Obama Selects Justice with Experiences

May 27 2009

President Obama, whose experience as a member of his high school’s varsity basketball team gave him a unique perspective on the difficulties that “big and tall” members of American society have, announced his replacement for outgoing Supreme Court justice David Souter, a man who, due to his lack of television… read more

Magicbell Brothers

May 20 2009

Some friends of mine (Kay Amano and Masayuki Hisa) developed a series of cute videos designed to promote Los Angeles area businesses among Japanese-speaking television viewers. The five videos are called “Magicbell Brothers,” and follow the travails of two space alien hand puppets sent to earth and forced to visit… read more

Dodatki!

May 15 2009

If you’re anything like me, you’ve been enjoying the writings of Tim Patrick for many years. Sadly, your enjoyment has been limited to Tim’s mother tongue of English, since his publishers did not see fit to include a universal translator in each published work. Now there is good news for foreign… read more

Former MS Office chief plans upgrade in space

March 27 2009

Former Microsoft executive Charles Simonyi blasted into orbit today as part of the latest Russian Soyuz space mission, carrying with him a bundle of important software enhancements for the ailing systems on the International Space Station. During his two-week stay in the weightless environment, Simonyi will install new versions of… read more

Obama Replaces Cabinet with Entertainment Center

March 23 2009

In an afternoon press conference in Atlanta, Georgia, President Barack Obama today announced the replacement of his cabinet with a solid-oak entertainment center. The announcement came just after a speech discussing the difficult time that Atlanta residents have had due to the fires set by Union troops, a speech which… read more

The Magic Castle

March 18 2009

Last weekend, my wife and I were invited by a magician-friend to have dinner at the Magic Castle in Hollywood, California. The Castle is a private club for professional and amateur illusionists who need an escape when their I-will-now-make-my-teenagers-act-normal trick fails to work. The “World Famous Hollywood Magic Castle” is located… read more

Microsoft MVP 2009 Summit

March 12 2009

Last week I flew to Seattle to attend the Microsoft MVP 2009 Summit for its selected MVPs (”Most Valuable Professionals”) . Don’t let the fancy name fool you. Although those in attendance are most valuable to Microsoft, and despite what you may have heard, the MVPs are still fed buffet… read more

Visual Basic 2010 Sharp!

March 07 2009

Since 1991, Visual Basic has held the hand of new and experienced programmers as they meandered their way through the minefield of Windows application development. That’s why we here at Microsoft are pleased to announce some of the exciting changes included in the upcoming release of Visual Basic 2010. These… read more

Visual Basic 2010 Sharp!

March 07 2009

Since 1991, Visual Basic has held the hand of new and experienced programmers as they meandered their way through the minefield of Windows application development. That’s why we here at Microsoft are pleased to announce some of the exciting changes included in the upcoming release of Visual Basic 2010. These… read more

Obama Signs Temperature Stimulus Package

February 22 2009

In a bitterly cold White House Rose Garden ceremony, President Barack Obama signed the long awaited Temperature Stimulus Package recently passed by both houses of Congress. Coming on the heals of the historic Economic Stimulus Bill signed into law just last week, the new legislation seeks to increase the ambient… read more

Visual Basic Recovery Plan

February 18 2009

When Microsoft moved Visual Basic from its version-6 roots to the new world of .NET in 2002, it endowed the language with a level of power and flexibility never before seen in a BASIC variant. But that move also brought a competitor on to the scene: C#. This new language-on-the-block… read more

Government to Bail Out Churches

January 30 2009

In an ominous sign of the toll taken by the ongoing economic slowdown, President Obama today called on Congress to come up with a stimulus package that will allow struggling churches to remain solvent. The White House is asking for $326 million to be used for the largest congregations across… read more

My DNA-Linked Inauguration

January 19 2009

With the morrow comes the long-awaited inauguration of America’s forty-fourth president, Barack Obama. I, as a member of several of America’s most significant minority groups, will sit just inches away from my TV screen eyeballing the historic event. As he utters those constitutional words written down by the founders centuries… read more

Ramp It Up

January 16 2009

Metered on-ramps are common fare throughout the Los Angeles freeway system. The massive influx of cars onto the highways during the five or six hours-de-rush each day requires some method to even out the rolling population. And while the unidirectional stoplights make at least some attempt to alleviate the metal… read more

God Signs Kyoto Protocol, Goes Green

December 23 2008

Mother Nature and her earthly domains rejoiced in a collective “Hallelujah” today as God signed the landmark 1992 protocol to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, the so-called “Kyoto Protocol.” Bowing to years of pressure from Christian environmentalist groups, Heaven’s Office of Land and Galaxy Use announced the… read more