231 Erwin Road

It's official

2006-01-17T02:21:00.000-05:00

It's official folks, I have moved! Both physically and virtually. 231 Erwin is NO MORE!!!

I started 231 Erwin Road less then a year ago. We've grown close though, I've been very attached to my blog. When I started 231 earlier this year, I was living down in North Carolina with P and R. It was fun times. I was participating in IBM's Extreme Blue program.

That's all changed, I resigned from IBM last month, I've interviewed in a few different cities around the U.S. and have decided to make a move out to semi-sunny San Francisco. It's also time for me to move on digitally...

I've brought back www.vinnie.net. Which if you've known me long enough, you remember that site as my 24x7 webcam. Maybe it'll come back, but in the meantime, check out my most excellent hybrid wiki/blog creation powered by Drupal.

So long and thanks for all the comments...

The IM epidemic

2006-01-01T15:56:00.000-05:00

I just received my first IM virus. An IM from a friend on my buddy list came though with this item:

"should i put this pic on myspace? im mad drunk from last night http://photobucket.com/NewYearsPic/drunk.jpg"

The link actually points to "http://www.sp00kler.be/image3.pif." On my Ubuntu linux box that doesn't do much, but on a Windows system, who knows.

Using myspace to lure me in, you should be ashamed.

Happy MMVI!

Flickr, you make me so happy

2005-12-30T12:43:00.000-05:00

I posted earlier how Flickr didn't have any means to allow me to use a Flickr user's photo easily in a blog post. That in order to point to the original author and use the photo as a citation, I was forced to steal it.

No more, Flickr has introduced a new feature, 'Blog This.' It's a little text icon you will see above the photo.

Thanks Flickr. I can now cite a photo source quickly, easily, and legally.

Product Placement? What's that?

2005-12-30T12:41:00.000-05:00

Confrontational Marketing -- Building Brand Awareness in a Saturated Market
Originally uploaded by Thomas Hawk.

Here's a really innovative idea at marketing. Check out the photo, That starbucks cup is viral, it's placed there as a marketing gimmick.

I love it. I think there's a right way to approach an audience with 'advertising' information. This is clever, much better then a 30sec interruption.

More info on this blog post.

Sprint PCS Roaming

2005-12-26T14:54:00.000-05:00

My Treo 650 Sprint PCS phone will frequently go into Roaming onto Verizon's network. Then I get the message from Verizon: "I'm sorry, we can't authenticate your phone..."

Sprint PCS told me to dial *2 and say "PRL update" but that doesn't work, it just takes me to a customer service rep. They left out that you need to press 1 first for the english branch.

These little things are what frustrate me. One this should be automatic, 2 I shouldn't have to waste time doing this, 3 it didn't work and they told me to wait 15min to speak with a technician.

Strike

2005-12-20T18:38:00.000-05:00

NYU Winter ITP Show

2005-12-20T18:26:00.000-05:00

ITP is the Interactive Technology Program at NYU. They mash engineering, art, and computer science people together to come up with some great ideas, such as pacmanhattan and dodgeball. Last night I had the fortune to attend last night, my friend Andy started in the masters program this fall.

I got to see some cool projects such as Gumspots and FoundConnections in addition to Andy's Interactive Bag of Hammers.

Gumspots is a creative idea as a few kids have taken photos of nyc city sidewalks and have formed patterns out of the unique layout of gum spots all over the city. Simply snap a camera photo of the sidewalk below you and txt it to their site. Then they can tell you in the city where you are (and for biz purposes, what's around you.)

More photos here.

Have you found my personal identify information? Please call 212-555-1212.

2005-12-20T17:37:00.000-05:00

I open up my mail today to find this letter:

"We are writing to let you know that a computer tape containing information about you and your mortgage account with ABN AMRO Mortgage Group, Inc. has been lost while being transported by DHL courier service to a credit reporting company.

...

The tape, which included the names, account information, payment history and Social Security numbers of our residential mortage customers, was shipped via DHL from our data center in Chicago to the credit reporting company, Experian. The tape was lost after DHL picked it up from the data center. We and other lenders routinely provide this information to credit reporting companies to ensure your credit report is up-to-date."

So it seems that my mortgage company, ABN Amro (mortgage.com) sends my credit information to Experian via DHL. There was no mention of encryption, so I'm assuming it was clear text.

As bad as that sounds, I will at least thank ABN Amro because they offered me free credit monitoring for 90 days.

I think there is a serious problem with identity and 'credit' information in this country (and maybe others.) We have this some what secret social security number that is supposed to uniquely identify us. However, I think we should have TWO identifiers, one super secret and one super public. I'd be happy to give out my public ID to companies because it wouldn't matter if it ends up in the wrong hands, because that seems to happen all the time these days. But it would allow companies to UNIQUELY identify me, something that they have been using social security numbers for. The super secret one could be used at the discretion of the individual. Maybe they only give it out in person or over the web on secure websites. And it should ALWAYS be stored in an ENCRYPTED format.

Which leads to my other confusion about access to OUR information in this country. Why do we have such limited access to our credit report where that is the one place we can track if any damage is being done? Shouldn't we have FULL and FREE access to this report 24x7? Most people don't even realize ID theft has occurred into a few weeks or few months in. This could be avoided much earlier if we had free access and alerts to our reports. It would save millions for the credit companies by reducing fraud.

.......

UPDATE: This article claims that the tape has now been found. Well, at least I now get 90 free days to watch if anybody else looses my data. Shouldn't this service be FREE to EVERYONE ALL of the TIME?

For the love of wiki

2005-12-20T17:12:00.000-05:00

http://www.penny-arcade.com/comic/2005/12/16

Funny Music Video from Saturday Night Live

2005-12-19T18:51:00.000-05:00

Very funny music video from Saturday Night Live about seeing the 'Chronic' - 'werd' - 'icals of Narnia' on a lazy sunday in nyc.

YouTube - Lazy Sunday - SNL Digital Short

Good-bye Howard

2005-12-16T14:34:00.000-05:00

So I had some problems uploading photos from Howard's Good-bye party. Here are the better ones on my Flickr howardster stream.

The crowd:

A mad cow:

Howard's new logo:

XM Radio protesters, trying to promote Opie & Anthony:

Black Jesus:

I think his back says "Hybrid Tax Now" So I'm guessing he's stating to raise money for hybrid fuel research through some soft of tax system? I'm for ideas that require the use less oil.

Yahoo's blogger (Dan's sister), howardnation_fangirl:

Even the MTA changed their signs for Howard:

Howard Stern Live

2005-12-16T08:27:00.000-05:00

I'm heading to check out Howard Stern's good-bye party, I'll try to post some live photos.

More info here: http://360.yahoo.com/howardnation_fangirl

Weak connections

2005-12-15T17:07:00.000-05:00

I just had this thought.

I had a website open that I recently learned about and discussed with a friend. I closed the tab and thought, 'Ohh wait, I should have tagged that.' (tag = given it a keyword on del.icio.us)

Then I thought, 'No I don't need to tag that, I've talked about it enough that I won't forget it.' Then it dawned on me, I only tag sites that will be hard for me to recall in the future. I don't tag amazon.com because I'll never forget it. But I would tag the site "You're the man now dog" because I can never remember the URL. I might use the tags "man funny seanconnery."

Then I thought, wow, this is what I do with people, I 'tag' my weak connections. I have an excel spreadsheet that has contact info for my 'weak' connections. Folks I probably won't remember in the future, but I would like to easily recall them by a keyword if I needed to in the future. Let's say I run into you at a party, and you're a cool person, we get along well and it turns out that you're a dog walker and ask me if I know anybody that needs a dog walker. You might give me you're card. Most folks throw this away at some point. I put it into an Excel spreadsheet and tag the person 'dogwalker.' Then in the future if I come across somebody asking for a 'cool' dogwalker, I can seach my 'weak' acquantances speadsheet and email out the info.

Yes this is a little extreme for most people. But what clicked in my mind was that tagging of websites and tagging of people is what allows a person to 'persit' or retain weak connections. If I didn't tag some sites, I would never be able to find them again. So if you ask me for a cool web2.0 calendar, I can search through my tags and see what sites I've taged. Or better yet, you can just search through my tags yourself!

Why will you know more the 150 people?

2005-12-14T17:05:00.000-05:00

Robin Dunar's rule of most humans having a capcity to maintain nomore then 150 relationships due to physical limitiation of the neocortex has been talked about a number of times in the social networking field.

I've always said that this was tied to technology as well. That if there is technology to help faciliate and persit relationships, humans can go well beyond that number and still maintain stable relationships. I belive in the realtivly near future, we'll each have hundreds if not thousands well mainted relationships.

