el ruben del mar

Shrimp asopao family recipe. Makes a great winter dinner.

Fri, 27 Jan 2012 11:31:00 -0600

Shrimp asopao family recipe. Makes a great winter dinner.

Shrimp Asopao Recipe

Wed, 28 Dec 2011 13:19:55 -0600

Shrimp Asopao Recipe:

Family recipe. Makes a great winter dinner.

Nissan mailer that showed up in my mailbox. I thinking the guy...

Sat, 19 Nov 2011 13:53:00 -0600

Nissan mailer that showed up in my mailbox. I thinking the guy who designed this forgot to google “carrot and stick.”

Jurassic Park, as told by my 8-year-old son.

Thu, 13 Oct 2011 11:56:32 -0500

Jurassic Park, as told by my 8-year-old son.

Day two of the Bastrop fires, from 290 Westbound (Houston to...

Tue, 13 Sep 2011 13:10:09 -0500

Day two of the Bastrop fires, from 290 Westbound (Houston to Austin). Scary stuff even from miles away.

Is this a debit card? Would you like a car wash? Would you like...

Mon, 25 Jul 2011 18:53:29 -0500

Is this a debit card? Would you like a car wash? Would you like a receipt? The people have voted!

Groupon's flimsy "revenue"

Fri, 10 Jun 2011 08:27:35 -0500

Groupon's flimsy "revenue":

Revenue is waaay overstated. Why? No reason but for the IPO. Calling 1999!

Price vs Value

Thu, 09 Jun 2011 16:15:23 -0500

Price vs Value:

Dr. Damodaran nails a subtle but major issue - price and value are NOT the same!

Technology smarts

Sun, 22 May 2011 10:40:37 -0500

I was in my apartment gym the other day, doing my usual elliptical cardio. 40 minutes, sport intervals, low intensity for 2 minutes followed by super high intensity for 2 more. Good stuff - the rapid back-and-forth works up a good burn.

Anyhow, much like other gyms there’s lots of technology around - motion-activated lights, TVs mounted on each cardio machine, etc. And just like other technology around us, there are features that do more harm than good.

Take, for example, the motion lights - the sensor is currently set to turn off after 6 minutes of inactivity. Sounds like a great way to save money, the environment, etc - except the sensor doesn’t activate for people on the cardio machines. So if you’re alone in there, every 6 minutes you pretty much have to wave your arms around maniacally to keep the lights from going out mid-workout. This is an example of technology trying, and failing, to outsmart us. Same deal with the mounted TV; not only does it require 13 different buttons to turn on, but it also automatically turns off after 7 minutes, without exception. Which sucks because dangit, I was just watching SportsCenter! Now my workout consists of two things - sport intervals, and looking like I’m performing in some bizarre form of space olympics.

All this leads me to believe its a long way off before we get to a point where everyday technology will actually work for us. For every iPhone and iPad there’s a crappy car sensor “feature” that drives you crazy, or a motion sensor that can’t adjust to daily conditions. My hope is that in my lifetime, minimizing human aggravation is the number two feature built into every electronic consumer device - behind reliability of course. Unfortunately, as long as people don’t demand it, no one will consider it. Shame.

The Food Truck Bubble

Wed, 18 May 2011 16:39:13 -0500

The Food Truck Bubble:

This article makes me recall a conversation I had a few years ago over dinner, where I predicted McDonald’s would be in the food truck business by 2012. I’m not far off!

That’s a screen shot of an antidepressant commercial. The...

Tue, 08 Mar 2011 08:31:20 -0600

That’s a screen shot of an antidepressant commercial. The blob is the depression - both it and the “patient” are listening to a doctor’s lecture on the drug. Naturally, there is important information being narrated, but you’re too distracted by the blob taking notes to listen to it. Gotta love drug ads…if they’re not hiding the scary details in plain sight, they’re not doing their job.

Midtown Commons at Crestview Station is apparently a success in...

Fri, 25 Feb 2011 07:45:51 -0600

Midtown Commons at Crestview Station is apparently a success in one investor’s eyes. Just got this notice from the City of Austin which effectively means they are building out phase 2 of the project, just north of the original. I can attest they’ve found their sweet spot for rental pricing - the complex’s parking garage is bulging at the seams.

Same models, different mags.

Sun, 20 Feb 2011 14:12:24 -0600

Same models, different mags.

Ingenious Craigslist Scam

Tue, 15 Feb 2011 13:54:00 -0600

I was recently on the hunt for a used MacBook on Craigslist. Having searched around for a while, you start to get a sense of the price points. MacBooks, for example, fall in the $500-700 range. MacBook Pros usually start around $800.

The other day, I came across an almost-too-good-to-be-true deal:

Apple Macbook Pro Core Duo 3.06ghz 4gb - $500

The seller went on to say that it was BRAND NEW, and that they had won it in a raffle, but because they already owned a MacBook Pro they wanted to unload it for cash. Seemed like a reasonable story, so I emailed the person last night and asked if it was still available. And this morning, I got my not-so-human response:

Hey,
Sorry it took me a while to respond, but I sold it already,
you might want to check out BozBids I picked up 2 brand
new ones for under $70.

Since the holidays no one is online, no one is bidding, it's
like xmas all over again.
The trick is to bid only when the counter hits 4 seconds.

If I can do it anyone can. Bozbids also has a Guarantee

Good luck
Janet

Basically, I just emailed a spammer and/or scam artist and gave them permission to contact me. I guarantee you this….I’m not about to recommend their crappy site to you people. In a way though I am impressed - it’s a rather ingenious way to induce people to visit a website that have laser-focused interest in a product and a willingness to pay. Screw them of course, but learn from it.

Duff & Phelps: Careers

Tue, 08 Feb 2011 06:01:33 -0600

Duff & Phelps: Careers:

I wrote a testimonial over at the Duff & Phelps’ career page on LinkedIn. No BS, love it here.

We don’t know how to build snowmen in Austin.

Fri, 04 Feb 2011 20:14:36 -0600

We don’t know how to build snowmen in Austin.

AT&T U-verse and Mobility

Sat, 15 Jan 2011 09:12:10 -0600

Random thought when enjoying my U-verse TV service, thinking about bundling and integration options with mobile service. Guess what, there are none. U-verse and Mobility don’t talk to each other - except for maybe the occasional iPhone app. For being the same company you’d expect some convergence. Take for example the AT&T Microcell, a femtocell which lets you use your broadband to run a private cell site. Here’s my question: why aren’t they bundling that sucker with U-verse? I already have a router with built-in WiFi. How about another radio in there to handle AT&T Mobility service! If you already have a working femtocell in your house, I think you’d be a heck of a lot more likely to pick AT&T for your mobile phone. How many of us have lousy reception at home? It’s a benefit to consumers since we get improved coverage immediately. It’s beneficial for AT&T too - not only would VZW and Sprint customers that have U-Verse be more likely to switch to AT&T Mobility service (higher demand), but U-Verse + Mobility customers would be less likely to switch to cable (lower churn). I hope they are looking at this.

Investing in Facebook? Buyer beware.

Wed, 05 Jan 2011 15:30:57 -0600

Investing in Facebook? Buyer beware.

Seen in my parking garage. If this was my Lotus I’d be...

Wed, 29 Dec 2010 12:53:26 -0600

Seen in my parking garage. If this was my Lotus I’d be pissed.

The next battleground on web privacy: apps.

Sat, 18 Dec 2010 12:22:22 -0600

The next battleground on web privacy: apps.