Wyszdom

I checked out the lunar eclipse tonight, and it was pretty cool. It looked like a full moon, except that the Moon was dim and had a red tint, and it was very dark outside. As for the stars, I think every star was visible. I even caught a glimpse of a shooting star, which is always fun.

For this holiday season, Google has set up a site called Teach Parents Tech which has some easy video tips that you can send to those who often look to you for tech support. I found my way into one of the videos, which is about currency conversion. Check it out:

It was fun to be in front of the camera for a change, but I don’t think I’ll be making a habit out of it. It was a good excuse to see what wearing makeup is like though.

During the shoot, they asked everyone to share a story about giving their parents tech support. My story was about how I was showing my mom how to do something on the computer by controlling her screen remotely. (We live on opposite sides of the country.) Then, a week later, I was talking to my grandmother, and she was telling me how my mom was controlling my grandmother’s computer to do some tech support. So, while I was trying to show her something else, what I really taught my mom was how to do tech support!

Some of the family tech support stories were chosen for a promo video, but mine wasn’t as you’ll see it doesn’t really fit the theme! I’m sure my mom is glad she was too advanced to make it into this one:

I need a piece of paper.

I don’t feel like opening my printer’s paper tray.

Printing blank page…

Even today, I still get a cool feeling after ordering something online. I really like the odd idea that just by pushing a button, I’m causing someone hundreds or perhaps even thousands of miles away to put something in a box, which is then handled by several more people as it’s driven/flown a great distance before arriving at my door. It feels even cooler when I ship it to someone else’s door.

Then again, I also get excited when I send something to my printer from across the room. My keyboard is an amazing remote control.

This is my personal blog. Nothing here is on behalf of my employer.

Somebody does something creative with Airplane!, and Paramount takes it down.
Somebody does something creative with Inception, and Warner Brothers tweets it.

Check out which studio’s movie I get to promote below:

Sometimes when it’s cold, I wait a few minutes for my laptop to heat up before using it.

All quotes paraphrased.

Via IM:
Ted: are you coming home for thanksgiving?
Me: yes
Ted: call me when you get home.
Me: ok

After work, I call Ted:
Ted: What’s up?
Me: Nothing. You told me to call you.
Ted: What?
Me: You said that I should call you when I get home.
Ted: [laughing] I meant when you get home. I thought you don’t refer to [California] as home.
Me: I don’t. I thought you meant my apartment. I was too busy to correct you.

Julian: hey
are you guys still coming on sunday?
i think it’s going to be raining

me: if we’re still invited
oh
were we doing outdoor activities?

Julian: yeah for sure
i know some people dont like to drive in the rain

(See also)

I wondered this myself, and posed the question to the Internet last year. Just last week, Mike, who now works in the New York office at Google, sent me an IM asking if he should ask Rainn Wilson anything. I suggested that he ask my question, and Mike, being an all-around good guy, did.

I recently read that it’s good to dream, as that’s when you can have creative breakthroughs. Actually, that’s not quite right… I read that it’s good to take breaks and go for a walk or something for a creative breakthrough, but when I started writing this post I thought the tip was to dream.

I recently (like, 10 minutes ago) woke up from a glorious nap after an exhausting day. And what was I doing right before I woke up? Dreaming about work. Here’s what happened at the end of the dream:

Some sales person was visiting Google to show off some new devices that I suppose he wanted Google to buy. After he talked for a bit and I advised him to “get to the demo,” we got hands-on time with the products. One of the products that I noticed, which at first didn’t appear to be functioning, was an inkjet printer. What caught my eye about it was a button for “Panini mode.” This is certainly relevant to my interests. I opened up the top part of the printer, just like one would to change the ink cartridge (I was preparing to tell the salesman that I don’t typically purchase inkjet printers), and inside was a hot sandwich! What an awesome demo. I was about to eat the sandwich when I realized that it included slices of banana, which I dislike. Still, excellent product idea.