Christopher Alacrity has an excellent write up that all of these social networking services "are making the problem worse, not solving it." I agree, the bombardment of these networks is creating massive unstructed networks. I would make the analogy of trying to keep up with the internet by reading everypage that comes online each morning. Not only is it impossible, but it is unconstructive as well. That's why we have portals such as Google and the BBC. Google acts to filter all information on demand, BBC acts to aggregate information around perspectives. Social Networking tools should act in the same way. I'm fine with having 1000+ contacts in Friendster, LinkedIn, or my IM Buddylist, however I need some way to oranize, search, and filter these connections based on metadata about the relationship. Right now in Friendster, everybody is a 'friend.' There is no differenation between college buddies and work colleagues. There is no temporal data about how often I contact them or when the last time I made contact with them. This data needs to be captured in order to use a overabunding social network in a useable way.

Maybe this happened to my fish

2005-12-14T16:10:00.000-05:00

After stumbling onto this Rubik's Cube prank with the 'Alamo' or the black cube at Astor Place, I stumbled upon their flat fish prank.

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Make a Spash and the problem with Flickr

2005-12-14T15:34:00.000-05:00

I was originally gonna post about 'making a splash.' I'm currently reading 'The Tipping Point' and he talks about stickyness factors. Today I walked by that big black cube @ Astor Place also known as 'Alamo.'

Photo credit to webseitz.

I gave it a good spin, and it caught the attention of most folks that had no Idea it was spinnable. It cause a few ppl to stop and others to open their mouths. After 10-20 seconds, I watched from a block away and noticed another person came to spin it as it slowed down, after that spin, it came to a stop. There was something viral in this. I wanted to talk more about it, but I'll have to come back to the viral topic in another post.

-------------------------------------------
So I'm changing the topic of this post for one reason, the commons. I searched flickr for a photo of that cube so I could put it on my website. I wanted to respect the author who took the photo, so I looked for a photo that had a Creative Commons license. Somebody that wouldn't mind if I used there photo for non-commercial use as long as I gave them credit. There was the problem, there was no way for me to filter the search on that attribute. How could I find a photo to reuse in a pool of photos if I can't filter out by CC licenses?

So I opted for the 'unethical' route and had to 'steal' the photo to display it on my blog. But that's wasn't my intent, my intent was to use somebody a photo for the purpose of a visual display. If anything, that's good for the photographer, I can give them credit and create a link to their work so that more people can see their photos. But Flickr doesn't make that easy. Because the default 'all rights reserved' license won't allow me to embed a photo in my blog and create a link to the author. So I'm forced to create a 'copy' of it on my Flickr account.

Then I ran into another problem, how do I quickly and easily copy a flickr photo into my flickr account? Let's say the author is cool with it. Flickr should allow you to copy it into your account, so that if the author takes the photo down, you still have access to it. The reason I bring this up is for this photo.

Photo credit to Brianvan

I think it's an amazing photo, the color is beautiful. I'm even a little out of focus, just like real life. However, 'all rights are reserved' on this photo as well, so I stole it (I'm in the photo, shouldn't I have some right to display it as well?) Again there was no way for me to embed this pic into my blog. Brianvan has a website, 485i.com, go check out his work. I don't know him personal, he snapped that photo at a party.

But the problem exists on how to copy that photo into my blog? Flickr restricts it from being linkable, so I'm forced to copy it to my flickr account so I can display it in my blog.

------------------------ Tags: ------------------------

business card feedback

2005-12-14T00:35:00.000-05:00

I'd like to purchase one of those snaggy blogging business cards/cartoons by hugh macleod of gapingvoid.

What is the feedback on this design?

That reads:

Vincent Lauria
- innovator -

New York / San Francisco
917-612-0051

vincent.lauria@gmail.com
www.vinnie.net

All your River Game Belong to Us

2005-12-13T10:42:00.001-05:00

Fun puzzle that will kill 10 minutes of your day. It is a variant on the famous puzzle, "Everybody has to cross the river." It's in non-english, so click on the BIG BLUE CIRCLE.

http://freeweb.siol.net/danej/riverIQGame.swf

The following rules apply:

Only 2 people on the raft at a time.
The father can not stay with any of the daughters, without their mother's presence.
The mother can not stay with any of the sons, without their father's presence.
The thief (striped shirt) can not stay with any family member, if the Policeman is not there.
Only the Father, the Mother and the Policeman know how to operate the raft

Instuctions:

To start click on the big blue circle on the right.
To move the people click on them.
To move the raft click on the pole on the opposite side of the river.

All your River Game Belong to Us

2005-12-13T10:42:00.000-05:00

The following rules apply:

Only 2 people on the raft at a time.
The father can not stay with any of the daughters, without their mother's
presence.
The mother can not stay with any of the sons, without their father's
presence.
The thief (striped shirt) can not stay with any family member, if the
Policeman is not there.
Only the Father, the Mother and the Policeman know how to operate the
raft

Instuctions:

To start click on the big blue circle on the right.
To move the people click on them.
To move the raft click on the pole on the opposite side of the river.

Spammers are so smart

2005-12-12T14:18:00.000-05:00

I got a new flavor of Spam today. Gmail caught it, but it's a pretty intelligent fishing technique. Lately everybody has been getting, Your account info is out of date, please update... and it's just a link to a non-paypal site to grab your email address. Today I got an email that is similar, except it says, 'futifresh@yahoo.com' has been added to your account, if you didn't authorize, please click here....

I think that will play on the ambitions of many folks.

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spam

I'm watching you!!! (even closer now)

2005-12-09T09:00:00.000-05:00

Come'on Google catch up to Micrsoft's Local Live. I don't like the GUI or interfaces as much as Google's maps (it lacks hotness) but the bird's eye view blows away google maps or google earth because it's much closer and you can rotate it.

Local Live link to my apartment.

Thanks Lon.

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Want to add tags to your blogger posts?

2005-12-08T16:00:00.000-05:00

There's a nice little Greasemonkey script written by Johan Sundstram. This post will walk you through the steps on how to get it up and running in Firefox.

What are tags you ask? Tags are basically 'keywords' or 'categories' you would use to clasify anything from a website, to a flickr photo, to your blog posts, to your friends.

What's Greasemonkey you ask? It's a software app that works with the Firefox webbrowser that allows the webbrowser to alter and manipulate the page you're looking at. What that means is you could be looking at an Amazon.com book page and have a Greasemonkey script insert the price from Barnes & Noble's right along side the Amazon price so that you can compare.

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Friends and Family Plans

2005-12-07T15:19:00.000-05:00

Are you tired of your Cell Phone Friends and Family Plan only work for 2 legged creatures that tend to walk upright (ignoring your 98 year old Aunt Maye).

Well, don't despair, you can now get a cell phone for all your lovable 4 legged creatures, such as your dog or your neighbor's bitch (female canine folks!)

http://www.petsmobility.com/

Categories: Funny
Tags: technology funny cellphones pets dogs

Now how do we scare the old people away?

2005-11-30T01:16:00.000-05:00

From /.

"A device called the Mosquito was invented by Howard Stapleton designed to drive teens away by emitting a high frequency noise at 75db. Apparently most older people can not hear the sounds, but teens can not stand it. Reports are that it works quite well, but some older people can hear it too. He found the prefect irritating sound by experimenting on his children."

Tags: news funny
Category: Funny

Habitat JAM

2005-11-27T19:43:00.000-05:00

Be a catalyst for change in Habitat JAM. The works needs your ideas. Let's make our cities more livable for all. Join in the discussion on six areas affecting developing nations:

Improving the lives of Slum Dwellers
Sustainable Access to Water
Environmental Sustainbility
Safety and Security
Finance and Governance
Humanity: The Future of Our Cities

This is a joint effort of the UN-Habitat initiative, the government of Canada and IBM, focusing on issues of urban sustainability. We run a similar program like this at IBM and it's amazing what it can accomplish. A 3 day live jam around the world generating discussion about change. It's very powerful, and taken seriously. After the discussion, people can go back, and start aggregating all the ideas around themes that need to be addressed.

To the fish with no name

2005-11-27T19:19:00.000-05:00

My fish is missing!

My kool-aid-turned-fishbowl container is missing a fish. It's now a static pool of water with some rocks and no fish. It seems after our Thanksgiving party last weekend, somebody snatched my fish.

WHO STEALS A FISH?

Where did they put it? Did they flush it down the toilet? Did the put it in somebody's beer? Is it for sale in chinatown?

My eulogy to the fish without a name
You were a nice fish. I'm sorry I didn't give you a name. So many before you passed away, so I decided not to name you, but you, you lasted the longest. I think it was because you were the smallest. You were so resliliant. You started off in a big Sponge Bob tank with Mr. Crabs and a pineapple home. Then you survived a road trip on my move down to North Carolina, in the freezing cold. I put you in a ziplock bag. I would open it every so often to let in fresh air, but kept it closed most of the time to avoid you flying out when I hit bumps.

When we got down to NC, I realized that a ziplock bag just wouldn't do for you, you needed something GRANDER! So I drove to the nearest Kmart and purchased a kool-aid container and some purple and black rocks, it had you're name all over it. My apologies for not getting you a filter at first in the new tank, but after your water got cloudy, I ran right out and purchased you a nice new filter.

