louisgray.com: live

(It's time to introduce some new music...)

1. Ferry Corsten
2. Gabriel & Dresden
3. M83
4. R–yksopp
5. Ulrich Schnauss
6. Cosmic Gate
7. Snow Patrol
8. DJ Icey
9. Robbie Rivera
10. Purple Haze

1. My wife. Before I get things thrown at me, claiming I'm a sentimental sap, it's true. She just happens to be really cute, a fun companion, and smart, too! Though it's not always easy to admit it, every minute of every day, we're both darn lucky we're not single. Anybody who will put up with my other 9 addictions, in no particular order, and still manages to be unique herself, is worth keeping.

2. The Internet. Try and get me to take a vacation that doesn't involve easy access to high-speed Internet... it's not going to happen. I'm on the laptop first and last things each day.

3. My job. At each stop in my career, I've been all-consumed to exceeding expectations. If that sounds like a sorry first line to a resume, so be it. But hardly a minute goes by when I'm not either thinking about a project, or strategizing on where to take the next one. The goal is to make the company bigger and better because I've been part of it, and for them to know I helped.

4. Humor. It sounds generic, but if I'm not actively seeking out witty sarcasm through The Daily Show, The Simpsons, Arli$$, or This Modern World (to name a few), it's me making up the nonsense. I've usually got a crooked grin hiding the fact that something has internally struck me funny, and there's just not a good outlet for it yet. Other times, I let the words go, and so long as it's funny to me, that works well.

5. Competition. Again, generic. But I yearn for it. I hate losing, and I love fighting to come out on top, whether that's in a game of cribbage against my 78-year-old father in law, Trivial Pursuit against my wife, a pickup game of H-O-R-S-E with my colleagues, or in business. Competition stokes the inner fires and pushes me to get better at whatever I want to.

6. Oakland A's baseball. If the game's on, I know the score. Doesn't matter if I'm at the game, in the car, on the road, or at the office. Even if I'm not actively participating in the gameday thread at Athletics Nation, part of my mind is on the game.

7. Techno music. I almost always have some kind of techno beat in my head. Techno and electronic music is why Mozart came and died. This is the end result of all those composers who made names for themselves in history. Techno gives me energy and enjoyment for pretty much any situation.

8. Diet Coke. Now that's traditional, isn't it? In my teens, I simply didn't have enough money required to sponsor my addiction, but by the time I got to college, and into the workforce, I was only too happy to oblige. Good thing I switched away from the full-octane stuff my junior year at UC Berkeley. Otherwise, I'd be even more heavy.

9. E-mail. While you could argue that it's a subset of the Internet, it really has earned its own spot, especially with the advent and adoption of the Blackberry, which brings e-mail with me, no matter where I go. If you ever want to see a businessman fidget, take his Blackberry away. They literally will reach for it, only to see the face fall when their body realizes it's gone.

10. TiVo! Though the summer months don't help me renew my vows with TiVo as often as the rest of the year, this black, rectangular box does my bidding every day, whenever I ask, and it really does wait for me to be ready to spend time with it. It entertains me for hours, and never asks to be taken for a walk (sorry to Molly, our 16-year-old beagle) or reminds me when the mortgage is due.

We've seen quite a few documentaries lately, enough so that a top ten is in order, ranging from politics to nature, business and the spelling bee.

1. Fahrenheit 9/11

Still among the elite in bringing home the horror of an unforgettable day, while stirring up the knowledge we all had that more could have been done, and that our filthy, guilty administration didn't go out of their way to protect us before or afterwards.

2. An Inconvenient Truth 

As covered here before, a must-see film that will change the way you look at your role in the environment. I will be getting a hybrid car now. That's almost a given.

3. Super Size Me 

A hilarious send-up of big fat America with McDonalds as the star. Not that it stopped me from continuing to eat fast-food.

4. Startup.com 

Often hitting way too close to home, this film covers the rise and fall of GovWorks. We cringe at the CEO's hubris and feel for the office minions who get swept up in the dream, only to see it crash down.

5. Spellbound 

Brings me back to win I was garnering trophies as a geeky elementary school super-speller. I made "states" twice, but no further.

6. Outfoxed 

A stinging rebuke of the idea that Fox News is "fair and balanced". Exposes the network as a crock. Which we knew already, but loved seeing.

7. The Smartest Guys in the Room 

A look into how Enron stole from California, Texas and pretty much everyone.

