tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-245528302024-03-07T00:19:24.246-08:00The Soapbox ProphetEvery man is given a voice, not every man uses it.A.Venegashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00079512320011392508noreply@blogger.comBlogger239125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24552830.post-35457756669312034282008-04-17T12:10:00.000-07:002008-04-17T12:25:05.704-07:00All Good Things Must Come to an EndGoodnight sweet Blogspot, parting is such sweet sorrow. I'll say goodbye, and hope my Google juice shall follow. Goodnight, goodnight, goodnight. <br /><br />That's right, I'm shutting down this site completely, and hopping over to my own server. If you're still looking for me, my new site is at<a href="http://www.andrewvenegas.net"> ANDREWVENEGAS.NET.</a> I'll keep my blogger pages up for some time, until, like financial records, no one cares to look at them. And then, they'll all be shuffled to some obsure domain hidden within the darker corners of the Internet Archive.<br /><br />So long, Blogspot - I will always think fondly of you.A.Venegashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00079512320011392508noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24552830.post-21494552298821409202008-04-16T13:55:00.000-07:002008-04-16T13:56:22.872-07:00CHECK-IT-OUT<a href="http://www.andrewvenegas.net">Just follow the link...</a>A.Venegashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00079512320011392508noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24552830.post-54120622450853280602008-04-15T18:15:00.000-07:002008-04-15T18:32:19.374-07:00MNTWIDFLSMAEPBTWIDTAWitis (for short)I'm glum. I've been thinking of redesigning this site for awhile, but every time I sit down to do it, I get a bad case of Maybe Next Time When I Don't Feel Like Sitting on My Arse and Eating a Pretzel Because That's What I Do on Tuesdays After Work- itis. You know, MNTWIDFLSMAEPBTWIDTAWitis, for short. Sadly, the condition is treatable, but incurable.<br /><br />Oh well. Hey, check out this TED talk on ants if you wanna procrastinate too. Crazy bugs.<br /><br /><!--cut and paste--><object classid="clsid:d27cdb6e-ae6d-11cf-96b8-444553540000" codebase="http://download.macromedia.com/pub/shockwave/cabs/flash/swflash.cab#version=8,0,0,0" id="VE_Player" align="middle" height="285" width="432"><param name="movie" value="http://static.videoegg.com/ted/flash/loader.swf"><param name="FlashVars" value="bgColor=FFFFFF&file=http://static.videoegg.com/ted/movies/DEBORAHGORDON-2003_high.flv&autoPlay=false&fullscreenURL=http://static.videoegg.com/ted/flash/fullscreen.html&forcePlay=false&logo=&allowFullscreen=true"><param name="quality" value="high"><param name="allowScriptAccess" value="always"><param name="bgcolor" value="#FFFFFF"><param name="scale" value="noscale"><param name="wmode" value="window"><embed src="http://static.videoegg.com/ted/flash/loader.swf" flashvars="bgColor=FFFFFF&file=http://static.videoegg.com/ted/movies/DEBORAHGORDON-2003_high.flv&autoPlay=false&fullscreenURL=http://static.videoegg.com/ted/flash/fullscreen.html&forcePlay=false&logo=&allowFullscreen=true" quality="high" allowscriptaccess="always" bgcolor="#FFFFFF" scale="noscale" wmode="window" name="VE_Player" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" pluginspage="http://www.macromedia.com/go/getflashplayer" align="middle" height="285" width="432"></embed></object><br /><br /><span style="font-size:78%;"><br /><a href="http://technorati.com/tag/andrew%20venegas" rel="tag">andrew venegas</a>,<a href="http://technorati.com/tag/soapbox%20prophet" rel="tag">soapbox prophet</a>,<a href="http://technorati.com/tag/san%20jose" rel="tag">san jose</a>,<a href="http://technorati.com/tag/sjsu" rel="tag">sjsu</a>,<a href="http://technorati.com/tag/sjsu%20tech" rel="tag">sjsu tech</a>,<a href="http://technorati.com/tag/blogger" rel="tag">blogger</a>,<a href="http://technorati.com/tag/silicon%20valley" rel="tag">silicon valley</a>,<a href="http://technorati.com/tag/TED" rel="tag">TED</a>,<a href="http://technorati.com/tag/design" rel="tag">design</a>A.Venegashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00079512320011392508noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24552830.post-64017044297553127482007-11-20T00:36:00.000-08:002007-11-20T00:47:39.905-08:00I'm Forever StuupidTwo minutes have passed since my last post. Forget diamonds, cyberspace is forever. The syntax and general grammar of my last post was all messed up, but due to either the HTML or flash embed that I put into the editor, Blogger won't let me go back and change it. Instead, I click on the 'Edit Post' button only to have the content disappear. I feel like I just spelled <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dan_Quayle#Vice_Presidency">P-O-T-A-T-O-E</a>.<br /><br />Somewhere, an English teacher is crying...<br /><span style="font-size:78%;"><br /><a href="http://technorati.com/tag/andrew%20venegas" rel="tag">andrew venegas</a>,<a href="http://technorati.com/tag/soapbox%20prophet" rel="tag">soapbox prophet</a>,<a href="http://technorati.com/tag/san%20jose" rel="tag">san jose</a>,<a href="http://technorati.com/tag/sjsu" rel="tag">sjsu</a>,<a href="http://technorati.com/tag/sjsu%20tech" rel="tag">sjsu tech</a>,<a href="http://technorati.com/tag/blogger" rel="tag">blogger</a>,<a href="http://technorati.com/tag/silicon%20valley" rel="tag">silicon valley</a>,<a href="http://technorati.com/tag/potatoe" rel="tag">potatoe</a>,<a href="http://technorati.com/tag/dan%20quayle" rel="tag">Dan Quayle</a><br /><br /></span>A.Venegashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00079512320011392508noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24552830.post-30698401559972447792007-11-20T00:22:00.000-08:002007-11-20T00:34:54.828-08:00SJSU's Hollywood SceneLike most of you reading this blog, I couldn't sleep last night and decided to searching meta tags online for anything cool or quirky in my area. One link lead to another and finally, I ended up on this video of from FPS, <a href="http://fps.digitalfanatic.com/?cat=4">The Film Production Society</a> here at SJSU.<br /><br /><a href="http://myspacetv.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=vids.individual&videoid=20181601">Film Production Society Promo</a><br /><embed src="http://lads.myspace.com/videos/vplayer.swf" flashvars="m=20181601&v=2&type=video" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" height="346" width="430"></embed><br /><a href="http://myspacetv.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=vids.addToProfileConfirm&videoid=20181601&title=Film%20Production%20Society%20Promo">Add to My Profile</a> | <a href="http://myspacetv.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=vids.home">More Videos</a><br /><br /><br />The funny thing is that I know some of the students that founded this organization, and yet had no idea the organization even existed until I stumbled upon it in a Google Calendar search.<br /><br />On a side note, Google Calendar is the bomb-diggity.