Then I departed for my road-trip around the south and Patrick and Rane attended to your daily feeds. On my return, I placed you back into a new ziplock bag for the treck back up to nyc. Again, you didn't die, you were a tough fish, not like the others.

Then you went on to last a WHOLE summer, sometimes you held off for days without me feeding you during all of my vacations, you stuck it out, you were here to stay, till the end.

Then fall came and halloween passed. It was the big day, Thanksgiving. All where here to give thanks, eat delicious food, and be merry.

But no, somebody had to swipe you, you, the fish, without a name.

R.I.P.
(Dec 2004? - November 12, 2005)

We want you

2005-11-17T12:17:00.000-05:00

I received a funny email today. I have my resume up on monster.com for a variety of reasons. I work for IBM as a BCS consultant. Today, I got another job offer from IBM:

Happy New Year - Get a head start on a new job with IBM for 2006 or help a friend get one.

IBM Business Consulting Service division has an immediate need for a Siebel Analytics person .

If you are qualified and interested, please send me your current resume, if not interested , please forward to a friend..

The job offer is for a very similar job role as my current position. I guess they forgot to check the employer of my current role which matches so closely with their opening ;)

The Andrea Gail

2005-11-04T21:53:00.000-05:00

Maybe that title is a little too strong for this post but I went fishing with my bro and niece last weekend. It was cold, but the waves weren't so bad, we made it back to shore.

Our captain was my niece:

We geared her up with a 3 point harness that my brother put together. We actually had to snag some parts from the child harness of a shopping cart of a local Stop and Shop.

Here she is reeling in her very first blackfish, all by herself, no help from us.

This is her catch. (Note, you can see a crab at the top of the photo. This is the bait that survived. Two crabs were placed on the line, the other is in the blackfish's belly.)

Some other obligatory pics:

Now laugh.

I'm watching you

2005-10-24T01:21:00.000-04:00

So if you've been to my apartment, you know that photo above is my building. One odd thing about this picture though, I DIDN'T TAKE IT! A9 did, as a drive by shooting as part of this whole map the real world thing companies are doing.

I think it's awesome, check out photos down my block. Read more at Wired.

Rent movies from your computer

2005-10-19T23:24:00.000-04:00

My printer has the measles

2005-10-19T16:16:00.000-04:00

I'm at the EFF office where earlier in the week a few researchers at the EFF have broken the code of tiny dots printed by color laser printers on every document. These dots provide folks like the secret service the serial number of the printer along with the date and time the document was printed. The secret service may argue that this was to find counterfeiters printing money, but this has crazy ramifications. These dots exists on almost ALL color laser printers on the market, even some around the price range less than $400.

The EFF has decoded the pattern used by Cannon and Xerox and has showed that they are easily readable with a blue flash light and a magnifying glass. The dots are actually yellow and the blue provides high contrast. You can also view them with plain ol' white light under a microscope.

Ramifications? I don't know, maybe you are printing some anonymous pamphlets speaking out against some gov't, and now you're not so anonymous anymore. Or maybe your significant other is trying to keep tabs on you, and these secret codes that were supposed to be unbreakable (except by the gov't) can now be tracked by anybody.

Read more here on the Press Release or Technical Details.

Categories: tin foil hat
Tags: eff privacy

NYC City Subway map - Google Maps mashup

2005-10-19T12:57:00.000-04:00

Live off of Google Maps? Live in NYC?

Check out this mashup. It could use some work, but great start.

Thanks Martin.

Yeah!

2005-10-19T12:50:00.000-04:00

I'm in the beautiful bay area at the moment (between Palo Alto and San Fran.) sitting in the kitchen of my friend's apartment. The roofers working on the roof next door are listening to Howard Stern so I'm getting to hear free great radio, (I feel at home.) It's also the first english radio station I've heard out the window since I've been here.

You know how in the northeast we have icecream trucks that drive around the block ringing their bell calling on all the kids to come grab some icecream? Well, here in Redwood City they have a guy riding around on a bike blowing his bike horn every few seconds. He sells pork rinds in home-packed plastic bags. I'll have to grab some.

Amazon's famous customer base

2005-10-15T16:58:00.000-04:00

Seem's like our prez has been using Amazon.com lately. Check out his product reviews.

Categories: Funny
Tags: Amazon, Reviews

Funny NYC posting

2005-10-08T17:30:00.000-04:00

I was walking into the Port Authority Subway and I found this sign below:

It's really funny because this sign was written on a wall where they are doing construction. I'm guessing that a thief stole somebody's tool bag or lunch box and this is the warning some construction worker put up to 'rumble' with the thief.

The attack of the 3lb Hamburger

2005-10-08T17:04:00.000-04:00

I went to Denny's Beer Barrel Pub off of Route 80 in PA a few weeks back. This is not Denny's the diner, this is a burger joint that serves GIANT BURGERS (largest is 15 lbs!!!).

Kristine and I grabbed a 3lb burger to split between the two of us. This is me going in for the attack:

The knife needed to cut it:

A profile of the burger as we cut into it:

We obviouslly couldn't finish 3lbs of burger in one sitting. So we took it home. I made it my personal mission to finish that burger by week's end (a la Homer Simpson and his sub) "Two more feet, and I can fit it in the fridge."

Here is a fotocollage of me finishing 3lbs of burger over a week:

And if you're interested, this is the toliet at Denny's Beer Barrel, I'm sure it sees a lot of action:

For more photos, check out the flickr set.

Tags: Denny'sBeerBarrelPub 3lbBurger

New Teaching Methods

2005-10-08T09:08:00.000-04:00

A few months back I was thinking about how some people (maybe myself included) pick a major in college because that's 'what they are good at.'

For instance, I was an engineering major because I was good at math and physics, and not so good at english and social studies.

So? What does that matter? At least I like math (some what) and I love physics problems. But I've met a number of people along the way that were in these programs because that's 'what they were good at' or their parents encouraged them too due to where they were excelling in high school.

I think that's completely wrong. You should do what you enjoy, what may take some time to grow into, it should be nurtured. Just because your good in math doesn't mean you'll make a good engineer, and just because you're bad in math doesn't mean you'll make a bad engineer. In the latter example, maybe you're math skills aren't so hot, but you problem solving abilities are very creative and can lead to new innovation.

Suggestion: Maybe schools (high school and/or college) could teach methods. Think about the ability to take classes in the following methods:

Problem Solving (engineer) (using your analytics)
Studying (doctors & such) (using your memory)
Writing/Arts (writers, photographers, artists, actors, ...) (using your creative nature)
... and some others, I welcome feed back.

So rather then everybody taking the same math class, there are different spins on the class depending on your 'method' of thinking/learning. A math class for a problem solver will be very different then a math class for an artist.

I was thinking about it this way because fundamentally, I'm a problem solver, not a math person. Math comes naturally to me for my ability to solve problems and think analytically, not the other way around.

Any thoughts?

tags: education learning teaching schooling
Categories: ideas

How not to send email

2005-10-07T09:06:00.000-04:00

One of my HR managers sends out reminder notes for EVERYTHING, even reocurring weekly reminders. We have something due at the end of the month, so she sends out an email EVERY DAY with a count down of how many days we have left. (And she doesn't give a nice little 'Opt-Out' notice.)

I just put a filter on my Inbox to move all emails from her email address out of my Inbox. Now if she emails me something legitimate, I won't get it. However, it's incredibly inefficient for me to have to filter through her messages every morning.

Oh well, nmp (not my problem.)

Categories: rant

The right way to do a presentation.

2005-10-07T08:57:00.000-04:00

If you're a geek, you know the Web 2.0 (I drool at the thought of being there) conference is going on right now in San Fran. A friend sent me a most excellent link on a different presentation style.

It is an Identity2.0 presentation. The content is interesting, but the way the presenter walks though the slides is great, I hope to see more presentations like this:

http://www.identity20.com/media/OSCON2005/

Mappr! Where It's At.

2005-10-06T08:49:00.000-04:00

Search your flickr photos by geography (if you tagged them with a city name.)

Mappr! Where It's At.

Die You Comment Spamming Bastards

2005-10-03T16:49:00.000-04:00

So I had to turn on "Word Verification" today, or as the geeks like to say: "CAPTCHA."

I really didn't want to turn it on, I think it's such a hassle to have to go though the process of typing the word you see on the screen. It's just annoying. But I'm now getting 10+ comment spams a day.

I wish I could have my 'social network' filter out my friends so they don't need to go through word verificaiton, only people I didn't know.

Here's an old post I had on why I think email Spam will go away.

Lovely, Wonderful, spam.

who needs more then 4 min?

2005-10-01T17:19:00.000-04:00

This statistic is way too funny.

http://www.allthingskitsch.com/2005/06/adult_ondemand_viewing_statist.html

Armed Dolphin's let loose by Katrina

2005-09-26T07:34:00.000-04:00

This is just too funny:

It may be the oddest tale to emerge from the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. Armed dolphins, trained by the US military to shoot terrorists and pinpoint spies underwater, may be missing in the Gulf of Mexico.

