The Faces of Me

I apparently look like:
John Woo, Won Bin, Roger Daltrey, Tim Allen, BoA, Heath Ledger, Ang Lee, Mary Kate Olsen, Adam Sandler, and Patrick Swayze...

Check out my facial comparison HERE.

REDEFINE MAGAZINE Party!

April 28th at the Paradox marks the official Redefine Magazine party with special guest performers Helio Sequence, Crystal Skulls and more to be announced! Be ready!

Redefine Magazine is an independent quarterly (4 issues a year) music, art, and social commentary publication based out of Seattle, WA. We have been online since May 2004 and have been a print and web publication since January 2005. We will have a print circulation of 15,000 as of our Spring 2006 issue, and are distributed free of charge to local music venues, clothing boutiques, art galleries, and record shops.

Google and The Rest

So it seems the District Court of San Jose has told Google that they have 21 days to give up the Search Stats to the US Government, or else! According to the Government, they'll be using this info to find children looking at pornography use. Yaaaaa.... I'm sure that's totally not a breach of the 1st Admendment. Ya... Thats totally not removing the freedom of speech from the internet user. Ya... Go Google! This blog was made by Google btw. :)

Boeing EIP

Seattle PI:
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/business/260731_boeingpay24.html

About 45,000 Boeing Co. employees in the Puget Sound area got nice bonuses in their paychecks Thursday -- for a total of $182 million.

That was the payout from the company's employee incentive plan and was determined by how well Boeing did in meeting certain financial targets during 2005.

Companywide, the incentive plan paid $439 million to about 109,000 workers, according to Boeing's corporate headquarters in Chicago.

Non-union workers (but not executives) at Boeing are part of the incentive plan, as are most engineers and technical workers represented by SPEEA, the Society of Professional Engineering Employees in Aerospace.

"It was a very good payout," said Bill Dugovich, the Puget Sound-area spokesman for SPEEA.

"Now we look for the company to include everybody and to make it a real incentive plan," he added.

The union was included in the incentive plan for the first time in its new three-year contract, which was negotiated with the company late last year. But the SPEEA unit in Wichita, Kan., which represents technical workers, is not part of the plan.

And members of the Machinists union -- the workers who actually assemble Boeing jets in Renton and in Everett -- also are not included.

In its initial offer to Machinists during contract talks last year, which broke down and resulted in a four-week strike, Boeing offered Machinists a performance-based incentive plan that would have provided five to 15 days of extra pay should Boeing meet or exceed certain financial targets. But that was not in the final Boeing offer that the union eventually accepted.

Boeing had 62,842 employees in Washington state as of Jan. 31. Almost all of those are in the Puget Sound area.

SPEEA represents about 18,200 engineers and technical workers in the region. The average annual salary of the engineers represented by SPEEA is $81,500. The average annual salary of technical workers represented by SPEEA is $62,600 a year.

One of the union's top issues going into the 2005 contract talks was to be included in the employee incentive plan, which provides a payout once a year of up to a maximum of 20 days' pay. Thursday's payout was for 14 work days, or nearly three weeks extra pay.

Boeing's board meets in late January to determine the payout based on how close the company came to meeting economic and profit targets set at the start of the previous year. The payout usually occurs in late February.

Earlier this month, Boeing reported fourth-quarter net income of $460 million and full-year income of $2.6 billion, both up sharply from 2004. The company does not disclose what specific financial targets are used to trigger the incentive payout.

--

..and this explains why I just bought myself all those gadgets and toys as of late. :)

Next year Boeing expects profits over $60 BILLION dollars! A full months pay bonus, here we go...

What's wrong with people?

This is disgusting and you'd only think this would happen in a movie:

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/260814_dragged24ww.html

Synopsis: Unknown man steals a man's car while he was letting it defrost outside his place and then he comes out and unknown man hits him with the car and then drags his body with the car until he dies.

SICK!

AntPC 2006 (continued...)

Coming soon... Viewsonic VA912B-4 19" LCD Monitor
Arriving in about 7-10 days. :)

FEATURES

	OPTISYNC digital/analog inputs expand your connectivity
	Multimedia enhanced
	ClearMotiv" technology
	Stylish slim-bezel design
	High brightness and contrast
	OnView controls for superior screen adjustability
	VESA 100mm wall mount compliant and Kensington security port
	PC and Mac compatible
	TCO'99 and ENERGY certified