<br /><br /><iframe src="http://www.google.com/calendar/embed?src=4cgcdpgibpqpitmoo728d5kk1s%40group.calendar.google.com" style="border: 0pt none ;" frameborder="0" height="300" scrolling="no" width="400"></iframe><br /><br /><a href="http://technorati.com/tag/andrew%20venegas" rel="tag">andrew venegas</a>,<a href="http://technorati.com/tag/soapbox%20prophet" rel="tag">soapbox prophet</a>,<a href="http://technorati.com/tag/san%20jose" rel="tag">san jose</a>,<a href="http://technorati.com/tag/san%20jose%20tech" rel="tag">san jose tech</a>,<a href="http://technorati.com/tag/silicon%20valley" rel="tag">silicon valley</a>,<a href="http://technorati.com/tag/film%20production%20society" rel="tag">film production society</a>,<a href="http://technorati.com/tag/sjsu" rel="tag">SJSU</a>,<a href="http://technorati.com/tag/fps" rel="tag">FPS</a>,<a href="http://technorati.com/tag/google%20calendar" rel="tag">Google Calendar</a>,<a href="http://technorati.com/tag/myspace" rel="tag">MySpace</a>A.Venegashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00079512320011392508noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24552830.post-88284233994451505662007-11-14T11:40:00.000-08:002007-11-14T20:24:17.152-08:00Sam Donaldson's Got His Mojo Working<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.radaronline.com/exclusives/2007/11/sam-donaldsons-number-in-dc-madams-records.php"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 242px; height: 326px;" src="http://www.radaronline.com/exclusives/samdonaldson_111307_fresh.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size:78%;"><a href="http://www.radaronline.com/exclusives/2007/11/sam-donaldsons-number-in-dc-madams-records.php">Image taken from Fresh Intelligence.</a></span><br /></div>Sam Donaldson was just here this past month for the 50th Anniversary of the Broadcast sequence at SJSU.<br /><br />I wish I knew then that<a href="http://www.radaronline.com/exclusives/2007/11/sam-donaldsons-number-in-dc-madams-records.php"> he was partying like a rock star in D.C. "</a>. That would have made the night even more intriguing.<br /><br />And yes, Donaldson is married.<br /><br /><span style="font-size:78%;"><br /><a href="http://technorati.com/tag/andrew%20venegas" rel="tag">andrew venegas</a>,<a href="http://technorati.com/tag/sjsu" rel="tag">sjsu</a>,<a href="http://technorati.com/tag/sjsu%20tech" rel="tag">sjsu tech</a>,<a href="http://technorati.com/tag/soapbox%20prophet" rel="tag">soapbox prophet</a>,<a href="http://technorati.com/tag/silicon%20valley" rel="tag">silicon valley</a>,<a href="http://technorati.com/tag/sam%20donaldson" rel="tag">sam donaldson</a>,<a href="http://technorati.com/tag/broadcast%20reunion" rel="tag">broadcast reunion</a>,<a href="http://technorati.com/tag/dc%20madam" rel="tag">dc madam</a></span>A.Venegashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00079512320011392508noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24552830.post-81842730798723800412007-11-13T22:21:00.000-08:002008-12-08T16:19:19.418-08:00I DO NEED VIAGRA...<a href="http://www.zefrank.com/">Ze Frank</a> is back online... Hard Chargers beware.<br /><br /><object type="application/x-shockwave-flash" data="http://blip.tv/scripts/flash/showplayer.swf?enablejs=true&feedurl=http%3A%2F%2Fzefrank%2Eblip%2Etv%2Frss&file=http%3A%2F%2Fblip%2Etv%2Frss%2Fflash%2F486788&brandlink=http%3A%2F%2Fzefrank%2Ecom%2F&brandname=zefrank&showplayerpath=http%3A%2F%2Fblip%2Etv%2Fscripts%2Fflash%2Fshowplayer%2Eswf" allowfullscreen="true" id="showplayer" height="300" width="400"><param name="movie" value="http://blip.tv/scripts/flash/showplayer.swf?enablejs=true&feedurl=http%3A%2F%2Fzefrank%2Eblip%2Etv%2Frss&file=http%3A%2F%2Fblip%2Etv%2Frss%2Fflash%2F486788&brandlink=http%3A%2F%2Fzefrank%2Ecom%2F&brandname=zefrank&showplayerpath=http%3A%2F%2Fblip%2Etv%2Fscripts%2Fflash%2Fshowplayer%2Eswf"><param name="quality" value="best"></object><br /><br />In other happenings, I saw a drug ad today with <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sally_Field">Sally Field</a> that really got me thinking. In forty years, which actors are HMO's and drug companies going to be using to sell me drugs that I probably won't need? Maybe <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LeVar_Burton">LeVar Burton</a> from Reading Rainbow?<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0WvylTx5KSVDnAbEe6w4lRGpdUTflMe440Wf86ZtLN0Bwpe3AtVOFBjRGiZRNgO3hMsITfLiSONDSr-QDyjtaYLFegwZXSITR7skumk3_LahjgoTAdWHLliX6YnB-UnqWXnaP-A/s1600-h/levar+sells+viagra.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0WvylTx5KSVDnAbEe6w4lRGpdUTflMe440Wf86ZtLN0Bwpe3AtVOFBjRGiZRNgO3hMsITfLiSONDSr-QDyjtaYLFegwZXSITR7skumk3_LahjgoTAdWHLliX6YnB-UnqWXnaP-A/s320/levar+sells+viagra.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5132593869834162802" border="0" /></a><br />I mean, there's not a drug on Earth I wouldn't buy from that guy.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFut5Yf-jLxI6KI1YGdYgPrvCe2Ju9PIDrYM7Cjps-JsLt0FmYWfTJqwPEWepB5Y5Yk6-t7FMmIyF18GLUp9g4aaJFuJ08dIeb9vW-aLgVKX4U_jSxDQzCcZqRPDxs-cy_0DKmcQ/s1600-h/hit+this.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFut5Yf-jLxI6KI1YGdYgPrvCe2Ju9PIDrYM7Cjps-JsLt0FmYWfTJqwPEWepB5Y5Yk6-t7FMmIyF18GLUp9g4aaJFuJ08dIeb9vW-aLgVKX4U_jSxDQzCcZqRPDxs-cy_0DKmcQ/s320/hit+this.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5132594033042920066" border="0" /></a>Actually, that goes for Captain Picard too.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjii6KtJRPJGMhiYE1Z2UvLCQM5aHJI9g5_GD4cH5kLoNylgx3EagkqHDYTCEZ5ah2xXZlUCI1O5vFOlFjSGLdbbg3q5JZrpQcWJgiue8tW6ayo6rcDTHjQfKbuP01yw6DLo5dH-Q/s1600-h/Captain+Picard+is+high+again.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjii6KtJRPJGMhiYE1Z2UvLCQM5aHJI9g5_GD4cH5kLoNylgx3EagkqHDYTCEZ5ah2xXZlUCI1O5vFOlFjSGLdbbg3q5JZrpQcWJgiue8tW6ayo6rcDTHjQfKbuP01yw6DLo5dH-Q/s320/Captain+Picard+is+high+again.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5132594213431546514" border="0" /></a><br />Sidenote:<br />I watched The Matrix today on my laptop. Has anyone else noticed that the movie is just about THE SINGLE WORST DAY OF ONE MAN'S LIFE. I mean, wake up, find out your life was a dream, have a raving lunatic tell you that you're the messiah, and then die before being resurrected by a woman that could easily snap and kill you in bed.<br /><br />But I digress...<br /><span style="font-size:78%;"><br /><a href="http://technorati.com/tag/andrew%20venegas" rel="tag">andrew venegas</a>,<a href="http://technorati.com/tag/soapbox%20prophet" rel="tag">soapbox prophet</a>,<a href="http://technorati.com/tag/sjsu" rel="tag">sjsu</a>,<a href="http://technorati.com/tag/sjsu%20tech" rel="tag">sjsu tech</a>,<a href="http://technorati.com/tag/silicon%20valley" rel="tag">silicon valley</a>,<a href="http://technorati.com/tag/san%20jose" rel="tag">san jose</a>,<a href="http://technorati.com/tag/j-school" rel="tag">j-school</a>,<a href="http://technorati.com/tag/levar%20burton" rel="tag">levar burton</a>,<a href="http://technorati.com/tag/sally%20field" rel="tag">sally field</a>,<a href="http://technorati.com/tag/captain%20picard" rel="tag">captain picard</a>,<a href="http://technorati.com/tag/matrix" rel="tag">matrix</a>,<a href="http://technorati.com/tag/drug%20ad" rel="tag">drug ad</a>,<a href="http://technorati.com/tag/rant" rel="tag">rant</a></span>A.Venegashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00079512320011392508noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24552830.post-43657111301513604122007-11-10T18:06:00.001-08:002007-11-10T18:51:14.486-08:00I'm Hooking Up with Random People ALL the TimeYou've caught me, red-handed, blissfully self-indulgent and unabashedly non-discrete about it. Call me whatever you will, just don't say that you're not doing the same.