The Observer - Flipper the firing dolphin let loose by Katrina

Tags: Dolphin, Katrina, news
Categories: Funny

Do something with your social network

2005-09-25T15:05:00.000-04:00

If you know me, you know I rant and rant about Social Networks. I just started playing with Yelp.com (which I think the CEO of Meetro.com told me about.)

My problem with most social networks (like Friendster) is that they don't do anything. They are useless. A social network for the sake of a social network doesn't offer much value.

Enter Yelp.com. It's a site where you can write reviews on anything in your city, such as lounges, restaurants, bars, clubs, etc. But now you have the option of searching within your social network to see what your friends are saying about these places, how cool.

The real kicker here is that you don't have to log in to see my reviews. I can make all that info public. You just have to goto http://vincent.yelp.com and you can see all my reviews. I like that.

Tags: SocialNetworking, SN, reviews, YASN, nyc, cool
Categories: Social Networking, cool

Urban Hiking - My Apt to Union Square to JFK

2005-09-25T11:58:00.000-04:00

I'm taking an urban hike, from my apartment to Union Swaqure to JFK airport (~10miles)

Ohh, and I'm webcamming it in real time, check it out on vinnie.net

Approximate route via GoogleMaps.

UPDATE 14:30
This never happened. Because TinCam software sucks. I had everything working ready to leave the house at noon. I decided to test the feed, and it wasn't working. I spent the next 2 hours troubleshooting TinCam's FTP feature because it was bugging out on me. I couldn't just walk away (why?), I had to try and fix it.

So it's too late now, the caravan left, now I'm gonna go do something regretful, work at the office.

Get paid to innovate

2005-09-20T11:52:00.000-04:00

Are you a problem solver? Well, contract out that knowledge to high paying companies. Check out InnoCentive.

Very interesting idea.

Tags: Innovation, Ideas, ThinkTank Research
Categories: Interesting

New Nintendo Controller

2005-09-16T12:27:00.000-04:00

Nintendo has released a new controller that you hold in one hand. It understands orientation. So you could rotate it to turn a car. Or you could swing it through the air to slash a sword.

Very Awesome Revolution Controller

Some cool designs

2005-09-10T22:46:00.000-04:00

My friend Lon sent me a link to this innovative designs blog.

Two cool things worth checking out are the:

1. NYC Floating Island from Sept. 17- 25.

2. Stools cut to the profile of your face.

Ohh, and don't forget to check out Meetro instant messaging/social networking/geography based software. It's a great idea, I don't know why it hasn't come around sooner. I had a chance to meet with the CEO, Paul, while I was in Chicago last week and he's a cool/interesting guy. So check it out!

Some credit advice

2005-09-10T16:21:00.000-04:00

Since, I never mind being a guinea pig (no racial slurs please) I figured I could dole out some credit advice on two fronts. (I decided to check my credit today as part of the Federal Act that allow for Free Annual Credit Reports (NY just came online).

So two pieces of advice I can dole out, #1, cell phone disputes go onto your credit report, #2 Maxing out a ridicoulous amount of debt is bad. Note, there are 3 credit reporting agencies in the U.S.: Experian, TransUnion, and Equifax.

#1
I'm currently disputing my Verizon bill because they raped me with overage charges and I switched providers. (Sprint PCS has a Fair & Flexible plan that I always tout, you never have to worry about going 'over' your minutes.)

I had the incorrect hope that my Verizon dispute wouldn't make it into my credit report from what I've seen from previous credit reports. It has not shown up on the Experian report but has showed up on the other two reports. As I am still contesting the amount they say I owe and I have send them payment of what I feel I owe, I still think I can have it knocked off my credit reports, (at least I hope).

So my advice hear, is that if you cut your cell phone contract early, it WILL go on your credit report. However, for me, I don't mind as I have a few reasons to disupte the charge and I belive I can get it off my credit report during the next few months.

#2
Now this is the important infomation. Last year I had the idea to take out a whole bunch of 0% credit cards and drop them into an ING Bank account (currently 3.3% interest). So while that's all working out and I make almost $100 month for doing nothing, it has a severe impact on your credit report. A fact I knew going into it. I wasn't worried as I belive once I pay the cards back at the end of this year, my credit score will begin increasing again. So while this is not worth while to the majority of people, I didn't mind giving it a try.

Here are more detailed explanations of the two items above.

For Item #1, Verizon dispute:

-Evidence of being seriously late or having derogatory indicators/remarks on your credit obligations is being reported on your credit file
You have evidence of seriously delinquent behavior (60 days past due or greater). Approximately 27% of U.S. population have evidence of serious delinquency information being reported on their credit file.

The score evaluates when your credit bureau report shows one or more serious delinquencies (missed payments) on your credit accounts. Studies reveal that consumers with previous late payments are much more likely to pay late in the future.

There is no "quick fix" to improve the score if the serious delinquency indicated on your credit bureau report is valid. However, as these items age and fall off the credit bureau report (most late payments stay on your report for no more than seven years), their impact on the score will gradually decrease

-The time since your most recent past due payment or derogatory indicator is too recent or unknown
There is evidence of a late payment on your file as recent as 2 months ago. Roughly 45% of consumers have some evidence of delinquency in their credit history. Among these consumers, their most recent late payment was, on average, 20 months ago. Click here to review your Negative Items.

Analysis of consumer credit histories shows that consumers with previous late payments are much more likely to pay late in the future. The FICO score evaluates not only the presence of previous late payments, but also how recently the missed payments occurred. In general, the more recently a payment was missed, the greater the risk, and the lower the score. (Most late payments stay on your report for no more than seven years. Keep in mind that closing an account on which you had previously missed a payment does not make the late payment disappear from your credit bureau report.) In rare cases, evidence of a past missed payment on a credit account is present on the credit report, but the date of the late payment cannot be determined exactly. An "undateable" credit account delinquency on a credit report still represents greater risk than never having missed a payment at all, and so it will still affect the score.

There is no "quick fix" to raise your score if the late payment on your credit bureau report is valid. In order to improve your credit rating over time, it's important to pay all bills when they're due. The longer you do so, the better the score. If you have late payments, get caught up on them and do your best to stay current. As time passes the importance of these previous late payments will gradually lessen and the score will increase - as long as you make your payments on time on all of your credit obligations, and use your available credit responsibly.

For Item #2, taking out a lot of Credit Cards in a short period of time and running them to the max :)

-The proportion of balances to credit limits on your revolving accounts is too high
The proportion of balances to credit limits (high credit) on your revolving accounts is 71%. The average proportion of balances to credit limits on revolving accounts carried by U.S. consumers is around 40%. Click here to review your Accounts Summary.

Analysis of consumer credit behavior repeatedly finds that owing a substantial balance on revolving accounts (Visa, MasterCard, Discover, American Express, department store cards, etc.) relative to the amount of revolving credit available to you represents increased risk. In fact, the level of revolving debt is one of the most important factors in the FICO score. The score evaluates your total balances in relation to your total available credit on revolving accounts, as well as on individual revolving accounts. For a given amount of revolving credit available, a greater amount owed indicates a greater risk, and lowers the score. (For credit cards, the total outstanding balance on your last statement is generally the amount that will show in your credit bureau report. Bear in mind that even if you pay off your credit cards in full each and every month, your credit bureau report may show the last billing statement balance on those accounts.)

The more you owe on revolving credit accounts - relative to the amount of credit available to you - the more your score may be affected. So doing your best to pay your revolving account balances is a smart way to help increase your score. On the other hand, shifting balances among revolving accounts, opening up new revolving accounts, and closing down other revolving accounts will not improve your score, and could possibly decrease your score.

-The length of time your accounts have been established is relatively short
Your most established credit obligation is 104 months old and your newest credit account was opened 10 months ago. The majority of U.S. consumers have a relatively long credit history - with the average age of their most established credit account being 14 to 15 years. In addition, the average time since the most recent account opening is 20 months ago. Click here to review your Accounts Summary.

This factor is based on the age of the accounts on your credit bureau report (the age of the oldest account, the average age of accounts, or both). Research shows that consumers with longer credit histories have better repayment risk than those with shorter credit histories. Also, consumers who frequently open new accounts have greater repayment risk than those who don't.

It is a good idea to only apply for credit when you really need it. Meanwhile, maintain low-to-moderate balances and be sure to make your payments on time. Your score should improve as your credit history ages.

-You have too many accounts that were recently opened
On average, U.S. consumers recently opened about 1 new credit obligation.

Analysis repeatedly finds that opening several credit accounts in a short period of time represents increased risk for future repayment--especially for consumers who do not have a long credit history. As you demonstrate that you can manage these new credit obligations over time, your score will reflect that positive behavior.

One immediate step you can take is to avoid opening more accounts at this time. Beyond that, the most effective way to improve your score is by following the tried-and-true rules of personal finance: manage all your accounts responsibly - including new ones - and do your best to make all your payments on time.

-You have a relatively high number of accounts with balances
On average, U.S consumers carry balances on approximately 4 of their credit accounts at a given time.

