Smoke and mirrors September 22, 2009
Posted by Matsu in Fun, Photography, Random, Travel, Uncategorized.add a comment
Century Plaza Hotel in L.A.
During my recent visit to Los Angeles, I stayed at the Century Plaza Hotel. It was very nice. But, what I really liked was the view from the room that was randomly assigned to me for my visit. It was on the front side of the hotel facing, dead center, the uniquely architected (is that a word?) office building directly across the street. I couldn’t help but take some snap-shots of the view using my iPhone. The purpose of this blog post is to share those photos.
View from Century Plaza Hotel Balcony
The unique building across the street has a hole in it, literally. It’s hard to see if from the above image, but what you see through that hole is part of two other buildings. One of the things I really enjoyed about this room, in addition to the view, was the fountain seen in this photo. It helped to drown out (no pun intended) the city noises. The sound of the fountain was a little bit like the sounds you hear at the ocean. Or, it was as close as you might get to it in a metropolitan area like Century City.
View of buildings in L.A. at sunset
This wider-angle photo of the same view of the building across from my hotel room gives you a much better idea of how there are two separate buildings behind the building with the hole in it. To add to the strangeness, the two tall buildings behind are triangle shaped, not traditional buildings with four outside walls.
Yes, the hole is real. I’m not sure the thinking behind it, other than making it very unique, but there is no magic trick at play in these photos (no smoke or mirrors were used to produce these photos).
My stay was more pleasant because of the view and the sounds produced by the fountain. Oh, and the weather (65 F degrees at night), didn’t hurt, either.
Ten signs your son might be a hacker January 31, 2009
Posted by Matsu in Fun, Humor, Information Technology, Open Source, Security.add a comment
Yes, you read correctly. There are ten (10) signs that your son (or daughter) might be a hacker.
This is from an old post that’s been around a while, but I just happened to stumble across it today.
My favorite is sign number eight, which is:
8. Is your son obsessed with “Lunix”?
BSD, Lunix, Debian and Mandrake are all versions of an illegal hacker operation system, invented by a Soviet computer hacker named Linyos Torovoltos, before the Russians lost the Cold War.
It is based on a program called “xenix“, which was written by Microsoft for the US government. These programs are used by hackers to break into other people’s computer systems to steal credit card numbers. They may also be used to break into people’s stereos to steal their music, using the “mp3″ program.
Torovoltos is a notorious hacker, responsible for writing many hacker programs, such as “telnet”, which is used by hackers to connect to machines on the internet without using a telephone.
You can read all ten signs that your child may be a hacker on this website. They are very funny.
Amusing Sushi Bar Etiquette Video December 17, 2008
Posted by Matsu in Fun, Humor, Japan.add a comment
A friend posted a link to this YouTube video on Facebook.
If you have ever lived in Japan you will pick up on all of the hidden meanings behind it, but even if you have never even visited Japan you should pick up on much of the humor. Trust me, this is a very satirical look at the Japanese sushi bar.
Disclaimer: Please don’t believe what you see in this video or use this actually learn proper sushi etiquette. If you do, you are totally on your own!
To Canada and back… May 31, 2008
Posted by Matsu in Education, Fun, Technology.2 comments
This week I have been in British Columbia, Canada. I was attending the annual CCCU Technology conference with two of my colleagues (well, there were a LOT of colleagues, but just two of them work with me — Bert W., and Don H.).
This year Trinity Western University hosted the conference. Steve M. and his helpers did a wonderful job. It was a great trip where lots of fun and professional development took place.
I woke up at 4:00am this morning to begin the long trip home. One of the airline flights ran late, so the trip took longer than expected. I will give a more complete post with a summary of things I learned after I’ve had some sleep. In the mean time, let me say how great it was to see Steve M., Gary H., Rick D., Chris M., Gary F., Judy D. (yup, another shout out to Whitworth!), and so many other friends and colleagues from other CCCU schools. It was also wonderful to make some new friends and welcome some first-time attendees. I hope they got as much out of the conference as I did.
Oh, and before I forget, let me say how much we all missed our good friend and colleague, Scott T. from CBU. We are all glad you are getting better and look forward to seeing you in perfect health, again. You remain in our thoughts and prayers!
Now, I’m off to catch up on some much needed sleep.
Beekeeper school canceled because of snow March 7, 2008
Posted by Matsu in Education, Fun, Humor, Random.add a comment
I live in central Kentucky (USA). Today a winter storm went through the state (well, it’s still going on right now, so it’s not through, yet).
I just noticed that one of the school cancellations at the bottom of the television screen is for the Kentucky Beekeeper School. I had no idea that beekeepers had their own school.
I learn something new every day. I wonder what the bees do when the beekeepers take a day off.