<br /><br />I'm a pimp. Pusher. A user and a fiend. I'm the new brand of neo-crack-head. I'm a social networking whore. Myspace, Facebook, Hi5, Blogger, Wordpress, Flickr, Twitter, Pownce, Technorati: start a site and add your widget to my desktop.<br /><br />Just in case you like math, that's 9 DIFFERENT alphanumeric passwords and login names, each unique like everyone else's. My brain hurts.<br /><br />And here's another one for the list-likers out there. Linked-In. <a href="http://seeimsmiling.blogspot.com/">Megan Hamilton</a> gave me this week's fix, and <a href="http://www.linkedin.com/myprofile?trk=tab_pro">I'm again, hopelessly addicted</a>. How many degrees is that perfect job from my network? Let me see.<br /><br />Import my Google contacts. Check.<br />Import from Outlook. Check.<br />Look for my classmates. Done.<br />Damn, nothing yet.<br /><br />Oh well. I'll settle for a hip recommendation and some URL track-back links. Then I can Twitter this blog link to Technorati while dreams of Google-rank dance in my head. Maybe then someone BIG will notice. And we all want to be noticed.<br /><br />Isn't that why we all love these sites so much?<br /><span style="font-size:78%;"><br /><a href="http://technorati.com/tag/andrew%20venegas" rel="tag">andrew venegas</a>,<a href="http://technorati.com/tag/soapbox%20prophet" rel="tag">soapbox prophet</a>,<a href="http://technorati.com/tag/san%20jose" rel="tag">san jose</a>,<a href="http://technorati.com/tag/sjsu%20tech" rel="tag">sjsu tech</a>,<a href="http://technorati.com/tag/sjsu%20" rel="tag">sjsu </a>,<a href="http://technorati.com/tag/silicon%20valley" rel="tag">silicon valley</a>,<a href="http://technorati.com/tag/megan%20hamilton" rel="tag">megan hamilton</a>,<a href="http://technorati.com/tag/linkedin" rel="tag">linkedin</a>,<a href="http://technorati.com/tag/facebook" rel="tag">facebook</a>,<a href="http://technorati.com/tag/myspace" rel="tag">myspace</a>,<a href="http://technorati.com/tag/twitter" rel="tag">twitter</a>,<a href="http://technorati.com/tag/technorati" rel="tag">technorati</a>,<a href="http://technorati.com/tag/flickr" rel="tag">flickr</a>,<a href="http://technorati.com/tag/wordpress" rel="tag">wordpress</a>,<a href="http://technorati.com/tag/blogger" rel="tag">blogger</a>,<a href="http://technorati.com/tag/social%20network" rel="tag">social network</a>,<a href="http://technorati.com/tag/hi5" rel="tag">hi5</a>,<a href="http://technorati.com/tag/pownce" rel="tag">pownce</a></span>A.Venegashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00079512320011392508noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24552830.post-4379242724132833002007-11-07T12:06:00.000-08:002007-11-07T13:18:13.474-08:00Headline Writing BurnoutACCESS Magazine is going along well. Yesterday we went over ideas for headlines.<br />This is what happens when you stick 30 people in a room and tell them to be creative: racist, campy, tripe, or totally cliche.<br /><br />My personal favorites:<br />"Jocks N' Cocks"<br />"Border Hopping"<br />"The World and You"<br />"Politics 2.0"<br />"The Misadventures of Cancerpants"<br /><br />Wow. Awkward.<br /><span style="font-size:78%;"><br /><a href="http://technorati.com/tag/andrew%20venegas" rel="tag">andrew venegas</a>,<a href="http://technorati.com/tag/sjsu%20tech" rel="tag">sjsu tech</a>,<a href="http://technorati.com/tag/sjsu" rel="tag">sjsu</a>,<a href="http://technorati.com/tag/soapbox%20prophet" rel="tag">soapbox prophet</a>,<a href="http://technorati.com/tag/san%20jose" rel="tag">san jose</a>,<a href="http://technorati.com/tag/silicon%20valley" rel="tag">silicon valley</a>,<a href="http://technorati.com/tag/access%20magazine" rel="tag">access magazine</a></span>A.Venegashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00079512320011392508noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24552830.post-61916972793947884332007-11-07T10:08:00.000-08:002008-12-08T16:19:19.622-08:00To My Starving, Magazine Writing, Slacker Friends<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://valleywag.com/tech/silicon-valley-users-guide/how-to-coast-to-a-writing-career-319758.php"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhm25e1MkphSr5l0xrWzHV_33i2y0Do-D0fMF3ziru7siTuXQ2scJIR4GFrY-7SM5n_S3RmPijFX2XH_cefdkXFYcvfgCpaa0P2HBGfFae0PcI1bOLtmFieOZXsLbBWElP-cB8UgA/s320/blog.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5130166820964372658" border="0" /></a><br />I'm not lazy, and I'm no idiot with regards to new technology. But jeez, it is hard to get noticed. Valleywag's Paul Boutin had <a href="http://valleywag.com/tech/silicon-valley-users-guide/how-to-coast-to-a-writing-career-319758.php">this kick-butt article</a> this morning that you've got to read if you're struggling to make a name for yourself. It almost made me want to write something original (blogosphere joke)...<span style="font-size:78%;"><br /><br /><a href="http://technorati.com/tag/andrew%20venegas" rel="tag">andrew venegas</a>,<a href="http://technorati.com/tag/san%20jose" rel="tag">san jose</a>,<a href="http://technorati.com/tag/sjsu" rel="tag">sjsu</a>,<a href="http://technorati.com/tag/sjsu%20tech" rel="tag">sjsu tech</a>,<a href="http://technorati.com/tag/silicon%20valley" rel="tag">silicon valley</a>,<a href="http://technorati.com/tag/soapbox%20prophet" rel="tag">soapbox prophet</a>,<a href="http://technorati.com/tag/j-school" rel="tag">j-school</a>,<a href="http://technorati.com/tag/tech" rel="tag">tech</a>,<a href="http://technorati.com/tag/journalism" rel="tag">journalism</a>,<a href="http://technorati.com/tag/paul%20boutin" rel="tag">Paul Boutin</a>,<a href="http://technorati.com/tag/valleywag" rel="tag">Valleywag</a>,<a href="http://technorati.com/tag/wall%20street%20journal" rel="tag">Wall Street Journal</a></span>A.Venegashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00079512320011392508noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24552830.post-62056391425445925782007-11-06T09:20:00.000-08:002007-11-06T09:44:07.029-08:00An Apple a Day Keeps my Paychecks at BayI was just hired at the <a href="http://www.apple.com/retail/stanford/week/20071104.html">Apple store in Stanford</a> as a Mac Specialist. Looks like it's going to be fun; there's a lot of great people that work there. The only real thing that I'm concerned about is that my paycheck will go right back to Apple. I have no willpower.<br /><br />Sidenote: I've already started having friends ask me when the second gen iPhone will be coming out. This is Drew's BLANK STARE.<br /><br />I'm in RETAIL! Come on people. And even if I knew, which I don't, why would I jeopardize my job.