Analysis repeatedly finds that carrying balances on too many credit accounts at once is a predictor of future repayment risk. (For credit cards, note that even if you pay off your balance in full every month, your credit bureau report may still show a balance on those cards. The total balance on your last statement is generally the amount that will show in your credit bureau report.)

In order to improve your FICO score, pay down the balances on your credit obligations. For revolving accounts, once they are paid down keep your balances low.

Hopefully this information can be of benefit to people searching for these answers. I wish I knew how much it affected my credit report. Because Experian doesn't list my Verizon dispute, I can estimate that costing around 120 points (out of 850). I think it's so large of a hit because it's recent (~2-3 months). If it was a few years old, I don't think it would hurt as much.

As for the max'd credit cards (with a VERY LARGE amount of debt) I can only guess, I would guess around a 100-200 point hit. Again, I think this will improve over the next year. As I knew I wouldn't be applying for any loans while I had these 0% CC's max'd out, I was okay for what I would walk into.

I can wait it out.

Happy Birthday Brian

2005-09-10T16:13:00.000-04:00

I'm full of posts today.

Last night we had a 2nd celebration for Brian's birthday. We sang some Karaoke at 'Sing Sing' on St. Mark's street. I was sporting shades because "I wear my sunglasses at night".

I don't have pics because it was too dark and my ultracool phone (crappy camera) doesn't ave a flash.

Chenz's Juice

2005-09-10T15:58:00.000-04:00

The other week there was a going away party for some friends moving to the west coast. It was an outdoor BBQ on Roosevelt Island, a fun little day escape for manhattanites because you can take a tram (cable car) to go visit it.

Searching around my emtpy food pantry, I came across this little gem:

I ran down to my local Duane Reade and had a stroke of genious, shown below:

Directions for making Chenz's Juice:
(as in Vincenzo's Juice, Vincenzo being my ultra cool italian name.)
Warning, this will get you knocked off your ass and possible knocked up. A friend of ours put his hand on fire with the Everclear.

Makes 1 Quart:

6 Shots Grain Alcohol
6 oz of Red Bull
1/2 half cap of Orange Tang (for 1 quart)
Fill with Ice Cold water
Shake for foamish effect

Enjoy! I choose a thermous so I could hang it around my neck.

Why is blogging so addicting?

2005-09-10T15:39:00.000-04:00

I haven't blogged about my life in a few weeks, yet I feel compelled to. I'll give the brief recap wiht some photos since I'm sitting in my apartment doing 'work' on the weekend.

I went to Chicago with Brian as you may have seen from the gay airplane photo in a prior post.

We walked around the city, we had some drinks with a fat native american that played the flute (That sounds so bad)

The price of gas sky rocketed.

We went to a White Sox game.

We chilled out in Wrigleyville,

Traded baseball cards,

and took upskirt photos of a manikin.

We also visited a gian shinny bean from the future. That's Brent in green. Vince Vaughn was there too, but not with us.

This is Brian on the inside of the Bean,

This is me staring into it's deep dark eyes,

Then we drove up to Grand Rapids, Michigan for Liz's wedding.

So that was my trip to Chicago, ohh, and Brian gave this guy some deep dish pizza (if you know what I'm saying). The bum was a little off guard but welcomed the food.

Another way I'm a geek.

2005-09-07T12:35:00.000-04:00

The Free Software Foundation (FSF) which I'm proud to be a member of has featured a testimonial I gave on the benefits of Free Software for the home user. Yes it's really geeky, but I like to give out as many reasons as I can to have my underwear pulled up over my pants.

I use free software at home for personal use simply for the principal. I believe that the ability to modify and redistribute source code is fundamental to innovation and progress.

I get the added benefit that free software has many of the newest and greatest features that traditional proprietary software just can't offer. Take Firefox vs. MS Internet Explorer for instance, look at all the great features that Firefox has: tabbed browsing, Live Bookmarks, plug-ins. Internet Explorer is months if not years behind on these technologies.

Other programs I use are Open Office and The Gimp. Two amazing applications that allow me to interface with the 'proprietary' world. It's amazing how powerful of a tool The Gimp is compared to it's proprietary counterpart, Adobe Photoshop; it's too bad that more people don't know about it.

We live in a culture where small contributions can be replicated throughout society. For this reason, one individual who decides to modify some source code or make a plug-in for a free software tool can have their efforts duplicated a thousand fold. These small contributions lead to progress.

Vincent Lauria

Why not become a member and donate to a cause?

Jobless Rate At All-Time High

2005-09-07T12:08:00.000-04:00

I came across this article today, and it really stuck out at me. The Labor Dept. is reporting a 37.4% swelling in jobless rate last month.

In other news, how to get fired.

In the windy city

2005-09-01T10:51:00.000-04:00

I'm in old Chicago's the "Southside". Brian and I flew in last night.

It was kinda fun to fly with a friend, I never do that. I haven't flown with a friend in years, it makes travelling a whole lot better. We tried listening to an audio book, Assassination Vacation. Maybe I should stop pushing my audiobook methods onto people, but its just so good. We only got a bit into it and came to the conclusion that it's not fun to listen to audio book with a friend on an airplane. Howerver, the book has a lot of potential, it's about a girl who travels the country adding comedy and commentary to the assassinations of our history.

We're staying at Brent's apt. It's freaking awesome.

It's Brian's first time here, so he's really excited, like a 12 year old kid, maybe even 11 and a half.

Brent's making me a Latte, crazy.

I need your help

2005-08-28T23:41:00.000-04:00

Since everybody has been ohh so helpful in wholehearted comments on my photo, I thought I get people to vote on a new different picture. Pick a number and place it in the comments below:

1. Racecar Smile
2. Racecar Driving
3. Catching food in my mouth
4. Drinking a brew
5. My reflection looking out on Sin City (vegas)
6. Eating some shabu (hot soup)
7. Gearing up for Josh's wedding
8. Living da thug life
9. Backpacking though nyc on my way up to Maine

2005-08-26T20:10:00.000-04:00

My damn Treo phone is doing one of those infinite reloops again where it just keeps rebooting itself and I can use it as a phone, bummer.

Searching Google for some help, I came across this article and I can not belive the insanly complicated instructions they give:

While continuing to hold Power, UP and HotSync, press and release the RESET button on the back panel of your device (where's the reset hole?). This is very difficult to do with only one person; you may wish to hold the stylus in your mouth and use your hands to press Power, UP and HotSync.

Put the stylus in your mouth??? HAHAHAHA, why can't they show a pic of this?

picture me this

2005-08-25T10:41:00.000-04:00

I added a new photo, it's the one I'm using inside of IBM now. It shows me older, with a beard, and looking smart in front of a whiteboard.

Let me know if it's 'too gay' for my blog, (which I know many of you will).

I hate fees

2005-08-25T10:30:00.000-04:00

I just noticed that ez-pass started charging me $1/month without any explanation. After an email and a phone-call, I now find out the MTA is implementing monthly $1 fees on EZ-pass card holders?

Why? I'm trying to use a technology that actually saves the MTA money. I pay the same price for a toll (it used to be discounted, but not anymore) and yet I'm charged a dollar extra. If anything, I'm a cheaper customer because they don't have to pay a tollbooth worker an hourly wage to accept my toll.

I hate these random fees that companies/organization tack on to your bill. Yeah, I dollar isn't much for me, but multiple that by 500,000 ez-pass users (guess) and you just started raking in 1/2 million more each month.

I hate you MTA! I never agreed to your damn fees, you just started charging me as if it was manifest density or something.

Categories: Rants

Big Brother - A helpful friend or an Evil Brat

2005-08-24T08:47:00.000-04:00

The M.T.A. awarded Lockheed Martin $212 million dollars to build hardcore surveillance around nyc subways.

This is nothing new as London and Chicago have the same sort of surveillance capabilities. Personally, I don't think I mind, but maybe this will come back to bite me in the ass 4 years from now when I'm drunk and pissing on a subway platform.

Lockheed Martin Is Hired to Bolster Transit Security in N.Y. - New York Times

Give me a Jab

2005-08-23T21:07:00.000-04:00

Here's a little pre-release info (courtesy of /.). Google is starting a new IM service. They're using the Jabber protocol. You can use the open source GAIM client to get on-board.

Check out this page for info how to set it up. I'm vincent.lauria @@@ gmail dot com

UPDATE 10pm:
But why only connect to their servers when you can use your very own Google IM client.

Yes, Google has released an IM client, Google Talk. So far it looks neat. It has VoIP support and it will group your IM's into one 'convo' if the other person hasn't replied yet (vaguely similar to gmail convo's).

Categories: Google, IM, geek

Essential protection for your home

2005-08-19T19:59:00.000-04:00

I'm not talking latex folks, I'm talking Flood Insurance.

Don't we live in an age where marketing companies are supposed to know all the juicy details about me so that they can send me THE CORRECT JUNK MAIL!!!!!

