Funeral

I'm off to the arctic north known as Colby, Wisconsin to attend to a death in the family.  I won't be back until late Sunday at some point.

Have a good weekend and don't forget about BarCampMilwaukee.

Need A New House

Do you need a new house?  How about a plane house?

Weird.

Milwaukee Admirals to Play at Kern Center

The Milwaukee Admirals hockey season is starting very soon, which means I'll be sharing elevator space at the Kern Center (MSOE athletic health wellness supercenter) with sweaty hockey players once again.  And that's cool, because a lot of those guys at some point or another will probably get to play in the NHL.  On the flip side, I have no clue who is who, so I just talk to them all and assume they're all famous.

The Admirals do one thing wrong though.  All of their regular season home games are played at the nearby Fortress on Fourth (the Bradley Center), but they'll be playing an exhibition game at the Kern Center on Friday against Grand Rapids.

Great a free game for MSOE students, right?  Wrong.  The Admirals want to charge us $10 to see them play on our own campus.  Now I'm sure the school is making money off of the game, but the students are being robbed.  Unless I'm going for free, there is no way I'm going to see a preseason hockey game.

The Admirals should do the right thing and make the game free for MSOE students.  Charge the Marquette and UW-Milwaukee kids, you don't have to share a building with them.

Happy Birthday Me

It's my birthday.  I'm now 20.

Oh, and I have a receding hair line.  My giant, lumpy freak head is headed down the road to baldness.

If the massive amount of stuff I had to do today wasn't enough, that news surely helps out my morale.

This day has sucked and its my birthday.  Amazing how those things work out.

On the flip side, at least a new episode of Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip will be on NBC tonight at 9 CST.

What's Wrong With This World?

On the Facebook there is a Campaign Issue group (users can create these and they go in a special section) named "Conservative, Christian, Pro-Life, Pro-Gun, Pro Death Penalty".

A quick examination of the name reveals Conservative Christian Life leads to Gun(s), which leads to Death.

What happened to the days when saying you were a Christian was a positive thing and you sought world peace through non-violent ways?  Who decided that being Christian meant carrying guns and supporting the death penalty?

Everyday I seem to wake up in a world that claims to be increasingly scientifically skilled, however, is still obsessed with settling any dispute through the barrel of a gun.  It's a really depressing reality.

Facebook and Yahoo Doing The Dance

Facebook and Yahoo are in talks about a $1 billion buyout deal.  I've talked about this before and nothing came of it, and there is only one outfit with real news this time around (the Wall Street Journal).  So I'm just going to have to wait and see what happens.

I'll believe it when I see it in this case.

Am I excited though?  You bet.  YAHOOOO!  I'm a firm believer in Yahoo's services.  Facebook would give them a marketing problem like they have with Flickr and Del.icio.us, but they'll eventually get it figured out.

Wal-Mart To Deal Drugs

Wal-Mart is going to start selling generic prescription drugs for as low as $4 for a 30-day supply.

Awesome.

The Facebook Game

There is now a Facebook Game you can play to get to know your friends better.  It's a quick and easy way to find a little interactive entertainment online.

Learn more about the game on the Facebook blog.

Flying Naked

On the way back from Denver I was championing the idea of "everyone fly naked, screw the security checks" with three sections on the plane Male, Female, and Swingers.

Turns out technology comic "Joy of Tech" must have interpreted my brain waves, because they made a cartoon about the idea.

There idea is clearly from the Swingers section.

Amazon Fulfillment

This is the new world.  This is technology.  Fulfillment by Amazon.

You send your new and used products to us, and we'll store them. As orders are placed, we'll pick, pack and ship them to your customers from our network of fulfillment centers.

Redefining the rules of business is what I'm all about, and this is it.

Tags: Amazon, Fulfillment

Flash Earth

Want to combine Google Maps and Microsoft's Local Live?  Try FlashEarth.com, they add a simple button to switch between the two, making it real nice to find the best image of an area.  Unfortunately the service doesn't support Microsoft's Local Live Bird's Eye view, which provides the best image quality of any mapping service out there.