<br />Anyways, this will be my last post about my life as a Mac Specialist. For the record though, I don't know anything, I've never met Steve Jobs, and black turtlenecks are just comfortable.<br /><br /><span style="font-size:78%;"><a href="http://technorati.com/tag/andrew%20venegas" rel="tag">andrew venegas</a>,<a href="http://technorati.com/tag/sjsu%20tech" rel="tag">sjsu tech</a>,<a href="http://technorati.com/tag/sjsu" rel="tag">sjsu</a>,<a href="http://technorati.com/tag/san%20jose" rel="tag">san jose</a>,<a href="http://technorati.com/tag/silicon%20valley" rel="tag">silicon valley</a>,<a href="http://technorati.com/tag/j-school" rel="tag">j-school</a>,<a href="http://technorati.com/tag/tech" rel="tag">tech</a>,<a href="http://technorati.com/tag/apple" rel="tag">Apple</a>,<a href="http://technorati.com/tag/mac%20specialist" rel="tag">mac specialist</a>,<a href="http://technorati.com/tag/steve%20jobs" rel="tag">steve jobs</a></span>A.Venegashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00079512320011392508noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24552830.post-60280715376008769992007-10-30T23:46:00.001-07:002007-10-31T00:42:01.881-07:00At Least the Madmen Care if I Live or Die<span style="font-weight: bold;">(Note:Some adult content)</span><br /><br />"Madmen" being an allusion to advertising guys. In this case, online spammers. God bless them. Yours truly was sitting at home, nose pressed to the grindstone on an assignment, when a 5.5 magnitude earthquake rocked my socks off.<br /><br />With walls shaking and glass flying out of cupboards, I scrambled out of my apartment only to return a half hour later to the most clever email I've ever gotten. If the Viagra guys were as smooth as this guy was, I'd be harder than a lead pipe till Christmas.<br /><br />The email was as follows:<br /><span style="font-style: italic;"><br />Even an earthquake can't shake book prices down, but you can.</span><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">Save this number so that you can call it and check for the best prices on your books instantly!</span><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">The number is (845)839-8333</span> <span style="font-style: italic;">It's a NY number, so as long as your cell phone has free long distance, it'll be free to call. Please forgive and report if you encounter errors, as this is very experimental service.<br /><br /></span><span style="font-style: italic;">Make sure you update your cell phone's info on the </span><a style="font-style: italic;" onclick="return top.js.OpenExtLink(window,event,this)" href="http://pazap.com/" target="_blank">pazap.com</a><span style="font-style: italic;"> website so that when you call in, we'll know who you are.</span><span style="font-style: italic;"> Not only can you shop for the best prices, but you can also sell your books through this number too!</span><span style="font-style: italic;"> We'll be on campus promoting tomorrow. If you see us, you're going to find out why book prices are so high!</span><br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">Anything else, let me know.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;"> Dominic Son</span><br /><span style="font-style: italic;"> </span><a style="font-style: italic;" onclick="return top.js.OpenExtLink(window,event,this)" href="mailto:dom@pazap.com">dom@pazap.com</a><br /><span style="font-style: italic;"> cell: 408.569.9617</span><br /><br /><br />I replied to Son, telling him that I thought the email was funny. He responded:<br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">lol thanks. nice to know you're ok</span><br /><br />It's good to know the madmen care. <span style="font-style: italic;"></span><br /><br /><blockquote></blockquote><blockquote></blockquote><span style="font-size:78%;"><a href="http://technorati.com/tag/San+Jose%20" rel="tag">San Jose</a> ,<a href="http://technorati.com/tag/SJSU" rel="tag">SJSU</a> ,<a href="http://beta.blogger.com/%20http://technorati.com/tag/Soapbox+Prophet" rel="tag">Soapbox Prophet</a> ,<a href="http://technorati.com/tag/tech" rel="tag">Tech</a> ,<a href="http://technorati.com/tag/blog" rel="tag">blog</a> ,<a href="http://technorati.com/tag/web+2.0" rel="tag">,Web 2.0</a>,<a href="http://technorati.com/tag/andrew+venegas" rel="tag">,Andrew Venegas,</a><a href="http://technorati.com/tag/new+media" rel="tag">New Media</a>, <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/journalism" rel="tag">journalism</a>,<a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Andrew" rel="tag">Andrew</a>,<a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Venegas" rel="tag">Venegas</a>,<a href="http://technorati.com/tag/vlog" rel="tag">vlog</a></span>A.Venegashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00079512320011392508noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24552830.post-7025928108342783862007-10-23T18:04:00.000-07:002007-10-23T18:28:01.228-07:00Boobs, and the Search for Catchy HeadlinesThe worst posts are the ones that talk about blogging (literally: see previous post for reference). I apologize in advance. I'm trying to attract readers. I've tried changing content, scribbling about gadgets and conferences that people are interested in with mixed results.<br /><br />People's eyes only seem drawn to four things, in my estimation. The first being the content of writers they already know (friends and famous writers), the second being posts that personally talk about them. Third, people seem drawn to those few posts with catchy titles. I'll let you guess what the last thing is that people are likely to read.<br /><br />I'm not so <a href="http://scobleizer.com/">famous </a>(cricket, cricket); okay, no one knows me. <a href="http://msfbpuddin.blogspot.com/">I</a> <a href="http://dulai.blogspot.com/">can't</a> <a href="http://seeimsmiling.blogspot.com/">link </a><a href="http://www.danielsato.com/blog/">to </a><a href="http://things-n-stuff.blogspot.com/">every </a><a href="http://blog.kylebhansen.com/">blog </a><a href="http://jdrnek.wordpress.com/">in </a><a href="http://bagityourself.blogspot.com/">the</a> <a href="http://sjsutennis.com/">world </a><a href="http://sloantech.blogspot.com/">either</a>. <a href="http://www.ryansholin.com/">So</a>, <a href="http://blog.axisds.com/">this </a><a href="http://gilpin.wordpress.com/">post </a>is my ode to <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dean_Singleton">Dean Singleton</a>. <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yellow_journalism">Boobs</a>.<br /><br />Let's see if that gets any attention on Technorati.A.Venegashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00079512320011392508noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24552830.post-69388811510117496212007-10-23T17:14:00.000-07:002007-10-23T17:35:11.943-07:00Literally Metaphorically SpeakingMy life continues without a phone - it was blown up by the monsoon of last week. That little Razor was literally dropped from a three story building, run over by a truck, and soldered back together. None of that phased it. In the end, H20 was its downfall.