8. Bowling for Columbine 

The American gun culture is ridiculous. Michael Moore makes Charles Heston look silly in his role heading the NRA, while also showing us why we all should just up and move to Canada.

9. March of the Penguins 

A cute, Antarctic story following the hopeful trek to mate and reproduce, made more difficult by frigid winds, and the fact one has to waddle for miles.

10. Going Upriver: The Long War of John Kerry 

An almost-forgotten piece that tried to help Kerry when the liars behind the "Swift Boat Veterans" were running amok. Worth seeing, even now that he's lost.

1. Hardwood Hearts
2. Yeti Sports (Download them All!)
3. iConquer
4. Quinn
5. Classic Cribbage
6. Reckless Drivin'
7. Airburst
8. Reversi Deluxe
9. Scramble
10. RockNES (Find your own ROMs, of course)

Apple's Dashboard, included in Mac OS X 10.4 (Tiger) utilizes mini-applications, easily customized, and hidden away for viewing at user's preference, without taking up valuable real estate. Though some thought Apple ripped off Konfabulator (now Yahoo! widgets), Apple has managed to engage the developer community well, which has seen terrific innovation. Some of my favorites, which I use with some frequency, are below.

1. Stocks
2. tremorSkimmer
3. RadarInMotion
4. Scoreboard
5. SimpsonBot
6. Gas
7. Reversi
8. Buzztracker
9. Translation
10.Technorati Ping

Listening to ''After Love (New Short Cut)'', by Piet Blank & Jaspa Jones (Play Count: 1)

Sometimes, I think we take technology for granted. This evening, after getting home from the office, I made edits to our Web site from the comfort of my couch - even though the server is back at headquarters. While I've done this for years, technology continues to improve to make the process easier. With my heading off to another trade show this coming week, this time in Chicago, remote access will be essential. Here's how we do it.

1. The Apple iPod.

What? You thought this was a toy for listening to music and watching TV shows? You'd usually be right, but the iPod acts as my primary storage device, to and from the office. Now, any Mac with a Firewire or USB port is my office. So long as I backup the iPod to my home laptop (and I do), the data is not only portable, but safe.

2. Microsoft Outlook Webmail

This is one thing Microsoft does really well. I can access all my work e-mail from any computer, just through the Web. From the Web interface, I can not only send and receive e-mail, but sort data in folders, and send meeting invites, or view the calendar. With an acceptance that most corporations continue to use  Windows and Outlook, I'm surprisingly happy with this tool.

3. Microsoft Remote Desktop Connection

Two Microsoft in a row! (Looks at the window toward the East to see any visitors...)

Remote Desktop Connection takes off where VNC ends. Though I've used a number of variants of VNC over the years, Microsoft's Remote Desktop Connection lets me log in securely to the company's Web site, and make changes. Even while running Mac OS X, I can pop open a window to the Microsoft Windows Server 2003 box and make edits - and then log out as simply as if I were standing in front of the box in our datacenter. This, and VNC before it, prevent me from having to utilize "sneakernet" and shuttle data from my local disk to the remote machine or run local scripts.

4. FTP (Fetch 4.0.3)

The old reliable... though competitors like CuteFTP and Anarchie popped up now and again, Fetch remains a strong FTP client. As with Microsoft's RDC, I can remotely log in to upload or download data. Used in combination with all those tools above, I can upload a file from the iPod, FTP it over with Fetch, and log into Microsoft RDC to move it to the right directory before testing. (Fetch is also used to manage the graphics on this site.)

 5 - 8. .Mac Sync with Apple's Safari, Address Book and iCal

This probably deserves to be higher. As a .Mac member, Apple automatically synchronizes my bookmarks in Safari, my Address Book, and my calendar (iCal) between the home laptop and the desktop at the office. This way, I don't have to wish that I had all my tools at hand - instead, I know they are there, so I can run the same queries and get the same results across boxes.

9. RIM Blackberry

When away from the desktop, the Blackberry one-ups Webmail, by taking my e-mail, calendar, and cell phone with me in one device. While I'm not the type who likes sending out large messages from the Blackberry, real-time synchronization with Exchange is essential to keep up to date. Call history and Caller ID is very nice as well - something we take all too much for granted.

