three corporate speak terms i've come to hate recently:
"value proposition"
"leverage"
"talk to"

used in a "perfect storm" sentence:
"let's talk to the value proposition for our clients, specifically, how we can leverage our agile business model to penetrate our competitor's market niches."

detail on the fbi's wiretapping network. it's pretty interesting/scary how easy it is for them to tap any communications device.
http://yro.slashdot.org/yro/07/08/29/1248212.shtml

turns out mother teresa wasn't so happy after all.
http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,1655415,00.html?cnn=yes

how can the 80's be scribed in the annals of history as anything other than the pinnacle of human achievement?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MwSG7I0oO4g
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ahNfhUysehk&mode=related&search=

i think the ATF should change its name to something more friendly and customer-focused, maybe "beer, blunts, and berettas."

flying pirates. poor robert dinero. a star falls indeed.
http://www.bryanzimmer.net/pics/IMG_0145.JPG

on the way in to work yesterday my casual carpool ride was a beat up delivery van driven by a guy with a heavy spanish accent, and on the way back it was a limo driven by an african american lady who used to drive city buses.

the bay area bbq cookoff is next weekend, who wants to go?
http://www.bayareabarbequecookoff.com/

drive to bart parking lot, 10 minutes.
park in neighborhood because bart parking lot is full, 5 minutes.
walk to station, 5 minutes.
ride bart, 20 minutes.
walk to work, 5 minutes.
45 minutes and $3.45

walk to casual carpool pickup, 10 minutes.
get in complete stranger's car and ride across the bay bridge in the carpool lane, 20 minutes.
walk 100 feet to work, .25 minutes.
30 minutes and $0.

casual carpool, priceless
http://www.ridenow.org/carpool/what.htm

so maybe $3.45 isn't much, but it'll save me anywhere from $109 to $217 a month depending on if i take it home as well or use the bus/bart. that's good money i could be spending on cheese or somesuch.

but at least i can drink out of the container without getting yelled at.

apparently the people standing in the middle of the sidewalk with clipboards who try to get you to sign/buy stuff while you're walking downtown don't like it when you let them go through their monologue, carry on a conversation with them, and then politely decline what they're pushing. i got a rolled eyes, i'm going to vomit, you just wasted my time, look. it's way more fun than just ignoring them.

what is with the unforgivable dearth of good mexican food in the greater east bay area, as well as san francisco's financial district?

"santa cruz" and "big sur" by the thrills remind me of home and they're fun to whistle. being able to walk from my new place to pretty much everything i need is sweet. although i find it a little odd that there are about 5 martial arts places and a metric assload of thai restaurants within a 10 minute walk. somewhere nearby is a fancy dog park that requires your dog to have proof of residence in the city, otherwise it's a $100 fine. i need to find a good bbq place.

spore is a new game coming out from the guys who did simcity. it looks like it'll be fun for most casual gamers, but also has serious geek factor. you start out as an amoeba, then create animals, then civilizations, then planets, then solar systems. check out this video. it's half an hour long so you may want to fast forward and just watch parts here and there.
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=8372603330420559198