Coup in Thailand

There was a coup in Thailand today.  While I know nothing about Thailand's political environment, it's important that you know that this event took place today.  CNN has the story.

Another Park East Plan OK'd

A new development has been approved down the road from MSOE, which I affectionately (and un-affectionately sometimes) call home.

A $70 million development proposed for the Park East area won approval Monday from a County Board committee, but only after supervisors voted to add a new level to the county's approval process for such proposals.

The first phase of Park East Square, which would be bordered by N. Milwaukee, N. Jefferson and E. Lyon streets and E. Ogden Ave., was approved by the County Board's Committee on Economic and Community Development. The full board is to review the matter at its Sept. 28 meeting.  Rest of the story.

Tags: Milwaukee, Park East

Berbee Sold to CDW

Berbee, a suburban Madison based-company, has been sold.

Berbee Information Networks Corp., Fitchburg, is being sold to CDW Corp. for $175 million in cash in a deal company executives and industry observers said Monday will boost employment at the Wisconsin company.  Rest of the story.

Tags: Wisconsin, Berbee, CDW

Microsoft's Zune Doesn't Play "Play For Sure" Files

Microsoft's Zune will not play protected Windows Media Audio and Video purchased or "rented" from Napster 2.0, Rhapsody, Yahoo! Unlimited, Movielink, Cinemanow, or any other online media service.  That's right -- the media that Microsoft promised would Play For Sure doesn't even play on Microsoft's own device.  Read more at EFF.org.

That's a really really bad idea if they wanted to you know get any market share against Apple's iPod or at least be respected in the arena.

Busy

Life is very busy, but that's a good thing, right?

Mark that down as my new catch phrase.

TSA Bag Inspection

For Your Protection
Originally uploaded by Greg_e.

After unpacking my previously "checked" bag today I found a notice in the bottom of it that stated the Transporation Security Administration had inspected it. First time this has happened, especially odd with no change in what I'm putting in my bags.

The photo is not of mine, but of an indentical one I found on Flickr.

Talk Like A Pirate Day

Just a casual reminder...

TOMORROW IS INTERNATIONAL TALK LIKE A PIRATE DAY!

Trip Home

I arrived home sometime close to 3 a.m. last night from Denver via Chicago and it has been a busy day trying to catch up on all the homework I didn't do this weekend.

I forgot how much fun homework was, especially paper writing.

AMD Offers Up Online Storage System

AMD has unveiled a new service powered by StreamLoad that gives users 25 gigabytes of online storage space for free.  There is a backup tool that is in beta to automatically backup your data.

The catch with the service is that you can only download 1 gigabyte a month, while at the same time having unlimited monthly uploads towards your 25 gigabyte capacity.

I don't understand how you would get ALL of your data out of this service at one time in the event of a hard drive failure on the computer that was backed up, without having to pay at least 10 dollars (increased data plan).  I suppose that is what they call a business model.

Tags: AMD, Streamload

Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip Pilot

You can watch Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip pilot episode for free on AOL now.

You may remember that I'm incredibly pumped about this show.  It debuts Monday night on NBC.

Tags: Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip

Trip to Mile High Stadium

A Flickr set of photos from my trip to Invesco Field at Mile High today, home of the Denver Broncos.

New Layout

What do you think of the new layout?  What would you change?

Denver

After a series of very busy days complete with lunches with people who recognized me from meetings I had spoke at and other people who recognized my voice from my podcast, I went and fled the state and I'm in Denver for my cousin's wedding.

Primary Election Day

It's Partisan Primary Day in Wisconsin, remember to vote!

On a side note, this election means a whole lot more to you I'm sure if you're a Republican than if you're a Democrat.  With so many Democratic incumbents this day is a little dry for the Democratic Party.

