Living in Reno

Just tried to play some Rockband, and had to stop after about 7 minutes of play. Very frustrated right now.

I was logging into my bank account the other day, and I realized that while the site does have various levels of security, my World of Warcraft account is more secure. I use the Blizzard authenticator system which uses an security token to generate a number, which I then enter so I can log in and play. Why doesn’t my bank have this technology? It’s not exactly difficult to implement, the technology can be licensed (as seen with Blizzard) and you can get software now that will support the encryption that you can install on your phone, which eliminates the need for even the physical security token.

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So a week ago friday, based on the suggestion of a friend, we ordered pizza from Domino’s. I wasn’t sure, but we tried it, and it was good. In fact, I actually enjoyed the pepperoni better then my typical CB&P. Then Saturday night, we decided to order from them again. It’s cheap, tasty, and they deliver right? Well, the pizza might be better, but Domino’s still sucks just as hard as ever.
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Finally taking some time to work with my Yosemite shots. I’ve been holding off on uploading because I wanted to make sure that I only put up the “best of”. I read a blog by Scott Kelby that said (and I’m paraphrasing here) “Pick through the best of your pictures and put those up. Then everyone will think that everything you take is your best”. With that in mind, I went through and posted what I consider to be my best shots of the Yosemite trip.

One lesson learned from CES. Light weight is key. After schlepping around an Alienware monster 15 laptop all week, I decided that it was critical to have something smaller before my next trip. Since that could happen at any time, I started shopping.
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So a couple of things have happened since the New Year. We’re now a one car family, and Connor is sitting in his booster seat rather then the full blown car seat. That’s right, the boy has out-grown his plain old car seat, and is now sitting in the back seat of the car on his booster seat. He’s thrilled to death about it because it makes him feel older, and he can see better out the window.

In other news, I’ve worked out how to do a nine-shot burst for HDR shots, and plan to do some shooting this weekend. Of course, HDR isn’t the best option for taking pictures, but I’m wanting to experiment with it a bit.

So I’m back from Vegas. Very tired, and glad to be home, but I had a blast while I was there. Part of that was due to meeting (in person) the people I work with, and confirming what I always thought – they’re a bunch of great guys and fun to hang out with.

As for the show; regrettably, I wasn’t able to spend a ton of time on the show floor. I did get to see a few other events, specifically PepCom and ShowStoppers. For me, ShowStoppers was more rewarding because we really pwned it with our live feed. Most of the other gadget blogs travel from table to table, booth to booth and look for tidbits of news. We did something a little different, and it ended up being hugely successful: we invited the booth people to come talk to us. Then we’d interview them about their product/concept/whatever and broadcast it live. The readers ate it up, the vendors ate it up, it was great! I worked the floor, invited people to be interviewed, and got to see some really cool tech.

I’m gonna cut this a little short as it’s late, but I did want to comment on one thing that happened to me that was a little strange. I feel – oddly recharged from going to Vegas. I’m tired, true. But I’m excited about my job, and what we do in general. It was strange meeting the people that make these gadgets that I report on, and realizing that there’s a person who’s hopes and dreams are depending on (sometimes) me saying something nice about their product. It was humbling, and fun, and little frightening.

And I’m still convinced I have the best job in the world.

As part of my job, I’m going to Vegas for the rest of the week. I’m going to CES which is the one major trade show a year that gadget blogs flock to. I’m a bit apprehensive about what exactly I’ll be doing since (for obvious reasons) I’m not going to be walking around the trade show floor. Should be interesting though. I’m hoping to at least hit the Nikon booth for the chance to check out some new gear.

In other news, I’ve started doing another 365 project. The concept is simple. Post a picture a day for the next 365 days. Last year I tried this and failed horribly for various reasons, so this year I’m trying something different. Instead of taking a picture a day, I’m going to POST a picture a day. So if I don’t have time to take a picture, I can put up a shot that was taken previously. Hey, since it’s my project, I can make the rules.

So the wife’s car got booted today. Apparently, at 3:15am this morning, the boot people were creeping around our park and finding people who didn’t properly place their parking permits in the windows of their vehicles. Neither of our vehicles had permits, but luckily the Volvo didn’t get booted for whatever reason. Regardless, I heard a car idling out in front of our house and it was the boot company, I went outside to see what was going on, and discovered that the ford had a boot. I immediately went back in the house, grabbed my permit (I was at the wrong, I hadn’t put the permit in the window) and brought it outside. I then asked the parking person to remove the boot. They demanded to be paid. Things got a little heated, and I then demanded that they step off my property, as they were trespassing. They left after I threatened to call the police (which I learned would have been pointless, as this would be considered a civil matter).

I then called the landlord and talked to him. Since I haven’t been a problem for him, ever, he called the boot company and had the immobilizer removed. There was a bit of a discussion since they claimed that the boot had been tampered with. I did not tamper with it mechanically, since that would have left evidence. I did attempt to slide it off the tire and I probably could have, but I didn’t bother since the landlord was dealing with the issue anyway.

I’m considering writing up a pamphlet and distributing it to the neighbors to let them know how to remove the boot themselves – let the air out of your tire, and it’ll slide right off (in most cases). I’m also considering just letting it go and hoping that they’ll calm down with their tactics after this initial rush of “enforcement”. I did hear from the landlord that they booted another residents car this morning, because the parking permit wasn’t in the right hand side of the window – it had fallen on the floor and the booters claimed they couldn’t see it.

One thing is for sure, I know they’re going to be watching me closely now, one minor victory hasn’t won the war.