He's my Dealer

Many of you from Silicon Valley and Stumptown know that I buy packets of movie vouchers at a time and watch movies for a cheap price. I just found out that the recent movie theater that opened near where we live accepts the Regal vouchers for IMAX movies.

So my coworkers and I are going to watch Transformers on IMAX screens (normally $15 per person) for $7 each.

Next up: Harry Potter!

Why would you need to socialize... at the airport?

So apparently Yoopster is this website where if you are stuck at the airport, and want to find other people who are also stuck at the same airport... you can talk to them.

But why would you do that?!

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Here's the blog entry http://yoopster.wordpress.com/.

Cell Phone Usage

To all new parents out there, you're going to have to decide when you are going to give your children new cell phones. I'm told that 5th grade is considered late. I'm shocked because I got my first cell phone in graduate school and I didn't even use it that much for the first few years.

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Next year I will merge my cell phone onto Ooma, our voice-over-IP phone service, and switch to using the corporate cell phone. My cell phone number will still work (so you don't have to update your address book) since Ooma will auto forward any calls. Lily will switch from Verizon to Sprint Nextel's Boost Mobile prepaid service at the same time next year.

Advent of No Fun Joe

The current Great Recession and an increase in our planned expenses for a new abode is causing me to look at our expenses even more closely. Soon I will deserve the appellation No Fun Joe because we are cutting travel, gifts, eating out, and even driving to work in a continuous effort to shave costs.

No Fun Joe puts timers on the appliances on the house, switches incandescent lights to fluorescent or LED lights, composts and recycles, unplugs microwave when not in use, entertains in the home, cooks at home, and works virtually or carpools to work.

This has to happen because gasoline prices are going up, taxes are going up, health care is more expensive, and Lily and I are still maintaining our commitment to church and to charities.

Smugmug has user groups

Cool. Smugmug is launching user groups, meetings where photographs can gather to talk about Smugmug, photography, and selling photography. Seattle's first meeting is in 2 weeks. Coolio.

Heard at a Meeting

After presenting some new material....

Presenter: "Confused?"
Audience member: "No. I'm perfectly clear how messed up we are."

Welcome the FEDERAL sales tax

Fortune magazine lays the case that the Value Added Tax (also known as the Federal sales tax) is coming to the United States in 10 year's time. The key problem is that--just like the Bush administration--the Obama administration is promising lots of goodies to the citizens without raising taxes. Politically, it's great because you'll get reelected. Budget-wise, it is terrible, because you will be taxing our children into oblivion.


Here is the link to the article.

E-Ink is sold

It's rare for news paper articles to mention chemical engineers explicitly. Yay!

"E Ink’s headquarters will remain in Cambridge, Mass. The company, which currently employs 130 people, is planning to add about 18 more staffers, including chemical engineers."

The Future of E-Ink, New York Times, June 2, 2009