Brotherly love

This is my older brother Conrado:He is a real estate agent in San Diego. I give him a lot of credit because he is really good about using technology to help him in his efforts.

An example, he sent this this afternoon:

Subject: Need Tech Support

Bro,

There is a powerful tool on Google Maps to embed your Youtube videos - you can see the
obvious application for real estate. I followed the instructions on the below page to the
letter:

http://earth.google.com/outreach/tutorial_youtube.html

Any even though I can see the youtube video where it is supposed to be, i only see it
when i am in My Maps and the public can't see it which is the whole point.

I have scoured Googles' tech pages and search low and wide on the net and can't find an
answer.

What do you suggest?

Thanks,

Bro

--
A little backstory may be useful here. I'm a support geek. I have been doing support in many forms for a long time. I work for a valley company doing support now, so his request is perhaps logical. My initial response:

a bribe.

To which he responded:

In what form?

I sent:

who knows? they are "fraking" google. what do they need? that's like asking bill gates if
he needs a dime.

Realizing I missed an opportunity to really pull his chain, I almost immediately followed that with this further reply to him:

damn. i replied too hastily. a quick check of the ether indicates that the usual and proper bribe for such assistance from such an entity is the sacrifice of a terrabyte of disk space that holds irretrievable data.

let me know how that works out.

I get that he wants me to do his dirty work. I can't help myself and just love to do this with my family when they are less than specific. He hadn't asked me directly for support - he asked what did I suggest? I made a freaking suggestion.

Some days, comedy just grows on trees... His reply to my question about lending bill gates a dime:

I was thinking i could bribe you to figure it out. I mean, that's what you do, no, i mean
you know about all these SW developers and are in a better position to know where they
hide the holy grail.

Holy crap! He really wants me to RTFM for him! Being a bit slow on the uptake and having chosen to do this via back and forth email, instead of coming into the 90's and IM'ing me, he comes back, clearly confused about the sacrifice suggestion:

Bro,

You lost me.

A terrabyte of disk space (Ok, I'm thinking you want an external 1 TB drive, but..) "that
holds irretrievable data" - I'm not sure what makes data "irretrieveable" unless you take
said drive and smash it, so i have no idea what you mean.

How what works out?

Oy... I decide to clue him in (having known me all my life and having been in the short end of my rhythm stick in the past, I certainly would have thought he'd know better..). I reply:

ahhhh. we get to the point after all. i see. you were hoping that since i get paid to while away in the support trenches some 40 to 50 hours a week, i might enjoy a foray into the google mines for another hour or two. in effect, doing more RTFM that perhaps you have not completed. that perhaps, as i am some sort of miscreant that gets his rocks by doing this, day in and day out, week after week, year after year, that more ought to be the way i want to spend my time?

i'm not saying it isn't, i just want to hear you say it...

;)

You're not gonna believe his response:

Hear YEE, Hear YEE, Hear YEE well!

The author doth proclaimith openly that he is in need of assistance that is crucial to
his success in certain technical endeavors that benefit business in the end.

THe author doth proclaimith and admit that one, Sir Daniel of Hinojosa, doth twill and
twain and bang and baing in the deep mines where data, information, and all matter of
knowledge and science is found, hark, yeah, it is legend that even the sword of Arthur
the King lies somewhere down there in these deep deep pits...

The author doth further proclaim that he has great confidence in the efficiency and skill
of Sir Daniel of Hinojosa in finding the holy grail, and besseecheth him to aim his arrow
at said target for the benefit of king, country and his bro.

There! Said it!
:-)

PS WTF IS RTFM?

OMFG - he doesn't know how to use Google after all. I was gonna help him out. Clearly, he just needs to poke, test, read, and think. He's a smart guy. I'm gonna send this and call it a night:

http://google.com - let me know how it works out.

I think I'll include the link to this article too...

RSS 101

I'm relatively new to RSS. I started using it and have been a huge fan, ever since I saw this really well made video that explains RSS and why it's worth the effort:



This is brought to you by the good folks over at Common Craft.