10. Bare Bones BBEdit

It wouldn't do me any good to take files back and forth on the iPod from the office if I couldn't mangle them the same way at home as I do from the corporate desk. BBEdit has been my text and HTML editor of choice for nearly 10 years now, and until I gain more savvy or am up for a challenge, that isn't going to change. BBEdit was built for Web editing and ensures I see the same output on any browser or operating system, whether I'm working from home, the road, or headquarters.

Listening to ''University Microfilms International (Non Album Track)'', by Stereolab (Play Count: 11)

You may have seen the news that George W. said he believes his brother Jeb Bush, current governor of Florida, would make "a great president". Well, we thought about it and, from his perspective, we have to agree. Here are the top ten reasons Jeb Bush would make "a great president".

1. In comparison to George's tenure as president, so long as Jeb doesn't sell the entire United States to Saudi Arabia for a single barrel of oil, he would probably be instantly canonized.

2. George has proven you don't even need to know how to read to be president.

3. Having already overseen the biggest voting scam in the history of the country during 2000's presidential race, Jeb is a perfect fit to follow his brother's footsteps in ignoring national law for the sake of the party.

4. Both Jeb and George have shown they can ask their secretaries of state to follow their every word, even when it makes them both contradictory and mentally vacant.

5. Number of terrorist attacks in Florida since his taking elected office? Zero.

6. Number of wars initiated from Florida based on faulty intelligence? Zero.

7. Jeb understands living nearby a hostile region, and avoiding conflict. In Florida, it's Cuba, sitting 90 miles off shore. For his brother, it's basically anybody outside of the White House. He'd adjust easily.

8. Bush - it's the new Kennedy. Only not good looking. Or smart. Or charismatic. Or likeable. Okay, it's not like the Kennedys at all.

9. Both George and Jeb are still taking orders from Daddy.

10. With George's approval rating sitting around 33%, according to most polls, Jeb could be more popular in America even if he alienated all of the women, the entire black population, and Ivy League graduates through foolish endeavors.
Listening to ''The Hand That Feeds'', by Nine Inch Nails (Play Count: 2)

This list was first posted three months ago, on January 9th, so as my fickle tastes evolve, here's the update to the idiot box rankings.

1. The West Wing (-)
2. 24 (+1)
3. War At Home (+4)
4. Law and Order, Criminal Intent (-)
5. House (NEW!)
6. The Daily Show (-4)
7. CSI (-2)
8. Conviction (NEW!)
9. Law and Order, SVU (-3)
10. Late Night With Conan O'Brien (-2)

Dropped from the list: The Colbert Report and Law and Order...

Listening to ''Dream'', by Blutonium Boy Vs DJ Session One (Play Count: 5)

Whatever my excuses are - whether it's being at the office too long, or letting TiVo and the Internet (this site included) take over my available hours, I'm simply not reading books and magazines as much as I should and have historically. As a result, some very good books are piling up, in my "to do" pile, and there's not been much movement.

1. Crashing the Gate by Jerome Armstrong and Markos Moulitsas
2. The Truth (With Jokes) by Al Franken
3. The World Is Flat by Thomas L. Friedman
4. 2006 Oakland Athletics Media Guide (picked this up at Spring Training)
5. Confessions of an Economic Hit Man by John Perkins
6. The Five Dysfunctions of a Team by Patrick Lencioni
7. Cryptonomicon by Neal Stephenson
8. The Colorado Kid by Stephen King
9. Trump - The Art of the Deal by Donald Trump (duh)
10. Sharing Good Times by Jimmy Carter

It used to be easy to find the latest information on technology, and it used to be that the big media press was the place to get it. But now, CNET, ZDNet, eWeek and Wired are more recaps than news-breakers, while more focused rags like MacWeek (once called MacLeak because they always had scoops) are flat-out gone. Here's where I have enjoyed getting new data... fast.

1. GigaOM
2. TechCrunch
3. SiliconBeat
4. SearchBlog
5. Scobleizer
6. Engadget
7. GearLive
8. MacRumors
9. ValleyWag
10. Slashdot

(Today we go old media. Once again, presented without any context or reasoning.)

1. Business 2.0
2. eWeek
3. InfoWorld
4. Storage Magazine
5. Computerworld
6. Network Computing
7. Network World
8. InformationWeek
9. Wired
10.Macworld

I'm getting just a little bit tired of hearing the waltz play for the ice dancing... guess what... it's the same song for every single pair! That's a little wrong. If you're the judge, how can you not want to look around for the hemlock for a quick exit? But ice dancing is a little ridiculous. Sure, it's hard to do - I can't do it. But is it a sport? Does it belong in the Olympics? I don't think so. And it's not the only sport with qualities just a little less redeeming than bowling or 7-card stud. So here's a list of ten sports that need to die an Olympic death (Winter or Summer).

