Steve’s Weblog
The Times Of Harvey Milk
This Oscar-winning documentary film covers the successful career and tragic assassination of San Francisco’s first openly gay man to be elected to office. Watch this and then go see the movie Milk. Check out the trailer and film info here.
I guess we’re not the only ones traveling out of Austin for the Holidays… We always park at the Airport Fast Park lot anyway, it’s covered and cheaper than ABIA. Plus the drivers help you with getting your bags on and off the bus.
12/26/2008 5:28 PM
By: News 8 Austin StaffYou’ll have to pack your patience just to find a parking spot at Austin Bergstrom International Airport
That’s because the long term parking lots are still full. Some airport parking entrances are closed and cars are allowed in as space becomes available.
A feasibility study on connecting the Front Range to the high country by high-speed light rail is under way. FOX 31’s Sari Padorr has a look at some early, promising results.
Check out the video news report from MyFox Colorado.
I’ve had the BlackBerry Bold for a while now and I knew it had a GPS, but was wondering if there were actually any useful applications for the technology. Well, since this week I have days off, and Nhut is working, it gave me a chance to try out a few applications that use the GPS. So, first things first, in the Phone Options, you want to make sure that the GPS device is enabled. You can see from the screenshot below the options I have enabled on my BlackBerry Bold.
GPS Options screen from BlackBerry Bold
The first new application I installed was Where 2.1 from where.com which uses the GPS for updating location based information, for sites like Accuweather, GPS twitter and Gas Buddy. It seems pretty useful, but I’ve had some trouble getting it to pick up GPS information, or the phone wasn’t acquiring the GPS satellites well.
Screen capture from Where 2.1 application on BlackBerry Bold
I hadn’t noticed the difference in Google Maps between the BlackBerry Pearl and the Bold, but it also uses the device GPS and is a lot more accurate in showing location than triangulating off of cell towers. The accuracy measure drops from “within 1000 meters” to “within 3 meters”. In the screen capture below, the location pointer accurately shows where I am inside the house.
Screen capture of google maps image showing location using GPS
The one option that wasn’t enabled by default, that seems interesting is geotagging photos taken with the Bold’s built in camera. You can see in the camera options screen that the option is enabled.
Capture of camera options screen from BlackBerry Bold showing geotagging enabled
The geographic information from the GPS is stored in the JPEG’s EXIF data and can be used by sites like Flickr to map where your photto was taken. Check out this photo on Flickr, in the right hand column, under additional information, it shows the location where the picture was taken, and includes a link to a map of the area.
You can see the full EXIF data in the Photo properties in my gallery.
Yellowpages.com has a downloadable app for the Bold which also uses the GPS for location based searches. Like Where 2.1, I’ve had trouble with it’s ability to pick up GPS location from the device, but when it does pick up the data, it’s pretty good at finding local businesses.
Screen capture of Yellowpages.com local application running on BlackBerry Bold
Bush withdraws 1 of 19 pardons he issued Tuesday
By JENNIFER LOVEN, AP White House Correspondent Jennifer Loven, Ap White House Correspondent – 43 mins ago
WASHINGTON – President George W. Bush on Wednesday revoked a pardon he had granted only a day before — a step unheard of in recent memory — after learning in news reports of political contributions to Republicans by the man’s father and other information.
Bush pardoned 19 people on Tuesday, including Isaac Robert Toussie of Brooklyn, N.Y., who had been convicted of making false statements to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and of mail fraud. On Wednesday, the White House issued an extraordinary statement saying the president was reversing his decision in Toussie’s case.
Considering the reaction to the pardon and the impression of impropriety, that was probably a good move…
I stopped off at the DD on 183 this morning to stock up on whole bean coffee because there was a sale going on thru the end of the year, and today was my last day in Austin this year. Anyway, while waiting in line, I noticed a number written on a whiteboard behind the counter, with “Round Rock” written next to it. When I got home, I checked on dunkindonuts.com, and they now list a store open in Round Rock. I didn’t have time to go over and check it out, but it looks like it’s at 1500 N AW Grimes Blvd. In Round Rock.
We’ve driven past the 620 Cafe & Bakery so many times in the past, but because they were recently added to the AAdvantage dining rewards network, we decided to stop in and check it out.
They’re open for breakfast and lunch, and since Nhut decided to get up “early” on Sunday, we didn’t make it over there till almost 2:00 PM. Maybe it was just as well, they weren’t crowded at that point, so we got sat right away when we got there. I had breakfast, and Nhut had lunch. The coffee and food were good, and the portions were large. It was nice to find a place that’s not a chain restaurant, and seemed to actually have some local character. I’m sure we’ll go back again.
SAN FRANCISCO – The California attorney general has changed his position on the state’s new same-sex marriage ban and is now urging the state Supreme Court to void Proposition 8.
In a dramatic reversal, Attorney General Jerry Brown filed a legal brief saying the measure that amended the California Constitution to limit marriage to a man and a woman is itself unconstitutional because it deprives a minority group of a fundamental right. Earlier, Brown had said he would defend the ballot measure against legal challenges from gay marriage supporters.
More at Yahoo News
Gondola tower collapses at Canada resort
WHISTLER, British Columbia – More than 50 people were evacuated from about 30 gondola cars after a tower supporting the cables partially collapsed Tuesday at Canada’s Whistler ski resort.
Police said there were no serious injuries at the resort, which is to host the alpine events of the 2010 winter Olympic games. Thirteen people were sent to the Whistler Health Care Center but all had been released by late Tuesday night, said Anna Marie D’Angelo, a spokeswoman for Vancouver Coastal Health, a regional health services agency.
Bad Behavior has blocked 11 access attempts in the last 7 days.