Ten Things To Learn in School This Year

Guy Kawasaki has a list of ten things you should learn this year in college.  I think I have them all down by now after sitting through so many meetings and working on campus, but many people out there don't.  This will help them out.

This is a story worth sharing, it's not your typical college list of things to learn.

Microsoft Expression Web Beta 1

Microsoft's Frontpage replacement Expression Web is now available in beta for download.  I'm downloading right now and excited to play with it.  I'll let you know more once I finally get a chance to toy it.  If you're into web design I'm curious what you think, check it out.

Milwaukee City Hall

Fun fact of the day.... Milwaukee City Hall was once the tallest building in the world  (Fully habitable, self-supported, from main entrance to rooftop).  This lasted from 1895-1899.  Bet you didn't know that.

The best part is I can see the top of the building every morning when I wake up.  Who gets to wake up in the morning and say they can see what was the world's tallest building?

9/11 Remembrance

Five years ago today Saddam Hussein and 19 Iraqis launched a coordinated attack on the United States.  They crashed planes into our buildings.  We responded by invading their country and overthrowing their government.

Wait a minute.  It wasn't Iraqis that crashed planes into our buildings.  Why did we randomly invade that country again?

By the way, I'm not big into trying to compare things like this to one another but, Hurricane Katrina was a much worse disaster that's going to have a massive fallout effect for years to come with all the chemicals spilled into the New Orleans and surrounding area ecosystem.

Broken Machine

Broken Machine
Originally uploaded by compujeramey.

How many future engineers does it take to figure out that the vending machine is broken? By my count about 9. We'll assume the first two were honest "is it broke" attemps, the next seven were just a waste of money.

Only at the Milwaukee School of Engineering.

Amazon's New Video Service

Amazon's new video download service is doomed to be a flop because of the pricing and restrictions model that burdens the service.  I had mentioned my excitement before about this service, but the reviews of my service are popping my bubble.

Tags: Amazon, Unbox

Milwaukee Wifi Update

Another update on the lack of progress on the city of Milwaukee wireless network from Daniel Cody.

I don't know what the hang-up is, but from the outside it looks like the city needs to bid this out to another company.

Next Season

Next Season
Originally uploaded by compujeramey.

After countless late game collapses, Ben Sheets arm injuries, the Lee trade, the loss of Corey, Rickie, and JJ, Derrick Turnbow blown saves, and bad decisions by Ned Yost it's time for Brewers fans to say "we'll get 'em next year".

This images comes after my "Passion" one last year about the Brewers.

Monetizing YouTube

A VC has some thoughts and numbers on how monetizing YouTube with ten second intro ads is going to work.  I think he's probably right.

Instead of buying your tv shows from iTunes, is the future of TV watching non-fast-forwardable ads on YouTube coupled with licensed content?  I would rather see that advertising model over the method of buying stuff on iTunes.

Tags: iTunes, YouTube

Construction Outside My Window

View From My Room
Originally uploaded by compujeramey.

I awoke this morning to the sound of construction taking place outside my window. They're redoing the roof on part of the MSOE Alumni Partnership Center. It made for a nice photo of the view from my room, but unfortunately it also is making for a nice smell of tar in my room.

Check out the full size to appreciate the view or how about a close-up of the construction.

Correction: The Class of 2005 Presents A "Disorderly Conduct"

I had a previous post about how someone in my high school class had attempted to rob a bank.  While the evidence still appears that he was at one point planning to rob the bank, there was an apparent error in reporting by my source.  The Janesville Gazette had first reported that Henry Hardnett was arrested on a charge of "attempted robbery", however this was incorrect.

A commenter brought to my attention that Hardnett was not arrested for attempted robbery.  I looked into the issue and it turned out the Gazette had issued a quasi-correction.  Henry was arrested and charged with disorderly conduct involving a weapon and carrying a concealed weapon.