<br /><br />How embarrassing. That's the equivalent of Bad Pitt being taken down by the pansy arrow in Troy. Like that could really happen.<br /><br />That man went through the Jen breakup, he can literally handle anything.<br /><br />And that brings me to the title of this post. I've been pondering the relationship between my colloquialisms and my writing. I literally say, "literally" about four billion times a day (hyperbolizing). So much so, that I can't help the itch to type it into every nook and cranny of my journal entries and blogs (literally).<br /><br />It's like crack, but less socially accepted (maybe literally, it depends if you're friends are like mine...).<br /><br />How depressing. The real world is ruining my cyber-prose. For shame. Literally.A.Venegashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00079512320011392508noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24552830.post-1390275533327009162007-10-19T22:01:00.000-07:002007-10-19T22:14:50.944-07:00Andrew Venegas is, "The Running Man"I'm hooked on my new <a href="http://www.apple.com/ipodnano/ads/">ipod nano</a>.<br /><br />Small screen size aside, there's been such an advance in the interface and customizability since I got my first ipod five years ago (it was a 2nd generation), that even a normal PC user like myself was humbled a little.<br /><br />The latest add-on to my ipod, a <a href="http://www.apple.com/ipod/nike/">Nike+Ipod</a>. I bought a pair of <a href="http://nikeplus.nike.com/nikeplus/">Nike Plus shoes</a> today, got the microchip that Apple sells, linked it to my nano, and went for my first run today. I also set the goal of running a measly 16 times over the next four weeks. Piece of cake... of course, now that it's online for everyone to read, I guess I really have to do it. <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shit">Damn</a>.<br /><br />And that's the real genius of the new ipod. If Apple can get lazy tech geeks like myself to drool over the possibility of running, well, they may just rule the world one day (and that's coming from a PC guy).<br /><br /><object classid="clsid:d27cdb6e-ae6d-11cf-96b8-444553540000" codebase="http://fpdownload.macromedia.com/pub/shockwave/cabs/flash/swflash.cab#version=8,0,0,0" id="Nike+ Runs" align="middle" height="145" width="198"><param name="allowScriptAccess" value="sameDomain"><param name="wmode" value="transparent"><param name="movie" value="http://nikeplus.nike.com/nikeplus/v1/swf/scrapablewidget/rundetail.swf"><param name="quality" value="high"><param name="bgcolor" value="#ffffff"><param name="FlashVars" value="type=individualRun&userDefaultUnit=mi&screenName=andrew.veneg&dateFormat=DD/MM/YY&id=820691960&region=us&language=en&locale=en_us"><embed src="http://nikeplus.nike.com/nikeplus/v1/swf/scrapablewidget/rundetail.swf" quality="high" wmode="transparent" bgcolor="#ffffff" name="Nike+ Runs" allowscriptaccess="sameDomain" flashvars="type=individualRun&userDefaultUnit=mi&screenName=andrew.veneg&dateFormat=DD/MM/YY&id=820691960&region=us&language=en&locale=en_us" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" pluginspage="http://www.macromedia.com/go/getflashplayer" align="middle" height="145" width="198"></embed></object>A.Venegashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00079512320011392508noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24552830.post-92166398365688450442007-10-15T14:46:00.000-07:002007-10-15T14:58:33.166-07:00Will Not Sleep for Plane TicketsThe RTVJ 50th Anniversary Reunion is over, and it's time for me to move onto my new projects. I'll be updating the Journalism's website at SJSU now, creating a feed page for every type of media in every major/minor.<br /><br />But first things first, I'm putting all my efforts into recruiting for the <a href="http://www.sjsumultimediabootcamp.com/">Multimedia Bootcamp trip that SJSU is taking to Mexico</a>. Way cool.<br /><br />And now that I've started the posters for the next set of trips that SJSU will be sending me on, I guess I can tell the world.<br /><br />Over the next three years, unless I royally mess a bunch of things up, I'll be visiting 11-13 different countries with SJSU, National Geographic photographers, and San Jose Mercury news photographers.<br /><br />Which countries? Here's just a few: Mexico, South Africa, Ghana, China, Vietnam, South Korea, The Philippines, Dubai, and many others. All the countries are tentative, meaning that insurance, among other things, will play a large factor in whether or not we go to each of them.<br /><br />What will we be doing while there?<br /><br />Creating photo, audio, print, and video packages for the web, and print inserts for the Spartan Daily when each group returns. The University will be giving 3 units of graduate/undergraduate credit/hours for each trip, which means that by the time all the trips are complete, I'll be done with my Masters Degree. Way cool.A.Venegashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00079512320011392508noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24552830.post-59383588445927199152007-10-12T04:45:00.001-07:002007-10-12T05:08:46.728-07:00Cocaine and StarbucksMake all the stimulant jokes you want, but I need to get some sugar in my bloodstream - FAST!<br /><br />It's currently 4:46 AM on a beautiful Friday morning (it's raining pretty hard outside), and I have been up for over 24 hours straight (48 hours?). What gives with the late night/early morning writing?<br /><br /><a href="www.rtvjsjsu.com">Sam Donaldson is coming to SJSU today</a>, and the videos that will be playing at the Reunion Dinner he is speaking at aren't done. In fact, I didn't have an open computer to edit till 3:45 am because of students in Update News that didn't make their deadline. Perfect.<br /><br />Then I found several of the discs that were given to me for editing were not data discs at all, but dvds. Awesome. That means that I'm stuck converting six to eight hours of video into avi form for editing. Hence the writing in-between conversions. No biggy.<br /><br />But I do have raccoon eyes now, and apparently I'll be showing the Update News room I am in to alums that have flown into San Jose from all over the world. Super.<br /><br />Let's hope they have a sense of humor, or at least remember the good ol' days before they all had dedicated machines at their disposal, 24-7.<br /><br />Or maybe they'll just think I'm taking drugs... man I need some caffeine. Does Yum-Yum doughnuts deliver?A.Venegashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00079512320011392508noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24552830.post-36977533363329553452007-10-11T10:31:00.001-07:002007-10-11T10:52:44.288-07:00An Incident at Dwight Bentel Hall<div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://media.collegepublisher.com/media/paper852/stills/bbp63fjm.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px;" src="http://media.collegepublisher.com/media/paper852/stills/bbp63fjm.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><span style="font-size:78%;">Image by Vanina Mutchnik:<br />Published in Spartan Daily 10/4/07<br /><br /></span></div>After the <a href="http://www.thespartandaily.com/">Spartan Daily</a> decided not to run this story on Monday, I decided to run it online this week. Here it is.