March 2008

This has all the markings of an April Fool’s joke, but it seems like it might actually be real.

“This is a hoax,” a tower spokeswoman said last night. “We have no idea where this came from. The whole thing is preposterous. There is no question of changing the way that the Eiffel Tower looks, even temporarily. We have plans for the 120th anniversary, of course, but nothing like this.”

Nevertheless, a spokesman for David Serero architects, who declined to give his name, insisted that the company had been, “invited to enter a limited competition”, and that, “we would not have drawn up such elaborate plans unless we thought that there was a genuine competition”.

From NYTimes.com: Eiffel Tower to Temporarily Alter Silhouette
The reason for the addition is to increase the tower’s visitor capacity for the 120th anniversary of the Eiffel Tower.  Here’s the terrifying view from the new platform.  I’m not so sure what that’s going to be like on a windy day!
More Pictures from the architectural firm Serero

I have never found the comic strip Garfield to be funny, but every time I read Garfield minus Garfield, it cracks me up.  Truly addition by subtraction.

My car window’s all fixed!  I called Jarrott’s Auto Glass and they came to my office this afternoon and fixed my car window.  It was a 10 minute job and I’m good to go.  Having someone come by is pretty darn convenient. 

If you’re curious, this little window is only marginally cheaper to repair than the rear seat window in front of it.  So the criminals didn’t really do me much of a favor by breaking the small window.

Before:

After:

Last night at 2:30AM, I heard a car alarm go off.  Car alarms are pretty common in the city, more an annoyance than anything else.  This one, sounded vaguely familiar, so I shook off my slumber and crawled out of bed.  I looked down from my third story window and saw a car with its lights flashing and its horn honking.  It was my car.

There wasn’t anyone around my car and I couldn’t see anyone running up or down the street.  At 2:30AM, my brain was still using sleepy logic at the time so I decided that I would turn off the alarm, relock the doors from the comfort of my bedroom and go back to bed.

This morning, I went out to check the damage and saw that the small rear window was broken and my ancient radar detector was stolen.  It was old, but trusty.  I have never gotten a speeding ticket since I’ve had it.  But, it was held to the window through this suction cup contraption that I had created since the original mount was broken.  They didn’t take the mount and I doubt they’ll figure out how to hook it to the window like I did!

My car is sometimes messy and I always joked that the security of my car was based on obscurity.  Security through obscurity.  Too much junk to sort through!  The criminals weren’t up to the task of sorting out the junk car so it must have worked!

I cleaned the glass (car window glass breaks into a zillion little pieces) and taped up the window.  I had brought out a white garbage bag and a black garbage bag for the window.  I ended up choosing the white garbage bag, but the real star of the repair job was the clear duct tape that I had purchased.  I love clear duct tape!  I’ve already used it twice around the house for repairs that I should have probably used something more permanent!  It’s just the MacGyver in me.

Happy Easter!

From TechCrunch.com: Charlie Rose Face Plants To Save His MacBook Air

He was carrying a newly purchased MacBook Air and made a quick (but ultimately flawed) decision while falling: sacrifice the face, protect the computer. “In doing so, he pretty much hit the pavement face first, unfortunately,” they said.

Luckily the MacBook Air survived the fall. “The Macbook Air is fine, he showed us the blood stains on it this morning.

That’s some serious MacBook Air love shown by Charlie Rose.

From NYTimes.com: China Tensions Sway Taiwan Election

China’s suppression of protests in Tibet and missteps by the opposition Nationalist Party have made the Taiwanese presidential election on Saturday an unexpectedly close race. What once seemed to be an insuperable lead for the Nationalist candidate, Ma Ying-jeou, has narrowed considerably, politicians and political analysts said.

Taiwan wants no part of what China’s dealing these days.  Tibet is just a reminder of what hugging a bear could get you.  Taiwan has been a de facto independent nation since WWII.  Taiwan is a democracy, China is not.  If the United States truly wants democracy around the world, why not start here and support Taiwan.

I love this “Last Supper” Battlestar Galactica promo picture.

Battlestar Galactica begins season 4 on April 10th.  At its best, Battlestar Galactica was the best show that I have ever seen on television.  Get filled in on the previous 3 seasons with this video summary.

From SCIFI.com: Eick: Bionic Is Dead

David Eick, co-executive producer of NBC’s SF series Bionic Woman, confirmed to SCI FI Wire that the network has indeed canceled the show, though the network has not yet officially said as much.

I thought Bionic Woman was a total disappointment.  I was hoping for a lot more from David Eick, a co-producer of one of my favorite shows, Battlestar Galactica.  The story never really got off the ground and de-evolved into a bad version of “Alias”.