Today I received an flyer informing of the benefits of flood insurance. Freakin' FLOOD INSURANCE. Excuse me Mr. Marketing Company, I just happen to live 108 feet above sea level.

Maybe Travelers Insurance knows something I don't. Maybe judgment day truly is coming within 30 days "because there is a 30-day waiting period prior to receiving coverage."

They have some very persuasive marketing, let's look at it point for point:

FLYER: Approximately 25% of flood insurance claims come from low risk areas.

ME: How many claims come from apartments an entire football field above sea level? Shouldn't somebody be building an arc somewhere?

FLYER: Six out of 10 declared disaster involve flooding?

ME: Hrmm, 6/10 = 3/5. I live in nyc, let me try to name 5 disasters and you tell me if one (or three) of them involved flooding.

August 2002 Blackout
9/11
1993 World Trade Center terrorist attacks
American Idol hosting auditions at the Jacob Javit's center
General Slocum fire of 1891

I don't see flooding in there for the past 200 years, do you?

FLYER: Flooding occurs in every state and can occur at any time of the year?

ME: Yes, you are right sir. I'm sure that with an area of 122,409 kmÂ² there is sure to be some flooding in this state.

Hrmm, how much water would it require to flood the entire state of NY so that my feet got wet in my apartment? 122,409 kmÂ² * 33m = 4,039,497 cubic meters. That's roughly equal to 8.537 million pints of beer. I have an idea, maybe if we sing how many bottles of beer on the wall, when we get to 1 a flood will happen.
Eight million five hundred thirtyseven thousand nine hundred and seventy seven bottles of beer on the wall. You knock one down, you pass it around Eight million five hundred thirtyseven thousand nine hundred and seventy six bottles of beer on the wall ......

FLYER: 90% of all disasters in the United States are flood-related

ME: I was about to say I've never been affected by a flood in my life. But at my parents house they had a flood (from the AC in the basement and it warped all my elementary and highschool pantings. But do they even cover floods from the central air AC unit in a basement?

FLYER: You are four times more likely to experience a flood the a fire?

ME: They obviously don't know me. I've been starting fires since I was 8. I never start floods (well, there was that one time when the toilet was clogged.) I'm sure I've must have come close to burning my house (or somebody else's) a million times. I was even suspended from high school for lighting a school desk on fire and having the building evacuated. No floods though!!!

So I say to Travelers Flood Insurance, go flood yourself!

Google Earth meets weather forecast

2005-08-19T10:01:00.000-04:00

Tired of seeing your weather forecast on flat 2D pictures? Want to fly around the globe and zoom into your city and see your weather?

Well that's not too far away, the National Weather Service of Tulsa, OK have created a plugin of forecasts for Google Earth. I can't wait until my city is online.

Categories: googleearth weather forecast cool links

Go Green !!!

2005-08-17T20:06:00.000-04:00

If you live in the 5 boroughs (and maybe some other places across the country) I'm gonna tell you some neat information.

You can request that your electricity come from Green Power and you can SAVE $ doing this.

I guess a year or so ago, some deregulation rules allowed you to separate your electric utility provider (ConEd) from your electric source (many companies.) Because of that, the cost per KWH of electricity is cheaper due to the competition. Most people don't even know they have a choice.

But what's great, is that a few companies offer GREEN ENERGY for only fractions of a penny more then conventional coal energy. But Vinnie, why would I spend fractions of a penny more for GREEN ENERGY?

Green Energy typically comes from wind powered turbines or hyrdro-damns. These are reusable energy sources that are okay for the environment.
You are lowering our dependency on Oil. dot dot dot, you are also decreasing our need on foreign oil (think middle east.) I don't care what you have to say, when you boil right down to it, many of our political issues over the past 20 years in the Middle East are due to Oil.
You are helping the environment by releasing less oil burning fumes, you are also making a statement that Green Power is possible, affordable, and worthwhile.

So how do you go about doing this? For the nyc area, follow these directions (do it, and tell all your friends.)

Visit the Power Your Way website (http://www.poweryourway.com/pages/home.html)
Fill out info about where you live. For Manhattan folks, I'll break it down more. There are 3 providers for Manhattan:

ConEdison Solutions (Select "Get A Quote" to sign up)
Econnergy
Pepco PowerChoice

The Econnery and Pepco websites sucked and I was having problems with them. So I signed up for the ConEdison Solutions service, they are 25% wind power, 75% hyrdro; you can read about it in there FAQ.

So please, go out and make the switch, then make all of your friends switch. If you have any questions, I'd be more then happy to answer. Just post a comment below or email me at vincent -dot- lauria & gmail.

Interesting research idea around HIV

2005-08-17T10:20:00.000-04:00

Seems some scientists have found that crocodile blood yields some powerful antibotics, some that even kill the HIV virus better then the human immuane system. Research is still early, but it's an interesting/creative thought.

And no, it wasn't our favorite Croc Hunter, Steve Irwin

Josh's Wedding

2005-08-16T20:37:00.000-04:00

So another man went down this weekend, this time it was our favorite anonymous poster, Josh J.

The wedding was actually a lot of fun, more so then I tend to think you could have at weddings. It certainly had to do with the 48 hours of partying wrapping around the wedding. Hey, you can't be a groomsman without having a few shots, right?

On the ride over:

The groom crew:

Let's see what I can remember. I met josh and friends at the LB at 3:30am in the morning. We met a chinese person who was locked out of his hostile and josh wasn't willing to offer a place to crash. The next morning we drove out to the King of Prussia (what kind of town name is that?) And we rented our Tuxes. I wanted shoes with white racing stripes, but Josh wasn't going for it.

We swung by the liquor store and picked up among other things, a handle of MD 20/20. Hey, it's not a wedding unless bum wine is involved.

The wedding was at Hersey, PA. The stream of Hersey Canal jokes never ended (not even in this post.) The rehearsal dinner involved Josh doing more shots then there were people in the room. However, he woke up in tip-top shape on Saturday morning. I even spoke to his concerned mom to put her worries to rest.

The wedding kicked off mid-day, so we used the morning to take a dip in the pool and down some bourbon, in that order. It was the 2nd time I was a groomsmen, I was the bestman at my bro's wedding. It's kinda cool being the groomsman, however, everybody *knows* (recognizes) you and comes up and says hi and you have no idea who they are. They are just old and look slightly like Josh or his new wife.

I was feeling pretty tired around 5pm on Saturday, but a few L.I.T.'s (long island ice teas) woke me right up and I was ready for a second night of partying, even dancing. A bunch of us continued to party back in our hotel rooms after the reception. Even Josh and his girl, god knows why (prolonging the honeymoon night), but as I said then, it's both a good thing and a bad thing.

The next morning, Sunday, we opted out of Hersey Park and drove home to nyc where I sat down on my bed and crashed from 7pm until 7am.

All in all, the wedding was done right, way to go Josh.

Saco River 2005

2005-08-16T19:10:00.000-04:00

Where have I been?

It's been a busy 2 weeks. So this post is about a week old, but I'll throw up some photos and links to my Saco River Canoeing Trip. We signed up with River Run Canone's once again.

What's so great about the Saco River?

It's 20 miles and you could paddle your way down our run in one day, we however, take 3 days.
It's always beautiful weather and a jolly good time
We camp out on the beach
We grill lots of tastey food
We drink lots of tastey drinks, sometimes we use a funnel to help get them down
Everybody out on the Saco is out for a good time
It's for all ages and genders, it's even gender preference friendly

Here's a story of how the Saco went down in 2005:

We started out 'somewhat early' on Saturday morning.

We tied off canoes.

We did a few funnels.

We anchored our canoes on the beach.

We set up camp.

And had a grand 'ol time.

Repeat for 2 more days.

Here's the slideshow.

Furniture Causes FedEx Fits

2005-08-15T22:51:00.000-04:00

Wired has an article about a kid who created furniture from FedEx boxes. FedEx doesn't like and is suing. I say, Fsck FedEx.

I used to order those free boxes from FedEx all the time when I was moving apartments in college. They were great for a few reasons:
* Cheap, FREE
* Sturdy
* Many sizes
* Sealable

Tthe World Is Flat

2005-08-10T07:48:00.000-04:00

In a May issue of Wired, they interviewThomas Friedman on his book, "The World Is Flat" a look at globalization, something I want to read.

I really like the following quote:

WIRED: The book is almost dizzily optimistic about India and China, about what flattening will bring to these parts of the world.
FRIEDMAN: I firmly believe that the next great breakthrough in bioscience could come from a 15-year-old who downloads the human genome in Egypt. Bill Gates has a nice line: He says, 20 years ago, would you rather have been a B-student in Poughkeepsie or a genius in Shanghai? Twenty years ago you'd rather be a B-student in Poughkeepsie. Today?

Categories: globalization, wired

Meetro: It Breaks The Ice

2005-08-09T22:19:00.000-04:00

If traditional Instant Messaging isn't cutting it for you these days, you need to sign up forMeetro. It's proximity based instant messaging by showing you individuals within X miles of you. Thanks Deepan for showing it to me.