There be squid here Captain!

I have previously commented that I don't worry about being bitten by a shark while surfing. After seeing this video, I'm rethinking what worries me...



Can you imagine getting wrapped up by one of these suckers?

Phil Jackson - WTF?

I went with my family to the Warriors game at the Oakland Coliseum where they had a run in with the Los Angeles Lakers. I chose this game to take the family to because I've been a Lakers fan since the early 70's (that's my brother's fault - thanks Jorge! ;).

During basketball season, I'll have the game on at home and don't usually miss too much of the NBA playoffs each year. This has had the net effect of my kids being basketball fans. My son plays ball as one of his favorite sports and my daughter likes to watch some ball on TV with me.

It has been fun over the years to watch the Lakers make it to the playoffs. However, my son being a big Warriors fan, I have to admit, I enjoyed their run last year.

All in all, it made for a great setup to the game last night. And what a game it was! Daughter said it was a great game and the sort of game that made her feel like watching basketball might be okay... Wow, strong praise indeed.

Once the game started, as this is the first time I have ever seen the Lakers play, I had to get a look at Phil Jackson. Here he is on the floor with Brian Shaw:
Now, the take away there is that he is about the same height as Brian. Phil having been a player himself, he of course has to have some height...

For all the coverage I have seen of the Lakers over the years, and Phil Jackson's teams in particular, including the Bulls, perhaps I never appreciated how tall he is. If the Wikipedia entry for him is to be believed, he checks in at 6' 8" tall. He's no Shaq, but hey, he's about a foot plus taller than me...

Now with that said, dude looks like some kind of humongo-giant here:
I can't say I've ever seen the Main-Stream Sports Media (MSSM) cover this aspect of the Lakers. He's a whole head taller than Kurt Ramis on his left shoulder there. Kurt's Wikipedia entry clocks him in at the exact same height as Phil!

Well, there was a game:
Awesome action... Okay, not my best sports photograph ever. Hey, I'm in the cheap seats - cut me some slack - I only have 3x optical w/12x digital zoom here people...

Anyway, I'm perseverating on the bloody Phil Jackson throne. Look at this sucker folks, it's not just me:
Yes! I checked, Don Nelson didn't have one of these (did you know Nellie's Jersey, #19 from the Celtics, is retired in the Boston Garden rafters?). Phil must truly be an NBA God. I knew he was a Zen Master... but a throne?

Ya, Kobe played, directed, blah blah blah...

And, I did get a good art shot here:
It's a good art shot because there is clearly motion, and it is in focus. Click for a larger image. I'm pretty sure that's Ronny Turiaf just under and to the left of the net.

I had fun at the game, but it left me with all sorts of questions. Like, this guy:
Out of context, it's not big deal right? Of course. Here's the context:
The dod hangs from the ceiling. I wonder what that job pays? He gets into that crows nest from a ladder that comes out out of the ceiling or somewhere.

I'm mesmerized by this Phil thing. Here is is next to Kurt - THEY'RE BOTH 6' 8"! Look behind them though, Vladimir Radmanovic looks huge too. It's the Jackson throne.
Okay, I can let it go. (Go with the force)Luke Walton spent a bit of down time sitting in it at time-outs, so I decided the guys needing a little help tried to get some of Phil-o-wan Kenobi's mojo from a little throne time. Gotta be a good thing, right?

Tied at the end of regulation:

Time ran out for the Warriors. Though, the Merc article seemed to indicate the team felt they were on the loosing end of a ref-probe... Whattaygonnado?

There was one play in OT where Baron Davis tossed up a hail Mary alley-opp attempt that if it had completed, would have brought down the house. We were on our feet. It was an *awesome* game. Worth getting home at midnight and only getting 5.5 hours of sleep for. And I still gotta wonder about who else in the league they set a special seat for? I'm thinking, not too many others. I'll bet that irks some coaches. Well, not Isaiah Thomas I'm sure...

There be whales here!

Okay, well, not a whale per se.

Much less to be true.

Okay, it's a bloody Red Fin Shark.