<br /><br />On Sunday Morning, Dr. Michael Cheers, a photojournalism professor, and I, were quite surprised to have found a fire extinguisher lying on the ground on the second floor of Dwight Bentel Hall. The whole second floor of the building had been covered in a light, nauseating dust from the tampered device.<br /><br />Further, the old darkroom on the first floor of DBH had been trashed by an unknown person or persons, with string tied to walls, computers, and chairs. Potato chips had been crumpled and thrown about, and the rooms thermostat had been smashed.<br /><br />Dr. Cheers calls University Police, who arrived within ten minutes. No charges have been filed (to my knowledge) against any individuals, and DBH was cleaned before students arrived Monday morning.<br /><br />Speculating as to the motive of the person or persons responsible soon followed. Was it drunk hooligans from homecoming week that decided to trespass over the weekend, or was it possibly related to the <a href="http://media.www.thespartandaily.com/media/storage/paper852/news/2007/10/04/News/Carlos.Smith.Statue.Defaced.No.Suspect.Named-3010570.shtml">Daily's coverage of statue defacing</a>? Or was it possibly related to their coverage of <a href="http://media.www.thespartandaily.com/media/storage/paper852/news/2007/10/04/News/Ceremonial.Jewish.Tent.Burnt-3011280.shtml">the incident at Hillel House</a> last week, or <a href="http://media.www.thespartandaily.com/media/storage/paper852/news/2007/10/09/News/Students.Car.Keyed.After.Dispute-3019757.shtml">the student who's car was keyed</a>? Again, this was all speculation, but it made me wonder.A.Venegashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00079512320011392508noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24552830.post-81299874424197836282007-10-10T15:38:00.000-07:002008-12-08T16:19:19.829-08:00Life in the FAST LaneSo what have I been up to? Where have I been? In what far corners of the internet have I been lurking?<br /><br />First, I've been doing design like none other. I'm working on an upcoming project involving a international publication that tends to prefer yellow borders and photography. If that doesn't give it away, I can't help you out.<br /><br />Other projects that I'm working on include the website design for the <a href="http://www.rtvjsjsu.com/">RTVJ reunion</a>. I can't really take credit for the actual layout either, as it was originally created by another student that was released from his contract at the end of July: enter me and my interaction with it. My job for the last three months has been to keep it updated and keep in touch with alumni from SJSU's broadcast journalism program.<br /><br />Which brings me to my current project this week, producing a video "newscast" mockup to be presented during the RTVJ (Radio Television Video Journalism) 50th anniversary dinner this Friday. The special guest speaker will be legendary journalist/anchor, Sam Donaldson.<br /><br />So that's keeping me busy...<br /><br />Plus I've been doing poster design, and talking up a storm for the <a href="http://www.sjsumultimediabootcamp.com/">upcoming photojournalism trip to Mexico.</a> (Btw, go Blogger for letting me get info up online in a day. The hardest thing was simply unlocking my domain name and switching my DNS address to a Google server. But I digress...)<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqNf7PEOuk3zTNE1Dr288KtCYiIR2DY6i6rYb0KY6j87X5tN8YgsDGnLFjhGoQTkYLWNM8xe2y1p-dQXjLzYKbmSgelD-GxJKPQapJJa6hspHzOGyL3lwbWPOSM09ORvMMxPSEwQ/s1600-h/DSC_0222.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqNf7PEOuk3zTNE1Dr288KtCYiIR2DY6i6rYb0KY6j87X5tN8YgsDGnLFjhGoQTkYLWNM8xe2y1p-dQXjLzYKbmSgelD-GxJKPQapJJa6hspHzOGyL3lwbWPOSM09ORvMMxPSEwQ/s320/DSC_0222.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5119851464914834162" border="0" /></a><br />This past week I just the chance to meet <a href="http://www.vanityfair.com/">Vanity Fair's</a> <a href="http://davidfriend.net/">David Friend</a>, a man responsible for much change in society's perception of the war in Iraq. A very smart, and friendly man, Friend was on SJSU campus last week to promote <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Watching-World-Change-Stories-Behind/dp/0374299331">his new book</a> and meet with members of the SJSU magazine community.<br /><br />Oh, and here's a teaser for upcoming events. After traveling to Mexico this spring break with the journalism department here, I'll be traveling to South Africa and Ghana to help produce two more multimedia packages for SJSU and certain newspaper and magazine publications.<br /><br />AND after that... there's a whole lot more stuff coming down the turnpike for me. I'm starting to get as busy as <a href="http://blog.kylebhansen.com/">Kyle Hansen</a>. Ha!<br /><br />Lastly, I did <a href="http://www.campusmoviefest.com/">CampusMovieFest</a> last week, and got jipped if you ask me. Not to brag, but our movie <a href="http://www.ourstage.com/video/channel/3-short-films/NQWUZSMEZLTR-the-runner">was the Cat's ME-OW</a> (pardon the flash quality).<br /><br />:)A.Venegashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00079512320011392508noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24552830.post-79877587459023031112007-09-01T13:50:00.000-07:002007-09-01T13:55:33.993-07:00Inconsistencies at the Spartan Daily<a href="http://www.thespartandaily.com/media/storage/paper852/news/2007/08/30/News/Students.Stuck.Without.Housing-2943935.shtml">This article atop the Spartan Daily's website</a> rubbed me the wrong way, so I sent the following comment into the paper. I'd like other people's takes on it, and see if they thought any of the same things I did, or if I was way off base.<br /><blockquote style="font-family: courier new;"> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in;">Dear Spartan Daily,</p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in;">A few parts of this article concerned me, so I thought I'd list my concerns here. </p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in;">First, that there is no confirmation of Holsworth's statement that he COMPLETED his registration during the summer orientation program, which, if untrue, would make the rest of his story invalid. And because of the weight Holsworth's statement are given by the prominence of this article on the top of the website and paper, I believe the Daily NEEDS the University's side on this, no matter how much hounding is needed.</p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in;">Second, while it is true that there are seven residence halls, one is specifically set aside for teachers and faculty only, an important fact to note.