You can add me as a buddy via my email address: vincent.lauria @@ gmail.com.

Categories: social networking, cool

South Korean scientist create world's first

2005-08-03T16:58:00.000-04:00

Today, South Korean scientists merged the arm of a man and a dog to create a man-dogarm.

Wait, I mean they cloned a dog.

Monkey's are for zoo's not for radio shows.

2005-08-02T23:27:00.000-04:00

I found a piece of a Corona bottle glass in my eye, more on that later.
I'm working on vinnie.net and lauria.info, vinnie.net will be a cool hybrid blog/wiki. I'll be sure to post a before/post grafitti snapshot of what vinnie.net looked like
I'm looking to move jobs internally within IBM, but I'm also opening up the possibilities to jobs outside of IBM. I began working on my resume this weekend, thanks if you helped edit it. This job at Google looks pretty cool.

So I found a piece of a Corona bottle glass in my eye, and I was happy about it. I was happy about it because since Saturday, I've felt a sharp pain in my eye. I kept trying to clean it out thinking there was an eyelash in there, but there was nothing in there (cause it was CLEAR glass.)

How does a piece of Corona bottle end-up in somebody's eye, well let's take a visual tour of my prior week.

Brent came to visit from Chicago for the week:

We went to go see the Upright Citizen's Brigade at a free Central Park Summer State show. It was like Woodstock, but for improv comedy.

We picked up a few cars from my rooftop.

Kristine had a roof party in Brooklyn, it was a boatload of fun.

Alex had a bday party at the Port Authority Bowling Alley (& Cocktail Lounge.).

We headed to Punk Rock karokee, Alex ripped a new whole in Green Day.

More karaoke happened in there at some point, on a different day, in a different part of town.

The morning of the roof party, we (or just I) was pre-drinking at my apartment. At some point I dropped a corona bottle while laying on my bed, don't worry, it was empty.

I thought I cleaned up the floor around my bed pretty well, but I guess I missed some. From here, it's all speculation. I'm guessing I dropped my pillow on the floor and the pillow must have picked up a sliver of glass off the floor. Then I slept on said pillow and the sliver of glass entered my eye, OF ALL PLACES. Then for 3 days, that glass was burning my eye. This morning, while I was brushing my teeth, I had my eye looking at a weird angle and I felt a sharp burning pain. My eye started crying and out came a sliver of glass.

So yes I cried, but I cried glass, it felt so good.

four strategies for generating creative output

2005-07-18T10:51:00.000-04:00

Found this on Mark C's blog (from NYC Techies Meetup).

Four Stategies for Generating Creativity

I don't think you can necessarily make a person 'generate' creativity. But I do think these behaviors exist in creative people.

The Ring Thing Bottle Opener

2005-07-18T10:34:00.000-04:00

I've heard of people using their wedding rings to do this, but this just seems so much easier. Buy me one, please.

Roller Derby

2005-07-18T10:09:00.000-04:00

Andy M. took me to see the Gotham Girls roller derby on Friday night. It was AWESOME. I don't understand why they don't televise this. Who doesn't want to watch girls in skirts beat each other up? It's in the bronx, it's pretty cheap, and it's a wicked good time.

After that, we got to do one of things I've been itching to do in nyc, drink beer in times square. We poured some Colt 45's into Arizona bottles and walked around the crowed tourist attraction. It was a lot of fun, and fulfilled one of my dreams.

Customs & a Bachelor Party

2005-07-18T09:15:00.000-04:00

So this post is old, but it was half written on my treo.
***************************************************

Last weekend I headed up to our big brother in the north, Canada. Josh J is getting married pretty soon. I think he's getting married in the Hersey Canal, I'm serious, Hersey Park, PA. I'm sure they must have a canal somewhere around there.

The party was up in Montreal, where strip clubs out number starbucks, (impressive feat). I had to miss Friday night's activities because it was my niece's bday on Saturday. Friday night, a bunch of ppl from the blogosphere got together.

Saturday was the niece's 3rd bday, I got her a rockin' pink gee-tar. She had a castle bounce, it looked like a lot of fun, but i knew i would take out too many kids if i went in.

*******************************************
So Montreal -
I missed Friday night and Saturday day, which I'm a little bummed about cause it sounds like everybody had a lot of fun. I really bummed about missing Peel's Pub. If you've every been to Montreal, you know how much of a staple Peel's pub is. I have many non-memories of that place - just stories people tell me the next morning - mostly due to the fact that you can buy Long Island Ice-teas (LITs) by the pitcher at Peel's.

I was delayed at the airport due to weather in nyc, then customs in montreal, but more on that later. I made it in kinda late (~10pm?) cause I tried walking from the bus station which was a bad idea. So our first stop was Club Super Sex, another staple of Montreal. From there we went on to have a fun night, I'll leave it at that since it's a bachelor party. But two things I do recall - 1, jumping up and down on a hotel bed only to smash my head into the ceiling. I saw a bright flash and fell hard down to the bed, it didn't feel quite so good. 2, eating sausage poutine. I love poutine for two reasons, one because it's fun to say (try saying it outloud) and two because it tastes so damn good. We also ordered 'cold tea' which is chinese for beer. They serve it to you in the chinese hot tea kettle with the porcelin cups. Very ghetto, but fun afterhours.

Sunday morning we ate at a resturant called eggspectaitons. I was thinking it would be like smut-and-eggs, but it was an upstanding resturant (my disapointment) but it had really great breakfast plates (my happiness.)

*******************************
Customs - (my ordeal though Canadian customs, typed in a breif on my Treo)

For some reason telling customs that you're in Canada to 'party down' in Montreal for only 1 night gets u flagged for 'special inspection.'

Ohh canada, what kind of big brother are you that u feel the need to throulghy search ur brother from the south. Do u not trust me?

I'm just hear for ur cheap boooze and professional women. There's nothing 'sketchy' about that!

I think the female security guard was just itching to rub my boxers down with that bomb residue cloth. I can't argue that, I did enjoy watching it.

***********************
Which gets me going on this whole customs thing. Do we really need it for trusted countries? Imagine we had an asinine process like this for intrastate travel? It would be so inefficient. We're a global world, the world is flat, let's drop this bouncer policy. I hated having to where nice shoes in bostón to get into bars and I don't like the idea of lying to customs to make my entry easier. If anything, this search has taught me to lie. Don't say ur leaving tommorow, say u r staying for a week, although my lack of luggage would be questionable.

Fuck you Candian customs! Thanks for steeling an hour of my drinking and boobie time! That's like 20% of my boozing time!

My grandpa can kick your grandpa's ass

2005-07-16T17:00:00.000-04:00

Ever see two grandpa's fight? Neither have I but there's some smackdown thrown in the video. I promise you will find it so funny that you'll watch it 2-3 times.

A peak into the future

2005-07-15T07:52:00.000-04:00

Fujitus has debutable the worlds first bendable color electronic paper.

So what does this mean? Lot's of things. It means that soon, you're magazine will have live video and pop-up ads. It means you can read an entire book on just one page. It means we are gonna see some crazy clothing coming out with live video spread across our backs and our bums. It means our credit cards will be able to display our current outstanding balance on the face of the card by just holding it in our fingers (recognizing our fingerprints of course.)

The Best Page In the Universe takes on the blogosphere

2005-07-14T17:47:00.000-04:00

If you haven't heard of "The Best Page In the Universe, then you've been missing the funniest corner of the web.

Check out his bash on blogs.

Is Wired Magazine run by idiots?

2005-07-14T07:19:00.000-04:00

I was checking the preferences of my Wired Magazine subscription, when I noticed, that in order to make changes they ONLY require an email address, NO PASSWORD.

This is insane. For one, it would allow you to view somebody's postal address just by entering in their email address. Second, you could CHANGE somebody's subscription to have it mailed to another location (maybe your house!)

Crazy, see for yourself here.

Categories: privacy

Funny Linux Cartoon

2005-07-14T00:19:00.000-04:00

Check out this funny Linux cartoon.

Mark had it posted on his blog, and I think I have to give out props to Brandon (of EB) for showing it to me a while back.

Check it out, whether you are a geek or not.

Categories: funny, linux

Does the president stand by his pledge to fire anyone involved in a leak of the name of a CIA operative?

2005-07-13T14:30:00.000-04:00

MCCLELLAN: Yes, but this question is coming up in the context of this ongoing investigation, and that’s why I said that our policy continues to be that we’re not going to get into commenting on an ongoing criminal investigation from this podium.

Q: Scott, if I could point out: Contradictory to that statement, on September 29th of 2003, while the investigation was ongoing, you clearly commented on it. You were the first one to have said that if anybody from the White House was involved, they would be fired. And then, on June 10th of 2004, at Sea Island Plantation, in the midst of this investigation, when the president made his comments that, yes, he would fire anybody from the White House who was involved. So why have you commented on this during the process of the investigation in the past, but now you’ve suddenly drawn a curtain around it under the statement of, 'We’re not going to comment on an ongoing investigation'?