EXTENDED SPECS

	Type: 19.0" color TFT active matrix SXGA LCD
	Display Area: 14.8" horizontal x 11.9" vertical; 19.0" diagonal
	Optimum Resolution: 1280x1024
	Contrast Ratio: 500:1 (typ)
	Viewing Angle: 160 horizontal, 160 vertical @ contrast ratio > 5:1
	Response Time: 8ms (typ)
	Brightness: 250 cd/m2 (typ)
	Light Source: Long life, 40,000 hrs. (typ)
	Panel Surface: Anti-glare
	Analog/Digital: RGB analog (75 ohms, 0.7p-p)/DVI-D
	Frequency: Fh: 30~82kHz, Fv: 50~85Hz
	Sync: H/V Separated (TTL)
	Speakers: Dual integrated stereo speakers
	PC Compatibility: VGA up to 1280x1024 non-interlaced
	Mac Compatibility: Power Mac G3/G4/G5 up to 1280x1024
	Analog/Digital Connector: 15-pin mini D-sub/DVI-D connect
	Power Connector: 3-pin AC plug (CEE22)
	Voltage: AC 100-240V (universal), 50-60Hz (auto switch)
	Consumption: 36W (typ)
	Basic Control: Power, 1, down, up, 2, mute
	OnView Control: Auto image adjust, brightness, contrast, ViewMatch color adjust (sRGB, 9300K, 6500K, 6800K), information (mode, model number, serial number), audio (volume, mute), input select (analog, digital), manual image adjust (H. position, V. position, fine tune, sharpness), setup menu, language, resolution notice, OSD position, OSD timeout, OSD background, memory recall
	Power Management: Meets TCO'99 and ENERGY STAR standards
	Regulations: UL, cUL, FCC-B, IC-B, CB, CE, ENERGY, NOM, TUV/GS, TUV/ERGO (covers ISO13406-2 & MPR II), TUV-S, TCO'99, EPA, PCT, GOST-R, PCBC, VCCI, BSMI, CCC, PSB, C-TICK
	Dimensions: 17.2" x 16.5" x 8.5"
	Operating Temperature: 32-104F (0-40C)
	Operating Humidity: 10-90% (no condensing)
	Package Contents: LCD display, 15-pin VGA video cable, DVI cable, audio cable, power cable, Quick Start Guide, ViewSonic Wizard CD
	Warranty: Three-year limited warranty on parts, labor and backlight

What's next? SATA Hard Drive? DVD-Writer? The world?

Sasquatch Festival Announced!

The annual Northwest music festival's main lineup has now been announced! This year they've moved to a 3 day extravaganza so it's going to be 3 times the ffun? The line up is pretty stellar:

Friday May 26
Nine Inch Nails
SURPRISE BAND
HIM
...And You Will Know Us By the Trail of Dead
Wolfmother


Saturday May 27
Ben Harper
The Flaming Lips
The Shins
The Tragically Hip
Neko Case
Iron & Wine
Sufjan Stevens
Gomez
Rogue Wave
Architecture in Helsinki
Sam Roberts
Constantines
The Brunettes
Matt Costa
Bedouin Soundclash
Tim Seely
Korby Lenker
Common Market

Sunday May 28
Beck
Death Cab for Cutie
Queens of the Stone Age
Matisyahu
Decemberists
Nada Surf
Pretty Girls Make Graves
Blue Scholars
Clap Your Hands Say Yeah
Arctic Monkeys
We Are Scientists
Chad VanGaalen
The Heavenly States
Rocky Votalato
Laura Veirs
Village Green
Mercir

MORE TBA!!

Rage against the Machines!

After going to some stores with my sister last night, we stopped by Starbucks and I am still in shock even after 2 years of this automation business, that they are still... sigh... doing it. I posted the other day about how good Zoka coffee was and to my surprise, I found an article on NY Times about Zoka coffee and Starbucks automation!
--

New York Times:

In the United States, purveyors of specialty coffee - caffè lattes and the like - net $8.4 billion a year, according to the Specialty Coffee Association of America, a sponsor of this weekend's event. The spread of Starbucks is a big reason for that sum, which is more than in any other country. But no Starbucks barista has ever won a United States championship, much less the world title.

This is a point of pride for independent baristas like Ms. Tran, who works as the lead trainer for Zoka Coffee, a small Seattle company that can now claim two national champions. Zoka's owner, Jeff Babcock, who hired Ms. Tran shortly after she won the national competition, said, "I can't compete against a great big company, so I beat them in the quality sector."

Mr. Babcock added, with some competitive glee, that his strategy of quality outperformance would only be helped when Starbucks moves to automated espresso machines that tamp and pour espresso shots on their own, leaving the Starbucks barista to just push a button and steam some milk. Lara Wyss, a spokeswoman for Starbucks, said an automatic machine would soon be in each of the company's 6,800 American stores.

"What we find is that it's able to pull a more consistent shot," Ms. Wyss said, "and that it is a great cup of coffee."

Mr. Babcock, a man who drinks coffee as if it were wine, sniffing before sipping, could only, well, sniff at that idea.


--

So true, so true. I remember Starbucks actually used to make a decent espresso. I don't ever remember it being better than any of the local roasters and cafes around Seattle but their coffee was definitely drinkable. I'm not so sure anymore. This automation espresso machine really takes the barista out of the picture. What's the point of even having someone there? Why doesn't Starbucks just save a whole lot more money, and turn their automated machines into those $1.00 latte vending machines you find in random places? It's essentially the same exact thing!

The only thing I really order now when I'm at Starbucks is their Chai, because that thank goodness, has not gone to the machines. Yes, that's right, Starbucks is outsourcing baby, and we're not sending work to China or India, we're giving it to the machines!