</p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in;">Third, Holsworth is quoted as saying that, "[the University] didn't offer anything in the meantime until something opened up." I am fairly certain that it has NEVER been University policy to house students off-campus if space is unavailable. The cost to do so for a long waiting list of students would be astronomical. Besides, Holsworth's statement is somewhat contradicted two paragraphs below when you write, "Residents were given the option to sign up for temporary housing at reduced rates until a more permanent residence became available." So which was it? Were students given the option to sign up for temporary housing and Holsworth didn't sign up, or did the University just tell him to wait by the phone without giving any explanation? </p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in;">Fourth, if you were unable to contact the University for a statement, what University source was used to make the statement, "According to university housing there are approximately 10 students depending on the building in need of residence." If it was the University Housing website, that should be cited. The same problem arises from the uncited statement, "Residents were given the option to sign up for temporary housing at reduced rates until a more permanent residence became available." Was this fact gathered from students, the website, or another University staff member?</p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in;">Fifth, you write, "The addendum states that each window has a rolling metal shutter that automatically drops when a trouble alarm is sounded on the lower floors or when there is a power outage. These shutters can only be raised by a maintenance request from university housing facilities, which may not be done immediately."</p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in;">But is this not also true of the entire first floor as well, not just the temporary rooms?</p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in;">Sixth, after writing of the temporary housing that was made available to students, you write, "Holsworth said that because housing did not offer any alternate options or draw his attention to their availability he was left with no other choice but to live out of his car." These two apparent contradictions at the very least draw doubt on Holsworth's credibility, leaving me wondering again why he was featured at all if his statements may be inaccurate.</p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in;">Seventh, because a question of Holsworth's credibility can be made, his age is also relevant to the piece, but not written. Here's why: if he had a place to stay at his parent's place, and they could be legally obligated to house him (if he's underage), then it was purely a personal choice that he slept out of his car, and not the University's responsibility at all. Personally, I know several businessmen that commute from Sacramento to San Francisco and San Jose everyday, so it is not completely impossible to do, as the article made it seem.</p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in;">Eighth, because Holsworth adds that he did not tell his parents about the situation, it may have been appropriate to contact his parents about it, especially if, after contacting Housing, you found that his parents helped pay for his housing. No mention of any of this leads me to suspect that Holsworth possibly did not complete his application, and did not want his parents to know about it.</p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in;">Lastly, the word "finally" in the line, "After a week of checking in with the housing office for no-shows and move-outs, Holsworth finally received a phone call late Tuesday afternoon...," assumes that the University had not attempted to contact him previously in any way, that Holsworth's statement of what the University told him was true, and that the University was at fault for his predicament.</p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in;">While everything that Holsworth said may very well be true, the weight his words are given are not acceptable given the one sidedness of the story. </p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in;">I am interested in seeing a follow up to this article.</p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in;">Sincerely and Respectfully,<br />Andrew Venegas<br />Print Journalism Major<br />http://thesoapboxprophet.blogspot.com/</p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><br /></p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><br /></p> </blockquote><br /><blockquote></blockquote><br /><blockquote></blockquote>A.Venegashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00079512320011392508noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24552830.post-72921137435977634792007-07-13T15:52:00.000-07:002007-07-13T16:02:59.024-07:00My Life, UnpluggedAs the name suggests, I've been living unplugged and in the dark for the last two days. A virus infected my main computer, wiped it out completely, and quickly spread to my laptop, connected on the same network.<br /><br />The outcome - I've lost everything. I don't even have a working copy of Windows XP to repair the system files that were damaged by the virus. Not only that, but the virus wiped out most of my drivers on both computers, meaning that I don't have internet access or the ability to download them back onto my systems.<br /><br />It couldn't have happened at a more inopportune time either; I just started working the 3:30am-8:30am shift at UPS this week! I never thought I'd be saying this, but it looks like I need a sign to hang around my neck, reading, "Will work for Vista." Sheesh.<br /><br /><span style="font-size:78%;"><a href="http://technorati.com/tag/San+Jose%20" rel="tag">San Jose</a> ,<a href="http://technorati.com/tag/SJSU" rel="tag">SJSU</a> ,<a href="http://beta.blogger.com/%20http://technorati.com/tag/Soapbox+Prophet" rel="tag">Soapbox Prophet</a> ,<a href="http://technorati.com/tag/tech" rel="tag">Tech</a> ,<a href="http://technorati.com/tag/blog" rel="tag">blog</a> ,<a href="http://technorati.com/tag/web+2.0" rel="tag">,Web 2.0</a>,<a href="http://technorati.com/tag/andrew+venegas" rel="tag">,Andrew Venegas,</a><a href="http://technorati.com/tag/new+media" rel="tag">New Media</a>, <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/journalism" rel="tag">journalism</a>,<a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Andrew" rel="tag">Andrew</a>,<a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Venegas" rel="tag">Venegas</a>,<a href="http://technorati.com/tag/vlog" rel="tag">vlog</a>,<br /><a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Vista" rel="tag">Vista</a>,<a href="http://technorati.com/tag/virus" rel="tag">virus</a></span>A.Venegashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00079512320011392508noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24552830.post-33535989636809014452007-07-10T21:42:00.001-07:002007-07-10T21:42:32.099-07:00Aphro's 1st Bath<center> <script type="text/javascript" src="http://blip.tv/scripts/pokkariPlayer.js?ver=2007062101"></script><script type="text/javascript" src="http://blip.tv/syndication/write_player?skin=js&posts_id=303944&source=3&autoplay=true&file_type=flv&player_width=&player_height="></script><div id="blip_movie_content_303944"><a