Full transcription.

Categories: politics

Just cause I'm on the internet, you can't read me

2005-07-13T12:22:00.000-04:00

Many of you probably have not heard of the internet archive created by Brewster Kahle. Kahle made a lot of money back in the dot-com and decided to make a library of all librarys and store the entire content of the web in an archive. The library tries to take a snapshot of the web each day and record changes, edits, and deletes.

This in itself is amazing, especially for historians in the future looking back to our time.

However, some dumbass group has decided to sue the Internet Archive on the basis that they have violated copyright and DRM (Digital Rights Management).

This is a LIBRARY built off of VOLUNTEER money and time. Are you kidding me? The sole purpose is for the betterment of society, like any library. The Internet Archive is not funded by a state, and I'm very glad of that fact (we wouldn't want them filtering data now would we? Or changing history?)

DIY Projector

2005-07-13T12:14:00.000-04:00

DIY = Do It Yourself

Somebody has concocted a way to build a LCD projector for your wall using those old HS overhead projectors and a small LCD scrren for around $200. It is quite simple to build any anybody can do it.

Josh J, this is right up your alley.

Categories: DIY, cool

Make me a better speeller

2005-07-12T16:29:00.000-04:00

I (like most) frequently misspell the same words. I try to take note each time Gmail or MS Word dings me, but I'm still slow to learn.

Wouldn't it be great if Gmail or MS Word ran background analytics on my spelling errors? It could produce a monthly report of the top 5 misspelled words, so that I could work on fixing them in the next few weeks. Maybe even chart my improvement on some words and highlight where I'm just not cutting it.

Categories: ideas

The London Bombings

2005-07-12T15:49:00.000-04:00

Some discussion happening in my other band, please join in:

The Sanford Project - The London Bombings

Categories: politics, thesanfordproject

I'm podcasting... to YOU!

2005-07-08T18:09:00.000-04:00

Wondering what those Talkr icons are to the right?

If you love to listen to podcasts and need more, or if you're looking to start podcasting without ever recording your voice, check out Talkr. If you subscribe to podcasts, copy and paste the link from +Talkr icon into your podcast app or the new iTunes.

First, it allows you to convert your text blog into an audio podcast using a lovely female computer voice. Don't knock it until you hear it. It's amazing how well the inflections can come across.

Second, it allows you to subscribe to *any* RSS feed as a podcast. It converts text feeds into audio and lets you listen on the run. Think about all the additional content you can absorb on your drive/walk/hike/scooter-ride to work!

Another 231erwinroad podcast.

Register on Talkr and subscribe to my feed.

Categories: blogging, podcasts

My niece, a future rockstar?

2005-07-08T17:44:00.000-04:00

So I went shopping in Toys R' Us Times Square today to grab my niece a bday present. Man, that places is fun, even as an adult. You just feel good walking around, I highly recommend it when you are feeling all *stuffed* in your office and office attire.

So I got Danielle, my niece, a kick ass pink guitar. I'm gonna have to throw some band's sticker over that barbie label though. At least it's acoustic. She's gonna rock out like Sleater-Kinney.

On the radio: Graham Coxon "Don't Be A Stranger"

Categories: journal, photos

You can't come in !!!

2005-07-07T22:03:00.000-04:00

Photo taken at 9:32pm at the office.

I'm locked out of the office, last time I choose to goto the bathroom "after-hours." I stepped out to take a piss and couldn't get back in. (We have to leave the 'secure' office to get to the bathroom.)

I couldn't find a cleaning lady, everything was just left there, waiting for me to return, ohh well, tomorrow morning.

Categories: journal

The future

2005-07-06T08:24:00.000-04:00

I found this link off of Todd's blog while catching up on some old reading.

Basically, it's what I can't wait for. Social awareness though your cell phone.

Nokia - Nokia Sensor

Javanomics 101: Today's Coffee Is Tomorrow's Debt

2005-07-06T07:44:00.000-04:00

I found this on Melanie's blog.

Kinda funny, it shows that if you made your own coffee and for 30 years refrained from buying a $3 latte, you could save $55,341 (with interest). (Brent would probably appreciate this.)

Javanomics 101: Today's Coffee Is Tomorrow's Debt

Wiki on a stick

2005-07-06T07:10:00.000-04:00

For those of you that know what a wiki is, you know that you need a websever and etc. to run them.

Well, somebody has made TiddlyWiki, which is just an html file with all the wiki code embedded in the html. So you can save a page to your desktop (or usb key) and now you have a fully functional wiki on your computer. All the 'edit' and 'create' page links are there for you to build your wiki.

If this post doesn't make sense to you, that's fine, if this post does make sense to you, you're probably drooling right now.

Dear Fun,

2005-07-05T22:53:00.000-04:00

A great blog entry that I had to point out, sums up my past few weeks. I found the link via Patrick's blog.

open and notorious: Dear Fun,

My other blog is a BMW

2005-07-05T21:18:00.000-04:00

So Patrick (my last roommate) started a new band, I mean blog. It's a political blog aiming to have some different viewpoints. I happen to be one of those viewpoints. Check it out, specifically, check out my post "Social Security - the issue isn't dead yet"

4th of July 05

2005-07-05T21:07:00.000-04:00

I made it up to Boston Sunday for some BBq'ing at Kev and Briana's place, they just got engaged.

Ryan R got a new dog, Milo, we got him humping a stuffed animal on video, but I'm having trouble converting it for the web. None the less, it provided me with hours of enjoyment.

It was good to see all the Boston folk (even know they are all engaged like many of my friends these days.) I haven't been back up to Boston since December, it's always a little nostalgic heading back.

************************************
I was only up in Boston for 24hrs as I was busy working on an article this weekend. At least we all got to eat at Bickfords (the website makes it look classy, trust me, it's anything butt) on Monday morning. It's no Waffle House, but a diner is a diner.

I drove back Monday day, luckily I didn't hit any traffic. I needed the Rockstars to not get bored and pass out. The gas station had a special going, 2 for $3. There's a bar I've seen that sells it with vodka (instead of red ass.)

Chris P from my Spring IBM EB program was in town for the weekend. He crashed here on his way out (6am flight) Some other friends joined us and we got to watch the Macy's fireworks on my roof. It was a pretty sick sight.

4th of July Weekend - The Drive Up

2005-07-05T20:35:00.000-04:00

So I got hooked up with the premium car, except it was a Volvo. It was a nice Volvo though, it had a lot of power and a decent sound system. It ended up costing me around $50, not a bad deal. I felt a little guilty about wasting a whole car ride on just one person when I could have taken the bus, but I just don't fit in bus very well, especially ones packed full of chinese people.

I stopped at a reststop because it had those "Free Coffee" signs. Turns out it was a Boy Scout Troop. They were grillin free hot dogs, bonus.

Remember, how I was debating taking the Fungwah Bus, well here' s me approaching fast on the sucker.

Ohh snap, is he about to pass him on the outside???

Shit, there he goes, PUNCH IT, PUNCH IT baby

Ohh, what's that, is that the writing on the wall or the side of the bus??? I can't hear you, I'm blowing your ass by. All those people in your bus must be slowing you down. We can't all have Volvo's now can we.

Ohh, did I just leave you eating my dust? I'm sorry, try to keep up.

That's one happy driver as he blows past the competition. I be ghetto blastin' B-A-N-A-N-A-S,

Ohh, what's that. Is that a chinatown bus in my side mirror?

I ain't no hollaback girl!

Looking for a quick way to search for images, flickr images?

2005-07-05T18:10:00.000-04:00

Then use this
plugin with Firefox. It will allow you to use your Firefox search toolbar to search flickr tags.

Thanks Christian Heindel

Don't use Google Images or Yahoo Images anymore, use Flickr.

I'm off to Boston

2005-07-03T11:56:00.000-04:00

So I'm at 2,194 words on 5 pages for the developerWorks article I'm writing. But it's still a little rough around the edges.

Time for me to head up to Boston. I was thinking of Fung Wah for the excellent prices, but I think I may have snagged a Hertz deal.

Hertz was charging $110/day for a weekend day (too much.) I was playing around with the reservation time, and it seems that at 3:15 (not 3:00pm) the price drops to their weekday price, at $47.80. Now here's the catch, they don't have any economy or compact cars in stock cause of the holiday, just SUV's. So I'm heading over now to 'try and work something out.' I'm a Hertz Gold member though IBM, which I believe entitles me to free upgrades to what's avilable if my choice is out of stock. So I may be getting one of those premium cars.

I'll let you know how it goes.

What is so tastey that Vinnie keeps saying it's "del.icio.us?"

2005-07-02T15:36:00.000-04:00

If you're not sure what del.icio.us is, here's a good post from one of the veture capatilist who invested in it.

Steve Jobs' speech to Stanford graduates - June 2005

2005-07-02T14:01:00.000-04:00

I liked this speech, it applies to everybody, not just graduates. I should probably goto Boston tonight (rather then work.)

Steve Jobs Speech to Graduates