blog.jameshom.com

My 15 Seconds of Fame

So my interview on using travel bidding forums like biddingfortravel.com (to get a better deal at Priceline) aired tonight in the San Francisco area, on Channel 7 (ABC):

I mumbled through 30 minutes or so of that interview, and luckily they were able to salvage a few seconds of tape for my portion. I'm just glad I didn't let them down.

You can catch the Flash video here:

7 On Your Side

Reading List Thus Far

After giving Salman Rushdie's Fury a go, I gave up after the first cassette. Having a novel that forced you to listen carefully because every third word was something you would've studied during an SAT prep class, was actually kind of refreshing, kind of like reading the New York Times for your daily news fix instead of Fark.com.

But I just couldn't get into the story. Rushdie's protagonist was too selfish and angst-ridden for me to care about, and I didn't really mind not knowing how his story panned out in the rest of the novel.

Instead I decided to catch up with the rest of pop culture and started The Da Vinci Code. Yes, I am the only one in Silicon Valley who has not yet read the book or watched the film.

So far, the book is pretty good. I can see where some producer thought of this as a movie--it started out like one with that murder. Now why didn't John Malkovich get the role of Silas?

Hey you kids! Get off my lawn!

The idea of blaring uncool music to deter teenage loiterers has been around for a long time now. Classical music is the, er, classic choice, whereas Aussie shopkeepers are now resorting to Barry Manilow hits.

(What, those kids Down Under don't go for Copacabana, over and over and over again? Tsk tsk.)

At some point, musical tastes will come full circle and this will backfire. Like how Cadillac's TV commercials use Led Zeppelin songs now. Even Johnny Rotten is 50 this year.

The latest hi-tech method, the UK's Mosquito, uses a frequency that kids can hear but us old farts can't. Talk about your market segmentation. According to press reports, Mosquito's sound is unbearable to the younger set but old folks are perfectly oblivious.

This biological targeting works both ways, though. Some enterprising youths use the Mosquito sound as their ringtone, so they can receive calls while in class and the old fogie teacher won't be any wiser. Great way to order a pizza, a la Jeff Spicoli.

Learn While You Drive

Richard Kuo blogs about his quest for greater personal efficiency with an ode to listening to audiobooks in the car:

Optimize your life #6 - The daily commute and audio books

I totally subscribe to this idea too, although I must admit I've been lax in listening to self-edifying books.

Instead I've listenened to, variously, satirical crime humor, cheesy action adventure, and somewhat-historical but really a good buddy movie swords and cannons novels.

Now that I'm finishing up Hiassen's Basket Case, maybe I'll try to get something that's educational this time. Or maybe not.