1. Synchronized Swimming
2. Table Tennis
3. Ice Dancing
4. Rhythmic Gymnastics
5. Curling
6. Handball
7. Badminton
8. Kayaking
9. Taekwando
10.Equestrian (Let's give the medals to the horses)

You probably saw the story about how New York City mayor Michael Bloomberg, a billionaire, had a lowly desk jockey making $30k a year fired for playing solitaire on his computer during work hours... leaving the father of a three-year-old without a job. "The workplace is not an appropriate place to play game,” said the mayor, who claimed he wasn't over-reacting. But we've all seen people goofing off during work hours. Here are ten ways I've seen people goof off, or signal their full effort wasn't in the job any more.

1. Colleagues set up a multi-player online game, and the only calls are to say "it's your move!"
2. Every time you walk by their cube, you can see them minimize their browser window.
3. AOL Instant Messenger seems to be the majority of their typing.
4. They're on their cell phone more often than they're on their office phone.
5. The IT guy would rather finish his hearts game than change the printers' ink.
6. Your colleague in the next cubicle has told his old college buddies how he got engaged so many times, you could tell the story with the same emotion.
7. They're making calls for a charity she works on the side, but won't answer your e-mail.
8. You ask about an e-mail you sent, only to find it's in their In Box, in Bold. Meanwhile, eBay and Monster.com are minimized.
9. The commissioner of the company's fantasy baseball league has more adds and drops than everyone else combined.
10.Your boss gets grouchy when you interrupt his online game to ask about edits on collateral.

We've all seen stuff like this. If Bloomberg were roaming the halls of your office, how many would make it through the whole day?

I used to be more of a gadget freak - getting the first and latest version. To some degree, that's toned down, but I like being current. This list is built on time used and importance.

1. Apple PowerBook G4
2. RIM Blackberry
3. Apple iPod Photo (60 GB)
4. Tivo DVR (Series 1)
5. iHome
6. Apple Airport Base Station
7. Belkin TuneCast FM Transmitter
8. Apple iSight
9. Apple Airport Express
10. Exilim Digital Camera

Keeping with our Top Ten list theme, I submit what I view as the top ten political sites I visit regularly (or irregularly).

1. Daily Kos
2. This Modern World
3. Eschaton
4. Talking Points Memo
5. AmericaBlog
6. MyDD
7. Informed Comment
8. Bob Harris
9. Oliver Willis
10. The Next Hurrah

It's awards season. Kudos to Box Office Mojo, just to remind me what came out when.

This list shows the Top Ten movies that came out in 2005 that I both saw and enjoyed. I admit I haven't seen everything, so just because it makes the list doesn't necessarily make it a world-beater.

1. Munich
2. The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe
3. Wedding Crashers
4. Fantastic Four
5. Fever Pitch
6. Charlie and the Chocolate Factory
7. Must Love Dogs
8. Fun With Dick and Jane
9. The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy
10. 40-Year-Old Virgin

This list is sure to see changes over time, depending on new songs or albums, but you can't go wrong with the following artists, who represent a good share of what I listen to. For real time statistics on what music I take in, try Music Mobs or Last.FM, both great services.

1. DJ Tiesto
2. DJ Armin van Buuren
3. Underworld
4. ATB
5. DJ Irish
6. Depeche Mode
7. Blank & Jones
8. 4 Strings
9. Paul Van Dyk
10. Stereolab

(This list excludes things like our corporate Intranet, My Yahoo!, Google, etc.)

1. Athletics Nation
2. Slashdot
3. Engadget
4. TV Tattle
5. MacRumors.com
6. Drunken Data
7. Daily Kos
8. This Modern World
9. Drudge Report
10. News.com

One thing I definitely intend to feature on this site are Top Ten lists. Ten's a good number, and since this site is self-focused, it's my job to let you know where I stand on the important issues. Today's list? Televison shows. What are the best today?

1. West Wing
2. The Daily Show
3. 24
4. Law And Order, Criminal Intent
5. CSI
6. Law And Order, SVU
7. War At Home (Yes I admit it - the show is very funny!)
8. Late Night With Conan O'Brien
9. The Colbert Report
10. Law And Order