rel="enclosure" href="http://blip.tv/file/get/Andrewvenegas-Aphros1stBath178.mov" onclick="play_blip_movie_303944(); return false;"><img title="Click to play" alt="Video thumbnail. Click to play" src="http://blip.tv/file/get/Andrewvenegas-Aphros1stBath178.mov.jpg" border="0" title="Click to Play" /></a><br /><a rel="enclosure" href="http://blip.tv/file/get/Andrewvenegas-Aphros1stBath178.mov" onclick="play_blip_movie_303944(); return false;">Click to Play</a></div> </center><div class="blip_description"><p>Geek's record everything. This is my girlfriend's cat's (Aphrodites, Aphro for short) first bath. </p><p>Smile gato. </p></div><br />A.Venegashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00079512320011392508noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24552830.post-35784900928280642572007-07-10T20:09:00.001-07:002007-07-10T20:09:32.514-07:00Geeks and Their Burgers (Another Summerish Vlog)<center> <script type="text/javascript" src="http://blip.tv/scripts/pokkariPlayer.js?ver=2007062101"></script><script type="text/javascript" src="http://blip.tv/syndication/write_player?skin=js&posts_id=303893&source=3&autoplay=true&file_type=flv&player_width=&player_height="></script><div id="blip_movie_content_303893"><a rel="enclosure" href="http://blip.tv/file/get/Andrewvenegas-GeeksAndTheirBurgersAnotherSummerishVlog352.MOV" onclick="play_blip_movie_303893(); return false;"><img title="Click to play" alt="Video thumbnail. Click to play" src="http://blip.tv/file/get/Andrewvenegas-GeeksAndTheirBurgersAnotherSummerishVlog352.MOV.jpg" border="0" title="Click to Play" /></a><br /><a rel="enclosure" href="http://blip.tv/file/get/Andrewvenegas-GeeksAndTheirBurgersAnotherSummerishVlog352.MOV" onclick="play_blip_movie_303893(); return false;">Click to Play</a></div> </center><div class="blip_description"><p>When my friend's girlfriend came to California for the first time from Nebraska, we made her go to In-N-Out, which has this geek's seal of approval.</p><p>A little camera shy, she obliged her boyfriend's geeky friends, and shared the moment with the entire internet. Lol.</p><p>Sorry Ashley.</p></div><br />A.Venegashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00079512320011392508noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24552830.post-70133399888253261032007-07-10T14:14:00.001-07:002007-07-10T14:14:50.720-07:00Under the Boardwalk<center> <script type="text/javascript" src="http://blip.tv/scripts/pokkariPlayer.js?ver=2007062101"></script><script type="text/javascript" src="http://blip.tv/syndication/write_player?skin=js&posts_id=303585&source=3&autoplay=true&file_type=flv&player_width=&player_height="></script><div id="blip_movie_content_303585"><a rel="enclosure" href="http://blip.tv/file/get/Andrewvenegas-UnderTheBoardwalk858.mov" onclick="play_blip_movie_303585(); return false;"><img title="Click to play" alt="Video thumbnail. Click to play" src="http://blip.tv/file/get/Andrewvenegas-UnderTheBoardwalk858.mov.jpg" border="0" title="Click to Play" /></a><br /><a rel="enclosure" href="http://blip.tv/file/get/Andrewvenegas-UnderTheBoardwalk858.mov" onclick="play_blip_movie_303585(); return false;">Click to Play</a></div> </center><div class="blip_description">Summer is here, and it's time once again, to visit my old haunts - the ones that made childhood memorable and that keep me grounded.</div><br />A.Venegashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00079512320011392508noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24552830.post-82385599746133431462007-07-08T19:11:00.000-07:002008-12-08T16:19:20.016-08:00Today's Space Revolution<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20070707-microholography-milks-500gb-out-of-dvd-sized-discs.html"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjeG18XptNK3kaFq_nh4cRswVrxp2R6lbAUCXPyyhtfRcxgv_myFynRmpWCXGdKjWpADDu3J3S8vB6q_Y3kalJkWWg1eSrAa173uN8ibu0-Ey5Mx__cOVg_A9xY8Sjb45r-m1rFhw/s320/screenshot.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5085020657216848978" border="0" /></a><br />If you, like me, read Ars Technica's article about <a href="http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20070707-microholography-milks-500gb-out-of-dvd-sized-discs.html">microholography </a>this morning, you may have been blown away like I was. I'm still taking it in.<br /><br />Ars reported that a group of German scientists have discovered a way of storing up to 500GB of data on DVD-sized discs. Not only that, they plan on doubling that figure by 2010!<br /><br />The implications of this are mind-blowing, to say the least. Databases with huge amounts of image data can be several terabytes in size, and discs of this size would drastically increase not only their mobility, but decrease their cost.<br /><br />Translation: information would be even more permeable than it is now, with greater functionality than you could ever imagine.<br /><br />What's some of the cool stuff you can do with databases when size is not longer an issue?<br /><br />How about using composite technologies like those Adobe has created for Photoshop Extended to take all the street pictures that Google took for Google Streetview and turn them into a user-manipulatable virtual world. Forget looking at single snapshots of any street corner; now you can walk down the street from your computer.<br /><br />Or how about doing the same thing for education, drastically reducing the price of classes by providing photo-realistic, interactive courses online, where a school's only real cost would be the price of bandwidth?<br /><br />Digital historians today could rest at ease, finally, knowing that priceless works of art and digitized records could be stored in multiple locations, in case of thief, natural disaster, or terrorist attacks.<br /><br />I won't even go into the military implications of this technological breakthrough.<br /><br />My point: this is another revolution in disguise, and it repercussions are earth shattering.<br /><br /><span style="font-size:78%;"><a href="http://technorati.com/tag/San+Jose%20" rel="tag">San Jose</a> ,<a href="http://technorati.com/tag/SJSU" rel="tag">SJSU</a> ,<a href="http://beta.blogger.com/%20http://technorati.com/tag/Soapbox+Prophet" rel="tag">Soapbox Prophet</a> ,<a href="http://technorati.com/tag/tech" rel="tag">Tech</a> ,<a href="http://technorati.com/tag/blog" rel="tag">blog</a> ,<a href="http://technorati.com/tag/web+2.0" rel="tag">,Web 2.0</a>,<a href="http://technorati.com/tag/andrew+venegas" rel="tag">,Andrew Venegas,</a><a href="http://technorati.com/tag/new+media" rel="tag">New Media</a>, <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/journalism" rel="tag">journalism</a>,<a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Andrew" rel="tag">Andrew</a>,<a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Venegas" rel="tag">Venegas</a>,<a href="http://technorati.com/tag/vlog" rel="tag">vlog</a>,<br /><a href="http://technorati.com/tag/arts+technica" rel="tag">Ars Technica</a>,<a href="http://technorati.com/tag/microholography" rel="tag">microholography</a></span>A.Venegashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00079512320011392508noreply@blogger.com