It's in a tank in my son's room. I've noticed as I walk by his room during the day, this fella will station himself, nose down, tail up, in the corner of the tank. Here he is setting up:

Here he is again, not quite in position, but you start to get the idea...

Then he goes all Star Trek IV on me, and I can't get focus on him...
Weird, huh? Makes me wonder if he knows something I don't. Well, I'm sure he does, I just mean in an extraterrestrial sense.

It's my own personal whale here captain...

The hockey highlight

I love hockey. Here's one reason why:



From With Leather. Amazing...

Oregon: Vote for this guy...

Found this via /. (Slashdot):



I like what he says and I like that he does not take himself too seriously. Good on you mate!

Bike vs. Fence (sports)

Driving through my neighborhood, I seem to have just missed witnessing a drunk driving accident:
Guy musta been going, what, 10, 15 MPH?:

Apparently a hit and run, the driver is on the loose...

Tragedy - in San Jose... Sad really. When will people learn?

Bike: 1 Fence: 1 (tie)

Dinner

Inspiration comes in many forms. For me, it's art in it's many forms. Photography is the closest I can come to art. I couldn't draw a stick to save my life. I used to think I was a fair photographer, and I think that's as good of an assessment that can be made of that talent.

I love to cook and a friend I work with sent me a recipe for Tequila Lime Chicken. I needed to cook tonight and that was the best idea that had presented itself at the time things needed to be defrosted, so that's what I did.

Without the gory details, here we go... The Jalapeños are from my jardin, but have been in the freezer for a few years by now. The one at the top still has a little frost . I have trimmed the stems here and they kinda look like severed finger tips, huh? Well, minus the blood:
The recipe called for coating the chicken with about two teaspoons of cumino. I used the little shaker bottle and just sprinkled it on both sides. I probably used a total of about a teaspoon. I kinda think it was to much in the end. More on that later... This is the chicken cooking in the pan:
The lines that almost look like grill lines are from the dish that was used to defrost the breasts. The dish is actually a microwave bacon cooking dish that we've had for what, 23.5 years? It works. I like it 'cause the little grease trough that goes around the sides works well to catch the juice and schmutz.

Here, I've turned the chicken:

Having followed the recipe as I read it, tomatoes, onion, cilantro, the chile's, and lime juice is in the bottom of the baking dish. I totally boofed and failed to have my wife take a picture of the tequila and triple sec flaming off. That's always fun. Anyway, I placed the chicken on top of the other ingredients and dumped the liquid out of the pan over the top of everything. Ready for the oven:

I had just figured out that I was out of the quick brown rice I was gonna make and cous cous didn't seem like an appropriate side for this. Plus, we had a bunch of veggies handy for this roasted vegetable dish we love, so that was the designated side for the night...
I chopped up a red onion, zucchini, a summer squash (in winter? - technically), one each red and green bell peppers, and about a pound of asparagus plus less than 2 tbsp of olive oil, salt, and pepper:
I thought that was really pretty. The bigger picture showed it well.

Here is the finished chicken right out of the oven. I screwed up and forgot that I needed Jack cheese, so we used the 2% milkfat "Mexican Cheese" blend we had handy (it didn't really melt as well as I would have liked - I'll use the more fatty version next time - more flavor! ;):

The veggies just out of the oven:

All plated and ready to eat:

Ya, it was good.

The changes I'll make the next time are to use less cumino. I'll only lightly sprinkle it on one side. Then, I think I'll put the chicken in the baking dish and cover it with all the other stuff first. Plus, I'm gonna add about 15 chopped garlic cloves.

When it's time to add the cheese, I'll pull the chicken up out of the ingredients and then put the cheese on and bake / brown it up.

All in all, we enjoyed it a lot. It hit the spot. Above all, I was inspired. I like being inspired. It beats being bored... Thank you David!

sorrow

I've known this song for a long time, but for the life of me loose the lyrics in my head.

I spotted some mystery song on my itunes play list and it caught my attention. Finally, when I'm in front of my computer and can actually do something about it! HA! I found it:



kick ass.