Tags: Janesville

Flickr Adds GeoTagging

Flickr has added geotagging. I can now pinpoint the location of all my photos on a map.

The gates to heaven have opened and Flickr has added the one feature I have always wanted. What a glorious thing.

Here is my user map of photos (not yet complete with all of my photos).

P.S. This feature actually came out a week ago already but I'm so far behind in my RSS reading due to moving and helping orientate freshman to the college world last week. I apologize for the delay in expressing my excitement.

Tags: Flickr, Yahoo

Picture Taking

My picture taking has really slowed down in the past month or two, I need to fix that. Life is more fun when you have photos and video to remember it.

Windows Live QnA

Windows Live QnA has launched. A simple question and answer service that will help answer all those deep questions like "who is the best Milwaukee Bucks player of all-time?" and "why is Jessica Simpson so sexy?".

The service seems to be very similar to Yahoo Answers. It's all about who can leverage their platform better, Windows Live vs Yahoo 360/My Yahoo.

Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip ROCKS!

I just had a chance to watch the pilot for the upcoming NBC show "Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip" by Aaron Sorkin, which I have been anticipating for quite some time. IT ROCKS, IT ROCKS, IT ROCKS!

Aaron Sorkin and Bradley Whitford are back! Counting down the days until it airs (Monday September 18th).

Learn more about the show on its Wikipedia page.

Tags: Aaron Sorkin, Bradley Whitford, Aaron Sorkin

Last Day of Freedom

It's the last day of freedom before class starts tomorrow. Drag.

Does Ted Stevens Have a Brain?

Occasionally, someone in the government makes me really really mad. The kind of mad where if that person were representing your district or state you would make signs and paste them all over town. Thankfully for Senator Ted Stevens of Alaska, there is an entire country seperating my state from his (Canada, in case you were confused). All I can do is write one of my "favorite" (say "favorite" really long in your head to emphasize the sarcasm) senators a nice letter.

Dear Senator Ted Stevens,

Do you have a brain? First, you had "the internet is not a dump truck" speech that caught on like wild fire on the internet; I even wrote about it. Now, you've gone and really done it.

See, what happened is you used a loophole in the system to put an anonymous hold on a bill that would create a transparent reporting system for government spending. A single website that would report on nearly all federal spending. A citizens dream come true, instant access to real relevant and important information.

Senators Tom Coburn and Barak Obama co-sponsored this bill (S.2590), but someone put an anonymous hold on it. The website PorkBusters.org set out to figure out who it was using simple logic, asking politicans to go on the record saying they didn't place the hold. They narrowed it down to four people, including you.

It turns out they had missed Senator Bryd from that short list, due to inaccurate initial reporting. He had placed a hold and has now reversed his hold on the bill (giving a reason why, which may or may not be true). However, someone on your staff went on the record saying you did it.

So, you appear not to be interested in having the people of Alaska and the rest of the country have a clear idea on what you're spending their money on. Why is that? Perhaps it is because you tried to get a $223 million bridge built to an island that 50 people live on. Then, when there was talking of not spending the money on that bridge (and another smaller one) and instead spending it on Hurricane Katrina relief you threatened to resign from your Senate seat. Ultimately the money was given to "general Alaska transportation" and not to the two bridges. So your cry baby tactics worked, you got your money and the "Hurricane Katrina damage zone" area sits in ruin.

You continually don't work with the interests of the people of the United States in mind. The work you do undermines the country while helping small groups of wealthy Alaskan citizens and oil executives.

Thankfully this time people are holding your feet to the fire. I will happily carry all the wood I need to. Ze Frank has an excellent short video exposing you.

The gig is up, and you're going down. Just like Joe Lieberman, you're time is coming to an end.

A Concerned Cheesehead,
-Jeramey Jannene-

Tags: Ted Stevens

Ebay Store

I'm working on creating an ebay store right now, which is why the posting has been slow lately.

Tonight

Brewer game tonight, hurray!