way - you may or may not be able to find an American willing to do it.

I think he could be a legal/illegal Russian documented/undocumented worker, what with the red suit and all.

The Jobs Americans Won't Do Part 1

We are on the bus on the way to the conference when I spot 2 guys in a hole working. What's odd is they are telling the equipment driver to dump the dirt into the hole while they are inside. We watch as the dirt drops around them - rocks bounce into their faces. The only safety equipment they have are hard hats, no eye protection. If they do this all day it will not end well. They will likely say, "We never saw that coming."

OSHA would have a field day writing fines. The truck as it is moving around, rammed into the metal brace that is keeping the hole from filling itself.

This looks like one job that will not be done on 1 May.

Tuesday, April 25, 2006

Big Show

One part of my job that I love is I get to see lots of technology. This show is focused on all kinds of broadcasting and related technologies. This is the second helicopter I've seen inside today. You can smell the fuel. I wonder where you get a permit to being one inside. This show is more male skewed than any I've ever seen.

Saturday, April 15, 2006

Westfield - yuch

How do I hate Westfield? Let me count the ways. Today we went to the mall so Kerry could get some new shoes. She is trying to compete with Mrs Marcos - she wants 3 pair today. I keep reminding her that she only has 2 feet. Anyway back to my Westfield rant.

They have continued their uglificaton of the mall, this time by covering every available flat space with ads. What's next? I think they will have people carrying ads. Wait ... They do that; balloons with ads for the kids, how sweet.

Wednesday, April 05, 2006

Awana Grand Prix

Nothing makes dads more anxious than the Pinewood Derby. The boys each helped with the design. Campbell wanted a shark and Cooper wanted a whale.

Campbell came in second in his 1st heat, first in the 2nd, and 3rd in the 3rd. He had a great time. Cooper was way out in the lead - several feet, when 2 feet from the finish his rear wheel popped off. He was not too sad - he was able to race again after some repairs.

The axel design was changed this year from a two piece, to a single. It was much harder to work with than last year.

I make the boys do as much as they are able - they do the sanding, painting, and decoration.

Tuesday, April 04, 2006

Too cool

We had a field trip today to see the plane that served as Reagan's Air Force One. Amazing time. We ahad a great docent who took 2 hours to tour us around.

The trip home had us crawling in LA rain traffic.