AntPC 2006

Specs:

• AMD Athlon 64 3700+ "San Diego" Socket 939
  
• DFI Infinity Ultra Motherboard / nVidia nForce 4 Ultra Chipset
  
• Kingston 1 gb DDR400 RAM - (2 x 512MB dual channel)
  
• Seagate Barracuda 7200RPM EIDE 60gb Hard Drive
• Maxtor 7200RPM EIDE 20gb Hard Drive
• Western Digital External USB2.0 80gb Hard Drive
• Nvidia GeForce 6800 GS 16X PCI-Express 256MB DDR3 overclocked with S-Video/DVI Out
  
• Nvidia/Realtek AC'97 Audio
• 10/100Mbps nForce Ethernet
• 2 FireWire IE1394 ports
  
• 10 USB 2.0 ports
• Logitech Cordless Desktop S510
• Antec Sonata II Case with 450W Antec Power Supply
• Logitech X230 2.1 Speaker/Sub
• NEC 17" CRT
• Sony Ericsson Sync-Charger Station
  

Upcoming add-ons?

• 19" Flat Panel Monitor, SATA Hard Drive
  

My Daily Fix

As I wait for my car to warm up, I'm thinking... mmm... Coffee! And let me tell you, the best place to get coffee in Seattle is Zoka cafe in U-Village. The Greenlake location was the original, but the U-Village people are friendlier and just better at the craft, I think. They are the best at making mocha's! But if you're in for an espresso, they are pretty slick at it too. Also try out Cafe Vitta coffee shops and Cafe Ladro. Most local shops use Cafe Vitta so its the alternative Seattle standard. Check out Zoka at http://www.zokacoffee.com

Last.FM

I added a Last.FM panel to the sidebar. It'll show them crazies what I've been listening to the past week on my computer(s). Completely unneccessary and useless info, yet so totally neccessary at the same time.

Disintegration

The Cure's Disintegration (1989) is one the most sprawling epics and dark moody albums of my collection of music. It's also one of my favorite albums. The mood it stirs is incredible -- through the intense ambience and layers of sound, the wails of a Robert Smith in his prime come out. Emotional lyrics of moot depression and utter sadness rake through the record, with one bright uplifting spot: the ever so good "Lovesong."

It's an unimaginable feat of greatness that Smith and the Cure had made with this timeless album. And almost everytime I listen to it, I can take the lyrics and the melodies and the containment of anger and frustration resulting in powerfully challenging vocals, and relate it to everything and anything I am feeling myself.

It's a movie soundtrack of our lives, or at least the life of the melancholiness; an emotional toll on the mind and the wonderous orchestrated backdrop to a winter not-so-wonderland. It's a spirit killer; an overly sensitive piece of work, which only makes the emotionally disbound, more distraught. It's a magical journey into the mind. It forces one to think hard and think long. Believing becomes difficult, and clouds of darkness swirl about the inner workings of the human soul. It's this that makes Disintegration that beautiful, that powerful, and that timeless.

I only write this essay because I am touched by this album in many ways. It pummels me down to the ground when I'm already low, and when I need to listen to something as elegant and subtle, it also works, but in mysterious ways. When I feel like the world is coming down on me, I can take a ride on the Cure bus and search for some truth, and some outright hope and inspiration. Sure, the album takes a ride down a tragic path, but there's always hope in Robert Smith's voice. He never gives up, and he never let's his emotions overtake him too much. Hence, the song "lovesong" -- a classic, and personal favorite, which is a heaven-sent song after the deathly beautiful and emotional bomb, "Pictures of You."

Kurt Warner at 34 will make $18 million

good lord, what's wrong with the Cardinals. 3 years, $18 million plus incentives for more money? Kurt Warner is alright, he actually had a decent year last year... but is he worth $6 million a year? The Cards have huge problems on their O-Line and they need to make some major changes there otherwise Warner will be a sitting duck again, and one big hit will knock him out cold. (remember those concussion years with the Rams?) Then again, the Cards need more than just that for help. Hey, at least they got two of the most impressive young wide receivers in the league.

Dwarf Invasion!

Reggie and the Full Effect will be playing at El Corazon on Friday night! Tickets are $11/$15 and doors are at 7PM. This show will rock your socks off for entertainment.

The Digital Car Salesman Effect

I've been researching and looking into possibly buying a car as of late and one of the great things nowadays is the ability to research and do shopping ONLINE! There's plenty of great sites to do your comparison needs and my favorites so far are the standard Kelley Blue Book (kbb.com) and Edmund.com. An article that I found very interesting and somewhat funny is on Edmund.com through the link below:

http://www.edmunds.com/advice/buying/articles/78913/article.html

It writes about how internet car buying compares with actually being in a dealership and dealing with a car salesman in person. The role of the internet manager is growing more important now that everyone seems to be finally reaching the internet as a mass tool for shopping and I've seen some of this first hand.

While I haven't actually gone to a dealership in my recent endeavor, I have been happy to report that the "deals" I've received from Subaru dealerships' internet managers thus far have been below invoice price. Let's see a car salesman pull that one off at the dealership!

Anthony's World no more

I like this thing enough (inital impressions) that I have scrapped my idling AntsWorld.net website and put this blog in its place. Hope this works out better for me...

Blogger Begins

This is will be my first blogger post ever!